Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/04/monday-morning-news030417/
Just before we hit publish on the news on the Friday, the ACCC issued their statement denying authorisation for the banks to collectively bargain with Apple and boycott Apple Pay. ACCC Chairman Rod Sims notes “the ACCC is not satisfied, on balance, that the likely benefits from the proposed conduct outweigh the likely detriments”, saying that “while the ACCC accepts that the opportunity for the banks to collectively negotiate and boycott would place them in a better bargaining position with Apple, the benefits would be outweighed by detriments”.
Rumour has it all iPhones released this year will feature True Tone displays. According to Barclays, all iPhones will also be getting upgraded to an OLED display with an full spectral ambient light sensor, capable of measuring colour temperature much like the one in the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. And when the 12.9-inch iPad is next upgraded, it’s widely expected that it will also get the True Tone display.
Apple has opened an App Accelerator in India. The facility in Bangalore will provide support to App Developers, with engineers on hand to provide feedback and best practices, and if you’re selected into the app development program, you’ll also get a weekly one-on-one with Apple to talk about your app.
Despite President Donald Trump signing an executive order reversing a number of climate change regulations put in place by former President Barack Obama, Apple, along with Google and Microsoft, remain committed to fighting climate change. All three tech companies have pledged support for clean energy and climate policies, making renewable energy competitive with traditional energy sources.
Apple’s latest hire is Shiva Rajaraman, former YouTube and Spotify exec, to further their video content plans. Rajaraman has previously led every team within YouTube, setting up partnerships between YouTube and Disney, and while he was at Spotify he spent time curating alternative content, such as podcasts.
If you applied for a WWDC ticket, you should have already received confirmation of whether you were selected to purchase a ticket. It doesn’t seem as though there’s a second-chance pool this time around, with successful WWDC applicants already having their credit cards charged.
Toshiba’s storage business is up for grabs, and it’s said Apple is one of the companies looking to purchase the business which accounts for 20% of the NAND market. Flash storage will only become more of a commodity moving forward, but at the same time, the expected purchase price of up to $20 billion is a steep ask.
AutoSleep hit version 4.0, which now has a nice interface to match the sophistication of the sleep tracker. New visualisations make it easy to see the quality and duration of sleep, with AutoSleep taking a leaf out of the Apple Watch book and representing things with coloured rings.
The Loop wonders if Samsung’s Dex could be the future of the Mac. While it’s possible Apple could be investigating plugging your phone into a screen, keyboard, and mouse for a full desktop experience, I don’t think it’ll happen until at least one or two more versions of iOS, if Apple decides to do it at all.
The latest Apple Watch Series 2 ad, Live Bright, shows off living an active and healthy lifestyle, with the Apple Watch tracking every activity from your wrist.