Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2017/05/wednesday-morning-news240517/
Apple and Nokia have settled their patent dispute. The two companies announced they had entered a licensing agreement, with Nokia providing network infrastructure services to Apple, and Apple resuming selling Nokia health products, including Withings accessories. Both companies have said they’re interested in future health initiatives, according to The Verge, but for now, Nokia will receive an upfront cash payment from Apple.
Apple head of worldwide human resources Denise Young Smith has now been appointed as Apple’s VP of Diversity and Inclusion. Reporting directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Smith will oversee diversity and inclusion efforts at Apple, which the company views as critically important to Apple’s future.
In its latest report on government and private party requests for customer information, Apple notes that it received exactly one declassified national security letter. While that’s about all we know for obvious reasons, it’s still interesting to note Apple received a declassified national security letter between July and December last year.
Apple has been granted some kind of license to test 5G wireless technologies. Apple’s experimental license granted by the FCC allows them to perform testing of millimetre wave technology for a year, which 9to5Mac says may be included in a future iPhone, but definitely nothing that will release this year.
The latest renders of the rumoured 10.5-inch iPad Pro are based on “100% confirmed” blanks provided to case manufacturers ahead of the official announcement by Apple. Everything down to microphone placement and bezel sizes are now known about the upcoming iPad, with quad audio also expected to be a feature. Perhaps we’ll see the iPad at WWDC.
Ikea has said they’ll be releasing an update for the Tadfri system of internet-connected smart bulbs to make it compatible with Apple HomeKit. While there’s no specific date for the HomeKit compatibility firmware update, expect it around August or September.
One jailbreak developer has shown off the NFC capabilities of what appears to be an iPhone 6 or 6s, with the device responding to the presence of an NFC tag in close proximity. While it’s unlikely that Apple will ever open up the NFC capabilities of the iPhone (regardless of what Australia’s banks want them to do), a small jailbreak tweak will be released on Cydia soon.
Popular VNC app Screens for Mac has been updated to version 4, and the new release brings new features that were previously only available in the iOS version as well as a bunch of Mac-exclusive features. MacStories has the full overview.
Speaking of updates, Duet Display now has a bunch of pro features aimed at better iPad Pro compatibility. With the point of Duet Display being the ability to act as a high-performance graphics tablet for your Mac or PC, improved rendering quality, a customised pressure curve, and new gestures should let it come pretty close.
While we’re still waiting for widespread Apple Pay adoption in Australia, Apple Pay now supports higher transaction values in the UK. Previously, the UK had a limit of £30 for contactless transactions, but that has now been removed after many contactless payment terminals have been upgraded.