A voice search option is being added to the iOS version of Chrome in "the coming days," according to Google. Users will just have to tap a microphone icon and ask the same sort of queries Google supports in Android and the iOS Google Search app. The change should in fact reduce the need to use Search, although that app is still iOS' gateway to Now and various other Google services.
Autodesk has announced that its first major update for Smoke 2013 , Extension 1, will go live on May 29th. The update adds two main features, beginning with support for Blackmagic video IO devices including the DeckLink, UltraStudio, and Intensity lines. The other is a new Trim View, accompanied by a set of dynamic trimming tools which should allow for faster editing.
A German Mac enthusiast site has noticed that the Apple online store in Germany is now accepting PayPal as a payment option , a new wrinkle that could appear in the US and other countries over time. While PayPal has been an option for payment in the iTunes App Store and the Mac App Store, it was never previously available for any kind of hardware or online retail purchase from Apple.
Large tech firms are coming under scrutiny over their tax avoidance measures, following the testimony of Apple executives to a US Senate Permanent Subcommittee. Google, Yahoo, Cisco, and others have been found to be using an assortment of tax loopholes and off-shoring in order to avoid paying governments in the US and Europe at least $100 billion.
As is traditional for the time of year, Apple has updated its main US homepage to promote items from its store in tune with the upcoming Father's Day holiday. In addition to the iPad and iPad mini, such items as iPhone 5, the Nike+Fuel band, the iGrill meat thermometer, the HipKey proximity alarm, the Nest thermostat and other suggestions are highlighted. The page also features a subtly cleaner and more geometric design.
Smith Micro has launched Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2014 , updates of the developer's core 3D rendering and animation tools. Both apps have gained a number of new features, such as subdivision surfaces, which let users set subdivision levels for props, figures, or body parts using Pixar's OpenSubdiv library. The technology should improve aspects like bending accuracy and object smoothness.
Apple has posted the opening statements two of its executives -- CEO Tim Cook ( PDF ) -- and CFO Peter Oppenheimer ( PDF ) -- made during their testimony in front of the US Senate earlier today. The documents don't reveal anything new, but do constitute a record of Apple's stance during the Senate hearing. "We pay all of the taxes we owe -- every single dollar. We not only comply with the laws, but we comply with the spirit of the laws," Cook's statement reads.
Apple is aiming to integrate Flickr and Vimeo into iOS 7, a source tells 9to5Mac . The integration is expected to work in much the same way as Facebook and Twitter support does in iOS 6, allowing single sign-ins via the Settings menu. In the case of Flickr, at least, signing in may not only add another option to iOS' built-in sharing menus, but also simplify apps with their own hooks for the service, such as Instagram. Flickr is already integrated into OS X Mountain Lion and the iOS edition of iPhoto.
In a brief sidetrack during his Senate testimony today, Apple CEO Tim Cook voiced his opinion on US intellectual property law. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) asked Cook about the IP benefits of running a company in the US versus other countries, but appears to have been surprised when Cook took a critical tone. "I actually think that we require much more work on IP in this country," he said.
During his testimony before the Senate on Apple's tax strategies, CEO Tim Cook restated an earlier promise that a forthcoming Mac model -- not identified -- was going to be built in the United States, and further revealed that it would be assembled in Texas. While the exact site wasn't specified, Apple has established and is expanding an administrative campus in Austin, and manufacturing partner Foxconn has facilities in Houston .
During Tim Cook's appearance on Tuesday before the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (which is presently looking into the tax code), Chairman Carl Levin (D-Michigan) accused Apple of "exploiting an absurdity [in US tax laws] that we have not seen other corporations use," referring to a loophole he believes should be closed. Cook maintained that Apple pays US taxes on its US profits as it should .
A new Broadcom chipset spotted on a Chinese website may be a component of future Mac updates, bringing 802.11ac (known as "Gigabit Wi-Fi") and Bluetooth 4.0 to new models on a single chipset. Not only will the chip handle all wireless communication for future Mac models, but the new chip appears -- at first glance -- to be backward compatible with similar parts in recent models, opening up the possibility of aftermarket upgrades.
In the wake of Apple's published testimony , US Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ) have released their own joint statement on the work of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "Apple Inc. has used a complex web of offshore entities -- including three foreign subsidiaries the company claims are not tax resident in any nation -- to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. income taxes," Levin's office writes.
Facebook has brought a native Share Dialog for iOS out of beta via an updated SDK , v3.5.1. The change means that third-party iOS 6 apps will be able to share activity to Facebook without always requiring a login first. People should also be able to tag friends from within those apps.
Speaking at tonight's Yahoo press event in New York City, Marissa Mayer and Yahoo's Mobile Engineering Senior Vice President and Flickr product manager Adam Cahan revealed the new Flickr and accompanying new Android app, offering users 1TB of photo storage in a "very metro" user interface.
Apple is testing 1.5-inch OLED touchscreens for use in its upcoming smartwatch , claims Taiwanese publication the Economic Daily News . Apple is in fact said to have tried 1.8-inch screens, but judged that they were too big. The 1.5-inch panels are reportedly being manufactured by Taiwan's RiTdisplay, and use one-glass-solution touch sensors, which should allow Apple to keep the watch thin.
A day ahead of CEO Tim Cook's planned appearance in front of the US Senate , Apple has published its official testimony ( PDF ) for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. In the document, the company lobbies for corporate tax reform, specifically arguing that the government should be "revenue neutral, eliminate all corporate tax expenditures, lower corporate income tax rates; and implement a reasonable tax on foreign earnings that allows free movement of capital back to the US." Apple has roughly $100 billion in overseas cash, which it has refused to repatriate unless it can pay less than the standard 35 percent tax rate.
A new report from market analysts NPD Group indicates that US Mac sales for the month of April were about even with the same month last year, which some analysts see as a positive sign for Apple. However, NPD's data -- which is normally considered reasonably accurate -- only covers US sales, meaning the higher percentage of Mac sales overseas is making meaningful predictions difficult.
A new study from Asymco analyst Horace Dediu finds that Apple is continuing to outpace the rest of the retail industry in sales per customer, sales per store and sales per square foot -- more than double the income of the second-place finisher Tiffany & Co and three times the third-place entry, Lululemon Athletica. In addition to retaining the crown of retailers, Dediu found revenues had increased from a year ago.
Third-party vendors are starting to run out of stock of the 13-inch MacBook Air, says AppleInsider . Amazon, B&H, MacConnection, and MacMall are all out of a common configuration, a system with a 1.8GHz processor and a 256GB SSD. Another reseller, J&R, is saying that it only has the configuration at retail stores. Best Buy continues to have some units.
Apple's mired negotiations with the music industry may prevent it from announcing an "iRadio" service at WWDC on June 10th, industry sources tell The Verge . The people note that Apple is having trouble not just with Sony/ATV, but also BMG. At the same time they suggest there's still a lot of "market momentum" behind iRadio, and that major players such as Universal want to see it launch as soon as possible.
Apple's iPhones, iPads and other devices running iOS 6 or higher are officially cleared for use on the US government's secure networks, the Department of Defence announced on Friday. The final approval, which we first reported on in March , also grants Samsung Android devices that are running the Korean company's Knox security lockdown, as well as BlackBerry devices running BB10 the ability to be used on secure networks. The move is expected to further hurt BlackBerry, as it faces competition in the military space for the first time.
The US branch of Virgin Mobile is now offering a 15 percent discount on the iPhone 4 and 4S . The promotion is applicable only to web orders, and will last only for a limited time, or until supplies run out. Virgin hasn't said when the sale is scheduled to end.
The US Federal Trade Commission has started sending out two letters to app developers, preparing them for changes to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act taking effect July 1st, according to an announcement. The letters warn developers that restrictions on the collection of personal data from kids under 13 have been expanded, and now cover things like audio or video bearing a child's likeness. Previously, rules only covered the gathering of names, addresses, and phone numbers.
A CW app should soon appear on the Apple TV, Deadline reports. CW CEO Mark Pedowitz announced a deal with Apple during the network's annual upfront presentation in New York. A version of CW TV Now is already available for two Apple platforms -- the iPhone and the iPad -- but Apple TV support should put the app in a more viewing-friendly spot, as with the Xbox 360 and Windows 8 apps.
Apple's biggest supplier, Hon Hai -- better known as Foxconn -- is continuing to break Chinese labor laws, according to a newly-published audit by the Fair Labor Association. The latest evaluation was conducted in January, and did find that Foxconn is complying with 98.3 percent of the 360 points of action the FLA and Apple initially agreed to. 70 out of 76 items that were pending in mid-2012 have been complied with.
Ahead of the Apple CEO's US Senate testimony , Tim Cook has replied to questions about politics and Apple's offshore tax practices in a new Politico interview. "We don't have a large presence in Washington, as you probably know, but we care deeply about public policy and believe creative policy can be a huge catalyst for a better society and a stronger economy," he says.
Apple is today paying out its latest dividend to shareholders. The amount is rated at $3.05 per share, translating into a total of about $2.867 billion for all of the company's 940 million outstanding shares. To be eligible for the dividend, a person must have been a shareholder by May 13th; because qualifying purchases must be settled though, realistically, any stock must have been bought no later than the 8th.
Apple has posted a new support download for mid-2012 MacBook Airs, MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.0 . Unusually, Apple states that the patch is mandatory; it fixes a problem with the Air's firmware that can, potentially, prevent a computer from recovering from a crash. The file is a 1.69MB download, and requires either OS X 10.7.5 or 10.8.3.
On Thursday, Apple updated its flagship program iTunes to version 11.0.3 , which brings some new features as well as addresses a number of minor bugs and improves security and performance for those running and sorting large collections. The main new features include a redesigned MiniPlayer that now features artwork and a progress bar, and some changes to the Songs view that also adds album artwork. Importantly, multi-disc albums are now seen and counted as one album rather than individual discs.
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