This week, Apple rolled out new ad placements in the App Store for the Today tab and at the bottom of product pages of other apps. App Store ads are always a controversial (and widely disliked) subject, but this latest expansion was particularly grating to the developer community. Developers were particularly fuming that many of the ads now being shown next to their apps in the ‘You Might Also Like’ were highly irrelevant, or ethically questionable, like seeing apps from gambling companies and casino-esque freemium games....

The HomePod today launches in three new regions, bringing Apple’s smart speaker to Canada, France and Germany. The smart speaker offers leading sound quality for its size class, with native Siri voice control for Apple Music ($9.99 per month) and smart assistant tasks like controlling HomeKit accessories, checking the weather and more. HomePod understands French and German languages, alongside the new country rollouts. Apple will be adding support for Canadian French later this year....

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple today that covers various methods of detecting a user’s presence and augmenting the user experience accordingly. Apple has covered face recognition and presence detection systems in various patent applications in the past, notably for multi-user logins, security features, and an Android-like face unlock feature. Today’s patent application covers even more implementations of Apple’s presence detection technology that would utilize ultrasonic sensors, microwave radar, and camera and audio systems to detect and identify the user....

Image-sharing app Pinterest said that it has proven so difficult to identify and remove all the anti-vax disinformation that has been posted to the service that it’s had to find an unusual solution to the problem … The WSJ reports that, instead of relying on removing the disinformation itself, it has instead blocked searches for it. The company earlier took the same action to block searches for claimed cancer therapies....

For the past several months, the entirety of the entertainment industry has been lost in the heat of awards season. Beginning with the usual deluge of constant awards contender releases in the latter months of 2016, the beginning of the year has been crowded with a number of high-profile awards shows, like the Independent Spirit Awards, the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, and more. But tonight, awards season officially comes to an end with ABC’s broadcast of the 89th Annual Academy Awards, where the best and most impressive filmmakers, actors, and movies of 2016 are honored and celebrated throughout the night....

One of the biggest battle royale first-person shooters on the market, Apex Legends provides its players a fast-paced character-oriented shooter. Apex allows players a complicated blend of tactical decision making and rapidly fast first-person action. It rewards a player’s individual skill as much as it encourages team play and combination. Unlike its contemporaries Apex has an incredibly fast game speed, it allows very little time to think but rather forces a reaction....

iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 Mojave include a variety of improvements to their respective App Stores. As detailed by Apple during a WWDC session entitled, “Best Practices and What’s New in In-App Purchases,” the App Store has added support for free-trials of non-subscription apps, sandboxing changes, and more… First and foremost, as we first reported on earlier this year, the App Store now supports free trials for non-subscription applications. This has been a long-standing request from developers and users alike, but Apple’s implementation has already been criticized by some developers as a hacky workaround....

Hip-hop artist Dr. Dre’s controversial and storied past was bound to become an issue for Apple at some point after it bought the company he co-founded for $3 billion last year. Now Apple is hoping it can let the rapper’s history live in the past, which is especially tricky as it promotes the biofilm “Compton” depicting the rapper’s entrance into fame. The biographical film, which was produced with close cooperation from Dr....

A report from Bloomberg details how Apple’s director of cellular systems architecture, Matthias Sauer, testified that the company sought 4G cellular modems from an array of different companies besides Qualcomm, however, none were able to provide market-ready 4G modems in time. The news is a big boost to the chipmaker’s case, who is fighting claims that its near market monopoly has forced phone manufactures to pay fixed, inflated prices on chip licensing royalties....

Medial research firm Biogen today announced a new collaboration with Apple in the form of a cognitive health research study, powered by iPhone and Apple Watch. The study is trying to identify digital biomarkers that can serve as early indicators of illnesses like Alzheimer’s. The observational research study will commence later in the year. The companies aim to find patterns in the data collected by sensors in the Apple Watch and iPhone and correlate those to declines in cognitive health function....

Apple today announced nine additional partners committed to shipping CarPlay integration in future vehicles marking the first expansion to that list since the feature was officially introduced in March. Joining the list of existing CarPlay partners for 2014 and beyond is Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Mazda, and Ram. Each new auto manufacturer is committed to integrating CarPlay in models planned to be announced and released in the future....

Apple has announced that it is partnering with management consultancy Accenture to create iOS apps for businesses. The deal is similar to the one reached with IBM back in 2014 and follows others reached with SAP and Cisco. The companies shared a little information about how they will work together … The team will help integrate iOS apps to back-end systems, as well as migrating existing apps to iOS. The work will include augmented reality apps, reports Reuters....

Update: The WSJ reports that Apple’s target is to raise $12B, “on the higher side of investor expectations.” An SEC filing reported by ZeroHedge reveals that Apple has announced plans for a series of new bond issues to raise money for further stock buybacks and dividend payments in what could be a 10-part deal. MarketWatch adds that the notes will offer floating-rates maturing in 2018 and 2019, and fixed-rates maturing at a range of dates from 2018 all the way through to 2046....

You know the ads that you see for apps above search results on the App Store? Apple started rolling out App Store search ads two years ago, and now at least one analyst believes the feature could be a $2 billion business all on its own in two years. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi published the prediction in a research note shared by CNBC today: Sacconaghi’s estimate is based in part on his forecast that Apple will make some $500 million this year on selling search ads on the App Store this year alone....

Apple will likely announce its mixed reality headset in January 2023, according to reliable supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The latest release date prediction was shared in a new analyst note examining growth focuses of the VR headset industry. Apple VR headset announcement Specifically, the analysis looks at how the industry is set to change in the months ahead as Facebook-turned-Meta has to deal with the iPhone maker competing in the VR headset space....

Apple’s chief operating officer Jeff Williams joined Fox Business for an interview this morning in which he expresses optimism about the US economy going forward. This comes after Tim Cook reportedly told Donald Trump that he expects a “v-shaped recovery” following the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to Fox Business correspondent Susan Li this morning, Williams said that he is “encouraged” by Apple and the economy as a whole based on what he’s seen over the last several months....

We’ve seen a few patents from Apple that cover flexible components that would be suitable for its much-rumored watch product in the past. Some of which include a couple for flexible displays and another that details a device that changes functionality as it bends. Today we get a look at another patent application from Apple, this time covering battery designs that could very well end up in a flexible or bendable product such as a wristwatch (via PatentlyApple):...

Alongside the launch of the brand new 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple has officially discontinued the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The 16-inch MacBook Pro has been hotly anticipated, and as expected, it delivers a return to the scissor switch keyboard. It also features up to 64GB of RAM, new six-speaker system, and more alongside the larger display. With all the improvements to its largest Pro notebook, Apple has discontinued the 15-inch MacBook Pro....

A major case of Apple employee fraud has been uncovered, with a former supply chain buyer estimated to have cost the company $10M. Dhirendra Prasad, who for 10 years worked as a buyer in Apple’s Global Service Supply Chain division, faces five federal charges … CBS SF reports. It appears that Apple may get back about half of the money lost. In addition to the criminal charges, the government is working to seize some $5M in property and cash from Prasad – who is also being charged with conspiracy to defraud the US government in respect of undeclared income....

Apple is extending the introductory offer for App Store Search Ads until March 30, for developers who have yet to use the program. Search Ads launched in October last year, promoting apps above organic listings in the search result, with a $100 promo code for app makers who began an ad campaign. This $100 credit offer was originally set to expire on December 31st, at the end of 2016. Apple has today announced that it is keeping the offer running for another three months....