We saw the Android-iOS duopoly coming last summer. Now, the effects of this incredibly tight chokehold are becoming painfully evident to virtually every handset maker sans Apple and Samsung. According to a fresh NPD survey from this morning, during the fourth quarter of 2011 Android and Apple together accounted for over 90 percent of smartphone sales in the United States. No wonder RIM is sliding fast. The remaining 10 percent is up for grabs....

As rumored leading up to today’s event, Apple announced today that it has struck a deal with NTT DOCOMO to bring its new iPhone lineup to Japan’s largest carrier when the device launches in multiple countries later this month. On September 20th the iPhone will launch on the carrier for the first time and Apple will also launch a single model of the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s in Japan for KDDI and Softbank....

TSMC, sole supplier of the A-series chips used in Apple’s iPhones and other devices, has admitted that the ultimate cause of its virus-induced downtime was the use of unpatched Windows systems … The company initially said only that the problem, which resulted in several factory shutdowns, was caused by an unspecified computer virus. V3 reports that TSMC has since elaborated on this, admitting the embarrassing details. WannaCry was a ransomware attack first seen back in May 2017, and was estimated to have attacked more than 200,000 PCs across 150 countries....

Apple has announced today that it is closing all of its retail stores in Italy due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a message on its website, Apple says that all 17 of its retail stores in Italy will be closed until further notice. The announcement from Apple is unsurprising given how hard Italy has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The Italian government imposed a nationwide lockdown earlier this week in an effort to contain the outbreak....

Along with the release of iOS 13.4, iPadOS 13.4, and macOS 10.15.4, Apple also released several exciting new features aimed to simplify the lives of its enterprise and K-12 customers. Among the new features are Shared iPad for Business, Assessment Mode for Mac, Shared iPad Temporary Session for K-12, and Proxy support for APNs. As the iPad and Mac continue to grow their market share in the enterprise along with continued use of Apple products in K-12, Apple has continued to develop easier ways for IT departments to work with its products....

Apple is facing backlash for using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to remove a tweet that contained an iPhone encryption key. Motherboard reports that Apple filed the DMCA request yesterday, but then retracted it today. A security researcher under the Twitter handle Siguza posted a tweet on Sunday with an encryption key that Motherboard says “could be used to reverse engineer the Secure Enclave Processor” in the iPhone. In turn, this would grant access to sensitive data that is stored in that processor....

Diner Dash publisher PlayFirst says the market is finally moving to favour games developers – and says its Apple and the iPhone App Store that has generated the sea change in attitude. Speaking on the release of Diner Dash for the iPhone, PlayFirst co-founder and CEO, John Welch, said: “Apple has effected profound market change with the App Store, enabling developers to unleash their creativity directly to a global market for the first time without ‘permission’ from the mobile carriers....

Apex Legends will be adding a new character to its roster of Legends in short order, as the long-rumored Octane has been confirmed in a new report. The report speculates that Octane will be released alongside the game’s first battle pass, possibly as a key element in promoting the purchase of that feature. Octane was thought to have been leaked a week ago, when images of a leaked new character first appeared on the Apex Legends subreddit....

New Twitter-like social network App.net has launched an iPhone and iPod touch app called “Passport.” The application serves as a simple way to manage App.net accounts, edit your profile, and find and follow other App.net users. Importantly, the “Passport” app does not serve as a browsing client for an App.net feed, but rather as an app primarily focused on finding third-party App.net clients. Notably, the app allows you to create a free account....

The numbers keep piling up for the App Store. Today, Apple announced that the iPhone App Store downloads surpassed two billion and the number of apps available for download surpassed 85,000. The App store hit a billion downloads in late April and turned a year old in July with 1.5 billion tallied. App Store by the Numbers: 2 Billion: Apps downloaded 85,000: Apps available 125,000: developers 50,000,000: iPhone and iPod touch customers 500,000,000: Apps this quarter alone >10,000,000 Average apps per day average currently Apple’s Press release follows: CUPERTINO, California—September 28, 2009—Apple® today announced that more than two billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store, the largest applications store in the world....

In this episode of the Apple @ Work podcast, Bradley is joined by Kevin Kuluvar from LocknCharge to discuss Apple device storage, keeping devices charged, and a new iPad sanitation production for K-12. Sponsored by iMazing: The popular iOS device manager which gives you unparalleled control over iOS and iPadOS data. Request your free trial now. https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/07/Apple-at-Work-Lock-N-Charge.mp3 Links mentioned in this episode 6 Things to Consider When Evaluating a UV Disinfection Charging Station LocknCharge Cloud Follow LocknCharge on LinkedIn Connect with Bradley Twitter LinkedIn Listen and Subscribe Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Pocket Casts Castro RSS

Update: Apple just uploaded the four new guided tours to its YouTube channel, as well. They are embedded below. Apple has now updated its Apple Watch Guided Tour page with four more videos, featuring Phone Calls, Siri interactions, Maps navigation and the Music app. Apple began this series earlier in the month. The videos demonstrate different Apple Watch features, such as taking a phone call, asking Siri for directions, getting navigation turn-by-turn directions in Maps or controlling music playback in the Music app....

Apple’s universal search feature for the Apple TV today gains new supported channels allowing users to search for content within the apps directly from the Apple TV’s main search function and Siri. Today’s update adds support for A&E, History, Lifetime, Cooking Channel, DIY, Food Network, Travel Channel FYI, and HGTV. Apple has been regularly adding new channels to support the feature since it first launched on the latest fourth-generation Apple TV....

Although Apple published its own employee diversity report back in August, USA Today reports that the company has refused to make public the full data from its federal diversity filing. While companies are required to file this information annually in a form known as EEO-1, they are not legally obliged to make the data public. Facebook, eBay, Google, Yahoo and LinkedIn are among the technology companies that have made public their EEO-1s […]...

Apple and HTC have announced that the two companies have reached a global settlement regarding the two firm’s multiple patent infringement lawsuits. The agreement is on a global-scale and includes a ten-year licensing agreement. All current lawsuits have been dismissed. “We are glad to have reached a settlement with HTC,” said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. “We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation.” Peter Chou, HTC’s CEO, said “HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation....

When I suggested that Apple could in the future move beyond Apple Pay to become a bank, a couple of you observed that person-to-person payments might make a logical next step in that direction. It appears Apple may agree: Patently Apple notes that the company today applied for a patent for a method of transferring money from one iPhone to another. The transaction would appear to take place in the Wallet app, and Touch ID would be used to authorize both ends of the transaction....

The New York Times reports that Apple was among a handful of technology companies that attended a meeting with U.S. intelligence officials last month. The meeting was held at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California and focused on the upcoming midterm elections… The meeting was initiated by Facebook with the goal of ensuring that the midterm elections this fall go without the level of Russian interference as we saw in the 2016 election....

[Update: Keep up with our live coverage of Eddy Cue’s SXSW talk right here.] Apple has today confirmed that it is taking a major step into the digital magazine business. Apple’s Eddy Cue shared in a statement that the company would be purchasing Texture, a digital magazine distributor which could enhance Apple’s News app and more. The purchase will give Apple a large catalog of magazines from a range of publishers....

Apple has officially lowered the price of the HomePod worldwide. In the price has fallen from $349 to $299, breaking the $300 level. HomePod has seen promotional discounts at many third party retailers (eg: it’s $279 right now at Best Buy) over its lifespan, but now Apple has dropped the smart speaker’s standard list price. This price cut represents a roughly 15% drop and seemingly applies to every region, not just the US....

Apple today has detailed the several ways it will honor America’s national parks this month. These initiatives come as the US National Park Service celebrates its 103rd anniversary. Apple explained why it supports national parks in a new press release today: In the press release, the company reiterated an Apple Pay promotion that will see the company donate $10 to the National Park Foundation for each Apple Pay purchase made at Apple․com, in Apple Stores, and in the Apple Store app....