Apple kicked off digital software distribution on Macs with the Mac App Store and Lion, a major operating system revision released exclusively as a four gigabyte download. As a consequence, folks no longer get an elegant USB key for restoring the operating system if your machine goes south. Instead, new Macs now have the Lion Internet Recovery feature that boots your Mac from Apple’s servers if something goes wrong. As useful as Lion Internet Recover is, however, having a bootable Lion installer on an USB thumb drive is recommended for everyone, not just for those plagued with a slow Internet connection or users that upgrade multiple Macs to Lion....

Patently Apple reports that Apple has successfully transferred the “Airdrop” trademark from Urban Airship, Inc., a company behind the AirDrop service that provides marketing services to Android developers. AirDrop in Apple’s hemisphere, of course, is a new Lion feature that lets the user easily share files with other nearby users. The trademark was transferred to Apple on May 11 and effective on June 9. Apparently, “there was no financial transaction disclosure made available with this transfer”....

Rumors about Apple Car have become more frequent in recent weeks, and it seems there’s more to come. The Verge reported today that Apple had talks last year with Canoo, a startup focused on electric vehicles and related technologies, to push the development of the long-rumored Apple-branded car. According to the report, both companies discussed the possibility of investments and even an acquisition by Apple in the first half of 2020....

Update: We have received this unconfirmed message from a reader who attended the event, seemingly indicating a January launch for the Apple Watch — the earliest of Apple’s quoted ‘early 2015’ timeline. The mysterious invitation was indeed for the Apple Watch. Apple has already confirmed it will not be revealing any more information (via Engadget) about the product at this demo area, such as pricing or availability. The device is also — unsurprisingly — locked behind glass running the same UI video loop that was shown at Apple’s media event on September 9th....

Apple today announced in a press release that it is bringing Apple Pay to China. The company revealed that it is partnering with UnionPay in the country to bring support for its mobile payment solution to iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad users in the country. In China, Apple Pay will support 15 of the country’s leading banks. At this point, however, it’s unclear what banks will be supported. In China, Apple Pay will work with the UnionPay Quickpass, which is an existing contactless payment method in the country....

As drones continue to rise in popularity, the ultra-portable Hover Camera Passport today became available from Apple.com and in Apple retail stores. Created by Zero Zero Robotics, the Hover Passport is a lightweight drone made from a carbon fiber material, so it’s portable and easy to take with you everywhere you go. In addition to being for sale on Apple.com and in retail stores, Apple is taking its partnership with Zero Zero Robotics a step further and offering in-store demos of the product....

Last week, Goldman Sachs revealed that it is facing a probe from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over its consumer credit card business. A new report from CNBC today offers more details on that probe, which can be attributed to “Apple Card’s rapid growth.” As we pointed out last week, Goldman Sachs only recently entered the consumer credit card business in the United States. Its partnership with Apple for Apple Card is by far its largest initiative, and its only other consumer credit card offering is a co-branded credit card with General Motors....

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVwHCGAr_OE] Google has put together its annual inspirational Year in Search video, and shared some of the trending searches across the year – with Apple making the charts for both the right and wrong reasons. On the plus side, Apple took the #1 slot in consumer electronics searches, with the iPhone 6 ahead of rival smartphones from Samsung, Google, Motorola, LG and Nokia. Apple was also the only company to make three of the top-ten searches, with the Apple Watch at #8 and iPad Air at #10 … The news was rather less encouraging in the top YouTube video searches, with #bendgate making ‘iPhone 6 Plus Bend Test’ the fifth most popular search....

Dobberpuhl isn’t alone. Other key PA Semi team members have left Apple, including one of PA Semi’s leading members, Mark Hayter…[Dobberpuhl] was the CEO at PA Semi and leader of the team, and one of the guys that was driving the whole thing…those guys are start-up kind of people, and within the structure of Apple, they may [have been] chafing.” Chafing. Ouch. On the hiring side, Apple picked up former Google product Manager RJ Pittman according to TechCrunch....

Apple is taking a page out of Spotify’s book and adding a new year-in-review feature to Apple Music. Starting today, you can access your Apple Music “Replay” playlist through Apple Music on the web and in the Music apps on iOS, iPadOS, and Mac. As first reported by TechCrunch, the new Replay feature provides users a playlist of their most listened to songs from 2019, as well as prior years dating all the way back to 2015....

It wasn’t long ago that the long-running dispute between Apple and wireless chipmaker Qualcomm looked like it might be settled out of court. Qualcomm had been using much softer language, and when the company asked a court for more time to reach a settlement, Apple backed the motion. Things got a little testier when Qualcomm accused Apple of stealing its source code, and then complained about the company’s mounting unpaid bill....

The Information is reporting that Apple is actively scouting out partnerships to increase the utility of the NFC chip inside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Right now, the chip can only be used for payments through Apple Pay as the API is not available to third-party developers. The Information says that the company is talking to potential partners about using the technology for things like building security, public transit tickets and more....

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Apple is actively in talks to launch a new person-to-person mobile payments service, like Apple Pay but for sending money between friends and family. Apple is in discussions with US banks to negotiate terms for the new service, which could launch next year. The publication says it is unclear if any deals have been struck to date and technical implementation details remain in flux....

If Apple does indeed report iPhone sales in line with analyst expectations of 66.5M units, the company could be closing in on the market share lead Samsung has held in the smartphone market since 2011, reports the WSJ. Research company Canalys notes that Apple’s anticipated growth in iPhone sales coincides with a dramatic drop in sales of Samsung smartphones. While that still leaves Samsung well ahead for now, it’s a trendline which could see Apple regain the lead it once held … Samsung’s share has been falling, hurt by lackluster sales of its flagship models and the rise of homegrown brands in fast-growing emerging markets....

Sponsored by DEVONthink 3: Manage documents the smart way on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple @ Work listeners get 10% off with this link. In this episode of the Apple @ Work podcast, Bradley is joined by Greg Keller from JumpCloud to discuss their new Zero-Touch implementation and why it’s a key part of the IT security strategy for remote and in-office employees. Links Apple’s Zero-Touch deployment technology is now available on JumpCloud’s MDM solution The Directory-Driven Magic Behind JumpCloud’s Zero-Touch Enrollment Connect with Bradley Twitter LinkedIn Listen and Subscribe Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Pocket Casts Castro RSS

Today marked the beginning of the highly-anticipated Apple vs. Epic trial, and things kicked off with both companies presenting their opening statements. While Epic argued that Apple has built a monopolistic ecosystem surrounding the App Store and iPhone, Apple said that Epic fails to support its claims with any evidence. Epic’s Opening Statement Epic kicked things off today with its opening statement, focusing on painting Apple and the App Store as a monopolistic and anti-competitive ecosystem that fails to offer the benefits to consumers that Apple touts....

Apple this weekend has shared a new video as part of its Shot on iPhone “Experiments” series. This video, called “Fire & Ice,” was shot entirely with iPhone 11 Pro, and Apple has shared a short behind the scenes video to go along with it. The “Fire & Ice” video was shot on iPhone 11 Pro by Donghoon Jun and James Thornton of Incite and was commissioned by Apple. The video offers incredibly close-up looks at fire and ice in different forms and environments....

Mark Papermaster, who was released from Apple following the ‘Antennagate’ non-issue, has scooped up one of Apple’s chief CPU architects, Jim Keller. Keller is a pretty big deal at Apple, where his job is listed as the A4/A5 Designer & K8 Lead Architect. Keller, picture right in 2005 at PA Semi, came to Apple as part of the PA Semi acquisition in 2008, and he would have worked under Mark Papermaster during his tenure at Apple until Papermaster’s release in 2010....

The phenomenal kids’ app Pok Pok Playroom sees its latest update today with the nature-focused “Forest.” This new toy is great for open-ended play that builds memory, spatial awareness, creative thinking, understanding cause and effect, and more. As I previously shared, if you have young kids and haven’t checked out Pok Pok Playroom yet, it offers a truly magical experience. Here’s what found after testing it with my four-year-old: Shortly after launching, Pok Pok also won an Apple Design Award and the app has been launching regular updates adding new engaging toys and features....

Apple informed customers in Germany that push email on both MobileMe and iCloud services were disabled due to the company’s patent fight with handset maker Motorola Mobility. According to a support document Apple quietly published today, “Due to recent patent litigation by Motorola Mobility, iCloud and MobileMe users are currently unable to have iCloud and MobileMe email pushed to their iOS devices while located within the borders of Germany.” Push still works for Contacts, Calendars and other items and it is unaffected on OS X....