As noted by The 8-Bit, WebM video compatibility has been added to Safari with macOS Big Sur 11.3 beta 2. For those unfamiliar with the format, WebM is a royalty-free video codec created by Google in 2010 — similar to the WebP image format, also developed by Google. Although nearly all current web browsers support WebP video, Apple has never added WebP support to Safari. Back in 2010, Steve Jobs argued that the WebM format was “a mess” and that Apple had no plans to adopt the codec....

Apple has announced that is leading a $50 million investment round in company UnitedMasters, a firm that aims to help independent artists establish careers in the music business. This includes keeping rights to their actual recording masters, as well as enable individuals to easily sell tickets, merchandise and similar efforts. Presumably, the ‘strategic partnership’ will lead to new integrations with Apple Music eventually, although UnitedMasters supports publishing to many platforms including Spotify, TikTok and such....

Apple issued a press release on Wednesday to announce the iTunes Store hit a new record with 25 billion songs sold. Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue noted Apple averaged 15,000 songs downloaded per minute, while the iTunes Store is now home to 26 million songs in 119 countries. Apple also gave away a €10,000 iTunes Gift Card to iTunes user Phillip Lüpke from Germany for downloading the 25 billionth song, “Monkey Drums” (Goksel Vancin Remix) by Chase Buch....

A report today claims that the Apple AR headset launch won’t be taking place until 2022 — some two years later than has previously been suggested. The information was reportedly announced to team members at an internal presentation in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. The report suggests the Cupertino company plans a two-stage launch for the product that has been colloquially referenced as Apple Glasses. Updated with more details below …...

Apple Card approvals levels are unusually high, according to a new report today, with some sub-prime borrowers having their applications accepted. The report also says that Apple first considered launching its own credit card in the 1990s, but Steve Jobs was concerned about rejecting Apple customers… CNBC cites both unnamed sources involved in the project, as well as customer reports. The piece says that while there is no official definition of sub-prime, a credit score of less than 670 would typically be one indication....

During WWDC last year, Apple introduced a brand new set of configurable symbols and a companion macOS app called SF Symbols. Following that introduction, Apple has released SF Symbols 2 in conjunction with WWDC 2020 with over 750 new symbols and more. The configurable symbols included in the SF Symbols app are designed to integrate with Apple’s system font, San Francisco. The symbols can be used across iOS 14, watchOS 7, macOS Big Sur, and tvOS 14....

Apple today has announced a new benefit that is meant to help new parents transition back to work after their time off. As reported by Fast Company, Apple is giving new parents a “four-week grace period” when they return from leave. Under the policy and during the four-week grace period, the new parents will be paid like full-time employees, but will have the flexibility to work part-time and set their own hours....

The story starts way back when, when Psystar, a Miami-based company, started advertising its $400 OpenComputer this week. A PC that shipped with Mac OS X installed, and “violated Apple’s terms of use” for the OS. Apple’s End User License Agreement clearly says its OS can only be used on Apple-branded hardware – and soon (in July) slammed an injunction against Psystar for breaking that admonition, accusing the firm of copyright and trademark infringement for pre-installing Leopard on systems, Faced with that lawsuit, Psystar fought back with a legal claim which accused Apple of breaking anti-trust laws by determining that only Macs can run its OS....

Apple has hired Toronto Blue Jays assistant GM Jay Sartori to manage a sports section of the App Store, according to a number of reports dating back three days (via MG Siegler). Sartori a numbers guy who can effortlessly crunch statistics according to a bio from 2011, but he also has some experience in software development. He previously created some stats software for the MLB commissioner and has a background in finance and management information systems…...

The maker of Cydia, the first unofficial app store for jailbroken iOS devices, has filed a lawsuit against Apple. As reported by The Washington Post, the lawsuit was filed today, and it alleges that Apple has used anticompetitive practices to establish an illegal monopoly over iOS app distribution. Cydia was created by Jay Freeman, oftentimes better known as Saurik, as the first app store for the iPhone, before Apple launched its own App Store....

Just a little more than a week after acquiring Beats, Apple has now reportedly acquired Spotsetter. According to a report out of TechCrunch, Apple quietly snatched up the company mainly for the technology and two founders behind the service. Spotsetter was founded in 2012 by ex-Google Maps engineer Stephen Tse and Jonny Lee. Both Lee and Tse’s LinkedIn profiles now say they’re employed by Apple, as well. Spotsetter was a social-based search engine that offered personalized recommendations on places to go....

Apple today has updated its feature availability webpage to add 20 new locations to its 3D Flyover feature in Maps. Flyover, for those unfamiliar offers high resolution 3D imagery of locations via the Apple Maps app. Earlier this summer, Apple expanded Flyover to seven new locations and with today’s 20 new additions, the feature is now supported at more than 160 locations. Today’s new additions include cities in Austria, Denmark, Puerto Rico, France, Italy, Sweden, Japan, and more....

iPhone 5 mockup, first published by TechVulture China Mobile’s chairman Wang Jianzhou went on the record (again) to sort of confirm that an iPhone version for their fourth-generation TD-LTE network is coming. Bloomberg has the quote: You may recall China Mobile recently all but confirmed TD-LTE dealings with Apple. Back in January, their boss said in no vague terms that Apple will support TD-LTE. 4G TD-LTE is not to be confused with 4G LTE....

Apple has now blocked the launching of Mac apps infected with WireLurker malware, after earlier revoking security certificates to prevent them being installed on new devices. WireLurker was capable of infecting non-jailbroken iOS devices when connected to a Mac running one of the compromised apps. Over 400 Mac apps in a third-party Chinese app store were affected. In a written statement, an Apple spokesperson said: However, a security researcher says that it would be easy for other attackers to exploit the exact same weakness … We are aware of malicious software available from a download site aimed at users in China, and we’ve blocked the identified apps to prevent them from launching....

Apple CEO Tim Cook spent Friday and Saturday at Duke University during one of the school’s “Real Conversations with Real Leaders” sessions. Cook gave business advice from his perspective as one of the most powerful executives in the world to the crowd at his alma mater. Tim Cook graduated from the Fuqua School of Business in 1988. Other Duke alumni at Apple include Senior Vice President of Internet Services Eddy Cue and Senior Vice President of Operations Jeff Williams…...

It was discovered by Larry Salibra and others that Apple has been disabling its Apple News Service in China. Perhaps most troubling is how Apple is doing this: The New York Times reports that Apple confirmed, off the record, that it is indeed turning off Apple News in Mainland China. China is Apple’s most promising market but unfortunately it is controlled by a government that wields total control over information and the media....

A new report today from The Information shares that Apple found potential security issues with at least one server early last year. Apple purchased the server from Super Micro Computer and was used to help power its web services and also contained customer information. According to Super Micro Computer’s SVP and others familiar with the matter, Apple terminated their long-standing relationship with the supplier and also returned some servers as well....

In an interesting move, Apple has today launched a Tumblr blog for iTunes. The ‘blog’ runs a highly customized theme that more closely reflects Apple’s own website than a typical Tumblr page. The page features music, movies, TV and books content, with individual posts consisting of images, videos and animated GIFs of artists. Tumblr users can reblog these images on their own feeds, for social sharing. On a related note, iTunes also opened an official Instagram account earlier this month....

In this episode of the Apple @ Work podcast, Bradley is joined by Sunil Patro from SignEasy to talk about how the digital signature industry has evolved in the last decade. Sponsored by iMazing: The popular iOS device manager which gives you unparalleled control over iOS and iPadOS data. Request your free trial now. Links mentioned in this episode SignEasy Sunil Patro on LinkedIn eSignature usage among human resources professionals grows 2,530% Connect with Bradley Twitter LinkedIn Listen and Subscribe Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Pocket Casts Castro RSS

The Wall Street Journal reports that home automation company R2 studios is in acquisition talks with Apple, Google, and Microsoft. The company was founded by Blake Krikorian. He is known for creating Sling Media, the company behind the popular Slingbox product and service. R2 Studios is yet to release much publicly, but does have an Android app to control elements of the home such as lighting and heating systems. The talks are reportedly preliminary in some cases....