Apple Acquired Mobeewave, a Startup That Lets Smartphones Accept Payments Using NFC

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Apple has purchased payments startup Mobeewave, which created a system that lets shoppers tap a credit card or smartphone on another phone to process a payment. The functionality could allow iPhones to be used as payment terminals with no additional hardware required.


According to Bloomberg, Apple purchased the startup for approximately $100 million. Mobeewave's technology works with NFC, which is built into all modern iPhones. Mobeewave's website says sending payments with the Mobeewave app is as simple as inputting a transaction amount and tapping an NFC-enabled card on the back of a smartphone.

Apple hired the whole Mobeewave team, which includes dozens of employees, and the company is continuing to work from Montreal where it is based. Apple confirmed the acquisition with its typical statement: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

As Bloomberg points out, the acquisition has the potential to allow Apple to compete with companies like Square, which makes hardware that allows iPhone users to accept credit and debit card payments.

Tag: Apple acquisition

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Microsoft Shutting Down Cortana App for iOS and Android

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Microsoft today announced plans to "shift toward a transformational AI-powered assistant experience" in its Microsoft 365 apps, which will involve refocusing its "areas of innovation and development."


As a result, Microsoft is ending all support for third-party Cortana skills and eliminating the Cortana apps for iOS and Android devices. Third-party Cortana skills will be deprecated on September 7, while the iOS and Android apps will stop being supported in early 2021.

Microsoft says that the Cortana Windows 10 experience, Cortana integration in Outlook mobile, and upcoming Cortana voice assistance in the Teams mobile app can be used to do things like manage calendar and email and join meetings.

Microsoft also plans to end support for the Cortana integration in the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker in January 2021. Speaker owners who used Cortana are eligible for a $50 Microsoft gift card as compensation.

Tags: Microsoft, Cortana

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MacRumors Giveaway: Win an iPad Pro Case From Pad & Quill

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For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Pad & Quill to offer MacRumors a chance to win a high-quality case for the 11 or 12.9-inch iPad Pro models from 2018 and 2020. Pad & Quill makes some of the best leather and linen cases that you'll find on the market.


Pad & Quill makes a variety of cases for Apple's modern ‌iPad Pro‌ models, most of which have folio designs that keep the front and the back of the iPad protected and provide helpful viewing angles that also work with Apple's Magic Keyboard.


The Oxford Leather Case for the ‌iPad Pro‌, for example, is a folio-style case that is compatible with the Magic Keyboard, allowing it to be used right alongside the Magic Keyboard for protection, though it also works without the keyboard.


There's enough space to charge the Apple Pencil 2 while the case is attached, and there's an interior pocket for document storage purposes. When not in use, the case can be closed with an elastic strap, and it features a slim design enabled through the use of 3M adhesive.


We've tested various Pad & Quill cases for iPads over the years, and the adhesive technology that's used to keep the ‌iPad‌ in place while cutting down on bulk works well. There is a built-in horizontal viewing stand that's great for watching videos, and there is smart cover functionality that turns the ‌iPad‌'s display on and off as it's opened and closed.

Available in Chestnut, Whiskey, or Black, the Oxford Leather Cases are each made from a single piece of American Full-Grain Bridle Leather that develops a unique patina with use over time, while the interior is outfitted with a soft leather that keeps the ‌iPad‌ safe from scratches. The 11-inch version of the Oxford is priced at $110, and the 12.9-inch version is priced at $130.


For those who prefer fabric-style cases, Pad & Quill makes the Copertina Magic Case, another option that's compatible with the Magic Keyboard. It fits right over the keyboard's exterior, providing an extra layer of protection.

The Copertina Magic Case for the 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ is priced at $100, while the 12.9-inch version is priced at $110. Both models are available in linen gray or charcoal colors, and feature an archival quality cover made from thick buckram linen.


There's a multi-angle self-propping stand that can be engaged for watching movies and other activities, and there's space for charging the second-generation ‌Apple Pencil‌. Like the Contega, the Copertina has a slim-fit design and an interior pocket option. For those who don't have a Magic Keyboard, Pad & Quill also makes the Contega Thin, which is the same style keyboard but in a slimmer profile that works with the ‌iPad‌ alone.


Pad & Quill also has a few other ‌iPad‌ case options worth checking out for those who like a different aesthetic, including the Aria (with Magic Keyboard support) and the Cafe, along with cases like the Oxford that fit older ‌iPad‌ models.

We have four ‌iPad Pro‌ cases to give away to MacRumors readers, with each winner to choose their favorite case in the size needed for their ‌iPad Pro‌. To enter to win our ‌giveaway‌, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the ‌giveaway‌ restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

P&Q Giveaway
The contest will run from today (July 31) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on August 7. The winners will be chosen randomly on August 7 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
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Apple and Google Update Exposure Notification API

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Google today announced that the Exposure Notification API that it designed in partnership with Apple has received some improvements to make it more useful to public health authorities.


Most notably, the API supports interoperability between countries, and Bluetooth calibration has been improved. The full list of updates is below:

• When an exposure is detected, public health authorities now have more flexibility in determining the level of risk associated with that exposure based on technical information from the API.


• Bluetooth calibration values for hundreds of devices have been updated to improve the detection of nearby devices.


• The API now supports interoperability between countries, following feedback from governments that have launched ‌Exposure Notification‌ apps.


• To help public health authorities build apps more efficiently, we've added reliability improvements for apps and developer debug tools.


• We've improved clarity, transparency and control for users. For example, the Exposure Notifications settings on Android now include a simple on/off toggle at the top of the page. In addition, users will also see a periodic reminder if ENS is turned on.

Google says it has also launched more technical guidance on how the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API works over the course of the last few weeks, and is providing more information on its Exposure Notifications website.

According to Google, 16 countries and regions across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America are using apps built with the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API, and 20 U.S. states are "exploring" apps with the first set to roll out "over the coming weeks."

Tag: Exposure Notification

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Canada's 'COVID Alert' App Using Apple's Exposure Notification API Now Available

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Canada today released a new COVID-19 contact tracing app called COVID Alert, as noted by iPhone in Canada. COVID Alert takes advantage of Apple and Google's privacy-focused Exposure Notification API to alert people when they've come into contact with someone who has the coronavirus.


As with all COVID-19 contact tracing apps, COVID Alert uses Bluetooth to exchange random, anonymized codes with nearby phones, determining how close someone is by the strength of the Bluetooth signal.


If someone with COVID Alert tests positive for the virus, they can opt to enter that information into the app, and each person they've been in contact with will then receive an alert. COVID Alert collects no location information or personally identifiable data, and was built by Health Canada with the Canadian Digital Service.

COVID Alert has no way of knowing:

- your location - COVID Alert does not use GPS or location services
- your name or address
- the place or time you were near someone
- if you're currently near someone who was previously diagnosed

According to the app's description, provincial and territorial governments are working to support COVID Alert across Canada, and in some places, people can't yet report a COVID-19 diagnosis. At the current time, health authorities in Ontario are distributing one-time keys to people who are diagnosed with the coronavirus, and other territories and provinces will be "coming on board soon."

Even though the system is still rolling out in some areas, Canada recommends all Canadians install the app, which can be downloaded from the iOS App Store. iOS 13 is required for ‌Exposure Notification‌ apps, as iOS 14 does not support the API. [Direct Link]

Multiple countries have built apps using the ‌Exposure Notification‌ API so far, including Switzerland, Latvia, Italy, Germany, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Croatia, and Denmark.

Several U.S. states are working on apps that use the API, including Alabama, North Dakota, and South Carolina, but no contact tracing apps that take advantage of the tool have been released in the United States to date.

Tags: Canada, COVID-19 Coronavirus, Exposure Notification

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Nvidia in 'Advanced Talks' to Acquire Arm

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Nvidia is in advanced talks to acquire SoftBank Group's Arm Holdings, according to Bloomberg.



A potential sale of Arm to Nvidia, the world's largest graphics chipmaker, was rumored earlier this month. Nvidia's market value has increased to almost $260 billion in recent months, surpassing that of Intel. Arm has also become considerably more valuable as it pushes its architecture into smart cars, data centers, and networking technology. The purchase of Arm would help to transform Nvidia into a major player in the semiconductor industry.

Nvidia is reportedly the only company now in advanced negotiations with SoftBank to buy Arm. The two companies intend to reach a deal in the next few weeks. Representatives for Nvidia, SoftBank, and Arm declined to comment to Bloomberg.

Apple has licensed technology from Arm for its A-series chips used in iOS devices since 2006, and Apple is planning to expand the use of Arm-based chips to Macs, with the upcoming launch of Macs equipped with Apple Silicon. Arm also licenses to various other companies such as Qualcomm, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel. Companies that use Arm technology would likely not be in favor of a deal with Nvidia that does not include explicit assurances that Arm's instruction set will continue to be available for equal licensing opportunities.

SoftBank reportedly approached Apple to see if it was interested in the purchase of Arm. Despite preliminary discussions, Apple does not plan to pursue a bid because of Arm's licensing requirements and possible regulatory concerns.

If completed, a deal with Nvidia could be the largest ever in the semiconductor industry, and would likely attract scrutiny from monopoly regulators, particularly as Nvidia is a customer of Arm. SoftBank initially acquired Arm for $32 billion four years ago since it was a neutral party that could not be the subject of a dispute. A sale to Nvidia would probably not have a major impact on Apple's licensing of Arm technology because of the regulatory requirements that would accompany such a deal.

Tags: Arm, Nvidia, Softbank

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Apple Smartphone Shipments Grow as Huawei Takes Top Spot in Q2 2020

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Apple's iPhone shipments have grown in Q2 2020, as Huawei overtook Samsung as the world's largest smartphone vendor, according to new data shared by Canalys and IDC this week.



Though the global smartphone market contracted by 14-16 percent in Q2 2020, Apple was the only vendor to defy expectations and grow by up to 25 percent compared to the previous year. As Apple does not publicize exact shipment numbers, the estimated data varies between the two reports. Canalys places the number at 45.1 million, while IDC places it 37.6 million.

Both IDC and Canalys accredit Apple's growth to the success of iPhone SE, stating that the device accounted for around 28% of its global volume, while iPhone 11 accounted for almost 40%.

"‌iPhone SE‌ will remain crucial to prop up volume this year, amid delays to Apple's next flagship release," commented Canalys Analyst, Vincent Thielke. "In China, it had blockbuster results, growing 35% to reach 7.7 million units. It is unusual for Apple's Q2 shipments to increase sequentially. As well as the new ‌iPhone SE‌, Apple is also demonstrating skills in new user acquisition. It adapted quickly to the pandemic, doubling down on the digital customer experience as stay-at-home measures drive more customers to online channels."

Huawei toppled Samsung as the world-leading smartphone vendor, with 55.8 million shipments over Samsung's 53.7 million. Xiaomi came after Apple in fourth place with 28.8 million units, followed by Oppo with 25.8 million units. Huawei was also the standout leader in the world’s largest smartphone market, China, taking 44% market share. IDC cautions that the impact of the U.S. Huawei ban will continue to create uncertainty for the company in foreign markets.

Senior Canalys Analyst Ben Stanton stated that going forwards "geopolitical uncertainty also hangs over the global smartphone market. Countries are becoming polarized between the interests of the US and China. In India, for example, Chinese companies now face a wave of negative sentiment. Smartphone vendors need to act, and many are already directing funds to brand marketing to highlight their positive impact in a local region."

IDC expects the launch of four new potential models to allow Apple to effectively challenge Android 5G devices that have been out for more than a year. Apple no longer discloses ‌device shipments, which means that analyst estimates cannot be confirmed by specific sales data.

Tags: IDC, Canalys

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Honor 9S, Honor 9A Budget Smartphones Launched in India Via Flipkart and Amazon: Price, Sale Date

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Apple's Stock Price Officially Crosses the $400 Mark

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Following yesterday's strong earnings report, Apple's stock price has officially broken through the $400 mark in regular trading today, rising over 5% to sit at roughly $406.


Apple's share price rose above $400 during after-hours trading yesterday following the earnings release, but now that the mark has been breached during regular trading, it's considered official as an intraday all-time high.

Apple's stock had dropped as low as $224 in late March as concerns mounted over the global health crisis, but it has experienced a strong and steady recovery since, rising over 80 percent in the last four months. Many other large tech companies have experienced similar surges, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google parent Alphabet.

As part of its earnings release yesterday, Apple also announced that it will be initiating a four-for-one split of its stock in late August. The move will drop the price of a single share of the company's stock to around $100, before accounting for any changes in price between now and the effective date for the split. Current owners of Apple stock will receive three additional shares for each share they own.

Tag: AAPL

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Emails Reveal Why Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller Blocked In-App Purchase of Kindle Books

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Internal Apple emails, made public by the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust inquiry, have revealed information about why Apple blocked in-app purchases of Kindle books on iOS devices, reports The Verge.



Two sets of emails between Steve Jobs, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, and various other senior Apple executives, disclose the exact thinking behind how Apple approached Kindle on iOS. The current precedent was outlined by Steve Jobs, who stated that "I think this is all pretty simple — iBooks is going to be the only bookstore on iOS devices. We need to hold our heads high. One can read books bought elsewhere, just not buy/rent/subscribe from iOS without paying us, which we acknowledge is prohibitive for many things."

Originally, Kindle books were available for purchase via the iOS app. Since 2011, the Kindle iOS app has only allowed users to read books in the app. Purchase of new titles can only be made in Safari, not in the app itself. This allows Amazon to avoid a 30% Apple surcharge on in-app purchases.

‌Phil Schiller‌ expressed concern in one of the emails that Amazon was advertising the fact that users could still access Kindle books purchased on iOS on Android devices, suggesting it was convenient to switch from iOS to Android.



Schiller explained that Apple initially made an exception for Amazon, because "users would be buying books on a Kindle device and later accessing them on iPhone." Over time, as sales of iOS devices rose dramatically, Schiller believed that it was time to reconsider the exception. Amazon's TV advertising was a clear point of contention for Apple and prompted the change of attitude.



These discussions took place as Apple was planning to announce revised App Store policies for subscriptions. Jobs suggested in his response that Amazon "must use our payment system for everything," and justify this with the new subscription policies. "If they want to compare us to Android, let's force them to use our far superior payment system," Jobs wrote.



Amazon later removed a link to the Kindle Store in the iOS app to comply with the new App Store subscription rules. From then onwards, the Kindle app's storefront feature was removed entirely, with no overt direction as to where to buy books.



Yesterday, further emails published by the U.S. antitrust subcommittee revealed that Apple offered Amazon lower ‌App Store‌ fees to convince it to launch its Prime Video app on the ‌‌App Store‌‌ and Apple TV.

The news that Apple made exceptions for Amazon for Kindle prior to 2011 and for Prime Video has caused confusion among some observers, as Apple has consistently claimed it treats every developer the same. ‌Phil Schiller‌ stated ahead of the antitrust inquiry this week that all apps in the ‌App Store‌ have been treated "the same - one set of rules for everybody, no special deals, no special terms, no special code, everything applies to all developers the same."

Tags: antitrust, Kindle, Apple Books

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OPPO Ushers A New Era of High-End Technology, Launches Reno4 Pro with Premium Experience

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