Friday, December 14, 2018

Apple Music Now Playable on Amazon Echo Speakers via Alexa in United States

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Apple Music can now be streamed on Amazon Echo speakers via Alexa in the United States, a few days ahead of schedule.


As spotted by 9to5Mac, it is now possible to link Apple Music with your Amazon account in the Alexa app for iPhone and use Alexa voice commands to control playback of songs, playlists, and Beats 1 on Apple Music on Amazon Echo speakers.

To access this feature, simply use a voice command such as "Alexa, play music by Ed Sheeran on Apple Music" or "Alexa, play today's hits on Apple Music." Apple Music can also be set as the default music service in the Alexa app, so that "Apple Music" does not need to be specified each time.


Other streaming music services supported on Echo speakers include Spotify, Deezer, Vevo, SiriusXM, Tidal, and Pandora.

Apple and Amazon announced this new partnership in late November, with Amazon saying it is "committed to offering great music providers to our customers," and referring to Apple Music as "one of the most popular music services."

Apple Music playback on Amazon Echo speakers is currently limited to the United States.


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Apple Inks Deal With DHX Media to Produce and Release All-New 'Peanuts' Content

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In one of the bigger deals for Apple's upcoming streaming TV service, Variety reports today that the Cupertino company has made a deal with DHX Media to produce all-new "Peanuts" content that will be exclusive to Apple.

Image via Variety/Peanuts Worldwide LLC

Under the deal, DHX and its subsidiary Peanuts Worldwide will develop and produce the original series, specials, and shorts, while Apple will release it on its streaming service. One such project will be a Peanuts short featuring astronaut Snoopy that will be themed around STEM education, which Apple has long supported.

It's unclear what else will be coming to Apple's service from the Peanuts characters, and the report makes no mention of Apple gaining the rights to existing Peanuts content. The franchise dates back to 1950, when Charles M. Schulz created the Peanuts comic strip, which has now grown into a larger media franchise of TV specials, feature films, short films, merchandise, and more.

News of content acquired by Apple for its streaming service has been increasing lately, and in the past few weeks we've heard about new cast members for shows from M. Night Shyamalan, a new series starring Jennifer Garner, and Apple's interest in a violent drama show starring Richard Gere. Previous rumors suggested Apple's TV service would launch around March 2019, but now Variety reports that the debut will be sometime in the second half of 2019.


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Deals: Best Buy Weekend Sale, Exclusive Elevation Dock Discount, and More

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Best Buy today kicked off a new three-day sale that will last all weekend and end on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. CT. The sale is full of great last-minute gift ideas for the holidays, and Best Buy still promises free shipping on everything all season. Orders for most items placed before 10:30 a.m. CT on December 20 will arrive before Christmas Eve.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

The first items in the sale are last year's iPhone X, 8, and 8 Plus, with savings of up to $150 for qualified activation for Verizon or Sprint customers. Savings are deducted off the full price of the iPhone and reflected in reduced monthly payments over the life of the device, including as low as $18.75/month for 24 months (and $150 down payment) for an iPhone X on Sprint.

Best Buy also has four models of the mid 2018 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar discounted by up to $200, but these prices are beaten by B&H Photo. We've collected each model on sale at Best Buy, along with B&H Photo's discount price, in the list below.

13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

The Best Buy sale has quite a few other items discounted this weekend, so we've created a list of some of the highlights below, but be sure to head to Best Buy to shop the full sale before it ends Sunday night.


In other sales, this week MacRumors partnered up with accessory company Elevation Lab to offer our readers 40 percent off savings on a variety of the company's iPhone docks. You can find all three deals below, and to gain access to the savings enter the exclusive promo code DOCKDEALS18 during the checkout screen on Amazon. This sale will also expire on Sunday evening.

Amazon is also offering certified refurbished MacBook Pros from 2017 and select iPad models at discounted prices today. The cheapest MacBook Pro available is the 13-inch Touch Bar model with 8GB RAM/256GB HD at $1,199.99, down from $1,499.99. These MacBook Pros are sold by Woot and have been inspected and tested to be in working condition, and also come with a 90-day Woot warranty.

The iPads on sale include the 64GB iPad Air 2, 32GB iPad from 2017, and 128GB 12-inch iPad Pro in Silver and Space Gray. Amazon's price on the iPad Air 2 is $277.00, and shoppers can expect similar refurbished warranty coverage for these devices.

Other last-minute Christmas shopping ideas can be found below:
  • B&H Photo - HomePod for $249.00

  • Targus - 15 percent off sitewide sale (with code TARGUS15SAS)

  • Nodus - 15 percent off sitewide sale (with exclusive code MACRUM20)

  • Pad & Quill - Save up to 25 percent on iPhone cases

  • Kano - Get the Harry Potter Coding Kit for $79.99, down from $99.99 through the end of 2018

  • Mujjo - Save 15 percent on all products with coupon code #sinatra (expires 12/19)

As a final note while you're shopping around online this weekend, some of Anker's best last-minute December deals will be expiring early next week. Anker's portable battery packs, wireless chargers, Bluetooth speakers, Lightning and USB-C cables, and Christmas sets make perfect holiday stocking stuffers and gifts, so be sure to head to our Deals Roundup to checkout the full list before the bargains begin disappearing on Monday, December 17.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

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Satechi's USB-C Hubs Now Available in Gold to Match New MacBook Air

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Satechi today announced that three of its USB-C hubs are now available to pre-order in a gold color that resembles the finish of the latest MacBook Air.

  • Slim USB-C Multi-Port Adapter V2 - $69.99: 4K HDMI, SD and microSD card readers, one USB-C port with Power Delivery, and two USB-A ports. Plug-and-play with 2015 and newer MacBook, 2016 and newer MacBook Pro, 2018 MacBook Air, and 2018 iPad Pro.
  • USB-C Multi-Port Adapter 4K With Ethernet V2 - $89.99: 4K HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, SD and microSD card readers, one USB-C port with Power Delivery, and three USB-A ports. Plug-and-play with 2015 and newer MacBook, 2016 and newer MacBook Pro, 2018 MacBook Air, and 2018 iPad Pro.
  • USB-C Pro Hub Adapter - $99.99: 4K HDMI, SD and microSD card readers, one USB-C port with Power Delivery, one USB-C port, and two USB-A ports. Plug-and-play with 2016 and newer MacBook Pro and 2018 MacBook Air.
This is purely a cosmetic change, with pricing and functionality of the USB-C hubs unchanged compared to the existing silver and space gray variants. Orders will begin to ship in January, according to the accessory maker.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Satechi. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

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