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Apple has released a new beta version of Safari to beta testers in the AppleSeed program and Mac developers. The new version for Mavericks is 7.1, while Moutain Lion users will see version 6.2. The update includes several upgrades to the WebKit engine that powers the browser. According to the release notes, the changes include support for WebGL, IndexedDB, and JavaScript tweaks, among other things. There is also apparently a change to the way the app handles extensions, as the beta disables all installed add-ons by default and the notes request that developers check for any compatiblity issues....

Apple today emailed out registered authors for iBooks to announce some interesting changes and enhancements to the program. Some notable enhancements, via Apple’s email: To help you get your book to readers quickly, we review 95 percent of all book submissions within one business day. Note that you do not need an ISBN to deliver a book to iBooks. You can now request up to 250 promo codes per book. Promo codes allow you to provide free copies of your book to reviewers, bloggers, or others to build momentum for your book....

After releasing new tutorial videos for developers yesterday, Apple today has added a variety of new and more specific app categories to the tvOS App Store. The changes, first noticed by AfterPad, make it even easier for users to easily and quickly discover new apps for the fourth-gen Apple TV. The new categories bring the tvOS App Store closer to being in line with the iOS App Store. The tvOS App Store’s new categories change from apps centered around business and travel content, to medical and productivity apps....

If you’ve been holding out hope that Apple’s October 13 event will include the announcement of the long-rumored AirTag item trackers, things aren’t shaping up in your favor. A new rumor today claims that AirTags have been delayed until March of 2021. Jon Prosser reports on Twitter that he’s hearing from his sources that “Apple has pushed back the announcement and launch of AirTags to March of 2021.” This comes after a previous report indicated that the AirTag item trackers could be released alongside the iPhone 12 this month....

Digging through an internal build of iOS 13 from June, MacRumors’ Joe Rossignol and Steve Moser got a look at how the Find My app could display “Items” in a new tab that isn’t currently seen in the iOS 13.1 beta. Apple’s new Tile-like tracker is expected to be an extension of the fresh Find My tracking capabilities that allows users to find Apple devices even if they’re offline. Here’s how Apple described how the new functionality will work:...

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at Apple’s continuous shifts and expansion of its Asia-based product suppliers. For several years, Foxconn has been known as the de facto Apple manufacturing partner for iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macs. However, over the past few years, Apple has begun manufacturing certain products at Tawain-based Pegatron. Today’s report positions Apple’s move to diversify its production manufacturing partners as one to reduce risk and to provide greater supply chain balance....

Apple today has shared its latest iPhone XS and iPhone XR advertisement. This one focuses on Depth Control, which allows users to “get the perfect amount of blur” when taking a picture. In the ad, Apple shows the process of taking a Portrait Mode image and subsequently adjusting the depth of field. Depth Control was introduced last year as part of iOS 12 on the iPhone XS and iPhone XR....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO3rsfE7GM0 Apple pushed a new ad to their YouTube channel today showing off the design similarities between iOS 7 and the soon-to-be-released iPhone 5c. The ad is colorful and animated, much like iOS 7 itself, and features various parts of the hardware and software merging and morphing to show that they were designed with each other in mind. Oh, and if you like the song on this ad, you can get it on iTunes right here....

In late January, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced to employees that a new major Mac and iPad discount program for employees would kickoff at some point in late June of this year. Keeping that promise, Apple, today, has started the new employee Mac and iPad discount program. Apple employees are able to purchase Macs with a $500 discount (excluding the Mac mini) and iPads with a $250 through Apple’s internal employee portal....

In traditional fashion, the Apple Store is down ahead of Apple’s announcements at today’s event at Lane Tech High School in Chicago. The education-focused event is expected to feature a new entry-level iPad, as well as a raft of software announcements aimed at attracting schools to convert to Apple devices. The event kicks off at 10 AM Central time. Apple won’t be live-streaming this time around, but we’ll be bringing liveblog coverage from the event so stay tuned....

A new report from Re/code today about Apple’s upcoming music streaming platform reiterated much of what we already know about the service, which is expected to debut with iOS 8.4 at WWDC. iOS 8.4 is already in the hands of developers with a revamped Music app. As was previously known, Re/code notes that the recent hire of BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe and other BBC DJs is a plan to help bolster iTunes Radio’s curated playlist feature by manually compiling track lists instead of allowing an algorithm to make the decisions....

A report back in February that Apple would be allowed to open retail stores in India has been corroborated by India’s Economic Times. India normally doesn’t allow single-brand retail stores unless at least 30% of their products are made within the country, but Apple is reportedly set to be granted an exemption on the grounds that its products are ‘cutting-edge technology.’ The exemption is a pretty big deal for Apple …...

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNsGNlDb6xY&start=109] Contrary to earlier published reports, the iPhone’s A6 chip is not the first ARM Cortex A15 processor in public usage. According to AnandTech, it is something entirely different and perhaps more significant: a CPU core of Apple’s own design. To be clear, the A6 is still based off ARM’s designs. It is not an ARM-specific CPU design like a Cortex A8, A9, or a new A15. What does this mean?...

Marc Newson, famous designer and close friend of Apple design guru Jony Ive, just gave his first solo interview since joining Apple last year. In the interview with the London Evening Standard, Newson talks Apple Watch, thought to be one of the first products he had involvement with since joining the company, as well as the future of the company from fashion to cars. When asked about Apple Watch, and specifically the criticism from the fashion industry, Newson responded:...

Stats on smartphone usage suggest that Apple’s move to larger iPhone screens isn’t just to meet consumer demand – it’s also part of the company’s play to grow its Services revenue. Apple is expected to announce three new iPhones this week, with screen sizes of 5.8-inches, 6.1-inches and 6.5-inches. That gives them an average screen area 23% larger than last year’s line-up … The comparison was drawn by the WSJ, which cited Kantar data suggesting that larger screens lead to greater usage....

If you need more convincing before ditching your BlackBerry, Apple just posted a new page on its website that highlights the iPhone’s use in the enterprise market. The info-packed page shows how the iPhone is used in the business setting to organize days, manage projects, setup meetings, read mail, set calendar appointments, keep contacts organized, and more. In typical advertising fashion, Apple highlighted specific apps on the App Store like “MicroStrategy,” “OmniFocus” for iPhone, “GoToMeeting,” “TripIt,” and much more....

Earlier this month, four US senators formally questioned Apple in a letter over its COVID-19 screening app and website even though the company has been transparent about how it works and the privacy and security it’s built on. Now Apple has officially responded to the government request. After the US senators asked more questions about the COVID-19 app and website we tested out Apple’s privacy claims and found them to be true....

As part of its Martin Luther King Day celebrations, Apple has shared a newsroom article highlighting the charitable giving and volunteering efforts of its employees. The company announced that Apple’s Giving program has raised more than $365 million for nonprofits around the world since it began eight years ago. It also shines light on some of its volunteering initiatives, including a coding class in Ireland run by volunteers from Apple’s Cork campus....

Apple announced Snow Leopard at WWDC last week, equipped with the technology – Open Computing Language (OpenCL) – that will allow the OS to use the processing power of graphics processors for non-graphics apps. OpenCL is based on the C programming language and has been proposed as an open standard. As part of the standard-setting process, Apple has joined a consortium of companies (the Khronos Group) to develop OpenCL as a standard....

Apple’s beta testing app TestFlight has today been updated with support for Dark Mode. The update comes following last week’s release of iOS 13, which includes support for a system-wide Dark Mode. Dark Mode in iOS 13 can be manually enabled via Settings or Control Center, or automatically turned on based on a schedule or time of day. TestFlight taps into that by automatically adjusting its theme based on your system-wide theme....