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Apple has just started seeding out the fourth beta for tvOS 10 today to all current testers and developers. To update, check through the Software Update section on the Apple TV, or grab the Configuration Profile from Apple’s Developer center if you’d like to install it for the first time. Apple’s newest tvOS software introduces Dark Mode, Single Sign-on, HomeKit, and YouTube search to the latest Apple TV. tvOS 10 beta 3 brought in more language support with Siri, and some improved functionality within the Music app....

After sharing the first look at the series last night, Apple this evening took the wraps off of its second promo clip for its upcoming Carpool Karaoke. Much like the first clip, this one offers a quick look at some of the guests that will appear on the show… In the description, Apple says that celebrity pairings will sing their own personal playlists while driving around. The clip also shows the celebrities doing other things such as helicopter rides, drinking at a bar, and more....

Apple spent $7M last year lobbying the Trump administration, the highest amount it has ever spent on its efforts to influence the White House. In all, tech giants spent a record $50M on lobbying in 2017. The record spend isn’t too surprising when you consider the number of issues on which Apple found itself battling with the Trump presidency … Re/code obtained the numbers from ethics forms companies have to complete to reveal their lobbying spend....

Apple is slated to play a role in the Israel Machine Vision Conference in Tel Aviv next month. The company is listed as a sponsor for the event, while one of its video engineering leads is slated to lead a presentation… Apple this year is listed as a “Silver Sponsor” for the event. It’s unclear what sort of investment this represents, but it’s the third-highest sponsorship tier there is. Other sponsors include General Motors, Qualcomm, Intel, and many more....

An Apple Store in Monterey, California was evacuated yesterday as employees began to fall ill reportedly due to a package delivered to the location covered with an unknown substance. CBS reports that “fire and hazmat officials determined the package was contaminated in transit when an unknown substance most likely leaked onto the package’s exterior.” Employees at the store in the Del Monte Shopping Center called 911 at 12:25 p.m. after some employees began feeling dizzy and nauseous after handling a package that was delivered to the store, according to Monterey Fire Chief Gaudenz Panholzer… Firefighters and the Monterey County regional hazardous materials team evacuated three stores, including the Apple store, as well as an outdoor eating area, according to Panholzer....

After a long week of exciting announcements from WWDC, the company has officially announced the winners of this year’s Apple Design Awards. As always, Apple’s goal is to recognize and promote developers that do outstanding work, whether that be in design, innovation, delight, impact, interaction, or inclusivity. This year’s winners include some really great apps like Carrot Weather and Pok Pok Playroom. During the design awards, we heard from several Apple designers, from Alan Dye to Mike Stern to Linda Dong....

In an interview for NBC (a fragment of which you can watch below), Cook says that the company would start making one of its Mac lines in the US starting next year. This could mean quite a bit of outsourcing from companies in the US. The interesting thing is that Foxconn, one of Apple’s main suppliers, is also set to expand its operations in the USA too. If you remember, Foxconn had some serious complaints about the way it was treating its employees, and Apple sent the Fair Labor Association to inspect the company’s plants in China....

One week following the first beta seed of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5, Apple has released OS X 10.8.5 build 12F13 to developers. The new update includes no known issues and is available for developers via the Mac Developer Center and the Mac App Store Software Update function. Apple continues to ask developers to focus on WiFi, Graphics, Wake from Sleep, PDF viewing and Accessibility, and Mobile Device Management during their testing....

Yesterday we shared that the popular automatic screen brightness adjusting app Flux had found a way to make it from the Mac to iPhones and iPads on iOS 9. This afternoon the developers behind Flux announced that the app will no longer be available on iOS at the request of Apple. In a blog post sharing the development, the developers behind the app said that Apple contacted them to say that the app violated Apple’s Developer Program Agreement....

Apple published an open letter late Sunday night responding to recent allegations that the company had given customers’ personal information, including phone call logs, to the U.S. government as part of the National Security Agency’s secret “PRISM” program. In the letter, Apple notes that the government had in fact issued several thousand requests for such information, but that Apple’s legal department had carefully examined each request and turned over only the smallest amount of information necessary, sometimes rejecting requests outright....

Apple’s iTunes app Store has been open for almost four years an in that time has gone from 0 apps downloaded to 25 Billion (almost 4 apps for every human on the planet!). At the rate it is accelerating however, it should pass 40 billion by this time next year. As for the 25 Billion Apps downloaded contest, no winner has been announced but they will receive $10,000 gift certificate in iTunes or Mac App Store....

AAPL shares have crossed another major milestone with the market cap hitting over $1.5 trillion during trading today. The growth makes it the first US company to reach the achievement. Just last week we saw AAPL pushing closer to the $1.5 trillion market cap mark as it set an intraday record at $326 a share. After more recent gains, Apple’s stock price was up another 2% today to around $352, putting its total value of shares at $1....

Apple shared a pair of new videos on its YouTube channel today focusing on how creatives incorporate the Mac into their workflow. One video focuses on musician James Blake, while the other highlights photographer Tyler Mitchell. These new videos are part of Apple’s “Behind the Mac” series, which highlights some of the artists who use the Mac as an integral part of their setups. The first new video today focuses on Tyler Mitchell, a photographer from New York....

In the latest episode of the Mac Admins Podcast, Jeremy Butcher, Apple’s product marketing manager for enterprise and education software goes in-depth on the new and important changes coming with iOS 13 and macOS Catalina from an enterprise perspective. As the name of the podcast suggests, the focus of the episode is on some of the most important changes that IT admins can expect and look forward to with iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina....

The Apple Store for Education is currently down for updates worldwide. As it is mid-July, this probably signal that Apple’s Back to School promotion is about to go live. Years ago, Apple would give students App Store gift cards in addition to the usual education price discounts on the hardware itself. More recently, Apple has bundled free pairs of Beats headphones with the purchase of its devices. This usually means giving away BeatsX, Powerbeats3, or Beats Solo3 depending on the price of the Apple device....

The Apple Store is down ceremony continues with Apple’s October event, which kicks off (virtually) at 10 AM Pacific Time today. We are expecting to see the iPhone 12 lineup — comprising four different models in new smaller and larger sizes than the iPhone 11 — as well as a new smaller ‘HomePod mini’ Apple takes the store down to build hype and update marketing pages without leaking new product info before they are revealed on stage....

Apple RomaEst in Italy will permanently close on October 17 as Apple prepares to open a historic flagship store in the center of Rome. The plan to close Apple’s oldest store in Italy was outlined in early January, but delays due to COVID-19 significantly impacted the progress of the project. The webpage for Apple RomaEst was updated Friday morning to thank customers for more than 13 great years at Centro Commerciale RomaEst, a shopping center in Rome’s suburb of Lunghezza....

Apple is said to owe 13 billion euros (estimated $16 billion USD) to Ireland, according to the country’s tax collectors, Reuters reports. Niall Cody, Revenue Commissioners’ chairman, says that Apple’s bill (which it is disputing) is “ in that ballpark,” and that nearly all calculations will be done and sent before the end of April. As we reported back in January, Ireland was ordered to recover 13 billion euros from Apple in underpaid taxes, and it looks like this will indeed be the final amount that will be owed....

Siri and Apple Music in every room If I were in charge of Apple’s home projects, my number one goal would be to have a device in every room that enables access to Siri, Apple Music, and Apple Podcasts. I actually think it should come in two flavors. There should be a $69 model with an Echo Dot quality speaker, and then there should be a $99 option that is a Wi-Fi mesh access point for a revived Airport Extreme Wi-Fi product....

Apple’s tiny speaker is getting a big spotlight at Apple Stores, with new displays that turn it up to 11 — or in this case, 17. A wall of 17 HomePods fills the latest Avenue in select stores. You can experience it for yourself today at home. A circular display with graphics detailing the intelligent features of HomePod mini animates at the center of a matrix of black and white HomePod mini models....