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Apple has unveiled lots of HomePod details this morning including a new guide for how the smart speaker can be controlled with the top surface area. HomePod will be primarily driven by Siri, but tapping the top will support a number of gestures for playback control. The top surface area will respond to taps much like AirPods, but a number of gestures are supported and work similar to clicking playback controls on EarPods....

Gizmodo got its hands on Apple’s secretive Genius training manual and just posted an extensive breakdown of what goes on behind the retail scenes. According to Gizmodo: Check out a few workbook pages above, and then go to Gizmodo for all the details. The Genius Training Student Workbook we received is the company’s most up to date, we’re told, and runs a bizarre gamut of Apple Dos and Don’ts, down to specific words you’re not allowed to use, and lessons on how to identify and capitalize on human emotions....

On April Foolsday in 1976 Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne signed the founding contract for Apple Computer. Eleven days later, Ron Wayne decided to sell his 10% of the company for $800, which is now worth $3.9 billion. The founding contract that made history was originally expected to sell for $150,000, but today sold for a cool $1.6 million to Eduardo Cisneros, chief executive officer of Cisneros Corp, at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, reports Bloomberg....

Update: Apple confirmed the use of China Telecom servers in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. Apple has begun using Chinese data centers to store iCloud data for local Apple customers, the first time Apple has used mainland China for iCloud account and information storage. On a municipal government website, Fuzhuo City Telecom said that ‘Apple China has completed the iCloud data dump into China Telecom’s cloud services’. The post has since been taken down from the government site, however....

From 9to5Toys.com: Apple quietly released an updated lineup of Retina MacBook Pros earlier this morning and as a result, previous generation (which, let’s be honest, aren’t a big step down) refurbished models have received notable price drops. At the low end, the October 2012 (first generation) 13-inch model has dropped $59, which has made it the first refurbished Retina MacBook Pro with a 1 year Apple warranty to dip below $1,000....

One of the standout features of the new Apple TV is its support for gaming, but now Apple has reversed its stance and placed a new limitation on that capability. Apple has said from the beginning that third-party controllers will be supported on the new Apple TV. The SDK for the device carries Game Controller support and the company mentioned it on stage at its unveil event. Apple also mentioned that games that worked only with third-party controllers were okay, meaning the games wouldn’t necessarily have to be compatible with the company’s bundled Siri Remote....

Apple’s Personal Pickup service – where you place your order online but can pick it up from a local Apple Store as early as an hour later – just hit six more European countries today: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Long limited to the U.S. only, it made its way to Australia and Canada a couple of weeks ago, and the UK a few days later. German site Macerkopf first noticed its availability in Germany, before updating with the additional five countries....

Update: Both relevant photos have since been removed from Instagram. Following a report earlier today that Apple and French fashion retailer Colette were teasing a one day in-store experience, there’s now more evidence the collaboration might be for Apple’s upcoming Apple Watch. It appears that Apple’s design team could also be headed to the event or at least to the same city, lending more weight to the idea that Apple Watch is about to get some stage time during Paris Fashion Week....

Forrester Research today published an interesting and extensive analysis (via CNET) based on a large-scale poll of 10,000 information workers from North America and Western Europe, including 3,350 higher-ups that make purchasing decisions. The report, titled “Apple Infiltrates The Enterprise And Reshapes The Markets For Personal Devices At Work,” found out that 21 percent use one or more Apple devices (the figure includes gear they had brought in). Nearly half of businesses, or 46 percent, now issue Macs to their workers....

Apple is now so focused on marketing-driven goals that its software quality has “taken a nosedive” in the last few years, argues a blog post by Instapaper creator and former Tumblr lead developer Marco Arment. People are sticking with OS X not because they love it, he suggests, but because Windows is worse and desktop Linux is too much hassle. The issue, believes Arment, is that Apple is so focused on releasing a major new version of OS X each year that it is making it impossible for engineering teams to maintain quality....

According to a report from the The Economic Times, Apple is planning to set up a distribution center in India. The move comes as Apple is working to establish a retail presence in the country and has faced challenges due to local regulations. This evening’s report claims that Apple will work with its global logistics partner, DB Schenker, who will set up and operate the center. The goal of the distribution center in India is to ensure that Apple’s products are “rarely sold out at the retail level” and to set “common pricing for offline and online sales,” thus giving Apple greater control of the supply chain in the country....

Apple today has released its 12th annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, detailing the work the company is doing in improving conditions at supplier facilities. Apple touts that 15 million supplier employees have now been trained on their rights, including 3 million just last year. The report, however, also offers color on some of the issues Apple still faces in its supply chain… Apple audited 756 suppliers in 30 countries as part of its progress report, with 197 of those suppliers being brand new and audited for the first time....

Apple is continuing its release of iPhone X ads today with a new video focused on using Face ID to quickly make purchases with Apple Pay. The whimsical new ad highlights how Face ID and Apple Pay makes impulse purchases even easier… Throughout the ad, the iPhone X user travels through various stands at an outdoor market, using Apple Pay to buy a hat, a new suit, and much more. While you don’t see the Apple Pay checkout process every time, you do here the incredibly satisfying sound effect from the Face ID authentication process....

Apple’s Education announcement is later today at the Guggenheim in New York City and we will be covering it live. We have so far heard that it is education related and Apple’s iWork lead Roger Rosner is involved in what seems to be textbook creation and distribution tools. Moreover, leading textbook publisher McGraw Hill will be involved, according to various reports. Long time Apple watcher Jason O’Grady from ZDNet said he heard that some software is on tap today including Pages ’12 with support for publishing to iBookStore, an iBooks 2 app that will also work on Macs with Lion and Textbook rentals....

As we first discovered in the iOS software code a year ago, Apple is finally ready to implement Bluetooth in its Apple TV products. The latest Apple TV beta not only has a new Bluetooth menu but you can pair wireless keyboards to both the second- and third-gen Apple TV. Once connected, you can use a wireless keyboard to completely control the Apple TV without using the included remote. The arrow keys function for navigation, the Return key is the play/pause, and the Escape key maps to ‘menu’ or up ‘one level’ functionality....

Ahead of a BBC special exploring work conditions in Apple’s supply chain airing tonight (update: video embedded below), BBC.com today published a story revealing the results of its investigation. The news outlet went undercover into Apple’s supply chain and claims “Apple’s promises to protect workers were routinely broken” while citing a number of workplace violations: It found standards on workers’ hours, ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile workers were being breached at the Pegatron factories…Exhausted workers were filmed falling asleep on their 12-hour shifts at the Pegatron factories on the outskirts of Shanghai… One undercover reporter, working in a factory making parts for Apple computers, had to work 18 days in a row despite repeated requests for a day off....

Apple has today added a new guideline to the App Store Review Guidelines, the first clause specifically targeted at Apple Watch development. This rule that Watch apps that only tell time will be rejected has actually been enforced since Apple started accepting WatchKit submissions as many developers complained to find their apps had been rejected for this reason. The documentation change now formalizes this rule into an official policy. The Apple Watch does not currently allow third-parties to create custom watch faces....

As is tradition, Apple will be shutting down App Store Connect for the holidays in December. This year sees the same dates as past years for downtime that developers will want to plan app submissions around. Like previous years, Apple will be shutting down App Store Connect during the week of Christmas from December 23-27. Apple shared the news on its developer site today: Apple Store Black Friday: get up to $150 gift card with purchase of iPhone, iPad, Mac and more Best Black Friday Apple Deals: AirPods with Qi Case $150, Apple TV deals from $122, more Apple unveils holiday gift guide featuring iPhone 12 and more, opens holiday return window The busiest season on the App Store is almost here....

Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts is set to appear as a featured speaker at this year’s Global Retailing Conference scheduled for next month in Tucson, Arizona. Ahrendts has led Apple’s retail and online stores since leaving her CEO position at Burberry between 2013 and 2014. Here’s how the Global Retailing Conference (via @setteBIT) is described: Macy’s CEO Terry J. Lundgren will moderate this year’s discussion at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort on April 20 and 21....

Apple just announced its fiscal third quarter earnings and as usual offered some stats on progress since last checking in. Among the notables: the company’s revenue in China is up 112%, it returned $13 billion to shareholders through its capital return program, and it sold a record number of iPhones and Macs during the quarter. The company, citing its own research, noted that users switching from Android to iPhone was at an all-time high, while giving us some insight into Apple Watch usage....