Disney+ is coming to Europe sooner than we thought. Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom will now get the streaming service on March 24, Disney revealed today.

Additional Western Europe markets, including Belgium, the Nordics, and Portugal, will follow in summer 2020, said the company in a press release. Disney+ is already available in the Netherlands, where it launched as a free pilot trial back in September.

The new launch date is a week earlier than was initially scheduled. In November, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the launch date for European markets would be March 31.

Pricing has also been confirmed at £5.99/€6.99 per month, or £59.99/€69.99 for an annual subscription. Disney+ will be available on Amazon Fire devices, LG and Samsung smart TVs, Roku’s streaming devices, Apple TV, iOS, Android, Xbox One, and PS4 at launch.

Users will access high-quality and commercial-free viewing, up to four concurrent streams, unlimited downloads on up to ten devices, personalised recommendations, and the ability to set up to seven different profiles, including the ability for parents to set Kids Profiles that have an easy- to -navigate, child-friendly interface to access age-appropriate content.

Over 500 feature films and over 7,500 shows will be available on the service including new original content like the critically acclaimed “The Mandalorian” and “The World According To Jeff Goldblum,” along with timeless classics like “Lady and the Tramp” and the entire Pixar library.

(Thanks, Ricardo!)

This article, “Disney+ to Launch in Europe Ahead of Schedule on March 24” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Minimalist sleep tracking app NapBot has received an update that brings a range of improvements for both watchOS and iOS components of the app.

The app uses the new CoreML on-device machine-learning capabilities that come with iOS 13 and watchOS 6 to understand users’ sleep patterns, and version 1.3 of NapBot includes a fully independent Apple Watch app for the first time.

That means users no longer have to install the iPhone app to use it. Instead, NapBot can be downloaded directly on their wrist using the dedicated ‌Apple Watch‌ App Store. The only limitation users should be aware of is that the ‌Apple Watch‌ app only shows sleep data from the previous day, whereas the ‌iPhone‌ app offers a full sleep history.

The new dedicated version of the Watch app also comes with a redesigned Siri watch face card, and complications for every type of watch face and every complication position, so there’s plenty of display customization to be had.

In addition, there’s support for daily notifications for tracked sleep, a new today widget for ‌iPhone‌, a new awake minutes trend with insights, and background tracking for ‌Apple Watch‌.

NapBot, available on the iOS and watchOS App Stores, runs on a subscription model of $1 per month or $10 per year, but there’s a free 7-day trial available so users can try the app before they commit.

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Apple is widely rumored to release four new iPhones in the fall, including one 5.4-inch model, two 6.1-inch models, and one 6.7-inch model, and Japanese blog Mac Otakara has offered a few details surrounding these devices. The information is said to come from sources within Apple’s supply chain in China.

The translated report is quite difficult to decipher, but here are some details that are being suggested:

• 6.7-inch model will have a thickness around 7.4mm, which would be nearly 10% thinner than the iPhone 11 Pro Max at 8.1mm
• All four new iPhone models will have OLED displays and Face ID
• 5.4-inch model’s height would be between the iPhone SE and iPhone 8, while at least one of the 6.1-inch iPhone models would have a height that falls between the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro
• 6.7-inch model will be slightly taller than the iPhone 11 Pro Max
• 5.4-inch and lower-end 6.1-inch models will have dual-lens rear camera arrays identical to the iPhone 11
• 6.7-inch model will have a triple-lens rear camera with larger sensors than the iPhone 11 Pro Max
• 5.4 inch, 6.7-inch, and at least one 6.1-inch model will have different numbers of microphone holes along the bottom

In line with analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the report suggests that the new iPhone lineup will be introduced in September as usual.

This article, “Rumored 6.7-Inch iPhone Said to Be Thinner, Have Larger Rear Camera Sensors, and More” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today began selling certified refurbished iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max models for the first time since the devices were released in September 2018.

At the time of writing, the refurbished models are available in Space Gray, Silver, or Gold with 64GB, 256GB, or 512GB of storage through Apple’s online store in the United States. All of the models are unlocked, aka SIM-free.

Refurbished models available:

• iPhone XS – 64GB: $699, down from $999 in September 2018
• iPhone XS – 256GB: $829, down from $1,149 in September 2018
• iPhone XS – 512GB: $999, down from $1,349 in September 2018
• iPhone XS Max – 64GB: $799, down from $1,099 in September 2018
• iPhone XS Max – 256GB: $929, down from $1,249 in September 2018
• iPhone XS Max – 512GB: $1,099, down from $1,449 in September 2018

Apple says all refurbished iPhone models are thoroughly inspected, tested, cleaned, and repackaged with a new white box and all manuals and accessories. Apple also installs a new battery and replaces the outer shell, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between a refurbished and brand new iPhone.

Any refurbished iPhone model comes with Apple’s standard one-year warranty effective on the date the device is delivered, which can be extended with AppleCare+ at a cost of $199 for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

Apple is not offering refurbished iPhone XR models at this time.

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Starting in February, Apple is hosting its annual company wide fitness challenge for all of its employees, tasking them with closing all three Apple Watch Activity rings every day of the month.

Employees who successfully finish the challenge will be rewarded with a t-shirt that says “2020” in a logo with ‌Apple Watch‌ Activity-style rings, as shared by an Apple employee.

The employees who complete the challenge every day will earn a “gold” ranking and will receive a gold pin along with their t-shirt, and there are also silver and bronze rewards accompanied by silver and bronze pins.

Apple in 2018 and 2019 hosted similar challenges offering employees Activity-themed ‌Apple Watch‌ bands as prizes.

Apple’s February fitness challenge is internal only and is limited to Apple employees, but Apple also regularly hosts public fitness challenges, though these do not come with physical rewards.

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Tim Cook visited Ireland today to collect an award from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for Apple’s 40 years of investment in the country. Apple’s CEO also met with Irish musician Hozier and Dublin-based game studio WarDucks.

In 2016, the European Commission found that Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland and forced the company to repay 13 billion euros in back taxes. Apple and Ireland are both appealing the ruling. Apple has previously expressed confidence that the ruling “will be overturned” by European courts.

In that regard, Cook today called for global corporate tax reform, telling Reuters and others that Apple “desperately” wants the system to be fair. “It’s very complex to know how to tax a multinational,” he added.

“I think logically everybody knows it needs to be rehauled, I would certainly be the last person to say that the current system or the past system was the perfect system. I’m hopeful and optimistic that they will find something,” said Cook, referring to the intergovernmental economic organization OECD.

What an amazing welcome back to Ireland! Thank you @Hozier for sharing your music with me, and for the chance to look around the studio. Feel free to reach out if you ever need some backup vocals. 🎶 pic.twitter.com/Opfka0j2UK

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 19, 2020

.@War_Ducks set out to create a game with fun, engaging and colorful characters, and they nailed it. Awesome to see how @NikkiLannen and her talented team in Dublin are embracing AR to take their games to the next level! pic.twitter.com/bjL15fWlPY

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 20, 2020

Celebrating 40 years of Apple in Ireland with our remarkable and growing team at Hollyhill! Your hard work and dedication to our customers and the communities we serve reflects the best of what we stand for. Here’s to the next 40! 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/ADiRz3yoOP

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 20, 2020

Update: IDA Ireland has issued a press release about Apple’s award that includes a statement from Cook:

Ireland has been a second home for Apple for forty years and this honour is even more special for us because it recognizes the contributions of our incredible team here who work tirelessly to serve our customers around the country, and around the world. I believe deeply that our most important work together is still ahead of us, and I’m grateful to the people of Ireland for their commitment to openness, to innovation and to the cooperation that will make possible the next generation of world-changing ideas.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

This article, “Tim Cook Visits Ireland, Calls for Global Corporate Tax Reform [Updated]” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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A former Apple executive who worked on the chips that power iPhones and iPads has had a request to toss a breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by the company rejected by the court in a tentative ruling.

Last August, Apple sued its former A-series chip lead, Gerard Williams III, for breach of employment contract. Williams was the lead designer of Apple’s custom ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ chips from the A7 to A12X, before he departed the company in March 2019 to start his own chip company, Nuvia Inc, with two other former Apple chip executives.

Apple accuses him of breaching the contract because it barred him from planning or engaging in any business activities that are “competitive or directly related to Apple’s business or products.” Williams argues that a provision in the contract conflicts with a California law that allows workers to develop new businesses while they’re employed elsewhere.

However, Bloomberg today reports that Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Mark Pierce said the law doesn’t permit an employee “to plan and prepare to create a competitive enterprise prior to termination if the employee does so on their employer’s time and with the employer’s resources.”

The judge also dismissed a claim by Williams that Apple invaded his privacy by reviewing text messages he wrote to coworkers that were critical of the company. In one of the messages, Williams is said to have claimed that Apple would have “no choice but to purchase” his new company.

Williams sought to have those texts excluded as evidence in the suit. Pierce disagreed. “There are no allegations in the complaint establishing that the text messages were obtained as the result of eavesdropping upon or recording a confidential communication,” he wrote.

The judge sided with Williams in dismissing Apple’s bid for punitive damages, saying the company has failed to show how Williams intentionally tried to harm Apple by being disloyal.

Bloomberg notes that the tentative ruling regarding the California law doesn’t address the merits of Apple’s claims, but it will allow the company to proceed with pretrial information-sharing if the judge decides to make it final.

Claude Stern, Williams’ lawyer, said he would contest the judge’s findings at a hearing in San Jose on Tuesday. He argues that Williams can’t be sued for simply coming up with a new business idea while working at Apple, as opposed to taking inventions he worked on that belong to his previous employer.

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Instagram is dropping the IGTV button from the top-right corner of the app’s home screen because not enough people are interacting with it.

First launched in June 2018, IGTV is Instagram’s long-form video streaming service that’s designed to compete with youtube. IGTV focuses on full-screen vertical video, with the ability to interact with other users while watching videos.

The Facebook-owned company told TechCrunch that it was removing the button because not enough users were tapping it, and that people were discovering IGTV content in other ways.

“As we’ve continued to work on making it easier for people to create and discover IGTV content, we’ve learned that most people are finding IGTV content through previews in Feed, the IGTV channel in Explore, creators’ profiles and the standalone app. Very few are clicking into the IGTV icon in the top right corner of the home screen in the Instagram app” a Facebook company spokesperson tells TechCrunch. “We always aim to keep Instagram as simple as possible, so we’re removing this icon based on these learnings and feedback from our community.”

The IGTV icon previously appeared alongside the DM icon

IGTV hasn’t completely gone away in Instagram. Users wanting to access IGTV content within the app can still do so by tapping the IGTV tab inside Instagram Explore (the same screen as the search function). People can also post IGTV videos right from the main Instagram feed post video uploader.

According to TechCrunch, no more than 7 million of Instagram’s 1 billion-plus users have downloaded the standalone IGTV app in the 18 months since it launched, so it makes sense that Instagram is folding the service deeper into its app. But with the massive success of rival platforms like TikTok, it’s hard to predict where IGTV turns next in order to increase adoption rates.

This article, “Instagram Removes IGTV Button From Home Screen Following Lack of User Engagement” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States, an annual federal holiday commemorating the American civil rights movement leader.

Apple today honored the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a full-page tribute on its website. A photo of Dr. King is accompanied by an iconic quote of his: “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

On Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook commemorated Martin Luther King Jr. Day in a follow-up tweet.

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” Let us all be so audacious, and work to make MLK’s dream a reality for us all.

— ‌Tim Cook‌ (@tim_cook) January 20, 2020

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

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Epic Games’ latest update to the iOS version of popular battle royale title Fortnite that enables iPad Pro owners to run the game at 120 frames per second.

‌iPad Pro‌ owners wanting to make the most of the Pro Motion display’s high refresh rate for a smoother performance can find the 120fps mode in the Fortnite settings screen.

Enabling the mode does come at the expense of visual quality and automatically drops the resolution and fixes the visual settings at “medium,” which falls in line with the game’s other limits of “high” at 60fps and “epic” at 30fps.

Despite that limitation, an ‌iPad Pro‌ running Fortnite can now beat the performance of current-generation consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One, which are restricted to 60fps.

Also in latest v11.40.1 update, thumbstick buttons are now supported on iOS 13 and above.

Fortnite on iOS has become a popular mobile alternative to the PC and console game, offering users the chance to play the well-known “Battle Royale” mode while on the go.

Fortnite initially launched as a beta on iOS in March 2018 and then expanded wide in April the same year. The smartphone apps are focused entirely on Fortnite’s PvP Battle Royale mode, but the console and desktop versions of the game also include a PvE mode called Save the World.

Fortnite is a free-to-play game available to download on the App Store. [Direct Link]

This article, “Latest Fortnite Update for iOS Brings 120fps Mode to 2018 iPad Pro” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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