Apple
Apple Hikes Music and TV+ Subscription Prices
Apple Music and Apple TV+ subscribers are about to see slightly bigger numbers on their bills, because Apple has today hiked the prices of both subscription services. 9to5mac reports that the prices of both Music and TV+ will raise about $1-$3 monthly. Individual Apple Music plans will now be $10.99 a month instead of $9.99, or $109 a year instead of $99. For family plans, you’ll see your total increase from $14.99 to $16.99. Apple TV+ subscribers will now pay $6.99 a month instead of $4.99, or $69 annually instead of $49.99. This is the first time Apple has raised their subscription prices in the US. According to an Apple spokesperson, you can blame increased licensing costs for the jump, but the silver lining is that artists and songwriters will earn a tiny bit more per stream....
New Apple rules double down on 30% NFT ‘tax’ and geo-limits exchanges
Technology heavyweight Apple has clarified its App Store rules around nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrency exchanges marking the first time its codified specific rules for NFTs. The new rules confirm how NFT purchases will be taxed and what they can and can’t be used for, while also clarifying rules around when a crypto exchange app can be listed. The Oct. 24 update to its App Store guidelines saw language added that allows fo in-app purchases of NFTs, but bars any NFTs acquired elsewhere to be used for anything other than viewing. It also allows applications to use in-app purchases to “sell and sell services” related to NFTs such as “minting, listing, and transferring.” However, the tech company is seemingly double-downing on its NFT “Apple tax” — which lumps in-...
Bono Pleads “Mea Culpa” for U2’s Misguided Songs of Innocence Apple Rollout
Bono took “full responsibility” for the controversial release strategy behind U2’s 2014 LP, Songs of Innocence, that installed the album on every Apple device for free, in his upcoming memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. In an excerpt shared via The Guardian, Bono detailed a meeting with CEO Tim Cook, U2 manager Guy Oseary, and other Apple executives where the frontman previewed the new album and proposed the tech giant “pay us for it, and then you give it away free, as a gift to people… like when Netflix buys the movie and gives it away to subscribers.” The plan was subsequently pushed forward despite Cook raising legitimate concerns like “we’re not a subscription organisation” and “this is just to people who like U2?” “I take full responsibility,” the singer reflected in response to ...
Apple’s New Car Crash Detection Feature Is Mistaking Rollercoaster Rides for Emergencies
Apple’s technology continues to get more advanced with every new iPhone, but one new feature may not have worked out all its kinks. The brand new iPhone 14 and Apple Watch come with a car crash detection feature that alerts first responders and one’s emergency contacts if they get in an accident, but as The Wall Street Journal reports, some phones have sounded the alarm after detecting the speeds and drops of a harmless rollercoaster. Apple uses sensor data to determine if a crash occurred, but the experiences of folks who have (inadvertently) used the new feature suggest that any sudden drop could trigger the emergency call. One woman with a brand new iPhone 14 Pro attended Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati this September, and after riding the Mystic Timbers rollercoaster —...
Nodes are going to dethrone tech giants — from Apple to Google
While highly regarded even at the time of its writing, Marc Andreessen’s 2011 landmark essay, “Why Software Is Eating the World,” has proven even more prophetic than it seemed at the time. At the dawn of a decade when software would prove invaluable to nearly every aspect of modern life, Andreessen argued that every company was now ostensibly a software company, whether the company liked it or not. Tailoring his argument to many of the companies that were market leaders at the time, his ideas eventually also applied to companies that either hadn’t fully defined their markets or didn’t even yet exist but would go on to generate billions in market share: Uber, Lyft, TikTok/ByteDance, Robinhood and Coinbase, among several others. If you were going to be a unicorn in the 21st century, software...
A crumbling stock market could create profitable opportunities for Bitcoin traders
Some of the biggest companies in the world are expected to report their 2Q earnings in October, including electric automaker Tesla on Oct. 18, tech giants Meta and Microsoft on Oct. 24, Apple and Amazon on Oct. 26 and Google on Oct. 30. Currently, the possibility of an even more severe global economic slowdown is in the cards and lackluster profits could further add to the uncertainty. Given the unprecedented nature of the United State Federal Reserve tightening and mounting macroeconomic uncertainties, investors are afraid that corporate profitability will start to deteriorate. In addition, persistent inflation continues to force businesses to cut back on hiring and adopt cost-cutting measures. Strengthening the dollar is particularly punitive for U.S. listed companies because their produ...
‘Grotesquely overpriced’ — Apple’s App Store wants 30% cut on NFT sales
Non-fungible token (NFT) app developers and others have balked at a decision by tech giant Apple to impose a 30% commission on NFTs sold through apps on its marketplace, effectively putting NFT purchases in the same boat as regular in-app purchases. According to a Friday report from The Information, the smartphone company is now allowing NFTs to be bought and sold through apps listed on its marketplace but imposes its standard commission on in-app purchases of 30% — similar to that imposed by Android’s app store Google Play. The commission rate has however been slammed by some for being “grotesquely overpriced” — particularly when compared to standard NFT marketplace commissions, which are around 2.5%. Tech blogger Florian Mueller called Apple’s “app tax” on NFT sales “abusive but consiste...
Apple Unveils It’s Worst-Kept Secret, The iPhone 14 & iPhone 14 Pro, Twitter Is Ready To Sell Organs To Buy One
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Apple / iPhone 14 As expected, Apple followed up Samsung’s event with its usual September event to introduce to the world and devoted followers to its new lineup of iPhone 14 flagship smartphones. The company that jobs built also announced two new Apple Watch models and the new AirPods Pro. iPhone 14 & iPhone 14 Plus If your current iPhone is glitching, that only means new models are on the way. Today during its latest “Far Out” event, Apple unveiled the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus models. If you already own an iPhone 13, this new model isn’t going to blow you away at all with its features. Coming in at $799, it runs on the same A15 system-on-chip from the previous model, but thanks to a 5-core GPU, Apple has managed to improve the iPhone 14’s ...
Publishers, Streamers Reach Deal for Highest Streaming Royalty Rate Ever: Here’s How It Works
Songwriter and publisher U.S. mechanical streaming royalty rates are going up — slowly — to a headline rate of 15.35% of total revenue from 2023-2027. That’s the big news out of Wednesday’s (Aug. 31) joint announcement on the “Phonorecords IV” settlement from the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), the Nashville Songwriters Associations International and the Digital Media Association (DiMA). But how long will it take to get there and at what pace? What are the other conditions? Billboard now has more more key details about the deal. Under the new settlement agreement — which the NMPA touts will set the “highest royalty rate in the history of streaming anywhere” — the headline rate will escalate from 15.1% of revenue in 2023 to 15.2% in 2024 and then a half a percentage point inc...
36% of Surveyed Apple Users Considering Switching to Android – New Study
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iPhone 14 Launch Date Revealed
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Harry Styles Brings Back Apple’s Iconic Silhouette Ad, Donates Paycheck to IRC
Harry Styles appears in a new ad for Apple Airpods, a visually striking commercial which harkens back to the company’s old-school days of advertising the iPod with dancing silhouettes. Even better than this hit of nostalgia, the pop star donated his paycheck to the International Rescue Committee. The IRC, a global humanitarian aid organization, tweeted its thanks to Styles and Apple on June 2nd. “From all of us at the IRC: Thank you to @Harry_Styles and @Apple for your generous donation to the IRC,” the organization said. “Working in more than 40 countries, your support will help us reach even more refugees and people in need in the world’s toughest places. Honored to have your support!” The donation comes as the IRC aids the more than six million refugees who have fled Ukraine in recent m...
