R. Kelly started serving a 30-year prison sentence earlier this year but he released his latest album today. As it turns out, the new record was published on Apple Music and Spotify for a few hours before it was taken down this afternoon. Spotted by The Hollywood Reporter, R. Kelly’s new album that was produced in prison is titled I Admit. The disgraced artist was given his 30-year prison sentence after being found guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering plus a conviction for producing child pornography....

Job listings mentioning the LTE wireless data technology have appeared in Apple’s database before, but none of these listings have been like what we have just found. Those jobs listings mentioned LTE technology-familiarity as a skill, but now we have discovered a job that lists the integration of LTE in iOS devices as a “specific duty.” Apple’s job listings are usually a good indication of what’s to come, and Apple listing the integration of LTE in their iOS devices as a specific duty, is definitely an indication that they are building and potentially planning to sell devices with an LTE 4G data connection....

Apple has made it simpler to support the citizens of Ukraine. There is now a banner at the top of its website with a donation button that directs you to the Music or iTunes app. You can even donate in the App Store or Apple News app through the banners there. Apple lets you donate between $5 to $200, and all of the proceeds go directly to UNICEF USA to help families affected by the war in Ukraine....

Costco has announced that it now accepts Apple Pay at all of its US warehouse stores, and says that the payment method will be coming soon to its gas stations … The company told CNET that contactless terminals have been installed at both store checkouts and gas stations, but the latter are not yet in use. Costco was a notable Apple Pay holdout after 7-11 and CVS finally announced their own rollouts last month....

Alongside the release of OS X 10.9.3 and iTunes 11.2 last week, Apple released Safari version 7.0.3 and 6.1.4. Apple has since released a minor bug fix to that version of iTunes, and today Apple has released a security update to Safari bringing the latest version to 7.0.4. Users can find the latest version in the Mac App Store. Read Apple’s documentation on the latest version of Safari here. Safari 6....

In a move designed to save $1B a year, Apple is now replacing damaged iPhone screens in-store in place of its previous policy of swapping them for a new handset. 512pixels.net grabbed this photo of the machine used to calibrate the screens after replacement. The move is good news for customers too, as out-of-warranty screen replacements will cost $149 instead of the $229 cost of a replacement handset, and you won’t have to restore your data from backup (although you are of course still advised to do a backup before any kind of repair is carried out)....

The latest beta version of Apple Music is rolling out on Android this evening with a very sizable upgrade to homescreen widgets, while possibly also revealing the name of Apple’s standalone classical genre app based on Primephonic. About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features....

After rebranding its A List: Hip-Hop playlist last month to Rap Life, Apple Music has given a makeover to its A list: Alternative playlist. The rotating collection of curated songs is now called ALT CTRL. Last month Apple Music changed its A List: Hip-Hop playlist to Rap Life and also announced that a weekly Beats 1 Radio show with the same name would be launching. Now the latest shift comes to the A List: Alternative playlist....

Apple has now opened the floodgates and is letting all developers submit Watch apps to the App Store. This means any of the 1.2 million apps can now submit updates including Watch apps (using the WatchKit framework), beyond the select partners Apple rolled out last week. As a reminder, Watch apps come bundled as extensions inside normal iOS apps. This means customers can update the apps in the iPhone ready for the Watch’s release on the 24th....

Apple opened up its Apple Park campus to more than 350 WWDC scholarship students yesterday, welcoming them to an orientation and meet-and-greet in the Steve Jobs Theater. And it looks like the company wanted to make sure the place was looking good for their visit … Drone pilot Matthew Roberts found workers cleaning the roof as he did his latest over-flight (below). We can see many more trees planted now, along with more finished grass areas, helping the campus really start living up to its name....

According to an Apple patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and detailed by PatentlyApple, Apple is at the very least conceptualizing a device that sports a removable back panel for easily replaceable components such as lenses or optical solutions. While it is unclear whether the invention would be used in a standalone camera, next-generation iPod or iPhone, or a different device entirely, the patent detailed several methods of upgrading a device with supplementary optics:...

There has been no shortage of Apple patent applications published by the US Patent & Trademark Office today (via PatentlyApple). Three of the most interesting with potential to be implemented in upcoming products include a dual OLED backlighting system for future iPads, integrated speaker clip for iPod nano, and new hold and swipe gestures for iOS devices. First up we have a patent application that backs up a report from DigiTimes claiming Apple is considering alternative backlighting systems with a dual-LED light bar design for iPad 3....

Apple Pay Cash is now available in beta for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. The new feature lets you send and receive payments using Apple Pay over iMessage as well as pay in stores with a new Apple Pay Cash virtual debit card. Apple Pay Cash will be available for all customers in the United States when iOS 11.2 and watchOS 4.2 are officially released, and developer and public beta testers can start using the feature today....

Apple has just released its eleventh annual Supplier Responsibility report, where it publishes details about how the manufacturers that make and assemble components for iPhone, iPad, Mac and all of Apple’s products treat their workers and the environment. In the 2016 report, Apple says that compliance with 60-hour maximum work week for employees has reached 98%, which is the highest ever. Apple suppliers have also reduced carbon emissions by 150,000 metric tons, the equivalent of taking 31,000 cars off the road for a year....

Apple TV+ made two appearances at New York Comic Con this year, with panels on Servant and For All Mankind. For Servant, Apple announced a launch date (November 28) and an advance look at the official trailer. The audience at the ‘For All Mankind’ panel got to see the first fifteen minutes of the first episode, and a panel interview with executive producer Ron Moore and lead cast. Unfortunately, the fifteen minute preview was not released publicly and video recording inside the venue was not allowed....

Apple’s annual developer conference is set to kick off at the beginning of next month. Now, in the lead up to WWDC 2017, Apple has started promoting a variety of developer community events that will be taking place during the week… In a post on its Developer blog, Apple announced that more events have been added to the schedule for WWDC week in San Jose. Under the “Beyond WWDC” branding, Apple is promoting events such as AltConf 2017, CocoaConf Next Door, The Loop Beard Bash, and much more....

Apple today is releasing the first developer beta of iOS 13.3.1 and iPadOS 13.3.1. This comes after the general release of iOS 13.3 last week, which included several new features for iPhone, iPad, and HomePod. iOS 13.3.1 focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements. Update: The first developer betas of macOS Catalina 10.15.3, iOS 13.3.1, iPadOS 13.3.1, and tvOS 13.3.1 are now available. watchOS 6.1.2 beta 1 is also now available....

Apple has released the iOS 10.3.3 software update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The update focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements for all devices running iOS 10. iOS 10.3.3 release notes: While iOS 11 is currently in development and due out this fall, iOS 10.3.3 may be of the last software update to older hardware that won’t run iOS 11. iOS 11 is currently in both developer and public beta so users can test major new features like drag-and-drop on new iPads before the official release later this fall....

This future world may, therefore, be somewhat disturbing. Apple’s Beats By Dre seems to have an inkling of what’s in the air. In a collaboration with menswear brand Union, Beats By Dre offers a chilling scenario in an elevated form of advertising. The video begins with a view of a garden through a window. A drone appears to be on patrol. (Perhaps, to you, this is already normal. You need to own a patrolling drone to counter any flying machines that might invade your personal airspace....

With continued concern about the battery life of the 2016 MacBook Pro models, ArsTechnica has written a short piece outlining some of the obvious and less obvious reasons many users are experiencing as little as half the usage time claimed by Apple. There have been anecdotal reports of battery life being improved by the 10.12.2 update (hands-on video), but the site reports that Apple ‘told us repeatedly and emphatically that it had taken no specific steps to improve MacBook Pro battery life in this update....