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Apple has just announced record quarterly earnings with $10.7 billion of operating profit. This revenue accumulation has resulted in Apple’s biggest ever cash hoard, now standing at $202 billion dollars. This is up from the record $194 billion level reported in the previous quarter and despite Apple giving away $13 billion to shareholders through its capital returns program. In general, having too much money is a good ‘problem’ to have. What shareholders will think of this new high is yet to be seen, who generally prefer if Apple invested that money in its business or returned to investors in its dividend, rather than leaving it doing ‘nothing’....

Apple’s recent move to allow applications developed using Adobe’s Flash Packager for iPhone tool for CS5 has had some effect, but only a “muted” one, claimed Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen during that company’s Q3 financial call. Adobe revenues hit $990.3 million in the quarter, up 42 percent on last year. Narayen talked up Flash mobile, saying, “Many smartphones, tablets and TVs are supporting the new Flash Player in the marketplace, including models from Google, Motorola, HTC, and Samsung,” he said, as noted by Mobile Entertainment News....

Apple today has joined the smart home-dedicated group The Thread Group. While Apple’s extent of involvement in the group is unclear at this point, the company is now listed as a “member” on The Thread Group website… Thread is described as a new mesh network standard that aims to make it easier for varying smart home technologies to work together. Thread is designed to support devices ranging from appliances, climate control, and lighting to security, access control, and more....

Foundation, one of the most anticipated shows of Apple TV+, is finally premiering on September 24, the same day Apple starts selling its brand-new iPhone 13 line. Not only that, the company announced an official podcast for this sci-fi show with weekly episodes. To start, there’s already a one-minute introductory episode that reminds listeners that the show is based on the award-winning novels by Isaac Asimov. Join host Jason Concepcion and Foundation’s showrunner and executive producer David S....

Apple today has sent out an email update to members of its affiliate program about launching improvements to the iTunes Affiliate Resource pages and also a change to the commission rates. Apple is lowering affiliate payouts from apps and their in-app purchases to less than half of the original commission rate. For many, this means a negative impact to yet another revenue stream. Today’s change sees the 7% commission rate, drop down to 2....

Apple Music has received an update on Android bringing all of the latest enhancements that came with the app’s iOS 14 update, including a redesign and autoplay. While Apple is not typically known for making their apps and services available on multiple platforms, Apple Music is one of the key exceptions, offering an Android app to anyone willing to pay for the $9.99 per month subscription — or have it bundled with a carrier plan....

While mixes and DJ mixes can be popular, getting the streaming rights to them can be a complex business – especially when a single mix can contain elements owned by up to 600 different rights holders. But an agreement between Apple and digital distributor Dubset means that Apple Music now has the right to stream many thousands of mix tracks, reports Billboard. Dubset CEO Stephen White says the company had to overcome tough challenges on both technological and legal fronts …...

According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Apple is objecting to a discovery request in a class action case against Universal Music Group that seeks the release of trial exhibits, expert reports, and depositions from former CEO Steve Jobs and Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue. The depositions were originally given in a case between F.B.T. Productions, producers of Eminem records, and Universal Music group division Aftermath Records....

After first announcing support for digital IDs in iOS 15 last year, the first state has gone live with the feature. Arizona residents can officially add their driver’s license or state ID to the Wallet app on iPhone and Apple Watch. Apple shared the details in a newsroom post this morning: 30 states have been exploring the idea of adopting Apple’s digital IDs and in today’s release, Apple specifically called out more states will indeed launch support soon....

Apple is pausing the countdown clock on returns and exchanges and will give customers two weeks after stores open to take care of them. Apple highlights you can check the status of your repair at http://support.apple.com/repair and Apple staff will be calling to alert customers will be calling customers when devices are ready. Apple is currently planning to reopen its stores on March 28th but the closures could extend past then… time will tell....

Apple has issued a stability and bug fix update for Final Cut Pro X. Version 10.4.6, now available via the Mac App Store, focuses primarily on boosting the reliability of Apple’s flagship NLE. Here is the change log for Final Cut Pro 10.4.6 Detects media files that may be incompatible with future versions of macOS after Mojave and converts them to a compatible format Fixes an issue that could cause share destinations to disappear from the share menu after quitting Final Cut Pro Fixes an issue that could cause the workflow extension button to disappear when resizing the interface Fixes an issue in which the Select Clip command could incorrectly select the clip beneath the playhead Fixes an issue in which a successful share notification appears after the share operation was cancelled Fixes an issue in which frames saved to the frame browser in the Comparison Viewer may appear differently than they do in the viewer Fixes an issue in which frequency information for Hum Removal may not be visible in the audio inspector Fixes an issue in which relinked media may appear with black thumbnails in the browser and timeline Fixes an issue in which the share menu may be obscured behind the viewer when using Final Cut Pro in fullscreen mode Improves reliability when sharing video to YouTube Also recently updated is iMovie (10....

Following the release of new firmware for the AirPods wireless earphones, Apple is also rolling out a firmware update for its AirTag item tracker on Thursday. Here’s what you need to know about this new version. AirTag firmware update Today’s new firmware release is version 2.0.24, and it features build number 2A24e. Prior to today, the most recent version of AirTag firmware was version 1.0.301 and featured build number 1A301. Unfortunately, it’s uncertain at this point what changes with the update, as Apple has yet to share update notes for today’s firmware....

Apple today has released the GM seed for watchOS 6 to developers. Today’s release follows Apple’s special event yesterday where it unveiled the new Apple Watch Series 5 and much more. Apple announced yesterday that watchOS 6 is coming to Apple Watch Series 3 and later on September 19. The release has been slightly delayed for the Apple Watch Series 1 and 2, with Apple saying the update is coming later this fall....

Even in the age of the Apple Watch which only plays music over Bluetooth, Apple has yet to produce any Apple-branded wireless headphones or earbuds, instead promoting Beats-branded earbud and headphone designs created before Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of that company last year. A new report from MacRumors suggests that could soon change, however, as it’s believed Apple may have applied for “AirPods” trademark under an alias company name. If the trademark application indeed traces back to Apple, AirPods suggest a wireless version of the Apple-branded EarPod earbuds introduced in 2012....

As employees at a growing number of Apple Store locations around the United States explore unionization options, Apple is ramping up its push to quell those attempts. A leaked memo obtained by Vice reveals the anti-union talking points that Apple has distributed to retail store leaders in an effort to dissuade their employees from unionizing. Apple looks to stop employee union efforts As it stands today, the exact scope of unionization efforts among Apple Stores in the United States is unclear....

On the heels of a report earlier this week claiming Apple had surpassed Samsung in unit sales, TrendForce is out today with its latest data and predictions for the remainder of 2017. The research firm reports similar total smartphone production volume of 384 million units for Q3 2017, with that number expected grow to 424 million during Q4 during the peak of holiday shopping… Driving that 6.3 percent increase year-over-year is largely Apple....

Apple is opening its first office in Cambridge, England, close to the city’s world-famous university, according to a report in Business Weekly. The offices overlook the Cambridge University botanical gardens … The Californian-based business is believed to have identified 90 Hills Road for its Cambridge city centre offices and R & D function. With Grade A office space at a premium in Cambridge, the US giant would probably start with around 20 staff but have capacity to gear up to as many as 40 in that space....

The Apple Music service has always provided an online tool to generate widgets, that can be used by artists to promote their music on their own websites and blogs. An eagle-eyed Reddit user has spotted that this widget has recently received an interface upgrade … and the ability to log in to your Apple Music account. Once signed in, you can play full songs, albums and playlists from within the web browser, no longer limited to just 30-90 second previews …...

A new Apple patent application filed last year and published by the United States Patent & Trademark Office today adds more proof that Apple is preparing to use sapphire displays in upcoming devices (via AI). There has been no shortage of proof that Apple is preparing to do something— most likely next-generation iPhone screens— with the large Sapphire plant it recently picked up in Arizona. We already know that the sapphire material could make iPhone displays, for example, stronger and more scratch resistant, but today’s patent details a method Apple will use to also make sure the sapphire repels fingerprints as well or better than the glass used on previous generation iPhones....

Apple Pay has today expanded to the Ukraine; customers who bank with PrivatBank can now register their cards on their iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch and Macs. The Ukrainian Finance Minster announced the news on Facebook. Apple Pay support has also rolled out for Monzo, a UK ‘bank of the future’ which is an internet-only bank that lets customers access its services only through its iOS and Android apps. Despite its innovative brand, it has taken a long time for the bank to support Apple’s contactless mobile payments offering....