News tagged ‘U.S.’
Apple Releases Security Update for Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite Users
Apple on Monday released an important security update for Mac owners. According to what the guys from Cupertino say, this update contains a fix for the critical issue with Network Time Protocol service on OS X and is highly recommended for Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite users. Apple asks Mac and MacBook owners to “install this update as soon as possible”.
Apple Looks for Apple Pay Developers to Expand Service to Europe, Middle East, India and Africa
According to the latest job posting, which can be found on Apple’s official website, the guys from Cupertino are currently looking for specialists, capable of expanding the functionality of Apple Pay to several new regions, namely, Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. The new team will reportedly work in London.
Apple Online Store Now Accepts PayPal
Apple has recently added PayPal as a new payment option on its official online store in the USA and the UK. Earlier, one of the world's most popular payments services was available only on the App Store, but now you can use it to pay for real goods, such as iPhones, iPads, accessories etc. from Apple's retail store.
iPhone 6 Plus Units Account for 41% of Phablet Sales in the USA
Although Apple’s 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus was officially released only in September, it managed to become one of the most popular phablets on the market. According to the latest report from a research firm called Kantar Worldpanel, 41% of all phablets sold in the USA over the last several months are iPhone 6 Plus units. Well, another incredible result for the guys from Cupertino.
Apple TV Loses Ground in the USA Because of Roku and Chromecast
Apple TV set-top box has reportedly begun losing ground as its main rivals, namely, Roku and Chromecast, have become much stronger. According to what was shared by a marketing research firm Parks Associates, Roku streaming media players currently occupy the first place on the U.S. market, Google’s Chromecast sticks stand on the second one and Apple TV boxes are down one position on the third spot.
U.S. President Signs E-Label Act Turning It into Law
President Obama has recently signed the E-Label Act, which would allow Apple and other companies not to place Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification stamps on back panels of smartphones and tablets. Instead of doing so, vendors would get the right to include the information about the certification into their software.
Samsung to Become Apple's Main Components Supplier
According to the latest reports from supply chain insiders, Apple has recently decided to make Samsung one of its major hardware suppliers. I'm now talking not only about the chips for next generations of iPhones and iPads. As noted by BusinessKorea, the guys from Cupertino plan to use Samsung as a primary components manufacturer for the long-anticipated Apple Watch as well. This indicates that Apple will soon once again become extremely dependent on its market rival from South Korea.
Top 10 Stories of the Week
It is Sunday today, which means I should tell you about the most interesting stories of the past seven days. Let’s take a look at them right now.
Customers Show Strong Interest in Apple Pay - Retailers
According to the latest reports from U.S. retailers, the customers show strong interest in the recently-launched payments service created by the guys from Cupertino. This doesn’t mean that the number of users of the new system is currently immense; still, it is noticeably larger than the amount of people who adopted similar services from Google or other companies in the first weeks after their launch.
Apple Improves Its Position on U.S. and Global PC Market - IDC
According to the latest report from a research firm called IDC, Apple noticeably improved its position on the U.S. PC market in the third quarter of 2014. In fact, the guys from Cupertino managed to reach the highest PC market share ever reported. And such a result looks even more impressive if to take into account the fact that the PC sales do not include Apple's iPad sales.
Walmart Refuses to Support Apple Pay, Working on Its Own Payments Service
Walmart, one of the largest U.S. retailers, has refused to support Apple Pay. According to what the reliable sources from Re/code claim, the reason for the refusal is high credit card transaction fee. This reason for refusal is closely connected with another one. You see, Walmart belongs to a consortium of the most influential retailers called Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX); its members plan to create their own mobile payments system called CurrentC. This system is expected to boast of lower transaction fees; its launch may take place as soon as early 2015.
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to Become Available in New Countries on November, 14th?
Without any official announcement from Apple or the company suppliers, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are expected to go on sale in a number of new countries as soon as on November 14th. These countries reportedly include Brazil, Philippines, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Uruguay, Guatemala, Lebanon, Kenya, Nigeria and possibly Malaysia. Local carriers in these countries have already began the preparations for the launch and announced the availability of both devices in the near future.
Apple to Launch Apple Pay in China Soon - Rumors
As you probably know, the guys from Cupertino have recently launched their own mobile payments service called Apple Pay. Although the system is currently available only in the USA, in the near future it is expected to debut in a wide number of other countries.
Apple Pay Glitch Makes Bank of America Customers Pay Twice for Goods They Purchase
As you probably know, Apple has recently launched its long-anticipated payments service Apple Pay. According to the latest reports from reliable sources, there is a glitch in one of the networks that work with Apple’s new system, which makes the Bank of America customers pay twice for each product they purchase. The good news is that both Bank of America and Apple are aware of the problem and currently working on the solution. All the money the customers have lost so far will be soon refunded.
Apple to Release iOS 8.1 With Support of Apple Pay on October 20th?
It appears that aside from the financial results in the fourth fiscal quarter, on October 20th, Apple is planning to release iOS 8.1 and launch its long-awaited payments service called Apple Pay. This is what Bank Innovation writes. Another thing, which indicates that the next-gen mobile operating system will indeed come less than in three weeks, is the fact that it has been recently seeded to developers for testing.