According to a report from the New York Post, Apple is planning to launch a new television streaming service by Christmas despite roadblocks with potential content partners. The report cited sources “familiar with the talks” between Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddie Cue and content providers that have “largely balked” at Apple’s attempt to “exert control over all aspects” of negotiations: The report said Apple wants content providers to offer their channels through apps accessible on Apple TV as well as other Apple devices....

Update: Volvo has posted a CarPlay experience video. Apple has officially announced CarPlay in a press release. CarPlay is Apple’s new branding for the iOS in the Car feature originally announced at WWDC last year. Apple says CarPlay enables users to make calls, navigate maps, listen to music and access messages from the dash of compatible cars. Siri can be activated by pressing the dedicated button on the steering wheel. Apple describes the system as a “smarter, safer and more fun way” of using an iPhone in the car....

Apple has released macOS High Sierra beta 7 for developer testing. macOS High Sierra includes the new Apple File System, HEVC video playback, Metal 2, Photos and Safari upgrades, and more. macOS High Sierra beta 7 is currently only available to registered developers for now. Apple typically holds new public beta versions for a few days for major updates. We’ll update with any changes discovered in the latest macOS High Sierra release below....

Apple is releasing iOS 12.0.1 for iPhone and iPad today. This is the first bug fix update for iOS 12 and the iPhone XS since their release in September. Apple details five problems with iOS 12 that have been resolved in iOS 12.0.1 according to release notes already spotted by a tipster: Fixes an issue where some iPhone XS devices did not immediately charge when connected to a Lightning cable Resolves an issue that could cause iPhone XS devices to rejoin a Wi-Fi network at 2....

Windows usage could fall beneath 90 per cent by the end of 2008, while Apple’s Mac OS X claims double-digit market share, Net Application’s latest internet figures suggest. Aggregating data collected from approximately 160 million website visitors every month, the company charts things like browser usage online, as well as operating system statistics. June’s figures reveal Mac OS X use to have climbed 0.11 points last month, ending with 7....

Apple’s Holiday Gift Guide just went live as part of the online Apple Store. The new page breaks down gifts by product line, catalogs the best of the Apple Store, and Apple notes it offers free shipping on all products. Santa, if you are listening… We’re also hoping to get a preview of Apple’s Black Friday savings brochure as we did last year, so look out for that, and stay tuned to 9to5Toys....

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ-xC3g0duA] We’ve spent a lot of time talking about Apple’s new Assistant which is expected to be one of the headlining technologies shown off at the October 4th event. The video above is the work of artist Jan-Michael Cart who was contacted by MacRumors to put together this concept video of Apple’s new iOS 5 feature that we detailed just a few weeks ago. Below is another artist rendition showing off what the Assistant interface might look like based on sources with “knowledge of the feature”....

Update: The promo is also now live in Brazil. Apple today is launching its annual Back to School promotion on Macs and iPads in New Zealand and Australia. The promotion, which is localized to ‘Back to Uni’, is similar to the Back to School promo in the United States… In New Zealand, Apple shoppers can get up to NZ$340 off a qualifying Mac with Apple education pricing. Further, customers will receive a free pair of Beats Solo3 headphones – including the latest “Pop” color collection....

As the market just begins to open today, Apple’s market cap crossed the $600 billion threshold. Today’s accomplishment comes just a month after the company hit the $500 billion threshold. The market overall is down. To compare, Microsoft holds the record for the highest market cap ever of $619 billion in 2000 (over $800 billion in today’s dollars). At the time of this writing, Microsoft is sitting at a $250 billion market cap....

Apple’s efforts in India have been well documented thus far, but a new report from Bloomberg outlines how things haven’t been going as well as the company had hoped. The report explains that Apple has lost multiple of its key sales executives over recent weeks… According to Bloomberg, Apple has lost its national sales and distribution chief, the head of its commercial channels and mid-market business, and the head of telecom carrier sales....

Apple Music continues to grow, Billboard reporting that it has now hit 30M paid subscribers – up from 27M in June. But Jimmy Iovine, who heads up the service, thinks what Apple is offering to subscribers isn’t yet good enough. He made the remarks in a new interview … Iovine told Billboard that he thinks the service is heading in the right direction, but that all streaming music services need to do more to ensure their future....

The last we heard, Apple Music had surpassed 38 million subscribers back in March. Now we’re hearing that the service has now surpassed 40 million subscribers. That’s 2 million subscribers in just about a month. But that’s not all, Variety reports that Apple is also shuffling up its Apple Music team as it names Oliver Schusser as the head of its music streaming division. His official role will be leading the Apple Music Worldwide team....

Following a positive outlook on Apple’s earnings call last week, Loup Ventures is out today with an in-depth look at the state of Apple Pay. Currently, Loup Ventures estimates that just 20 percent of global smartphone users rely on their phone as a wallet, but it expects that number to rise to 80 percent… Gene Munster of Loup Ventures estimate that Apple Pay currently has over 252 million users, which comes out to 31 percent of the active iPhone install base....

After launching in Hungary and Luxembourg last month, Apple Pay today has gone live in the Netherlands. This means that iPad, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac users in the Netherlands can now use Apple’s mobile payment platform everywhere it is accepted. In the Netherlands, Apple Pay is supported by ING, which confirmed last month that it was in the process of rolling out Apple Pay. It’s unclear when or if other banks in the Netherlands will rollout Apple Pay support, but ING appears to be the only option for now....

One thing Apple points out in the document is that Siri’s privacy policies are very different than other voice assistants. As it has argued in the past, Apple says its business does not depend on collecting anyone’s data: A question Apple addresses directly is whether or not Siri is “always listening.” Apple explains that Siri is only designed to activate when it hears “Hey Siri,” and that Apple is working to minimize false activations:...

It’s been just under a week since the last iOS 11 beta, and now Apple has released the tenth developer beta preview. iOS 11 brings new features like drag-and-drop and a redesigned multitasking interface for iPad, a new customizable Control Center, and much more. iOS 11 public beta 9 is also available. iOS 11 beta 10 is currently only available to registered developers for now. Apple typically holds new public beta versions for a few days for major updates, although recent versions have launched on the same day....

Apple has released an updated build of iOS 8.4.1 for registered developers to test on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. iOS 8.4.1 beta 2 features build number 12H318 and comes just over two weeks after the initial beta version. While the initial beta of iOS 8.4.1 didn’t feature any noticeable changes, the X.X.1 label suggests it is primarily an under-the-hood update to iOS 8.4 without feature or visual changes. iOS 8....

In addition to releasing the seventh beta of iOS 9.3 yesterday, Apple today has released OS X 10.11.4 beta 7 to developers and public beta testers. Beta 7 comes just a week after beta 6 was released. Much like iOS 9.3, OS X 10.11.4 enables Notes users to optionally protect entries behind a password. Protected notes are only visible on Macs running OS X 10.11.4 or later, and iOS 9.3 or later is required for viewing on iPhones and iPads....

Update: watchOS 8.5 beta 3 is also available to public beta testers now. Apple is releasing today watchOS 8.5 beta 3 to all developers. This version comes five days after the company made available watchOS 8.4.2 to all users. Today’s build is 19T5228d. Different from other operating systems, watchOS 8.5 doesn’t have any major changes. As a matter of fact, watchOS 8 updates have been pretty weak as watchOS 8.4, which was released on January 26, fixed a bug that prevented Apple Watch from being recharged with some third-party chargers....

Apple on Tuesday sent a reminder to sellers of books with content available in the Apple Books Store about new tax regulations in the Canadian province British Columbia. Remittances for book sales in Canada were reduced by a 7% provincial sales tax (PST) on Apple’s commission for publishers based there. For this reason, starting in August, British Columbia-based book publishers will see details about this tax in the Payments and Financial Reports section of iTunes Connect – which is the platform for managing songs, books, and movies sent to iTunes Store and Apple Books Store....