Apple’s VP of Internet Services Jennifer Bailey has been announced as the keynote speaker for this year’s TRANSACT conference scheduled for later this spring. Jennifer Bailey had led Apple Pay since its launch in 2014. TRANSACT is a major conference that focuses on global payment technology. The conference is scheduled to run from April 30 to May 2 in Las Vegas. In the keynote speaker announcement, Jennifer Bailey teased out how she’ll promote Apple Pay at the conference:...

A new report from ITG has revealed that Apple Pay was responsible for 1% of the total digital payment dollars spent in November. The study also found that 60% of new Apple Pay customers used the service multiple times throughout the month, while competing services like PayPal see only 20% of customers do the same. Additionally, the research found that shoppers who took advantage of Apple Pay used the service for around 5....

As expected, the Apple Pay mobile payments service for the latest iPhone and Apple Watch models has gone live in Australia, where it is already Thursday. Apple Pay for apps is also available for devices without NFC, such as recent iPad models. The service debuted earlier this week in Canada, following the late 2014 launch in the United States. Currently, the service is limited solely to American Express card users in both Australia and Canada....

The ‘will it, won’t it’ speculation about Apple moving into original TV content in a significant way continues today with a WSJ report claiming that the company is planning to offer ‘original scripted TV content’ by the end of the year. Apple is also said to be ‘considering’ the idea of offering original movies, though these plans are said to be less advanced. While speculation has so far focused on the idea of Apple offering subscription TV packages, today’s report suggests more of a continuation of the company’s approach to date …...

Over recent weeks, reports have suggested Apple is planning a new iPad mini 5 as well as a 10-inch iPad. Now, the company has registered a handful new iPad models with the Eurasian Economic Commission, the database that has revealed new Apple devices in the past. The filings show Apple having registered a handful of “tablet computers” running iOS 12 with the EEC. The model numbers listed are as follows: A2123, A2124, A2126, A2153, A2154, A2133, and A2152....

Apple has once again rejected the Facebook Gaming app on the iOS App Store, reinforcing that the company is not as open to competition. The app was being reviewed by Apple for the past few weeks, but now the company has decided to definitely reject it. A new report from the New York Times details how the Facebook team is not surprised by Apple’s decision, as they have been trying to launch the Facebook Gaming app on the App Store unsuccessfully since February....

Apple today released the third beta version of HomePod Software 15 to invited users as part of the AppleSeed program. While the release notes don’t give details of what has changed in today’s build, the update follows reports about the HomePod Software 14.6 and 15.0 beta bricking users’ speakers. Multiple users have reported that their HomePods stopped working after the HomePod Software 14.6 update, which was introduced in May along with iOS 14....

[Update: Now available over-the-air with developer profiles installed. macOS 10.14.3 beta 1 and tvOS 12.1.2 beta 1 are also available for developers.] Apple is releasing the first iOS 12.1.2 developer beta shortly following the official release of iOS 12.1.1 last week. watchOS 5.1.3 developer beta 1 for Apple Watch is also coming today. The release notes for the upcoming iOS developer beta only highlight bug fixes and performance improvements, but we’ll dig in and update if any notable changes are discovered....

As expected, Apple just announced its fiscal year 2014 first quarter results for the all-important holiday quarter. It’s Q3 report only included less than a month of sales for the new iPhone 5s, 5c and revamped MacBooks, making today’s report the first to include a full three-month period of sales for the new devices on top of the expected boost in revenue leading into the holidays. It’s also the first report since Apple shipped the new Retina iPad mini, iPad Air, and Mac Pro....

The charts dictate your app sales statistics in the top 10 regions where your app is on sale and also displays unit sales per app per day. Percent and unit change is also shown so you can compare your daily figures. Other categories of statistics include in-app-purchases and app updates. The sales view offers a comprehensive look at unit sale figures for each app for each day. This section will show the version number downloaded, the type of app, how many units on that day or week, the customers price (upgrade, paid etc....

After first announcing that iOS 15 would bring support for digital IDs via Apple Wallet back at WWDC in June, the first US states that will lead the adoption of the new standard have been named. There are 8 states announced for now that are committed to using Apple Wallet IDs and interestingly, they’re probably not the ones you’d guess. The first of the 8 to launch will be Arizona and Georgia and Apple also says it is already talking with “many more states” about adopting IDs in Apple Wallet....

Apple’s lead over Samsung in smartphone sales, reported last month, may be short-lived, suggests a new report today. Gartner last month estimated that iPhone sales overtook combined sales of all Samsung smartphones in the final quarter of the year … A new TrendForce report out today agrees. The popularity of the iPhone 12 meant Apple overtook Samsung in smartphone sales in the final quarter of last year, the first time this has happened in four years, says Gartner....

Fortune is out today with its annual Businessperson of the Year list and this time around a couple notable Apple connections have made the list. Coming in at #4 behind #1Elon Musk, activist investors, and Tencent CEO ‘Pony’ Ma Huateng, is Apple’s recently hired Head of Retail, Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts. Ahrendts, who will leave her role has Burberry CEO to officially start work at Apple as Senior Vice President of Retail in Spring of 2014, will play a vital role in continuing to build Apple’s retail strategy after more than a year without someone in the position....

Apple has launched a new “Careers at Apple” website that serves as a replacement for its original “Jobs at Apple” webpage. The new Careers website features an all-new design with quotes from Apple employees, short films, and more. Apple’s new Careers website includes quotes from employees working on various teams at the company, including engineering, Apple Retail, and more. The site features an all-new scrolling design with videos, images, and banners....

Apple this evening has added a new featured section to the App Store focused on showcasing content that reflects LGBT pride. Apple notes that it is commemorating the 1969 Stonewall riots with the App Store section. The riots occurred during 1969 in New York City and are often seen as a pivotal moment in the fight equality for the LGBT community. In the featured App Store section, which replaces the section from last week that listed popular apps with support for VoiceOver, Apple is highlighting apps, movies, music, TV, podcasts, and books that represent the LGBT community....

Apple has launched the ‘Machine Learning Journal’, a blog for Apple’s software engineers to document their research and innovations in the AI and machine learning space. The first post shares insights into a published research paper about improving picture-based machine learning models without gathering additional training data manually. Apple will update the site throughout the year with new posts and is inviting questions from outside engineers, students and researchers. The first post is lengthy and technically-involved, so it certainly isn’t meant for mainstream eyes....

Apple has added some nice new touches to Apple Maps with animated 3D imagery for iconic landmarks starting with the UK. Apple Maps now shows the correct time on Big Ben and a rotating London Eye when users viewing the landmarks access the app’s 3D Flyover feature. Videos showing off the animated London Eye and Big Ben in Apple Maps are below: These latest additions to Maps follow Apple adding new locations for its Flyover feature that offers high resolution 3D imagery of select locales....

March is upon us, and for Apple, the month is shaping up to be quite busy. Major software updates will likely be released and there’s a services-packed event rumored for the end of the month. There are also a number of new hardware rumors floating around that could materialize at any point. Here’s our preview of Apple’s eventful month ahead: March Apple Event Apple has a history of holding special spring events in recent years, including the original iPhone SE unveiling, 9....

Bloomberg reports that Apple is moving more of its TV advertising in-house. This means the company is loosening ties with Chiat\Day, the ad agency Apple has used for more than 30 years, best known for producing Apple’s 1984 campaign. Apple told Bloomberg that Apple’s ‘Pencil’ iPad ad, pictured above, was developed by Apple’s internal advertising team and are now responsible for all other TV ads airing now. The report goes on to say that Apple built out its internal team using employees from Chiat\Day....

Users in Israel have long been waiting for a launch of Apple Music and today it appears as if it’s happening. Although Apple’s website still lists the service as “coming soon,” a handful of users in the country are reporting that they are now prompted with the service within the Music app. As is always the case, Apple is offering a 3 month free trial of the service to users in Israel....