The Wall Street Journal has posted an extensive report detailing Apple’s many attempts at getting serious about a TV product. This includes both hardware and software: the article says Apple did consider building a physical TV set at one stage. On the media front, the report says Apple’s harsh terms have put off the cable networks from getting onboard.

The article includes several choice anecdotes regarding Apple SVP Eddy Cue. In one case, Cue curtly responded to a cable network execs that “time is on my [Apple’s] side”. More after the jump …

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Filed under: Apple

Since the rumor started back in November, there’s been more and more evidence that the next iPhone will drop the 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of wireless or Lightning audio playback. A report last month claimed that Apple plans to bundle standard EarPods with the new iPhones in September and include a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter in the box. While this would mean all of the claimed Lightning EarPods we’ve seen so far are fake, it does lend credit to a video posted today that shows what appears to be an official Lightning to 3.5mm adapter…

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Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Grab Apple’s latest 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro on sale for $1,030 shipped ($269 savings)

Grab a Jackery 3200mAh MFi iPhone 6s battery case for just $16 Prime shipped today (Reg. $30)

This Samsung Mini Metal USB 3.0 Flash Drive has an uber compact design: 128GB $28.50 Prime shipped (Orig. $40)

Buy a new Apple TV now so you’re ready for when tvOS 10 hits! 64GB on sale for $159 (Reg. $199)

Best Buy’s new two-day shipping policy takes on Amazon Prime ahead of back-to-school sales

The original Angry Birds game for iOS gets updated with new content and goes free for the first time in years (Reg. up to $3)

App Store Free App of the Week: Super Arc Light minimal shooter goes free for the first time (Reg. $2)

How-To: Quickly (and safely!) clean your HDTV using only a few basic items

The Best New Games on the App Store: LEGO Star Wars, Heroes of Loot 2, Perchang, Stickman Golf and more

How-to build the perfect Pokémon Go Machine: accessories, tips and more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Daily Deals: APC Back-UPS 1080VA UPS $100, Seagate 1TB Expansion Portable Hard Drive $49, more

• It’s time to go 4K, pick up VIZIO’s 60-inch 240Hz Smart Ultra HDTV for $899 (Orig. $1,300)
• Games/Apps: God of War 3 Remastered $14, iOS freebies, more
• Vintage-style MacBook messenger bags are perfect for the school year: $39 (Reg. $50)
• Smartphone Accessories: Lumsing Bluetooth Noise Isolating In-Ear Headphones $15
• These refurbished Rachio IRO Irrigation Controllers are at all time lows: 8-zone for $95
• Get a complete body workout without leaving the house – Bowflex Home Gym for $315

MORE DEALS STILL LIVE:

Logitech’s awesome MX Master Wireless Mouse for Mac/PC has never been cheaper at Amazon: $68 shipped (Reg. $80)

Logitech’s Z333 2.1-Ch. Speaker System will bring your computer’s audio to life: $45 shipped (Reg. $65)

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Filed under: Apple

Back when most people were on plans that saw them offered a new phone every two years, upgrading wasn’t really a decision. Paying typically $0-200, depending on your plan, saw you get the latest iPhone every other year. It would have been silly to turn it down because you’d pay the same monthly amount either way.

So the only decision most people made was whether to be on the main ‘tick’ cycle, with the new designs, or the ‘tock’ cycle that gave you the S model with the same design but new features.

But now that carriers split out phone costs from usage plans, upgrading your phone becomes a much more conscious decision. You could do it every year, paying more but always having the latest model. You could continue on a two-year cycle. Or you could save a decent chunk of money by sitting out a year.

That latter option might once have seemed unlikely for 9to5Mac readers, who typically like to stay up to date, but this year could potentially be very different …

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Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller is joining Illumina’s board of directors, a company that provides technologies related to DNA sequencing for healthcare research among other services.

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Not many of you agreed with me when I wrote an opinion piece a year ago saying that I could see a role for an Apple Watch-style digital crown on an iPhone, but a patent application published today shows that Apple is at least toying with the idea of introducing it to iOS devices.

Patently Apple spotted the patent application which shows a ‘rotary input’ device on an iPad …

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Pocket Casts is a cross-platform podcast player with apps on iOS, Android, the web, and even Windows Phone, and today Shift Jelly released a major update to the iPhone and iPad version. Pocket Casts 6 is out today and includes loads of changes including a refreshed user interface, a dark theme, multitasking features on iPad including Picture-in-Picture and Split View, and much more.

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Google’s official iOS app has supported AMP articles in search results since late May, and today Google is highlighting support for AMP articles in its Chrome browser for iPhone and iPad. Accelerated Mobile Pages appear in search results and load nearly instantly as these articles are optimized for faster load times.

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Filed under: Apple

With iPhone sales reported for Apple’s fiscal Q3 yesterday, the company is now at around 988.15 million iPhones sold, meaning it’s about to pass the 1 billion units sold milestone and will likely do so any day now.

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Filed under: Apple

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Buy a new Apple TV now so you’re ready for when tvOS 10 hits! 64GB on sale for $159 (Reg. $199)

Logitech’s awesome MX Master Wireless Mouse for Mac/PC has never been cheaper at Amazon: $68 shipped (Reg. $80)

It’s hard to go wrong with LG’s 24-inch 1080p IPS Monitor at $100 shipped (Orig. $230)

Save 20% on Apple’s 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro $1,600

App Store Free App of the Week: Super Arc Light minimal shooter goes free for the first time (Reg. $2)

The original Angry Birds game for iOS gets updated with new content and goes free for the first time in years (Reg. up to $3)

How-To: Quickly (and safely!) clean your HDTV using only a few basic items

The Best New Games on the App Store: LEGO Star Wars, Heroes of Loot 2, Perchang, Stickman Golf and more

How-to build the perfect Pokémon Go Machine: accessories, tips and more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Logitech’s Z333 2.1-Ch. Speaker System will bring your computer’s audio to life: $45 shipped (Reg. $65)

• Toss these $8 Prime shipped wooden earbuds in your backpack and always have a pair on-hand
• Microsoft begins bundling the new Xbox One S with upcoming releases
• Games/Apps: Doom $30, Fallout 4 from $23, freebies, more
• Smartphone Accessories: Aukey Water Resistant Bluetooth speaker $13 (Reg. $22), more
• Daily Deals: LeapFrog LeapTV Educational Gaming System $20, more
• The 15.6-inch Lenovo hybrid notebook features a touchscreen and can flip into a tablet for $430

MORE DEALS STILL LIVE:

JBL Charge 2 Bluetooth Speaker w/ USB Charger (Refurb) $60 shipped (Orig. $150), more

You can add a third-party Milanese Loop band to your Apple Watch for as little as $6 Prime shipped

Get some free money with up to 20% off gift cards from GameStop, CVS, Chili’s, more

Score a $40 Google Express credit for just $15 and enjoy next day delivery on thousands of items

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Filed under: Apple