Apple subsidiary FileMaker is today releasing FileMaker 15, introducing a number of notable additions for mobile device users as well as a host of other new features and enhancements for the platform.

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Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: 3D Touch, FileMaker 15, iBeacon, icloud, SSL, team licensing, Touch ID

Apple has today been granted a patent for an iPad Smart Cover with more smarts than usual: it incorporates a built-in display, and even a Wacom-style drawing tablet.

The patent illustrates a number of different ways the Smart Cover display could be used, from simply extending the iPad’s own display through text-only displays of things like reminders to a combined display and touchpad. Some of the options show the display acting as a full input device too, allowing both handwritten notes and drawings.

While we of course add our usual disclaimer that Apple patents way more things than it actually makes, two element of this patent have actually made it into production …

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Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple Smart Connector, Apple Smart cover, Apple Smart Keyboard, iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Pro Smart Connector, iPad Smart Connector, iPad Smart Cover, iPad Smart Keyboard, Smart Connector, Smart Cover, Smart Keyboard

You might think you’d have to get a bit further down the road than researching the possibility of a car to make a top 10 list of automotive influencers, but it seems not. The Drive has listed Jony Ive as #6 and Tim Cook as #3 in its list of The 10 Most Influential People in Automotive Technology.

The Drive cites CarPlay and Watch-based car apps as part of Apple’s reach into the automotive world to justify Cook’s inclusion, while Ive is listed as an influencer of car interior design.

As for the Apple Car itself, the latest news is that the company is seeking 800,000-sq feet of space for research and development as the team reaches around 600 people.

Via Patently Apple

Filed under: Apple Car Tagged: Apple Car, Jony Ive, The Drive, Tim Cook

You might have thought that the health & fitness labs Apple created to help develop the Apple Watch might have been closed once the product had launched, but a piece in Time reports that they are still operating 12 hours a day, six days a week.

I was recently able to visit one of Apple’s labs dedicated to sports and health. For 12 hours a day, six days a week, Apple brings in Apple employees of every shape, condition and ethnicity to do various exercises and monitor them with the most sophisticated medical systems available. Apple has seven full-time nurses in the facility I visited, using medical monitoring equipment that can determine all types of heath related data points.

ABC gave us a look inside one of the labs in the run-up to the launch of the Watch last year, when we learned that they include climate chambers which allow the company to simulate a wide range of different environments, but this latest report does include a new claim …

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Filed under: Apple Watch Tagged: Apple watch, Apple Watch lab, fitness, Health, Steve Jobs

According to a new report from The Economic Times of India, Apple supplier Foxconn is close to signing a deal with the Indian government to open an iPhone manufacturing plant in the country. The report claims that Apple and Foxconn have narrowed the location for the factory down to Maharashtra.

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Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple, Foxconn, iPhone, Manufacturing

Apple today has started issuing WWDC scholarships to winning applicants. While the company has not yet sent out emails to winners, those who submitted an application can check to see if they’ve received one by logging into their account and looking under the “Events” heading.

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Filed under: Developers Tagged: WWDC, WWDC 2016

Last week, the creators of Siri teased their next virtual assistant service named Viv. At the time, the creators said that Viv does more than Siri or any other virtual assistant currently available. As expected, Siri co-founder Dag Kittlaus today took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City to officially show off Viv to the public for the first time, touting that it will “the intelligent interface for everything.”

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Filed under: iOS Tagged: iOS, Siri, virtual assistant, Viv

Today Snapchat received an update that brings a handy new ability to the popular social app. One-handed zoom, a feature that does exactly what it implies, makes it easier for users to take advantage of the camera’s digital zoom while capturing video. more…

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Camera, Snapchat, zoom

Apple Music competitor Spotify today announced that it is greatly expanding its video offerings this year. As noted by Bloomberg, Spotify will launch 12 original video series with actors like Tim Robbins and Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons. The series are said to each feature episodes ranging from a few minutes long to 15 minutes and will be available to free and paid users.

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Filed under: Apple Music Tagged: Apple Music, Spotify, video

As someone keen on recording voiceovers and podcasts from an iPad, I needed a Lightning-enabled microphone that could handle such a task. While it’s true that Apple’s Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter allows iOS to interface with a variety of microphones that it wasn’t able to before, I like the idea of keeping my setup as minimal and as dongle-free as possible.

Enter the Shure MV5 Digital Condenser Microphone. This is a MFi-certified Lightning-enabled microphone that works with the iPad or iPhone using a single microUSB to Lightning cable. By switching out the Lightning cable for a traditional USB cable, you can use the same microphone with your Mac or PC.

This microphone is a digital condenser that can be powered via Lightning or USB. It doesn’t require any special adapters or power supplies to work, just plug it in, launch an app, and start recording.

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Filed under: Reviews Tagged: Hardware, iPad, iPad Pro, Lightning microphone, Mac, microphone, Podcasting, review, Shure, video