According to data from Counterpoint Research, iPhone sales in India are booming. Apple reportedly shipped 800,000 units in the December quarter to the country, up from 500,000 a year ago. Apple has been aggressively promoting their phones with substantial discounts to sustain sales, given high prices for iPhone 6s in India (via Economic Times).

Even with price cuts, that 800,000 number is composed of older iPhone models too. The report indicates that iPhone 5s was responsible for 30% of the sales numbers. About half of the 800k number are made up of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

In 2014, Apple’s brand new iPhones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, took 70% of shipments. Although sales growth is encouraging, the lower proportion of new phone units is a slight cause for concern. Absolute numbers are also still low compared to total iPhone sales, but Apple is expected to break records not just for the quarter but for 2015.

Yesterday, it was reported Apple has asked Indian regulators for permission to open its own Apple Stores in the country. Apple currently has no official retail presence in the country, instead relying on carrier partners and independent phone stores. Bringing Apple Stores to India should yield a nice boost to sales.

Apple is set to report total iPhone sales for the quarter at its investor earnings call next week. Worldwide, there is much speculation about iPhone sales performance with many expecting Apple to report negligible growth across 2016.

Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS, iOS Devices, Tech Industry Tagged: Apple Store, India, iPhone 6s, iphone 6s plus

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Apple is currently expected to hold an event in March to announce a slew of new products, notably including a new addition to the iPhone lineup. The 4-inch iPhone is expected to be released by April, and MIC Gadget claims to have a hands-on with new unreleased iPhone straight from the Foxconn factory. Boring yet unsurprising, the purported new iPhone looks just like an iPhone 6s, but smaller. The latest rumors indicate it will also have similar internals, featuring Apple A9 SoC and NFC for Apple Pay.

The validity of the video cannot be confirmed. The ratios of the speaker holes is very similar to the 4.7 inch phone so it’s not 100% that this phone is actually smaller (perhaps the camera guy has big hands). The video also does not include a comparison with other iPhones to confirm the relative size, but they claim it is legit and MIC Gadget has a reasonable history of obtaining device hands-on ahead of time. Watch the 40 second clip and decide for yourself, after the break …

Naming for the new 4-inch iPhone is unclear. Most sites are referring to the device as the iPhone 6c, given its smaller size and natural lower-tier place in the lineup. It also shares a lot of its design and performance from the iPhone 6 series. That being said, there has also been some speculation it may be called the iPhone 7c, so it aligns with Apple’s newest-generation phone lineup coming in the fall. (There was also a really-sketchy rumor that Apple was considering a ‘5e’ name.)

Sadly, the video doesn’t reveal much. It’s pretty boring … if this is legit, everyone will quickly be able to grasp the concept of the new iPhone addition coming in a couple of months. Take a 4.7 inch iPhone 6s and shrink it down. Expect the leaks to continue in the coming weeks as Apple ramps production of this new model. For those unexcited by this, you’ll likely have to wait until late 2016 for Apple to unveil its ‘real’ new iPhone for 2017, the iPhone 7, which is expected to feature significant internal upgrades and external design changes.

Filed under: iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: 2016 iPhone, 4-inch iPhone, iPhone, iPhone 6c, iPhone 7, iPhone 7c, new iPhone

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With iOS 9 being out for nearly five months now, you would’ve expected all the top video apps to already be including picture-in-picture for the iPad. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case with YouTube and a few others. If you’re feeling the hurt from not being able to catch up on your favorite YouTuber’s latest videos while multitasking around your iPad, then check out CornerTube, a new YouTube utility app focused on PIP. CornerTube lets users quickly jump into videos on YouTube, all the while enabling that missing PIP feature. It gets even better once you start utilizing the included Today widget in Notification Center and Action extension in other apps.

With no word in sight on when it will be enabled in the official app, multiple others have offered up their own solutions on a YouTube and PIP feature. CornerTube’s lightweight app has taken that a step further, all the while looking to make the video watching experience faster. The app focuses on getting the user into watching the video they want, without trying to be a full-blown YouTube replacement app. The Today Widget captures any copied YouTube link from the clipboard and places it into your Notification Center, and the Action extension allows you to launch directly into a video from a YouTube link. These are really great when browsing through your Twitter feed when you want to hop right into watching the latest discovered video without leaving the app you’re already using.

The app itself is extremely clean with a focused simplicity on search and finding the content you want immediately. Type in a search term, and you’re presented with a thumbnail grid of all the results. This quickly removes some of the annoyances I have whenever I launch YouTube to watch a single video. I don’t need to see all the recommended channels or videos load before my desired video loads.

CornerTube’s Today widget is a nice addition for those times that I want to watch a video soon, but not far enough out that I would try to add it to my ‘Watch Later’ playlist. The most recent copied YouTube link gets placed into the Today Widget, where you can tap and launch directly into watching it. I really see myself using this whenever I find that latest movie trailer, but can’t quite pull myself away just this second. It also lets you quickly jump between YouTube’s app and CornerTube’s app with PIP ready to go.

CornerTube also includes a really nice Action extension. Personally, I feel this is the most powerful part of the app. Being able to launch directly into a YouTube video using this Action extension is perfect when skimming through Tweetbot. Just tap and hold on a link and launch directly into CornerTube using the ‘Send To CornerTube’ option. The result is the ability to view the YouTube video with picture-in-picture, while going right back to browsing Tweetbot in this example.

CornerTube is available on iOS 9 for iPad via the App Store for $1.99. Picture-in-Picture is available on the iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro, and iPad mini 2 or later models. Give CornerTube a try and let us know what you think about the utility, and why you think YouTube is taking its time to support this feature.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Apple, extensions, Google, iOS, iOS 9, iPad, iPad Pro, Notification Center, Picture in Picture, PIP, video, widgets, YouTube

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Apple this morning has announced its first iOS App Development Center for Europe. The facility will be located in Naples, Italy and offer a place for students to learn  who to develop iOS apps. The App Development Center will feature on-site teachers and a curriculum to facilitate a strong and diverse development community.

In a press release, the company said that it hopes the App Development Center will create even more jobs in the iOS community, which has already created more than 1.2 million jobs in Europe alone In Italy, there are already 75,000 jobs attributable to the App Store. European developers have earned more than €10.2 billion from selling their apps on the App Store. Apple plans to partner with other development communities in Italy to build upon its own curriculum and ensure that the most students as possible are taking advantage of the opportunities.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had the following to say about the opening of the Naples App Development Center:

“Europe is home to some of the most creative developers in the world and we’re thrilled to be helping the next generation of entrepreneurs in Italy get the skills they need for success,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The phenomenal success of the App Store is one of the driving forces behind the more than 1.4 million jobs Apple has created in Europe and presents unlimited opportunities for people of all ages and businesses of all sizes across the continent.”

Apple says that it hopes to expand its App Development Center initiative to more countries as time progresses. A specific opening date for the Naples App Development Center is unclear at this time. Apple’s first press release can be read below:

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: App Development Center, Apple, Europe, Italy

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According to a new report out of app analytics company App Annie, Apple’s trend of bringing in more revenue via its App Store than Google does via the Play Store continued in 2015. Google, however, continued to see far more app downloads than Apple…

The report claims that Google saw twice as many apps downloaded from the Play Store as Apple saw downloaded from the App Store. This, however, is reversed when it comes to earnings from each respective app store. The iOS App Store now earns 75 percent more revenue than the Google Play Store. This is an increase over the 70 percent difference recorded during 2014.

App Annie tracks data from “more than 1 million apps,” including 94 of the top 100 app publishers across both platforms. For iOS, however, it is unable to track apps made by Apple, such as GarageBand, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and iTunes U. This means that the number of apps downloaded from the iOS App Store is presumably higher than what App Annie reports, suggesting that there’s not quite a 2x difference between iOS and Android app downloads.

Another discrepancy in data reporting comes in China. App Annie is able to track iOS app downloads in China, but not Google. With that in mind, App Annie claims that China is now the App Store’s third largest market in terms of revenue and is “within striking distance” of passing Japan for second place. In terms of downloads, China has surpassed the U.S. to move into first place.

Last week, a report claimed that games in the App Store brought in $1 billion in revenue during December, an 18 percent increase of the $847 million brought in during December of 2014. The morale of the story here? Apple continues to bring in far more revenue via the App Store than Google does via the Play Store, despite Google seeing far more downloads overall.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Android, App Store, Apps, iOS, Play Store

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With the introduction of the first beta of iOS 9.3, Apple introduced a new feature called Night Shift that adjusts the color temperature of your device’s display at night as to make it easier to fall asleep. One qualm many have had with the feature, however, is that you have to go into the Settings app to turn it on and off. Apple’s iOS 9.3 Canadian preview page, however, hints that it make become easier to enable the feature with future iOS 9.3 updates…

If you head to the iOS 9.3 preview page on Apple Canada’s website, you can see that there’s an option to enable Night Shift from Control Center on the iPad. The Control Center toggle brings up two options: “Turn On For Now” and “Turn On Until Tomorrow.” This toggle is noticeably missing from the American version of the 9.3 preview page, so it’s unclear what exactly Apple has planned for it (via Reddit)

One possibility is that we’ll see the Control Center Night Shift option appear in a future iOS 9.3 beta, the next of which could come as early as next week. It’s unclear as to whether this will be an iPad only feature or if it will come to the iPhone, as well.

If you’re unfamiliar, Night Shift uses your iOS device’s location and clock to automatically adjust the colors in your display, making them warmer and easier on the eyes at nighttime. In the end, Apple says this should make it easier to fall asleep as the bright blue light normally emitted from a display has been found to disrupt your circadian rhythms.

If a new beta of iOS 9.3 should come out next week, we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for the Night Shift Control Center toggle.

Filed under: iOS Tagged: Apple, control center, iOS, iOS 9.3, iPad, iPhone, Night Shift

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Following its onslaught of music updates this morning, Apple this evening has rolled out updates to two more of its Mac audio apps. First is Logic Pro X, which has been bumped to version 10.2.1 with this evening’s update. Next is MainStage 3, which is now at version 3.2.3 thanks to its most recent update. Both apps have received a handful of new features, under-the-hood changes, and performance improvements with their respective updates.

Logic Pro X now supports a new multithreading threading feature that significantly improves performance when processing multiple live channels. Previewing Apple Loops and performing region edits is also much quicker. 30 plug-ins have also been updated and redesigned to support Retina displays and improve usability. There are a variety of other performance and usability enhancements, as well, which can all be seen in the changelog below:

Filed under: Mac Tagged: Apple, Apps, Logic Pro X, Mac, MainStage 3, Music, Updates

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Is this really one of Apple’s official spokespeople for GarageBand? That’s what The Verge says in this T-Painful tutorial that teaches us next to nothing about today’s Garageband update. An update that by the way actually introduces some interesting new features for users of the audio production suite Apple bundles with its iOS devices and Macs.

T-Pain says he’s using GarageBand for his latest recordings, which is notable considering the app is known as an amateur version of Apple’s professional Logic Pro audio suite. As for sharing his tips on the new Live Loops feature, T-Pain explains, “this makes when dealing with the loop sounds, it makes it easier… if you’re feeling a little bit randy and want to add some help… let’s say you can, uh, let’s say anyone of these randomly, and that’s already recording into GarageBand. And boom.”

And on the new Drummer feature, “…what I like to do… bam… basically, Drummer is effortless… didn’t have to do anything… he made the whole thing for me.” Helpful.

The headline feature for the app update today was the new support for Apple’s larger iPad Pro— it previewed a new UI that takes advantage of the increased screen real estate on the 12.9-inch tablet, but hadn’t until today made it available. And the update also introduced support for 3D Touch features on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. But the features that T-Pain does a pretty horrible job of demoing in the video below are the new Live Loops and Drummer features.

Live Loops is a sampler with a familiar drumpad-like UI that allows for on-the-fly, live sampling and it comes with a library of stock Apple samples to start you off. While Drummer, a feature it previously introduced for GarageBand and Logic users on the Mac, is a feature that analyzes your song and intelligently adds drum tracks using a number of built-in and customizable presets. You’ll see both features briefly in T-Pain’s walkthrough above, which I can only imagine Apple had absolutely nothing to do with. 

Today’s Garageband update came alongside a brand new app release from Apple, a voice memos-like app called “Music Memos” that adds in features specifically for songwriters. 

Filed under: Apps Tagged: GarageBand, iPad, iPhone, live loops, T-Pain, tutorial, update

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This week Zac and Benjamin talk about the new versions of iOS and OS X along with some changes for iAds and iTunes Radio plus how Beats 1 can be improved. The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.

New episodes of Happy Hour are available every Wednesday. As mentioned, you can download this podcast via iTunes or plug in our RSS feed link into your favorite podcasting app. Send an email to listenermail@9to5mac.com (or click here) and your question/comment may be featured in an upcoming episode of Happy Hour.

Note: iTunes (web interface and app) may still be propagating the new episode which could take up to 24 hours. Subscribing to the podcast feed will guarantee the latest episode is downloaded.

Hosts:

• Benjamin Mayo
• Zac Hall

Here’s what we discussed in this episode:

• OS X 10.11.3 hits the Mac App Store for all users
• Apple releases iOS 9.2.1 with bug fixes, security improvements, & MDM server resolution
• iOS 9.3 public beta + 9.3 dev beta 1.1 w/ Night Shift, Touch ID Notes, more now available
• OS X 10.11.4 beta adds support for viewing and sharing Live Photos in Messages
• watchOS 2.2 adds Nearby search to Maps for Apple Watch
• Report: Apple says it sucks at selling ads, will soon let publishers do the hard work but keep all the revenue
• Apple announces it will discontinue iAd App Network for developers on June 30th
• Apple announces free ad-supported iTunes Radio stations going away on January 29th, will require Apple Music subscription
• Do you listen to Beats 1? Here’s what Apple can do to improve its radio station & encourage more people to tune in
• Former Chomp co-founder and Apple TV designer Ben Keighran leaving company

If you missed our 49th episode last week, you can subscribe and find every episode or start off from the previous episode here.

Remember: Subscribe on iTunes to catch all of the episodes as they go live and send in your questions/comments to listenermail@9to5mac.com.

Filed under: Happy Hour Tagged: Apple, Beats 1, Happy Hour, iOS, itunes radio, OS X, Podcast

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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:

Apple’s biggest tablet is now on sale: iPad Pro 32GB Wi-Fi $700 (Reg. $799), 128GB Cellular $1,000 (Reg. $1,079)

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1Password for Mac keeps your accounts and information safe, now $25 (Reg. $50)

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The first Amazon Dash Replenishment devices are now available for order

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• Blipcast uses your Wi-Fi to beam HDTV audio to multiple iOS or Android devices
• This Nintendo-inspired Bluetooth speaker is just about perfect in every way
• Netflix Announces Premiere Dates for 10 Original Shows including House of Cards, more
• The new ‘Where to Eat Pizza’ coffee table book takes a look at the best slices worldwide
• Phāz takes note of iPhone 7 rumors with new Lightning-connected headphones
• Review: EasyACC 3 USB-port/2 AC-port surge protector is perfect for bedside, desk or travel

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: 1Password, 9to5Toys, Amazon, app deals, Best Buy, Daily Deals, free apps, Gold Box, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, video games

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