Apple today has shared yet another new iPhone 6s ad focusing on the device’s always-lisnteing “Hey Siri” feature. Earlier this week, Apple debuted two new advertisements for the iPhone 6s, one focused on the device’s improved performance and another on “Hey Siri.” This ad stars highly acclaimed director Jon Favreau and showcases the iPhone 6s being used on a film set.

Entitled “On the Set,” this 15-second advert shows Favreau utilizing the “Hey Siri” functionality of iPhone 6s to quickly find out information on a scene he is attempting to shoot. Favreau appears to be using motion capture technology to record flying squirrels, although he’s unclear as to what exactly they should look like, so he says, “Hey Siri, show me images of flying squirrels,” and Siri obliges.

Favreau is perhaps best known for his work as directing Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and the hit Christmas movie Elf with Will Ferrel.

As we head into the holiday season, Apple appears to be going all out when it comes to TV advertisements. Today’s new ad comes just a week after the company unveiled its new holiday ad featuring Stevie Wonder and Andra Day. The new ad can be seen below:

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: ad, Apple, Hey Siri, iPhone 6s, Siri, video

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Last week, Apple officially pulled the plug on Beats Music after initially announcing the shut down a few weeks prior. Apple is offering a seamless way to transition from Beats Music to Apple Music, but if you’ve waited until the very last minute to do so and are worried that your content is now gone, fear not as Apple is offering a grace period to get your content out of Beats Music and into Apple Music…

Beats today has sent out an email to former subscribers informing them that all of their content, playlists, music, and preferences will be safe until January 19th, 2016. That means that you have until then to migrate your content from Beats Music to Apple Music. The email sent by Beats today handily includes a quick link to immediately start your 3-month free trial of Apple Music, as well.

If you’re unsure how to migrate your content from Beats Music to Apple Music, Apple has detailed a few steps for both iOS and Android users to do so. iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users must have iOS 8.4 to use Apple Music and Beats Music version 2.3.5 to transfer content, while 4.3 Jelly Bean is required for Android users.

Zac detailed some of the changes you may notice when switching from Beats Music to Apple Music here, so be sure to check that out if you’re curious about what to expect following the switch.

Filed under: Apple Music Tagged: Apple Music, Beats Music

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(Photo by Ryan Emberley/Invision for Apple/AP Images)

A month after rolling out carrier billing for iTunes and App Store content with German carrier O2, CNBC reports Apple is looking to expand the initiative with a similar offer in Russia.

The carrier billing feature allows customers to have purchases made from Apple’s iTunes and App Store charged directly to their wireless account with a local carrier. For Russia, Apple is reportedly first partnering with Amsterdam-based carrier VimpelCom for customers of its Beeline brand.

On the payment information page within account settings, a user who chooses to pay by mobile now sees the following:

“Mobile phone billing is available in Russia for Beeline mobile customers. A verification will be sent to you.”

Apple is reportedly using San Francisco-based Boku to help manage the newly launched service in both Russia and Germany.  

While Apple has only recently started offering carrier billing in select markets, many carriers in the US and abroad have offered similar services for Android and other mobile platforms. Google, for example, has direct carrier billing available in over 35 countries for Android, including through AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon in the US.

CNBC notes that “phone companies have commonly taken well over 10 percent, and even upwards of 30 percent” of purchases, but that Apple’s deals, according to the report, have all been for a lower, single-digit percentage.

Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS Devices Tagged: App Store, Apple, beeline, carrier billing, iPhone, iTunes, O2, Russia

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Mechanical hard drives will continue to be available — though decreasingly important — into the foreseeable future. New drives are cheaper and higher-capacity than increasingly popular solid state drives, and old drives pulled from computers are hard to throw away, even if they’re past their prime. Most people would seek out an external hard drive enclosure, which is ideal if you want to commit to repurposing one internal drive for an extended period of time. But what if you want to swap multiple internal hard drives in and out on an as-needed basis?

Sporting a substantially metal chassis with Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0 ports, OWC’s new Drive Dock ($245) is a premium solution for people who want high-speed, on-demand access to internal hard drives. The top has two SATA-compatible drive bays, each capable of holding 2.5″ laptop drives or 3.5″ desktop drives, while the bottom holds a power supply capable of safely powering both drives as plug-and-play volumes…

There’s no question that Drive Dock carries a substantial design and electronics premium over functionally similar alternatives from companies such as Sabrent — this, like OWC’s Mercury Pro optical disc burners (reviewed here), is a fancier, Mac-matching option with features that will be of disproportionate interest to professional users. The thick aluminum and equally sturdy black plastic chassis are arguably the least important of these features, though they do a very nice job of matching everything from iMacs and Mac minis to MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros; they also enable Drive Dock to remain stable on your desk when you’re connecting or disconnecting drives from its bays.

On the functional side, OWC bundles Drive Dock with a Thunderbolt 2 cable, which is fairly uncommon for accessories of this type, as well as dual Thunderbolt 2 ports so Drive Dock can sit in the middle of a Thunderbolt chain rather than at its end. You’ll also get a USB 3.0 cable and a power cable in the box; a power switch on the back controls the entire unit, while individual power buttons on the top can power each drive on or off as preferred.

Using Drive Dock is as simple as plugging your internal drive into one of the bays, SATA plugs facing downwards in the lower left corner. You’ll hear a soft click when the connection is made, and at that point, the drive will be ready to show up as a volume on your USB- or Thunderbolt-connected Mac. No drivers are necessary, and the user experience is literally indistinguishable from using a dedicated external enclosure… except for one thing. Once you press the Eject button on OS X, Drive Dock enables you to just physically pull the internal drive out at will and swap it with another if you want. With standard external hard drive enclosures, that feat is either impractical or impossible.

If you’re planning to use Drive Dock with recent, fast SATA III drives, the speed benefits will be more obvious than with older, slower SATA I and SATA II drives. As my personal collection of spare internal hard drives is limited, and doesn’t include anything with SATA III, I wasn’t able to push Drive Dock to its theoretical limits. Using both Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3 connections, my single SATA II drive tests tapped out at around 125MB/second for both reads and writes, below the Drive Dock’s Thunderbolt 2 (477-522MB/second) and USB 3 (347-427MB/second) peak single drive benchmarks. OWC notes that it is also capable of running two drives in a RAID 0 configuration at speeds of around 371-378MB/second, varying only slightly based on your choice of Thunderbolt 2 or USB 3 interface. With a SATA III mechanical hard drive, you can expect up to 180MB/second speeds; a SATA III SSD will come closest to pushing Drive Dock’s capabilities.

As Mac peripherals go, Drive Dock is quite clearly designed to appeal to a very specific audience: professional Mac users who have need for a high-performance, quick-swap adapter for internal hard drives. It isn’t cheap, but it isn’t flimsy, and it looks very much in the right place next to a desktop or laptop Mac. The ideal customer for such an accessory is someone who either has a lot of internal hard drives — say, a video professional or huge fan of multi-drive backups — or a need to frequently switch between several drives that aren’t better placed inside discrete external enclosures. Drive Dock’s pricing, finish, and features make it a good choice for creative professionals who care about speed and aesthetics.

More From This Author

Check out more of my editorials, How-To guides, and reviews for 9to5Mac here! I’ve covered a lot of different topics of interest to Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, and Apple Watch users. I’ve recently discussed how to safely prepare and wipe your iPhone for resale or trade-in, and how to get the best iPhone trade-in price to help buy an iPhone 6s, amongst many other topics.

Filed under: Mac, Reviews Tagged: Drive Dock, hard drive enclosure, OWC, SATA, Thunderbolt 2, USB 3

For more information about Mac, Reviews, and Thunderbolt 2 continue reading at 9to5Mac.

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Infuse, a popular video library and playback application for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, is making its way to tvOS on the new Apple TV today. As with its iOS counterpart, Infuse on the Apple TV will serve as a way for users to store multiple video file types in a single library.

The application can stream video content from a computer, external wireless storage drives as well as apps like Plex, Kodi, and Servioo. This differentiating feature is handy for users who want a single view of all their video content stored across numerous devices and services.

Because the tvOS version of Infuse is tied to the iOS counterpart, the download is free for users of Infuse 3 on iOS devices. The tvOS version is labeled as Infuse 4.0, and the iOS client will be upgraded to the new version later this year, the developers tell us.

Infuse 4.0 on tvOS (and in the upcoming iOS version) adds automatically downloaded artwork and movie ratings, support for syncing how far along a user is into a video between devices, and support for downloadable subtitles.

Filed under: Apple TV, Apps Tagged: app, Apple TV, icloud, infuse, iTunes, movies, sync, tvOS, Video Playback

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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:

Bluetooth Headphones: AUSDOM M04 Over-Ears $30 (Reg. $43), Jabra MOVE On-ears $60 (Reg. $90), more

Daily Deals: 6-axis Gyro RC Quadcopter w/ HD Camera $39, Energy Bookshelf Speakers pair $100, more

Monument Valley for iOS goes free for the first time (Reg. $4)

$100 iTunes Gift Card for $80 with email delivery from PayPal (20% off), more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Knock out a huge chunk of your Xmas list with Razor sale at Amazon, scooters start at $14, electric ride-ons $19, go carts, more

Host a Christmas party that doesn’t suck with these rowdy adult board games

• Altec Lansing The Jacket Bluetooth Speaker $20 shipped (Reg. $50)
• Games/Apps: Metal Gear Solid Phantom Pain $35, Nintendo NFC Reader from $16, more
• Fashion 50% off sales: The North Face, PUMA, Patagonia, more
• Lenovo IdeaPad Touchscreen Chromebook $170 shipped (Orig. $330)

A year of BJ's for $18? You aren't dreaming, just being a perv wp.me/p1xTlR-KVI https://t.co/6dQ098aout

—
9to5Toys (@9to5toys) December 03, 2015

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

TextExpander 5 for Mac, award-winning productivity app now $22 (Orig. $45)

Free PS Plus Games for December: Far Cry 3, Gaunlet Slayer Edition, more

Free Xbox Live Gold Games for December: Thief, Adventures of Van Helsing, Sacred 3, more

• Apple 12″ 256GB MacBook $1,100 (Reg. $1,299)
• MoKo Apple Watch charging stand $5 or dual iPhone/Watch stand $12
• Caseology iPhone 6/s/Plus and Android Cases from $4 shipped
• Free MP3 Christmas albums from Mariah Carey, Blake Shelton, Josh Groban
• Anker USB Power Deals: 4-port 36W Wall Charger $14 (Reg. $20), more
• Networking: HooToo 802.11n Travel Router $15 (Reg. $20), more
• Kindle First Books for December: Out of Sorts, A Death in Sweden, more
• Apple’s Amazing Apps & Games sale 50% off: Threes!, Transistor, PAC-MAN, more
• OtterBox Commuter Series iPhone 6/6s Case for $19 shipped (Reg. $28+)
• Kindle tablets 25% off for Amazon cardholders: Paperwhite $90, more
• Audio-Technica Headphones + Amp $180 shipped ($258 value)
• Monoprice MHD Sport 2.0 Action Camera w/ Live View Remote $150 (Reg. $180)
• Anker iPad Accessories: Bluetooth Folio Keyboards for iPad Air 2, mini 4, more from $20
• eBay Gift Card Roundup: Toys R Us $100 for $85, Lowe’s $200 for $175, much more
• These men’s luxury watches are on sale for Black Friday & Cyber Monday
• GoPro HERO4 Cameras: Session $229 (Reg. $300), Black 4K $349 (Reg. $500)
• Pixelmator for Mac gets a 50% discount today: $15 (Reg. $30)
• Apple AirPort Extreme 802.11ac Wireless Router (refurbished): $100 shipped (Orig. $199)
• Herman Miller takes rare 15% off world’s best office chairs + desks

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Mounts for the new Apple TV (4th gen) keep your HDTV setup looking super clean

Sugr Cube enters the fray of Wi-Fi speakers with touch-based controls & a myriad of sources

• MiTagg slims down its NuDock Mini for iPhone & Apple Watch plus adds USB-C
• Review: Star Wars Battlefront limited edition PS4 is out of this galaxy [Video]
• Mohu launches a “high-end” speaker with built-in Android display, save 10%
• Leica introduces a new low-cost M series camera, but don’t expect bargain pricing

Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: 9to5Toys, Amazon Gold Box, Amazon Prime, app deals, apple deals, Apple TV Mount, Black Friday, bluetooth headphones, Cyber Monday, Daily Deals, Deals, eBay Daily Deals, free, Free App of the Week, free apps, Freebies, gift guide, holiday gifts, iPad, iPhone, Jabra MOVE, Lunch Break, MacBook, New Toy of the Day

Check out 9to5Mac for more breaking coverage of iPhone, iPad, and Tips and Tricks.

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The carrier wars in the US are heating up as we head further into the winter, and that’s generally good news for consumers. Verizon is currently adding 2GB of data for new and current subscribers that upgrade to certain plans over the next few weeks. T-Mobile is targeting switchers by offering AT&T subscribers that jump carriers the chance to buy the 128GB iPhone 6s at the price of the 16GB model and save as much as $125 on financed accessories including Beats headphones and the Apple Watch. Read on for details…

For current or future Verizon subscribers, here’s what you’ll want to know. Starting now through January 6th, the carrier will add 2GB of monthly data for each phone upgraded or added that uses an XL or XXL data plan.

Those are Verizon’s 12GB/$80 and 18GB/$100 plans effectively making these plans 14GB and 20GB for the same monthly price. The offer applies for up to 10 lines and sticks around as long as the upgraded or new phone is on the XL or XXL plan. Data can also be shared with others on the same family plan including tablets.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile is doing the usual thing and targeting switchers. AT&T customers that move lines to T-Mobile can pick up the 128GB iPhone 6s at the price of the $200 cheaper 16GB model. The entry level storage is generally a bad experience, and the offer makes the high-end model a better deal than the mid-tier 64GB model. The offer starts tomorrow and runs through December 13th.

T-Mobile notes that its current $200 credit promo for Sprint switchers runs through December 6th, and a deal for Verizon customers moving to T-Mobile will come next week.

Finally, T-Mobile is also offering AT&T switchers discounts up to $125 off of financed accessories including Beats headphones, Apple Watches, Guitar Hero Live for iOS, and much more. The offer also extends to AT&T’s GoPhone and Cricket Wireless subscribers as well. Read all the fine print here.

Filed under: Apple Watch, iOS Devices, Tech Industry Tagged: Apple watch, AT&T, Beats, Data, iPhone, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon

For more information about iOS Devices, iPhone, and Tech Industry continue reading at 9to5Mac.

What do you think? Discuss “Verizon giving away 2GB to upgraders, T-Mobile discounts iPhones and Apple Watches to AT&T switchers” with our community.

As promised earlier in the year, Apple’s Swift team has now posted source code for the Swift compiler and standard library functions and objects. Open-sourcing Swift is a big win for the developer community as it means Swift can now be setup to run on a server and many other use cases, bringing Apple programming talent and expertise beyond ‘just’ making apps iOS devices and Macs.

Making Swift open-source also gives the developer community as a whole more confidence in the language. Theoretically, if Apple ever decided to move away from Swift (which is unlikely), the language could be picked up by others and continue development and existing codebases could continue to be supported.

By open sourcing the language, Apple is also inviting the community to help make Swift better, by contributing to the language itself. It is yet to be seen how open Apple approach accepting significant community pull-request however. The Swift site says the project prefers ‘small incremental improvements’.

For those interested in finding out more, check out the documentation on the Swift.org site. The code itself is hosted on a GitHub repository. The repo is currently 404ing but the code should be up shortly.

Apple is publishing code for the raw language compiler as well as the Swift standard library and parts of Foundation, which many developers did not think would happen. Frameworks like AppKit and UIKit remain exclusive to Mac and iOS app development as expected. The published ‘core libraries’ include some of the most important components from AppKit and UIKit, like a networking stack, threading, and common data types, however. Apple says these features are actually planned for official release in the as-yet-unannounced Swift 3, but is including them now for feedback in the early development stages.

Filed under: Developers, iOS, iOS Devices, Tech Industry Tagged: developers, Open source, Swift

For more information about iOS Devices, Tech Industry, and iOS continue reading at 9to5Mac.

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Yahoo Messenger has long taken a back seat to other Yahoo products on mobile devices, but today the company is finally unveiling a revamped app that brings its messaging platform into this decade with a completely redesigned user experience and new features.

Launching today across platforms— iOS, Android, web, and within Yahoo Mail on the desktop— the new Yahoo Messenger experience aims to integrate features from Flickr, Tumblr and Xobni while providing access to the usual messaging and contacts features.

For photo sharing in the new app, Yahoo notes that users can “send hundreds of photos at a time and they appear to everyone in the conversation almost instantly.” Users can also download images in their original full resolution, while not having to worry about photo storage as images are loaded on the fly when needed.

Other new features include the ability to “unsend” a message, deleting it from the conversation for all participants, “likes” for individual messages, and the ability to search for and send GIFs from Tumblr.

The app also works when offline (messages will be sent when you next connect to the internet), and a new “Smart Contacts” feature powered by Xobni offers smart suggestions when searching contacts.

You can check out the new Yahoo Messenger app for iOS (and on the web) today.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: App Store, Apps, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Messenger, redesign, update, Yahoo

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KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a good track record on what if not when, says that Apple’s new 4-inch iPhone will “resemble an upgraded iPhone 5s,” but will get some new internals. Externally, he suggests the main visible difference will be similar curved-edge glass to the iPhone 6/6s.

Beneath the hood, he says the phone – expected to be dubbed the iPhone 6c – will get an A9 processor and NFC chip to support Apple Pay. The camera will, however, be identical to that in the 5s. Kuo’s investment note also supports recent reports that the 6c will get a metal case, stating that it will be available in at least 2-3 colors.

Kuo expects the phone to hit in the first quarter of next year, but does think that it may generate relatively modest sales … 

The note estimates that the new model – expected to be priced at $400-500 – will account for 8-9% of next year’s iPhone sales, but says that there is still good reason for Apple to launch. There is still demand for 4-inch phones, and it will help Apple extend its penetration into emerging markets and consumers on tighter budgets. Supporting Apple Pay will also strengthen the Apple ecosystem.

Kuo believes that while the usual seasonal effect will see iPhone sales slowing early next year, the new model could reduce the scale of that slowdown.

The note supports the theory we expressed yesterday that the new phone will replace the iPhone 5s in the line-up.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: 4-inch iPhone, a9, Apple pay, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6c, Ming-Chi Kuo, NFC

Check out 9to5Mac for more breaking coverage of iOS Devices, Apple pay, and iPhone 5s.

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