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Today’s can’t miss deals:

iPad mini 4 Wi-Fi 64GB in Silver, Gold, or Space Gray: $460 shipped (Reg. $499)

iPad mini 2 Wi-Fi 16GB in Silver or Space Gray: $230 shipped (Reg. $269)

Get a 64GB Wi-Fi iPad Air 2 for less than Apple charges for 16GB: $490 shipped (Reg. $599)

proXPN VPN: Premium Lifetime Subscription for $39 ($375 value)

Bluetooth Sport Earbuds w/ Prime shipping: Aukey Around-Neck $17 (Reg. $30), more

Amazon thinks leaving your house is over-rated, expands Prime free same-day delivery service

Dell Black Friday Ad Leak: Gears of War Xbox One w/ Fallout 4 + controller $300, VIZIO 60-Inch 4K HDTV $800, more

Amazon and Toys R Us give a peek at this year’s must-have holiday gifts

More new gear from today:

Get ready for Halloween with Best Buy’s $5 horror Blu-ray sale: The Silence of the Lambs, Mad Max, more

• Games/Apps: LEGO Jurassic World from $30, Lara Croft Go gets its first price drop, more
• Logitech K480 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard $35 shipped (Reg. $50)
• Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 interface + Sennheiser HD600 + Condenser Mic $400 shipped ($655 value)
• TP-Link Archer C7 802.11ac Router + DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem $130 shipped ($155+ value)
• Amazon Gold Box – Lucky Brand Jeans 50% off: Classic Straight Leg $50, more

More deals still alive:

Seagate 4TB Portable USB 3 Hard Drive w/ 200GB Cloud: $150 shipped

• GoPro HERO4 Silver Action Camera w/ built-in LCD display: $329 shipped (Reg. $400)
• VIZIO 2.1 Sound Stand w/ subwoofer & remote $100 shipped (Orig. $250)
• Timbuk2 40% off Sale: Dashboard MacBook Messenger Bag from $59 (Orig. $109), more
• KMASHI 10,000mAh Battery $9 (Reg. $14), 6-Ft. Braided MFi Lightning Cable $8.50, more
• Freebies: Game of Thrones + Batman Adventures eBook + Cotton Candy + More!
• Media: Peanuts Holiday Collection HD Download $5 ($60 value), more
• Bluetooth Speakers: Mpow Armor Waterproof $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $36)
• Networking: TP-Link AV1200 Powerline Kit $53 (Reg. $80)
• 2.1-Ch. Home Audio: LG Soundbar 120W (refurb) $65 (Orig. $149)
• Acer Chromebook 1.50GHz/4GB/16GB SSD: $249 shipped (Reg. $279)
• Ticket To Ride goes free on iPhone for the first time in years (Reg. $2)
• 50% off Fashion Sales: PUMA – Down Jacket $75 (Orig. $150), more
• Samsung Smart 4K HDTVs: 40-inch $550 (Reg. $700+), 50-inch $699 (Reg. $1,000+)
• Jawbone UP Move Activity Tracker: $20 w/ in-store pickup (Reg. $50)
• Display your iPhone 6/s w/ this Mpow Car Air Vent Mount $5 shipped (Reg. $9)
• Save 20% off iTunes Digital Gift Cards: $25 for $20, $50 for $40, more
• Adjustable iPad mount for $17 Prime shipped (Orig. $30)

New products & more:

Garmin drops the bulk and adds color with its new Forerunner wearables

D-Link’s latest surveillance cameras go wide-angle with “less distortion” than the competition

• Libratone introduces multi-room audio alongside two new colorful ZIPP speakers
• Guitar Hero Live lands on iOS with a new mobile instrument bundle
• Gold is Best: This one-off Macintosh is a must see with its walnut enclosure and shiny keyboard
• This mini Segway hopes to take-off with its affordable price tag and compact design
• You’ll have to hurry to grab one of these limited edition Fallout 4 Xbox One controllers
• Waylens is the iOS-connected dashboard camera you’ve been waiting for
• It took about 500,000 LEGO bricks to put this life-size Batmobile together
• These futuristic looking headphones could be straight out of the Transformers movie series
• NBA 2K16 hits iOS and Android with new gameplay, controls and updated graphics
• Minecraft: Story Mode launches on iOS and Android with a new multi-episode campaign mode

Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: 9to5Toys, Amazon Gold Box, Amazon Prime, app deals, apple deals, coupon codes, Daily Deals, eBay Daily Deals, free shipping, iOS deals, ipad mini 4, itunes deals, Lunch Break, New Toy of the Day, video games, VPN

Continue reading more about Tips and Tricks, 9to5Toys, and Daily Deals at 9to5Mac.

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We’ll learn on Tuesday just how many iPhones in total Apple sold last quarter, but before then we’re continuing to gauge analysts’ best educated guesses ahead of time. Just as it did with Apple Watch — although with a comical range in that case — Fortune has published an interesting roundup of iPhone sales predictions from analysts for the last and current quarters, respectively.

What we do know is that Apple sold 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models over the new models’ launch weekend late last month, although only sales completed during the first half of that weekend are included in the upcoming quarter being reported. What are the analysts saying about the rest of the last quarter?

Fortune puts the average estimate from analysts at 48.72 million iPhone units sold, up from 39.72 million units actually sold last year during the same quarter which notably didn’t include China at launch. That also aligns with KGI’s similar forecast of 48.5 million iPhones sold last quarter as we reported earlier this morning.

At the low-end, Sundeep Bajikar of Jefferies predicts 45 million iPhones sold; Sherri Scribner of Deutsche Bank forecasting 51.10 million units sold at the high-end.

See the whole chart for yourself below, pros in blue and amateurs in green:

We’ll be able to compare these guesses with the actual numbers on Tuesday afternoon — unlike Apple Watch numbers which Apple hasn’t disclosed separately — so stay tuned to our earnings coverage then.

Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS Devices Tagged: AAPL, analysts, iPhone, iPhone sales, Q4 2015

For more information about AAPL Company, iOS Devices, and iPhone continue reading at 9to5Mac.

What do you think? Discuss “Analysts predicting 45M to 51.1M Q4 iPhone sales ahead of next week’s earnings report” with our community.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is currently visiting China, has told the official Xinhua news agency that nothing has changed Apple’s view of the country.

I know some people are worried about the economy. We’ll continue to invest. China is a superb place to be. Nothing has changed that … 

Cook has been making a series of posts to his Weibo account, celebrating the fact that Apple’s own operations in China now run on 100% renewable energy and is working with its suppliers to help them do the same. The CEO also posted a photo of himself hiking along the Great Wall of China, describing it as “simply breathtaking,” together with photos of his visit to the Wangfujing Apple Store in Beijing.

Apple recently announced that its largest retail store in China would open on Saturday, in the city of Dalian. The store will be one of the largest Apple Stores in the world.

I discussed in a recent opinion piece why Cook’s confidence in Apple’s prospects in China is likely well founded.

Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS Devices Tagged: Apple China, Beijing, china, Dalian, Great Wall of China, Tim Cook

Continue reading more about AAPL Company, iOS Devices, and Tim Cook at 9to5Mac.

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Instagram is expanding its range of apps further today by introducing a new video-looping service to rival the likes of HTC Zoe and the iPhone’s baked-in Live Photos. Boomerang takes a quick burst of photos in-app, and then turns them in to a moving photo, or video, that loops forward and backward. Don’t call it a GIF though, it’s a Boomerang…

Boomerang joins Hyperlapse and Layout in Instagram’s portfolio of individual apps, and offers yet another way for you to share your life in short bursts with your friends and followers. As you’d expect, you can share your Boomerangs on Instagram and Facebook, in both portrait or landscape modes. The company announced its latest move on its official blog:

Capture a friend jumping off a diving board, defying physics as she flies back and forth through the air. Transform an ordinary selfie with your friends into a funny video. Get that exact moment your friend blows out his birthday candles, then watch them come back to life again and again.

Press a button and the app does the rest. Boomerang takes a burst of photos and stitches them together into a high-quality mini video that plays forward and backward. Shoot in portrait or landscape. Share it on Instagram. Boomerang automatically saves it to your camera roll. We’re inspired by the visual stories you tell on Instagram.

Boomerang is available to download from the App Store today, and supports any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 7.0 or later.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: App Store, Apps, boomerang, Instagram, iOS, iPhone, iTunes, Live Photos

Continue reading more about Apps, iPhone, and iOS at 9to5Mac.

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At this point the fact that Apple is working on an electric vehicle is all but confirmed. Recent reports show that Apple is searching for a private road-testing site, hired hundreds of workers with automotive industry experience and the company allegedly discussed licensing some technology from BMW. Officials within Apple have yet to confirm the ambitious new product, but CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that the automobile industry is ripe for disruption and it is difficult to imagine them backing out at this point.

The electric car is reportedly codenamed ‘Project Titan’ and it is indeed a project of titanic proportions. Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently made some comments warning the Cupertino company of the complexity of manufacturing cars. Those comments were surprisingly met by mockery from a lot of Apple fans. I think Apple can and will make an electric vehicle, but I’d like to put the project into perspective.

Read the full op-ed on our sister site Electrek.co

Filed under: Apple Car Tagged: Apple Car, Apple Inc, Automotive industry, Electric car, electric vehicle, Project Titan

Continue reading more about Apple Inc, Apple Car, and Apple Car at 9to5Mac.

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We haven’t seen an awful lot of Apple Watch fitness apps update for watchOS 2 just yet — which lets faster native apps take advantage of sensors like the heart rate tracker — but Runkeeper is out with its iOS 9 and watchOS 2 update today.

Because Runkeeper 6.2 lets Apple Watch users track heart rate with the wearable’s built-in sensor, the app now lets you track runs with it directly on the watch without having to bring your iPhone. You’ll still need the iPhone if you want to track location as Apple Watch doesn’t have built-in GPS, but with a pair of Bluetooth earbuds and Runkeeper 6.2 you can track runs and listen to music using just Apple Watch.

Previously run tracking without iPhone required using Apple’s Workouts app. The updated Runkeeper for iOS 9 and watchOS 2 includes a few other changes as well including an interesting music analytics feature for workouts:

What’s New in Version 6.2

This one’s built for iOS9 AND watchOS 2. Here’s what that means for you:

– Standalone app for the Apple Watch. Hold the phone! That means you can run without your phone and still track with Runkeeper. You’ll also get heart rate data on the run, and can easily swipe right or force touch to pause an activity on the go. Also, you get to leave your phone at home (in case you needed a reminder).

– Post-activity music analytics. “Do I really run faster to Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ or am I just imagining that?” Wonder no more! Run with music in Runkeeper (via Spotify, iTunes, or Runkeeper DJ), and after the run you’ll get a full rundown of your playlist and your pace for each song. You’ll also get to see the same for your Runkeeper friends. Have fun comparing notes!

– Spotify integration bug fixes. What do you mean? Nothing’s getting in the way between you, your run, and the latest Bieber hit.

– Workout rewards bug fixes. Redeeming those rewards should be a breeze, once again.

Runkeeper 6.2 for iOS 9 and watchOS 2 is available for free with optional in-app purchases on the App Store.

Filed under: Apple Watch, Apps Tagged: Apple watch, fitness, Health, RunKeeper, watchos 2

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“Faster” is almost always “better” with new iPhones, but the iPhone 6s’s lightning-quick Touch ID fingerprint scanner has created a small new issue: if you touch the Home Button to look at your Lock Screen, you’ll see that it disappears within a split-second. At a minimum, this is visually jarring, but it also impacts historic iPhone functionality: users have been customizing their Lock Screens with photos (most recently, Live Photos) and checking the date/time there since the first iPhone launched in 2007, and it subsequently became an easy place to view notifications and activate the camera.

If you want to continue using the Lock Screen for any of these reasons, there are a couple of workarounds:

1. Start using the Sleep/Wake Button on the iPhone’s right side for all screen activations and deactivations. This is the easiest way to do a quick turn on and off of the display for notifications.
2. Go into the Settings app, select Touch ID & Passcode, and remove your most commonly used finger scan from the list of stored Fingerprints. This will let you continue to activate the screen using the Home Button’s Touch ID sensor, without immediately moving to the Home Screen.

The choice between 1 or 2 will come down to personal preference, the way you hold your iPhone, and how you use your iPhone when it’s docked or car-mounted. For example, if you want to quickly check notifications when your iPhone is car-mounted (and your car is stopped), you may find that the Sleep/Wake Button is out of reach or inconvenient to press inward, making the Home Button a better choice. Removing your index finger from the Touch ID list will let you naturally use one finger for screen and Home Button interactions.

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:
How-To, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: alerts, iPhone 6s, notifications, Touch ID, Wallpaper

Visit 9to5Mac to find more special coverage of iOS Devices, iOS, and iPhone 6s.

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There’s no shortage of external battery packs for iPhones, iPads and other USB-powered devices. With occasional exceptions, the majority have little to distinguish them. But thanks to the addition of a USB-C port, the Xtron can power the 12-inch MacBook as well as iPhones and iPads … 

The 13,400 mAh lithium-ion battery can add about seven hours’ life to the MacBook, recharge an iPad Air 2 twice (almost) or charge an iPhone 6s every night for a week. This isn’t as much as the Vinsic Power Bank we reviewed earlier this year, but the Xtron is significantly more portable.

I’m sometimes a little wary of crowdsourced projects, which sometimes take a lot longer than promised to make it into production, and occasionally fail to make it at all, but I think there’s little danger of that this time. The prototype the company sent me is fully finished, and I’d defy anyone to tell it apart from production units. It’s clear that the company is prepared.

Looks-wise, the Xtron is something that looks like it belongs in the company of Apple devices. The enclosure is ABS plastic rather than metal, but you wouldn’t know it to look at it. The matte finish, available in a choice of black and white, looks and feels good. On the prototype, at least, the black is more of a very dark gray. The cap is silver, but does take on a bit of a gold hue in some lights.

At around 9x9x2cm, it slips into most pockets, and is small enough to find a space in most bags. Weighing 180g, it’s probably not something you’re going to carry around all the time on a ‘just in case’ basis, but it’s not a burden for times when it is likely to be needed.

It can charge a MacBook and iDevice simultaneously, and also offers pass-through charging, allowing you to charge it at the same time as it charges connected devices. It’s charged via a MicroUSB socket.

The VIP early-bird price is $69, which is obviously more expensive than lower-end devices with smaller capacities and a cheaper finish, but is in line with higher-end competitors. For MacBook use, you’ll need to add $10 for a matching USB-C-to-USB-C cable if you don’t already have one.

The big question mark is whether the project will get funded: it’s currently sitting at 27% funded with 10 days to go. But there’s certainly no harm backing it.

Xtron is being crowdfunded on Indiegogo, with the campaign running until the end of the month. If you don’t need the MacBook charging capability, there are of course a great many USB battery packs available on Amazon.

Filed under: Mac, Reviews Tagged: 12-inch MacBook, 12-inch MacBook accessories, 12-inch MacBook power, battery, Lithium-ion battery, portable battery, power, USB battery pack, Xtron

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An investment note by KGI predicts that Apple will next week report year-on-year iPhone sales up 23.6% to 48.5M, but says that that holiday quarter sales will be down on last year, and that the decline will continue into the first quarter of next year.

KGI says that China is the big factor, included as a launch country this year, and hence contributing to calendar Q3/fiscal Q4 sales, while last year’s China sales fell into the holiday quarter. It estimates that 22M of the iPhones sold last quarter were the new iPhone 6s/Plus. Apple sold 47M iPhones in the previous quarter.

Both iPad and Mac sales will fall across all three quarters, predicts the report … 

KGI estimates that Apple will report a 9.5% year-on-year fall in iPad sales, and a 1.5% fall in Macs. For these products, Apple may instead choose to highlight quarter-on-quarter sales, where KGI expects rises of 2% and 13.3% respectively.

The company has significantly reduced its opening quarter forecast of iPad Pro sales, from 4-5M units down to 2M units due to supply constraints following quality issues with the Sharp display panel used. Bringing the more expensive Pro into the iPad mix will, however, offset declining shipments, it suggests.

The forecast presents a mixed picture for the stock price. KGI says that the stock will likely fall next week unless the company provides upbeat guidance for the following quarter, but believes that the longer-term outlook is good. Most of the issues it covers are largely already factored into the share price, it says, and the market will soon switch its focus to future growth drivers next year.

Apple will announce its calendar Q3/fiscal Q4 results on 27 October. Its guidance is for revenue in the $49-51B range, with a gross margin of 38.5-39.5 percent.

One number we’re unlikely to hear from Apple is how many Apple Watches it has sold. Tim Cook has so far only said that the company has shipped “a lot” of Watches, and that shipments are growing. Analysts are essentially just guessing wildly.

Filed under: AAPL Company

Check out 9to5Mac for more breaking coverage of AAPL Company.

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If you’re tempted by YouTube’s new ad-free subscription video service, YouTube Red, don’t subscribe to it via the iOS app. ArsTechnica reports that YouTube is taking the same approach as Spotify initially did to Apple’s 30% cut on in-app purchases: adding it to the monthly cost.

There is a big catch about that $9.99 price: $9.99 will cover Android, desktop, and the mobile Web, but if you purchase a subscription via Apple’s in-app purchasing on iOS, the price goes up to $12.99/month. Apple takes a 30 percent cut of all subscription revenue on its platform, and Google is passing that cost directly onto the consumer.

ArsTechnica says that Apple users will “most likely” be able to sign-up instead on the web for the normal $9.99/month and then access the content via the app, and I’ve confirmed in a chat session with YouTube support that this is indeed the case.

Once the service goes live on 28 October, simply visit youtube.com/red to sign-up, then sign-in with the app to watch the content on your iPhone and iPad.

Via Gizmodo

Filed under: Apps Tagged: YouTube, YouTube app, YouTube iOS app, YouTube iPhone app, YouTube Red

Check out 9to5Mac for more breaking coverage of Apps, YouTube, and YouTube Red.

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