Update: Apple has now confirmed that the iPhone 5 will launch in Russia on December 14. iPhones.ru posted images of the Russian iTunes gift cards pictured right. Hot off the heels of the iTunes 11 launch last week, Russia looks to be gaining the service very soon. According to a forwarded invite obtained by TechCrunch, Apple is holding a small iTunes event at the local GUM shopping center in Moscow’s Red Square tomorrow evening....

Apple announced back in May that it would be opening an iOS App Design & Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, India – and the Economic Times reports that it has now agreed to lease more than 40,000 square feet of office space to house the facility. Citing ‘three people familiar with the matter,’ the report says that the center will be spread over two floors at Galleria in North Bengaluru. Bengaluru – formerly called Bangalore – is known as ‘the IT capital of India,’ home to more technology startups than any other part of the country....

Apple’s Mac Pro is still slated to ship sometime this fall and a new image asset shows off new Apple Magic accessories including a keyboard in silver and black without the numpad. So far, Apple has only made its space gray Magic Keyboard in the larger variant that includes the number keypad. Noticed by Steve Troughton-Smith, a new image asset shows off the upcoming silver and black accessories for the Mac Pro that were first shown at WWDC....

In celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Apple has shared a few editorials on the iOS App Store in addition to featuring a homepage photo and quote on its website. The top billed story is Serve Your Community, which looks to help users give back by highlighting several apps and services. The new story shares four tips and corresponding apps on ways to: Share your time Get yourself out there Sightsee for good Discover a cause The first app, Golden Volunteer Opportunities helps users find fun, local ways to give back to schools, non-profits, and charities....

Apple may not have found the right time to launch its long-rumored AirTags locator products yet, but the infrastructure behind the scenes is expanding today. Apple has officially announced the launch of support for using its Find My network with third-party accessories. Find My has historically been used for locating iPhones, iPads, and other Apple products. Now Find My can be used to locate non-Apple products that integrate with Apple’s locator platform....

Apple’s futuristic spaceship campus in Cupertino has been valued at over $4 billion, according to the Santa Clara County assessor. This valuation comes as Apple has pushed back against property valuations in the past in an effort to avoid property tax. According to the assessor, Apple Park itself is worth $3.6 billion. Once you factor in things like computers, furniture, and grounds maintenance equipment, however, that valuation increase to $4.17 billion....

According to a new report out of the Financial Times, Apple has hired one of the top virtual reality researchers in the United States to expedite its efforts in the platform. The report claims that Apple has recently hired Doug Bowman, who most recently was a computer science professor at Virginia Tech before taking a sabbatical. At Virginia Tech, he was the director of the university’s human-computer interaction center for around five years....

It must be a cold day in Hell. Apple is consorting with Google, Samsung, LG Electronics, and various ventures and firms to bid as a group on Kodak’s intellectual property. Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection in January, according to The Wall Street Journal, and it is looking to auction its patents to raise money for surviving a Chapter 11 court protection. Kodak could barter all 1,100 digital photography-based patents or end the auction without a deal, as the company announced it would name the winning bidders on Monday but eventually pushed the deadline upon talking with creditors....

Apple Music is making a big expansion today as Apple has launched an all-new web app for the streaming music platform. Through this new browser-based interface, Apple Music subscribers can stream from anywhere without having to use a platform-specific application. Apple Music has generally offered a very basic web experience, but Apple is now taking things to the next level. If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, this new web interface should look very familiar....

Update: Apple has issued an EFI firmware update for the new machines, to cure a black-screen issue when using Boot Camp while both an external optical drive and USB thumb drive are connected. Apple has launched an updated line of iMacs with faster processors, improved graphics, faster 802.11ac WiFi connectivity, and improved Flash storage. The new iMacs are now available from Apple’s online store. The new iMacs, like the MacBook Airs that launched in June, include Intel Haswell processors....

An Apple patent granted today describes how the front-facing camera, light sensor and proximity sensor found in existing iPhones could be used for health measurements. It also considers using additional sensors mounted in the same area for further health measurements … For example, it describes electrical contacts similar to those found on some more sophisticated bathroom scales to measure body fat. The same contacts could also be used to provide an electrocardiogram (ECG) reading, a technique that’s already been seen in at least one iPhone case....

Coinciding with the start of spring, Apple has announced a new live concert series set to be held in Italy. “Apple Music Live: Piazza Liberty” begins on March 28th and will run throughout spring and summer on the public amphitheater above Apple’s new flagship store in Milan. The new Apple Music Live series is distinct from the regular series of Today at Apple events that runs at every retail store. Visitors must sign up to attend concerts using this special ticketing page, which will be updated regularly as new performances are added....

As Apple hired away Google’s chief of search and AI this past spring, Tim Cook noted that he would be heading up the company’s AI and machine learning strategy. Now, we’re learning more about how some teams are being restructured in a way that could bring future improvements to Siri and more. John Giannandrea joined Apple this past April after making important contributions at Google since 2010 — including bringing AI to a range of products like Google Assistant, Gmail, Google Search’s Knowledge Graph, and more....

Vanson Bourne, a third-party market research firm, was hired by Jamf to conduct a study to uncover key drivers of Apple in enterprise adoption and satisfaction with the Mac. Their results reveal incredible levels of employee satisfaction, productivity, creativity and collaboration for Mac users across all major types of employee groups (IT, Human Resources, Sales, and Engineering). When asked how their work has improved as a result of using a Mac for work, the answers were very favorable for Apple in the enterprise:...

Apple is nearing a decision whether or not to purchase land in Oregon to build a massive new data center, reports Oregon Live. The piece of land is 160-acres in Prineville, Oregon, and a 1/4 mile from one of Facebook’s data centers (pictured above). Apple has until the end of the month to make a decision on whether or not they want to buy the land — which will be the setting to build a new 31-megawatt data center....

Apple today announced via a press release that its Apple Music, iTunes Movies, and iBooks services are now available to customers in China. The company says that Apple Music is launching in China with “millions” of songs, including local artists like Eason Chan, Li Ronghao, JJ Lin and G.E.M, as well as international stars like Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. From the iTunes Store, users in China will be able to rent or purchase movies....

Apple introduced iOS 14.5 last month with several new features, including iPhone unlock with Apple Watch, App Tracking Transparency, and support for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X controllers. Following that update, Apple on Friday began selling the PlayStation 5 DualSense Wireless Controller in its online store. The latest versions of iOS, tvOS, and macOS let users pair a PS5 DualSense Controller to an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV via Bluetooth to play compatible games....

Apple has now finalized and published specifications for HomeKit through its Made-For-iPhone/iPad/iPod (MFi) licensing program. The finalized specifications, which allow accessory makers to start building products that integrate iOS 8’s new framework for home automation devices, come ahead of Apple’s yearly MFi summit in November where it plans to brief manufacturing partners on HomeKit and other new iOS 8 features for accessories. There have already been a couple products announced with HomeKit integration, most of which are all from larger accessory makers and Apple’s early launch partners....

Apple manufacturer Foxconn is said to have made a large bid for Toshiba’s NAND storage unit. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Foxconn this week offered up $27 billion for the business, a bid considerably higher than had previously been offered by companies such as Broadcom. Last week, it was reported that Apple was among companies involved in a “bidding war” for Toshiba’s storage business, but it now seems as if reports confused Foxconn’s efforts as Apple’s....

Apple has begun rolling out internal changes to its Apple Retail Stores that improve the experience for employees and customers alike. According to several retail sources, the first changes went into action today. Starting with a revamped version of the Concierge Genius Bar management software that Apple Retail employees run on iOS devices. Here’s what we know as of now about the new Concierge app (and much more): The Concierge Genius Bar application for retail employees has been completely redesigned for both the iPad and iPod touch....