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Apple has today published a new video on its YouTube channel sharing that season two of Carpool Karaoke: The Series will be available via the TV app for free. The video says that Apple will be releasing a new free episode every week starting on October 12, and it will be made available via the TV app on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Judging by the video, this will be a mix of previously released episodes that were put behind the Apple Music paywall, as well as an all new season featuring celebrities such as Weird Al “Yankovic”, Snoop Dog, and much more....

It’s not all bad news for Apple – the company is one of the two best firms in terms of energy efficiency in its products, with all of them meeting and, in many cases, exceeding Energy Star requirements. However, Apple missed a big chance to advance its score by not improving the environmental performance of the new version of the iPhone, Greenpeace notes. The latest Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics rates company performance on a range of categories, but this eighth edition introduces expanded and tougher criteria on toxic chemicals, electronic waste and new criteria on climate change....

Apple was today granted a patent for detecting touch-free gestures at close range, the patent language suggesting that the approach could build on the capabilities of multi-touch and 3D touch to respond to fingers hovering close to an iPhone or iPad display, as well as use on keyboards and trackpads. The patent describes using sensors similar to the proximity detectors used to disable accidental touch input on the iPhone screen when you’re holding the phone to your face during a call....

In what is quickly becoming the next big ongoing back and forth between Apple and [insert third party here] of 2014, a new development has unfolded in the antitrust dispute over Apple’s iBooks practices. Michael Bromwich, the external monitor assigned to ensure Apple complies to antitrust laws relating to its iBooks program, has been temporarily removed, Reuters reports, following an “administrative stay” granted to Apple following a recent complaint filed by the Cupertino tech company against the attorney....

Apple is inviting iTunes customers to donate between $5 and $200 to the American Red Cross to assist its relief work in response to Typhoon Haiyam, which is estimated to have killed more than 10,000 people (update: the estimate was later revised to 2,500). The typhoon – the name given to a hurricane when it occurs in the West Pacific – is thought to have been the worst ever to hit land....

Apple is today rolling out another new way to buy an iPhone at an Apple Store, a combination of its existing iPhone Upgrade Program and trade-in offers. Right now, on the normal iPhone Upgrade Program, customers can pay about $32 a month for a brand new iPhone 6s on a two-year agreement with an annual trade-in option. What the ‘Trade Up With Installments’ offers is a reduction of that monthly fee, in exchange for a trade-in of your existing smartphone....

(Tim Cook in China with Katie Cotton) Now that Apple’s PR chief and VP of Corporate Communications Katie Cotton has officially joined the growing group of retiring Apple leadership, Tim Cook is searching for the company’s next VP of Communications. Re/code reports that Apple is looking outside the company, however, rather than promoting someone internally to permanently fill the role. The move to find someone from outside Apple to follow Katie Cotton is not unlike Tim Cook’s decision to replace Apple Retail’s VP Ron Johnson first with outside hire John Browett, then CEO of Dixons, followed by current Retail VP Angela Ahrendts, formerly CEO of Burberry....

Once you connect your Apple Music account to Alexa, you can set the music service as your default music library source and default music station source. This lets you request music from Apple Music without telling Alexa which service to use each time. Apple Music on Alexa has access to your personal music library including playlists that you create or add to your library from Apple Music, although there are some features that Apple Music on Echo lacks that HomePod supports....

Apple has opened up a new portal in the iTunes Store to take donations for the Japan earthquake and tsunami relief fund. Users who wish to donate can donate in $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, and $200 increments. 100% of the money donated through iTunes goes to Red Cross efforts in Japan. Click here to go the donate page. Update: Apple has posted a message on Apple Japan. “To those who have been affected by the earthquake and tsunami, we send sympathies from our heart....

Apple Watch Series 2 was the first model to be entirely waterproof, and Apple introduced an important feature to keep the internal components protected. As you may know, Apple Watch has a water-ejection system in which the speaker expels water — and this might come to iPhone, according to a new patent registered by Apple. The Apple Watch water-ejection system works by using the speaker to vibrate and emit specific sounds that push the water out, which is useful when you use your Apple Watch for swimming or during a shower....

New orders for Apple’s recently launched 27-inch Retina iMac aren’t the only ones seeing delayed shipment times as Apple has just started informing some customers of unexpected delays for orders placed as long ago as last month. In the email quoting an “unexpected delay” (pictured above), Apple added an extra 5-7 days to the “ships by” date and provided the reader with a new delivery estimate of Nov. 28 – Dec....

Apple has officially an all-new feature coming to Podcasts next month. Apple Podcasts Subscriptions will allow listeners to directly support podcasters through the Podcasts app. The new service inside Apple Podcasts will be available starting in May. Here are the details: Apple Podcasts Subscriptions will be available to listeners in over 170 countries and regions in May. Specific software requirements for Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels will be shared ahead of availability....

Apple this week has expanded its Apple Maps Connect service to five additional regions in Europe: Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and The Netherlands. The additions were noted in an email to users of the platform and on the Apple Maps Connect website. For those unfamiliar, Apple Maps Connect allows business owners to both manage existing Apple Maps listings and add additional listings to the platform. This service works closely with the Apple Indoor Mapping feature, which aims for businesses to help Apple build up a portfolio of indoor mapping data....

The new way to enter your hotel room requires an iPhone running iOS 15 or an Apple Watch running WatchOS 8. Users with compatible devices can simply select the key on their device and hold it near the built-in sensor on their room door to gain entry – as if they held a traditional keycard. Before they even arrive at the hotel, users can add keys at supported locations upon making a reservation....

Apple has won 16 new patents published by the the US Patent and Trademark Office today (via PatentlyApple) that cover everything from possible methods of charging future Apple products via solar power, to key multi-touch technology and iOS camera related patents. Certainly more fuel for the ongoing patent wars between Apple and the rest of the smartphone industry. We already know Apple is experimenting with solar power from past patents, even going as far as considering which company would produce panels for future products....

As it often does after a disaster, Apple is inviting website visitors to contribute to a fundraising appeal – this time for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in London in which 79 people are either confirmed or presumed to have lost their lives. The 24-floor residential tower block, devoted to social housing, caught fire overnight on 14th June after a fridge-freezer burst into flames. Design features that should ensure a fire is contained within a single apartment for 60 minutes somehow failed, and the fire spread, aided by flammable cladding on the exterior of the building …...

Apple Maps gained the Look Around street view feature last fall along with iOS 13 but it was launched in limited cities. Now the handy option has rolled out to Boston, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. You can check out the expanded Look Around feature in Apple Maps now by pulling up addresses, landmarks, and more and looking for the binoculars button in the top right corner or bottom left corner (via MacRumors)....

Forbes along with Just Capital are out with a new rankings report today, detailing America’s best corporations to work under. The key factors to high marks here are employee treatment (25% scoring weight) and customer treatment (18% scoring weight). However, a handful of other humane factors are at play here, such as “environment” “products”, “leadership”, and more. Microsoft took the top spot overall, with Google’s Alphabet coming in third. Apple, however, landed 16th overall and 300th in “workplace communities”....

Apple Music appears to be off to a strong start in terms of paying subscribers, but as the old adage has it, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. A decent chunk of those who have opted not to pay for Apple Music appear to have headed instead to Spotify. TechCrunch notes that Spotify’s iOS app has taken the top grossing spot in Apple’s U.S. App Store for the first time ever....

iHeartRadio is the latest high-profile publisher to join Apple News. The service announced today that its editorial content can now be found on Apple’s News app on iOS. The publication will also be featured in the Entertainment section of the Apple News app, but its editorial content isn’t just limited to music and celebrity gossip as iHeartRadio also covers sports and politics. iHeartRadio — primarily know for its radio streaming service — is widely available on Apple’s various platforms including Apple TV and CarPlay where it recently expanded its podcast support....