Apple announces ‘biggest ever’ holiday for App Store with $1.1 billion sales in two weeks

Apple on Wednesday announced that its App Store has had the biggest holiday ever with a record-breaking $1.1 billion revenue in the two weeks ending January 3, as customers increased their spending on apps and In-App Purchases, setting back-to-back weekly records for traffic and purchases.

“January 1, 2016 marked the biggest day in App Store history with customers spending over $144 million,” said Apple. “It broke the previous single-day record set just a week earlier on Christmas Day.”

“The App Store had a holiday season for the record books. We are excited that our customers downloaded and enjoyed so many incredible apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV, spending over $20 billion on the App Store last year alone,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

“We’re grateful to all the developers who have created the most innovative and exciting apps in the world for our customers. We can’t wait for what’s to come in 2016.”

Since its inception in the summer of 2008, the App Store has now paid developers nearly $40 billion, and that’s after Apple’s 30 percent cut. One-third of that revenue was generated in the last year alone, emphasizing the power of the ecosystem.

The year’s most popular App Store categories across Apple products? Gaming, Social Networking and Entertainment, according to Apple.

“Games and subscription apps dominated this year’s top grossing titles including Clash of Clans, Monster Strike, Game of War – Fire Age and Fantasy Westward Journey, as well as Netflix, Hulu and Match,” said the firm.

In the Apple TV’s App Store, which launched in October 2015, the most popular apps include Rayman Adventures, Beat Sports and HBO NOW. As for the Apple Watch, the most popular apps include Nike+ Running and Lifesum in the Fitness category, and iTranslate and Citymapper in the Travel category.

Source: Apple

Apple releases iOS 9.2 to the public

If you have any modern iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, it’s time to drop whatever you’re doing because Apple has a brand new version of the iOS platform for you. iOS 9.2 isn’t a major update by any means, but it includes a wide range of bug fixes and enhancements that users will definitely appreciate. And best of all, it’s available to the public beginning right now.

Apple’s new iOS 9.2 software includes updates to the Safari View Controller across the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Beyond that, this release is all about bug fixes and refinements, which users will certainly appreciate. It’s available right now as an over the air update or as a download accessible through iTunes.

iOS 9.2 is compatible with the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5, iPhone 4s, iPad 2 or later, iPad mini or later, iPad Pro, and 5th or 6th generation iPod touch.

Also released on Tuesday were new versions of Apple’s watchOS and tvOS software.

The Jailbreak community is waiting for the release of Taig/Pangu Jailbreak now after iOS 9.2 has been released.

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Here’s how Siri sounds in Arabic! Coming soon in iOS 9.2!

Apple has released iOS 9.2 as a Public Beta, and one of the features alongside the bug fixes and installed extensions for safari tabs in third party apps, is that Siri now understands the Arabic Language and it replies in Arabic too!

Here’s a video that demonstrate this feature:

The final version of iOS 9.1 was only sent out to the public last week, so you should probably expect a few more betas before iOS 9.2 is finished.

The first iOS 9.0 – 9.0.2 jailbreak is here!

Just four months after iOS 9 was released to developers, the first jailbreak has appeared. A Chinese research team called Pangu has released a Windows software package allowing for an untethered jailbreak for iPhones running iOS 9.0-9.0.2. It’s the first such package, and as with any jailbreak, installing it will expose the phone to unvetted software and will make the operating system at large significantly less stable. Still, the news has been greeted with enthusiasm by many in the jailbreak community, and there are already extensive guides to help users through the process.

The jailbreak isn’t perfect, and users have particularly noticed a string of bugs around the PreferenceLoader function, not surprisingly for a jailbreak this fresh. Still, there’s reason to trust this version. Pangu is well regarded in the jailbreak community after a string of successful jailbreaks for iOS versions dating back to iOS 7.

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Apple gives iPod touch A8/M8 CPU, 8MP camera, 3x faster Wi-Fi & more with new nano/shuffle colors!

Following a recent discovery of hidden graphics assets inside iTunes 12.2 which have hinted at an imminent iPod refresh, Apple on Wednesday quietly refreshed its dedicated music player family with a press release and a website update.

The headline new model is a much improved sixth-generation iPod touch, “the best iPod touch yet.”

It now features the Apple-designed 64-bit A8 processor, essentially the same chip that powers the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and runs Apple’s M8 motion coprocessor. Apple really went all out with the iPod touch: there’s three times faster Wi-Fi 802.11ac and also an improved FaceTime HD camera with an updated sensor and burst mode for even better selfies.

But the good news doesn’t stop here: the back-facing iSight camera has received a substantial upgrade, going from five to eight megapixels with slo-mo and burst mode, 1080p video capture at 30FPS, cinematic video stabilization and more.

The screen size has remained the same, measuring four inches diagonally, and there’s no Touch ID. The device runs iOS 8.4 with the all-new Music app and Apple Music integration. As for the iPod nano and iPod shuffle, they have received a minor refresh with new color options available.

“iPod touch gives customers around the world access to Apple Music, the App Store and iOS, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, starting at just $199,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPhone, iPod and iOS Product Marketing.

“With big advancements like the A8 chip and the 8 megapixel iSight camera, customers can experience next-level gameplay, take even more beautiful photos and enjoy their favorite music, TV shows and movies.”

The 64-bit A8 processor is indeed a major upgrade: the chip allows the sixth-generation iPod touch to run latest Metal-optimized games and graphics-heavy applications with ease. Even better, the A8 processor supports Apple’s upcoming iOS 9 operating system upgrade and will no doubt run a few future iOS releases as well.

Apple claims the A8 processor inside the new iPod touch is six times faster than its predecessor and 10 times faster in graphics performance.

The inclusion of the M8 motion coprocessor for steps and elevation tracking is also a smart move on Apple’s part as it helps the iPod touch support modern health and fitness applications in the App Store, without taking a toll on its battery.

Its eight-megapixel camera is now on par with the latest iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPad Air 2 devices in terms of pixel count. On the downside, Apple appears to have removed the Loop wristband from the corner of the new iPod touch.

As shown on the image above, the new iPod touches still start at $199 for the 16GB version, with the 32GB/64GB editions fetching $249/$299. Also, a new model with 128 gigabytes of storage is now available for $399.

The iPod touch received its last minor refresh in June 2014 when the 32/64GB models received a price drop to $249/$299 and a new $199 16GB model got introduced. The previous-generation iPod touch with the A5 processor and a five megapixel camera released back in October 2012 so this hardware refresh is way overdue.

As for the iPod nano and iPod shuffle, these music players have received a minor cosmetic change and are now available in new darker blue and pink colors. In addition, the iPod touch, iPod shuffle and iPod nano are now available in gold, too.

The full lineup of six new iPod colors now includes silver, space gray, red, bright pink, deep blue and gold.

The refreshed music players are available starting today from Apple.com, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. The 128GB iPod touch is available exclusively through Apple and all models are available in PRODUCT(RED).

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