Global online music streaming subscriptions were up 32 percent year-over-year in 2019, hitting 358 million subscribers, according to new estimates shared today by Counterpoint Research. Spotify was the market leader with a 31 percent share of total revenue and a 35 percent share of total paid subscriptions, while Apple Music earned the second place slot with a 24 percent share of total revenues in the industry and a 19 percent share of…

Apple CEO Tim Cook will deliver the commencement address at Ohio State University’s virtual commencement event that’s set to take place on May 3, Ohio State President Michael Drake announced today. The event, which will be live streamed, will kick off at noon local time, with 12,000 diplomas to be awarded virtually to students. The broadcast will include Cook’s commencement speech, musical performances, and with Drake and university officials in traditional commencement…

Apple has purchased artificial intelligence startup Voysis with the aim of improving Siri, reports Bloomberg. Voysis offers a platform that allows digital voice assistants to better understand natural language. The company worked to improve voice assistants in online shopping apps, allowing software to better interpret requests from users. The website, which is now defunct, said that the technology used client databases with AI tools that deeply understand the specifics of products, services,…

Four U.S. senators, Bob Menendez, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Richard Blumenthal, on Friday sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook expressing concern over “the safety and security of Americans’ private health data” in regard to the recently released COVID-10 website and app, reports Bloomberg. The senators questioned Cook about Apple’s data-sharing practices and safeguards, and whether the COVID-19 app complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). They…

Apple today informed employees that its Apple retail stores in the United States will remain closed until early May, and Apple employees will continue to work from home until then. In a memo to employees, excerpts of which were shared by Bloomberg, Apple’s retail chief Deirdre O’Brien said that Apple is “continuing to monitor local conditions for every Apple facility on a daily basis” and that reopening decisions will be made on…

Another clue has surfaced to suggest that Apple’s rumored lower-cost iPhone SE successor will likely be released soon. Earlier today, a product listing for a Belkin screen protector on Apple’s online store was updated to reflect compatibility with not only the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8, but also the iPhone SE. Given the original iPhone SE was a 4-inch device, and the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 are 4.7-inch devices, this is…

Apple’s new low-cost iPhone is set to launch as early as Friday, April 3, according to a new report from 9to5Mac that cites a tip from a “highly trusted reader.” The site says that while it can’t be certain about the launch date, “Apple could reveal and begin taking orders for the new ‌iPhone‌ as soon as tomorrow.” The iPhone 8 Apple is said to be planning to call the new ‌iPhone‌,…

Today is Autism Acceptance Day, and as it has done in the past, Apple is recognizing the occasion by highlighting top apps, accessibility tips, and education resources, while also sharing art created by individuals on the spectrum. In the Today section of the App Store, Apple is offering a collection of apps that are designed to support neurodiversity and people with autism spectrum disorder. These apps include Proloquo2Go for those who can’t…

While it was previously reported that all 2020 iPad Pro models feature the same Apple-designed U1 chip as the iPhone 11 lineup, enabling Ultra Wideband support, we have compiled evidence to suggest that this may not be the case. As a reminder, Apple’s tech specs for the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro list an Ultra Wideband chip for spatial awareness, but the chip is not mentioned in Apple’s tech specs for…

Apple’s anticompetitive behaviors have gotten worse over the course of the last few months rather than better, Tile claimed in a congressional panel today, reports Reuters. Executives from Tile, PopSockets, Sonos, and Basecamp in January testified in front of a congressional hearing in an ongoing antitrust inquiry launched by the U.S. government against tech companies like Amazon, Apple, and Google. Tile at the time complained about Location Services changes implemented in iOS…