Apple received the top score in all nine categories of innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness (was never going to be too much doubt about that one), long-term investment value, quality of products and global competitiveness … Fortune compiles the definitive list by polling 4,104 executives, directors and securities analysts, asking them to select the 10 companies they admired most. The full top-ten list was:...

Apple rolled out Apple TV update 5.2 in January, bringing Bluetooth keyboard support, Up Next, and an enhanced iTunes in the Cloud service alongside iOS 6.1 for iOS devices. Today, FireCore announced it has released updates to aTV Flash (black) and Seas0nPass that support the new 5.2 update. FireCore’s aTV Flash software enables jailbroken second-generation Apple TVs to support additional file formats, access a web browser, and much more. The team provided instructions for updating:...

We learned last year that the new iPad is codenamed “J2” in the iOS 5.1Beta software, and we learned last week that it will probably be announced at the beginning of next month. However, we also learned about another Apple Jxx product: The next Apple TV. It is codenamed “J33” and “AppleTV 3,1” in the 5.1B software. This new Apple TV will also feature the low-power Bluetooth 4.0 technology. Perhaps, besides both showing up in iOS 5....

Apple watch becomes a lifesaver once again. From time to time we get to read news on how the Apple Watch has notified it’s users of health issues and literally saved their lives. Though there are plenty of examples, the recent one is of 24-year old Mike Love who received notification from the watch on his heart’s unfit condition that saved him from dying at such a young age. Now if you’re wondering how, well a normal heart beats 60 times a minute, but in May Mike Love began receiving notifications from his Watch by Apple informing him his heart rate was 130-140 beats a minute....

Apple Watch shipments grew a healthy 19% last year, according to a new report today, increasing from 28.4M units in 2019 to 33.9M units in 2020. No other brands came anywhere close, and indeed most of them saw their shipments fall during the course of the year… Counterpoint Research says that Huawei was the only other brand to see shipments grow. Apple’s market share grew from 34% in Q4 2019 to 40% in Q4 2020....

While the report says that ‘Apple’s next-generation iPhone devices are likely to come with enhanced Siri,’ it’s of course more likely that this refers to an iOS update rather than anything specific to the new phone. Google has launched Google Pixel smartphones with Google Assistant and is expected to promote the adoption of the Google Assistant by other smartphone vendors, noted the sources, adding that Xiaomi has already adopted the Google Assistant […]...

E-commerce Application: Artificial Intelligence (AI) allows retailers to upgrade their customer experience on and off their web pages. It can be directed to make more informed decisions using customer and business data. It helps you to predict business trends and offers owners strategies/tips for developing their businesses. The following are AI applications in the E-commerce sector: Personal Shopping: Artificial intelligence technology uses design recommendation engines to improve customer interaction. For example, AI will use customers’ data to display all needed products/items....

A Community Education Initiative (CEI) is seeing Apple supporting teachers with a coding and creativity program designed to be compatible with remote learning. Apple created the CEI with the specific goal of helping teachers work with communities that are traditionally underrepresented in technology … While the Everyone Can Code and Develop in Swift curricula play a major role, the CEI is about more than just coding. Birmingham City Schools fourth grade science and social studies teacher Portrice Warren […] is one of nearly 500 educators who participated in a massive virtual coding academy this summer as part of Apple’s Community Education Initiative....

Not the Apple TV, but an Apple television. Apple has posted a new job position looking for people to work on next-generation power supply technology. Apple needs people to to “work on the forefront of new power management designs and technologies with the exemplary company consistently bringing innovations in the industry.” Although some mind find that fascinating, we find what Apple needs this new power management technology to power even more interesting… TVs!...

Silicon Alley Insider says they are hearing some rumors of a social networking app coming from Apple. The report is riddled with pre-backtracking so it is far from certainty. But, what they might be hearing whispers about is “Places” the social networking idea Apple trademarked recently. We also detailed clues about MediaStream, a social network-like photo/video/music sharing service with bits we found in iOS 4.3 (which may debut tomorrow as well)....

Apple is planning to change up retail in India in a big—and small—way, according to a report by The Economic Times. According to the Times, Apple plans to open a collection of small, iOS-centric stores. The stores will be setup by local distribution partners, not by first-party retail staff. While the main focus of these locations will be on mobile devices, Apple’s other offerings will also be represented to some degree in each store....

Update: You can now watch all episodes of Fraggle Rock on Apple TV+ here. Apple TV+ is said to have bought rights to the full back catalog of Fraggle Rock, comprising about 100 episodes of the live action puppet show originally owned by HBO. Apple has already funded a short set of ‘Fraggle Rock On’ shorts, and is now taking that relationship further. In addition to the full back catalog of Fraggle Rock, Apple is ordering a season reboot of the show with full-length episodes....

Apple TV+ launches in early November and will cost $4.99 per month. This year, streaming mainstays like Netflix and Hulu are going to get some serious competition from some of the entertainment industry’s biggest companies. Much has already been said about Disney+, the Mouse House’s streaming platform that will be the exclusive home to Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and an abundance of other programming. Apple is also looking to make a splash in the streaming realm, recruiting a lineup of heavy-hitting creatives to oversee shows and movies for Apple TV+....

Apple has just released an update for last year’s WWDC app to address an issue that has prevented developers from being able to watch session videos through the app for quite some time time. All of the videos are also available on the iOS developer portal, so the bug fix probably wasn’t very high on Apple’s priority list. If you still want to use the WWDC app for some reason, it’s available for free on the App Store, but requires a paid developer login to view the videos....

Apple acknowledged in its FDA submission that the Apple Watch cannot detect AFib when the heart-rate is above 120 beats per minute, and a report today suggests this means it may fail to detect the condition in anywhere between 30% and 60% of cases. Apple has always been careful to stress the limitations of the Watch’s ability to detect AFib … A Fortune report today notes this. However, it says that the inability of the Watch to detect AFib when the user’s heart-rate is above 120bpm is a very significant limitation....

Below is our usual list of newly released apps and updates that landed in the App Store today. Some of the more notable apps on the list include updates to iOS apps Adobe Photoshop Express, and SketchBook Express, and Mac App Store apps Growl and Angry Birds Space. We will keep the list updated as more apps and updates are released throughout the day. Adobe Photoshop Express Version 2.5: The free universal iPhone and iPad app was updated to include the Adobe Effects Pack of “45- eye-catching effects” and the Enhanced Adobe Border Pack with 18 new borders as in-app purchases....

Apple today unveiled a new webpage teasing the upcoming Black Friday shopping holiday. On the webpage, Apple touts that it will be holding a “one-day event” this Friday, much like other retailers do. Apple, however, has largely stayed out of Black Friday in recent years, instead opting to offload the responsibility of slashing prices to retail partners. If this webpage is any indication though, it seems like Apple might be preparing to reenter the Black Friday game this year…...

Apple has been planning to roll out a new initiative that will allow customers to order most products through the Apple online store then pick up their purchases at their local Apple Store. MacRumors described the program yesterday, and now we’re hearing it’s going live tonight/tomorrow (depending on your time zone) in the San Francisco area. The pilot program will reach other parts of the Bay Area within the next couple of days or so, and will gradually make its way throughout the United States over the upcoming weeks and months....

Apple TV+ today announced that its high-budget sci-fi series Foundation will premiere on September 24, debuting the first three of the ten total episodes in the first season. Foundation is based off of Isaac Asimov’s novels of the same name. The show was first teased more than a year ago as part of WWDC 2020. Watch the new teaser trailer after the break … Foundation stars Jared Harris as Hari Seldon and Lee Pace as Brother Day....

Apple Watch‘s fall detection feature has likely saved another life. This time, Apple’s wearable auto dialed 911 after a young couple hiking in New Jersey fell off a cliff and landed on the rocks in a river below. As reported by Business Insider, James Prudenciano and his date Paige Paruso were out hiking in Hartshorne Woods Park in New Jersey last week. James said that it was getting dark and was tough to see....