Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will launch on September 9

Apple has announced an event on September 9 (10 AM-PDT), just titled "Hey Siri, give us a hint." . This event will be launchpad for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.Which was leaked a number of times. The event will be streamed live on their site.

Apple Refreshes The iPod Touch With A8 SoC And New Cameras

Today Apple released a new version of the iPod Touch. The previous model of the iPod Touch was released back in 2012, and over time it has seen a few changes with the addition of a 16GB model without a rear-facing camera, and then the camera being added back to it further down the road. This 2015 model of the iPod Touch is an evolutionary improvement, but still the biggest improvement to the product that we've seen in quite some time.

Image courtesy AnandTech

The new iPod touch has the 64-bit Apple A8 SoC inside, just like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Which improves the performance quite a bit from the Apple A5 on the previous iPod Touch model. The new SoC is also accompanied by 1GB LPDDR3 RAM up from 512MB. It also gets the M8 motion coprocessor for accurate tracking of physical activities. Furthermore, there's a new 8 MP rear camera with f/2.4 along with a improved 1.2 MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture.

Other changes include a new 128GB capacity, and the addition of 802.11ac WiFi connectivity. Apple's listing for Bluetooth 4.1 support also confirms that their Bluetooth software stack has been updated to that version.

The revamped iPod touch surprisingly costs the same - starts at $199 if you're happy with 16GB of storage. If you want 32GB, you'll need to pay $249. For the 64GB model the price is $299 and 128GB iPod touch costs $399. All of these versions are already up for grabs from Apple's online store.

Apple releases iOS 8.4 is now out with Apple Music included

Apple has now made iOS 8.4 available to everyone for download. iOS 8.4's most notable feature is, as you may know, Apple Music. The company's new music streaming service is included in this release. So today also marks the official debut of Apple Music.

iPhone 5c with Touch ID sensor spotted on Apple website

Apple recently introduced its official Lightning dock. On this accessory's page over on the Apple store website, there are a handful of pictures showing the company's various smartphones attached to the dock.

That's where the image you can see on the left shows up. This is a device that looks like the iPhone 5c from two years ago, but it clearly has the Touch ID fingerprint sensor embedded in its Home button - which the iPhone 5c doesn't.

This naturally leads us to wonder whether this is simply a render created by mistake by an Apple employee (who maybe forgot about the lack of Touch ID on the iPhone 5c), or if it's something more.
See, an iPhone 6c has long been rumored over the past few months, and it was said to come later this year with a 4-inch touchscreen just like the 5c before it. The Touch ID fingerprint scanner was featured in the rumors as a given for the new affordable model, by the way.

Yet given how secretive Apple usually likes to be about its future handsets, it's more likely that this is nothing but an error.

Upcoming iPad Pro will feature A9 CPU, Force Touch, and NFC

A new report from Apple Insider citing people familiar with Cupertino’s agenda sheds light on some of the specs of the upcoming iPad Pro. The upcoming full-size slate will allegedly feature next-generation A9 CPU, NFC, Force Touch, and USB-C connector.

The presence of an Apple A9 chip in the 12.9” iPad Pro should hardly catch anyone by surprise. The component will all but certainly be a beefed up version of the CPU that will debut in the iPhone 6 successor.

NFC might allow the iPad Pro to work as a terminal for receiving Apple Pay transactions, as well as for connecting the tablet to a previously rumored, pressure-sensitive Bluetooth stylus. It is highly unlikely that the tablet will be used often for making payments given its size.

USB-C will not be the only iPad Pro port. The slate is also expected to have a Lightning connector as well.

Last week, the alleged measures of the unannounced slate appeared via leaked schematics. Apple iPad Pro will likely debut at some point this fall.

iOS 8 adoption continues to climb, now stands at 81%

Apple is reporting that 81% of all active iOS devices are now using iOS 8, the company's latest mobile operating system which was released back in September last year.

iOS 8 adoption has been somewhat slower than that of its predecessor iOS 7, which, for comparison, was powering around 90% of all active iOS devices the same time last year. However, it is gradually picking up - it stood at 75% last month and 79% a couple of weeks ago.

As for the remaining iOS devices, 17% are still using iOS 7, while 2% are stuck running even older versions.

Alleged iPhone 5S prototype pictured, is it the real deal?

We received some interesting pictures of what is allegedly a prototype of the next Apple iPhone (5S, perhaps).

While the pictures aren't of the best quality or taken in studio conditions they do reveal a lot about the pictured smartphone. For one it sheds off the iconic home button and replaces it with a real edge-to-edge display (although we can't see the actual screen underneath).

Then there's the design - it's sloped towards the edges, which coincides with a patent application from the Cupertino company that was approved last week.

 
The sketch from the Apple patent application

However, we have to note that this kind of design isn't typical of Apple. The company tends to favor more squarish designs, which allow it to make full use of the space within the smartphone's chassis and create more compact devices.

 
Alleged iPhone 5S prototype (click for larger images)

We urge you to take these photos with several pinches of salt as the device pictured above could either be photoshopped or even digitally rendered altogether. Even the guy who sent them in couldn't swear by their authenticity.

There's one scenario that might make sense here - what you are seeing could be a prototype on which Apple is working. All major manufacturers consider and test a number of different designs before settling on the final version. It might also be a case specially designed to conceal the look of the Apple iPhone 5S, but that seems too much effort - these dev units are usually simple plastic rectangles.

WhatsApp is coming to BB10 in March!

One of the world’s most popular mobile IM clients, WhatsApp, is coming to BlackBerry 10 operating system in March. WhatsApp’s Neeraj Arora revealed the launch timeline on Twitter while responding to queries from BlackBerry 10 (BB10) users.

Interestingly, it was non-BlackBerry users who lapped up WhatsApp as an alternative to BlackBerry Messenger, which still remains exclusive to BlackBerry operating system. However, WhatsApp’s popularity ensured even BlackBerry users started using the service to send messages to their non-BlackBerry using contacts.