Here’s everything Apple announced today

Even after last week’s stream of hardware releases — a new iPad, new iMacs, and new AirPods all back-to-back — Apple had more to announce.

The company announced a bunch of new stuff at a two hour event this morning, primarily focusing on its new premium media subscriptions. Don’t have time to catch up on all of it? Here are the highlights:

AppleTV+: Apple is building an ad-free subscription video service. It announced a ton of new original content from names like Oprah, Steve Carell, JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg, Jason Momoa, Kumail Nanjiani, and many, many more. You’ll also be able to use the app to subscribe to and view other add-on services, like HBO, Showtime, Stars, and CBS All Access. The new Apple TV app will work with iOS, macOS, and smart TVs (Samsung first, then Sony, LG, and Vizio) along with Roku’s hardware and Amazon’s Fire TV. No pricing details were revealed.

Apple News+: Apple News is getting an overhaul, including a new subscription service called Apple News+. For $10 per month, you’ll get access to 300+ magazines (current and past issues) and digital subscriptions, including People, Vogue, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and Wired. Oh, and TechCrunch’s Extra Crunch!

Apple Arcade: An ad-free, all-you-can-eat gaming service for games on iOS, macOS, and tvOS. Apple says it’ll have 100+ games at launch, with titles from the likes of Disney, Konami, and LEGO. All games will be playable offline. It launches this fall in 150 regions, but Apple didn’t say how much it’ll cost.

The Apple Credit Card: Apple is making a credit card. It’ll exist as a virtual card and as a physical titanium card. It’ll have no late fees or annual fees. The physical card has no number printed on it — nor a CVV, expiration date, or signature. If a merchant needs that info, you’ll be able to pull it up in the Wallet app. It generates one-time use, dynamic security codes, which TC’s Zack Whittaker points out should make it a lot harder to steal. Customer service is handled via in-app text messaging. It’ll be available this summer.

Transit in US cities: Later this year, Apple Pay will work on transit systems in a few major US cities, beginning with Portland, Chicago, and New York.

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Apple Card will make credit card fraud a lot more difficult

Apple’s new credit card has a curious security feature that will make it much more difficult to carry out credit card fraud.

The aptly named Apple Card is a new credit card, built into your iPhone Wallet app, which the company says will help customers live a “healthier” financial lifestyle. The card is designed to replace your traditional credit card and give you perks, such as daily cash. Chief among the benefits is a range of security and privacy features, which Apple says — unlike traditional credit card providers — the company doesn’t know where a customer shopped, what they bought or how much they paid.

But its one feature — a one-time unique dynamic security code — will make it nearly impossible for anyone to use the credit card to make fraudulent purchases.

That three-digit card verification value — or a CVV — on the back of your credit card is usually your last line of defense if someone steals your credit card number, such as if your card is cloned or skimmed by a dodgy ATM or stolen from a website through a phishing attack.

But rotating the security code will increase the difficulty for an attacker to use your card without your permission.

The idea of a dynamic credit card number first came about a few years ago with the Motion Code credit card concept, built by Oberthur Technologies, which included a randomly generating number built into a tiny display on the back of the card. The only downside is if someone steals your physical card.

Since then, other credit card makers — including Mastercard, the issuing bank for Apple Card — have worked to integrate biometric solutions instead. By enabling a fingerprint sensor on the card, powered by the card machine it was entered into, it was hoped that fraudulent purchases would be impossible. Other credit cards have worked to roll out biometric-powered credit cards. Again — a big letdown was online fraud, which still accounts for a huge proportion of fraud.

Apple Card seems to meld the two things: a virtual credit card with a rotating security code, protected by a biometric, like Touch ID or Face ID in newer devices. Better yet, the company’s debut physical titanium credit card won’t even have a credit card number.

Now if someone wants to commit fraud, they need to steal your phone and your face or fingerprint.

Like other sensitive data — such as health, financial and biometric data — any banking and credit card data is stored on the device’s security chip, known as the secure enclave.

Apple Card will be available in the U.S. later this summer.

Apple introduces its own credit card, the Apple Card

from Apple – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2UVHZ7a

Apple Card will make credit card fraud a lot more difficult

Apple’s new credit card has a curious security feature that will make it much more difficult to carry out credit card fraud.

The aptly named Apple Card is a new credit card, built into your iPhone Wallet app, which the company says will help customers live a “healthier” financial lifestyle. The card is designed to replace your traditional credit card and give you perks, such as daily cash. Chief among the benefits is a range of security and privacy features, which Apple says — unlike traditional credit card providers — the company doesn’t know where a customer shopped, what they bought, or how much they paid.

But its one feature — a one-time unique dynamic security code — will make it nearly impossible for anyone to use the credit card to make fraudulent purchases.

That three-digit card verification value — or a CVV — on the back of your credit card is usually your last line of defense if someone steals your credit card number, such as if your card is cloned or skimmed by a dodgy ATM or stolen from a website through a phishing attack.

But rotating the security code will increase the difficulty for an attacker to use your card without your permission.

The idea of a dynamic credit card number first came about a few years ago with the Motion Code credit card concept, built by Oberthur Technologies, which included a randomly generating number built into a tiny display on the back of the card. The only downside is if someone steals your physical card.

Since then, other credit card makers — including Mastercard, the issuing bank for Apple Card — have worked to integrate biometric solutions instead. By enabling a fingerprint sensor on the card, powered by the card machine it was entered into, it was hoped that fraudulent purchases would be impossible. Other credit cards have worked to roll out biometric-powered credit cards. Again — a big let down was online fraud, which still accounts for a huge proportion of fraud.

Apple Card seems to meld the two things: a virtual credit card with a rotating security code, protected by a biometric, like Touch ID or Face ID in newer devices. Better yet, the company’s debut physical titanium credit card won’t even have a credit card number.

Now if someone wants to commit fraud, they need to steal your phone and your face or fingerprint.

Like other sensitive data — such as health, financial and biometric data — any banking and credit card data is stored on the device’s security chip, known as the secure enclave.

Apple Card will be available in the U.S. later this summer.

Apple introduces its own credit card, the Apple Card

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Apple unveils its $9.99 per month news subscription service, Apple News+

Apple today unveiled a revamped Apple News app, which now includes a premium tier called Apple News+,  offering access to more than 300 magazines and newspapers for $9.99 per month. At launch, the subscription includes magazine titles like Bon Appétit, People, Vogue, National Geographic Magazine, ELLE, Glamour and others, along with top publishers like The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, and more.

Apple News+ subscribers will be able to access both the current and past issues from the following magazines: The Atlantic, Better Homes & Gardens, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, ELLE, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN The Magazine, Esquire, Food & Wine, Good Housekeeping, GQ, Health, InStyle, Martha Stewart Living, National Geographic, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, O, The Oprah Magazine, Parents, People, Real Simple, Rolling Stone, Runner’s World, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Travel + Leisure, Vanity Fair, Vogue, WIRED and Woman’s Day.

TechCrunch’s premium product, Extra Crunch, is among the new participants, on the news side. Other news publishers highlighted onstage include theSkimm, Grub Street, The Highlight by Vox, The Cut, Vulture and Toronto Star.

Combined, the subscriptions provided through Apple News+ would cost more than $8,000 per year, Apple noted.

“When we created Apple news over three years ago, we wanted to provide the best way to read the news on your iPhone and iPad,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, in introducing the company’s plans for Apple News+. “And we felt we can make a difference in the way that news is experienced and understood — a place where the news would come from trusted sources and be curated by experts,” he added.

Cook also touted how this led Apple News to become the No. 1 news application, but it wasn’t clear how the company determined this ranking — considering it’s preinstalled, it has a bit of an advantage over traditional publishers.

Before diving into the content, Apple introduced the premium news subscription’s new design feature, called “Live Covers,” which shows animated images instead of static photos for a magazine’s cover.

Inside the digital magazine’s pages, readers can view a table of contents, swipe through beautifully designed pages filled with text, photos and infographic content, and more. The experience looks very much like the popular digital magazine app, Flipboard.

 

The magazine publishers can also express their own unique look and feel through their design and photography, noted Apple designer Wyatt Mitchell, in presenting the new service.

The News+ tab is where you can begin to explore the available magazines, which are organized into sections, including a curated “Featured” area, as well as by magazine category like “Business & Finance,” or “Health,” for example.

Meanwhile, the Today tab features more recommendations of articles and issues. The service will also customize itself to your interests, but won’t do so by tracking what you read.

Instead, Apple says the service will download groups of articles from its servers. And then it uses on-device intelligence to make recommendations. That means Apple won’t know what you read and won’t allow advertisers to track you either.

When you subscribe, your whole family can access the magazines through Apple Family Sharing, for the same price.

Apple had signaled its intention to enter the premium news subscription businesses when it acquired digital newsstand startup Texture in spring 2018. Shortly thereafter, reports surfaced that Apple was planning to relaunch Texture’s product as part of the existing Apple News application. The company had been courting high-profile publishers, but industry reaction was mixed.

That appears to remain the case as the service goes to launch. While it does offer The Wall Street Journal — announced ahead of today’s event — other top publishers like The New York Times and The Washington Post have chosen not to participate.

Apple News+ is available in the U.S. and Canada, starting today. In Canada, the service will be $12.99 per month. Later this year, Apple News+ will arrive in Europe, starting with the U.K., as well as Australia.

The first month is free, before the monthly charge kicks in.

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All the videos from Apple’s big media event

Video served as both form and function today at Apple’s media event, and the company wasn’t stingy with classic Apple event videos. Ranging from previews of new services like Apple Arcade to a look at the artists creating content for Apple TV +, the videos should give folks who missed the livestream a quick look at what’s next out of Apple services.

As with most events, today’s kicked off with a teaser video:

The first product Apple announced was Apple News+, which offers access to over 300 magazines and newspapers for $9.99/month. Of note, Apple News+ is the only product Apple announced today that’s also available today.

The second new product out of Apple is Apple Card. Apple Card is essentially an electronic credit card that works anywhere that Apple Pay is accepted. The Apple Card app lets you see your transaction history, pay your card, and earn 2 percent cash back daily on your purchases all within the Wallet app.

And yes, it comes with a physical card, which is made of titanium, laser-etched with your name, and has no number. The Apple Card should make credit card fraud more difficult.

Apple then announced a new gaming subscription service called Apple Arcade.

The service won’t launch until this fall, but will include more than 100 premium games at launch from partners including Disney, Konami and Lego. Importantly, this is a cross-platform product, meaning games are playable on iOS, MacOS and tvOS, giving Apple the chance to leverage iOS to get gaming on the Mac.

This one came with two videos, but no price.

And finally, Apple announced Apple TV+, a forthcoming subscription service that would give users access to Apple’s new library of original content. This includes a new show from Jennifer Anniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell about a morning news show and an anthology series from Kumail Nanjiana that tells the true story of everyday immigrants, among many others.

And one more thing… Oprah has signed on to do two new shows with Apple TV+.

Apple TV+ doesn’t come out until the Fall and there’s still no word on pricing.

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Oprah offers more details about her partnership with Apple

Apple’s event today, where it announced its streaming plans and more, ended with a whole bunch of celebrities taking the stage to talk about the shows they’re making for the new TV+ service. The boldface names included Steven Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston — but for the big finish, Apple brought out Oprah Winfrey.

Apple said last year that it had signed “a unique, multi-year content partnership” with Winfrey. That announcement, however, didn’t include any details about the programs she’d be making.

Winfrey described two documentaries today. First, there’s “Toxic Labor,” looking at the effects of sexual harassment in the workplace. There’s also an untitled, multi-part documentary about mental health.

Winfrey also said she’s working on a new version of her book club, which she said will be “the biggest, most vibrant, the most stimulating book club on the planet.” The idea is that by working with Apple, her interviews with authors can be streamed to Apple stores and devices around the world.

“I want to literally convene a meeting of the minds, connecting us through books,” she said.

More broadly, Winfrey said with her Apple content, “I want to reach that sweet spot where insight and perspective, truth and tolerance, actually intersect.” And she’s excited to use their platform to get her message out to an enormous audience: “They’re in a billion pockets, y’all. A billion pockets.”

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Apple unveils its streaming service, AppleTV+

To close out today’s press event focused on Apple’s service’s business, the company has officially announced its streaming initiative, Apple TV+.

The company already had a long list of shows in development, which will hopefully put all your “Carpool Karaoke” jokes to rest. They include an “Amazing Stories” reboot executive produced by Steven Spielberg, an adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s classic “Foundation” books and “The Morning Show,” a drama set in the morning TV industry starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

Details about the shows have been coming out for more than a year, so the main question was: How would consumers get access to all of this content? And how much would they have to pay for it, if anything?

Reports last fall suggested that Apple might actually give this content away for free to anyone with an iOS or tvOS device, and that the original content would essentially function as an incentive to buy Apple hardware and as a funnel to other services.

And indeed, Apple announced that there’s a new Apple TV app coming in May — as well as Apple TV Channels, which will allow you to subscribe to other streaming services like HBO, Showtime, Starz and CBS All Access.

To highlight the caliber of filmmakers involved in this initiative, Apple showed off a promotional video featuring interviews with Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Octavia Spencer, Ron Howard, M. Night Shyamalan, Sofia Coppola, Damian Chazelle, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon — who are, of course, all involved in making shows for Apple TV+.

Spielberg then took the stage to talk about his childhood love of the Amazing Stories magazine, which he subsequently turned into an ’80s TV series.

“Thanks to the visionary and inventive folks at Apple, my Amblin team and I are going to be resurrecting this 93-year-old brand and offering to multi-generational audiences a whole new batch of Amazing Stories,” he said.

And then  there was a veritable parade of celebrities touting their various shows: Aniston, Witherspoon and Steve Carrell, who are all starring in “The Morning Show; then Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodward, who talked about their science fiction series “See”; Kumail Nanjiani who said his anthology series “Little America” will consist of “human stories that feature immigrants,” then Big Bird (yes, that Big Bird) announced coding-themed shows that Sesame Workshop is making for Apple and then J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles — Bareilles performed the theme to their show “Little Voice.”

Updating

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