New Apple Lust Objects for 2010 and onward

Just saw the grim glass eye of a Level Up pointer xp

AH, I SEE YOU HAVE JOINED THE LOYALTY PROGRAM. A WISE CHOICE.

CVS, et. al. want CurrentC because of the marketing data (Trigger warning: Gruber quote at end)

However, a series of retailers are opposed to the success of Apple Pay because the new system keeps user's transactions private and doesn't collect or track their purchasing history, providing the store with little more than the funds to cover the sale.

Some retailers, including Best Buy, appear to have removed their NFC terminals, while CVS and Rite Aid have turned them off to disable customers from using Apple Pay (turning off NFC also prevents Google Wallet from working).

CVS and Rite Aid belong to a consortium of retailers, led by Walmart, Best Buy, Kmart and 7 Eleven, that has been working since 2012 on CurrentC, a plan to enable payments through a mobile app. Rather than replicating Apple Pay's "fingerprint and tap," the CurrentC app for iOS and Android will require users to launch the app at checkout. The app will then produce a QR bar code that retailers have to scan

...

Rather than working with users' existing credit cards, the QR code will debit the user's checking account or a configured gift card or cards issued under the program. Apple Pay was expressly designed to work with existing banks and accounts in order to allow users to continue to earn the reward points, airline miles or other perks they already do.

Additionally, a series of major retailers have reported massive leaks of customer data and account information, creating poor timing for CurrentC's launch with assurances that "you can pay with peace of mind," given that users' transaction data will be collected and stored by the retailers' consortium.

CurrentC hopes to have its barcode app ready to use by early next year. But some of its partners are blocking already Apple Pay in the hope that users will set up new accounts to continue shopping with them. In addition to gaining access to more data on their customers, CurrentC also wants to avoid the transaction costs of conventional credit cards by directly making payments that bypass banks.

I believe it's safe to assume that CurrentC is an insecure attack vector.

this really seems destined for hilarious failure

Someone needs to tell cvs and rite aid that the old order is rapidly fading

Fab Yosemite http://fffff.at/yosemite-comic-sans-patch/

that process for CurrentC... does not sound good

Betamax. HD DVD. CurrentC.

no tech Billy Joel

microsoft windows back again

Still feeling kind of :\ about the beats acquisition/partnership. Wish they had paired with a legit audio company instead.

If they acquire a legit audio company, it'll be a tiny one working on compression/encoding, possibly to develop Apple-owned on-chip audio IP, and it won't be remotely high-profile. Apple seems to have acquired Beats do to what Apple saw as a brand with immense strategic value, not to mention a streaming music service.

One of the cliche knocks against Apple products is that they're all flash and no substance. That this actually seems to be true of Beats headphones might be a risk to Apple, but there's no reason Apple couldn't invest in improving what goes into Beats. I think we could see Dre on stage at an Apple event introducing something kinda cool.

I'm curious but skeptical about them entering the streaming biz. They seem a little late to the table and it's hard to imagine what they could offer that vastly improves on Spotify, although maybe they're counting on a significant market in people that haven't entered streaming at all but would do it with Apple holding their hand.

As far as the strategic value otherwise, I don't quite get it. Apple products with "Beats Audio Inside"? Seems out of character, plus I think some other PC maker did that and it wasn't a major success. I feel like Beats is a little like the U2 album -- a product that only appeals to one slice of Apple's customer base, where it would be a mistake to push it on everyone.

I never started paying for Spotify because I guess until recently they had two tiers and my regret-minimization circuits were overloaded.

I feel like it might also be a slightly hamfisted play to stay "relevant," avoid looking like purely a boomer company.

well, put it this way, iTunes has sort of screwed the pooch branding-wise, witness everyone itt complaining about it every year, and Apple's music sales ecosystem is bound up in it, and that business is shrinking rapidly YoY. Picking up Beats just for Beats Music, a streaming service with a valuable brand attached (with an Android app no less) could be strategically valuable just for that reason. $3 billion valuable, who knows, but it's not like Apple is worried about wasting shareholder value on an acquisition of that scale given their cash reserves.

lol @ "legit audio company"

afaik beats are pretty ehhh when it comes to sound quality but they're very iconic, have strong build quality, and imo have better artist engagement than the iTunes festival and Apple's repeated U2 interaction. I can't imagine an acquisition of a high-end DAC company or a good independent shop like Grado. Who else would they have bought, Bose? (ugh)

just wanna be clear, nobody here is excited about AppleBeats 'phones, right?

like sure, maybe they'll sell. great.

I don't really see a point in them buying an audio company period, tbh, different competencies. I doubt the "strength" of the Beats brand too, it's still on the new and trendy side, could easily seem dated in a few years (and I already don't see the headphones out that often anymore where I used to see them all the time).

All speculative, I know. Definitely not a huge risk for them in any case.

microsoft windows back again
― pplains, Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Some retailers, including Best Buy, appear to have removed their NFC terminals, while CVS and Rite Aid have turned them off

good luck lolmerica

Beats purchase seems like an obvious attempt to get back the music cachet they've lost, with the disappointments of Ping and iTunes Match

Like they got pretty lazy with iTunes Store being dominant, focused on the apps instead of the music

I wonder what the breakdown is in revenue between apps and music/movies/etc. for the iTunes store

we should sell ILX to apple

It's an opinion aggregator in the cloud

CurrentC hacked already!

MCX, the company behind CurrentC, sent out the email on Wednesday, revealing that its security systems were breached by unauthorized third parties within the last 36 hours. The company says its investigations suggest that only users' email addresses were obtained, but not any additional information.

Multiple AppleInsider readers sent a copy of the note that MCX sent to pilot program participants on Wednesday. Currently in trial, CurrentC is expected to launch at some point in 2015.

The system has found itself in the midst of a controversy over both Apple Pay and Google Wallet, as retailers participating in CurrentC are forbidden from offering alternative mobile payment systems. As a result, both Rite Aid and CVS shut down their NFC-based payment systems this past weekend, blocking the recently launched Apple Pay.

I've had the iPhone 6 for about two weeks and it's cracked :( I don't even know how it happened. i was going to get a fucking case! But now it's too late. ;__;

Guessing it happened when somebody parked to close to a car I was getting into and I had to squeeze between them.

Seems awfully delicate. Will Apple show pity?

whoa, that sux. Have you taken it to the apple store? If you explain to them what happened they might replace the screen or the phone free.

maybe the particular screen had a flaw, does seem like that shouldn't have happened

Buy Applecare and you can then get it replaced for like $75 or w/e the deductible is

is it the screen? if you look upthread I already busted mine. $75 + tax if you have applecare+, $110 if you do not

Does applecare actually give you a new phone unlike shitty ass asurion refurbished bullshit?

also, if they have the capacity it's like a 45 minute replacement

the people in your suburb of schaumburg were very helpful

oh you mean screen replacement

I've never had any problems with Apple refurbs, and they have an additional refurb warranty

for broken glass on the new phones, they replace the glass and hand your phone back to you

like if for any reason the refurb is not as good it has a 90 day warranty on top of whatever warranty you have

whoa, that sux. Have you taken it to the apple store? If you explain to them what happened they might replace the screen or the phone free.

I haven't taken it in yet - I just discovered it last night. I think I signed up for Assurion crap, but I forgot that Applecare (plus?) now covers accidents.

iPhone 6 is hard to use one handed

MOTHERFUUUUUUUCK dropped it on concrete and broke the screen FUUUUUCK

This versh is the first one I've felt paranoid about dropping

What if I just downgrade to a 5S

Would you still love me

I had a case on it too, one of those spiegen "slim" cases, totally worthless

5S vastly superior product, says unnamed Apple employee in the family. Also confirmed a physical damaged screen repair $109, less w/ AppleCare.