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Serena, starring Jennifer Lawrence, is available to rent in the iTunes Store today, a full three weeks before it will be released in theaters. A rental of the film will run you $9.99 in both HD and SD. The movie, set in North Carolina during the 1930s Depression, also stars Lawrence's Silver Linings Playbook co-star Bradley Cooper, and is set be released in US theaters on a limited basis on March 27 (it has already been released in theaters across Europe). Here's the description from the iTunes Store listing: George and Serena Pemberton (Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence) are love-struck newlyweds building a business empire. Se…

The Apple Watch comes in two sizes: 38mm (small) and 42mm (large). Which one you choose depends on how you want to wear it. Apple has provided two sizing options for the Apple Watch — 38mm and 42mm. That's consistent across across collections, starting with the aluminum Apple Watch Sport through the stainless steel Apple Watch to the gold Apple Watch Edition. Some might consider their personal choice obvious, whether that's based on wrist size, gender, or some other factor. If you're not finding it quite so obvious, however, here are some things to consider when picking the perfect Apple Watch size for you! Height vs. width Unlike traditional watches, which…

Japan Display, one of Apple's suppliers of displays for their mobile devices, has confirmed that they will build a $1.4 billion display factory. The factory will reportedly be focused on producing displays for Apple. Previous reports indicated that Apple and Japan Display had been in talks for a partnership for a $1.7 billion plant. As with the previous reports, Apple is said to be making an investment in this plant, according to Reuters: The company did not name Apple, in line with its policy of not identifying clients. A person familiar with the matter said Apple would also invest an unspecified amount in the plant, which would further the Japanese screen mak…

Week Weather for iPhone is a new app that lets you view your current and upcoming weather quickly. The app provides an information-rich, yet easy-to-read outlook on a week's worth of weather. Week Weather presents forecast information to you through a graphical layout, rather than just through text like many other weather apps. Color-coded boxes will give you the temperature, as well as the conditions of any given period of time. The size of a box is determined by how long its conditions are expected to hold. Tap a box to get more detailed information. Week Weather provides a general forecast, as well as more detailed outlooks. There are sections for temperatu…

Developer Blizzard will release the next single player expansion for their popular card collecting game next month for the iPad. Blizzard plans to launch real money pre-orders for Blackrock Mountain on March 19 and will throw in an exclusive card for those folks. Here's what players can expect from this Hearthstone expansion: The Blackrock Mountain Adventure thrusts Hearthstone players into the middle of a war between powerful forces battling for control of the mountain. There, duelists will encounter fierce minions, including Dark Iron dwarves, fire elementals, and dragons, before facing off against iconic menaces from the Warcraft® universe, such as Ragnaros,…

Just because Apple's pulling Aperture from the Mac App Store doesn't mean you have to pull it from your workflow. Apple sent out an email to Aperture owners this week reminding them that as soon as Photos for OS X goes into general distribution, Aperture will no longer be available for purchase from the Mac App Store. The usual gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair erupted soon afterwards. I have just one thing to ask people who are complaining about this: Why are you so anxious to get rid of Aperture? Look, Aperture is end of life, we all know that. Apple said that last June at WWDC, and the email they sent out this week says that they won't be selling new copies…

Just like there are power cases for iPhones, the Reserve Strap — still in prototype — hopes to extend the battery life of the Apple Watch. The Reserve Strap is a prototype accessory for the Apple Watch that wants to give you extra time to actively use the device. While there are no solid numbers yet on just how long the Watch's battery should last Apple has indicated that it will last about a day. The Reserve Strap uses two small batteries in conjunction with an inductive charging cradle. From the Reserve Strap website: These photos show our first concept--a silicon band with embedded lithium polymer cells and an inductive charging cradle between your wrist …

The latest data from research firm comScore shows that Apple remains the top smartphone OEM in the US, with a 41.3% share in January 2015. Samsung remains in second among smartphone OEMs in the US with 29.3%. LG is third with 8% percent, followed by Motorola at 5.2% and HTC at 3.8%. iOS is still the number two smartphone platform, but it saw its US market share fall from 41.9% to 41.3% from October 2014 to January 2015. Android remains at number one with 53.2% in January, up from 52.3% compared to October 2014, according to comScore's stats. Windows Phone is third, going up slightly from 3.5% in October to 3.6% in January. BlackBerry is fourth and saw its share drop …

Debug is a casual, conversational interview show featuring the best developers in the business about the amazing apps they make and why and how they make them. On this episode — Watchmaker and developer Jon Edwards, and Daring Fireball's John Gruber join Guy and Rene to talk about the Apple Watch and watch culture. Subscribe in iTunes Subscribe in RSS Download directly Follow on Twitter Show notes John's Superman Watch (potentially) Master/slave clocks Tissot T Touch Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication Quartz Crisis Accutron Tuning Fork Watch Early Electro-Mechanical Watches Braun BN0106 PepperUICore Class Dump (Digital Detent) Ming-Chi…

Welcome back to another edition of Weekend Reading, with stories about Mobile World Congress, the Game Developers Conference and the new preview of Office 2016 for Mac. At Mobile World Congress, Microsoft racked up 10 awards, including Best Mobile Tablet (Surface Pro 3), Best of Mobile World Congress 2015 (Lumia 640) and Top Pick of Mobile World Congress 2015 (Lumia 640 XL). Microsoft announced the two new, affordable Lumia phones at the event. The devices “give people the flexibility to do more anywhere, and at any time,” writes Stephen Elop, executive vice president of the Microsoft Devices Group, in a blog post. At MWC, Microsoft also unveiled a super-lightweight un…

Zynga will release Dawn of Titans, a fantasy-themed strategy game with some impressive looking graphics, for the iPhone and iPad later this year. This is the first game from Zynga that's being developed by UK-based studio NaturalMotion, which Zynga acquired in 2014. Dawn of Titans looks like it will have traditional real-time-strategy gameplay, with tons of units onscreen, mixed with the Clash of Clans-like kingdom building feature. Here's what Zynga has to say about the game: In Dawn of Titans, players are immersed in a breathtaking, high fantasy world as they lead Titans into epic battles with thousands of soldiers. Players build their kingdoms to fuel their …

Amazon Game Studios will be releasing four of its titles, for iPhone and iPad. These include two new games, Lost Within and Til Morning's Light, along with existing titles Tales from Deep Space and To-Fu Fury. The first new title is Lost Within, a new survival horror game set in an abandoned asylum. The player solves mysteries, crafts weapons, and more in an effort to uncover the asylum's secret. Also coming soon is Til Morning's Light, an action-adventure game set in a haunted mansion, according to Amazon Game Studios: The game tells the story of Erica, a teenager who must escape a haunted mansion filled with ghosts and strange creatures by solving puzzles, de…

The transparent design of the naked tough case from Case-Mate gives your iPhone 6 Plus clear protection that lets the original look of your device shine though! It includes a shock absorbing bumper that fits inside the shell for extra protection against drops. Get yours today for only $15.95! Continue reading...

Apple has been picked to replace AT&T in the Dow Jones Industrial Average stock market index, which consists of 30 major US companies. The change will be made starting on Tuesday, March 19 and was caused by another Dow company, Visa, splitting its stock by 4-for-1 around the same time. CNBC states: The DJIA is price weighted so extremely high stock prices tend to distort the index while very low stock prices have little impact," said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices in a press release. "Apple's split brought the stock price down closer to the median price in the DJIA. The Visa split will reduc…

Truly, this is an exciting time to follow Apple. With the company set to hold a media event on Monday — six months to the day since Tim Cook first stood on the Flint Center stage and unveiled the Apple Watch — we're about to move out of our current period of vaguely-informed speculamalation and into the era of somewhat more informed speculification. At that point, we'll be perilously close to the time when the Apple Watch really ships, and pundits can actually start complaining about the real product rather than jousting with straw men wearing extremely expensive timepieces. My point is, are we there yet? No? Okay, then, with a very short amount of time to go before…

Gmail for iPhone and iPad has been updated to version 4.0, bringing support for taking action on notifications, as well as a share extension. Actionable notifications allow you to quickly decide what to do with a message. When you swipe left on a notification, you'll be able to choose either to archive the message or reply to it. Selecting reply will open Gmail and start a reply message for you. The share extension allows you to share photos and files through Gmail using any app that supports the iOS 8 share sheet. After you activate the extension, selecting Gmail from the share sheet will open a new message pane with your attachment inside, ready to fill out and …

Microsoft has launched a preview for the next version of Office for Mac. Microsoft's productivity suite is expected to have its official release in the second half of 2015. The new version of Office retains familiar features while adding new and useful functionality. The Ribbon has been revamped, and the overall look of office is more in line with OS X Yosemite. Improvements have been made to all of the Office apps, including Retina-ready interfaces, and greater integration with Microsoft's cloud services. From Microsoft: The new Office for Mac user interface is designed from the ground up to take advantage of the latest Mac features, including retina displ…

It's been almost a year since the last MacBook Air refresh. Rumors suggest Apple's about to release a new model. Rumors started circulating Wednesday that Apple's about to pull the trigger on a refresh to the MacBook Air, equipping it with a moderately faster processor and bigger battery. The update could arrive next week when Apple is expected to show off the Apple Watch at its Spring Forward event in San Francisco. Is a faster processor and bigger battery all Apple needs to keep up the MacBook Air's momentum? A recent post on MacRumors points to a Chinese site that purportedly has screenshots of the system profile of a new MacBook Air that carries the model iden…

Apple has set up an FAQ site to help businesses get set up with Apple Pay. They've also clarified compatibility between the system and the Apple Watch. The new FAQ goes into detail about how to get set up with Apple Pay. It covers the obvious, like needing a contactless payment terminal, but also lesser-known aspects, such as the lack of fees, the fraud policy, and how to let customers know that your store supports Apple Pay. From the Merchant FAQ: How do I let my customers know they can pay with Apple Pay? Display the contactless payment symbol and the Apple Pay acceptance mark prominently on your point of sale terminal to let your customers know they can u…

Want to talk to iOS and Mac developers at AltConf? Submit your speaking proposal by April 6, 2015. Apple hasn't announced when this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will happen, but one thing's for sure: Regardless of when it is, AltConf will happen right along side it. If you have an idea for a presentation you'd like to give at AltConf, now's the time to submit. The AltConf Call For Speakers will be open until 6th April. Submissions are via this google docs form. Once we close for submissions, all proposals will be removed of personally identifiable information (Name, Email Address, Bio and Twitter) and will be considered by a four person panel fro…

The iMore show brings you everything you need to know about the week in iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple! On this episode — Jim Dalrymple of The Loop joins Serenity, Peter, and Rene to talk dumb Apple Pay headlines, and preview the upcoming "Spring Forward" Apple Watch Event. Support the iMore show: Go to lynda.com/imore for a free 10-day trial! Get PDFPen 7 and PDFPen 7 Pro from smilesoftware.com/imore. Get a Chipolo Bluetooth item finder at chipolo.net Subscribe in iTunes: Audio Subscribe in RSS: Audio Download directly: Audio Guests Jim Dalrymple of The Loop Hosts Serenity Caldwell Peter Cohen Rene Ritchie Continue reading...

Keeping up with news using your favorite reader apps can be a breeze, but there's a new app on the block for both iOS and OS X called Breaking. As you may have already guessed, it delivers news articles straight to your Apple devices, but with a twist — it's optimized for the widget space in Notification Center The team behind the app, Robocat, also developed the likes of Haze and Thermo. It's super easy to see new stories on both platforms, as shown in the video below. Breaking essentially puts you in control of what's shown in your Today widgets, much like standard feed readers. You can add URLs to the apps and the first five items will be displayed from each …

If you'd rather not risk your prior destination history getting snooped on in maps, you can easily clear it out. Whenever you search for a place in Apple's Maps app for iPhone or iPad, your search queries are saved. The next time you tap on the search field, you'll see all the locations and places you've searched for in reverse chronological order. In other words, most recent on top. What if you don't like your prior searches to show up? That's the issue we're going to tackle today! How can I delete prior map destinations on my iPhone 6? I can not delete prior map destinations on my iPhone 6. There is no delete button? While there isn't a delete button, ther…

Imgur has launched a new iPhone app to bring about a new browsing experience for those who enjoy using the image sharing service. Imgur has an absolute massive catalogue of images available, which can be rather daunting to new surfers, but luckily the app is easy to use and inviting. Fire up the app for the first time and you'll be presented by an endless list of what's viral on Imgur. Unfortunately, the team has released what appear to be a basic app to get things rolling. Functionality like uploading photos isn't yet available, though we'd imagine said features will arrive in future updates – if only to keep up with competitor apps like Instagram. That said,…