“Speaking at NRF 2018 Retail’s Big Show in New York earlier this month, Apple Pay VP Jennifer Bailey presented a speech detailing how iPhone changed the retail landscape, and outlined the tech company’s ongoing efforts in the mobile payment marketplace,” AppleInsider reports.
“Purchases made on smartphones and tablets account for 25 percent of e-commerce transactions in the U.S. The rate of growth for mobile transactions is four times that of desktop, and 10 times that of traditional brick and mortar retail,” AppleInsider reports. “The same phenomenon is occurring outside the U.S. China, for example, sees 80 percent of its e-commerce transactions performed on mobile devices.”
“Apple Pay is behind a large chunk of those purchases. According to Bailey, Apple Pay availability was limited to about 3 percent of stores in the U.S. when it launched in 2014, but is now accepted in 50 percent of stores,” AppleInsider reports. “‘It’s the world’s most accepted contactless payment technology,’ Bailey said.”
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[AppleInsider.com]: In a sign that Apple will continue to update iOS regularly instead of withholding features for its next major point-zero release, Apple on Wednesday revealed new features coming to an iOS 11.3 update this spring, including the ability to toggle the power management feature for iPhone models with aging batteries.
Apple will implement new battery health information and the ability to customize power settings after it was revealed that the company throttles CPU performance on older devices where the battery is deteriorating. Apple's throttling is done to prevent random shutdowns of the device and ensure smooth operation, but some customers took offense to the fact that the slowdowns were occurring without transparency to the user.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, Apple said that the iOS 11.3 update this fall will show battery health, and recommend to users if their battery needs to be serviced. The capabilities will be available for iPhone 6 and later.
Users will also be able to see if the power management feature is enabled, and they can choose to turn it off if they wish. These capabilities will be found in the Battery menu in Settings starting with iOS 11.3, starting with a later beta release.
Other updates coming in iOS 11.3 include enhancements to ARKit, in the form of a 1.5 update for developers. The improved tools will let apps recognize and place virtual objects on vertical surfaces like walls and doors, and will also improve mapping of irregularly-shaped surfaces like circular tables.
ARKit 1.5 also has a 50 percent greater resolution when viewing the real world through a device's camera.
iOS 11.3 will also add new Animoji characters, bringing the total number of options to 16. The additions are a dragon, a bear, a skull, and a lion.
Apple's Health app will also add a new Health Records feature, enabling hospitals and clinics to share patient data more easily. This will allow consumers to see available medical data from multiple providers.
With the update, users can receive regular notifications for lab results, medications, conditions and more. The data is encrypted and protected with a passcode.
Apple will also launch a new beta feature dubbed Business Chat, allowing companies to directly connect with consumers. Launch partners will include Discover, Hilton, Lowe's, and Wells Fargo.
"With Business Chat, it's easy to have a conversation with a service representative, schedule an appointment or make purchases using Apple Pay in the Messages app," Apple said. "Business Chat doesn't share the user's contact information with businesses and gives users the ability to stop chatting at any time."
iOS 11.3 will also add music videos to the Apple Music app. Subscribers will be able to stream music videos without any ad interruption.
Apple Music will serve as a collection of new and classic music videos, allowing users to discover new material or revisit their favorites. Artists will also have music video playlists for easy viewing.
Apple also said that iOS 11.3 will add a new Video group in the For You section of its News app. The Top Stories section will also see improvements.
iOS 11.3 will also include HomeKit software authentication, giving developers the ability to add HomeKit support to existing accessories.
Finally, the update will add Advanced Mobile Location support, automatically sending a user's current location when making a call to emergency services. This functionality will work in countries where AML is available.
Developers can get their hands on iOS 11.3 starting Wednesday. A public beta is also forthcoming.
The update is compatible with iPhone 5s and later, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models, iPad fifth-generation, iPad mini 2 and later, and the sixth-generation iPod touch.
Some people using FaceBook Messenger on iOS devices are reporting that the app makes the device freeze after typing some characters into the normal chat window.
There appears to be no stopgap solution for affected people, as closing and reopening the app makes no difference, and even deleting and reinstalling may do nothing, TechCrunch observed on Thursday. Users encountering the bug are therefore having to spread sentences across several lines or switch to another messaging platform.
Facebook is reportedly investigating the glitch, but has no other information to offer at the moment.
Any such bug is critical not just for Facebook but for the general public, since Messenger has over 1 billion users, many of whom are on iPhones or iPads and/or may depend on it for daily communication.
Facebook recently promised to pare down the the Messenger app. Over the years the app has become increasingly cluttered because of features such as bots, audio and video calls, and even the ability to play simple games.
