Apple today has officially released the first version of beta firmware for AirPods Pro users. The new beta enables features such as Spatial Audio for FaceTime as well as Ambient Noise Reduction, but the process to install the beta requires you use Xcode on your Mac. Head below for the full details. The AirPods Pro beta firmware is only available for developers, and the configuration profile is only available via Apple’s Developer website....

As unionization efforts proceed at Apple Stores across the country, a fourth location has begun forming a union. The Apple Store at Oxmoor Center Mall in Louisville, Kentucky, has announced it is organizing a campaign, reported by Bloomberg Law. The group’s leader, Specialist Jay Hedgspeth, believes the store may even have enough support to win an election. According to him, the employees are sick of low pay relative to Apple’s profits and feel that the metrics-driven culture has left them feeling disconnected from their work....

According to IT Home, Apple has sent a survey to users to ask about the iPad mini 4 screen size. Although Apple has now been selling the iPad mini 5 for a couple of years, both of them have the same screen size. In the survey, customers are asked whether the display is too small or too big. They also inquire about the iPad mini accessories, if customers are using its included power and cable, a stylus, keyboard, headphones, speakers, protective case, etc....

Apple has hired veteran Disney executive Ricky Strauss, to take up the role as the new head of marketing for its streaming service Apple TV+. The appointment follows the departure of prior marketing head Chris Van Amburg, in September. Strauss will be based out of Apple’s worldwide video offices in Culver City, as a member of Apple’s marketing communications team. He will lead marketing campaigns for Apple’s original series and films....

Have an Apple Watch Series 3 with a cracked screen? The repair may be covered under an ongoing service program. Follow along for how to check Apple Watch free screen replacement eligibility. In 2019, Apple first announced its screen replacement program for Series 2 and Series 3 Apple Watches that have specific screen damage to receive a replacement at no cost. Since then, coverage for Series 2 models has lapsed, but the program still offers free screen replacements for eligible Series 3 aluminum watches until roughly September 2022....

What started with the premiere of Arrow has blossomed into a shared DC TV Universe on The CW that now includes Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and The Flash. Characters from across DC Comics have been thrown into the mix on the various shows, as the producers seem to have fewer and fewer restrictions on who they can use. One of the latest additions to the cast of Arrow is the gun-toting Vigilante....

Back in January, AT&T launched impressive speeds up to 5 Gbps with its fiber internet service in over 70 US cities. Now AT&T fiber is out with the news that it has successfully reached blazing-fast 20 Gbps symmetric speeds with its production network. AT&T says it’s “laser-focused” on being the “best broadband provider in America.” In an update on its progress for faster speeds, improved capacity, and lower latency, the company shared it hit the massive 20 Gbps download and upload speeds with its production network following the milestone of hitting 10 Gbps earlier this year....

Marvel Studios’ full-length trailer for Avengers: Infinity War is finally here and the official poster has been released with it. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has come a long way since Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark built a ramshackle Iron Man suit in a cave, ten years ago. Since then, Marvel comic book characters such as Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and many more have joined the franchise on the big screen....

Leaked Avengers 4 concept art has given viewers their best look yet at Captain America’s redesign for the next Marvel movie. It’s no surprise seeing the hero get a new costume, given every blockbuster superhero film is an opportunity to sell new merchandise. But this costume is clearly unlike anything we’ve seen in the MCU to date. This time around, Captain America wears a version of his costume that’s remarkably comic-book-accurate....

Arrow season 7 episode 5, “The Demon,” has all but confirmed that Batman exists in some form in the Arrowverse. While The CW’s ability to use Batman and his associated characters has been limited, there have been more than enough vague hints in the past to suggest that Batman exists on the same Earth as Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow. This new episode, however, has offered the most direct evidence yet....

Almost two years ago, Apple applied for a patent on an all-glass iMac design with a built-in keyboard and trackpads. The company appears to be continuing to work on this idea, with a fresh iMac patent today adding no fewer than 20 new elements, including a partial touchscreen, and a solution to the obvious ergonomic flaw… Apple patents are always written in extremely dense language, but what it described was later illustrated (above) by Yanko Design....

It’s been several years since Apple announced its intentions to move beyond its retail presence in San Diego and build a hub of hardware and software engineering. Now in what looks like the company’s first commercial purchase in the area, Apple has bought HP’s old 67-acre campus as it ramps up work on making an in-house modem and more. About 20 miles from many of Qualcomm’s offices, Apple has purchased HP’s old inkjet research lab campus in Rancho Bernardo....

Apple has been granted a restraining order against a woman who has allegedly been stalking Apple CEO Tim Cook for over a year. According to a new report from The Mercury News, Apple said in legal fillings that the woman emailed photos of a loaded gun to Cook and trespassed at his home. The Mercury News reports that Apple has accused the woman of “erratic, threatening, and bizarre behavior.” The woman first came to Cook’s attention after she tagged him multiple times on Twitter, Apple’s complaint explains, because “he receives alerts when he’s tagged on Twitter....

The Apple Headset is coming. The Mixed Reality project is expected to launch next year, and suppliers are readying to take a big stake in Apple’s new bet. While the company will use Sony’s MicroOLED display for the first units, LG Display is aiming to also be a supplier of the inner panel for this product. According to a report by The Elec, LG Display is expected to order deposition equipment to make MicroOLED from Sunic System....

In a post on the Apple Developer website today, Apple announced that it is now rolling out two new features for App Store product pages. With these new tools, developers can now create and test different versions of their app’s product page in the App Store. Apple explains: Product page optimization. Try out alternate versions of your app’s product page with different icons, screenshots, and app previews to find out which one gets the best results....

After officially launching its last major release, macOS 12.3, in the middle of March with Universal Control, new emoji, and more, Apple has started up its testing cycle again. The first macOS 12.4 beta is now showing up. Update 4/6: Apple has now made the first macOS 12.4 beta available to public testers. We’ve also learned that for Universal Control to work in iPadOS 15.5, Macs need to be running macOS 12....

Apple is announcing a trio of updates to the App Store Guidelines today that focuses on giving developers more flexibility for communicating with their customers. One of the changes specifically comes to address Apple’s settlement in a class-action lawsuit from small developers in the US, first announced back in August. As background, Apple promised a handful of small App Store changes back in August as part of its settlement with small developers in the United States....

Aquaman officially passes Suicide Squad at the worldwide box office, claiming the #3 spot on the DCEU franchise chart, right behind Wonder Woman. They tried to get rid of him, but now from ocean to ocean, they’re going to have to deal with him. So goes a lyric from the Pitbull song “Ocean to Ocean,” a track currently getting lots of attention after appearing on the Aquaman soundtrack. In a broader sense though, that sentiment could be applied to the public at large, which spent decades mostly making fun of Aquaman, and considering him a lame superhero....

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed was a breakout success and one of the most admired releases of 2007— a year that offered some stiff competition in the form of games like Bungie’s Halo 3 and Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare. As a shockingly historic take on the open-world sandbox genre that the publisher would years later come to dominate, the game was followed up in 2009 with the predictably titled Assassin’s Creed II. As the first of the now-beloved Ezio trilogy, the series would skyrocket in popularity and peak years later with the release of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag in 2013....

Michael Fassbender plays multiple roles in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed, both onscreen and behind the scenes as it were. The Oscar-nominee is producing the video game adaptation and helped to recruit several of his Macbeth collaborators to work on the Ubisoft Motion Pictures project - including Marion Cotillard, his costar in the Shakespeare play adaptation, along with director Justin Kurzel, screenwriter Michael Lesslie, and cinematographer Adam Arkapaw. Based on their work together on Macbeth, it seems fair to assume the historical settings and action in Assassin’s Creed - which is set partly in 15th century Spain - are going to be quite impressively staged and executed on the big screen....