Development of an Apple Car autopilot chip appears to be a step closer to reality as Apple has reportedly placed an order with a Korean company. To be clear, the order is not for the final chip – which would almost certainly be fabricated by Apple’s A-series and M-series chipmaker TSMC – but for modules that will eventually be incorporated into the chip … The Elec reports. Although the contract has only just come to light, the work is said to have been underway for almost a year, and is scheduled to be completed next year....

Apple has expanded its California self-driving test fleet to 69 cars and 92 drivers, according to a report from macReports. In May, it was reported that Apple had 68 self-driving test cars, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Now, it appears the company has added another one. As for the drivers, Apple added back a few, after cutting by half the number of drivers last year. Now, it has 92 drivers for its self-driving test fleet....

A study shows that Apple can pay up to 5x more than Samsung per exposed vulnerability on its bug bounty program. That said, the Cupertino company still faces complaints from researchers, with some saying Apple didn’t give them credit for the zero-day flaw reported. The study conducted by Atlas VPN shows that Apple pays from $100K to $1 million to researchers who find exploits in their service, while Samsung’s bug bounty program rewards researchers between $200 and $200K for qualified exploits....

Apple on Thursday announced its Q4 2022 results. Although the company reported record earnings in every category except for the iPad, Apple expects Mac revenue will drop “substantially” next quarter compared to Q1 2022 results. At the same time, the company also predicts that revenue growth will slow down in the next quarter. Mac revenue expected to decline in Q1 2023 According to Apple CFO Luca Maestri, the company has a challenge when it comes to the Mac....

Apple has released its twice-yearly transparency report, this time covering the second half of 2020. The new report details data requests from governments and other agencies around the world. Apple says that it received requests during the second half of 2020 covering 83,307 devices, which is just under half as many during the same time period in 2019. As first spotted by CNET, the document shows that Apple provided data in 77% of those requests, which is down from 80% during the same time period in 2019....

Apple Store staff working in a newly designed store in a London shopping mall have unionized. They say they are seeking a pay raise, pay transparency, improvements to shift work, and less focus on metrics when assessing their work. Apple Store aficionado Michael Steeber has described the new store design as “unprecedented” … Background We first learned of retail staff plans to unionize back in February. Things progressed in April, with a formal start to the process at Apple’s flagship Grand Central Terminal store in New York....

A brand new image of Aquaman’s sea dragon emerges online. Directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa as the titular hero, the forthcoming flick ends Warner Bros’ superhero movie hiatus after last November’s Justice League. Set after the events of Steppenwolf’s failed attempt at taking over Earth, Arthur Curry returns home and begins his journey to claim his place as the rightful king of Atlantis. Ahead of the Aquaman’s presentation later this week at San Diego Comic-Con as part of the Warner Bros....

UPDATE: Schwarzenegger is said to be recovering well from the surgery, and his first words after waking up were reportedly “I’m back.” Beloved action star Arnold Schwarzenegger underwent emergency open-heart surgery at Cedars-Sinai. This followed complications during a replacement of his catheter valve - a procedure that is somewhat experimental. Born in Austria and immigrating to the United States at the age of 21, Schwarzenegger was held up by many as the quintessential example of the American Dream made reality....

You can already switch on an auto Shazam feature on your iPhone, but Apple is envisaging a more intelligent version, which could work with anything from AirPods to an Apple Headset … Current Shazam options Currently, you can either manually ask Shazam to identify a song, or set an auto Shazam function to continually listen and log details of all songs played. The manual option works on all Apple devices, including the Apple Watch....

Avengers: Endgame has overtaken Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all-time at the worldwide box-office, but there’s still a chance that James Cameron’s blockbuster will beat it once again. Avengers: Endgame officially passed Avatar’s box-office total at the weekend, paying off Marvel’s decision to re-release the movie. Avengers: Endgame’s box-office total now stands at just over $2.791 billion, enough to take it past Avatar’s $2.789 billion haul, which it set in 2010 after it had a re-release of its own....

With Thanos being such a threat in Avengers: Infinity War, director Joe Russo has discussed why the Mad Titan actually needs henchmen. We got our first look at the Black Order at D23 last week, as Josh Brolin unveiled the team of alien villains that would be plaguing the Avengers. It seems the Mad Titan won’t just be a rampaging monster for the entire film, with Black Dwarf, Corvus Glaive, Ebony Maw and Proxima Midnight all set to causing havoc for the team....

There have been many different big-screen versions of Batman, his associates, and his enemies over the years. The character’s world can be – and has been – interpreted in a variety of ways, from bright and colorful to dark and gloomy. It has been portrayed both dramatically and comedically, and somewhere in between on a few occasions. Part of the reason for the enduring popularity is the ability to be reinvented in new forms, by new filmmakers taking the helm....

It is no secret that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice needs to have some pretty stellar ticket sales to be considered a success. According to one report, it would need to gross $800 million globally just to turn a profit. Luckily for all involved, early indications are that the movie is going to be a box-office success. Some estimates have put the movie’s opening weekend numbers at $350 million globally, with $150 million of that coming from domestic ticket sales....

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for Avengers: Infinity War. Avengers: Infinity War features several different planets and locations, thus making it one of the most cosmic movies to date within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since the movie focuses on Thanos’s quest to obtain all six Infinity Stones, he and his loyal Black Order were required to travel all over the galaxy in search of them. Although Infinity War is technically Thanos’ movie, Thanos and his children weren’t the only characters moving between locations throughout the film....

You have to hand it to American Horror Story: Roanoke. After a bloated and largely incoherent fifth season suggested the series had run aground creatively, Ryan Murphy and Co. returned to offer up a visually stripped-down sixth season that began by teasing the audience as to the nature of its theme, and continued to alter its narrative in sometimes surprising ways over the next few weeks. The effect turned Roanoke into a welcome change of pace that made the inevitably outlandish twists feel more in line with the framework of the show-within-a-show premise....

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Beats is expanding the lineup of its popular Beats Fit Pro earbuds with color options. This time, Apple-owned Beats teamed up with Kim Kardashian to design three “neutral” colors for the Beats Fit Pro, as well as a new marketing campaign. Beats describes the new color options as featuring “Kim Kardashian’s signature minimalistic aesthetic.” The new color options are called: Moon (light), Dune (medium), and Earth (deep). If you follow Kim Kardashian or are familiar with her SKIMS brand, you’ll quickly see her influence on these color options....

Apple appears to be addressing a long-running complaint from Apple Card users. In a new email going out to select Apple Card customers this week, Apple says that it has learned of instances where customer-initiated disputes “maybe have been resolved incorrectly” by Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is Apple’s partner and backing bank for Apple Card, which means it is responsible for most of the finance-related features of the Apple-branded card. This includes things like approvals, credit limits, interest rates, and disputes....

At least two sports sources are reporting that Apple has “expressed interest” in buying UK soccer team Manchester United. The club is up for sale by its present owner, with a number of other parties also said to be interested in a potential acquisition … Background Manchester United is one of the world’s most popular soccer clubs. Nicknamed the Red Devils, it is variously known as Man United, Man Utd, Man U, and simply United....