Apple disables News App in China

Apple seems to be taking a let’s not hurt our chances at earning tons from the cash cow that’s China but let’s also not let them take reigns of the content we share. The company is said to have disabled its News app in the country. China’s government has wide control over its information and the media so it looks like want to play to the hands of the Chinese government and at the same time not earn their wrath and have their access to the Chinese market cut off. Those in China who try to refresh the Apple News app only get an error message of “Can’t refresh right now. News isn’t supported in your current region.”

Some are expressing concern though about how Apple has disabled its app in the region. Larry Salibra, founder of Pay4Bugs, said in a post on Reddit: “They’re censoring news content that I downloaded and stored on my device purchased in the USA, before I even enter China just because my phone happens to connect to a Chinese signal floating over the border. On device censorship is much different than having your server blocked by the Great Firewall or not enabling a feature for customers with certain country iTunes account. That Apple has little choice doesn’t make it any less creepy or outrageous.”

Source: New York Times | Via: 9to5Mac

Samsung lets Chinese users delete smartphone bloatware

Samsung users in China have something we wish we had: the ability to delete bloatware. The South Korean brand isn’t waiting for the verdict of a Chinese lawsuit against them regarding bloatware. Samsung will be offering patches this August to let owners delete bloatware from the likes of the Galaxy Note 3, which was cited in the lawsuit, and the more recent ones like the Galaxy S6. They didn’t specify though which apps can be deleted, but it’ll a lot of the non-essentials, we assume.

Source: Engadget

iPhone 6 coming to China on October 17th, preorders begin Oct. 10

Apple's most successful iPhones are heading to their potentially biggest market in China on October 17th as regulatory approvals have been granted for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus sell in the country where they are made. Demand for Apple products in China has been huge as evidenced by the number of people camping out on iPhone lines to buy unlocked devices for grey market resellers who sent the phones back to the country where they were manufactured to sell for up to three times their purchase price. 

Apple has confirmed Chinese iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus preorders start on Oct. 10, with in-store availability to follow on Oct. 17. Long lines are expected.

Source: AppleInsider

Refreshed 15-inch MacBook Pros with Retina Displays may be coming soon

Photos said to have come from Apple's Chongging, China Retail store hint at upcoming 15-inch MacBook Pros with Retina Displays. Sporting refreshed Intel Haswell processors as well as a standard of 16GB of RAM across the line. Specs of the three new models are said to be one with  Intel Core i7 2.2 GHz processor and 16GB of RAM and another with 2.5 GHz Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM. A third flagship model features 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of flash storage, and Intel's Iris Pro graphics plus a NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M. It is interesting to note that Intel released updated Haswell processors last week that correspond directly with the new Mac models. The MacBook Pro line saw its previous update late last year.

Source: Mac Rumors

Update on Monday, July 28, 2014 at 8:27AM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Real soon....Reports have the new 15-inch MBP's coming tomorrow.