Apple Launches Bundled News, Credit Card, TV App

TechCrunch reports:

Apple today unveiled a revamped Apple News app which now includes a premium tier called Apple News+, offering access to over 300 magazines and newspapers for $9.99 per month.

At launch, the subscription includes magazine titles like Bon Appétit, People, Vogue, National Geographic Magazine, ELLE, Glamour, and others, along with top publishers like The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, and more.

Combined, the subscriptions provided through Apple News+ would cost more than $8,000 per year, Apple noted. “When we created Apple news over three years ago, we wanted to provide the best way to read the news on your iPhone and iPad,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook, in introducing the company’s plans for Apple News+.

CNBC reports:

Apple just unveiled its new Goldman Sachs-linked credit card, the Apple Card. Users can sign up through their iPhone and get access to the card in minutes when it becomes available in the U.S. this summer, according to the tech giant’s Monday presentation.

The new card hinges on Apple Pay, the tech giant’s mobile payment and digital wallet, which has made inroads in merchant acceptance since its inception in 2014.

For situations where Apple Pay isn’t accepted, the tech firm created a sleek-looking, minimalist titanium card. It has just your name, etched with lasers, without card numbers and other sensitive information.

The Verge reports:

After years of speculation and on-again, off-again rumors, Apple has finally unveiled its biggest push into streaming video: Apple TV Plus. CEO Tim Cook just announced the service — featuring Apple’s original programming — alongside a redesigned, more advanced Apple TV app at the Steve Jobs Theater.

Tim Cook said Apple had reached 1.4 billion active iOS devices; those screens (and the TV app that comes preinstalled on them) will be critical to the service’s success.

Today, Apple confirmed the TV app will be coming to the Mac soon, and the company has also announced an iTunes Movies and TV app for Samsung TVs, just one step to reach customers beyond its own devices. That same app will be coming to televisions from Sony, LG, Vizio, and others.

Engadget reports:



Apple’s streaming video service is actually all about the media friends its made so far. With Apple TV Channels, it’s created a way for you to pick and choose your favorite networks and watch everything within the TV app.

It includes traditional channels like CBS and Comedy Central, premium networks like HBO and Showtime, as well as online streaming services like Brit Box and Acorn TV. On top of giving you a single spot to watch all of this content, you’ll also be able to download shows and movies to your devices to watch online.

Apple is pitching it as an alternative to services like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue, which offer cable TV channels in bundles. By offering an a la carte alternative, it could save some viewers money. Of course, the participating networks also have their own Apple TV apps, but jumping between isn’t exactly seamless, something that Channels would also solve.