Revenue as a whole grew 21% to $4.6 billion!

What you need to know

Sensor Tower data has revealed that App Store subscription spending outstripped Google Play by $2.5 billion in 2019.
App Store users spent a whopping $3.6 billion on the top 100 US subscription apps.
In comparison, Google Play users spent just over $1 billion, but both enjoyed significant growth.

Sensor Tower data has revealed that App Store subscription spending in the US outstripped Google Play by a whopping $2.5 billion, as overall revenue grew 21% to $4.6 billion.

According to the report:

Consumers in the United States spent more than $4.6 billion in the top 100 non-game mobile apps offering subscriptions during 2019, new research based on Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data shows. This figure represents 21 percent year-over-year growth from the $3.8 billion generated by the top 100 subscription apps in the U.S. during 2018.
Our research found that revenue generated by these apps in 2019 accounted for…

The previous record for a documentary sale at Sundance was $10 million for ’Knock Down the House’.

What you need to know

Apple has purchased worldwide rights for documentary ’Boys State’.
Sources claim the deal is worth $12 million, a Sundance festival record for a documentary
The acclaimed film is a political coming of age story about the health of American democracy.

Apple and A24 have bought the worldwide rights to political documentary Boys State for a reported $12 million, the largest-ever sale price for a documentary at the Sundance festival.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

Apple and A24 have acquired worldwide rights to the documentary Boys State, a political coming-of-age story which examines the health of American democracy. A source pegged the deal at $12 million, which marks the largest sale for a documentary ever at a festival. A24 will release the film theatrically.

The previous record for the largest documentary sale at Sundance was 2019’s Knock Down…

Back in September, Apple invited FiLMiC up on the big iPhone 11 event stage to show off something pretty damn incredible: multi-cam video capture. It wasn’t quite ready to ship back then. But it is now.

The iPhone has long been a terrific everyday camera. Something amazing happens, your child, your pet, your significant other, the places you do, the things you see, and there’s just nothing faster and more reliable in going from pocket to capture than the iPhone.

But, increasingly, the iPhone has also become something even Hollywood directors and cinematographers turn to capture video, not just in spaces too tight for traditional rigs, but now for entire films. Looking at you Steven Soderberg. Twice in a row.

While the built-in Camera app is great for capturing those everyday moments, Apple has deliberately kept it simple and focused — haha — on exactly that. For pros, they’ve made a slew of API — application programming interfaces — that developers can use to make mor…

”I can’t imagine a scenario where the supply chain isn’t disrupted.”

What you need to know

Apple has reportedly asked suppliers to boost iPhone production by 10% in the first half of 2020.
Orders consist of around 65 million current models, and 15 million new, low-cost iPhones.
Reports warn however that Apple supply chains are braced for disruption from Coronavirus.

Separate reports suggest that Apple has raised its iPhone orders to around 80 million units for the first half of 2020, however that target is in jeopardy as suppliers brace for coronavirus disruption.

According to Nikkei Asian Review:

Apple has asked its suppliers to make up to 80 million iPhones over the first half of this year, people familiar with its planning told the Nikkei Asian Review, a rise of over 10% on last year’s production schedule that could boost the company’s near-record share price.

The report claims that around 65 million these are current models, mostly the iPhone 11, whilst a further 15 m…

It’s been a long time coming!

What you need to know

Curve has just announced that its users can finally use Apple Pay!
Curve is a popular banking app that lets you spend from any of your accounts using just one Curve Mastercard
Curve is currently available in 31 European Economic Area Countries.

Curve has just announced that its users will finally be able to use Apple Pay!

In a Tweet today, January 28, Curve said:

Enjoy all the benefits of your Curve card using Apple Pay. It’s the easy, secure, and private way to pay.

Enjoy all the benefits of your Curve card using Apple Pay. It’s the easy, secure,and private way to pay. pic.twitter.com/V7v70mod6u— Curve (@imaginecurve) January 28, 2020

A full-page on Curve’s website gives details of the new Apple Pay launch, however, things look to be pretty standard.

To set up your Curve Card with Apple Pay, you add it to the Wallet app just like any other card, taking a picture or entering the details manually. You can also do …

What you need to know

Today is the tenth anniversary of iPad’s announcement.
Steven Sinofsky was head of Windows for Microsoft at the time.
He’s been tweeting his reaction from January 27, 2010.

It was clear Apple was going after netbooks.

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the very first iPad unveiling and it was a big day for Apple. But it was a big day for Microsoft, too. And that’s something driven home by the company’s former head of Windows, Steven Sinofsky. He’s been tweeting his thoughts from this day ten years ago and they make for interesting reading.

In the weeks and months before the arrival of iPad, many had been discussing whether it would be a larger iPod touch or a touch-based Mac. Microsoft wondered that as well, but it fell heavily on the side of a Mac with a pen-based interface. After all, that’s exactly what Microsoft had been trying to sell for years. Why would Apple do anything any differently?

Because it’s Apple, of course.

3/The success of iPhone (14…

License plates in Vermont are about to get more colorful.

What you need to know

Vermont has proposed a new bill to add emojis to license plates.
The emoji would be an addition to the license plate number, not a replacement.
What emojis would be available and at what cost is still unknown.

Emoji have quickly become an integral part of our communication structure. You find them in iMessages, emails, and slapped all over Instagram stories and Facebook reactions. Now, residents in Vermont might be able to bring them into the real world and display an emoji right on their license plate.

Reported by Engadget, Rebecca White, a Democrat in the Vermont House of Representatives, introduced a new bill that would allow residents of the state to display an emoji on their license plate.

”The bill, introduced by Democrat Rebecca White, would allow drivers to add one of six emoji to their license plates. The pictographs would be in addition to whatever combination of letters and numbers th…

4K is the way of the future. Despite its slow consumer-level growth over the last five or so years, we’re starting to see more and more 4K HDR content, and therefore, more and more consoles, platforms, and services are showing support. When 4K TVs hit the market, they were incredibly expensive, but now you can get a 4K TV quite inexpensively. These are the best cheap 4K HDR TVs you can buy.

Top dog

LG UK6300PUE

Our pick

In terms of the best bang for your buck, this LG model is without a doubt our top pick. LG makes some of the best TVs money can buy, and this one matches up well to even other more expensive sets. You can get a 49-inch for under $400, featuring LG’s fantastic Web OS smart interface, a stunning IPS panel, and, of course, HDR10 support.

$440+ at Amazon

Cheaper option

Toshiba LF621U19

This Toshiba features Amazon’s Fire TV platform built right in, and it supports 4K HDR content. You get three HDMI ports on this one and a USB port, a simple remote, as well as …

Maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle is imperative at every age. Fitbit offers some wonderful products that encourage people to stay active through their senior years. We understand that the elderly have different desires and needs when it comes to health and fitness tracking, which is why we created this list of the best Fitbits for seniors. Our favorite is the Fitbit Charge 3 because it’s packed with a ton of easy-to-use, beneficial features like 24/7 heart rate monitoring, so users can track their heart rate zones in real time. It also tracks steps, daily activity, calories burned, and sleep so you can make sure you’re getting those quality Zs. It’s water resistant up to 50M so it’s safe to wear it in the shower and to your water aerobics class.

Best Overall: Fitbit Charge 3

The Fitbit Charge 3 definitely takes the cake as the best Fitbit for seniors. It’s jam packed with a ton of easy to use features, a few of which we feel would be especially attractive to the senior …