Mitchel Broussard

In the spirit of the holiday season, Microsoft today released a new ad that focuses on calling for peace between the company and its public rival, Apple. The 60-second advertisement sees Microsoft employees making their way from the company’s new Fifth Avenue store in New York City over to Apple's flagship store to share a festive carol with the Apple employees and others. The ad's event...

Continuing a tradition begun four years ago, Apple today has joined in recognizing World AIDS Day by coloring Apple logos on its retail stores around the world bright red. The worldwide event was established to represent the global fight in preventing HIV and AIDS, as well as promoting healthy education of the diseases, a cause Apple has helped forward with its line of (PRODUCT)RED accessories. ...

An official (PRODUCT)RED version of Apple's leather case for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus has been spotted in at least one Apple retail store today, as reported by French tech site iGeneration [Google Translate]. When the new line of iPhones debuted in September, only the silicone case was offered in a (PRODUCT)RED option. The (PRODUCT)RED leather case for the iPhone 6s hasn't appeared...

Following an initial wave of laudatory reviews at a few film festivals in September, the new Steve Jobs movie earned only 7th-place during its debut box office weekend. The film's director, Danny Boyle, has given a reason behind its poor performance, calling the release strategy "arrogant" during a fundraising event for the annual Shuffle Festival in London (via Business Insider). "We were...

A day before Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States, Apple this morning shared a new Christmas-themed ad for 2015, starring artists Stevie Wonder and Andra Day. The 90-second ad centers on Wonder performing his 1967 holiday classic "Someday At Christmas" with family members. The iconic artist uses a handful of Apple products and apps -- like a MacBook and GarageBand -- to perform...

Apple and China UnionPay have reportedly reached a deal to bring Apple's NFC payment service, Apple Pay, to the country. The preliminary agreement between the two companies would see Apple introduce Apple Pay through UnionPay's point-of-sales network, according to "people familiar with the matter" who spoke with Bloomberg. Details of the agreement are yet to be finalized, pending feedback from...

Following teardowns of the Apple Pencil and the iPad Pro itself, iFixit today completed a disassembly of Apple's new first party Smart Keyboard accessory. The teardown of the keyboard doesn't provide much in the way of surprising internal revelations, but does give those interested a closer look at the accessory's conductive fabric, dome switches underneath the keys, and underlying circuit board...

Smartwatch maker Pebble last night announced a new feature coming to the Pebble Time, Pebble Time Steel, and Pebble Time Round line of smartwatches that will allow users to send abbreviated text messages to friends and family through iOS (via Engadget). Called "Text Reply for iOS," the beta feature will mark Pebble as the first non-Apple Watch smartwatch to introduce voice and text replies linked ...

When Apple launched the new 12-inch MacBook earlier this year, some of the first accessories for the laptop -- which uses USB Type-C exclusively -- were various adapters and dongles that allowed customers to expand the initially limiting capabilities of the hardware with access to traditional USB, HDMI, and SD card ports. Apple itself launched a line of expansion cables for USB Type-C devices,...

Mobile payments company Square today announced the launch of its new NFC reader within 100 small businesses around the country, letting stores who previously were unable to accept Apple Pay -- due to the lack of a required contactless reader -- begin supporting the service (via USA Today). The small square-shaped reader will act like all other Apple Pay-accepting terminals, letting users wave an...

News aggregator app Zite last night announced that it will no longer be functional past December 7, with the company encouraging fans to migrate their information and preferences over to similar app Flipboard before the deadline (via VentureBeat). Flipboard acquired Zite in 2014 after a competitive few years together in the social media and news aggregation app sphere, keeping it open but...

Apple is currently searching for an additional supplier of next year's rumored Apple Watch 2, according to a new report from supply chain sources (via DigiTimes). The company is speaking with Inventec, Wistron and Foxconn Electronics to join Quanta Computer in the manufacturing of the next generation of the Apple Watch. The report cites a "weaker than expected" profit return for Quanta in regards ...

Following a handful of leaked images yesterday, TechCrunch has confirmed that Apple has launched an official Apple Watch magnetic charging dock today for $79. German blogger Benjamin Scholtysik managed to get his hands on the official dock from the Apple Store in Berlin, but the accessory does not appear to be on the Apple Online Store or stocked at Apple Retail Stores in the United States...

Sonos today announced an update to its Sonos Controller app that will bring a new feature called "Trueplay" to its customers worldwide. The update allows users to fine tune their Sonos speakers, even if the devices are placed in poorly pitched areas of the room, so that the devices sound as good as they would in a higher audio quality setting. Trueplay uses the microphone in your iPhone or...

Johann Jungwirth has been appointed as the head of Volkswagen's new Digitalization Strategy Department in the company's Germany-based headquarters. In the past, Jungwirth worked for Mercedez-Benz and Apple, where he led the Mac Systems Engineering team. More specifically, Jungwirth supported Apple's Special Projects Group, a tie that has connected him in the past to Apple's long-rumored Apple ...

The new Steve Jobs film faced another disappointing box office performance this past weekend, with the Danny Boyle-directed movie dropping more than 69 percent in profit from the previous weekend to a $823,000 weekend gross. Most surprising, however, is the movie's removal from 2,072 theaters across the country in one single weekend, after initially premiering in 2,411 just over three weeks ago...

Instagram has begun testing various ads that will allow users to shop for everything from clothing to menu items at local restaurants, integrating new iPhone features like 3D Touch and Apple Pay as well (via Digiday). The social network has had ads appear in users' feeds for a while now, but hopes that more unobtrusive shopping experiences that keep users in the app itself will attract bigger...

Facebook today announced a new feature for its iOS app called "Music Stories" that will allow users to sample 30-second clips of songs that their friends and family post to the social network from services like Apple Music, iTunes, and Spotify. Users will be able to stream the clip directly from their feed and even follow a link to purchase or add the music directly into their Apple Music or...

Country music singer Kenny Chesney is the focus of the latest Apple Music advertisement, which aired last night during the Country Music Association awards on ABC. Taking a glimpse behind the scenes of Chesney's "No Shoes Nation" tour, the ad shows the singer going through a day of preparing for his next concert by creating a "Show Day List" playlist on Apple Music and touting the service's...

Popular retailer Walgreens today announced that its Balance Rewards loyalty program can now be linked with Apple Pay and used by its customers across the country. The partnership will allow Apple Pay users to link their Balance Rewards card with the mobile payments service so they can earn and redeem loyalty points without having to scan their physical Walgreens card. Following Kohl's launch of...