Music service Spotify on Wednesday announced a slate of major changes — including the addition of videos, podcasts, and mood-based playlists — while Facebook officially expanded Messenger video calls worldwide.

Source: Apple Insider

Silicon Valley venture capitalists are reportedly turning down requests from smartwatch maker Pebble for funding, leading to speculation that the company may be struggling following the launch of the Apple Watch.

Source: Apple Insider

By J.R. Bookwalter Unless you’re on a regular nine-to-five work schedule, juggling ever-changing work shifts can be a pain. There is, of course, an app solution for taming this time-consuming beast, though, which makes your schedule easy to follow.Shifts is specifically designed for people who need to manage non-standard schedules, such as medical professionals or factory workers who don’t punch the clock on a traditional Monday through Friday routine. After creating one or more shifts — each with a unique name, icon, and color — adding them to a monthly calendar can be done in just a few taps.For hourly workers, Shifts can also use this data to offer a glimpse at your monthly earnings, which is a great addition, though it won’t help if you’re paid by the job. In that case, features such as a Today widget in Notification Center and reminders before the start of a shift are still very handy.The biggest drawback is that Shifts is currently an island unto itself — scheduled shifts are confined to the app and can’t be synced with other calendars, so they won’t show up on your Mac or PC, for example. Shifts offers a way to overlay data from calendars already on your device (which appear as a small dot underneath the date), but only from one at a time.The bottom line. Shifts has the potential to be a real convenience for workers who don’t punch the nine-to-five clock and want an easy way to track and check on their schedule, but the inability to sync with other calendar apps is a big limitation.Review Synopsis
Product:

Shifts — Shift Worker Calendar

Company:

Snowman Inc.

Contact:

builtbysnowman.com

Price:

$4.99

Requirements:

iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 8 or later

Positives:

Convenient and easy to use. Really does help with work scheduling. Handy Today widget.

Negatives:

Can’t be synched with other calendar apps.

Source: Maclife

The MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper is using the Apple Watch to improve the treament regimens of breast cancer patients, citing the advantages of wearables in getting people to change their behavior.

Source: Apple Insider

With a rapidly-expanding workforce and a shortage of options in the city of Cupertino, Calif., Apple is reportedly considering a “major expansion” of its corporate office and research and development facilities to neighboring San Jose.

Source: Apple Insider

Faced with production issues from launch, and amidst unknown levels of consumer demand, the Apple Watch is likely to see less than 15 million units shipped through the end of September, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted on Wednesday.

Source: Apple Insider

Apple is for the first time offering refurbished iPad Air 2 models through its U.S. online store, potentially saving shoppers up to $140 off the cost of the tablet.

Source: Apple Insider

Microsoft appears to be developing a streamlined chat and email application for iPhones called Flow by Outlook, a leaked download webpage marked “Microsoft Confidential” revealed on Wednesday.

Source: Apple Insider

Some consumers who ordered Apple’s top-end, non-Retina 27-inch iMac in advance of Tuesday’s iMac lineup shuffle have seen their orders automatically upgraded to the new, less costly Retina 5K base model.

Source: Apple Insider

Mophie is one of the biggest accessory makers out of the gate with a docking station for the newly released Apple Watch, and AppleInsider offers an exclusive first-hand look at the soon-to-be-released hardware.

Source: Apple Insider