Archived Post

AWT News Update: December 15, 2017

We have some short and sweet stories for this Friday afternoon, including word of a new space drama TV series ordered by Apple:

  • A Chinese woman has received two refunds for two iPhone Xs on which Face ID was unable to discern between her and her co-worker
  • Apple’s bringing a concert film with former Oasis lead guitarist/vocalist Noel Gallagher to Apple Music soon
  • Apple has ordered a new space drama TV series from the man who was responsible for the very successful “Battlestar Galactica” reboot
  • A new Apple retail store will be (hopefully) opening in Seoul, South Korea by year end

The text version of the podcast can be read below. To listen to the podcast here, click the play button on the player below. Apple News readers need to visit Apple World Today in order to listen to the podcast.

Text Version

This is Steve Sande for Apple World Today, and you’re listening to the AWT News Update podcast for December 15, 2017.  

The South China Morning Post is reporting that a woman in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing has been offered a second refund from Apple after Face ID on two different iPhone X handsets allowed her colleague to unlock them. The woman, identified as Miss Yan, told reporters that despite activating and configuring Face ID on each phone, her work colleague was able to get into both devices each time. Yan said that after the first failure, she called Apple support and the staff didn’t believe her. She then went with her colleague to a nearby Apple Store where they demonstrated the error to the staff. A second phone had exactly the same issue, and there’s no word on whether or not Yan decided to purchase another iPhone X.

Apple announced today that it’s bringing more original live music video content to Apple Music. Former Oasis lead guitarist and vocalist Noel Gallagher is playing both former tunes from his Oasis days and new music in a new concert film for Apple Music. In addition, Sam Smith, who has been covered in an Apple Music documentary before, has a concert film that will be arriving soon. 

Speaking of content, Apple has ordered a space drama from the man who was behind the successful “Battlestar Galactica” reboot, Ronald D. Moore. Moore’s Tall Ship Productions and Sony Pictures Television will produce the untitled series, which will apparently explore an alternative history where the US – Soviet Union space race never ended. This is the third original scripted series ordered by Apple. Moore has a great background for a space drama — he was a writer on three Star Trek series (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager) before he created the Battlestar Galactica reboot series. 

A new Apple retail store will be opening in Seoul, South Korea on December 30. The new multi-level store holds 13,960 square feet of space, and crews are working around the clock to get the store opened by year end. The store was originally scheduled to open on November 30th, but construction delays pushed the opening date back. Since South Korea’s smartphone market is dominated by local companies Samsung and LG, Apple sees a store in the Asian country’s capital as a way to make inroads into the market. 

That’s all for today; I’ll be back Monday afternoon with another edition of the AWT News Update.

Steve Sande
the authorSteve Sande
Steve is the founder and former publisher of Apple World Today and has authored a number of books about Apple products. He's an avid photographer, an FAA-licensed drone pilot, and a really bad guitarist. Steve and his wife Barb love to travel everywhere!