Reading List: Green machine

There’s plenty of news out there, and if you don’t slow down once in a while, you might miss it. Here are a few of the bigger stories making the rounds this Wednesday.

iOS 7.1.1 Now Labels Apps with ‘In-App Purchases’ in Top Charts and Featured Sections

If you’ve been browsing through the App Store in iOS 7.1.1, you may have noticed a minor change: Free apps with in-app purchases now list that fact in Top Charts and elsewhere. The change is no doubt in part spurred by the settlement that the company made with the U.S. government over unauthorized in-app purchases; hopefully, it’ll help you recognize which apps might entice your kid to spend their entire allowance (and your paycheck) on Smurfberries.

Apple taunts Samsung to ‘copy’ its environmental record

Earth Day came at the right time for Apple this year: In addition to updating its environmental progress report, Cupertino also took the opportunity to make a potshot at rival Samsung. A full-page ad from the company in the The Guardian and the Metro invited its competitors to copy from Apple—specifically, its environmental record. I guess it’s no more Mr. Nice Cook?

Apple Interviewing Job Candidates for Mobile Payments Push

And now for a different sort of “green”: Apple may be forging ahead into the mobile payments realm. A report suggests the company has been interviewing executives in the payment industry for two possible payment-related positions. Partnerships with both PayPal and Square have also been rumored, and Re/code also points out that Tim Cook spoke positively about opportunities in the payment arena in January’s financial conference call.

iOS 7.1 code indicates Apple working on Siri for Apple TV

According to code in iOS 7.1, Apple may be looking to bring Siri to the Apple TV. It’s not a shocking development, given Amazon’s rollout of voice search for its new Fire TV, and it makes sense when you start thinking about how you might interact with a set-top box in the future.