Apple Inc is stepping up aid to the thousands of migrants that are streaming into Europe from war-torn countries, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook told employees in an internal message on Friday. Cook wrote in a message on the company's intranet site that the Macbook and iPhone maker will make a “substantial donation” to relief agencies supporting the migrants and will match employee donations to the cause by 2-to-1. The Cupertino, California-based company is also offering customers the option to donate to the Red Cross through its App Store and iTunes Store.

By Heather Somerville and Jane Wardell SAN FRANCISCO/SYDNEY (Reuters) – A significant number of Apple Inc customers are reporting their mobile devices have crashed after attempting to upload the new iOS 9 operating system, the latest in a line of launch glitches for the tech giant. Twitter and other social media were awash with disgruntled customers reporting two distinct faults, with one appearing to be linked specifically to older models of Apple iPhones and iPads. “It is beyond inconvenient to not be able to use your phone for a day,” said student Pip Cordi as staff in the Apple store in central Sydney looked at her phone on Friday.

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By Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook users took to the social media site on Wednesday to react to the company's decision to test what Facebook Inc Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg called a “dislike button” – and not everyone liked the idea. In a town hall-style question and answer session Tuesday, Zuckerberg took questions from users about topics ranging from virtual reality to his wife's pregnancy. While some said they would use Facebook more if the button were introduced, others said it would lead to cyberbullying and more negativity on the site.

In the attacks, a highly sophisticated form of malicious software, dubbed SYNful Knock, has been implanted in routers made by Cisco , the world's top supplier, U.S. security research firm FireEye said on Tuesday. “If you own (seize control of) the router, you own the data of all the companies and government organizations that sit behind that router,” FireEye Chief Executive Dave DeWalt told Reuters of his company's discovery. Cisco confirmed it had alerted customers to the attacks in August and said they were not due to any vulnerability in its own software.

Hutchison Whampoa Ltd on Friday sought EU approval for its 10.25-billion-pound ($15.82 billion) bid for Telefonica's British mobile unit O2, the same day regulators unveiled a tougher approach towards mergers in the sector. The European Commission said it would decide by Oct. 16 whether to clear the deal, which would make Hutchison's Three UK business the second-biggest of the UK’s three remaining network operators. The EU competition authority could either clear the deal with or without conditions or open an extensive investigation if it has serious concerns.

Apple Inc's financing plan for its new iPhones is likely to force U.S. carriers to work harder to win and retain customers. Apple announced a program on Wednesday that will allow customers to finance unlocked versions of the new iPhones through monthly installments starting at $32, regardless of which carrier they choose. “Simply, carriers must respond by ensuring their installment plans and terms are competitive versus those from Apple and double down on differentiation based on network and tariff,” said Geoff Blaber, an analyst with CCS Insight.

By Julia Love SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – With its highly profitable iPhone due for an upgrade, Apple is expected to unveil a pair of new handsets at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday, analysts say, in addition to showing off a larger iPad and an updated Apple TV. When Apple executives take the stage at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, investors will be scrutinizing their plans for the next generation of the iPhone, which drove nearly two-thirds of the company's $49.6 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter. Apple is widely expected to keep the size of the phones the same but upgrade it with an improved camera and Force Touch, a display technology that responds differently depending on how hard users press their screens.

Apple has ramped up its hiring of artificial intelligence experts, recruiting from PhD programs, posting dozens of job listings and greatly increasing the size of its AI staff, a review of hiring sites suggests and numerous sources confirm. The goal is to challenge Google in an area the Internet search giant has long dominated: smartphone features that give users what they want before they ask. As part of its push, the company is currently trying to hire at least 86 more employees with expertise in the branch of artificial intelligence known as machine learning, according to a recent analysis of Apple job postings.