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Apple iOS 15
Apple

Apple released iOS 15, its big annual iPhone software update, on Monday.

This year’s version has some big changes, including the ability of FaceTime to make calls to Windows and Android users, artificial intelligence that can better identify animals, plants and other items in photos, and a feature that better controls limits on notifications.

While Apple pushes out updates on a regular basis throughout the year, the annual update that is released alongside new iPhones has the most additional features and changes.

IOS 15 is available for a lot of older phones, too, all the way back to the iPhone 6S, which was released in 2015. Here’s what you’ll get.

What’s new in iOS 15?

FaceTime on Android
Apple

FaceTime that includes Windows and Android users. FaceTime, Apple’s videoconferencing software, used to be reserved for Apple products only — users who wanted to FaceTime with an Android phone or Windows PC were out of luck. Starting in iOS 15, anyone with an Apple computer will see a button that allows them to create a link to a FaceTime chat. Users can send that link to any computer or phone with a modern web browser, and they can join in the chat too. Users will need to be let into the chat, so the link won’t let random people join without your permission.

Apple’s new Focus feature in iOS 15
Todd Haselton | CNBC

New Messages integration. Some people get lots of different links in Apple Messages, formerly iMessage, throughout the day but don’t have time to check them out until later. Now, Messages will share that information with other apps. For example, if someone sends a link to an Apple News news story, it will show up in the Apple News app in a section called “Shared with You.” Same for Apple Music and Apple Photos. This new integration also applies to Safari web links, podcasts and Apple TV movies and TV shows.

Apple iOS 15 can identify text in photos.
Apple

AI that can tell what’s in a photo, including text. Apple has been improving its photo recognition capabilities in its Photos app for years, and this year it takes a big step forward in terms of the types of objects inside photos it can recognize. With iOS 15, Apple’s software can identify and provide more information about animals, landmarks, plants and books. It also makes text inside your photos searchable, and users can even copy and paste text from a photo into a document. Apple’s AI runs on an iPhone, instead of using the cloud to do the work on a remote server, so the things you identify or copy won’t be sent back to Apple.

Apple’s new Focus feature in iOS 15
Todd Haselton | CNBC

More control of notifications during off-hours. For a few years, iPhone users have had a mode called “Do Not Disturb” that limited notifications except from a list of close contacts. These features have received a big upgrade in iOS 15 that Apple calls “Focus.” The main feature shows only notifications from people and apps you’ve pre-approved. If someone is texting a user who is in Focus Mode, they’ll receive a message that notifications have been silenced, sort of like an away message. Users can create multiple Focus profiles for different situations, such as work, play and sleep. It will allow users to create special home screens so they can, for example, have different collections of apps for work or home.

Apple Maps
Source: Apple

Apple Maps reminders. Apple Maps comes with annual improvements, including better directions, public transit schedules, and an augmented reality walking directions feature that places big arrows over scenes of the real world telling users where to go. But commuters will probably like best the new real-time alerts that tell users when they need to get off the bus, train or subway before they miss their stop.

Safari Tabs
Source: Apple

New Safari redesign. The default browser on the iPhone is getting its biggest redesign in years, bringing the address bar and back button from the top of the screen closer to the bottom to make it easier for thumbs to reach. If you don’t like the new Safari, you can change it back to the old look. Safari will also save groups of open tabs, so you can come back to them later, and supports extensions — just like Google Chrome or Safari on the desktop — for the first time through Apple’s app stores. Extensions are little apps that let you do more on a site, such as block ads, but there aren’t a lot available yet.

Spotlight
Source: Apple

Better system search. Apple’s Spotlight is a power-user feature that searches the web and your files and makes apps easier to access. Users access it when swiping down from the top of the screen. It has a new look this year, with more photos, and Apple-provided information about TV shows, movies, musicians, and links that have been shared with you.

Apple iOS 15
Apple

Privacy protections. Apple has emphasized privacy in recent years, but in iOS 15 it’s starting to become a feature worth upgrading for. One new feature is called “App Privacy Report,” and it will show you how often an app accessed your microphone or location over the last seven days. It also will tell users if apps are phoning home to their own servers — which is normal but can highlight certain uses of data that have previously been overlooked. People who pay for iCloud will also get “iCloud Private Relay,” a beta feature that is similar to a VPN and hides IP addresses, which can give away your location. People who use Apple’s Mail app can provide random burner email addresses and hide tracking pixels that tell marketers whether an email has been opened or not.

Siri
Source: Apple

Faster Siri. Siri no longer needs to send data to a faraway server in order to understand what you’ve asked it. Now, it can do it on the device itself, which will lead to a snappier experience without a slight delay, as well as additional privacy — Apple won’t have access to all the recordings of your Siri requests anymore.

Apple iOS 15 will support storing a driver’s license in Apple Wallet.
Apple

Driver’s license and keys in Apple Wallet. Apple is adding the ability to put driver’s licenses and keys into the Wallet app, but it may be a while before all users can take advantage of these big new features.

Apple says the TSA and eight states are already on board with the program to put driver’s licenses and state ID’s on the iPhone. Users will have to wait until their state government supports the feature.

Users will also be able to store keys, including car ignition keys, in Apple Wallet. If you have a smart home or go to an office with compatible locks, you can start unlocking your front door with your phone as soon as you update with the new software. The car ignition key feature requires a BMW or other compatible vehicle.

Apple iOS 15 will let you watch movies, TV shows and more with friends over FaceTime.
Apple

One big delay: Apple is planning to launch a feature called SharePlay that lets you watch a movie or TV show with other people over FaceTime. But that feature isn’t included yet and is now promised for later this year.

How to get iOS 15

Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller speaks on the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus during a Special Event at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium September 9, 2015 in San Francisco, California.
Getty Images

It’s really easy to install iOS 15. You just need an iPhone SE (1st generation) or newer or an iPhone 6s or newer. Those phones were released in 2016 and 2015, respectively, so most people should get the update. Here’s what you do:

  • Connect your compatible iPhone to Wi-Fi and power.
  • Open Settings.
  • Open General.
  • Open Software Update.
  • Tap Download and Install.

That’s it!

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Samsung Electronics to acquire heating and cooling solutions provider FläktGroup for 1.5 billion euros

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Samsung Electronics to acquire heating and cooling solutions provider FläktGroup for 1.5 billion euros

A Samsung Group flag flutters in front of the company’s Seocho building in Seoul. 

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced that it would acquire all shares of German-based FläktGroup, a leading heating and cooling solutions provider, for 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) from European investment firm Triton. 

Samsung said the acquisition would help it expand in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning business as the market experiences rapid growth. 

“Our commitment is to continue investing in and developing the high-growth HVAC business as a key future growth engine,” said TM Roh, Acting Head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics.  

The acquisition of FläktGroup stands to bolster Samsung’s position in the HVAC market against rivals such as LG Electronics. 

FläktGroup supplies heating, HVAC solutions to a wide range of buildings and facilities, notably data centers which require a high degree of stable cooling. Samsung said it anticipates sustained growth in data center demand due to the proliferation of generative AI, robotics, autonomous driving and other technologies.

FläktGroup has more 60 major customers, including leading pharmaceutical companies, biotech and food and beverage firms, and gigafactories, according to Samsung’s statement.

Samsung said in March that its HVAC solutions had achieved double-digit annual revenue growth over the past five years, and that the company aimed to boost revenue by more than 30% in 2025.

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Stock and crypto trading site eToro prices IPO at $52 per share ahead of Nasdaq debut

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Stock and crypto trading site eToro prices IPO at  per share ahead of Nasdaq debut

Omar Marques | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

EToro, a stock brokerage platform that’s been ramping up in crypto, has priced its IPO at $52 a share, as the company prepares to test the market’s appetite for new offerings.

The Israel-based company raised nearly $310 million, selling nearly 6 million shares in a deal that values the business at about $4.2 billion. The company had planned to sell shares at $46 to $50 each. Another almost 6 million shares are being sold by existing investors.

IPOs looked poised for a rebound when President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January after a prolonged drought spurred by rising interest rates and inflationary concerns. CoreWeave’s March debut was a welcome sign for IPO hopefuls such as eToro, online lender Klarna and ticket reseller StubHub.

But tariff uncertainty temporarily stalled those plans. The retail trading platform filed for an initial public offering in March, but shelved plans as rising tariff uncertainty rattled markets. Klarna and StubHub did the same.

EToro’s Nasdaq debut, under ticker symbol ETOR, may indicate whether the public market is ready to take on risk. Digital physical therapy company Hinge Health has started its IPO roadshow, and said in a filing on Tuesday that it plans to raise up to $437 million in its upcoming offering. Also on Tuesday, fintech company Chime filed its prospectus with the SEC.

Another trading app, Webull, merged with a special-purpose acquisition company in April.

Founded in 2007 by brothers Yoni and Ronen Assia along with David Ring, eToro competes with the likes of Robinhood and makes money through fees related to trading, including spreads on buy and sell orders, and non-trading activities such as withdrawals and currency conversion.

Net income jumped almost thirteenfold last year to $192.4 million from $15.3 million a year earlier. The company has been ramping up its crypto business, with revenue from cryptoassets more than tripling to over $12 million in 2024. One-quarter of its net trading contribution last year came from crypto, up from 10% the prior year.

This isn’t eToro’s first attempt at going public. In 2022, the company scrapped plans to hit the market through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) during a sharp downturn in equity markets. The deal would have valued the company at more than $10 billion.

CEO Yoni Assia told CNBC early last year that eToro was still aiming for a market debut but “evaluating the right opportunity” as it was building relationships with exchanges, including the Nasdaq.

“We definitely are eyeing the public markets,” he said at the time. “I definitely see us becoming eventually a public company.”

EToro said in its prospectus that BlackRock had expressed interest in buying $100 million in shares at the IPO price. The company said it planned to sell 5 million shares in the offering, with existing investors and executives selling another 5 million.

Underwriters for the deal include Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and UBS.

— CNBC’s Ryan Browne and Jordan Novet contributed reporting

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Dallas Mavericks were paid $33 million over 3 years by Chime for jersey patch

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Dallas Mavericks were paid  million over 3 years by Chime for jersey patch

Klay Thompson #31 of the Dallas Mavericks handles the ball during the game against the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2025 SoFi Play-In Tournament on April 18, 2025 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.

Joe Murphy | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

Chime Financial paid the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks roughly $33 million over three years to have its logo worn as a patch on player jerseys, the company disclosed in its IPO filing Tuesday. 

The Mavericks finalized the jersey deal, along with “certain other sponsorship and promotional rights,” in 2020, but terms weren’t announced. CNBC reported at the time that, citing an NBA official, that the league’s patch sponsorships ranged from $2 million to $20 million per season, depending on market size.

Chime, a San Francisco-based fintech company that provides online banking services like direct deposit and credit cards, plans to soon debut on the Nasdaq. Cynthia Marshall, who was CEO for the Mavericks from 2018 until December of last year, is on Chime’s board, so the company included details of the arrangement in the related party transactions section of its filing.

The company said it paid the Mavericks $10.5 million in 2022, $11.5 million in 2023 and $11.2 million last year.

Marshall told CNBC in 2020 that the decision to select Chime for its jersey patch came as the team was looking to fill its official sponsorship slot, which came with the deal. The logo has been displayed around American Airlines Center, where the Mavericks play their home games.

“We wanted somebody that was doing well as a business and growing,” Marshall said. “It’s a perfect fit.”

Chime’s IPO filing lands a day after the Mavericks shocked the NBA world by winning the draft lottery and the right to draft presumed top pick Cooper Flagg from Duke University. The Mavericks had only a 1.8% chance of landing the top pick based on where they finished in the standings. ESPN reported on Wednesday that the Mavericks plan to draft Flagg and are not considering the possibility of trading him.

It was a remarkably fortuitous turn of events for a front office and ownership team that’s been roundly criticized for months since trading franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic in February, bringing back older star Anthony Davis in return.

Longtime owner Mark Cuban sold a majority stake in the Mavericks in 2023 to casino owner Miriam Adelson and her family.

In October, the Mavericks announced a multi-year extension to its Chime deal, agreeing to showcase the brand and the company’s products more broadly. One new aspect was the creation of Chime Lane, “a dedicated entrance featuring exclusive benefits for Chime members during Mavs games and select events at AAC,” the team said in a press release.

— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report.

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