Apple unveils new gadgets despite supply chain woes

Apple launched new smartphones Wednesday at prices similar to recent models despite inflation and supply chain woes, while unveiling a premium digital watch with a price tag to match.

While a 90-minute presentation at the company's California headquarters did not include any surprise reveals, the tech giant did unveil new digital identification system to obviate the need for a physical sim card.

The company's newest smartphone, the iPhone 14, costs $799 for the base model – the same price as the current version, while a premium iPhone 14 Pro Max will go for $1,100.

The set of updated products, which also includes new earbuds, is designed to keep customers loyal to its lucrative technology ecosystem.

"Apple continued its strong growth in the first half of 2022, driven by robust demand for the iPhone 13 – which was the best-selling smartphone worldwide," said Le Xuan Chiew, an analyst at Canalys.

The ability to keep the iPhone prices flat reflected the benefits of diversifying the supply chain to India after China's zero-tolerance COVID policies crimped production there, the analyst said.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the launch event underscored Apple's logistics strength.

"Taking a step back, launching 3 new core hardware products within the Apple ecosystem despite the biggest supply chain crisis seen in modern history is a major feat for Cook & Co. especially with the zero Covid shutdowns in China seen in April/May," Ives said.

Features of the new iPhone 14 include a more durable battery and new photographic capacities to capture "ultra wide" scenes and low-light settings.

The phones also contain an "emergency SOS" function to enable messaging to emergency services when outside of Wifi coverage.

The iPhone 14 Plus comes in a giant 6.7-inch screen that offers a better experience when playing games or watching videos.

Company officials touted new digital watch products with enhanced features. The Apple Watch Series 8 – which can monitor body temperature and other body functions – prices at $400.

The company also unveiled the Apple Watch Ultra, priced at $800, which includes a battery with enough lifespan for hardcore athletes "to complete a long-course triathlon," according to an Apple press release.

Neil Saunders, analyst at GlobalData Retail, described the new offerings as having "incremental improvements rather than groundbreaking new innovations," adding that the company "has done enough to drive demand by persuading consumers to upgrade and indulge in its new products."

Agence France-Presse

New iPhone 13 touts faster 5G, sharper cameras to spur trade-ins

Apple Inc. unveiled the iPhone 13 and a new iPad mini on Tuesday, expanding 5G connectivity and showing off faster chips and sharper cameras without raising the phone's price.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company did not announce any blockbuster features or products, but analysts expect customers hanging onto older models like the iPhone X will be eager to upgrade. To encourage trade-ins, participating wireless carriers are offering incentives ahead of the year-end holiday season that to make the new phones free to some customers. 

The iPhone 13 will have a new chip called the A15 Bionic that enables features, such as automatically translating text. The phone also has a better display, longer battery life and a Cinematic mode for automatically changing focus while taking videos. Apple said the iPhone 13 will have custom 5G antennas and radio components for faster speeds and will come in five colors. 

The phone will start at $699, and participating wireless carriers will offer up to $700 off for qualifying trade-ins. The iPhone 13 Pro starts at $999 and the Pro Max starts at $1,099, with trade-in offers of up to $1,000. All three models will be available Sept. 24.

The prices are unchanged from last year, but some carriers such as AT&T Inc will offer the devices for no additional if customers trade in a previous model and sign up for an installment plan.

Ben Bajarin, head of consumer technologies at Creative Strategies, said he expects those aggressive subsides and trade-in policies will increase as a way for Apple and carriers to hold on to customers.

"You don't have to put a down payment down and you keep paying what you were paying," Bajarin said. "That offer is unique to Apple, and it's a strength they have to keep these sales cycles going for them and for the carriers."

The iPhone is Apple's most important product, but Apple has rolled out a web of service and other products that are seen as locking customers into a system they enjoy -- and would find expensive to leave. 

The Series 7 smart watch will feature a larger display and faster charging. It will start at $399 and be available later this autumn.

The company also updated its iPad Mini with 5G connectivity and a reworked design that makes it look like the higher-end iPad Air and Pro models. Bob O'Donnell, head of TECHnalysis Research, said the small tablet was Apple's most surprising announcement of the day and could lure in customers who want a device with 5G that can handle more powerful apps than a phone.

"I don't think it replaces any other device, like we've seen Apple try to position some of the bigger iPads as PC replacements," O'Donnell said.

Apple also updated its base-model iPad with a new camera for working and learning from home. The base model iPad starts at $329, and the Mini starts at $499. Both will be available next week.

Apple shares were down 1.2%, a sharper fall than a slight downturn in broader markets.

"It seems like there's nothing really revolutionary announced, but of course, as usual, they announced enough improvements to at least generate some enthusiasm among consumers," said Rick Meckler, partner at family investment office Cherry Lane Investments. 

Apple's biggest product launch of the year comes as some of the shine has come off its stock as business practices such as charging software developers commissions on in-app payments have come under regulatory scrutiny.

Apple shares were up about 11.6% year to date as of Tuesday's close, trailing the Nasdaq Composite Index, which was up 16.7% over the same period.

Kim Forrest, founder and chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital, said she was not concerned by the lack of splashy, unexpected products, since Apple's upgrades would keep customers. "I think the consumer, once it gets the Apple chip in its head, it's very hard to dislodge," she said.

The Apple Watch has become a cornerstone of its $30.6 billion accessories segment, which was up 25% in Apple's most recent fiscal year even as its iPhone revenue declined slightly. Analysts widely believe that Apple users who buy more than one product - such as an Apple Watch and iPhone - are more likely to stick with the brand and spend on the company's apps and services.

Apple focused on fitness features such as improving how the watch tracks bicycling workouts and dust protection for hiking. The watch is paired tightly with Apple Fitness+, a paid service offering guided workouts with Apple instructors. The company added pilates and skiing-oriented workouts, and a group workouts function designed to let users work out together. The company also bundled three months of free service with its watch devices.

Shares of exercise bike and online training company Peloton were down about 1.6%.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York and Nivedita Balu, Nishara Karuvalli Pathikkal, Ashwini Raj and Taru Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Henderson and Lisa Shumaker)

-reuters-

Google phone cameras will read heart, breathing rates with AI help

Cameras on Google Pixel smartphones will be able to measure heart and breathing rates starting next month, in one of the first applications of Alphabet Inc's artificial intelligence technology to its wellness services.

Health programs available on Google Play's store and Apple Inc's App Store for years have provided the same functionality. But a study in 2017 found accuracy varied and adoption of the apps remains low.

Google Health leaders told reporters earlier this week they had advanced the AI powering the measurements and plan to detail its method and clinical trial in an academic paper in the coming weeks. The company expects to roll out the feature to other Android smartphones at an unspecified time, it said in a blog post on Thursday, but plans for iPhones are unclear.

Apple's Watch, Google's Fitbit and other wearables have greatly expanded the reach of continuous heart rate sensing technologies to a much larger population.

The smartphone camera approach is more ad hoc - users who want to take a pulse place their finger over the lens, which catches subtle color changes that correspond to blood flow. Respiration is calculated from video of upper torso movements.

Google Health product manager Jack Po said that the company wanted to give an alternative to manual pulse checks for smartphone owners who only want to monitor their condition occasionally but cannot afford a wearable.

Po said the technology, which can mistake heart rates by about 2 percent, requires further testing before it could be used in medical settings.

The new feature will be available as an update to the Google Fit app.

Google consolidated its health services about two years ago, aiming to better compete with Apple, Samsung Electronics Co and other mobile technology companies that have invested heavily in marketing wellness offerings.

-reuters-

Apple adding privacy fact labels to App Store items

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Apple on Monday began adding labels that reveal what user data is gathered by games, chat or other software offered in the App Store for its popular mobile devices.

The iPhone maker announced plans for such "privacy labels" when it first unveiled the new version of its iOS mobile operating system, which it released in September.

"App Store product pages will feature summaries of developers' self-reported privacy practices, displayed in a simple, easy-to-read format," Apple said in a blog post when iOS 14 launched.

"Starting early next year, all apps will be required to obtain user permission before tracking."

Apple began pushing out the labels on Monday, with the rule applying to new apps for iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Mac computers.

The labels will contain information provided by developers when they submit apps for approval to appear on the App Store's virtual shelves, according to the Silicon Valley-based company.

Apple last week began requiring developers to submit privacy information for use in labels.

"Apple recently required that all apps distributed via their App Store display details designed to show people how their data may be used," Facebook-owned smartphone messaging service WhatsApp said in a blog post explaining what data the app gathers.

"We must collect some information to provide a reliable global communications service."

The aim, according to Apple, is for users to be able to easily see and understand what apps do with their data, from lists of contacts to where they are.

Data types added to labels will include tracking in order to target advertising or sharing with data brokers, as well as information that could reveal user identity.

Apple and Android mobile operating systems provide tools for controlling the kinds of data apps can access once they are installed.

Agence France-Presse

How iPhone, Apple Watch can help reshape health research

In 1976, the Harvard School of Public Health and two other major medical institutions started a study on nurses that has become one of the largest and longest research efforts ever conducted on women’s health. They have so far enrolled more than 275,000 participants.

On Thursday, the Harvard school announced an even more ambitious women’s health study, one that aims to enroll 1 million women over a decade.

The new ingredients allowing the huge scale: Apple’s iPhones, apps and money.

Harvard’s new study is just one of three new large research efforts that Apple is working on with leading academic research centers and health organizations. Together, the studies, which Apple is paying for, show how the Silicon Valley giant and its popular products are reshaping medical research.

To enroll in clinical trials, patients have often had to travel to medical centers to be briefed by researchers and fill out the study paperwork in person. Many studies also follow patients only intermittently, in periodic surveys and visits to hospitals.

But Apple tools are enabling large-scale virtual studies that can follow people as they go about their daily lives. The company has developed a research app for iPhones — which participants can download from its app store — that is helping researchers quickly and easily recruit hundreds of thousands of study volunteers.

Researchers at Stanford Medicine, who studied whether an app on the Apple Watch could detect an irregular heartbeat condition, were able to enroll more than 400,000 participants in just 8 months. Apple helped recruit volunteers by promoting the study, which was published Wednesday, in its app store and emailing customers who had bought Apple Watches.

Dr. Ethan Weiss, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said he thought there would be many more of these so-called virtual studies, partly because they reduce the burden and costs compared with in-person studies.

He noted, however, that doctors did not yet know whether monitoring people en masse through smartphones and consumer-wearable devices would significantly improve health outcomes. “This is the big question. Is this ‘so what’? Or are we going to learn something meaningful we don’t know yet?”

Michelle A. Williams, dean of Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said she hoped the new study of women, called the Apple Women’s Health Study, would enable researchers to learn much more about how women’s bodies and reproductive health change over time.

Through surveys, she said, women participating in the study may choose to provide qualitative information about their menstrual cycles, pregnancies, menopause and other health issues. Through the study’s app, they may also choose to automatically share fitness, heart rate and other quantitative data gathered by their iPhones or Apple Watches.

“I’m most excited about the fact that we’ll be able to collect women’s menstrual cycle information in ways that we’ve not really done before,” Williams said. “Having this data on a large modern cohort is so relevant to clinical women’s health today because a lot of the decision-making and diagnostic protocols that we’re currently using are from data from 50 years ago, when the social environment was different.”

Apple’s involvement in the research studies is the latest example of how the biggest tech companies are edging their way into the country’s $3.5 trillion health care market. The companies are making inroads in medicine in part by exploiting their scale, along with the technologies that have helped them dominate markets like cloud computing, search, productivity tools and consumer apps.

Microsoft recently began testing an artificial intelligence system for hospitals that records, transcribes and analyzes doctor-patient conversations. Google is working with hospitals to analyze millions of patients’ medical records in the hopes of identifying patterns to improve diagnosis and treatment.

Apple is striking out in a different direction. The company has acquired health and wellness startups and hired prominent medical researchers. It has made health a marketing point of its devices. Last year, it introduced an electrocardiogram app on the Apple Watch Series 4. This year it introduced menstrual cycle tracking and hearing health services for the iPhone and the watch.

In addition to the women’s health study, Apple is sponsoring a study, led by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, that will examine physical activity and heart data from the Apple Watch to try to identify early warning signs of declining heart health. Another study, by researchers at the University of Michigan, will collect noise level data from headphones and an iPhone app to examine how long-term sound exposure can affect hearing.

The names of the studies also provide a marketing opportunity: They’re called the Apple Hearing Study, the Apple Women’s Health Study, and the Apple Heart and Movement Study.

Jeff Williams, chief operating officer of Apple, said the company hoped the studies would bolster the understanding of women’s, heart and hearing health. Apple also hopes to use the study data to improve its products or create new ones.

“We have a noise meter on people’s Apple Watches,” Williams said. “If we can help them understand the sound exposure in their environment and help them avoid the problem, or at least mitigate the problem, with hearing loss, that’s a huge contribution to society.”

The Apple studies could also influence how research studies treat health privacy. Apple’s research app allows study participants to granularly choose which types of information — such as heart or physical activity data — they share with researchers. Participants also have the ability to stop sharing their data or change their data-sharing category selections at any time. They can also choose to delete the current day’s data before it is shared with the study.

Apple has long marketed privacy as a feature that distinguishes its products from those of its rivals like Google. Apple has said that it does not have access to consumer data collected by the iPhone Health app, for instance, because the information is stored locally on users’ devices.

For the research studies, Apple said the technology was designed to meet federal standards for safeguarding health information. The company also said its researchers would have access to study participants’ data under pseudonymous ID codes — not their names.

But the studies reliant on Apple devices have inherent limitations because owners of the company’s products are not representative of the general US population. People who use iPhones have a median income of about $89,000 compared with $64,510 for Android users, according to recent data from Comscore. Among the Apple Watch users in the Apple Heart Study, there was a lower percentage of women, African Americans, Latinos and people ages 65 or older than in census data for the general population.

Michelle Williams of Harvard said that the women’s health study would ask participants for demographic information and adapt its methodology to account for any underrepresented groups.

There are also some concerns that Apple, which has already reshaped how people live, communicate and entertain themselves, is pursuing yet another way to influence society, this time through health.

“The broader point here is the fact that Apple has control over the app store, that Apple has connections with all of the people that have Apple iPhones, and that Apple gets to make a lot of decisions about how you collect the data, about how to notify people to be a part of the study,” said Matt Stoller, author of a new book, “Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy.”

Whatever the potential health benefits, he said, “it’s still an extraordinary concentration of power in Apple’s hands.”


2019 The New York Times Company

source: news.abs-cbn.com

iPhone to share the spotlight with services at Apple's big event

SAN FRANCISCO -- The iPhone will be front and center at Apple's upcoming media presentation even as the California tech giant steps up its efforts in content and services for its devices.

In its trademark, tight-lipped style, Apple disclosed little about its plans for Tuesday's event at its headquarters in the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino.

For years now, Apple has hosted events in the fall to launch new iPhone models ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Speculation is that Apple will introduce three upgraded iPhones, including "Pro" models, and a successor to its more affordable iPhone XR, as premium handset prices hover around $1,000. 

Some analysts say services, subscriptions and online content will share the stage with the company's glitzy hardware as Apple seeks to shift its focus.

"I think it is going to be the first year the event is going to also be about services," Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi said.

"We might get to see what Apple looks like as a company when they are talking about services and hardware as one product."

Milanesi was curious to see whether Tuesday's presentation includes offers iPhone deals that "bundle" music, television or game services with new handsets.

"You have an opportunity to really bring value to the hardware with services," Milanesi said.

TV+ turned on?

Apple recently released a smartphone-generation credit card in the US and is keen to launch its TV+ streaming service before Disney goes live with a rival service in November.

Many wonder whether the launch of Apple TV+ will be among Tuesday's announcements.

With Hollywood stars galore, Apple unveiled streaming video plans along with news and game subscription offerings as part of an effort to shift its focus to digital content and services to break free of its reliance on iPhone sales.

The company also plans to launch a new game subscription service called Apple Arcade internationally by the end of this year.

Apple managed to grow its overall revenues, albeit by a modest one percent, to $53.8 billion, even as iPhone revenues plunged nearly 12 percent in the April-June period.

The company delivered strong growth from digital content and services that include its Apply Pay and Apple Music, along with wearables and accessories like the Apple Watch and Air Pods.

Some of those accessories could also get upgrades on Tuesday.

China wild card 

Analysts warn that Apple still faces challenges as rivals chip away at the smartphone market, in which the iPhone's share is less than 12 percent.

As the iPhone maker refines its handsets, other makers are pushing into new areas such as 5G devices and folding smartphones.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors that he expected a "trifecta of iPhone 11s" that will help the company "put a fence around" its user base.

About a third of the 900 million iPhone users around the world are in an upgrade "window," meaning a strong potential for handset sales, according to Ives.

"While China remains a wild card, we are bullish into Apple's future" in the coming year, Ives said.

China accounts for about 17 percent of Apple sales overall, and has tremendous room for growth, according to Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart.

The trade war between the US and China has complicated Apple's effort to gain ground in that market, where gains by local titan Huawei have come partly at the California-based company's expense.

"Apple needs Chinese consumers to treat the iPhone as a preferred premium brand at a tricky geopolitical moment," Greengart said.

"Huawei's premium smartphone, laptop, and tablet sales have been surging inside China partly based on nationalism as a response to the trade war with the US and specific US government actions against Huawei."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple's AirPods, Watch fail to escape Trump's China tariffs

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON -- Apple Inc's AirPods, Apple Watch and HomePod, which have helped the company offset waning sales of its bestselling iPhone this year, are not included in a temporary reprieve on tariffs by the Trump administration and will face a 10 percent levy on Sept 1.

The administration said on Tuesday that some major items, such as laptops and cellphones, including Apple's MacBooks and iPhones, will not face tariffs until Dec. 15. President Donald Trump said the change was to avoid an impact on US customers during the Christmas shopping season. The tariff delay that affects some of Apple's biggest-selling products helped send its shares up more than 4 percent in late trading.

Trump and his administration did not say why some electronics received a reprieve and others did not. Many of the products set to face tariffs on Sept. 1, such as smart watches, fitness trackers, smart speakers and Bluetooth headphones, had been spared once before.

These include popular products from Apple rivals, such as Fitbit smart watches and smart speakers from Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google. The Trump administration had proposed tariffs on those devices to take effect last September, but they were spared at the last moment after Apple, among other companies, told the government that the levies would "result in lower US growth and competitiveness and higher prices for US consumers.”

Some accessories have been central to Apple's efforts to diversify revenue beyond its signature iPhone, which pushed the company's market capitalization past $1 trillion in 2018 though the market cap has slipped this year.

In Apple's latest reported fiscal quarter, the iPhone contributed less than half of company revenues for the first time in seven years. The iPhone's decline was somewhat offset by a 50 percent jump in sales of so-called wearables, such as the Apple Watch and AirPods, helping Apple beat Wall Street estimates and boosting its stock.

Apple does not break out by geographic region the sales of products such as wearables.

"We've really put large strategic investments and resources and interest into wearables and services," Apple CEO Tim Cook told Reuters on July 30. "And if you take those two and add them together, they're now the size of a Fortune 50 company, and they were essentially nascent businesses not that long ago."

Apple, Fitbit, Amazon and Google did not immediately return requests for comment. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple Watch sports new design, health features

CUPERTINO, California -- Apple introduced on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) a fourth generation of the Apple Watch with a major redesign -- and a series of features designed to improve its performance as a medical and health device.

The watch, sold in the United States from $399 and up, will be available in stores on September 21.

"Apple Watch has become an intelligent guardian for your health," chief operating officer Jeff Williams said.

The smartwatches are able to detect hard falls, and an electrical heart rate sensor can take an electrocardiogram.

"This is the first ECG product offered over the counter directly to consumers," Williams said.

"Now you can take an ECG any time, anywhere, right from the wrist."

The fall detection upgrade is expected to appeal to worker safety concerns in factories or other industrial settings, as well as to elderly or disabled users.

"Identifying a fall may sound like a straightforward problem, but it requires a lot of data analysis," Williams said.

If a person falls, and then is motionless, the watch will call emergency services, he added.

Moorhead said the health features for the new devices were notable.

"I can see kids buying one for their parents and grandparents," he said of the smartwatch.

"I believe Series 4 will sell better than all previous models."

The current version of Apple Watch is the most popular watch in the world, according to Cook.

Apple stressed its devotion to data privacy, saying all health information gathered is encrypted on the smartwatch to be shared only as users see fit.

'CROSSROADS'

Research firm CB Insights said Apple was at a "crossroads" a decade after introducing the iPhone.

"Looking for the next wave, Apple is clearly expanding into augmented reality and wearables with the Apple Watch and AirPods wireless headphones," the firm said. 

"But the next 'big one' -- a success and growth driver on the scale of the iPhone -- has not yet been determined. Will it be augmented reality, auto, wearables? Or something else entirely?"

Apple's event comes with the global smartphone market at near-peak saturation, and without a major catalyst for sales ahead of a likely rollout of 5G, or fifth generation, wireless networks, expected in 2019.

Research firm IDC expects worldwide smartphone shipments to decline 0.7 percent in 2018 to 1.455 billion units, with growth likely to resume as 5G devices become available.

Cook said Apple was nearing the two-billion mark for devices with its mobile operating system known as iOS.

"We are about to hit a major milestone. We are about to ship our two billionth iOS device," he said.

"This is astonishing -- iOS has changed the way we live."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

LOOK: iPhone XS Max pushes size, price boundaries

Apple's trio of smartphones for 2018 include a refresh and supersized version of last year's iPhone X and the colorful and less expensive iPhone XR.

Not only is the iPhone XS Max Apple's biggest yet with a 6.5-inch screen, it is also the most expensive, starting at $1,099 in the US for the 64 gigabyte model and $1,449 for the 512 gigabyte model, according to Apple's website.

In 2017, the pre-tax US price of $999 for the 64 gigabyte iPhone X translated to nearly P65,000 in official stores in the Philippines.

Here are photos from the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR and the Series 4 Apple Watch at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California on Wednesday (early Thursday in Manila).

source: news.abs-cbn.com

XS Max: Apple debuts biggest iPhone yet

CUPERTINO, California - Apple Inc introduced its largest iPhone ever and a new line of watches that can detect heart problems on Wednesday as it looks to get users to upgrade to more expensive devices in the face of stagnant global demand for smartphones.

The relatively small changes to its lineup, following last year's overhauled iPhone X, were widely expected by investors, who sent the company's shares down 1.5 percent.

The strategy has been successful, helping Apple's stock up more than 30 pct this year and making it the first publicly traded U.S. company to hit a market value of more than $1 trillion.

"It is pretty consistent with past iPhone release days where we see short-term sell the news but things will probably get a lot better in the weeks and months ahead, particularly with a strong holiday sales season expected," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive of Longbow Asset Management.

Apple's new phones are the XS, with a 5.8-inch (14.7-cm) screen, starting at $999. The XS Max, the largest iPhone to date and one of the biggest on the market, has a 6.5-inch (16.5-cm) screen, and starts at $1,099.

The company uses the 'S' suffix when it upgrades components but leaves the exterior of a phone largely the same. Last year's iPhone X - pronounced "ten" - represented a major redesign.

It also introduced a lower-cost 6.1-inch (15.5 cm) iPhone Xr made of aluminum, starting at $749.

With two phone models starting at $999 or higher in the United States, Apple appears to be taking advantage of a strong U.S. economy, low unemployment, and rising household wealth. The median U.S. household income rose for a third straight year in 2017 to the highest on record since 1967 by one measure, government data showed on Wednesday.

MEDICAL DEVICE MARKET

Apple, which is looking for ways to lessen reliance on phones for revenue, opened its event by announcing the new Apple Watch Series 4 range with edge-to-edge displays, like its latest phones, which are more than 30 percent bigger than displays on current models.

It is positioning the new watch as a more comprehensive health device, able to take an electrocardiogram to detect an irregular heartbeat and start an emergency call automatically if it detects a user falling down, potentially appealing to older customers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it worked with Apple to develop apps for the Apple Watch and has been taking steps to ease the regulatory pathway for companies seeking to create digital healthcare products.

"This is a pretty big deal," said healthcare tech analyst Ross Muken at Evercore. "This update really establishes the company’s increasing efforts to push the watch as a serious medical device. Apple seems to be diving into heart disease first, the most common cause of death around the world, making serious moves as a health company."

Shares of fitness device rival Fitbit Inc fell about 3.7 percent after the Series 4 announcement. Shares of Garmin Ltd lost some earlier gains and were flat in midday New York trade.

Executives made the announcement at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple's new circular headquarters in Cupertino, California, named after the company's co-founder who wowed the world with the first iPhone in 2007.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple Watch, FitBit could feel cost of US tariffs

The latest round of US tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods could hit the Apple Watch, health trackers, streaming music speakers and other accessories assembled in China, government rulings on tariffs show.

The rulings name Apple Inc's watch, several Fitbit Inc activity trackers and connected speakers from Sonos Inc. While consumer technology's biggest sellers such as mobile phones and laptops so far have faced little danger of import duties, the rulings show that gadget makers are unlikely to be spared altogether and may have to consider price hikes on products that millions of consumers use every day.

The devices have all been determined by US Customs and Border Patrol officials to fall under an obscure subheading of data transmission machines in the sprawling list of US tariff codes. And that particular subheading is included in the more than 6,000 such codes in President Donald Trump's most recent round of proposed tariffs released earlier this month.

That $200 billion list of tariffs is in a public comment period. But if the list goes into effect this fall, the products from Apple, Fitbit and Sonos could face a 10 percent tariff.

The specific products listed in customs rulings are the original Apple Watch; Fitbit's Charge, Charge HR and Surge models; and Sonos's Play:3, Play:5 and SUB speakers.

All 3 companies declined to comment on the proposed tariff list. But in its filing earlier this month to become a publicly traded company, Sonos said that "the imposition of tariffs and other trade barriers, as well as retaliatory trade measures, could require us to raise the prices of our products and harm our sales."

The New York Times has reported that Trump told Apple CEO Tim Cook during a meeting in May that the US government would not levy tariffs on iPhones assembled in China, citing a person familiar with the meeting.

"The way the president has been using his trade authority, you have direct examples of him using his authority to target specific products and companies," said Sage Chandler, vice president for international trade policy at the Consumer Technology Association.

The toll from tariffs on the gadget world's smaller product lines could be significant. Sonos and Fitbit do not break out individual product sales, but collectively they had $2.6 billion in revenue last year. Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimates that the Apple Watch alone will bring in $9.9 billion in sales this year, though that estimate includes sales outside the United States that the tariff would not touch.

It is possible that the products from Apple, Fitbit and Sonos no longer fall under tariff codes in the $200 billion list, trade experts said. The codes applied to specific products are only public knowledge because their makers asked regulators to rule on their proper classification. And some of the products have been replaced by newer models that could be classified differently.

But if companies have products whose tariff codes are on the list, they have three options, experts said: Advocate to get the code dropped from the list during the public comment period, apply for an exclusion once tariffs go into effect, or try to have their products classified under a different code not on the list.

The last option could prove difficult due to the thousands of codes covered, said one former US trade official.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple surges ahead in wearables on smartwatch sales: survey

WASHINGTON - Strong holiday season sales of Apple's newest smartwatch propelled the California tech giant into the lead in wearable tech in 2017, a market tracker said Thursday.

A report by the research firm IDC said Apple jumped to the front of the wearables pack in the fourth quarter following the release of Apple Watch 3, and placed at the top of the market for the full year as well.

While official sales figures for the Apple Watch are not disclosed, IDC estimated Apple sold some 8 million in the final 3 months of last year, representing 21 percent of all wearables.

That pushed Apple ahead of US rival Fitbit which had a 14.2 percent share of wearables in the quarter, and China's Xiaomi (13 percent).

"Interest in smartwatches continues to grow and Apple is well-positioned to capture demand," said IDC research director Ramon Llamas.

"User tastes have become more sophisticated over the past several quarters and Apple pounced on the demand for cellular connectivity and streaming multimedia. What will bear close observation is how Apple will iterate upon these and how the competition chooses to keep pace."

For the full year 2017, Apple sold an estimated 17.7 million smartwatches, accounting for 15.3 percent of the wearable tech market, according to IDC.

That was ahead of Xiaomi (13.6 percent) and Fitbit (13.3 percent) for the full year, IDC said.

IDC said the overall wearables market -- which includes fitness trackers, smart clothing, eyewear and other devices -- rose 10.3 percent in 2017 to 115.4 million units. That compared with a sharper 27 percent increase in 2016.

"The slowdown is not due to a lack of interest -- far from it," Llamas said.

"Instead, we saw numerous vendors, relying on older models, exit the market altogether. At the same time, the remaining vendors -- including multiple start-ups -- have not only replaced them, but with devices, features, and services that have helped make wearables more integral in people's lives. Going forward, the next generation of wearables will make the ones we saw as recently as 2016 look quaint."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple unveils new smartwatch

Apple unveiled an updated version of its smartwatch Monday, as it claimed the device had become the top-selling watch in the world ahead of rivals such as Rolex and Fossil.

The Apple Watch Series 3 has its own mobile connectivity which allows the user to remain connected without a smartphone for phone calls, music and other functions.

"The Apple Watch is now the number one watch in the world," Apple chief executive Tim Cook told the media event, the first at the company's "spaceship" campus in Cupertino.

While Apple has not provided detailed sales figures for the watch, Cook said sales were up 50 percent in the past quarter from a year earlier.

Apple said the new smartwatch offers several improvements including cellular connectivity and applications to help detect health problems such as heart arrythmia.

"You can receive a call with just your watch," Apple's Jeff Williams told the event, where the company was set to announce a new range of iPhones.

The watch with cellular connectivity will be available in nine countries September 22 starting at $399, Apple said.

Analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy, who was attending the event, said the new device was a significant step forward with arrythmia detection.

"I believe this kind of capability is what wearables were always intended to do, and that is to detect maladies before they impact people," Moor said. "This is a great step in the industry."

The event was a tribute to late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, and was the first event at the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple's new campus.

"We dedicated this theater to Steve because we loved him and because he loved days like this," Cook said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Wrist-worn fitness trackers vary in heart rate readings

Commercial fitness trackers worn on the wrist are less accurate than a chest strap monitor at measuring heart rate, and may over- or underestimate heart rate depending on activity level, researchers say.

In general, wrist monitors are more accurate at rest than during exercise.

"If somebody must know his or her heart rate with great accuracy, like a heart patient or a trained athlete, if you really need to know, use a chest strap," said coauthor Dr. Marc Gillinov of the Cleveland Clinic.

"If you're using these wrist worn monitors and you get an odd value, way too high or too low, it's probably wrong so don't be concerned," Gillinov told Reuters Health by phone.

Motion, ambient light and varying skin tones can all affect wrist monitor accuracy, he said.

The researchers studied four heart rate monitors worn by 50 young, healthy adults exercising on treadmills. They wore electrocardiographic (ECG) limb leads and a Polar H7 chest strap monitor as comparisons for heart rate data, and also wore two of the four different wrist monitors: Fitbit Charge HR, Apple Watch, Mio Alpha and Basis Peak.

Heart rate readings were collected at rest and on the treadmill at two, three, four, five and six miles per hour. Users exercised at each level for three minutes before heart rate was recorded. Recorded heart rates ranged from 49 to 200 beats per minute (bpm).

Compared to the ECG, the heart rate monitors had variable accuracy. The Basis Peak, which is no longer commercially available, overestimated heart rate by roughly eight bpm during moderate exercise. The Fitbit Charge HR underestimated during more vigorous exercise, by about six or seven bpm.

The Apple Watch and Mio Fuse had 95 percent of their heart rate readings fall within a range of 27 to 29 bpm over or under the ECR reading, a slightly smaller range than the Fitbit or the Basis Peak, as reported in JAMA Cardiology.

The companies that make the wrist monitors do not claim that they are medical devices, Gillinov said.

"They should not be used to diagnose or treat anything, you can't count on them in that context," he said.

Aaron Coleman, CEO and founder of Fitabase, Fitbit's longtime clinical research partner, told Reuters Health he thinks the results aren't too bad, especially considering the wrist-worn devices are being compared to a research-grade device, a chest strap that would be unwieldy for any casual athlete to wear.

In general, the further away from the heart a body monitor is located, the more variation there will be in heart rate readings, he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple hones marketing for Watch with focus on fitness

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two years after unveiling the Apple Watch with apps and styles that tried to appeal to every need and every customer, Apple Inc. has honed its marketing strategy, debuting a second generation product aimed squarely at the health and athletic audience.

The focus on fitness will enhance the watch's appeal to its core audience but also cements its status as a niche device, analysts said.

"Apple is responding to what has resonated with customers," said analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research. "The problem is there are only so many people who want to wear a health and fitness device. If they want this to be really massive, they're going to have to go broader."

The first new device released under CEO Tim Cook, the Apple Watch has not attracted a mass audience, selling 1.6 million units in the second quarter, down more than half from a year ago, in the run-up to the new version, IDC data showed.

Apple's original pitch touted the ability to send doodles, make phone calls and track fitness, while the company described it as essentially a fashion accessory.

But at a San Francisco launch event on Wednesday, where the iPhone 7 also debuted, Apple Watch videos, advertisements and demos focused narrowly on features for health enthusiasts, with the notable exception of a Pokemon Go app.

The new Watch starts at $369, includes a GPS chip, and is waterproof. Apple designed a special edition with sports giant Nike Inc.

Exercise buffs on social media cheered the new features, particularly the internal GPS system designed for runners who want to track workouts without dragging along their phones.

"At last Apple Watch is something I can use as a runner," Ian Bignell (@eyan_b) wrote on Twitter.

Still, the device is likely to remain a niche offering, said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners.

"It's becoming a more interesting product, but it is not going to be able to meaningfully impact the bottom line if iPhones slow down," Gillis said.

Apple has not broken out Watch sales, but Wall Street analysts suspect it is a small and growing contributor. Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimates the watch will generate $4.1 billion in revenue for Apple this year, up from $2.7 billion in 2015.

IDC analyst Ryan Reith called the new version a "great incremental improvement" and predicted it would outsell the first version, in part because of its appeal to the fitness audience. But he said it faced challenges, such as competing with smartphones for consumer spending.

While the focus on fitness helps, Apple still needs a breakthrough app to nudge the smartwatch into the mainstream - and it remains unlikely to find it in Pokemon Go, the popular augmented reality game that is coming to the gadget later this year, Gillis said.

"The killer app for the watch remains to be seen," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple unveils iPhone 7, Pokemon Go coming to Apple Watch

SAN FRANCISCO -Apple Inc unveiled its new water and dust-resistant iPhone 7 with high-resolution cameras at its fall product event on Wednesday, and said a Super Mario game was coming to the new phone and Pokemon Go would feature on its upgraded Apple Watch.

The excitement at the Bill Graham auditorium in San Francisco was not matched on Wall Street, where Apple's stock was down 0.3 percent. However, Nintendo Co Ltd's U.S.-listed shares, jumped more than 20 percent to trade around $35 on hopes its games would reach a new audience.

The world's best-known technology company said the iPhone 7 would have one, zooming 12-megapixel camera and the 'Plus' edition would feature two cameras.

It also removed the analog headphone jack, as was widely expected. The new headphones supplied by Apple with the phone will plug into the same port as the recharging cord, but it will also work with Apple's new wireless headphones, called Air Pods.

In a tweet that was subsequently deleted, Apple said the phones would be available Sept. 16.

The company typically gives its main product, which accounts for more than half of its revenue, a big makeover every other year and the last major redesign was the iPhone 6 in 2014. The modest updates suggest that this cycle will be three years.

Apple said its Apple Watch Series 2, with a swim-proof casing, will be available in more than 25 countries starting on Sept. 16.

"I predict Watch sales will improve dramatically," said Tech analyst Patrick Moorhead. "Most of the current Watch owners are early adopters and the next wave could be 10 times the size of that market."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple aims to bolster lineup with new iPhone

SAN FRANCISCO -- New iPhone and iPad models likely to be unveiled Monday are aimed at helping Apple keep momentum in the fast-evolving mobile device market.

The media gathering at the company's intimate Town Hall auditorium in Silicon Valley will also give Apple a chance to restate its case for fighting a US government demand that it break into an attacker's iPhone.

Apple is widely expected to release a small-screen iPhone to encourage replacement of the 5S and 5C models, which have four-inch displays. The new device is to be called the iPhone SE or 5SE, reports said.

This would help Apple in a traditionally slow season before the likely upgrades to the large-screen iPhone 6 family later this year.

But in keeping with its practice, Apple has been tight-lipped about what it will reveal.

A message on copies of the invitations posted online simply states "Let us loop you in," prompting some to speculate that new bands for the Apple Watch would be among the announcements.

A four-inch screen iPhone which boasts improvements under the hood could help spur replacements.

Such an iPhone would be "an incremental positive" for Apple, ensuring that lovers of the company's smaller smartphones don't switch to rival devices powered by Android software, RBC Capital Markets said in a note to investors.

RBC projected that sales of a new handset would tally between 10 million to 15 million annually, giving Apple fans an option for upgrading before an iPhone 7 debuts late in the year.

The new iPhone will likely be priced to shore up the low-end of Apple's line but not to compete in the budget-priced smartphone market, according to analysts.

"I am not expecting a ton of surprises," Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin said of what Apple has in store for Monday. "The biggest news will be pricing for the newer iPhone."

Reaching buyers in India?

If Apple lowers the price for the new device -- existing big-screen iPhones start at around $650 -- it may be able to expand to new segments of consumers.

"I suspect this is far more about boosting off-season sales than it is about introducing a new iPhone at a dramatically lower price point, for example, for emerging markets," said Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research in a blog post.

But Dawson said the new handset could be priced as low as $450 without subsidy to help Apple make inroads in new markets.

This would enable Apple to sell refurbished iPhones at $250 to $350, according to Dawson and "suddenly allows the iPhone to hit price points it's never been able to hit before, which in turn could make it more viable in markets like India."

Reports have also said Apple is poised to introduce a new iPad tailored for use by businesses.

Talking encryption

The media event takes place a day before a federal judge in Southern California hears arguments in the encryption case.

"I do expect to hear a little bit from them because it is so central, not just to Apple," Current Analysis research director Avi Greengart told AFP.

"Encryption is pretty much the entire digital economy. There is an argument to be made that Apple is out in front and taking the heat for a crucial, industry-wide issue."

The new iPad may have keyboard and Apple Pencil stylus features that make it more attractive for getting work done. Apple has been trying to ignite sales of its tablets, which declined in the final quarter or last year.

Focusing exclusively on Apple hardware can be deceiving, since the company has won legions of devotees by weaving software, applications and devices together to provide people with experiences they enjoy, according to analysts.

"What you are really paying for is software and user experience," Greengart said of buying into Apple's world. "That has been Apple's business model for many years."

Apple has built privacy protection into its ecosystem and its valuable brand.

Apple has repeatedly argued that the FBI was overstepping legal bounds by using the 1789 All Writs Act -- a broad law which allows the courts to help law enforcement -- to compel the company to help break an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the December attack in San Bernardino, California.

Apple, which is backed by a broad coalition of powerful rival technology firms and activists, argues that the FBI is seeking a "back door" into all iPhones as part of the probe.

The government brief, in sharp contrast, argued it is a single case of technical assistance in an important national security investigation.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple Watch arriving in PH on Friday

MANILA - Power Mac Center, the official reseller of Apple products in the Philippines, has announced that the much-anticipated Apple Watch will be available in the country starting Friday.

On Facebook, the store said that Filipinos will be able to purchase Apple's first wearable device and the Apple Watch Sport at Greenbelt 3 and Trinoma.

"Your wait is almost over," it teased.

WATCH: A closer look at the newest Apple Watch 

The Apple Watch has been on display in Apple stores around the world since April 10. It was recently launched last June in countries such as Italy, Mexico, Spain, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple Watch to be sold at Best Buy stores from August

The Apple Watch will be available at stores of Best Buy Co Inc, the largest U.S. consumer electronics chain, starting Aug. 7.

The Apple Watch and Apple Watch Sport models will be sold at more than 300 Best Buy stores in time for the holiday shopping season, a spokeswoman for Apple Inc said.

"Customers love Apple Watch, and we are thrilled to begin offering it at Best Buy," she said in an email.

Best Buy is the first retailer to sell the watch outside of the Apple retail store.

"The Apple Watch is an important addition to an emerging product category, and we know our customers want it," Jason Bonfig, senior category officer, said on the Best Buy website.

The company said the product will also be available on its online store BestBuy.com.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the Apple watch was coming to Best Buy.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told Reuters earlier this month that sales of the Apple Watch had beat the company's expectations. He said in the nine weeks since its launch in late April, the device had sold better than either iPhones or iPads over a similar period after their launch.

(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Ben)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Apple gives weak forecast, shares fall nearly 7 pct

BENGALURU/SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. shares slumped nearly 7 percent in after-hours trading as its fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell short of estimates and it missed some targets for iPhone sales.

The shares dropped to $121 after the company released its results on Tuesday, from $130.75 at the close.

The forecast overshadowed Apple's strong sales in China, which more than doubled to $13.23 billion from a year earlier.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said in an interview the results in China were "spectacular" during the quarter and noted plans to open 40 stores there over the next 12 months.

Without disclosing specific figures, Maestri said sales of the Apple Watch beat the company's expectations. He noted that in the nine weeks since its launch in late April, the device has sold better than either iPhones or iPads over a similar period after their launch.

Apple said on Tuesday it sold 47.5 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 35 percent from a year ago. But some analysts had expected around 49 million.

Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners, said the results highlighted the vulnerability of Apple's dependence on the iPhone and the Chinese market's growing importance to the company.

"Where are you going to find growth in the world?" he said. "You've done an amazing job sucking all the smartphone profits into your balance sheet, but smartphone sales are slowing. What's going to happen when the industry matures, just like PCs did?"

The company forecast revenue of $49 billion to $51 billion, missing analysts' average estimate of $51.13 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which shattered iPhone sales records when they were launched, are already 10 months old.

Apple had a troubled day, with its App Store, Apple Music, iTunes Store and some other services suffering disruption for more than three hours before results were released.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com