Apple unveils updated iPad with lowest-ever price

Apple Inc unveiled an updated version of its iPad tablet with a brighter screen on Tuesday, available to order from Friday and with a $329 starting price that is the lowest ever for a full-sized tablet from Apple.

Apple also said its smaller iPhone SE model will be available in 32 and 128 gigabyte (GB) versions, replacing the 16 GB and 64 GB models.

The hardware updates are incremental improvements that were announced without a major media event. Apple is widely expected to unveil an update to its flagship iPhone this fall that might have new features such as wireless charging, 3-D facial recognition and a curved display.

The new iPad model starts at 32 GB of storage and replaces the iPad Air 2. It will be slightly less expensive than the smaller iPad Mini 4, which starts at $399 for a 128 GB model.

Apple also announced a new app for creating videos and sharing them with friends on its iOS devices. The new feature, along with extra iMessage features released in recent years, pushes Apple closer to competing with the features in social networking apps like Snap Inc.

The new app, called Clips, lets users add captions and speech bubbles to videos and share them on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram or Apple's own messaging app, where videos can be sent to contacts with a single tap. But unlike Snap or other messaging apps, users can add captions to videos using their voice.

(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Frances Kerry)

source: news.abs-cbn.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 unveils iPad Air

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc on Tuesday offered free upgrades for life on its operating system and business software, and unveiled thinner iPads and faster Mac computers ahead of a competitive holiday shopping season.

The debut of the one-pound iPad Air and MacBook Pro with sharper 'retina' display repeats a pattern of recent launches with improvements in existing lines rather than totally new products, and Apple shares fell 0.3 percent for the day.

Apple said upgrades to its Mac operating system and iWork software suite, which compete with Microsoft Corp's Excel, Word and other applications, will now be offered for all MacBooks and Mac computers.

That brings Apple's model of free system software upgrades on phones and tablets to the computer market, where Apple is still the underdog to Microsoft's Windows.

Apple may be trying to safeguard its grip on mobile software as Microsoft revs up its Windows-powered Surface Pro, which runs applications, such as Word or Excel, that are the standard for business customers, analysts said.

"We are turning the industry on its ear, but this is not why we're doing it," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook told media and technology executives at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center.

"We want our customers to have our latest software."

The market is awash in inexpensive tablets running Google Inc's Android software, but the company may be focused on fending off a threat from the high end.

"In the tablet PC market, they do think Microsoft is a bigger threat than Android," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "The iPad Air will compete with Surface Pro, not some rinky-dink Android tablet."

Gartner estimates that Apple's share of the global tablet market will slip to 47.2 percent in 2014, with Android-based tablets just overtaking Apple's this year. The IT research outfit expects Microsoft tablets to grab 3.4 percent of the market this year, double the 1.7 percent forecast for 2013.

PRESSURE

Microsoft gets 65 percent of its Windows revenue, which totaled $19.2 billion last fiscal year, from PC manufacturers which put the system on its machines, and 35 percent from other sources, chiefly people and businesses buying its software separately to install themselves.

The latest version of Windows, when bought separately to install on an old computer, starts at $120 for a home version and goes up to $200 for the full 'Pro' version. The latest Windows 8.1 upgrade was free for customers running Windows 8.

Apple's product launches on Tuesday were evolutionary, with the new iPads equipped with faster processors and better screens. Cook, at an industry conference in May, had hinted at "several more game changers" from Apple which could include wearable computers, but had not given a time frame.

"As always with Apple, expectations on systematic breakthrough hardware innovations are irrational," said Forrester analyst Thomas Husson said. "Apple is good at inventing new products and at maximizing profitability of its product range over time through software innovations and clever marketing."

Apple's new iPad Air - its full-size tablet - is about 20 percent thinner than the previous generation of tablets, weighs one pound and starts at $499. It will go on sale on Nov. 1.

The iPad mini now has a "retina" high-resolution screen and starts at $399, compared with $329 for the previous mini model. The two new tablets would face stiff competition, with Microsoft, Nokia and Amazon.com Inc all plugging rival devices in coming months.

Apple also showed off a new Mac Pro, a premium and high-powered cylindrical desktop computer that will be assembled in United States. It had shown the computer at a previously event.

For the first, Apple will launch the new iPads simultaneously in the United States and China, its biggest market, which is also a key growth region.

Apple, which jumpstarted the tablet computing market in 2010 with the first iPad, has already come under increasing pressure from cheaper devices ranging from Amazon's Kindle Fire to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Note.

But while Apple is ceding market share to rivals, its superior library of apps and content should safeguard its lead for years to come, analysts say.

Longer term however, investors hope to see real device innovation from a company that has not unveiled a new breakthrough product in years.

Cook on Tuesday dismissed the competition as directionless.

"Our competition is different: they're confused," he said. "Now they're trying to make PCs into tablets and tablets into PCs. Who knows what they'll do next?"

"We have a very clear direction and a very ambitious goal. We still believe deeply in this category and we're not slowing down on our innovation."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Consumer watchdog warns iPads hot to handle

SAN FRANCISCO — A vaunted consumer watchdog organization on Tuesday warned that Apple’s new iPad is a bit hot to handle.

US nonprofit product testing group Consumer Reports reported that the new-generation iPad with its more powerful processor hit temperatures as high as 116 degrees Fahrenheit, particularly when running videogames.

“It does run warmer than its predecessor,” Consumer Reports spokesman James McQueen said of the third-generation iPad.

“People need to exercise caution,” he continued. “We are not saying it is a dangerous product, but 116 degrees can be a little uncomfortable.”

Consumer reports said the new iPad got about 12 degrees warmer than the iPad 2 tablet while performing the same intensive tasks, such as videogames or downloading large files.

One rear corner of the new iPad appeared to be a hot spot.

Apple did not respond to AFP requests for comment, but prior to the release of the Consumer Reports thermal analysis issued a public statement saying that the new iPad operates “well within our thermal specifications.”

Operating temperatures of the latest iPads were hot topics among Apple gadget owners at online forums.

“It does get pretty warm,” a person using the screen name ShadowJeff wrote in a public chat at website MacRumors.com. “Hope Apple fixes it or something.”

California-based Apple announced on Monday that it sold three million of its new iPad tablet computers over the course of its first weekend on the market.

“The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold — the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller.

The new iPad went on sale on Friday with Apple fans lining up from Sydney to San Francisco to snap up the latest model of the hot-selling tablet computer.

The new iPad is available in Australia, the United States, France, Canada, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Britain and Hong Kong. It will go on sale in another two dozen countries on March 23.

source: interaksyon.com

New iPad to go on sale Friday — Apple

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple on Wednesday made an official announcement that the third-generation iPad will arrive at Apple’s retail stores and its online store on Friday in the United States and nine additional countries and regions.

According to the company, the new iPad will hit the store on Friday at 8:00 a.m. local time in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, China’s Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Britain, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Customers who buy a new iPad at an Apple retail store will be offered free personal setup service, said Apple. Customers in the U.S. could shop and buy the device anywhere they are and pick up their purchase at any Apple retail store.

In the U.S., the new iPad will also be available at Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart, Apple said.

Starting March 23, the new device will be available in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, China ‘s Macau, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Last Wednesday, Apple introduced the new iPad featuring Retina display, A5X chip and improved camera which can shoot high- definition videos. The 4G model will support 4G LTE networks in the U.S. and Canada, making it Apple’s first 4G device. Meanwhile, iPad 2 is still available at a reduced price.

Market research firm Gartner estimated that 103.5 million tablet devices will be sold in 2012 with Apple accounting for two- thirds.

source: interaksyon.com