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The future of TV is apps says Apple’s Tim Cook

• CAT ZAKRZEWSKI
  
• THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
  
• SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 8:09AM
  

New iPhones, iPad Pro and Apple TV




[b]Apple Inc. on Wednesday unveiled an Apple TV that will support third-party developer apps for the first time, marking the first overhaul of the product in three years.[/b]
By adding an app store to Apple TV, many popular iOS apps will come to the big screen. At the media event, the company also introduced a Siri-enabled remote with touch sensitive capabilities that will expand the platform’s gaming potential.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook discusses Apple TV at

“We believe the future of TV is apps,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Apple said games like “Galaxy on Fire” and Walt Disney Co.’s new Star Wars game, “Disney Infinity,” would come to Apple TV. Popular real estate sites like AirBnB and Zillow also are developing apps that would allow big-screen house hunting.
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Apple said it redesigned its iTunes store and is also bringing its new music-streaming service, Apple Music, to the TV. Many of its content-focused apps — such as HBO, Netflix and Hulu — will have new looks.

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The new remote features a microphone to activate Siri voice search.

Developers from Hipster Whale demonstrated how their popular game, “Crossy Road,” would work on the TV, allowing users to play with multiple players. Gilt, an online shopping company, showed how users would be able to shop from their couches. And Major League Baseball’s app will now allow viewers to watch two games at once and access detailed stats and team information.
Apple also revamped the interface’s style, introducing a more modern operating system focused on content. The old platform had a clunky user interface, where users scrolled through a tile home screen to select a streaming service. Users could only search one service at a time and it was difficult to search extensive streaming libraries. Viewers can now search for shows and movies across streaming services, and pull up information about specific titles while watching them.

Apple event: need to know

Apple CEO Tim Cook kicks off the company’s new products event in San Francisco. Continue through the gallery to see the new iPad and iPhone, plus Apple Watch and Apple TV updates, or read a full report on the Apple event here. (Stephen Lam/ Getty/AFP)

Apple and luxury French designer Hermès have created a new version of the smartwatch featuring a luxury leather strap. Available October 5, it is priced between A$1,700 and A$2,350. Apple reported a 97% satisfaction rate with the Apple Watch. (Eric Risberg/AP)

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The biggest hardware shake-up is the remote. The earlier version featured three small buttons to perform basic commands. The new remote features a microphone to activate Siri voice search, as well as motion and touch sensors to allow users to swipe through Apple TV’s interface or play games.
With a Siri-enabled remote, viewers can speak to find a show across streaming services. Siri can also help recommend movies and shows. Users can speak into the remote with various commands — asking the question, “What did she say?” for example, while watching a show will rewind it 15 seconds and display captions.
Apple TV is slated to go on sale in late October, starting at $149 for the 32 gigabytes version and $199 for the 64 GB version. Its developers’ tools, tvOS, become available today.
All prices US dollars
The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Market doesn't feel good with the recent Apple new product presentation...


Apple dethroned makes way for Amazon as new stock titan of 2015

LONDON — Last year, failing to own Apple was the most painful mistake a US equity fund manager could have made. This year, that distinction goes to Amazon.com.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/business/appl...titan-2015

Apple still make beautiful things but this announcement shows a lack of real innovation. A new leather strap by Hermes is hardly the sort of stuff that should be making the stage and the IPad Pro reminds me so much of the Surface Pro.

It will be unfair to expect a new product at every Apple event but you get a feeling that the level of innovation has gone down over the last few years.

Hmm... It will definitely loss the "die-hard" Apple fans, who are very proud of the differences of Apple vs MS...

To keep winning customers, Apple breaks its own taboos

SAN FRANCISCO — As it nears a size and scope never before approached by a technology company, Apple is doing things its executives said it never would.

Apple’s co-founder, Steve Jobs, once announced that using a stylus with a computing device was pass. But guess what? The company is now offering a stylus, called Apple Pencil, for US$100 (S$142).

And in a move sure to make Apple old-timers squirm, the newest version of the iPad, which has an optional keyboard that attaches to the tablet, is even imitating some of the features of Microsoft’s competing product, called the Surface.

Together, the tablet, stylus and keyboard make for a combination computing device that Apple executives had long said that they wouldn’t create, perhaps indicating the people running the company today are willing to forget about the past as they try to cater to shifting consumer tastes.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/gadgets/...own-taboos

(14-09-2015, 09:55 AM)CityFarmer Wrote: [ -> ]Hmm... It will definitely loss the "die-hard" Apple fans, who are very proud of the differences of Apple vs MS...

To keep winning customers, Apple breaks its own taboos

SAN FRANCISCO — As it nears a size and scope never before approached by a technology company, Apple is doing things its executives said it never would.

Apple’s co-founder, Steve Jobs, once announced that using a stylus with a computing device was pass. But guess what? The company is now offering a stylus, called Apple Pencil, for US$100 (S$142).

And in a move sure to make Apple old-timers squirm, the newest version of the iPad, which has an optional keyboard that attaches to the tablet, is even imitating some of the features of Microsoft’s competing product, called the Surface.

Together, the tablet, stylus and keyboard make for a combination computing device that Apple executives had long said that they wouldn’t create, perhaps indicating the people running the company today are willing to forget about the past as they try to cater to shifting consumer tastes.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/gadgets/...own-taboos

Apple has gone from cult status to mainstream....People knows Apple software also can crashed....
The test of the pudding is its eating. 

Sometimes when you bought the Wrong Product, reality dont match up with expectations. Recontract after 2 years lor....hahaha...

The smartwatch is disruptive to Swiss watchmakers. I reckon, only those with similar price tag as smartwatch are suffering, not those luxury ones...

Swiss watchmakers turn pessimistic as smartwatch threat looms

ZURICH — Swiss watchmaker executives are the most pessimistic in four years as an increasing minority see a threat from smartwatches as the strong franc and a drop in demand in China buffet the industry, a Deloitte report showed.

Deloitte found 41 per cent of executives were negative about 12-month prospects while 14 per cent were positive, according to the study, released today (Sept 15). That's the first time gloominess beat optimism since the market researcher began the annual study in 2012.

"The Swiss watch industry is at a turning point," Deloitte said.

Swiss watchmakers have struggled with a shrinking Chinese market since the country's government started discouraging exuberant spending among officials in late 2012. The surge in the franc this year has also spoiled the mood, with 69 per cent of executives citing it as the biggest risk for the industry.

Brands have scrambled to add electronic functions to their products as the Apple Watch arrived in Swiss stores in June. Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA's Montblanc brand introduced an "e- Strap", while Swatch Group and Mondaine have also announced smart devices. Apple is also looking to add a touch of luxury to its smartwatch, evidenced by its collaboration with Hermes to make bands for the Apple Watch.

A separate survey by Research Now showed that more than 60 per cent of Chinese consumers plan to purchase a smartwatch in the next year.

The percentage of watch executives considering smartwatches to be a growing competitive threat rose to 25 per cent this year from 11 per cent last year.

Deloitte's survey was conducted with more than 50 watch executives earlier this year. The Research Now survey encompassed 3,000 participants in China, France, Italy, Japan, Switzerland and the US. BLOOMBERG
http://www.todayonline.com/business/swis...reat-looms

Car seems the platform to compete for the giants...

Apple presses ahead with efforts to create car, though big issues remain

NEW YORK — Apple is continuing its efforts to create a car, though some of the big questions around the project remain undecided.

The company is still working out whether it will make a self-driving car, an electric vehicle or a combination of the two, according to a person with knowledge of the product, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as Apple is known for its intense secretiveness.

It is not unusual for Apple to work on several prototypes of a product at the same time, as it did with the iPhone and the iPad.

Other details of the car project are falling into place. Apple is committing hundreds of people to the effort, and meeting with officials of the California Department of Motor Vehicles and officials at a testing ground for self-driving cars, said the person with knowledge of the work. The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian previously reported on those developments.

Apple is aiming to introduce some sort of car product around 2020, several people with knowledge of the project said.

Apple declined to comment for this article.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/apple-pr...ues-remain

The impact on Swiss watch started...

Swiss watch exports fall as Apple Watch takes on low-end models

GENEVA — Swiss watch exports fell in August, heading for the first annual decline in six years amid concern that competition from Apple Inc’s smartwatch may dent demand for low-end timepieces.

Shipments declined 1.6 per cent to 1.47 billion francs (S$2.14 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said on its website today (Sept 22). Exports of watches with wholesale prices less than 200 francs fell 13 per cent, while the 200-franc to 500-franc segment plunged 24 per cent.

“I presume that the Apple Watch would put pressure on the low and mid-tier segment of the Swiss watch market,” said Mr Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Zurich. “Stock market volatility isn’t helping in China.”
...
http://www.todayonline.com/business/swis...end-models

China market is the focus...

Apple expands music streaming service into China for first time

HONG KONG — Apple began offering its three-month-old music streaming service as well as movies and electronic books in China today (Sept 30), promising a library of content geared toward its most important market outside of the US.

Apple Music, the iPhone maker’s answer to streaming services Spotify and Pandora, will kick off with a three-month trial before charging 10 yuan (S$2.24) a month, the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement. That’s a fraction of the US$10 to US$14 the company charges in the US. In China, the service will carry regional artists like Eason Chan and Li Ronghao in addition to international stars like Taylor Swift.

Users there can now also rent Chinese- and English-language movies from 5 yuan apiece, and books including Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series and local titles such as Zheng Chunhua’s “Big Head Son & Little Head Dad.”

Customers in China with a foreign Apple ID, such as from the US, have been able to download music from the company’s online store. Songs and albums remain off-limits to iPhone and iPad users with a local Chinese Apple ID, according to Apple’s online support page.

“For the first time, customers in China will have access to Apple’s entertainment ecosystem with music, movies and books right at their fingertips,” Apple said in today’s statement.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/apple-ex...first-time

Review: Huawei Watch, G8 smartphone, MediaPad M2

• THE AUSTRALIAN
  
• OCTOBER 06, 2015 12:00AM
  

Chris Griffith
[Image: chris_griffith.png]
Senior Technology Journalist
Sydney

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Huawei consmuer tech. Source: TheAustralian

[b]China’s Huawei is upping the ante when it comes to consumer-­focused technology and has unleashed a bevy of new devices — the Huawei Watch, the phablet-sized 5.5-inch G8 smartphone and the 8-inch MediaPad M2 tablet — to spruik its capabilities.[/b]
So just how good are these devices?
Huawei Watch
The Huawei Watch is undoubtedly beautiful and it’s more expensive than the $499 Apple Watch Sport. A silver watch encased in its “cold-forged” stainless steel casing with black leather band costs $549, while a black watch with black link bracelet weighs in at $749.
At 42mm it’s the same size as the larger Apple Watch, but round-faced. There’s no smaller size, so it may be too big for smaller wrists. It has a clear 1.4-inch 400x400 pixel screen. Watch faces, of which there are more than 40, look great.
At 13mm, it looks a tad thick but it houses a decent 300 milliampere battery that easily lasts a day. For example, yesterday it consumed just over 70 per cent of battery. Yet the time display is always visible. The screen is so bright I could see its light through my pullover sleeve. The charger is disk-shaped, but you have to line up four metal connection points for charging to take place and this requires care.
You can fit any 18mm watchband if you dislike standard ones. It has a gyroscope, accelerometer and motion sensor so it can independently monitor your activities and heart-rate. Android Wear lets you place calls and write texts from your watch. They are transmitted from the phone. But it still has a habit of sending texts before you complete them. Pause while dictating a memo and it’s off.
I could pair the watch easily with Android phones and an iPhone 6s Plus, as advertised. But Google has sold us a pup in saying Android Wear watches are really iOS-compatible. Sure, they link to iPhones, but you can’t load third party Android watch apps, so you are limited to what Huawei and Google offer in firmware. Huawei has made a really attractive watch, probably the most attractive Android Wear watch I have used, but Android Wear still has a way to go as a watch ecosystem.
Huawei G8 smartphone
The G8 is an LTE phone with an attractive, all-metal body and a 5.5-inch full HD display. It’s no iPhone 6s but a worthy effort nevertheless. Both have a 1080p IPS displays with 401 pixels per inch resolution, although Apple’s adds backlighting. The G8 is a tad shorter and lighter but 0.2mm thicker. There’s an eight-core Cortex-A53 processor with 4 cores at 1.2GHz and 4 at 1.5GHz. You’ll get power saving with the 1.2GHz cores but overall it’s not the most powerful of phones. However, its sizeable 3000 milliampere battery delivers good battery life: 9 hours 31 minutes playing video at 75 per cent brightness. It also has a feature that some premium phones lack: a slot for a microSD card which can extend storage by 64GB. It has 32GB storage on-board, with around 22GB available to users.
With 13 and 5 megapixel cameras, resolution-wise it mixes with the best and has a dual-tone colour flash. But panorama shots lack the depth of colour and detail when compared to the iPhone. It doesn’t shoot or play back 4K either. Huawei’s “Emotion UI”, its variant of Android Lollipop, comes with themes and unusual camera modes. The Stellar theme displays system apps with pleasant gold colour icons, the home screen system icons look like chocolates and the camera modes include beauty and make-up modes.
The fingerprint sensor on the back works extremely well. You hold the phone by the edges, with your index finger on the sensor, and the phone logs you in from locked-standby mode in one, quick action.
Overall this is a very good phone with some premium features but I’d label it a mid-range unit. If it’s significantly cheaper than current premium models, when pricing is announced, it could prove very popular.
Huawei MediaPad M2
Huawei bills this as a premium entertainer at an affordable price. I got 9 hours 11 minutes playing video playback at 75 per cent brightness on the M2, so you’ll be able to watch four two-hour shows back-to-back. There’s a classy 8-inch all metal shell, 4G LTE Cat 4 capability and a microSD card port.
Some variants have a dual SIM, but there’s no word on whether they will come to Australia. The AnTuTu benchmark rated it at 49761, just shy of LG’s G4 smartphone: pretty reasonable.
Screen resolution is good but not stellar — 1920x1200 pixels, at 283 ppi — but the Harmon Kardon sound from its dual speakers is pretty good. You can watch 1080p movies but when I tried 4K ones even my favourite VLC video player app choked with a hardware acceleration error.
Huawei says it will be available in Australia by the end of October.
Chris Griffith travelled to San Francisco courtesy of Huawei