Siri, Alexa may have made your lives easier, but can they also educate you?

Convenience is atop the list of benefits Siri and Alexa have brought to millions. But is it possible that they’re promoting literacy, too?

Certainly, it’s not a benefit that immediately comes to mind. After all, we speak and Siri writes. We ask a question and Alexa enters the search terms for us. Load your iPhone up with podcasts, or ask Siri or Alexa to find you the bestseller you’ve been wanting from Audible.com, and you might never need to read a book again. With each voice-to-text improvement, we seem to be moving backward — toward a culture that relies less and less on letters or the ability to read and write.


History tells a different story. As the scope for oral communication expands, we can take comfort, and some instruction, from the variety of forms literacy has taken since its beginning in the West.

Amid growing spat with Facebook, Apple increases privacy controls

Apple Inc. executives rarely call out Facebook Inc., but they made more moves on Monday to limit the social network’s data collection. In iPhone, iPad, and Mac software updates later this year, Apple’s default Safari web browser will show a pop-up window asking users for permission before loading share buttons from social networks including Facebook. 

These buttons make it easy to share web content, but they also let social networks collect user data -- something Apple has been cracking down on in recent years. This would also apply to tools such as like buttons and the comment sections of social networks, Apple executive Craig Federighi demonstrated during a presentation at the company’s annual developer conference. Apple also showcased a new system that makes it more difficult to gather information about users as they browse across the web. When people visit sites, the characteristics of their device can be used by advertisers to create a “fingerprint” to track them. Safari will share a "simplified" profile to thwart this, Apple said.

Apple Inc. executives rarely call out Facebook Inc., but they made more moves on Monday to limit the social network’s data collection. In iPhone, iPad, and Mac software updates later this year, Apple’s default Safari web browser will show a pop-up window asking users for permission before loading share buttons from social networks including Facebook. 

These buttons make it easy to share web content, but they also let social networks collect user data -- something Apple has been cracking down on in recent years. This would also apply to tools such as like buttons and the comment sections of social networks, Apple executive Craig Federighi demonstrated during a presentation at the company’s annual developer conference. 

Apple also showcased a new system that makes it more difficult to gather information about users as they browse across the web. When people visit sites, the characteristics of their device can be used by advertisers to create a “fingerprint” to track them. Safari will share a "simplified" profile to thwart this, Apple said.

Apple earnings show growing immunity to smartphone's sales slowdown

Apple Inc.’s results confirmed that, while the days of double-digit smartphone industry growth are over, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has a plan to withstand the slowdown.

The shares gained in late trading Tuesday after the company reported iPhone sales in line with analysts’ expectations, gave a bullish revenue forecast and highlighted a surging services business. A new $100 billion stock repurchase plan and higher dividend also helped.

The numbers show that Cook’s strategy of selling a growing array of services through a base of more than 1.3 billion Apple devices is working. The smartphone sector saw shipments fall 2 per cent in the past year, according to Strategy Analytics, so the company must evolve beyond its reliance on a device that still accounts for more than 60 per cent of revenue.

“Slowly but surely, [Apple] is morphing into more than just an iPhone story and is displaying ability to sustain revenue growth irrespective of iPhone trajectory,” Amit Daryanani, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a research note.

The company reported iPhone unit sales grew just 2.9 per cent in the fiscal second quarter. While the flagship iPhone X may not have matched the hype from its launch late last year, the device’s $999 starting price helped boost phone revenue growth 14 per cent.

Why Apple's HomePod failed to compete with Amazon's Echo speaker

When Apple Inc.’s HomePod smart speaker went on sale in January, it entered a market pioneered and dominated by Amazon’s Echo lineup of Alexa-powered devices. Apple has been touting the HomePod’s superior sound quality but so far hasn’t enticed many consumers to part with $349.

By late March, Apple had lowered sales forecasts and cut some orders with Inventec Corp., one of the manufacturers that builds the HomePod for Apple, according to a person familiar with the matter.

At first, it looked like the HomePod might be a hit. Pre-orders were strong, and in the last week of January the device grabbed about a third of the US smart speaker market in unit sales, according to data provided to Bloomberg by Slice Intelligence. But by the time HomePods arrived in stores, sales were tanking, says Slice principal analyst Ken Cassar. “Even when people had the ability to hear these things,” he says, “it still didn’t give Apple another spike.”

Apple offered FBI help to unlock Texas shooter's iPhone: Report

Refuting the claims of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the aftermath of Texas church shooting, Apple reportedly said it offered to help the investigating agency in opening the attacker's encrypted iPhone.

The Cupertino-based giant said it reached out to the bureau "immediately" to offer assistance in getting into the gunman's iPhone and expedite its response to any legal process, The Verge reported late on Thursday.

The FBI had said that it has been unable to access the encrypted iPhone used by Devin P Kelley, who killed 26 people at a rural Texas church.

"Law enforcement is increasingly not able to get into these phones," Christopher Combs, a special agent at the investigating agency was quoted as saying.

The iPhone Kelley was carrying is said to have crucial information about his activities that led to the shooting.

The FBI and Apple have had strained relations after the December 2015 San Bernardino, California, terror attack when the company had refused the agency's request to help it unlock on the phones of the attacker despite a court order.

In a statement, CEO Tim Cook had said the court order sought and obtained by the FBI would pose a serious threat to data security.
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Apple delivers higher profit as iPhone X launches on Friday

Apple profits rose on the back of strong iPhone sales in the past quarter, the company reported today, as the US tech giant begins selling its newest flagship handset.

Net profit rose 19 per cent from a year ago to $10.7 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter to September 30, Apple said. Revenues were up 12 per cent to $52.6 billion.

Release of the earnings figures pushed Apple shares up more than three percent to $173.20 and came as iPhone X models began hitting the market in some time zones.

Apple sold more iPhones, iPads and Mac computers than it did in the same quarter a year earlier. Smartphones sales climbed by about a million units to 46.7 million in the three months winding up the California company's fiscal year, according to the earnings report.

"We're happy to report a very strong finish to a great fiscal 2017, with record fourth-quarter revenue, year-over-year growth for all our product categories, and our best quarter ever for services," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in the release.

"We're looking forward to a great holiday season, and with the launch of iPhone X getting underway right now, we couldn't be more excited as we begin to deliver our vision for the future with this stunning device."

Apple closed out its fiscal year posting a full-year profit of $48.35 billion, up 5.8 per cent, on revenues of $229 billion, a rise of 6.3 per cent from the previous year.
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iPhone X debut: Should Apple worry as model 7 outsells 8 in US?

Apple Inc’s older iPhone 7 models are outselling the recently launched iPhone 8 ahead of the early November debut of the premium iPhone X, broker KeyBanc Capital Markets said, citing carrier store surveys.

Traditionally, new editions of the iPhone have sold quickly as fans queue for the latest upgrade, but early surveys have added to chatter that the iPhone 8 is not proving as popular as its predecessors.

US wireless carrier AT&T said last week its third-quarter postpaid handset upgrades were fewer by nearly 900,000 from a year ago, and brokerage Jefferies attributed it to weak iPhone 8 demand.

“Many respondents indicated that a meaningful portion of customers are buying iPhone 7 in lieu of the new iPhone 8, given the lack of significant enhancements in the new phone,” KeyBanc analyst John Vinh wrote in a client note.

Vinh also said feedback from stores indicated that customers were waiting to purchase the iPhone X or to compare the iPhone X with other models before buying the iPhone 8.

Apple last month introduced the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which resemble the iPhone 7 but have a glass back for wireless charging. While iPhone 8 starts from $699 in the United States, iPhone 7 is retailing from $549 after a price cut.
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Oil firms learn to move an ancient product with new-age tech

BP’s troubleshooters here received a call for help from colleagues in Azerbaijan. Sand was invading oil wells from the rocks outside. To avoid damage, the operators were choking the wells back, reducing revenues.

Two tech-savvy specialists, Prad Thiruvenkatanathan, a research scientist, and Tommy Langnes, a sand expert, came up with a novel fix. They used fiber-optic cable to gather the sounds coming from the wells deep in the earth. Inspired by apps like Shazam that recognize the voices of pop stars, they figured how to distinguish the sonic signature of sand from other sounds, like flowing oil. They also installed computers on the production platforms to sift staggering volumes of data coming from the wells down to manageable levels.

Using these tools, BP can identify where sand is coming in and patch the breaches instead of choking down the whole well. The flows from one well have already increased by nearly 50 percent, potentially a huge gain if the technology is rolled out through BP’s global network, where sand is a common problem. They are already using a similar tool to detect leaks and other potential hazards.

“It is just like your iPhone,” Mr. Langnes said. “We have built the phone. We have a couple of apps installed. Now the R&D team is working on new apps to install on the digital platform.”

The oil industry has long been of two minds when it comes to high technology. Oil companies like BP and Italy’s Eni use powerful supercomputers to crunch data from sound waves into images of petroleum deposits in the ground. Yet the industry has been resistant to change in other areas, like the process of producing oil.
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iPhone X: Apple makes a $999 gamble on its aspirational brand

Apple is taking a calculated risk with the pricing of its new phone. The $999 iPhone X is a bet on users’ loyalty and wealth and is on the surface consistent with the company’s longstanding strategy of differentiation and exclusivity. The danger lies in how the phone sells in the world’s huge and growing emerging markets; Apple clearly thinks it is a risk worth taking.

And it’s not without reason. Apple has always targeted the higher end of the market worldwide rather than just aiming for a larger base of users. In fact, if anything, Apple tends to price phones higher outside the US. The UK has to stomach an inflated price for the iPhone X even when tax differences are allowed for.

To be clear, the top end phone is not the only option. British customers will be able to pick up an iPhone 8 for £699 and an iPhone 8 Plus for £799. This is still more expensive than its direct competitors, but the demand curve for the iPhone is relatively inelastic. This means that for a given percentage increase in price, the percentage reduction in demand is smaller, giving an overall increase in revenues. No wonder the iPhone accounts for the majority of Apple’s revenues and profits.
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Asian shares hit 10-year high on Wall Street record finishes

Asian shares inched up to a 10-year high on Wednesday, cheered by record highs on Wall Street, while the dollar's rise against the yen helped boost Japanese shares.

The S&P 500, Dow Jones industrials and Nasdaq Composite all marked record finishes as investors' concerns faded about North Korean tensions as well as the impact of Hurricane Irma.

Gains were kept in check, however, by a decline in shares of Apple Inc after it unveiled its newest line of iPhones. Apple fell 0.6 per cent but pared some losses in after-hours trade.

The new iPhone's sales will have repercussions beyond Apple for many suppliers as well as its rivals.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was slightly higher in early trade, while Japan's Nikkei stock index added 0.4 per cent to a one-month high, getting a tailwind from a weaker yen.

"The Nikkei is not rising on fundamentals at the moment, but rather on supply and demand moves, as the weaker yen prompts investors to cover short positions" that they took during recent bouts of risk aversion, said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
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Wall Street ends at record high, led by financial stocks; Apple weighs

The major Wall Street indexes hit record closing highs on Tuesday, with financial stocks leading the charge, but gains were stunted by a decline in Apple Inc shares after it unveiled its latest line of iPhones.

The S&P 500, Dow Jones industrials and Nasdaq Composite clocked record closes, with investors drawn to riskier assets as concerns about US tensions with North Korea eased and the financial impact from Hurricane Irma appeared less severe than was feared last week.

After the closing bell, Nordstrom shares jumped 8.8 percent after reports that the high-end retailer chose private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners to help take the company private.

The financial sector was the S&P 500's biggest driver during the regular session as bank stocks were helped by rising US Treasury yields, while the utilities and real estate sectors lost ground.

"It's a better environment for risk assets. As long as these two issues - North Korea and the hurricane - have receded as concerns, it gives investors a green light to focus on stronger fundamentals," said David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Boston.
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Apple may price iPhone X at a hefty $1,000

Apple is expected to sell its fanciest iPhone yet for $1,000, crossing into a new financial frontier that will test how much consumers are willing to pay for a device that's become an indispensable part of modern life.

The unveiling of a dramatically redesigned iPhone will likely be the marquee moment tomorrow when Apple hosts its first product event at its new spaceship-like headquarters in Cupertino, California.

True to its secretive ways, Apple won't confirm that it will be introducing a new iPhone, though a financial forecast issued last month telegraphed something significant is in the pipeline.

In addition to several new features, a souped-up "anniversary" iPhone -- coming a decade after Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs unveiled the first version -- could also debut at an attention-getting $999 price tag, twice what the original iPhone cost. It would set a new price threshold for any smartphone intended to appeal to a mass market.

Various leaks have indicated the new phone will feature a sharper display, a so-called OLED screen that will extend from edge to edge of the device, thus eliminating the exterior gap, or "bezel," that currently surrounds most phone screens.
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Apple's iPhone 8 launch: 7 stocks to watch out for today

When Apple Inc unveils new iPhones on Tuesday at its Apple Park “spaceship” campus, there may be important clues for the watchers of seven semiconductor stocks.

Apple exerts a sun-like gravitational pull on the global electronics supply chain, affecting the pricing of commodities like flash memory chips - it consumes 18 percent of global supply. The iPhone maker can make or break small, specialty chip suppliers.

The final tally of semiconductor winners and losers will not be known until the devices ship and analysts rip them apart to examine the circuit boards. That will give insight into matters like the continued battle between Intel Corp and Qualcomm Inc to supply so-called modem chips for mobile data.

Even the limited technical information Apple gives on stage tomorrow could shed light on how several other companies are faring. Here are seven stocks to watch during today’s launch.

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Now, iPhone users can secretly make emergency call using their fingerprints

In a bid to enhance security measures on iPhone, Apple has patented a technology that would allow users to secretly call 911 using their fingerprints.

According to the patent published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the feature would allow users to call emergency services when a conventional method may not be practical, CNN reported on Tuesday.

The feature would look for a sequence of fingerprints or applied pressure to trigger a 911 call which could be programmed to bypass the screen-lock authentication and may also send user's location to the authorities.

"The user may programme the electronic device to recognise input entered with a particular sequence of fingers, such as 'pinky-ring-pinky', as a command to make an emergency call," the patent was quoted.

This will keep the potential attacker unaware of device owner's action and additionally, the feature could pull live audio or video directly from the iPhone.

The patent also includes a method that could erase or hide sensitive information of the user, the report added.

The patented technology, if realised, could be very helpful in improving individual's safety.
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Apple chief Tim Cook touts India impact in push for deeper market access

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Sunday highlighted the economic impact the company is having on India in a meeting with its prime minister as the iPhone maker seeks deeper access to the world's third-largest smartphone market behind the United States (US) and China.

Cook met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a business summit in Washington at a time when Apple Inc is targeting the nascent Indian market as a revenue source after its sales in China slipped.

Apple has asked Indian government officials for a range of tax and policy changes to help build out its iPhone assembly work in the country. It is seeking permission to open its own retail stores in India where it currently sells iPhones through resellers.

In his meeting with Modi, Cook disclosed that Apple expected its Indian operations to be run completely from renewable energy within the next six months, according to a person familiar with the discussion.

Cook reiterated that Apple had generated 740,000 jobs in India through its so-called "app economy" and Indian developers had created nearly 100,000 apps for the App Store, the person said.

Modi talked with Cook and the other US corporate leaders ahead of a meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday.

Apple, working with contract manufacturer Winstron, began assembling the iPhone SE in Bengaluru last month. Indian authorities have offered Apple tax concessions for the work with the requirement that more local components be used over time.

The company is looking to India after sales in the greater China region, once a major factor in Apple's rise, fell 14% year over year to $10.7 billion in the most recent quarter.
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Google takes on Apple's Siri, opens up digital assistant to iPhone

Alphabet Inc's Google announced on Wednesday it would make its digital assistant available on Apple Inc's iPhone, opening up the tool to a key high-end segment of the technology market.

Speaking at an annual developer conference in Mountain View, California, Google CEO Sundar Pichai touted the company's progress with the Google Assistant, which debuted last year.

The Assistant debuted last year on Google's own hardware, and the company has gradually extended the tool to devices from other manufacturers running on its Android operating system.

Tech companies such as Apple, Google and Amazon are competing to establish the dominant voice-powered digital assistant, which many in the industry believe will supplant keyboards and touchscreens as a primary way that users interact with technology.
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Apple pins hope on India even as global iPhone sales dip

Within weeks of the Narendra Modi government rejecting Apple Inc’s demand for Customs duty concessions for its suppliers who could look at manufacturing in the country, Cupertino-based tech major has pinned its hope on India even as global sale of iPhones dipped.

At the analyst call after the second quarter earnings early Wednesday (India time), Chief Executive Tim Cook said, “We’re very optimistic about our future in this remarkable country with its very large, young, and tech-savvy population, fast-growing economy, and improving 4G network infrastructure.” Cook said in his opening address that revenue in India grew by strong double digits during the quarter ended April 1, setting a record.

Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri quantified the “strong double-digit” growth for India — over 20 per cent. The company achieved double-digit growth in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, Russia and Mexico, Maestri said. “Our growth rates were even higher, over 20 per cent in many other markets, including Brazil, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, India, Korea and Thailand.”

Globally, Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones in its second quarter financial year, down from 51.19 million a year earlier during the corresponding period. In India, around 2.5 million iPhones are estimated to have been sold between October 2015 and September 2016.

While the talk on India revolved around high growth (mainly of iPhones) and 4G network access, top executives remained tight-lipped on the regulatory hurdles Apple faces in the country as well as on the company plans in this geography.
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Apple opens its accelerator for app developers in Bengaluru

Nearly a year after Apple CEO Tim Cook visited India to woo Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bollywood stars and start-ups, the iPhone maker has opened its doors to app developers with the first-of-its-kind accelerator in Bengaluru.

The Centre will support Indian app developers to design, test and optimise their apps to better run on Apple's iPhone and iPad. The move is aimed at replicating the iPhone's success a decade ago in developed markets, where users flocked to it due to the availability of higher quality apps.

"We are impressed by the great entrepreneurial spirit in India, and are excited to provide a platform for these developers to share their innovations with customers around the world," said Philip Schiller, SVP of Worldwide Marketing, in a statement. "In just the first few weeks, we've already seen some incredible developers here at the App Accelerator Bengaluru."

Apple will be able to provide guidance to over 500 developers every week where they will be able to get analysis and feedback for their apps from a set of experts. The company will also look at supporting Indian developers in using its own Swift development language to build apps and services for its iPhone.

The opening of the app accelerator comes weeks ahead of Apple's first iPhone manufacturing plant in Bengaluru going online. The facility is expected to produce the low-cost iPhone SE and will allow the company to circumnavigate high excise duties of importing a fully assembled device into India.

As Apple is working hard to increase sales of its iPhones in India, the company is trying to woo developers who've traditionally built services for Google's Android operating system first. Even today, devices running Android outnumber iPhones by over nine to one, as majority of buyers look for affordable smartphones. (READ MORE)

Apple AirPods review: Seamless connectivity without wires

I've been using Apple’s EarPods as my primary mobile headset for more than four years. Thankfully, they fit my ear and are quite comfortable, thus I’m able to fall asleep wearing them. And I do so nearly every night, when they are connected to my iPod.

Thus, after the jokes about losing one’s AirPods (Rs 15,400) died down, I was interested in taking it through its paces. Popping them out of the charging case, the AirPods paired very easily and very fast with my iPhone; and all my other Apple devices. Next, I went out for a run, wearing as bandana for fear of losing the AirPods.

The good thing is, since this pair doesn’t block out outside noise, it’s safe to wear on the roads. Of course, in a noisy environment, that can be a bad thing too. Next, I tried some vigorous free-hand exercises indoors, sans the bandana. The AirPods stayed put, though my wife said I looked like a character from Star Trek (don’t know whether that was due to my movements or the white stalks sticking out of my ear).

The next day, I went for a jog wearing the AirPods and the Apple Watch Series 2, leaving my iPhone and bandana at home. It was a lot of fun playing the tracks from the Watch and feeling “lighter” without my phone. But yes, I did get curious glances. The AirPods stop playing music once you take them out of your ears. Tap on one of them and Siri is activated. But you need a phone to control all other functions. (READ MORE)