Apple Watch May Gain Additional Casing Material Options Later This Year

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a good track record in providing information on yet-to-be released Apple products, today released a report predicting that up to three new casing options for the Apple Watch will launch sometime this fall.



Kuo points out that the Apple Watch's sale momentum could stall entering the fourth quarter of the year, and thinks the release of new casing options for the device could reinvigorate it heading into the 2015 holiday shopping season.



Rumors stating that Apple was looking into a platinum casing for the Watch right before the "Spring Forward" event could point toward the option becoming available down the road.

Aside from current casing materials of aluminum, stainless steel and 18k gold, we believe 1-3 new versions of Apple Watch featuring new casing materials are likely to go into mass production in 4Q15. If this is the case, we think it could boost Apple Watch shipments momentum in 4Q15-1Q16.

Though impressed by the "outstanding designs" of the Apple Watch and new MacBook, Kuo sees the Watch underselling the market expectation of 20-30 million units in 2015 to about 15-20 million devices sold throughout the year. The analyst sees the Watch selling between 5-6 million units in the first half of the year, and the new MacBook about 450,000 units in that same time frame.



Kuo notes that as with many first-generation products, the Apple Watch will "focus on verifying whether the user behavior and business model are right", with subsequent generations honing in and expanding on the device's features and adding new ones, as well. As a result, he expects shipments to "grow significantly" in these second or third-generation Apple Watches in comparison to his predicted numbers for the first-generation model.

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Posted in 2015 at 03:18PM, March 11

Popular Media Player App 'VLC' Slowly Returning to the App Store [iOS Blog]

A few users began reporting on Reddit yesterday the return of popular alternative media player app VLC to the iOS App Store. The app, which arrives as a 2.4.1 update including iPhone 6 and 6 Plus support, is still rolling out to all users and currently shows as unavailable in the App Store for most countries, although some users who had previously downloaded the app before its removal have been able to access the new version through their purchase histories.





VLC for iOS was pulled from the App Store around the launch of iOS 8, and the company never officially commented on the reasons behind the mysterious disappearance other than saying it was "working with Apple on a solution." In late December, the company confirmed the app would return to the storefront in "early 2015."



The updated app, which allows users to use and watch many non-iOS friendly media files, sees the inclusion of folder support, passcode lock, and optimization for the larger screen sizes of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus amongst other updates. The app is rolling out to a select few countries first, and is expected to be made widely available to U.S. users soon.



VLC previously saw nearly a three-year hiatus from the App Store when it was taken down in 2010 thanks to licensing issues, finally returning in the summer of 2013.

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Posted in 2015 at 03:18PM, February 16

Apple Launches Annual 'Back to School' Promotion in Australia and New Zealand [Mac Blog]

Apple's annual "Back to School" promotion has returned to Australia and New Zealand, as spotted by 9to5Mac . The sale offers an Apple gift card worth between $25 to $100 to university students, students accepted to a university, parents buying for a university student and faculty that purchase a qualifying Mac, iPad or iPhone.





The list of qualifying products includes the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Eligible customers can combine the Back to School promotion with Apple Education Pricing for additional savings. The sale runs January 30 through March 19.



Apple holds a similar Back to School promotion in the United States during the summer months, offering Apple Store gift cards of equivalent amounts for new Mac, iPad and iPhone purchases. That sale typically runs from July through September and is also offered in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

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Posted in 2015 at 03:18PM, January 29

Apple Passes Nikon to Become Second Most Popular Camera Brand on Flickr

Flickr over the weekend released data detailing the most popular camera rankings of 2014 for the online photo sharing service. With 100 million users uploading 10 billion photos last year, the usual standouts of Canon and Nikon edged out most of the competition, but most interesting was Apple moving past Nikon to take second place in the rankings (via The Next Web ).





Focusing solely on the top 5 camera brands used on the service last year, Canon took first place with 13.4 percent, followed by Apple with 9.6 percent and Nikon with 9.3 percent. Samsung and Sony round out the other top spots.



Individual iPhone models have long registered as the most popular camera devices on Flickr, but in looking at overall brand performance, major traditional camera manufacturers Canon and Nikon with as many as several hundred different models on the market long held down the top spots until Apple's entry in 2014.



Flickr also looked at the top mobile device cameras used on Flickr, where Apple unsurprisingly dominated the top ten list. In first through fourth were the iPhone 5 (10.6 percent), iPhone 4s (7.0 percent), iPhone 4 (4.3 percent), and the iPhone 5c (2.0 percent). The iPhone 6, iPad, and iPad mini also placed in the top ten. It is unclear why the iPhone 5s is not included on Flickr's year-end lists, as it has been registering as the most popular camera overall for a number of months now.





Though Flickr's data can't exactly be used to specifically track the rise or fall of full-fledged DSLR and professional cameras, as Flickr is used by both paid professionals and everyday amateurs, it's still interesting to see Apple's own hardware slowly edge out such big brands in the photography space.

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Posted in 2015 at 03:18PM, January 12

CES 2015: Energous Demos Wire-Free Universal Device Charging With 'WattUp' [iOS Blog]

Setting up a "future home environment" at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino during this year's Consumer Electronics Show, technology company Energous Corporation demoed its newest product WattUp, a Bluetooth and radio frequency-enabled transmitter that uses the same radio bands as a Wi-Fi router to deliver "intelligent, scalable power" to charge everything from smartphones and tablets to wireless keyboards and children's toys.



The patent and trademark-pending charging solution differs from most wireless charging technologies due to its lack of need for a pad or other near-field peripheral to communicate between the device needing charge and the device giving the charge. The company promises "meaningful, useful power" will be used to charge a device, not only providing the equivalent charge of a traditional wall outlet, but allowing ease-of-use in letting consumers roam up to 15 feet away from the transmitter.

"As a leading company in the development of true wire-free, uncoupled power with complete mobility, Energous is proud to be demonstrating our technology in model homes of the future. This event at CES 2015 marks a significant achievement for Energous and the industry in showing how wire-free charging can be deployed in everyday living environments.” said Stephen R. Rizzone, CEO of Energous Corporation. “We believe we are the only CES exhibitor to be demonstrating true wire-free charging technology that lets users roam while their devices charge.”

Energous promises WattUp will charge "in essence any battery-powered device in your home or office," but the device itself must require 10 watts or less to function with the transmitter. One WattUp transmitter can handle 12 receiver devices at any given time.






The company also detailed a mobile and web-based app that will be used to control the order and preference of charge by customers. Users can opt for manual control, only receiving charge to devices when they specifically call for it. Those needing a constant top-off can set prioritized schedules inside the app, causing heavily-used phones and tablets to receive charges once the user walks through the door, and less time-sensitive items like remote controls and keyboards to charge on their own during the day.



Energous says it will begin licensing WattUp to both wearable and smartphone accessory markets, hoping the future brings expansive partnerships with Wi-Fi routers and smartphones themselves.

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Posted in 2015 at 03:18PM, January 06