Apple considering making iPhone in the US

iPhones may soon be made in US as Apple has asked Foxconn and Pegatron to look into this possibility, reports said. According to Nikkei Asian Review, key Apple assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, has been studying the possibility of moving iPhone production to the US.“Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron,the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the US Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns,” sources said.
But the sources have said that making of iPhones in the US will cost will more than double. The general perception among Americans that they are losing manufacturing jobs to other countries overlaps the Apple’s ‘rumoured’ prospect move.
President-elect Donald Trump referred to Apple multiple times during his campaign and vowed to slap a 45 per cent tariff on goods made in China. “We’re going to get Apple to build their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries,” Trump said at Liberty University in Virginia in January. Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook was quoted by CBS’ 60 Minutes programme in December 2015 that America simply did not have enough skilled workers for the production of iPhones.
To make iPhones, there will need to be a cluster of suppliers in the same place, which the US does not have at the moment. Even if Trump imposes a 45 per cent tariff, it is still possible that manufacturers will decide to continue production overseas as long as the costs together with the tariffs are lower than the amount they need to spend on building and running production lines in the US,” sources familiar with the iPhone production process were quoted by Nikkei Asian Review.
Sources said that to make iPhones, America will need US government to subsidise local companies for domestic productions.

Apple accounted for 103.6 per cent of smartphone profit

While there is a lot of talk about how Apple’s momentum is slowing down, there seems to be one area where it is way ahead of the competition and that is profits. In fact, one analyst thinks Apple has more than 100 per cent of smartphone industry profits in Q3.As per BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long, Apple accounted for 103.6 per cent of all smartphone industry operating profits in Q3. The number is above cent per cent because other vendors are losing money.
Thus Apple ends up with “more smartphone profit than the industry netted overall”. For the year-earlier period, Apple grabbed 90 per cent of smartphone profits, Long said, highlighting how others had fallen of the cliff when it came to profits.
In fact, the number 2 in profits is Korean tech giant Samsung with a mere 0.9 per cent share. Long said everyone from LG to HTC had lost money in the quarter. The analyst was of the opinion that Samsung, which had lost some market share because of the Note 7 fiasco, will end up ceding more ground to Apple in the near future.
However, according to BMO estimates, Samsung still had 21.7 per cent of the smartphone market based on units sold in Q3, followed by Apple (13.2 per cent) and Huawei(9.7 per cent). Apple launched the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus in September this year at a crucial time for the company when its overall revenue has fallen thanks to slowing iPhone sales, which has become the star product in its portfolio. However, most analysts expect the iPhone 8 to come with major design changes and spark better upgrade than the 7 series.

Apple Patent hint Bendable, Foldable iPhone

Apple iPhone 8 is set to launch next, and reports suggest that Cupertino giant is expected to bring about a radical change for it as 2017 is the 10th year anniversary for Apple’s iPhone. Now a patent, filed in 2014, has been granted and published online by the US Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) reveal Apple is working on overhauling the very base of iPhone. Going by the patent, Apple could soon introduce an iPhone with flexible screen. According to the patent, it talks of ‘polymer materials in the flexible structure may be molded to form bends.’The text in the patent reads,“An electronic device has structures such as substrates and internal housing structures.
The substrates may be rigid substrates such as rigid printed circuit boards and flexible substrates such as flexible printed circuits, flexible touch sensor substrates, and flexible display substrates.
Carbon nanotubes may be patterned to form carbon nanotube signal paths on the substrates. The signal paths may resist cracking when bent. A flexible structure such as a flexible printed circuit may have carbon nanotube signal paths interposed between polymer layers. Openings in a polymer layer may expose metal solder pads on the carbon nanotube signal paths. A stiffener may be provided under the metal solder pads.
Polymer materials in the flexible structure may be molded to form bends. Bends may be formed along edges of a touch sensor or display or maybe formed in a flexible printed circuit.”A figure posted on USPTO shows a smartphone that has a foldable hinge, running vertically along the device. The device, in the image, opens up like a rectangular notebook.
The image caption read, “FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device that bends along a flexible portion such as a flexible seam associated with a hinge in accordance with an embodiment.”Clearly, such an iPhone sounds vastly different from the current iPhone 7 series. The latest patent update is only going to raise expectations for this device, which a couple of months away from an official launch.

iPhone 8 to feature all Glass

With the launch of the iPhone 7 now, we already boarded the hype train for iPhone 8 and now with all these new leaks and rumours, we can say that we are slowly getting closer to the destination. We have been hearing a lot about this new iPhone which is supposed to be called the iPhone 8. If you didn’t know already, then this is also going to be the 10-year anniversary edition of the smartphone and hence we are expecting some radical design change here. But this new rumour is something we have never heard about. According to the source, the company might be looking to launch a new iPhones of different sizes varying from 4.7″ display size to 5″ and a 5.5″ as well. Yes, we were surprised to see them launching 2 different iPhones with the iPhone 6 and now with the rumours of the 3 different sizes, things get a little bit clumsy. Also, there are reports claiming that the new iPhones will have glass on both front and the back and it will be held together by a metal frame. This design is something very similar to what we see with the Samsung devices mostly.
The glass panels will be provided by Chinese companies Biel Crystal Manufactory and Lens Technology. And the metal frame to hold them together is supposed to be delivered by China’s Foxconn, Catcher Technology, and U.S.-based company Jabil. It is also expected that only the bigger variant i.e. the 5.5″ variant will come with the new alleged OLED panel and the other two versions will come with the same low-temperature polysilicon technology, which is used i current edition. This is not surprising at all since we already know that the company pushes new technology with the bigger variant just like they did with the new iPhone 7 Plus this year.
Now talking about the new rumours of 3 different sizes, it is highly unlikely to happen because it doesn’t make any sense for them to launch a 4.7″ display alongside a 5″ one. Considering the fact that the difference is very less here, we believe that they would stick to only 2 variant and maybe the 5″ model is something that they will separately or maybe it is special edition smartphone which they will be launching for 10-year anniversary occasion. However, all these are just early speculation and we don’t have any confirmation on any of this info.
Well, talking about the iPhones, if you are in the market for a new iPhone then you can buy the latest ones being the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. And as far as the iPhone 8 rumours are concerned, we suggest you take them with a pinch of salt and wait for more info in the future.

ApplePay live in Japan

The release of iOS 10.1 has brought with it support for ApplePay in Japan, one of Apple's largest markets and a country where mobile payments have been commonplace for well over a decade. The expansion into Japan required significant work from Apple to get its payment system working on the existing infrastructure.
In Japan, Apple Pay is actually more like two systems. There's the system that works like it does everywhere else, where you add a card from a supported bank and pay at the register by authenticating your fingerprint with Touch ID. But Japan is still a largely cash-based society when it comes to typical store payments — many places don't take credit cards at all. It's the second system that will prove more useful for most Japanese iPhone users: Suica. Suica is more useful than credit card support in Japan
Suica is a contactless card that is most often used on Japanese public transport; you charge it with money at a ticket machine, then tap the gates at any train station or the readers inside buses and taxis. It's based on Felica technology, an early form of NFC developed by Sony, and is also widely supported by vending machines, convenience stores, and other retailers. With today's launch of Apple Pay, Japanese iPhone users can create a virtual card in a new Suica app, charge it (either through Apple Pay or another method), and add it to Apple Wallet. The Suica app can also be used to buy reserved tickets for services like the shinkansen bullet train and store them in Wallet.
Touch ID is turned off by default for transit use, so as not to hold up other commuters when passing through busy stations; the regular cards work more or less instantly. Security for Suica cards is less of an issue than it is with credit cards, since they can only be charged with up to 20,000 yen (about $192) and essentially function as electronic cash.
Once created, a virtual Suica card can be added to the Apple Watch, though this removes it from the iPhone — Suica cards can't be cloned. (You can just make separate cards for each device, though.)While Apple Pay works with the iPhone 6 and later as well as the original Apple Watch, you'll need an iPhone 7 or Apple Watch Series 2 bought in Japan to use it there; Apple had to create special Japan-specific models with Felica chips inside to work with existing readers.

Mac Pro unofficial competitor is Samsung’s modular ArtPC Pulse

Samsung’s competition with Apple in terms of design is not a new story and the Korean smartphone giant has been outdesigning the Cupertino products lately. Having already conquered the smartphone market with great design, Samsung is bringing those elements to PC world. Samsung has announced a customisable, modular desktop with high-end components and a Mac Pro-esque circular design. Samsung’s ArtPC Pulse offers circular design and unique pulse lighting that also acts as notification system. With easy to add module, ArtPC Pulse users can easily customise the storage option.
Samsung ArtPC Pulse features a customisable band that offers subtle lighting to reflect incoming notifications. The pulse lighting turns yellow for new email, blue for a social media update and green for a new chat message.
The PC also offers an hourly chime for notifying time.
Samsung ArtPC Pulse’s customisable circular design is made of full metal unibody, which is 5.5-inches wide and around one foot tall. The PC comes with sixth generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, AMD Radeon RX460 graphics processor, up to 16GB RAM. The internal storage is a hybrid of 256GB SSD and one HDD module. Samsung says the SSD storage would yield faster load times and performance.
Since the design is circular, Samsung has managed to pack in a 360 degree Harman/Kardon speaker for rich surround sound experience. The speaker can be customised with options for specific audio effects and sound balancing. Samsung ArtPC Pulse comes with plethora of ports like four USB 3.0, a USB Type-C and HDMI port.
Samsung’s ArtPC Pulse ships with a wireless keyboard and mouse for wireless use. The Samsung ArtPC Pulse is available for preorder at $1,199.99.

Apple's self-driving car ambitions shrink to just software, says Bloomberg

Apple has been typically secretive about its car initiative, code-named Project Titan, but multiple stories now suggest the company has reduced its ambitions significantly. According to a report from Bloomberg, the company is no longer attempting to build its own electric car to compete with companies like Tesla, but is instead focused on developing self-driving software it can deploy in partnership with existing carmakers.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Alex Webb write that in recent months, hundreds of members of Apple's 1,000-strong car team have been "reassigned, let go, or have left of their own volition." Company executives have reportedly issued a deadline of late 2017 to decide on the car's final direction, with this change said to be triggered by "months of strategy disagreements, leadership flux and supply chain challenges."
Apple originally started Project Titan in 2014, and had ambitious plans to shake up the auto industry as it had the mobile business.
As Apple's COO Jeff Williams said in 2015: "The car is the ultimate mobile device, isn’t it?" However, it seems the company underestimated the complexity of the task, particularly the challenges of automotive supply chains. Today's report follows a similar story from Bloomberg in July and another from The New York Times in September.
Apple, meanwhile, has yet to even acknowledge that it has a secret car project, although CEO Tim Cook did allude to it at the company's most recent annual shareholders' meeting."Do you remember when you were a kid, and Christmas Eve, it was so exciting, you weren’t sure what was going to be downstairs?" said Cook in February. "Well, it’s going to be Christmas Eve for a while." Now though, Apple risks disappointing fans when they do finally get a look at what's under the tree.

*.Source:Bloomberg

Apple to use E-ink in its keyboards

Apple is rumored to be holding a press event before the end of this month where it will show off its newline of MacBook Pros. The refreshed laptops will reportedly feature an OLED touch display above the keyboard that changes depending on which application the user has open. Now, it’s been revealed that a similar system could be implemented into an entire Apple keyboard.
Reddit user Foxconninsider, who works at Tsinghua University (“like the Chinese MIT”), said such a keyboard was on show at a recent closed-doors event on campus, hosted by Apple supplier Foxconn.
Australian startup Sonder was present at the event, showing off a prototype next generation Apple Magic Keyboard that features an E-Ink display on every key. These can change depending on a user’s needs, bringing up different languages, images, and shortcuts. The device could also have many applications when if comes to gaming, especially with titles that use a lot of keys, such as Elite: Dangerous.
Sonder revealed its backlit, e-display keyboard last year. The company confirmed to trusted Reviews that it is closing procurement contracts with three third-party laptop companies “to integrate our technology into their products.” The Redditor claims a Foxconn executive said Apple’s Procurement Board “was closing an acquisition” for Sonder. Foxconninsider said he also saw the MacBook Pro’s OLED panel at the show, described as the “new Macbook keyboard module.
”Red dit mods have verified Foxconninsider’s identity, but the keyboard is an early prototype designed for testing, so it’s not guaranteed to appear in any future Apple laptops or as a standalone product.An Apple spokesperson said: “Sonder has been in discussions with Apple’s procurement board regarding Sonder’s laptop module.
Foxconn International Holdings andE Ink Holdings – both strategic partners of Sonder Design Pty. Ltd. are assisting with the above discussions."

When you can buy Apple Watch Nike+

The Apple Watch Nike+ edition will be available on October 28 at a starting price of $369 / £369 / AU$529 at the Apple Store. It's available in four color options: Space Gray with a Black / Volt band, Space Gray with a Black / Cool Gray band, Silver with a Flat Silver / White band, and Silver with a Flat Silver / Volt band. With a perforated strap for maximum breath ability, the Apple Watch Nike+ is up to the task of keeping users on track to meet their fitness goals. It features built-in GPS, a bright display for better outdoor viewing, and water resistance up to 50 meters.
The watch also connects to the Nike+ Run Club app so you can see what your friends are getting into, plus doles out extra motivation like reminders to go for your daily jog. Out a few weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Apple Watch Nike+ could be the perfect personal trainer to help you shed those holiday pounds.

Samsung to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7 disaster

Samsung is still in the midst of an unprecedented tech disaster with its Galaxy Note 7, despite officially burying the smartphone earlier this week. While some have speculated the South Korean giant will respond to the loss in profits and consumer confidence by releasing the Galaxy S8 earlier or with ground breaking specs, it turns out a much simpler tactic could be utilised.
According to a leak picked up by Trusted Reviews, Samsung may be planning to launch a 'Blue Coral' version of its non-explosive Galaxy S7 Edge- likely in an effort to draw attention away from the Note 7.
Perhaps the fact the colour was the most popular one for the failed smartphone is just coincidence, but it would make sense to block out public memory of the device by applying its trademark finish to a successful model.
The leak above not only shows off the potentially fresh colour, it also etches in the branding of carrier Verizon- something which suggests it could be in line for a US or exclusive option. Boo.
The move, if it does turn out to be legit, would also replicate a similar tactic by rival Apple. With the iPhone 7 featuring minimal upgrades from its predecessor, the company managed to distract everyone with two new black colourways - one of these crucially being shiny and ultra-pretty. As always, it's best to take these kinds of leaks with a reasonable dose of salt.
After all, we won't know for sure until any official confirmation from Samsung.

Amazon to challenge Apple and Spotify

Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday launched a full-fledged music streaming service with subscriptions as low as $3.99 per month for owners of its Amazon Echo speaker, accelerating the industry trend toward more flexible pricing after years of sticking to $9.99 subscriptions. The new streaming service, called “Amazon Music Unlimited,” lets users access a vast catalog of songs on demand, similar to Spotify and Apple Music.
Subscriptions to play music on the Echo cost $3.99 per month; for access beyond that device, subscriptions cost$7.99 a month for members of Amazon’s Prime shipping and video service and$9.99 for non-members. Amazon will continue to offer Prime members a limited streaming service for free.