Monday, February 5, 2018

Apple Watch, AirPods drive Wearables rev 70%, outpacing size, growth of Amazon ads, Google Cloud, Alphabet Other Bets

Apple Watch, AirPods drive Wearables rev 70%, outpacing size, growth of Amazon ads, Google Cloud, Alphabet Other Bets - Article Image

Apple is criticized for making much of its revenues from one hit product: iPhone. However, its newest foray into Wearables has not only become its fastest-growing revenue source behind iPhone, but is also larger and growing more rapidly than other top tech firms' hyped future growth segments, such as Amazon's ads business, Google's Cloud and Alphabet's Other Bets.

(Via AppleInsider.)

Apple offers special badge, iMessage stickers for Apple Watch owners during Heart Month

Apple offers special badge, iMessage stickers for Apple Watch owners during Heart Month - Article Image

To mark American Heart Month, which promotes cardiovascular health, Apple is launching a special Activity Challenge for the Apple Watch, which comes with a badge and three animated iMessage stickers for whoever completes it.

(Via AppleInsider.)

Google Releases YouTube TV App for Apple TV (and Roku)

Google Releases YouTube TV App for Apple TV (and Roku) -

A lot of people are looking at HomePod’s exclusive first-class support for Apple Music and see selfish intent. Apple isn’t working with Spotify or other services because they want everyone to use Apple’s media ecosystem for everything, is the thinking. Maybe! But maybe HomePod only works with Apple Music for now. I don’t know, and Apple isn’t going to tell anyone.

But look at Apple TV. There’s still no “skinny bundle” from Apple itself but now you use Apple TV to watch YouTube’s TV package, Playstation’s, and I’m sure others. There’s certainly no lock-in to the Apple media ecosystem on Apple TV. I think a lot of this is just a big complicated mess behind the scenes.

(To be clear, because I see a lot of misinformation on this front: You can play Spotify or anything else on HomePod, but only over AirPlay, not just by talking to the device like you can with Apple Music and iTunes Store music.)

(Via Daring Fireball.)

Video: How to permanently disable macOS High Sierra upgrade notifications

Video: How to permanently disable macOS High Sierra upgrade notifications -

Every time you boot a Mac running an older version of macOS, you'll likely see at least one pop-up notification urging you to download and install the latest macOS High Sierra operating system.

(Via AppleInsider.)

Apple begins wide collection of Apple Watch data for Heart Study

Apple begins wide collection of Apple Watch data for Heart Study - Article Image

Apple this week began collecting heart rate data from a wide number of Apple Watch owners who signed up to participate in a heart study being conducted in cooperation with Stanford Health.

(Via AppleInsider.)

Apple Music poised to overtake Spotify in US, possibly this summer

Apple Music poised to overtake Spotify in US, possibly this summer - Article Image

Assuming current subscriber growth rates hold steady, Apple Music should surpass Spotify -- if only in the U.S. -- sometime this summer, a report claimed on Sunday.

(Via AppleInsider.)

A tiny NASA satellite mapped Earth’s atmospheric ice

A tiny NASA satellite mapped Earth’s atmospheric ice - Last May, NASA launched a small, bread loaf-sized satellite into orbit around Earth. Dubbed IceCube, the satellite's mission was to measure cloud ice in our planet's atmosphere -- a challenging task that researchers have previously only been able to...

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

iPad Remains World's Most Popular Tablet as Apple Outsold Samsung and Amazon Combined Last Year

iPad Remains World's Most Popular Tablet as Apple Outsold Samsung and Amazon Combined Last Year - iPad remains the world's most popular tablet by a significant margin, having outsold competing devices from rivals Samsung and Amazon combined last year, according to data shared by research firm IDC today.


Apple sold a total of 43.8 million iPad units in 2017, as confirmed by its quarterly earnings results, while IDC estimates that Samsung and Amazon shipped 24.9 million and 16.7 million tablets respectively on the year. The combined Samsung-Amazon total of 41.6 million tablets is 2.2 million lower than iPad sales.

Apple captured a 26.8 percent share of the tablet market in 2017, meaning that roughly one in every four tablets sold last year was an iPad. Apple's tablet market share rose 2.5 percentage points year-on-year.


Last week, Apple reported revenue of $5.8 billion from iPad sales in the fourth quarter of 2017, representing growth of six percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple's average selling price of an iPad was $445, up slightly from $423 in year-ago quarter, suggesting more higher-priced iPad Pro sales.

Apple's growth in iPad sales, albeit relatively flat, contrasted with the overall tablet market's 6.5 percent decline in shipments in 2017 compared to 2016. iPad has been the world's most popular tablet since shortly after it launched.

Shifting focus to this year, Apple is rumored to launch at least one new iPad Pro model with slimmer bezels, no home button, and Face ID. We haven't heard much about the lower-cost 9.7-inch iPad and iPad mini, but each could certainly receive a routine speed bump this year among other upgrades as well.

Tag: IDC

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(Via MacRumors : Mac News and Rumors.)

First look: Occipital Structure sensor iPad attachment aims to simplify, add precision to room and object 3D scanning

First look: Occipital Structure sensor iPad attachment aims to simplify, add precision to room and object 3D scanning - Article Image

At the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, Occipital showed off its Structure mobile depth sensor that attaches to the back of an iPad to capture a 3D model of whatever is in front of it, including small and large objects, and the overall layout of a room -- and AppleInsider just got one to try out.

(Via AppleInsider.)