California power companies want $1 billion to build EV chargers

It’s expensive to build an electric car charging network, and California utilities want the government’s help covering the tab. PG&E, SDG&E and Southern California Edison are requesting roughly $1 billion in funding to build both EV chargers and the power infrastructure needed to support them. Edison is asking for the most. It’s asking for $570 million to build public fast charging sites, the foundations for charging medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (including buses) and incentives in both electricity rates and for EV-toting ridesharing drivers.

The other two aren’t quite so ambitious, but are proposing additional efforts. PG&E would like to offer rebates on fast chargers for less fortunate communities, while SDG&E wants to both install chargers at 90,000 homes and offer dealerships rewards for selling EVs.

It’s not surprising why the three are asking for official help: California wants to dramatically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and meeting that goal on time could require some help. With that said, it’s not guaranteed that the state will hand over as much cash as they want, if any. These companies tend to make hefty profits (PG&E made $388 million in one quarter, for instance) — it may be hard to argue for a handout when a firm could pay for its strategy without batting an eye.

Via: Autoblog

Source: PG&E, Edison, SDG&E

Instagram Live Stories are going global this week

Since it announced a live streaming feature in November, Instagram has slowly been rolling out the service to its users in various parts of the world. Over the coming week, though, Instagrammers around the globe can begin to use the feature. So get ready to see streams from far-off places such as, oh, I don’t know, Singapore.

Starting a broadcast from Instagram is easy enough. Just swipe right from the home page, or tap the camera icon on the top left. Then swipe right again to go into Live mode, or press “Start Live Video.” To see what people are recording at any time, go to the Explore panel by tapping the magnifying glass at the bottom of the screen. Popular videos will be shown in the top row with badges that say “Live.”

If you don’t see any of the above, you might need to update to the latest version of Instagram. The feature is only available on versions 10.0 and later.

Source: Instagram

Apple lets App Store developers respond to reviews

Android app developers have had the option of responding to Google Play reviews for a while, but the same hasn’t been true for Apple products. If you want to grouse about a bug or shoddy design, you usually have to email the developer directly. That’s frustrating — but thankfully, not for much longer. Documentation for the newly released iOS 10.3 developer beta has revealed that creators will soon have the ability to respond to reviews on both the iOS and Mac App Stores. If devs want to promise a fix or correct mistaken claims, they can do it in a public forum.

Moreover, you won’t have to put up with apps that kick you over to the App Store when you offer to rate them. The iOS 10.3 beta includes a software kit that lets you rate an app while staying in the app. This won’t be much solace if you hate “rate our app” requests in the first place, but it should minimize disruptions and prevent repeated nagging. It could also improve the overall quality of App Store ratings, since there’s less temptation to skip the ratings requests.

There’s no known release window for iOS 10.3, although Apple tends to wrap up beta tests for minor updates within a month or two of the first builds going online.

Source: TechCrunch

Developers Able to Respond to Customer Reviews in iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4

Alongside iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4, Apple is introducing new App Store review features for developers.

Going forward, developers will be able to respond to customer reviews on the App Store “in a way that is available for all customers to see.” This will allow developers to address negative reviews for the first time ever, something that has long been a point of contention in the iOS and Mac App Stores.

Previously, developers have had no way to respond to issues that customers report via an app review, or to further converse with a customer that has been having trouble with an app.

Developers are also able to ask customers to provide App Store ratings and reviews while using an app, allowing developers to get immediate feedback without requiring a customer to switch over to the App Store.

Apps are currently able to ask for reviews and ratings during usage, but doing so requires the App Store app to be opened up, interrupting an app or gameplay experience.

The new App Store ratings and reviews changes will be available to developers when iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 are made available to the public.

Tag: App Store
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‘Theater Mode’ Coming to Apple Watch

Apple hasn’t released the first watchOS 3.2 beta to developers as of yet, but the company has shared release notes highlighting the new features that will be introduced in the update.

The most important new feature is a “Theater Mode” that’s designed to let customers quickly mute the screen on their Apple Watch and disable raise to wake, preventing the screen from lighting up with arm movement.

With Theater Mode enabled, customers will still receive haptic feedback for each incoming notification, and information can be viewed by tapping the screen or pressing down on the Digital Crown.

According to Apple, Theater Mode was included in watchOS 3.1.3, but it does not yet appear to be available to consumers as an option, suggesting it will be activated when watchOS 3.2 is installed.

Rumors originally suggested a theater mode would be included in iOS 10.3, but it appears the mode was actually designed for the Apple Watch, where it arguably makes a lot more sense. That rumor said theater mode would be activated through a popcorn-shaped icon, so we may see that icon on the Apple Watch.

watchOS 3.2 also brings SiriKit to the Apple Watch, allowing customers to ask Siri to do things like send messages, send payments, book a ride, log a workout, make a call, or search through photos. SiriKit has been available on iOS devices since the release of iOS 10, but is new to the Apple Watch.

WatchKit Framework Enhancements and the AVAudioPlayer API are other new features being added in watchOS 3.2. Given iOS 10.3, tvOS 10.2, and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 were released today, we could see a watchOS 3.2 beta soon, but Apple has given no indication of when it will launch.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch Series 2, watchOS 3
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Apple Forecasted to Report Record Earnings Next Week, but Will iPhone 8 Keep Driving Growth?

Barclays estimates that Apple will report a record-breaking $76.6 billion in revenue when it announces its earnings results for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 on January 31. Apple reported revenue of $75.9 billion in the year-ago quarter, and offers guidance of $76 billion to $78 billion for this quarter.

UBS estimates Apple will report revenue of $77.8 billion next week, which falls on the higher end of Apple’s guidance. UBS analyst Steven Milunovich maintained a “buy” rating for Apple stock with a target price of $127—compared to $120 currently—in a research noted issued to investors today.

Meanwhile, Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz lowered his price target for Apple’s stock from $119 to $117 in a research note issued to investors today.

Moskowitz does not expect “meaningful upside potential” for Apple in 2017. He believes customers increasingly “mixing down” by opting for the iPhone 6s in favor of the iPhone 7 could weigh on Apple, while he is also concerned about China and India failing to emerge as growth catalysts in the next 12 months.

He said the so-called “iPhone 8” will potentially have “no must-have advanced features,” making him skeptical of a meaningful growth rebound for Apple in the second half of this year. He added that smartphones have become “more than good enough” to serve the needs of most users over multiple years or until the device breaks.

While not likely to have a similar replacement cycle of PCs (i.e., 5-7 years), we think the smartphone market and thereby the iPhone franchise stand to face incremental headwinds this year and next, as the smartphone useful life extends to 3 to 4 years from 2 to 3 years previously. As a result, the prospect of revolutionary technology incorporated into the next iPhone (iPhone 8) is not likely to counter the expanding useful life of smartphones in general.

Specifically, he said OLED display options, bezel or bezel-less designs, an embedded Home button, and wireless charging are commonly mentioned in its discussions with industry participants about the next iPhone, but that the new features might not be able to reassert that “must have” element for customers.

Wireless charging in particular may be limited by the need to be close to a charging base. Moskowitz does not expect wireless charging over greater distances to develop until 2018-2019 at the earliest. He acknowledges that Apple could be making strides in this space by partnering with firms like Energous, but he maintains his view.

Nevertheless, he said Apple has a “sticky ecosystem” and a large cash balance that provide decent support for long-term investors.

Barclays predicted Apple has long-term growth opportunities related to India, its growing services category, the enterprise market, artificial intelligence, and possibly the cloud, but it does not expect those potential “what’s next?” opportunities to emerge as “major needle movers” for the company over the next 12 months.

Tags: earnings, Barclays, Mark Moskowitz, AAPL, UBS, Steven Milunovich
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