The iPhone helped Apple to another quarter of record-breaking sales
Apple just announced its Q4 2015 financial results, and as usual it’s another big quarter for the iPhone. The company sold just over 48 million iPhones in Q4, up from 39.3 million one year ago. That’s despite the fact that the new iPhone 6s was only on sale for about one week of the quarter. The company says it also had the biggest quarter of Mac sales ever, with 5.7 million units sold — that’s up from 5.5 million in the year-ago quarter.
Source: Apple (Marketwatch), Apple
IBM Providing Employees With Free or Reduced Cost Apple Watch as Part of Health Insurance Plan
Extending its partnership with Apple, IBM is now planning to provide its employees with free or discounted Apple Watch models as part of a “Commit to Health” initiative that will see the Apple Watch distributed to employees under their health insurance plans.
Based on the health plan an IBM employee chooses, they can either get a subsidy that covers the full cost of an Apple Watch or the option to purchase an Apple Watch at a reduced price. IBM is likely hoping its employees will take advantage of the Apple Watch’s fitness tracking capabilities, racking up steps and meeting exercise goals to stay healthy.
IBM had a similar program that saw employees provided with Fitbit activity trackers, but it is not clear if the Apple Watch is supplementing this program or replacing it. With the Fitbit program, exercising and taking steps let employees accumulate points that were able to be redeemed for merchandise or charitable donations.
Several health insurance companies and businesses have teamed up to adopt similar programs in an effort to cut down on healthcare costs, incentivizing exercise and activity with lower premiums and other rewards. Fitbit, for example, works with a large number of companies to incorporate activity tracking into corporate wellness programs.
Most of these programs existed before the Apple Watch launched, but the Apple Watch itself has proven to be a highly useful tool that motivates wearers to exercise, and it’s possible additional companies could follow in IBM’s footsteps in the future.
The Apple Watch encourages users to stand up once per hour, exercise, and burn calories to achieve goals. Many early Apple Watch adopters have said the device has motivated them to make better lifestyle choices, increasing their daily activity. Jim Dalrymple of The Loop, for example, credits HealthKit and the Apple Watch for his weight loss of 40 pounds.
(Thanks, Eric!)
Apple Seeds First iOS 9.2 Beta to Developers
Apple today seeded the first beta of iOS 9.2 to developers for testing purposes, just under a week after the public release of iOS 9.1. iOS 9.1 brought new emoji and several under-the-hood fixes for issues that have plagued users since the launch of iOS 9.
The iOS 9.2 beta is available for download immediately from the Apple Developer Center, and it’s likely a public beta will be available in the near future.
It is not yet known what changes iOS 9.2 will bring to Apple’s newest operating system, iOS 9, but as a major .1 update, iOS 9.2 is likely to introduce new features, performance improvements, and bug fixes. We’ll update this post with any changes that are discovered in the beta.
What’s new in iOS 9.2
According to the release notes the Safari view window that pops up in some apps will now support third-party Action Extensions. Any Action Extension that works in Safari will also work in SFSafariViewController, allowing it to behave more like the traditional Safari app.
Long tapping on the Reload button in the Safari View Controller will also offer options to reload content without content blockers and request desktop site, as in Safari.
Kohl’s Becomes First Retailer to Support Apple Pay for Store-Branded Cards
Apple updated its Apple Pay participating issuers list today, adding Kohl’s as the first U.S. retailer accepting store-branded cards that offer discounts and rewards. The department store chain confirmed on Twitter that iPhone users can make purchases using Kohl’s Charge Cards on Apple Pay starting today.
Apple announced at WWDC 2015 that iOS 9 would support rewards and store-issued cards, including those from Kohl’s, JCPenney, Walgreens, BJ’s Wholesale Club and several other retailers. Kohl’s briefly announced forthcoming Apple Pay support for its Charge Cards private label credit cards last week, which is now live.
Enhanced Mobile Payment Options: Customers can pay easily and quickly with Apple Pay in stores when they add their Kohl’s Charge as a form of payment. In addition, customers will be able to complete purchases across all digital channels with Visa Checkout, which makes it fast and easy to buy gifts for everyone on the list on Kohls.com and mobile devices.
@biplane_messiah That's right. Starting this Tuesday, customers will be able to make purchases on Apple Pay using their Kohl's Charge Card.
— Kohl's (@Kohls) October 24, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsKohl’s is the largest U.S. department store chain by the number of stores, with around 1,200 as of February 2013.
Nanoleaf Debuts New HomeKit-Enabled Smarter Kit With Two Light Bulbs and a Hub
Nanoleaf, the company behind a line of designer energy-efficient light bulbs, today announced its latest product, the Nanoleaf Smarter Kit. The Nanoleaf Smarter Kit, which is debuting today on Indiegogo, is the first Nanoleaf product to include HomeKit support.
Through HomeKit, iPhone users with the Nanoleaf Smarter Kit will be able to control their lightbulbs with voice commands, turning them on and off and incorporating them into scenes with other HomeKit-enabled products through the accompanying Nanoleaf Smarter iOS app. The kit is also compatible with other connected smart bulbs such as the Philips Hue line.
The Nanoleaf Smarter Kit ships with one Nanoleaf hub and two energy efficient Nanoleaf Ivy light bulbs. The Nanoleaf Hub connects to a router to provide a way for an iPhone to connect wirelessly to the Nanoleaf bulbs. Each of the 3000K warm white bulbs measures in at 800 lumens, drawing 7 watts of power and putting out an amount of light equivalent to a 60 watt bulb.
These bulbs also have a unique design that lets them be used sans lampshade and with a range of decorative open-faced lamps. They’re made from printed circuit boards embedded with LED chips and and folded into a dodecahedron shape.
The Nanoleaf Smarter Kit can be purchased via Indiegogo or the Nanoleaf website for $99. The kit will ship out to customers beginning on November 26.
Apple Adds Carrier Billing to iTunes, Starting With O2 in Germany
For the first time since the iTunes Store launched in 2003, Apple has added a way for customers to pay for purchases without using a credit, debit or iTunes gift card. Starting with German carrier O2, customers can now link a phone number to their iTunes account and use carrier billing for purchases, per TechCrunch.
Apple’s new mobile phone bill option for iTunes accounts (Image: Carsten Knobloch)
The new payment method enables customers to pay for apps, songs, TV shows, movies, iBooks and other iTunes content without needing a credit or debit card, or even a bank account. Customers without a carrier contract will have iTunes purchases debited from a prepaid amount applied to the iPhone.
O2 parent company Telefonica confirmed it is working on carrier billing with Apple:
“Telefónica Germany is working with Apple related to carrier billing,” a spokesperson told us in an email. “Payment via the O2 phone bill is now available for Apple Music, iTunes, App Store and iBooks Store Purchases. The service is gradually being rolled out and will be available for all O2 customers (prepaid and postpaid) in Germany by the beginning of November 2015.”
Apple may be working with carrier billing provider Bango, used by rivals like Amazon:
We have heard on the grapevine, however, that Apple has been talking for a while with Bango, a carrier billing provider, to roll out carrier billing functionality on iTunes. […]
TechCrunch believes Apple will expand carrier billing to additional markets in the future.
Apple Remaining ‘Conservative’ Over Upcoming Sales of iPad Pro
The iPad Pro is less than a month from launch — with an unspecified date for the device sometime in November — but a few rumors out of Apple’s supply chain yesterday are already pointing to the company’s expected sales figures for the 12.9-inch display tablet. According to the supply chain sources (via DigiTimes), Apple has placed “limited orders” for the iPad Pro for the 2015 holiday season, leading into the first quarter of 2016, pointing towards a “conservative attitude” regarding the sales of the larger-screened iPad.
Specifically, the sources say the company has placed orders for less than 2.5 million iPad Pro units for the end of 2015. After that, Apple is believed to take a wait-and-see approach to the volume amount for Q1 2016, which could be even lower than 2.5 million if holiday sales this year aren’t impressive enough for the Cupertino-based company. The supply chain sources note that since most businesses are always looking to cut costs, the top-tier pricing of the enterprise-focused iPad Pro, and its accessories, may in fact not hit its target demographic as Apple expects.
The tablet market as a whole has stagnated over the past few years, as more and more users remain unconvinced of a reason to upgrade yearly for such a tertiary device. In July, iPad sales were found to have been in decline for six consecutive quarters, with much hope aimed at the 2015 holiday season’s launch of the new iPad line. With today’s conservative iPad Pro estimates, no iPad Air 3 launching this year, and Apple’s own soft launch of the iPad mini 4, it seems like iPad sales — and the tablet market as a whole — may not rebound as much as expected this holiday.
Huawei Challenges Apple and Samsung as Third-Largest Smartphone Maker
While the smartphone market largely remains a two-horse race between rivals Apple and Samsung, Chinese handset maker Huawei is placing increasing pressure on the industry giants after experiencing strong growth in China and Europe in 2015.
Third-quarter deliveries climbed 81 percent and 98 percent in China and Europe respectively from a year ago. About a third of the quarterly shipments were mid- to high-end models, Huawei said, up from 25 percent a year earlier.
Huawei cemented its position as the third-largest smartphone vendor, a rank that previously belonged to Chinese rival Xiaomi, after its third-quarter smartphone shipments rose 63% year-over-year to 27.4 million handsets, according to Reuters.
“It’s hard to find a solid contender to Huawei for the top three position (after Samsung and Apple) in the short term,” said Nicole Peng, Asia Pacific director at research firm Canalys. “That’s impressive growth.”
Huawei is projected to ship more than 100 million smartphones in 2015, around 33% more than 2014, outpacing growth forecast for major rivals including Apple, Xiaomi and Lenovo. The Shenzhen-based handset maker also doubled its smartphone revenue in the first half of 2015 in China, a key smartphone market alongside the United States.
Nevertheless, Huawei remains a distant third behind Apple and Samsung, largely because its market penetration remains low in the U.S., where its devices were once labeled a security risk in a U.S. Congressional report. Huawei’s smartphone market share was worth $7 billion in the second quarter, according to Canalys.
Astropad Mini App Gains 3D Touch Support With Pressure Sensitive Drawing on iPhone 6s
Astropad Mini, the app that turns the iPhone into a graphics tablet for the Mac, is getting a major update today to add new features to the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus. The new version of the app includes support for 3D Touch, enabling pressure sensitive drawing.
When using a finger or a stylus, the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus is able to detect 256 levels of pressure being on the screen, letting users draw thinner or thicker lines based on the amount of pressure that’s applied.
For those unfamiliar with the Astropad line of apps, they’re able to transform an iPhone or an iPad into a professional graphics tablet that can be used with the Mac by mirroring the Mac’s display to the iPhone. The iPhone’s touch controls are then used for creative tasks like editing photos and creating art with little to no lag. Because the app simply mirrors what’s on the Mac’s screen, it’s compatible with any Mac-based editing app like Photoshop CC and Pixelmator.
The Astropad Mini app for the iPhone is now a free download, as is the Mac app, so the Astropad system can be used by anyone at no cost. The Mac app is available from the Astropad website and the iPhone app is available from the iOS App Store. [Direct Link]
Apple Shares New ‘Half Court’ Ad Showing Off Live Photos on iPhone 6s
Just a day after debuting three new iPhone 6s ads focused on the iPhone’s camera and wireless “Hey Siri” functionality, Apple has shared a new short 15-second ad in the same series, this time focusing on Live Photos.
In the “Half Court” ad, the iPhone 6s is used to capture a half-court shot made by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, which is then played back again.
The iPhone 6s is here, and the only thing that’s changed with the camera is everything. Because now you can shoot amazing Live Photos. Bringing every moment, big or small, to life with just a touch.
Yesterday’s longer camera-focused iPhone 6s ad also featured a shot by Stephen Curry and both ads come just ahead of the start of the 2015-2016 NBA Regular season. The two ads may be featured during the Cavaliers/Bulls and Pelicans/Golden State Warriors games, set to be broadcast on TNT.
Over the course of the last several weeks, Apple has launched more than five videos to market the iPhone 6s, which have focused on 3D Touch, Siri, and the new camera features in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Apple has also released a number of Apple Watch ads highlighting Apple Music, Apple Pay, Siri, and more.
AIVAnet 