Thoughts on Apple's HomePod

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

San Jose, California - Apple's newest product category since the Apple Watch in 2015 (or, it can be argued, since the EarPods last year) is their HomePod speaker revealed here a few days ago and which is coming to the US in December (with mid-2018 availability in Canada likely).

In typical Apple fashion, the company comes rather late into a market that's already quite mature. Amazon's Echo can be credited for creating the connected speaker/voice assistant space, and it's a huge seller in the US, Amazon's even expanded their product line to smaller Dot speakers as well as licensing Echo across various OEMs, including high-end speaker brands.

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WWDC 2017: watchOS 4 further refines Apple Watch for fitness

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

San Jose, CA - Apple introduced watchOS 4 today at the WWDC 2017 Keynote and said the updated wearable OS will deliver more intelligence and fitness functionality to users. A new Siri watchface brings proactive information when it is needed the most and is based on machine learning and Siri intelligence.

There will now be personalized activity coaching, a new music experience that syncs over playists and an enhanced workout app that ingegrates high intensity interval training. Another big feature is that Apple Watch will be able to synchronize with popular indoor gym equiptment, making tracking of stats and performance more accurate. This platform GymKit technology offers connected workouts with Apple Watch and cardio equipment. watchOS 4 will also introduce watchfaces based off Toy Story characters.

WWDC 2017: Apple redesigns App Store

San Jose, CA- Apple has redesigned the user interface of their App Store, which serves as the starting point for many app searches. Designed around making apps more discoverable the new App Store also highlights Games, which is the leading category.

The redesigned App Store is packed with original stories and editorial, updated daily in a new Today tab, as well as new Games and Apps tabs. Apple wants to offer compelling stories, in-depth interviews, helpful tips and collections of must-have apps and games will showcase Apple’s unique perspective and aim to inform, help and inspire users.

App Store customers have now downloaded more than 180 billion apps and Apple has paid out over $70 billion to developers since the store launched in 2008, making it the most vibrant software marketplace in the world. More than 500 million unique customers visit it every week.

WWDC 2017: iPad Pro line gets new 10.5-inch model, specific iOS 11 features

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

San Jose, CA - Fans of the iPad Pro line had much to rejoice for during today's WWDC Keynote where a new 10.5-inch model was announced replacing the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and adding 20% more screen real estate. The new iPad Pros boast the most advanced displays Apple has ever made with a new technology that delivers refresh rates of up to 120Hz for fluid scrolling, greater responsiveness and smoother motion content. With ProMotion, Apple Pencil is even more responsive with an industry-best, 20-millisecond latency for even more fluid and natural drawing. 

iPad Pro boasts performance that matches and surpasses many PCs. Apple's provided a 64-bit A10X Fusion chip, a six-core CPU and 12-core GPU that can deliver up to 30 percent faster CPU performance and 40 percent faster graphics performance than the industry-leading A9X chip, while lasting 10 hours on a battery charge. 

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