{"id":61100,"date":"2015-09-10T11:20:34","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T03:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=61100"},"modified":"2015-09-19T11:42:59","modified_gmt":"2015-09-19T03:42:59","slug":"apple-stakes-new-claim-to-living-room-shows-new-iphones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/09\/10\/apple-stakes-new-claim-to-living-room-shows-new-iphones\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple stakes new claim to living room, shows new iPhones"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"IPhone<\/a>
IPhone 6s and 6s Plus<\/a> will be sold starting September 25. (Screengrab from Apple’s TV ad)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 Apple staked a new claim to the living room on Wednesday, as the maker of iPhones and other hand-held gadgets unveiled an Internet TV system that’s designed as a beachhead for the tech giant’s broader ambitions to deliver a wide range of information, games, music and video to the home.<\/p>\n

CEO Tim Cook and other executives also showed off two new iPhone models, a plus-sized iPad with detachable keyboard and updated software for the Apple Watch during an exhaustive, two-hour event in San Francisco\u2019s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.<\/p>\n

Apple is counting on sales of the new iPhones to maintain its position as one of the most profitable, and valuable, companies in the world.<\/p>\n

But it’s the new Apple TV system that some analysts point to as an important step for the company as Cook attempts to build a business that doesn\u2019t rely so heavily on the iPhone.<\/p>\n

\u201cApple is laying the groundwork for a broader living-room strategy\u201d said analyst Ben Bajarin from the research firm Creative Strategies. Apple wants to make the already-important TV screen into an essential hub for communication and entertainment, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTV plays a huge role in our lives and it occupies an important place in our homes,\u201d Cook said during his presentation. He added that Apple believes \u201cthe future of television is apps\u201d that deliver streaming video, games and other services.<\/p>\n

For now, however, the iPhone is still Apple\u2019s most important product. Sales of the iconic smartphone contributed more than two-thirds of the Cupertino, California, company’s $107 billion in revenue during the first half of 2015.<\/p>\n

Apple announced Wednesday that it will sell two new iPhone models, dubbed the 6s and 6s Plus, starting Sept. 25. They\u2019re roughly the same size and will cost the same as the record-selling 6 and 6 Plus models introduced last year, which will now sell for $100 less.<\/p>\n

The new iPhones will have more memory and faster processors, along with a new 12 mega-pixel camera.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most noticeable upgrade, however, is the addition of \u201c3D Touch,\u201d a feature that uses added screen sensors to detect the difference between a light tap and extended finger pressure, triggering different menus and functions for apps made by Apple and outside developers.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what you like to do with your phone, 3D Touch makes it better than ever,\u201d boasted Apple Senior Vice President Craig Federighi.<\/p>\n

Some analysts have questioned how compelling the new features will be. Apple sold more than 183 million iPhones since the last models were introduced in 2014, which is 40 percent more than it sold in the same period a year earlier. But the company may be hard-pressed to show more growth, especially when smartphone sales are slowing worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one big concern about Apple, that it\u2019s so dependent on the iPhone,\u201d said Jerry Kim, a Columbia University management professor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe smartphone market is headed for a peak, and everyone is going to be feeling that,\u201d said Bob O\u2019Donnell, a veteran consumer tech analyst with Technalysis Research. \u201cSo Apple has got to diversify.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cook, while insisting there is room for iPhone sales to grow, has begun pushing into new product categories. In addition to the Apple Watch, introduced earlier this year, executives spent a large part of Wednesday\u2019s event showing off the new Apple TV.<\/p>\n

The new TV box is a significant upgrade from older versions the company has sold since 2007. The new device has a more powerful processor and updated software for running Internet apps and games on TVs, along with streaming music and video. It will start at $149 and will be available in late October.<\/p>\n

An integral part of Apple\u2019s system is a hand-held remote that can be controlled with a touch screen and voice commands, allowing users to request information and search for music, movies or TV shows by using Apple\u2019s electronic personal assistant, Siri.<\/p>\n

Apple Inc. isn\u2019t alone in its ambitions for the living room. It\u2019s entering a market where rivals such as Roku, Amazon and Nvidia already sell sophisticated, voice-activated TV systems at prices ranging from $100 to $250. Google makes a popular streaming video device, the Chromecast, that sells for $35.<\/p>\n

Cook and other executives made no mention Wednesday of a long-rumored streaming video service to compete with Netflix and Hulu, which analysts say might help Apple\u2019s TV system stand out from rivals. Nor did they mention any plans to make the Apple TV a hub for controlling thermostats, lamps or other \u201csmart\u201d home appliances \u2013 although O\u2019Donnell said he expects that may come later.<\/p>\n

Still, even competitors say Apple\u2019s clout could change the landscape of the living room.<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s popularity will make more consumers aware of the latest streaming technology, while encouraging developers to build more games and apps for TV screens, said Matt Wuebbling, general manager for Nvidia\u2019s Shield system.<\/p>\n

Apple TV is unlikely to hurt sales for gaming consoles like the Xbox and PlayStation, however. For now, at least, analysts say those consoles still provide \u201chard-core\u201d gaming enthusiasts with more elaborate effects and faster processing speeds than what\u2019s generally been available over the Internet.<\/p>\n

Cook and his top lieutenants on Wednesday also showed off a new iPad Pro with a 13-inch screen, attachable keyboard and a stylus, which the company hopes will help turn around a two-year slump in iPad sales. Earlier full-sized iPads have had 10-inch screens.<\/p>\n

While Apple executive Phil Schiller said the bigger screen offers improved viewing for movies, the company is also promoting the device for workers who will use specialized business apps.<\/p>\n

In a move that might have been unthinkable a few years ago, Apple even invited an executive from once-bitter rival Microsoft to come on stage and demonstrate his company\u2019s Office productivity software on the iPad Pro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 Apple staked a new claim to the living room on Wednesday, as the maker of iPhones and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":61101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,5],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-61100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-technology","tag-original","mauthors-brandon-bailey","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}