Apple’s CarPlay – Installed in 24 M Vehicles

According to ABI Research, Apple’s CarPlay API for iPhone integration will be dominating the auto industry which will be installed in more than 24 million vehicles in another five years.

API in its report points to announcements from over half a dozen manufacturers who intend to install CarPlay in new vehicles which include Audi, BMW, Ford, Jaguar/Land Rover, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota and Volvo.

Apple would be able to reach the milestone with the number of automakers coming on board as partners and the company’s potentials to drive the interest in its latest product, according to report from market research firm ABI Research.

Filomena Berardi, ABI analyst, states that `many believe that Apple is creating further fragmentation and ripple effect in the industry by not being open, though with Apple on the scene, it certainly draws greater attention to in-car apps and now with the Android Auto standard on the scene, both will certainly drive adoption of in-car apps’.Apple had unveiled CarPlay, iOS in the car, at the time of the 2013 edition of its annual developer’s conference in San Francisco and had announced the first CarPlay with equipped models at the Geneva Motor Show.

This will enable drivers to place phone calls, access contacts, listen to voicemail messages as well as control apps like MLB at Bat and Pandora by using Siri or through their car’s in-dash touchscreen on connecting to a compatible iPhone.

Specification – Mirrored to Vehicle’s infotainment System

The specification of CarPlay enables an iPhone to be mirrored to a vehicle’s infotainment system at the time the smartphone is being charged and once the infotainment system is connected, the iPhone is controlled by voice, through the car’s built in touchscreen or by steering wheel-mounted controls.

Drivers, through CarPlay, will be able to use the voice recognition service, Siri, to have text messages read out loud, reply through voice and obtain contact information from an iOS device in making phone calls. CarPlay also has the option of Apple Maps navigation service and has been competing with proprietary interfaces like in Ford’s Sync system together with industry open source specifications like MirrorLink and GENIVI, championed by industry groups.

Search giant Google, earlier this year, announced that it would begin an Open Automotive alliance –QAA while its standards will be dubbed Android Auto and the overall function mirrors that of CarPlay but would be working only with Android devices.

Open Sourced – MirronLink/GENIVI/QAA

API reports that MirrorLink together with GENIVI and QAA have positioned themselves as `open sourced’, and could be considered as competitors which goes against being open. API Research is also of the belief that the uptake of MirroLink would be significant though predicts that additional cars would be fitted with CarPlay and without an open eco system; carmakers will have to collaborate with more partners.

Vice President of Automotive Industry Advisory Services at Gartner, Thilo Kowlowski stated that auto makers should do a better job in offering mobile technology or have it taken away by rivals in the technology industry. Koslowski further pointed to Google, its self-driving car, digital distribution platforms like Google Play together with in-car smartphone connection platforms like CarPlay with signs of improved facilities in store.

Apple Awarded Patent for `Fused Glass Device Housing’

Recently Apple was granted a U.S. patent for a method on building a device with all glass outer casing by puttingpieces together for a complete seamless final look. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Apple U.S. Patent for `Fused glass device housing’, which is a procedure that enables the efficient fabrication of seamless all-glass electronics device casings.

This all glass casing device would be used to hold the internal circuitry of an iOS device as well as larger electronics such as a TV or a monitor. Its structures are designed to enable maximum durability. Apple’s all glass structures are heavy especially if the material is used to protect against scratches, accidental damage or drops and the company has proposed a new creation method which ensures a light weight design that is durable with eye pleasing aesthetics.

Apple’s suggestion is to join the glass pieces together through a fusing process instead of using a completely glass on glass build and according to the patent, the planar edges and the peripheral glass members can be fused together forming a sufficiently thick brand of material which could be machined down to the desired shape.

Complete Glass Encased Device

The patent would permit Apple to build a complete glass encased device unlike the iPhone 4, which features a back and front glass panels which will enable a complete different aesthetic when compared to other device makers’ designs. All glass Retina Cinema Display would draw much attention with regards to monitor and an all glass iPhone would draw even more attention than usual.

To enhance the integrity of the casing’s structure, raised glass features could be fused to the planar member at weak points in the build like including addition glass structures along the holes or opening in the glass member and internal support ribs which are placed for reducing flexing and breakage.

To serve as holes for buttons, cut outs in the glass surface can be done together with other physical device controls. Glass members are fused together in some embodiments, to develop a five sided box where circuitry, displays and other internal components could be inserted, or pushed into placed. This could be crucial for larger electronics like monitors or televisions which are mounted on stands.

Glass Strengthening Techniques

The backside which is on the opposite side of the display could be tinted to a translucent shade or opaque in order to hid the batteries, flex cables and chips but Apple provides an option to keep the sides transparent and part of planar glass members could be roughened in order to help scatter as well as diffuse light around the display edges.

When all the internals are intact and well placed, an end cap is inserted over the opening to seal off the structure from dirt and dust. At the final stage, the patent focuses on details like polishing and glass strengthening techniques with alternative embodiments which may involve extruded hollow glass rods with fused end caps.

Attention is given to glass fusing methods which may reduce frit to leave seamless joints. The company’s seamless fused glass housing patent was filed first in the year 2013 and credits as its inventors, go to Peter Russel-Clarke, Michael K. Pilliod and SVP of Design Jony Ive.

Apple’s Recent Environmental Responsibility Report

Apple recently released an Environmental Responsibility Report for fiscal 2014, announcing that the company will be focusing on achieving `net zero energy use’, and has taken steps to reduce the impact on climate change, use green material in its products and conserve resources.

Apple had already accomplished this goal with all twenty one of its Australian retail stores together with one hundred and forty of its US stores, its latest data centres as well as its forthcoming Apple Campus 2 headquarters. Its solar array supplying most of the powerthat is used at the data centre at Maiden, North Carolina is the largest privately owned array in the country.

According to the document posted to the company’s latest environmental Responsibility webpage, Apple had placed its focus on three key areas in the year 2013 namely reducing impact on climate change with the use of renewable energy sources as well as directing energy efficiency in its products, adopting the use of greener materials in their products and processes thereby conserving the resources.

Aim on Achieving `Net Zero Energy’

Major section of Apple’s environmental efforts are aimed on achieving `net zero energy’, wherein efficient energy use, generation of energy using renewable resources together with purchase of renewable energy from appropriate providers would be involved.

Maiden, North Carolina, iCloud data centre is used as the `net zero energy’ example and with the nation’s largely owned solar array which generates from 60 percent to 100 percent of the daily energy requirement, with remaining that needs to be purchased in the form of biogas, Maiden is thus 100 renewable. The solar array on its own produces 167 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy per year onsite which is enough to power around 13,837 houses.

It has also been reported that the company has plans to build a third solar array, an indication that may be intended to manage with future expansion to the data centre, near Maiden property. Apple has already purchased a 200 acre of land to build a second solar array nearby.

Efforts to Shrink Packaging Size/Transportation Costs

Under, Lisa Jackson, the new Environmental Initiative chief, Apple was successful in converting the U.S. Apple stores together with the Australian stores to 100 percent renewable energy and to achieve this, the company either purchased green energy from third party provider or participated in utility green tariff programs which ensured that electricity was generated from renewable energy source.

Its forthcoming Apple Campus 2 which has been designed to be environmentally friendly was brought into focus with Apple commenting that the campus would be powered by 100 percent renewable energy with one of the largest corporate solar energy installation in the world while to cut down on HVAC costs, advanced architecture will enable air to flow through specially designed vents. Besides this, Apple also plans to have more than 1,000 shared bicycles made available to Campus 2 employees together with other transport alternatives which includes ride sharing, carpooling and incentives to use eco-friendly forms of transportation.

Apple states that more than 2,100 employees have access to the free biodiesel powered buses per day to travel from corporate offices in Sunnyvale and Cupertino thus avoiding 6,377 metric tons of carbon dioxide emission. The company also states that they will continue their efforts to shrink packaging size to cut down on wastage of material together with transportation costs.

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Tag Heuer - Apple’s New Hire for iWatch Launch

It has been reported that Apple has hired the sales director from Swiss luxury watch maker TAG Heuer to help in promoting its forthcoming entry, iWatch which is expected to be launched soon.The Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer is one of the various luxury brands which operated under LVMH, the multibillion mergers between Moet Hennessy and Louis Vuitton which are very popular.

The hiring has been confirmed by the head of the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, which owns TAG Heuer, Jean-Claude Biver, during his recent video interview conducted with the American television channel CNBC. He informed CNBC, that the watchmaker’s vice president for sales, Patrick Pruniaux, had left the previous week to take a contract with Apple to launch the iWatch.

A spokeswoman from TAG Heuer told Reuter that Pruniaux `was probably head hunted’, though Apple refrained from commenting on this issue. Pruniaux does not seem to be the first executive to be recently appointed by Apple from the luxury watch sector, Burberry ex-chief executive Angela Ahrendts had also started as its new head of retail and online sales in May with former head of French fashion brand, Yves Saint Laurent Paul Deneve who had been hired last year to work on special projects.

Apple’s Interest in Wearable Technology

The head of Atlas Wearable, Alex Hsieh, had left just last month to join Apple as a firmware developer and it is believed that Hsieh would be working closely with the iWatch team and likely to focus on activity tracking.

 Moreover, Apple has also sought the help of medical professional Michael O’Reilly who along with Apple operations executive, Jeff Williams, met the FDA regulators to seek help in obtaining approval on the iWatch before its launch.

The hiring points at Apple’s growing interest in the wearable technology industry which is expected to be worth $8.3 billion by 2018 and the company is rumoured to be competing with Samsung’s Galaxy Gear in developing an iWatch.

It is reported that the smartwatch will feature a curved touchscreen which will run on iOS, enabling it to get connected to iPhone and iPads, as per Japanese news service Nikkei.

iWatch – Apple’s First Newly Created Product beside iPad

Apple is expected to launch its first wearable at the Media event this October with signs that the device would be the iWatch. It is also presumed that the company would unveil the new iPhone, iPads and Macs during the fall season probably at standalone September and October events.

Eddy Cue, iTunes, chief, commented that Apple’s product pipeline seems to be the most exciting, he had seen in the past twenty five years. The wearable device would also have sensors for collection of health and fitness information like blood glucose levels as well as heart rate data for possible integration in the newly announced iOS 8 HealthKit.

Besides this, other rumours reveal that the iWatch could utilise the Touch ID technology which is already available within the iPhone 5s that will be paired up with third party health devices like the Nike FuelBand with a cost between $199 and $299. iWatch announcement would mark Apple’s first newly created product after the introduction of the2010 iPad