Apple’s Homepod Is a Cautious Approach to the Connected Home

 
The new HomePod was announced at the WWDC and the company has managed to get a full and top-quality sound from such a small form factor. It is made up of a nice hardware and there is a lot happening on the back end creating the perfect audio experience. It also includes a six-mic arrangement that sonically takes a scan of the room the speaker is placed in. Other similar smart home hubs like the Echo, which is similar in terms of price, is no match for what the HomePod can duplicate sonically. Hence, one is able to see why Apple is leading in the speaker category. The audio function is primary here, unlike in devices such as Echo and Google Home. This makes the HomePod very useful as an apartment speaker for movies and music.
Apple has developed HomePod as a premium device with best quality in terms of build and performance. It keeps Steve Jobs’ original concept of use of music as the basis for launching newer products and services. It reflects on how the company launched Siri. The unique selling point of the iPhone was not its assistant and that came just as an added bonus. Same goes for the Apple TV where Siri’s function was available in few upgrades released post the product’s launch. Apple is attempting to introduce its smart assistant in users’ homes, but in a less obvious way. This is because the company recognises the home is the next area where consumer electronics sales will see a boost but its approach has not been hands-on.

HomePod as a Premium Device

Apple’s marketing approach for the HomePod has been totally different than Amazon. As it is in the field of commerce, Amazon’s profitability lies in the products it sells with the help of Alexa than the Alexa products themselves. Profitability for Apple comes in the form of sales of products and retaining users into Apple itself. To remain consistent in this, it is important that it maintains the same standard and quality experience it has built its name around while offering Siri. This can be clearly seen in the HomePod as it has such a unique design that completely eliminates ports, which is a typical character trait of Apple. Looking at its functions, if Mac Pro had to be transformed into a speaker, it could be called the HomePod.

Apple’s Home Assistant and Its Market Presence

Apple had a lot to catch up where its connected home play was concerned, before the WWDC keynote. The HomePod’s cost is nearly double than that of the standard Echo and can in no way compete with the Dot which is priced at $50. This has made Amazon’s offer an attractive option for those who want a simple smart assistant for their homes. For now, Apple’s focus is on offering a top-quality audio-experience than introducing Siri in as many homes as possible. This focus may alter as Apple tries to come up with more solutions that will include Siri or do it the way Amazon did it with Alexa, by allowing third-parties to introduce this function in their own smart home solutions. At present, Apple is losing market to Amazon swiftly as its focus is on delivering a premium product rather than attracting more sales.

Apple ‘Error 53’ Sting Operation Caught Staff Misleading Customers

Apple ‘Error 53’

A sting operation was carried out against Apple by Australia’s consumer watchdog and it caught staff continually misguiding iPhone customers with regards to their legal rights to a repair or a replacement that is free of cost, after a malfunction called “error 53”.

This was brought to light through court documents. A high-profile case was lodged against Apple this year, after several iPhone and iPad users faced a malfunction that made their phones useless if it detected that a certain repair had been done by a third-party that was non-Apple. This malfunction took place between 2014 till early last year.

The case, which is scheduled to go to trial in mid-December this year, alleges that Apple incorrectly informed customers that they were not eligible for a free repair or replacement if they had got their devices repaired from a third-party repairer. This advice was given even when the repair was not connected to this malfunction, such as a screen replacement.

Breach was uncovered by the ACCC

So far, Apple has made a choice to remain silent about the case carried out by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). But Guardian Australia obtained court documents that show the company has refused these allegations made by ACCC to be true and said that it did not misinform to its Australian customers.

The documents also reveal that ACCC went undercover as iPhone customers to investigate the matter and made calls to all 13 Apple retailers across Australia last year in the month of June. On the call, they told the iPhone staff that their speakers stopped functioning after their screens were repaired by a third party.

Apple gave the same response in all the 13 calls, informing the ACCC caller that it would not repair or replace the defective speaker free of cost if the iPhone screen was replaced by someone other than Apple.

Error 53 and the Misinformation

Error 53 normally occurred after a customer tried to upgrade their phone’s operating system from iOS 8 or iOS 9 and about one in every 1,000 iPhones between September 2014 and February 2016. If the product was faulty or defective, Australian consumer law states the right of a customer to a free repair.

ACCC also alleged that the information on Apple’s website, too, was misleading. It said on the website that if any part of the iPhone was re-done somewhere else other than Apple, there would be a cost for the out-of-warranty repair. In response, Apple said the undercover calls conducted by the ACCC cannot be considered as the consumer law only exists for actual consumer-related issues and not suppositious circumstances.

Apple also said that real customers who came with actual problems received other information and were well informed of their rights as per the consumer law. As for what was mentioned on the website, Apple said that was in reference to the conditions of the company’s own limited warranty which is present along with the customer’s statutory rights.

Apple also stated that an outreach program was set up with regards to error 53 and offered repairs and replacements for most of the phones in the case mentioned by the ACCC. Also, an update was released last year in February to tackle the problem and restore smooth functionality.

New iOS 11 and Its Excitng Features To Rule The Digital World

The world has witnessed some great changes over the last decade. We are grateful to the tech giants as they have been efficient in bringing a change in the world. Well, needless to say we can witness now what we have never dreamt of. We are quite fortunate regarding this as we are able to live in this era and see the change. In the field of smart phones, the exceptional work and developments has been done by Apple who have been the leader ever since its inception. Coming this September, they would be completing a decade and there has to be some sort of surprises and features for the users. It seemed that it was only yesterday that they came up with their first iPhone. Now they are all set to release the latest OS- iOS 11.

THE NEW OS –iOS 11

Well, it is for both iPhone and the iPad and indeed it is a great news. The confirmed news about the latest iOS 11 will be announced in the conference on 5th June in San Jose. It is rumoured that the upcoming iPhone 8 may have the latest iOS 11 in it which will make it worth buying.

THE FEATURES

SIRI UPDATES

Well, we all wait for an update for any kind of software or any operating system we use. Recently, the rumours are that the Apple voice talk Siri will get updated also and will become more intelligent. The app can be integrated with the latest Artificial Intelligence which can learn a lot from its owner. It shows that it is connected to the people. There may be some instances where the Siri is interfering in between chats or conversations.

Apple Music

In the field of music and videos, it has been confirmed that they would start making new and genuine videos for the updates in the near future. The concept of the original video has kept everyone excited about the updates. At present, they are working on various bands and series. It seems that Apple Music will have the unsigned bands to videos and many more.

The world is getting digital everywhere and we are accepting the new form of payment and that is cardless payments. The latest iOS may bring up a new form of payment method which will surely amuse every one of us. The service is not yet ready but it will come in the near future at the earliest. This makes the event more cool and exciting.

DOWNLOAD TIME PERIOD OF iOS 11

Well, as usual a beta version will be released at the upcoming conference this week. Probably next month they would come up with the public beta version in the month of July. However, there is no final date on the release of the latest iOS 11. Everyone is assuming that it might be in the month of September. Well, till then we have to keep our fingers crossed and hold our patience as the best is yet to come into our hands.

Apple set to expand Siri, taking different route from Amazon's Alexa

Apple is likely to declare its plans in the coming week to make its voice assistant, Siri work and assist a huge varied range of apps, in an attempt to counter the tough competition from the success of Amazon’s Alexa. But, according to engineers and industry insiders, rather than focusing on a large variety of apps, Apple Inc. is sticking to its tried and tested method of concentrating on small number of features and getting them right.

At present, Apple’s voice assistant Siri works with just six types of applications which are messaging and calling, photo searching, hailing a ride and sharing, making payments, fitness and auto infotainment systems. Apple is expected to add more to the mentioned categories at the company’s yearly developer conference which is to be held next week.

Some sources have also stated that Apple is likely to announce a hardware which will be on similar lines as Amazon’s Echo, a device for home that has seen a lot of sales recently. Apple, however, refused to comment on the same. Amazon’s Alexa currently handles 12,000 or so tasks. Even if the area of expertise is doubled, Siri will be no match for it. This difference reflects the difference in strategy between these two rival companies.

Apple bets that users will not use voice commands in a way similar to speaking to humans and with this it has limited Siri’s area of function so that it is efficient. Amazon, on the other hand, has not limited Alexa in any area, stating that voice assistants with a number of skills are the way to garner more sales, in spite of an occasional mistake or additional effort to use it. This shows that there is a head on clash in approach.

Differences in Function

An iPhone user can hire a ride by saying “Hey Siri, order a car for me” and Siri will open a car hiring service app and start booking your ride. Other than the standard home and music functions, Alexa needs a more specific command that is to-the-point.

For example, the process of hiring a car from Uber will start if you say “Alexa, ask Uber for a ride” but if you say “Alexa, order me an Uber”, Alexa will not do so because it cannot make the connection that opens the Uber skill. One can order food with the help of Alexa but not with Siri, because this is one of the many categories that Siri does not function in, yet.

An Apple spokesperson has stated that Siri’s expertise in this area was very limitedly tried but the outcome was largely positive. Amazon made a statement that their goal is to make the whole voice command and result experience to be very natural and as easy as possible with Alexa.

Side-Lines and Not the Main Focus

A venture capitalist with Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group, Matt McIlwain, said that Apple’s narrower focus could be a problem. If the categories are not expanded, it could create a problem for Siri’s sales, he said. Neither of the two, Alexa and Siri, are on a smooth path to gaining more finance. Because of the limitations, voice apps are just on the side-lines and not the main focus and once an economic model is developed, there will be a substantial rise in sales.

Apple and Nokia Settle Patent Dispute

Apple & Nokia – An Agreement Over On-going Patent Dispute

Apple and Nokia had come to an agreement after an on-going patent dispute over the patent of the Finnish company. The two parties had disclosed the agreement in a joint statement recently after five months of suing each other over royalty payments. Apple would be making a sizeable one-off payment as future fees for the utilisation of the technology of Nokia.

 Under the business partnership agreement, Nokia would be providing network infrastructure service to Apple. Apple on its part would resume selling Nokia health product that had been earlier sold under the Withings brand. In December 2016, Apple had pulled Withings products from its online as well as retail stores, days after the company had been sued for patent violation, by Nokia.

The deal estimated by analysts was worth hundreds of millions of pounds to Nokia wherein the shares went up by 7%. It is said that the company had greatly suffered at the hands of the iPhone and had discontinued making handsets after selling its mobile business in 2013 to Microsoft.

Though most of the revenue was from telecoms infrastructure, it intends to boost income from the valuable patents that it seems to hold from its days as the dominant mobile phone company of the world.

Nokia Sued Apple – Violating 32 Patents

Nokia had sued Apple for violating 32 patents used in the iPhone, after a long-running deal had expired last year. Apple on the other hand had sued back calling Nokia a `patent troll’, stating that it had refused to license the technology on a fair basis.

 Recently the company had informed that they had settled all proceedings and had reached a new settlement wherein it will see the healthcare gadgets of Nokia back to Apple stores after they had been detached. The two companies informed that they would work together on enterprises related to healthcare.

Apple is said to pay Nokia an undisclosed amount and additional revenues till the deal tends to stand. Analysts at UBS estimate that Nokia would be receiving between £450m and €550m from Apple.

The Finnish company had acquired Alcatel-Lucent, comprising of its patent rich Bell Labs division in the US that had strengthened its hand heading in negotiations over a new deal. During the negotiations over a new licensing deal, two people conversant with the negotiations had earlier stated that they expected a settlement to be attained in spite of the fractious language.

Meaningful Agreement

The chief legal officer of Nokia, Maria Varsellona had commented that this is a meaningful agreement between Nokia and Apple and it has moved their relationship with Apple from being opponents in court to business partners working for the benefit of the customers.

The Nokia dispute with Apple had been a sign to a deeper patent war between the iPhone maker and Qualcomm which had taken place last year. Jeff William, chief operating officer of Apple had stated that they were pleased with the resolution of their dispute and are looking forward in expanding their business relationship with Nokia.

The agreement is said to culminate the patent dispute which had started last year when Nokia had sued Apple in Germany and the US, charging breach of the 32 patents and the two companies had sued one another in 2009 sticking a licensing agreement in 2011.