Apple draws up battle strategy against Google at WWDC

Apple draws up battle strategy against Google at WWDC
SAN FRANCISCO -- They are classic "frienemies," collaborating when the interest is mutual and going for the other's jugular when the opportunity presents itself. So it was that on Monday Apple made clear that it's willing to cut ties with Google if that's what it takes to move its own agenda forward. Among the product and technology announcements made at its annual developer conference here, Apple said it is expanding its Siri voice assistant software, as well as offering a complete rewrite of its maps app. Apple also added deep integration to Facebook to its phones and tablets. If it all works out as Apple wants, the net effect will be to extend Apple's lead at Google's expense. Here's how:MapsPerhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in regard to the new version of Maps for iOS. Apple yanked Google maps from all its mobile devices, and took that function in house.Turn-by-turn directions will bring iOS users something Android owners have had for quite a while.AppleThe results were striking. A new 3D feature lets users swoop around cities and see buildings using photography Apple captured on its own. Google demoed what was essentially the same thing in detail during a press conference last week, with a pledge to bring it to iOS later this year. The move is just part of a larger effort by Apple to differentiate its mobile OS from Google's at a time when the two companies are at war with each other for the pockets, and pocketbooks, of consumers. That clash began on store shelves when the two companies started competing in the mobile-device arena. It has since spilled out into courtrooms, with Apple attacking Android device makers along with patents related to Android features. Where this can really hurt Google is in the flow of information. Information about areas people are searching for and what types of information they want is absolute gold when it comes to product development and advertising. Apple happens to have its hands in both of those pots, and now it doesn't have to share data with a rival.Apple is also doing something different by positioning its mapping app as a marketplace of sorts. During today's keynote, the company said it will feature location apps made by other companies right through the app -- though that simply could have been a concession to roadkill it made out of the other GPS apps for the platform.SiriThe we-can-do-better-than-Google theme began almost immediately, with a demo of Siri that opened up the conference. The sassy voice assistant made cracks about Google and its products before the company's executives even took to the stage."Hey, any of you guys been working with ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) or Jelly Bean?" the software asked in a prerecorded video that started the show. "Who's working up these code names? Ben & Jerry?"Siri more car-friendly in the next year, Apple says.AppleApple made it clear it wants to transform Siri into something far more than an iPhone app. That starts with Siri for Apple's third-generation iPad, and will extend to cars within the next 12 months. Several automakers, including BMW, General Motors, and Honda, have signed up and will integrate Siri into steering wheels. This competes more with the Microsoft Sync technology, which is built into some automobiles. But in the way Apple is currently demoing it, everything will run through your iPhone, something that competes more directly with Android's special car mode.Put simply, Siri is becoming Apple's search engine. It may send users to Google or Microsoft's Bing for some queries, but the idea is the same: It's taking user queries and directing them toward something. Today that functionality expanded to new types of information, like movie times, restaurants, and sports. Arguably, those are three things users might have turned to Google for, and no longer have to. Other features, like being able to launch apps, were catch-ups to features Google has had on Android.FragmentationName-calling goes only so far, which is why Apple made an effort to point out that its strategy of selling a more limited group of iOS-capable hardware (the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) resulted in more users staying up to date, compared with people using rival mobile devices. "Almost all of our users are running iOS 5," Apple's senior vice president of iOS, Scott Forstall, told developers, while standing in front of a large pie chart. "Now if you compare that to the competition, they released dairy product 4.0 about the same time we released iOS 5." Related storiesComplete WWDC 2012 coverageApple: Retina display MacBook Pro starts at $2,199Apple talks up Facebook integration for iOS 6Apple unveils iOS 6 with 200 new features, Siri gets updateSiri coming to iPad, can launch appsThat played well to the audience of developers for a good reason: with more users on the same OS, it makes developing easier. There's no reason to produce multiple versions of the same app, with only certain features available to specific users -- something Apple has harped on Google for in the past, specifically with tablet apps.In March, for instance, Apple CEO Tim Cook slammed Android's tablet efforts, calling a number of third-party Android applications shoddy. "It kind of looks like a blown-up smartphone app," Cook said, while pointing to an on-screen example of Twitter's Android app. "Because that's exactly what it is."Today that message came back around in terms of the number of apps available to consumers, which now stands at 650,000 on the App Store, with 225,000 of those made for the iPad. And perhaps more importantly, the payout: Apple's paid out more than $5 billion to developers since launching the App Store, Cook said.FacebookApple's move to integrate Facebook into iOS isn't a direct hit at Google, but it unites two companies against a common enemy. The new features let iOS 6 users post right to Facebook from within apps, as well as sync up their Facebook lives to their phone. Things like contacts and calendars get automatically ferried between the two companies.Facebook integration in iOS 6.AppleApple also integrated Facebook into iTunes and the App Store. This is more promotional than anything, but it's also a strong sign that besides Twitter, Facebook will be the only social network Apple is giving users to promote its content. "We believe the biggest takeaway is that Apple is strengthening not only the interaction within its own ecosystem but also creating a consortium of powerful Web partners to offer an experience that largely falls outside of Google's walls," Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster said in a note to investors today. "We believe this focus on integrating important Web partners continues to meaningfully differentiate iOS from Android."In other words, the real move here is in just how many places Facebook is present in iOS 6, and in the upcoming version of Apple's desktop OS. The idea is that if you want to share anything, you can do it basically from anywhere. For a company that was once determined to keep app developers within the confines of its mobile Web browser, it's arguably just as big to let others into similarly hallowed ground.At this stage, Apple still prefers to talk around the hard edges. But make no mistake: Tweaking Google to get a few laughs out of the crowd hinted at the bigger stakes in this competition. For Apple, a roll of the dice is well worth the risk. In a race with Google to see who can get out the better technology first, Apple believes it has grabbed post position. Game on.This content is rated TV-MA, and is for viewers 18 years or older. Are you of age?YesNoSorry, you are not old enough to view this content.Play


iPhone lock-screen password app pulled

iPhone lock-screen password app pulled
Apple has removed a third-party application that was gathering user-submitted lock-screen passwords for what its creator claims were research purposes. The software, dubbed "Big Brother Camera Security," was created by developer Daniel Amitay to serve as an alternative to Apple's lock-screen security. Users could run it when leaving their iPhone or iPod Touch unattended, and the application would require an iOS-style passcode to resume. If a user entered the incorrect password, the software would take a photo of that person, and if the app was exited, an alarm would sound.A side feature, added by Amitay in the most recent software update, began sending him user-entered passcodes, which were anonymized. Amitay on Monday posted the results of that data, which was made up of 204,508 recorded passcodes, to show what some of the most common passwords were. The move did not go over well in Cupertino."Got a call from Apple last night regarding the removal of Big Brother from the App Store," Amitay wrote in a blog post today. "Apparently, Apple believed that I was 'surreptitiously harvesting user passwords,'" Amitay wrote. Amitay says he's appealing the company's decision on the grounds that the application was only gathering data from his own app, and not the phone's lock screen, which Apple does not provide an API for, nor would it likely to be approve as part of its review process. Amitay added that that app was anonymizing that user data, and putting it toward "improving effectiveness of future updates." Apple did not respond to a request for comment.Apple, along with other device providers, have come under scrutiny by the U.S. government, along with advocacy groups, over what's done with user data and information. U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) in particular has made it a personal mission to get Apple and Google to require third-party applications to be more transparent about what data is being collected, as well as if it's being transmitted elsewhere. Amitay said he believes his data collection methods are covered under a section of the iTunes end user license agreement (EULA) that says data collection is fine as long as it's made anonymous, and aims to improve the quality of the application through future updates. "Perhaps this was a misunderstanding on Apple's part, or perhaps I missed a developer agreement where I'm not able to publish certain statistics (?), but I'm hoping to get this worked out and have Big Brother back on the App Store," Amitay wrote.(Via BGR)


Apple slashes older iPhone pricing, cuts iPhone 5S to $99

Apple slashes older iPhone pricing, cuts iPhone 5S to $99
Apple has slashed prices on its older iPhones to make way for the newly announced iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.The company announced on Tuesday that the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C will live on for customers who don't want to get their hands on the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone 5S will start at $99 with a two-year agreement. An 8GB version of the iPhone 5C will now be available for free with a two-year agreement. Prices and availability in the UK and Australia are yet to be announced, but we'll update this story as soon as we have them.Apple has made the same move in years past. Whenever the company unveils a new flagship handset, it cuts the price on its older models. The idea for Apple is to maximize the number of customers it can target at different price points and more effectively compete against the massive number of Android devices on store shelves.Tuesday's event, taking place at the Flint Performing Arts Center in Apple's hometown of Cupertino, Calif., is one of the most anticipated product launches of the year. Consumers, analysts, and investors have been waiting for Apple to introduce the "amazing" new products that CEO Tim Cook has promised for more than a year. Cook, who took over as CEO from Steve Jobs three years ago, hasn't yet taken the company into new markets beyond those established by his former boss. But he's now expected to do just that with wearables, mobile payments, and other possible arenas. It's vital for Apple to expand beyond its current product offerings. The company hasn't entered a new category since Jobs unveiled the "magical" iPad tablet in 2010, and every new version of the iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh computer since then has been deemed "evolutionary" rather than "revolutionary" by reviewers and customers, leading to slowing profit and revenue growth. Apple generates about two-thirds of its sales from the iPhone and iPad, but the markets for those gadgets are becoming saturated, with rivals from Amazon to Google to Microsoft to Samsung battling for customers and the billions they spend on mobile devices.Apple CEO Tim Cook has promised for over a year that Apple in 2014 would introduce "amazing" new products and enter "exciting new product categories" beyond its wildly successful smartphones, tablets, and computers. And in late May, Eddy Cue, head of iTunes and the man behind Apple's $3 billion acquisition of headphone and streaming music service provider Beats, upped the pressure by boasting that the consumer-electronics giant is working on its "best product pipeline in 25 years."Until today, the iPhone 5S started at $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, $399 for 64GB, all with a two-year contract. Off contract, the phone retailed for $649 for 16GB, $749 for 32GB, and $849 for 64GB.The iPhone 5C cost $99 for 16GB of storage or $199 for 32GB, both with a two-year contract. Off contract, the phone retailed for $549 for 16GB or $649 for 32GB. Before its launch last year, market watchers expected the 5C to be a low-cost device that would help Apple target emerging markets. But the pricing of the device remained too high for budget-conscious shoppers in places like China and India. Rather than help Apple attract the mainstream or low-end customer, the 5C instead helped it better build its position at the high end. But the 5C didn't sell well, at least not initially, Cook admitted during Apple's earnings report in January.Apple previously offered an 8GB iPhone 4S for free with a two-yearcontract, or $450 off contract. That device has been discontinued.