APPLE WORKING ON FOLDABLE IPHONE

Samsung and other major rivals are expected to release bendy phones in the coming weeks

Apple is working on a foldable phone of its own, new patents reveal, as just about every major handset company launches bendy products.

A future iPhone could be hinged in the middle, according to the patents, allowing it to be folded up small and then opened again to allow the screen to be larger.

The handset is just one of a range of bendy phones being worked on by companies. While Samsung's "Galaxy X" is the most famous – and has been shown off in the most detail – just about every major company is working on its own foldable handset.

Apple is not thought to be releasing a rival model any time soon, and the new iPhones it is set to release in September will keep the same form factor as the existing line-up. But the new patents show it has been considered for a future design.

It suggests the phone could use a set of hinges that will mount flexible displays together, allowing them to bend. It could be twisted around to allow the different parts of the phone so that the screen touches itself, for instance, or so that both parts of the screen are on the outside.

The patent filing includes a full 24 images, showing different ways the phones could bend. And they don't apply only to iPhones – with features that could work for iPads or even Macs shown as well.

For instance, one shows the screen bent so that it is sitting in a pyramid shape. That means two people sitting across from each other could be looking at the same display.

If Apple does not release its new bendy phone until 2020 or later, it is likely to be late. Samsung's foldable phone is due to be released in the coming weeks, and other companies are already preparing their own rivals.

Other companies have chosen to sit out of the growing trend, however. LG has said that it will not release a foldable phone just yet and that it was "too early" for the devices.

It might also be that Apple does not reveal a foldable phone at all. The company regularly files patents for products that never actually make it to market, or arrive in a completely different form.

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New Apple Watch bands could come in March with watchOS 2.2

Plus, a new Apple Watch may debut later this year








Apple is reportedly launching a new lineup of bands this March for the Apple Watch in time for the release of watchOS 2.2.

Sources tell 9to5Mac that not only will new straps be available to accessorize the Apple Watch, but will also include styles made of entirely new materials from third-party partners.

The report also mentions that Apple will formally debut the latest watchOS update, which includes new features such as syncing multiple iPhones and added Nearby search functionality to the Maps app.

The report goes on to claim that Apple will announce a second-generation Apple Watch later this year, though 9to5Mac's sources believe a brand new wearable won't ship until the fall at the earliest.

As iOS 9.3 approaches, more details about the future of the Apple Watch and watchOS are likely to develop. In the meantime, rumors looming of an Applepress event this March have us thinking the wait won't be much longer.

SOURCE: TechRadar 

Apple Rings In 2016 With Record App Sales

apple on Wednesday announced that customers spent a record US$1.1 billion on apps and in-app purchases during the holidays.Jan. 1 was the App Store's best day ever, with consumers spending about $144 million, the company said.

Since 2008, the store has generated close to $40 billion in revenue for developers. Consumers spent more than $20 billion on App Store purchases last year, Apple reported.

On the back of the App Store's success, Apple has created more than 1.9 million jobs in the U.S., it said The company previously reported creating 1.4 million jobs in China and 1.2 million in Europe related to the App Store and the iOS economy.

Behind the Numbers

The numbers "reflect the social change that Apple brought about with the introduction of the iPhone and its relationship and support of app developers worldwide," said Ritch Blasi, president of MediaRitch.

"Apple changed the mobile industry when it introduced the iPhone by putting full computing power in the palms of users," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Apple continues to excel in creating "a complete user experience," notes Jim McGregor, principal analyst forTirias Research.

"And it's not just the devices," he told the E-Commerce Times. "Apple has recognized that it's the content, the applications. The content is the most valuable part of our industry. It's what drives our industry."

With the right amount of money, it isn't hard to stamp a brand on a cheap piece of electronics. The differentiation between technology companies comes from software and applications, according to McGregor.

"That's where the value is," he said. "That's where the differentiation is. And that's where Apple has always exceeded everyone else in the industry."

Bigger Picture

The sheer volume of revenue generated over the holidays continued the "monumental growth" the iOS ecosystem has seen, stated Josh Crandall, CEO and co-founder of Netpop Research.

"And with the record-breaking sales for iPhone devices, you expect to see an uptick in app sales," he told the E-Commerce Times.

What's also fascinating is the growing number of people who have become addicted to their mobile devices, Crandall noted.

"The trend the we're seeing emerge is the dislocation of media consumption from the living room into one's pocket," he said. "I anticipate that sales will continue to increase in 2016. And in addition to record-breaking sales from Apple's App Store, I anticipate that we'll see Google Play sales increasing as well."

Developers are working on artificial intelligence and deep learning, according to Tirias' McGregor.

"Everything that we're doing is all centered around creating intelligence from and for the devices we're using," he said. "So as we move forward, a lot of that is going to be about creating intelligence on these devices and in the cloud."

Apple has leveraged such intelligence and held developers to high standards.

"Apple changed the way people work and play and now has everyone living in an app world," said MediaRitch's Blasi. "What apps have done for our personal lives will soon become the norm for business as well."

SOURCE: Tech News World

Apple Watch 2: All the rumors about the specs, features and price of Apple's 2016 Watch

In April 2015, the Apple Watch finally became available for sale. It became, simultaneously, one of the finest smartwatches in the land and, at least according to the perception in some quarters, a relative disappointment for the company.

Why the ambivalence? Apple hasn't released sales figures, but it hardly seems like a flop -- IDC ranks it second in the wearables market, behind only Fitbit, which has sold more than 20 million of its namesake devices. Any other company would be celebrating that as a breakout freshman product. But this is Apple, after all. You know, the company that sold roughly 75 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2015.

Still, wearables appear to be a market poised for big time growth and, as such, sustained attention from Cupertino. In October, Apple updated its Apple Watch software to let apps run on the watch itself instead of working as iPhone extensions, mitigating the absolute interdependence of the initial scenario. The second version of the Watch OS also features new watch faces, improved third-party apps and better overall performance.

But those improvements were ultimately incremental. And in the meantime, the Watch has seen some fairly meaty price cuts at mainstream retailers like Best Buy.

We expect the introduction of the second-generation Apple Watch to come sometime in 2016. In the interim, we will count the minutes, obsessively glancing at our wrists for news, all the while curating the most interesting predictions, best guesses and rumors about what the future holds.