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Apple's (AAPL) WWDC '17 Kicks Off with Action-Packed Keynote
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Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers’ Conference at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA, yesterday. As widely anticipated, this year’s keynote was an enthralling event with lots of new software as well as hardware announcements. One of them was the unveiling of HomePod, a smart speaker integrated with Siri and aimed at home automation market.
Apart from that, new MacBooks, the 10.5 inch iPad Pro and new iMacs were also announced. On the software front, Apple unveiled iOS 11, and upgrades to MacOS and watchOS. The company also displayed an augmented reality (AR) tool called ARKit.
Let’s Delve Deeper
Apple generally refrains from making big announcements related to hardware at WWDC. However, this year, it was widely rumored that the tech giant will be making quite a handful of hardware announcements. And Apple didn’t disappoint.
One of the major (and also hotly anticipated) announcements was the unveiling of Siri-integrated HomePod. With HomePod, Apple is preparing itself to take on Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) Echo and Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google Home, which is a little speaker-like home automation device that can do everything from streaming music to dimming lights or adjusting the heat on the compatible thermostat.
HomePod has similar functions to Echo and Home. Interestingly, it is also integrated with Apple Music. Per media reports, the speaker is a seven-inch circular device and is available in two colors — black and white. The device is powered by an A8 chip processor and has a customized four-inch woofer. It also has seven “beam-forming” tweeters. By integrating Siri, Apple has turned HomePod into a “hub for information and a control device for IoT and home automation devices”, observes ZDnet.
However, as with all Apple products, price point remains a concern. HomePod carries a price tag of $349, heftier than Echo and Google Home, which are priced at $179 and $129 respectively. Analysts observe that Apple is already late to the party and such a hefty price tag might prove to be an impediment. However, Apple’s loyal fan base is not to be underestimated. HomePod starts shipping in December.
Siri was the first ever digital voice assistant to be installed on a smartphone. Since then, there have been a slew of voice assistants, including Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s (MSFT - Free Report) Cortana and more recently, Samsung’s Bixby.
However, Siri had fallen behind in the race owing to Apple’s aversion to opening itself to third-party developers, according to analysts. This has resulted in Echo and Google Home dominating the space. Per a recent report from eMarketer, Echo is the most popular voice-controlled speaker so far and is expected to maintain its supremacy in 2017.
The report stated that the number of Americans using home assistants is expected to more than double this year. It also stated that Amazon will have above 70% of the total voice-enabled speaker users in the U.S. this year. Meanwhile, Google Home is expected to account for 23.8%, while other smaller players like Lenovo, LG, Harmon Kardon and Mattel would account for only 5.6% of the total users.
Apple fans were also treated to the introduction of a new 10.5 inch iPad Pro which has edge-to-edge bezels with next-generation processors (A10X chip). This model has 64GB memory and is priced at $650. The company will also be offering its updated 12.9 inch iPad Pro (64 GB) at $799.
Moreover, Apple refreshed the MacBook line. MacBook and MacBook Pro will feature Intel’s Kaby Lake Processors. Priced at $1,299, these new models are now available. MacBook Air has had just a small improvement. It will feature a little faster processor — the 1.8 GHz Broadwell Intel processor.
The company also announced the 27 inch iMac Pro, which reportedly has a 4TB hard drive and 128GB RAM. Per reports, it has a 5K screen, and features 18-core Intel Xeon processor and Radeon Vega graphics. It is priced at $4,999 and will start shipping in December.
On the Software Front
Apple unveiled the new iOS 11. Per reports, the operating system now features a more natural-sounding voiceover for Siri, which is now capable of translation. In addition, the Control Center has been overhauled. It now sports a different look with the addition of many more buttons. One important thing that Apple has done is adding a button solely for switching on/off cellular reception. App Store’s design has undergone a massive change to make it simpler to use. It will feature a Today tab as well as a Games tab now onwards.
MacOS may have got a name change to High Sierra but no other major changes have been made, except for nips to file system as well as new editing tools for photos along with a graphics update.
WatchOS now features the ability to integrate with Apple Music and has a Siri-integrated watch face. Apple Pay will feature peer-to-peer payments from now on. Furthermore, users will be able to access Amazon Prime Video on Apple TV.
The company is making efforts to expand into the AR space. Apple just announced ARKit that will help third party developers to work on creating AR experiences for the iOS platform. CEO Tim Cook has emphasized on developing the technology time and again in the last few months. Cook had mentioned the company’s AR efforts for the first time at its third-quarter fiscal 2016 earnings conference call. He had been quoted saying "AR can be really great, and we have been and continue to invest a lot in this. We are high on AR for the long run. We think there are great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity." In fact, he has been quoted by media reports saying not VR but AR will be “the larger of the two, probably by far”.
After an action-packed keynote, the conference will continue for another four days. We will keep you posted on all the developments. So, stay tuned!
In the past one year, shares of Apple have registered growth of 56.09% compared with the Zacks categorized Computer Mini industry’s gain of 56.10%.
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Apple's (AAPL) WWDC '17 Kicks Off with Action-Packed Keynote
Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers’ Conference at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA, yesterday. As widely anticipated, this year’s keynote was an enthralling event with lots of new software as well as hardware announcements. One of them was the unveiling of HomePod, a smart speaker integrated with Siri and aimed at home automation market.
Apart from that, new MacBooks, the 10.5 inch iPad Pro and new iMacs were also announced. On the software front, Apple unveiled iOS 11, and upgrades to MacOS and watchOS. The company also displayed an augmented reality (AR) tool called ARKit.
Let’s Delve Deeper
Apple generally refrains from making big announcements related to hardware at WWDC. However, this year, it was widely rumored that the tech giant will be making quite a handful of hardware announcements. And Apple didn’t disappoint.
One of the major (and also hotly anticipated) announcements was the unveiling of Siri-integrated HomePod. With HomePod, Apple is preparing itself to take on Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) Echo and Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google Home, which is a little speaker-like home automation device that can do everything from streaming music to dimming lights or adjusting the heat on the compatible thermostat.
HomePod has similar functions to Echo and Home. Interestingly, it is also integrated with Apple Music. Per media reports, the speaker is a seven-inch circular device and is available in two colors — black and white. The device is powered by an A8 chip processor and has a customized four-inch woofer. It also has seven “beam-forming” tweeters. By integrating Siri, Apple has turned HomePod into a “hub for information and a control device for IoT and home automation devices”, observes ZDnet.
However, as with all Apple products, price point remains a concern. HomePod carries a price tag of $349, heftier than Echo and Google Home, which are priced at $179 and $129 respectively. Analysts observe that Apple is already late to the party and such a hefty price tag might prove to be an impediment. However, Apple’s loyal fan base is not to be underestimated. HomePod starts shipping in December.
Apple Inc. Price
Apple Inc. Price | Apple Inc. Quote
Siri was the first ever digital voice assistant to be installed on a smartphone. Since then, there have been a slew of voice assistants, including Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s (MSFT - Free Report) Cortana and more recently, Samsung’s Bixby.
However, Siri had fallen behind in the race owing to Apple’s aversion to opening itself to third-party developers, according to analysts. This has resulted in Echo and Google Home dominating the space. Per a recent report from eMarketer, Echo is the most popular voice-controlled speaker so far and is expected to maintain its supremacy in 2017.
The report stated that the number of Americans using home assistants is expected to more than double this year. It also stated that Amazon will have above 70% of the total voice-enabled speaker users in the U.S. this year. Meanwhile, Google Home is expected to account for 23.8%, while other smaller players like Lenovo, LG, Harmon Kardon and Mattel would account for only 5.6% of the total users.
Apple fans were also treated to the introduction of a new 10.5 inch iPad Pro which has edge-to-edge bezels with next-generation processors (A10X chip). This model has 64GB memory and is priced at $650. The company will also be offering its updated 12.9 inch iPad Pro (64 GB) at $799.
Moreover, Apple refreshed the MacBook line. MacBook and MacBook Pro will feature Intel’s Kaby Lake Processors. Priced at $1,299, these new models are now available. MacBook Air has had just a small improvement. It will feature a little faster processor — the 1.8 GHz Broadwell Intel processor.
The company also announced the 27 inch iMac Pro, which reportedly has a 4TB hard drive and 128GB RAM. Per reports, it has a 5K screen, and features 18-core Intel Xeon processor and Radeon Vega graphics. It is priced at $4,999 and will start shipping in December.
On the Software Front
Apple unveiled the new iOS 11. Per reports, the operating system now features a more natural-sounding voiceover for Siri, which is now capable of translation. In addition, the Control Center has been overhauled. It now sports a different look with the addition of many more buttons. One important thing that Apple has done is adding a button solely for switching on/off cellular reception. App Store’s design has undergone a massive change to make it simpler to use. It will feature a Today tab as well as a Games tab now onwards.
MacOS may have got a name change to High Sierra but no other major changes have been made, except for nips to file system as well as new editing tools for photos along with a graphics update.
WatchOS now features the ability to integrate with Apple Music and has a Siri-integrated watch face. Apple Pay will feature peer-to-peer payments from now on. Furthermore, users will be able to access Amazon Prime Video on Apple TV.
The company is making efforts to expand into the AR space. Apple just announced ARKit that will help third party developers to work on creating AR experiences for the iOS platform. CEO Tim Cook has emphasized on developing the technology time and again in the last few months. Cook had mentioned the company’s AR efforts for the first time at its third-quarter fiscal 2016 earnings conference call. He had been quoted saying "AR can be really great, and we have been and continue to invest a lot in this. We are high on AR for the long run. We think there are great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity." In fact, he has been quoted by media reports saying not VR but AR will be “the larger of the two, probably by far”.
After an action-packed keynote, the conference will continue for another four days. We will keep you posted on all the developments. So, stay tuned!
Zacks Rank & Stock Price Movement
At present, Apple carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the past one year, shares of Apple have registered growth of 56.09% compared with the Zacks categorized Computer Mini industry’s gain of 56.10%.
Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?
Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>>