Apple’s three-iPhone launch Tuesday, coming amid the third consecutive year of contraction for the smartphone category (see report, Sept, 10), captured fans’ eyes. Broad pricing and advanced camera features wowed consumers (see here) and critics (including CNET). The Pro series, Apple’s first with that designation, stole the show for camera fans. Phil Schiller, senior vice president-worldwide marketing, highlighted the wide aperture and focus pixels that cover 100 percent of the sensor; a telephoto camera said to let in 40 percent more light than the previous generation; and an ultrawide camera. A new A13 Bionic chip and a new-generation image signal processor enable “a whole new level of photography,” Schiller said. The company launched flagship phones starting at $999 for the 5.8-inch 11 Pro and $1,099 for the 6.5-inch Pro Max, spreading pricing for other phones starting at $449 for the 8. The XR, the top-selling smartphone over the first half of 2019, dropped from $749 to $599, with this introduction of the 11 at $699. CEO Tim Cook gave details of the Apple Arcade gaming service, which opens Sept. 19 at $4.99 per month. The company turned heads more with the offer of a free one-year subscription to its $4.99 monthly Apple TV Plus video streaming service that launches Nov. 1 to customers who buy new products. Other starts included a new watch and tablets.
Globalstar subsidiary Spot announced Monday a next-generation two-way satellite messenger device that connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth to send and receive messages. The $249 device (starting at $11.99 for monthly service) is designed to provide satellite communications and emergency notifications to adventurers and remote workers from a device equipped with a QWERTY keyboard, said the company. Users see satellite messages via a phone app. It includes 14 preprogrammed messages and directly connects to the GEOS International Emergency Coordination Center.
Josh.ai announced new partner integrations with Comcast, Ketra and Samsung ahead of CEDIA Expo, beginning Wednesday in Denver, along with a virtual TV remote control for Apple devices. Comcast integration provides control of live TV using voice and the Josh app, allowing customers to ask for channels by name or number; functionality also includes the ability to navigate the Comcast guide and menu, play, pause, fast-forward, rewind and select content, said Josh. Integration with Samsung IP TVs lets users control power and volume and change sources, it said. A TV remote built in to iPhone and iPad apps enable a “natural and intuitive touch experience for control,” it said. The company added “concise mode” to its offerings, a one-word confirmation when it’s controlling certain devices: rather than telling a homeowner the living room lights are now on, it will just say, “ok." Josh.ai’s new native integration with Lutron’s Ketra lighting system enables homeowners to adjust color temperature and hue of lights via voice or app, it said. A new Sonos feature lets users auto-discover and control favorite pre-defined playlists, it said. Josh.ai also updated its privacy and security features, announcing new features around permissioning so customers and integrators can specify more granular user roles, said the company. All data Josh.ai gathers is used to improve the customer experience, said the company, but users have the option to disable all data gathering and delete specific logs.
Extended battery life is a top purchase driver for 61 percent of consumers surveyed in a Qualcomm audio report, said the company at IFA Friday. That’s up from 47 percent a year ago, reflecting the shift in preference toward wireless audio devices, said Qualcomm, whose Bluetooth technology is the de facto standard for wireless headphone connectivity. More than 30 percent said they use their wireless audio devices while gaming. Thirty-five percent own a smart speaker; 23 percent plan to buy one in the next 12 months and just over half saw a voice interface as a “feature of interest,” it said. Sixty-three percent said they care about active noise cancellation as a headphone feature; 67 percent said the ability to stream audio smoothly to other devices without lags is important. It's based on a survey of 6,000 smartphone users ages 16-64 in the U.S., Germany, India, Japan, the U.K. and China.
Netgear announced its first digital canvas since buying Meural last year, bowing the brand’s Canvas II at IFA Friday. Two versions -- at 27 and 21 inches -- are designed to display artwork like originals as seen in a gallery or museum, said Netgear. The smaller frames are $399 and $499 depending on frame color; $599 and $699 in 27-inch models. The 16:9 frames automatically detect whether the art should be positioned in horizontal or landscape mode. An annual artwork subscription is $69, said the company, billing the “dynamic library of art” as a collection of over 30,000 works curated from leading museums, artists and image collections from around the world, including paintings from the Renaissance, Impressionist and modern periods, along with photographs. Subscribers can buy select works to own, and they can upload their own photos via SD card slot and USB port. On-display editing tools enable color adjustment and cropping to fit personal art to the display, it said. User interfaces include gesture, voice via an Amazon Echo device, desktop and mobile apps. Improvements in generation two are streamlined setup using a QR code for connection to a Wi-Fi network, a more energy-efficient canvas that uses 45 percent less power than the previous model, and an ambient light sensor to adjust screen illumination based on the lighting environment, Netgear said.
Shipments of headphones with voice assistants tripled 2018-19 and were embedded in nearly a fifth of headphones shipped in Q2, said Futuresource Friday. Though voice-activated models have captured less than 5 percent of the sports headphone category, they’re expected to advance over the rest of the year, Adriana Blanco said. The top three brands -- Sony, Apple and JBL -- remain unchanged from Q1 but Apple is “within striking distance” of Sony, the analyst said.
The Imax Enhanced ecosystem, including DTS sound, added Sony and TCL TVs outside of the U.S. market and secured content distribution agreements with FandangoNow and Rakuten TV, it said Thursday. Imax Enhanced certified select Sony Bravia TVs in “targeted European territories” and TCL’s X10 TV in China, it said. Paramount Pictures said its first Imax Enhanced title is Bumblebee, to be followed by Crawl, Pet Sematary (2019) and Rocketman. Sony Pictures will release The Angry Birds Movie 2 on Ultra HD Blu-ray, they said. FandangoNow is expected to begin streaming Imax Enhanced content in the U.S. this month, and Rakuten TV will have increased content ready for streaming to European markets in “coming months,” said Imax and DTS. Existing Imax Enhanced hardware partners are Arcam, AudioControl, Denon, Elite, Integra, Lexicon, Marantz, Onkyo, Pioneer and Trinnov.
Comcast and LG launched the Xfinity Stream beta app for LG’s smart TVs from model years 2017-19, they said Thursday. Customers can access live, on demand, and cloud DVR programming included with their Xfinity TV subscription on LG 4K and HD smart TVs without a set-top box. LG's in the Xfinity TV Partner Program.
TCL pushed its NXTVISION display and camera technology at IFA Thursday, bowing the Plex smartphone. TCL has sold Blackberry-based smartphones. The 6.5-inch $360 Plex is the first of a range of mobile devices it will release next year, “including 5G products and devices with foldable displays,” said Peter Lee, general manager-global sales and marketing.
Zens will bow at IFA this week the first wireless charging stands with a lightning connector, said the company Wednesday. Filling in for Apple’s promise of the ill-fated, tri-charging AirCharge wireless charging pad, the Zens ZEDC07 ($139) simultaneously charges an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. Rather than charging from a pad, the ZEDC07, with a total 20-watt output, has a lean-back Qi charger for the phone and charges an Apple Watch from a customized charging transmitter mounted to a horizontal aluminum bar; the AirPods connect to the base of the unit via lightning. The watch module and lightning connector are Apple MFi-certified, it said. A built-in USB port enables charging for a fourth device. Zens also is launching the ZESC13 wireless charger ($59), with 10-watt output for a single Qi device, and a 2.4-Amp USB port that allows wired iPad fast-charging. The 20-watt ZEDC06 ($99) wirelessly charges two devices simultaneously; a built-in USB port charges a third device, said the company.