Apple has officially joined a group called “Partnership on AI” as a founding member, alongside other major tech firms like Amazon, Facebook, Google, IBM, and Microsoft. Also joining the board of trustees are representatives of non-profit groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, MacArthur Foundation, OpenAI, Peterson Institute of International Economics, and UC Berkeley. The stated goals of the partnership are to support best practices for, advance understanding of, and create an open platform for discussion about artificial intelligence. Given Apple’s tendency toward secrecy, it will be interesting to see what role it will take in the group. Regardless, considering the promise and risks associated with artificial intelligence, it’s good to see tech giants and non-profits coming together in this way.
Apple wants to get in the content business — its future products and services might depend on it. Josh Centers explains why Apple should bid against AT&T to acquire Time Warner.
Even though Apple introduced new products in Q4 2016, the company’s financial slump has continued, with services being the main bright spot in its quarterly earnings report. It’s not exactly doom and gloom, though, since Apple still posted a net profit over $9 billion on revenues of $46.9 billion.
Before Apple dove into hardware announcements at its September 7th event, the company discussed education initiatives, new enhancements to iWork, Apple Music, and more.
Apple has long used Irish loopholes to lower its tax liability, but the European Commission has had enough. However, Tim Cook won’t fork over the funds without a fight, and the Irish government is on Apple’s side.
Apple has sent out invitations for its fall media event, which will be held on 7 September 2016 at 10 AM PDT at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. We’ll be watching the event’s live stream and chatting with TidBITS readers in SlackBITS; feel free to join us! We expect to see new iPhone models and possibly an update to the Apple Watch, but we’re also hoping for some additional surprises.
Is Apple losing its touch, or are consumers’ wallets tightening? Although most product lines are declining, Apple’s investment in services like Apple Music and Apple Pay, coupled with the growing success of professional-grade iPads, seems to be paying off.
For Apple, the sky has fallen… by 12.8 percent, which is how far its revenues declined compared to those of last year.
At Apple’s March event, a stream of Apple executives presented a series of announcements designed to portray the company as working for the customer as never before, starting with customer privacy, protecting the environment, and promoting health, before moving on to the hardware announcements that offer more customer choice.
We’ve coopted our ExtraBITS column this week to focus on developments in the dispute between Apple and the FBI over the agency’s request for Apple to create a tool that would enable brute forcing of iPhone passcodes. Also, Adam introduces the coverage with some thoughts on why this case is so difficult to evaluate.
Apple is still making money hand over fist, but sales growth for all three of its major product categories has stalled or is in decline. Michael Cohen and Josh Centers don their analyst hats to try to explain why.
If you’ve ever found yourself stymied in trying to use Apple’s current apps, a Fast Company article by design gurus Don Norman and Bruce Tognazzini lays out some of the mistakes Apple is making.
Apple has dodged financial ruin for yet another quarter, reporting both record-breaking revenues and profits.
Apple’s next big media event is set for 9 September 2015 at 10 AM PDT, and you can watch it live in Safari for Mac and iOS, in the Apple TV’s Apple Events app, and surprisingly, in the new Edge browser in Windows 10. If you’re busy at that time, the recording usually remains available afterwards. Apple is expected to announce new iPhone models, and other possibilities include updated iPads and an Apple TV refresh.
Although the iPad is still slumping, and Apple Watch sales remain a closely guarded secret, iPhone and Mac sales hit record highs, leading to yet another strong showing for Apple’s bottom line.