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☆ Samsung’s AI-powered foldable phones get slimmer, thinner, pricier
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Samsung’s latest generation of foldable phones aim to draw in traditional phone users with the help of artificial intelligence. The new Galaxy Z Fold starts at $1,899.99, up $100 from last year, and is available in silver, pink and navy. Meanwhile, the Z Flip starts at $1,099.99 (also $100 more than last year) and comes in silver, yellow, blue and mint. Samsung’s foldable line occupies between 80% and 85% of the market share. But those same people might prefer to sleep with a smart ring on their finger rather than a smartwatch on their wrist.

Persons: CNN —, Price, David McQueen, ”, Roh —, —, “, ” Roh, Gemini, Samsung’s, Siri, McQueen, Roh, Oura, Francisco Jeronimo, ” Jeronimo Organizations: CNN, ABI Research, Galaxy, Google, Huawei, Motorola, Apple, Samsung, IDC Research, IDC Locations: Paris, wearables

☆ Apple’s new China problem: ChatGPT is banned there
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Apple is banking on its upcoming AI features to boost iPhone sales especially in China, where demand has been lagging. But there’s a problem: ChatGPT — soon to be integrated into Siri — is banned in China. But China is one of the first countries in the world to regulate the generative AI technology that powers these popular services. Resurgent competitorsMeanwhile, Chinese smartphone brand Huawei’s smartphone sales growth was 70% in the first quarter, according to Counterpoint Research. In other parts of the world, Samsung uses its own propriety AI technology, along with Google’s (GOOGL) AI model Gemini, which is also banned in China.

Persons: ChatGPT —, Siri —, OpenAI, Siri, ChatGPT, hasn’t, —, ”, Nabila Popal, ” Popal, what’s, Reece Hayden, Apple wouldn’t, Jeff Fieldhack, they’d Organizations: CNN, Apple, Apple Intelligence, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Samsung, Cyberspace Administration, Wall, IDC, Research, IDC Research, ABI Research, China, Baidu Locations: China

☆ Google's Android apps are coming in 3D via Xreal as competition with Apple's Vision Pro heats up
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Xreal, an augmented reality glasses maker, has launched a connected Beam Pro mobile device that allows users to capture spatial video and 3D images. Xreal said the Beam Pro uses Nvidia CloudXR technology for image rendering and Qualcomm 's Snapdragon spatial computing platform. A pair of Xreal AR glasses costs around $200 to $400, depending on the model and sales promotion. That means a set of Xreal AR glasses and Beam Pro costs significantly less than $1,000. The Beam Pro launched in China in late May.

Persons: Apple, Chi Xu, Xu, Xreal, Rokid, Ramon, Xreal Xu Organizations: BEIJING — Games, Google, Apple, CNBC, Apple Vision, Beam, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Amazon Web Services, IDC Research, Vision, The Locations: BEIJING, U.S, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore

☆ Apple steals the smartphone crown from Samsung, ending a 12-year run
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple was the top dog in the global smartphone market for 2023, according to IDC shipments data. It's the first time a company has overtaken Samsung in worldwide smartphone shipments since 2010. Apple closed out 2023 with record-high smartphone market share despite the overall market for phones decreasing. Apple is the "biggest winner" of the year in the smartphone race, IDC research director Nabila Popal said. Overall, the smartphone market declined 3.2% year-over-year — a decade low, according to the IDC.

Persons: Apple, —, Tim Cook, Nabila Popal, Popal, Cook, Barclay Organizations: IDC, Samsung, Apple, Service, International Data Corporation, Huawei Locations: China

☆ Apple hints at an AI-focused future and ‘scary fast’ upgrades
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Samantha Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The focus of the event, which featured the tagline “scary fast,” was Apple’s new custom-made M3 chips, the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Pro Max. The chips will ship with Apple’s latest MacBook Pro and iMac lineup. “This deep integration is something only Apple can deliver, and we never stop innovating.”At a time companies such as Microsoft, Google and Meta have openly discussed their plans for an AI future, Apple has been less forthcoming. Apple said it shipped about 26 million Macs in 2022, making up 9.1% of the overall market (up from 7.8% the year prior). At the same time, the overall PC market shipped about 292 million computers the same year, down 15% from the year before.

Persons: Tim Cook –, –, they’re, ” Cook, Apple, ”, Dipanjan Chatterjee, Forrester, “, Tim Cook, Chatterjee, David McQueen, ” McQueen, Kieren Jessop Organizations: CNN, Apple, Max, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Lenovo, Dell, HP, IDC Research, Apple Music, ABI Research, Intel, Qualcomm, AMD, NVIDIA, MacBook Locations: Cupertino , California, China

☆ Here's why investors shouldn’t sell on the typical hate-Apple-trade headlines
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Investors should not jump to offload Apple (AAPL) shares because of a handful of cautious reports ahead of this week's quarterly results. Jim Cramer points out that this has been happening since the first iPhone was released in 2007 and even before that. Even in high-conviction stocks like Apple, we do the homework to constantly test our investment thesis against new developments. "It's a classic negative piece on the company that crystalizes the 'hate Apple trade' that's been going on," Cramer wrote in his Top 10 Things to Watch Tuesday. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Jim's, that's, Cramer, there's, Apple, China hasn't, Needham, Jim Cramer's, Jim, Tim Cook, Loren Elliott Organizations: Apple, Wall Street, Google, Justice Department, IDC, Street Journal, U.S, MacBook, CNBC Locations: China, India, Cupertino , California

☆ What to expect from Apple’s ‘scary fast’ event
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Samantha Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Apple is set to host its second product event of the season, a month after introducing its new iPhone 15 lineup. Some analysts said the decision to hold an evening event may underline the fact that this likely won’t be one of Apple’s bigger announcements of the year. The event’s tagline — “scary fast” — is an apparent nod to the likely unveiling of its next-generation silicon chip, M3, as well as Halloween. Over the past several years, the progression of Apple Silicon — the company’s custom-made silicon chip — has emerged as a significant storyline for Apple, culminating in the transition away from Intel chips. This year, the company is expected to bring its M3 chip to a 24-inch iMac and perhaps some MacBook Pro models in various sizes.

Persons: ”, Ben Wood, ” Wood, Apple, David McQueen, ” It’s Organizations: CNN, Apple, Mac, Intel, CCS Insight, Silicon, IDC Research, ABI Research

☆ Apple's Mac shipments fall more than 40%, worse than major rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A new MacBook Air running M2 chip is seen displayed during Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California, June 6, 2022. Apple's worldwide computer shipments fell 40.5% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023, amid a broader contraction in consumer demand, according to research firm IDC. Apple's worldwide PC market share fell between the first quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, from 7.2% to 8.6%, according to IDC data. The company shipped 2.8 million fewer devices year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023, according to IDC. Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the time that the challenging macroeconomic environment impacted iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch sales.

☆ TripActions Rebrands as Navan, Adds ChatGPT to Expense Reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

TripActions, a business-travel software startup, plans to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT capabilities across its online platform, an effort aimed at seizing market share by making expense reports easier to use. That way, the expense report is generated during the trip as expenses are incurred, Mr. Cohen said. “Generally, software in the business-to-business space is designed to serve the company,” rather than the employees, Mr. Cohen said. “Using AI helps you create the kind of software that I’m talking about,” Mr. Cohen said. PREVIEWSAP Concur has also begun using AI in its travel and expense software, which can “tap decades of expense data and experience tracking to identify hard-to-detect spend issues and anomalies,” said Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel.

☆ Tech’s biggest show is set to kick off in Las Vegas. Here’s what to expect
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The Consumer Electronics Show, now in its 56th year, kicks off this week in Las Vegas with a familiar mix of cutting edge technology and oddball gadgets. And this year’s event, in particular, could show how companies are thinking about products as pandemic concerns recede for some consumers but recession concerns remain. This year, featured speakers will include executives from traditional tech companies such as Samsung, Sony and Amazon, as well as other brands like John Deere, Delta and BMW. Still, the topic of virtual reality products will remain a focus for some companies. HTC is expected to launch the Vive Focus 3 this week at the show, with an emphasis on the metaverse.

☆ Forget smartwatches, consumers are buying up these quirky, alternative wearable devices
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

People turned to activity trackers, smartwatches and other devices to keep tabs on their steps, vital statistics and more. Rather than sitting inside or on top of the ear canal, bone conduction headphones rest in front of the ear, leaving it uncovered. Bone conduction headphones by Shokz. Shokz ($125) pioneered bone conduction headphones, but the market has since expanded with other brands offering similar designs. But some audiophiles say the sound quality on bone conduction headphones and open earbuds is less than stellar.

☆ Kindle’s 15-year anniversary is a reminder simplicity is king
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

It’s like holding nothing but the words.”Amazon (AMZN) launched the original Kindle on November 19 2007, pushing the publishing industry to further embrace digital books and also kickstarting the e-commerce giant’s hardware efforts. Amazon can keep Kindle prices relatively low because the business model is all about selling books, not selling hardware, McQueen said. Likewise, the original Kindle had access to 90,000 books in the Kindle Store compared to 13 million books now in the Kindle Store. Amazon’s current lineup of hardware devices includes the Fire tablet, the Firestick media streaming gadget and the Echo smart speaker. “The more interesting question is will Kindle be broadly considered retro tech like vinyl record players or arcade cabinets of today?”

☆ With product innovation lagging, Silicon Valley bets on a fresh coat of paint
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN Business —When Google unveiled its new Pixel 7 smartphone lineup earlier this month, the devices looked largely the same as the year prior. Google has also swapped the stormy black (a stormy black) option on the Pixel 6 for obsidian (still black) on the Pixel 7. The emphasis on a new color palette for devices isn’t unique to Google. Apple’s new iPhone 14 lineup comes in Starlight (a champagne color) and midnight (black), and the company has previously unveiled two shades of green (“green” and “alpine green”) and purple (“purple” and “deep purple”). “Color names that are descriptive but odd can spark positive reactions because the consumer likes being able to ‘solve the puzzle,’” she said.

☆ Tighter IT Budgets Hit Global Laptop, PC Shipments
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Global shipments of desktop and laptop computers fell in the third quarter by a record 18% on a year-over-year basis to a total of 69.4 million units, according to market research firm Canalys. International Data Corp., a technology industry research firm, reported similar declines in third-quarter consumer PC sales. The firm is expected to report commercial PC sales next week, said IDC research manager Jitesh Ubrani. On Monday, Gartner said laptop demand among large enterprises fell sharply in the third quarter, while overall global PC sales saw their steepest decline in over two decades, Gartner said. In the third quarter, worldwide shipments of personal computers dropped 19.5% from a year ago, Gartner reported.

☆ Google Pixel event: Tech giant unveils new smartphones and its first smartwatch
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Google on Thursday unveiled its new Pixel 7 smartphone lineup and its first-ever Pixel smartwatch, packed with tracking and health features from its subsidiary Fitbit. The new Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro GoogleBoth models run on Google’s new Tensor G2 processor, which powers the device’s machine learning and speech recognition capabilities, and several camera features. But one area where Google could make a greater impact this year is with the introduction of the Pixel watch. The Google Pixel Watch GoogleThe new 41 mm Google Pixel Watch features a circular, domed-shaped Gorilla Glass display that’s scratch- and water-resistant. The Pixel Watch comes in black, gold and silver finishes.

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