*By Alisha Haridasani*
Apple plans to introduce software that will reportedly help habitual iPhone users spend less time glued to their smartphones, a shift away from the company’s efforts to keep people more reliant on its hardware.
The company is expected to unveil its Digital Health initiative at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference next week in San Jose, [Bloomberg reported](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-31/apple-to-tout-digital-health-ar-features-at-software-conference). The tools, bundled with the new iOS mobile operating system, help monitor how much time people spend on their phones.
The Digital Health tools are likely a response to concerns raised by two of the company's shareholders in January about the possibly addictive nature of some smartphone apps, particularly among children. “We believe there is a clear need for Apple to offer parents more choices and tools to help them ensure that young consumers are using their products in an optimal manner,” the shareholders said in an [open letter](https://thinkdifferentlyaboutkids.com/).
Apple’s decision to encourage people to put down the company’s most popular product may seem counterintuitive, but it may also point towards a future business strategy for Apple that is more reliant on its services business, which includes Apple Music and iCloud.
The iPhone accounted for more than 60 percent of Apple's revenue in [Q2](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/pdfs/Q2_FY18_Data_Summary.pdf), but growth in sales have slowed in the past few years. Apple’s services, however, are starting to generate more revenue, surpassing revenue from iPads, Macs, and other accessories, such as Apple Watch and Apple TV.
Apple has tried to boost subscriptions for its Music service and has invested in producing original content, as competition with Spotify and Netflix heats up.
The $2 trillion crypto market will soon be subject to much greater governmental oversight. SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced this week that his agency plans to register and regulate digital currencies. He also revealed that the U.S. will focus on three different areas - crypto platforms, stablecoins, and crypto tokens. Jarrod Loadholt, partner at the law firm Ice Miller, LLP, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Blueprints and paper maps might soon be a thing of the past as more cities potentially turn to digital twin technology to create virtual models of urban environments. Michael Jansen, CEO of the digital twin platform CityZenith, broke down how this technology works, what it's being used for, and how it might be a game-changer for the future of urban planning.
"Our focus at CityZenith is on helping cities to decarbonize," Jansen said. "We joined the World Economic Forum recently to work in their net-zero carbon cities program. So what digital twins can do here with cities is aggregate all this complex data around that issue: transport, building emissions, etc., and scenario-ize how they interrelate and then how to optimize the entire process of decarbonizing, which is itself complex."
General Motors and Honda are teaming up to produce more affordable electric vehicles. The two carmaking giant are looking to hit a price point of less than $30,000, a much lower price when compared to most other electric vehicles priced toward luxury buyers..
Tensions from the Russia-Ukraine war have spilled into space. The head of Russia's space agency has threatened to pull the country out of the International Space Station if sanctions aren't lifted on the country — but that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon. What would it mean if Russia really did leave the ISS, who would it harm the most, and what would the consequences be both for the other ISS partners, and private space travel? Casey Dreier, Chief Advocate & Senior Space Policy Adviser at The Planetary Society, joins Closing Bell to discuss.
Elon Musk is set to join Twitter's board of directors. This comes shortly after the Tesla CEO purchased a 9.2% stake in Twitter, sending shares surging as much as 27% and making him the largest shareholder in the social media company. Angelo Zino, Senior Industry Analyst at CFRA Research, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to gives his take on the social media saga.
