Apple Updates: AR For iOS, a Better Siri, and a Remedy for Tech Addictions
Here's the latest from Apple's annual conference for developers in San Jose, Calif., where the company is announcing software upgrades and new initiatives:
+ As expected, Apple unveiled tools to help iPhone and iPad users manage the time they spend glued to their screens. The new tool, Screen Time, is part of the new iOS 12 mobile operating system. Screen Time shows how much time users spend with each app, how many times they pick up their phones, and which notifications catch their attention. It will also enable users to set limits.
+ The iOS 12 will also include upgrades to the FaceTime app to enable group video chats with as many as 32 people simultaneously. And users can create their own animated emojis that look like them, what Apple is calling a "Memoji."
+ As competition among voice assistants heats up, Apple announced changes to Siri, which will be able to give iPhone users suggestions based on their location and the time of day. If you're running late, the new Siri can suggest you call or send a text to alert your next appointment from the phone's lock screen.
+ Apple will also roll out Siri Shortcuts to help users customize Siri's suggestions and program regular reminders for daily tasks.
+ The Photo app will be redesigned to make searching through images on an iPhone or iPad easier, allowing users to better sort by location, categories, and events. It will also incorporate facial recognition to make it easier to share images with friends.
+ Apple's new iOS 12 mobile operating system will also include a new tool, Measure, that lets users measure the dimensions of objects through their device's camera.
+ The company unveiled its big push into augmented reality with a new file format for AR content ー .USDZ. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said it would be integrated with Adobe's Creative Cloud ecosystem and can be easily shared via text message and email.
+ Tim Cook opened the keynote of Apple's annual developers conference by highlighting the 10th anniversary next month of the company's App Store. Cook, Apple's chief executive, said developers have earned more than $100 billion through the App Store since its inception.
+ Apple is expected to focus on software at the developers conference. The company's services ー Music, Pay, and iCloud ー account for about 15 percent of total revenue, up from 10 percent in the fourth quarter last year, as sales of the iPhone are slowing.
+ Watch the keynote [live](https://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2018/) on Apple's website.
*Check back for updates from the conference, and interviews and live analysis from Cheddar's Hope King ([@lisahopeking on Twitter](https://twitter.com/lisahopeking)) at WWDC 2018.*
Google’s philanthropy arm, Google.org, recently announced a $10 million grant for the AARP Foundation to aid in teaching digital skills to low income older workers. As the implementation of hybrid work expands, a greater emphasis is being placed on helping workers 50 years old and up — especially among women and people of color — to be digitally literate in order to keep the workplace generationally diverse. Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president of the AARP Foundation, joined Cheddar News to talk about the curriculum of the partnership. "Those of us who are 50 and older are not digital natives, so we do have a learning curve that we have to address," she noted.
AT&T announced earlier today it is spinning off its media properties in WarnerMedia in a merger with Discovery in a $43 billion deal.Scott Rostan, founder and CEO at Training The Street, joined Cheddar to talk about what the unwinding of the telecom giant's Time Warner media properties means for investors. "I think the investor sentiment is they're digesting the new information, and they're looking into the dividend, especially the reduction of the dividend," said Rostan, noting the transaction allows AT&T to focus on its core telecommunications business.
A 2021 report from UK Research and Innovation found that the shipping industry makes up at least 2.5 percent of the world's total CO2 emissions. It's a problem that energy solutions company, Leclanché, is trying to solve. Founded in 1909, the company has been developing and producing batteries for more than 100 years. Today, Leclanché's lithium-ion battery is used to electrify not just ships, but also railroad locomotives, trucks, and specialty vehicles. Cheddar News spoke with Pierre Blanc, chief technology and industrial officer of Leclanché, to discuss.
Amazon is betting that ammonia could be the fuel of the future, participating in a Series A round for the Brooklyn-based company Amogy in December. Amogy aims to de-carbonize transportation with a clean energy system that uses ammonia as a renewable fuel. Amogy is partnering with Amazon on its first commercial product - an ammonia-powered cargo-shipping vessel. Amogy CEO Seonghoon Woo joins Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Joseph Pallant, Founder and Executive Director for the Blockchain for Climate Foundation, joins Cheddar Climate, where he discusses the among of energy crypto mining consumes and explains how his organization is on a mission to make the crypto industry more environmentally sustainable.
One of the world's largest transport companies is kicking off Black History Month with a new initiative aimed at the next generation of business leaders. Today, FedEx announced the launch of its Student Ambassador Program. Participants selected from eight historically black colleges and universities will receive career guidance from FedEx executives. The program is part of FedEx's ongoing commitment to HBCUs and will also help the company expand its pipeline for diverse talent. Cheddar News welcomes senior vice president at FedEx, Jenny Robertson, and Jerryl Briggs, President of Mississippi Valley State University, to discuss.
Driver assistance monitoring systems are meant to keep the driver's eyes on the road, but according to a report from AAA, different ways of monitoring provide significantly different results. The study found that direct camera-based systems that scanned the driver's eye movements were faster and more reliable than those indirect systems that looked at steering-wheel input. Megan McKernan, the manager of automotive services for the Automobile Club of Southern California, joined Cheddar to discuss the findings. "Triple-A is recommending that automakers include both direct and indirect systems just to really prevent consumers from trying to misuse these systems," she said, noting that neither system on its own is not foolproof.
Pinterest recently added augmented reality to its portfolio. The image sharing and social media platform's new e-commerce tech will allow consumers to interact with retailers and visualize online products inside their homes.
Wave Neuroscience is a neurological health tech company that specializes in clinical and at-home personalized brain stimulation technology. Erik Won, president and chief medical officer and Fred Walke, CEO, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss their company's hopes for allowing patients to identify and treat unique brain disorders while empowering them to understand their unique neurological makeups — including for the high-stress positions of professional athletes. "We have a mobile device that provides a very light stimulation that gives them a therapy that gives them confidence so there's a just knowing that they're doing something for it," said Walke. "But it also helps them get back into a rhythm. It helps their brain synchronize around certain frequencies that that we target, and it helps them really understand that they've done everything they can to get to their highest level of success."
