Apple brings iOS to cars

Apple promised to bring its iOS mobile operating system to the automobile industry last year. According to a report from Financial Times, the iOS will debut in Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Ferrari this March. It is expected to be announced at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland next week, which runs from 6th to 16th March.

Apple are working with a slew of manufacturers to bring its iOS in car system to reality.

At World Wide Developers' Conference (WWDC) 2013, Apple's Eddy Cue showed off "iOS in the car." He said that Apple are working with Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Ferrari, Chevrolet, Infiniti, Kia, Hyundai, Volvo, Acura, Opel and Jaguar.

iPhone 6 to use Quantum Dots Display Technology

While Apple is widely rumored to introduce larger iPhones later this year, more good news are waiting in the wings for consumers. According to a new report, it could feature a superior display technology.

Business Insider reported that Apple could use Quantum Dots technology, which could display colors at an amazing accuracy. Quantum Dots are nanocrystals made of semiconductors, which can produce very specific light frequencies. Its color accuracy is higher than LCD and LED displays.

Quantum Dots: Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX has incredible color accuracy.

While Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX tablet uses Quantum Dots technology, it suffered a "light-bleed issue." Apple has reportedly found a fix while researching on that technology. This was backed up by Patently Apple, which described 4 patent applications by Apple to improve Retina Display using Quantum Dots.

It is still unclear which device will Apple use the technology on, but the iPad Mini with Retina Display was widely criticized for being less accurate than its rivals, notably Kindle Fire HDX. Tim Cook admitted it in an interview with Wall Street Journal:

21 billionaires' stock of choice. Who is it?

The iOS app and website iBillionaire offers investors a portfolio of 30 stocks. These stocks are selected to show the investment strategies of 21 billionaire investors. Among them are Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffet, hedge fund legend George Soros and investor Carl Icahn.

Wall Street: Money never sleeps.

iBillionaire stated:

"We analyze more than 250 billion dollars in assets held and managed by a pool of over 20 billionaires. Each quarter, we look at roughly 1,500 investments, 93% in equities and 7% belonging to other asset classes. Our software has processed over a decade of SEC filings to ensure that the iBillionaire Index is a diversified portfolio of high-quality companies. "

So what's their favorite stock? The table below shows the top 10 stocks and their relative share in the S&P 500.

Apple & Tesla: Secret Meeting Revealed

As Apple's Merger and Acquisitions (M&A) chief Adrian Perica met with Tesla Motors' CEO Elon Musk, rumors flew around that Apple might acquire Tesla, the extremely successful electric vehicle maker based in Silicon Valley.

Elon Musk is regarded as one of the best CEOs in America.

Wall Street analysts speculated that Apple are trying to diversify its business and explore new ventures. Berenberg bank analyst Adnaan Ahmad even wrote an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, urging him to put Apple's mountain of cash ($160 billion) to good use by acquiring Tesla.

Battery Prowess: Model S has an incredible range of 265 miles (426 km) in one charge.

However, it now seems that the high-profile meeting is about a battery 'gigafactory'. Apple are interested

iPhone 6 rumors: All the specs and features you need to know!

Apple's annual iPhone refresh cycle points to a release date around September, at best. Although we are half a year away from its release, nothing could stop the churning rumor mill!

Screen Size
Many users are moving away from iPhones to Androids in search of a bigger screen. The 4-inch screens on current iPhones are deemed small, and Apple finally seems to be acknowledging that! Rumors point to a 4.7 or 4.8 inch display, with a Full HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. There are also reports on a 5.5 inch phablet (iPhone Pro?) with a 2K QHD resolution of 2272x1280 pixels.

Could the next iPhone go bezel-less?

Internal Storage
As with the usual 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variant, there are also reports of a 128GB variant.
NOTE: The 128GB rumor has been on the rumor mill for years, but never materialized. Will we finally see it on iPhone 6?

Camera
The 8-megapixel back camera will remain. Apple are likely to improve its optics rather than increasing megapixels. There are talks of a bigger, f/1.8 aperture, up from f/2.2 in iPhone 5s.
Front camera could be improved up to a 3.2-megapixel setup. There are reports that Sony will supply Apple with the front camera, but maybe not so soon.

Processor
It will likely be an A8 20 nanometer chip with 2GB RAM. One report claims that it will integrate DRAM into the chipset, thus bringing it closer to being "system-on-a-chip" (SoC).
Accelerometer, gyroscope and compass processing will likely be dealt with a new M8 motion coprocessor.

Sapphire Crystal Displays
Apple has been using sapphire glass on its iPhone 5s, albeit only for lens cover and home button. Apple recently partnered with GT Advanced to build a plant in Arizona, reportedly to manufacture sapphire crystal. Will it make it in time for iPhone 6 remains to be seen.

Biometrics
Touch ID fingerprint scanner will be included in iPhone 6, but what else? Apple has secured a patent for facial recognition, so things could get even more interesting.

LG G Flex vs Samsung Galaxy Round

Curved Displays
With LG and Samsung already making curved display phones, will Apple follow suit? Unlikely, in my opinion. With the iPhone business alone being larger than the whole of Microsoft, the generally conservative Apple will not take such huge risks.

Although speculation and patent filings are interesting, no concrete conclusions can be drawn just yet. Still a long wait, it seems.


Written by: Kheng Wei Ang

Ming-Chi Kuo: New iPad Air (A8+Touch ID) & iPad 4 in, iPad 2 out

Why is Apple still selling the iPad 2 in 2014?

Thankfully, KGI Securities Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a fairly strong record for predicting future Apple products, thinks that the iPad 2 will finally be thrown out of Apple Stores and go into the abyss of obsolete products.

No Retina Display? No, thank you.

Here are his expectations for 2014:

• iPad 2 will be discontinued in Q1. Introduced in early 2011, the iPad 2 still features a non-Retina screen and 30-pin dock connector. It remained on the market for years as a cheaper alternative for newer iPads, mainly used for educational purposes.
• iPad 4 will likely return to the market. With a gorgeous Retina display, lightning connector and A6X chip, the iPad 4 will probably replace iPad 2 to serve as alternative for the up-and-coming 6th-gen iPad.
• iPad Air will be updated in Q3. It will likely feature the A8 processor and Touch ID, currently found exclusively on iPhone 5s.
• New iPad Mini unlikely. With the much anticipated iPhone 6, new iPad Air, and rumored iWatch due to be released, Apple looks to be too busy in 2014 for a new iPad Mini.
• 12.9 inch iPad unlikely. Kuo seems certain that Apple are developing a 12.9 iPad, but it is unlikely to be released in 2014. Why? Apple's software team are focusing on the iWatch, which is a priority.

Written by: Kheng Wei Ang

Stop The Flappy Bird Clones! (App Store & Play Store)

Since Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen took down the simple yet addictive game Flappy Bird, a plethora of clones have surfaced on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Search for the word "flappy" on Play Store and it returns more than 250 results, including "Flappy Troll" and "Flappy Pig."

So long Flappy Bird!

Dong, who reportedly received $50,000 per day in ad revenue, took down the game because he intended it to be played leisurely, rather than being addicted. Developers who are eager to emulate Dong's success are likely the reason behind the number of Flappy Bird clones.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), Apple and Google are cracking down on this craze. According to Apple, the clones are rejected for "attempt to leverage a popular app." So that's it, guys. No more Flappy Bird clones!


Written by: Kheng Wei Ang

Fitness Watchmaker Basis Selling Itself?

TechCrunch reports that Basis Science, a company that makes health-centric smartwatches, is looking for potential suitors.

Unable to secure enough funding, Basis is looking to be acquired. Rumor has it that they are in talks with Apple, Google, possibly Microsoft and Samsung about the sale. Although Basis' market share is unclear, the smartwatch market is regarded as future of mobile computing, thus attracting interests from bigger companies.

Google, who recently bought Nest for $3.2 billion, is looking to enter the consumer hardware market. It is worth nothing that Google currently has Google Glass Explorer Edition in the wearable tech sector, and is unclear about making a smartwatch.

Could this lead to Apple iWatch?

On the other hand, Apple looks more likely to make a smartwatch, after Tim Cook said that there will be new product categories in 2014. Previously, Apple has acquired companies to implement new technology directly. Siri was acquired and became the star attraction of iPhone 4S; Touch ID became selling point for iPhone 5S (besides gold color, of course). Could Apple acquire Basis to work on an iWatch?

Samsung could also acquire Basis, after having a lukewarm reception to its Galaxy Gear smartwatch.


Written by: Kheng Wei Ang