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- Apple Readies Subscription Bundles to Boost Digital Services - Bloomberg
- Galaxy Note 20 vs. Note 20 Ultra vs. S20 vs. S20 Ultra: Samsung flagship specs compared - CNET
- Researchers discovered significant vulnerability in Amazon's Alexa | TheHill - The Hill
| Apple Readies Subscription Bundles to Boost Digital Services - Bloomberg Posted: 13 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Photographer: Damien Meyer/AFP via Getty Images Photographer: Damien Meyer/AFP via Getty Images Apple Inc. is readying a series of bundles that will let customers subscribe to several of the company's digital services at a lower monthly price, according to people with knowledge of the effort. The bundles, dubbed "Apple One" inside the Cupertino, California-based technology giant, are planned to launch as early as October alongside the next iPhone line, the people said. The bundles are designed to encourage customers to subscribe to more Apple services, which will generate more recurring revenue.  Apple Music Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg There will be different tiers, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private plans. A basic package will include Apple Music and Apple TV+, while a more expensive variation will have those two services and the Apple Arcade gaming service. The next tier will add Apple News+, followed by a pricier bundle with extra iCloud storage for files and photos. Apple's plans, and the structure of the bundles, may change. But the goal is to offer groups of services at lower prices than would be charged if consumers subscribed to each offering individually. An Apple spokesman declined to comment. The initiative is a major bid by Apple to achieve the same loyalty that Amazon.com Inc. has won with its Prime program, which combines free shipping with video streaming and many other services for an annual or monthly fee. This bundle is the bedrock of Amazon's success and has been mimicked by other companies before with mixed results. Apple has no e-commerce delivery and warehouse network like Amazon's, however it has hundreds of millions of ardent hardware customers who have already embraced some of its digital subscriptions. The iPhone and iPad will suggest different packages to users based on which Apple apps and services they already use. This feature will come later this year as part of iOS 14, the next software update for Apple's devices.  Apple Arcade Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg The company is also developing a new subscription for virtual fitness classes that can be used via an app for the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, the people said. That service will be offered in a higher-end bundle with the rest of Apple's services. Codenamed "Seymour," the workout package would rival virtual classes offered by companies including Peloton Interactive Inc. and Nike Inc., according to the people. Peloton shares slipped in premarket trading Thursday following the announcement, but gained about 1% to $65.02 after the market opened. Apple rose 1.5%. The new bundles will be geared toward families, meaning they will work with Apple's Family Sharing system that provides access to as many as six people for each service. The offerings are designed to save consumers about $2 to upwards of $5 a month, depending on the package chosen. For example, if a family subscribes today to all of Apple's major services plus the highest iCloud storage tier, that would cost about $45 a month. A new bundle could knock more than $5 off that. This approach is likely to be applauded by Wall Street, which craves businesses that generate reliable revenue streams. However, there's also a risk of confusing consumers with multiple subscription choices. This hampered the launch of the HBO Max streaming service, which was introduced this year alongside existing offerings HBO Go and HBO Now. The initiative is being spearheaded by Peter Stern, a top lieutenant to Eddy Cue, Apple's longtime services chief. Bloomberg News reported last year that Apple was targeting a bundles launch in 2020. At first, Apple doesn't plan to integrate the bundles with services such as AppleCare support or monthly payment plans for hardware like the iPhone or Mac. Earlier this year, as part of the Apple Card, Apple started offering monthly payments with no interest for several of its devices.  An Apple Interactive Television Box. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg In addition to the services bundles, Apple is planning new software and hardware bundles, including giving buyers of the Apple TV set-top box a free year of Apple Arcade. That would follow a free year of TV+ offered to those purchasing new Apple devices. Read more: Apple Cancels Arcade Games in Strategy Shift To Keep Subscribers Apple tested the waters with a subscription bundle last year, offering students free access to TV+ with a subscription to Apple Music, though it has never confirmed plans for a wide-ranging bundle for all of its major paid services. The company signaled the possibility though when it included a provision in deals with publishers participating in News+ that said the service could eventually be bundled with other services. For years, analysts and investors have called for Apple to mimic Amazon's Prime approach. Some of Apple's newer services, including News+ and TV+, have started slowly. By bundling them at a discount with more popular services, usage and subscriptions could increase. Read more: Apple's New Services Off to a Slow Start in First Year Apple's services segment is one of the company's fastest growth areas and has become a $50 billion-a-year business. While services like those for advertising and AppleCare were down in recent quarters due to the impact of Covid-19, digital offerings like the App Store, iCloud and video products set records. (Updates shares in eighth paragraph.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Galaxy Note 20 vs. Note 20 Ultra vs. S20 vs. S20 Ultra: Samsung flagship specs compared - CNET Posted: 12 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT  Samsung's new power phones have arrived. The Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra, which start at $1,000 (£849) and $1,300 (£1,179) respectively, were unveiled earlier this month alongside three other devices in a glitzy Unpacked launch that was moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Australian prices aren't yet available, but $1,000 converts to about AU$1,390.) Both phones are packed with top-notch tech that, on paper at least, puts them among the elite ranks of the iPhone 11 Pro and Huawei P40 Pro. As well as boasting a striking bronze finish, both the Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra have similar core specs, including a cutting-edge Snapdragon 865 Plus processor, a 10-megapixel selfie camera, new S Pen gestures and 5G capabilities. But they have some key differences too. Firstly, the Note 20 has a plastic back instead of the new Gorilla Glass Victus shielding used in the Note 20 Ultra -- a surprising choice in a phone that costs $1,000. The pricier Note 20 Ultra has more bells and whistles, including a higher-powered camera with a 108-megapixel lens, faster refresh rate (120Hz) and a microSD card slot. It also supports Nearby Share, Google's version of Apple's AirDrop feature. As expected, the 6.9-inch Note 20 Ultra is both the larger and heavier handset of the duo, weighing a hefty 204 grams. Both stylus-equipped Note phones come months after the launch of the Galaxy S20 family in February. Apart from the visible industrial design differences (the phones' sizes and the inclusion of the S Pen), one thing that's changed in the newer Note phones is the Space Zoom feature. Samsung's decided to backpedal on the S20 Ultra's hyped-up 100x zoom. The Note 20 and the Note 20 Ultra instead have reduced Space Zoom capabilities of 30x and 50x respectively. The company likely made this design decision to help drive down the price.  The Galaxy Note 20 or Note 20 Plus are available for preorder on the Samsung website until Aug. 20. For more information on their specs, take a look at CNET's specs chart below. Galaxy Note 20 specs vs. Note Ultra vs. S20 vs. S20 Ultra
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| Researchers discovered significant vulnerability in Amazon's Alexa | TheHill - The Hill Posted: 13 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Researchers at cybersecurity provider Check Point uncovered a flaw in Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant that left owner's personal information vulnerable before it was patched in June. The researchers detailed the vulnerability in a report released Thursday, saying potential hackers could have hijacked the voice assistant devices using malicious Amazon links. Once those links were clicked, hackers would be able to install or remove "Skills" — essentially apps — from Alexa devices. ADVERTISEMENT They would also be able to access the user's voice history with their device as well as personal information as sensitive as banking data and home addresses. Check Point presented the flaw to Amazon this past June, and the company subsequently fixed the security issues. The online retail giant did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill. Experts have long warned about security vulnerabilities present in the internet-enabled devices that are now commonplace in many American homes. More than 200 million Alexa-enabled devices were sold by the end of 2019, and a vulnerability in those devices could pose serious privacy risks. "Smart speakers and virtual assistants are so commonplace that it's easy to overlook just how much personal data they hold, and their role in controlling other smart devices in our homes," Oded Vanunu, head of products vulnerabilities research at Check Point, said in a statement. "But hackers see them as entry points into peoples' lives, giving them the opportunity to access data, eavesdrop on conversations or conduct other malicious actions without the owner being aware." Amazon, however, has insisted the devices are safe. "The security of our devices is a top priority, and we appreciate the work of independent researchers like Check Point who bring potential issues to us," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. "We fixed this issue soon after it was brought to our attention, and we continue to further strengthen our systems. We are not aware of any cases of this vulnerability being used against our customers or of any customer information being exposed." |
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