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Apple nod to ChatGPT-driven app amid concerns

Apple.

Apple approved the app called aBlueMail’ following assurances from its developer that it has content moderation tools…reports Asian Lite News

Apple has reportedly approved an AI chatbot-driven app after content moderation assurances from its developer, as concerns rise about ChatGPT going bonkers and even generating inappropriate content for some users.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Apple approved the app called aBlueMail’ following assurances from its developer that it has content moderation tools.

Apple scrutinised whether a feature in the software that uses AI-powered language tools “could generate inappropriate content for children”.

According to Ben Volach, co-founder of the app maker, Blix Inc., he told Apple that “its update includes content moderation”.

He suggested that “the company should make public any new policies about the use of ChatGPT or other similar AI systems in apps”.

The BlueMail app is still available for users aged 4 and older, said the report.

Apple curates and reviews each app before approving those for its App Store.

However, there have been concerns regarding ChatGPT use.

Since its release, researchers have been grappling with the ethical issues surrounding its use, because much of its output can be difficult to distinguish from human-written text.

AI chatbot ChatGPT-driven Bing search engine triggered a shockwave recently after it told a reporter with The New York Times that it loved him, confessed its destructive desires and said it “wanted to be alive”, leaving the reporter “deeply unsettled.”

Cyber-criminals are also using ChatGPT to create Telegram bots that can write malware and steal data.

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‘We must not lose Apple the way we lost Samsung’

We must not lose Apple the way we lost Samsung to Vietnam: ICEA Chairman

According to the estimates, India and Vietnam are to become the biggest beneficiaries of smartphone supply chain migration out of China, Pankaj Mohindroo interacts with Nishant Arora

India Inc must create right space to bolster Apple manufacturing in the country, and the country should not lose the Cupertino-based iPhone maker the way it lost Samsung smartphone manufacturing to Vietnam, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said here on Monday.

In an interaction, Mohindroo said that Apple, which is the most valuable company in the world, is welcomed here to manufacture its entire product line and “it is in our great interest that we have their large manufacturing footprint”.

“I just hope that India Inc acts together so that we provide the right space for them (Apple), because we lost Samsung completely to Vietnam,” he said.

Apple.

As Apple faces China disruptions amid Covid surge and supply-chain issues, several reports have surfaced that the Tim Cook-led premium smartphone maker will quickly shift some of its China manufacturing to India and Vietnam in the next 2-3 years.

India is likely to produce 45-50 per cent of Apple’s iPhones by 2027, at par with China, where 80-85 per cent of iPhones were produced in 2022.

According to estimates by DigiTimes research analysts, India and Vietnam are to become the biggest beneficiaries of smartphone supply chain migration out of China.

India accounted for 10-15 per cent of iPhones’ overall production capacity at the end of 2022.

On the other hand, Samsung’s product exports from Vietnam reached $65 billion last year. The South Korean giant has invested more than $18 billion in Vietnam to date and plans to increase it to $20 billion.

Half of Samsung’s smartphones are currently being produced in Vietnam.

Samsung’s smartphone exports from India stands at around $2.8 billion at the moment.

Meanwhile, Apple has become the first smartphone player in India to have exported $1 billion worth iPhones in the month of December. It currently manufactures iPhones 12, 13, 14 and 14 Plus in the country.

According to Mohindroo, the country is now moving in a different direction, “which is largely export-focused and led by the government’s performance-linked scheme (PLI) push”.

“This is India’s largest opportunity. We need to boost exports and Apple can give that much-needed thrust,” Mohindroo told IANS.

Apple.

In the period from April-December 2022, mobile phone exports reached nearly $7-8 billion, and is expected to cross $9 billion for the fiscal year.

According to the ICEA, total electronics manufacturing in India will rise to $300 billion by FY26, and Apple is a key ingredient to achieve this figure.

A report in The South China Morning Post last week said that Apple is fast forwarding its manufacturing plans in India and Vietnam in the wake of unrest in China over zero-Covid policy which has severely disrupted its supply chain, leading to an acute shortage of new iPhone 14 Pro models last year.

Every fourth iPhone will be made in India by 2025, according to a JP Morgan report.

Can India grab the opportunity and pip Vietnam in taking a larger pie of Apple global manufacturing share? Time will tell shortly.

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Apple back in top 5 in PC market

Apple has been consistently clocking strong numbers since last few quarters and finally managed to pip Taiwanese company Asus…reports Asian Lite News

Despite India PC market facing a steep decline in the holiday quarter, Apple managed to break into the top 5 PC vendors in the country for the fourth quarter of 2022, a report showed on Thursday.

Apple has been consistently clocking strong numbers since last few quarters and finally managed to pip Taiwanese company Asus to the fifth spot in 4Q22.

“In a quarter where all the major vendors focused on inventory correction leading to reduced shipments, Apple witnessed positive traction thereby growing by 10.9 per cent YoY,” according to an IDC report.

The India traditional PC market, inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations, grew marginally by 0.3 per cent year-over-year last year to 14.9 million units, despite a steep YoY decline of 28.5 per cent in 4Q22, according to IDC’s ‘Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker’.

In 4Q22, desktops continued their upward trend, but notebooks declined by 37.8 per cent YoY.

Inflation and low sentiment impacted the consumer segment, resulting in a decline of 27.4 per cent.

“In the consumer segment, the year started on a positive note with strong double-digit growth in the first half of the year. Demand started to taper off in the second half of the year and eventually plunged in 4Q22 despite positive online sales in 3Q22, as channel inventory piled up,” said Bharath Shenoy, senior market analyst, IDC India.

For the entire year, HP Inc led the market with a 30.2 per cent share thanks to strong demand from global accounts and the government segment.

Dell Technologies was second behind HP with a share of 19.2 per cent and Lenovo came very close third to Dell as it held a share of 18.9 per cent.

Lenovo grew 14.1 per cent YoY in the SMB segment in 2022, which has been the primary market driver for the vendor.

Acer Group held the fourth position behind Lenovo with a share of 9.9 per cent.

For the entire 2022, ASUS held the fifth position behind Acer with a share of 6.8 per cent, said the report.

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Qualcomm’s M1 rival coming soon

The company is likely working on several chipsets, but the one that is said to give the best performance is expected to have eight performance cores…reports Asian Lite News

San Francisco, Jan 23 (IANS) Chip-maker Qualcomm is reportedly developing a new chipset that will compete against Apple’s upcoming M-series processors.

The new processor is developing under the codename ‘Hamoa’ and is expected to be marketed as “Snapdragon 8cx Gen4”, reports Gizmochina.

The 12-core SoC was earlier mentioned by tipster Kuba Wojciechowski, who now claims that the silicon’s moniker will be Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4.

The company is likely working on several chipsets, but the one that is said to give the best performance is expected to have eight performance cores.

However, it is not clear whether Qualcomm’s Oryon cores will be featured in the new processor.

The company is apparently not developing a new graphics processing unit (GPU) for the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 4 because it is expected to have the same Adreno 740 graphics processor as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the report said.

In November last year, during the company’s Investor Day, Qualcomm CTO Jim Thompson had announced Qualcomm’s plans to create a next-gen ARM-based SoC (system-on-a-chip) designed to set the performance benchmark for Windows PCs, that was expected to compete against iPhone maker’s M-series processors.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the chip-maker had announced ‘Snapdragon Satellite’ — a satellite-based two-way capable messaging solution for premium smartphones at Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2023, that would take on Apple’s satellite messaging feature.

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Apple gave $320 bn to developers on App Store since 2008

Apple.

There are now more than 900 million paid subscriptions across Apple services like Music, TV+, gaming and more…reports Asian Lite News

Apple has given a massive $320 billion to the developers for selling their digital goods and services since the launch of its App Store in 2008, the tech giant has announced.

There are now more than 900 million paid subscriptions across Apple services like Music, TV+, gaming and more.

“This year, more people than ever visited the App Store to discover and download the world’s most creative and cutting-edge apps and games in a safe and trusted environment,” the company said in a blog post.

Powering a robust global economy, the App Store connects developers of all sizes, from emerging solo creators to large international teams, with more than 650 million visitors across 175 regions each week.

“At Apple, we have the privilege of partnering with creators of all kinds, while building products and services that enable even more creativity. Our mission has always been to enrich people’s lives and to leave the world better than we found it, and we know that takes more than technical skill,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services.

Apple’s services category, which encompasses the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, AppleCare, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, iCloud+, and more, earned a total of $78 billion in revenue in fiscal 2022.

The services category earned $19 billion during the September quarter, up almost a billion from the $18 billion earned in the year-ago quarter.

2022 was a big year for Apple Music, which now features over 100 million songs, representing nearly the entire history of recorded music.

Last year was also a milestone year for Shazam, marking the service’s 20th anniversary with 70 billion all-time Shazams.

Last year, Shazam launched 17 new national charts and 58 new city charts, expanding coverage of the world’s most discovered music to more parts of the world, as users discovered over 40 million different songs and more than 1 million artists received their very first Shazam, said Apple.

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Apple launches new parking feature to Maps app

Apple.

With the new feature, iPhone and Mac users can search for a destination in Apple Maps and then select “More” and “Parking”…reports Asian Lite News

Apple has launched a new parking feature to its Maps application which will provide users with parking options and availability near a specific destination.

According to TechCrunch, the tech giant launched the feature in partnership with the US-based digital parking reservation platform, SpotHero, which will allow Maps users across the US and Canada to get parking information for over 8,000 locations.

“We’re constantly identifying new ways to bring easy, affordable parking to drivers. Working with Apple Maps is one way we’re doing this. Through our new integration, Apple Maps users can discover SpotHero parking right in the Apple Maps on iPhone and Mac,” SpotHero CEO & co-founder Mark Lawrence was quoted as saying.

With the new feature, iPhone and Mac users can search for a destination in Apple Maps and then select “More” and “Parking”, and they will be taken straight to the SpotHero website without leaving Maps, according to the report.

Users from SpotHero’s website can search for nearby parking and reserve a space using secure payment options, the parking platform claims.

In addition, SpotHero allows users to filter their search by date and time as well as parking spots with EV charging, wheelchair accessibility, valet services and more, the report added.

Last year, Apple expanded the cycling directions in its Maps app to users in some cities in the US, including Chicago, Detroit and Columbus.

Introduced with iOS 14, cycling directions provide users with a wealth of information for their coming bike ride. Navigation assets include designated bike lanes, paths, inclines, stairs, and obstacles, reports AppleInsider.

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Apple marks 3rd-gen iPad Mini as obsolete product

The third-generation iPad mini was a popular iPad that launched in 2014 alongside the second-generation iPad Air…reports Asian Lite News

Apple has officially marked the third-generation iPad mini as an obsolete product, meaning it will no longer be eligible for repairs as service providers cannot order parts for the device.

“Products are considered obsolete when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 7 years ago,” according to Apple’s support page.

“Apple discontinues all hardware service for obsolete products, with the sole exception of Mac laptops that are eligible for an additional battery-only repair period. Service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products,” it added.

The third-generation iPad mini was a popular iPad that launched in 2014 alongside the second-generation iPad Air. It included the A7 chip and a Touch ID home button.

Meanwhile, the tech giant is reportedly working on a new version of the iPad mini which is expected to be launched by the end of 2023 or early 2024.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shared the information on the micro-blogging platform Twitter and said that the new iPad mini’s main selling point would be its processor.

Moreover, he said that the iPhone maker will not replace the iPad mini with a folding iPad in 2025.

This is because “the price of the folding iPad should be significantly higher than that of the iPad mini, so such a replacement is unreasonable”.

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Supply issues upset global tech stocks

Apple.

Companies have struggled to keep production going in China due to Covid restrictions and weeks of lockdowns…reports Asian Lite News

Apple and Tesla stocks have tumbled over growing concerns about delays in their production lines in China, BBC reported.

Apple shares hit their lowest point since June 2021. Tesla’s stock has dropped 73 per cent from a record high in November 2021.

Companies have struggled to keep production going in China due to Covid restrictions and weeks of lockdowns, BBC reported.

Now they are facing a staffing crunch as China battles a Covid wave after lifting years of restrictions.

Global investors are being cautious ahead of additional interest rate hikes, a global economic slowdown and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Apple supplier Foxconn says its revenue in November was down 11 per cent compared with the same month in 2021, following unrest at its Zhangzhou plant known as “iPhone City.”

This week, media reports said Tesla’s Shanghai manufacturing plant had cut production as Covid infections rose in China. The company declined to comment.

But analysts say the company’s sluggish sales are evident in the fact that it has offered discounts to both Chinese and North American customers, BBC reported.

Investors have also raised concerns about Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk, who has repeatedly made controversial headlines. He took over Twitter in October after a drawn-out legal battle and since then Musk has focused a significant amount of his time on running the social media platform. Some have cited his alleged distraction during this time as another reason for the fall in Tesla’s share price.

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Apple may launch TV app on Android devices soon

Apple.

“The application would also provide Android users with access to MLS Season Pass next year,” the report said…reports Asian Lite News

Tech giant Apple is reportedly planning to launch its TV application on Android smartphones soon. The news came from Twitter user ShrimpApplePro, who accurately leaked the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island hardware design and the box for the device, reports MacRumors.

The leaker claimed that the tech giant is testing the application internally and plans to release it soon. With the Apple TV application, Android smartphone users would have a more convenient way to access the Apple TV+ streaming service, instead of depending on tv.apple.com on the web.

“The application would also provide Android users with access to MLS Season Pass next year,” the report said.

Meanwhile, in October, the tech giant had released an update to its Apple TV application, which was used by smart TVs and other devices, adding HDR10+ support for Apple TV+ streams and iTunes movies.

The tvOS 16 update had added multiple features, including support for video streaming using HDR10+ for the third-generation Apple TV 4K.

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Apple speeds up Vietnam plans

According to the report, the iPhone maker aims to have ‘out of China’ production alternatives for key products amid Covid lockdowns that hampered its supply chain….reports Asian Lite News

Apple is planning to begin production of MacBooks in Vietnam by mid-2023, as it continues to diversify its production base away from China to other countries, including India, the media reported on Tuesday.

The tech giant has tapped its top supplier Foxconn to start making MacBooks in the Southeast Asian nation as early as around May, reports Nikkei Asia, citing sources.

According to the report, the iPhone maker aims to have ‘out of China’ production alternatives for key products amid Covid lockdowns that hampered its supply chain.

Apple plans to move some MacBook production to Vietnam for the first time next year as it “continues diversifying its production base away from China amid escalating tech tensions between Washington and Beijing,” the report mentioned.

As per a Counterpoint Research report, Foxconn aims to shift up to 30 per cent of its capacity to India, Vietnam and Brazil.

It had already developed “rather high production capacities in India and Vietnam before the recent disruption at its Zhengzhou plant” in China.

As of September 2022, there were 21 Apple suppliers in Vietnam.

When it comes to smartphone production, manufacturing in India grew 16 per cent (year-over-year) in Q2 2022 (April-June) to reach over 44 million units, said the Counterpoint report.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is “telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam” in order to “reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn”.

The contribution of domestic iPhone manufacturing in India jumped from 50 per cent in 2019 to 73 per cent in 2021, according to market research firm CMR.

In the meantime, the percentage of imported iPhones to India decreased from 50 per cent in 2019 to 45 per cent in 2020, 27 per cent in 2021 and around 15 per cent this year — showing a significant Make in India’s boom for Apple.

Apple aims to ship 40-45 per cent of iPhones from India compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to analyst Ming-chi Kuo.

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