Submitted by Jon Reed on
Enthusiasts have been anticipating an Apple TV refresh for quite some time now, yet Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been very quiet on that front recently. It's possible that they are waiting for the dust to settle from the seemingly endless negotiations between content providers and cable/satellite companies. A report from re/code last week says that Apple is in talks with content providers, and may be looking to put together "bundles of programming - but not the entire TV lineup that pay-TV providers generally offer," to sell directly to consumers over the web, bypassing the cable companies altogether (though most cable providers also provide internet access, so that could quickly become a leverage point for them depending on what happens with net neutrality).
Some other items of note from last week:
Apple last week admitted its connection to the camera-equipped minivans that have recently been spotted throughout the country. The slew of sightings has many speculating that Apple is testing autonomous "iCars," but AppleInsider offers some compelling arguments that the vans are contributing data to Apple's 3D FlyOver feature.
A patent application that surfaced last week suggests that Apple may be looking to take its mapping indoors. The application specifically discusses indoor traffic, and describes a method of relaying "average wait times" (as in how long the lines might be at a particular store/service/etc) to mobile devices.
Another patent application from Apple last week shows fingerprint sensors within a touchscreen display, which would make online authentication much quicker, easier and secure.Apple last week released iOS 8.2 beta 5 to developers. The release includes WatchKit, the Xcode IDE and a number of bug fixes and improvements.
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A rumor that surfaced on French site iGen suggesting that Apple may hold a media event later this month, possibly on Tuesday the 24th. A 12" MacBook Air with Retina display and an iPad Pro are both supposedly in the works, so if this media event really happens it could be to introduce either, or both.
According to a Reuters report on Thursday, 14 of 23 top hospitals they contacted confirmed that they have pilot programs that use Apple's HealthKit to allow physicians to monitor patients with chronic conditions. This could help prevent emergency situations and thus lower the number of costly hospital admissions.