Apple Watch and Macbook
Apple’s press event in San Francisco on Monday disclosed details of it’s first new product line since the iPad, the Apple Watch.
The smartwatch will come in an astounding 38 different models that will range in price from $349 to $17,000 depending on the type of metal used in its production, such as aluminum or stainless steel. Despite a difference in materials, most of the general specs for the various models are the same.
Apple announced that thousands of new apps have already been developed to work in conjunction with the Apple watch. It’s clear that it will be the applications and functionality, and not the aesthetics of the watch, that will drive its popularity and define its success. It has been confirmed that tech giants Facebook, Instagram, Uber, and Chinese messaging app WeChat are among those who have developed software for the watch.
The company already revealed the Apple Watch should provide an all-day use of up to 18 hours battery life. The smart watches can be pre-ordered on Apple’s website on April 10 for the most enthusiastic, while they will officially go on sale in stores April 24.
The Cupertino, California giant, also announced a re-imagination of its Macbook series. Aside from its razor thin 13.1 mm frame, the laptop boasts just one USB port and one headphone jack. The USB port will handle charging, data transfer, and connections of external devices. The other ports characteristic of past laptops are unnecessary, according to the company.
HBO Now
HBO CEO Richard Plepler used the Apple event in San Francisco this Monday to announce that the content company’s much anticipated standalone streaming service will be launched in April, exclusively available on Apple devices for the first three months.
HBO Now will for the first time provide viewers with exclusive access to HBO content like Game of Thrones and True Detective, previously only available with a cable TV subscription. The service will run customers $14.99 a month as HBO is set to compete for market share with the likes of Netflix and other established streaming platforms.
“When you subscribe to HBO Now, you will have access to all our acclaimed original programming, past present and future, as well as our unmatched lineup of Hollywood blockbusters,” Plepler said at the event.
After the first three months, the company will release content via other distributors. HBO viewed the move as essential in a changing online television landscape, where consumers choose to stream their television over the internet instead of purchasing conventional television and cable subscriptions.
“This is a transformative moment for HBO,” Plepler said.
Solar-powered aviation
Early this week, two innovators set out to push the boundaries of aviation, and may impact the way we fly in the future. Pilot Andre Borschberg took off in a solar-powered airplane from Abu Dhabi and has successfully completed the first leg of an around the world journey, arriving safely in Oman.
The IEA (International Energy Agency) has predicted that the dominant source of electricity globally will be solar energy by 2050. The carbon fiber airplane, with 17,000 solar cells on its wings to supply four electric motors, is revolutionary.
“Solar impulse is using only the sun as a source of energy,” CEO, co-founder, and pilot of the aircraft Borschberg told CNBC. “We can fly day and night, in fact we can fly a week, we can fly months, non-stop…it’s the first time we have an aeroplane which has unlimited endurance.”
The aircraft, named “Solar Impulse 2” will look to break records by crossing the Pacific and Atlantic oceans over the next five months, which might mean a full five days and five nights of flying for the pilot. And the world will be monitoring the historic journey closely.
The aircraft’s journey can be followed via Twitter, @solarimpulse.
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