Amazon Strikes Deal with Apple to Sell New iPhones and iPads from Apple and Apple-Authorized Retailers

Amazon’s New Deal with Apple allows selling of Apple products ranging from iPhones to Apple Watches Right on the e-commerce giant’s website

Image via Apple

While third-party sellers have sold Apple products before, they have varied greatly from Apple pricing and have not guaranteed sourcing or product quality. The new deal does guarantee product quality, with products sold directly from Apple and Apple-authorized retailers. Apple products will roll out on Amazon sites in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan and India over the next few weeks.

The deal includes the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPad Pro, Apple Watch Series 4 and Apple-owned Beats products, but not every Apple product. HomePod, that competes with Amazon’s own Echo, is noticeably absent.

“We’re working with Amazon to improve the experience for Apple customers on their site and we look forward to those customers having another great way to buy iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and more.”

— Apple statement

Any seller currently on Amazon who sells Apple products will have listings taken down officially January 4th and will need to reapply to Apple directly to become an official Apple-authorized reseller before being allowed to sell Apple products again on Amazon.

“Amazon is constantly working to enhance the customer experience, and one of the ways we do this is by increasing selection of the products we know customers want. We look forward to expanding our assortment of Apple and Beats products globally.”

— Amazon spokesperson in official statement

Roughly 71 percent of Apple’s sales in fiscal 2018 that ended in September, came through indirect distribution channels like Amazon, reported Reuters. It is clear that Amazon is the dominant e-commerce distributor as previously Apple and Nike had both resisted selling on the platform but now acknowledge Amazon’s dominance and critical presence for reaching customers.

Apple's Acquisition of AI Startup Silk Labs Demonstrates the Company's Philosophy of Privacy First

Apple’s Preference for Artificial Intelligence Powered Devices and Services That Respect Your Privacy

Apple’s Approach to AI: Privacy-First

According to a Tuesday report shared by The Information, Apple has quietly acquired privacy-focused AI startup, Silk Labs. While Silk Labs is a relatively small acquisition as the company’s round of prior funding had raised $4 million only and had 12 employees, the purchase demonstrates a growing divide between Apple and other tech giants hotly pursuing artificial intelligence growth.

While companies like Google focus on providing the most accessible AI services with the hope that providing ease of use will overcome privacy concerns, Apple takes the opposite approach, insisting upon privacy. From taking photos to asking Siri questions or getting directions, users can be confident using Apple’s platform that their data remains private and that Apple does not gather their personal information to sell to advertisers or other organizations.

The Sense smart-home assistant launched on Kickstarter was the first AI product of Silk Labs and ran completely on local user devices. While Sense was never brought to market, the product reflected the same privacy-focused philosophy that Apple has taken regarding the use of artificial intelligence.

Google Focuses on Scale and Ease of Use at the Cost of Privacy

On the other hand, Google’s recent AI acquisitions, Onward and Dialogflow, are cloud-based services that employ natural language processing to communicate with customers at scale. Scale and ease of use are the dominant factors affecting Google’s approach to AI to work with its existing business strategy.

To Share or Not to Share?

A 2017 study by Deloitte discovered that a majority of Americans are not comfortable sharing their browsing and social media activity with companies. Nonetheless, the number of Americans who are willing to do so has still doubled from 2014 to 2016.

How will consumers respond as the race for AI dominance continues? Will the decision be based on technology performance, ease of use and scalability? Will consumers be more concerned about their personal freedom and privacy? Perhaps then, the popularity of AI platforms in the future will be determined more by philosophy than technology. Apple seems to think so.

Apple’s Patent for New Smart Headphones Can Detect How They Are Worn

Just by listening to a user’s voice, technology in Apple’s new headphones can help you ensure that you never put on your headphones the wrong way again.

Beats headphones on the Apple Store

The new headphone technology will be able to detect how the headphones are being worn, solving the problem that some users have of wearing the headphones the wrong way. Using an array of new microphones, the audio accessory will be capable of switching channels automatically.

Image via Apple

Addressing a Common Problem: Putting on Headphones the Wrong Way

In the patent application published on November 8th of this year at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Apple’s team clearly describes the new technology’s purpose: "System and method for automatic right-left ear detection for headphones." The new headphones can thus detect how the person is wearing the headset, automatically readjusting so that the left-channel audio will play out of the left-hand ear cup and the right-channel audio out of the right-hand ear cup. At the same time, the headphones themselves are not labeled with left and right designations in the design or direct labeling like other manufacturers have chosen to do.

The new technology consists of a set of five microphones placed strategically around each earcup - front, back, top, below to the left of the earcup and one inside towards the user’s ear. The technology listens to the user’s voice, checking the volume and thus figuring out which edge is closest to the person’s mouth and thus determines the orientation of the headphones. After the orientation is determined, the audio signal is then fed into each of the ear cups appropriately.

Image via Apple

Another benefit of having multiple microphones is eliminating external noise when a person wearing the headset, makes calls or voice commands. Having five microphones in each ear cup of a pair of headphones would make it easier to isolate a person’s voice from background noise. In addition to making clearer phone calls, the technology would also help Siri better understand voice commands in varying surroundings. Apple has also filed a prior patent in October, "Electronic Devices with Configurable Capacitive Proximity Sensors," for proximity sensor electrodes in the earcup to hep determine the ear’s presence and shape to figure out if it is the left or right ear. Interestingly enough, the new technology can be used in a pillow to help figure out the way a person is sleeping.

---

Beats headphones on the Apple Store

Dual Mode Technology: Speaker on the Fly

Apple has been working on several headphone improvements, ranging from its patent on “Spatial Headphone Transparency” which adjusts an audio feed to sound like it is coming from a person’s surroundings instead of headphones. Another idea for a headphone that can function as a speaker has also been proposed called a “dual-mode” headphone as well as headphones that have sensors useful for healthcare and sports fitness monitoring. This next-generation headphone design can transform a stereo loudspeaker automatically, offering new technology integrations for potential EarPods, AirPods or Beats models in the future.

Image via Apple

---

Image via Apple

While Apple proactively files patents for many technology ideas, the company does not always necessarily develop these ideas into full-fledged products. However, headphones are potentially different given Apple’s keen interest in audio from iTunes to Apple Music, HomePod, Apple TV and now Apple’s own movie and TV shows. Well known industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also estimated in 2017 that Apple would sell 28 million AirPods or more this year.