Apple Inc. on Tuesday announced a series of new computers, paid podcast services and lost-and-found devices, marking the continued expansion of the company’s previous product line into more and more corners of consumers’ lives.
The new AirTag is a miniature device that costs $30 and can be attached to items such as keys and wallets to locate them if they are lost. Analysts praise it as a likely hot seller that will also keep the company’s more than 1 billion customers using its products.
The new iPad Pro tablet features an Apple-designed processor that supports the company’s latest Mac computers. It has a keyboard and trackpad options, which help it become a full-fledged alternative to traditional laptops and desktops. the update to the Mac desktop line has seven colors to choose from, reminiscent of the famous candy-colored Mac computers that helped Steve Jobs revive the company in the 1990s.
The announcements show that the iPhone maker is accelerating the expansion of its portfolio and working to keep customers loyal to its line of products, despite increasing government scrutiny of the power and influence of major technology companies.
The new iMac starts at $1,299 and comes with a higher quality front-facing camera and microphone, a response to consumer complaints during the epidemic that the computer’s camera failed to keep pace with the iphone and ipad, even in an era when video calling was prevalent. The new iPad pro starts at $799 and uses the same M1 chip as Apple’s other computers, rather than an enhanced version of the previous model’s iPhone chip. The tablets also have additional ports for connecting displays and 5G connectivity, as well as higher quality displays than the company’s laptops.
Apple also announced a podcast subscription service that will compete with rival Spotify. Apple’s move is an attempt to regain lost ground in a market that became popular years ago but never profited from it.
Apple shares have risen nearly 95 percent over the past year, outpacing the Nasdaq Composite Index’s 63 percent gain, as consumers stocked up on electronics during the epidemic that led to record sales of $274.5 billion in Apple’s fiscal 2020.
Analysts at Regency Financial said in a research note that “AirTag could grow into a $10 billion opportunity, just like AirPods.”
Creative Strategies’ Bagarin said iPhone users who rely on tags to keep track of everyday items are likely to stick with the Apple brand for the long term. “The more you buy a hardware product, the less likely you are to leave.”
Apple has announced a wave of new products, but today it just wants to talk about UWB
This morning at 1am, the month-late Apple Spring Conference launched a number of new products including iMac, iPad Pro and AirTag, of which AirTag has received much attention because it was repeatedly rumored to be released but was slow to show up and poked at the needs of countless consumers who like to lose things.
According to the official introduction, only 11g AirTag rely on CR2032 button battery drive, the battery life can reach more than a year, built-in Apple’s own U1 processor, in addition to low power consumption and support for Bluetooth low-power protocol, but also supports UWB technology, through this technology, support for UWB technology iPhone will be able to achieve more accurate positioning of AirTag.
About the function of this product, netizens have long unearthed a variety of ways to find: find the key, find the bag is the basic operation, the entire beautiful hanging circle or necklace will be able to find the cat, find the baby …… function nothing to say, but what really deserves everyone’s attention is the UWB technology behind.
Although we have entered the 5G era, but 5G does not cover all the IoT scenarios, so WiFi, Bluetooth, UWB as the representative of the short-range communication technology still has a lot of room for development and market opportunities. WiFi, Bluetooth we are all very familiar with, but UWB because the earliest use only in the military field, later into the civilian sector, so consumers are still relatively unfamiliar with it.
The full name of UWB is Ultra Wideband, ultra-wideband wireless communication technology. This is a way to communicate wirelessly without a carrier wave, but using pulses with very short time intervals. By transmitting extremely low-power signals in the paid-up spectrum, UWB can achieve data transmission rates of hundreds of Mbit/s to several Gbit/s within a range of about 10 meters.
Compared with other common indoor positioning methods, UWB technology has obvious advantages, except for higher costs.
Positioning method Positioning accuracy/m Reliability Cost of use Security
Bluetooth 5 Medium High Medium
Infrared 5 Low High High
RF 1 Medium Low High
WiFi 1.5 Low Low Medium
ZigBee 3 High Low High
UWB 0.1 High Medium High
Because UWB technology has strong anti-interference performance, high transmission rate, low transmitting power and high positioning accuracy, it can be applied to many scenarios such as indoor communication, smart home, smart park, location determination and vehicle radar. So more and more manufacturers are entering this field through self-research or investment -In September 2019, Apple released the first cell phone with integrated UWB technology, iphone11.
In January 2020, Qorvo acquired Decawave, a UWB chip supplier, for $400 million.
June 2020, BMW announces the introduction of enhanced UWB digital car key functionality for new 2021 models.
In August 2020, NXP announced that its secure UWB technology will be integrated in Samsung’s new Galaxy Note20 Ultra.
Domestic companies are also very bullish on UWB technology.
In August 2020, Zhongda said it had applied UWB in a number of fields, including sports training, indoor anti-theft, logistics and storage, rail transportation, prison management, and smart retail.
2 months later, Xiaomi unlocked the usage of UWB technology in the smart home field.
According to the video released by Xiaomi, based on the “One Finger Link” Xiaomi UWB technology, smart devices have spatial awareness: when the phone points to the fan, the control card will pop up and can directly control the fan switch, up and down, left and right shaking. When the phone points to the TV, it can turn the phone into a TV remote control, and cast the phone screen to the TV with one key. The later release of spaced charging is also based on this technology.
With the support of first-tier manufacturers, the commercialization of UWB, the maturity of the upstream and downstream industry chain, and the combination with various scenarios of the Internet of Things will be accelerated, and we have every reason to believe that UWB will probably become the next breakthrough in the field of wireless applications.
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