Apple Insider
Our industry expert rounds-up the biggest Apple corporate stories circulating this month
WWDC set for June Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts on 8 June. Tickets are available on a lottery basis, though the company intends streaming more sessions from the show than before. Marketing VP Phil Schiller promised, “Incredible new technologies for iOS and OS X to share with developers at WWDC and around the world”. Such new technologies will include new evolutions of the operating systems along with app development tracks for Apple Watch and – as MacFormat goes to press – increasing weight of speculation claiming Apple will reveal more on its plans for TV at the show.
Apple and IBM in health data push Apple has teamed up with IBM in a deal that means HealthKit data may transform health research, thanks to big data analysis and IBM’s AI solution, Watson. “With Apple’s groundbreaking ResearchKit, researchers can easily create apps that take advantage of the power of mobile devices to give them rich data from a diverse global population”, said Jeff Williams, Apple’s Operations VP. “Now IBM’s secure cloud and analytics capabilities provide additional tools to help accelerate discoveries across a wide variety of health issues”. The notion is that sensors in your Apple device will gather useful data Watson will analyse to identify key health-related insights to inform better research.
Earth Apple “We don’t want to debate climate change. We want to stop it”, says Apple at the start of its 2015 Environmental Responsibility Report, published for Earth Day 2015. The publication followed a series of green-friendly revelations, including huge new solar farms in China and another in California. Apple is also working with the Conservation Fund to acquire 36,000 acres of managed forest that will be sustained and harvested for Apple product packaging. Apple is trying to get 100% of its packaging from renewable sources. The report states the company has launched a Green Chemistry Advisory Board to stay in the forefront of help identify and reject toxins from its supply chain.