Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Apple Car Talks With Daimler and BMW Fell Apart Over Leadership Issues, iCloud
Apple has been unable to establish a deal with Daimler and BMW over a possible manufacturing deal for the Apple Car, reports German news site Handelsblatt. Apple is said to be seeking a partner that could potentially help it produce the Apple Car, as Apple has no experience with vehicle production.
Talks with Daimler and BMW reportedly ended because there were questions over who would lead the project and which company would have ownership over data. Apple is said to be holding out for deep iCloud integration.
A Magna Steyr conceptual vehicle from 2012
Apple's car project is focused on creating an electric car, which may or may not include self-driving capabilities. Such a vehicle will likely interface with the iPhone and other Apple services, but beyond the fact that a car is in development, little is known about the project.
Hundreds of employees are working on the car, at secret locations rumored to be located in Sunnyvale, California and Berlin, Germany. Apple is said to be aiming to complete work on the car in 2019 or 2020.
Talks with Daimler and BMW reportedly ended because there were questions over who would lead the project and which company would have ownership over data. Apple is said to be holding out for deep iCloud integration.
Apple wants the car to be closely built into its own cloud software, while the German carmakers have made customer data protection a key element of their future strategy.Rumors last year suggested Apple was considering using the BMW i3 as the basis for its electric car project, but as was mentioned today and in past rumors, Apple's talks with BMW fell apart after just a few months. Additional rumors have speculated Apple and BMW could resume talks at a later date, and Apple is also said to be in talks with Magna Steyr. Apple executives have visited Austria to speak with Magna Steyr and there's not yet any indication that those talks have come to an end. Today's report suggests Magna Steyr is the frontrunner to work with Apple on manufacturing the so-called Apple Car.
The talks with BMW collapsed last year, while those with Daimler collapsed more recently, the sources said.
Apple's car project is focused on creating an electric car, which may or may not include self-driving capabilities. Such a vehicle will likely interface with the iPhone and other Apple services, but beyond the fact that a car is in development, little is known about the project.
Hundreds of employees are working on the car, at secret locations rumored to be located in Sunnyvale, California and Berlin, Germany. Apple is said to be aiming to complete work on the car in 2019 or 2020.
Related Roundup: Apple Car
Tag: handelsblatt.com
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42 months ago
We're supposed to believe that BMW cares more about privacy than Apple? I'm not saying it's impossible, it just seems unlikely. That's not to say that BMW doesn't care about privacy, but Apple certainly has a strong record.
One could say many things about the Germans... But they sure do value their privacy. I'd believe it, honestly.
42 months ago
On one hand, the thought of poorly designed internal computing and nav from car companies makes me excited to see what Apple can bring to the table. On the other hand, their laughable execution in web services from .mac forward makes me cringe at the thought of having any part of a moving vehicle reliant on iCloud.
42 months ago
I love being alive now and seeing all this stuff get (re)invented but damn, sometimes I wish you could just put me to sleep and wake me up in 2025 so I can see what the hell happened "faster."
42 months ago
We're supposed to believe that BMW cares more about privacy than Apple? I'm not saying it's impossible, it just seems unlikely. That's not to say that BMW doesn't care about privacy, but Apple certainly has a strong record.
You're looking at the privacy issue through the wrong lens as it relates to BMW and Daimler. They each want to quarterback the project because they are looking beyond the Apple project. They would want some of the developed technologies to propagate through their product lines. Car companies don't normally develop technologies with heightened specificity. They develop with the thought that tech will trickle down from their flagships to their "budget" offerings. With Apple heading the project they would be basically relegated to the role of contract manufacturer (like the company Magna Steyr from the article). As stated in the article, Apple is looking for iCloud integration into the systems (which I would want if I was Apple). There's no benefit to BMW/Daimler in that scenario. That's exactly why companies like Magna exist.
42 months ago
We're supposed to believe that BMW cares more about privacy than Apple? I'm not saying it's impossible, it just seems unlikely. That's not to say that BMW doesn't care about privacy, but Apple certainly has a strong record.
42 months ago
This is turning out exactly the same as the television industry. Neither one needs Apple in the slightest and so will tell Apple where to go, don't let the door hit you on the way out, when Apple demands clauses and contracts that are way out of the norm and not beneficial to the other party.
Apple does seem to think because it bullied the music industry it can do the same with all other industry's.
Perhaps it could ask Audi, but then again they are owned by the Volkswagen group and they certainly don't need Apple either.
42 months ago
This is turning out exactly the same as the television industry. Neither one needs Apple in the slightest and so will tell Apple where to go, don't let the door hit you on the way out, when Apple demands clauses and contracts that are way out of the norm and not beneficial to the other party.
Apple does seem to think because it bullied the music industry it can do the same with all other industry's.
Perhaps it could ask Audi, but then again they are owned by the Volkswagen group and they certainly don't need Apple either.
Apple does seem to think because it bullied the music industry it can do the same with all other industry's.
Perhaps it could ask Audi, but then again they are owned by the Volkswagen group and they certainly don't need Apple either.
42 months ago
Is that concept the Earth Day edition or the 420 edition :D
Yes.
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