NBC Entertainment today launched a "Saturday Night Live" app which allows fans to browse a catalog of the show's entire forty season-run, eventually learning each user's particular tastes and favorites and subsequently curating videos and sketches for them to view (via Entertainment Weekly).
The app launches a few days before the show's big 40th season premiere this Sunday, and NBC promises the impressive app contains nearly every single sketch the show has done over the decades it's been on the air, amounting to about 5,500 sketches from 800 episodes. The network also says it'll keep the app updated beyond the 40th season premiere with new skits and moments from the newest episodes being uploaded to the app following each new episode of the season.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the app is that, once it gets a feel for the kind of sketches, music videos, and parody commercials a user enjoys watching, it'll begin personalizing the experience for each user. Those wanting to search for particular sketches, actors, or characters can do just that, too, if looking for a particular aspect of the long-running sketch comedy show.
One of the current cast members, Kyle Mooney, voiced behind-the-scenes support of the app, tellingEntertainment Weekly the cast and crew plans to use the app to more efficiently research past sketches when working on new material for the show. As a plus, the SNL app also comes with a keyboard that, when granted access within an iPhone's General settings tab, allows users to send SNL-themed emojis to friends.
SNL can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Update: As several readers have pointed out, the app appears to be U.S.-only.
A new report out of Israel-based business newspaper Calcalist [Google Translate] claims Apple CEO Tim Cook is planning to make a trip to Israel next week to coincide with the grand opening of the company's newest office space in the country. The plans are, however, yet to be finalized.
The project, housed in the beachfront district of Herzliya Pituach, has been ongoing since the middle of 2013, when Apple signed a contract to lease 12,500 square meters of office space in the district.
With the project now completed, Apple is set to house 800 employees in an expanded footprint of 17,000 square meters (183,000 square feet). According to Haaretz, the company's R&D centers in Israel are focused on "storage space, processors and communications chips," so the new Herzliya offices are likely to be tied into those areas.
Apple has two other office spaces in Israel: one much farther out from Herzliya in Haifa and another within walking distance of the new building in nearby Ra'anana. For that reason, Apple is expected to consolidate the Ra'anana offices into the new building once it's up and running.
As Haaretz noted back in 2013, many believe Apple's continued expansion overseas highlights the company's deep appreciation of foreign markets and its desire to keep the manufacturing of Apple products under as much of its own control as possible.
“Apple is preparing to drop external suppliers and to control its entire production process,” [Explace chairman Shlomo] Gradman said. “This is a company that maintains its secrecy and they’re currently exposed to information going every which way. So it’s buying companies and improving its abilities in the field of microelectronics so that it can control the production process from beginning to end."
“Even though Apple has been active in Israel for only a short time, the company has been impressed by the abilities here."
Apple first began making headway into Israel after purchasing flash memory firm Anobit to gather a few key components of the manufacturing of the iPhone and iPad - namely flash memory performance and reliability - under its own roof. A meeting last year between Cook and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed towards the company's continued interest in Israel's market, despite the specifics of the conversation being kept private.
(Thanks, Hagai!)
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
For the last several years, Tactus Technology has been working on displays that take advantage of microfluidic technology, with buttons that raise up and disappear on demand for a superior touchscreen typing experience.
As of today, the company is ready to unveil its first product to the world, an iPad mini case called "Phorm." An all-in-one case, keyboard, and screen protector, Phorm can dynamically add and remove tactile buttons on the iPad mini's screen to add texture to the on-screen keyboard.
As seen in the video above, sliding the bar on the back of the Phorm case to the right causes small fluid-filled physical buttons to pop up on the screen protector portion of the case, giving users a tactile typing experience while still allowing them to use the default iOS keyboard. Shifting the bar to the left causes the buttons to disappear again, allowing the touchscreen to be used as normal.
Here's how it works: there are a series of small channels filled with fluid behind an elastomeric panel (aka the screen protector portion of the case) and when activated by the slider, pressure is introduced, causing the fluid to come up through the channels and into holes, where it presses against the elastomer, physically changing and morphing the display portion of the case to create buttons. In the opposite slider position, the pressure is released and the buttons disappear as the liquid is dispersed back into the channels.
According to Tactus Technology CEO Craig Ciesla and CTO Micah Yairi, who spoke to MacRumors ahead of Phorm's launch, the case uses a tiny amount of fluid that poses no harm to an iPad should it be dropped or damaged in some way. In fact, the Tactus team extensively tested the Phorm, performing drop tests, scratch tests, and more, and found that the case and its protective front panel provide solid protection for an iPad and can potentially keep the glass from shattering if dropped.
Ciesla and Yairi said that usability was one of the most important aspects Tactus considered when developing the Phorm case. In internal and third-party testing with people aged 19-70 with a wide range of hand sizes, 70 percent preferred the Tactus solution to a touchscreen.
The Phorm case is meant to stay on an iPad all the time, alleviating the need to switch cases and accessories regularly to accommodate different tasks. As Ciesla and Yairi pointed out, the Phorm offers several benefits over a Bluetooth keyboard -- there's no battery drain, there's no need to charge it, and it provides access to all built-in iOS keyboard features like word prediction and spell correction, with the addition of tactile feedback for faster typing.
"We built Phorm so tablet users will never again have to choose between thin stylish devices with touchscreens and amazing usability," said Dr. Craig Ciesla, CEO and co-founder of Tactus. "Typing on a flat touchscreen is still a really unnatural user experience. Adding a tactile dimension to an otherwise flat surface changes the way we will interact with all the screens in our lives. This is just the beginning."
The Phorm case for the iPad mini can be pre-ordered today from the Phorm website for the introductory price of $99, and orders are expected to ship in the summer of 2015. There are two colors available -- slate gray, designed for the space gray iPad mini, and sky gray, designed for the silver iPad mini.
Currently, Phorm is only available for the iPad mini, but the Tactus Technology team has plans to launch an Phone 6 Plus Phorm case in the near future. Phorm cases for iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6 are also in the product pipeline.
ESPN is giving its digital platforms a makeover this week by consolidating its iPhone and iPad apps into one unified experience. The new ESPN app combines what was formerly ESPN SportsCenter for iPhone and ESPN ScoreCenter for iPad into one app that offers universal support for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The app has also received a significant redesign and long-overdue support for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
In addition to a fresh coat of paint, the new ESPN app introduces a revamped ESPN Now that delivers up-to-the-minute sports coverage, including news, photos, videos and social media content. The app has also been updated with Cricket World Cup support, including video clips and scores, just as the international championship kicks off in Australia and New Zealand.
Pinterest today announced a new partnership with Apple to launch "App Pins" that will allow users to install iOS apps on their devices without ever needing to leave the Pinterest app.
Let’s say you’re Pinning workout inspiration to your Marathon Training board. If you see a fitness app that helps you reach your goals, you can download it right from Pinterest.
When you come across an app Pin, tap Install to download the app right to your iPhone or iPad without ever leaving Pinterest (you’ll only see app Pins when you’re using the Pinterest app on your iPhone or iPad).
As part of the rollout, Apple is also launching its own App Store board on Pinterest, giving the company a place to feature apps on a variety of topics within Pinterest. Apple is currently featuring a number of apps and other pins focused on fashion and recipes, playing into this week's New York Fashion Week.
Pinterest tells The New York Times it believes it can be an excellent place for app discovery considering its role as a place where people come to share and discover things.
“We can be a really powerful service for app discovery, which is a problem that still really hasn’t been solved,” Evan Sharp, a founder of Pinterest, said in an interview. “Our specialty is really connecting people to the things they want to do.” [...]
Pinterest believes it is better positioned [than Twitter and Facebook] to help promote apps because of the nature of the service. People come to Pinterest, the company says, to find new things to do, see and buy. That is unlike Facebook, which has been used to connect with friends, or even Twitter, which is often about public discourse and news.
The new App Pins functionality is included in a just-released update to the Pinterest iOS app, which is available free of charge in the App Store. [Direct Link]
Apple's new spaceship-shaped Apple Campus 2 is under construction, and the company gave KQED News a tour of the site, providing them with new details and a ground-based look at its progress.
As previously revealed, the building has an environmentally-conscious design, with features like using recycled water to flush toilets and solar arrays to power its functions. Keeping with this theme, the building also uses recycled parts from older buildings.
Photo of Apple Campus 2 main office, via KQED News.
“What Apple inherited on the property was several older buildings, all of which were broken down and deconstructed,” says KQED Science reporter Amy Standen, who got a tour of the site. “Much of the material from those old buildings was recycled into new building material to make the new campus, according to Apple.”
Previously, most of the looks at the progress of Campus 2 have been taken from drones in the air. However, these new ground-based photos offer a new perspective on the building's height and scale. The above photo offers a look at the framework of the main building, allowing one to gauge how tall the building could be.
Progress on what KQED identifies as Apple's new amphitheater, below, can also be seen, though it's difficult to visually tell how large the amphitheater will be. Apple will likely use this space for its town hall meetings.
The latest air-based update on the construction came from YouTube user myithz just over a week ago. However, it's fairly difficult to locate some of the locations in KQED's photos in the video, potentially signaling that a good amount of progress has been made since it was recorded.
Though construction has steadily continued through the last half of 2014 and into 2015, Apple's Campus 2 obviously has a long way to go until completion. Other than the main circular structure, main theater, fitness center and parking garages, Apple submitted plans for new offices, testing facilities and more parking garages in October for the second phase of construction. The complete campus is expected to be finished by the end of 2016.
Apple on Wednesday released its 2015 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report [PDF] and updated its Supplier Responsibility website, giving new details on its efforts to improve the lives of the workers that assemble its products.
For its ninth annual progress report, Apple conducted 633 audits covering more than 1.6 million workers in 19 countries, and called an additional 30,000 workers to survey them on working conditions.
One of Apple's main achievements in 2014 was putting an end to bonded labor. In October, the company told all of its suppliers that as of 2015, no worker employed on an Apple line could be charged recruitment fees. Employees have, in the past, faced significant fees levied against them by third-party recruiters, who offer them a job at an Apple factory in exchange for money. In some cases, they lose their passports until they're able to pay the fee.
Apple previously prohibited excessive recruitment fees (defined as anything higher than a month's net wages) and required suppliers to reimburse any such fee, but the new ban goes further, preventing all bonded labor. Any supplier who uses bonded labor will need to repay all foreign contract workers in full going forward if they incur recruitment fees.
Apple also made progress eliminating conflict minerals (those that benefit armed groups associated with human rights violations) from its supply chain. As of 2014, 135 smelters have complied with the Conflict-Free Smelter Program, and another 64 are in the process of verification. Four smelters would not commit to the program, and will be removed from Apple's supply chain.
Apple achieved 92 percent compliance with its 60-hour maximum workweek mandate. On average, employees worked under 49 hours per week, and 94 percent of all workweeks included at least one day of rest every seven days.
There were 16 cases of underage labor uncovered at six facilities in 2014, and in all cases, suppliers were required to pay for the worker's safe return home, continue to pay wages, and pay for education at a school chosen by the worker.
A 16-year-old enrolled in Apple's Underage Labor Remediation Program, at school in Henan province, China.
Apple often finds itself in the spotlight over the conditions at the factories where its product components are produced, but the Cupertino company has for many years held its suppliers to a strict code of conduct that prevents underage labor and provides safe, comfortable working conditions for workers. Apple's Supplier Responsibility Team conducts supplier audits on a regular basis so that Apple can continue to work towards improving conditions at supplier factories.
Starbucks today updated its iOS app to add support for Apple Pay, making it possible for iOS users to reload their Starbucks cards using Apple's payments service.
Starbucks was listed as an Apple Pay app partner when Apple Pay launched in October, but it has taken several months for the feature to be available to Apple Pay users. Apple Pay can only be used in the Starbucks app for reloading Starbucks cards because Starbucks is not an Apple Pay retail partner.
The coffee chain uses its own bar code-based system for in-store purchases with the Starbucks app and Starbucks locations are not outfitted with the NFC technology that would enable Apple Pay. There has been no word on whether Starbucks plans to implement NFC and support for in-store use of Apple Pay.
Along with Apple Pay support, today's Starbucks app update also introduces an enhanced menu with calorie counts and a better experience for Mobile Order & Pay in Portland.
Introducing Apple Pay and a Few Helpful Changes
Now you can use Apple Pay to quickly reload your Starbucks Card. Touch ID makes it faster than ever.
By popular demand, the menu is enhanced. When you browse our menu you'll now find additional calorie information on menu items. We've also enhanced the experience for Mobile Order & Pay in Portland.
This update addresses various bugs and stability issues.
The Starbucks iOS app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Seagate-owned hardware company LaCie debuted its newest design-focused hard drive, the $280 USB 3.0 LaCie Mirror Portable Hard Drive, which has recently become available for purchase. MacRumors met up with LaCie at CES, and we managed to get our hands on one of the company's new hard drives to share with our readers.
LaCie has a history of producing "Extreme Design" products that are aimed at people looking for an attention-catching desk accessory that also performs a useful function, which last year resulted in the LaCie Sphere, a silver-plated sphere that housed a 1TB hard drive. This year's LaCie Mirror follows in the footsteps of the Sphere, offering a 1TB hard drive in a mirrored enclosure, albeit with a slightly more traditional shape.
What's in the Box?
As a premium product, the LaCie Mirror ships in a premium box, which folds out in two tiers to unveil the hard drive in a padded compartment, a cord to connect it to a computer, and a wooden stand.
There's also a carrying pouch for keeping the Mirror free from scratches during transport, a cleaning cloth for removing fingerprints from the surface and a Quick Install Guide for getting the hard drive set up right out of the box. The hard drive itself ships covered with adhesive plastic screen protectors, so make sure to remove those before use.
Design
The LaCie Mirror was designed by French designer Pauline Deltour, who has created a range of modern furniture and home accessories, including several pieces that are sold by Alessi and MUJI. The Mirror is similar to much of Deltour's previous work, with a simple, clean look that's able to fit in with any office design, from opulent to minimalistic.
There's a new mobile analytics report out from Citrix [PDF] and it's filled with interesting data on mobile usage, including a tidbit that suggests iPhone 6 Plus owners use far more data than other iPhone owners.
People who own the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus consume twice as much data as people who own the smaller 4.7-inch iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus data usage is 10 times higher than data usage on the 3.5-inch iPhone 3GS. That last statistic isn't surprising -- along with a small screen, the iPhone 3GS is much slower with hardware that's almost six years old.
Citrix suggests that the higher iPhone 6 Plus data usage is due to its users treating it like a tablet, consuming more media like streaming movies on the device.
iPhone 6 Plus subscribers generate the most data volume, double that of an iPhone 6. This increase impacts subscribers when choosing a new device -- be careful to select a data plan that matches your super-sized screen.
Clearly the phablet sized iPhone 6 Plus shows data usage patterns more akin to tablet usage. For mobile operators, this increase provides an opportunity to shift subscriber Wi-Fi usage towards mobile networks.
Other details covering all smartphone usage (not just iOS) suggest that interest in mobile health apps is on the rise, with 78 percent of mobile health app users using fitness apps. Sports video watching on mobile devices is up from 21% in Q3 2014 to 50% in Q1 2015.
The report also has an enterprise section, which confirms that iOS is still the dominant mobile platform. iOS devices are responsible for 64 percent of devices managed in the enterprise, compared to 27 percent for Android and 9 percent for Windows Mobile.
Shortly after last week's deployment of OS X 10.10.3 to developers, Apple updated its official Aperture page on its website, adding a notice stating that Aperture will be removed from the Mac App Store when the Photos for OS X app launches.
The same notice can also be found in the app's Mac App Store description, as noted by MacGeneration [Google Translate]. Once removed from the Mac App Store, it will no longer be possible for new users to obtain the Aperture software, but those who have previously purchased Aperture will continue to be able to download it from the "Purchases" tab.
Apple first announced the shuttering of both Aperture and iPhoto back in June, but the company did not specify at that time that the software would be removed from the Mac App Store entirely. Instead, it said only that there would be "no new development of Aperture" as it focused its resources on Photos for OS X.
Our first look at Photos for OS X came last week alongside the developer launch of 10.10.3, as several sites were given preview copies of the software ahead of its release. Reviews have suggested that the Photos for OS X feature set lies somewhere in between that of the consumer-oriented iPhoto and the pro-oriented Aperture.
iPhoto users will find they have more control over photos with new tools, while Aperture users will be disappointed to find that many tools, like the loupe, brushable adjustments, and custom metadata are missing. The general opinion is that in its current iteration, the Photos for OS X software is not suitable for professional users, and those who currently use Aperture will want to continue with the software or switch to an alternative like Lightroom.
The Photos for OS X software could see updates over the coming months to add more pro-oriented features such as third-party plugins, and there are certainly some benefits to the app -- it integrates with iCloud Photo Library, its editing tools are easy to use, and it's said to be much faster than iPhoto.
Photos for OS X will be released in the spring when the OS X 10.10.3 update is seeded to the public. Ahead of the official launch, Apple is planning to do a public beta, though a date for that is unknown.
Apple shares are currently valued at roughly $124 each in intraday trading, giving the Cupertino-based company a record-breaking market cap exceeding $720 billion. Apple stock continues to rise after the iPhone maker became the first U.S. company to close with a market cap over $700 billion on Tuesday, the same day in which CEO Tim Cook spoke live at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference.
Apple shares have risen over 48% since the start of 2014, despite some critics suggesting that the company has faced a lack of innovation since the passing of late co-founder Steve Jobs. Apple has been particularly successful in China, which Cook claims has grown from a $1 billion to $38 billion market for the company in the past five years. Apple plans to expand from 19 to 40 retail stores in China over the next year to keep up with the high demand for its products in the world's most populous country.
Apple announced its earnings results for the first fiscal quarter of 2015 last month, posting revenue of $74.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $18 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share. Apple sold a record-breaking 74.5 million iPhones during the quarter on the strength of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, paving the way for the company to report the most profitable quarter of any corporation ever.
Cook confirmed on Tuesday that Apple will announce any potential changes to stock buybacks or dividends during its April earnings call. The chief executive added that Apple does not need as much cash as it is generating for operations, assuring that it is committed to returning money to shareholders through its capital return program.
Indie studio Camouflaj today announced its hit episodic stealth game République is being ported to PC and Mac and will be available to download on February 26 via Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store.
The team says the new edition of the game has been "rebuilt from the ground up" to access the power of the Unity 5 gaming engine. They also tout that the Remastered edition is the first commercial game to "fully utilize" the power and functionality of the Unity 5 engine, allowing for a deeper, more vividly realized world with physically based shading, real-time global illumination, and reflection probes.
“Ever since we committed to doing a desktop version of République, we’ve been haunted by the task for delivering something truly special for PC players,” says Ryan Payton, designer at Camouflaj. “When we got a glimpse at the next iteration of Unity we realized that this was the answer — beyond redesigning the game’s controls and UI for desktop, we’ve completely gutted all the game’s art, rebuilding everything using Unity 5’s cutting-edge graphical features. The result is something you have to see to believe.”
The game follows the story of Hope, a young woman attempting to evade capture from a mysterious, overbearing sect of the government intent on capturing her. Putting the player directly into the game, Hope tasks gamers to hack cameras and survelliance systems to safely guide her through the byzantine levels she finds herself trapped in. The game has garnered much attention since its release on iOS in late 2013, with our sister site Touch Arcadecommenting that, after the first episode, the game was "shaping up to be a masterpiece."
The new Remastered edition will come with the first three episodes of the game - "Episode 1: Exordium," "Episode 2: Metamorphosis" and "Episode 3: Ones and Zeroes" - and include a Standard and Deluxe Edition.
The Standard Edition will retail for $24.99 and will include pre-purchase codes for the final two episodes of the story: "Episode 4: God’s Acre" and "Episode 5: Terminus." The Deluxe Edition includes all of this plus the complete soundtrack, an hour-long "making of" documentary, and two early prototypes (exclusive to the desktop version) for $34.99. Each will receive a 20 percent discount during the game's initial launch week.
The République Remastered edition has already shown up on Steam and GOG ahead of its February 26 launch date, but isn't yet available for pre-order.
Parallels today announced an update to Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac, the company's software for running non-Apple operating systems safely on a Mac. The new update brings "experimental support" for Windows 10 and Office Preview for Windows 10 - including the expected Word, Excel, and PowerPoint programs - into Apple's OS X Yosemite ecosystem.
With the update available as a download within the Parallels Desktop app for existing users, the company promises the Mac-based Windows 10 experience will provide users with "everything Windows 10 has to offer." This includes everything from the new Start menu, Photos, Maps app, and Cortana, to the Windows Store beta which offers Office Preview for Windows 10, all available without having to erase the existing functioning operating system.
“Parallels Desktop enjoys very strong support among software developers and IT pros. We are happy to deliver all the tools they need to quickly and safely test or run the latest OS and applications, now including the Windows 10 Technical Preview,” said Parallels president Jack Zubarev.
Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac is available to download for $79.99, with a Student Edition coming in at $39.99. Similarly, users upgrading from existing Parallels Desktop versions, like 8 or 9, can get a discount for version 10, with upgrade pricing set at $49.99. A two-week free trial is available to anyone who wants to try out the program's features, including the new technical preview of Windows 10, for a limited time frame.
Authorities from two major U.S. cities and London on Tuesday reported (via Reuters) that smartphone theft has dropped drastically since the release of remote-access "kill-switches" that allow users to lock their missing smartphone before any crucial information is stolen. Specifically, the number of stolen iPhones dropped 25 percent in New York, 40 percent in San Francisco, and 50 percent in London.
The study was based on the 12 months following the launch of Activation Lock in September 2013 as part of iOS 7. These numbers have jumped up slightly from a similar report released last summer that saw iPhone thefts in each city fall by 19 percent, 38 percent, and 24 percent, respectively.
According to Reuters, officials from each of the three cities - London Mayor Boris Johnson, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, and New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman - were each lobbying for laws that required the implementation of remote kill switches into every smartphone sold.
"We have made real progress in tackling the smartphone theft epidemic that was affecting many major cities just two years ago," said London Mayor Boris Johnson.
From data collected by the National Consumers League, Reuters reports that 1.6 million Americans reported stolen handheld devices in 2012. And in California alone - specifically San Francisco, Oakland, and a few other cities - smartphone theft accounts for more than half of all crimes perpetrated in each city.
“The wireless industry continues to roll out sophisticated new features, but preventing their own customers from being the target of a violent crime is the coolest technology they can bring to market,” Gascon said.
Apple's default Activation Lock feature received much praise following its launch in 2013. A few months later Apple and a few other notable smartphone makers, like Samsung and Google, entered into a voluntary agreement to have every smartphone sold on or after July 2015 come pre-installed with a kill-switch, a date that's rapidly approaching. California itself issued a law last August, designating a similar July 2015 date for every smartphone sold in the state to have the anti-theft software pre-installed.
During today's Goldman Sachs conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple is planning its "boldest, biggest, most ambitious project," yet in the form of a 1,300 acre solar farm in Monterey County, California.
The solar farm, which puts out enough power for almost 60,000 California homes, will provide enough renewable energy for Apple's new campus, every other office it has in California, all 52 stores in the state, and its data center in Newark, California. The solar farm is an $850 million project, which Cook says Apple is doing "because it's right to do."
Image of Apple's North Carolina solar farm courtesy of Gigaom
We know at Apple that climate change is real and our view is that the time for talk has passed and the time for action is now. We've shown that with what we do.
Though highlighting the solar farm as good for the environment, Tim Cook also pointed towards the fiscal benefit of such a decision, explaining that there's a significant price difference between the fixed price of renewable energy and the price of brown energy. "We're thrilled to continue on the course of leaving the world better than we found it," said Cook.
Apple has already built a series of large solar farms in North Carolina, but at $850m, the Monterey County solar farm will be its most ambitious project yet.
Update: Apple will be partnering with First Solar and contributing $848 million to the First Solar California Flats Solar Project in Monterey County, California. Apple will be receiving 130 megawatts of the solar project under a 25-year power purchase agreement, with the remaining 150MW being sold to Pacific Gas & Electric.
Construction on the California Flats Solar Project will begin in mid-2015 and will finish by the end of 2016.
Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at the annual Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference today, where he covered a range of topics from Apple's dedication to the environment, the major products the company launched in 2014, and his thoughts on the Apple Watch.
When asked by Goldman Sachs COO Gary Cohn what makes the Apple Watch different from other smart watches on the market, Cook recalled the MP3 industry.
If you think about the MP3 industry, we weren't the first company to make an MP3 player, there were lots of companies in this. They weren't used very much. They were fundamentally hard to use -- the user interface was bad and you almost needed a PhD to use them. They're not memorable. [...]
I see the smart watch category very much like that. There are several things that are called smart watches, but I'm not sure you could name any. There hasn't been one that changed the way people live their lives. At Apple, that's our objective. We want to change the way you live your life.
Cook went on to say that he believes the Apple Watch will do just that, impact people's lives in a meaningful way. He says that one of the major surprises will be the breadth of what the Apple Watch can do, and he expects that everyone will find something in the Apple Watch that they can't live without.
Cook highlighted the many design options for the Apple Watch, its "fantastic" look, and the innovative ways of communication that it will enable. Cook says that he "constantly" uses Siri on his Apple Watch, and that he uses it when working out to measure activity.
He also pointed out the feature that pings people when they've been sitting for too long, which he sees in use on a daily basis at Apple. During meetings, he says, towards the end of the hour, people will begin standing up as their Apple Watch alerts them to do so. "A lot of doctors believe sitting is the new cancer," he said. "Arguably, activity is good for all of us." Cook says that he is "super excited" about third-party apps that are being developed for the Apple Watch.
I think everyone's going to have their favorite thing, just like when the App Store came out. Remember the saying 'there's an app for that? There's an enormous number of things it will do.
Earlier this month, Tim Cook confirmed that the Apple Watch is still on track to launch in early 2015, with shipments that will begin in the month of April. Pricing will start at $349 for the lower-end version of the device.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference today, with the session kicking off at 3:30 PM Eastern / 12:30 PM Pacific. Cook's presentation is being broadcast on Apple's website and MacRumors will be updating this post to summarize Cook's comments.
Cook has spoken at the annual conference a number of times over the years, although he did not appear in 2014. While Cook has not made any major announcements at the venue in the past, he has at times offered an interesting perspective into Apple's business, so it generally worth paying attention to his comments.
Cook will almost certainly be asked about Apple's blockbuster iPhone sales and earnings in the last quarter, the company's strategy for managing cash and capital return to investors, company philosophy and more, and he is generally fairly open and thoughtful in sharing his ideas on many topics. The company's future product plans are not, however, something he has shown willing to discuss, maintaining a long tradition of secrecy for the company.
Welcome everyone. And welcome to you too, Tim. You joined Apple in 1998, became CEO in 2011. Going over financial and sales stats since Cook became CEO. Not a bad start, right?
Thanks everyone, and thanks Goldman for having us here. Cook giving "safe harbor" statement about forward-looking comments to satisfy regulators.
A new report out of Israel-based business newspaper 
