National Post Tech Desk

CHICAGO — Apple Inc on Monday released ResearchKit, an open-source software tool designed to give scientists a new way to gather information on patients by using their iPhones.

Several top research institutions have already developed applications to work on the ResearchKit platform, including those pursuing clinical studies on asthma, breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. They include Stanford University School of Medicine and Weill Cornell Medical College.

The format will allow users to decide if they want to participate in a study and decide how their data is to be shared with researchers.

“With hundreds of millions of iPhones in use around the world, we saw an opportunity for Apple to have an even greater impact by empowering people to participate in and contribute to medical research,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations, said in a statement.

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The ResearchKit platform is designed to work hand in hand with Apple’s HealthKit software, which allows iPhones to work with health and fitness apps that gather information on weight, blood pressure, glucose levels and asthma inhaler use.

The ResearchKit also allows researchers access to accelerometer, microphone, gyroscope and GPS sensors in the iPhone to gain insight into a patient’s gait, motor impairment, fitness, speech and memory.

The software is also designed to help researchers build more diverse study populations, which traditionally have been limited by physical proximity to large academic medical centers.

© Thomson Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO — Make calls, read email, control music, manage Instagram photos, keep up with your workout, pay for groceries, open your hotel room door. CEO Tim Cook says you can do it all from your wrist with Apple Watch — for 18 hours a day. That’s how long the battery will last.

Pre-orders start April 10 and the devices will range from US$349 to as much as US$10,000 for a luxury edition. Apple Watch will be available on April 24 in Canada and eight other countries, including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, China, U.K., France, U.S., Germany.

In Canada, prices for the watches will range from $449 to $13,000 for the high-end edition.

Handout/AppleThe new Apple Watch.

Industry watchers are eager to see if Apple’s version will be the tipping point for the sluggish smartwatch market. There was similar skepticism when Apple released the iPad in 2010, yet the company has successfully sold millions and its popularity has shaken up the PC market.

Shares of Apple rose about 1.4% to US$128.41 after the announcement, but pulled back a bit to US$127.03 just after 2:30 p.m.

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The stakes are high for a company that just dislodged AT&T as one of the 30 stocks comprising the venerable Dow Jones industrial average. The watch is the first brand-new device Apple has launched without Steve Jobs.

Handout/Apple

In the presentation, Cook described the watch handling many functions currently associated with the iPhone, which tethers wirelessly to the watch and connects it to the Internet. For instance, Uber cars can be contacted from the watch.

The watch will track exercise, remind wearers of events with a tap on the wrist, and make calls through the tethered phone, since the watch has a built in speaker and microphone, he said.

“I have been wanting to do this since I was five years old,” said Cook. He also laid out other product successes and launched a new MacBook notebook computer that starts at US$1,299 and weighs as little as two pounds.

Every major car brand had committed to delivering Apple’s CarPlay entertainment system, and the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have 99% customer satisfaction rates, he said. The Apple Pay payment system is now accepted at 700,000 locations.

Apple also is offering researchers new development tools, called ResearchKit, to help medical researchers design apps for clinical trials, the company said.

Screenshot/Apple.com

It cut the price of Apple TV by US$30 to US$69 and is partnering with HBO to offer its stand-alone streaming service, HBO NOW, on Apple devices in time for the “Game of Thrones” premiere April 12. It will cost US$14.99 monthly. Cook said 2,500 banks are now signed up with Apple Pay, which is available in 700,000 retail locations nationwide.

With files from Reuters

With its ‘Spring Forward’ themed invitation, Apple Inc. is expected to reveal final details of its new Apple Watch at a special event on Monday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco.

The company’s first wearable device debuted at an event last September, but Apple hasn’t revealed official release information and many questions about how it works remain unanswered. Apple fans and analysts will be following closely to learn more about the watch’s apps, battery life, health features and more — especially since many smartwatches including the Pebble and Motorola Inc.’s Moto G have had a headstart in the wearables race.

Will Apple boss Tim Cook reveal any other tech surprises? The highly-secretive company is speculated to announce a redesign of its ultra-portable notebook, the MacBook Air — but will we see a new Apple TV or a larger iPad as well?

Join FP Tech Desk for live coverage of all the latest news, buzz and analysis of the event, which kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on Monday.

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BlackBerry Ltd shares sunk more than 6% in early trading Monday after the smartphone’s maker stock was downgraded by Goldman Sachs.

Analysts Simona Jankowski and Doug Clark cut their rating on the stock from Neutral to Sell, and lowered their price target by $1, to $9.

The analysts said though CEO John Chen has driven the stock up 60% since he took over, this year he must move the turnaround from just cutting costs to driving revenues — a more challenging phase that Goldman thinks will fall short of expectations.

They see bigger losses in fiscal 2016 and 2017 rather than the return to profitability that many expect.

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Jankowski and Clark write:

“We think the success of BlackBerry’s turnaround hinges on its ability to grow
its Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) software business, where
competitors include Mobile Iron, Airwatch (part of VMware), and Good.
BlackBerry has set a target of $500mn in Software segment revenues for
FY16(Feb), up from $250mn in FY15. We expect it to fall well short of that
target and model revenues of $426mn, for two reasons. First, our surveys
show very low buying intentions for BlackBerry’s EMM solution. Second, its
target implies that it would leapfrog the market leaders in just one year, which
we view as unlikely given the competitors’ much better traction (based on our
survey). Meanwhile, we forecast below-consensus Service revenues (down
47% in FY16E). While we see significant upside in Hardware revenues, those
are “empty calories” as they are not profitable. Thus, we see widening losses
based on the shortfall in high-margin Software and Services revenues.”

 

Here are their three key points:

1. Software-driven turnaround likely to disappoint – BlackBerry has guided for
$500mn in Software revenues in FY16 (Feb), up from $250mn in FY15, as it ramps a new Enterprise Mobile Management business. We expect it to fall short as its target assumes that it can leap frog market leaders Airwatch, Mobile Iron and Good– contrary to our customer surveys. We model $426mn in Software revenues.
2. Expect losses to widen in 2016, prompting more restructuring – We expect
widening losses and below-consensus EPS as the legacy high-margin Service revenue falls faster than consensus expectations, while the new Software business grows slower than expected/guided. We model ($0.26) in FY16 EPS vs. consensus of ($0.12), worse than our estimate of ($0.19) in FY15E.
3. Expect sizeable miss in February quarter – While our thesis is primarily driven by our below-consensus view of Software and Services in FY16/17, we also expect a sizeable (13%) near-term revenue miss in the February quarter on weak hardware sales due to a delayed rollout of the Classic. However, we expect that to prove temporary, and expect Hardware sales to drive revenue upside to consensus estimates for FY16/17 on higher ASPs, though not contribute much to EPS given lack of profitability.