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Google unveils startup Sidewalk Labs to improve city living
The search giant is looking to take on problems like reducing energy usage or making transportation more efficient.
In the past five years, Google has tried to tackle problems related to driving, diabetes and Internet access. The search giant's latest target: making cities function better.
The company on Wednesday announced the creation of Sidewalk Labs, a new startup focused on that task. The startup will focus on developing technology around urban living, like how to make transportation more efficient or reducing energy usage.
The company will be based in New York City and led by Dan Doctoroff, former CEO of Bloomberg and deputy mayor of economic development and rebuilding for the City of New York.
The announcement comes as Google has been increasingly ambitious about expanding its scope of products beyond its juggernaut search engine. Its search and advertising business is still the most dominant in the world, making more than $50 billion a year. But as the Internet evolves, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have been looking to where future revenue streams will come from. The company has made big bets in everything from smartphones to wearable devices to driverless cars.
"Making long-term, 10X bets like this is hard for most companies to do, but Sergey and I have always believed that it's important," Page said Wednesday, in a post on the Google+ social network.
Sidewalk Labs is not the only standalone company Google has set up and left to run semi-independently. In 2013, Google launched Calico, a life sciences company with the overarching goal of extending the human life span. The company is run by former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson. Last September, Calico announced a partnership with the biopharmaceutical firm AbbVie to pour up to $1.5 billion into a research facility focused on fighting age-related diseases.
Sidewalk Labs' modus operandi will be to develop technology like products and platforms, as well as form partnerships with other firms. Google did not disclose how much it's investing in the project, but Page described the investment as "modest."
"Unprecedented technological change is going to enable cities to be more efficient, responsive, flexible and resilient," Doctoroff said in a statement. "We are at the beginning of a historic transformation."
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Can App Store magic strike twice for Apple Watch?
Apple's move to offer native apps that run in the Apple Watch could kick-start mainstream interest for the product -- and potentially the broader wearable category.
Apple is hoping time repeats itself with the Watch.
While the original iPhone turned heads when it first debuted in 2007, it didn't become a world-beating mobile device until the following year, when Apple launched its App Store and made it dead-simple for anyone to download games and programs onto their smartphone. The iPhone went from a slick-looking smartphone that could make calls, play music and videos, and browse the Internet to a device that could do virtually anything developers imagined.
Apple has ambitions that the same kind of radical transformation will occur with the Apple Watch, which will get access to native applications that can fully take advantage of the wearable device and its capabilities with the next version of its Watch OS software.
"For us this is a giant moment," said Apple CEO Tim Cook during the company's annual developer conference on Monday. "This is how we felt when we launched the App Store."
By empowering developers to create more robust applications, Apple is creating the foundation for making the Watch more than just a watch. Notifications and quirky watch faces aside, one of the early knocks on Apple Watch is that it hasn't been able to do anything useful enough to justify the cost (it ranges between $349 and $17,000). But like the App Store transformed the iPhone, the rise of native apps on Watch could foster the next killer app -- something innovative and useful that will have you running out to buy the wearable.
"Opening up native apps and access to the Watch hardware and software features to developers will make a huge difference," said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Jackdaw Research. "Third-party apps are key to mainstream adoption of the Apple Watch and what Apple announced this week will finally make really compelling third-party apps possible."
Apple Watch's success could have ripple effects on the broader market. While a myriad of tech companies ranging from Samsung to LG have barged into the wearables, few have really taken off. Google's platform for wearables, Android Wear, has struggled since its launch, with market research firm Canalys reporting vendors collectively shipped only 720,000 units last year out of a total 4.6 million wearables. Motorola's Moto 360 is widely believed to be at the head of the Android pack.
Many analysts believe Apple's smartwatch will change things. Forrester Research expects Apple to sell more smartwatches in 2015 than any of its rivals have cumulatively sold, include fitness companies like Fitbit that have been selling trackers for years. At the same time, Apple Watch could provide a lift in awareness and interest that could drive sales for the rest of the category.
Market researcher Strategy Analytics forecast in March that Apple will ship 15.4 million Apple Watchunits in 2015, giving the company 54.8 percent of the global smartwatch market. All other smartwatch makers combined will ship just 12.7 million units in 2015, according to the forecast. Strategy Analytics believes the Apple Watch will ignite the wearables space, saying total worldwide smartwatch shipments will jump 511 percent, from 4.6 million in 2014 to 28.1 million this year.
Apple didn't share any sales figures at the developer conference, and said it wouldn't be breaking them out.
A big, fat, uniform target
When Apple Watch hit the market in April, it wasn't wholly without apps. In fact, there were 3,500 available. On paper, that fared considerably with the 4,000 apps developed for Android Wear since the software was released a year ago.
But the third-party apps developed for Apple Watch's early run actually ran on the iPhone, which is paired with the smartwatch via Bluetooth. That resulted in a frustratingly slow experience for users trying to take full advantage of an app.
With Watch OS 2, Apple said it would let developers build apps that lived in the Watch itself, as well as take advantage of the device's motion sensor, haptic feedback engine, microphone, digital crown and other components.
"That gives developers a pretty rich playground to work with," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis.
Apple's two advantages with its iOS software has been a consistent product to develop for and the sheer number of users on the platform. The company has a similar advantage on the Watch.
With Android Wear, there are a number of different vendors with unique smartwatch screen sizes, capabilities and components. Despite the variation on price and materials, the Apple Watch offers a consistent product and experience, with the only deviation being two available sizes.
If the sales estimates ring true, Apple will also have command of the wearables market, giving developers a good reason to stick with Watch OS as their main platform.
"With Apple Watch, Apple is repeating its playbook, and it's a very effective playbook," Greengart said. "Apple is giving developers a big, fat, uniform target to hit."
Making up for a "botched" start
Watch OS 2 will also come with a number of additional bells and whistles, including the ability to send email replies, watch short videos and take FaceTime audio calls. You can use Siri to start a workout, or take advantage of the expanded Apple Pay feature, which will include rewards programs. It will also be able to take advantage of the improved Apple Maps, which will come with transit directions, and a Time Travel feature that lets you fast-forward or rewind your day's schedule.
The enhancements are a positive because they legitimize the category beyond Apple's brand recognition. These are features that will or are already on Android Wear devices, the attention Apple Watch gets could trickle down elsewhere.
Unfortunately, the improvements aren't coming right away. While Apple released a developer version on Monday, Watch OS 2 won't be made available until the fall.
The improvements come after a rough start to Apple Watch. It experienced long shipping delays, with wait times for the device, which initially was only available for purchase online, stretching into July the first day preorders started. Research firm Slice Intelligence in April estimated only 22 percent of US customers who preordered the Apple Watch received their devices in the first weekend it was available.
UBS analyst Steven Milunovich in early May said Apple had "somewhat botched the Watch introduction." That was largely because the company didn't start selling the device until April, supply issues caused long wait times for early buyers, and "the buzz has been reduced by requiring appointments and by the inability for now to take watches home from Apple Stores," he said.
Apple said last week that the Apple Watch would be available in its brick-and-mortar retail storeswithin two weeks. And the company said all orders -- except for one model -- placed through May in the online store will ship to customers within two weeks. In addition, Apple said it was expanding the availability of Apple Watch to seven more countries, including Italy, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and Taiwan starting June 26.
All of the early hiccups will be meaningless if Apple can drive the same kind of mainstream success that the iPhone enjoyed after the App Store debuted. But whether a developer can come up with that killer app to drive demand remains to be seen. Apple is optimistic.
"We can't wait to see what you do with Watch OS," Cook said.
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Apple wants to be your everything -- as long as you can commit
The company is creating its first Android apps and is making some software open source, but that doesn't mean it's going to give up on its walled iOS garden.
Apple wants to control every aspect of your life -- as long as you choose to let it.
The company on Monday showed off the newest updates to the software running on its iPhones and iPads, Macs and Apple Watches. One of the key characteristics of Apple's operating system releases over the past couple years -- including iOS 9 and Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan revealed Monday at its developer conference -- is how well the software makes its devices work together.
Last year's debut of Continuity and Handoff tied the iPhone and Mac computer more closely together, letting people start an email on their smartphone and finish it on their computer or even answer phone calls on their Macs. This year, Apple showed more ways it will extend its reach into our homes and cars, as well as how we listen to music and how we pay for goods.
It looks like Apple is bringing a whole new level of interconnectivity to our lives. But here's the catch: if you really want everything to work seamlessly, you'll have to go all in on the Apple ecosystem. And that doesn't just mean buying an iPhone and MacBook. You'll have to look for smart-home products that work with its HomeKit software, drive a CarPlay-compatible automobile and even choose its Apple Music streaming service. The company's message is clear: it's Apple's world; you're just living in it.
With Apple, "you're either all in or you're all out," said Eric Shapiro, a former Apple executive and current CEO of ArcTouch, a San Francisco app development studio that counts NBC's "Today Show" and Disney among its clients. "Where Apple will fail is if it doesn't work and if it's too hard to use."
As the battle for the control of your connected life heats up, Apple's strategy stands in contrast with the other tech giants. While Apple is rallying behind its own products, software and services, Google and Microsoft have embraced a cross-platform world where their services work on virtually anything. That Apple can get away with such a siloed approach is testament to the strength of its early decision to control both the hardware and software aspects of its products and services.
And for Apple, everything it does in software goes back to selling more of its devices -- those iPhones, iPads, Macs and now Apple Watches that have made it the most profitable public company ever.
The company declined to comment for this report.
The exception that proves the rule
Not everything about Apple is locked into its own ecosystem. The biggest news from Apple's keynote Monday was a subscription music service re-emerging after last year's $3 billion acquisition of Beats. Apple changed how consumers bought music with the launch of the iTunes Music Store in 2003, and ithopes to do it again with Apple Music, a $10-a-month subscription streaming service much like Spotify.
But unlike other Apple services, Apple Music will be available on Android too -- the first time the company has created an app for another mobile operating system.
For Apple, offering its music app on Android isn't just a continuation of Beats' prior strategy. Instead, it's a calculated decision by Apple to hold onto an area it has long controlled -- music. It's also a realization by the company that to truly compete in streaming music, it needs to be on other platforms, not just iOS.
"If and when possible, they (Apple) do try to stick to their own ecosystem," said Jonas Damon, executive creative director at frog, a global product strategy and design firm that works with clients such as General Electric, Intel and Nike. "When you're playing in something like that automotive world, it's easier to partition yourself....But music is one of those areas that is just so pervasive, I think it's impossible. "
There have been other instances where Apple has gone cross platform. Apple long has offered its QuickTime video player on Windows PCs, iCloud works with Microsoft's computer operating system, and the 2003 introduction of iTunes on Windows -- revealed by then-CEO Steve Jobs in front of a "Hell froze over" sign -- is what helped turn Apple into a music and MP3 player powerhouse.
Apple also revealed in March that its ResearchKit software -- which was designed to help medical professionals build apps and collect data about patients in an easy, consistent manner -- would be open source, as would Swift, the coding language used to make Mac and iOS apps.
"We think Swift is the next big programming language," Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, said during Monday's keynote. "We think Swift should be everywhere and used by everyone."
But as Apple begins to more closely tie its products together, don't expect it to start opening its arms to fully embrace Android and Windows.
Better with Apple
Apple's core pitch is that its products work better together. Even though Apple Music will be on Android, there undoubtedly will be plenty of features that make the service better on an iPhone or iPad. For instance, Siri, Apple's digital voice assistant, will learn that you like to work out in the morning and what type of music you listen to. The next time you plug in your headphones at 7 a.m., Siri will immediately start playing an upbeat workout mix. It's unlikely that the Google Now voice assistant will integrate with Apple Music in the same way.
Siri also has been "learning more about music" in general, as Eddy Cue, head of Apple's iTunes and other services businesses, pointed out. You'll be able to ask it to play a specific song or even do something like play the current top 10 alternative songs. You can even ask Siri to do something like play the top song from May 1982 or "play that song from 'Selma,'" or whatever movie you just saw.
It's not just music. Apple is trying to stitch together a common experience in the home with HomeKit, which will allow its products to work better with connected household products like light bulbs or window blinds. The company said Monday that the CarPlay element of its iOS 9 software will have tighter integration with vehicles and be able to tap into automotive data. For the first time, your iPhone will be able to connect to the car without a Lightning connector.
Google, by contrast, wants its apps everywhere. It almost doesn't care what hardware you're using as long as it's a Google service you're accessing. It does keep some software features unique to its Android devices, but most of its apps are available on iPhones and other devices. Likewise, Microsoft has made its most important programs -- including Outlook and Office -- available to iOS and Android as apps.
So even if it looks like Apple is going more open, its flirtation with other operating systems and decision to give developers a glimpse under the hood is still limited. You're not going to find Apple's HealthKit or HomeKit working with Android devices -- nor will GarageBand or its other popular apps.
There is one other app Apple will be launching for Android, though. Its second foray in the world of Android app developer is called "Move to iOS" -- a migration app to help people switch from Android smartphones to the iPhone. "Just download the Move to iOS app to wirelessly switch from your Android device to your new iOS device," according to Apple. The app will hit the market later this year with iOS 9, with Apple hoping some of those new iOS fans are former Android users.
And that really says it all.
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