Monday Apple Rumors: ‘iWatch’ Coming Later This Year

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daily apple rumors AAPLHere are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:

Wearable: Apple (AAPL) is moving forward with plans to launch a smartwatch, TheVerge notes. Apple is planning to release the smartwatch some time later this year. The project is favored by Apple’s lead designer Jony Ive. Apple acquired numerous boxes of Nike‘s (NKE) sports watch to study when developing its own product. The company reportedly has 100 designers and engineers working on the iWatch, which will run iOS and integrate with other Apple devices, like the iPhone. Apple has apparently encountered trouble developing a battery than can hold enough power to keep the watch running between four and five days between charges. Bloomberg reports that in early June Apple applied with Japanese regulators to trademark the iWatch name in Japan. Recent rumors indicate that other companies, including Google (GOOG), Samsung and even Apple manufacturing partners Foxconn are planning smartwatches of their own.

Dodgy: Apple paid no corporation taxes on its operations in the United Kingdom last year, the Telegraph notes. The iPad-maker has two major divisions in Britain, Apple Retail UK and Apple (UK) Ltd. Apple Retail generated £16 million in pre-tax profits on sales of nearly £1 billion during the last fiscal year. Apple (UK) Ltd. realized a £43.8 million pre-tax profit on sales of £93 million. Apple claimed £27.7 million in tax deductions for the year. Not only did that wipe out any corporation taxes due in the U.K., but it permitted the company to take a £3.8 million tax credit for future tax years. Apple has come under criticism for its overseas tax practices, which take advantage of various tax loopholes to avoid European taxes. Apple has long based most of its European operations in Ireland in order to leverage the Irish republic’s substantially lower tax rates. CEO Tim Cook has told lawmakers that Apple pays “all the taxes we owe.”

Potential Fix: Apple is looking for owners of its latest MacBook Air notebooks to help test a software patch, CNET notes. The company released the updated MacBook Airs at its Worldwide Developers Conference last month. However, soon after owners began complaining about poor WiFi connectivity, noting that the computers would often drop strong WiFi connections and require a reboot to reconnect. The company says the issue is linked to the use of the new 802.11ac WiFi standard in the new MacBook Airs. After replacing some MacBook Airs that suffered from the problem, some owners of new MacBook Airs have been contacted by Apple and offered the patch in exchange for feedback on its performance. The new MacBook Airs are the first Apple notebooks to support the 802.11ac standard.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2013/07/monday-apple-rumors-iwatch-coming-later-this-year/.

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