Friday Apple Rumors: iWatch to Include Home Automation Functions

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

House Control: Apple (AAPL) may be aiming for more than just a smartphone accessory with its long-rumored smartwatch, MacRumors notes. Brian White, an analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald, says that a source inside Apple’s supply chain indicated that the iWatch would serve as “a multi-purpose gateway in allowing consumers to control their home” allowing users to remotely turn lights on and off, control their home thermostat and operate entertainment systems, in addition to other capabilities. Such features would mean that the iWatch would likely have to integrate with home automation equipment manufactured by other companies. Apple has reportedly assembled a team of 100 engineers and designers to create the iWatch. A number of analysts had expected it to launch this year, but an Apple smartwatch is not currently anticipated until sometime next year. A number of other manufacturers are working on their own smartwatches, including Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SNE). Samsung unveiled its own smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear last month, as an accessory to its premium smartphones.

Reduced: An analyst is lowering his projections for iPhone 5c sales during the September quarter, AppleInsider notes. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates that Apple shipped 11.4 million iPhone 5c units during the quarter, down 33% from earlier forecasts. Kuo has also trimmed his iPhone 5c shipment outlook for the holiday quarter by 10% to 10.4 million units. The move follows a wave of discount offers for the iPhone 5c at leading U.S. retailers and reports that Apple has slashed daily production orders for the colorful new handset, which replaced last year’s iPhone 5. The iPhone 5c was launched last month alongside Apple’s new flagship iPhone 5s, whose supplies have been constrained. Apple will report quarterly results on Oct. 28.

Slipping: Fewer people are buying Apple’s desktop computers, USA TODAY notes. Sales of Macs fell 2.3% in the third quarter of this year, compared to the same time last year. That report comes from industry research firm Gartner. That drop was still lower than the 8.6% drop in global PC sales during the third quarter. However, U.S. PC sales, climbed 3.5% during the quarter. The Mac decline was also less steep that the 6% slide Macs saw during the second quarter. Many analysts suspect that Mac sales are being hurt by rising iPad sales. Apple was the third largest U.S. computer seller, behind Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Dell (DELL). The company sold 3.8 million Macs worldwide during the third quarter.

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


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