Apple & China UnionPay to Bring Apple Pay to China

Apple® and China UnionPay today announced a partnership to bring Apple Pay®, which transforms mobile payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay, to China. China UnionPay cardholders will be able to easily add their bank cards to Apple Pay on iPhone®, Apple Watch® and iPad®, providing added convenience and security to everyday shopping.
“China UnionPay is dedicated to promoting payment innovations and providing secure, convenient mobile payment experiences for its hundreds of millions of cardholders, aligning multiple parties in the industry,” said Chai Hongfeng, executive vice president of China UnionPay. “We’re very excited to offer Apple Pay among a diverse set of innovative payment options that work with China UnionPay QuickPass.”
“Apple Pay has revolutionized the way millions of people pay every day with their iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “China is an extremely important market for Apple and with China UnionPay and support from 15 of China’s leading banks, users will soon have a convenient, private and secure payment experience.”
China UnionPay’s QuickPass and Apple Pay together will protect customer payment information through industry-leading payment tokenization technology. Security is at the core of Apple Pay, so when you add a credit or debit card, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in a dedicated chip called the Secure Element on your device. Each transaction is also authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code. 
Paying is simple with the touch of a finger and can happen in one motion. In stores, there’s no need to open an app or wake your display. With the innovative NFC antenna design, simply hold iPhone near China UnionPay’s QuickPass-enabled POS terminals with your finger on Touch ID® to pay. With Apple Watch, just double click the side button and hold the watch face up to the contactless reader to make a purchase right from your wrist. Shopping within apps accepting Apple Pay has never been easier and there’s no need to manually fill out lengthy account forms or repeatedly type in shipping and billing information. 
Apple Pay will roll out to China UnionPay cardholders as soon as early 2016 after relevant tests and certification required by Chinese regulators, with the service itself in compliance with the applicable national mobile payment and financial industry standards in China.
In stores, Apple Pay works with iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch. When paying within apps, Apple Pay is compatible with iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air® 2, iPad mini™ 3, iPad mini 4 and iPad Pro™. For more information on Apple Pay, visit http://www.apple.com/cn/apple-pay/. 
As a bankcard network, China UnionPay operates China’s national inter-bank clearing and settlement system, develops the worldwide UnionPay Card acceptance network, promotes the issuance and usage of the UnionPay cards as well as other innovative payment solutions, so as to provide quality, efficient and safe payment services to cardholders. To date, the total number of the UnionPay Card issued both at home and abroad has been over 5 billion. The UnionPay network has been extended to all the cities and rural areas in China. In addition, UnionPay has enabled UnionPay Card acceptance across more than 150 countries and regions through extensive cooperation with financial and payment institutions around the world. UnionPay cards can be used in more than 26 million merchants and 1.9 million ATMs. Additional information may be found at www.unionpay.com.
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Apple Reports Record First Quarter Results

Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2016 first quarter ended December 26, 2015. The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $75.9 billion and record quarterly net income of $18.4 billion, or $3.28 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $74.6 billion and net income of $18 billion, or $3.06 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.1 percent compared to 39.9 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 66 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
“Our team delivered Apple’s biggest quarter ever, thanks to the world’s most innovative products and all-time record sales of iPhone, Apple Watch and Apple TV,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The growth of our Services business accelerated during the quarter to produce record results, and our installed base recently crossed a major milestone of one billion active devices.”
“Our record sales and strong margins drove all-time records for net income and EPS in spite of a very difficult macroeconomic environment,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We generated operating cash flow of $27.5 billion during the quarter, and returned over $9 billion to investors through share repurchases and dividends. We have now completed $153 billion of our $200 billion capital return program.”
Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2016 second quarter:

revenue between $50 billion and $53 billion

gross margin between 39 percent and 39.5 percent

operating expenses between $6 billion and $6.1 billion

other income/(expense) of $325 million

tax rate of 25.5 percent

Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $.52 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on February 11, 2016, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 8, 2016.
Apple will provide live streaming of its Q1 2016 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PST on January 26, 2016 at www.apple.com/investor/earnings-call/. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.
Q1’16 Earnings Supplemental Material
This press release contains forward-looking statements including without limitation those about the Company’s estimated revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, other income/(expense), and tax rate. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company’s reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company’s products; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the ability of the Company to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that product introductions and transitions, changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on the Company’s gross margin; the inventory risk associated with the Company’s need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the continued availability on acceptable terms, or at all, of certain components and services essential to the Company’s business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the effect that the Company’s dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; risks associated with the Company’s international operations; the Company’s reliance on third-party intellectual property and digital content; the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; the Company’s dependency on the performance of distributors, carriers and other resellers of the Company’s products; the effect that product and service quality problems could have on the Company’s sales and operating profits; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; war, terrorism, public health issues, natural disasters, and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery, or demand of products; and unfavorable results of legal proceedings. 

More information on potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included from time to time in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 26, 2015, and its Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 26, 2015 to be filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Samsung uses big data to assist doctors in diagnosis of tumors

Samsung has announced that it has applied big data and deep learning technology in its ultrasound examination device to help doctors correctly diagnose breast tumors. The company’s deep learning algorithm, S-Detect, has been applied on the RS80A. The algorithm utilizes information from around 10,000 cases of breast tumor cases to assist doctors in the detection of tumors.

The company’s ultrasound device paired with the S-Detect algorithm identifies the size of the tumor, whether it is harmful to the patient or not, and the type of cells where the tumor is present for more precise diagnosis. It is expected that the new software will reduce unnecessary biopsies and correctly find harmful tumors. It has been jointly developed by Samsung Electronics and Samsung Medison.

The RS80A, with its new software called S-Fusion, will go on sale in Europe, the Middle East, and South Korea. It will be commercially available in the Americas, China, and Russia, depending on when it gets certification there. It is currently being tested at Charité Hospital in Germany, Mayo Clinic in the US, Samsung Medical Center, and Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea.

Finding Online Support for Your Android Device

Q. Why does Google’s website only seem to offer support for Nexus hardware and not any of the other brands of Android phones and tablets?

A. Google develops the Android mobile operating system software, but in most cases, it does not provide the hardware to run it or the wireless cellular network to connect to it. The exceptions here include the Nexus line of devices that Google has created over the years with hardware partners like ASUS, LG Electronics and Samsung — as well as the company’s efforts to be a mobile carrier with its Project Fi service that uses Wi-Fi hot spots along with Sprint and T-Mobile’s networks to provide cellular signals.

Other hardware manufacturers use the Android software on their own devices and modify the system for their own uses. Google usually has little to do with those deviated versions and does not provide its own dedicated support for the variations made by other companies. (Google did own Motorola Mobility for a few years starting in 2011, but sold it to Lenovo in 2014; support for Motorola phones can be found at motorola.com.)

Google’s Android OS Help support site is focused mainly on the software and hardware it has the most control over. Along with documentation for its Nexus line, the site has guides and troubleshooting pages for Android One devices, Android Wear smart watches, Android TV set-top players and its Android Auto software.

The Android OS Help page for other Android devices contains a list of links to the support sites of other companies, so if you have a non-Nexus Android device from another company, check there for specific support. These companies also tend to control when Android updates are pushed out to users, which is why non-Nexus owners often get patches and upgrades later than those who use Google’s own gear.

No Phones for You! Chic Businesses Are Abandoning Landlines

To New Yorkers, greater Mulberry Street is typically considered NoLIta, unless it’s northern Chinatown, or to those old enough to remember Sinatra at the Paramount, Little Italy.

Maybe now it’s time to scrap those distinctions and give it a new nickname: NoPho, for no phones.

Want to call and check if Han Kjobenhavn, the Euro-chic boutique, has that electric blue “strangle knit” sweater in a medium? You’re out of luck. See how long the wait is going to be at the Aussie-chic cafe Two Hands? No chance. Find out what color of hoodies are in stock at the flagship of skater-influenced-fashion label Noah? Better wander on over, lazy boy.

“I don’t need it, so I don’t have it,” said Brendon Babenzien, Noah’s owner, referring to a landline phone in the store during a call that took several days to arrange. “I don’t have a landline at home, either.”

It is no secret that tweens and millennials long ago decided that person-to-person phone calls were decidedly retro, and not in that fashionable old-Dylan-vinyl-albums way.

And cellphones have made landlines at home redundant for many. As of last year, only about half of American households had a landline, compared with about 90 percent in 2004, according to government data compiled by Statista, a statistics database.

It’s different for businesses, which presumably want to keep as many channels of potential customer interaction open as possible. Even online behemoths like Zappos have made their live call centers a cornerstone of their business (their parent company, Amazon, less so).

But in an era of Google Maps, Yelp and OpenTable, restaurant telephones these days in particular often seem almost atavistic, functioning as little more than life-support systems for voice mail sinkholes that no one ever seems to check, as countless diners can attest.

At least some forward-thinking proprietors prefer the online algorithms to handle the busywork — reservations, directions — so they can carve out time to run a restaurant.

“Our restaurants are chef-owned and operated, so we do more cooking, shopping and cleaning than phone answering,” said Jody Williams, a partner at the critically lauded (and phone-free) West Village restaurant Via Carota. “If you want to know if you left your umbrella behind, email please.”

But efficiency is only part of the equation. For moody Manhattan cocktail lounges like the Raines Law Room, Dear Irving and the Bennett, going phoneless seems to bestow a certain cachet, an aura of under-the-radar cool.

“If you call ahead and ask: ‘Is it busy? What’s going on? How’s the wait?,’ that takes some of the surprise out of it,” said Meaghan Dorman, a partner in those lounges, in an interview that also took multiple days to arrange. Going without a phone, conversely, “helps keep up the mystique,” she said. “You can only get so much information.”

This shift from the phone to the Internet dovetails with a speakeasy-chic ethos that has long been a part of New York night life. Over the last decade or so, there was Milk & Honey, a temple of mixology hidden behind a Lower East Side storefront. Milk & Honey was almost impossible to find, and even harder to book with its unlisted phone number, exchanged like a secret handshake among in-the-know types.

Even before that, in the ’90s, Keith McNally’s Balthazar — then a white-hot nexus of the celebrity class and the media elite — was known to have a secret insiders-only reservations number, which could actually help power brokers secure a table.

Nowadays, withholding a phone altogether can still help foster, in some small way, a sense of clubby exclusivity.

At Two Hands, the cafe on Mulberry Street that emphasizes its “community focus” on its website, the lack of a phone functions as a velvet rope, allowing management to make sure it can accommodate neighborhood regulars before day-trippers looking to call ahead for reservations.

“We have a lot of locals, we know their names, they say hi, we have a conversation,” said Nick Duckworth, a surfer-ish young manager during a recent visit, as diners sampled dishes like ricotta toast with coconut and chia amid hanging lamps modeled after puffy clouds and walls covered with framed art.

“Everyone’s welcome, and no one deserves to call ahead and reserve,” he said. “It all comes back to community.”

And at Noah, in a space as coolly minimalist as a West Chelsea art gallery, shoppers never need fear a phone call violating their discerning appreciation of the Earth Uber Alles T-shirts and shoes trimmed with pony fur.