Apple does n’t make a substance abuse of let out major intelligence at other society ’s conferences , but that does n’t mean Tim Cook ’s show at WSJD Live had nothing noteworthy to talk of .
In typically coy mode , Apple ’s chief executive officer hinted at next architectural plan , give status reports on current product and explained the company ’s overall strategy . Here are some of the major takeaways , plucked from theWall Street Journal‘s liveblogof the conversation .
A solid-sounding start for Apple Pay
Apple ’s raw payments serve launched on October 20 , and Cook said usersactivated 1 million credit cards in the the first 72 hours . The act sounds telling , and Cook said the early ramp - up looked “ rattling , ” but keep in mind that Apple sell 39 million iPhones worldwide last stern . While some of those phones are older models that do n’t support Apple Pay , and the service itself is only available in the United States , Apple will have to battle some drug user inertia as it tries to get mass to register their batting order .
On the iPod’s demise
After five years with no update , the iPod Classic finally vanished fromApple ’s store in September . Apple did n’t provide an explanation at the time , but Cook said at the WSJD group discussion that Apple could no longer get the necessary part . That does n’t quite explain the unceremonious nature of the iPod ’s death , but there are plenty oftouching eulogiesfrompeople besides Cookif you ’re feeling emotional .
Downplaying TV
Just a year ago , Cook was saying that television was “ an area of acute stake ” for Apple , but he strike a subtler tone at the WSJD conference . While he made the obligatory nod to the awfulness of the current telecasting experience , he shied away from saying Apple could do anything about it , as he has in the past . come upon reasonable deals with content providers istricky , and there are no signs that Apple is making much headway .
Possible privacy wall
Although Apple is trying to pitch itself as aprotector of privacyand security , recentbreaches have put a gouge in the caller ’s reputation . Cook said Apple is designing a “ Fort Knox sort of thing ” to enhance user privateness , but he did n’t get into detail . Cook also took several collateral jabs at Google ( “ We ’re not expectant Brother … We ’ll leave that to others . ” ) so it ’s no surprisal Apple is looking at raw ways to recognize itself on the privacy front .
Nothing new on the Apple Watch
With the Apple Watch due to launch in early 2015 , Cook stayed tight - lipped on any extra detail . He did say to bear one - twenty-four hour period battery life sentence from the machine , but that ’s the same lineApple ’s PR department has been establish since September , despite some dyspnoeic reports about Cook ’s argument in the media .
This is n’t news program , in other words — and it ’s still indecipherable how much screen - on clip users should expect if they require the Watch to last until bedtime .
