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Apple joins augmented reality fray with new app platform
‘ARkit’ introduction comes as group takes on Amazon and Google with HomePod speaker
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4 HOURS AGO by: Tim Bradshaw in San Jose
Apple has jumped into the growing battle for the camera in Silicon Valley, with a new “augmented reality” app platform for developers that will face off against Facebook, Snapchat and Google.
The new “ARKit” capabilities being introduced in the next version of iOS will give Apple “overnight the largest AR platform in the world”, Craig Federighi, its software chief, told app makers at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday.
The announcement came as Apple took aim at other technology rivals by previewing its new “HomePod” wireless speaker, which it hopes will emulate the success of the iPod for on-the-go music.
The HomePod will cost $349, a significant premium to Amazon’s Echo and Google Home, as well as entry-level Sonos wireless audio systems. The cylindrical device responds to voice control through Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, and integrates with Apple Music.
© EPA
Demonstrations of Apple’s new AR platform displayed at the event in San Jose showed an improved version of Pokémon Go, one of the biggest apps of last year. The ARKit toolset allows the game’s monsters to bounce around streets and parks in a more realistic fashion.
Apple framed its bid to bring digital images to the iPhone camera window’s view of the real world as a leap forward in user-interface design alongside the iPhone’s 10-year-old “multitouch” screen.
With multitouch we’ve really changed the way that you interact with the world on the screen of your iPhone. With the camera we’ve allowed you to capture the world around you
Craig Federighi, Apple
“With multitouch we’ve really changed the way that you interact with the world on the screen of your iPhone,” said Mr Federighi. “With the camera we’ve allowed you to capture the world around you. When you bring these together, the results can be profound.”
ARkit combines hardware features such as the iPhone’s camera, motion sensors and graphics processors with sophisticated algorithms such as depth sensing and artificial light rendering.
Apple has long seen the iPhone’s camera as a key selling point. But in addition to capturing the real world, the popularity of apps such as Snapchat and Pokémon Go have shown that consumers increasingly want to “augment” their pictures with selfie masks, fun frames and other digital baubles. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has described AR as a “big idea” for the next era of technology, akin to the introduction of the smartphone itself.
Apple’s launch of ARkit, which will arrive in the coming months as part of the new iOS 11, comes just weeks after Facebook and Google unveiled new camera platforms at their own developer conferences. Facebook’s “camera effects platform”, launched in April, opened up its own apps to interactive filters created by external designers, tracking people’s faces and pulling in sensor data.
Last month, Google said its new “Lens” feature could be used to identify real world objects and look them up online using its computer vision technology.
Elsewhere at its WWDC event, Apple introduced a new version of its iPad Pro tablet computer with a larger screen. Apple also showed off a range of new machine-learning capabilities for Siri, ranging from a new Apple Watch face to extra app integrations.
It also displayed new support for virtual reality app development on Macs and a new “peer to peer” payments system through Apple Pay.
Every year, WWDC becomes more important for Apple to rally its developer community at a time when technologists’ attention is being stretched in many different directions, from WeChat and Facebook to Google’s Android and Amazon’s Echo virtual assistant platform.
Apple has been emphasising the growth in its services division during recent earnings calls, suggesting in January that it could double revenues by 2021 to become a nearly $50bn-a-year business.
© Getty
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