SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – The Latest on Apple’s annual conference in California (all times local):
8:20 a.m.
Apple’s annual developers conference is the company’s chance to preview upcoming features for iPhones, iPads, watches and Mac computers.
The conference starts Monday in San Jose, California. The idea is to get outside software programmers geared up to write apps for Apple products.
Leading up to it, Apple says those outside app developers have earned more than $70 billion since Apple’s app store launched in 2008.
Some of the most popular apps, such as Facebook, Instagram and Sanpchat, don’t cost anything. The most popular paid apps are usually games. This week, this included “Minecraft: Pocket” and a new version of “Goat Simulator,” an oddball game that’s exactly what its name sounds like.
Apple’s also expected to unveil a voice-activated, internet-connected speaker to rival Amazon’s Echo and Google Home.
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Midnight
Apple appears poised to unveil a voice-activated, internet-connected speaker that would create a new digital pipeline into people’s homes.
Tapping Apple’s Siri digital assistant, such a speaker is expected to serve as a butler as well as an outlet for listening to music. If the speculation pans out, the speaker would be Apple’s first new product since its smartwatch in 2015. It would mark an effort by Apple to catch up with Amazon and Google.
Apple’s annual conference for app developers begins Monday in San Jose, California.
Although it was first smartphone maker to come out with a digital assistant when Siri debuted in 2011, it hasn’t had a stand-alone assistant. For Apple, having one would further broaden the role that its software, services and gadgets play in people’s lives.