Today's Top Stories Recent talent acquisitions at Apple have added fuel to the rumors that it is moving full-steam ahead with development of the iWatch. The company, which hasn't released a new line of products since the iPad in 2010, has been snatching researchers from various fields, including biomedicine and sensor technology, pointing toward a coalescing of expertise likely focused on wearables. According to a Reuters report, Apple has acquired at least half a dozen experts in biomedicine alone, and the company is still actively recruiting from related professions. The iWatch, which the company has yet to officially announce, has been rumored to feature medical-centric apps including UV sensors and glucose and hydration tracking. Apple CEO Tim Cook referred to the wearable market as "ripe for exploration" nearly a year ago. However, any potential exploration has been kept hidden thus far, leading some investors, such as Carl Icahn, to publicly wonder about new products. Analysts worry about the company's sustained relevance if it can't become a player in the wearable market. But silence is business as usual for Cupertino, and experts making predictions about the iWatch are likely off the mark. Similar rumors circulated, including dozens of supposedly leaked designs that were all debunked, preceding the iPad reveal. The recent Apple hires, however, certainly point to an interest in biometrics, according to Reuters. Some biomedical engineers Apple acquired include veterans of Masimo, a company that works to non-invasively measure patients' oxygen saturation; Vital Connect, a firm that tracks vitals like heart rate and body temperature; and O2 Med Tech, which works with biosensors. Meanwhile, no leaders have emerged in the smartwatch arena, so Apple is under no pressure from competing products to soon launch the iWatch. Nike recently announced that it was laying off most of its FuelBand team to focus on brand appeal across third-party devices, while Samsung's recent foray into the market was panned by consumers and critics alike. The ever-present Google has revealed plans for Android Wear, but nothing concrete has surfaced.
For more:
- read the Reuters report
- read about various iWatch rumors here and here
- read Tim Cook's take on the wearable industry
- check out the slideshow of proposed iPads that almost had it right
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Mobile bad bot traffic is up a staggering 1,000 percent in the past year, and one new study expects mobile to be the focus of even greater bad bot behavior in 2014. In its annual Bad Bot Landscape report, Distil Networks noted that various entities "from legitimate businesses and governments, to organized criminal hackers and nefarious thrill-seekers, bots have become a reliable and ready weapon of choice. With returns high and the risk of retribution low, those who develop and deploy bots are continuing to do so with ever greater reach and efficiency." But the greatest driver of bad bot growth has been wireless, and the mobile space is an especially attractive target. "Over the past year, Distil has witnessed the aforementioned increase of over 1,000 percent in mobile bad bot traffic, and trafficked bad bot traffic originating from every wireless provider operating in the U.S.," says an article at Infosecurity Magazine. "With the exception of America Movil, every one of the top 10 global wireless providers served bad bot traffic from their network." According to the Distil report, "This trend increases in importance each month, as mobile throughput continues to increase. Smartphones are the most vulnerable of all mobile devices, and by the end of 2014, estimates show that there will be more than 6 billion mobile devices in use. This represents massive incentive for bad bot operators to focus more on mobile." In terms of bad bot servers, U.S. mobile providers far surpassed foreign providers, the report says. AT&T's network saw the highest volume of bad bot traffic, while Vodafone had the highest number of malicious bot requests. "Not only is the number of mobile bots increasing, but so too are the number of bots spoofing their identity to portray themselves as mobile devices," the Distil report explains. "Bad bot operators do this because many web servers are programmed to give a different response, or set of data, to mobile users (versus desktop users). Often, bot makers are interested in this unique data and spoof their user agents to appear as a mobile browser, when in reality they are nothing more than a script."
For more:
- check out the Distil Networks Bad Bot Landscape report
- read the Infosecurity Magazine article
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Consumers are increasingly using smartphones to shop and order goods at retailers' websites. Smartphone-generated retail revenue jumped 115.9 percent year-over-year in April, according to Branding Brand's Mobile Commerce Index. In addition, smartphone visits to and orders from mobile retail websites both jumped 83.8 and 96.4 percent year-over-year, respectively, in April. Smartphones generated 29.3 percent of total online visits--62.9 percent iOS and 36.3 percent Android--up 45 percent year-over-year in April. To compile the data, Branding Brand collects a sample of 18 major clients in various industries, such as apparel, health and beauty and home goods. In March, smartphone-generated retailer revenue soared 168.3 percent year-over-year, smartphone visits increased 101.2 percent year-over-year and smartphone orders jumped 129.6 percent year-over-year. "The triple digit gains we're seeing in client revenue growth points to the conclusion that mobile commerce is simply exploding. Smartphones are redefining the way retailers are connecting with their customers, and it's clearly being reflected in the bottom line," concludes Branding Brand co-founder and CEO Chris Mason.
For more:
- check out Branding Brand's release
- see the full report
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eBay fires up iPad in-store pickup app with Apple's Passbook integration Read more about: Smartphones, Mobile Commerce
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