Apple Inc on Thursday sent out invitations to a media event, at which it is expected to unveil new iPhone and iPad models.
In keeping with its practice, Apple revealed little about the event other than that it is to take place on March 21 at the company’s campus in the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino, California.
A message on copies of the invitations posted online simply said: “Let us loop you in.”
Rumors have been circulating for weeks that Apple is poised to introduce upgraded versions of its small-screen iPhone and of the iPad, with the new tablet perhaps tailored for use by businesses.
A four-inch screen iPhone that looks similar to the iPhone 5S on the outside, but boasts improvements under the hood, is expected to get the spotlight at the event, along with an iPad with a screen slightly smaller than 10 inches diagonally.
The iPad might have keyboard and stylus features aimed at making it more attractive for getting work done. Apple has been trying to ignite sales of its tablets, which declined in the final quarter of last year.
The media event later this month is also expected to feature fashionable new bands for the Apple Watch.
The media event is to come a day before Apple faces off with the US FBI in federal court in southern California over whether the company can be compelled to help break into a locked iPhone used by one of the shooters in a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, on Dec. 2 last year.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address