5 things Apple has yet to tell us

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Apple Watch with Hermes band. (Photo: Apple)
12 CONNECT 41 TWEET 2 LINKEDIN 1 COMMENT EMAIL MORE NEW YORK—Even following its two-hour plus press shindig Wednesday, there are several unknowns facing Apple in the weeks and months ahead.
In some areas Apple will be facing newly competitive pressures. In others, it needs to penetrate markets others have gotten to first. Here's what to keep an eye on:
*Smartwatches. The fact that Apple hasn't disclosed sales numbers for the Apple Watch has left many people people wondering just how well the company's prized wearable is faring. Of course, in announcing new watchbands and styles on Wednesday, and indicating that there are now some 10,000 apps, well ahead of what's available for Samsung's watches and for Android Wear devices, Apple remains firmly committed to the category.
Apple's new Watch OS2 software will be available for your wrist on Sept. 16, promising fresh watch faces, more native apps that don't require you to carry your phone, and other features that with the potential to make wearing the watch more appealing. We'll see.
Competition is heating up. Samsung is about to release its own new Gear S2 smartwatches based on the Tizen operating system. New Android Wear watches are also in the works, with refreshed entries from Asian competitors such as Lenovo-owned Motorola (the Moto 360), LG and Huawei. Meantime, the latest Android Wear watches get a boost from new Google software that will allow some models to work with the iPhone.
*Apple Pay. Expect the next few months to provide a further proving ground for Apple Pay, an area Apple will again face off against Samsung and Google. Apple Pay lets you use your phone, tablet or watch to pay for store in physical stores or and online.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that 1.5 million U.S. merchants will be Apple Pay-ready by year end. And Discover is joining American Express, MasterCard and Visa as credit companies that are compatible with Apple's system.
How big a threat Samsung will pose to Apple Pay in the U.S. is an unknown. But when Samsung Pay launches here at the end of this month on compatible Samsung flagship phones, it will claim one theoretical advantage against Apple Pay—it promises to work in more places. That's because Samsung Pay not only is compatible with the kind of NFC-type terminals where Apple Pay (and Android Pay) work, but also on most of the older older terminals that rely on so-called magnetic stripe technology.
Other competition will come from Google, which hadn't had much success with Google Wallet, but now has a renewed focus under what is now called Android Pay.
*Apple Music. It'll be three months at the end of September since Apple launched Apple Music. That means the free trial period for premium features on the streaming service will soon expire. You may like Apple Music but face a conundrum if you already pay for Spotify or another streaming competitor. Has Apple convinced you to switch and pay $9.99 for a monthly Apple Music membership or $14.99 for a family membership (of up to six)? How many people answer yes will help define the success of Apple Music.
Meantime, Apple has said that it will have a version of Apple Music for Android users too, but hasn't specified timing.
New models of the iPhone 6S are seen displayed during an Apple media event. Josh Edelson, AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook stands on stage during a Special Event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen The new Apple iPad Pro is seen in three different finishes during a product display following an Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen New models of the iPhone 6S are seen displayed during an Apple media event. Josh Edelson, AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen People look over the new Apple iPhone 6S models during a product display following an Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen The new iPad Pro is seen with a Smart Keyboard during a product display following an Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen A man uses the new Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro after an Apple special event. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen The new Apple TV box is shown during a product display following the Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook, right, looks at the new iPhone 6S with One Republic lead singer Ryan Tedder, in the demo room after the Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen People try out Apple's new Apple Watch bands following Apple's announcement of new products. Monica Davey, European PressPhoto Agency Fullscreen Journalists photograph Apple's new 6S and 6S Plus iPhones following Apple's announcement of new products. Monica Davey, European PressPhoto Agency Fullscreen Apple's new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus phones are on display following Apple's announcement of new products. Monica Davey, European PressPhoto Agency Fullscreen Apple's new Apple TV box and remote are on display following Apple's announcement of new products. Monica Davey, European PressPhoto Agency Fullscreen Two Apple Watches with the new Hermes leather bands are displayed in the demo area after an Apple special event. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus on display during Apple's event. Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY Fullscreen The iPhone 6S on display during Apple's event. Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook wraps up the latest Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook waves to the audience as One Republic wraps up there performance at the end of the Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen The band One Republic perform at the end of the Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Ryan Tedder of the group One Republic performs during the Apple launch event. Monica Davey, European PressPhoto Agency Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks at the end of an Apple launch event. Monica Davey, European PressPhoto Agency Fullscreen Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi speaks about 3D Touch during the Apple event. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, talks about the features and color finishes of the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, talks about the features of the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Rose Gold is a new finish color option available for the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, talks about the features of the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus during a Special Event at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium September 9, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen The new Apple iPhone 6S is seen on stage during the Apple launch event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California on September 9, 2015. Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook discusses the Apple TV product at the Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the New Apple TV. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about the addition of Apple apps to the new Apple TV. MONICA DAVEY, EPA Fullscreen Chad Evans with MLB.com, discusses how apps like his will be made available on the Apple TV. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Michelle Peluso with Gilt, discusses how apps like hers will be made available on the Apple TV. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Jon Carter with Harmonix discusses how apps like his will be made available on the Apple TV. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue talks about the new Apple TV remote. Monica Davey, EPA Fullscreen Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue speaks about the new Apple TV. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software, discusses the Apple TV product during the Apple event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen The new remote for the announced latest version of the AppleTV is seen on stage during the Apple launch event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California on September 9, 2015. Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the new iPad Pro during an Apple launch event. Monica Davey, EPA Fullscreen Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller speaks about the prices for iPads. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller speaks about the prices for iPad Pro on stage during a Special Event at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium September 9, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, discusses the features of the new iPad Pro. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller speaks about the Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard prices for iPad Pro. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen An Apple Pencil is displayed on the screen during the Apple announcement. The accessory provides a new input device for the newly announced iPad Pro. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, introduces a keyboard case for the new iPad Pro. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing reviews the screen resolution of the new iPad Pro. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Apple Senior Vice President of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller reviews the technical features of the iPad Pro. MONICA DAVEY, EPA Fullscreen Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing reviews the CPU performance of the new iPad Pro. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Microsoft's Kirk Koenigsbauer discusses the Microsoft Office app during the Apple event. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing reviews the technical specifications of the new iPad Pro including the 12.9" screen size - the largest in the iPad product line. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen The new iPad Pro's screen is the biggest of the iPad lineup at 12.9" MONICA DAVEY, EPA Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the new iPad Pro. Monica Davey, EPA Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook opens the Apple event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015 with an announcement of Apple Watch software updates and several new watch styles including special editions from Hermes. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Apple Senior VP of Operations Jeff Williams announces a news series of Apple Watch styles from Hermes at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California, on September 9, 2015. MONICA DAVEY, EPA Fullscreen Jeff Williams, Apple SVP of operations introduces several new Apple Watches including the Apple Watch RED edition. Apple Fullscreen The audience at the Apple event. Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY Fullscreen The audience at the Apple event. Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook waves as he takes the stage at the start of an Apple launch event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY Fullscreen Apple CEO Tim Cook takes the stage at the start of an Apple launch event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY Fullscreen Journalists wait in line to attend an Apple launch event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California, on September 9, 2015. Monica Davey, EPA Fullscreen Event staff look at a computer in front of an Apple logo outside Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on September 9, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Stephen Lam, Getty Images Fullscreen A man takes a photo as journalists wait in line to attend an Apple launch event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California on September 9, 2015. MONICA DAVEY, EPA Fullscreen A crew works outside the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium as preparations continue for the Apple new product announcements in San Francisco. Along with new iPhones, the iconic tech company is expected to show off a new Apple TV system and a bigger role in the home for Siri, its voice-activated digital assistant. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Apple's invite to the September 9 event. Apple Fullscreen The exterior of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium as preparations continue inside for the Apple product announcement in San Francisco. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen An officer stands watch outside the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium as preparations continue for the Apple new product announcements in San Francisco. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen A crew works outside the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Eric Risberg, AP Fullscreen Like this topic? You may also like these photo galleries: Replay Autoplay Show Thumbnails Show Captions Last Slide Next Slide *Apple TV. Questions surrounding Apple TV didn't end with Wednesday's announcements of a revamped and pricey new set-top box. Siri voice search is a nice addition but voice search is already on TV boxes from Google, Amazon and Roku.
Opening up Apple TV to developers, especially for casual games and the like, is also a plus and will bear watching, though again, Apple hasn't reinvented the wheel here. Forrester analyst James McQuivey outlines the biggest challenge: "For Apple TV to succeed it will have to give people what they already want on a TV: TV shows. But for that to happen, the companies that own the best shows have to give Apple those rights and from my conversations with them, Apple along with Google are the two companies that nobody wants to give that content to."
Would Apple follow in Netflix's footsteps and attempt to produce its own content? "It may be Apple's only hope to really make a dent in the world of TV content given how little content it can acquire rights to on its own," McQuivey says.
Such a strategic move would surprise me.
*Altered reality. Put this one in the wildcard category because we really haven't heard a peep about Apple's potential plans (if any) for virtual reality or augmented reality. Still, you have to believe somewhere in Cupertino people are working in these respective altered fields. After all, Google with Cardboard, Facebook with Oculus, Microsoft with HoloLens, Sony with Morpheus and HTC with Vive are already pretty far along. Will Apple join them?
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