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Apple has moved to register “iWatch†as a trademark in several countries, fueling speculation that the company is working on a gadget worn on the wrist that does a lot more than keep the time.
Over the past month, Apple has sought trademark protection for the term in at least four places: Taiwan, Russia, Mexico and Japan. The flurry of moves to seek ownership of the iWatch name suggests that a high-technology wristwatch may soon join the iPod, iPhone and iPad in Apple's lineup, analysts said.
An Apple watch could be a landmark in the development of so-called wearable technology, which turns the human body into a mobile computing and communications platform.
“Yes, the iWatch is going to come, and it has already triggered a lot of similar products from the competition,†said Tom Kang, an analyst at Counterpoint Research. “It will definitely be a significant steppingstone, in our view.â€
As usual, Apple is being secretive about its intention s. It declined to comment on the applications for trademark protection.
An application that Apple filed with Taiwan's Intellectual Property Office last month provides only sketchy information, showing an iWatch logo in capital letters. Under the heading “device color,†it states, “black.â€
The Taiwan application seeks to protect the iWatch name in two product categories, under international standards for trademarks. These include a class that covers a range of electronic and technology products, from computer software to “fire extinguishing equipment,†as well as a second category including “horological and chronometric instruments†and “precious metals and their alloys.â€
Apple has filed similar applications in at least three other countries - Russia, Japan and Mexico - according to news reports. Copies of those applications could not immediately be obtained.
Securing the iWatch name globally could be challenging for Apple, though. An Italian software company, Probendi, has registered the name in the European Union.
Analysts said the filings did not necessarily mean that Apple planned to introduce a watch. The filings could simply be protective, an effort to prevent other companies from using the name. Or the iWatch name could be applied to an entirely different technology, like television.
The development of devices like Google Glass, a type of Internet-connected eyewear, has fueled excitement about wearable technology in the industry, which is looking for sources of growth beyond smartphones.
A number of companies, including Apple's biggest rival, Samsung Electronics, are said to be working on watches that synchronize with smartphones or that provide smartphone-like functions.
Several other companies already make such gadgets. Sony, for example, last year introduced the SmartWatch, which lets users play games, check Facebook pages or send text messages simply by tapping their wrists.
The SmartWatch does not actually make phone calls or provide Internet connections. Instead, it hooks up with smartphones running Google's Android operating system, using Bluetooth technology. Sony last week unveiled a successor, the SmartWatch 2.
Other watches with so-called smart functions include the I'm Watch and the Pebble Watch. While the features vary, gadgets like these generally include small touch screens and allow users to download applications that help them control their smartphones without having to pull them out of their pockets.
“Every company making a smart watch is finding its feet,†said Ian Fogg, an analyst at the research firm IHS. “Everyone knows it's something you wear on your wrist, but nobody knows what features consumers will want. Just as a smartphone isn't really about the phone, the smart watch is not really about telling time.â€
While sales of these devices have been sluggish, analysts say an Apple watch may attract greater interest because of the company's flair for design and marketing, as well as its ability to tie new gadgets and applications into the Apple mobile operating system.
“We think entering the wearable device market will strengthen the Apple ecosystem,†Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at KGI Securities, wrote in a note to clients. “For example, it will offer more new applications, such as health applications, and upgrade the user experience by being highly integrated with existing Apple products.â€
The law rarely keeps up with technological advances â€" except in Montana.
Legislators in that state recently passed a bill that requires the police to obtain a search warrant, based on probable cause, before they can use a cellphone carrier's records to establish a suspect's location.
That kind of “metadata†can be incredibly valuable, as law enforcement agencies discovered long before the rest of us. The cellphones we carry everywhere establish a clear log of our daily travels and can go a long way in telling the story of our lives.
In recognition of that fact, the Montana Legislature this spring passed a location information privacy bill, which requires a search warrant for location information recorded by an “electronic device.†There are exceptions to the warrant requirement, including when the cellphone is reported stolen or to respond to a cellphone user's emergency call.
Steve Bullock, the governor of Montana, signed it into law on May 6. The American Civil Liberties Union, which tracks cellphone tracking laws across the country, called it the first such state legislation.
In so doing, Montana stole California's thunder: that state's Legislature had passed a warrant law for location tracking last year, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, saying that it did not “strike the right balance†between the needs of citizens and law enforcement.
Over a dozen other states have eyed similar measures just this year. In Maine, a location information privacy bill went to the governor's desk last Wednesday. In Texas, a similar bill failed to muster enough votes in the Statehouse. The Massachusetts Legislature is scheduled to hold a hearing next Tuesday on a m easure that would require search warrants for location records as well as content of cellphone communications.
Congress has been slow to act on the issue. Bills have been introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, with little movement. The courts meanwhile have rendered mixed verdicts on how law enforcement can extract location history from telecommunications carriers.
Among the most remarkable is an armed robbery trial in Maryland, where the police obtained 221 days of cellphone location data for the suspects. The law enforcement authorities obtained a court order from a magistrate, but not a warrant.
The A.C.L.U., along with several other groups, filed an amicus brief in the case this week in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that at a minimum, the police should obtain a warrant, based on probable cause, to gain access to cellphone locati on records.
The Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on the legal limits of location tracking using a cellphone, though it ruled in a landmark 2012 case that the police must obtain a search warrant before placing a GPS tracking device on a suspect's vehicle.
It's hard to know what, exactly, is so addictive about Candy Crush Saga, a puzzle game that challenges players to get three or more matching types of candy in a row.
Much has been written about the game's irresistible charms - the deceptively simple premise, the maddeningly complex advanced levels and the seductive, cartoonish appeal of the jewel-hued candies themselves - but the game doesn't feel that much different from other mobile gaming hits like Angry Birds, Letterpress, Temple Run or Draw Something.
But the game has been steadily racking up fans since it was first released for Fa cebook in April 2012, and for smartphones in November.
Now, according to AppData, a third-party analytical service, the game has 45 million monthly active users. That's more than Spotify, Pinterest and Zynga's hits FarmVille 2 and Texas HoldEm Poker. King, the London-based development studio that created Candy Crush Saga, said 16 million people play the game on Facebook each month and that King's gaming network has a total of 190 million users across all of its games, both those on the Web and those on mobile devices.
Tommy Palm, a King representative, said the company's target demographic skewed towards women between the ages of 25 and 5 5. But King has noticed that Candy Crush appeals to and “works very well across all demographics and genders,†he said in a phone interview from Barcelona, Spain.
Each day the game is played more than 600 million times on a mobile device, he said. “I almost cannot understand that number,†he added, laughing.
Part of the game's success stems from its continuity across platforms, Mr. Palm said, a first for such a popular mobile game. That means players who start playing on Facebook and switch to their iPhones or iPads won't lose their place or have to start over, he said. That's different from earlier multi-platform games like Angry Birds. “If you lose your game, you still have your place saved,†he said. “This is especially important for a game with such a long life span.â€
In addition, the game is designed to constantly evolve and be updated, he said, rather than add sequels or extensions like other popular game titles. Candy Crush Saga currently has 385 levels. Every other week King adds new levels or features. Mr. Palm also said the company tries to minimize risk with new titles by testing out simple versions of a game on the company's Web site, King.com, and watching to see how their millions of users respond. Games that hit a certain threshold of popularity are rolled over to Facebook and then, if they continue to perform well, introduced on mobile devices.
“Historically, many game developers struggle with putting a lot of money and effort into a game and then it wasn't what the audience wanted or expected,†he said. “We remove a risk of that by trying the core concepts and mechanics, and measure data in the background to see if they keep coming back.â€
King was founded in 2003 by a handful of international entrepreneurs and has grown to 450 employees housed in offices around the world, inc luding London, San Francisco, Stockholm and Hamburg. The company plans to expand to 750 by the end of the year. Over its 10-year lifespan, the company has raised roughly $48 million in venture funding from Apax Partners and Index Ventures, and it has been profitable since 2005.
Mr. Palm said Candy Crush is the company's most successful game to date. It also generates the most money for the company, even though it's free. Players can purchase additional gameplay items to help them advance through the levels more quickly. Mr. Palm declined to comment on how much money the company makes off those purchases, but he did say that 70 percent of players who complete the game do so without without buying anything
Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen who follows the company, estimates that a game as popular as Candy Crush could generate hundreds of millions each year in revenue. He said that King was among the first mobile developers to figure out the pay-to-play model and mak e it work for them.
Candy Crush, he said, “is not a fluke like Draw Something was,†he said. Draw Something was acquired by Zynga last summer, which struggled to keep the game's former momentum going.
The challenge for any mobile game is “keeping people engaged for longer,†Mr. Creutz said. “You have to sustain this over a long time, and they've gotten very good at it.â€
Which isn't to say that Candy Crush Saga will be next summer's hit. “Their iron is very hot,†he said. “It may never get hotter than it is now.â€
King certainly seems to be trying to strike while they can. The company is said to be preparing for an initial public offering, but Mr. Palm declined to comment on those reports. He did say, however, that King is trying to franchise the popularity of Candy Crush. The company recently inked a partnership deal to sell Candy Crush-branded socks.
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It’s hard to know what, exactly, is so addictive about Candy Crush Saga, a puzzle game that challenges players to get three or more matching types of candy in a row.
Much has been written about the game’s irresistible charms â€" the deceptively simple premise, the maddeningly complex advanced levels and the seductive, cartoonish appeal of the jewel-hued candies themselves â€" but the game doesn’t feel that much different from other mobile gaming hits like Angry Birds, Letterpress, Temple Run or Draw Something.
But the game has been steadily racking up fans since it was first released for Facebook in April 2012, ad for smartphones in November.
Now, according to AppData, a third-party analytical service, the game has 45 million monthly active users. That’s more than Spotify, Pinterest and Zynga’s hits FarmVille 2 and Texas HoldEm Poker. King, the London-based development studio that created Candy Crush Saga, said 16 million people play the game on Facebook each month and that King’s gaming network has a total of 190 million users across all of its games, both those on the Web and those on mobile devices.
Tommy Palm, a King representative, said the company’s target demographic skewed towards women between the ages of 25 and 55. But King has noticed that Candy Crush a! ppeals to and “works very well across all demographics and genders,†he said in a phone interview from Barcelona, Spain.
Each day the game is played more than 600 million times on a mobile device, he said. “I almost cannot understand that number,†he added, laughing.
Part of the game’s success stems from its continuity across platforms, Mr. Palm said, a first for such a popular mobile game. That means players who start playing on Facebook and switch to their iPhones or iPads won’t lose their place or have to start over, he said. That’s different from earlier multi-platform games like Angry Birds. “If you lose your game, you still have your place saved,†he said. “This is especially important for a game with such a long life span.â€
In addition, the game is designed to constantly evolve and be updated, he said, rather than add sequels or extensions like other popular gam titles. Candy Crush Saga currently has 385 levels. Every other week King adds new levels or features. Mr. Palm also said the company tries to minimize risk with new titles by testing out simple versions of a game on the company’s Web site, King.com, and watching to see how their millions of users respond. Games that hit a certain threshold of popularity are rolled over to Facebook and then, if they continue to perform well, introduced on mobile devices.
“Historically, many game developers struggle with putting a lot of money and effort into a game and then it wasn’t what the audience wanted or expected,†he said. “We remove a risk of that by trying the core concepts and mechanics, and measure data in the background to see if they keep coming back.â€
King was founded in 2003 by a handful of international entrepreneurs and has grown to 450 employees housed in offices around the world, including London, San Francisco, Stockholm and Hamburg. The company plans to expand to 750 by t! he end of! the year. Over its 10-year lifespan, the company has raised roughly $48 million in venture funding from Apax Partners and Index Ventures, and it has been profitable since 2005.
Mr. Palm said Candy Crush is the company’s most successful game to date. It also generates the most money for the company, even though it’s free. Players can purchase additional gameplay items to help them advance through the levels more quickly. Mr. Palm declined to comment on how much money the company makes off those purchases, but he did say that 70 percent of players who complete the game do so without without buying anything
Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen who follows the company, estimates that a game as popular as Candy Crush could generate hundreds of millions each year in revenue. He said that King was among the first mobile developers to figure out the pay-to-play model and make it work for them.
Candy Crush, he said, “is not a fluke like Draw Something was,†he said. Draw Something was acquiredby Zynga last summer, which struggled to keep the game’s former momentum going.
The challenge for any mobile game is “keeping people engaged for longer,†Mr. Creutz said. “You have to sustain this over a long time, and they’ve gotten very good at it.â€
Which isn’t to say that Candy Crush Saga will be next summer’s hit. “Their iron is very hot,†he said. “It may never get hotter than it is now.â€
King certainly seems to be trying to strike while they can. The company is said to be preparing for an initial public offering, but Mr. Palm declined to comment on those reports. He did say, however, that King is trying to franchise the popularity of Candy Crush. The company recently inked a partnership deal to sell Candy Crush-branded socks.
The law rarely keeps up with technological advances - except in Montana.
Legislators in that state recently passed a bill that requires the police to obtain a search warrant, based on probable cause, before they can use a cellphone carrier’s records to establish a suspect’s location.
That kind of “metadata†can be incredibly valuable, as law enforcement agencies discovered long before the rest of us. The cellphones we carry everywhere establish a clear log of our daily travels and can go a long way in telling the story of our lives.
In recognition of that fact, the Montana Legislature this spring passed a location information privacy bill, which requires a search warrant for location information recorded by an “electronic device.†There are exceptions to the warrant requirement, including when the cellphone is reported stolen or to respond to a cellphone user’s emergency call.
Steve Bullock, the governor o Montana, signed it into law on May 6. The American Civil Liberties Union, which tracks cellphone tracking laws across the country, called it the first such state legislation.
In so doing, Montana stole California’s thunder: that state’s Legislature had passed a warrant law for location tracking last year, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, saying that it did not “strike the right balance†between the needs of citizens and law enforcement.
Over a dozen other states have eyed similar measures just this year. In Maine, a location information privacy bill went to the governor’s desk last Wednesday. In Texas, a similar bill failed to muster enough votes in the Statehouse. The Massachusetts Legislature is scheduled to hold a hearing next Tuesday on a measure that would require search warrants for loca! tion records as well as content of cellphone communications.
Congress has been slow to act on the issue. Bills have been introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, with little movement. The courts meanwhile have rendered mixed verdicts on how law enforcement can extract location history from telecommunications carriers.
Among the most remarkable is an armed robbery trial in Maryland, where the police obtained 221 days of cellphone location data for the suspects. The law enforcement authorities obtained a court order from a magistrate, but not a warrant.
The A.C.L.U., along with several other groups, filed an amicus brief in the case this week in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that at a minimum, the police should obtain a warrant, based on probable cause, to gain access to cellphone location records.
The Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on the legal limits of locaion tracking using a cellphone, though it ruled in a landmark 2012 case that the police must obtain a search warrant before placing a GPS tracking device on a suspect’s vehicle.
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Create an account »
Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?
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Log in to manage your products and services from The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune.
Don't have an account yet?
Create an account »
Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?
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Apple has moved to register “iWatch†as a trademark in several countries, fueling speculation that the company is working on a gadget worn on the wrist that does a lot more than keep the time.
Over the past month, Apple has sought trademark protection for the term in at least four places: Taiwan, Russia, Mexico and Japan. The flurry of moves to seek ownership of the iWatch name suggests that a high-technology wristwatch may soon join the iPod, iPhone and iPad in Apple’s lineup, analysts said.
An Apple watch could be a landmark in the development of so-called wearable technology, which turns the human body into a mobile computing and communications platform.
“Yes, the iWatch is going to come, and it has already triggered a lot of similar products from the competition,†said Tom Kang, an analyst at Counterpoint Research. “It will definitely be a significant steppingstone, in our view.â€
As usual, Apple is being secretive about its intentions. It declined to comment on th applications for trademark protection.
An application that Apple filed with Taiwan’s Intellectual Property Office last month provides only sketchy information, showing an iWatch logo in capital letters. Under the heading “device color,†it states, “black.â€
The Taiwan application seeks to protect the iWatch name in two product categories, under international standards for trademarks. These include a class that covers a range of electronic and technology products, from computer software to “fire extinguishing equipment,†as well as a second category including “horological and chronometric instruments†and “precious metals and their alloys.â€
Apple has filed similar applications in at least three other countries â€" Russia, Japan and Mexico â€" according to news ! reports. Copies of those applications could not immediately be obtained.
Securing the iWatch name globally could be challenging for Apple, though. An Italian software company, Probendi, has registered the name in the European Union.
Analysts said the filings did not necessarily mean that Apple planned to introduce a watch. The filings could simply be protective, an effort to prevent other companies from using the name. Or the iWatch name could be applied to an entirely different technology, like television.
The development of devices like Google Glass, a type of Internet-connected eyewear, has fueled excitement about wearable technology in the industry, which is looking for sources of growth beyond smartphones.
A number of companies, including Apple’s biggest rival, Samsung Electronics, are said to be working on watches that synchronize with smartphones or that provide smartphone-like functions.
Several other companies already make such gadgets. Sony, for example, last yar introduced the SmartWatch, which lets users play games, check Facebook pages or send text messages simply by tapping their wrists.
The SmartWatch does not actually make phone calls or provide Internet connections. Instead, it hooks up with smartphones running Google’s Android operating system, using Bluetooth technology. Sony last week unveiled a successor, the SmartWatch 2.
Other watches with so-called smart functions include the I’m Watch and the Pebble Watch. While the features vary, gadgets like these generally include small touch screens and allow users to download applications that help them control their smartphones without having to pull them out of their pockets.
“Every company making a smart watch is finding its feet,†said Ian Fogg, an analyst at the research firm IHS. “Everyone knows it’s something you wear on your wrist, but nobody knows what features consumers will want. Just as a smartphone isn’t really about the phone, the smart watch is not really ! about tel! ling time.â€
While sales of these devices have been sluggish, analysts say an Apple watch may attract greater interest because of the company’s flair for design and marketing, as well as its ability to tie new gadgets and applications into the Apple mobile operating system.
“We think entering the wearable device market will strengthen the Apple ecosystem,†Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at KGI Securities, wrote in a note to clients. “For example, it will offer more new applications, such as health applications, and upgrade the user experience by being highly integrated with existing Apple products.â€
The Lede is following events in Egypt on Tuesday, as protesters demanding the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi return to the streets and the clock ticks on an ultimatum issued by the military to resolve the crisis by Wednesday.
As our colleagues David Kirkpatrick, Kareem Fahim and Ben Hubbard report from Cairo, President Mohamed Morsi faced deepening political isolation on Tuesday, as calls for his resignation intensified on the streets and resignations from his government piled up ahead of an army-imposed deadline to resolve the crisis.
Against this backdrop, and the looming threat of violence between supporters and opponents of the Islamist president elected just one year ago, several Egyptian democracy activists have been rying to explain to the rest of the world how Mr. Morsi lost the support of the population in the past year.
Late Monday, the novelist and commentator Ahdaf Soueif â€" who voted for Mr. Morsi to keep out Ahmed Shafik, Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister â€" called on the Muslim Brotherhood to disband, in an interview with Britain’s Channel 4 News from Cairo.
In a Facebook post headlined “The Seven Deadly Sins of the Muslim Brotherhood,†the cha! irman of ! the history department at the American University in Cairo, Khaled Fahmy, laid out what he called the “delusional views†of the Islamist society that put Mr. Morsi forward for the presidency, and explained that there is widespread discontent with the American Ambassador, Anne Patterson, for apparently supporting the president.
Mr. Fahmy argued that the Brotherhood’s first mistake was that they “thought that running and winning free and fair elections was what the revolution was all about.â€
When Morsy won with a 52 percent of the vote, his group convinced him that this is a sufficient source of legitimacy and that the revolution, now that it has fulfilled its main objective, is over. People should now go back home and mind their business. This was a disastrous reading of the political situation. People did not take to the streets in Jan-Feb 2011 and risk their lives only to have free and fair elections And they were not willing to go back home just because someone won the presidential elections (no matter who), until they made sure that this person at least appeared to be answering their main demands.
He went on to suggest that the group’s other major errors were: failing to reform the hated police force â€" “the fact that the revolution erupted on the 25th of January, Police Day, was not an accident†â€" deciding to battle the press and the judiciary instead of the security forces; insisting on “a winner-takes-all approach†rather than making “credible and meaningful concessions†to the opposition; claiming that all opposition to the new government was solely riven by “feloul,†or remnants of the old regime; ruling in the authoritarian manner of a secret society, rather than an open, democratic government.
Mr. Fahmy concluded:
Lastly, the Muslim Brotherhood has failed to realize that its time is over. This is a secret organization foun! ded in th! e 1920 to fight the British in Egypt. During their long history, they have suffered draconian measures under Egypt’s many rulers, most seriously under Nasser. Their ideology and their tactics, their rhetoric and their philosophy have all reflected this siege mentality. One would have expected that having come to power as a result of free and fair elections that have, in turn, been the result of an amazing popular revolution, that they adopt a more relaxed, open, inclusive and tolerant attitude. Personally, I think the Brotherhood should have disbanded itself and morphed into political party. Instead, they did form a party but in an avaricious, greedy attitude they not only kept their organization, but also kept its secretive, clandestine structure and mentality. Famously, the president showed his true preference when he addressed the MB cadres and members as “my family and folkâ€, raising doubts in the minds of millions of Egyptians about his true allegiance. And in a drooling hunger for control, the M unleashed their cadres onto the institutions of the state in a rabid race to control them, what we have called ikhwanization. What is more, this ikhwanization has been going on with no vision, philosophy or aim except to control the hinges of the state. And with their old literature making it abundantly clear that this “tamkin†tactic aims at nothing less that imprinting their vision on the totality of Egyptian society, no wonder people got scared and rebelled.
I believe the Muslim Brotherhood is dead. It is a very tragic death as it happens paradoxically just when they thought that the future is theirs. Their best days are already behind them. And what makes it even more difficult for them to accept this tragic end is that it was brought about not because of the clever tactics or the insightful leadership of the opposition, as much as it was the result of their own bullheaded, stubborn leadership that, in the words of my dear friend Sherif Younis, had caused them to win all the battles bu! t lose th! e war.
One of Mr. Morsi’s most persistent antagonists, the satirist Bassem Youssef â€" who was interrogated by the state prosecutor for the supposedly criminal use of satire in his mockery of the president and the Brotherhood â€" drew attention on Twitter to “very impressive†aerial views of Sunday’s massive anti-Morsi protests.
â€" Robert Mackey