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Apple launching its online store in India on September 23.

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There’s some good news coming the way of Apple fanatics in India! The tech giant announced today that it would be unveiling an Apple Store in India on the 23rd of September via online means.  The online store will feature a slew of Apple products. While Apple products mostly sell online in India via Amazon and Flipkart, Bloomberg reported that the company was planning on establishing a unique store in time for Diwali. Furthermore, for the first time, the store will offer customers directly to clients throughout the country. Here’s a look at everything you need to know about the announcement, and why Apple fans are excited.

Apple Online Store in India

Apple’s online store will go live on 23rd September and will offer its full range of products. The store will offer all clients the premium experience that clients around the world receive. The model will try to replicate the service delivered at Apple stores worldwide with the help of an experienced online team. Deirdre O’Brien, who serves as the VP of Apple Retail and People, said that the company is proud to be expanding in India. He also said that the team is looking forward to serving its Indian customers in the best way possible. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has left everyone relying heavily on technology, the company felt it was the right time to make the transition. Brien said that the team hopes bringing the Apple Store to India would help their customers during such a vital time.

Apple Online Store
Image Source: techcrunch.com

Digital Transformation

The Apple online store will serve as a convenient one-stop shopping destination for all fans of the American tech company. The shop will have Apple Specialists in place to help customers with choosing the right products and explaining technical details. They will also help customers with configuring their devices and setting up newly bought ones to suit their requirements. The store will also help customers get advice, learn about new products, and receive guidance on a variety of matters in both Hindi and English. 

Special Features

The Apple Store also features various financing and trade-in programs, helping make their products more affordable. For instance, students can shop for iPads and Macs at exceptional prices, and also receive discounts on AppleCare+ plans and other accessories. By October, clients can expect the store to start free Today at Apple sessions online. The sessions will be led by Creative Pros from local areas and will focus on music and photography. Also, the store will make gift wrapping options and personalized engraving available by the festive season. Engravings on AirPods will be available in the following languages;

  • English
  • Hindi
  • Marathi
  • Kannada
  • Gujarati
  • Bengali,
  • Tamil
  • Telugu

For engraving on the iPad and Apple Pencil, the language available will be English for now. To keep with modern requirements of health and safety regulations, the Apple team will enable contactless delivery for all services. Orders which do not need a signature to complete will be left at the door, while the ones that do will be completed via verbal confirmation. BlueDart will handle the delivery fulfillment within 24 to 72 hours of order placement by following all the required safety protocols.

Other Efforts and Investments

Apple has been a presence in India for over two decades now. The American tech giant has invested in creating and sustaining over 900,000 jobs across the country. Furthermore, Apple’s App Design and Development Accelerator provides frequent support to local developers in Bengaluru. Indian apps have become crucial now, with ones like AI-based Wysa helping provide mental wellness support to millions. Similarly, YogiFi has become quite popular due to its innovative use of computer vision to help with posture-correction. The app also makes use of Machine Learning to curate personalized yoga plans and programs, helping and encouraging people to stay fit during this pandemic.

While the COVID-19 threat looms over the country, Apple is doing all it can to provide local support to organizations promoting remote learning. It will be interesting to see how big a hit this store becomes as Indians will now get a taste of the exemplary Apple service for the first time. Also, with reports stating that the tech giant plans on unveiling physical stores in Mumbai and Bengaluru from next year, this will act as a test to see whether the idea holds true.

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Apple in collaboration with Google launched COVID-19 ‘Exposure Notification Express’ via iOS 13.7

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Only after the outburst of the novel coronavirus, Apple and Google started working together to develop a contact tracing system. The system was designed in a way that new apps can be created by PHAs (Public Health Authorities) and this system will be incorporated. So, whoever downloaded and installed this app when came close to another person using the app data will automatically be transferred and saved. This helped later to get notified if the user in the past few days came in contact with a COVID-19 patient or not.

Yesterday, the two companies announced a big advancement in the existing technology by rolling out new tools. The new tools are launched to make the task for PHAs easier as they do not need to maintain their apps. Currently, the tool has been incorporated in iOS 13.7 and Google is working on the same for Android. For Android, there will be an automatically generated application that will be implemented in Android 6.0 later this month.

What is Exposure Notification Technology?

Exposure notification technology or exposure notification API is software made jointly by Google and Apple to help the PHAs incorporate it in apps. After the PHAs and other organizations built these apps with incorporated exposure notification API they can release it publicly. The general public can use these apps to stay updated about the COVID-19 cases around them and if they came in contact with any of the affected patients.

Both the companies took care of the user’s privacy and hence encrypted the transmitted Bluetooth metadata. Keeping in mind public privacy, the location information of the users is not exposed. Instead of this, the notification alert just shows a time and place where the device came in close Bluetooth range with other devices. So, if a user-tested COVID-19 positive and updated in the app only then the other users will receive notification that they came in contact with a potential COVID patient. The first version (Beta version) of this software was released in May 2020. But, now Apple has announced about the modified system which will not require creating a separate app by any PHA anymore.

contact tracing system
Image Source: appleinsider.com

No separate apps required anymore

Since changes in the software have been made, people might get a little confused. The working system of this new modified tool is different for both iOS and Android. It is a bit complex for Android and that is why it will launch later this month. So, the most striking and best improvement is that you don’t have to download and install an app on your own that is created by the PHAs to keep yourself updated.

Instead of downloading the app, you will receive notification from your local health authority then you can choose to opt-in. If you are an iOS user you have to install a provisioning profile and in case of an Android user, an auto-generated app will be installed via Google Play.

Role of PHAs

The PHAs don’t have to create apps on their own, so what they will do? They will provide Apple and Google with necessary information like contact information, proper guidance procedure, the recommendation for effected patients, precautions for those who came in contact with the virus, etc. Then the notification system can deliver it to the users helping them to take necessary steps as required.

The local health authorities are still responsible for what messages should be sent and the further steps if someone with positive COVID-test updates in the database. So, they are just relieved of developing their apps as most of the tech part is covered by Apple and Google. But, in the meantime already 20 countries around the world have developed and launched their apps.

Implementation of this new system

This new Exposure Notification Express will be first implemented by DC, Maryland, Nevada, and Virginia. Both Apple and Google are also working with the U.S. Association of Public Health Laboratories that will help the users to track even after they are traveling out of their home state. It is proven that this system has helped in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and preventing many deaths.