Beats Debuts $300 Solo2 Wireless Headphones, First New Product Since Apple Deal Closed

Apple opened 437 new retail stores, made 20 acquisitions in 2014 and teases ‘wonderful plans’ for Beats

Apple’s flow of information doesn’t end with the announcement of their Q4 2014 earnings, as the Cupertino-based company continues to outline other impressive areas of growth.

During the conference call that took place immediately following the public release of their Q4 2014 earnings, it was revealed that Apple managed to open more than 400 new Apple Stores around the globe. 437, to be specific. More than that, though, the company also outlined how their growth is strengthened with acquisitions from varying niche markets. It was revealed during the company’s Q3 2014 earnings call that the company had acquired 29 different companies since fiscal 2013, and now Apple has opened up on their most recent numbers:

20 acquisitions in 2014, with 7 of them taking place within the September quarter alone.

Many of the companies that Apple officially acquired are well known by now, including the largest of the bunch: Beats Electronics. Others, though, include LuxVue, Swell, Spotsetter and BookLamp. What the impact these acquisitions will make on Apple and its products remains to be seen, but with each new company brought into the fold, the technology they bring in is obviously meant to improve several areas.

Finally, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook also teased “wonderful things” for Beats, but wouldn’t go into any details at the time. It has been rumored heavily as of late that Beats will go through a major rebranding effort in 2015, which could include a drop in monthly subscription pricing to $5 per month.

On Monday, October 20, Apple revealed that the company had a Q4 2014 revenue of $42.1 billion, with 39 million iPhones sold by the end of it. Additionally, Apple also revealed that iTunes posted $4.6 billion in revenue for the same time period, with a cumulative app download total of over 85 billion.

Tim Cook talks about Steve Jobs, Apple TV and Beats acquisition in latest interview

After taking the stage at the Flint Center to unveil the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook has participated in a two-part interview on The Charlie Rose Show. Ahead of the full-length question-and-answer session, of which the first segment airs tonight, the show has shared three short video clips in which the chief executive talks about Steve Jobs, Apple TV and the Beats acquisition.

In the first clip, Cook discusses about how his mentor and predecessor in Steve Jobs, who passed away in October 2011 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer, remains very close to him. “He's in my heart,” said Cook. “He's deep in Apple's DNA. His spirit will always be the foundation of the company. I literally think about him everyday. His office is still left as it was, on the fourth floor. His name is still on the door."

Cook added that the core values of Apple are still based around the visionary that Jobs was. "If you think about the things that Steve stood for at a macro level, he stood for innovation; he stood for the simple, not the complex; he knew that Apple should only enter areas where we can control the primary technology. All of these things are still deep in our company, they're still things that we very much believe."

Watch the clips below:

The chief executive also reflected on how television remains stuck back in the 1970s. “When you go in the living room to watch the TV, or wherever it might be, it almost feels like you’re rewinding the clock and you’ve entered a time capsule and you’re going backwards,” said Cook. It has long been rumored that Apple is working on a television set that could help redefine the living room, but so far only offers the Apple TV set-top box.

Cook claims that TVs offer a terrible user interface, which is something that I have to agree with. Even with the emergence of smart TVs from Samsung and other electronics makers, the flat screen is still far less innovative than smartphones, tablets and notebooks. “I don’t want to get into what we’re doing in the future,” said Cook, in response to why Apple doesn’t fix this outdated TV experience. “This is an area that we continue to look at.”

The third segment explains why Apple chose to acquire Beats Music and Beats Electronics earlier this year. Cook claimed that the iPhone maker saw talent that he is “super impressed with” in Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, referring to them as “creative geniuses.” He also explained that while trying out Beats Music one night, compared to some other music streaming services, he realized that Beats recognized the importance of human curation - the sequence of songs playing.

Cook is impressed with the brand that Beats has established, adding that the headphones business is fast growing and that Beats needed a global footprint that Apple was able to offer. Cook felt that he could get a music subscription service, talent and fast growing business in one as three underlying reasons why Apple acquired Beats. In case you missed it, the deal was announced in May for $3 billion following weeks of speculation.

The first segment of the interview will air on The Charlie Rose Show on PBS later tonight, followed by the second segment on Monday night.

Beats by Dre gets dedicated section in Apple’s online store

Beats products have generally been a staple in most physical Apple retail locations, but now that the Beats Electronics acquisition has been complete, the hardware is now getting dedicated spots on Apple’s online store.

If you visit Apple’s website and find your way into the online Store, there’s a chance you’ll catch the image above making the rounds as Apple’s ads rotate. However, if you dig into the “Shop Accessories” section, you’ll immediately notice that a new area has been added to the store: Beats by Dr. Dre. Once there, you’ll be able to select from the assortment of headphones and other accessories with the familiar logo on them.

What’s more, the Apple Store iOS app has also been updated, and now features a dedicated link to the accessories, under the title “Beats of all kinds” in the Featured section.

You can even find “sound accessories,” which should look familiar to anyone who’s seen the latest Siri and Pill mascots ad.

It was on August 1 that Apple officially welcomed Beats into the family, with a message posted on their site, and the aforementioned advertisement. Now that Apple has acquired Beats Electronics, it will be interesting to see where the new relationship leads, especially for products.

Have you purchased a pair of Beats headphones, or any accessories? What do you think of them?

[via Apple]