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Teens Still Crave iPhones, But Not So Much Into iPads, Apple Watch

Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) iPhone remains a sought-after item for U.S. teenagers, but young people are losing interest in iPads and have little interest for now in the Apple Watch. Those are among the findings of Piper Jaffray’s latest semiannual Taking Stock With Teens survey, released late Tuesday. Piper Jaffray surveyed 6,500 teenagers using classroom visits and electronic surveys for its latest report. Of those surveyed, 1,300 teens were in the upper-income group. IPhone ownership among U.S. teens rose to a high of 69% in Piper’s spring survey, vs. 67% in fall 2015. Plus, some 75% of teens expect their next phone to be an iPhone, up from 74% last fall. “Apple maintained steady momentum in iPhone ownership among teens,” Piper analyst Gene Munster said in the investment bank’s research report. “We continue to expect small positive changes in the share numbers for iPhone given purchase intent and the over indexing of teens to the U.S. in total, where we believe iPhone has around 50% share.” The latest Piper survey also found that tablet interest among teens is declining along with the product segment overall. Teen tablet ownership declined for the third consecutive survey to 59% this spring from 61% last fall. Apple iPad share was stable at 64% among tablet owners vs. 65% last fall. In the new category of smartwatches, 12% of teens said they own a smartwatch and Apple Watch represented 71% share of those owners, Munster said. Looking forward, 10% of teens say they are interested in purchasing an Apple Watch compared with 8% last fall, which represents a stabilization in interest after falling the last two surveys. The teen survey reinforced that the Apple brand “remains healthy among the young demographic,” Munster said. He reiterated his overweight rating on Apple stock with a price target of 172. Apple stock rose 1.3% to 110.44 on the stock market today . Looking at other consumer electronics, Fitbit ( FIT ) performed well in the survey, while GoPro ( GPRO ) showed weakness. The U.S. teen survey showed strong intent to purchase fitness trackers. Some 22% of upper-income teens plan to buy a fitness tracker in the next six months vs. 15% last spring, Piper analyst Erinn Murphy said in the report. Fitbit was the No. 1 fitness band at 72% ownership share, up from 53% in the fall. GoPro action cameras declined on teen wish lists, getting less than 1% vote for the first time in two years. Just 0.9% of teens listed GoPro as one of two top birthday gifts.

Tesla Model S Electric Car Gets EPA Range Boost To 294 Miles

Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) boosted the EPA-stated driving range of its most popular electric car, the Model S, to 294  miles for the longest-range version for sale at its website, with its own estimated range over 300 miles. And the possibility of an even more souped-up Model S — a 100D version with a bigger battery — remains an open question. One analyst predicts it will happen by August. Also Tuesday, Tesla rolled out a list of design and feature tweaks. The electric car maker’s website now shows the Model 3 90D version with a “range per charge” of 302 miles (at the default 65 mph and 70 Fahrenheit outside temperature), while the EPA rating is 294 miles. That’s Tesla’s longest-range version of the Model S. It shows the higher-performance P90D at an EPA-rated 270 miles between rechargings and the 70D (dual motor) at 240 miles. “They may have done some software upgrade,” Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told IBD Tuesday. “It seems the range per charge has probably gone up by about 10%.” “We just changed the numbers today to reflect the current EPA rating,” Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said by email in answer to IBD’s query. A calculator at Tesla’s website shows the 90D as able to get 451 miles between recharges if you adjust the speed down to 45 mph and raise the outside temperature to 90 Fahrenheit. Really? “We know of a person who drove from San Francisco to L.A. on a single charge and that was two years back,” Chowdhry said. And that’s over 380 miles. He says a larger battery-pack option for the Model S is likely by the end of August, which could extend driving range farther. On Tuesday, Tesla announced changes that allow faster recharging and also revealed a redesign of the sedan’s front profile, among other alterations. But the enhancements stop short of what the rumor mill suggested might be announced around the time of the Model 3 launch on March 31: a Tesla Model S 100D, which would indicate a bigger battery pack and longer driving range between recharges than existing Model S sedans. “Today we’re introducing the following updates to Model S,” Tesla’s Georgeson said in a Tuesday morning email, noting that the changes are just now going into production: The front fascia and headlights “now have a design similar to that found on Model X (the electric crossover that Tesla started delivering in September).” A HEPA air filtration system that was only on the Model X is now available, and is “100 times more effective than all other premium automotive filters.” The standard charger in the Model S is now “upgraded from 40 amps to 48 amps,” enabling “faster charging when connected to higher amperage charging sources.” Two new interior choices: Figured Ash Wood Decor and Dark Ash Wood Decor. In March, before the launch of the  Model 3 that topped 325,000 reservations  in its first week, analyst Chowdhry weighed in on the possibility of a longer-range Model S with a bigger battery pack. A “Tesla Model S 100D (not the performance version, but the Dual Motor version) could achieve a range greater than 300 miles per charge,” analyst Chowdhry posited in research note then, commenting on the rumored possibility that a Tesla Model S with a large battery pack was in the skunk works. The rumor stemmed from what a self-described “white hat” hacker saw in some code in the operating system of a Model S, which was alluding to a P100D. That was then reported by the automotive press. In Tuesday’s announced Model S upgrades, the amped-up charger is of note, indicating that Tesla has been looking at ways of maximizing what it can do with its unique battery packs that wrap around a large part of the cars. Incremental improvements in range have also been expected over time, through software tweaks to the battery management system. Tesla stock fell a fraction in the stock market today , to 247.82. The company’s IBD Composite Rating has risen to 65 out of a possible 99, but remains weighed down by the California startup’s string of quarterly losses. It leads automaker Composite Ratings, with Fiat Chrysler ( FCAU ) next at a 60, Ford ( F ) with a 55, China electric-car maker Kandi Technologies Group ( KNDI ) with a 50 and  General Motors ( GM ) with a 49. Tesla stock is up 76% from a February low and down 15% from an all-time high of 291.42 set in September 2014. This Is What It’s Like To Ride In A Tesla Model 3 RELATED: Tesla Stock, Lifted By The Model 3 Launch, Hit By Model X Recall

Facebook CEO Zuckerberg On Bots, Live Video And Global Access

CEO Mark Zuckerberg set a 10-year strategy for Facebook ( FB ) on Tuesday that emphasized pushing its Messenger chat platform deeper into the business world with chatbots, enhancing Live video with virtual reality and expanding the social network to remote regions of the world using aircraft and satellites for beaming Internet services. Zuckerberg presented his vision in a keynote speech at the start of Facebook’s two-day F8 Developer Conference on Tuesday morning in San Francisco, before some 2,600 attendees. As widely expected, Zuckerberg announced a program for developers to write apps that are powered by artificial intelligence, known as chatbots. The digital assistants will help Messenger users communicate with businesses for services, perhaps to fix a problem or to buy goods. Consumers already use Messenger to communicate with businesses. More than 1 billion messages are sent between businesses and users via the app, Facebook says. Messenger is already used to request a lift from Uber or Lyft, purchase tickets for concerts and other events, make a payment and more. The addition of chatbots will make those connections deeper, with better services. The addition of chatbots also moves Facebook a step closer to making Messenger a revenue generator that will reach into the billions, through ad placements and fees for other services. Facebook has not commented on reports that ads are coming to Messenger. The company always has been cautious about monetizing products, as it did with its photo-sharing site Instagram, starting out slow before ramping things up. Bots Will Help You Pick Flowers For Delivery Chatbots are digital characters infused with artificial intelligence that can mimic human conversation. The idea is that businesses on Messenger could use chatbots to interact with customers via automated response systems, aiming to help boost sales. Chatbots can help businesses eliminate the human effort required for communicating with users. An example that Zuckerberg used was with 1-800-Flowers ( FLWS ), where a chatbot will help users on the selection and delivery of flowers, without the need for a phone call. Another was with CNN, which would send users a daily digest of stories, with story selection getting more personalized as time goes on. The bots can provide anything from automated subscription content, like weather and traffic updates, to customized communications, like receipts and shipping notifications, Facebook said. “Messenger will be the next big platform for connecting services,” Zuckerberg said. Messenger is one of Facebook’s fastest-growing products, with more than 900 million users, up from 800 million in December. Zuckerberg also laid out a vision for Facebook’s live video streaming service call Live. He envisioned a time when users will view Live video through a virtual reality platform, such as its Oculus Rift headset that began shipping last month. “We are at the golden age of video,” Zuckerberg said. VR Goggles To Become Eyeglass Size He also sees a time when VR goggles, which currently protrude across the upper face of a user and are held in place with headbands, will someday shrink to the size of eyeglasses. Facebook Live is comparable to the Twitter ( TWTR ) Periscope app, which launched last year and has logged more than 100 million broadcasts. Twitter has integrated Periscope into the Twitter app feed. Zuckerberg also revealed that Facebook is developing a solar-powered aircraft with a wingspan wider than a Boeing 737’s, able to fly at 60,000 feet, for delivering Internet service. Facebook is also planning to provide Internet service via satellites and said the first launch will take place next year. “Aircraft like these will help connect the whole world because they can affordably serve the 10% of the world’s population that live in remote communities without existing Internet infrastructure,” Zuckerberg said. Zuckerberg Presents A Political Message As he has at other events and presentations, Zuckerberg expressed a deep passion for connecting the world to the Internet — through Facebook. He even used the event to lash out at politicians who talk of building walls and slowing immigration. “Fearful voices are calling for building a wall, slowing immigration and even cutting access to the Internet,” he said. “Instead of building walls, we can help people build bridges, one connection at a time, one innovation at time. It takes courage to choose hope over fear,” he said. More than half the world’s population of 7 billion are not connected to the Internet. Before the conference started, news came that Messenger users can now import files from Dropbox, an online storage company that competes with Box ( BOX ). It’s the first time that Messenger has partnered with a cloud-based file-sharing service. The feature allows users to upload a file, including pictures and video that can be attached to the conversation. Facebook stock closed at 110.61, up 1.5%. Facebook is set to report Q1 earnings after the market close on April 27. Analysts expect revenue will rise 48% from the year-earlier quarter, to $5.25 billion, while earnings per share minus items also are expected to rise 48%, to 62 cents.