The Cupertino, California based Apple introduced two new smartphones on September 10, 2013. A high-end smartphone with a finger print scanner, iPhone 5S that begins at $199 with a contract that comes in three colors and a $99 with a contract, iPhone 5C, a colorful with plastic cover that comes in five colors. Actual prices in emerging markets or the release date and availability of these smartphones in China have not been disclosed at the time of the unveiling of the new products.

The iPhone 5C colors include blue, green, pink, yellow and white. It is available in the U.S. for $549 without a contract. 5C also has a “M7 Motion co-processor” chip that can track motion data continuously with less impact on the battery. Because of this it is a dream gadget for sports fans and fitness enthusiasts. 5C will be available sooner than the 5S.

The higher end iPhone 5S comes in gray, silver and gold. It is expected to carry higher processing speed, finger print scanner and an improved camera. The iPhone 5S is expected to go on sale in the U.S. and in China on September 20, 2013. Many expect these new products will stop market share losses for Apple in rapidly developing markets in China and India.

Intel is well known for its more powerful yet cooler running 22 nanometers “Core” processor chips that run PCs and servers. Intel dominates the PC and server chips market. However, PC sales are declining in the face of rapidly growing smartphones and tablets. Until the recent past, Intel did not attempted to enter into the rapidly growing mobile segment of the market and allowed its partnering ARM licensees to deal with it. Faced with dwindling PC sales Intel is now forced to compete in the mobile market segment in order to survive.

Now Intel is gearing up its “Atom” chips technology. Atom chips were first introduced in 2008 during the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, China. The 22 nanometer Atom chips (code named Silvermont) are in production and getting ready to be shipped before the holidays. Known as Bay Trail these chips will be available in early September 2013. But Intel is putting more attention to a much faster, ultra-low-voltage 14 nanometer Atom chip (code named Airmont) that can revolutionize the mobile chip market. The 14 nanometer Atom chips carry a power advantage over other similar chips using only 15 watts or less of electricity.

Edward Snowden, a system operator working for a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA) fled the U.S. with a massive amount of data that the NSA’s Prism program is collecting from individual’s phone calls, emails and others. When he arrived in Hong Kong he started to release some of the data upsetting the country and other nations and Snowden declared that he will be releasing additional data in coming weeks and months. To everyone’s surprise, the action brought a little known surveillance program of data mining by the U.S. government to the forefront.

In the middle of the controversy is data gathering behemoths such as Google, Apple and many others. Google’s Android operating system is an open source code and anyone can participate. It can be found on many devices such as Android OS based smartphones, tablets, televisions, cars, and many other devices. No wonder why the Federal government has its own secret Android code to obtain data from the Google’s Android OS. Not just the NSA, anyone can get data from the open source system. Since Apple doesn’t accept outside source codes, anyone including the NSA need Apple’s approval or need to obtain data from Apple.

A watch capable of computing from Apple is once again making headlines in technology circuit. Apple lost more than one third of its share price recently and could use a boost from much talked about wrist watch. Other companies have made attempts starting with Cisco’s calculator watch in 1970s to Sony’s SmartWatch that you can check your e-mail, tweet, or play music in addition to making phone calls. At the same time Apple has proven with its iPad, iPhone and others that it is capable of introducing new products that can unseat some of the industry leaders.

The latest rumors about Apple wrist watch comes from its filings of more than 79 patent applications since 2001 related to a flexible screen device powered by kinetic energy. Additionally, Bloomberg Businessweek says that team of about 100 Apple employees are working on a smart wristwatch that company expect to introduce this fall. Additionally, it reports citing a source familiar with the company, the new device will be capable of time keeping as well as an accessory to its iPhone allowing make and receive calls, check maps, work as a pedometer and a heart monitor.

The technology and marketing fight between Apple and Korea’s Samsung Electronics is continuing.  Apple is the biggest company and Samsung is gaining more grounds.  Samsung sold more Galaxy S-III smartphones than Apple and its Galaxy Note II tablet is also selling well.  However, people who doubt Apple’s ability to stay on top may want to give it another look.

Apple rolled out iPad mini and iPhone 5 recently.  It had to introduce a lottery and appointments system to tame the Chinese customers when these products were released for sale in China.  When it reports its quarterly earnings in late January 2013, it will give an indication how well these products are selling.

At the just concluded Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, curious Apple aficionados were talking about a cheaper version of its iPhone to compete with Samsung and others in developing countries.  Apple traditionally drop prices as its products matures and made them available in much of the maturing markets such as developing countries.

Apple customers downloaded more than 40 billion apps from Apple’s App Store since its launch in 2008.  Apple holds more than $29 billion in cash and another $92 billion in other securities.