Weekly Tech Highlights: Apple's Spotify Clone, IoT Cost Savings And More

The first week of June was filled with music, startups, the Internet of Things and the Wild West of wireless charging.

Apple Inched Closer To Launching Its Spotify Clone

Apple Inc. AAPL is reportedly ready to launch a new streaming music service. It could be introduced at WWDC on Monday and may come with a $10 monthly fee. By comparison, Spotify offers both a free and paid version. That may not be a problem for Apple in the long run, however. "Free Spotify isn't gonna be free forever," Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, told Benzinga. "And really the business model is all about getting enough people to pay."

Apple's Wild West Approach To Wireless Charging

Few consumers may realize that Apple has crammed a wireless charger into its first smartwatch. However, the iPhone maker does not officially support the group (the Wireless Power Consortium) that created the wireless charging standard Apple used. "Apple controls their ecosystem carefully," John Perzow, VP of market development for the Wireless Power Consortium, told Benzinga. "They do that because the stuff works well together, but really it's because they make a huge profit from accessories."

Related Link: Will Apple's iPhone Replace GoPro?

Cars May Be More Hackable Than Drivers Realize

Volkswagen AG (ADR) VLKAY, Arynga, Green Hills Software, WirelessCar and Gemalto hosted a panel at TU-Automotive Detroit to discuss the danger that hackers could pose. "I think the risk is getting bigger and bigger," Benedikt Brecht, senior IT connected vehicle engineer for Volkswagen, told attendees at TU-Automotive Detroit. "The more connected the car gets, the bigger the risk will be."

Cisco Believes IoT will Reduce Automobile Costs

"It will actually cut out costs," Andreas Mai, director of smart connected vehicles at Cisco Systems, Inc.'s CSCO, told Benzinga. "Per vehicle that we connect. we will create benefits in the range of $1,400 per year -- $550 of that for the consumer." The savings continue from there with $420 saved by society, $300 saved by automakers and $160 saved by startups.

Techstars Mobility Showed Off The Power Of The D

Techstars Mobility introduced the first 10 companies that it will be assisting in Detroit, Michigan. "Automotive, connected vehicle is huge," Ted Serbinski, managing director of Techstars Mobility, told Benzinga. "And there's one company in the program, Cosmos Browser – it's like a communications company for third-world countries, allowing you to browse the Internet without a data connection." Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.