Director Steven Spielberg, TV host Oprah Winfrey and Hollywood stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell made appearances at the event that brings Apple into direct competition with Netflix and the rest of the entertainment sector.

“We all want to be heard, but we also need to listen… to be able to harness our hopes and dreams and heal our divisions,” Winfrey told a packed audience in the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple’s campus in Silicon Valley.

“That is why I have joined forces with Apple. The Apple platform allows me to do what I do, in whole new way.”

The Apple TV+ service, an on-demand, ad-free subscription service, will launch this year in 100 countries, the company said.

“We believe deeply in the power of creativity,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said.

“Great stories can change the world. We feel we can contribute something important to our culture and to our society through great storytelling.”

Apple revealed only a few of the programs to launch but announced it was working with celebrities on both sides of the camera including Octavia Spencer, J.J. Abrams, Jason Momoa and M. Night Shyamalan.

The new content will be available on an upgraded Apple TV app, which will be on smart television sets and third-party platforms including Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV.

Apple will also allow consumers to subscribe to third-party services like HBO and Starz from the same application. The cost of the service, along with financial deals with content creators, were not disclosed.

“These people could go where the money is, but they are going where Apple is,” Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi said of the star power on display at the event.

She expected Apple TV+ to be more of a channel at its streaming video service, similar to an HBO, than to be a “one-stop-shop” that would stand alone.

Apple is aiming to leverage its position with some 900 million people worldwide who use at least one of its devices. But some suggested Apple’s path may be harder than anticipated.

“I don’t want to know which famous people Apple has signed up. I want to know if the annual budget is $1bn or $10bn,” tweeted Benedict Evans, a Silicon Valley investor and blogger.

“Getting audience for a TV platform is like orbital mechanics — the only way to go up is to burn more fuel.”

While some view Apple’s move as a reinvention of the iconic company, analyst Richard Windsor said on his Radio Free Mobile blog that the video service “is very unlikely to ever be big enough to wean Apple off of its long addiction to selling hardware.”

– More than 300 magazines –

Meanwhile, a new Apple News+ service at a cost of $9.99 per month will include The Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal, digital news sites and more than 300 magazine titles including Rolling Stone, Time, National Geographic Wired and The New Yorker.

“We think Apple News+ will be great for customers and great for publishers,” Cook said.

Apple News+ was launched in the US and Canada in English and French and will be available later this year in Britain and Australia, the company said.

Separately, the company said it was launching a new game subscription service called Apple Arcade later this year with at least 100 titles at launch.

“Apple Arcade will introduce an innovative way to access a collection of brand new games that will not be available on any other mobile platform or in any other subscription service,” Apple said in a statement.

The game service will be available in 150 countries, with pricing to be announced later.

The move comes as Apple shifts to emphasize digital content and other services to offset a pullback in the once-sizzling smartphone market, and with many news organizations struggling to monetize their online services.

– Selling privacy –

Apple highlighted privacy and data protection for its new services, responding to consumer concerns about personal information bought and sold by Silicon Valley firms.

It said advertisers would not be able to track the activity of subscribers to the news service and its Arcade would have no ads, ad tracking or additional purchases.

On additional services, Apple said it would offer a credit card in partnership with Goldman Sachs to be integrated with Apple Pay.

Those signing up will get a physical card and one for a digital wallet, with the two companies pledging to refrain from sharing or selling data to third parties for marketing and advertising.

Apple Card features that could shake up the credit card industry include not charging fees, giving users cash back on purchases, and providing tools for people to better manage their debt.

So said Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam at the conference on 5G & Development of Digital ASEAN  in Hà Nội on Friday.

According to the Deputy PM, facing the changes and advancement of technology, the ones who are proactive and pioneering will be the more successful afterwards, Đam said.

“When the world implemented 2G, 3G and 4G, ASEAN countries were almost exclusively beneficiaries of the technology,” Đam said. “At that time, the world’s biggest telecommunications companies brought equipment and solutions to the region to sell, and we bought them. With technological changes, some countries in the region have focused more on hardware and software research. This time around, we need to co-operate, share and exchange our intellectual and technological advancements.”

Deputy PM said the initial steps towards developing a new technology are always challenging. Therefore, governments should take the initiative in supporting enterprises to minimise risk.

He stressed the need to boost innovation and address shortcomings related to information security and safety.

Đam also suggested delegates try to develop a suitable roadmap for the development of 5G, including identifying opportunities and challenges and putting forward solutions.

Network development

Speaking at the conference, Minister of Information and Communication Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng highlighted the significant role of 5G network development.

The digital economy, with its new business models and methods, is creating opportunities for organisations and enterprises. New technologies will enable better connectivity across supply chains, reducing logistics and business costs.

“5G will be the most important part of the digital economy infrastructure thanks to its greater bandwidth, higher speeds and lower latency,” Hùng said.

According to the minister, Việt Nam will be one of the first countries in the world to roll out 5G and is willing to co-operate with other ASEAN countries to establish joint ventures and factories to make the necessary IT equipment.

He said that from the beginning of 2019, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) had already licensed local carriers to test the technology in Hà Nội and HCM City, noting that the country is also focusing on developing other 5G-based technologies and equipment.

Hùng stated ASEAN members must focus on building digital infrastructure and working together closely to shorten the development gap with advanced countries.

The minister suggested each ASEAN country implement an initiative and share the results with other countries, improving the efficiency of resource use and promoting the common strength of the region.

With regards to the 5G development situation around the world, Cristian Gomez, director of spectrum policy and regulatory affairs for the Asia-Pacific region at industry group GSMA said the application of the technology is progressing rapidly. Countries are looking for efficient ways to improve mobile connectivity and provide the best quality for customers. 5G is being applied quickly in the US, Europe and some Asia-Pacific countries such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and China.

“The Southeast Asia region with its fast-growing economies will benefit a lot from 5G technology in some areas such as robots, the manufacturing industry and self-driving cars,” Gomez said.

He said that in a smart city, 5G-connected cars can avoid traffic jams and reduce energy consumption.

The event was held by the MIC, the Vietnam Internet Association and the International Data Group.

Superfast 5G wireless technology is expected to be a driving force in the development of telemedicine and in balancing the distribution of medical resources, said Jiao Yahui, deputy chief of medical administration and supervision for the commission.

Medical personnel who have used 5G technology for remote diagnosis or surgery have given positive feedback on the high quality of images, data and audio transmitted through the network.

“However, it’s still a new technology. It’s in its infancy,” she said. “The national backbone network is immature at this stage, and cross-regional transmissions have some instability.”

She added there is some risk associated with performing remote surgery using the 5G network.

The Da Vinci System, an early robotic surgical system developed overseas to facilitate long-distance surgeries, has not lived up to expectations, Jiao said.

She said medical institutions should exercise the principle of prudent tolerance, and not rush 5G applications into the healthcare sector.

An increasing number of medical institutions across China are collaborating with telecom companies to seek breakthroughs in telemedicine. Beijing Tiantan Hospital, a designated emergency care provider for the upcoming Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition, has begun setting up facilities based on 5G to provide possible long-distance emergency aid during the expo, according to Wang Yongjun, the hospital’s deputy head.

“I want to stress that our work is in the trial stage. We will accumulate more experience and test its stability,” he said.

In recent years, China has been pushing for wider applications of intelligent tools to upgrade its healthcare services.

Jiao said the country is committed to building intelligent hospitals this year to enhance data and information sharing between medical workers, provide easier access to services for patients and improve internal management at healthcare institutions.

The commission has also formed a five-tier evaluation system to offer guidance, she said.

“Advancements in information technology demand a huge investment,” she said. “The launch of the 5G framework is aimed at maximizing outcomes with limited resources.”

In response to rising concerns about data security, Jiao called for stronger legislation to clarify the ownership of medical information.

She added that existing laws and regulations, such as the Cybersecurity Law and Regulation for Safety Protection of Computer Information Systems, have provided a safety net for personal information.

Growth in consumer use of Visa products in 2018 indicates a number of positive trends in the growth of digital payments, it said.

The 2018 Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, which reveals the extent to which digital payments are becoming a part of everyday life for Vietnamese consumers, said: “The total value of purchases made by Vietnamese consumers on their Visa credit and debit cards is up 37 per cent, while the number of transactions is up by 25 per cent. eCommerce in particular saw strong growth with the total value of purchases up by 40 per cent.”

Dang Tuyet Dung, country manager for Visa Vietnam and Laos said: “As the Vietnamese economy grows and becomes increasingly internationalised, commerce here will require ever faster, more efficient ways of paying. These recent figures from our network demonstrate clearly the fact that digital payments are now truly a part of day-to-day life for many Vietnamese consumers regardless of whether they’re buying from an online retailer on the other side of the world or simply paying for their groceries.”

The report, which specifically looked into consumer sentiments towards variousforms of payment, found that Vietnamese consumers are carrying less cash, and half are making card and mobile payments at least two to three times a week.

Seventy-three per cent of respondents are using credit and debit cards, up 59 per cent from the previous year, while 82 per cent have tried making transactions on mobile phones.

The research also found that the use of new payment technologies is picking up traction, with 44 per cent of the respondents indicating that they are now making payments through apps, while 32 per cent are using contactless payment technologies that allow users to simply tap their cards on the terminal to pay.

Some 19 per cent have used QR payments where a phone scans a unique merchant code and transfers money to the merchant’s account.

Dung added: “While digital payments are still in their relative youth in Việt Nam, it’s been incredibly positive to see how consumers are embracing new payment technologies — it augurs well for these technologies in particular, and for digital payments more broadly.”