At the Apple Live event, Apple announced iPhone 6 (a large screen phone), Apple Watch (wearable) and Apple Pay (mobile payments) along with iOS 8’s launch date. Apple has finally delivered its three long anticipated promises after several months of speculations. We have finally heard some great news from Apple.
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
The first thing we noticed on iPhone 6 was not its enhanced screen size, it was the round edges. It reminds me of the iPhone 3Gs, but edges on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are smoother. With 4.7” and 5.5” screens on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus respectively, the outer edges are round with a camera lens sticking out of the main frame. Both models feature Retina HD screen and 64-bit A8 chip with a promise of 25 percent faster CPU and 5 percent faster graphics. The screen sizes and thickness slightly differs on each model. iPhone 6 has a 4.7 inch screen with 6.8 mm thin body, while iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5 inch screen with 7.1 mm frame. Both models will be equipped with iOS 8, which will be released two days earlier than these phones.
Another feature that iPhone 6 Plus will have is its ability to convert its home screen into a landscape alignment when rotated sideways. It may give you an impression of a mini iPad in a horizontal view.
The M8 processor means that your iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus will be able to differentiate between cycling and running, along with the ability to measure distance and elevation utilizing a barometer. The 20 LTE available with iPhone 6 will enable more LTE roaming and Wi-Fi calls.
Have you ever been labeled as selfie-addict? If yes, there is a good news for you as the new iPhone models will have a burst mode in its front-face camera, along with single shot HDR and HDR videos. Now you can choose from a series of different images, shot in a single click. However, the back camera is the real deal. The back camera comes with an 8MP insight, true tone flash, 1.5 micros pixels, f/2.2 aperture and all new sensors for bigger panoramas that could expand up to 43 megapixels. The video recording has also improved significantly, you can record 1080p videos at 30 fps and 60 fps with continuous auto focus. The slo-mo videos shoot is a new addition at 120 and 240 fps.
Apple Pay
In one of our previous posts, we have discussed the possibilities of creating a national shopping infrastructure around iBeacon technology. In that post we have discussed the chances of Near Field Communication technology against iBeacon and suggested to use a Passbook like app to avoid spamming. Well, the people at Apple might be reading our blogs lately (just kidding), and used NFC and Passbook for its newly announced mobile payment system.
Apple Pay will use Passbook to hold verified credit card information while NFC and Touch ID technology will be used to authenticate between devices and make payments. For further information regarding NFC, Passbook, and TouchID read our post here. Apple Pay creates a one-time device-only number instead of using the credit card number, in case you lose your phone, you can cancel the payments without needing to suspend your credit card. Apple Pay will arrive this October.
One more thing: Apple Watch
One more thing, Apple has finally announced much awaited Watch. Although, they didn’t name it iWatch as was predicted, but it is a nice addition to Apple’s legendary legion of gadgets. The Apple Watch is as accurate as plus or minus 50 milliseconds, and it is equipped with various customizable options, with six types of strap and two metal frame colors.
Apple has turned a traditional clock winding dial into a navigational tool called a “digital crown”. The digital crown will be used to zoom or scroll and also act as the home button, when pressed to return or exit out of apps. The screen of the Apple Watch is touch enabled and you can swipe through the screens of an app or draw on it. The screen is smart enough to differentiate between a tap and touch by detecting force applied to it. Apple Watch is also equipped with Siri, shareable heartbeats and animated emojis.
The Apple Watch will be available in two screen and band sizes along with three different editions. A simple Watch, a Sport Watch and a 18K gold Watch. It is created to work with iPhone 5, 5s and 5c. Apple Watch will be equipped with Apple Pay.
Wrap Up
The event went as was predicted by many tech gurus. Apple announced almost everything which people have been discussing on different forums for last couple of weeks. We are planning to cover all these newly announced products in detail in our future posts, that is why we didn’t go into the nitty gritty of each product or service. So, stay tuned for a detailed overview of iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 8, Apple Pay, and Apple Watch.