Apple Keynote: The Highlights
Last nights Keynote saw a range of new products being released in the next short while including the Apple Watch, iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6+ with the CEO Tom Cook’s keynote really focusing on the wearable market. Software features were also announced including Apple Pro, a new platform for mobile payments.
In what was seen to be a rare move for Apple, They had planned on doing this keynote online. However there were a series of technical difficulties throughout the announcement causing a lot of frustration as expressed through twitter and other social platforms. So if you missed it, here is a quick recap.
iPhone 6
With the release date in the United States, UK, Australia, Canada, France and other selected countries ( Sorry Ireland not yet ! ) on September 19th, the iPhone 6 and 6+ will be available in gold, white and “space grey” this looks to be one of the must haves for Christmas.
The iPhone 6 has a 4.7 inch “Retina HD” display and its about a mm thinner than its predecessor. A new chip, the A8 processor is said to be 50 times faster than the chip in the original iPhone and comes with an upgraded 8MP rear facing camera and 2.1MP front facing for better selfies!
The pricing will stay on par with earlier models with the 16GB starting at $199 ( €150 approx.) on a two year contract, but larger capacities will be cheaper than the earlier releases. the 64GB will be available at about $299 (€231) and 128GB will be $399 (€310)
iPhone 6 Plus
The iPhone 6 Plus will be Apples first release into the phablet territory. It will have a 5.5 inch display, and has all the other specifications that the iPhone 6 will come with. What is unique with the 6 plus however, is the optical image stabilization, an improvement over the digital stabilization. The iPhone 6 Plus will also be available in 16 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB varieties, for $299, $399 and $499, respectively (with a two-year contract). It, too, will launch on Sept. 19 in the same countries as its smaller cousin.
One of the most important questions and pains for the consumers is battery life!
It was announced that both handsets have been upgraded. The most impressive numbers are from the 6 Plus clocking in with a supposed 16 days of standby, 80 Hours of playback and 12 hours of internet use.
The iPhone 6 claims up to 10 days of standby time, 50 hours of audio playback, 11 hours of video playback and 10 to11 hours of Internet use (depending on the type of connection).
Apple Watch
So its not going to be called iWatch officially (but lets face it… that’s what we are all going to call it !) Cook, to add suspense saved this gem for last and even used the former and late CEO’s Steve Jobs catchphrase “one more thing” to really make it special.
It features a Retina Display and is filled with sensors that can track everything from your heart rate to your exercise and daily activities. The display will be touchscreen but it will come equipped with a “digital crown” that can be used for navigating around apps and as a home button.
The only downside to this is that you must have an iPhone that is compatible (iPhone 5, 5c, 5s) to get any use of this. It was also revealed that third party developers are already working at creating custom apps for the device. This is being down through Apples new WatchKit platform. This will allow developers to create custom notifications and home screen apps for the wearable. Although in the very early stages of development, American Airlines, Pinterest and BMW were demonstrated on the wearable.
There are two different sizes and three different colours. — the Watch, Watch Sport and Watch Edition, each of which uses a different finish. Watch comes in a stainless steel finish, Watch Sport is made of “lightweight anodized aluminium” and Watch Edition is 18-karat gold.
Each watch can be further customized with a number of interchangeable bands, including a special sport band for exercising. Apple Watch is expected to go on sale in early 2015 and will begin at $349 (€269).
Apple Pay
This will be Apple’s first platform for mobile payments which will be rolling out as an update to iOS 8 in October. Initially it is to be compatible with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and will be rolled out to Apple Watch.
This app will be dependent on Apples current Passbook app and Touch ID. Users will scan their credit cards which are then captured by the Passbook App. The app will then create a secure one time code stored locally on the device, which is used to pay at one of the supported merchants. Apple have stated that through this method, the payment information is not shared with merchants or stored on the server. Apple Pay will also be available to use within apps to make one touch payments using your TouchID. It is expected that about 200,000 merchants will support this platform. Currently it is only due to be released in the U.S with more countries to be announced soon.
iOS 8
The highly anticipated update to Apple’s mobile operating system will be available to download two days before the new iPhones go on sale: Sept. 17
Much of the announcements for this new OS were announced earlier during WWDC but the main focus was that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus while they have new processors will open even more possibilities to developers.
It was also announced at the event that U2’s latest album Songs of Innocence was being given away free to iTunes customers. The album, which has also been given to subscribers of the band’s website, will be released generally on October 13th.
So what do you think? Will you be at the top of the line for the new Apple Watch?
