Apple iPhone 6 and Apple Watch are launched, so what?

9th August 2014 witnessed the announcement by Apple CEO Tim Cooke of the new devices labelled iPhone 6, iPhone6 Plus and Watch at an auditorium filled with 2,500 tech heads, journalists and enthusiasts. The same place in Cupertino, The Flint Performing Arts Centre was where Steve Jobs launched the Macintosh 1984 and the iMac 1999 and now Watch was born here too. Below is a summary on each device, but let us take in the magnitude of an Apple launch. Remember what Steve Jobs was famous for??? Was he a computer creator genius? Was he a tech nerd? Maybe he was, but what he definitely was, was a marketing guru! He had great leadership skills, so much so we can see how he transformed the world to own “I THINK I NEED THE NEW APPLE” device, rather than purchasing products on their own steam. So much hype, lead people to jump the guns and be the “First” to have the latest model. Did they know what it was? Maybe? Did they really care? Maybe, but what was more important, was that they the customer was now cool, as they owned the coolest most talked about gimmick at the moment. Techie’s or nerds would always have said that Android created real devices that could do anything, where Apple created “easy to use” devices and appealed to those that are in market for prestige rather than power.

Apple iPhone 6

The range of iPhones are now in the scale of 6 with its partner 6 plus, which we also talk about. But 6 is a great number for a phone that has much to give. The marketing team spend some time on coming up with a name and landed with the number 6. Inspirationally, this number comes after 5, when we count from 1 to 10 and also, this number follows the last iPhone which was called iPhone5. Guess maybe the next release might be as a crazy and called 7. But anyhow, getting past the name, the phone sports a new Operating system called ios-8, which has been built on 64 bit architecture to give extra oomph and adaptability. The phone itself comes in a larger size of 4.7 inches and a thickness of 6.9mm, hoping it will take a little more abuse if falls. The camera got an upgrade and has the ability to take HD images with resolution of 1334 x 750, ability to shoot wider angles and a polariser to reduce sun glare when taking outdoor photos. The camera can record video at full HD at 60 frames per second to help capture special moments with its 8MP iSight camera upgrade. A security add-on that users can opt for fingerprint reading to unlock the phone, approve purchases via iTunes and iBooks. The NFC capabilities will allow for contactless payments in shops as you just scan the device through a reader or bounce a NFC ray to take money from your “Apple Pay” wallet.

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

The iPhone 6 Plus has all the benefits of the iPhone 6, but giving it a little growth in its size. Now your thumb will only get 1/3 way across the screen as opposed to half way, as the screen is 5.5 inches and 7.1mm thick. The camera giving larger resolution of 1920 x 1080 are the only real differences. Because it’s bigger, the battery is slightly larger boasting an extra 10 hours a day talk time, bringing it to a total of 24 hours! Would these 10 hours be notable in comparison to the iPhone 6, we don’t know, as when asked about the battery extension, little was said about it, conspiring theorists online to slam any potential difference from the iPhone 5.

Apple Watch

The Watch is a wearable technology that allows the user to have notifications such as calendars, tasks, texts and emails. Its display will show notifications in text format and also speak it if Siri is enabled. Siri has been upgraded with more character apparently, giving the user more information on the touch of a button (Digital Crown). When using Maps, it will help people navigate step by step with voice activation and if the person is exercising, it will record their heart rate with the monitor on the back of the watch. This watch is hailed to be the fitness toy of the year, for people to achieve goals and record progress in real time. The real gem on this item, is the battery charger! There is none!! Does it use sunlight? Does it use moisture? Its creativity team inserted magnets and all the customer needs to do to charge it is press a magnet cover to instantly charge the watch. With wifi and GPS built in and the crystal display, I assume recharging will occur often. A great way forward for Apple, when it launches there may be a time display too!!!

U2-What are they singing Apple about

U2 bizzarly offered their latest studio album Songs of Innocence to half a billion iTunes users for free. Their first album since 2009 and they have introduced to the world via iTunes and will later be distributed the normal method on 13th October 2014. The biggest band and biggest marketing company of the world unite on stage with their announcement on the same day.

Did Apple bring any new technology to the market?

From what I have read so far, I have seen no new technology advancements in the IT world with the Apple releases. The Watch, named Gear or Moto 360 from other vendors has been around for a few years from Android phone manufacturers Motorola and Samsung. The NFC capabilities works on Google Store and Android phones for a few years also and HD capabilities has also been introduced in Android phones. Sounds more like a case of Apple catching up rather than innovating this time. Even Microsoft phones that own a little share in smartphone markets have surfaced with HD in their models.



