Apple announced their new range of watches with the top end finish being of 18 Karat Gold plating.
Apple revealed that the starting price is $349. However, don’t be surprised if the top finish in gold plating costs over $1,200.
If Apple can sell their watches at such high price points then they will truly have demonstrated magical selling.
0.15%. That’s the cut Apple will want from every Apple Pay transaction according to the Financial Times.
Sounds like a great money earner for Apple.
Let’s hope it gets adopted rapidly and in many other countries too.
Yesterday it was pre order time for the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Apple’s pre ordering system didn’t go live at the time everyone expected. Consequently twitter was on fire with comments with people airing their frustration. Call me suspicious but maybe Apple deliberately delayed the start to create a media storm.
About 12 hours after kick off, Apple have declared it the best ever launch in terms of sales. And no surprises the delivery dates have slipped to 3-4 weeks. A similar pattern to last year and the year before. And comments of limited stock too.
With extended delivery dates, this will have a knock on effect of huge queues on Friday, once again creating even more free newsprint for Apple.
This will obviously be followed by a statement of a record breaking number of iPhones sold over the launch weekend.
Clearly, Apple have a fantastic system that creates media buzz with all the right triggers to increase the launch frenzy.
Whether you agree or not with Apple’s strategy it is a masterpiece in marketing and sales.
Part of Apple’s keynote speech on Tuesday was to announce the U2’s new album “Songs of Innocence” would be free to all iTunes users through to the 13th October 2014.
If you didn’t have an iTunes account, you could register one. Or you could sign in and receive the album free of charge. No hassle and no effort required.
So why offer this? A unique relationship with U2? Or was it to get as many existing iTunes users to log in and get new people to sign in/up to iTunes, all ready for the launch in the US of Apple Pay.
Now that makes more sense. Sense check your data as best as possible by getting current customers to login in and find new ones too.
In a break from tradition, you can pre order your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus for collection from your local store. This should certainly ease queues and allow Apple to hopefully have a better stock split and allocation.
So did you pre order a new iPhone 6? If so which model and storage? And why?
It’s nearly iPhone 6 pre order day. You can order and have it delivered to your home address next Friday or collect at your nearest Apple store. But for the first time I’m not sure whether I want the new iPhone. So I made a list to try and help me. First I took my current phone the LG G3 and made a list of the extras it would provide over the iPhone 6 and then vice versa.
LG G3 Plus Points over iPhone 6
– QHD screen at 540 pixels per inch vs 401 pixel per inch on iPhone 6 Plus which is a lower 1080p screen. Smaller iPhone 6 only has 326 pixels per inch
– 3gb ram, 32gb storage plus 128gb micro sd. The G3 has lower cost storage and upgradable via the micro sd slot for storing more media. The iPhone is fixed storage
– FM Radio built in. The iPhone hasn’t got a fm radio.
– Plays Hi-Res Audio codecs out of the box
– Better game controller support including emulators
– Laser auto focus camera at 13mp with true tone flash. iPhone is only 8mp. Optical image stabilisation on the G3 and iPhone 6 Plus but not the smaller iPhone 6. The G3 also has 4K video recording. iPhone maxes out at 1080p. G3 has extra shooting modes. Magic and dual shot.
– Qi Wireless charging built in – relaxing and simple solution using the LG Qi stand at night. Fully charged by morning
– Quick Circle case. Novel solution. At present nothing on iPhone.
– The LG G3 is nearly £300 cheaper. The LG G3 32gb version can be bought for £404. Add a 128gb micro sd card for £70. Total cost £474 versus £789 for 128gb iPhone 6. Total memory on G3 is also more at 160gb.
– Android – better sharing and easier. Google search long press of home button.
– Infra red remote control. Completely missing on iPhone.
– Apps – weight watchers app is better on android. It has a barcode scanner missing on iOS. Imperihome is missing on iOS.
– removable and replaceable battery – the G3 battery is removable and therefore you could carry a spare in your wallet. Also after a few years the battery level would drop but you could just insert a new battery for £10.
So with the LG G3 wiping the floor can the iPhone 6 retaliate. Here goes –
iPhone 6 Plus Points
– Apple support. Book appointment with a genius. 10 mins later issue sorted
– 1080p screen a benefit over QHD. Better battery life and faster as less pixels to push. iPhone panel top quality.
– Apps are better designed and the 6 Plus will start to have even slicker designed apps
– 8mp camera can take 999 burst mode shots in one press of shutter. Auto exposure adjustments while taking a panoramic shot. Slow motion is at 240 fps vs G3 at 120 fps. Includes time lapse mode. The camera also does HDR video
– Touch ID – best fingerprint scanner to unlock phone with a breeze. Now open to third party developers
– Photos – better photo editing app and auto sync available to other Apple devices
– iMessage – clever integration with SMS app. Can send media.
– Family sharing
– superb health app and motion co processor chip
– continuity services and software
– home kit framework
– backup and restore. No other platform competes
So as you can see it’s not a home run for either device. Apple is about better integration between software and hardware. LG G3 is about hardware innovation and android.
So I’ve decided to visit an Apple store and see the new iPhones in person before I decide.
PayPal responds to Apple’s new Apple Pay offering.
” “Nobody can dispute Apple’s strong track record, but payments is a difficult area,” he said. “It’s much more difficult to do payments than to keep a live stream working!”
Seems rather blase response and a company nervous of Apple’s solution. In any event competition is healthy.
More at Techradar
Apple Watch’s has sensors on the back.
This means the device can tell when it’s being worn and when it has been taken off.
When you first put the watch on, you must enter a code. When the watch is removed from your wrist, the watch locks itself and can’t be used for payments unless the code is entered again.
Pretty simple right? Unless the thief chops your hand off, of course, but that’s a different story.
So buyer be warned as they say!
Source – http://www.cultofmac.com
So boys and girls Apple went and announced 2 new iPhones. A 4.7 iPhone 6 and 5.5 iPhone 6 Plus inch screened iPhone. The 5.5 inch iPhone has optical image stabilisation, whereas the 4.7 inch version does not. Apart from that they are meant to be identical. It is still a 8mp camera which is most disappointing when other competitors are releasing better cameras.
The Apple Watch was announced and unlike Apple it is not available until early 2015, starting at $349. In fact Apple seemed to have created 3 different ranges each with a selection of cool changeable straps and also Apple announced the Apple Watch will be available in two sizes. Apple will have over 36 different configuration options for the Apple Watch. The user interface with the digital crown was a stroke of genius. I was not sold on the watch style, but with the straps it did make a compelling watch. I hate to think how expensive this can go too.
The iPod Classic is no longer being offered for sale after 13 years.
Apple launched Apple Pay, a contact payments solution that uses Touch ID, Passbook and the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus NFC chip. This replaces all your credit cards and was a cool secure solution.
Apart from Apple Pay, the new iPhones will have IOS 8 installed which has a host of new features and functions. Reachability will make tapping the top of a larger display a breeze simply by double tapping the Touch ID button.
The Live Stream of the Keynote was a joke. It was in 2 languages, Chinese and American English and kept stop starting or failing altogether.
Apple has also released U2’s new album for free on iTunes.
So what are my views.
The 2 new iPhones were somewhat disappointing. From a hardware point of view my LG G3 is better in every way. iOS 8 software might swing the balance towards the iPhone, but who knows. It is good to have a 128gb version but at £799 sim free that is so expensive. Also the 5.5 inch model is huge. Worth checking the 4.7 first!
The Apple Watch is not available til next year. Makes me wonder if battery life is shocking. Was hoping for a slimmer design. but that’s next year!
Will I buy one. No. What about yourself?
At 6pm UK time today, Apple will be live streaming their Keynote speech.
There are many rumours as to what will be announced a bit later today but here goes my predictions –
– First up the new iPhones, a 4.7 and 5.5 inch screen iPhone
– iOS 8 specific features and special extras that work only with the new iPhones
– OS X integration with all the new hardware and software – potentially the showcase piece with iOS 8
– Announcements on the Home kit and Health Kit along with new partners
– iWatch – this is likely to have a multitude of sensors that integrate with the Health app on iOS 8.
And less likely –
– Announcements on the new iPads
– The reduction/death of the iPod range to be replaced by fashionable wearable tech.
So what’s your view on tonights keynote by Apple?
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