Apple Press Conference from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, 12 Sep 2012
I followed via Twitter and a couple of LifeBlogs, and hereby the summary of the most expected meeting since iPhone4S.
Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, announces the iPhone 5:“Thinnest iPhone ever made. 18% thinner (7.6mm) and 20% lighter (112grams) than 4S. Made entirelly of glass and aluminum.”
“With the vertical pixels you see more of the web, more of your email. Your Calendar shows more events.”
The new display has 44% more color saturation than the 4S display. “the most accurate display in the industry.”
Is the same retina display, 326 pixels per inch, as its predecessor.
The new iPhone has 4 inch display; 1136 x 640, 19:6 aspect ratio.
Colour accuracy is a big deal, since an increasing number of photographers are using the iPhone and accessories for some of their video and photo work.
“One of the amazing things about iPhone 5 is we built-in an anti-gravitational array; that means it weighs 0.” , says Tim Cook. Well…. I won’t comment on that 🙂
* ultrafast wireless _ LTE is a single chip, a single radio, a dynamic antenna that can switch between networks. HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA are also built in.
“LTE is the most complicated technology ever brought to this Earth.” says Schiller.
802.11n 5 Ghz built in for wifi, up to 150 mbps of speed.
* Now on to the really geeky stuff –> the Apple A6 chip. 2x faster CPU, and 22% smaller. Loading a music app is 2x faster with the new chip, says Schiller.
_ note from the Blogger -> Well, T-Mobile has no 4G plan. I don’t blame them for focusing on carriers who are actually investing in future infrastructure.
* Baterry Life:
10 hours on wifi, 8 hours with LTE
That’s still excellent — Apple tends to meet the battery metrics it touts, so if I can really get 8 hours of LTE usage, I’m going to be very happy. That’s a workday. Finally.
* Photos/ Camera:
The camera. 8 megapixel, 2364×2448 resolution <- “all the things you love about the iPhone 4S, in a camera 25% smaller”.
Dynamic low light mode gives you better pictures without flash.
“The team is measuring lenses down to the micron level … sapphire crystal protects your lens.” Spatial noise reduction, smart filter … bottom line, pics should look better and be captured 40% faster.
Photos in iOS6 can be automatically shared with family /friends who comment in real time
(?? Instagram rival ??)
Panorama is a new feature that allows you to take massive widescreen features. A panoramic shot with the iPhone 5 will be 28-megapixels, that’s huge!
_note from the blogger:
1. Low-light is definitely an area where the iPhone camera needed some help.
2. Apple’s biggest competition when it comes to camera tech is Nokia. Nokia is the only company in the industry that actually has better tech than Apple when it comes to cameras.
3. The photostream sharing in iOS 6 is great. It’s not an Instagram rival at all — but it puts things like Bump and Glassboard in a lurch.
* FaceTime over cellular <- That’s big!! ..if the carriers will let you do it, of course 😉
“We now have 3 mics built in to the iPhone”: one mic on the front, one on the bottom, one on the back.
Important for Siri and other apps, they got the speakers into a space that’s 20% smaller.
The earpiece has more noise cancellation.
Wideband audio is a new technology that should help voice calls sound more natural. “We’re just starting this.”
_note from the blogger:
1. Keep in mind, FaceTime over cellular will be free for some carriers, others such as aT&T are going to charge extra 😦
* The conector:
ByeBye iPod audio connector. “So much has changed since we first created that.” , says Scott Forestal, “it’s time for the connector to evolve, and that’s just what we’ve done.”
The new connector is called Lightning, and it’s a reversible connector. Doesn’t matter which way you plug it in.
(Thunderbolt and lightening, very, very frightening.)
The new connector is 80% smaller. Bose, JBL, Bang and Oulefson are working on new devices. We’re creating a bunch of accessories — a 30-pin to Lightening adapter. “Just leave it in your car.”
* iOS 6 was “designed from the very beginning” to take advantage of the iPhone 5.
* “We’ll start off with our new Maps app, built from the ground up.”
(ByeBye Google…)
100 million points of interest are built in.
100 million points of interest are built in.
Info cards on businesses made with Yelp partnership. and there’s the familiar mechanical Tom Tom voice giving you directions.
Tap on the button with 3D buildings in satellite mode, and you can fly around the scene. Apple is licensing Tom Tom’s turn-by-turn tech.
Two-finger swiping changes the camera direction. London looks like a video game.
The new Maps also integrates data from Waze (yes, that little APP we love so much!), adding real-time traffic information.
Notification center now.
Scott demonstrates tweeting from the Maps app.
And, (wow!) it has a “Print” option displayed prominently.
And, (wow!) it has a “Print” option displayed prominently.
_ Note from the Blogger:
1. Maps does look very cool, but as with no other app, the proof will be in using it day in, day out. Probably will pass.
* Passbook seems to have added a few animations when scrolling through coupons. Tap the trash icon on a ticket you’ve used, and an animated shredding takes place. sharing photos on the photo stream now. Friends will receive push notifications. You and your friends can comment and “Like” on shared photos.
_ Note from the Blogger:
1. It may not be Instagram, but it’s damn close.
1. It may not be Instagram, but it’s damn close.
2. We’ve seen most of this before, but there are more emphasis on the little details and finishes.
* Siri will do tons of things for you:
_ gives the NFL standings (.. and yes.. she can now launch apps)
_ will recommend movies based on Rotten Tomatoes.
_ ‘ll book restaurant tables for you — just tap the time you’d like to reserve. Powered by OpenTable.
_ will now post to Facebook for you.
_ “Now you can make a Facetime call from the cellular data network.”
WAIT.. Should be a big asterisk on that one …”We’ve integrated Facebook into many of the apps throughout the OS.”
WAIT.. Should be a big asterisk on that one …”We’ve integrated Facebook into many of the apps throughout the OS.”
(Schiller is back)
“the team has packed in innovation at every level of the design.” iPhone 5 comes in this beautiful black design.. and in white.
“We don’t just want to make a new phone. We want to make a much better phone. It’s completely redesigned.” – Ive
“the thinnest, lightest iphone we’ve ever built …” that’s the mantra for today..
“LTE can be faster than the fastest wifi at home,” says Bob Mansfield. Emphasis on “can.”
“The A6 chip is so power efficient, it gives you increased performance and uses less battery life.”
_Note from teh Blogger:
1. So Apple is doing its best to push the features of the new iPhone 5 in this video. It’s clearly a solid piece of work. But is it enough?
2. One thing about the iPhone 5 -> it’s very shiny around those edges. Almost Tron-like.
** Price in USA:
_ iPhone5: $199 for 16GB up to $399 for 64GB.
_ iPhone 4S: will be $99
_ Pre order on Friday. Ship one week later, Sept 21 (US, UK, Canada, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, all on the 21st)
100 countries, 240 carriers by the end of the year — “our fastest phone rollout ever.”
_ iOS6 will launch September 19! Schiller says , iOS6 will work on all phones and tablets back to the 3GS.
(really..?? how good it will work..??)
_ Note from the blogger:
1. Looks like the 3GS is no more #iPhone5 –> RIP 3GS
* “Today we’re announcing some exciting changes with iPod and iTunes.” says Eddie Cue. And here’s the new iTunes store on the iPad, with more stuff showcased on the top.
They have integrated Facebook Likes into the iTunes store. That’s huge! 200 million customers using iTunes in the cloud.
A brand new version of iTunes, dramatically simpler, with the cloud build in.
The new iTunes and App Stores also look great — they’ve used Chomp, tan app reccomendation company they bought last year, to display info.
It has a beautiful new edge to edge design.
Click on an album, it expands in place.
Click Gallery, and you can see photos artists have shared with you.
And yes, the familiar song list view is there.
Playlists are hidden on the left side until you want them. You can see your entire library and contents of your playlist at the same time, drag and drop songs and albums into the playlists, which pop up automatically when you start dragging.
A new feature called “Up Next” that lets you see the queue of songs about to play, and to rearrange them.
“we’ve also improved search.” As in, autocomplete suggestions. Click on them to go right to that song/album.
There’s a completely redesigned mini-player. Controls hidden until you roll over them.and a search button built in to the mini player.
(Awesome!) Concerts have been added to the Artist pages.
New iTunes available in “late October.”
_ Note from the blogger:
1. The new iTunes looks nearly identical to the music player on the iPad, but with fewer skemorphisms in the design.
2. The big question about the new iTunes, of course, is how light and fast it is. Especially on PCs
3. It looks like the new iTunes will eliminate the need for a lot of the mini-player apps like Ecoute and Coversutra.
* 350 million iPods sold in total; “we add millions and millions every quarter.”
“We really wanted to take the opportunity to reinvent the Nano.”
The new, 7th generation iPod Nano. A teeny tiny device in the hand, 40% thinner than its predecessor.
A really large display, easy to use controls, thin and light … and a lightning connector. the volume controls take up about half the side of the gadget. 2.5 inch display, the biggest ever in the Nano — and it’s multitouch. and of course, different colors — 7 in total. green, blue, yellow, red …
The FM tuner now has TiVO-like functionality .. you can pause live radio.
It has widescreen video, too (quite cool for a Nano!) and Bluetooth!! <–That’s a pretty big deal in a tiny gadget.
The longest battery life in a Nano, 30 hours of playback.
_ Note from the blogger:
1. Remember?? ..he fourth generation nano, which had a video camera — also had widescreen video.
2. Seriously Apple, just pick a darn Nano form-factor and stick with it!
3. Tim says the iPod touch is the world’s most popular gaming device. He’s not wrong, especially when you consider the parity between games on iOS and even the PS Vita.
* The iPod Touch, “the world’s most popular music player … and most popular game player.” 5th generation iPod touch.
Same height as the new iPhone 5, only 6.1mm thin and 88 Grams- almost as thin as the Nano- headphone jack on the bottom.
That’s something they didn’t tout with the iPhone 5.
the Retina display is now in the iPod Touch.
New iPod Touch has seven times the graphic performance, which is great for game players.
40 hours of music playback, 8 hours of video on the new iPod Touch battery.
iSight camera is going to be built into the Touch for the first time. It’s 5 megapixel, with autofocus, flash and Sapphire lens. iPod Touch gets the cool Panorama feature too. And the shared photo streams.
WAIT -> What’s that circle on the back of the iPod touch, at the bottom? Push it and it pops up. You can attach a loop … and hey presto, you can attach a camera strap to the back of the Touch. (Pretty neat!)
–> So this could be a great digital camera for kids!! <–
The Touch gets 1080p video camera, too. And you can do your video editing on it, not to mention FaceTime.
AND Siri… on the iPod Touch (wow) !!
Colours: black, white, blue, yellow, red. And each one comes with its own color coordinated camera loop.
The Shuffle gets a color update to match the Nano.
EarPods = headphones with little speakers on the side, basically. We’re getting a video demo of them, with Jony Ive narration.
“we’ve spent 3 years designing an entirely new headphone … EarPods.” (new EarPods look like little periscopes)
“We scanned hundreds of ears, looking for a commonality …” – Jony Ive –
“EarPods are designed to intentionally direct sound, right into the ear …” sound ports built into the stem, too.
“and of course, we want to make them available as soon as possible … today.” (!)
–> yes, they’ll ship with the new Touch and the iPhone5.
** Prices in USA:
– the new Nano is $149, the old Touch is $199 for 16GB, 32GB for 32GB
– the new Touch is $299 and $399 for the same memory sizes.
– the new Touch is coming up in October. And all of these models are available in fire engine red, a tie-in with the “Red” campaign.
“What places Apple way ahead of the competition is how well these products work together.” — Tim Cook
“Apple has never been stronger,” Cook enthuses. Employees “are doing the best work of their lives.”
“Whenever we have a music event, we like to remind our customers why we do …”
it’s a musical guest : Foo Fighters tracks are now on the Spotify Playlist for those listening along a home open.spotify.com
Half of the audience is applauding the Foo Fighters while the other half nodding along while typing furiously 🙂
Well.. that you can tell by the Twitter bust on #iPhone5 ..hehehe
_ Final note from the blogger:* cool surprises in there, like the dual-band WiFi.. but ..This is the first Apple press event where I haven’t thought, “Wow, all the other companies will be scrambling to catch up”
_ Final comments:
* The iPhone 5 isn’t really being judged against its rivals, but more against its former self, iPhone 4 ..as aways 😉
_ Best Twitter comment:
* Give me the future like you did with the first iPhone! Release a phone that nobody will be able to match within 4 years!
_ More?
* 5 Hilarious Tim Cook and Phil Schiller Quotes During the Apple iPhone 5 Keynote , via BlackBerry Cool – http://bit.ly/OhqWmz
* iPhone5 compared (chart) with competition, via Mashable – http://on.mash.to/UKHVCq
* http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19572820
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