Apple Product Event Highlights

samzenpus writes: The Apple product event just finished, read below for the highlights.

• Apple Watch:
• Adding Facebook Messenger.
• iTranslate — speak into the mic and hear translations in over 90 languages.
• Physician app AirStrip can monitor vitals.
• New band options, two new finishes gold and rose gold.
• Watch OS 2 comes out September 16.

• iPad:
• iPad Pro announced: Screen is 12.9 inches, 5.6m pixels, A9X chip, with 2x memory bandwidth, storage and graphics performance, 10-hour battery life, 8MP camera, 802.11ac with MIMO, 150Mbps LTE modem, TouchID, 6.9mm thick and 1.57 pounds.
• Smart Keyboard connects magnetically.
• The Apple Pencil stylus: "Highly responsive sensors built into the tip of Apple Pencil sensor pressure, tilt, and stroke."
• Corporate VP from MS Office, Kirk Koenigsbauer talks Microsoft Office for iPad.
• New suite of Adobe apps.
• Apple Pencil is $99 and Smart Keyboard is $169, all available in November.
• New iPad mini 4 $399.

• Apple TV:
• New remote with glass touch surface. 10mm tall, A8 chip, Bluetooth 4.0. Built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, 3 months per charge, charges over lightning. 32GB for $149, 64GB for $199.
• iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Showtime are searchable.
• New cleaner looking UI with Siri integration.
• New OS: TV OS.
• new games and game collections for the family, using your iPhone or iPod Touch as a controller.
• MLB app, NHL Game Center live in 2016.
• tvOS developer beta available today, available to consumers in late October.

• iPhone:
• iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, Silver, gold, space grey, and new Rose Gold. 4.7-inch 6S and 5.5-inch 6S+.
• 3rd-generation A9 chip 70% faster CPU than A8, 90% faster GPU than A8.
• New pressure-sensitive 3D Touch.
• New Taptic Engine
• New Siri feature allows you to speak to your iPhone whether you're powered on or not.
• New 12 megapixel iSight camera. 50% more pixels and 50% more focus pixels for faster autofocus.
• 4K video
• 5MP FaceTime HD Camera.
• Retina Flash, display can light up 3X brighter than usual to be a flash for the front-facing camera.
• Live Photos: Press with 3D Touch and pictures will move.
• iPhone 6 $199-$399, iPhone 6 Plus $299-$499 all on two-year contracts.
• New iPhone Upgrade Program for a new iPhone every year, choose your carrier, unlocked phones, 24-month installment plan starting at $32/month.
• preorder Saturday, Sept 12. Available September 25th.
• iOS 9 available September 16th.
• New iCloud storage pricing: 50GB for 99 cents a month, 200GB for $2.99/mo, 1TB for $9.99/mo.

Comments

Re:How do I hide this Apple Advertisement?

[dotancohen]

More importantly is how does Siri answer your questions whether the phone is on or off?!?

There is no more "off" as you and I remember it. There is now "responsive" (on) and "not responsive" (what they call off) but the machine is still monitoring you, even when it is "not responsive". Now we know why the batteries are not removable.

The Future History of Photography

[SuperKendall]

What's the use of a higher res camera sensor with this itsy bitsy small lens with a microscopic apperture?

The sensor does not just have higher res as I said but better separation under the CFA.

I have a real DSLR with a number of lenses that cost north of $1k so I know what truly professional images look like. I am telling you, what Apple is doing is THE future of mass photography. The images already look great for most uses, and even beyond the resolution increase Apple is doing a great job of software that handles mixed WB, low light, super quick focus, and all sorts of other things.

The future I see for any other still camera that does not support Live Photos (or non-trademarked equivalent) is a role relegated to producing images for print. Now I personally enjoy that, which is why I have a DSLR. But I think it's insane to not realize how vastly the camera market will contract as the phones push quality and ease of use inexorably forward and upward.

At some point very soon, being a serious photographic amateur will mean you have a set of attachment lenses for your phone...