Tech Time ::: Keynote Part 2

Image::: iMore's Apple Invite

So, an update to follow up on today's Keynote:::

Not sure who else followed along, but I followed Engadget, who had a fantastic one as usual.

::: iOS7 will be available for download on Sept 18, 2013. It will be available for iPhone 4 and newer, iPad 2 and newer, iPad mini, and the 5th generation iPod touch. 

::: iTunes Radio will launch as well on Sept 18, 2013. Will require a $25 iTunes Match subscription to go ad-free. Similar to Pandora in that it allows you to set up custom stations, but will also integrate with your iTunes playlists and libraries for even more customizations. Not my cup of tea, but neat. 

::: iWork consisting of Keynote, Pages, Numbers, iPhoto and iMovie will now be free for all new iOS devices, via the screen presented in iOS7.

And then the important stuff happened!
::: They are replacing the iPhone 5 with the 5C and the 5S. 

To quote Tim Cook::: "In the past, we've lowered the price of the current iPhone, making it accessible to more people. This year, we're not going to do that. The business has become so large, so this year we're going to replace the iPhone 5."   

There was a lot of focus with "environmentally friendly" materials. 

Since the 5 is eliminated, they'll keep the 8GB 4S for free on contract. 

All Photos: Engadget Liveblog

Specs on the 5C (via Engadget Liveblog):

::: The 5C is made with hard-coated polycarbonate. Quoting Phil Schiller::: "Inside it's built with a new construction method that uses a reinforced steel structure."

:::8MP iSight camera, BSI, hybrid IR filter and 5-element lens.

:::New Facetime HD camera that's even better in low0light... 1.9-micron pixel size, BSI and FaceTime audio.

:::4-inch retina display, integrated touch, full sRGB, widescreen video

:::A6 Chip

:::Supports more LTE bands than any other smartphone in the world, with dual-band Wifi abgn, and BT 4.0.

:::Will come in Blue, White, Pink, Yellow and Green. 

:::16 GB is $99 on 2-year Contract, 32GB is $199 on 2-year Contract.

:::New custom-fit cases will be $29 each, custom fit to the 5C (not bad looking.)

:::Environmentally pleasant. Arsenic-free, mercury-free, and Android-free. (That elicited some laughter, rightfully so)

Pic of the Case: Engadget Live blog

And then...Specs on the 5S

::: will be in THREE colors, which appear to be white with silver, white with gold, and black with kind of a titanium shade. Referred to around the web as "Space Gray".

::: 64-Bit A7 Chip (first and only!) with native 64-bit kernel, libraries, and drivers 

::: A new M7 Motion CoProcessor is onboard working with the A7. It measures motion data continuously; handles the accelerometer, gyroscope, compass support.

::: 2x general purpose registers, 2x floating point registers, over 1 billion transistors and 100 square mm die size, making that twice as many transistors for roughly the same size as the A6

:::CoreMotion API which identifies user movement and optimizations based on contextual awareness.

::: Will have have Xcode support, and is backwards-compatible-- 32- and 64-bit.  Phil Schiller says  "Why go through this? The benefits are huge. The CPU is twice as fast, and graphics are twice as fast as well."

::: The CPU performance is 40 times faster than the original iPhone, making it 56 times as fast as the original iPhone.  (that is CRAZY.)

::: OpenGL ES 3.0--big for gaming, my husband would love that.  The demo they did for the game was pretty impressive. I am not a gamer and I thought it looked pretty insane.

::: Battery Life will have 10 hours 3G talk time, 250 hours standby and 10 hours LTE browsing, 40 hours music playback. Didn't blow me away, but not horrific either.

::: Camera looks amazing. Not a spec bump per se but sounds interesting.  It is a"5-element Apple designed lens with f/2.2 aperture with a 15 percent larger active sensor area." Phil Schiller Quote: "Bigger pixels make for a better picture." Assuming it's done well, yes. Sometimes not so much.   iOS7 will automatically set the white balance, exposure level and creates a dynamic local tone map, and autofocus matrix metering. Kinda like a built-in LightRoom app...?  

::: The new dual flash is called True Tone and has over 1,000 different unique variations. The new camera will also have some form of image stabilization (hallelujah!) and a "burst mode" for action shooting, up to 10 frames per second, as long as you hold the shutter button down.  Phil Schiller Quote: "Thanks to A7, the phone analyzes all of the burst shots and presents which one it thinks will be your pick for best shot."  It also will do 120fps slo-mo. "HD 720p video at 120 fps." They showed a video of a guy jumping into a pool regular speed, then as he got up, it went to slo-mo.

::: Passcode Protection came up next, and I was very interested in this feature. Phil Schiller quote regarding setting the passcode unlock feature for security: "Unfortunately, some people find that too cumbersome and don't set it up. About half of smartphone customers don't set up a passcode on their device, and they really should." I have been guilty of that...I am not anymore... 

So the fingerprint sensor we've all talked about ad nauseum: TouchID is the official name of the home button fingerprint sensor and it's integrated into iOS7. The sensor is 170 microns thin, 500 ppi resolution, scans sub-epidermal skin layers and has 360-degree readability. It was built right into the home button. Around it is the stainless steel detection ring, so it can detect that your finger is actually on the button, so you don't have to press the home button.    

Setting it up is easy, and it can read multiple fingerprints. The sapphire crystal acts as a lens; the sensor essentially takes a picture of your fingerprint and analyzes it. It's never stored on Apple servers or backed up to iCloud (that will make my husband happy, too).  One such feature that is integrated with it:: (more quoting from Phil Schiller:) "Since it's built in, you can make iTunes purchases by using your finger to authenticate."  That's kinda cool. Digging this feature. 

::: Again with the environmentally friendly materials: arsenic free glass, mercury free display, BFR free, PVC free and highly recyclable.

::: Pricing: 16GB will be $199, 32GB will be $299 and 64GB will $399 on contract. Custom fitted cases--in leather--will be $39 each. (Possibly $49? I saw both...) I am personally not interested in any of these cases. Someone might be. Nice touch with the Apple logo.

Both phones will be releasing in the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the UK on September 20th. Note that China is listed--which is a BIG deal.   The 5C will be available for Pre-Orders on Sept 13.  So far NO PREORDER available for 5S...but if there is one, you can believe I will be preordering my black 5S!

Anyone else going nuts for a preorder now???


More info on Engadget ::: BGR ::: iMore ::: Apple.com