Taller iPhone
It’s lighter, thinner, and made almost entirely of glass and aluminum. Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 today (actually it’s their sixth iPhone) and the most significant change is a larger 4” screen, offering room for a full 16:9 aspect ratio and a fifth row for apps on the home screen. The screen offers a 40% increase in colour saturation too.
The rest of the iPhone 5 story is in performance upgrades. It’s 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S. With a new A6 Processor it offers up a CPU and graphics performance that is twice as fast.
Wireless speeds have been given a boost from a wider variety of 3G radios and support for LTE networks.
For Canadians all the major carriers will have it, including Rogers, Bell, and Telus.
With a larger screen many apps will have to go through the process of updating themselves to fit the new aspect ratio. Apple has already applied the changes to their iWork and iLife suite of apps and during their demonstration showed that CNN and OpenTable were given early access to apply the updates as well.
Battery life will be given a boost with a claim of 8 hours of 3G talk time and ten hours for video and Wi-Fi browsing.
The camera is 8 Megapixels and now sports a protective lens cover made out of sapphire. Other features include a low light mode, improved alignment on lenses, noise reduction, faster image capture, and all-round better performance in low light situations.
A new Panorama mode will let you sweep a collection of images together, up to 28 Megapixels in size, and when using the ability to record 1080p video, you’ll now have the option to snap photos while recording too. Improved image stabilization has also been added for video.
A third microphone will improve the phone’s noise cancelation ability and improve voice recognition.
Despite shrinking the speaker 20% in size, Apple says the sound performance will be better too.
For those of you with many iPod docks or connectors at home, the bad news is that the iPhone 5 has a new dock connector system that's smaller and Apple claims is more durable, called Lightning. Yes, Apple will sell a special adaptor so you can use old accessories with the iPhone 5. A pain, yes, but better in the long run.
Along with the release of the iPhone 5 comes a new iOS6 software update that will be avaialble for previous iPhone models too. Apple didn't announce any new features beyond what they showed at their last major event, but as a recap we'll see voice assistant Siri repond to a greater range of requests for information by tapping into sources that deliver stats for sports, weather, etc.
The Mail app will include a new VIP feature that let's you indicate whom among your contacts should be given priority when displaying messages, and a new Passport app will make it easier for you to store and display digital tickets including airline boarding passes from your screen.
The iPhone 5 will start shipping here in Canada on Sepetember 21st, with pre-orders starting this week through the Apple Store. Prices start at $699 for the 16 GB model, $799 for 32 GB model, and $899 for the 64 GB model.
Colours choice is "white & silver" or "black & slate".
The iOS6 software update won't be released until September the 19th, so those looking for new features for their existing iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad still have a bit of a wait.
New Upgrades To iTunes, iPod nano, iPod Touch
Now simpler and with Apple's online iCloud service built-in, the new version of iTunes makes it easier to create playlists, broswe your library, and with an "Up Next" feature better select the next tracks you want to play. There's an improved mini player too.
Sadly it won't be ready for download until October.
iPod nano and Shuffle
Apple is launching a new version of the iPod nano. Now in it's seventh generation, it's long, tall and of course 38% thinner. It has a 2.5" screen and in addition to being sold in 7 different colours, comes with a matching wallpaper too. (pink, yellow, blue, green, purple, silver, and slate.
It will also nclude an FM radio tuner with the ability to pause live broadcasts, built-in pedmoeter, the ability to stream music over a Bluetooth wireless connection, and can play widescreen video.
The iPod nano will go on sale in October for $149 at 16 GB.
A new iPod Shuffle will go on sale at the same time for $49 for 2GB.
(PRODUCT) RED versions, supporting Aids in Africa, will also be available.
iPod Touch
Apple is launching a fifth generation iPod Touch that like the new iPhone 5 has a bigger 4" screen to support a 16:9 aspect ratio. It's also thinner, lighter, with a faster A5 processor that offers 7x faster graphics, and thanks to that bigger screen has now five rows of apps on the homescreen.
Other improvements include a 5 Megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus and a battery life claim of up to eight hours (watching video). With the upgrades in place, the iPod Touch will now be ready to run iPhoto.
Yes, it can record 1080p video and includes a front-facing 720p camera for video calling. If you want to use it like a camcorder, there's now a pop-up loop where you can add a wrist strap if you like.
The performance changes also mean the addition of Siri, AirPlay mirroring (where you can connect it to at TV), and better speeds in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections.
The one area where it won't be like the iPhone 5 in looks is colour choices. Five selections available. (pink, yellow, blue, white & silver, black & slate)
The iPod Touch will go on sale September 14th for $299 for 32 GB, $399 for 64 GB.
New Earbuds
Apple has redesigned their signature white earbuds. Apple says it's taken them three years to develop the "Earpod". They go on sale starting today and will be included with the iPhone 5, the new iPod Touch, and the new iPod nano.
