Tag: ios 8

Everything Apple announced that you care about

Apple had their big event on 9th September of 2014 in Cupertino and many products were announced. So, here comes the info about the new iPhone to a Apple Watch you need to know.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus

After a long time and a series of rumors around the web, Apple finally launched their new iPhones. the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.The iPhone 6 is 4.7-inch, compared to the iPhone 5s’ 4-inch. The iPhone 6 Plus is even bigger having 5.5 inches display.Both models are also thinner with a new outer design. Packed with a new 64-bit A8 processor which is more energy efficient while still being 25 percent faster CPU and 5 percent faster graphics.

The motion coprocessor is also upgraded. The M8 can now track your activity even better by logging when you walk up stairs and how far you travel. Both new devices will come with iOS 8.

Camera upgrades include an 8MP iSight camera, True Tone flash, 1.5 micron pixels, f/2.2 aperture and an all new sensor for bigger panoramas that expand up to 43 megapixels. It can also shoot 1080p videos at 30 fps and 60 fps with continuous auto-focus; slo-mo vids shoot at 120 and 240 fps. The front-facing cam offers a burst mode and single shot HDR and HDR videos.

The iPhone 6 will start at $199 for 16GB, $299 for 64GB and moves up to $399 for 128GB (all with 2-year contract). The iPhone 6 Plus starts at $299 for the 16GB version, $399 for the 64GB, and $499 GB for 128GB (on contract). Both will ship on September 19, pre-orders starting on September 12. In India, iPhone 6 will be available on October17.

Apple Watch coming early next year

Apple announced their highly-anticipated smartwatch, named Apple Watch. It comes with various customizable options, with six types of strap and two metal frame colors. It features all kinds of iOS integration as well as activity tracking features. It can also recognize between taps and clicks by detecting force.

Apple Watch comes with Siri, shareable heartbeat and animated and customizable emojis. Apple will open the WatchKit SDK for third-party developers to create functionalities on the Apple Watch.

The watch starts at $349 and is expected to be available in early 2015. The Apple Watch requires an iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, and 6 Plus for most of it’s features.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is a new NFC payment system that allows you to pay for items at stores. Once you add your credit card information, you can just have to touch your iPhone to pay for your items. Apple Pay creates a one-time device-only number instead of using the assigned credit card number so if your phone is stolen, you can suspend the payments without needing to cancel your credit card.

Apple Pay will launch first for Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Supported retailers include Apple, Disney, McDonald’s, Whole Foods, and online merchants like Uber and Groupon with one-touch payment. Apple Pay will come to iOS 8 devices in October.

iOS 8 to release on September 17th

iOS 8 will be out for download for all supported devices on September 17th. It will be a free upgrade.

Sep 10, 2014
iOS 8 features that are ‘inspired’ by Android

Apple recently unveiled the latest version of its mobile operating system iOS 8 at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. According to company this is “the biggest release since the launch of the App Store,”.

Many of these Android inspirations are more regular and obvious than others, including the new QuickType typing suggestions in iOS 8, Apple’s new support for third-party keyboard modifications applications, the “Hey, Siri” word for always-on listening features, the Widgets support in the Notification Center, the battery stats shown in iOS 8’s Settings, actionable notifications, and the improved photo backup in iCloud. Developer-oriented features, like the ability of uploading an app video in the App Store or to offer app beta tests to customers will also sound familiar to Android users.

QuickType and third-party keyboards support

Apple showed a big deal about its brand new QuickType keyboard. The keyboard features predictive typing and can learn based on your typing habits. In addition to QuickType, iOS 8 will also bring support for third-party keyboard applications. But Android users have had these features for years.

‘Hey Siri’

There are improvements to Siri including addition of 22 new dictation languages and song recognition integration using Shazam. But the ability to launch Siri by speaking the phrase “Hey Siri” when the phone is plugged into a car reminds us of Android’s Google Now where the phrase “Ok, Google” the app can be launched.

iCloud Drive Storage

With iCloud Drive, a Dropbox-like service for storing documents on the cloud. In addition to Dropbox, Android and Apple users already have Google Drive. As iCloud is limited to 5GB of free storage, Google Drive offers 15GB for free, while Dropbox initially offers 2GB for free alongwith the ability to earn up to 20GB as referral bonus.

Widgets

Apple users will finally get access to basic widgets in new iOS update. Not same as on Android where you can place widgets on your home and lock screens, however, iOS 8 widgets will be limited to the pull-down Notification Center.

Interactive Notifications

Interactive notifications will let users to quickly respond to messages, accept calendar appointments without having to enter the app itself. Android has offered these kinds of actionable notifications since 2012.

App Store Previews

Now in App Store is what Apple calls “App Previews,” similar to Google Play Store where you can watch app demo videos before downloading the apps.

TestFlight

TestFlight, a new technology Apple acquired this year which will give iPhone and iPad owners the facility test their apps in beta before they are officially released in the App Store. Also it is known that Google has allowed Android users to test their beta apps already.

Don’t call it a rip-off. Apple adds its own imprint on features that Android users have long enjoyed. They are adding thier own spin. Notifications, for instance, will be interactive straight from the lock screen, which is not currently the case on Android.

Jun 6, 2014