With the iPhone 6, and possibly the iWatch, to be unveiled later today, Jack McKeown takes a bite out of Apple.
September is the month when summer retreats into autumn, when Perthshire’s forests begin their slow fade from green to amber and when Apple releases its latest mobile phone onto the market.
It is a beautiful time for both the nature lovers and the tech savvy among us.
But why all this fuss about a phone? For some reason, Apple has been able to generate a buzz around its devices that no other mobile phone manufacturer can match.
The company’s late CEO, Steve Jobs, became famous for his enthusiastic, energetic and captivating presentations.
In 2001 he unveiled a portable white box that could hold 1,000 songs. In one of the worst technology predictions of all time, Britain’s Lord Sugar proclaimed it would be dead within a year. So far more than 220 million iPods have been sold.
And in 2007 Jobs who died of pancreatic cancer in 2011 revolutionised the mobile phone market by launching the first iPhone.
Surfing the net from your phone became second nature. Maps guided you to your nearest caf, bar or restaurant. And the phrase “I’ve got an app for that” was quickly coined. To date, more than 16 billion apps have been downloaded.
It’s got to the point where Apple needs to do virtually nothing in the way of pre-advertising for its new product launches.
All it does is book a major conference venue, leak some rumours about what the latest product might offer, then watch news outlets fall over themselves to provide coverage.
Other mobile phone providers have upped their game considerably and the iPhone has a lot of rivals not least from e-commerce giant Amazon, which yesterday announced its first smartphone the Fire Phone will be launched in the UK at the end of this month.
When it comes to hype, however, Apple still rules the roost. Today’s special event in California will confirm details but the release has been so widely leaked that we already know a great deal about the new phone.
The iPhone 6 is going to be bigger. Analysts anticipate that the iPhone 6 will come in two sizes: one, with a 4.7-inch screen that will be available within days, and another, with a 5.5-inch screen, which may not go on sale until later in the year.
The camera should also get an upgrade and it’s expected that battery life by far the biggest source of complaint about current iPhones will also be dramatically improved.
A range of health-monitoring apps, glass that cannot be scratched, a bigger memory and an “iWallet” function that can make payments are also likely to be confirmed.
Given the flak Apple took over the leak of celebrity nude pictures, the company is looking closely at how to improve security.
All iCloud users will now be notified if someone tries to change their account’s password, and the iPhone 6 is expected to improve on its predecessor’s fingerprint recognition, using it as an additional security measure.
So it’s fair to say there’s a lot of anticipation about the iPhone 6. But one man who has taken his expectations for Apple’s latest phone to new levels is Ben Slater.
The Australian advertising director has had a microchip surgically implanted into his hand that he hopes will be compatible with the iPhone 6.
He wants to connect the implanted chip to his phone and be able to open doors and switch on lights in his apartment with just a wave of his hand. Further plans involve wiring his car so the door unlocks and the engine starts when he points at it.
Unless something goes disastrously wrong, the iPhone 6 is virtually guaranteed to fly off the shelves. But the biggest question mark over tomorrow’s event is whether we’ll see the long-speculated-about iWatch.
This would bring into reality a device that has been a staple of fiction for generations.
In Live and Let Die, Roger Moore’s James Bond uses his magnetic wristwatch to slide down the zipper on the back of Miss Caruso’s dress.
In the 1980s hit series Knight Rider, David Hasselhof uses his digital watch to communicate with his artificially intelligent car.
Rumours that an iWatch will be unveiled today were enhanced by the number of top fashion publications that will be represented at today’s event.
Writers from Marie Claire and Fashionista are among the first time invitees, increasing speculation that a piece of wearable tech is also to be unveiled.
There are already a few smart watches on the market but they are limited in functionality and have struggled to catch on.
The watch will reportedly have a flexible screen, come in two sizes, track its wearer’s health and fitness, double as an electronic wallet and of course, display messages.
There is no word yet on whether it will also tell the time.
However, Apple’s innovation, much-vaunted ability to make its products user friendly and huge research and marketing budgets may allow it to make smart watches look as cool as they do on James Bond.