We’ve already become a culture obsessed with the image. From Kodak brownie cameras to a high-resolution smartphone camera in every pocket, the current internet age has produced a vertical fuck load of image data, all filtering through social networks like Instagram or Facebook, not to mention Flickr and Picasa.
Let’s not overlook one detail in today’s iPhone 5 launch: the Panorama.
Apple just brought the Apple Store back online, and is now ready for your purchases. You can’t pre-order the iPhone 5 or new iPod Touch until September 14th, but if you’re totally jonesing for a new pink iPod nano, you can buy one right now.
Today, Apple made official the eagerly-awaited latest version of the world’s most popular smartphone, the iPhone 5. Apple has historically been a trendsetter when it comes to building smartphones, using cutting-edge technology and top-of-the-line materials, but over the past few months, the competition — Samsung, Motorola, Nokia and HTC — have started catching up.
So, spec-by-spec, how does the iPhone 5 stack up? We have compared the specs of the iPhone 5 with the iPhone 4S, Nokia Lumia 820, Nokia Lumia 920, Motorola DROID RAZR HD, Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX HD, Motorola DROID RAZR M, Samsung Galaxy SIII and the HTC One X. To see how the iPhone 5 fares, check out the comprehensive table below.
Apple’s iPhone 5 keynote just ended with a performance from The Foo Fighters, and now Apple.com has been updated with official images and details surrounding the iPhone 5 itself. The promotional video Apple showed during the event has also been made available for everyone to see.
The marquee features of the iPhone 5 include the new design, 4-inch Retina display, “ultrafast” LTE networking, and A6 processor. There’s plenty of information from Apple on its website now, so take some time to read through the new features of the iPhone 5.
The Apple Store is still down, so stay tuned for more updates throughout the day.
Source: Apple.com
After announcing the new iPod nano, shuffle, and touch, Apple revealed that its newest iPods will be available for purchase come October. The new iPod touch starts at $299 for 32GB and there’s a 64Gb option for $399. Curiously, the fourth-gen iPod touch will remain at its $199 price point for the 16GB model.
The new 16GB iPod nano will cost $150 come October, while the shuffle will sell for $50 with 2GB of storage. Apple’s new EarPods will ship with all new iPods.
Image: The Verge
Apple’s replacing their stock earbuds — those horrific, cochlea-massacring, mass-produced pieces of crap — with new horrific, cochlea-massacring, mass-produced pieces of crap. Meet the EarPods.
They probably suck, given Apple’s track record, but apparently, they’ve been three years on design.
According to Jony Ive, “Making earphones that fit for everyone would be like making shoes that are the same size that fit everyone’s feet. But that’s what we’ve tried to do.”
“EarPods are designed to direct sound into the ear.” O RLY.
“I think music lovers will love these. We’re going to start shipping these as a standalone accessory. Available today,” says Apple.
I’d hold of on some reviews, if I were you. Given how terrible Apple’s earbuds have been for a decade, I see no reason to stop.
Image: The Verge
It’s a lanyard. A fucking lanyard. Push a button on the iPod touch, and it pops out from where it’s hidden so you can secure a lanyard. And they are even color coordinated according to the color of your iPod touch. Is there anything Apple can’t revolutionize?
Image: GDGT
Like most of the iPhone 5, the new camera is a solid evolution rather than the big jump we saw in the earlier iPhones. It keeps the same ƒ2.4 lens aperture as the iPhone 4S and the same great 8MP sensor, but some tweaks to the lens, the new Lightning connector and the new A6 processor all make the iPhone 5 into the perfect new phone for photographers.
Today Apple unveiled the 5th generation iPod touch with Retina display. The new iPod touch is “almost as thin as the nano” at only 6.1mm. Like the iPhone 5, the newest touch features a 4-inch widescreen Retina display with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Unlike the iPhone 5, the 5th-gen iPod touch comes with the A5 processor, not the A6.
Apple just sent out the official press release for the iPhone 5, the thinnest, lightest iPhone ever with an all-new aluminum design, stunning 4-inch Retina Display, A6 chip and LTE Ultrafast Wireless.
You can read the press release below:
Every major iPhone announcement is accompanied with a new iPod touch announcement, and this year is no different. There’s a new iPod touch, a new iPod nano and a new iPod shuffle.
Apple’s starting with a new iPod nano, which they want to reinvent.
“First we want to give it a large display. Give it nice controls. Make it thin and light. And of course, the Lightning connector,” says Eddy Cue.
The new nano isn’t a watch anymore, it looks more like the previous generations: a longer, thinner touchscreen iPod. It’s 5.4mm and 38% thinner.
It has controls on the side, and an iPhone/iPod touch style home button. It also gets Bluetooth and an FM tuner, which are pretty awesome upgrades.
No price or availability yet.
Image: The Verge
Following the iPhone 5, Apple’s Eddy Cue announced the next version of iTunes. The new iTunes borrows heavily from the mobile iOS experience, and iCloud integration is pervasive through the new interface. Search and playlist creation has been improved, along with general interface elements throughout the app’s design. It all looks a lot like the Music app in iOS.
Artists are now able to share photos in users’ iTunes libraries alongside tracks, and there’s plenty of new ways of interacting with your music and the iTunes Store. There’s a sexy new mini-player that can sit on your desktop, which is a particularly nice addition.
The iTunes Store itself has been updated to look more like the iOS 6 interface, and iCloud can be used to download and keep content in sync between devices. Following the onstage demo, Eddy Cue announced that the new iTunes is coming in October.
Apple has announced the official pricing and availability details for the iPhone 5. Keeping in line with previous releases, the base 16GB model will be offered with a two-year carrier contract fro $199. The 32GB model will cost $299 and the 64GB will cost $399. Like always, the iPhone 5 will be available in black and white.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 5 start on Friday, September 14th. The iPhone 5 will ship on Friday, September 21st, according to Apple.
The iPhone 3GS has finally been discontinued, and the iPhone 4 has replaced it as Apple’s free phone with a two-year contract. The 16GB iPhone 4S now sells for $99.
Apple just announced when iOS 6 is coming out, and it’s sooner than the iPhone 5: it’ll show up on September 19th.
It will support the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, new iPad, iPad 2 and iPod touch.
If September 19th’s launch day, the GM has to be coming out today. Stay tuned to Cult of Mac: when it’s here, we’ll let you know.
Image: The Verge
This seems new: Apple just announced that in iOS 6, you’ll be able to share photos through Photo Stream with friends, and when you share, you can comment on the photos, have your friends comment on photos and even like photos, with all changes pushed to you by notification. It looks like Facebook integration into Photo Stream, but Apple’s not calling it that. Is this Apple getting into the photography social networking game?
Also, Apple’s right. Alex Heath is a slob. Someone get that poor hobo a clean shirt.
Image: The Verge
One of the biggest upgrades to the iPhone 5, though, is the new 8-pin dock connector. It’s called Lightning, and its going to throw third party accessory makers into havok.
The iPhone 5’s improvements aren’t all visual though. It’s also got a bitching new audio system.
First of all, the new iPhone has three microphones, at the front back and bottom. That gives much better voice clarity.
Speakers have five magnet transducers, which is up from three.
And the earpiece? Built in noise canceling of your own audio out. That’s actually super impressive.
These are the silent killer upgrades. Expect the iPhone 5 to be the best sounding smartphone in the world.
Image: GDGT
Apple today unveiled the new improvements in the iPhone 5’s camera. The iPhone 5 features multiple enhancements in what Apple is calling the “iSight” department. The device’s 8 megapixel sensor will shoot pics at a 3264×2448 resolution, and the camera includes a Hybrid IR filter and next-gen ISP technology. Schiller noted that the camera itself is 25% smaller.
In iOS 6 the Camera app will include a Panorama mode for taking large landscape pictures, and Shared Photo Streams will give users the ability to effortlessly share pics with friends and family on the go.
For video, the iPhone 5 shoots rear-facing 1080p video like the iPhone 4S. The front-facing camera now shoots 720p video for FaceTime, which is a nice improvement.
For more on the iPhone 5’s camera, check out Charlie’s feature.
Image: gdgt
Phil Schiller has again taken the stage, and now he wants to make some points about the iPhone 5’s battery life.
“We’re really proud that the iPhone 5 battery life exceeds the iPhone 4S.”
Following the announcement that the iPhone 5 features LTE networking, Apple’s Phil Schiller unveiled the phone’s new A6 processor. According to Schiller, the A6 chip is 2x faster than the previous A5 in both CPU and GPU computing.
“It’s a huge jump in performance, but 22% smaller,” noted Schiller.
Per tradition, Apple invited EA onstage to demo the upcoming Real Racing 3 game on the iPhone 5’s A6 chip. EA explained how the A6 allows for “”full console quality” gaming on a mobile device.
Image: The Verge
Apple just lifted the curtain on the iPhone 5, it’s most groundbreaking iPhone yet. The device features a 4-inch Retina display with 1136 x 640 screen resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. To show off the new display, Apple’s Phil Schiller demonstrated what widescreen iOS apps look like on the device.
Not only will the iOS Home screen feature 5 rows of icons instead of the traditional 4, but all of Apple’s own apps will be updated to make use of the iPhone 5’s new screen real estate. Games and other kinds of apps also look great on the display, and the aspect ratio allows for truer widescreen video.
The iPhone 5 doesn’t just have a lighter, thinner construction, though. As rumored, it also has “ultrafast wireless.” Yep, that means LTE.
“We have some very exciting news to tell you about the iPhone,” Tim Cook says. And now Phil Schiller’s up.
“I think Time Magazine said it best ‘it is the phone that has changed phones forever’ and boy were they right,” says Schiller. Every year they raise the bar. Here comes a hole new bar.
“Today we’re introducing the iPhone 5.” The iPhone 5 rises from a pedestal in front of the audience. Holy crap.
Tim Cook is going through the preliminary statistics of Apple’s business right now, which is usually where people snooze in these events, but this number really stuck out to us: Tim Cook says that the iPad has sold “more iPads than any PC manufacturer sold of their entire PC line.”
Read that quote again. It’s absolutely nuts. There are 84 million iPads out there, as of June. And Apple has done this while still growing the Mac 15% year-over-year compared to just two percent year-over-year growth for PCs.
Apple rules the computer world.
Image: GDGT
Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage at today’s iPhone event and opened with an update on the company’s retail presence. Cook started by showing off Apple’s new Barcelona store and playing a video of the store’s launch.
Apple now has 380 retail stores in 12 countries. The company’s first Swedish store will open on Friday, September 14th. 83 million visitors walked through Apple’s retail stores last year, making the Cupertino company one of the most successful consumer electronics retail chains in history. “Apple stores offer the best buying experience and customer service on the planet,” exclaimed Cook.
While Apple retail is definitely a force to be reckoned with, the company’s digital downloads are also setting the industry standard. Apple customers have downloaded 7 million copies of Mountain Lion since its launch in July, according to Cook. That figure makes Mountain Lion the fastest selling OS X release in history.
Image: The Verge