Around 200 of the media and tech journalism elites are gathered at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California today for the unveiling of new iPhones. The majority of planet earth will never have the opportunity to attend an Apple press event in person, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live vicariously through those who do go.
Here’s what it’s like to wait in line for hours at attend an Apple event as a member of the media:
If you were hoping to spend some cash on the Apple online store this morning, you’re going to have to wait a little while. It’s just gone down ahead of today’s press event in Cupertino, and when it comes back up, we expect it to be populated by at least two new iPhones, and possibly new iPods and a new Apple TV as well.
It’s looking increasingly likely that when Apple takes the stage today at the official iPhone launch event today that they will actually be unveiling seven new iPhone colors.
It’s new iPhone announcement day! That customarily means a number of last-minute bombshells and leaks in the hours before the event, and this year is no exception: documentation for the new iPhone 5S has leaked out, giving us a closer look at the redesigned home button with fingerprint sensor… or, as Apple is calling it, the Touch ID sensor.
The iPhone 5S has already been expected to feature a fingerprint sensor for months, and now The Wall Street Journal has corroborated the rumor less than 24 hours ahead of Apple’s planned unveiling of the device tomorrow.
Apple’s big iPhone extravaganza is tomorrow, and some colorful banners went up outside of the company’s Cupertino headquarters today.
Unlike most product launches, Apple is holding this event at Town Hall, its own auditorium on campus. The last time Town Hall was used was in the fall of 2011 for the iPhone 4S, and this year will reportedly be the unveiling of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C.
The banners match the multi-colored dots in the event invite Apple sent out to the press last week:
Sir Jony Ive and famed designer Marc Newson have teamed up with Bono to a mega-auction of fancy master-pieces of design that will be sold to benefit (RED). Among the list of items up for grabs is a custom pair of Apple EarPods made of solid rose gold.
Jony and Marc actually did all the curation of the collection themselves over the past year, as well as collaborating on two custom made items – a Leica Digital Rangefinder Camera, and an aluminum desk produced by Neal Feay Studios. A total of 40 items will be auctioned off, including pieces from space travel, lighting, contemporary art and rare automobiles.
Here’s what Jony had to say about his contribution:
Apple’s first major product event of the year is set to take place on Tuesday, September 10th. There was WWDC in June, but this time around will be all about the iPhone, Apple’s crown jewel.
The event will be held in Apple’s Town Hall auditorium at its Cupertino headquarters, which is a venue that was last used for the debut of the iPhone 4S in 2011. The iPhone 5S is expected this year, and like the 4S was to the 4, the device will look nearly identical to the iPhone 5 and focus on internal improvements. For the first time in Apple’s history, the rumor mill is predicting the unveiling of not one, but two new iPhone models at once, with the second being the iPhone 5C.
Here’s everything to expect from Apple’s September 10th iPhone event:
At this point, we’re pretty confident that Apple will unveil two new colors for the iPhone 5S: a gold/champagne and white model, and a graphite and black model. If you’re wondering how the latter will look against the existing black iPhone 5, then this new hands-on video should give you a good idea.
We’re nearly 24 hours away from Apple’s iPhone keynote, but a new video just hit the web that shows what Apple’s budget iPhone looks like when in operation. A video posted by C Technology shows an alleged blue iPhone 5C powered-on before going through a quick tour of iOS 7.
While the short video doesn’t show many details of the device, it does look consistent with some of the other leaks we’ve seen, and could indicate that the iPhone 5C will be ready to ship shortly after tomorrow’s keynote.
You can watch the full video below:
Go figure. Just a week and a half before Apple is set to launch iOS 7 out into the world, someone has finally succeeded in hacking iOS 6.1.4. Oh, the irony!
At an event in Japan today, Sony unveiled the new PS Vita TV, a tiny set-top box that will sell for around $95 and look to compete with devices like the Apple TV. Not only will it let you stream content from services like Hulu and Sony’s own Video Unlimited service, but if you connect a DualShock 3 controller, it will also allow you to play PSP and PS Vita games on your TV.
Despite rumors that Apple will announce a new Apple TV at its September 10th iPhone event, no such hardware unveiling is planned, according to AllThingsD. But a big software upgrade will be announced, and it will reportedly add new AirPlay functionality that makes it easier to watch content you purchased from the iTunes Store on a friend’s Apple TV.
Everybody likes whining about Apple. The company doesn’t innovate anymore, critics say. Their new phones are boring, the same old wine in a line of colorful new bottles. The “S” releases are always just tweaks of yesterday’s iPhone, and are not fundamentally different. Android phones dominate global market share, and have caught up to and zoomed past Apple in every relevant way.
The naysayers can say nay all they want: Apple’s iOS market share numbers are about to explode like an iPhone 5 plugged in with a cheap Chinese charger.
The prospect of Apple redesigning the iPhone’s home button has been floating around the rumor mill for years, but until now it never had much weight. But as the launch of the iPhone 5S draws near, it appears that the iconic home button could finally see its first redesign.
Since the 5S is expected to feature a fingerprint sensor, expect the look of the home button to change. Here’s why:
The e-book price-fixing saga between the U.S. government and Apple has finally come to an end. After a long and messy trial, presiding judge Denise Cote has given the final ruling against Apple. The injunction isn’t as punitive as expected, but there are still several stipulations that will change the way Apple does business regarding the iBookstore.
Late last night, a verified account for China Telecom popped up on Weibo and posted an advertisement for the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C… and it seems to imply that iPhone 5C is a much different design than we think.
The latest from The Wall Street Journal is that Apple is working on bigger screens for the iPhone, with experiments ranging from 4.8 to 6 inches. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such claims; the Journal itself said Apple was testing larger iPhones and iPads in July.
It sounds like Apple is still in the experimentation stage “with screens ranging from 4.8 inches to as high as six inches.” But the Journal says “people familiar with the company’s internal deliberations and plans indicate it [Apple] appears more willing to move ahead than in years past.”
2K Drive, the highly anticipated racing game from the creators of titles like Project Gotham Racing, has launched as an iOS-exlusive title in the App Store. We’ve been covering the story of 2K Drive for awhile, and Cult of Mac Games Editor Rob LeFebvre got to play it over the weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo.
This morning a report from China Labor Watch accused a factory in Apple’s supply chain for a number of worker abuse violations. Instead of Foxconn or Pegatron, the factory in question was Jabil, a smaller Apple supplier in the Wuxi province. The undercover investigation found that Jabil was enforcing mandatory overtime beyond the legal limit, poor training, and hiring discrimination.
Since the whole Foxconn scandal blew up last year, Apple has been much more public about its commitment to workers’ rights. In response to this most recent allegation against Jabil, Apple has said it is investigating the accusations.
Everyone agrees that Apple will unveil the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C next week at their September 10th event. It’s not in contention. What is in contention is when Apple will release the next iPad and iPad mini. Furthermore, what about the million-dollar question: will the iPad mini 2 have a Retina Display, and if so, will Apple be able to ship it before Christmas?
According to respected, usually accurate analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from KGI Securities, the answer is yes.
SEATTLE, PAX 2013 – As I sit here on the 10th floor of Seattle’s public library, I’m trying to make some sense of the last four days of gaming conference, the Penny Arcade Expo.
It’s not like gaming is as important as, say, the current crisis in Syria, or attempts to fight poverty and homelessness, or even the inability of spaces like PAX to provide a safe place for women or people who are trangendered.
On the other hand, gaming is a massive cultural phenomenon. PAX’s founders, webcomic writers Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, wanted to create a convention that would focus on gamers, whether they play tabletop games, video games, or card games. That there is a massive interest in this convergence of different kinds of gamers, from D&D nerds to arcade geeks, is an understatement, as evidenced by quickly sold-out tickets months in advance of the conference as well as by the huge herds of human beings of all stripe who I saw traipsing from one booth to another this weekend in the Washington State Convention Center.
There are some truly awful things happening in Syria right now. For more information on exactly what is happening, and why, I suggest this excellent Washington Post round-up of what exactly is going on, and why Congress is now considering an intervention. But the takeaway is pretty bleak, and basically comes down to the notion that there’s not a lot America can do to stop what’s happening in Syria.
That doesn’t mean, though, that the hearings going on in the Senate about whether or not America should intervene aren’t important. Far from it. Which is why Senator John McCain is getting a lot of flack for being caught playing an iPhone poker app during the hearings.
With all the hubbub about new iPhones and new iPads coming, it wouldn’t be surprising if Apple slipped a small Apple TV update in there too. Although Apple dismisses it as their “hobby,” the Apple TV usually inherits the previous generation A-series chip when a new iPhone or iPad comes out. In this case, it’s the A6. In addition, Apple’s been building up steam when it comes to the Apple TV lately, releasing a number of entirely new channels in the last few months. It would be natural to follow that wth an update.
These are all good reasons to believe that Apple might try to slip in an update to their set-top box on September 10th, and lo and behold, a new report seemingly confirms that new Apple TVs are already making their way into the country.
You wait weeks for an invite to an Apple event, and then two come along at once. Shortly after the company invited the media to its September 10 shindig in Cupertino, it sent out invitations to a second event in Beijing on September 11. It’s the first time Apple has made an announcement in China, so it must be for something pretty special — but what?
Well, we have some ideas.