The iPhone 6!

It’s finally here! The iPhone 6. AND iPhone 6 Plus. Fancy. Here’s what you need to know about the new iPhone models:

They look remarkably similar to the leaks we’ve seen in the past few weeks with rounded edges, and extended camera lens. The power button is indeed positioned on the upper right hand side and both iPhones are what we expected for screen size and a lot thinner than their predecessors. The iPhone 6 sits pretty at 4.7 inch screen size and 6.9mm thin and the iPhone 6 Plus is 5.5 inch screen size and just 7.1mm thin. For comparison’s sake, the iPhone 5S has a 4 inch screen size and is 7.6mm thin.

Combine this larger screen size with the screen resolution and it sounds pretty magic. Both models have what Apple calls ‘Retina HD Display’, with the iPhone 6 featuring a 1334 x 750 display at 326 pixels-per-inch while the iPhone 6 Plus features a 1920 x 1080 display at 401 ppi.

The iPhone 6 has more than 1 million pixels. The iPhone 6 ups it’s game here to 2 million pixels. According to Apple that’s 185% more pixels on the iPhone 6 Plus. Fewf. Good thing we like having lots of pixels.

There are updates to Apps to make one hand control easier and to take advantage of the extra space the screen size brings – such as two tone display for email, messages, etc.

The iPhone 6 models have a next generation A8 chip, 2 billion transistors and 64-bit support. 25% faster CPU performance. Which means, basically, that it’ll be faster and better.

The battery will be equal or better than the iPhone 5S,  for example, watching video you’ll get 10 hours on the 5S, 11 on the iPhone 6 and 14 on the iPhone 6 Plus.

The iPhone 6 models come with a barometer that measures relative elevation from air pressure, which, in combination with the M8 chip will make fitness applications tell accurately when your cycling/walking/running/ as well as being able to estimate distance/steps/elevation. This will all be recorded in the Health app that comes with iOS 8, of course.

The cameras on both models come equipped with an ‘isight’ sensor that will apparently help take better photos. It’s a 8MP iSight camera, 1.5µ pixels, ƒ/2.2 aperture that will focus almost twice as fast, has advanced face detection, tone mapping, and noise reduction. Panorama photo capability will improve with up to 43 mexapixel photos and a gyroscope means stitching is seamless.

The iPhone 6 has image stabilization, however the iPhone 6 Plus again steps it up to include optical image stabilization. Which is fancy, and will make your photos better and cleaner.

Video will be shot at 1080p at 30fps and 60fps, and slo-mo at 240fps (holy moly), up from 120fps on the 5s. The iPhone 6 models will both include time lapse photography capability.

The front facing ‘FaceTime’ camera has also been improved with f2.2 aperture that lets in 81% more light. It also has improved face detection and burst selfie mode, single shot HDR and HDR in FaceTime video.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus come in Gold, Silver and Space Gray. All in all, its a nice, rounded update with no surprises but improvements that will make the user experience a better one. When we get our hands on one we’ll let you know about how the larger screen sizes feel, and how noticeably faster and better performing the new models are.

Pricing!  The iPhone 6 – 16GB/64GB/128GB for $199/$299/$399.

AND

The iPhone 6 Plus – $299/$399/$499 for 16GB/64GB/128GB

Both models will be released come September 19 and its preferred operating system, iOS 8, launches September 17th. BUT take note- you can preorder starting September 12.

P.S.  Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake are the voices behind the new ads!

The Apple announcement!

This morning, at 10:00 AM Pacific time, Tim Cook took to the stage at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of De Anza College in Cupertino.

Over almost 2 hours, we were introduced to two new models of iPhone, a new service in ApplePay and the Apple Watch. A lot of rumors were confirmed, some were seen to be false (bye easy to type iWatch) and a raft of new services not foreseen were revealed.

The live stream was not the best thing anyone’s ever seen, far from it actually, from consistent pauses and breakdowns in the streaming video, to the addition of a lovely Chinese translator (we’re assuming?) cutting in over Tim Cook’s sentences. It seemed to work itself out after about 40 minutes thank goodness, but not before Twitter was set on fire annihilating Apple for being unable to use simple streaming technology.

But, it worked itself out. Shout out to the guys over at MacRumors for live blogging so we could understand anything we missed! We were introduced to the two models of the iPhone 6 – the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. They are, as rumored, a 4.7 inch model and 5.5 inch model respectively. They both have a bunch of updates and improvements and we’ll delve into them in a little bit in our detailed iPhone 6 blog post.

We had confirmation of NFC capabilities with ApplePay, aiming to make payment transactions in a bunch of online and in-store retailers all over the US simpler and more secure.

Then; One more thing!

Those magic words that we haven’t heard in a while! That one more thing? Nope, not the iWatch. Natch. It’s the Apple Watch. And it’s so very pretty! And functional! And innovative, and useful. We’ll be going into far more detail in our Apple Watch blog post coming soon. But all you need to know for right now? There are two sizes and three models – the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Sport, and the Apple watch Edition. They’ll be coming in early 2015, they’re highly customizable, they start at $349, and you’ll probably want one.

Tim Cook ended the event with a performance by U2 and the announcement of their new Album ‘Songs of Innocence’. And Apple just made the album free to all half a billion iTunes users!

We’ll be bringing you the details of both models of the iPhone 6, Apple Pay and Apple Watch shortly.

Photos courtesy of 9to5mac.com

A Special Announcement!

We’ve been busy! We have another special announcement to make!

Following our announcement last week that we will be offering customer payments in Bitcoin, and to celebrate the release of the iPhone 6, we are very proud to announce that we will be rolling out ANOTHER new payment option in the very near future.

Coming in the next few weeks, if you choose to sell your iPhone to us, you will be able to be paid via Check, Paypal, Bitcoin OR you can donate your entire payment to any charity of your choice in the United States.

If you’re thinking of upgrading to an iPhone 6 model, or just have an old/broken/water damaged iPhone in a drawer somewhere, why not use that opportunity to turn your old iPhone into something wonderful? Simply get a quote from us here, receive your pre-paid box in the mail, place your device in the box and send it off. Designate the charity of your choice and our President, Ryan Wallace, will personally donate the quoted amount to that charity. 

We want to give you guys not only the best service we can, but also assist in helping turn unused, old or broken technology into something good in the world. Technology is good, Kindness and giving is good, new iPhones are good, good customer service is good! It’s all good!

To find a list of United States Charities, go here! 

We’ll be letting you know exactly when the charity payment option will be available in the next couple of weeks! We also might just have another special announcement up our sleeve, and we’ll be keeping you in the know with iPhone 6 AND iWatch rundowns, so keep an eye on us!

Image courtesy of http://www.aha-soft.com/

Apple live streaming their big Media Event!

IT’S COMING!

Apple has changed their home page to a countdown to their special media event and to announce that they will be live streaming it. YESSSS!

‘live video from our special event will be right here. And so will a whole lot more.
Join us at Apple.com on September 9 at 10 a.m. PDT to follow every moment.’

Head on over to their website  to check it out and to stream the event when it begins. Alternatively, tune in right here! We’ll be blogging about the event and will publish all the need to know details shortly afterwards.

16 HOURS 57 MINUTES!

Purported iPhone 6 videos

We got presents for you guys! Happy-weekend-before-the-iPhone-6-announcement-present!

The following videos are of purported parts, shells and casing of the highly anticipated iPhone 6, which will be announced beside the iWatch on September 9th in San Francisco.

Youtube user Rozetked has uploaded a video showing the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 in detail.

Whilst you can see alleged footage of the casing and purported components of the 5.5 inch model below, released by Nowhereelse.fr.

Lastly, below we have the newest video allegedly showing the iPhone 6 uploaded onto Weibo yesterday:

What to expect with the iPhone 6?

So, the iPhone 6, huh?  Um…Trumpets please?

Yeah! Awesome trumpeting. So, OHMYGOODNESS IT’S ALMOST HERE! The next generation in iPhone, the iPhone 6, will be announced and revealed on September 9th, at 10am, in San Francisco.

Here’s what we know, and what you should know, based on rumors and secret sources and leaked videos and expert guestimates and all kinds of mysterious things.

*There will be 2 models, with one size being a 4.7 inch and the other a 5.5 inch. This is quite significantly larger, compared to a 4 inch iPhone 5s.

*One or possibly both models will likely have sapphire crystal screens, which means they will be much stronger, scratch resistant and durable. If only one model has the sapphire crystal, it will be the larger 5.5 inch iPhone 6.

*They will both come with a faster and better A8 chip.

*The iPhone 6 is said to be thinner all round – smaller bezels and a much thinner body. The 4.7 inch model, for example, is said to be 6.9mm thick, compared to the current iPhone 5S which is 7.6mm thick. The 5.5 inch model is said to come in at around 7.1mm thick.

*One or possibly both models of the  iPhone 6 look likely to come with Optical Image Stabilization. This feature uses motion-tracking in order to compensate for device shakiness, providing for sharper photos and videos. If only one model gets it, it will be the larger 5.5 inch iPhone 6. That guy gets everything.

*There have been rumors and leaks indicating that the larger 5.5 inch iPhone 6 will have a 128GB storage capacity. See? The little guy, the 4.7 inch model appears to be confirmed to be starting with a storage capacity of 16Gb.

*Several leaked videos (which haven’t yet been confirmed as legitimate of course)  have shown the iPhone 6 as having rounded, tapered edges with redesigned speaker holes and a relocated power button on the top right hand side. The volume buttons are also shown to be more elongated, similar to how they are on the iPad.

*The colors of the iPhone 6 are assumed to be the same as the iPhone 5S – silver and gold, silver and white, and space gray and black.

*iPhone 6 is looking like it will come equipped with a mobile payments feature, powered by a NFC ( Near Field Communications) chip and assisted by the Touch ID. Reports have surfaced recently of Apple completing deals with all three big finance big boys – American Express, Visa and Mastercard to make this happen.

*Now – to the really important part – price! Reports indicate that the 5.5 lower end model will be $299 on contract, with the 4.7 inch model will be $199 on contract.

Originally it was thought that both models would be released on the same day, likely to be September 19th, but there are reports citing production problems, which, if correct, would mean that only the 4.7 inch model will be released then, with the larger 5.5 inch model being released later in the fourth quarter.

We will be advising you of the actually confirmed by apple completely legit features and functionality of the iPhone 6 on September 9th.

Yay!

Elephant Nature Park by Christian Haugen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Happy Villy by Tambako The Jaguar is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

App of the Day! Whiskey edition.

If you’re a whiskey fan (and you probably should be), you will love our App of the day today! It’s called Distiller. It’s all about whiskey! And it caters for Scotch, American, Irish and other Whiskeys. Num.

It’s a most wonderful App that not only has a really fun and simple user interface, but also buckets of features.

You can use the App to search for new whiskies, follow and communicate with other whiskey lovers, read and write customer reviews and see what the experts have to say (though aren’t we all experts, really?), follow their whiskey blog ‘The Mash Bill’, see trending whiskies, and even have personal Whiskey recommendations based on personalized questions, whether it be for a gift, or something new to try.

Get it for FREE from the App store. You must enter your birthdate and country before entering the App at first so that they know you’re legal, as well as agreeing to the terms and conditions.  So, Happy Weekend Whiskey Lovers! We were recommended to try Bowmore 12 pleated single Malt, so we think our weekend looks to be turning out rather sweet and rich.

Scotchy scotch scotch to you!

What to expect from the iWatch?

The much anticipated iWatch is said to be revealed alongside the two models of the new iPhone 6 this coming September 9th, which is in 4 days, 19 hours, 40 minutes, but who’s counting? We’re very, very excited.

But why should we be excited? What should we expect from the iWatch?

Check out our earlier article alongside this one to see who Apple have hired purportedly for the creation of the iWatch, and what that might mean for the technological features we can expect.

The iWatch will most likely have a range of health related capabilities from fitness tracking to sleep recording, heart monitoring and medication monitoring, among many others. There are reports that alongside the iPhone 6, the iWatch will also have NFC support allowing for mobile payments.

The watch is likely be able to be used as a standalone device but will be best used alongside and in coordination with an iPhone. There is a good chance that the iWatch will have a curved and flexible screen and… drumroll please… wireless charging. We certainly hope that rumor is true, because that would be, um, amazing.

We should expect a price point of around $400, but that’s a fairly wide shot in the dark at this stage. In fact, some reports are coming in that the price may not even be mentioned on September 9th when the iWatch is announced, as it won’t have been finalized yet. Further reports speculate that there will be a range of pricing based on differing model features.

Most of the people with secret sauces are saying that we, unfortunately, won’t see the iWatch shipped until early 2015. We still have a sliver of hope that we could see it in time for Christmas, but the chances are looking  a little slim.

This is the first time in a while that Apple has released a completely new product, and it feels like it’s going to be a really nice, really useful tech device. AND REALLY BRAND SPANKING INNOVATION – Y ! YEAH!

We’re excited. If you couldn’t tell.

iWatch mock up photo by Brett Jordan Via www.adr-studio.it/site/?p=269 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Drone films new apple campus!

Apple is building a new Campus in Cupertino. Although, similar to their product launches, they have tried to shroud the campus in as much mystery as they can, last week someone flew a drone over the building site and then uploaded it onto YouTube.

It doesn’t really speak volumes as to what the building will be like, but it is still interesting. And yes, this is the building commonly referred to as The SpaceShip Campus.  But we didn’t see any boosters.

P.S. We want a drone for Christmas. Please. And an iWatch.

Drone and Moon by Don McCullough is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Celebrity nude photo hacks being investigated by Apple.

Unless you’re living under a rock, or some other no-media penetrated secluded villa in the south of France, you will have heard about the hundreds of photos leaked onto the internet. Naked photos, specifically, of celebrities purportedly taken from their iCloud accounts and posted on the dark website Tor, before landing on 4Chan and leaking alll over the internet, as something as viral as naked celebrity photos was always destined to do.

Some of the celebrities involved have claimed that the photos are fake, whilst others have been confirmed to be legitimate.

Bad news.

Apple gave a statement to the guys over at Re/code advising that they will be undertaking a full investigation into the matter, which is great. “We take user privacy very seriously and are actively investigating this report,” said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris.

Apple has since today come out with confirmation that the iCloud feature was not breached, instead the hackers were able to access and steal the photos using a targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions.

From the sauce:

“We wanted to provide an update to our investigation into the theft of photos of certain celebrities. When we learned of the theft, we were outraged and immediately mobilized Apple’s engineers to discover the source. Our customers’ privacy and security are of utmost importance to us. After more than 40 hours of investigation, we have discovered that certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet. None of the cases we have investigated has resulted from any breach in any of Apple’s systems including iCloud(R) or Find my iPhone. We are continuing to work with law enforcement to help identify the criminals involved.”

This validates what security experts suggested yesterday – that the hackers were able to get ahold of the photos because of a combination of weak passwords and the lack of two-step verification. Two-step verification is a feature Apple introduced in March last year which requires a security code and a trusted device to log into your iCloud account as well as a password.

Although originally suspected of being used in the hack, it appears that a tool shared a few days ago on Github, a code-sharing website, was not used by the Hackers. This tool would have allowed hackers to repeatedly guess passwords without being locked out of an iCloud or Apple account but was fixed by Apple as of Monday morning. Attempting to use the tool now locks an Apple ID after five attempts to guess a password.

As always, if you’re concerned about your privacy we recommend using strong passwords and making use of the two-step verification.  

Strong passwords will include numbers, symbols and a mixture of capitals and lower case letters, and will not create a word or sequence of numbers that can be related to any of your biographical information by anyone but yourself.

To find out more about how to set up two-step verification, visit the Apple support page here. 

Image courtesy of Apple.