The Apple Special Media event is so close! What to expect?

The decorations are going up at The Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco, and with only 2 days left, it’s the calm before the Apple Special Media Event storm.

Come 10:00 AM PST on the 9th, Tim Cook will present us with what Apple’s been working on. Not all of it, of course, we shouldn’t expect any self driving cars or line of sight teleportation (yet), but what can we expect?

*The tagline on the press invitations and the posters for the event is ‘Siri Give me a hint’. Unsurprisingly, Siri has not been forthcoming.

*The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Some are saying that the whole iPhone 6S Plus name is a little too mouthy, and suggest that Apple will either jump to the name iPhone 7 instead, or  -rather more drastically – switch the naming sequence to something new altogether.

* There are reports that we will also see a smaller 4 inch iPhone in the style of the iPhone 5C, however this is sounding less and less likely, at least at this point. If the iPhone 5C isn’t replaced, we’re looking at it’s mid-term extinction.

*The new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus models will be made of less bendy 7000 Series aluminum, which features on the Apple Watch Sport ( and competition bicycles, so there you have that). This has reportedly made both the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus 0.2mm thicker, but 2 grams lighter. Apparently the change in thickness will not be something you can notice, so current cases will still fit.

*Also seen on the Apple watch and presumed to be carried over to the new models of iPhone is the Force Touch feature, where you can access and use different features dependent on the pressure of your touch.

*Both iPhones will see significant upgrades to the camera, with 12 Megapixels instead of 8 on the rear camera, and the front camera getting a 5-megapixel sensor with an accompanying flash. Also rumored is the ability to shoot 4k video.

*Both iPhones will get a new A9 Processor and 2GB of ram.

*A new color of Rose Gold is expected, as is improved Touch ID.

*Pre-orders, if accepted, should start September 11th, with the official launch on September 18. Probably (It is Apple after all!)

*A significant update to Apple TV is set to be announced. After almost 3 years of no updates, now we’re looking at getting a slimmer more powerful device with a new more intuitive software design, Siri, an App store, and -long overdue – better search functionality, more than likely using Siri.

*Also using Siri and/or a touchpad feature will be a new Apple TV Remote.

*There are rumors of an iPad Pro – an iPad targeted at professionals with a bigger screen (12.9 inch display), an A9 processor and 2GB of RAM, and – maaaaybe possibly – a stylus.

*There are rumors of new Apple Watch wristbands, and an iPad Mini 4, but not much has been said about either.

* It all starts at 10:00 AM PST. Apple will be streaming it live here.  If you’re looking to upgrade to the new iPhone models, consider selling your old iPhone here for cashmoney! 

Startup of the week!

Going on a vacation soon? Got some extra cash to make some stellar memories? Check these guys out. Flytographer is a new startup offering to help you make the best memories from your vacation.

In over 150 cities all over the world, they’ll provide you with a professional photographer to catch memories that aren’t selfies, taking photos of you and your loved ones, families, friends and frenemies in the most flattering and natural way possible. The photographers are also locals, so can share some tips on the city you’re in.

Pretty sweet, right? Who doesn’t want to look baller whilst on vacation?  Starting at $250 USD.

Skype updates for all hooray!

Hands up who uses Skype? Defiantly and definitely one of the very best of the video calling software services, Skype has just announced a line up of new updates for both its iOS and Android Apps.

Update now to version 6.0 and you can expect a new more intuitive design, enhanced search, and features such as swipe gestures and sharing a host of media whilst on a call. It’s a nice update. But Skype, we love you, but seriously get your group-video-calling-for-iOS-butts into gear already!!

If you haven’t yet, get Skype for iOS here. 

Looking to upgrade to an iPhone 6S? Read this!

It’s everyone’s favorite time of year! iPhone upgrade time hoorah! In 5 days Apple will be announcing the new models of iPhone, expected to be the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus with a number of software improvements that will no doubt make your life better (Yeah, we’re talking to you, over there, with the sexy hair).

We’re talking significant camera improvements, a new A9 chip to make it faster, more powerful and more fancy, Forcetouch (You may know that from the Apple Watch), improved touch ID and a shiny new rose gold color.

Nice.

So you want one, right? Nay, you deserve one! Look at your stinky old iPhone just sitting there being all not rose gold with no Force Touch and a boring old not as good camera. What a jerk.

It’s ok though, because we can help! Send the stinky old iPhone to us! We’ll make sure that jerk is properly cared for, send him to a nice big ‘ol green farm with lots of other stinky old iPhones to play with! AND we’ll give you cash to help you upgrade to the new shiny iPhone!

Sweet deal, right? All you have to do is enter your details here! We’ll send you a prepaid shipping box, drop that sucker in there and we’ll send you payment by Check, Paypal or Bitcoin! Easy! We’ll also never revalue your iPhone after you’ve sent it in – if it’s an used iPhone 6, we’ll pay you for a used iPhone 6. We’re just cool like that…

If you have any questions about selling your old, cracked, water damaged or broken iPhone, don’t hesitate to contact us  or leave a comment below.

New Apple Ad campaign

Today Apple commenced a new Ad Campaign for the iPhone around the tagline – “Why there’s nothing quite like iPhone.”

Seen on the Apple Homepage and on the iPhone homepage, the campaign is pretty straightforward, pointing out why exactly there’s nothing else quite like the iPhone.

From the sauce:

“Every iPhone we’ve made — and we mean every single one — was built on the same belief. That a phone should be more than a collection of features. That, above all, a phone should be absolutely simple, beautiful, and magical to use.”

 
The iPhone’s integration of hardware and software, camera capabilities, breadth of available apps, resistance to malware, and Apple’s commitment to privacy and security with Touch ID and Apple Pay are all featured.

New Instagram search functionality!

Instagram is known for being awesome on your iPhone, obviously, but also for their… very simple non-mobile internet presence. Instagram on your Macbook is not what it’s built for and hence, doesn’t represent the multitude of functionality you can access on the mobile app. You can access and heart photos and that’s about it.

This changes now!

Instagram has just introduced the ability to search on the web version. You can search for hashtags, locations and user accounts directly on your Mac/PC.

If you’re not Instagramming, maybe you should give it a try? #whatareyouwaitingfor #grandad #don’tfallbehind #we’renotgreatathastagging

A9 chip production for next iPhone begun!

According to those in the know, Samsung and TSMC have both started mass production of the A9 chip that will be a part of the next models of the iPhone – said to be iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus and possibly a third option – the iPhone 6C.

Apparently there was some last minute changes to the chip, but that hasn’t changed the production schedule which will be readying the devices for release most likely in the Fall.

Apple is reportedly ordering over 85 million iPhone 6S units from suppliers by the end of 2015. Wowzers.

Apart from the new chip, the new iPhones are looking at a speculatively similar design and screen size as the previous models (iPhone 6, iPhone 6S and possibly an update to the iPhone 5C), an improved 12 megapixel rear-facing camera, 7000 Series aluminum, and the possibility of the inclusion of the Force Touch feature seen in the Apple Watch.

An announcement and release details are expected in the fall.

New 6th generation iPod Touch!

Hooray for Wednesday! Humpday bought us some goodies this week! Apple has just released the 6th generation iPod touch. Weeee!

Here’s what you’re looking at:

* 4-inch Retina display.

* 64-bit A8 chip & M8 motion coprocessor (faster, more power).

*iOS 8.4 preinstalled (So you can party to Beats 1 and Apple music).

* 8-Megapixel  rear facing camera and improved FaceTime HD camera.

* New colours! Bam! Blue, Pink, Silver, Space Gray, Gold and Red.

* Available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB and 128 GB

* One of these shiny new devices will cost you $199, $249, $299 and $399 respectively.

* You can buy them TODAY. You can buy all of them through Apple right now. In the near future you’ll be able to buy them though resellers like Walmart EXCEPT for the 128 GB and Red Models which will be sold exclusively through Apple.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Yuppers, if you’re more of an iPod Shuffle kinda kid, or you like your iPod Nano sized, you’re also in luck this fine Humpday. These devices have also been updated with the colors listed above although no other hardware or software improvements were made and the price remains the same at $149 and $49.

Did you know you could do this Facebook trick?

Remember the good ‘ol days? You know the ones… the ones before the good current days?

If you’re having trouble remembering or just want a fresh face of blast from the past, Facebook have got you! Simple type in www.facebook.com/onthisday.

A feature they’ve been rolling out since the end of March, it’ll show you exactly what you were posting/checking in to/being photographed doing on this day on every year previous since the beginning of time(/beginning of Facebook).

You can also choose to subscribe to notifications so you’ll be alerted when you have memories to look back on.

Look! It’s you 9 years ago when you thought Facebook was just a weird thing that only your friends knew about! Wait.. what are you doing? Uh… you might want to take that down, bro. Just Sayin. And look! It’s you 2 years ago when you were having that party and everyone came and hey maybe you should have another party! And this day last year when you were so happy and in love.. good thing you’re still with whatsername.

Pretty cool and an excellent way to reminisce, but users beware, the past holds some tricky trapdoors amongst the good ‘ol day memories. The feature is still rolling out, so unfortunately it isn’t available to everyone yet.

Cool tech of the week! Hologram edition! Wot!

Our cool tech of the week is Holus, a device that does one simple and yet masterfully wonderful and forward thinking thing: It will convert any media on your smartphone into a interactive 3D hologram. Say whaaaat?

Yuppers. The world’s first interactive, tabletop holographic display. Pretty cool. The device isn’t commercially ready yet unfortunately, with the company H+ just completing a super seriously good Kickstarter campaign, raising $297,790 CAD over 30 days from 496 backers. The original goal was $40,000 and they reached that in 20 minutes.

Check it out on the Kickstarter vid below, and on their website here. 

Holus will retail for $850, and early backers can expect their device in mid 2016, with commercial buyers expecting it a little bit later. Hello Holographic life! We’ve been waiting so long for you!! Welcome Home!