14 DAY TRIAL // A couple of hours from now, Apple’s newly-instated chief executive officer will take the stage at 4 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California (Apple’s Town Hall Auditorium) to make some iPhone related announcements.
Invitations sent to the media last week bear strong indication that there will be at least one exciting iPhone update.
Whether it be software-wise or hardware-centric, everyone has their eyes peeled on the technology blogs set to cover everything coming out of Tim Cook’s mouth today.
Speaking of which, expect a lot of chatter about his performance following the event. Even though the entire world has gone iPhone 5-crazy, as soon as everything settles down all eyes will be on Tim Cook’s performance on stage.
There will be lots of talk about how he ignited or failed to ignite the audience, and we’re anticipating equal amounts of positive and negative reactions to his keynote, complete with comparisons between him and former CEO, Steve Jobs.
As for Jobs, some expect him to be present at the festivities, others don't.
As you may have heard, Apple is not streaming this year’s fall event live (yet some lucky Brits have it their way). Not to fear! The point of this very article is to keep you updated with the latest announcements from Cupertino as they unfold.
Apple will be posting the keynote on their web site soon thereafter, so I won’t be bothering you with all the unnecessary details like ‘Tim Cook made an awkward face just now’, although I will focus on the important stuff, like the unveiling of Apple’s new iPhone, complete with photos and system specs.
Refresh this page from time to time starting 10:00 AM PT and scroll down to get the latest updates from Cupertino.
Update:
Media gets invited in the Town Hall Auditorium at 4 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. Here's the entrance to the venue.
Journalists are being seated as the Apple event is about to kick off. Everyone is, of course, talking iPhone.
Lights getting dimmed, everyone is preparing for Tim Cook to take center-stage for his first major keynote addres as Apple CEO.
Tim Cook takes the stage and begins with a joke: "This is my first product launch since being named CEO. I'm sure you didn't know that."
Tim continues with the usual updates - a bit of Apple history (the first iPod was launched right here in Cupertino's Town Hall), how popular its retail stores are etc.
Did I mention Apple just leaked the iPhone 4S?
Cook mentions a little bit about their Mac install base and growth. The Mac has risen 23 percent since last year, whereas the PC (as a platform) shot up just four units, his slides show.
iPod market-share - 78 percent. By Apple standards, there's still room to grow. Perhaps today they'll throw in new 'tools' to do just that.
"Next up is iPhone. This could be the reason why the room is so full today," says Cook. His jokes are getting better by the minute.
Year over year growth, market-share, customer satisfaction - all just shooting through the roof (as expected).
Some iPad updates follow. The thing is "showing up everywhere" according to Tim. He emphasizes the tablet's educational side, then its use in various environments, such as airplane cockpits.
He also confirms "[iOS devices] have passed the quarter of a billion sales mark."
Scott Forstall takes the stage to talk iOS, the software on which all iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch players run on.
After some market-share and sales talk, Scott delves into what's new in iOS. And he begins with a cutsey little Cards application.
You choose a picture, Apple prints it out for you and sends it to whoever you want.
Surely you're up on your toes for whatever's coming up next.
Scott continues with a brief description of each iOS 5 key function, most of which we covered here.
iOS 5 coming on October 12th. Oops!
Eddy Cue is now on stage talking about iCloud.
Nothing Apple hasn't confirmed so far. Waiting to see what's available to end customers and when.
Ok, so there are a couple of new features that Apple hadn't said anything about before, such as the ability to invite friends to share their location, and parental controls.
And there it is: iCloud, also available October 12. iTunes Match feature gets rolled out later, but still in October, according to Cue.
Moving on with Phil Schiller who is eager to talk iPods. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they say this event was scheduled to talk iPhone?
"We've added some updates this year," says Phil.
- ability to have bigger icons - improved fitness experience - 16 new clock UIs for those who like to wear the nano as a watch (judging by the slides, kids will be flocking for these things)
Apple is going to charge $149 for the 16GB version and $129 for the 8GB model.
Moving on to the iPod touch, Phil says it's the #1 portable game player. iOS 5 will leverage the heck out of it, according to the Apple executive.
Price drop! $199 for 8GB, $299 for 32GB, $399 for 64GB. Available on october 12th with a new White version of the player.
The iPod shuffle will sell for $49 for 2GB of storage (not getting discontinued, apparently). But there's no sign of any iPod classic updates, so I guess that's that for the classic.
Finally, we're getting to the iPhone. Not that we don't know there's a certain 4S model in store for us already.
But nothing beats hearing Schiller announce it himself: "I'm really pleased to tell you today about the brand new iPhone 4S."
Anyone still hoping for that "one more iPhone 5 thing" announcement?
So, here's what the iPhone 4S is all about, according to Phil.
· same design and outer enclosure · dual-core A5 chip inside (2x faster than before, 7x graphics power) · enhanced for gaming (Phil invites the creator of the Infinity Blade on stage to show off some performance that only the iPhone 4S can achieve) · enhanced battery life: 8h 3G talk time; 14h 2G talk time; 6h 3G browsing; 9h WiFi browsing; 10h video; 40h music. · enhanced antenna. Phil: "Our engineering system has worked really hard at advancing the state of the art... it can now intelligently switch between the two antennas between transmit and receive." · enhanced download speeds: 14.4Mbps (iPhone 4 offers just 7.2). · both GSM and CDMA (world phone). · eight megapixel camera (3264 x 2448) with backside illumination and tons of other enhancements
· a new Image Signal Processor designed by Apple which enables face detection and better white balance (by 26 percent). · 1080p HD video recording with image stabilization and temporal noise reduction. · AirPlay Mirroring (to put stuff on the big screen in your living room) · leverages iOS 5 with Siri integration, a big part of today's announcement.
Scot Forstall is back to demo Siri.
He shows how you can ask Siri all kinds of stuff, in your own words, like "what time is it in Paris now?" And Siri will answer back...
Or you can set your alarm by just telling Siri: "Wake me up tomorrow at 6am." Siri responds: "OK, I set it for 6 a.m." Other examples (for all sorts of queries) follow.
It works just as well for setting up appointments, sending a text message or an email etc. Or, if you're curious about somethig, like who is Neil Armstrong, just ask and Siri quickly pulls up the Wikipedia page on him.
It has Wolfram Alpha integration too, for stuff that needs a bit more explanation.
Phil is back.
A new microphone now sits next to the space bar on the virtual keyboard. Press it and you can begin dictation to avoid having to type your emails and texts.
It supports English (US, UK, and Australia), French and German and it will be in 'beta' for the time for a while.
Schiller again takes everyone through today's announcements real quick.
Phone will be available in Black and White versions as follows: 16GB for $199, 32GB for $299, and 64GB for $399 with a carrier plan, of course.
As rumored, the iPhone 4 drops to $99 for 8GB of storage, while the iPhone 3GS will be free with a contract (also 8GB).
Pre-orders available this Friday (Oct. 7) for iPhone 4S. Device physically available on October 14.
Initially, the upgraded handset will arrive in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan.
US customers will have not only Verizon, AT&T as carriers, but also Sprint (again, as previously rumored). 22 more countries to get it on Oct. 28, and a total of 70 countries by year's end.
Tim Cook back on stage to say a few ending words:
"Now, when you look at each of these, they're great and fantastic and industry leading in and of themselves..."
"[But] what puts Apple way out front is how they're engineered to work together so well."
"I am so incredibly proud of this company and all of the teams who work so hard to bring all of the innovations you've seen today."
And the event is a wrap! Join us soon for a closer look at Apple's new iPhone 4S, both inside and out.
Image credits: Engadget