<div>Mark the day. The 9th of September, 2014. It’s the day that the line, made famous by Steve Jobs, was brought out of cold storage and proudly called out by Tim Cook, CEO, Apple, at a special event at the Flint Center for Performing Arts, Cupertino, California, where he took the stage with the confidence that he wasn’t going to disappoint Apple fans. As leaked out earlier, Apple did launch two iPhone 6s, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. Probably wisely, Apple has stayed with the design that has been so wildly successful for the company, seeing it through sustained profitability for the past few years when everyone was clamouring for a new product or product category from Apple. Time after time, people would refer to the iconic Apple leader, Steve Jobs and insist that the post-Jobs company really couldn’t be the same, after all. And today when Tim Cook said “And one more thing…” to tumultuous applause, it was quite as if he had just taken over the mantle from Steve Jobs.<br /><br />The iPhones are bound to be expensive, when they arrive, but at least they’ve moved with the times to cater to users’ demands for larger phones. Remarkably, they’re thinner still and will have new features with the launch of the new iOS 8 operating system.<br /><br /> </div><table width="300" align="right" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="0"><tbody><tr><td><img width="300" vspace="2" hspace="2" height="300" align="right" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=b83e099d-7ff0-49f4-be19-f91a86f64503&groupId=36166&t=1410320960941" alt="" /></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Tim Cook, CEO, Apple</strong></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Of course, the specs are all up, specially the resolution of the screen. 1334 x 720 for the iPhone 6 with 326ppi density, and 1920 x 1080 with 401ppi density for the iPhone 6 Plus. There are already phones with that level of resolution, but one can be confident that the iPhone screens will look superbly finessed and will please fans no end. The camera is still an 8 megapixel but has enhanced optics of all sorts including Optical Image Stabilization on one of the models. Tim Cook and Phil Schiller repeated their favourite line about these being the best iPhones they’ve made yet – which is obvious since they cannot possibly make worse ones anyway.<br /><br />In the course of the two-hour long event, Apple didn’t exactly start any new categories, but it certainly gave a shot in the arm to two technologies. The first of these is mobile payments. The iPhone’s fingerprint scanner, as always intended, will do away with the ritual of pulling out your credit card, risking sales staff seeing your security number, and will need just a tap of the finger to make a payment. Apple has partnered with many businesses to kickstart this. Of course, when it happens in India, remains to be seen, but once it’s got going, mobile payment will gather momentum everywhere. America basically does what Apple tells to; the rest of the world does what America does, and with that, the technology will take off.<br /><br /> </div><table width="300" align="left" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"><tbody><tr><td><img width="300" vspace="2" hspace="2" height="351" align="middle" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=cb2e0298-94c7-4e93-89ff-ef84e3e38731&groupId=36166&t=1410320846023" alt="" /></td></tr><tr><td><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"><strong>Apple Watch</strong></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Awaited for years, a smartwatch finally became part of Apple’s portfolio. Predictably, the company will position it as if it were their invention – and fans will lap it up. But undoubtedly, the Apple Watch (not the iWatch as everyone thought) will help open up the market, by dint of the very fact that Apple is validating the presence and potential of the wearables industry.<br /><br />The Apple Watch may or may not be the best looking device in the world, but it’s got the Jony Ive stamp and has a few innovative design elements, one of which is the “crown” or a dial which is reminiscent of the classic iPod’’s “clickwheel”. This dial helps interact with the watch without having to obscure the surface with podgy fingers. Siri also lives in there somewhere, so the user can voice-interact as well.<br /><br />The Apple Watch got a standing ovation from the attendees at the Apple event. A lot of time was spent describing the features and a visibly pleased Tim Cook thanked the Apple team specifically for their work on the watch. The Apple Watch will also be able to make payments, but apart from that, has many of the capabilities that some smartwatches already do. Notifications, social networking, calendars and reminders, maps and navigation, music and music control, are all in its repertoire. Most important is that it is a fitness and health device that will measure and track various parameters and even feature a shareable heartbeat.<br /><br />Whether Apple will be at the very center of the wearales industry with its watch, only to be available next year is not easy to predict at this point, but the Apple Watch certainly is a good One More Thing for now.<br /><br />Mala@businesworld.in<br />mala.bhargava@gmail.com<br /> </div>
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
