<div><em>A perceptible crackle wafts across a major portion of the world on the eve of an Apple event. Like the little electric sparks you see from static. And before an event that involves a new iPhone, the excitement reaches fever-pitch as fans keep their eye on special countdown clocks. By the time Tim Cook, Apple CEO, takes the stage at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco with a signature "Good Morning," the world is in a breathless frenzy. <strong>Mala Bhargava </strong>reports</em></div><div> </div><div><strong>The Apple Watch Comes Into its Own</strong></div><div>Tim Cook surprises the audience by going straight to the Apple Watch, talking about how well it's doing. No updates and statistics, but right on to how customer satisfaction with the Apple Watch is 97 per cent. The number of apps for the watch have crossed 10,000 and the device is getting more useful. Facebook Messenger, viewfinder for a Go Pro camera, and AirStripan application for physicians are just a sampling of the new apps that are arriving on the Apple Watch.</div><div> </div><div>AirStrip also allows the monitoring of pregnant women, including the baby's heartbeat. Apple expects this to be a game changer for doctor-patient communication. Apple has also been working on new models and new bands (including rose gold) for the Apple Watch, making it more stylish. A double-tour watch strap was specially shown off in the new Apple Watch line-up. Watch OS2, the new refreshed operating system for the watch is shipping on September 16th.</div><div> </div><div><strong>What's Next For The IPad?</strong></div><div> "The Ipad is our clearest expression of our vision of computing," says Cook as he next introduces the new iPad or the "biggest news in iPad since the iPad." Actually called the iPad Pro, as has been rumoured for months, the device is more greared towards work, perhaps giving the category a new lease of life. The display is 12.9 inches meaning that you can now have a full sized keyboard. With the new iOS9 coming, it brings new capabilities including allowing apps to open side by side on one screen. The new iPad will offer competition to notebooks including Apple's own MacBook Air. The specs on the iPad Pro is based on the A9x processor and is thought to be desktop class performance. Graphics rendering, music, games, and movies will also work at high speed on this device. Even AutoCAD will work smoothly on the iPad Pro - with all-day battery life. The iPad Pro also has four speakers to go with the size of the device. Despite the power, it's about as thin as the iPad Air. Apple is also launching a smart keyboard, a physical one, as an accessory with the iPad Pro which attaches to the device via a new magnetic connector.</div><div> </div><div>Finally, the iPad Pro also works with a stylus accessory - the Apple Pencil. The Pencil can actually be used simultaneously with finger touches. Microsoft at the Apple Event For the first time ever, Microsoft was present at the Apple event as a partner to demonstrate Microsoft software, such as Microsoft Office, on the iPad Pro. Various productivity features such as making charts, moving across applications, copying data from one place to the other, were all demonstrated by a Microsoft exec who showed how using the Apple Pencil will enable impressive new features.</div><div> </div><div>Adobe also were at the event to demonstrate creative software applications on the iPad Pro. For professionals who draw and design can quickly create high-end work on the iPad Pro and Pencil. The head of design at 3D for Medical, Irene Walsh, demonstrated how the iPad Pro can be used by doctors to zoom right into 3D versions of the human body and show patients exactly what is going on and how treatment will be planned. The Pencil, because it is pressure sensitive, can be used to show a great deal of detail such as, for example, how arthritis will affect an area. The older iPads will still be available and will see price cuts.</div><div> </div><div><strong>A Bigger Screen: The Apple TV</strong></div><div>Cook next introduced what he believes is the future of television - apps. More and more content will be consumed on the big screen of the television through apps, with you being able to interact with the content. Apple is aiming to revolutionize the TV experience completely. "Siri, show me something new" is what the user will be able to say to the TV, to play games in powerful new ways, watch movies, and more. Theirs is a new interface, a new glass touch sensitive remote and set-top box. The Apple TV was demonstrated showing slow motion live wallpapers for a start. The remote will let you slide through the cameo of a movie and pick an exact spot. If you miss what was said, Siri will skip back a few moments and switch on captions. TVOS is a new operating system for the TV and developers have been invited to work on apps for content from all the big names in movies.</div><div> </div><div><strong>And Finally, The IPhones</strong></div><div>Cook mentions India and China right at the outset as he introduces the iPhone which he describes as the most loved phone in the world. He introduces the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, two devices that look familiar but have changed completely on the inside. Tim Cook refers to them as the most advanced phones in the world.</div><div> </div><div>Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, presents the new phones, showing the new rose-gold aluminum colour. The two devices are 4.7 and 5.5 inch displays. On the new iPhones, as predicted, Phil Schiller introduces "force touch" also called 3D touch, which responds to press pressure to enable more menus and tactile feedback. Force Touch will change the way a user now navigates on the iPhone. In a way, it's like the right-click and allows for shortcuts on a mini-tap, for example, giving more options in context. It's the biggest thing since the swipe. Force Touch is also used on the Apple Watch and one of the recent MacBooks. 3D Touch reduces the number of steps and clicks needed, making the whole experience of getting things done smoother and faster and more intuitive.</div><div> </div><div>The iPhones get a big jump in performance with enhanced specs with the A9 chip, now able to take advantage of the 3D Touch for totally different intense experiences with applications like gaming. The A9 chip works with the M9 co processor meant to be always-on to measure health parameters. Siri is also now in always-on mode. The camera now moves from an 8MP to a 12MP iSight camera in which there hasn't been a mere addition of pixels but better optics to reduce noise, enhance image quality and get better colour reproduction. The front camera is still a 5MP camera but it now includes a true tone flash. For the first time, the iPhone camera can now take 4K video. A fascinating use of the 3D Touch is when a user press down on a photo to see the image come alive with movement and sound to recapture the moment it was taken.</div><div> </div><div>The iPhone supports 23 bands of LTE. It runs on iOS9. There are new leather and silicon covers, new accessories. The new iPhones will start to be available from this month in the same price brackets as the previous. In India, one can expect them towards the end of the year. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will see a price cut. There will also be special upgrade programs rolled out to keep its fans buying a new every year.</div>
