Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the iPhone 5S unveiling event in Cupertino on September 10, 2013 (Click Image To Enlarge)
On Tuesday, September 10, 2013, Apple unveiled its new flagship iPhone 5S and a new budget smartphone, the iPhone 5C, as it seeks to attract more customers and revitalize interest in its devices.
The launch comes as the Cupertino, Calif., company faces heightened competition. Apple has been losing market share to rivals, such as Samsung, with its position in the most recent quarter falling to its lowest level in three years. As growth in the high-end smartphone market slows, Apple must find ways to attract new buyers, as well as expand into lower-priced phones.
Philip W. Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple took over the microphone and talked about reatures of the new iPhone 5S and 5C at the unveiling event in Cupertino. (Click Image To Enlarge)
iPhone 5S
The iPhone 5S is Apple's newest flaghip smartphone. According to Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Marketing,
"The iPhone 5S the most forward-thinking phone we've ever created."
A person holds the new iPhone 5S during an event at the Apple campus on Sept. 10 in Cupertino, Calif. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The iPhone 5S includes updated components, comes in three colors (white, black and gold), and includes a fingerprint recognition sensor to unlock the device and make purchases. It will retail for $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, or $399 for 64GB, all with a contract.
Oh, and in the off chance that you're not a fan of cracked screens, Apple's also offering up proprietary cases that'll run you $49 a pop.
It's made of high-grade aluminum and comes in silver, gold, and "a new space gray."
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The iPhone 5S comes in three colors -- white, silver and gold (Click Image To Enlarge)
The iPhone 5S also sports a new A7 processor. The A7 chip includes 64-bit capabilities, which brings the processing speed and capabilities of desktop personal computer microprocessors to the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 5S is "up to twice as fast" as the previous-generation system and has twice the graphics performance as well. There's OpenGL ES 3.0 on board, but the next-gen handset still promises, thankfully, to remain compatible with the 32-bit apps of yesteryear.
Apple also incorporated a chip that it calls the M7. This is a "motion co-processor" that aggregates and monitors accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass data and offloads it from the A7. That enables a new generation of health and fitness apps, such as a new Nike+ Move app. The app keeps track of what users do, tracks their Fuel points, and lets them compete with friends.
On the Surface
Battery life is on par with the iPhone 5. The 5S has 10 hours of 3G talk time, 10 hours of browsing over LTE cellular networks or Wi-Fi, 40 hours of music playing for all of your live Grateful Dead material, and 250 hours of standby.The iPhone 5 camera features a sensor that's 15 percent larger than the one on its predecessor as well as a five-element, Apple-designed lens with an f/2.2 aperture. Also on board is autofocusing matrix metering, so you can leave the arty blurring to Instagram. Even the flash is getting an upgrade this time out. Apple's offering up "True Tone," which features 1,000 variations of color temperatures to help you get things like flesh tones just right.
The fingerprint reader folks were predicting ahead of launch. The iPhone 5S features a 170-micron-thick fingerprint recognition sensor with a 500 ppi resolution built into the Home button, dubbed Touch ID, that'll biometrically let you into the phone. It's still a physical button that a user needs to push down, but there's a metal ring that senses the person's finger. It can be used to unlock the phone or purchase items from iTunes. Oh, and if someone else wants to access your phone, you can also set the thing up to read multiple fingerprints. And before you ask, for extra security, all of that fingerprint information isn't stored directly to Apple's servers, because Apple apparently isn't in the market of collecting that info.
The Apple iPhone 5S now comes with finger print recognition for increased security and a more powerful A7 microprocessor that is twice as fast as its predecessor that will greatly improve digital images, music and video performance (Click Image To Enlarge)
The iPhone 5S is available for pre-order in three days. It'll start hitting Apple stores on the 20th of September in the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the UK. In December, that list will expand to include more than 100 countries.
The iPhone 5 is going away, but the iPhone 4S will now be available for free with a two-year contract.
iPhone 5C
The iPhone 5C, which is made of plastic, starts at $99 for the 16GB version or $199 for 32GB with a two-year contact.
Preorders start Friday. The devices will be available in stores on September 20.
The new lower-priced Apple iPhone 5C front, back and side views. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Phil Schiller said during the event.
"The iPhone 5C is made with all the incredible technology that customers have loved with the iPhone 5, but there's more, too. It has an incredible new design -- one that's more fun, and more colorful than anything we've made before."
The iPhone 5C has a polycarbonate wrap-around back. It will come in five colors -- green, white, blue, red, and yellow. The screen wallpaper will match the exterior of the phone.
The iPhone 5C has a polycarbonate wrap-around back that will come in five colors -- green, blue, yellow, red and white. (Click Images To Enlarge)
For the new iPhone 5C, Apple also designed $29 custom cases made of silicon with a microfiber lining. The new custom cases come in six colors: white, red, yellow, blue, green and black. Add one of the six Apple‑designed cases to your iPhone 5c and it instantly goes from colorfully cool to impossible to ignore. The case design allows the color underneath to show through, creating 30 fun possibilities. So the iPhone 5c Case does more than just protect your phone — it helps it stand out. And it helps you make it yours.
The new iPhone C custom cases come in six colors: white, red, yellow, blue, green and black. (Click Images To Enlarge)
The iPhone 5C will sport a 4-inch retina display, like the iPhone 5, as well as an A6 chip inside with "blazing-fast performance." The battery is larger than in the iPhone 5, and it includes an 8MP iSight camera, with the five-element lens and IR filter as seen on the 5.
The iPhone 5c also comes with a new Camera app that raises your photography game. Now you can shoot images in a square format. And choose from eight live filters than can be applied before or after you take your photo. Use the Instant filter to give a group shot at the beach a vintage color look. Make a sunset even more vivid with the Chrome filter. Or choose Noir to capture a self-portrait in dramatic black and white.
The iPhone 5c also comes with a new Camera app that raises your photography game. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Now when you record video in 1080p HD, the new 3x zoom feature lets you get in tighter on your subject. Video image stabilization helps smooth out shaky footage from your high‑adrenaline moments. (Running of the Bulls, anyone?) Face detection for up to 10 faces makes sure nobody gets lost in the crowd. And the ability to take still photos while recording video comes in handy when you want to tell that story within a story.
The iPhone 5C camera includes video image stabilization to help smooth out shaky footage. (Click Image To Enlarge)
iPhone 5c comes with a new FaceTime HD camera. Larger pixels and an improved backside illumination sensor give it increased sensitivity in low light — great for, say, letting your friend back on the East Coast experience a West Coast sunset with you. You can also make audio‑only FaceTime calls with clearer sound than even wideband audio.
The new Phone 5c comes with a new FaceTime HD camera. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The iPhone 5C also represents Apple's chance to broaden its market. While its smartphones are popular around the world, the majority of people in places like China can't afford $800 phones. The company plans to host an event in China later this week, where it is believed that Apple will announce a partnership with China Mobile, the world's biggest carrier.
Upgraded iOS 7
Both the iPhone 5S and 5C come loaded with the latest version of iOS 7. Apple CEO Tim Cook calls the latest iOS 7
"The biggest change to iOS since the introduction of iPhone."
The newer iOS7 incorporates a "flatter" user interface and esthetics that provide a whole new user experience and does away with 3d icons, bevels, shadows, and rounded corners, and makes some operatons automatic and behind the scenes. Checkout the video:
But, there is good news for owners of older iPhones. On September 18, you'll be able to download the latest version, iOS 7 onto your older iPhone (models dating back to the iPhone 4), iPad (version 2 or later), iPad Mini or iPod touch (fifth generation). Here's a look at ten key new features.
- Control Center: Swipe up from any screen to immediately jump into system settings such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as well as brightness controls, a flashlight, calculator and other utilities.
- Camera app: When the camera app is open, beyond stills or video, you'll get two other labeled options: shooting the photo as a square picture or a panorama. You can also edit photos with Instagram-like filters.
- Photo app: Apple is bringing organization to hundreds of photos, using the camera information about where and when they were shot to organize them into "Moments," "Collections" and "Years."
- Find My iPhone lock: A new "activation lock" feature requires your Apple ID and password before you can turn off Find My iPhone, further thwarting thieves.
- AirDrop: The new feature is Apple's answer to Samsung's Galaxy S line of phones, which let other Galaxy users share photos and other files by clicking the phones together. AirDrop lets other iOS users send items directly to each other, without opening up a text message or e-mail to do so. A slightly different version of the AirDrop feature has already been available on Apple's latest Mac computers.
- Multi-tasking: Apple has improved multi-tasking. By pressing the home button twice, you can see preview screens of all your running apps and swipe to move from one to another. By swiping up you can delete an app.
- Background updates: The new iOS will update apps automatically in the background and does so when you're plugged into Wi-Fi. The idea is that fetching such updates won't kill your battery.
- iTunes radio: Apple's answer to Pandora will be available on computers and mobile devices when it arrives with the new operating system on Sept. 18. The program brings in pre-programmed radio stations to iTunes, and will let listeners create stations based on their favorite artists.
- Safari: Apple's new look for the Safari browser will let you see more of your content and includes full-screen browsing. There's also a "smart search" field that unifies separate search and address fields into one, and a cool new tab view for scrolling from one page to another.
- Siri: You'll find new male and female voices in Siri. Also new: Twitter search integration, which lets you ask Siri what people are chatting about on Twitter. Siri also now taps Wikipedia as a resource as well as Bing search.
- Design: Not to be underestimated is the overall look and feel of the operating system. With freshly designed fonts, icons and animations — a flash of lightning, say, in the weather app — you may feel like you have a new phone without actually buying the latest hardware.
COMMENTARY: CEO Tim Cook is stuck in a no-win situation. On Tuesday, he was master of ceremonies of the unveiling of the new iPhone 5S and budget-priced iPhone 5C that seemed to please no one.
The unveiling event was short on surprises, and the new iPhone's played it safe for the most-watched company in the world.
Cook was criticized for pricing Apple's new cheaper iPhone 5C too high. By making the 5C a midrange product instead of a low-end smartphone, he protected the company's profit margins — and left a large swath of the market open to rivals selling inexpensive Google (GOOG) Android-based smartphones.
His decision on pricing also preserved Apple's reputation as a premium, aspirational brand. But Cook sacrificed the opportunity to increase Apple's smartphone market share and boost unit sales and revenue in order to maintain the company's business model and image.
On selling a cheap iPhone, Cook is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. And Apple stock was down nearly 6% in midday trading in the stock market Wednesday.
As for the lack of surprises at the product launch, Apple is battling media leaks from supplier partners and lofty expectations set by its history of groundbreaking products under the late, great Steve Jobs.
Even when it did announce something unexpected on Tuesday, the media mostly shrugged, failing to see the significance.
Tech bloggers had photos weeks in advance of the iPhone 5S fingerprint sensor, dual-LED camera flash, the gold model 5S, and the colored plastic cases of the iPhone 5C, but they didn't predict everything. Those surprises, mostly overlooked Tuesday, concerned the details of advanced components and software in the new phones.
- New A7 64-bit microprocessor chip that promises to deliver processing speeds twice as fast as its predecessor chip.
- New M7 motion co-processor that gathers data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass to offload work from the A7 for improved power efficiency.
- Free productivity apps available on both the iPhone 5S and 5C including Pages, Numbers and Keynote, which previously cost users $9.99 and let users create, edit and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations, and iPhoto and iMovie, which previously cost users $4.99 for editing snapshots and videos.
Making Pages, Numbers and Keynote available for free could make the handsets even more popular with professionals. Those software products compete with offerings from Microsoft (MSFT) and Google.
The pressure on Apple's CEO is likely to intensify in the months ahead. Cook has promised "amazing" products to be rolled out through 2014 and he had better deliver. Whether those include the rumored iTV television and iWatch smartwatch remains to be seen.
Apple Makes Huge Mistake Not Introducing A Big Display Phone
In my opinion, Apple lost out on another huge money-making opportunity -- launching an iPhone with a big display to match that of Samsung's Galaxy S4 (5-inch) and Galaxy Note 2 (5.5-inch). Samsung will also be unveiling a newer Galaxy Note 3 (5.5 inch) within the month. As you already know, the S4 (and S3 before) has run away with the market for large display smartphones. Since the S4 was introduced in May, Samsung has sold over 10 million
During a press event at IFA on September 9, 2013, J. K. Shin, President of Samsung mobile communications, revealed some interesting sales figures for the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2. According to Shin, Samsung has sold over 38 million Galaxy Note devices over the past two years.
That is a very healthy number and raises the question yet again about large screen smartphones (5 inches and over) verses smaller screen smartphones (4 to 5 inches). Apple has rigidly stuck to the smaller end, but iPhone fans seem happy with Apple’s choices since the iPhone continues to sell well. However Samsung has taken a different approach in that it offers phones with a variety of screen sizes including the popular Galaxy S3 (4.8 inches) and the Galaxy S4 (5 inches). If Samsung, HTC, LG and others are able to sell millions of phones with 4 to 5 inch displays plus the very same companies are able to sell millions of units featuring even larger displays then it is clear that consumers cherish the choice and that larger screen phones are not just an odd statistical blip.
Shin didn’t elaborate any further or breakdown the number per year or per device, but he did add that Samsung expects to sell at least 10 million Galaxy Note 3 phones. The 10 million figure is probably low, or maybe only a short term prediction, as both the Note and Note 2 sold in greater quantities.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will go on sale internationally from September 25 except for in the U.S. and Japan where it will be released during October.
Large display phones, also referred to as "phablets," because they resemble a hybrid between a phone and tablet, out sold tablets and laptops combined during Q2 2013, but Apple got exactly zero of those sales. According to several mobile technology analysts, iPhone owners are crying for an iPhone with a larger display. Having said this, you have to question why Apple CEO Tim Cook never considered producing the iPhone 5S with a 5-inch display as a defensive strategy. There is no longer any doubt that there is a demand for large display phones. If an iPhone phablet is in the works, why put it off when the market for them is boiling hot?
Apple made a similar mistake with the iPad, when Steve Jobs called 7-in tablets like the Amazon Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy Tab as "dead on arrival." Well, surprise, surprise, Amazon sold 10 million 7-inch Kind;e Fire tablets over the next 12 months from it launch. Apple finally realized this mistake, and introduced the 7.9 inch iPad Mini in 2012. But, that was a rush job, the iPad Mini is under-powered and has an inferior display. I thought about buying a 9 or 10-inch tablet, and was even leaning towards an iPad, but after seeing and reading the reviews of Google's Nexus 7 2nd generation 7-inch tablet in early August, I bought one. Now I am leaning towards a 5-inch phone.
iPhone 5C and 5S Specifications
For those readers interested in the iPhone 5C and 5S technical specifications, check this out.
Click Image To Enlarge
For more detailed iPhone 5S and 5C technical specifications refer to GDGT1 and GDGT2.
Courtesy of an article dated September 10, 2013 appearing in C|NET, an article dated September 10, 2013 appearing in Engadget, an article dated September 11, 2013 appearing in USA Today, an article dated September 9, 2013 appearing in Android Authority, an article dated September 9, 2013 appearing in Forbes, and an article dated September 11, 2013 appearing in Investors.com
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