New Apple products aim to help users feel more connected and secure
Apple Inc. aims to carve out a bigger presence in people’s lives, pushing the idea that its newest gadget and newest app will bring people closer together and make them feel more secure.
Apple Watch, coming early next year, and Apple Pay, arriving in October, were unveiled Tuesday alongside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Many of the features introduced on each tool already exist on competing devices. But analysts said that Apple managed to refine them into designs that would wow customers with their appearance while transforming complicated technology into products that are easy to use.
“It’s not just about the tech-savvy or the fitness fanatic,” Carolina Milanesi, a technology analyst at Kantar Worldpanel, said of the Apple Watch. “It’s about anybody that has the disposable income and sees it driving a better experience.”
The first launches of brand-new products since Tim Cook replaced the late Steve Jobs as Apple’s chief executive also drop the “i” moniker (iPhone, iPad, etc.) in favor of the broader “Apple.” It was a clear message, Milanesi said, that Internet connectivity is now expected to be everywhere — including watches, cars and homes.
Apple Watch is a smartwatch that links up to an iPhone that’s version 5 or newer and, for $349, serves as a companion to the smartphone by running apps that Apple says will have unique features. In fact, its functions are severely limited without an iPhone link. The Apple Watch gathers data from sensors inside it and the iPhone to keep track of how much exercise the user is doing, for instance.
But compared with activity monitors or competing smartwatches from Samsung, LG and Motorola, the Apple Watch attempts to produce “intimate” experiences, according to Cook. A user can measure her pulse and then share her “digital” heartbeat with a friend via the watch. Users can also use their fingers to draw doodles and send them to contacts. Google has a similar but little-advertised feature in its Hangouts messaging app. Apple is trying to make it a key selling point.
Other smartwatches have been criticized for making actions reliant on voice commands or taps on the screen that then obstruct what’s being displayed. Apple instead is touting features that reduce the need for cumbersome typing, or for oddly talking to the watch (though Siri will be available) or for annoyingly having to pull the phone connected to it out of a purse or pocket. Users can select animated emoticons or suggested responses to quickly reply to messages. What Apple calls the “digital crown” of the watch — a combination dial-button on the right side — lets users scroll on the screen or return to the app menu.
Starwood Hotels is expected to launch an app that allows the watch to serve as a hotel room key. BMW’s app is expected give drivers directions back to their cars. Apple’s Maps app will navigate users by vibrating the watch on the side that they should turn.
The watch comes in three styles (normal, fashionable and sporty) and two sizes (about 1.5 inches and about 1.65 inches) with five options for straps (sport, classic buckle, leather, stainless steel loops and stainless steel bracelet.)
Coming to both Apple Watch and the new iPhone is Apple Pay, an app that stores credit card information. At McDonald’s, Subway and Macy’s, the new devices can be tapped on the payment terminals to complete transactions. Because Apple already has credit card details for its customers through iTunes and is letting the system work with apps in addition to physical stores, Apple Pay has a strong chance of catching on, analysts said — although 44% of respondents to a survey by Princeton Survey Research Associates International said they never would use such a form of payment.
Apple, which recently drew criticism over security for its iCloud storage system, says it won’t store credit information online or track purchase histories. On the other end, retailers won’t actually see the credit card number, security code or the cardholder’s name. Users need to use the iPhone’s fingerprint sensor to authenticate a payment. And if a phone is lost or stolen, Apple’s Find My iPhone service can be used to block fraudulent purchases.
Alex Gauna, senior analyst at JMP Securities, called Apple Pay the highlight of the day because it’s simple and secure. The most popular smartphone in the country could finally make the idea of a digital wallet a reality, he said.
“You’re going to have a lot of retailers wanting to make transactions more secure,” he said. “And a fringe benefit for consumers is it makes it very quick to pay.”
Shipping Sept. 19 and available for pre-order Friday, the new iPhone brings Apple closer to smartphones that run on Google’s Android operating system in terms of both hardware and software.
A smaller model has a 4.7-inch screen, a jump from the 4-inch screen on its predecessor, the iPhone 5s. The device, which starts at $199 on a two-year cellular service contract, is thinner and faster as well.
A second model, with a 5.5-inch screen, is called the iPhone 6 Plus and costs $100 more. With its large size comes 185% more pixels than the iPhone 5s and a much more powerful battery. It can hold its charge for 14 hours of high-definition video playback, compared with 10 on the iPhone 5s and 12 on the smaller iPhone 6.
Apple had been expected for months to increase the size of the iPhone as the demand for smartphones with screens 4.5 inches or larger has doubled during the last year to encompass nearly a third of the smartphone market, with buyers choosing options from the likes of Samsung, LG and HTC.
Both new iPhones feature new camera sensors that produce faster, continuous autofocus and improved video stabilization. Another tool, similar to what some Android smartphones have, allows users to shoot a burst of photos and then choose the best one to save. The feature upgrades are supported by a faster computer chip, the A8, and a more powerful processor, the M8, to analyze motion sensor data.
In another Android-borrowed feature, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will be able to make phone calls over Wi-Fi. And they now support WiFi 802.11 ac, which means that when the iPhone 6 is connected to newer routers that support the technology, Internet speeds can be up to three times faster, Apple said.
Twitter: @peard33
