But Forrester analyst Julie Ask argues the iPhone 7 will pick up momentum after a possibly lukewarm response.
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In other releases, the company unveiled a “Series 2” of the Apple Watch that is waterproof and includes a Global Positioning System – an appeal to the workout market of runners/hikers/bikers/swimmers/surfers, where the watch has faced persistent competition from other wearables. The game supports one-handed play to ensure that you can “eat a cheeseburger” while playing it.
The company is trying to reverse its first decline in iPhone sales since the company’s late founder, Steve Jobs, unveiled the trendsetting device in 2007. It had its last big innovation about 50 years ago.
iPhone 7’s stereo speakers offer sound that is two times louder than iPhone 6s. Also, only 15 minutes of charging gives 3 hours of battery life.
In form, both new iPhones are similar to their predecessors. High-end photographers can get images in RAW format, which allows for more versatile editing, matching what many leading cameras now have.
The new phone’s features are pretty spiffy – there’s new camera technology, the screen will be brighter, and it’s waterproof (yay!).
Other smartphone makers are also having trouble dazzling consumers with new advances. The difference is the wide angle on LG G5 has lower resolution with 8 megapixels. The new iPhone models will launch in India on October 7, with the iPhone 7 base model starting at Rs. 60,000, with no word yet on India price of other models. The larger Plus model is increasing to $770, instead of $750. The new device is available in a shiny black finish.
Customers in Canada will be able to pre-order iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus beginning Friday, September 9, with retail availability beginning Friday, September 16. The key takeaway is that prices have been kept constant while adding more features, improving performance and doubling the storage capacity. There’s a new Home app to control appliances.
While the new Lightning headphones are certainly capable of delivering higher fidelity audio, I’m not sure the average listener will hear the difference, especially if the quality of the audio file isn’t all that great. He recapped some of Apple’s more impressive sounding numbers.
As for swims, the previous Apple Watch model is resistant to splashes, but not extensive use in water. The watch’s display is also customized to match. The updates are coming September 16.
Pokemon Go has been downloaded more than 500 million times and billions of kilometers have been walked by players since it was made available free in early July, according to Niantic Labs, which created the game. The original Apple Watch is the world’s bestselling smartwatch, but most recent competitive watch designs have shown more traditional circular watch looks. That’s good news for runners and wanderers, but it’ll be interesting to see what kind of hit the battery life takes.
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During the keynote Niantic’s John Hanke, the former head of Google Maps and the developer of PokemonGo, introduced the Apple Watch version of the mega-app.
