iPhone SE Hands On It may be Small but it sure is powerful

Hate big phones? Among today’s Sequoia sized devices, Apple has introduced the diminutive iPhone SE, a 4-inch device that pales next to the iPhone 6s Plus. But buoyed by the 30 million 4-inch iPhones it sold in 2015, Apple thought, “Hey, people still want small phones. Here is a small phone. Here is the ‘new’ iPhone SE.”

To be clear, the iPhone SE is essentially the iPhone 5s with guts that are high-end in Apple Land: A faster A9 chip, an improved camera, an NFC module for Apple Pay, and a little scribble on the back indicating that, yes, this is the iPhone SE, not to be confused with the iPhone 5s. It still comes with 16GB of storage, reminding iPhone owners that they will likely be haunted by the low storage option forever.

But, hey, it starts at just $399, or just over $13/month if you do installments. That’s a pretty enticing price for anyone looking to get their first smartphone, but it is by no means the cheapest device around—the 32GB Nexus 6P, a great and powerful handset, is the same price as the 64GB iPhone SE. Jump down a bracket and the Nexus 5X is just $299 (for a limited time).

Seeing this form factor emerge is like running into an old friend; there’s a familiarity here. I’d call it a happy reunion, because the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s were both terrific—great size, great build, great experience. But if you’re looking for the latest technology, you won’t find it here. Sure, the iPhone SE sports the same guts as the iPhone 6s, but it doesn’t have 3D Touch, something that will no doubt be a big part of Apple’s handset future.

Pre-orders for the iPhone SE kick off on March 24, with shipments expected to go out on March 31, or exactly ten days from now. If you want to pick one up, it’ll cost you $399 for the 16GB model, or $499 for the 64GB model.

Article source from Technobuffalo.

Developer Shows iPhone 6S likely has 2GB of RAM

Finally — after being stuck with only 1GB of RAM memory since iPhone 5, which came out in 2012 — iPhone users get an upgrade.

The recently launched iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus apparently both have 2GB of RAM.

While this hasn't been officially confirmed (and likely won't be confirmed until someone opens the device up and inspects the memory chip), we know it thanks to developer Hamza Sood, who did some tinkering with the latest version of Apple's development platform Xcode.

Sood did this by creating a simple app, which displays an image based on the iDevice's memory. While not an entirely foolproof way to prove that the new iPhones indeed sport a 2GB RAM chip, it's a good indication that this is indeed the case.

Furthermore, the iPad Pro has 4GB of RAM (twice as much as other new iPads), which was already leaked by Apple itself.

So what does this mean for the consumers? Despite the fact that Apple doesn't publicize these numbers, it's very good news. It means the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will have a lot less trouble handling memory-hungry apps, and actually makes them a decent upgrade over the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively (Source : Mashable).

Hands-On With the Apple iPhone 6S and 6S Plus

At least, not until you press a little harder on the Camera icon. That’s when you get 3D Touch, which is what’s really worth talking about. 3D Touch basically enables the phone to measure not just when you move your finger up and down, left and right, but now also through. When you press a little harder, you get what’s called “Peek”—a pop-up of the contents of an email, or the status of a flight, or a quick way to call the business you’re tapping on in Maps.

Press more, and you “Pop.” That’s when you jump to a new place in the operating system. You can press on icons on the homescreen, too, and jump straight to the selfie cam or call your mom without ever actually opening the Phone app. It’s an over-branded way of giving you quick access to the things you’re probably looking for by opening that app, or flipping into that email. I’d call it right-click for the iPhone, but that feels like a dig, so…actually yeah, it’s right-click for the iPhone.

But that’s great! For a lot of users, it might remain a completely invisible piece of the software, an interface shortcut you never discover. If you never use it, your iPhone will work as it always has. But when you discover it, everything feels faster, more direct—it makes the iPhone a less like a collection of apps and more like a single, cohesive thing. 

That’s not always true, though. The problem with 3D Touch is that you never know where the hidden menus are—some apps don’t support it, neither do some menus, and you never get a hint. So you’re forced to hunt around looking for this buried treasure, which I’m worried I’d just stop doing after a while. 3D Touch lets you “see” what’s inside whatever you’re looking at; but how far it will let you look is difficult to say so far.

The other big upgrade seems to be the camera, as per usual. The new 12-megapixel camera and 4K video recording are hard to measure in any useful way inside this gigantic demo room. But the photos and videos I’ve seen look insane. Like, incredible. But again, hard to say for sure what they’ll be like in the real world. Live Photos are another interesting update, giving 1.5 seconds of video on either end of the photo you’ve shot. (Apple picked that amount of time figuring that any longer, and you’re catching people turning away from the shot, or doing something else.

1.5 seconds is about how long they’ll stay engaged.) It’s a pretty small feature compared to the attention it received, but it’s a neat way to make your photo gallery feel a little more interactive. (How much these animated compilations—which are turned on by default—kill your storage remains to be seen.) Despite the noteworthy bits, this is the same S cycle upgrade we’re used to: You’re getting a lot more power, a few new ways to go about using your device, and a couple of small things that make the phone more fun. Oh, and that rose gold looks pretty good [Source :Wired].

iPhone 6S and 6S Plus Cameras Will Take Your Photos to The Next Level

Apple held a huge event in San Francisco on Wednesday to announce the new iPad Pro, new Apple TV and, of course, the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. Like every year, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, are the most powerful iPhones yet. They've got faster processors, run iOS 9 and support 3D Touch — all amazing new features. But the new cameras have us more excited than ever before.

Both the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus have higher resolution 12-megapixel iSight cameras (that's the camera on the back) with dual-LED flash. The megapixel bump means your photos will look even sharper than before with more details when you zoom in on them.

The aperture on the back camera lens is f/2.2, which is a little disappointing since the Galaxy S6/Note 5/GS6 Edge+ and LG G4 have f/1.9 and f/1.8 apertures, respectively. The aperture controls how much light the camera absorbs, which affects how well the camera performs in low-light situations. Still, Apple says the back camera will take better low-light photos than those on its other phones.

It's not just the back camera that's better — the front-facing FaceTime HD camera has received its biggest update ever, jumping from a 1.2-megapixel camera to a 5-megapixel one. To help capture even better selfies, Apple's incorporating a new software function it calls Retina Flash. Basically, right before the front camera snaps a shot, the screen will quickly flash a white screen to help illuminate your face. Apple says selfies will have "true-to-life colors and more natural-looking skin tones."

Another new camera feature is called Live Photos. When you take a photo, the camera records a few seconds of video before and after — complete with sound. It's basically a GIF (not a video), or if you really want to go into the geek world, it's like a live photo from Harry Potter. The downside to Live Photos is that they'll only be viewable on iOS devices on Macs through the Photos app. The Facebook app will also support Live Photos.

And finally, for the first time on any iPhone, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus can record video in 4K resolution at 3,840 x 2,160 resolution at 30 frames per second — four times the resolution of full HD's 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. This brings the iPhone on par with Android phones that have been able to record 4K video for years.

Frankly, we're skeptic of 4K video recording; to really appreciate the 4x amount of details over HD, you need to own a 4K TV or computer display. And from previous experiences, 4K video recording is a big battery drainer. While recording 4K video, you'll be able to snap 8-megapixel still photos.

The two cameras retain the iPhone 6/6 Plus's slow-motion video recording at 1080p resolution at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps and timelapse recording. Fans holding out for Apple putting optical image stabilization (OIS) on the smaller iPhone 6S won't find it there. OIS is exclusive to the larger iPhone 6S Plus [Source : Mashable].

How to Watch Apple's iPhone 6S Live Stream

Apple's newest line of iPhones are about arrive. Apple will hold one of its most anticipated events of the year Wednesday at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The Cupertino company is expected to unveil a pair of new iPhones, an updated Apple TV and possibly a larger iPad.

All of the updates will begin Wednesday at 10 a.m PT when Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to take the stage to kick off what's sure to be a jam-packed keynote. For those not lucky enough to be able to watch the event live from the San Francisco auditorium, Apple will host a live stream of the entire event on its website.

As usual, Apple limits its live video feed to those running Safari on an iOS device (iOS 7 and later), Mac OS X (10.8.5 with Safari 6.0.5 or newer) or those with a second or third generation Apple TV with 6.2 or later. Interestingly, Windows users have it a lot easier this year compared with previous events — at least, if you're running Windows 10.

Apple is making its live stream available to Windows users for the first time in years through support for Edge, Microsoft's new browser introduced with Windows 10. But, if you don't have a supported browser or device, you're not out of luck. There are several different methods to get around Apple's restrictions. One popular tactic is to change the required settings in your browser in order to fool Apple's live stream into thinking you're using a supported browser.

The simplest way to do this is to use an extension or add-on that changes your browser's user agent settings. The User-Agent Switcher extension for Chrome and User Agent Switcher for Firefox allow you to easily "switch" your settings to Safari, which will enable you to access the live stream. You can also change your user agent settings manually, though it's a bit more complicated. See steps for changing your settings manually here.

If all else fails, you can also watch the event using the free VLC media player, which is available for Mac, Windows, Linux and Android. Once you've downloaded the software, select "Open Media," open the Network tab, and enter Apple's URL for the live stream (you will need to wait for the event to start before you can grab the exact URL.)

Apple's live streams have encountered technical problems in the past so it's a good idea to get your setup ready at least a few minutes before the start of the event. Mashable will also be on the ground in San Francisco for the event so follow our live blog for real-time updates and analysis [Source : Mashable].

Upgrading Your iPhone Just Got Easier on Another Carrier

With the new iPhone to be announced next month, Sprint has introduced a new iPhone Forever plan that will let its customers upgrade your old iPhone whenever there is a new iPhone out at no additional cost. Of course, while there are no upgrade fees, the plan will start at $22 per month for the handset itself on top of your normal plan costs when you trade in your old iPhone for a new one.

While the offer will let you currently upgrade to a 16GB iPhone 6 for that monthly price, Sprint also has a special promotion right now as well that will drop the monthly handset cost to $15 per month if you upgrade before 31 December 2015.

"We decided how awesome would it be if anytime customers don't have the latest iPhone, they are eligible to upgrade, and have it be as simple as handing us your existing iPhone and picking up a new one – all included in your monthly rate," Sprint's CEO Marcelo Claure said.

While it looks like Sprint is taking big steps to lure in new customers and take on other carriers, a month ago, it seems as though it is taking its cues from T-Mobile. The Uncarrier had also announced a special iPhone plan that would allow customers to upgrade their iPhone for free with $15 monthly handset repayments [Source : Techradar]

The Features That Would Actually Improve the iPhone 6

Apple lovers will finally get their hands on the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on Friday, and the reviews have been glowing. But if you preordered one or plan on waiting in massive lines, you should know: There are a few things missing from the new devices.

CollegeHumor took note of the new features, or lack thereof, and made this bittersweet parody expressing how everybody feels about the new phones (you know, the things nobody actually wants to admit).

Apple lovers will finally get their hands on the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on Friday, and the reviews have been glowing. But if you preordered one or plan on waiting in massive lines, you should know: There are a few things missing from the new devices.

CollegeHumor took note of the new features, or lack thereof, and made this bittersweet parody expressing how everybody feels about the new phones [Mashable]