Wireless Wednesday for 9/30/15: The New iPhones and Hot Holiday Gifts

The new iPhones came out last Friday and report say there have been 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Plus units sold.

What's different about the "6s" models?

Like every other "S" year, the new 6S and 6S Plus look the same as 2014's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models -- until you start touching them. But the changes underneath are plentiful: new front and rear cameras, upgraded processors and RAM, always-on Siri, and -- most importantly -- a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" screen similar to the Force Touch screen on Apple Watch, giving you contextual options depending how hard you press the display.

Things to consider:

1. There is a new color now, called rose gold (it basically looks like a blush pink, same as the new Apple Watch cole

2. 3D Touch, and a faster processor all combine to keep the next-generation phone looking competitive enough to counter other top-tier handsets as we approach the year-end holiday rush.

3.  Made stronger. They call it Series 7,000, and it's the same aluminum alloy Apple puts into its Apple Watch Sport.

4. Improved camera and thumbprint reader

---  Expected Hot Gadgets for the holiday season

Have a listen:

1.  Flat Screen HDTVs for $75?

Yes, doorbusters this year could have 32" HDTVs for as low as $75

2.  Apple Watch  - Many have put off buying the Apple Watch until the holiday season
 No other device is going to gather a crowd of people around when worn in public—and it’s not just due to the hype. The design of the Apple Watch is fantastic and immediately iconic, not unlike what Apple has done time and time again with its new product launches. The Apple Watch has a long way to go in terms of realizing the dream of a smartwatch that actually earns its spot on your wrist.

 
3. Virtual Reality Headsets

Occulus and Samsung are openly hoping it becomes one of the year’s hot gift items. Samsung opens the platform up to anyone who owns one of Samsung’s four new flagship phones: the Galaxy Note 5, the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S6 Edge, and the Galaxy 6S Edge+. And at $99, it’s selling at half the price of the Innovator Edition.
 


App of the Week:

Jackpot app

Playing the lottery in New York just got even easier than “a dollar and a dream” for millions of iPhone users — and the timing couldn’t be better.

With the Powerball jackpot at $301 million and climbing, a new app for Apple’s iOS devices is eliminating the need to stop by the corner store to buy a ticket.

The Jackpocket app, whose release will be announced Monday, allows users to simply tap and swipe their smartphone screens to play Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto and three other games.

The Soho-based company behind the software expects its app to “significantly increase” this week’s sales of Powerball tickets and boost the pot even higher ahead of Wednesday’s drawing.

Jackpocket founder Pete Sullivan said his target market was people in their 20s and 30s, especially women “who are intimidated to walk into a bodega.”

A credit card is kept on file and winnings up to $600 get credited to your account
 

Wireless Wednesday for 9/10/14: The Apple Announcements

The Big Apple Announcement was Tuesday.  What is new?

An iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch

listen to ‘Wireless Wednesday for 9/10/14 on 92.9 The Game Part 1’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Wireless Wednesday for 9/10/14 on 92.9 The Game Part 2’ on Audioboo

1. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus

The new iPhones, meanwhile, will have 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays, larger than its current four-inch screen. Apple said it expects the new phones—to be called iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus—to go on sale on Sept. 19.

"Today, we are launching the biggest advancement in the history of iPhone," Mr. Cook said.

Apple said it plans to sell the larger 5.5-inch model starting at $299 with a two-year carrier contract, higher than the $199 price for its current high-end iPhone 5S. The company said the 4.7-inch iPhone will start at $199 with a contract. The company said the new phones come with many hardware improvements, including a sharper display, better battery life and improved camera performance.

 

2.  Apple Pay

Apple Inc. on Tuesday introduced a digital-payments service tied to its iPhone 6 handsets and new Apple Watch that will allow consumers to make purchases using just their phones or watches, marking the company's first big push into brick-and-mortar payments.

Apple said it hopes to speed up the checkout process, make credit-card payments more secure and ultimately, to replace physical wallets. The company said it is using a technology known as near-field communication, or NFC, that works by transmitting a radio signal...

3.  Apple Watch

Apple Watch, represents the company's first new product in more than four years. Apple said the watch will start at $349 and be available in early 2015.

Apple said the Apple Watch would have a strong focus on health. It highlighted an app called Fitness that it made to track statistics for different exercises, like bicycling or running. An accelerometer tracks the movements, and a heart rate sensor helps measure the intensity of the workouts.

The wearable computer has a rectangular screen for a face with a flexible display and comes in two sizes. It has a crown on the side that acts as a digital dial, which can be turned to zoom in; tapping the crown returns to the main menu. The watch can be attached to six strap styles, including stainless steel and leather.

Similar to a smartphone, the smartwatch can run a variety of apps. Tapping on the home screen zooms in on a “neighborhood” of apps. From there, the user can tap on the app. Apple demonstrated apps for a calendar, map navigation and a music player.
 


4. Health Tracking

The iPhone 5’s A7 chip was already a key technological step in allowing anyone to track their daily step count with just the phone. But the Apple Watch will include some key, proprietary apps and sensors for tracking fitness too.

The Activity app monitors a wearer’s movements throughout the dray, while the Workout app will track workouts, and they appear to incorporate simple colored rings to judge how well a wearer has done throughout the day – simple, graphical judgments are hard to get across on wearable trackers but this could be one way Apple manages to go further than early movers like Fitbit, Jawbone or Samsung’s Gear Fit. The company claims that “some of the world’s most respected health and fitness experts helped developed Apple Watch.”

5. iOS 8

The iPhone 6's new operating system, iOS 8, will give you predictive typing and App Store parental control, among other features.

App of the Week:

Circa News: Compact Headline News

iOS and Android

News articles and small screens on smartphones just don’t play well together. But thanks to Circa News, this problem is now a thing of the past! The app provides factual and comprehensive but to-the-point news coverage (currently English-only) in a condensed version that is easy to read on a mobile device. The features of version 2.1.3:

    Follow function allows you to follow stories and receive updates
    Breaking news alert
    Share function allows you to shares stories and points via social media

Requires Android 4.0 or higher. Available on Google Play and in the AppStore
 

Wireless Wednesday for 3/14/12: Apple iPad and March Madness App

If you missed my "Wireless Wednesday" segment on 92.9 dave FM for 3/14/12 you can hear about the new iPad and the March Madness Live app where you can follow the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Listen here: