It's been three years since Steve Jobs' untimely passing, and with Tim Cook having assumed the role as helmsman as the Apple co-founder's health began to deteriorate, the current CEO has led the company on into a new era. But despite the success that Apple has enjoyed over the last three years, it's bittersweet given that one of the key figures in the Mac maker's illustrious history is no longer around to see it. In an email sent out to employees, Cook reflects on Jobs as a man, talks about some of his achievements, and the legacy that, as CEO, he continues to build upon.
The month of October is invariably the point at which Apple takes the wraps off its latest tablet upgrades, and over the next few weeks, we're anticipating the public release of OS X Yosemite 10.10, a new iMac / Mac mini, and also iOS 8.1 to accompany the refreshed iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display. According to a very reliable source - the same source that correctly offered a concrete date on the iPhone 6 event last month, no less - the new hardware and software will be announced at a special event on October 16th, to be held at Town Hall.
We've already seen the iPhone 6 completely wipe the floor with Samsung's Galaxy S5 in an unofficial speed test, and with the Galaxy Note 4 now in the process of rolling out to the masses, how does it compare to Apple's latest and greatest in terms of the benchmarks?
Apple's iPhone 6, which first hit the scene two weeks ago, managed to shift ten million units in its first three days alone, and at the time, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 accounted for the lion's share of sales. This may, at least in part, have been due to the fact that the iPhone 6 Plus wasn't as readily available, and whether down to the reported production delays or an underestimation of the larger model's popularity, the Plus's shipping times quickly pushed back to 3-4 weeks. Now, it looks like the admiration of Apple's phablet is beginning to show, with a new report suggesting that the 5.5-inch handset is accounting for three in every five iPhone 6 models being shipped at present.
Apple's initial foray into the world of wearable technology has been speculated, analyzed and discussed consistently over the last 18 months, but only made official when Tim Cook introduced us to the Apple Watch on September 9th. After showing off the beautiful aesthetics of the various models, brushing over the important technical specifications, and showing the obligatory Apple marketing video pertaining to the watch, Cook would only say that the wrist wear would be launched sometime during "early 2015". So, no shiny new Apple Watch in time for the festive season, but if reports emerging from China are to be believed then we could be looking at a worldwide February 2015 launch for the wearable.
Last year with iOS 7, Apple took an even more minimalist approach than usual to its mobile OS, removing all sign of skeuomorphism and instead opting for clean lines and flat shapes. This ethos for keeping things simple is reflected throughout the company’s product range, and with iOS 8 having recently been released, the desire for subtlety has remained. If you’re also a fan of simplicity, you’ll be pleased to learn of a little-known feature bundled into iOS 8 that allows you to enjoy a blank home screen, giving it a desktop OS like look, and below, we’ve compiled a simple step-by-step guide on how you can achieve it.
Apple's iOS 8.1 beta 1 was pushed to developers earlier on this week, and as well as gaining a decent insight with regards to its features, we now have what is claimed to be a solid release date in October 20th. Apple Pay is set to be the flagship implementation of the next major update, but there are a number of other tweaks besides, and thanks to the digging of one eagle-eyed developer looking into the features of iOS 8.1 beta, it has also emerged that Apple will offer much better flexibility when it comes to data usage through voice calling.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus may have launched across some 30 markets over the past couple of weeks, but the grand roll-out of Apple's latest smartphone is far from complete. The company has, over the past few years, increased retail and promotional efforts in China, with the nation's three major carriers all now supported and able to offer top-level cellular speeds, and although the October 17th retail date for Chinese iPhone 6 fans amounts to a delay of one month compared with the UK, US and several others, fans of the handset remain undeterred. Apple and its carrier partners won't be taking pre-orders for at least a week, but with reservations having begun across various outlets, some 2 million devices have already been secured in just six hours.
Earlier on this year, Apple rolled out iOS 7.1 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and among a number of changes, bug fixes and new additions, one of the flagship features was the introduction of CarPlay. Announced as iOS in the Car back at WWDC 2013, CarPlay means that users could remain connected while driving without distraction from the road, and not only does the feature promote road safety, but also offers a broad range of functionality thanks largely to the Siri voice assistant. It has long since been known that audio giant Pioneer would be among the first to retail its own fleet of aftermarket, CarPlay-ready infotainment systems, and today, five of its line-up will offer full-on support of Apple's in-car flavor of iOS via firmware update.
Although iOS 8 was first showcased at this year's WWDC developer gathering back in June, it wasn't until September's iPhone 6 event that we first caught a glimpse of the new integrated, contactless payment system dubbed Apple Pay. The Cupertino company's new infrastructure would not, we were told, be a part of iOS 8.0 on day one, but would follow in a subsequent October software update. According to a new report, the Mac maker is right on schedule to roll Apple Pay out with iOS 8.1, with the same source also offering a firm date on the release.
















