Posted by Phil Moore on Jun 29, 2013 in News, Tech |
Picture an iPhone 6 in any screen size you like, with a greater level of integration between its hardware and software features than ever before, and with built in free streaming music channels built into the iTunes app. These are the kinds of features Apple will use to give the iPhone 6 a leg up, more than any mere changes in processing speed or camera megapixels. That’s been done enough times by both Apple and its competitors that by now it’s expected. To gain a competitive advantage Apple will need to put things in place like a five inch screen option, an iRadio service, and better cohesion between Jonathan Ive’s iPhone 6 hardware design and the iOS 7 software interface that goes with it.
Apple’s introduction of multiple sized iPads a few months back indicated that it’s becoming more open to the idea of doing the same with the iPhone. So rumors of an iPhone 6 coming in three screen sizes ranging from its own current four inch standard all the way up to the the five inches offered by competitors’ flagship devices aren’t surprising. Some users think a five inch phone is too big; others thing a four inch phone is too small. Putting them both out there, plus a third model in the middle at 4.5 inches, allows the marketplace to decide what it wants. There’s the risk of junking up the product with too many options, but Apple already offers the iPhone 5 in three arbitrarily different storage sizes; converting that into more broadly meaningful screen size variations will have the simple effect of selling more units. But if screen sizes are a starting point for giving the iPhone 6 a broader appeal, iRadio and iOS 7 are where the killer new features really lay.
iOS 7 has been revealed to be a fundamental makeover of the iPhone interface, allowing the iPhone 6 to differentiate itself from past models in a way which goes beyond hardware. And iRadio, which Apple is officially calling iTunes Radio, gives iPhone 6 users access to free streaming music whether they can afford iTunes song purchases or not.
Phil covers tech for Stabley Times.
Picture an iPhone 6 in any screen size you like, with a greater level of integration between its hardware and software features than ever before, and with built in free streaming music channels built into the iTunes app. These are the kinds of features Apple will use to give the iPhone 6 a leg up, more than any mere changes in processing speed or camera megapixels. That’s been done enough times by both Apple and its competitors that by now it’s expected. To gain a competitive advantage Apple will need to put things in place like a five inch screen option, an iRadio service, and better cohesion between Jonathan Ive’s iPhone 6 hardware design and the iOS 7 software interface that goes with it.
Apple’s introduction of multiple sized iPads a few months back indicated that it’s becoming more open to the idea of doing the same with the iPhone. So rumors of an iPhone 6 coming in three screen sizes ranging from its own current four inch standard all the way up to the the five inches offered by competitors’ flagship devices aren’t surprising. Some users think a five inch phone is too big; others thing a four inch phone is too small. Putting them both out there, plus a third model in the middle at 4.5 inches, allows the marketplace to decide what it wants. There’s the risk of junking up the product with too many options, but Apple already offers the iPhone 5 in three arbitrarily different storage sizes; converting that into more broadly meaningful screen size variations will have the simple effect of selling more units. But if screen sizes are a starting point for giving the iPhone 6 a broader appeal, iRadio and iOS 7 are where the killer new features really lay.
iOS 7 has been revealed to be a fundamental makeover of the iPhone interface, allowing the iPhone 6 to differentiate itself from past models in a way which goes beyond hardware. And iRadio, which Apple is officially calling iTunes Radio, gives iPhone 6 users access to free streaming music whether they can afford iTunes song purchases or not.
Phil covers tech for Stabley Times.