Review TechRadar: Phone and communications news 09-10-2014

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Versus: iPhone 6 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy Note 4: Clash of the titans Sep 10th 2014, 16:10, by Ben Stinson Design, screen, and camera Rumours have flown around for months suggesting that the iPhone 6 would finally come in a larger flavour. Those rumours and leaks were (mostly) proved right when Tim Cook & co. took the wraps off the biggest update to the iPhone line-up since the iPhone 4. Less than a week after big reveals from many other leading brands, Apple has a lot to prove, especially with a larger form factor. The big question now is, how does the iPhone 6 Plus stack up against the competition? Namely Samsung's brand new - and similarly sized - Galaxy Note 4. On paper it's pretty easy to pick holes in the specification, but as Apple has reminded us year after year, specification means little to 'Joe Public', so how do the two compare in detail? Design Side-by-side, Apple's iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 are different beasts. Apple has chosen a unibody construction that is most comparable to the HTC One M8 and Samsung has stuck with a familiar faux leather back, improving the perceived feel and build quality by including a metal strip that runs around the edge of the handset. Stepping up considerably from the iPhone 5S's dimensions, the 6 Plus measures 158.1mm x 77.8mm x 7.1mm, incredibly close - but slightly thinner - than the Note 4's 152 x 80 x 7.6 mm proportions. At 172g, the 6 Plus is slightly lighter than the 176g Note 4 two phones, impressive considering its all metal body. While the 6 Plus is a smooth, seamless body, Samsung made a few concessions with the Note 4, due to the added functionality of the included S-Pen, something that Apple clearly felt wasn't necessary on its first foray into the world of larger screens. Both are unique designs, and although the Galaxy Note 4 is the more utilitarian of the two, harbouring extra features such as the in-built heart-rate monitor and water-resistance, the iPhone 6 Plus is quite obviously the more sleek, svelte option. Like the iPhone 5S before it, the 6 Plus comes in gold, silver and 'space gray' colour variants. The Note 4 offers a slightly different selection in the form of white, black, gold and pink options. Both are catering suitably well for different tastes, though Samsung is arguably covering a wider demographic with the hot pink model. Screen For years Apple told us that we didn't need larger phones, but despite this advice millions have favoured sizeable phones such as the Samsung Note and Xperia Z series. Apple has finally conceded, and is now offering its biggest smartphone to date in the form of the 6 Plus, and while its specifications aren't quite as high as the Note 4, Apple clearly feels it's done enough. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 packs an impressive 2560 x 1440 (515ppi) screen, one of the first available on a smartphone (also known as Quad HD), with a size of 5.7 inches. Meanwhile the iPhone 6 Plus settles with just 1920 x 1080 (401ppi) resolution 5.5-inch screen. It's not just any old 1080p screen though, Apple used some impressive wording in its keynote to ensure we were all aware of the technology packed in. Whereas Samsung uses the well-known Super AMOLED tech in the Note 4, which was really well received in the earlier Note 3, Apple sticks with an LCD panel. This comes complete with IPS and 'dual domain' technology to ensure bright colours and wide viewing angles. The screen itself has 185% more pixels than an iPhone 5s, but nearly 45% less than in the pin-sharp Note 4. Whether you'll notice the difference in pixels entirely depends on what you're used to, although it's safe to say that the 1080p screen is a clear improvement over non-HD screens of the iPhone 5. Camera Where camera technology is concerned, both Samsung and Apple aren't winning any megapixel wars, although the Note 4 has double the megapixel count of the 6 Plus. The Note 4 is also packing the same 16MP sensor found in the Galaxy S5 with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and 4K video recording at 30fps. The front camera took a spec jump over its predecessor and now packs a wide-angle 3.7MP camera. In the 6 Plus, Apple sticks with a 1/3-inch 8MP 'iSight' sensor with True Tone flash on the rear, and 1.2MP 'FaceTime' camera on the front. Both featured in last year's 5S. On the surface there are few spec improvements to note, but dig deeper and you'll find improved video performance of 1080p at 60fps, and HD slow-motion recording at up to 240fps. It might not be 4K, but as Apple likely knows, the world's still not entirely ready for the huge files that 4K video can create. The iPhone 6 Plus also packs OIS, which is also usable during video recording, along with continuous auto-focus. Battery, performance, health, price and release Battery In typical Apple fashion, some key specifications are leaving us playing a guessing game. While Samsung was happy to reveal the exact capacity of the Galaxy Note 4's battery: 3220mAh, Apple remains coy about listing the capacity. So far it has only revealed expected usage times in a variety of scenarios: 80 hours of audio, 14 hours of video, 12 hours of Wi-Fi, LTE or 3G usage and up to 16 days standby. Samsung on the other hand, has not yet listed detailed battery life expectations. However, with a battery that size it should be as good, if not better, than the iPhone 6 Plus. Performance Again, it's difficult to provide a direct comparison of performance between these two giant phones, as Apple is holding its cards close to its chest. All we know so far is that the iPhone 6 Plus packs a dual-core 64-bit A8 processor - an upgrade over the 5S' A7 processor, with Apple claiming that it is 25% faster, with 50% faster graphics. The specifications of the Samsung Note 4 are a little easier to digest, packing the first Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor to feature in a smartphone, clocked at 2.7GHz. This coupled with an Adreno 420 GPU should be ample power to Android L and all that comes with it. Some markets will see an alternative octo-core processor that packs quad-core 1.3Ghz and quad-core 1.9GHz processors and a Mali-T760 GPU into one system-on-chip. The biggest disparity between the two is the RAM. The Galaxy Note 4 has a whopping 3GB of RAM, where as the iPhone 6 Plus is reported to feature just 1GB of RAM. Apple didn't directly qualify this in its keynote, but it's likely to be both correct and equally unsurprising. iOS is rather more resourceful with its memory, despite more limited multi-tasking capabilities than Android. With an efficient processor, less RAM doesn't make any noticeable difference in real world usage. Apple has finally introduced a 128GB version of the iPhone 6 Plus (and in the process quietly killed off the iPod Classic), alongside 64 and 16GB models. Samsung's Galaxy Note instead offers 32GB or 64GB varieties, but has the added bonus of a micro-SD card slot capable of housing an additional 128GB of storage. Health & Other Features Both Apple and Samsung have packed a wealth of features into these latest, and largest of smartphones, with health tracking sensors taking high priority in both devices. The Apple iPhone 6 Plus packs a barometer, next-gen gyroscope and more. Samsung has included these and gone a step further by including a rear-positioned heart rate sensor and UV meter that combine to produce a wide range of health and fitness feedback. Apple includes the Touch ID fingerprint scanner on the home button, but Samsung counters this with its own equivalent positioned underneath the screen just above the home button. However, with the launch of the iPhone 6 Plus Apple has shown that a fingerprint scanner affords considerably more possibilities beyond unlocking your smartphone. Apple has finally managed to coerce the major card providers - Visa, Mastercard and American Express - into introducing a digital payment system called Apple Pay that combines NFC, Touch ID and the card information apparently "securely stored" in the Passbook app. It's no surprise that to get the most out of either of these new smartphones, both will tell you that complementary smartwatches - the Samsung Gear Live and Apple Watch - are key to ensure you get the most information and best experience. Price Samsung hasn't yet officially announced pricing for the Note 4, though you can expect it to be more expensive than the Galaxy S5, which had an RRP of around £550-£600 SIM free in the UK, $650+ in the US, and $900 in Australia. The iPhone 6 Plus' SIM-free price starts at a sizable $749, £619, AU$999, which means it's probably going to be more expensive than the Note 4. Unsurprisingly, all the major UK networks have committed to stocking both phones, with EE getting a special mention in Apple's keynote for Wi-Fi calling capabilities. Release Date Pre-orders of the Apple iPhone 6 Plus start on September 12, and it will go on sale in the US, UK and other territories on September 19. Much like the details of its pricing, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 launch date is still officially unknown, though it is expected to start appearing on the shelves sometime in October. Fighting Talk: Dear Apple: why can't we have an iPhone 6S? Sep 10th 2014, 15:57, by Craig Grannell It says a lot that Apple's catchphrase for the new iPhone 6 is 'bigger than bigger'. The company has very obviously abandoned the rationale behind the shift in screen size for the iPhone 5, as outlined in its thumbs advert, where the display was dictated by a typical digit being able to reach every corner. In galloping towards the point where a great many profits are now said to lie, it's also abandoned anyone who might want a smartphone that can't also double as a tea tray. In short: the small iPhone is now dead. I always liked the original iPhone and its successors. They felt good in the hand and fitted sensibly in the pocket. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY4c2mh15Yk The iPhone 5, though, always felt a little bit too big. On finally owning a 5S, it's never gelled with me the same way that my iPhone 4S did. Immediately, I recognised I'd never quite be able to mimic Apple's thumbs video without breaking and resetting my own thumbs in a manner that would almost definitely invalidate my warrantee. I drop big things And while I admit to sometimes liking the extra screen space the iPhone 5 provided, I'm not sure for me it was worth the compromise of the phone becoming less comfortable and generally usable. And then I bought a Nexus 4. It was even worse. Although I could still just reach each screen corner when using the device one-handed, doing so required the kind of hand gymnastics that typically result in a device with an expensive glass screen tumbling on to a hard surface, and then sadly looking upwards and weeping in a quiet voice "repair me". I shuddered at the thought of Apple following suit, and then over the past six months, it became very apparent Apple was going to do exactly that. Plus infinity So now we've seen the company unveil the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, or as I'd have it, the iPhone 6 Plus and the iPhone 6 Plus _Plus_. They're beautiful devices, with a case design that's the first to beat the original iPhone's. They look like they'll be comfortable to hold, at odds with the jagged industrial minimalism of their predecessors. Beyond extra pixels, the display tech is boosted with wider viewing angles. The FaceTime camera is vastly improved. There's a new A8 chip with M8 co-processor for enhanced gaming (and I do like my iOS gaming). It's all great - apart from the physical dimensions of the new devices. I'm not alone. Although I'm seeing plenty of people enthusing "At last!" about bigger iPhones, which fit in their bear-sized man-paws or cater to their two-handed delight, I'm equally seeing just as many people disappointed that Apple's ceding the smaller smartphone market to Android. Yes, the 5S is still in the line-up, but it's dead technology and will vanish entirely in two years. For those of us who like smaller phones, and anyone who has smaller hands and won't be able to easily use the larger new iPhones, Apple's left them with nowhere to go regarding iOS. Attempting to paper over the cracks with the embarrassingly awful Reachability system smacks of the same kind of desperation we saw from Samsung with its laughable S5 one-handed mode. What I'd love to see is an iPhone 6S, with the 'S' standing for small. Give me the same case design and the A8 chip. Give me the improved display and FaceTime camera. Even give me the same price-tag - I'd happily pay it, as I'm sure would many others. Instead, I'll be wrapping my 5S in some kind of bullet-proof protective casing, extending its life for as long as possible, and hoping Apple will marvel everyone by releasing a 'magical' smaller iPhone 7 next year - but I won't hold my breath for that. What's all the fuss about? Read our hands on: iPhone 6 review Visa is working to bring Apple Pay to Europe Sep 10th 2014, 15:55, by Hugh Langley Apple announced this week that it's entering the payments arena with the launch of Apple Pay, in a move that could finally turn the mobile wallet into a viable technology for us all. Or at least, for those in the US. Right now that's the only country that Apple's new payment system has been announced for. However, Visa has confirmed that it's working to bring Apple Pay to Europe. Steve Perry, Chief Digital Officer of Visa Europe, told us in a statement: "We are working closely with Apple and with other member banks to bring this new service to market in Europe." He added: "Apple's entry to the market represents a critical piece of the mobile payments jigsaw. This is a pivotal moment for digital payments and one that demonstrates the momentum behind mobile and contactless services." While that doesn't indicate when we might see the service touch down in the UK, we at least know that it's definitely on its way. We're chasing up with Visa to see if there's anything further it can tell us on how long it might take. We got our hands on Apple Pay Exclusive: PayPal on Apple Pay: Payments 'harder than keeping a live stream running' Sep 10th 2014, 11:59, by Patrick Goss Apple Pay was one of the big cornerstones of the Apple event in Cupertino, but the proprietary payments system appears to have not provided too much worry for a potential rival in PayPal. Many of the features being promoted by Apple are currently offered by PayPal, but the might of the Cupertino outfit in tech means that nobody fails to take the company seriously. Speaking to TechRadar, PayPal's Rob Skinner explained why he's not running scared, as well as firing a good humoured jibe about the truly dreadful live feed that Apple provided complete with timeouts, jumps and a Chinese translator. "Nobody can dispute Apple's strong track record, but payments is a difficult area," he said. "It's much more difficult to do payments than to keep a live stream working!" No alarms and no surprises "We were very interested in Apple's announcement but there wasn't a lot that was surprising, least of all to us," he added. "One of the most interesting things was essentially how much of the language that Apple was using that we have been using for a long time - things like not sharing information with the merchants or your credit card details. "We're quite surprised that Apple Pay has limited functionality. You can't expect people just to swap their leather wallets for digital ones, you have to offer more and there is nothing to reward loyalty or provide offers or anything built in with Apple Pay." Time and money Skinner pointed to PayPal's lengthy track record in digital payments and suggested that success will not come overnight - even if you have a fruity logo. "A lot of companies have offered digital wallets because it seemed like a good idea at the time, but without really understanding what they were offering," said Skinner. "We are different. We have 150 million active digital wallets and we've spent the last 15 years building up a network of over 15,000 financial institutions. "At PayPal we don't back one horse - and say you can only use an Apple device because we know our customers have multiple types of device and may need it to work on Android etc." Skinner uses Apple devices himself, and both he and PayPal were enthused by one particular product - with the Apple Watch announcement a highlight of the big reveal. "We respect Apple and we want to congratulate them on the iWatch," he concluded. "As a company that has done payment on wearables for some time it's really interesting to see." Versus: iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S5: Apple and Samsung do battle again Sep 10th 2014, 11:20, by Gary Marshall Design, screen, camera and battery The iPhone reinvented the smartphone, but rivals soon caught up. Where the original iPhone was miles ahead of its rivals, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are launching in a very different market, one full of superbly capable rivals such as the Galaxy S5, the LG G3, the Sony Xperia Z3 and the HTC One M8. One phone can't beat them all though, can it? Let's find out how the iPhone 6 compares with the current King of Android, Samsung's Galaxy S5. Read our hands on: iPhone 6 review iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S5: Design The iPhone 6 benefits from the usual Apple engineering to deliver something that feels worth dropping more than $600/£500/AU$800 on. Its rounded edges are reminiscent of the original iPhone 3GS, but the super slim body and larger screen are something new to Apple. Samsung's design isn't bad, but it doesn't quite nail the premium feel that Apple excels at, not least because of its plastic chassis. Samsung isn't just behind Apple here: Android rivals such as Sony and HTC do a better job too. Apple isn't in the lead with everything, however. It's moving into the phablet market, which Samsung created, and its belated embrace of NFC comes long after it became part of even the humblest Android handset. iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S5: Screen The Galaxy S5's screen is amazing, managing to be both brighter and darker than rivals when required and delivering vivid, punchy colour. It's a 5.1-inch full HD (1,920 x 1,080) Super AMOLED delivering 432ppi, and unlike earlier versions you can tweak it to get exactly the display settings you want. It's also protected by Gorilla Glass, making it a little more durable. The iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 1,334 x 720 (326ppi). There's no sign of the rumoured sapphire crystal glass; Apple says its screen is "ion hardened" and delivers better colours and deeper blacks than before. iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S5: Camera Samsung's main camera is a 16MP f/2.2 ISOCELL sensor with Phase Defect autofocus and selective defocus, also known as background de-focus. The latter aims to produce SLR-style images with soft backgrounds. However, using selective focus is a pain and can be slow - but autofocus works well and the image sensor produces good images. The camera in the iPhone 5S was widely praised for its speed and image quality, and the iPhone 6 sticks with the 8MP resolution. The aperture is a low light-friendly f/2.2 and the software includes dramatically improved image processing. There's optical stabilisation too courtesy of EIS (Electronic Image Stabilisation). iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S5: Battery The Galaxy S5 has a huge 2800mAh battery, which is nearly double that of an iPhone 5S. Apple has boosted battery capacity of the iPhone 6, with a 1810mAh power pack. You should take manufacturer's battery claims with a pinch of salt, but Apple reckons the iPhone 6 gets 24 hours talk power or 16 days (384 hours) of standby. Apple's iOS is very power efficient, but the battery size is still significantly smaller than the S5. However, we won't know exactly how well it performs until we can put it through out 90-minute video battery test. CPU and RAM, health and price iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S5: CPU / RAM As ever, Apple has its own silicon in the iPhone 6: this time it's the 64-bit A8 processor, which remains dual-core but boosts the clock speed from the previous 1.3GHz to a rumoured 1.4GHz. The A8 is smaller than the A7 and promises to be 50% more energy efficient as a result, and the RAM is reportedly quicker too - although Apple is sticking with just 1GB, a fraction of the RAM you'll find in rival devices. Samsung's processor in the Galaxy S5 is a quad-core Snapdragon 801 clocked at 2.5GHz and with 2GB of RAM. On paper, then, the Samsung is considerably more powerful. But that isn't the whole story, because Apple's control over both its 64-bit software and 64-bit silicon means it can optimise iPhones in a way that Android firms can't. When the respected reviews site Anandtech benchmarked the Galaxy S5 against the then six-month-old iPhone 5S, the iPhone gave its younger, more powerful rival a kicking in almost every performance category. Games should be particularly good on the iPhone 6 thanks to Metal, the new graphics API introduced in iOS 8. Metal enables games developers to squeeze maximum performance out of the iPhone's GPU and promises to render objects up to ten times more quickly. Apple says graphics performance is up to 84% faster overall. It isn't just useful for games, though. It can use the GPU to process data for all kinds of apps, boosting their performance accordingly. iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S5: Health Smartphones are mature technology now, with new models evolving rather than offering jaw-dropping new features nobody has ever seen before. That's why manufacturers' attention is turning to ecosystems of connected accessories for home automation and health. Both Samsung and Apple have health monitoring features: S Health for Samsung and Health (formerly Healthbook) for Apple. Both systems are really designed to be used with external sensors such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, but there are sensors in the Galaxy S5 in the form of a heart rate sensor. Rumoured blood pressure monitoring didn't make it into the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. Both devices also have sensors for humidity, temperature and barometric pressure, and the iPhone has Apple's M8 motion coprocessor for tracking physical activity including distance and elevation. It's worth noting here that Apple has forbidden developers of health apps from sharing user data with third parties such as advertisers and data brokers. iPhone 6 versus Samsung Galaxy S5: Price iPhone 6 range starts at $649, £539, AU$869 without contracts, going all the way up to $849, £699, AU$1129 for the 128GB model. The Galaxy S5 has an RRP starting around £599 (US$650, AU$900) but is widely available for considerably less: at the time of writing it was available for as little as £420 (around $560, AU$620) SIM-free. Gary Marshall: With the iPhone 6, Tim Cook launched Apple 3.0 Sep 10th 2014, 11:16, by Gary Marshall This wasn't supposed to happen. After Steve Jobs slipped away in 2011, Apple was supposed to slide into irrelevance. Keynotes would become increasingly desperate affairs as the post-Jobs product pipeline filled with me-too products and Apple lost its ability to innovate. The most extraordinary corporate comeback in history would come to an end, and Apple would once again become the underdog, an also-ran kept afloat by its cultish followers and ignored by the wider world. Looks like Apple didn't get the memo. Web streaming problems aside, the Apple we saw last night was confident, maybe even cocky, and while nobody on stage was as good a showman as Steve Jobs, that didn't matter. The products did all the talking - products that come not from Steve Jobs' Apple, but from the Apple he hoped would exist after he died. Tonight we saw Apple 3.0. Watch this space In the past Apple was a technology company that just happened to become fashionable. This Apple is very different. Technology is still at its heart, but when you look at its recent hires - renowned designer Marc Newson, execs from style-focused companies such as Burberry, Nike, TAG Heuer and Yves Saint Laurent - and the fashionistas in tonight's audience it's clear that Apple is more focused on fashion than at any time in its history. There's substance to the style, though. Look again at the Apple Watch and you're seeing the work of other hires: medical technology experts, wearable sensor experts, fitness experts and sleep experts, not to mention stacks of talented engineers. Apple has struck partnerships with healthcare providers and insurers and, according to the FT, hired over 100 engineers and designers for its special projects division. To use Tim Cook's favourite words, "only Apple" has thrown those kind of resources at a smartwatch. It's clear that many pundits underestimated Tim Cook. He isn't Steve Jobs, but he doesn't need to be: he's assembled a whole bunch of Steve Jobses by hiring the best and brightest from all kinds of industries from industrial design to biomedicine. No wonder Apple was so excited about tonight's event. Steve Jobs might not have built this Apple, but I think he'd be very pleased with it. Or at least, he would have been once he'd fired everyone involved in the streaming snafu. We compare Apple's latest offering and see which is best, the iPhone 6 or the iPhone 6 Plus. In Depth: Why photographers should be excited about the iPhone 6 iSight camera Sep 10th 2014, 09:06, by Marc Flores iPhone 6 camera: a photog's delight The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have been announced, and with the all new iPhone announcements, there are new camera goodies, too. The iSight cameras on both models remain 8MP shooters, same resolution as previous iPhone models (4, 4S, 5 and 5S), but with great new features. We all know that the use and sales of point-and-shoot cameras and digital camcorders has gone down dramatically since the iPhone has come onto the scene, and for good reason. Now, the iPhone's camera, or iSight camera, is better than ever. First, we'll start with the stuff that really matters in photography - collecting light, making sure photos are in focus and that we capture the right moments. When it comes to collecting light, Apple makes no mention of changes in its lens structure or number of elements, so we're assuming it's the same as the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5. Pixel size is 1.5 microns, same as the iPhone 5S, and the aperture opening is a fixed f/2.2, again same as the 5S. Additionally, True Tone flash remains, which is great. It's a dual-color or dual-temperature flash that has each color firing at varying intensities based on the scene to make sure colors and skin tone stay true. This is a feature that no other smartphone really offers right now. iPhone 6: Focus Pixels Apple introduced a new feature called Focus Pixels, which is just its fancy way of saying that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus both have phase detection autofocus. Having phase detection AF is excellent, and slightly faster than contrast detection AF. The iSight's camera has pixels paired for phase detection autofocus, basically like using an old rangefinder camera or SLR, where you look through the viewfinder and try to align the two images that are slightly blurred. As the lens or module in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus move forward and back, these phase detection pixels on the sensor will determine when your subject is in focus and stop the movement. Then you'll be ready to take the photo. Apple says that this makes autofocus faster than ever on the iPhone, and we can't wait to test it out against the iPhone 5S to see if it's a tangible and noticeable difference. iPhone 6: image quality Apple doesn't go into detail about some of the new features that it mentioned, but I can give it my best shot. The first is tone mapping, which Apple says is improved in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus iSight cameras. Basically, tone mapping is image processing, and when Apple says it's improved in the new iSight camera, I'm guessing what it means is that color and detail rendition, especially in highlights and shadows, are better preserved and represented. We all know that the photos we take can look a little flat, or just plain wrong in terms of highlight and shadow detail and exposure. Apple is probably taking steps to improve this so you have to do less work in post-processing photos. The next item touched on is noise reduction. Now, there are two types of noise in photos - luminance and color noise. Luminance noise tends to happen in low-light situations, or in shadow areas of your photos. You'll see pixels that are bright and speckled, which makes the darker photos or shadow areas look muddled. Color noise can do the same thing to colors, making them look less smooth. You're not getting an accurate representation of what you've actually photographed. The trouble with noise reduction, especially in smartphone cameras with tiny sensors and puny lenses, is that images tend to become smudged as image processing software reduces noise. Apple says that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus cameras will retain sharpness while applying noise reduction. This is a common technique, but images start to look fake when either process is strengthened. When it comes to noise reduction, I'd like to see large versions of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus photos to see just how good, or bad, the photos really are. iPhone 6 video recording and image stabilization Video capture received some major improvements in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The iSight camera still records at 1080p video, but in addition to 1080p at 30 fps, you'll be able to record full HD video at 60 fps, too. That ought to make smoother looking videos, with the downside of probably larger file sizes. Slo-mo video on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus has also been improved. When it was included in the iPhone 5S, Slo-mo video at 120 fps was a neat feature that had pretty limited use cases. I'd imagine it's going to be the same with the new iPhones, although at 240 fps, you can probably give fast-moving objects and people a cooler effect. You'll also be able to record 240 fps at 720p, so you won't be sacrificing much quality at all. Apple also calls the new image stabilization feature in the iSight camera "Cinematic video stabilization." Image stabilization, whether digital or optical, isn't new to smartphone camera technology, either. However, with other phones, it can give mixed and varied results. We're curious to try this out with varying intensities to see just how well it works. iPhone 6 and 6 Plus: image stabilization There is a big difference between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus when it comes to the way image stabilization works. For the iPhone 6, there is digital image stabilization. This means that it's likely that software is doing a good chunk of the work in keeping your image sharp even if there is slight movement in the camera. The iPhone 6 Plus, however, gets the better end of the deal with OIS, or optical image stabilization. With OIS, the lenses, or elements, or camera module - or a combination of any of those three - will move to counteract the motion of the phone itself. This is, historically, far better than digital image stabilization. Again, these features will be interesting to test against each other. Right now, we're guessing that the iPhone 6 Plus with OIS will buy you more light and forgiveness to motion and camera jerkiness. iLove the iSight camera Most smartphone photographers agree that the iPhone has had the best all-around camera amongst all other smartphones. In some cases it performs even better than point-and-shoot and compact cameras. All the while, Apple continues to work to improve the iSight camera on the iPhone, and it's great. Apple has always tried to take most of the guesswork away from having to shoot photos. The iSight cameras on the iPhone have always done a pretty good job at nailing exposure and reducing motion blur, along with taking decent photos in low light. With the addition of filters and video features over time, the iPhone's camera has become more versatile than ever. I'd imagine that the new iSight camera features on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, coupled with the new features in iOS 8, will take Apple's philosophy on making a solid smartphone camera even further. If you love photography, especially smartphone photography, these upgrades are enough reason to get excited about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Versus: iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S Sep 10th 2014, 08:52, by Simon Hill iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S: page 1 Apple's annual iPhone update is one of the tech events of the year. Last year's iPhone was well-received, but it didn't shine with the same intensity as previous releases. A fresh new handset is an opportunity to deliver something special for the fans, draw in new customers, and prove that the post-Jobs company still has what it takes to dominate. Smartphones have been growing steadily bigger and better since last year. How can Apple build upon the iPhone 5S? Both phones will run iOS 8, so what will set the iPhone 6 apart? Let's take a closer look at what the iPhone 6 has to offer and examine how it measures up to its predecessor in the areas that really matter. Read our hands on: iPhone 6 review iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S: Design It's no surprise to find that the iPhone 6 has the same reassuringly expensive feel we've come to expect from Apple products, but it marks a real departure from the iPhone 5S in some respects. It's still a blend of glass and aluminium, but it's much bigger in order to accommodate the larger display. It's also extremely svelte and Apple has rounded off the edges to accentuate that slim feel. The iPhone 5S is 7.6mm thick and the iPhone 6 has shaved a little off that to come in at 6.9mm, although it looks even slimmer thanks to those rounded edges. The 5S measures 123.8 x 58.6mm and the iPhone 6 is around 14mm taller and 8mm wider. The iPhone 6 has the same Touch ID home button, but everything else has been softened off and the volume controls have been flattened and elongated to work with the thinner frame. Despite the increased screen size, it's not much heavier than the iPhone 5S. iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S: Screen Average smartphone screen sizes have rocketed in recent years from around three inches in 2009, to 4 inches in 2012, to nearly 5 inches in 2014. The latest wave of Android flagships boast full HD 1080p resolutions and the LG G3 went even further with a staggering QHD screen that hits 538 pixels per inch (ppi). Apple resisted the trend with the iPhone 5S, choosing to stick with a 4-inch wide screen display with a resolution of 1,136 x 640 pixels. That gives the iPhone 5S a ppi rating of 326. Cupertino always contended that the iPhone was the right size to hold and operate one-handed, but it looks like it has finally bowed to the pressure and gone large. The iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 1,334 x 750 pixels, giving it the same 326ppi rating. It's not as high as some of the other top smartphones. The screen may be significantly bigger, but it's no sharper than the iPhone 5S. iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S: Camera The megapixel race has created a false impression in the smartphone market. While manufacturers vie for ever-bigger numbers, savvy phone photographers know that great photos are about the whole camera module and how it works with the software, not just the number of megapixels you can pack in. The iPhone 5S has an 8MP camera with a 1/3 sensor and an f/2.2 aperture. It's fast and it gets great results without any tinkering. Apple has stuck with the 8MP nit for the iPhone 6, dramatically improved autofocus, noise reduction, and image stabilization. The pixel size has also been increased and that means better low light performance. Despite the modest megapixel rating, the iPhone 6 camera will compete with the best phone cameras on the market right now and it should offer a significant improvement over the iPhone 5S. iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S: page 2 iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S: Battery With such a boost in screen size the iPhone 6 inevitably needs more power, and so Apple has equipped it with an 1,810mAh battery. That's a fair bit bigger than the 1,560mAh battery in the iPhone 5S, but it's still significantly below your average Android smartphone. For example, the Galaxy S5 has a 2,800mAh battery. Apple will have done some work to optimize the hardware and deal with power management efficiently, but it has been a weak point for the iPhone 5S, so the iPhone 6 really needs a bit more stamina. Apple claims it equals or beats the iPhone 5S battery on everythingWe'll have to get a real world hands-on to really assess it. iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S: CPU / RAM A vital component in the fight for power efficiency comes in the shape of the new A8 processor. This is a serious jump for the iPhone 6 over the iPhone 5S. Apple says the CPU is 20% faster. It's also more efficient and it enables a much faster response time and more demanding graphics rendering. Apple seems to have decided that the 1GB of RAM in the iPhone 5S is sufficient for the iPhone 6, but that's not been confirmed yet. iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S: Health Fitness is big business and it's driving the wearable technology market right now, so it makes sense that Apple has added some new sensors to the iPhone 6 to take advantage of the new Health app in iOS 8. The iPhone 6 is equipped with a range of sensors to measure your health and fitness, accurately tracking your heart rate, calories burned, and your sleep patterns. It should give a more accurate picture of your health than the iPhone 5S and help you to stay in top condition. iPhone 6 vs iPhone 5S: Price The iPhone 6 starts at $199 (around £123, AU$216) for the 16GB version and goes up to $399 (around £248, AU$433) for the 128GB version on a two-year contract. The iPhone 5S has been discounted by $100 to make way for the new release. We expect you'll be able to pick up the new iPhone 6 for no money down on a two-year contract for around £40 per month in the UK. If you're sold then you can get your hands on the iPhone 6 from September 19. The iPhone 6 also boasts faster Wi-Fi and LTE. You won't have to wait long for our full iPhone 6 review which will reveal exactly how else it differs from the iPhone 5S. Is Australia ready for Apple Pay? Sep 10th 2014, 02:39, by Farrha Khan With the unveiling of the new iPhone 6, Apple also announced its own mobile payment platform Apple Pay. Using NFC technology within the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch, Apple Pay will allow you to use your iDevice to pay for things, relying on Touch ID fingerprint recognition to authenticate payments. Similar to Mastercard PayPass and Visa Paywave, you'll only be required to hold up your iDevice at point-of-sale contactless systems, with Apple storing only an account number, not your credit/debit card details - that info, along with what you buy and how much you spend, will remain between you and your bank or credit card company. Unfortunately, Apple Pay will only be available in the US starting from next month, with no word yet on when it will begin rolling out the new service to other countries, but with contactless point-of-sale systems found across most of Australia, we may not need to wait to long. Going contactless in Oz Apple mobile platform will initially accept American Express, MasterCard and Visa, with businesses like Disney and McDonald implementing the necessary tech across the US. The tech, or contactless point-of-sale systems (like Mastercard's PayPass and Visa's Paywave EFTPOS systems) have been available in Australia for some time now - and Visa noted that in just July this year, there were over 58 million Visa payWave transactions in Australia. George Lawson, Visa's Head of Emerging Products and Innovation, said, "Australia is leading the world in its adoption of contactless payments", adding that in this country, "all the conditions exist to enable a mass shift to mobile payments in Australia. On the back of Apple's launch today, Visa has also announced the Visa Token Service, which will replace payment account information that is typically made available on plastic cards with a 'digital token' instead, so while the token will be linked to your info, it won't actually be stored on a device. The new Visa Token Service will be rolled out in the US at about the same time as Apple Pay, and then rolled out globally starting 2015 - possibly hinting to Apple Pay being rolled out globally alongside it. Banking on mobile Beyond this, the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac have either leveraged NFC tech for created their own NFC enabled stickers to stick on the back of phones, allowing customers to simply tap their phone at a point-of-sale system instead of using a credit card. "Australia leads the US and other countries in mobile contactless payments technology and we hope this announcement allows Apple users to join this trend," said David Lindberg, Chief Product Officer, Westpac Group. "This type of mobile payment experience exists in Australia through multiple banks, and Westpac customers are today making Tap and Pay payments through the Westpac mobile banking application on Samsung's flagship smartphones." Lindberg added that fingerprint login is also about to be launched through Westpac's mobile banking app. So while we have the necessary tech already in Australia, and financial institutions already have mobile payment solutions, Visa, Mastercard, CommBank and Westpac Bank have all said only that they will be working with Apple for bring its payment platform to Australia. Of course, this doesn't give us a firm idea as to when Apple Pay will land in Australia, but it does give us hope that it could be much sooner than we think. Before Apple Pay lands Down Under, why not decide if you want the iPhone 6 or the iPhone 6 Plus CTIA 2014: Elop says Microsoft is focused on consumers just as much as enterprise Sep 9th 2014, 23:27, by Juan Martinez AT&T stores in the US will carry the newly launched Lumia 830 in time for the holiday season, said Stephen Elop, Microsoft SVP of Devices and Servers, at CTIA 2014 in Las Vegas. As work and personal lives intertwine, Elop said Microsoft will continue to try to appeal to consumers and enterprises rather than abandoning consumer devices and focusing on the enterprise. Microsoft is the productivity and platform company for the mobile-first world, Elop said. The company, under new CEO Satya Nadella, is focused on helping people do more by providing platforms on mobile devices that can create emotional connections at home and simplify business tasks at work. "We have to be great at both," he said. "We have to get both done." Devices strategy Microsoft wants to be the company that creates the hardware and software that puts the best experience into consumers' hands. From operating systems, to cloud storage, to hardware, Elop said Microsoft's vision will be the most powerful experience. To improve the mobile experience, Elop said the Surface Pro 3 should be the tablet consumers use to replace their laptops. Tablets should empower people to not only consume content, but create it as well. Microsoft is making the same argument for the Lumia 830, which Microsoft is calling "the first affordable flagship." Microsoft believes the 830 offers a better camera option than more expensive Apple and Samsung phones. Microsoft's 2014: The 5 most interesting stories so far CTIA 2014: Twitter is looking to integrate Commerce with Apple Wallet, enable Vine views on wearables Sep 9th 2014, 22:57, by Juan Martinez You may in the future be able to watch Vine's on smart devices in the future, said Adam Bain, President of Revenue and Partnerships at Twitter. During an interview at CTIA 2014 in las Vegas, Bain revealed several key Twitter aspirations that may or may not be in development. Although Twitter is not ready to make any announcements, the company is exploring someday enabling video through its mobile app. "What makes Twitter unique is it's live, public and conversational," he said. "Wearables will help make that possible...Wearable devices can help make connections and emotions more dramatic." Twitter Commerce and Apple Wallet Bain also said it is likely Twitter Commerce will integrate with Apple Wallet in order to process payments directly within Twitter. Twitter Commerce launched yesterday with more than 30 merchants. The mobile mechanism features a "buy" button that enables users to save their credit card information within the Twitter app so that they can buy products in a few clicks. Promoted Video Twitter is hoping to bring TV content directly on Twitter, preceded by pre-roll ads. Bain said the company is currently partnering with TV networks to bring this content onto mobile devices. The social network launched TV ad targeting in May of last year. The ad tool is "designed to enable marketers to engage directly with people on Twitter who have been exposed to their ads on TV" by synchronizing Twitter ads and TV commercials. Bain said better data analytics will enable Twitter and TV partners to personalize this ad targeting more effectively. Twitter is also working with Comcast to show tweets associated with the content you're watching on your TV feed. The iPhone 6 review In Depth: 10 things you need to know about the iPhone 6 Sep 9th 2014, 20:00, by Jon Munday Design, display, processor and more Apple has announced the iPhone 6 at a glitzy event held at the Flint Centre for Performing Arts in Cupertino. The follow-up to the iPhone 5S comes with a brand new design and a considerably larger screen. And that's not all that's new. Here are the 10 things you need to know about the iPhone 6. Read our hands on iPhone 6 review 1. New design We knew that Apple was going to change the design for the iPhone 6 before the first component was leaked. Apple has always revamped its smartphone on even years, separated by incrementally improved 'S' versions in the odd years. That was confirmed for us when those aforementioned leaked components started emerging from the company's China-based production line earlier in the year. Despite all this, though, seeing the finished iPhone 6 product is an undoubted thrill. After all, Apple is ditching a basic design language that has been around for four years, starting with the iPhone 4 in 2010. Gone are the severely squared-off edges that have proved so iconic over the years. In their place, the iPhone 6 brings back the curviness of previous generations. Now the back and sides of the iPhone 6 flow into each other, rather like the iPad Air or the iPod touch 5th generation. The screen, too, doesn't abruptly end. Rather, it smoothly curves round and melts into the aluminium chassis. The iPhone 6 is a slimmer device than its predecessor, too, at just 6.9mm. In fact, it's so skinny that the rear camera sticks out somewhat disconcertingly from the back of the phone. That may take a little while to get used to. While the iPhone 6 is significantly thinner than the iPhone 5S, though, it's also much bigger head-on. Of course, there's a very good reason for that... 2. Larger screen The iPhone 6 is bigger than the iPhone 5S for one major reason: it's got a much larger screen. After years of pressure and clear evidence from surveys and sales trends, Apple has caved in and made a smartphone screen that's bigger than 4-inches diagonally. Much bigger, in fact. At 4.7-inches, this goes well beyond the simple screen-lengthening exercise of the iPhone 5 - it's both longer AND wider. That complicates things on a number of fronts. It means that many people will struggle to be able to type on their iPhone one-handed. It also means that Apple has had to mess with the resolution a little - not simple doubling of the pixel count as took place with the iPhone 4. The result is a resolution of 1334 × 750, which is ever so slightly sharper than the 720p resolution adopted by most Android phones of a similar size. The result, though, is the same 326ppi figure that can be seen from the iPhone 4 right through to the iPhone 5S. In other words, Apple gets to keep that 'Retina display' moniker without having to come up with more iPad 3-like excuses. 3. Processor We had no idea what Apple would follow-up the iPhone 5S's A7 processor with. Only kidding. It's the A8 processor, of course. As always Apple has kept precise details on clock rates to itself. It's still built on a dual-core 64-bit architecture, and it seems the main advance here is in power efficiency. That's no bad thing, though, given that the A7 continues to hold its own against most of its rivals in a number of key performance-related areas. Apple has built the A8 chip using a 20nm manufacturing process, which is a step on from the 28nm A7. This again will reduce heat production and increase power efficiency. 4. Battery One area in which iPhones continue to be criticised (and mocked) is battery life. They just don't quite last long enough on a single charge. With the iPhone 6 getting a significantly bigger and sharper screen, as well as a faster A8 processor, you'd better believe that it needed a seriously improved battery. Fortunately, the increase in general size has made space for a significantly bigger battery than the 1,560mAh unit found in the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 6 comes with a much more capacious battery unit, but it still falls short of earning the title 'long lasting', despite Apple's iOS being known to be energy efficient. It's perhaps understandable - if a little disappointing - that Apple is quoting similar amounts of talk and standby time to previous iPhone models. Maybe the iPhone 7 will last two days or more, but it looks like you'll have to keep that charger handy with the iPhone 6. 5. NFC The most exciting addition to the iPhone 6's internals is NFC (or Apple's own variant of), which stands for Near Field Communications - although Apple never actually muttered the letters "NFC" in its presentation. High-end Android and Nokia Lumia users will know all about this little piece of technology, as it's been around for several years now. This is the first time Apple has incorporated it into one of its devices though, so it's set to be thrust back into the spotlight. NFC is a wireless communication protocol that differs from others by being low power and extremely limited in range. This means that you can pass data locally between two NFC-equipped devices very quickly, efficiently, and discretely. Apple's application of this is its new mobile payments system, Apple Pay, which will ultimately enable you to ditch your wallet and pay for goods at retail with a swipe or tap of your iPhone 6. Health, camera, iOS 8 and more NFC may well prove to be the kickstart that the mobile payment ecosystem needed - or else a waste of time like Google Wallet. Only time will tell. Now, let's talk about health. 6. Health abilities Apple's Health app will combine with the iPhone 6's advanced sensors and M8 coprocessor, as well as a whole bunch of third party apps and peripherals (and Apple's own wearables), to track and collate all of your health and fitness data. You'll be able to check out your calorie intake, physical activity and more, all from the Health app. The addition of Health and the Apple Watch, means that you won't necessarily take your iPhone out for a run with you anymore - which is perhaps good news given its increased size. When you return from your runs, walks or hikes, your iPhone will be the hub to which you turn to for a summary of and contextual feedback on that data. 7. Camera upgrades Apple has resisted boosting the megapixel count for the iPhone 6. The range hit 8MP back in the days of the iPhone 4S, and it's stuck with it ever since. This is actually a good thing. Boosting the megapixel count alone doesn't necessarily mean an increase in image quality. In fact, with smartphone image sensors as small as they are, a high megapixel count can actually be detrimental. Rather, Apple has improved the iPhone 6's camera in ways that really matter. There's a wider f/2.2 aperture for speedier, brighter shots, and Apple has dramatically improved the camera's image processing capabilities. Once again the camera is 1.5 um pixels, despite claims that the iPhone 6 would have 1.75um pixels. This effects the amount of light getting into each picture, and thus the overall detail. Apple has also implemented EIS, or Electronic Image Stabilisation, to reduce blurriness and improve low-light shots. So you may be annoyed by the apparent necessity for a sticky-outy camera on your iPhone 6, but Apple has made darned sure that this minor aesthetic aberration will be worth it. The front-facing selfie camera, or as Apple want you to call it, the FaceTime camera, has also been given some love. It's now a HD camera, with the same f/2.2 aperture and HDR FaceTime video support. 8. iOS 8 As we all knew it would, the iPhone 6 will ship with iOS 8, Apple's new mobile operating system. Announced back in June at WWDC, where it was shown off on the iPhone 5S, iOS 8 sees a whole bunch of improvements and general refinement added to the radical design overhaul that was iOS 7. If iOS 7 was all about the aesthetics, iOS 8 concentrates on adding many of the features we thought iOS was missing - and quite a few that we didn't. Besides the aforementioned Health app, iOS 8 will add interactive notifications, better interoperability with OS X, predictive typing, a new keyboard, superior gaming potential, and compatibility with the Apple Watch much more. Yes, a lot of those new features appear to have been lifted straight from Android. But with Apple's customary attention to detail and tight integration between software and hardware, they could well prove to be better implemented here - and they'll be at their best on iPhone 6. Naturally, iOS 8 has been optimised for the iPhone 6. Add in features like the one-handed mode, and you can see that Apple is aiming for a solid one-two hardware-software punch here. 9. Release date The iPhone 6 will go on sale in key territories, including the UK and US, on Friday September 19. It will be available for pre-order from Friday September 12. 10. Price Apple's pricing for its new iPhone starts from $199 for the 16GB version for a two year contract. The price then goes to $299 for the 64GB of storage and $399 for the 128GB model. In the UK it's £539 for the 16GB iPhone 6, £619 for 64GB and a whopping £699 for the 128GB SIM-free model. HTC welcomes Apple to the big phone party Sep 9th 2014, 19:19, by Patrick Goss HTC has been quick to hitch itself to the Apple hype bandwagon by firing out a jokey tweet about the iPhone 6's new size. The Taiwanese manufacturer tweeted on its official account 'Bigger screen. Better performance. Elegant design. Welcome to the party #iphone6' Read our hands on: iPhone 6 review It's by no means the first time that a rival has tweeted about a new iPhone during the announcement, indeed Nokia did almost precisely the same thing to the iPhone 5C. HTC's One (M8) is certainly one of the phones that the iPhone 6 has been created to compete with - and is currently number one in TechRadar's best phone on the planet list. We are yet to give the iPhone 6 or its bigger brother the iPhone 6 Plus a full review, but it remains to be seen if either is the phone that can knock HTC off the perch. updated: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Aussie prices revealed Sep 9th 2014, 17:53, by Kevin Lee and Farrha Khan Apple always saves prices for its announcements last, and here's the latest Australian prices for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Getting a the new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will set users back $869 for the 16GB version, then $999 for the 64GB of storage, and lastly, $1,129 for the 128GB model. Meanwhile, the plus-sized iPhone 6 starts at $999 for the 16GB model. Then it's $1,129 for 64GB of storage and $1,249 for 128GB of storage. Read our hands on: iPhone 6 review First everywhere, then the world Apple also announced that pre-orders will begin this Friday, September 12, after which units will begin shipping out on September 19. You'll be able to find the new iPhones through Aussie retailers and telcos, including Telstra, Optus, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone, as well as in store and online through Apple. Read our hands on: iPhone 6 Plus review The oldies In with the new and discounts for the old; Apple also announced price drops for all of its older iPhone models. AUD$749 inc. GST for the 16GB model and AUD$799 inc. GST for the 32GB model, and an iPhone 5c 8GB model will be available for AUD$529 inc. GST Apple slashed the price of the now comparatively tiny iPhone 5S to $749 for a 16GB model. The 8GB iPhone 5C has been bumped down the $529. It's official, the Apple Watch is real! updated: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus prices revealed, older iPhones see price drop Sep 9th 2014, 17:53, by klee Apple always saves prices for its announcements last and here's the latest price for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Getting a the new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will set users back $199/£539 for the 16GB version, then $299/£619 for the 64GB of storage and last $399/£699 for the 128GB model. Meanwhile, the plus-sized iPhone 6 starts at $299/£619 for the 16GB model. Then it's $399/£699 for 64GB of storage and $499/£789 for 128GB of storage. Read our hands on: iPhone 6 review First everywhere, then the world Apple also announced pre-orders begin this Friday, September 12, after which units will begin shipping out on September 19. By the end of the year Apple also plans on bringing its latest handset to 115 countries. The oldies In with the new and discounts for the old; Apple also announced price drops for all of its older iPhone models. Apple slashed the price of the now comparatively tiny iPhone 5S to $99 (about £61, AU$107) for an 8GB model. Lastly the 8GB iPhone 5C has been bumped into the free bracket. It's official, the Apple Watch is real! Updated: Apple's about to change the mobile payments game with Apple Pay Sep 9th 2014, 17:45, by Kane Fulton Mobile payments have been a tricky area for so long, but Apple is hoping to change that, announcing its own payment platform at the big event in San Francisco, called Apple Pay. Apple Pay is built into the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and it also works with the Apple Watch. It uses NFC to communicate with point-of-sale systems and relies on Touch ID fingerprint recognition to authenticate payments. Apple Pay works with a new Secure Elements chip that encrypts and stores payment information safely and securely, according to the Cupertino company. When a new card is stored, a device-only account number is created, along with a one-time dynamic security code. Secure transactions This means that Apple doesn't know what you've bought, how much it cost or how you paid for it, with the transaction details being viewable only between you and the bank. The cashier won't see your name, credit card number or security code, as they would when you use a plastic card at the checkout. Starting in the US from October, Apple Pay will initially accept American Express, MasterCard and Visa. A number of businesses across the States, including Disney and McDonald's (at its drive throughs) will be implementing the tech, in addition to Apple's own stores. iOS 8 features a new Apple Pay API, and as such Apple reckons a ton more apps featuring its snazzy payments tech will find their way onto the App Store as developers get on board. iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus - fight! Updated: Apple unveils the iPhone 6 Plus, its biggest iPhone ever Sep 9th 2014, 17:26, by Michelle Fitzsimmons As expected, Apple has unveiled a larger iPhone, and it's called the iPhone 6 Plus. It also happens to be the biggest iPhone to date. The iPhone 6 Plus features a new Retina HD display technology; according to Apple's Phil Schiller, the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6 screens are new in every way. Read our hands on review of the iPhone 6 Plus The iPhone 6 Plus measures 5.5 inches, just as was rumored. Its display has a resolution of 1920x1080 with 401ppi. The iPhone 6 Plus also managed to pack two million pixels in its display, over a million more than the iPhone 6. With a larger screen comes new landscape view, which basically means a horizontal orientation so users can see what's on their screen in a sideways stroke. While the iPhone 6 Plus is larger than any iPhone before, it's also razor thing, measuring only 7.1mm thick. More iPhone 6 Plus specs and features And what's making this new larger iPhone tick? Apple's latest A8 processor, a 64-bit chip tallying two billion transistors. The iPhoen 6 Plus' GPU can perform up to 50 times faster than previous generations, while the CPU is up to 25% speedier, Apple claimed. Apple's M motion coproccesor also got an update, and it's now called the M8. The sensor can measure a how many stairs a user has climbed, Schiller said, a nod to the iPhone 6 Plus' health-metric measuring capabilities. The M8 constantly gathers motion data from an accelerometer, gyroscope and compass. On the battery front, Apple has gone out of its way to make the iPhone 6 Plus' battery better than the iPhone 5S in every way (audio, video, Wi-Fi browsing, etc.). Jumping to its connectivity, the iPhone 6 Plus will feature VoLTE support. It supports over 200 LTE bands and will allow for Wi-Fi calling. T-Mobile and EE have both signed up to support Wi-Fi calling. The iPhone 6 Plus rear iSight camera measures 8MP. It's an entirely new sensor and features a new Autofocus with Focus Pixels feature. The handset's Autofocus is two times faster than before and it has an aperture of f/2.2. While the camera specs between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are identical, the 6 Plus does stand out in that it has optical image stabilization. The iPhone 6 camera doesn't. As for recording capabilities, the iPhone 6 Plus camera can record 1080p video at 60fps and 240fps in slow motion. Moving to the front, the iPhone 6 Plus features a new 1.2MP HDR FaceTime camera. FaceTime, by the way, now features a burst mode. A nice little touch is moving the sleep/wake button from the top to the side, making the device a little more mandible friendly. Like the iPhone 5S before it, the iPhone 6 Plus comes stamped with Touch ID. Along with the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus will ship with Apple's new mobile payment system, Apple Pay. iPhone 6 Plus price and release date As for the thing you likely care most about, the iPhone 6 Plus price starts at $299/£619 for 16GB. A 64GB iPhone 6 Plus will run you $399/£699 and the 128GB version will cost $499/£789. Notice there's no 32GB version? That's because there isn't one. The iPhone 6 Plus release date is slated for September 19 and users can pre-order it beginning September 12. The new iPhone comes in a choice of silver, gold and space gray. Does the Apple Watch give other smartwatches reason to worry? CTIA 2014: ESPN, Hulu mobile video demand continues to increase Sep 9th 2014, 17:16, by Juan Martinez Mobile video accounts for 53% of mobile data traffic globally, said Dan Mead, President and CEO of Verizon Wireless and CTIA Chairman at CTIA 2014 in Las Vegas. To meet consumers' ever-growing demand for mobile video content, Verizon will continue to leverage LTE Multicast, which it debuted in May. Mead said LTE Multicast provides content to thousands of concurrent viewers more easily by assigning a specific channel of spectrum to one specific broadcast. At the event, Mead led a discussion with several mobile technologists, including Sean Bratches, EVP of Sales and Marketing at ESPN. Speaking about the World Cup 2014, Bratches, said ESPN had more than 15.7 million devices stream more than 2.6 billion minutes of content during the month-long event. He also said five billion unique devices streamed live games. ESPN will continue to make use of mobile video to accelerate views for traditional events, he said. ESPN innovation ESPN is about to launch a responsive design video template for apps across mobile platforms, Bratches said. "We're very focused on creating the best experiences," he added. "Native experiences are critical in the mobile experiences, particularly on smartphones." Bratches teased a soon-to-launch Coors Cold Hard Facts advertising campaign that will leverage native experiences on mobile devices. Hulu's mobile experience Tim Connolly, Head of Distribution and Strategic Partnerships at Hulu, who previously worked at Ericsson, said mobile is a critical part of the video streaming company's business. In the three years since Hulu launched mobile video, it has grown to 20% of all views. He said Hulu is working hard to deliver optimal experiences to its users in order to meet increased demand for mobile video. "Advertising on mobile is kind of tricky," Connolly said. "We have been able to find a way to build a significant ad business. We've built one billion in revenue from ads." He referenced Hulu's Ad Selector, which enables users to choose one of multiple ads rather than be forced to watch a specific ad, as an example of Hulu's digital video innovation. The tools to meet demand To meet the increased demand, "We have to rebuild our networks to accommodate the explosion of video traffic," said Michel Combes, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, a French telecommunications equipment company. Combes said multicast technology will help to manage traffic, specifically when it is driven from one large venue, such as a stadium. Combes also said cloud networks will help it seem as if mobile users have seemingly endless bandwidth. "Obviously it won't be endless, but [with cloud solutions] it will appear this way." Analytics will help provide personalized data for consumers, which will ultimately allow networks to respond to each specific person's needs to provide this seemingly unlimited bandwidth experience. CTIA 2014: 5 things to be excited about Updated: Apple announces the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, and it comes with a Retina HD screen Sep 9th 2014, 17:10, by Hugh Langley It's the least surprising reveal of the night but we're still pleased to see it. Apple has just announced the iPhone 6, and it's packing in a new Retina HD display. The screen comes with a 1334 x 750 resolution, while the body is slimmer than its predecessor at 6.9mm thick. Cased inside an anodised aluminium shell, Apple's phone will supposedly be 25% faster than its predecessor. And making that magic happen is the A8 processor, with 2 billion transistors and 64-bit support. Meanwhile you'll be able to make voice calls over LTE and Wi-Fi, so long as your network offers the support. Read our hands on: iPhone 6 review Apple used its big event to unveil Apple Pay, its mobile payment system - something the iPhone 6 will make use of via its short-range NFC. And the camera? The iPhone 6 will come with an 8MP camera yet again, which will include true-tone flash with 1.5 micron-pixels and a 2.2 aperture. You'll be able to capture high dynamic range pictures in a single shot and record 1080p video up to 60 frames per second. And while you'll get image stabilization, you won't get optical image stabilization which comes on the iPhone 6 Plus. Apple also claims it's drastically improved battery life across both handsets. The iPhone 6 will be available in 'space grey', gold and white (just like the 5S) and starts at $199/£539 for 16GB, $299/£619 for 64GB and $399/£699 for 128GB. Oh yeah, and it'll be available to pre-order on September 12, and released on September 19. iPhone 6: everything you need to know

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