Sept. 9th Apple Announcement

Considering the iPhone 7 won’t be announced until September, we already have a pretty good picture of what we can expect. At least when it comes to the details we do. The rumor mill is confident Apple will lose the headphone jack, provide an even thinner design, add to its water resistance, and potentially see a dual-camera lens for the Plus model. However, what we don’t know is what it will look like. From the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 6, we saw a major external redesign. But how much different can the iPhone 7 be?

I just received my new iPad mini yesterday and am liking it so far. Here's an in-depth look at the device, since Apple said so little about it during the September 9 event.

If you’ve followed my Game Centered column, you’re likely already familiar with SteelSeries. The company makes some of the best gaming peripherals available for Apple devices and is a brand that I’ve included in my articles numerous times before, with good reason. Whether you are a casual Crossy Road player looking for an affordable but excellent pair of headphones, or a Vainglory gamer on the pro-circuit looking for a high-end pair of headphones, SteelSeries has you covered. The company also specializes in designing game controllers for the iPhone and the iPad, and now it's unveiled its latest controller, the Nimbus, designed specifically to deliver a console-type gaming experience on the new Apple TV. On the day of the Nimbus’ announcement, we interviewed the SteelSeries CEO Ehtisham Rabanni about the controller and his thoughts on the future of gaming.

One of the new features of the iPhone 6s is Live Photos. Turned on by default, this feature captures images for 1.5 seconds before and after the actual still photo that you take. When you tap on your still photo, you see what appears to be a three-second video of that moment. As you can see in the embedded video below, a still photo of rippling waves can show the actual rippling when you touch the display. Apple emphasized, however, that this is not a video, and that it doesn't greatly increase the file size. Any Live Photos you take can be viewed across iOS devices. And they appear as simple jpeg images when viewed on other devices.

Today's Apple Announcement was full of surprises! iPhone fans have been watching the rumor blogs (Siri told us to!) for months to see if we could get a glimpse of what the new iPhones–we now know them to be 6s and 6s Plus–would look like in terms of features and well, looks. Apple fans definitely didn't expect what was announced today. Here's a look at the rumors, the truths, and the surprises.

Many of the details had leaked ahead of time, but seeing them altogether in Apple's presentation gave a wholeness that was more than the sum of the parts. Each new device was astonishing, with Apple again taking the industry in new directions. 3D Touch on the iPhone, Siri integration in Apple TV, multitasking and a stylus on a 12.9-inch iPad, and the heartbeat of a baby and her mother viewed on a doctor's Apple Watch — all these things and more showed that Apple continues to have the vision that has made it the most highly valued company in the world.

Today during the Apple Event, we were able to peek at the newest updates to the Apple Watch. With the announcement of a Hermes partnership (hand-stitched leather bands, anyone?), Gold and Rose Gold anodized aluminum watch bodies, a fall collection of band colors, and the addition of (Product) Red bands, Apple made many Watch owners happy today. 

With over 10,000 Apple Watch apps in the App Store, Apple Watch users have been waiting for the next big thing: watchOS 2. What's new for Apple Watch? What's changing? What does it mean for you?

Here are your answers:

As a gamer I've had my eye on the new Apple TV for years now. Today on the world stage, Apple unveiled the new Apple TV (finally) and the potential for gamers and the gaming community is enormous!

In the past, all the major carriers offered new iPhones for $199 as long as you signed a two-year contract with them. But starting two years ago with T-Mobile and ending most recently with Sprint, all the major carriers have moved away from subsidizing phones. In fact, AT&T is the only one left still offering a two-year contract option. Instead, the carriers now structure their plans around data.  

We can safely say that the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will be coming with Force Touch and a nicer camera, but what else does Apple have in store for its fans? Here are 12 things we hope to see during the September 9 iPhone announcement.

Virtually everyone — bloggers, news outlets, pundits, industry analysts — is expecting a new Apple TV set-top device as part of Apple's rumored September 9 event. That doesn't mean it's a sure thing we'll see it, since everyone was also expecting it to be announced at WWDC last June. However, I think my fellow blogger Todd Bernhard is correct in saying that all signs are pointing toward a new Apple TV. Todd's evidence includes Best Buy's offering the current Apple TV for less than $50, likely trying to clear out inventory before the new device arrives. Also, as AppleInsider reports, Apple TV has now fallen to 4th place in the streaming TV market, behind devices from Roku, Google, and Amazon. If Apple doesn't come out with something soon, its market share will fall even further. As fellow blogger Siva Om says in this post, the market is just too lucrative for Apple to pass up. 

[Update]: 9To5Mac has been interviewing someone who has used the new Apple TV, and the site has been gradually posting extensive detail about the device. The new tidbits include information about the price, the extensive integration of Siri, and the device's use as a gaming machine. They say it will be announced Sept. 9 and be available for purchase in October. See updates below for more detail.

As September quickly approaches, iPhone 6s rumors swirl and grow ever-more grandiose. We now know the announcement will be held on Wednesday, September 9, at 10 a.m. CST, with pre-sales rumored for the 11th and the iPhones expected to reach store shelves by September 18. After WWDC in June, with its focus on the new iOS 9 and watchOS 2 software, chatter quickly moved to talk of what to expect from the upcoming iPhones. This is an 's' year, which usually brings mainly internal changes, such as the addition of an A9 chip and Force Touch, but we may also see some cosmetic changes, such as the addition of rose gold as a color option. So, which rumors are likely to be most accurate?

Apple has typically introduced new products at the Moscone Center or across the street at the Yerba Buena Arts Center in San Francisco or in the Flint Center in Cupertino. These locations accommodate under 2,000 guests. indicate that this year Apple may be planning to hold its rumored September 9 event, when it is expected to introduce its latest iPhones and possibly a new Apple TV, at the larger Bill Graham Civic Auditorium instead.

As anyone who has used to Siri to make calls, search the web, or send messages knows, Siri doesn't always understand what you say. This can be followed by increasing frustration levels if Siri fails over and over to understand your voice corrections. But when Siri gets it wrong, you don't have to repeat yourself. Instead, you can edit your query via typing.

How much memory should you get in your next iPhone? Apple kept their usual price points ($199, $299, and $399 for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and $299, $399, and $499 for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus) but instead of the 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB configurations, they dropped the 32 GB tier and added a whopping 128 GB tier, as predicted. This mirrored their move with recent price drops for the iPod touch and finally brings their memory pricing in line with the industry. And the 128 GB capacity is a very welcome addition, especially since iOS devices do not have expandable microSD card storage of most Android phones.

If you are like me, you may be wondering which iPhone size is best for you and your hand size. Everyone is different and what's comfortable for one person isn't necessarily so for the next person. To help you decide which iPhone will work best for you we've included a link to a printout that lets you see for yourself.

The word is out! The new Apple Watch is coming your way in early 2015, providing a brand new platform and great opportunities for a new category of apps. In this post I'll cover some of the basic features available for app developers so you can begin thinking about how these features can be put to use in your own custom apps.