Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
Timothy D. Cook, the chief executive of Apple, took the stage on
Wednesday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco to
unveil the company’s highly anticipated, next-generation iPhone, the
iPhone 5.
I’m posting live updates from the event, and my
colleagues are chiming in with commentary: Nick Wingfield and Nick
Bilton in San Francisco, and Brian X. Chen in New York. Watch this space
for all of the latest news.
More
details on how the iPod Touch is stepping up its game: It will allow 40
hours of music playback and 8 hours of game play. Apple’s including a
5-megapixel camera with a flash on the new Touch, one that will have the
same lens as the iPhone 5.
David Pogue notes on Twitter: “There’s a tiny metal circle on the
back of the new Touch. Push it, it pops up, so you can attach a wrist
strap.” Apple’s bringing back the wallet chain?
The crowd is loving a demo of a game called Clumsy that lets players mess around with a cute ninja character.
02:20 PM The iPod Touch Gets Thinner
The
iPod Touch is Apple’s prime gaming machine, with access to 175,000
games and entertainment apps. The company is introducing a skinnier
version of the Touch, one that weighs 88 grams, is 6 millimeters wide
and features the company’s high-resolution “retina” display. The Touch
is also getting the A5 chip, giving the machine a boost in handling
graphics.
02:17 PM More on New Nanos
Nick Bilton/The New York Times
The new Nanos have multitouch screens. Runners will be able to make
use of a pedometer and Nike+ apps. Bluetooth integration will let users
send music to their car stereos and wireless speaker systems like
Jawbone’s Jambox.
2:19 P.M. Taking Your Questions
We’ll aim to answer your questions about the Apple announcements. Leave a
comment on this post and our reporters will pick a batch to answer.
To
date, Apple has sold 350 million iPods. Apple is rolling out a new
version of its Nano, the seventh edition of the smallest iPod. It is
razor-thin, as in 5 millimeters, and uses the new Lightning connector
tech. It comes in seven colors.
02:13 PM Concerts in iTunes
One
of the cooler features of the new iTunes redesign: Users will be able
to see upcoming concerts and other information about the artists in
their library. Very similar to some of the offerings in Spotify. The
update will roll out in late October.
The
new iTunes looks very similar to Rdio, the streaming music service,
with square music covers in the middle of the screen, playlists and
account info on the side.
— Nick Bilton
2:03 PM Cloudy With iTunes
The
new iTunes incorporates iCloud right into it, meaning that users who
are watching a movie on one device, like an iPad, can seamlessly pick
it up on another device, like an iPhone.
Nick Bilton/The New York Times
Apple now has more than 200 million customers using iTunes in the
cloud, Mr. Cue says. In addition to introducing a new iTunes Store app,
Apple has also upgraded iTunes for the Mac. The new iTunes makes it
easier to create playlists for parties — you can quickly browse through a
library and drag and drop songs into groups.
02:02 PM Untucked Shirts Are the New Black
So
it seems that it is now standard for Apple executives to come on stage
with their shirt untucked: Mr. Cook, Mr. Schiller and now Mr. Cue.
What’s next, Birkenstocks?
— Nick Bilton
Eddy
Cue, Apple’s senior vice president for Internet software and services,
is on stage talking about upgrades to music. Apple has 435 million
iTunes accounts on file. And the company is releasing a new version of
iTunes. More than two-thirds of iTunes purchases come through iOS
devices, so Apple revamped iTunes to reflect that, Mr. Cue says. ITunes
customers can now share information about their purchases through
Facebook and Twitter.
2:01 P.M. Details on the iPhone 5
Mr. Schiller says the starting price of the iPhone 5 will be same as
previous phones, $199 with a two-year contract and 16 gigabytes. The
iPhone 4S will go to $99. The iPhone 4 will be free with contract. The
phone goes on sale Sept. 21. Apple will start taking orders for the new
phone on Friday, and hopes to have it in 100 countries by the end of
the year.
The
video is showing off some of the splashier features of the new iPhone
and operating system, like the maps, Siri’s souped-up capabilities and
the ability to make FaceTime calls over cellular networks.
And here’s the iPhone 5 video: Jonathan Ive talking about the iPhone like he just met the woman of his dreams. I need a Kleenex.
— Nick Bilton
01:47 PM Siri Enhancements
Apple
is expanding its Siri voice assistant in iOS 6 so you can get sports
stats and movie recommendations and make restaurant reservations. You
can post directly to Facebook with Siri by dictating status updates, Mr.
Forstall says.
— Nick Wingfield
The
new Apple maps feature is another way Apple is slowly eliminating
Google from iOS. As the new maps app will work on the iPad, too, it will
be interesting to see if it will eventually come to Macs.
— Nick Bilton
01:43 PM Why a Smaller Connector?
Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
Apple hasn’t given a clear sense of why it changed the connector,
other than it being smaller. I’d assume it’s to make the battery larger,
but I’m surprised there was no explanation of a real benefit, like
faster data speeds.
— Brian X. Chen
01:39 PM A Guided Tour of iOS 6
Scott
Forstall, who is in charge of iPhone software at Apple, is on stage
now, giving us a tour of iOS 6, the next version of Apple’s mobile
software, on the iPhone 5. Apple’s new Maps feature will include
turn-by-turn navigation and three-dimensional maps, and will show users
places they might be interested in checking out, like restaurants and
coffee shops.
Mr.
Schiller is introducing the new iPhone connector cord, which is called
Lightning. He says its more durable, reversible and “80 percent
smaller.” The new cord technology is already embedded in many
third-party systems. But before you start freaking out about having to
rush out and buy new cords: Apple will also be selling an adapter, so
all of those drawers full of old Apple chargers and connectors won’t
have to go to waste.
01:35 PM Better Sound for Calls
Apple
is gussying up its phone-calling technology — for those who still
bother to make phone calls. The iPhone 5 is outfitted with three
microphones and a noise-canceling earpiece.
01:34 PM Fresher FaceTime
Finally
— the phone’s front-facing camera gets an upgrade, meaning that
FaceTime conversations will no longer make video chatters cringe.
01:34 PM Did Schiller Just Slam Nokia?
Mr.
Schiller notes that these photos are from the iPhone 5’s actual camera,
“untouched.” Seems to be a knock on Nokia, which got flack for a
misleading video that wasn’t actually shot with its newest phone.
— Brian X. Chen
01:31 PM Tricked-Out Pics
Nick Bilton/The New York Times
The new iPhone 5 camera will let users share their photo streams with
friends. In addition, the camera has special software that will let
users take panoramic photographs. Mr. Schiller is showing off a nice
picture of the Golden Gate Bridge and bragging about its quality.
01:29 PM Ready for a Closeup
The
iPhone camera is getting an upgrade. It now has an 8-megapixel sensor,
backside illumination and a five-element lens. The improvements will be a
big boon for low-light photography, typically the iPhone’s Achilles
heel. The iPhone also includes a sapphire crystal to sharpen images, as
well as systems to reduce digital noise and speed up the time it takes
to snap a picture.
The guy behind me just moaned. “Geez, that’s
really nice.”
01:26 PM A Battery Boost for iPhone
Nick Bilton/The New York Times
Mr. Schiller’s back. The iPhone 5 has a larger, juicier battery,
which includes 8 hours of 3G talk time, 8 hours of LTE browsing and 10
hours on Wi-Fi, he says.
Rob
Murray, executive producer at Electronic Arts Studios, just took the
stage to demonstrate a racing game. It looks crisp and real. This could
be a big deal for apps makers, large and small.
01:23 PM New A6 Chip Inside
The
new machine has speedier innards, thanks to a new A6 chip designed by
Apple. The chip is twice as fast in terms of CPU and graphics, Mr.
Schiller says. “Not only is it a jump forward in performance, it’s 22
percent smaller,” he says. The chip means Web pages load twice as fast.
01:20 PM More Carriers, More Acronyms
Good
news for those sick of dropped signals and sluggish iMessage delivery:
The iPhone 5 has chips that support additional bands and frequencies. It
can handle HSPA+, DC-HSDPA and most importantly LTE, capable of
delivering up to 100 Mbps per second. Mr. Schiller is detailing the
carrier partners for the new iPhone: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint,
Telefonica, to name a few, in Europe, Australia, Asia.
Now,
Mr. Schiller is demonstrating how the roomier screen of the iPhone 5
can be used by apps makers. The screen has 40 percent more color
saturation, he says, which is the “most accurate display in the
industry.”
He’s showing off new versions of a CNN app and an OpenTable app that
takes advantage of the larger screen, giving more space for details and
photographs.
01:16 PM Thumb-Based Navigation
The
iPhone’s width is just right for navigating with your thumb, says Mr.
Schiller, to make it easy to send text messages, swipe through pages and
browse the Web. Seems like a dig at Android devices with wider screens.
The additional vertical space on the iPhone 5 screen will let users
add a fifth, additional row of apps on the home screen — more room for
Web browsing and reading, Mr. Schiller says.
01:17 PM We've Seen This Before
The
actual iPhone 5 matches previously leaked images from Asia. This shows
that it’s gotten tough for Apple to maintain its culture of secrecy with
so many component partners overseas.
— Brian X. Chen
01:14 PM Walkthrough on the iPhone 5
It’s
the thinnest phone ever made, says Mr. Schiller. It is 7.6 millimeters
thick, or 18 percent slimmer than the iPhone 4S. The phone weighs 112
grams, which is 20 percent lighter than the previous iteration. The new
screen is a 4-inch display, with the same high-resolution 326 pixels
per inch as the previous version. It’s 1,136 by 640 pixels, 16×9 aspect
ratio.
01:13 PM Details on the New iPhone
The
next-generation iPhone emerges from the stage, riding on a pedestal.
“It is an absolute jewel,” he says. “The most beautiful product we’ve
made, bar none.”
It’s made of aluminum and steel, he said.
01:12 PM It's Officially the iPhone 5
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Mr. Schiller is walking us through each version of the iPhone. “Today, we’re going to introduce the iPhone 5,” he says.
01:11 PM Next Up, Updates on the iPhone
Last
quarter, Apple sold its 400 millionth iOS device. “Today, we’re taking
it to the next level,” Mr. Cook says. Phil Schiller, Apple’s marketing
chief, is taking the stage.
01:10 PM Tim Cook Gets a Little Saucy
Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesTim Cook, Apple’s chief executive.
Mr. Cook, normally Mr. Nice Guy, is being funny and sarcastic. Noting
that the iPad accounts for 91 percent of tablet Web traffic, Mr. Cook
says, “I don’t know what these other tablets are doing.” (The crowd
laughs, of course.)
— Nick Bilton
01:09 PM Apps on Apps on Apps
Apple
now has 700,000 apps in the store, 250,000 for the iPad alone. That
number elicited a few whistles and a loud smattering of applause.
“There’s something in the App Store for everyone,” Mr. Cook says. The
average customer is using more than 100 apps, he says.
01:06 PM Turning to the iPad and Tablet Market
Now
Mr. Cook is talking about the latest iPad. It was announced in March,
and the company sold 17 million iPads in the last quarter. “Yes, we are
in a post-PC world,” Mr. Cook says. In total, there have been 84
million iPads sold through June. The iPad, said Mr. Cook, has 62 percent
of the worldwide tablet market.
Mr.
Cook says Apple customers have downloaded 7 million copies of the
company’s latest Mac operating system, Mountain Lion, “making it the
fastest-selling OS of all time.” In July, MacBook laptops grabbed a 27
percent share of the overall laptop market, he says.
01:02 PM Apple Retail Details
Apple
now has 380 stores in 12 countries, with the next one opening on
Friday, Mr. Cook says. Apple is opening its first store in Sweden. Mr.
Cook says 83 million customers visited Apple stores in June.
01:02 PM Tim Cook on Stage
Mr.
Cook is walking on stage, wearing a nice black button-down and blue
jeans. He’s showing off photographs of an Apple flagship store in
Barcelona. “It’s an amazing time at Apple, an extraordinary time.” He’s
showing a video of an Apple store in Barcelona.
We’re
here in the auditorium, people are filing in and the room is brimming
with journalists, noted Silicon Valley venture capitalists like Ron
Conway, and well-known apps makers like Ge Wang, founder and chief
executive of Smule. Spotted in the front row: Al Gore.
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