just 3 weeks until … the iPhone 6 is here!

Living with a techie when a new iPhone releases is like living with Santa Claus at Christmas. See what Pete Foster has to say about the much anticipated iPhone 6.

Happy hump day! xoxo- Tanya

OK, so even running the risk of invoking awful images of Steve Martin running through town shouting about the new phone books, I picked the headline. Why? Well, because ever since Apple changed our lives seven years ago introducing that first “smart phone”, iPhone announcements have been one of the most anticipated annual events in pop culture – and in the lives of techies – like me! So in case you haven’t heard, it’s that time again. It looks like September 9^th will be the big announcement about the iPhone 6!

Knowing how important this date is to you – I thought I’d bring you the latest news and rumors about the exciting new features in the iPhone 6.

SIZE: There will apparently be TWO new iPhones…one will be a larger iPhone, and one will be bigger than a phone but smaller than a tablet – nicknamed a “Phablet”. The phone version will add about ¾ of an inch to the diagonal screen size of the iPhone 5s. This 4.7” screen will be almost a 20% increase in screen size. The Phablet is rumored to be coming out with a huge 5.5” diagonal screen. While the phone version will be available shortly after the announcement, the Phablet will lag until later this year.
CAMERA: The new phone may upgrade to a 13-megapixel CMOS sensor from Sony. It is quite possible that the aperture may improve too – to f2.0 or even f1.8. Another iPhone 6 camera rumor suggests that image stabilization may be added to the products.
WI-FI: The phone will probably use a new Broadcom chip that offers – according to Broadcom – twice the Wi-Fi speed of existing cell phones.
DISPLAY: Looks like the 6 may have a sapphire glass display. This will help prevent scratches, and, most importantly, strengthen the display so it won’t crack so easily.
Color: Looks like a shade of black, white, and gold again.
Battery: A slightly bigger, thinner battery is said to be used in the new phone to maintain battery life even with the bigger screen.
NFC: Near field communications is a long overdue addition to the iPhone. Looks like the phone may finally get this feature. NFC will make it a snap to exchange pictures, contacts, files, etc. by simply tapping two phones together.
Processor: There’s a better than an even chance that the phone will use a new A8 processor for faster operation.
Software: iPhone 6 will be introduced with IOS 8, the new operating system Apple introduced earlier this year for its MACs, phones, tablets and other devices. These features include sharing all your photos across all your devices automatically, sending your voice in text messages, beginning an email or text on one device and finishing it on another, better auto-completion for easy typing and sharing calendars, photos and music among your family members.
Applications: Apple is introducing “health monitoring” features in the new iPhone 6 and IOS 8. Applications such as irregular heartbeat detectors, pulse detectors, exercise and diet monitoring and sleep monitoring are features quite possible in the near future.
Wireless Charging: Charging your phone without plugging in wires is also rumored to be improved in the iPhone 6. Now you will only have to place your iPhone near a charging pad to charge it.
Reversible USB Plug: This Apple exclusive makes it easier to plug the USB end of a lightning cable into any device.

These features look great to me. And even if only half of the rumors are true – I’ve got to have one. So, it looks like I’ll be down on Knox St. in mid-September standing in line for an hour or two to get one of the first iPhone 6s! Want to join me?

Photo credit: Bing.com and Macworld

ABOUT PETE FOSTER

Peter Foster is an avid technologist, engineer and fan of US space operations. He has over 25 years’ experience as CEO of technology companies, 12 US Patents, has co-authored a book on speech recognition and is an instrument-rated private pilot with over 2500 hours.