The AppAdvice week in review: Apple's 'iPhone 6,' Amazon's Fire phone, and 'Sharknado 2'
The three biggest stories of the week
1. The latest on Apple's upcoming product launches
The ‘iPhone 6’
Cupertino is almost certainly going to unveil a new iPhone in mid-September. It remains to be seen whether this unveiling will include two new models.
This week, one report said that Apple was planning on launching its long rumored bigger, 5.5-inch iPhone 6 handset after the 4.7-inch model in order to avoid competition between the two devices.
A day later, another report said the anticipated 5.5-inch version won’t even enter mass production until September.
Apple would probably be wise to announce separate launch dates for the new handsets. However, I remain convinced that the models will still be announced at the same special event.
For other iPhone 6 stories, see:
New iPads Meanwhile, the word is that new iPads won’t arrive in stores until later this fall. This sounds about right. Apple has held October iPad launch events in both 2012 and 2013. OS X 10.10 Yosemite
Finally, it looks like the public launch of OS X Yosemite won't occur until October. Its arrival could coincide with the launch of a 12-inch MacBook and a 4K iMac or standalone monitor.
This news comes as Apple launched the first public beta of OS X Yosemite this week.
2. Apple's earnings are good
As Brent Dirks reported on Tuesday:
Apple has just announced its earnings report for the 2014 fiscal third quarter. The company beat Wall Street expectations and posted revenue of $37.4 billion with a net profit of $7.7 billion.
That’s compared to revenue of $35.3 billion and $6.9 billion in profit during the same quarter a year ago.
During the time period, Apple sold 35.20 million iPhones, 13.27 million iPads, 4.41 million Macs, and 2.96 million iPods.
Compared to the year-ago quarter, iPhone sales were up more than 10 percent while iPad numbers were down more than 1 million units. Coming as no surprise, iPod sales continue to fall off a cliff.
3. The Fire phone launches
Amazon officially released its first smartphone this week, the Fire phone. Early reviews for the iPhone competitor haven't exactly been kind.
As Joe White noted:
Engadget and Re/code both concluded that the first-generation Fire Phone just isn’t good enough, with the former publication’s review noting: By no means is the Fire a horrible phone, but it’s a forgettable one. You might want the eventual Fire Phone 2, perhaps, but for now, you’re better off sticking with what you know. Business Insider, on the other hand, drew attention to the device’s limited support for the latest mobile apps (“This is a phone for folks who only want to live in Amazon’s world and don’t need access to the latest and greatest apps and services rival devices offer”), while The Verge awarded the device an unimpressive 5.9 out of 10.
For further consideration
- Apple announces its 2014 iTunes Festival London, scheduled for this September
- Bose files suit against Apple-owned Beats over noise-canceling headphone patents
- Rovio unveils the first trailer for Angry Birds Transformers
- FiftyThree's Pencil stylus now works with more than just Paper
- FXNOW, featuring Simpsons World, will arrive on the Apple TV in the next year
- Siri might be improving, but Google Now on Android is still more accurate
