What Apple is Announcing Right Now

And, that's all folks!

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April 24 is the release day. Apple is setting up special table in their stores to help the decision-making process.

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Select retail stores will sell a $10,000 model.

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18 hours or battery is not going be well received. That's best-case and aspirational. You can't wear it to sleep.

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Cheapest Apple Watch is $349, as expected. For $400, you get a wider model (42mm vs 38mm)

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And that is the last word on battery life, which is not a good sign.

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Finally: 18 hours of battery live in a "typical" day.

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First real emphasis yet that this a stand-alone device. "Apple Watch has been designed to work with the iPhone." I'll say. In other words, lots of this functionality would seem cool if it wasn't tethered to an iPhone, but is less compelling as an iPhone annex.

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So, Über notifications are right on point. As are flight notifications. These are non-immersive conveniences, unlike scrolling through your Instagram feed.

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No mention of battery life yet. But why you don't generally want to answer your phone with your watch — a speaker phone — is pretty clear, as the audience is treated to news that Phil's dog is ready to get picked up.

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Apple Pay does not seem to require Touch ID or any authentication. Good idea?

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Kevin Lynch just activated my iPhone as he activated his Apple Watch ...

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Now the brief interaction bit, which will tell us how they intend to address battery life: as the reality of smart watch use, or as a necessary condition.

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Apple Pay (We knew that). Photos and music, ditto. Siri integration. Finally, notifications, almost as an afterthought — "So you can keep up with your favorite sports team." Some of this pitch makes it sound as though Apple is inventing the space, which is hard to hear since there are so many precursors from other companies.

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Not really sure what the Christy Turlington Burns sideshow is all about. This is perhaps the most obscure endorsement ever at an Apple Event. As a colleague sitting near me says, unless I plan on running a marathon, I don't get it. She's showing off her "chic" Apple Watch. Crickets in the auditorium. "Apple Watch is going to help me get there."

Full-time health feedback, including whether you are sitting too long. And it will send you a weekly report, which doesn't seem to be the sort of urgent thing that I would be just fine getting in an email ...

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You can draw on your watch and send it to another Apple Watch. You can send your heartbeat. These are not compelling use cases, though Cook presents them as new communications paradigms. The audience isn't going nuts.

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Making and taking calls: "I have been wanting to do this since I was 5 years old." Almost zero applause. Full emails, and messaging from the Watch. Audience seems unimpressed.

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Faces themselves are very customizable, which is very un-Apple like. But does follow the lead of Pebble.

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"Apple Watch is the most advanced timepiece ever created" — Tim Cook. OK ... Cook shows off various possible faces and data displays. Nothing new here yet. Maybe the animated Mickey Mouse. Or not.

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1:54 pm ET: Finally, the Apple Watch.

USB-C — One Plug to rule them all: Power, USB data transfer, DisplayPort, HDMI and VGA. This means that you won't have to search for the right port — and Apple doesn't have to "waste" space accommodating them.

But ... it looks like there is only one of these. Which means that you can't power up and connect a display or a USB peripheral simultaneously? Anyone out there know different? It does have Tunderbolt 2

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Terraced batteries — different sizes that fill new available space. 35% more capacity "all-day battery life." Which raises the question if the new MacBook will have better batter life than the Apple Watch.

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First MacBook with no fan (Shiller called it "fanless," which is bad marketing)

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Four trackpad sensors enable something called "force click" — a new nav option that works in context within apps.

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New MacBook is thinner than the latest MacBook Air (17.3 mm at the thickest). Retina display, natch. LED under each key.

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"Can you even see it? I can hardly feel it" Cook says, holding up a new wafer-thin Macbook. Weight: two pounds. "This is the lightest Mac we have ever made," Phil Shiller says. Thicket point is 13.1 mm — 24% thinner. Edge-to-edge keyboard.

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Mac news: "We challenged ourselves to reinvent the notebook." Cue the video...

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ResearchKit is open source. Releasing next months, and first 5 apps are available now. What else — if anything — has Apple ever made open source?
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ResearchKit — an extension of HealthKit — is going deep into some basic diagnostics and crowdsourcing. Apple has partnered with more than a dozen teaching hospitals. Operations SVP Jeff Williams emphasizes the privacy protections.


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"iPhone is never more than an arm's length away." — Cook #HintHint
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Every major car brand has committed to delivering CarPlay.
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2,500 banks supporting Apple Pay. 700k establishments now accept Apple Pay, triple from launch
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Cook claims mantle for top-selling smart phone in the world (edging out Samsung). Claims 99% customer service approval
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700 millionth iPhone sold "recently" — Cook
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25 million Apple TVs sold. And now the price drops today to $70, from $100.
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Over to HBO CEO Richard Plepler. Apple is HBO's exclusive partner at launch of HBO Now, the stand-alone HBO streaming service. "All you need is a broadband and an Apple device." Service begins in April, and if you sign up for April, you get a month free. Now, an exclusive Game of Thrones trailer!
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Tim is starting with Apple TV. "We love HBO," Cook says, setting up the over-the-top announcement.
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"We now have 21 stories in China and have a very aggressive plan to have 40 (soon)" — Cook
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Here's Tim — Tucked, in a light blue-collared shirt and in a casual jacket! #MindExplosion
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1:02 PM: Event is up and running with an extended ad for it's retail presence in China.

Apple is expected to unveil its Watch at one of the company's tried-and-true live events today. The invitation's tag line — "Spring Forward" — is the not-so-subtle clue as to the main event, which is the second big party for Apple Watch.
First time out was hardly a big secret either, but my view last September when Apple made Watch official was that a Goliath was getting into an unproven space, and that only a Goliath could prove or disprove that smart watches had legs.
It's only been six months, but a lot has changed. Apple's nemesis for the hearts and minds of wearables, Google, pulled the plug on Glass. The only smart watch maker who has sales north of one million units, Pebble, is plugging away with a new model that will hit the streets just as Apple Watch tries to storm the beaches.
Felix Salmon's very practical observation that the first generation Watch might suck for a fundamental reason — battery anxiety — may not be addressed as much as it is finessed. Will Apple look like it is capturing or imposing a reality that we'll be fine using Watch in 10-second bursts? There is already delightful spin on this from Apple design chief Jony Ive, who says, in effect, that battery life is over-rated.
Speculation about Apple Watch has caused lots of arguments, but pretty soon we'll have facts, over which there is no point arguing. Sometime after 1 pm ET today the squabbles will be about whether the best possible vision for a smart watch Apple can conceive of is enough to make enough people care.
Let the games begin!

Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge comparisons and specs

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge steals the show as Samsung announces two new flagship smartphones

 

 

Update: We've added a specifications table so you can compare the two phones head-to-head.

As expected, Samsung released not one flagship smartphone, but two at its MWC launch event in Barcelona, but of the pair, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge attracted the most attention.  

It's essentially the same handset as the standard Samsung Galaxy S6 (see below for a comparison of the two handsets), but running down each of the sides of the quad-HD, 5.1in screen are two curves, where the glass gently falls away to meet the rear of the phone.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge: design

While we weren't too sure about the look of the lop-sided edge Samsung Galaxy Note Edge when we reviewed it, this smartphone is an absolute stunner. The twin curves give it a unique look, and it goes together with a Gorilla Glass 4 coated and coloured metal rear panel to produce a handset that truly stands out from the crowd.
We've tried to give you an idea of how good it looks in the photos, but it’s impossible to precisely replicate in a photograph just how the metal catches the light and shimmers as you move it around.

The S6 Edge is available in four colours: white and black – as usual – plus blue and green, and all of them look great. And despite all that metal and glass, it still manages to post smaller overall dimensions than the Samsung Galaxy S5, measuring 7mm thin, 142mm tall and 70mm wide. It weighs a mere 132g.
While the Note Edge pushed the boundaries a little bit too much for us in terms of its size, we think that here, the S6 Edge delivers the perfect compromise between screen size and one-handed comfort. We were surprised at how much we liked the new design.
Samsung's design team has even managed to avoid the pitfall of having to move buttons around as it did with the Note Edge. Here, on the S6 Edge, the volume and power buttons are found in their usual positions on the left and right hand side, embedded in a very thin silver metal frame.

The only downside of the design is that the plastic removable rear panel, replaceable battery and microSD slot for storage expansion (features loved by generations of Samsung fans), have been consigned to the dustbin. There was also no mention at the launch of any kind of IP rating; it looks as if the S6 Edge and S6 are not water and dust resistant as the S5 was.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge: display

Just like the standard Samsung Galaxy S6, the S6 Edge has a 5.1in quad-HD Super AMOLED display (1,440 x 2,560), but while we're still not convinced this sort of resolution is necessary on a screen this small, it does deliver an incredibly sharp image.
And since the resolution is squeezed into a slightly smaller screen than its rivals, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge's pixel density is also higher, reaching a phenomenal 576ppi.
Colour accuracy, brightness and contrast, however, are more important than sheer pixel count, and on this front we have confidence that the S6 Edge’s screen will hit the mark. The S6 Edge's screen certainly looks great subjectively, with bright, vibrant colours and perfect contrast (as you’d expect from any AMOLED display), but we’ll only know for sure how good it is once we’ve had the opportunity to measure it with a colorimeter.

Even here, though, Samsung hasn't entirely rested on its laurels, claiming the phone's display will reach a maximum brightness of 600cd/m² on a bright day with auto-brightness enabled – right up there with the best IPS screens. When we tested the Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge with our X-Rite i1 Display Pro colorimeter, we found they reached just below 500cd/m².
There's also super-tough Gorilla Glass on the front, so the S6 Edge ought to be able to resist breakage better than before. And Samsung will be releasing a new version of the Samsung Gear VR to take advantage of the new, super-high resolution display - so it's not entirely pointless.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge specs

Inside, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge shares all its core specs with the standard Samsung Galaxy S6. With this year's flagship phones, Samsung is deploying its very latest in-house octa-core Exynos processors (one quad-core 2.1GHz and one 1.5GHz), the most interesting aspect of which is that they've been produced using a 14nm manufacturing process. (The RAM complement is 3GB, and storage runs to 32GB, 64Gb or 128GB.)
This marks the first time we've seen any manufacturer other than Intel produce a 14nm chip and it's certainly the debut for a 14nm processor in a smartphone. It should contribute to more efficient running and better battery life. With Samsung reducing the size of the battery by 200mAh to 2,600mAh, however, we may see no improvement in stamina.

The S6 Edge also has a "new type of flash" - a fusion between eMMC and the SSDs in laptops according to Samsung's marketing materials.
Other specifications are a touch more humdrum, with 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Cat6 4G, NFC and Bluetooth 4. The phone retains all the features of the Galaxy S5, with a barometer, fingerprint reader and heart rate monitor on the rear of the device, and adds wireless charging for the first time in a Samsung flagship, compatible with both the WPC and PMA standards.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge camera

Unlike last year, there isn't much to say about the S6 Edge's camera. It has the same 16-megapixel resolution as the S5 did and that, coupled with phase detect autofocus should go together to produce top quality photographs and video.
There are some improvements, though: the aperture is larger at f/1.9 (the S5’s was an f/2.2 snapper), and the S6 Edge now has optical image stabilisation, which should improve the sharpness of images shot in low light. It also boasts a new quick launch feature: double-click the home button and the camera app will launch in a claimed 0.7 seconds.

On the front, meanwhile, there's a 5-megapixel f/1.9 camera, which more than doubles the 2-megapixel snapper from last year. And impressively, video now benefits from object-tracking autofocus, a feature normally associated with dedicated camcorders. It'll be interesting to see how well this works when we get hold of an S6 or S6 Edge for testing.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge vs Samsung Galaxy S6

Of course the S6 Edge is not Samsung’s only flagship phone of 2015. There’s also a standard, flat-screened version: the Samsung Galaxy S6. What’s the difference? The answer is very little.
It’s finished in the same luxurious colour metal at the rear, with matte-silver edges framing the phone all-around.

We prefer the look of the S6 Edge, but the sculpted sides of the S6 look pretty good too, and there are only miniscule differences in dimensions and weight. The S6 is slightly thinner than the S6 Edge at 6.8mm (not that we noticed any difference when we held the two side by side). It’s also fractionally taller and wider, but again we’re talking tiny differences here. In fact the biggest difference is that the S6 is 6g heavier.
In terms of the rest of the specifications the only major change is that the S6 has a slightly smaller battery than the S6 Edge, at 2,550mAh. Everything else - the size and resolution of the screen, the cameras, processor, RAM and storage options - remain the same.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Samsung Galaxy S6 initial verdict

Both new Samsung handsets look highly impressive on first viewing, but it’s the S6 Edge that steals the show. Its unique look, coupled with a great attention to detail outstrips that of the HTC One M9, which itself is a stunner. Those curved glass edges will have smartphone aficionados everywhere itching to get their hands on one.
Watch this space for the full review, which we’ll post once we’ve had the opportunity to thoroughly test an official review unit.

Comparisons and Specs

	Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge specifications	Samsung Galaxy S6 specifications	vs HTC One M9 specifications
Processor	Octacore (quad 2.1GHz and quad 1.5GHz), Samsung Exynos SoC	Octacore (quad 2.1GHz and quad 1.5GHz), Samsung Exynos SoC	Octacore (quad 2GHz and quad 1.5GHz), Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC
RAM	3GB LPDDR4	3GB LPDDR4	3GB
Screen size	5.1in	5.1in	5in
Screen resolution	1,440 x 2560, 576ppi (Gorilla Glass 4)	1,440 x 2560, 576ppi (Gorilla Glass 4)	1,080 x 1,920, 441ppi (Gorilla Glass 4)
Screen type	Super AMOLED	Super AMOLED	Super LCD3 (IPS)
Front camera	5MP	5MP	4MP
Rear camera	16MP (f/1.9, phase detect autofocus, OIS)	16MP (f/1.9, phase detect autofocus, OIS)	20.7MP (f/2.2)
Flash	Dual LED	Dual LED	Dual LED
GPS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Compass	Yes	Yes	Yes
Storage	16/32/64GB (UFS 2 flash)	16/32/64GB (UFS 2 flash)	32GB
Memory card slot (supplied)	No	No	MicroSD
Wi-Fi	802.11ac (2x2 MIMO)	802.11ac (2x2 MIMO)	802.11ac
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.1 LE, A2DP, apt-X, ANT+	Bluetooth 4.1 LE, A2DP, apt-X, ANT+	Bluetooth 4.1, A2DP, apt-X
NFC	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wireless data	4G, Cat6 (300Mbits/sec download, 50Mbits/sec upload)	4G, Cat6 (300Mbits/sec download, 50Mbits/sec upload)	4G
Size (WDH)	70 x 7 x 142mm	71 x 6.8 x 143mm	70 x 9.6 x 145mm
Weight	132g	138g	157g
Operating system	Android 5 Lollipop	Android 5 Lollipop	Android 5 Lollipop with Sense 7
Battery size	2,600mAh	2,550mAh	2,840mAh
Buying information
Availability	10/4/2015	10/4/2015	31/3/2015

Apple reclaims number one spot over Samsung in smartphone sales

APPLE has leapfrogged Samsung to reclaim the number one spot on smartphone global sales on the back of the huge success of the iPhone 6.

Gartner  released its annual global sales figures which shows the massive boost Apple had on the back of the release of its first phablet, and the slump that Samsung suffered.

Big picture ... the release of the bigger iPhone 6 and 6 Plus pushed Apple back to the top in smartphone sales. Picture: Supplied. Source: AFP

In the final quarter of the year, Apple sold nearly 75 million smartphones ahead of Samsung that sold about 73 million.

TURNAROUND: Everyone hated Apple for these features, now everyone has them

FIGHTS BACK: Apple rebuffs Samsung camera jibes with global gallery of iPhone pics

Ahead of the pack ... In the final quarter of the year, Apple sold nearly 75 million smartphones ahead of Samsung that sold about 73 million. Picture: AP/Eric Risberg Source: AAP

While the margin was only small, a look at the change in a year reveals the bigger picture.

In the final quarter of 2013, Apple sold 50 million iPhones and Samsung sold 83 million smartphones. In the year that followed, Apple’s marketshare went from 17.8 per cent to 20.4 per cent while Samsung dropped from 29.5 per cent to 19.9 per cent.

In the report, Gartner principal research analyst Anshul Gupta said “Samsung continues to struggle to control its falling smartphone share”.

The Gartner figures supports the recent research by Strategy Analytics which showed in the final quarter of 2014, Apple accounted for 89 per cent of all smartphone profits compared with all Android phones claiming just 11.3 per cent of profits.

Samsung to carry on with key wireless charging standard

Powermat CEO Thorsten Heins says any future Samsung smartphone with wireless charging will include his company's wireless charging standard.

The Galaxy S6 Edge has wireless charging built in.

BARCELONA -- Samsung Electronics has broken the ice when it comes to wireless charging.

That's according to Thorsten Heins, chief executive of Powermat, the company behind one of the key wireless charging standards. He said the standard will come packed into any future Samsung smartphones capable of wireless charging.

Cyanogen CEO believes Samsung and Apple will be slaughtered by new smartphone companies

THE CEO of the biggest smartphone software makers in the world believes that Samsung and Apple’s reign of the smartphone world could be heading the way of Nokia and BlackBerry.

In an interview with Business Insider, CEO of Cyanogen Kirt McMaster argues that smartphone dominance by Samsung and Apple will be “slaughtered” in the next five years by smaller smartphone makers.

Mr McMaster’s company has recently partnered with Qualcomm, the company that makes the chips inside just about every non-iPhone. The deal sees Qualcomm offering manufacturers the use of the Cyanogen software with any device that uses their chips, making it easy for any new brand to come into the market.

This “turnkey” style deal is what Mr McMaster believes will be the downfall of big manufacturers like Samsung.

“Over the course of the next 3-5 years, it will impact every market on the planet. It’s mostly being felt now in emerging markets. The reason it’s being impacted there is because of the turnkey model. It allows these local OEMs to arise out of nothing.” McMaster said.

“On the global platform, we see Xiaomi becoming the No. 3 OEM. Micromax is now No. 10. These guys are basically creating really cheap handsets that have really awesome performance. This is made possible because of Qualcomm’s turnkey solution as well as Mediatek’s.

“The tier one OEMs like Samsung are going to be the next generation Nokias in the next five years. They’re going to be slaughtered. We think long term Apple itself will have problems because they’re just not good at competing at the low end.”

OPPO recently launched in Australia with the country’s thinnest phone. Source: Supplied

Like Mr McMaster mentioned, companies like Xiaomi are already disrupting the market.

You’d be forgiven if you had never heard of Xiaomi before, but as of December last year the company became the highest selling smartphone maker in China, and the third biggest in the world. For a company that was founded in 2010, that’s pretty impressive.

Other Chinese companies like OPPO are doing the same thing, dominating the big guys by offering a great hardware and software experience for a much cheaper price.

“It could get pretty bad pretty damn quick [for Samsung]. This is often the case. Look what happened to Research In Motion (RIM). Look what happened to Nokia. Last summer Micromax surpassed Samsung as the dominant feature phone player in India. We’re talking literally in eight months this occurred,” McMaster said.

Samsung announce Galaxy S6, The best iPhone Samsung has ever made.

Let's get this out of the way: there are some similarities between the recently announced Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6. A lot of ink has been spilled over Samsung copying Apple's designs, but it's not as bad as you might think.

Samsung at Mobile World Congress on Sunday announced its latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. If you have already see some information about the Galaxy S6 you would be forgiven if you though you had heard it all before because it sounds remarkable similar to the iPhone 6.

All Samsung fans dropped their jaws when they heard about the Galaxy S6 because it is an amazing phone and because it seems like Samsung have stopped trying to cover up their copying of the iPhone.

The Galaxy S6 comes with

• A glass front and back, like the iPhone 4 & iPhone 4s
• A protruding camera, like the iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus
• An updated fingerprint scanner that works just like the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus
• Something called "Samsung Pay". They didn't even come up with an original name.
• A metal frame which provides structural strength, like the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus.
• The S6 comes in black, white & Gold. No Comment!

What is also interesting is that Samsung have decided to remove some features that, in the past, they have used to market against Apple.

• No Micro SD card, Like every iPhone
• No removable battery, Like every iPhone
• No Waterproofing, Like every iPhone

But it is not just in the hardware where Samsung have used Apple's playbook. The Galaxy S6 has 40% fewer features when compared to the Galaxy S5.

It really does seem like Samsung have prioritised the design of the phone over packing in as many features as possible.

There is one thing that is for sure, this is the best iPhone Samsung has ever made.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Apple iPhone 6 both have glass fronts, a physical home button below the screen and metal around the sides. They have LTE radios and are technically smartphones. And if you happen to look at them from below, they look a little similar from that one angle.

Yes, from below, the Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6 share some serious visual similarities. In that, they're machined out of aluminum and have machined holes for the 3.5mm headphone jack, a center-mounted USB or lightning port, and holes for speaker grilles drilled into the right side. There are even the Apple-style plastic-filled stripes that break it up into visual segments and a color-matched chrome-ringed home button. From the bottom you might think that the Galaxy S6 is another version of the iPhone.

But it's only from that angle. Every other look at the Galaxy S6 reveals a phone that is markedly different from the iPhone 6. And some of the similarities are thanks to those being the most optimal ways to manage this sort of construction. You want a phone that's made out of metal? Well, your speaker grille is going to be a series of circular holes. Want to use that metal frame as an antenna? Alright, you'll need to divide it up with some plastic strips so you can properly manage Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and LTE.

Sure, Apple did some of these things before Samsung, and there are some visual comparisons that can be drawn. But there's nothing wrong with admitting that the Galaxy S6 draws some design inspiration from the iPhone 6; the iPhone 6 is an attractively-designed phone and Apple's going to sell well over 100 million of them once all is said and done. That Samsung's new flagship smartphone also looks smartly-designed isn't the worst thing in the world. Because that means it also looks like a nice phone.

That was a lot of words about the bottom half-inch of these two phones. From every other angle, they're different. The back of the Galaxy S6 is glass — and before you say "iPhone 4!", know that it's flush with the metal frame (which on the 4 was stainless steel, for what it's worth). The center-aligned camera is traditional for Samsung, and sure, like the iPhone 6 it juts out thanks to the phone's thin profile, though in this case it juts out more, and the Galaxy S4 was doing that first anyway.

 

Internals-wise we're looking at very different phones. Whereas the iPhone 6 has a dual-core 64-bit Apple A8 processor, the Galaxy S6 is powered by Samsung's octacore Exynos processor (also 64-bit, though with four cores running at 2.1GHz and another four at a milder 1.5GHz). The iPhone 6's 4.7-inch 750x1334 LCD display is utterly shamed by the 5.1-inch 2560x1440 Super AMOLED panel on the Galaxy S6. Yes, the Galaxy S6 is pushing more than 3.6 times the pixels as the iPhone 6, and yet in our time with it we never saw it stutter or otherwise balk at whatever we threw at it. There's an argument to be made that the 326ppi resolution of the iPhone 6 is enough, but there's just something about the 577ppi that the Galaxy S6 sports that is simply stunning.

On the camera front, the iPhone 6 sports an upgraded 8-megapixel shooter with an ƒ/2.2 lens, while the Galaxy S6's sensor counts up to 16MP behind a wider ƒ/1.9 lens, meaning that it lets in significantly more light. There are still some details about the Galaxy S6 camera that we don't know, but the broad strokes are there: this is a very serious contender to the iPhone's mobile camera dominance. Considering that we weren't able to take the Galaxy S6 out of controlled space and lighting area of the Samsung booth inside Fira Barcelona.

 

Battery-wise, Samsung's jumped onto the sealed battery bandwagon. Going with the glass back kind of necessitated that — you don't want for that to be removable. Samsung did do away with the previous Galaxy's phone's waterproofing, but built in two standards for wireless charging (thus the glass back — a full metal back would block inductive charging transmission). The Galaxy S6's battery has also seen a reduction in size, and we've yet to get a good feel for what kind of battery life we can expect from it in real life.

Then there's the matter of software: the Galaxy S6 runs the very latest Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, while the iPhone runs iOS 8. Naturally, this means that there are serious differences in the way that the software works and the development philosophies behind them.

 

Apple's software is highly integrated from the start with the hardware and the App Store is tightly controlled, while Samsung's had to make their own integrations from Android to their hardware, and the Google Play Store is comparatively the wild west. There are, of course, apps that slip through the App Store's famously rigorous review process, and Google Play has some restrictions on what can be published and Google works hard to block malicious apps from getting in the store in the first place, and reacts swiftly and prudently when something bad does get through.

We've gone over the software differences here time and time again, and Samsung's latest implementation of their TouchWiz design language on top of Android is leaner and cleaner than ever before. No longer does it weigh on the processor and cause noticeable lag throughout the device, and Samsung's customizations on top of Google's highly-regarded Material Design language for Android have led to a Samsung interface that's finally actually visually-pleasing. In terms of user interface design language, Apple, Samsung, and Google have never been closer, and yet they're still notably different.

There is one software feature that Samsung could be accused of lifting from Apple, and that would be Samsung Pay. In short, we're talking about a contactless payments system that uses stored-on-device credit card numbers, tokenization for secure one-time-use numbers, NFC transmission, and fingerprint authentication (the Galaxy S6's fingerprint scanner is larger this time around for an Apple-style "lay your thumb on it" approach instead of the previous frustrating swiping authentication).

But Samsung does Apple one better by integrating Magnetic Secure Transmission technology (acquired wholly with the acquisition of LoopPay) that makes the phone compatible with hundreds of millions of magnetic swipe card readers around the world. At least in theory — there are always complications, including store clerks that will think you're working some sort of voodoo by paying with your phone. Even if we want to accuse Samsung of copying the simplicity of Apple's mobile payments system (Apple was far from the first to implement contactless mobile payments, but their implementation was as elegant and straightforward as we would expect from them). In the end, in this sort of emerging technology system, the more adoption and push behind it, the merrier — any NFC-capable payment terminal should be fully compatible with both Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Wallet, and whatever else gets out there.

 

There are comparisons to be drawn between the Apple iPhone 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6. There are good reasons to make those comparisons, and there are good reasons why the similarities that have prompted these comparisons make sense. Of course, we won't be able to draw any definitive judgements until we've been able to have the Galaxy S6 for an extended period and really been able to get our hands and heads around it.

After a mildly disappointing generation in the Galaxy S5, Samsung has taken practically every criticism of their marketing, their software, their hardware, and even their presentation to heart. They've turned around and made a phone that's technically impressive (which the Galaxy line has always been) as well as a real crowd-pleaser on the design front. They've produced a phone here that stands toe-to-toe with the iPhone, and that's not a bad thing at all.

Voice Over Wifi - iPhone 6's Wi-Fi Calling

One of the new, interesting features on the iPhone 6 is called Wi-Fi calling. It lets you use your home Internet network to make calls and send texts, rather than route them through traditional cell towers. That saves you from using your minutes and lets you make calls even in places your phone signal doesn’t reliably reach, such as your home’s basement.

But while Wi-Fi calling is undoubtedly useful to many, not all carriers are able to support it yet. At the iPhone 6 launch, only T-Mobile had the infrastructure in place to allow Wi-Fi calls. It’s part of why the company created its Wi-Fi Unleashed deal, which bundles iPhone 6 purchases with a free (with deposit) 802.11 AC router that prioritizes data from the phone.
When will the other carriers catch up? None of the other ‘big three’ have set Wi-Fi calling launch dates, but they’ve still given us all some hints about their future plans. Here’s what to expect and when to expect it from your carrier of choice.