10 Eylül  2013 Salı - 23:17

Apple's new iPhone models 5S, 5C revealed

Apple has unveiled two new iPhones, including a cheaper plastic version in bright colours and an updated high-end device with a fingerprint scanner.

A new iPhone known as the 5C will start at $739 outright and will come in five colours: blue, green, pink, yellow and white.
The high-end model, called the iPhone 5S, will be available in gold, silver and grey and will start at $869 outright.
Touch: The iPhone 5S features a fingerprint scanner in the home button.
Touch: The iPhone 5S features a fingerprint scanner in the home button. Photo: Reuters
Both phones will be available from Apple as well as through Telstra, Optus and Vodafone from Friday September 20.
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The new devices, which were unveiled by Apple chief executive Tim Cook at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, on Tuesday (Wednesday morning AEST), are seen as a strategy shift to reach a broader range of customers around the world.
"The business has become so large," Cook said. "We're going to replace it with not one, but two new designs."
iPhone 5C
The iPhone 5C is part of Apple's bid to counter the flood of low-cost smartphones from rivals, most of which use Google's Android operating system.
Apple designer Jonathan Ive said despite the low cost, the plastic iPhone 5C with a steel frame "is beautiful".
"We took the same fanatical care with how the iPhone 5C feels in your hand," Ive said.
The iPhone 5C with 16 gigabytes (GB) of memory will sell for $739 outright in Australia, while a 32GB model will cost $869.
The 5C also features a 4-inch Retina display, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and an A6 chip.
Analysts were keenly focused on the promise of an iPhone 5C to win over buyers in China and other developing markets where there is fierce competition from low-priced smartphones powered by Android.
iPhone 5S
The higher-end iPhone 5S will come in gold, silver and grey and has a 64-bit A7 chip the company claims will make it work twice as fast as the iPhone 5.
It also has fingerprint-sensor technology located on the phone's home button, which people can use to unlock their phone and confirm purchases from iTunes and Apple's app store.
"We have so much of our personal data on these devices, and they are with us almost everyplace we go, so we have to protect them," said Apple vice president Phil Schiller.
The 5S has an 8-megapixel camera with slow-motion video and burst photographic modes.
The flagship handset will be start at $869 outright in Australia for a model with 16GB of memory. A 32GB model will cost $999 outright and the top-of-the-line 64GB model will cost $1129.
The crowd at the event included Apple board member and former US vice president Al Gore and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. Elvis Costello also played at the event.
Mobile software
Apple also revamped its mobile software with the introduction of iOS 7, which will be available on the new phones and as a free update for existing iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches from September 18. The overhaul includes new sounds, picture-sharing features and an iTunes radio feature.
At the event, the company said 700 million iOS devices would be sold by next month. Apple added that its Siri digital assistant is "massively improved" and now draws information from Twitter and Wikipedia, among other things.
Diversification
The product introductions underline how Apple, which was a trailblazer when it debuted the iPhone in 2007, is increasingly following the strategy of other smartphone makers that offer handsets in different colours and prices.
Until now, Apple only released one new iPhone model every year. As competing devices running Google's Android software gain in popularity in the $300 billion global smartphone market, Apple is expanding its iPhone lineup to reach more customers.
"The competition has caught up and it's now purely about how quickly it can innovate and drive its own experience forward," said Benedict Evans, an analyst with Enders Analysis.
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White said the new low-cost device will help Apple broaden its appeal.
"Since Apple's iPhone family focuses on the higher-end part of the smartphone market, we estimate the company has been unable to address approximately 60 per cent of the smartphone market," he said in a note to clients.
"We believe today's event will prove to be part of a larger string of events over the next year as Apple enters a year of innovation."
Apple also said it was adding Japan's largest carrier, NTT DoCoMo, and that it would have devices available upon introduction in China for the first time. The company is near a deal with China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier, sources familiar with the plans have said.
Each iPhone unveiling is critical for Apple because the handset accounts for about half its revenue. Rivals including Samsung using Android software have taken market share by offering more handsets in varying styles and prices. iPhone sales trailed the overall smartphone market's growth in the last two quarters.
More new Apple products are expected this year in the run-up to the holiday shopping season. The company is expected to introduce new iPads later this year, sources familiar with the plans have said.