You are looking at Apple’s new wireless Airpods, made for the new iPhone.They cost $160 and give you wireless connection to your iPhone. I couldn’t resist showing them to you rather than the new iPhone 7 (as it looks pretty much the same as the last two models). I think they are very ugly, overpriced, and impractical as they could be easily lost.
But let’s step back and talk about the new iPhone. It has several new exterior finishes, but that is not very important as almost all of you put your phone in a case. The phone is much faster as it has all new high speed chips, as well as a new type of start button. There is much more to the new phone, much of it quite impressive. You can read all the details in the first story.
But I want to focus on the two biggest changes…the camera and the audio. The new camera on the iPhone 7 is vastly improved and will give you some awesome photos. The photo processing hardware and built-in software is amazing and should render some great photos. Now, the iPhone 7 Plus has even more improvements. It comes with two lenses: a regular wide angle (28mm) and a so-called telephoto lens (56mm), so you can get even better close-up photos. It isn’t a true telephoto, but it may be all you need for a camera phone. It is very impressive.
The other, and more controversial item, is the the removal of the standard headphone jack and replacing it with earphones that plug into lightning connector…same as the charger. And while the phone comes with a lightning earphone set and a converter so you can still use a regular earphone, it is still a change that could anger a lot of iPhone fans. After all, the headphone jack has been around for many, many years and lots of folks have several standard headphones, some of them quite expensive. Apple gave no cognitive reason for the change other than it frees up space inside the phone.
Apple also dumped the 16gb memory chip so the base unit comes with 32gb memory now. That is a great change. But they dropped the 64gb option so the next size memory is 128gb. Lots more changes and updates, so be sure and read the first article here.
As for me, I have no desire to upgrade to the iPhone 7. If my iPhone 6 Plus dropped dead right now, I would probably buy an iPhone 6S Plus. I personally find the removal of the standard headphone jack insulting and impractical. I don’t see a good reason to do this other than Apple flexing their muscle and telling me what to buy. More practically, the Apple earphone buds fall out of my ears! I already had to buy earphones that stay in and am not about to buy another set of earplugs because of Apple. Yes, they do come with an adapter, but that is easily lost.
Also, I need more than 32gb, but sure as hell don’t need 128gb of memory. And earlier this year I bought a pocket camera with a Leica lens that has a real 20x Zoom and takes gorgeous photos. So the new iPhone camera is no big deal to me. Again, this is only how I feel about the new iPhone. The majority of iPhone users may feel differently.
But there is more here than just the new Apple products. So read on! -JRC
Tech News and Opinions
Everything Apple announced at the iPhone 7 launch event
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iPhone 7 First Look: Practical, but Not Jaw-Dropping
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All the ways you are probably going to lose an AirPod
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Amazon finally brings Alexa to the Fire tablet
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Delta puts price tag on systems outage: $150 million in pretax income
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Computer Tips and Tricks
Google Addresses Biggest Complaints About Chrome for Windows
Google updated Chrome for Windows this week, enhancing the browser’s user experience with a flat, Metro-like Material Design look and feel, improved support for increasingly-common high-DPI displays, and better battery life.
23 Google Maps Tricks You Need to Try
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How To Enable Windows 10's Dark Theme
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How to Turn a Windows PC Into a Wireless Repeater
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How to customize the Windows 10 Start menu
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Mobile Computing
iOS 10 will be available on September 13
Here’s a roundup of all the new functionality that’s worth knowing about.
Are iPhone prices giving you heartburn? Consider your options
In this edition,CNET's Marguerite Reardon walks you through the alternatives if you can't stomach dropping hundreds of dollars on a new phone.
Google now lets you explore U.S. National Parks via 360-degree virtual tours
The virtual tours are available both online, in the Google Arts & Culture App on iOS and Android, as well as in the Google Expeditions app for use in the classroom.
Callblock’s new iOS app will block calls from over 2 million telemarketers
A new application, Callblock, claims to block phone calls from over 2 million telemarketers by type, including things like robocallers, debt collectors, political campaigners, scammers, and more.
11 Sweet Hidden Features Inside Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Nougat is here, but your phone could be stuck on Marshmallow for a while. Make the most of it.
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