AFTER telling us that a 4in screen display was the ideal size because it means a phone can be held and operated with one hand, Apple is bowing to competition from big-screen Android rivals and giving the iPhone a size boost.
On Tuesday, the company will announce at least one and possibly two new iPhones. There will be an iPhone 6, expected to come with a 4.7in display, making it slightly larger than the existing iPhone 5S, and a bigger “iPhablet”, a 5.5in model.
“We put a lot of thinking into screen size and we believe we have picked the right one,” Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said last year, talking about the existing 4in iPhone range. “It provides a larger screen size without sacrificing the one-handed ease of use.”
But times change, and with many people using their smartphones more for features better suited to a big screen, such as web browsing, email and playing games, than for making calls, Cook has changed his tune.
If leaked pictures of the new iPhablet’s frame are genuine, though, Cook might still be able to stick to his one-handed mantra: the large device appears to be just 7.5mm thick, which would make it slimmer than the iPhone 5S. Other possible features being speculated upon for the new devices include memory of up to 128GB — double the existing maximum — faster processors and a near-field communication chip for making secure, contactless payments. Apple will reportedly launch its own payment platform after securing agreements with Visa and American Express, though the company itself has not commented on this or any of the other rumours.
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There’s a lot riding on the new devices. An estimated 11m iPhones are in use in the UK and figures from uSwitch.com show that the iPhone 5S was the country’s most popular handset in August, judged by online sales and inquiries, but that four of the other top 10 spots are taken by Android phones with screens of 5in and above, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One and LG G3.
All will be revealed when Cook takes the stage in Apple’s home town of Cupertino, California, this week where staff are also said to be preparing to launch an iWatch, a wearable smart watch that is expected to go on sale in 2015 and could be priced at about £250.
Two simple steps keep your saucy snaps safe up in the cloud
Your smartphone and tablet could be storing photos and other personal data in the cloud, leaving it exposed to hackers — as a string of Hollywood stars found out to their cost last week, when candid shots of Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian and others were posted online.
Apple, Android and Windows Phone devices all prompt their users to link to free cloud accounts during setup, where any photos taken can be automatically uploaded and stored. It’s easy to say that you shouldn’t agree to use these services, but with Android and Windows devices often starting at just 8GB of memory, cloud storage is an attractive service. So how can you use the cloud and still ensure your data remains private?
You can make your data more secure with two-step verification. If you log in to the service from a different device or wi-fi network, after entering your user name and password a one-off code is texted to your phone. This needs to be entered to gain access, so unless a hacker also has your (unlocked) phone, even the correct name and password won’t let them in. To activate two-step verification for iCloud, click Manage Your Apple ID at appleid.apple.com. For Google+, click Account Security at support.google.com. For OneDrive, type “two step” into the search box at windows.microsoft.com.