Technology Update

It’s been an interesting week for technology fans, with the big companies fighting it out in various product categories. So let’s see who did the best job this week:

- Apple announced that they sold a record breaking 9 million iPhones in 3 days, far surpassing the iPhone 5’s 5 million units sold at launch. They also announced that they have currently run out of the iPhone 5S, with new shipments arriving in October. Apple did not announce how many units of each type of phone it sold, although the gold iPhone 5S seems to be the most popular choice.

- Continuing with Apple, the new fingerprint sensor has been hacked by Germany’s Chaos Computer Club, although many security experts claim that the hack requires highly specialized tools, and is not something the average person could achieve. iOS7 was also released, and according to Apple, has been downloaded by 200 million people to date. Reviews seem to be mixed, with users having to adjust to major changes to an operating system that has not had much change since its initial release in 2007.

- Microsoft announced its Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 this week. With only minor design changes (thinner, lighter, 2 settings for the kickstand), the biggest changes come in a large increase in speed and battery life. Microsoft also introduced some new accessories, including a dock, a thinner type cover, and the new power cover, which is a backlit keyboard. Perhaps the most interesting part of this announcement, is the price point. The 32GB Surface 2 will retail for $449, making it $50 less than the original Surface, and $150 less than the 32GB iPad, which may be just what Microsoft needs to convince consumers to try something new.

- Blackberry, on the other hand, only had bad news to share. Posting almost $1B in losses, and falling far short of sales forecasts, Blackberry has announced that it will lay of 40% of its workforce, approximately 4500 people. They also reached a tentative deal with Fairfax financial, one of Blackberry’s largest shareholders, to take them private, potentially paying $9 a share. This deal is conditional on several things and has a ways to go before being finalized.

- Grand Theft Auto 5 broke all records during its launch, making $1 billion in 3 days, far more than any other game or movie. At a distant second is Black Ops 2, which reached the $1 billion mark after 15 days. It has reportedly sold 15 million copies to date.

- Twitter has announced that it will go public. Perhaps

taking a cue from Facebook’s failed IPO, it has chosen a different firm (Goldman Sachs) and will go public on a different stock exchange (NYSE). Reports indicate that the IPO will net them around $1.5 billion, with shares going for around $30.

Hopefully that helps you get caught up on all the excitement in the world of technology at the moment. The coming weeks should prove interesting, with whispers that Windows 8.1 will include competition for Siri (Cortana), the announcement of potential new Apple products (iPads), and the upcoming release of Google’s newest Android OS (KitKat).

Apple’s Reactionary Product Announcement

Apple’s announcement on Tuesday didn’t reveal anything truly ground breaking or unexpected. Indeed, the past couple of years have seen Apple shift from revolutionary products to reactionary products. The biggest unveiling was that of not one, but two iPhones. Not only do you now have to choose between iOS and Android (or Windows 8), you now need to decide if you want an iPhone 5S or an iPhone 5C.

The iPhone 5C comes in some bright new colours, which allow you to personalize your phone, if you haven’t already done so with a colourful case. Apple will be offering versions in red, blue, yellow, green and white. It’s running an A6 chip, which is the same as the iPhone 5, has a four inch display, and a casing made of plastic. The interesting thing to note is that although it’s touted as the “cheap” iPhone 5, it’s $99 for the phone on a two year contract, and $549 outright. Can anything that costs $549 be considered cheap?

On the flip side, you have the iPhone 5S, which has a fingerprint scanner built into the home button and is running the new 64 bit A7 chip. It also has a specialized M7 chip, a “motion co-processor” which will be used to run the data from the accelerometer and gyroscopes, making sure that all those fitness apps aren’t using up your phone’s processing power. This iPhone 5S, which is available in silver, gold and “space grey”, is only $100 more, coming in at $199 with a two year contract or $649 outright.

The iPhone 5C appears to be Apple’s attempt to enter new markets, such as China, where there is a large market for cheaper smartphones. In entering this low-end/mid-range market, it looks to be competing with Nokia’s Lumia 520, which is priced about the same and has done well in these markets. Apple is following the competition, and unlike what we’re used to, it doesn’t look to be substantially bigger or better. Apple also announced that they were discontinuing the iPhone 5, and dropping the price of the iPhone 4S so that it’s now free with a two year contract.

Continuing with their reactionary announcements, Apple announced iWork (Apple’s productivity suite), will now be in the cloud, in an attempt to compete with GoogleDocs and Microsoft’s 365.  A rather surprising twist was that iWork will now be free for anyone who buys an iPhone or an iPad (it used to cost $30). Considering Apple’s goal has always been to sell hardware, as opposed to Microsoft’s software model, this strategic decision makes a lot of sense.

Some other announcements from Apple include the fact that the camera will now take pictures in bursts and choose the one that is best for you (there are already several phones and apps that give you this feature), as well as giving us a look at the new iOS7, which is very different from what users are used to and has already had a lot of criticism.

Noticeably, there were no announcements regarding the iPad, iPad mini, iMac, Macbook Pro, Macbook Air or the Mac Mini. The only change to the iPod line was a new colour option, “space grey”. Perhaps Apple has learned that it’s best to spread things out, and always have everyone anticipating the next new thing. How long until people start getting tired of the Next Slightly Changed New thing? Can Apple no longer innovate? Clearly the investors weren’t impressed, Apple’s stock dropped 2.2% overall, about $11.50.       *All prices in USD