iPhone 6s Launch: World Waits for News and Hopes for Magic

The tech world on Wednesday will have its eyes on Apple, expecting
new versions of the company’s coveted iPhone but hoping for magic in the
form of unexpected innovation.

Apple remained mum even as rumours ran rampant about what is in store at an upcoming San Francisco media event.

Analysts
and industry insiders predict that Apple will unveil updated iPhone
models along with an Apple TV revamp that may signal a push into the
online television streaming sector, dominated by Netflix.

In
trademark enigmatic style, Apple has provided little more than the time
and place of the event – 10am PDT (10:30pm IST) at San Francisco’s Bill
Graham Civic Auditorium.

An update to the iPhone lineup is considered a sure thing, since the company has a pattern of doing just that every September.

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Improvements are expected to include faster processing and better cameras.

New
iPhone models might also feature the “Force Touch” technology used in
the Apple Watch, which allows a user to control a device based on how
hard the screen is pressed.

The iPhone remains a hot seller,
accounting for the bulk of Apple’s revenue, but upgrades are needed to
keep iPhone “at the top of the heap” in the competitive smartphone
market, according to Gartner analyst Van Baker.

Apple consistently
entices the market with tricked-out new iPhone models in time for the
crucial year-end holiday shopping season.

Apple TV tuned
Another
expected star at the event could be Apple TV, which may get an App
Store open to outside developers and perhaps focus on game-play, in a
challenge to video game consoles.

The third-generation Apple TV
was introduced slightly more than three years ago. The California-based
company long downplayed Apple TV as a “hobby” after the original version
was released in 2007.

“They are finally revisiting their hobby, the Apple TV,” said Forrester analyst Frank Gillett.

Apple
is dabbling with the idea of making online television programming, a
move that would challenge established players such as Netflix and Amazon
Prime, according to a recent report in show-business magazine Variety.

“Original
programming is the only solution to Apple’s biggest problem in the
video world – that is, that nobody wants to sell Apple content rights,”
said Forrester analyst James McQuivey.

“After watching what
happened to the music business when Apple was given the keys to the
kingdom, video producers and programmers are more than gun shy about
handing the same power to Apple in the world of TV shows.”

Apple
became a power to be reckoned with in digital music sales due to the
popularity of its mobile devices and iTunes online shop.

While
Apple was at the forefront of the shift to digital music, the world of
Internet-streamed television already has powerful players such as
Netflix and Amazon.

Watching for magic
There
is weaker speculation that Apple could introduce a new, bigger iPad in
what would be a break from the company’s tradition of unveiling tablet
news at a separate event in October.

Tablet sales have cooled
overall, and Apple faces the challenge of coming up with an innovation
that re-ignites interest in iPad models, according to analysts.

One way could be by tying iPad models to more cloud services that better anticipate what users do using Apple products.

“I think they can make more magic happen,” Gillett said of App. “That is what I am going to look for.”