Apple Debuts Two New iPhone 6 Ads Starring Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake [iOS Blog]

Today at its special event, Apple debuted two brand new ads for the newly announced iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The ads, titled “Health” and “Duo”, featuring Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon alongside musician Justin Timberlake as they show off the new phones.

The first ad, “Duo”, features the two of them humming the opening of Richard Strauss’ “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” as they swipe and tap through new apps and features from both iOS 8 and the new iPhones, like 240 fps video, landscape mode, the Health app and more.

The second ad, “Health”, has Fallon and Timberlake introducing the Health app on the iPhone 6 and comparing their health achievements throughout the day.

Both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available for pre-order starting Friday, September 12 and will release one week later on September 19. The iPhone 6 starts at $199 on a two year contract for 16 GB while the iPhone 6 Plus starts at $299 on a two year contract with with the same amount of storage.

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Apple Posts Full-Length iPhone 6 and Apple Watch Media Event Video

Apple has posted the full video of today’s special media event on its website. The video should also be made avaliable later today on the Apple Keynotes podcast, which can found on the iTunes Store. [Podcast links: Keynotes, Keynotes in HD, Keynotes in 1080p HD]

Apple has also uploaded its “Perspective” video seen at the beginning of the event.

Media Event Highlights:

– Apple Announces Apple Watch, Available in Early 2015 for $349
– Apple Announces 4.7-Inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-Inch iPhone 6 Plus, Launching September 19
– Apple Announces ‘Apple Pay’ Mobile Payment Solution, Enabled at Over 220,000 U.S. Merchants
– iOS 8 Launching on September 17
– Apple Seeds iOS 8 Golden Master to Developers Ahead of September 17 Public Launch

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Apple Watch Will Allow Left-Handed Users to Choose Interface Orientation

At its special media event today, Apple unveiled its Apple Watch, showing off a variety of ways to use the device and its apps. However, Apple’s presentation and videos did not directly address how the device would work for left-handed users.

Now, Slashgear has new information on how the device will work for left-handed individuals. According to Apple, users will be able to choose what way the watch’s interface orients upon starting up the device for the first time. The bands for the Apple Watch are also swappable, enabling users to ensure the the device is not facing the opposite direction. However, left-handed users will still be required to adapt to the Digital Crown input on the Apple Watch, which is on the bottom left side when the device is worn on the correct wrist.

The Apple Watch will launch in early 2015 at a starting price of $349, and will be available two separate screen sizes of 38mm and 42mm. Apple will also ship 18 different watch straps that are easily interchangeable alongside its different color and material choices.

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Hands-On First Impressions of Apple’s New Payment Initiative, Apple Pay

Alongside the Apple Watch and iPhone 6, Apple today unveiled Apple Pay, its mobile payments initiative that allows users to pay for items either by waving their iPhone or Apple Watch at a checkout counter or by using Touch ID after clicking the Apple Pay button in an app like Uber. Following that event, Apple invited members of the press to try out the new payment service with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

According to The Verge, the system worked “remarkably smooth” and was the “smoothest payment system” they’ve seen. They note that Touch ID adds a “real sense of security” and that the entire process is cohesive. However, they do wonder whether it’ll work the same in the opening months of the service when retailers are adjusting to the process and the software is in early days.

The phone was loaded up with a handful of credit cards, and holding the top of the phone about an inch from the card reader with my thumb on the TouchID home button triggered a payment from the default card in about five to 10 seconds. If you want to use a different card, just leave your finger off the home button and you’ll see a Passbook-style card stack at the bottom of the screen, which you can tap on to bring up the full list and pick the card you want. Then you just put your finger on the reader and you’re good to go.

Slashgear agrees that the process is “pretty darn easy”, noting that using the iPhone to pay for something is far more of a swift experience than pulling out a credit card, swiping it, and typing in a pin or signing a receipt. Users can add credit cards to Apple Pay by taking a photo of their card.

Setup involves either granting Apple Pay access to whatever existing credit card you have on file with iTunes or adding a second card: you can do that by taking a photo of the card itself. We’ve seen the same system used in Uber’s app, among others, and generally it does a solid job of recognizing characters.

In an interview with ABC’s David Muir, Tim Cook commented that Apple Pay is “incredibly safe” and that Apple is setting a high bar with Apple Pay. Cook went on to say that “it’s the most secure thing out there” when told by Muir that some people’s confidence in the company’s security might be shaken after celebrities iCloud accounts were hacked.

Muir also asked Cook whether he thought Apple killed the credit card with the announcement of Apple Pay. Smiling, Cook replied that Apple “stuck a dagger in it”. The Apple CEO finished his interview by noting that components from either the iPhone 6 or Apple Watch were built in 22 of the 50 states in America.

Apple Pay will roll out to 222,000 retail locations across the country. The service will launch next month as a part of iOS 8.

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