Apple unveils iPhone 7, iPhone 7 plus: 10 big announcements

New Delhi : Apple Inc. on Wednesday unveiled a set of brand new smartphones loaded with advance features and updates, including a new age headphone jack to revolutionise the way a device can sound. Here are 10 big announcements from the event.

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus

Much awaited smartphones iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus come with an upgraded processor, home button, water and dust resistant technology. The devices will now sport a force sensitive home button, similar to what Apple announced with a trackpad in a slimmer MacBook model last year.

For the first time iPhone 7 will come with stereo speakers capable of delivering twice the volume of iPhone 6s speakers. The company claims to have improved battery life too. 

Camera

The camera has been improved with a new flash. It has been made more photographer-friendly with a dual camera technology.  Two 12 mega-pixel lenses will power the zooming capability of device up to 10 times. The two lenses will also sense depth and allow users to blur backgrounds in images, mimicking an effect that typically requires changing the lens aperture in stand-alone cameras.

Price according to storage

The iPhone 7 will be available at a price tag of Rs $650 (Rs 60,000 approx), exactly the price of iPhone 6s it is replacing. The larger iPhone 7 Plus model is increasing to $770, instead of $750. All the devices would be available in colors Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, Black and the new Jet Black finish.

The storage has been doubled, so the starting device will have a 32 gigabyte of storage space with other options of 128 and 256 gigabytes.

iOS 10

The latest software update, available on Tuesday, will add more intelligence to Apple services like Maps, Photos, the iPhone keyboard and Siri, the voice-activated digital assistant.

Apple AirPods

And the time has come, Apple has finally replaced its 3.5 mm jack with an advance lightening connector, which plugs into the phone's charging port. The iPhone 7 will come with an adapter so older earphones can still be used. Tim Cook dubs AirPods as a "breakthrough design".

Apple Watch Series 2

Apple introduced a "swim-proof" watch, the Apple Watch Series 2. The new watch has built-in GPS, a brighter display and faster processor than the previous Apple Watch. The current model is likely to get a price cut to $270, down from $300.

Pokemon Go

Love Pokemon Go? Well, Apple has a solution. The app will now work with Apple watch that will let you collect items from Pokestops, hatch eggs and alert you to nearby Pokemon (you still need your phone to catch actual Pokemon). 

New Mario runs in

There is a lot for the game lovers. A new Mario game has also been introduced. The company named it as Super Mario Run. It's the first iOS game featuring Nintendo's Mario characters. The game will be released during holidays and will allow players to go for it single handily.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay will come to Japan in October with a new wireless technology called Felica to be included in iPhones and Apple Watches there. Apple Pay will also come to New Zealand in October and Russia in the fall.

iWork in real time

Apple iWork suite of software, including word processing, processing, spreadsheet and presentation programs, will include real-time collaboration features for the first time. It's something Google and Microsoft already offer in some form.