26/09/2022
Apple!! Introduces New Ultra Watch....
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Apple refreshed its iPhone, Watch and AirPods product lines at an online event Wednesday, as well as introducing a new Ultra watch for activity in challenging environments.
The Apple Watch Ultra is designed to operate in extreme cold and hot environments, as well as under 130 feet of water. It’s housed in a rugged titanium case and its face is made of tough sapphire crystal.
Ultra also has an “Action” button that’s programmable, an 85-decibel siren for emergencies, and its controls are designed for use with gloves. It has three microphones for voice call clarity, even in windy conditions.
Crash Detection
Ross Rubin, the principal analyst at Reticle Research, a consumer technology advisory firm in New York City called the Ultra a “statement product.”
“It shows that the Apple Watch can be used in harsh environments by people engaged in extreme activities,” he told TechNewsWorld.
“It isn’t something that mainstream people need, but you can see how some of the technology, like the action button, may filter down to future iterations of other models,” he added.
Apple Watch isn’t just for health, but it’s also for safety,” Bajarin observed.
Series 8 watches have 18-hour battery life but with a new low power mode feature, battery life can be extended to 36 hours.
The Series 8 will be available Sept. 16. The GPS version is priced at $399 and the cellular version at $499.
Satellite SOS
During its online event, Apple also introduced the iPhone 14 Pro, with a 6.1-inch display, and Pro Max, with a display of 6.7-inches.
The Pro models, as well as the 14 and 14-plus models, support a new Emergency SOS service via satellite. Special antennas have been built in the new iPhone models to enable them to send text messages to high-flying satellites.
To aid in the connection, software on the phone shows a user where to point their phone to connect to the satellite and to stay connected as the satellite moves.
Because of the narrow bandwidth involved in satellite communication, Apple created a custom, short-text compression algorithm to reduce the average size of a message by a factor of three.
Initially, the satellite service will be limited to the United States and Canada, where it will be offered free for two years.
DSLR Challenger
Apple has also upgraded the cameras in the new pro models. The main camera on the back of the unit has a 48-megapixel sensor, with support for a fast f/1.78 lens, while the front camera has a 12MP sensor, with an f/1.9 lens. The main camera also supports the ProRaw format.
The Pro models also have a new chip, the A16. “With the A16, Apple has the most powerful smartphone camera on the market right now,” Bajarin said.
“The 48 megapixels and ProRaw capabilities bring the iPhone 14 Pro series much closer to a true DSLR,” he added.
Better AirPods
Apple also introduced a new version of its AirPods Pro, with a new H2 chip, longer battery life and noise cancellation technology that’s two-times more efficient than its predecessor in blocking noise.
It’s also improved the “transparency” mode of the earbuds, by filtering out some of the disruptive noise that would ordinarily be heard with noise-cancellation turned off. “I haven’t seen other earbuds do that,” Rubin observed. “It addresses one of the disadvantages of transparency mode. You let the whole world in, including the harsh noises.”
