Analysis: Apple’s big reveal hints at connected future

Tech firm unveils eagerly-anticipated iPhone six, its first foray into wearables and threatens to revolutionise mobile payments

Apple made a number of big announcements during its showpiece event in Cupertino, California on Tuesday afternoon, revealing the next iPhone, its first wearables product and a new payments service which could revolutionise how customers make in-app purchases.

The event was widely expected to introduce the iPhone 6, and CEO Tim Cook did so by revealing two new models. While the standard iPhone 6 is marginally larger than the previous model with a 4.7-inch screen size, the iPhone 6 Plus marks Apple’s first ‘phablet’ device, which boasts a 5.5-inch Retina HD display.

A new processor dubbed A8 and Metal, a graphics technology included in iOS8, will provide developers with much greater graphical capabilities while the much-derided battery life has also been enhanced, albeit not to an extent likely to have appeased the device’s critics.

Arguably the biggest difference developers will have is the need to cater for two separate device models with the new release. When iPhone 6s begin to reach customers next Friday it will be the first time the iOS market will be hit by a fragmented device launch, usually a problem reserved for the Android market. While developers will undoubtedly relish the chance at designed products for a much larger screen than normal, yet more device fragmentation is something they probably could’ve done without.

Apple Watch

Personalisation is a key trend within the mobile industry and with its Watch product, Apple believes it has developed its “most personal device ever”. “With Apple Watch we’ve developed multiple technologies and an entirely new user interface for a device that’s designed to be worn,” said Jony Ive, senior VP of design at Apple. “We’ve created an entire range of products that enable unparalleled personalisation.”

With an entirely new touch screen interface and a ‘digital crown’ used to control the device, the Watch is to be made available in three versions: Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition, and each will be available in either 38mm or 42mm sizes. The watches will charge using wireless MagSafe technology and will be entirely customisable, with customers able to choose from one of 11 different clock faces.

Fitness is, as expected, a key element of the watch with an in-built accelerometer and heart beat monitor to power various fitness trackers, but its interactivity with other Apple devices will provide most promise for egaming firms. People wanting to buy the Watch will have to already own an iPhone for it to synchronise with, enabling sportsbooks to send match updates or in-play betting opportunities to the Watch of someone who previously placed a bet with an iPhone.

Expected to be available at an RRP of around £220 the devices are not hugely expensive, but Apple offered no precise date for its release. Supply issue rumours have persisted, leading to reports of Apple having had to push back its release. The watches are now said to be hitting the shelves early next year, however changes to Apple’s product suite will be seen as early as next week when iOS8 is made available for public download.

 

iOS8

Dubbing it the “biggest release since the launch of the App Store”, Apple revealed that the eighth incarnation of its operating software would be released on 17 September as a free software update. Apple said it had designed the new software to be simpler, faster and more intuitive than before with most new features designed at speeding up common tasks, such as typing or sharing between devices using the new iCloud Drive.

“iOS 8 also creates an extraordinary environment for developers, providing them the ability to create amazing new apps like never before,” Craig Federighi, senior VP of software engineering at Apple, said. HealthBook and HomeKit, an app designed to plug in to the ‘internet of things’ and enable customers to wirelessly interact with household devices, are the two most notable additions to the software, however egaming firms will be most interested in minor design changes and enhancements.

While little detail has been revealed to date, the addition of ‘interactive notifications’ could be hugely beneficial to egaming firms that have come to rely on push messaging to communicate directly with customers. Expanding on the fairly limited functionality of such messages is likely to interest marketers especially, who otherwise struggle with monitoring adoption of such software updates. Craig Palli, CSO at app analytics firm Fiksu, said that marketers will have to re-target for iOS8 if they’re to “increase their chances of their app making the cut on the new OS”.

 

Apple Pay

Apple’s move into the payments industry has been widely anticipated, but perhaps not to the extent of which the tech firm revealed this week. Near field communications technology has long been on Apple’s agenda and is also found on other mobile devices such as Google’s Nexus 4, but Apple Pay promises to be a complete payments service for the entire commerce industry.

Pay will store credit or debit card details through Apple’s iTunes account network and enable customers to pay for goods by presenting their phone to a reader and authorising the transaction, however paying for goods or services is to be made even easier with Apple promising one-touch payment capabilities when shopping on one of their devices.

Apple says the service will “transform mobile payments” and repercussions from the announcement are already being felt. Shares in online shopping network eBay, which owns personal payments provider PayPal, fell 3% in trading immediately after the reveal despite the firm admitting it was considering spinning off the business last month. Shares in Optimal Payments also sharply fell before recovering on the back of the firm’s H1 results disclosure the following day.

There has been no confirmation from Apple whether Pay will be opened up to gambling apps or firms, but should that be the case then it holds the potential to be hugely beneficial. Removing the obstacle of having to re-submit various fields of personal data to deposit into a mobile gambling account and replacing it with a one-touch transaction would represent a key win for operators who’ve bemoaned mobile payments solutions up until now.

The system is set to be introduced to the new range of devices in the US in October, with no date for a wider launch revealed as yet. Whether or not customers will take to or even trust a system that collates their payment details remains to be seen, but with connectivity a common theme in Apple’s event yesterday the tech firm is seemingly banking on their customers getting on board. Should Apple be successful in their aim at creating a one-stop shop for commerce, it’ll take on a whole new level of importance for egaming firms and could just provide the death knell for others.