The new device is slimmer than its predecessor, with a larger screen, faster processor and improved camera. Without venturing too much into the specifics of the device which have been trumpeted on countless platforms, here is a video as we share are our thoughts the iPhone 6.
Gloomy economic news and the wild swings of the stock market may be getting you down. But at least you can count on this: We've entered the sweet spot of the iPhone cycle.
Since Sept. 19, when the iPhone 6 and its larger sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus ( Review | Pictures), went on sale, consumers have been ordering the gadgets faster than Apple can deliver them. The ripple effects are being felt throughout the economy, and these phones have been moving the stock market.
'The iPhone is having a measurable impact,' said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist for JPMorgan Chase. 'It's a little gadget, but it costs a lot, and it seems that everybody has one. When you do the multiplication, it's going to matter.' He estimates that iPhone sales are adding one-quarter to one-third of a percentage point to the annualized growth rate of the gross domestic product.
You may not think of the iPhone as a financial powerhouse. After all, it's just a consumer good - albeit a highly functional, high-end one that you can carry in your pocket or your purse. Sales typically surge every two years when, as now, Apple does a major iPhone upgrade. You may have the warm and personal relationship with the iPhone that Timothy Cook, Apple's chief executive, described on Monday to Wall Street analysts during a conference call. Apple's next three months will be 'incredibly strong,' he said. And he spoke enthusiastically about the principal reason for this performance: 'These iPhones are the best we have ever created, and customers absolutely love them.'
Whether you love them or not, though, it's a good moment to recognize their significance as a financial force.
The iPhone's financial impact starts, of course, with Apple, which is reaping enormous profit from it. As the company disclosed in data embedded in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday, Apple has been selling a broad mix of iPhone models at an average price of $603.
That's not remotely close to the 'starting price of $199' that Apple advertises, as I wrote last month. The full price is embedded in service agreements that many customers in the United States reach with phone carriers. And many of those carriers are stating that full price quite openly. The real starting price for a new, basic iPhone is $649, and models with more memory and bigger screens cost much more.
This price structure is lucrative for Apple. 'The cost of building a basic phone has stayed at about $200 for years,' said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director for cost benchmarking services, at IHS Technology.
That estimate doesn't include many expenses, like research and marketing costs. But it's a rough guidepost, and it helps explain how, as Apple disclosed in a court filing two years ago, its profit margins for the iPhone are roughly double those for iPads, which tend to be priced more cheaply.
Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, says the gross profit margin for the iPhone is close to 50 percent. Because the iPhone is Apple's most popular product - with more than 39 million sold in the last quarter - it accounts for a disproportionately large percentage of Apple's overall profit, somewhere between 60 and 70 percent, Sacconaghi said.
'Apple is now so big that it takes a lot to make it grow appreciably,' Sacconaghi said. Apple is producing an impressive, interrelated ecosystem of products and services, including its forthcoming digital watches, its new digital payment system, its revived Mac line, refreshed iPads and new software operating systems. Even if all of its ventures succeed, none are likely in the next year or two to rival the financial impact of the iPhone. 'The iPhone is the core of Apple right now,' he said.
In a sense, the iPhone is the core of the stock market, as well. Apple is the biggest company, by market capitalization, in the world. Apple accounts for about 3.5 percent of the weighting of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. And, through Thursday, because its stock has performed magnificently while the overall market has not, Apple accounted for 18 percent of the entire rise of the Standard & Poor's 500 index this year, according to calculations by Paul Hickey, co-founder of the Bespoke Investment Group. And the engine driving Apple shares is the iPhone.
'The market is obviously counting on another strong sales performance for the new iPhone,' he said. So far, it's getting that performance. And, he said, Apple's invigorating effect is likely to continue.
Because the iPhone is made mainly overseas and sold worldwide, it is stimulating the economy in other regions, particular in East Asia, Feroli observed, and it keeps a substantial amount of its cash abroad. Such factors make it harder to assess the company's impact domestically.
'It's not like GM having a great quarter,' Feroli said. 'It doesn't translate directly into employment in the United States. It's a more complex world today, and, in that sense, Apple is representative of that world.'
Apple, though, is having a powerful impact in the United States. Last month, for example, electronic and consumer appliance store sales jumped 3.4 percent while clothing sales fell 1.2 percent, according to Commerce Department figures. 'People are buying iPhones, partly as a status symbol,' Feroli said. 'They're not buying as much clothing.'
Even people who don't buy iPhones and don't own Apple shares have a stake in the company. I don't own any Apple stock, for example, but I do have a stake indirectly through my 401(k) account. That's because mutual funds in my portfolio own Apple shares as their biggest holdings. Nearly every pension fund holds some stock, and these days, there's a good chance the biggest holding is Apple. And the most important financial lever at Apple is the iPhone.
All of that helps explain why Apple is such a formidable force, especially at this stage in its product cycle. And as the holiday-shopping season approaches, and iPhones keep flying off the shelves, Apple may well keep moving the world.
Olixar's Bluetooth Speaker Bulb might sound like a gimmick, but it's actually really cool, taking mood lighting to a new level - and a fantastic idea for a gift. Read our Olixar Light Beats Bluetooth Speaker Bulb review. See all Smart Home reviews and Bluetooth speaker reviews.A Bluetooth speaker and a light bulb aren't things you would normally put together, but it's a combination that really works. Olixar's Light Beats Bluetooth Speaker Bulb is a very cool gadget and yet, surprisingly, not unique. There's also the rival Mipow Playbulb, which costs an extra tenner but can additionally change colour to suit your mood. This Olixar (£49 from MobileFun.co.uk) is white and only white. Also see: Philips Hue review.
But we love it. The beauty of pairing light bulb and speaker is that, provided the light is turned on, the speaker is fired up and ready to go. There's no fiddling with buttons, and no need to charge the speaker or plug it into a wall outlet. You just grab your phone or tablet, connect to the Olixar Speaker Bulb over Bluetooth 4.0, and are instantly ready to blare out music, podcasts and audiobooks from the ceiling.
This high up, central position is ideal for rocking out audio without obstruction. Not that this 3W speaker is especially loud, but loud enough - about the right level to create a nice atmosphere and fill the room without annoying those in the flat or room upstairs.
One down side to pairing light bulb and speaker is that with no way to separate the two the speaker is good only as long as is the bulb. (The speaker will still work, but a light bulb that doesn't brighten the room isn't of much use.) That said, Olixar offers a two-year warranty and LED lasts much longer than a traditional incandescent bulb in any case - around 10,000 hours. There are other benefits to LED lighting, too, such as reduced energy consumption and less heat generated. The £49 tag on the Light Beats Bluetooth Speaker Bulb is therefore much better value than it might appear.
The 3W LED is said to kick out enough light to rival a 50W bulb, but its end cap (visible only when the light is on) meant the 46W bulb we replaced did a better job of lighting our room. We can live with that, given its additional functionality, but if you prefer brighter lighting you may find the Olixar more usefully paired with a lamp - especially considering that when used with the supplied bayonet adaptor (the standard connection is an E27 Edison screw type) this otherwise cool-looking white plastic and gold aluminium speaker bulb is rather long.
Unlike many Bluetooth speakers the Olixar does not support handsfree calls. That's a good thing, though: you can hardly hold a private conversation through a light bulb, and it would be impractical to reach up to the ceiling to answer the phone. If a call comes in the music automatically pauses, then resumes when you hang up. But while your ringtone won't play through the speaker, keypad tones and text, email and other notifications do. It sure is a bizarre experience having your light bulb wolf-whistle at you.
The Bluetooth connection is functional over 15m without obstructions. We found the output would break up a little when we took our paired phone into the next room and shut the door, but when used in the same room we couldn't fault it.
Sound emanates from the flower-patterned opening on the light bulb's underside. The audio is clear and without distortion, and seemed to struggle with only the bassiest tracks.
Only one device can pair to the Olixar speaker bulb at a time, but that does mean no-one but me can turn off my 90s megamix. Not unless they want to sit in the dark. We found we could easily switch the Bluetooth connection between our phone and tablet, although you must end the pairing on one device before the Light Beats bulb becomes visible to the other.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Jets wore all green on Sunday, perhaps believing that they could blend in with the turf at MetLife Stadium - that no one would notice if Geno Smith happened to throw three interceptions in the first quarter.
Or if his backup came in and happened to commit three more turnovers. Or if their defense happened to allow five touchdowns. Or if their receivers happened to drop passes that struck their hands or chests.
Every week, it gets a little worse for the Jets: a little sadder, a little more absurd and a lot more embarrassing. In their latest foray into the tragicomic, the Buffalo Bills dealt the Jets their seventh consecutive loss, by 43-23.
The Jets had 10 days to prepare for this game, which did not exactly seem like a certain victory - none are, these days - but at least did not look like a certain defeat. Then the ball was kicked, and the Jets went three-and-out, and that was that.
In good times and bad, Coach Rex Ryan often says that opponents do not look forward to facing the Jets, no matter what. He might believe it, but how can it be true? The Jets are an outfit with instability at quarterback that cannot force a turnover (only three all season, the fewest in the N.F.L., with none, again, on Sunday) and cannot hold on to the ball.
And then there is the whole 1-7 thing.
That stark reality will no doubt come up Monday, when General Manager John Idzik is scheduled to meet with the news media for what the team is calling his normal midyear availability. So will other subjects, chief among them his assessment of Ryan, who has less job security than a substitute teacher, and Idzik's confidence in Smith, who was replaced by Michael Vick for the second time in four games. This benching, unlike the last, at San Diego, may not be temporary.
Idzik will also have to answer for his mismanagement of the cornerback position. Facing the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady prepared the Jets for the aerial assault administered by ... Kyle Orton, who threw four touchdown passes and set up another score with an 84-yard toss to Sammy Watkins. His fourth scoring throw, to Watkins with 9 minutes 46 seconds left, sent loads of fans streaming for the exits. Those who stayed presumably just wanted to rubberneck.
It was as unrealistic to presume that the Jets could duplicate their performance from their narrow loss to New England in their last game, when they rushed for 218 yards, possessed the ball for nearly 41 minutes and did not commit a turnover, as it was to expect such a steep correction.
Before the first quarter was over, Smith had thrown three interceptions. The first two of those passes were underthrown - to his receivers, at least - and his third sailed well high of Eric Decker and into the arms of Aaron Williams. What rumbled through the crowd then was a sound known to generations of dejected Jets fans: the I-can't-believe-the-quarterback-did-it-again groan.
The best play Smith made all afternoon was pushing Williams out of bounds at the 1-yard line, dislodging the ball and preventing a touchdown. As the play was being reviewed - did the ball tumble through the end zone, which would have returned possession to the Jets? - Percy Harvin, their new acquisition, ambled onto the field from the locker room.
He arrived just in time to see Orton flip his second touchdown pass, a 1-yarder to Lee Smith that extended Buffalo's lead to 14-0.
Even in the first quarter, the deficit seemed so insurmountable with Smith, who finished 2-of-8 passing for 5 yards, at quarterback that Ryan inserted Vick.
He energized the crowd, and the offense, by scrambling for first downs, by moving the Jets downfield, by not throwing the ball to the other team. Their 13-play scoring drive, capped by Chris Ivory's 2-yard touchdown run, drew cheers louder even than the roar when T-shirts were launched into the stands.
Smith's recklessness thrust the Jets' defense into bad situations, but here it had its chance, with Buffalo taking over at its own 8. Then Orton, on a third down, saw that Watkins had slipped past Darrin Walls and whipped a pass downfield. For the Jets, the joy of watching Saalim Hakim race clear from the other side of the field to haul down Watkins, who had started to celebrate prematurely, was soon negated by their disgust at failing to stop fullback Frank Summers, who bulled into the end zone from 2 yards out.
Although the Jets closed the gap to 24-17 just before halftime and possessed the ball in the third quarter with a chance to tie the score, Vick could not complete the comeback. He fumbled at his own 10, leading to a Buffalo field goal, and threw an interception that gave the Bills the ball at the Jets' 14. Three plays later, Orton fired a 12-yard touchdown pass to Scott Chandler.
