Stay on target…
At long last, we have a date with the new Apple iPhone 8. The Wall Street Journal says Tim Cook and company have scheduled September 12 as the day they’re going to take the wraps off the long-awaited handset, among other things, which may include a new 4K Apple TV streaming box, and possibly a third-generation Apple Watch that may work as a stand-alone device for phone calls and other duties.
The timing is pretty typical for Apple, as they usually set a mid-September date to show off their new toys, while giving them a cushion of three months to get the stuff into stores both retail and online before the holidays. Rumors about production delays for the iPhone 8 have dogged the company all summer, so we’ll know what the real timeline is soon enough. Meanwhile, the iPhone 8 rumor roundup marches on.
Will it have wireless charging? Augmented reality? An bezel-less OLED screen? Levitation? Magical superpowers? Anything is possible it seems. We’ll have all the answers in just a couple of weeks. Better bring your wallet.
13 steps down, 9,887 to go
While the trend for fitness wearables has been weak to getting weaker, fitbit is moving ahead with a new device called the Ionic, and it’s really more of a smartwatch than fitness tracker.
Of course, the $300 Ionic is primarily for tracking your workouts (or the lack thereof), and includes enhanced functionality including a better heart rate monitor, GPS, and a new blood oxygen sensor for really drilling down on your Vo2MAX – or your sleep apnea. It will also pair with new fitbit Flyer Bluetooth headphones and you can stuff about 300 songs into its 2.5gb memory. Plus, there’s now a watch-based coaching service athletes can subscribe to.
Additionally, fitbit is rolling out FitBit Pay with a slate of partners including Starbucks, because we all know that post-workout triple mocha with cream is a mandatory thing. There are numerous watch band options, an Adidas edition and much more, so hit the link for all the lowdown on the FitBit Ionic.
It’s almost like being there. Almost.
Looks like everyone’s going all-in on augmented and virtual reality, or “mixed reality.” While Oculus, HTC, Samsung and Sony duke it out in the virtual reality space, power players Apple, Microsoft and now Dell are also angling towards the AR and VR venues. Dell just announced their first AR/VR headset, the Dell Visor, ahead of the IFA show in Germany. The Visor features dual 1440 by 1440 pixel resolution video panels, putting it ahead of the Oculus and HTC headsets.
It also connects to a PC with just a single USC-C cable, simplifying things there. But no, it’s not wireless. Well, not yet. Front-facing cameras let it pull double duty as an AR headset, and it has a cool flip-up feature for re-entering actual reality in case you kind of forget where you’re at. Oculus-type hand controllers let you manipulate the virtual world. You’ll need a hot-rod PC to make the Visor work right, and no surprise, Dell has a few options there as well.
The Dell Visor goes on sale for $350 plus another $99 for the handsets, and they’ll start shipping on October 17.
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Close to the Metal (computers and such) on Tuesday, Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
