Updated

iPhone 6 reviews are IN (by friends of Apple, at least)

The press embargo is over, so here's what the reviews say...

tim cook iphone 6 review

One iPhone 6 review after another just hit the Web. Don't have time to digest them all? Instead, read Richi's review roundup.

Of course, only "friendly" reviewers got early-access to the new shiny, so do enable your reality-distortion filters.

In IT Blogwatch, bloggers can't agree what they like best.

Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment.


He's Walt Mossberg. Shutup: [Please stop repeating that gag -Ed.]

After stubbornly resisting for years, Apple has finally joined the big-screen smartphone movement. [It's] thinner and more curved, and has beefed up...performance...battery life and wireless speed. ... I think it's a terrific phone. ... Apple Pay will only work with these latest iPhones.
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The iPhone 6 Plus is really a different category, a cross between a smartphone and a small tablet, or "phablet." [But] I'd go with the regular 6. ... Apple has managed to grow the screen's real estate by 38 percent compared to the iPhone 5s...and its footprint just 22 percent larger. ... It still fit very comfortably in my hand, in the pockets of my jeans, and even in a shirt pocket.
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The 6 and 6 Plus also have a new type of very short-range wireless, NFC...another catch-up feature: Some other phones have had NFC for a while. ... Battery life on phones depends heavily on how you use them...the iPhone 6 [went] 14 or 15 hours. ... Photos were sharper, and brighter — especially in low light. ... The keyboard is vastly improved. It now quickly predicts what your next word might be, and...you can also substitute third-party keyboards. Both of these are catch-up features.
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I dropped [it] flat on its screen from about five feet onto a concrete driveway...the entire screen was full of cracks. ... Its width and smooth back can make it feel a bit slippery...(this was not the cause of my dropping incident).  MORE


Release Harry McCraken! [And stop doing that one too -Ed.]

Apple...maintained that it's essential that a phone be small enough to use comfortably with one hand...no wider [than] four inches. [But] makers of Android phones...believed that bigger is better. ... While the most radical new feature may be Apple Pay...which won't arrive until October--the biggest news is that the iPhone 6 [is] well, big. [But] are they too big?
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[It] preserves a measure of one-handed usability with a new feature called Reachability. ... Whatever's on the top half of the display slides down to the bottom half, putting it within easy reach of your thumb. Like the one-handed mode available on some Samsung phones, it's an inherently silly idea.
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Apple's new 64-bit A8 processor, and performed twice as fast as the iPhone 5s when I ran the Geekbench speed test. {it's] complemented by the M8 motion coprocessor. ... They run iOS 8, the new version of Apple's mobile operating system--which will also be available as a free upgrade for current iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches starting [today]. Like all point-zero operating system updates, iOS 8 isn't entirely devoid of glitches.
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The smartphone wars are going to get more interesting.  MORE


So Dave Neal notes one way in which they already are:

Apple has added...to its support website...a guide to moving to iOS from Android. ... Apparently Apple thinks a lot of consumers are...wondering how they can release themselves from the grip of Android and its hold on their contacts. ... This is Apple's second stab at...consumer behaviour prediction in as many weeks. It's last attempt...a U2 album...was as welcome as a fly in your soup.
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The page has a number of guides for switching and shows users how to move things like...contacts [and] calendars. ... Also in the guide is information on moving documents. Here the sage advice...is to copy content to a folder on computer and then copy it to your iThing. .  MORE


But M. M. de Vlieger just doesn't get it:

I for one can not and would not want to switch back to iOS. I had them from the iPhone 3G till the iPhone 4S and i'm never going back simply because I love how diverse Android is and how much you can do with it.
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Android seems complicated while in fact it isn't. My grandparents are loving their Nexus 7 more then they did their iPad.  MORE


Meanwhile, Matthew Panzarino gets snap-happy:

The iPhone 6 is easier to handle and performed extremely well in all lighting conditions...even though only the 6 Plus has OIS (optical image stabilization). ... Solid, bright reds are notoriously difficult for image sensors to capture but both iPhones handled them well. ... Significant improvements to its ISP (Image Signal Processor)...have resulted in apparent gains in sharpness, color rendition and low-light performance. [They] are the best smartphone cameras I've ever used. ... The Nokia 1020 may have more raw resolution, but Apple's decision to build its own ISP...has paid off big time.
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You'll also be happy to know that there didn't appear to be any purple fringing issues in highlight areas. ... The phase detection autofocus is extremely quick. ... The (software driven) "Cinematic Stabilization" is amazing...wildly effective. ... I was consistently blown away with the low-light performance. ... Technically speaking the OIS "gives you back" around 3 stops of light [but] don't stress. Buy [the Plus] for the screen, buy it for the battery, but don't buy it for OIS. ... The selfie camera got a great upgrade, too.  MORE


Update: Ryan Faas takes the enterprise IT view:

Apple has incrementally improved business and enterprise functions with every iOS release. [iOS8] presents several challenges (and opportunities) to IT shops as well as enterprise app developers. Here's what IT departments should keep in mind.
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IT shops should revisit their mobility and BYOD policies to ensure that those policies spell out what user data must remain private from IT and support staff. ... With iOS 8 comes the concept of managed domains, in which EMM can be used to designate domains that live under similar restrictions. ... The use of extensions allows apps to inject functionality into other installed apps and even into the OS itself. ... Apple's Touch ID system largely works as a shortcut to passcodes or login credentials.
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So make sure you know what iOS 8 offers, use those features to protect your data (and users), and make sure you tell device owners what you're doing and why, and what they can do to keep data safe.  MORE


You have been reading IT Blogwatch by Richi Jennings, who curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites… so you don't have to. Catch the key commentary from around the Web every morning. Hatemail may be directed to @RiCHi or itbw@richi.uk. Opinions expressed may not represent those of Computerworld. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. E&OE.

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