NYT provides iWatch details, claims iPhone 6 will include a "one-handed mode";
The New York Times today published a report claiming that the highly anticipated iPhone 6 will come with a "one-handed mode" to enable easier operation on account of what is rumored to be a larger display. As has been reported numerous times over the past few months, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that Apple next week will unveil two new larger-screened iPhone models, one with a 4.7-inch display and another with a 5.5-inch display.
While larger displays are unquestionably great for some tasks, they also come with some trade-offs, one-handed usability being one of them.
To deal with concerns that a bigger phone will make typing with one hand difficult (the current iPhone has a 4-inch screen), some changes to the design of the iPhones' software interface will allow people to type or use apps with just one hand - there will be a one-handed mode that can be switched on and off, two employees said.
Indeed, the ability to use the iPhone one-handed has long been a favored marketing point for Apple, especially in the face of increasingly popular Android handsets with much larger displays. Apple a few years ago even centered an entire iPhone commercial around one-handed use.
On another note, the Times article also provides us with some more speculative information regarding Apple's rumored iWatch, tantalizingly relaying that some employees they talked to indicated that it was the company's "most ambitious project to date."
The company put an enormous amount of time and money in the wearable device's sensors so that they would track movements and vital signs, like heart rate and footsteps, much more accurately than existing fitness devices, two employees said.
It has a flexible display panel that is protected by a cover composed of sapphire, a type of tougher glass, they said. The device's circuit board, which includes its sensors and chips, was described as tiny, about the size of a postage stamp.
The Times also echoes a number of previous reports which have said that Apple's first smartwatch won't ship until early 2015.
Lastly, while we're talking all things iWatch, the Wall Street Journal today published a story claiming that the iWatch will come in two distinct sizes and, as John Gruber subtly hinted, will support mobile payments as well.
