In 2012, Oyster secured $3 million in financing by Founders Fund, and today the New York startup has begun the invitation process for its app. Commonly referred to as "Netflix for e-books," Oyster offers unlimited books for $9.95 a month. Currently, the app is stocked with over 100,000 titles, updated weekly.

With e-book offerings from Apple, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, competition is stiff. For instance, Amazon's Lending Library is offered with no due dates, but there is a finite number of copies available and users can only have one book at a time.

Oyster's features may fill in the gaps other e-book services have overlooked.

With the success of subscription-based streaming services like Spotify and Netflix, Oyster hopes to bring the same accessibility to e-books. Most of the current e-book services limit customers to one book at a time, without a true subscription-based model.

"From international bestsellers and celebrated classics, to cult sci-fi and seminal biographies," the app has something for everyone. Well-known publishers already on board include HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Rodale. Some of the titles include J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit, Yann Martel's Life of Pi, and Howard Schultz's Onward: How Starbucks fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul.

Oyster will also be focusing on sharing and discovery. Profiles are set up by users, complete with favorites, recent activity, and tabs to see what your friends have been reading.

Editorial sets, personalized recommendation settings, and five different themes can be customized for a more user-friendly reading experience on mobile.

The app will be available exclusively for iPhone, with plans for an iPad release in the future.

In this smartphone coaching series, learn how to pair your iPhone with simple success principles and create a better life. This is Part 5 in the series. To start at the beginning, click here.

We have now come to the last piece of the puzzle for living a good life. In previous posts we have discussed your health (physical and mental) and your relationships. The last piece for a good life is to have a meaningful purpose—something that you enjoy doing.

What is Meant by Having a Meaningful Purpose?

It means filling your days with something that gives you joy. This could be a hobby or something related to work. Since we spend so much of our waking hours working, this post will relate to your career.

In an ideal world we would all work only with our passions and strengths and let someone else do all the rest. This is challenging in reality, so the goal should be to increase the percentage of meaningful work every year. If you are in the corporate world it may be especially difficult as someone else might decide your tasks.

If in the long run you only want to spend your time using your passions and strengths, the entrepreneurial road is your best bet. If you don’t have any dreams of starting your own company, I would recommend that you seek out organizations that will do their best to let you work with your strengths and passions.

Identify Your Strengths and Passions

This process is not easy and will take some time. Think back in your life of your major achievements. List these achievements in the note section of your phone. Reflect on this for some time. Contemplate what strength of yours was behind the achievement. This is the internal work. The external work is to ask your friends and family. Take out your iPhone and send this message to at least three people: "Hey friend, my smartphone coach is asking me to identify my strengths. In your opinion, what do you think my top 3–5 strengths are?" Send this to people who are close to you and who you trust. Include at least one colleague that you have worked with before.

Compare this with your own list.

Next will be to identify your passions. I am a big fan of mind maps, so for this exercise I recommend you download the app mindnode ($9.99). Get familiar with this app so you can use it quickly before you do this exercise. In the center, write "I am happiest when I…" then write down all the things that come up first.  Again, think back to times in your life when you where the happiest. What were you doing? Look for patterns. This now becomes your list of passions.

Next, use mindnode to also list your strengths from previous exercise. Save these mindmaps on your phone. Review them often and add or take away when you feel you need to. Knowing your strengths and passions is crucial if you want to live a happy life.

Putting Your Strengths and Passions to Work

When you have your strengths and passions clear, you will want to set up your life so you can spend most of your time working in those areas. This can be a long process. If you like working for someone else, think of a career that would be suitable. Then try to identify the best companies that will let you work with your strengths and passions. Make it a goal to become part of this organization.

If you are entrepreneurial, you need to identify a business model where you can utilize your strengths and passions and make money on it.

When you know your strengths and passions and you have identified your goal, you need to remind yourself of this goal to keep you on track. For this, I recommend an app called Grafio ($6.99).

With this app you can easy play with your pictures and add text or anything else you think is suitable. Find a suitable picture that relates to your goal. Put it into Grafio and write some nice text on top of it. Save it on your phone and review it often. 

To Summarize:

• To live a good life you need good health; good relationships with yourself, your family, and your friends; and something meaningful to fill your days with.
• The first step to finding a meaningful purpose is to identify your strengths and passions. The next step is to set up your life so that you spend most of your time working in these areas.
• Use your iPhone to keep you on track.

Image: flickr, Luis D. Santos

Welcome to my latest iphoneography workflow "Catching the Rays" which will show you some tricks and tips I used to capture and create this photo of the sunset.

I started off taking one of my sons to our favorite local lake to catch the sunset. I usually try to get to my destination about 15 minutes before the sun sets. This gives me time to catch the shifting in colors that sunsets produce. I have found that you get the best results just before or after the sun rises or sets.  I usually end up adding my sun to the photo during processing. This is what I did here as well. The setting sun in this photo was very nice thanks to the cloud cover and reflections. 

So, lets get started. I took this photo in Camera+ ($1.99). I love this app for taking photos, and it's nice for immediately editing in the first phase. Remember to always take multiple shots to ensure you have the clean capture you're looking for. After taking and choosing my favorite shot, I stayed in this app to start my editing. I first used the Darkened option, and then saved to Camera Roll. I only darkened the image here, I had other plans for the filter process.

Next, I brought the photo intoPhotoshop Express (free). This is a must-have app for all your iPhone photos. This app has many great features, but the two I use every single time are the De-noise feature, and the Sharpen feature. The De-noise feature smoothes out any grainy imperfections the photo may contain. I adjusted the De-noise to my liking, then went to the Sharpen feature and adjusted that to my liking as well. The Sharpen feature turns your photo into a crisp professional-looking photo that could be mistaken for a photo that was taken by a $900.00 camera. That is how good this app is, and how important it is to use for your photos. I recommend using this app for all photos.

After Photoshop, I saved to camera roll and brought my photo into Mextures ($1.99). This is a rather new app that is so remarkable I use it more and more for its landscape filters. I chose the Enhanced Landscape option, and used the Autumn Skies filter. I adjusted to my liking, and then saved to camera roll.

Next, I brought my photo into LensLight ($1.99), a must-have photo-editing app that allows you to add a variety of light features like sun, glint, rays, lightning, flares, etc. This app allows you to play with these features. I used this app for one thing, the Light Rays feature. In this app you can move them around, brighten them, and place them exactly where you like. I took the rays and turned them upside down, and then used the Aspect Ratio adjustment, which allows you to raise or lower your rays to your liking. After I adjusted the placement of the rays, I used the Brightness adjustment, and dimmed the light to my liking. Also, when using the adjustments, there is a Spectrum you can use to add the right color to your rays. I like to match the color of the rays to the overall tone of the photo.

I then saved to camera roll and opened my photo in Distressed FX ($0.99). This app carries a lot of great features. Most of them lean toward the "grunge" style of filters, but there's one option I can't stop using: The Birds option. Yes, I said birds! You can add a variety of birds to your photo. How cool! They just added some new birds too. My only wish is that they would let you strategically place them where you would like. The birds are in a pattern, with a variety of four to five different patterns. In this photo I used the Reunion option. This pattern of birds seemed to fit this photo rather well. Tip: I found that if there are birds you would like to remove, you can take the photo into iPhoto ($4.99) and use the repair brush to erase unwanted birds. This will only work sometimes, it depends on the photo.

Finally, I brought my photo into iWatermark (free) to add my watermark to my photo to show ownership. There are many nice and useful styles of watermark fonts here. You can create personalized watermarks as well.

Now the photo was ready for the world. I hope this workflow will help you on your next great iphoneography capture. 

As is already widely known, Apple has just kicked off a press event today to likely announce that it is doubling down on new iPhone models (5S, and 5C, more technical covereage on that angle from Todd Bernhard forthcoming) at a press event at their Cupertino, CA headquarters. Most will undoubtedly love the new 5S 4G LTE network download speeds, with a snazzy new iOS shell to gaze at to boot and maybe a fingerprint sensor. Mainly, I was interested to hear about other stuff, like maybe new iCloud/iTunes (since so much press has been leaked about the new iPhones already), or something earth-shatteringly cool like a new iWatch or iPad model (though not likely), but anyway... All of our iPhoneLifers are keenly scouring every tech news outlet to grab news about this exiting event for our readers!

The moment has arrived! Apple CEO Tim Cook is currently taking the stage at the tech giant's Cupertino, Calif. campus as Apple's special event commences where it is expected to announce a new line of iPhones: the new-and-improved "iPhone 5S" and the lower-budget "iPhone 5C."

Unlike Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, where it announced its new operating system, iOS 7, it appears Apple isn't livestreaming this event.

But no need to despair! We are live Tweeting the event @iPhoneLife, @daverbach, and @alexcequea as well as reporting as the day unfolds at iPhoneLife.com. We also recommend the following live blogs from Mashable, techcrunch, Cnet, and Engadget. Stay connected, and we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Apple’s special event.

In the meantime, check out the New York Times infographic on the evolution of the iPhone since it was first unveiled by Steve Jobs in 2007.

Wow, there is a bunch of great news already coming out from the press event today at Apple. Am following the excellent CNET live coverage here. Not only will Siri get pumped up to search tweets and Wikipedia sources, iTunes Radio lets you create custom radio stations. Outstandingly, iWork apps, iMovie, and iPhoto will be free! 

Craig Federighi on stage demoing the new iTunes Radio said, "Now of course at Apple we really love music, and in iOS 7 the Music app is absolutely the best way to enjoy your own personal music collection. But now in iOS 7 we also have iTunes Radio." Sets up a Rush station as the crowd cheers!

iWork is another app set that Tim Cook is highlighting in the event. "We think that iWork is a really key advantage for a customer's productivity, and that iPhoto and iMovie are great for their creativity. No other platform has apps like these. We think all iOS devices are made better if they have these apps." Now free with any new device, but I guess not for existing owners.. :(

Image: Cnet

The new iPhones are here! So what does it mean for us developers? For the first time ever, Apple is introducing two tiers of iPhones simultaneously. In the past, the previous generation of iPhones were kept around at a discounted price. The problem with that scheme is that older platforms stuck around past their freshness date. For example, up to this day, the iPhone 4S with its 30-pin connector was still being sold by Apple. From a developer standpoint, this practice means we have to support things like the smaller screen and older versions of iOS that much longer. By introducing a low-end but still pretty much state-of-the-art iPhone 5c, anyone who buys an iPhone going forward will have access to current operating system and latest features and the lowest common denominator is higher than it used to be. And that means A6 32-bit chip at a minimum (A7 64-bit on the iPhone 5s) and Bluetooth 4.0 standard.

So what's new from a developer's perspective?  The fingerprint scanner, dubbed Touch ID, is perhaps the biggest feature of the iPhone 5s.  What will developers do with this gear?  If there is an app-addressable SDK, companies like PayPal could easily embrace this method as a way to authenticate before paying.  But it could be a way to address one of the iPad's biggest complaints. My family shares an iPad but that means all of our documents are intermingled. My Keynote presentations and Pages documents are accessible to my daughter and vice versa. It would be nice if Touch ID was a gateway to custom documents and experiences.

Apple introduced a new chip, the M7, which helps analyze motion beyond the traditional accelerometer and gyroscope. Health and fitness apps can leverage this and avoid the need for external gadgets like FitBit and more.

Of course, NFC (Near Field Communication) would have been nice to have, but Apple is trying to use AirDrop as an alternative. Apple is rarely first with new technology, and indeed Android and others have had NFC (and fingerprint readers) for some time, but Apple does often do a good job of learning from competitors and successfully commercialize newer tech.

iOS 7 is, of course, the other major Apple technology new, launching for free September 18th and if affects developers big-time. But a lot has been written about iOS 7, including my cover story in the issue of iPhone Life Magazine on newsstands now.

I wasn't really excited about the colors at first, but it will help with families like mine. We have four iPhones in our household, and multiple colors could help distinguish them at a glance.  I've usually relied on a case for that. And with a low-cost ($99 for 16GB) iPhone 5c, that really helps make it more practical for the whole family to have an iPhone. Anything that makes iPhones easier to buy is good for developers. I would have preferred a free-with-contract version, to really help adoption, but maybe over time carriers will offer more discounts, as BestBuy, Wal-Mart, and Radio Shack have done from time to time.

Holy s'molies, the new iPhone 5S will sport an A7 64-bit mobile chip, and a motion co-processor, creating a whole new era in game graphics as well as health and fitness apps for iPhone! The specifics include support for xcode and 32- and 64-bit apps (2x gen, and floating point registers). 

It will run OpenGL ES 3.0 (which I covered briefly in our CES coverage this year) meaning that "graphics-intense applications can bring console- and desktop-level performance to the iPhone 5S"! Apple reps trotted out an Infinity Blade demo to prove some of the wow factor! Also on display was an Nike+ Move app that utilizes the motion co-processor. These new capabilities can leverage CoreMotion API that can analyze telemetry to detect whether you are walking or driving, etc. Amazing! Source credit, CNET.

Well, the press event just wrapped up, and I'm sure our excellent bloggers will be digesting and rounding up all the details for days. Coming to iPhoneland will be a bevy of colors (iPhone 5S: Gold, Silver, and a "Space-Gray"; iPhone 5C: White, Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow). To accompany the new 5S: $39 leather cases, in 5 colors, and $29 silicon cases for the 5C. News about older iPhone models was somewhat surprising, but makes sense when you think about it: The iPhone 5 goes away, and the 4S 8GB model will become free with contract. A pricing roundup on the new models follows. (source CNET):

iPhone 5S (on contract)

16GB model - $199

32GB model - $299

64GB model - $399 

iPhone 5C (on contract)

16GB model - $99

32GB model - $199

Something noted during the covereage but not mentioned at the event was the fact that the 5C 16GB version still carries a hefty non-contract price tag of $549. New models should be available on Sep, 20th 2013.

Apple is touting its new fingerprint-scanning security in the latest iPhone 5S as, "making something as important as security so effortless, so simple. We believe that technology is at its very best, and its most empowering, when it simply disappears." As anyone who has worked in the field of security knows, to accomplish this is not a small order and the devil is in the details. Most online services use two-factor security as well as encryption for a reason—because for every security apparatus that you put in place, there will probably appear multiple hacks to circumvent it. That said, Apple is boldly implementing a technology that was been tried before. Based on today's press event, it may change the way we authenticate to our iPhones and even the way we authorize purchases from them.

I remember fingerprint-reading technology in handhelds from 10 years ago, and it was swipe-based, buggy, and erratic. Apple promises to change all that with their new TouchID fingerprint scanner. The sensor is built under the Home button, which is made from cut sapphire crystal and includes a stainless steel detection ring. Presumably you place your finger on the contact (or press down on it), and voila! Instant phone access. No more passcodes or phrases.

Not only will the sensor identify you for phone access (and get smarter as you use it), it can also be used to authenticate iTunes purchases. The information is stored at NSA-level encryption on the A7 chip (not in the Cloud), so hopefully that allays some security fears. The sensor is capacitive, and only 170 microns thin. It scans at 500ppi resolution (down to the sub-epidermal skin layers), and in 360 degrees, so finger orientation should not be a problem. It can also learn multiple fingers, and even allow you to set up profiles on your phone for multiple users. 

So, is this a boon for iPhone users, and something that will set Apple well apart from the pack once again? It depends on three things: how well it works in practice, how secure the storage of the biometric data is, and whether it can somehow be spoofed. For now, I am cautiously optimistic, and must say it certainly sounds simpler than passcodes or logging into iTunes constantly. If it works well, it will be another big win for Apple! 

You can finally relax! Apple has officially announced its new products during a special event at the tech company's Cupertino campus this morning. As predicted, it released a new line of iPhones: the iPhone 5S with a fingerprint sensor built into the Home Button, a faster processor, and a better camera; and the lower-cost iPhone 5C with a Retina 4-inch display and colorful plastic casings. Apple also announced its new operating system, iOS 7, which will be available for download Sept. 18, complete with its new Internet radio service, iTunes Radio.

For those of you eligible for an upgrade, Sept. 20 is your lucky day! The new-and-improved iPhone 5S will be available in stores with the same price structure as the iPhone 5: 16GB is $199; 32GB is $299; and 64GB is $399. The 5S comes in Space Gray, Silver, and Gold. The iPhone 5C will be available for preorder Sept. 13 and will also be available in stores Sept. 20. It's interesting to note, the iPhone 4S will be available free with a contract at 8GB.

At iPhoneLife.com, we’ve been busy making predictions based on floods of rumors and leaked photos in the months leading up to today’s event. Here’s a roundup comparing our predictions to what came true!

The iPhone 5S

The new iPhone was by far the easiest to predict. While we debated whether or not the smartphone would include a fingerprint sensor, new colors, or even NFC capabilities, everyone was confident we'd see a new version of its signature device. Apple has given us new iterations of the iPhone each year since Steve Jobs shocked us with his unveiling of “three” new devices in 2007: “a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough Internet communications device.” Of course, Jobs was referring to the iPhone, which now earns Apple more than half its revenue.

According to Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller, the 5S is the “most forward-thinking phone we've ever made." 

Here’s what it includes:

Faster Processor

The 64-bit A7 chip was big news during the event, which Apple said is up to twice as fast as the iPhone 5's A6 processor. It's the first 64-bit chip on a smartphone, which looks like it will make a significant difference in gaming, where animations and graphic effects are much smoother, and in Camera, where auto-focus is twice as fast.

Fingerprint Sensor

The iPhone's new Touch ID capacitive sensor verifies your identity by scanning your sub-epidermal skin layers when you place your finger on the Home Button. If this sounds creepy, you may find it comforting to know your fingerprint data is never uploaded to Apple's servers or backed up to iCloud. 

Users will be able to authenticate iTunes and App Store purchases from the iPhone 5S using Touch ID. This feature could have a huge effect on our use of passwords as more apps make use of it. 

This has been a prominent rumor we've reported on in recent months. While many critics have expressed concern over the effectiveness of such technology, Apple has a good track record of waiting to release new technology until it works smoothly. In any case, we'll find out Sept. 20 when we can try out the new phone.

M7 Motion Coprocessor

There's a new kid in town—this additional processor in the 5S measures motion data, so it can track when you're walking or jogging. It includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass support. The M7 motion coprocessor optimizes the 5S for health and fitness apps with much greater capabilities. At iPhone Life, we didn't see this feature coming, but we're glad it's here!

New Camera Features

As predicted, the 5S keeps to an 8-megapixel camera, but with improved features. It has larger pixels, a 15 percent larger sensor, and has increased its light sensitivity by 33 percent.

It also has a new flash called True Tone, which uses the right combination of white and amber light depending on the scene to make skin tones look more natural.

It now automatically white balances.

You can now take 10 pictures in a second with Burst Mode, which utilizes the A7 procesor for rapid-fire image capturing. The phone analyzes the resulting shots and presents you with the best ones.

You can now record HD video and play it back in slow motion for dramatic effect.

The iPhone 5C

Apple announced the lower-cost iPhone 5C (C stands for color), which comes with a  4-inch Retina display, A6 chip, 8-megapixel camera, and new FaceTime HD camera. The phone comes in vibrant colors, including green, white, blue, pink, and yellow.

Back in April, we published high-definition renderings of the iPhone 5C, where we accurately predicted the budget device would have a plastic casing with rounded edges and a 4-inch display. While at the time our sources didn’t expect it to have a Retina display, A6 chip, or come in colors, our latest reports included leaked photos of the bright blue plastic casing.

“The iPhone 5C is beautifully, unapologetically plastic,” said Apple Senior Vice President of Design, Jony Ive. “It offers a dense feel you wouldn't expect from plastic."

With a 2-year contract, you can get the 5C at 16GB for $99 or at 32GB for $199. Apple is also selling colorful cases for $29.

iTunes Radio & iOS 7

When we heard Apple was negotiating with major music labels in April, we felt pretty confident we'd be seeing an Internet radio service from Apple this year. After numerous accounts of Apple negotiating with Warner Music and Universal Music Group, it became even more likely.

iTunes Radio is similar to Pandora and Spotify, but with one major advantage: it's integrated right into the Music app for convenient listening.

iTunes Radio will be available Sept. 18 with Apple's operating system, iOS 7.

When we began hearing about iOS 7 this spring, some of what we heard was misleading, some of it spot-on.

While we shared a report from 9to5Mac falsely saying iOS 7 would be "black, white, and flat all over," our article accurately described Jony Ive's move away from the physical metaphors of skeuomorphic design.

iWork

This isn't a major announcement, but it's still welcome news. Apple will ship all of its new iPhones with the iWork suite, including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (usually $9.99 each) for free.

While we thought we might see an update Apple TV or maybe even an iWatch, overall, we think we predicted Apple' new products pretty well—maybe too well since Apple prides itself on shrouding its releases in secrecy. Let us know, what do you think of Apple's new products?

Apple released details about the new iPhone 5c today and with its plastic exterior, reduced price, and colorful case combinations it is easy to assume it's geared towards... dare I say it? Kids.

I know my son would give almost anything for the green model, and with a $99 price tag for the 16GB version it's a great addition to my holiday gift list for him. Is this what Apple had in mind when they designed the 5C?

More kids than ever are walking around with iPhones. It's easy to share music and apps within the same household, and at least in our family, it's easier if we all have the same phone. We can share tips and tricks and it's easier to monitor my son's phone and app use when we're familiar with the device. As a parent, I didn't want to spend several hundred dollars on an iPhone for my child and Apple just fixed that problem for me. 

The iPhone 5C will come in five colors: green, blue, yellow, pink, and white. Jony Ive, Senior Vice President of Design for Apple, explained in a video made for the Apple website that the iPhone 5C is "beautifully, unapologetically plastic." The vibrant colors Apple wanted to create weren't possible with metal, so they switched gears. The result is a polycarbonate frame reinforced with steel that doubles as the phone's antenna. The colored shell is covered with clear glossy lacquer which makes it more durable, a definite plus for kids. 

The cases available for the iPhone 5C are matte and colorful, making your iPhone more customizable than ever—There are 30 color combinations to be exact. To me, that screams "for kids." Adults like to play with colors, but not nearly as much as kids do. 

Rounding out the fun for kids? On the iPhone 5C, your iPhone color will match your iOS7 features. Your control panel screen, wallpaper, and even the backlight for your phone keypad will be customized to match the iPhone  color you choose. Your entire iPhone experience can be influenced by your favorite color. 

Apple wowed me today with their seamless design of the iPhone 5C, from the phone to the case to the operating system. I just can't stop thinking about what's next for our newest generation of Apple users. 
 

Technological progress is rarely as dramatic or as disruptive as the introduction of the original iPhone in 2007. But thanks to Apple's past successes and the fierce competition Apple faces in the smartphone market, everyone has been hoping for something just as revolutionary today.

Does Anyone Else Miss Steve Jobs?

So, on the heels of the introduction of iOS7 and iPhones 5S and 5C, I have to wonder: What would Steve Jobs think?

Did Apple impress us the way that Jobs, with his understated flair for theatrics and suspense, might have?

Based on past Apple events when Jobs was alive and the fact that he actively contributed to the Apple roadmap, directing the company’s course for years after his passing (it’s not like Jobs left unexpectedly), I think that yes, not only would he have approved, but had he still been alive, we might have witnessed a very similar product presentation today.

If Apple faces any problem, it isn't the challenge of producing high-quality, innovative products; it’s the challenge of keeping the levels of surprise, awe, and anticipation high in an age of unprecedented planned obsolescence, market saturation, internal leaks, and intense competition.

So now that today’s media event has come and gone and we know exactly what all the hype and hoopla was about, the question is, did Apple sufficiently wow us? Was it enough to preserve its dominant position in the smartphone arena and keep folks from jumping ship to a bigger or cheaper phone?

I'd say yes, but barely. While still setting the bar high, Apple is no longer the only provider of great smartphone technology, even if the competition are all virtual clones of Apple’s innovation.

Hey, Apple, Where's the Bigger Screen?

With the iPhone 5C, Apple certainly succeeded in leveling the playing field when it comes to a less expensive and thus more accessible smartphone. But the lack of a larger-screened iPhone is a glaring omission that Apple needs to address in this increasingly competitive industry.

People, myself included, want a larger-screened iPhone. As a power user of both the iPhone and the iPad mini, I can say without hesitation that Apple’s lackadaisical attitude toward introducing a larger-screened iPhone is a shortcoming for the company. One need only look to the sales of the larger “phablets” to see this.

If Apple released an iPhone somewhere within the 5.5- to 6-inch range, I know it would be a massive success. I myself would be such a fan that it might just cannibalize my relationship with my iPhone and my iPad mini. The increased portability of a larger iPhone or smaller iPad would totally fit the bill when it comes to a portable gaming console, PC, and general entertainment and communication center. The fact that Apple is said to be testing a larger-screened iPhone is of little consolation to those of us who are ready for an upgrade now. We are tired of squinting and struggling to navigate, communicate, or game with our iPhone’s tiny touchscreens, especially when we see the competition’s larger phones abounding. Admittedly, it’s a test of our loyalty as iPhone fans.

iOS 7: The Main Attraction

The physical upgrades in the new iPhones 5S and 5C are modest, incremental upgrades to the existing product line. So, if it’s not the physical device, what is the big draw for the new phones? I'd guess it’s not the hardware but the software that is supposed to be the main attraction and the big selling point. 

As Gizmodo's Brian Barret rather succinctly put it: “Consumer technology has reached a point where hardware comes last in the decision tree. The decision of which rectangle to buy doesn't matter nearly as much as what you can do with it.... That's why no matter what phones Apple announced, they're not nearly as important as the software they'll be running. It's iOS 7 that will convince people to buy iPhones for the next several years, and it's iOS 7 that will turn millions of unsuspecting current iPhone owners' devices into entirely different phones.”

In my opinion, iOS 7, along with the new line of iPhones, represents the pinnacle in smartphone technology. Not only is the software the most innovative, user-friendly, and cutting-edge technology on the market, the base hardware is the highest quality available to the general public.

So did Apple succeed in capturing the spirit and intention of what the late Mr. Jobs would have delivered? I'd say most certainly! Moreover, today Apple introduced to the world the next logical step in the evolution of the best portable computing, gaming, communication, and lifestyle management accessory on the planet.

I was feeling jaded, as if I pretty much already knew most of what Apple would be announcing. I was wrong. Some of the features of the iPhone 5S are stunning—and show that Apple hasn't lost its vision. I was especially impressed with the camera (and I'm no photography buff). Some of the features don't exist on any other phone, or even any other camera, in the world. I'll leave it to the experts here to tell you more about it, but here's what I came away with.

1. Bigger Pixels

The camera has much improved optics, with a new sensor that has a 15 percent larger area. The 1.5 micron pixels are larger than those on any other phone. This, too, lets in more light for better photos. The camera continues to be 8 megapixels, but Apple explained that bigger pixels are better than more pixels.

2. Lighting-Specific Flash

The new camera also has True Tone Flash that includes two LED flashes, with each suited to a different type of light: cool, such as from a fluorescent bulb, and warm, such as incandescent. These flashes work in concert to detect exactly the right combination needed (with over 1,000 variations) for a particular lighting situation. This feature exists on no other camera.

3. Image Stabilization

Auto image stabilization lets you avoid blurry photos.

4. Burst Mode

Burst Mode takes 20 photos in 2 seconds, with the software presenting you with the photo it thinks is the best. (You can, of course, also go back and look at the other 19.)

5. Slow Motion Video

the new camera has a feature that lets you create slow motion video by shooting 720p video at 120 frames per second, instead of the usual 30.

This shows Apple's knack for focusing on an aspect of the iPhone that was already good and taking it to a new level. Instead of features like NFC that most people don't use, or manufacturing a variety of sizes, Apple drills deep and gives you the best smartphone in the world.

Apple, oh Apple. How you tease me so. Apple just finished announcing their new iPhone lineup, which consists of the iPhone 5S and a colorful new roster of iPhone 5Cs. As Editor of iPhone Life magazine, it’s hard to be impartial about their new products. However, there was something about this event that subtly missed the mark for me, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Here are four thoughts and questions that came to mind.

1. What’s the Benefit?

I think the Touch ID feature is really cool. It’ll make it easier to unlock your device, and it’ll make entering you password a snap. That solves the problem of having to manually enter a password to authorize every single download. It also saves time over the course of the day because you’re saving precious seconds every time you unlock your iPhone. However, when Tim Cook said that they’re not “adding features for features sake,” I couldn’t quite believe him. It’s hard to see the additional benefit of this new feature. Aside from getting into your iPhone quicker and entering passwords in a second, what real problem does it solve?

Unless Apple can clearly identify the benefit of Touch ID, the feature may actually discourage some people from getting the iPhone. Some potential customers are asking questions about what happens if you’re wearing gloves, or if you need to give your phone to a stranger to make a call. I know that you can authorize several people’s fingerprints, but still. To me, this is the type of technology that’s cool mostly for coolness sake. And once again, I do think it’s really cool.

2. Rethink the Price Point

I was expecting the iPhone 5C to be either free, or at most $99 for the largest version if purchased with a new 2-year contract. Instead, it’s $99 for the 16GB, and $199 for the 32GB version. That means that as an end-user, for $199, you have the choice to buy either a 16GB iPhone 5S, with the A7 chip, better camera, and fingerprint sensor, or a 32GB plastic iPhone with inferior speed and camera, and no fingerprint sensor. “But it’s so colorful!” Well, so what? If you want an iPhone for your daughter, you could have easily added a colorful case to the iPhone 4S and given it to her. Besides trying to appeal to a younger group of users, I don’t clearly see what problem the 5C solves (see point 1.)

3. Don’t Undermine Secrecy

At one point during the presentation, Tim Cook referred to the numerous leaked photos of the iPhone 5S and 5C, and he said something to the effect of, “Some of you might have seen this already, and that’s cool!” I’m sorry Tim, but it’s really not cool. Don’t get me wrong, as a tech publication we live off of rumors and leaks, but Apple is supposed play along with us. I know it may seem silly, but like a game of hide and seek, I expect Apple to try to keep new products hidden from us. This adds to the excitement and elevates the surprise factor, which creates the conditions for breakthrough announcements that blow people’s minds. Showmanship is an important part of Apple’s brand, so it’s not wise to undermine it by not reinforcing the importance of secrecy. Today, like many people, I was looking for a surprise, but instead I got a confirmation. 

4. Apple Needs to Deliver an Unforgettable Experience

Continuing the thought from above, Apple’s showmanship has taken a dive since Steve Jobs left us. I know some of you might be saying, “Who cares about the showmanship? What matters in the end is the quality of the products.” I agree with you, except for the fact that brand loyalty is often built upon intangible experiences. There needs to be a calling to a higher purpose with every Apple announcement. Steve Jobs wanted to change the world. The Apple brand grew to unprecedented heights with a promise to build revolutionary products. This is the type of message and ideal that creates lifelong fans.

Apple can continue to roll out predictable improvements, but unless they can tap into that higher calling, the goodwill they’ve amassed from the Steve Jobs days will eventually fade away.  

If you're curious about the capabilities of the A7 64-bit mobile chip in the new iPhone 5S, wonder no more. The folks from ChAIR were good enough to be there once again to help Apple show off the incredible gaming capabilities of the new iPhone 5S.

Featuring an advanced chip set designed by Apple that further blurs the line between console and mobile gaming, the iPhone 5S is set to once again redefine our understanding of what mobile gaming can be. Infinty Blade III presents an amazing example of what phenomenal gaming devices this new crop of 64-bit iDevices will bring.

Coinciding with the release of the new iPhone and iOS 7, Infinity Blade III will be available in the App Store on September 18. That's only eight days for you to download and read the newly released eBook, Infinity Blade: Redemption, which segues between Infinity Blades II and III. Don't worry, it’s pretty short. Speaking of that eBook (Spoiler Alert: don't read on if you don't want clues as to what happens in the book.)

As you can see from the video embedded below, the final chapter in the Infinity Blade sage is an absolutely stunning demonstration of the gaming and graphic capabilities of this new, desktop-grade computer chip. This game looks impressive and I can't wait to download this one. Could this be the game of the year in 2013? I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

If you can't see the embedded video, please click HERE.

From what I've gathered, this game will see a very different format of play. While still a hack and slash, this game has almost 45 minutes of cutscenes and an elaborate storyline that brings together the medieval, post-apocalyptic, and high tech worlds that comprise the Infinity Blade universe at once.

This time around though, you play not just as Siris, but also as his mysterious companion Isa as you play out the last of this great and epic action-drama. Instead of following a path through one major playable location, this game features a home base, known as The Hideout. From there you can select where your adventure will take place using a world map featuring several fortresses.

This game seems much more story driven than any other iteration before it, and for those of us who love the tale of reluctant heroism and valor in the face of daunting odds, this will be a welcome addition and conclusion to what is perhaps one of the best (and highest-grossing) mobile game series to date.

This game will sell for $6.99 when it hits the App Store in about a week and will be compatible with all iDevices from the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 onward.

Images: IGN

Thanks to everyone who entered iPhone Life's Biweekly Weekend Giveaway! We received entries from 586 people in 33 different countries this week! WOW! And are giving away 3 amazing accessories!

And the winners are... (drum roll please): John Gabrielson, Ron Bishop, and Doug Estep.

If you see your name but didn't receive an email, please check your spam folder.

Didn't Win This Week? No worries! Visit iphonelife.com/giveaways for the chance to win in the next giveaway round.

This weeks featured items are:

1. iSkin Claro (iPhone 5): Retail Price $29.99

Let me start off by saying that I'm not a techie, but I consider myself an artist whose main tool is my iPhone. Like all Apple aficionados, I eagerly awaited news on the latest version of the iPhone. While the new colors and the introduction of Touch ID are welcome additions, the only news I wanted to hear about was the iSight camera.

Bigger Is Better

Having listened to the circulating rumors, I was expecting a 13MP camera. That didn't happen. I wanted MORE megapixels—until I heard Dan Riccio, Senior VP Hardware Engineering, explain that more pixels create a bigger picture, but bigger pixels make an even better picture. Apple's solution to a better photograph—bigger pixels. iPhone 5S will have a wider f/2.2 aperture which will allow more light onto the sensor. The active sensor area itself is 15 percent larger than it was before, which means each 1.5 micron pixel will convert 33 percent more light into image data. This will produce images with a greater dynamic range of color and less noise. 

No More Shaky Images

With the new auto image stabilization feature built in as well, the iPhone 5S will take multiple photos with a single shutter press and automatically merge them for the sharpest final image. Street photographers often shoot from the hip to be less conspicuous. This has resulted in a lot of unintentionally blurred images on my camera roll. I'm eager to see how this new feature works in the real world.

True Tone Flash

The world's first True Tone Flash has both cool and warm LEDs, and the iPhone will analyze the lighting of the situation and select the best color of flash for the circumstances. I'm not a big fan of flash photography, but Apple claims this flash will produce better skin tones and more natural looking color. 

Burst Mode

Shoot 10 frames per second for as long as you hold down the shutter button when in Burst Mode. Using the A7 chip, the iPhone 5S will analyze those images and present to you the best shot based on exposure, sharpness, and faces in scene. You can also manually select the shot taken from the series. I can imagine this would come in handy for street and sports photography. When a scene is unfolding in front of you, having the option of taking multiple shots may increase chances of catching that right moment.

Slo-Mo

With the introduction of Vine and the video addition to Instagram, many iPhone photographers are using their creativity to produce videos. With the new Slo-mo feature, I look forward to seeing what the cutting-edge creatives produce.

Faster Image Capture

According to the official press release, the improvements in the new iPhone 5S "along with the Apple-designed image signal processor in the A7 chip and the new Camera app in iOS 7, provide up to two-times faster auto-focus, faster photo capture." This is a definite plus for the iPhoneographer!

Learn more about the iPhone 5S in the video below:

Summary

The iPhone 5S itself won't make you a better iPhoneographer, but the enhanced camera features will give you a start with better image quality. The rest is up to you!

If you ever use a mapping app to get you from one place to another you have probably wished at some point to be able to create a route with more than one destination. In Maps, you can create bookmarks for multiple locations and reorder them, but there isn't a way to plot more than one at a time to make a logical route from beginning to end.

In real estate, I often have to take clients to more than one location in a day. I spend a fair amount of time trying to determine the most logical route to follow, so I have been on the lookout for a solution to save me time and aggravation.

Route4Me is a free iOS app that allows me to input up to 10 addresses and then sit back while the app generates a starting and ending point. Although many of the mapping apps I have will allow inputting more than one address, only Route4Me will optimize the order in which I visit them.

Unfortunately the app does not include voice-guided navigation (it may be included in later updates), but does include written directions. So the way I use this app is to generate the order of stops in Route4Me, then bookmark the locations in Maps in that order. Then when I am done at one location, I simply tap the next bookmark and let Maps navigate me from where I am to my next location. It is a bit of a work around, but still is a great time saver.

Imagine you are on vacation and want to take a day trip to see a number of sites. Since you most likely are not familiar with the area, rather than spend a long time trying to plot out the shortest route, just let Route4Me do it for you.

Having this app on your phone can save you time and help keep you from getting lost. If you don't want to load the app to your iPhone (I can't imagine why not) you can also access the same features on their website www.Route4Me.com.

It's been awhile since my last WIPTW postup, but the hardware review queue had been piling up. Anyway, I managed to grab at least three keepers this week, and all of them were free at the time of this writing (though two have now have reverted back to full price—sorry about that). First up is Undead Slayer (free), a 3D hack/slashfest; Pinball HD ($1.99 with 3 tables), a realistic pinball simulation; and finally Time Surfer ($0.99), a side-scrolling slider akin to Tiny Wings.

Undead Slayer

Undead Slayer is a third-person-perspective 3D fight game with an array of exquisite features, attacks, weapons, magic objects, and story background to keep the gamer interested throughout. You direct the warrior through each level with simple control actions—tap in the direction you wish to attack, and he runs in the proper direction and starts slashing when close to an enemy.

While you can direct certain special attack sequences (for example tap-slide to quickly launch into the middle of opponents), mainly you (tap) chop and hack your way through the hords; while trying to avoid getting smashed, chopped, and otherwise destroyed in the process. One particularly cool feature lets you tap your character icon to instantly switch to a different fighter (with different abilities.)

Some levels include Boss enemies that will of course require better weaponry, defenses, and skill to defeat. You pick up coins and powerups along your path of destruction, but the real money is in Jade, which is not as copious. Have Jade and you can revive your character. In-app purchases (IAPs) can help you level up, of course; as in most games today, everything is for sale. A great game, but the downside is it is Internet only. If you have no IP connection, it simply exits (no warnings or messages).

Pros: Great graphics, action, story, and developed gameplay (written by a single devloper)
Cons: IAPs are tempting, though not strictly required. Exits without internet.

Pinball HD

I love pinball and have several pinball versions (Real Pinball HD- Vampire, Pinball Arcade, etc.) loaded up on the iPad. They all provide a mix of tables to play, and all are excellent in their own right. Pinball HD is no exception, and in addition to the excellent table dynamics, it adds eye-popping close ups too.

Typical left and right side screen taps control the flipper action, which is sufficiently springy and responsive to mimic real flippers. The free tables offer various interesting challenges, like multi-level table sections and magnetic ball effects. You get three tables with the main app, and can unlock others with IAPs. Like Pinball Arcade, you can try out new tables before buying them.

Pros: Great Pinball action
Cons: None that I could find

Time Surfer

Time Surfer is one of those games that becomes almost too frenetic to play at times. You might want to go stare at a quiet sunset to recover from all the action in this game. It's a side-scrolling physics game and the control is much like that in Tiny Wings, though Surfer is a very different game.

The avatar in Time Surfer (looking like a little space-suited surfer dude) will dip and dive over the undulating terrain—sliding down a gulley gives you a boost in speed, for example. Right side tapping makes surfer dive, and left side will rewind (scroll back left) a short distance. Use rewind to undo a particularly bad move like getting surfer wacked.

The object of all the surfing and sliding is to keep up with the speed of play, avoid dangers, and grab powerups while zooming sideways through the levels. Very cool, yes, but often quite fast!

Pros: Interesting twist on games like Tiny Wings with more fun features.
Cons: Hard to master at the high speeds the surfer will attain.

That will have to be enough fun for this installment of WIPTW, but I promise not to take such a long break before getting around to the next one. I recommend all three of these games without hesitation. You can grab them at the links above!

What are you playing this week? Let us know in our comments section below!