Apple lays claim to smartphone future with new flagship

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Apple lays claim to smartphone future with new flagship

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

CUPERTINO, United States (AFP) — Apple laid claim to the future of the smartphone last Tuesday with a 10th anniversary iPhone X, touting the device as the next generation of mobile computing.

The iPhone X was one of three new iPhone models unveiled at the first event at Apple's new "spaceship" campus, as the California tech giant sought to spark fresh momentum in a global smartphone market seeing slowing growth and tougher competition.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook, speaking at the first event at the new campus theater named for the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, said the latest flagship handset is a milestone for the company a decade after the first iPhone release.

"Ten years later it is only fitting that we are here in this place, on this day to reveal a product that will set the path for technology for the next decade," Cook said, calling the iPhone X "the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone."

The iPhone X has an edge-to-edge screen 5.8 inch and uses facial recognition to unlock the device, and improved "super retina" display with improved graphics and resolution.

Apple upped the ante by boosting the starting price of the new handset to US$999 for US customers. It will be available starting November 3 in more than 50 markets, while the iPhone 8 and 8Plus will be available later this month starting at US$699 and US$799, respectively.

All three new phones will offer wireless charging using the Qi global standard.

Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller said the glass-body iPhone 8 and 8 Plus handsets were the first smartphones "really created for augmented reality," with improved power and graphics over their predecessors.

Apple also unveiled an updated smartwatch and an upgraded streaming video system for 4K high-definition television.

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