iPhone 7 & 7Plus: Jawdropping Specs and Price Tag

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are upcoming smartphones designed by Apple Inc. They were announced on September 7, 2016 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco by CEO Tim Cook. They are scheduled to be released on September 16, 2016 with pre orders starting from September 9, 2016. Those models are the successors of iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.

 

iPhone 7 is similar in design to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S, though with a "mirrored" finish. Alongside the existing Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold colors, the device is offered in new Black and "Jet Black" colors. The "Jet Black" color is a darker shade with a high-gloss finish; it is created through a multi-step process, beginning with an anodization phase to make the surface of the casing a porous aluminum oxide, and then using a machine to "wipe" the casing through a powdered compound, absorbed by aluminum oxide. The process is concluded with an "ultra-fine particle bath" for additional finishing; the entire process takes less than an hour.

iPhone 7 no longer uses a physical home button, and instead it uses a touch-sensitive button with haptic feedback via Apple Taptic Engine. The button is also pressure-sensitive. The "3D Touch" system from 6S was retained. The device now has stereo speakers, one at each end of the phone.

iPhone 7 does not feature a 3.5 mm headphone jack; it was replaced by a second speaker grille. A Lightning-to-3.5 mm connector adapter, as well as in-ear headphones that use a Lightning connector, are bundled with the device. The Lightning adapter will also be sold independently. iPhone 7 is also water- and dust-resistant.

iPhone 7 uses the Apple A10 Fusion system-on-chip, which consists of two low-power cores and two high-power cores. The A10 chip also features a hexa-core graphics chip capable of "console-level gaming". As with prior models, iPhone 7 is available in two sizes: one with a 4.7-inch screen, and a "Plus" variant with a 5.5-inch screen. The displays have identical sizes and resolutions to 6 and 6S (at 720p and 1080p, respectively), but with an increased color gamut and brightness. Both device variants also contain a new iteration of Apple's motion coprocessor, the M10. Unlike previous iPhone models, internal storage options for iPhone 7 begin at 32 GB instead of 16 GB.

iPhone 7 includes a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with a quad-LED "True Tone" flash; its aperture was widened to f/1.8, and the standard-size phone model adds optical image stabilization — a feature that was previously exclusive to Plus models. iPhone 7 Plus also includes a second 12-megapixel telephoto lens, which can be used to achieve 2x optical zoom, and up to 10x digital zoom. The front-facing camera was upgraded to a 7-megapixel sensor.

 

The Lightning to 3.5 mm adapter will be sold by Apple as an accessory as well as being included with the device, with an MSRP of US$9. Alongside the iPhone 7, Apple also unveiled AirPods — wireless Bluetooth in-ear headphones, as well as three new Beats headphone products. All four products are not included with the device, and utilize an in-house wireless chip known as Apple W1, which is designed to provide low-power Bluetooth operation and integration with iOS and macOS products (though they are still compatible with other Bluetooth-supported devices).

 

Despite the inclusion of an adapter, the removal of the headphone jack was met with criticism, some of which was based on the fact that digital output (as opposed to analog output from the 3.5 mm headphone jack) does not show any notable improvement in sound quality, the inability to charge the iPhone 7 and listen to music simultaneously without Bluetooth, and the inconvenience of having to carry around an adapter for what is purely a mobile device, diminishing its utility. In particular, Apple's vice president Phillip Schiller, who announced the change, was mocked extensively online for stating that removing the headphone jack took 'courage'. An online petition created by the consumer group SumOfUs that accuses Apple of planned obsolescence and causing substantial electronic waste by removing the headphone jack reached over 300,000 signatures

Dark Souls III

Dark Souls III is an upcoming action role-playing video game being developed by FromSoftware. It is the 4th entry in the Souls series released by Bandai Namco Games. It will be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in Japan in March and worldwide in the following month.
 

The game is set in a third-person perspective, similar to previous games in the series. According to director Hidetaka Miyazaki, the gameplay design follows closely from Dark Souls II. Players are equipped with variety of weapons including shortbows, explosives like fire bombs, greatswords and dual-wielding swords to fight against enemies, and shields that can be used to deflect an attack and protect the player from damage. Also attacks can be dodged by rolling. Bonfires serve as checkpoints. Ashes will play an important role in the game. Magic is featured and magic meter is returned, similar to Demon's Souls. Each attack has two different styles. One is standard, while the other provides power-ups to players, and slightly more powerful. When performing magic spells and miracles, the player's magic points are consumed and decreased. To refill those points one needs to consume an "Ash Etsus Flask". There are two different Etsus Flasks in the game. One refills magic points while the other hit points. Combat movements are made faster.  

Throughout the game, players encounter different enemies, each with different behaviors. Some of them change their combat pattern during battles. New combat features like "Ready Stance" has been included, which are special abilities for players that allow them to deal much more damage than the ordinary attacks. Small gravestones are introduced which lights up when interacted, can serve as player's torches and provides additional lore to the game. The game features fewer maps than its predecessor, but levels are interconnected and made larger.

The game has three different special editions for players to purchase, all of which costs more than the base game. Players who have pre-orders the game will have their game automatically upgraded to the "Apocalypse Edition", which has a special case and the game's original soundtrack. The "Collector's Edition" contains physical items such as the Red Knight figurine, an artbook, a new map and a box. The "Prestige Edition" features all the content of The Collector's Edition and has an additional Lord of Cinder resin figurine, which can form a pair with the Red Knight figurine.