Last night, thousands of people across the world voluntarily streamed a two-and-a-half-hour-long infomercial, as they tuned into Apple's event in San Francisco, held to announce new products and operating systems.
In the past, big secrecy surrounded these events, says tech analyst Liron Segev: "Last night there were no plot twists; it was bland and there was no big wow."
Everything announced has been done before, says Segev, who tweeted last night: "Recap #AppleEvent innovation: pencil-like Samsung S-Pen, front-facing flash like LG G4, live photos like HTC Zoe, 3D Touch like Huawei Mate S."
He notes: "Apple are geniuses at spin and taking innovation that is already out there and packaging it nicely."
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck comments that the event was "utterly predictable" and a "marking time" event between major launches.
For this interim release, of iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, sales will not be as large as the iPhone 6. However, Apple continues to be the most profitable cellphone company because of low overheads, says Goldstuck.
Mobile shifts
Goldstuck believes this year, there have been three significant shifts in the mobile market. The first was in design by Samsung, with its new Galaxy S6 Edge; the second was in control, with the LG G4's manual camera settings; and the third was in applications, with Huawei's Force Touch. "Nothing like this was announced last night."
Force Touch was announced by Huawei two weeks ago, says Goldstuck, so for 3D Touch to be touted as one of the most significant features of the new iPhone, it is an indication Apple is no longer leading the market.
Force Touch differs to 3D Touch, as it allows users to weigh things on their phones. This may not seem immediately useful, but Goldstuck says the integration of variable pressure to smartphones open the doors to many other applications.
"There were incremental improvements to the new iPhone in response to market demands but nothing ground-breaking."
Apple TV
Both analysts believe the Apple TV and tvOS announcements were the most noteworthy and exciting of the evening. "The new enhancements place it [Apple] back in the running as a set-top box player," says Goldstuck.
"The new gaming and app functionalities are a big winner," says Segev, although he warns the new Siri-run voice-activated remote could have security issues.
"Samsung Smart TVs have, although with limited functionalities, a voice-operated remote. The issue there a while ago was that if you can talk to the remote, then it can essentially listen in on everything you say ? which could and should be a concern with the Siri-operated remote."
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