GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL 8 things in the Apple iPhone 6 that aren't really new

Now that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plushave been announced, Apple fan boys are once again going gaga about the new features. However, most of these are features that have been around for a considerable amount of time on other platforms.

1. Full HD display: The iPhone 6 plus has a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Yes, it is the biggest screen on an iPhone to date, but Android devices with similar resolutions and screen sizes have been around for almost two years now. The Lenovo K900 announced in January 2013 was the first device with a 5.5-inch full HD display where as the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with a 5.5-inch display was announced in 2012.

2. NFC: Another new addition on both the iPhones is NFC (for contactless payments with Apple Pay). While Apple's implementation and security may be better (remains to be seen), NFC has been around from 2007. Kyocera was the first to showcase a prototype handset with NFC at the CTIA show in 2007-2008. Nokia's 6212 feature phone with NFC was launched in 2008. In terms of smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was among the first devices to come with NFC, way back back in 2011.

3. Optical Image Stabilization: While both iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus have an 8MP camera, the iPhone 6 plus also features OIS ( optical image stabilization). OIS enables smoother video output by automatically adjusting for shaky hands and small movements. Nokia introduced OIS in camera phones in 2012 with the Nokia Lumia 920. Post that a number of Nokia devices and flagship phones from HTC and LG smartphones have come with the technology in the past two years. 

4. Third Party Keyboards: One of the biggest changes in iOS8 is support for third party keyboards. Users will now be able to install a custom keyboard from developers like Swiftkey and TouchPal. This feature has been present in Android since 2009 - when Android version 1.5 was first announced.
   5. Predictive Text in Keyboard: The default keyboard in iOS 8 can now do word predictions based on your usage. This is one of the most useful features when it comes to typing on a virtual keyboard. Windows Phone 7 devices launched in 2010 had predictive text entry whereas the first Android device, HTC Magic, launched in 2009, also came with predictive text input.6. Cloud Sync: With a feature called iCloud Drive, Apple is offering seamless syncing of all your data (images, documents, files) amongst various devices using the cloud. DropBox has offered the same since 2008 across platform and devices. Google also launched a similar service with Google Drive in April 2012.
   7. WiFi 802.11ac: WiFi 802.11ac is a high-speed wireless connectivity standard announced last year. Apple has added it in both the new iPhones for faster wireless access. Since the standard was announced last year, HTC One (M7) launched in early 2013 already came with it. Later in 2013, Samsung launched the Galaxy S4, Note 3 and Google launched the Nexus 5 - all with WiFi 802.11ac.
   8. Metal Unibody with plastic bands: Some may feel that Apple's metal unibody design on the new iPhone with plastic bands for Antenna reception is a revolution in smartphone design. However, HTC did the same earlier this year with the HTC One M8 and Apple just seems to have taken a design cue.

Karan Bajaj, ET140910