iPhone 6 and 6 plus launched.

Apple announced two new iPhone models at an event in California on 

Tuesday, alongside its much-anticipated wearable, named Apple Watch, and a new digital payment mechanism called Apple Pay.

While not very much about the phones themselves came as a surprise due to 

multiple leaks in the months leading up to the event, specific details such as 

pricing have only now been confirmed. The iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 750x1334 pixels while the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. The phones are 6.8mm and 7.1mm thick respectively, both thinner than the iPhone 5s. Both use Apple's new 64-bit A8 processor and M8 motion coprocessor.

The new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 replaces the iPhone 5s as Apple's mainstream offering at the $199 price point (on contract for two years), but that isn't the top slot anymore. The 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus will cost $299 on contract. The prices are for 16GB models, and rise by $100 for each step up in capacity. The 32GB model has been dropped, and a new 128GB model has come in at the high end. It will now cost only $100 more to upgrade from 16GB to 64GB.

The iPhone 5s will drop to $99 on contract for a 16GB model, which means the iPhone 5c will be free with the same two-year commitment. Apple has not yet announced the prices of unlocked phones, but they are likely to be $749, $649, $549 and $449 for the lowest-capacity versions of the iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c respectively.

The price of the new iPhone 6 in India is likely to be consistent with or even slightly lower than that of the 5s when it launched last year, thanks to improved stability in the US dollar-Indian Rupee exchange rate. The iPhone 6 Plus forms a new higher price tier so it is likely to cost as much as the 32GB iPhone 5s did. At current exchange rates and without factoring in taxes and import duties, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus would cost approximately Rs. 39,350 and Rs. 45,415 respectively for the 16GB models (using a rate of $1=Rs. 60.62). Actual retail prices will be at least Rs. 10,000 higher than those figures.

The prices listed on Apple's UK Store page for off-contract iPhones are more indicative of what the Indian prices will eventually be: the iPhone 6 is listed at GBP 539 (approximately Rs. 52,710) for 16GB while the iPhone 6 Plus is listed at GBP 619 (approximately Rs. 60,530) for the same capacity. 

The iPhone 4S thus retires after three years in service. This was Apple's last phone with a 3.5-inch screen and no LTE support. The device might continue to be available in certain countries such as India and China, but will have to compete with much newer and more powerful Android smartphones.

The iPhone 5c was widely panned for being too expensive when it launched, but price cuts to the 16GB version in India have made it a little more attractive. Apple broke its usual upgrade pattern and launched an 8GB version in selected markets in the middle of the year, reducing the entry-level price point of its LTE-capable lineup.

 CEOs Who Think Like Steve Jobs

Apple Inc is a success story. The company currently wears the crown of the share market, and is the talk of Wall Street. The one man responsible for what Apple is today is undoubtedly the charismatic Steve Jobs. Jobs had ability to create value for shareholders and employees, and to define their industry to both competitors and consumers alike. His focus was on a long-term vision that trumps the quarterly drumbeat of the Wall Street yet. There was his shrewd use of capital to grow his company and to cripple competitors. And above all, there was his desire to connect completely with customers so his product would almost sell itself. If you think, all these awe inspiring characteristics are sole Steve Job stuff, then think again. There are five CEOs who will remind you of Jobs the way they think and carry out themselves, read on to know these CEOs as compiled by Market Watch

#4 Jim Skinner, McDonald’s

James Alan Skinner is an American business executive. He was the Vice Chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corporation.

Skinner began his career with the food chain as a lowly restaurant manager trainee in Illinois about 40 years ago, and was not a founder, unlike Jobs who was the founder of Apple. But like Jobs, he was called upon to revitalize McDonald’s.

McDonald’s price in 2000 to 2003 was plummeted from a high above $33 to around $13. The company was struggling under many negative perceptions — unhealthy food and poor working conditions among them. But thanks to Skinner who was named CEO in 2004, McDonald’s stock is now at about $87 per share and is considered as a healthy food chain too.

In his efforts to revitalize the company, his main plan is to refocus on the customer. The menu got healthy. The Dollar Menu was added. The 24-hour drive-through window, the McCafe line of coffee, Wi-Fi access points and the first major store redesign since in 1970s was designed to win back customer loyalty. And it worked big-time.

#3 Larry Page, Google

Larry Page is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who, with Sergey Brin, co-founded Google. On April 4, 2011, he took on the role of chief executive officer of Google.

As the company’s mission statement goes “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” which is all about considering customer satisfaction as priority which was same with Apple.

If Apple’s iOS can give a run for money, so does Android, and this mobile platform is now the world’s widely used mobile OS. Like Apple whose products iPhone, iPad and iPod have utter dominance in their category, Google has the utter dominance in its products like Google Maps, Google Ads and, of course, Google search.

#2 John C. Martin, Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences is an American biotechnology company that discovers, develops and commercializes therapeutics. The company’s CEO John C. Martin has been the brains behind one of the fastest-growing drug stocks on Wall Street since taking over in 1996. The stock is up about 2,700% in those 15 years.

He, like Jobs was credited with well doing of the company, and like Jobs Martin understood how to take calculated risks and use capital responsibly to grow and squeeze out competitors. After riding high due to successful antiviral medications including flu vaccines, in 2006 Gilead made quality acquisitions to enter into the profitable cardiovascular and respiratory markets.

The company is currently into HIV research, and if it succeeds, it too can make a product which will bring revolution in medical world like iPhone brought in consumer electronics world.

#1 James Sinegal, Costco

James Sinegal is co-founder and former CEO of Costco, an international retail chain.

Sinegal like Jobs was innovative business builder, a guy with a long-term focus on shareholder value and connecting with consumers in new ways.

Sinegal co-founded Costco and has been president since 1983. It is his innovations that made Costco the first warehouse club to include fresh food, eye-care clinics, pharmacies, gas stations and other businesses previously thought out of place on retail floors. Shares of Costco are up 2,800 percent and have paid modest dividends since 2004, all credits to Sinegal.

Something which places both Jobs and Sinegal in same league is Sinegal’s desire to put “user experience” above everything else. Being in retailer business, where customer satisfaction is a priority and which in turn cannot be achieved unless the employees are happy, and motivated. About four out of every five Costco workers get health care and benefits, even though about half are part-timers. The average wage is $19 an hour, and there have been no layoffs in the recession.

The Evolution of Apple
though these are pictures.....but they speak a lot!

Behind the success there is one man......

-Suchit  Pawar