Apple Rolls Out Special Edition iPhone, New iPad Ahead Of Samsung’s Galaxy Reveal

With Samsung Electronics’ Unpacked event, in which it’s expected to launch the Galaxy S8, a week away, Apple tried to steal some of the thunder, announcing Tuesday (March 21) a 9.7 inch iPad and a special edition of its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Take the special edition of the iPhones, for starters. The iPhones are red aluminum and start at $749. Proceeds from the special edition phones, which will hit store shelves Friday, goes toward the Global Fund to fight AIDS. According to a report, Apple says it’s the world’s biggest corporate donor to the Global Fund, kicking in greater than $130 million. As for the new iPad, it will sell for $329 and is equipped with a brighter display, Touch ID, LTE support and iOS 10.

In addition to the new iPad and the special edition iPhones, Apple unveiled a new app dubbed Clips, which enables users to combine video clips, photos and music that are shared via social media and messaging apps. The app is free to use and automatically recognizes people in a video and offers up the ability to send messages to them. In bevy of announcements Tuesday, Apple also rolled out two new watch bands that boast spring colors.

Apple isn’t the only one to make tech announcements this week. On Monday (March 20) Samsung announced the launch of Bixby, its virtual assistant aimed to take on Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. In a press release, Samsung said Bixby will be a new intelligent interface on the electronic company’s devices. Samsung said it is different than other voice-activated virtual assistants on the market because it has more proficiency in completeness, context awareness and cognitive tolerance. Take completeness, for example. Samsung said Bixby will be able to support nearly every task the application is capable of performing using touch commands.