Apple unveiled its first budget iPhone yesterday as it introduced two new devices to its range.
The new 5C was billed as a handset that will be "more fun and more colourful" than any iPhone yet at a much-hyped event at Apple's California headquarters.
Chief executive Tim Cook promised the gadget would come with "all the great technology customers have loved with the iPhone 5".
The mobile will come in five colours - blue, white, pink, yellow, and green - and will be priced at $99 (£63) if taken out on a two-year contract. The cheaper version of the iPhone will be an obvious rival to some of the low-cost gadgets sold by competitors.
Mr Cook also introduced new flagship mobile, the iPhone 5S, "the most forward-thinking phone we have ever created".
Dubbed the "gold standard in smartphones" by the tech giant, it will come in the more traditional Apple colours as well as a new golden hue.
Its unveiling comes after a series of images leaked online claimed to show the 5S, while the industry was awash with rumours relating to the 5C. Mr Cook raised a laugh as he told the audience: "A couple of you may have been expecting this."
Apple's Philip Schiller raised a massive round of applause as he introduced the fingertip scanner -named Touch ID - which, he said, would provide a "simple and secure way to unlock your phone with just a touch of your finger."
The security feature is built into the home button.
Beyond unlocking the phone, the feature can be used as a secure way to approve purchases from the iTunes Store, App Store or iBooks Store, Apple said.
The 5S will cost from £549.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article