How U2 rocked Apple's iPhone 6 launch... and it's free for you too!

Irish superstars U2 released their first album in five years for free on Apple's iTunes Tuesday in a surprise, attention-grabbing step as the tech giant unveiled its latest smartphones.

At the much-anticipated launch event near San Francisco, U2 played a single from the new album -- "Songs of Innocence" -- which Apple announced it had sent out at no cost to half a billion iTunes customers around the world.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who joined U2 frontman Bono on stage for a playful countdown to the unexpected announcement, described the move as "the largest album release of all time."

(AFP)

Bono described the album, the band's first since "No Line on the Horizon" in 2009, deeply personal and said the release served as "instant gratification."

"From the very beginning, U2 have always wanted our music to reach as many people as possible, the clue is in our name I suppose -- so today is kind of mind-blowing to us," Bono said.

"The most personal album we've written could be shared with half a billion people -- by hitting send. If only songwriting was that easy."

(AFP)

Apple -- which revealed its first smartwatch, as well as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus at the event -- said it would provide the album for free to customers who set up iTunes accounts in the next five weeks.

A physical copy -- featuring acoustic versions, four additional tracks and a liner booklet -- will be released on October 13.

U2 -- who released some of the most acclaimed albums in the 1980s including "The Joshua Tree" and "Rattle and Hum" -- would have been virtually assured of wide sales if they had sold the new work from the get-go.

Apple did not disclose financial arrangements with U2, whose members are multimillionaires.

U2 has collaborated for years with Apple. Bono alluded to the relationship when he told Cook, "We are the blood in your machine, oh Zen master of hard- and software."

APPLE DEVICES:

For the first time in years, Apple's iPhones aren't the star of the show. Apple unveiled a smartwatch on Tuesday, a wearable device that marks the company's first major entry in a new product category since the iPad's debut in 2010.

The move is significant because of recent questions about whether Apple still has a knack for innovating following the 2011 death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

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The device's introduction upstaged the company's two new, larger iPhones, which won't just have bigger screens; they'll have a new, horizontal viewing mode to take advantage of the larger display.

The iPhone 6 will have a screen measuring 4.7 inches, while the iPhone 6 Plus will be 5.5 inches. In both cases, app developers will be able to design apps that can be viewed differently when the phone is held horizontally.

Apple also introduced a system for using the phone to make credit card payments at retail stores.

(AFP)

Apple is turning to the past as it lays out its future. The company is holding the event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts, the same venue where Jobs unveiled the industry-shifting Mac computer 25 years ago. The Cupertino, California, venue is near Apple's headquarters.

As for the iPhones, which still represent the main source of Apple's profits, larger models should help the company compete with Android devices.

The Apple Watch, a sleek wrist device that links to the iPhone, "will redefine what people expect from this category," chief executive Tim Cook said at a carefully staged presentation in Apple's hometown Cupertino, California.

(AFP)

Market tracker IHS saw Apple as aiming to reset the wearable computing market the way it transformed the world of smartphones with the release of the iPhone.

"But moving into a new category is a bold, expensive and risky effort," IHS said in an initial analysis of the Apple announcements.

Despite an array of smartwatch releases, no one seems to have found the key to the market, according to analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies.

(AFP)

Syncing Apple Watch capabilities to iPhones also means that the overall cost of strapping one on could near $1,000, Kay noted.

"I'm not getting the impression that Apple has nailed the category," Kay told AFP.

The latest Apple announcement failed to move Wall Street, with stock in the computer titan closing down by 0.4 percent and slipping a touch further in after-market trades.

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