As you know, we waited on line all night at our local UPS depot to claim our new iPhone 6+ at 7:30 in the morning. Now that we’ve had the chance to use our new phone, we’re happy to say it was worth the effort to get it as soon as humanly possible. Here’s our report.

We like the new phone and the new iOS 8 features, especially the My Health app. We believe it can be a life saver. When you set up the data, it asks for your date of birth, blood type and other information about your medical condition as well as people to call in the case of an emergency. Anyone can use your phone without unlocking the screen to make an emergency call on your behalf, and whoever receives the call will have all of that vital information. You’ll also have your information handy whenever you visit a healthcare provider.

We also like the iPhone 6’s capability that allows you to add widgets to your home screen, and we’re anticipating Apple Pay’s rollout.

While many people will claim that Android phones have had these new iPhone capabilities, iPhone remains the dominant device in the cellular world. Most people who traded iPhones for Android phones did so because of the screen size. Apple addressed that marketplace demand, and the company sold 10 million phones in one weekend – and that’s without the Chinese market. The new phones will be released there Oct. 17, and two million reservations were made in the first hour they were made available.

The major bug we found right away was synching the Bluetooth capability with our car. The system dropped a lot of calls, and that is a pain. We’re confident Apple will fix this problem and the others that are sure to pop up as more new iPhones are in the field.

And now for a word of caution: As we continue to make more use of smartphones and devices, we’re loading more and more sensitive information on them. It’s more important than ever to protect that data because device hacking is on the rise. Just as with your computer, if you start to see a lot of new error messages or pop-ups, it could be a sign that something is happening.

Here are some safeguards you can take for all devices and computers:

• Be very, very careful on public Wi-Fi networks. Don’t do any online banking, for example, or any other activities that involve sensitive information with passwords.
• Make sure firewalls are in place.
• Download and install reputable anti-virus, malware and spyware software
• If you have a computer on a Wi-Fi network, disconnect it from the network when you’re not using it

While we are getting into our new iPhones and all of our new connectivity possibilities, we’re still keeping any eye on the horizon for new phones from Samsung and the major Android-powered devices. And, we’re also starting to think – just a little bit – about an iPhone 7. If there’s one thing we’ve all learned about technology, it gets better and – in terms of performance for the money you spend – cheaper.

We can help you decide on your next device purchase and help you get it set up and integrated with your existing technology. We’re a phone call away at 973-433-6676, and you can email us to set up a time to talk.