There’s been much hype surrounding the release of Apple’s latest device, the iPhone 4S. It crushed sales records once it hit stores, and has been met with loads of praise from the media. It doesn’t look all that new, though. On the exterior, it looks nearly identical to the original iPhone 4. But Apple hasn’t just repackaged an old device. Here we take a look at the 5 differences between the new iPhone 4S and the original iPhone 4.
Improved Camera
The camera on the iPhone 4S has been drastically improved from the one used in the iPhone 4. The camera on the 4S is bumped up to eight-megapixels from the iPhone 4′s five. The camera is now also able to record video in 1080p, while the previous model was limited to 720p. Apple also made the camera faster. It takes just a little over a second to unlock the phone and take a picture, and pictures taken after require just a half-second.
Dual-Core Processor
The iPhone 4 featured a single-core A4 processor. The new iPhone 4S uses a dual-core A5 processor. This is the same chip that powers the iPad 2. Like the A4, the A5 is clocked to 1 GHz, but its dual-core nature lets it power the iPhone 4S in ways the single-core A4 never could. Web pages can load faster, apps can launch quicker, and the overall user experience is simply more fluid.
Better Antenna Design
Anyone who followed the launch of the iPhone 4 remembers the antenna issues that plagued the device early on. To make sure that the issues didn’t repeat themselves, Apple built two antennas into the iPhone 4S. The device compares the signals of each antenna, and uses whichever one is receiving a stronger signal.
More Storage
When the original iPhone launched in 2007, its storage capacities of 4, 8 or 16 gigabytes were plenty. Times have changed, though, and the need for storage is always increasing. While the iPhone 4 maxed out at 32 gigabytes of storage, the iPhone 4S is available in a 64 gigabyte model. In fact, the 64 gigabytes of storage represents the most available for almost any smartphone, not just the iPhone series.
Siri
At this point, the world is becoming familiar with Siri. Apple’s new personal assistant is capable of doing virtually anything. It is voice-activated, and allows you to use your iPhone without ever touching a button. With the capability to interpret and respond to natural human language, Siri represents a massive leap forward in how smartphones are used – and it’s only available on the iPhone 4S.
While everyone was drooling over the new iPhone 4S and Siri, Apple may have silently started production of its iPad 3. As per analysts, Apple has increased iPad supply orders and this spike is believed to be driven partly by the new iPad 3. Compared with last month supply chain checks, around 600,000 to one million iPad 3 builds are showing up on the plan for the fourth quarter of 2011. Analysts feel this indicates a spring launch for iPad 3 or even in March. That would be exactly one year after the release of iPad 2.
Is the market ready for another iPad? It will certainly cement Apple’s reign in the tablet market. In September, Gartner folks estimated that Apple will be totally dominating over its competitors until 2014. Apple is expected to command more than 50 percent of the market share consistently for the next 3 years.
More positive reviews are pouring in from critics for this week’s release of iPhone 4S. “The one and only disappointment i have with the iPhone 4S is that the shutdown spinner animation is still low-res”, one reviewer wrote. “That’s pretty low on the list of nits to pick”. Though iPhone 4S has the same shape of iPhone 4, it comes with a better processor, great camera and a revolutionary voice-based personal assistant well integrated with Artificial Intelligence from Apple’s partners. iPhone 4S received a record 1 million preorders on the first day. Preorder stock of all the carrier partners is already exhausted. Though users can still place preorders for iPhone 4S, it might take a couple of weeks to get it shipped. Looks like one more blockbuster launch for Apple is on the cards.
Connected devices, a term used to represent tablets and other web-enabled devices like gaming consoles are gaining percentage of U.S web traffic. As per a recent ‘comScore’ report, 6.8% of total U.S Web traffic is coming from these ‘connected devices’. Of this non-computer traffic, two-thirds came from mobiles, driven largely by smart phones. The second largest driver of non-computer traffic was from the tablet category, contributing nearly 2 percent of whole U.S web traffic. Tablet contribution to U.S web traffic is increasing by 20-30% over the last 4 months. Apple’s iPad is completely dominating the tablet category by contributing 97.2 % of all tablet traffic in U.S as on August 2011. An impressive fact is that iPads now account for a higher share of internet traffic than iPhones.
Some other outcomes of the report to be noted are the traits of these iPad consumers and their consumption habits. Nearly half of the tablet owners made a purchase on their tablet and looked up for product or pricing information and read customer reviews. 3 out of 5 users consumed news on their iPads and 25% of them are doing on a nearly daily-basis. Two-thirds of tablet users played a game on their device. As per this report, even though Android occupies a larger share of smart phone market, it lags behind the Apple iOS audience in contribution to Web traffic. iOS users are larger consumers of the web content and it seems like it is a long way for other tablet competitors to eat into Apple’s share. As tablet penetration increases and they become more accessible, it has implications for publishers and advertisers too. They need to adopt and optimize their products for tablet presentation to reach an incremental audience.
Steve Jobs died this week, but his influence on technology and society will help to shape the coming century. His visionary welding of technology and design revolutionised the way we view them. Not only was he one of the greatest thinkers of our times he was also possibly it’s most successful business man. At the time of his death Apple was the most valuable company in the world.
It is difficult to summarise just how Steve jobs changed the world because his impact has been felt in so many areas. The introduction of the iPod and iTunes revolutionised not only the way music is delivered, but the entire music industry itself. The iPod meant for the first time the owner could take their entire music library with them where ever they went. It was iTunes that helped to kill off the already dying music megastores and forever changed the way people gather and distribute music. The music industry was already in trouble before Steve Jobs influence was felt. Piracy seemed a scourge with no answer. However iTunes produced the first viable model to monetise digital downloads. It also gave Jobs a huge amount of influence over the industry.
This was just one area in which Steve Jobs genius impacted the world. Another example was the introduction of the iPhone. Again this had a huge impact completely changing the telecommunications landscape. And this was not all, with the creation of his movie company Pixar he had a massive impact on the way modern films are made. Three major industries film, telecommunications and the music industry would never be the same again after Steve Jobs entered them.
Steve Jobs impact though is probably most acutely observed in the melding of design and technology. Steve Jobs was the first person to realise that aesthetics of personal technology was just as important as its functionality. Prior to him engineers held sway who had little interest in creating technology that was actually nice to look at. Steve Jobs changed all that and the impact was massive. Because iPhones, iPads and iMac are highly desirable based on their aesthetics people couldn’t get enough of them. Steve Jobs made it cool to like technology. No longer was it the sole domain of nerds now technology was for everyone. This gave apple a huge advantage over its competitors. People buy Apple products simply because they are made by Apple. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say the buy Apple products because they are made by Steve Jobs. His influence on apples products can be seen in every element of the design.
Steve Jobs was also a great business man. With some business leaders it is easy to say “He was lucky.” Or “He was there at the right time” But with Steve Jobs these throw away statements are not simple to declare. He was thrown out of the company he founded only to return to the company in 1997. The stock price tells the entire story. When he returned to the company the stock price was about $5 by the time of his death it was $375, and Steve Jobs had created the most valuable company in the world.
Steve Jobs influence on the world will be felt for many more years to come. While he maybe gone, his presence fundamentally changed the world we know.
Tuesday October 4th 2011 was an exciting day for iDevice fans around the world. During Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone Event” in California, Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced the public to the iPhone 4s. Though AT&T has received over 200,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4s, not every Apple fan is ready to upgrade. The previously rumored iPhone 5 had many iPhone owners anticipating a completely redesigned iPhone. In reality, the iPhone 4s is physically similar to the iPhone 4, but the new iPhone does have some major hardware upgrades and some new software. Before making an upgrade decision, all iPhone 4 owners should take a good look at the new features and decide if the iPhone 4s is right for them.
Better Call Quality
The poor signal and bad call quality of the iPhone 4 caused a great deal of customer dissatisfaction. Dropped calls, slow download speeds, and overall connection problems made it difficult for some iPhone customers to enjoy the full iPhone experience. Apple has blamed this major problem on a poorly designed internal antenna. The new iPhone 4s has two antennas which will provide users with a more consistent signal. In addition to fewer dropped calls, iPhone 4s users will also have download speeds of up to 14.4Mbits/s (twice the speed of the earlier iPhone models) thanks to the HSDPA (enhanced 3G mobile technology) upgrade.
Camera Improvements
One of the most serious iPhone 4 flaws was the phone’s camera. Customers often complained about the low picture quality of the 5-megapixel or 3-megapixel iPhone 4 camera, and the substandard 720p video capture. In response to customer feedback, Apple has improved the camera on the iPhone 4s. The new iPhone model has a 8-megapixel camera and can record 1080p videos.
Greater Capacity
Storage and memory have always been a major concern for iPhone owners. Having to constantly delete or transfer files to make room for new pictures, ebooks, or music can severely impact a person’s ability to enjoy their iPhone. The iPhone 4s has more storage capacity options and the 8GB internal storage option has been removed entirely. iPhone 4s owners can choose between the 16GB, 32GB, and the brand new 64GB internal memory drive options.
New Processor
One of the most important changes made to the iPhone 4s is the new processor chip. The iPhone 4s uses the new Apple A5 chip. Apple senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Philip Schiller claims the dual-core processor will provide twice the power of the single-core A4 chip used in the iPhone 4. Apple has also stated that the iPhone 4s A5 chip will boost the graphics performance to at least seven times speed of the iPhone 4.
Operating System
Apple announced the new IOS 5 operating system during the Apple iPhone 4s product launch. The new operating system improves social media integration and claims to have a better screen lock. However, the IOS 5 operating system will also be available for iPhone 4 users before the iPhone 4s goes on sale October 14th 2011. While Apple says the new operating system will perform better on the iPhone 4s, it is useable on the iPhone 4.
Voice Control
In an effort to make iPhone use more convenient for users, Apple has created Siri, a voice control program designed for use with the iPhone 4s. Siri can perform basic tasks such as send a text message or initiate a call making it similar to other voice recognition programs. However, Siri can also be used to perform more advanced tasks such as answer questions, schedule meetings, and even set alarms. During the Apple “Lets Talk iPhone” event senior vice president of iPhone Software Scott Forstall demonstrated the new Siri technology by asking for restaurant recommendations, checking the NASDAQ and more.
Click here to view the Siri demo video
More Network Capabilities
Apple’s new iPhone 4s will not be limited to AT&T customers like the original iPhone 3GS, and it will not just be available for AT&T or Verizon customers; the iPhone 4s will be available on the Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless networks. This change has made the iPhone a viable option for a large group of wireless customers. The iPhone 4s will also support GSM and CDMA networks making it a worldwide phone.
Same Size
The iPhone 4s is not much different from the iPhone 4 or even the iPhone 3GS when it comes to size. Apple’s latest iPhone has the same physical dimensions of its predecessors (4.5×2.3x.4) and weighs only one ounce more (4.9 oz) than the iPhone 4. The screen size also remains the same staying 3.5-inch with a 960-by640 display.
Battery Life
Like many smartphones the iPhone has been plagued by a poor battery life. While the iPhone 4 had a better battery life than the iPhone 3GS, the question is; will the iPhone 4s have a better battery life? The answer is yes and no. Apple has focused on promoting the 8 hours of talk time on the iPhone 4s since that talk time is one hour more than the iPhone 4. Unfortunately, that manufacturer estimate is only for 3G talk time meaning the talk time when using the enhanced HSDPA 3G may be less than 8 hours.
The iPhone 4s talk time on 2G remains the same along with the 6 hour battery life when transferring data at 3G speeds. Sadly, the battery life when transferring data using WiFi has dropped to 9 hours for the iPhone 4s. Worse, the total standby hours of battery life have gone from 300 standby hours for the iPhone 4 to just 200 standby hours for the iPhone 4s.
The Bottom Line
Apple’s iPhone 4s has many exciting features that will make using the iPhone more enjoyable for many users. The faster speeds, better call quality, accurate voice recognition, and larger storage capacity all make the iPhone 4s worth the upgrade. However, any person who is not ready to upgrade to the iPhone 4s will benefit from the October 14th 2011 release. The iPhone 4s launch will lead to a price drop on the iPhone 4, and some of the new features (such as the IOS 5 operating system) can be used on the iPhone 4.
Apple enthusiast, techno geek and lover of smooth slidy things. I have created this blog to help you all get as excited as i am about the forthcoming iPad 3!
