Why Apple Isn’t Changing

I already wrote an article on why Tim Cook would not be any different to you than Steve Jobs.  I don’t need to explain that again; Cook has been in charge for a long time now, just underground.

With this most recent death, it seems like a good point to write about the future of Apple. Many other respected writers believe Apple is lost; they believe with the release of a “failure” phone and the death of Jobs that the company will only go downhill.  They’re wrong.

Apple has a brilliant future; they have a life of success ahead.  Sure, they just made a RIM-ish move, but, from Apple’s perspective, a smart one.  The iPhone 4S will do as well as the 4 – very well.  They have a cycle:innovation, refresh, innovation, refresh.  Has it worked so far?  Yes, they’ll sell as many 4S units as they have 4s.

Another complaint/concern is that Apple has a problem with releasing minor upgrades and charging as much for them.  That’s twisted.  Take Samsung for example.  One can’t even count the number of Android phones they have released this year!  The Galaxy line alone already has at least five different models.  Apple released their first iPhone in 2007; it’s 2011 and there are only five models, only three of which are active and available.

Apple’s cycle obviously works.  Sure, they could put a little more time between models.  Maybe. They don’t need to put all the work into one device; all they need to do is make that one device a little bit better than the competition’s.  Then they’re safe ’til the next round.

On Steve’s death, no, that won’t change Apple.  To be honest, it will help them do better.  I’m not going to say more,but just look at this picture:

iPod Nano 1.3 Update

During Apple’s event on Tuesday, they announced a new iPod Nano and a new iPod Nano OS.  Now, the only reason i’m writing this is because the iPod Nano was originally supposed to simulate an iOS experience.  To be honest, it’s nothing like iOS still.  It can’t do anything.

The update, 1.2 for us Mac users, brings quite a few changes actually.  The most noticeable is the new UI (User Interface), it’s…different.  When the Nano 6G was launched it looked like a mini version of iOS, not only in the icons but also in the layout.  Now it’s much more of a “mini” UI.  Think of the XMB on Sony devices, it’s like that but with iOS icons.  You scroll left and right by swiping through the options; it’s easy.

You’re given the option to witch back to the “mini view” as they call it.  I wouldn’t. 

You can turn off what is on the home screen, I haven’t the slightest clue on why you would, but you can.  Also, you can change what parts of the music app show up directly on your homescreen.  If you want to jump directly to “playlists”, you can.

Probably the biggest new feature for some users is the new watch faces.  There are 16 new ones; adding up to 18 faces for showing up your nano.  Yes, there is Mickey Mouse watch faces included.I’m serious.

 

Eh, it was a long awaited updated but didn’t fully satisfy.  After seeing the .plist strings for movies and games, I was patiently waiting for that, nevertheless, Apple pushes out a minor update.  Surprised, huh?

Which Carrier To Go To For The iPhone 4S

One of the many new features of the iPhone 4S was that it was a world-phone, it has support for GSM and CDMA in the same chip.  (The Verizon iPhone 4 technically did too, just lacking a sim card slot.)

Now that you can use your iPhone 4S on AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint, the choice of which carrier to go to has gotten that much harder.  You can go to Verizon and get exceptional coverage, no voice and simultaneous data, and limited plans.  You could go to Sprint an get terrible signal, no simultaneous voice and data, and unlimited data plans.  Or you could choose AT&T, the original carrier since day one.  AT&T has decent signal, simultaneous voice and data, and limited data plans.

Wait, there is something else, right?  Yes, AT&T will have the fastest iPhone 4S.  Because of the way that the cellular radios in the device are set up, the iP4S supports HSUPA, which, on AT&T is 14.4mb/s theoretical max speed.  Verizon and Sprint, with their EVDO networks, only support 7.2mb/s theoretical max speed on the iPhone 4S.

You need to ask yourself, does having a faster speed necessarily mean it’s better?  Sure, it’s faster on AT&T but you are limited to a 4GB a month plan.  (Unless you want to jump through some hoops for unlimited.)  Sprint gives you unlimited data, but slower speeds.

It really all depends on the user, you want the coverage?  Verizon.  Want to be able to update twitter while on the phone?  AT&T.  Heavy data user? Sprint.

The iPhone 4S & The Issues People Have

Heh, some people were disappointed that we didn’t see an iPhone 5 today.  Why? They were disappointed because there is no visual redesign; the 4S, on the outside, looks identical to the 4.  Obviously people had their sights set too high, people imagined the teardrop design.

The iPhone 4S is incredible, it’s a sleek, ahead of the competition device.  What is your problem with it?  It’s the thinnest, sleekest smartphone ever.  Sure, the A4 was a single core, 1GHz processor; the A5, the processor in the 4S, is dual core, proven the fastest reliable chip in the smartphone market.

The camera?  Critics say, “Oh, android phones have had a 8 megapixel lens for months.”  That’s the truth, they have.  One important fact though, the iPhone 4’s 5 megapixel camera still takes better pictures than any of it’s so called ‘competition’.

I’m not even going to discuss the software because that would automatically place me into into the “biased Apple fanboy” category.  Personally, I love iOS 5, it’s the smoothest OS with the least problems.  I also love Honeycomb.  As a TV + Tablet OS, it’s close to the best.  Sure, “Android has had voice control for years”, but has Android had it this nice?  No.  The voice control on my Droid works, it searches the web, it has tts, all around it’s nice.  Siri Assistant is WAY nicer.  Trust me on this, the Siri Assistant can do so much more than than the Android equivalent.  One thing though, I thought it was silly for Apple to only let the 4S have assistant as it would obviously work with all devices.  Google wouldn’t do that.

Oh, they added a dual core processor, an eight megapixel camera, a 1080p video processing unit, “4G”, and support for GSM and CDMA and the phone has  BETTER battery life than any other smartphone on the market.  The phone compared to the 4S is the Galaxy S II.  How do you compare the Galaxy S II to the iPhone 4S when the GSII only has 3 hours of talk time on 3G?  How on earth?  The iPhone 4S has a whopping eight hours, on the same network.

You shouldn’t even try to make it sound like any other Android phone is better.  People keep comparing the Galaxy S II to the iPhone 4S; they say it’s so much better.   It’s not.  The Galaxy S II has a much worse battery life, way worse screen resolution, sure, the GSII has a bigger screen, that is a major plus.  I’ll give Samsung that.  They win at screen size and screen brightness.  When it comes to quality, the iPhone 4S can not be beat.  At all.  The crispness will absolutely blow you out of the water.  The processor, sure, on paper the processors are the same, but in real, actual use? No.  You will not see a stutter when using the iPhone 4S, ever.  There is no “oops, take take the battery out and put it back in again” moments. Ever.  Same thing with the camera, they both have technically have the same specs on the camera.  Side by side? The iPhone produces crisper, way more clear shots.  They’re brighter, have more contrast, and more color.  It’s not beatable in any other smartphone.  To be honest, I am having a hard time believing it’s even beatable in any other compact camera.

Listen, we are all getting tired of people who don’t have their facts straight when making comparisons.  Put the iPhone 4S against a smartphone that actually performs as well as it’s specs on paper look and maybe then and only then will we see.

Facebook For iPad Leaked By Apple’s Keynote?

There has been rumors that Facebook will release there long awaiTed Facebook app, Project Spartan, for the iPad today, at Apple’s keynote.  One of the slides of the original iPad, during Cook’s bragging, had a picture of Facebook for iPad…mean anything?

Apple Japan Leaks iPhone 4S Early (Update, Also Leaks New iPod Nano)

Someone has to to screw up, in this case, it’s Apple.  30 minutes before Apple’s iPhone announcement, Apple Japan has an “iPhone 4S” listed on Their website; another trick? Who knows.  We’ll all see in 26 minutes.

Here is the english translation showing the release date for the iPhone 4S, October 14th.  Also, the english translation reveals the listing for a new multi-touch iPod Nano.  New Interface.  Interesting.

Apple Japan

Apple’s Keynote Liveblog

At 1 o’clock eastern time this page will start being update with the Liveblog from Apple’s event, thanks.  Most recent at the top.

“Now, when you look at each of these, they’re great and fantastic and industry leading in and of themselves…” Tim is slowing down. Things are building up. “What puts Apple way out front is how they’re engineered to work together so well.”

 

2:28 Phil is back. There’s now a microphone next to the space bar in the keyboard, and you can do dictaction. It’s similar to Android, in that it’s happening remotely. 

2:27 Scott asks “Who are you?” Siri says “I am a humble personal assistant.” Humble for now, maybe. That round of applause might change things.

2:26 You can get a list of example of what you can do, including meetings, emails, directions, weather, stocks, looking up contacts, creating notes…

2:25 “Define mitosis.” Siri hits up WolframAlpha and spits back a definition.

2:22 2:20 “Just hold down the button on the headset and say “Read my message” and Siri does so. Dutifully, obediently.”

2:19  “Give me directions to Hoover Tower.” Siri brings up Maps, shows the route, and you’re good to go.

2:18 “It’s that easy.”

2:16 

2:15  “What is the weather like today?” Siri responds: “Here is the forecast for today.”

2:15  SIRI “Will it rain in Cupertino” or “Do I need an umbrella today?” Both the same question, but different ways of asking.

2:13 AirPlay Mirroring is now happening, meaning you can get your gaming on the big(ger) screen.

2:10 “To many customers this will be the best still camera they’ve ever owned and the best video cameras they’ve ever owned.”

2:10 “1080p Video Recording

2:08 We’re looking at some amazing photos of balloons, flowers, and squirrels. “Do you know how hard it is to make a squirrel stand still?”

2:08 “I don’t know what Droid Bionic users need to do between pictures, maybe go get coffee.”

2:06 “The 4S? A mere 1.1 seconds for the first picture, and a half-second for the second.”

2:04 ‘Okay, now its network time. The iPhone 4 was of course GSM vs. CDMA. The 4S is both — GSM and CDMA.”

2:04 “Where have I heard these numbers before? This is what our competitors call 4G… the iPhone 4S is just as fast as all of these phones, even faster in real-world use.”

2:03 “Data can now download up to 2x as fast. Theoretical max performance used to be 5.8 up and 7.2 down — now doubles to almost 14.4Mbps down.”

2:00 

1:59 Don’t be disappointed that there is no 5, the 4S will still blow any other phone out of the water.

1:57 Testing the A5 with Infinity Blade 2. “You can now use two swords as we slice the crap out of some big dude in a mask.”

1:56 iPhone 4S, A5…Sweet!   “Dual-core CPU, 2x as fast at CPU tasks. Also dual-core graphics. Up to 7x faster in the previous iPhone. One area you really see it scream is in games.”

1:54 White iPod Touch

1:50 New iPod Nano interface, 16 new watch faces, new Nike + integration.

1:49 He’s talking iPod Nano…hmmm

1:43 Find My iPhone new features, request friends’ locations, parental controls.

1:41 Daily iCloud backup of your devices.  Calendar, contacts, etc.

1:39 Photostream, automatically upload your pictures to the cloud and downbload them, automatically on all your devices.  Mac, iPhone, iPad…

1:38 Eddy Cue, iCloud integration, auto cloud updates, music syncing, purchased downloads.

1:37 “iOS 5, Available October 12th.”  (Two days before the iPhone 4S is for sale)

1:35 If you have watched WWDC, this is pretty boring so far.  He’s talking about the “mail” features.

1:33 Still announcing stuff that any developer heard months ago.

1:31 Newsstand, finally has magazines in it…

1:30 Explaining all the iOS 5 features, nothing new yet except “Cards”

1:28 $2.99 for a card in the US, $4.99 elsewhere in the world.  “Cards” for iOS 5

1:23 More than 500,000 apps in the App Store, 140,000 are specifically for the iPad. “That gives anyone who owns an iPad a better experience.”

1:19  Every state in the US has an iPad deployment program either in place or in pilot. 1,000 schools have a 1:1 program.

1:18 “More coming up on iPhone…”  Teasing us?

1:17 iTunes, the best music manager (Yes, that’s eminem.)

1:16 “iPod is still a large and imporant market for Apple.”

1:13 More bragging “We launched the iPod…”

1:11 Bragging…

1:05 Explaining Apple Stores, boring. 

1:04 Today we’re going to be learning about innovations in software and hardware, and the integration of all of these into a “powerful yet simple integrated experience.”

1:00 We’ve started

What The Brazilian Budget iPhone Proves To Us

Gizmodo Brazil managed to obtain the digitizer/glass/faceplate from iPhone model N90. We’ve seen the N90 popping up in all kind of code; it appears to be the budget model iPhone that’s been rumored for so long.

The fact that there are N90s being produced in Brazil tells us that we will see two models in the future. Most likely this Tuesday. Here’s why: Yesterday somebody leaked strings in iTunes developer build showing references to the iPhone 4S, model number N94. Obviously N90 and N94 are quite different numbers, and there is no way they can be the same device. Every Apple iPhone has a build number, the iPad was K84, all have different code names.

If there is an N90 and an N94, what more need I say? There is obviously two models in the near future to be released and most likely both will be announced this Tuesday.

What To Expect On The Tuesday Apple Event

Obviously there has been quite a few rumors around the launch of the iPhone 4s/5; more rumors than in most years. Normally we see a few leaks, maybe Will Strafach will throw his weight around and drop some tips but we never see this much speculation at all.

To be honest, I think we actually know what we are going to see and hear on Tuesday. It’s sort of common knowledge now, everyone knows about the iPhone 5. The questions we have are if we will be seeing multiple models or only one.

We should see two new iPhones, the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S. I say should because we obviously aren’t sure about anything. I think, only because because of evidence we have and because of chronic, that we will see two new iPhones. Sure, there’s evidence going both ways. I’m not going to be to surprised if we only see one but think that the evidence leans a little bit towards the two model argument.

Here is what I think: chronic seems to believe that there will be an iPhone 5, there is evidence for that. Keep in mind, chronic is notoriously skilled at being right when it comes to future apple devices. What I know is that he obviously believes we will see an iPhone 4S at the least. (see the otterbox article)

We WILL see an iPhone 4S, iTunes proved that for us today. Chronic showed us the iPhone 4S otterbox. But we’ve also seen product listings and cases for the iPhone 5. Strange?

Well I think we will see two, the iPhone 4s and the 5 as well as a new carrier, Sprint.

Placeholders on the Cincinnati bell website, a carrier of the iPhone.

That is the best buy product listing for both the iPhone 5 as well as a sprint model, also new.

CDFXmac Official Chrome App (Update, It’s Free)

Note:  This is a message from Caleb

Well, as the title implies, I have created the first Google Chrome CDFXmac web app.  It’s not much.  I’ll be honest, it’s just a link and an icon.  Later I will make it link to a specially optimized version.  That is actually what I am working on now.

There’s a trial period.  A thirty minute one to be exact.  I’d really all of my readers could buy it and rate it for me – then cancel the payment before the 30 minutes are up.  (well, you could actually pay me, but I’m not asking for handouts, just ratings.)

Of course, if you do actually buy the app, leave a comment on this post; I’ll create a list of supporters.

Thanks, guys.

Google Chrome Store Link