iPhone 4S, iOS 5 release date means magic but no Siri on iPhone 4, 3GS
October 10, 2011 by Bill Palmer · 53 Comments
by Bill Palmer
Only buyers of the new iPhone 4S get the Siri voice assistant feature of iOS 5, but those who stay home and download iOS 5 for their iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS will get the rest of the new features two days sooner. The 4S hits stores on October 14th, keeping with Apple’s tradition of Friday major retail launches. But the download version of iOS 5, a free gift from Apple to users of third and fourth generation iPhones, will surface online two days earlier on October 12th. As is the case with installing any new operating system on any piece of older slower hardware, some iOS 5 features will run more slowly on the iPhone 4 and especially the iPhone 3GS than they will on the new iPhone 4S which sports a significantly faster dual core processor. Only two headlining iOS 5 features, AirPlay Mirroring and Siri, require so much computing horsepower that they’ll only run on the latest iPhone and not the previous iterations. Of the two, only Siri will be widely missed…
Each new iPhone generation has its own “killer” feature around which Apple shapes its marketing campaign. For the iPhone 3G it was 3G networking, For the iPhone 4 it was FaceTime. For the iPhone 3GS it was… well, we’ll get back to you on that if we ever figure out what the 3GS was all about (we were merely jesting here, but several readers have accurately pointed out that the 3GS introduced both video and the compass to the iPhone timeline, for whatever it’s worth). But this time it’s unmistakably Siri for the iPhone 4S. Voice commands are nothing new, but they’ve long tended to be either overly simplistic or overly obtuse. Siri, based on the demos, puts a nearly human face on voice recognition. It also requires significant processing power to calculate in real time what it is the user it referring to and then come up with an appropriate answer or action. The iPhone 4 and 3GS, simply put, can’t do that. Apple is banking that despite all of the rest of the iOS 5 magic being given away to those users for free, the lack of Siri will drive at least some of them to end up buying an iPhone 4S after all. We’ll find out starting next week, as iOS 5 lands on Wednesday and the iPhone 4S with iOS 5 preinstalled hits stores on Friday. iPhone 4 and 3GS users, which way are you leaning on the iPhone 4S? Share your comments below.
Updated 2:20am PST with additional information on the iPhone 3GS
iPhone 5 release date winds up, Verizon LTE buries AT&T’s metro issues
September 17, 2011 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
DigDug on why the Verizon iPhone 5 release date is in his sights after years of suffering through the AT&T network in New York City with his iPhone 3GS. But one condition: he wants his Verizon iPhone to have 4G LTE…
I am awaiting the Verizon LTE iPhone. I currently have the 3GS, which is a great unit, except I live/work in NYC where AT&T;’s 3G “network” is (still) barely functional, generally requiring me to walk outside to get any sort of usable signal. AT&Ts; network is also basically non-existent in several places I travel (e.g., rural FL, Las Vegas, northern MI). Thus, I end up using my work VZW BB for 95% + of my calls…
It is really scary (pathetic?) that there are places in NYC, even outside, that don’t even have EDGE coverage, including the plethora of complete network (3G/EDGE) “holes” along the NYC -> Philly Amtrak corridor. If I only got a penny for every time my AT&T; phone displays “searching for network.” I pay for 200MB data per month, and with the sad state of the AT&T; “network” in NYC, if I pass 10mb/month (cellular) it’s a huge month – I’m almost 100% wi-fi dependent on the iPhone…
To that end, I have less than zero confidence that AT&T;’s LTE network, already vastly behind VZW’s LTE, will function any better than AT&T;’s infamous 3G “network” (which appears they have all but given up on) and thus I will put my eggs in VZWs basket once they get an LTE iPhone out. Definitely not fun walking outside during blizzard or heat wave to hold a 2-minute phone call. Also, if AT&T; swallows TMO, the inundation of new members will only serve to further sink AT&T;’s network ‘Titanic.’
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iPhone 4 would never face Angry Birds Android fragmentation
November 21, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
Those looking for a measuring stick between the iPhone 4 and Android experiences need look no further than what’s currently playing out on the latter platform when it comes to the popular game Angry Birds. On the iPhone side there’s one version of Angry Birds because there’s one iPhone. But on the Android side of the fence, users of “lower end” Android based phones are struggling to get Angry Birds to work because their hardware is underpowered, according to PC Mag. To which iPhone users must either be shaking their heads or laughing hysterically.
For every geek criticism of the iPhone platform for not offering enough choice, for not using multiple manufacturers, for not employing models with different screen sizes and hardware makeups, there’s the cold hard fact that the more “open” a platform claims to be, the more fragmented is by definition. The stunning level of fragmentation that exists from one BlackBerry model to the next has made it nearly impossible to successfully develop anything for that platform. And now the Angry Birds debacle shows that the Android platform is just as fragmented.
There’s a reason why the Windows platform is a pile of crap which goes even beyond Microsoft’s total lack of taste or understanding of user needs; even if those things weren’t true, Windows has to be developed on such a generic level so as to run on every jalopy piece of PC hardware out there that the end result is a desperate level of dumbed down in the name of avoiding fragmentation. Google’s Android operating system, designed not to work well with a specific piece of hardware but instead designed to work merely adequately with any random piece of hardware, faces the same crippling issues. It may not keep Android from being popular, but it’ll keep Android from ever being any good. Meanwhile, on the iPhone side of the fence where the operating system and the apps are designed to work with the iPhone 4 and not with a thousand different random pseudo-iPhone devices, such issues as the Angry Birds debacle simply don’t exist. The fact that Angry Birds for iPhone 4 also seamlessly works on older models like the iPhone 3GS and offshoots like the iPod touch merely goes to show that variety without fragmentation is possible when well thought out in advance. In contrast, it’s increasingly clear that the Android platform, like BlackBerry and Windows before it, wasn’t thought out in a practical sense at all.
Verizon iPhone delay: major iPhone 4 sales spike shows there’s no rush
October 18, 2010 by Beatweek · 3 Comments
The Verizon iPhone has been confirmed for arrival in early 2011, which has those who’ve been waiting patiently asking why they still have to wait another few months. If January, why not October? The obvious answer would be that a Verizon-compatible iPhone model simply isn’t ready yet. But today’s news out of Apple, showing that the iPhone is selling at nearly double the rate it was a year ago, offers a better answer: while a Verizon iPhone is needed in the long term, iPhone sales and popularity are in a strikingly different place than the pundits have suggested.
iPhone sales during the past quarter (the start of the iPhone 4 era) were ninety-one percent greater than iPhone sales were in the same quarter a year ago (the start of the iPhone 3GS era). This despite the fact that the iPhone 4 spent that entire quarter being three weeks backordered online and hard to find at retail. Even as pundits have claimed this past month that Android sales have surpassed that of the iPhone (in reality Android sales are unknown because Google and vendors refuse to release them, although Google vaguely teases things in an unverifiable – yet frequently quoted by pundits – manner), or that iPhone sales have tapered off, or that the various invented controversies surrounding the iPhone 4 have turned people against it, sales have nearly doubled. So much for there being significant problems in iPhone land.
Still, no one can dispute that the Android platform is growing in size, thanks primarily to the fact that the Droid is available through Verizon and the iPhone is not. Nor can anyone dispute, three years into the iPhone era, that there are clearly a large number of Verizon customers who, even if they want an iPhone, will not leave Verizon under any circumstances. This is why Apple must, and will, bring the iPhone to Verizon before too much longer. But today’s iPhone 4 sales numbers show why Apple, by choosing to wait until early 2011, isn’t in a such a huge hurry as to start panicking and trying to rush a Verizon iPhone to market in what’s left of 2010. Then again, if Apple did surprisingly introduce the Verizon iPhone this week, here’s how it would play out.
iPhone 4 brings me back into the iFold: goodbye iPhone 3G
June 24, 2010 by Bill Palmer · 1 Comment
I’m not standing line to buy an iPhone 4 today; other members of our staff are handling those duties. But I will be buying one – and soon – which will finally have me using the current model iPhone for the first time since the iPhone 3G was discontinued a year ago (yes, technically the 3G was kept around as the budget model for another year, but no one considered it to be current). I freely admit that I skipped the iPhone 3GS era entirely, and I honestly don’t think I missed out on all that much. The time I spent with other people’s 3GS iPhones confirmed that they weren’t much faster, and I don’t do anything with video. Still, I would have upgraded to 3GS if I could have gotten one at a normal price. But because of something AT&T screwed up on my account back when I first became their customer all the way back in 2005, they wouldn’t sell me an iPhone 3G when it first launched (a story too long and convoluted to even be worth telling) and so I was stuck with my first-gen iPhone for the first three months of the 3G era. By the time I finally got done fighting with AT&T and got my 3G, it pushed me into an upgrade cycle in which I wasn’t eligible for normal 3GS pricing until three months after that model had launched.
So I skipped the iPhone 3GS for three reasons: in a practical sense it wasn’t worth the $400-500 that AT&T was initially trying to charge me for it; out of principle I certainly wasn’t going to pay what amounted to a $200 surcharge on account of years of AT&T screwing up my account information; and even three months into the 3GS era, when I became eligible for normal pricing, I was by then fearful of screwing up my eligibility for normal iPhone 4 pricing, so I decided to skip it altogether just to make sure I could buy an iPhone 4 without once again paying a price for AT&T’ mind boggling incompetence with my account details (in fairness, in the fifteen months that I’ve been using a Verizon wireless modem for my laptop, Verizon has managed to screw up the details of that account just as mind bogglingly as AT&T has managed to screw up my iPhone account).
Anyway, all of the above kvetching is to explain why I’ve been using an aging iPhone 3G all this time, and in the big picture, plenty of my iPhone 3G-using brethren decided to skip the 3GS for reasons that were probably vaguely similar to mine in one way or another. I just installed iOS 4 on my iPhone 3G, but that was perhaps more out of curiosity than anything. It runs even slower than OS 3 at times, and it doesn’t give me any new features I care about beyond the unified email inbox (for the record, I don’t care about iPhone multitasking even a little bit, and neither to 99% of all iPhone users – and if you don’t believe that, enjoy life in your geek bubble). But as soon as the lines die down and I can acquire an iPhone 4 without losing a day of my life over it, I’ll be excited to go ahead and do so. Does the iPhone 4 offer a single specific feature that I can’t live without? Nope. The speed will be great, and the extra battery life will be nice but not enough to dodge the need to continue carrying an external battery nearly every time I leave the house for more than the briefest of errands. I still don’t care about video, and I’ve already got the unified inbox on my ancient iPhone 3G as of three days ago. But all that having been said, it’ll just be nice to be once again current when it comes to the iPhone. Not from a social or coolness angle; I could care less what people think about what I’m using. And not from a “cool new gadget” angle, either; as I have said many times, I am not a technology geek and never have been and never will be. But as an iPhone user, particularly when I look at just how much of a positive impact my iPhone has had on my daily life over the past three years, it just feels wrong not to be using the most capable iPhone available; the latter stages of my twenty-one months using this iPhone 3G have left me feeling somehow disconnected.
And so now, with the launch of iPhone 4, it’s time to finally fix that and once again join the ranks of the living. Unless, of course, it turns out that AT&T has managed to mangle my account again in such a manner that they won’t sell me one. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
In the mean time, we’ll have a hands-on review of iPhone 4 (not from me) posted here within a matter of hours.
iOS 4 hands on review: Apple’s new iPhone and iPod touch software
June 23, 2010 by Christine Chan · 9 Comments
Today marks the fourth iteration of Apple’s now-traditional iPhone operating system, now called iOS. Like the two years before, this update brings a feature that the iPhone should have had since the beginning. With the 3G and 2.0, it was the ability to install third party apps. With the 3GS and 3.0, it was the ability to be able to copy & paste and MMS. Now, with the upcoming iPhone 4 on Thursday and iOS 4 today, we get multitasking, folders, unified inbox, and some other smaller things.
The biggest feature of iOS 4 is multitasking. Although leave it to Apple to not do it in the traditional fashion found on other devices. Apple has decided to implement some developer APIs to enable multitasking for certain apps, such as audio and location services. A perfect example of multitasking would be with the new Pandora Radio 3.1 update – now you can listen to Pandora and do other things on your iDevice. Over the past few days there have been slews of updates for apps to deliver iOS 4 compatibility, mainly multitasking, there are some that don’t have issues on iOS 4, but aren’t updated for the advantages of the new features. However, even though there are apps that aren’t ready to take full advantage of the new OS yet, iOS 4 also provides fast app-switching, so you can now switch back and forth between apps easier.
While Apple has finally implemented multitasking, and in a way that won’t put much drain on your battery, there are still a few flaws. Since there are only APIs for specific types of ‘multitasking’, there isn’t a way for apps to be fetching data in the background yet. So this means that Twitter apps, Facebook, RSS apps, etc cannot automatically update themselves while you’re in something else. Hopefully, this can be addressed in a future OS update, but for now, we just have to make-do with the multitasking APIs that we currently have.
To get the little shelf of currently running apps, you’ll have to double-tap the home button, and then you can flick through all the apps. Tap and hold until the icons dance, and you can quit apps if you want with the red – button. This also means that there is no more ‘Double tap Home button to” option in the settings. This part makes me a bit sad, since I used to have that set for the camera. But it’s worth the trade off for multitasking.
iOS 4 also brings Folders, another way to organize our apps after the mediocre attempt before, where we could organize apps in iTunes. The folders can be created when an app is dragged on top of another app, and the folder will automatically get a name based on the two apps. The name, fortunately, can be changed. The folders can also only hold 12 apps at a time, which is unfortunate. It would have been nice to be able to scroll in a folder to reduce clutterness even more. Maybe in the future.
The Mail app got a significant upgrade with unified inbox and threaded messaging. Now we no longer have to go back and forth between screens to get access to another inbox for a separate mail account. There are also threaded messages, which will show all the emails that the sender has sent to you in a particular email thread (think Gmail).
One of my biggest complaints about previous OS versions was that there was no way to turn landscape mode off. I’m extremely pleased to say that iOS 4 brings orientation lock to the iPhone (although not by a hardware button like on the iPad). To get the orientation lock, you’ll have to double-tap the home button to bring up the multitasking shelf, then swipe to the left and you’ll see the audio controls as well as orientation lock. It will only lock or unlock Portrait mode though, if you prefer landscape mode you’re out of luck.
If you’re worried about security when not around your iPhone, you can have more options when it comes to passcode lock now. Either stick with the Simple Passcode (4 digit number) or use an actual password (turn Simple Passcode off). Location Services can also be fine-tuned to specific apps if you are not comfortable with having it on for every app.
Overall, the entire OS feels much more snappy than it was in 3.x versions. Also, have you tried taking a picture with the default camera app? The shutter animation is extremely fast now, as compared to before. There’s also a digital zoom that can be activated, if you tap on the camera viewfinder screen. The Camera Roll now also has Places, Faces, and Events, if you use iPhoto to manage your iPhone’s pictures.
iOS 4 feels so much more responsive than previous versions. With it being a free update to both iPhone and iPod Touch users, there should be little to hesitate about, unless you’re a 1st gen iPhone or iPod Touch user – these will not be supported with iOS 4. The 3G iPhone and 2nd generation iPod Touch can get iOS 4, but with a couple of limitations, such as no multitasking. 3GS and 3rd generation iPod Touch users will have access to all features.
Stay tuned for a follow-up to iOS 4 with the iPhone 4, coming out Thursday, June 24 – we’ll have hands on coverage of it as well.
Top iPhone and iPod cases: Beatweek 75
June 23, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
The ten highest rated iPhone 3G and 3GS cases, along with the two highest rated iPod nano 5G cases:
Vaja iVolution • iPhone 3G+3GS case • $60-$280:: Good leather doesn’t come cheap, which explains why most leather cases aren’t very good. But we’ve tested leather iPhone cases from around the world, and while Vaja’s Argentinean leather products are the most expensive, they’re also a cut above anything you’ll find anywhere else. In addition to paying dearly, you’ll wait 20 to 30 days for your case to arrive.
RadTech ARC • iPhone 3G+3GS case • $15: This two-piece hard plastic design gives your iPhone a two-tone look in a choice of colors and assembles and removes easily. Perhaps the best aspect of this case is its thin and light design, adding very little bulk to the device while keeping it protected. Some other companies sell highly similar cases to this one, but this is by far the best priced of the bunch.
Marware SportShell Convertible • iPhone 3G+3GS armband case • $44: It’s an armband. It’s a hard plastic case. It’s a belt clip case. It’s an iPhone stand. Actually, it’s any of the above, depending on how you assemble it, and it does all of the above well. Only buy this if you plan to use it in two or more of its capacities – but in that scenario it becomes a great multi-function value.
Speck Candy Shell • iPhone 3G+3GS case • $35: This one-piece rubber case is all about fun, from its whimsical name to its brash pairing of colors. It’s not the thinnest of cases, but it does a great job of providing impact protection all around. The five new color combination have been toned down a bit from the original choices, but they’re still fun. Also available for second-gen iPod touch, but only in four color choices.
OtterBox Commuter TL • iPhone 3G+3GS case • $39: Dual layer cases consisting of an impact-resistant outer hard plastic shell and a shock-absorbent soft rubber interior are some of the most protective cases on the market and, when done right, can be among the most stylish as well – and the Commuter TL is the best we’ve ever seen it done. The choice of seven colors is a bonus.
OtterBox Armor & Defender • iPhone 3G+3GS case • $49: These are the iPhone and iPod cases that OtterBox is more traditionally known for. The Armor is water resistant, allowing you to take your device swimming in shallow water. And the Defender is element resistant, allowing you to go trolling through the mud with device in hand. There’s still no real competition for the Armor and Defender, but there doesn’t need to be.
Griffin Chilewich • iPhone 3G+3GS case • $39: This is an essentially perfect two piece slide-on case made of unique material which has the feel of large-stitched fabric. The best part is that the nature of the material itself covers up the dividing seam across the back.
Contour HardSkin Inked • iPhone 3G+3GS case • $34: This front-back snap together plastic case benefits from being lightweight as well as easier to attach and remove than most similarly designed cases – and the unique styling options don’t hurt either. Also available for five dollars less without the patterns etched onto the rear surface of the case.
Incipio Dotties • iPhone 3G+3GS case • $34: It’s one of the stranger case ideas we’ve ever encountered, but also one of the more imaginative ones: put fifteen holes in the rear of the case and provide enough different colored dots such that each user can create a pattern of colors that’s almost certain not to be repeated. You know what? The whole thing works – mainly because it’s a good case to begin with.
Trexta snap-on covers • iPhone 3G+3GS shield • $29: Snap-on shields are usually more of a generic commodity type product, and often come from the bargain bin. But Trexta’s shields bring three dimensional decorations to the table ranging from wood-leather combinations to racing stripes and more. Still doesn’t provide as much protection as a real case, but a great guilty pleasure nonetheless.
Griffin iClear Shade • iPod nano 5G case • $24: The case is a two-piece snap on plastic shell that is easy to apply. While all snap-on cases may take a bit to align every corner properly, with this case it was easy to do so. The case leaves the top and bottom of the nano completely free for headphones and dock connectors and easy lock access, so it makes life a little easier to take off when necessary.
Griffin Outfit • iPod nano 5G case • $24: This two piece rubber case is one of the most comfortable cases on the market, easy to install, leaves proper access to all ports and controls, and allows your iPod nano to retain its own pretty color visible through the translucent material.
View all seventy-five winning accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod (including cases, earbuds, car products, stereos, batteries and more) in Beatweek Magazine’s 75th issue which you can read digitally for free right here.
View all seventy-five winning accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod (including cases, earbuds, car products, stereos, batteries and more) in Beatweek Magazine’s 75th issue which you can read digitally for free right here.
iPhone 4 to shake up the market after two years of iPhone 3
June 20, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
iPhone 4 arrives this week in a chance of pace after Apple had offered the same iPhone model for two years straight. Those with an iPhone 3GS in their pocket might raise their hand to disagree, but the fact that they’d have to show you the “S” on the rear of the phone just to prove it’s not an iPhone 3G goes a long way to explaining why such a drastic change had to happen. Users say they want features like improved speed and battery life (which they’re getting this time around and last) and documentably superior specs across the board (which again, they’re getting). But just as likely to motivate a user to upgrade is the fact that their iPhone doesn’t look anything like the new iPhone, making theirs feel outdated whether it is or not. Many iPhone 3G users skipped the 3GS era due to issues with AT&T subsidized pricing, but just as many 3G users opted to stick with their 3G another year because they knew they could pass it off as being the current model to all but the most trained of eyes. But here in 2010, iPhone 3GS users suddenly find their model looking like it came from another decade (technically it did but that’s another story). With the upgrade path cleared this time for nearly all of the iPhone 3GS early adopters to be eligible for iPhone 4 at the advertised pricing, the one-two punch of not wanting to be seen with a visibly outdated iPhone model, and not being stuck paying a $200 surcharge just to upgrade, will all but certainly combine to result in a higher percentage of iPhone 3GS users upgrading to iPhone 4 this year than iPhone 3G users who upgraded to iPhone 3GS last year.
iPhone 4GS? Save it for next year
April 30, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
As best I can tell, none of us on staff have made that particular typo anywhere on Beatweek.com, so I have no idea why the search engines have seen fit to begin sending people our way who were looking for something called an iPhone 4GS. Still, I can understand how some confused users who aren’t familiar with the how or the why behind iPhone naming conventions could mistakenly think that it might be the name of the next model: there was an iPhone 3G, then an iPhone 3GS, so why not an iPhone 4GS next? Well, that requires some explaining.
The iPhone 3G was actually the second generation iPhone model; its name derived from its adoption of the “3G” cellular data network. With the third generation iPhone, Apple was stuck in something of a bind as far as names and ended up with “iPhone 3GS” as a way of signifying that it was still a 3G device, still the same physical design, and yet featured various hardware upgrades (as Apple put it, the “S” stood for “speed”). Now with the next iPhone set to presumably roll out in June 2010, the nomenclature actually is in question, as “iPhone 4G” would signify the fact that it will be the fourth generation iPhone, but would also incorrectly imply that the device will use the 4G network, which doesn’t exist yet (despite Sprint’s claims to the contrary). But while we don’t yet know whether the next iPhone will be called “iPhone 4G” as Apple hasn’t yet officially even admitted that a new iPhone is coming, it’s reasonably safe to assume that the next model won’t be called iPhone 4GS. However, it is possible that the company could find suit to use such a name in 2011 when it rolls out the next iPhone after that.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, I primarily created this page because if web searchers are going to land on this site after searching for “iPhone 4GS” then I’d rather they land on this page, where they can get an explanation as to what the iPhone’s various model names really mean, as opposed to some other random page on the site. As for the rest of you, perhaps you found it enlightening as well. At the very least you might get a kick out of the fact that so many people are out there hunting around for information on the new iPhone 4GS.
App stabilizes iPhone 3GS video
March 8, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
Users of the iPhone 3GS with shaky hands are the target of Kabuki Vision’s new app Smooth Movie, which applies digital image stabilization to captured video in an attempt to make the resulting product more watchable.
According to Kabuki Vision founder Adam Shaw, “Traditionally, you would need to the power of a desktop computer to perform this kind of video smoothing. Now with the speed and power of the iPhone 3GS, videos can be smoothed right on the device itself, which is much more convenient”.
Learn more about the Smooth Movie app for iPhone in the App Store.
Daniel Brusilovsky interview
July 14, 2009 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment
What led you to found Teens in Tech?
I founded Teens in Tech in February of 2008 for one main reason: community. I’ve been blogging and podcasting since February of 2007, and quickly learned that there isn’t a dedicated community for younger bloggers and podcasters to collaborate, and I wanted to create a community where all of us could talk about any problems we had, suggestions, etc. And from that, Teens in Tech Networks was born, which is now the parent company of Teens in Tech, Youth Bloggers Network, and the Teens in Tech Conference.
How has Teens in Tech evolved since its original launch?
Since Teens in Tech launched in August of 2008, we’ve grown tremendously! Our network has grown to three sites, including acquiring one of those sites, with over 1,000 users through out the whole network. It’s amazing to see the growth!
Tell us about your Apple Universe Podcast.
In February 2007, I started a podcast called Apple Universe. I just discovered the Mac, and podcasting, and I really loved Macs, so I wanted to start a podcast about it! Today, it’s one of the largest Apple/Tech themed podcasts on the web, and still going strong almost 3 years later.
You recently signed on with TechCrunch. What will you be doing as part of their team?
I did! I joined TechCrunch on June 22nd working on events, conferences, business development, and sneaking some posts in once in a while. It’s an amazing opportunity, and couldn’t be more grateful.
How do you juggle the time constraints of high school with your various technology ventures?
I think the best way that I’ve learned to juggle all of my work and school is find my priorities, and just go with it. I’ve had numerous times where all I’ve wanted to do after school is go to my laptop, and work, but I’ve had to do homework instead which is number one.
You’ve had the new iPhone 3GS for a few weeks now. What do you think of it so far?
Like last year, I got the 3GS the day after it came out, and all my friends who got it the day of, said the speed was amazing, but the only reason I basically bought the 3GS was for video. The iPhone truly is revolutionary, but then it got me thinking about “updates,” and why things like video weren’t features in the first place. We can only wonder with Apple!
Hands on with the iPhone 3GS
June 25, 2009 by Beatweek · 2 Comments
June 19th goes down as a memorable day because it’s the launch day of the third iteration of the iPhone, Apple’s ultra-portable, innovative brainchild. While many 3G users may not be upgrading to the 3G S quite so soon due to upgrade pricing issues, or they may not see the 3G S as enough of an upgrade to the previous generation, there are some people out there that do believe this is a worthy upgrade [for now].
There are no cosmetic changes that set the 3G and 3G S apart. No one will be able to tell that you are holding the latest and greatest, because all the changes are internal. The 3G had a processor of 412mHz and 128mb of RAM. With the 3G S, there is now a 600mHz processor and 256mb of RAM. An improved graphics core generously helps the rendering of 3D graphics from such apps like games.
While most probably won’t notice the difference in speed if they are new iPhone users, there are videos out there that demonstrate how fast the 3G S is compared to the 3G. Apple has made claims that it’s 2x faster than it’s predecessor, and from the looks of the videos on tech blogs, this claim seems to be holding true.
It would take at least a second or two to register the action after tapping various buttons in apps on the 3G. With the 3G S, there is little to no delay in getting the phone to what you want. Everything seems to move quicker and more fluidly, and games get a major boost from the faster processors by loading and looking better than they ever did on the 3G. The 3.0 software feels even snappier than it is on the 3G. Even booting up and shutting down has gotten a speed bump.
The camera is, to me at least, a big improvement over the previous 2 megapixel cameras. It’s now 3 megapixel (not a major difference) but also has autofocus and automatic macro mode (~10 cm). On the previous two versions, you could never take a good pic up close and resulted in a blurry image that doesn’t help anyone.
Autofocus will focus on the center point of the image. But if there’s a part of the photo that you would rather have as the focus point, tapping on it will make it focus on that part instead. And when the camera is about 10 cm from an object, it will go into an “auto macro” mode – but let’s be honest, it’s not exactly the best macro you’ll ever encounter, but that’s a given. For what it’s worth, the camera has been improved much over the previous versions, definitely.
The 3G S also adds video recording to the mini-computer, and it does it very well. You toggle video camera by the button in the lower right when in the Camera app, and then you can do video in either portrait or landscape mode, though portrait videos are sideways when uploaded on a computer. Video taken on the 3G S look fairly decent for VGA quality and may be comparable to Flip Ultra series cams, but there is no HD quality yet for iPhone.
Editing is simply cutting scenes out of the video that you don’t want and keeping the ones you do want in. You select from scenes at the top, and once you select a highlighted segment, hitting the Trim button will throw out everything else. The only drawback of this is that it’s not really like iMovie software, where you can cut out multiple scenes and do transitions and all that fancy video editing. This is very basic “keep only this, throw the rest out” editing.
There’s now one-click publishing to MobileMe or YouTube (beware of the compression of YouTube). You just add a title, description, tags, and category for YouTube, and it will then be compressed and uploaded directly to your YouTube account. Once it’s published, it will give you options to share the link by email or to view it, or do nothing. Publishing to MobileMe is similar – add a title, description, and pick an album to put it in. Once it’s compressed and uploaded, you can view the link or share by email, or nothing.
Video quality is good enough. It’s not outstanding like an HD camcorder, but it doesn’t completely suck either. If you search for videos recorded on an iPhone 3G S, you may actually find some comments that say they would have never thought it was recorded with an iPhone!
Voice Control is another 3G S specific feature. You can use it to call someone, or start playing music from the iPod. It doesn’t work that well in a noisy environment (but really, what phone does?), but in a quiet place, it works rather well. It has picked up on my voice commands pretty well, from calls to playing specific artists from the iPod app. While the iPod is playing, you can bring up voice control again and say a command like “What song is playing?” to get the voiceover feature (like on the iPod Shuffle) to talk to you. You can even say “Play more songs like this” and it will activate the Genius feature with the current song.
The Compass feature works fairly well, showing you which way is North. Since the feature just came out with the new phone, there isn’t that much of use for it yet. But once turn-by-turn GPS apps such as the TomTom become available, I’m sure the integrated Compass feature will become much more useful.
The battery life on the 3G S seems slightly better than that of the 3G. I’ve used it extensively since I got it and it takes a while for the battery to fully drain out, even with gaming during the day. Another feature that the 3G S has over the previous two is that you can also turn on an option to display the remaining battery percentage remaining next to the icon. I find this way better than just having the icon, as I can precisely see how much life remains for the phone.
The screen has gotten a much needed oleophobic coating that makes it more resistant to fingerprints and smudges, and can be cleaned easier than before. I’ve noticed this – just a swipe on my shirt will clear the screen to be crystal clear. Use the phone all day and drag your fingers all over the screen – you’ll see much less smudging and fingerprints than with the 1st gen and 3G. The oleophobic coating is only on the screen though, the rest of the phone doesn’t seem to have it.
These are the major changes that differentiate the 3G S from the 3G. Overall better performance, much improved camera, convenient video and editing, useful digital compass, voice control, better battery life, and cleaner screen! Hard to not want these features, right? I personally feel that the hardware upgrades are worth upgrading to if you can get subsidized or early upgrade pricing.
I’m glad I’m ditching the 3G for the 3G S, and you should too.
