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It’s iPhone 4S With A5 CPU, Advanced Camera, Siri Voice Assistant, Available 64GB Storage, Plus iOS 5 & iCloud

Posted by Nizar Jallouli Friday, October 7, 2011 0 comments
Well, the rumor mills weren’t just blowing smoke. Apple’s fifth-generation handset is an iPhone 4S folks.
Today at one of its most widely anticipated special events in its history, Apple announced the new iPhone 4S, powered by Apple’s its in-house designed dual-core A5 chip that also is used in the iPad 2; a new camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and Siri – an intelligent assistant activated by voice commands.


Photo Courtesy Apple
I expect that based on comments in the forum threads, a lot of you are going to be disappointed that there’s no iPhone 5 with an all-new form factor and a larger display, (perhaps at next year’s World Wide Developer’s Conference with an A6 CPU?), this is a solid upgrade that kicks the iPhone up several notches performance wise. As an iPad 2 owner, I can affirm that the A5 processor offers a very decent level of performance, and at least in the iPad it runs cool as well. The new camera makes the iPhone a completely respectable photography device, and Siri Assistant will probably have to be tried to be fully appreciated. Concurrently launched with the iPhone 4S is iOS 5, a new version of Apple’s mobile operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, claimed to have more than 200 new features; and iCloud, Apple’s new suite of free cloud services that work with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content in iCloud and push it to all your devices.


Photo Courtesy Apple
“iPhone 4S plus iOS 5 plus iCloud is a breakthrough combination that makes the iPhone 4S the best iPhone ever,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “While our competitors try to imitate iPhone with a checklist of features, only iPhone can deliver these breakthrough innovations that work seamlessly together.”

Photo Courtesy Apple
New stuff in iOS 5 includes Notification Center, an innovative way to easily view and manage notifications in one place without interruption, and iMessage, a new messaging service that lets you easily send text messages, photos and videos between all iOS 5 users. iOS 5 will also be available as a free software update for iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS customers allowing them to experience these new features. iPhone 4S also introduces Siri, an intelligent assistant that understands context allowing you to speak naturally when you ask it questions. For example, if you ask “Will I need an umbrella this weekend?” Siri understands that you’re looking for a weather forecast. Siri is also smart about using the personal information you allow it to access. For example, if you tell Siri “Remind me to call Mom when I get home” it can find “Mom” in your address book, or ask Siri “What’s the traffic like around here?” and it can figure out where “here” is based on your current location. Siri helps you make calls, send text messages or email, schedule meetings and reminders, make notes, search the Internet, find local businesses, get directions and more. You can also get answers, find facts and even perform complex calculations just by asking.
iCloud’s free cloud services include iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream and Documents in the Cloud, all engineered to work seamlessly with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content in iCloud with push access to all your devices. When content changes on one device, all your other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly.


Photo Courtesy Apple
iPhone 4S includes an all new camera whose higher-resolution 8 megapixel sensor has 60 percent more pixels than the camera in the iPhone 4, plus better optics including a new custom lens, a larger f/2.4 aperture and an advanced hybrid IR filter that combine to produce sharper, brighter and more accurate images. The image signal processor in the Apple-designed A5 dual-core chip is also built for higher video performance, and coupled with new features built into iOS 5, will make the iPhone 4S’s the camera one of the fastest on any smartphone. With iPhone 4S, the Camera app launches much faster and the shot to shot capability is claimed to be twice as fast.

Photo Courtesy Apple
New features in the Camera and Photos apps give you instant access to the camera right from the lock screen, and you can also use the volume-up button to quickly snap a photo. Optional grid lines help line up your shot and a simple tap locks focus and exposure on one subject. The new Photos app lets you crop, rotate, enhance and remove red-eye, and organize your photos into albums right on your device to share them on the go. Other new iOS 5 features include built-in Twitter integration and iMessage, so you can instantly share your photos via Twitter directly from the Photos app and send photos via iMessage to individuals or groups. And with iCloud’s new Photo Stream service, a photo you take on your iPhone is sent to iCloud and automatically pushed to your iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC. You also view your Photo Stream album on your Apple TV. iPhone 4S can also now record video in full 1080p HD resolution and with the new video image stabilization feature, you can take slicker, smoother videos. Other iPhone 4S video camera improvements include increased sensitivity, sharpness and an increased ability to capture video in low light conditions. With the new iMessage service in iOS 5, you can now instantly share videos with family and friends.
iPhone 4S carries over the iPhone 4′s glass and stainless steel form factor externally, but Apple says it’s completely redesigned on the inside. The dual-core A5 chip delivers up to twice the processing power and up to seven times faster graphics than you get in the iPhone 4, all while maintaining incredible battery life — now up to 8 hours of 3G talk time.


Photo Courtesy Apple
Improving on the somewhat infamous (although never as bad as some folks made out) stainless steel external, dual-antenna design of iPhone 4, iPhone 4S is the first iPhone model that can intelligently switch between two antennas to send and receive. iPhone 4S now supports twice the download speed with HSDPA of up to 14.4 Mbps and is a world phone, supporting both CDMA and GSM so users can now roam internationally on GSM networks. Carrier roaming policies apply. HSDPA availability and network speeds are dependent on carrier networks. When Can I Get One, And How Much?
iPhone 4S comes in either black or white and will be available in the US for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the new 64GB model (offered to qualified customers only — requires a new two year rate plan, sold separately). iPhone 4S will be available from the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores and through AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and select Apple Authorized Resellers. iPhone 4S will be available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK on Friday, October 14 and customers can pre-order their iPhone 4S beginning Friday, October 7. iPhone 4 will also be available for just $99 (US) and iPhone 3GS will be available for free with a two year contract. Siri will be available in beta on iPhone 4S in English (localized for US, UK and Australia), French and German. iOS 5 software will be available on October 12 as a free software update via iTunes 10.5 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch customers.
iPhone 4S will roll out worldwide to 22 more countries by the end of October including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
For more information, visit:
http://www.apple.com

Will Apple’s A5 Processor Be Enough To Satisfy iPhone 5 Users?

Posted by Nizar Jallouli 0 comments


iphone 5 a5 chip
Will the A5 chip be enough to propel the iPhone 5 to greatness?
Although many new features for the iPhone 5 have been speculated on, few seem to be set in stone — with the exception of the A5 processor. but if the A5 turns out to be the “crown jewel” of the iPhone 5 upgrade, will that be enough to excite iPhone users?
There’s no doubt that the most talked-about piece of news concerning the iPhone 5 has to be the release date. But a close second is the swirling debate about which features the iPhone 5 will boast. There has been a steady stream of reports about a wide range of different purported features, such as a larger screen, 8 megapixel camera, NFC technology, a non-existent home button, aluminum chassis, and more.
However, there seems to be no agreement on whether any of these features will actually materialize on the iPhone 5 — they seem to “here one week and gone the next.” Even the next iOS 5 operating system has been called into question as to whether or not it will appear on the iPhone 5, with analysts suggesting that it might not be ready until the Fall of 2011.
The only new development for the iPhone 5 that all of the reports and tech pundits seem to agree on is the A5 chip.
And this, of course, is the easiest feature to predict, since it has already seen mainstream application in this year’s new iPad 2. Thus far, the A5 processor has gotten rave reviews from analysts and users alike: tech-oriented folks appreciate the bold power of the A5 and foresee it as a trailblazer for even better things to come, while the average iPad 2 user just feels the improved speed and functionality.
That being said, there was more to the iPad 2′s successful launch than just the A5: the addition of a front- and rear-facing camera, cool gyro feature, industry-leading price, and a thinner and lighter chassis all contributed to the robust sales that the iPad 2 continues to enjoy. The A5 was the “under the hood” improvement from the original iPad, and one could argue that, while it is a key upgrade to the iPad, it isn’t the most “marketing friendly” feature for un-geeky tablet users.
With this mind, what if the A5 chip turns out to be the only significant upgrade for the iPhone 5? Will that be enough to energize iPhone users to the point where they’ll shell out big money to upgrade?
Probably not.
No matter how powerful the A5 processor may be, without some accompanying “bells and whistles” on the iPhone 5, few mainstream iPhone users will see the point in putting to rest their iPhone 4. This reality is precisely why Ferrari, Lambourghini, Porche, and other exotic car manufactuers put a beautiful body on their high-performance sports cars; if their cars looked like a Prius on the outside, no one would buy them at their price point, no matter how big their engines are. (And apologies to all you Prius drivers out there.)
Truth be told, iPhone users will be looking for one big feature to get excited about. Last year, it was the addition of the front-facing camera on the iPhone 4 that excited people. Apple was able to recycle that feature on the new iPad 2. But for the iPhone 5, the A5 processor alone won’t be enough to propel it past this year’s Droid offerings — and at this point, the A5 is the only feature we can bank on.
Let us know what you think about the A5 chip, and if it would be enough to get you excited about buying an iPone 5!

What You Need To Know About the A5 Processor
One way to get excited about the iPhone 5 — even if its only major upgrade from the iPhone 4 turns out to be its chip — is to fully understand and appreciate the power and performance of the A5 in its glory. First, some of the basic stuff: the A5 chip follows in the tradition of all Apple’s mobile processors in that it is a a package on package (PoP) system-on-a-chip (SoC). This means that the whole operating system fits on the chip itself, as compared to personal computers, where the OS is stored and runs off of the hard drive.
The A5 chip is manufactured by top-notch Samsung, and although Samsung has allowed Apple to keep their production costs down, all indications are that the A5 chip is pretty pricey to make. While Apple seemed willing to eat the extra cost of the A5 processor on the iPad 2, it remains to be seen if that will be the case for the iPhone 5 — it could see an uptick in its price point at the expense of a faster mobile computing experience.
The other cool thing about the A5 is that it is a dual-core processor. This means that the CPU has two independent cores that are integrated on one circuit. What does that mean for the layman? The dual-core set-up lets you multi-task at greater speed and fluidity — it’s like having “two computers in one.”
Speaking of speed, the A5 has lots of it. It has been rated at  1 GHz on the iPad 2. However, the chip can dynamically adjust itself to save battery life. The result is that the A5 processor is basically twice as fast as the old A4, and said to be nine times faster than the A4 on graphics. So if you love your graphics on the iPhone 4, wait until you see them running on an A5-powered iPhone 5!

Recent Arrests at Chinese Apple Supplier Could Squelch Leaked iPhone 5 Photos, Specs Until Release

Posted by Nizar Jallouli 0 comments
foxconn iphone 5 ipad 2 iPhone 5 components supplier Foxconn recently turned over staffers to Chinese authorities for leaking iPad 2 specs to case designers in 2010, well ahead of its official release this year. With this in mind, is there any chance of leaked authentic iPhone photos or specs making their way to the internet this summer?
Do you love critiquing leaked photos of purported iPhone 5 components and prototypes? There’s no doubt that every new and credible photo or video that appears on the internet ratchets up the buzz and excitement over the next iteration of the iPhone. Is the photo real, or is it a fake?
Given what recently transpired at Foxconn, one of Apple’s primary components manufacturers, chances are that few if any authentic photos of new iPhone 5 equipment will be making their way out of Foxconn’s factory in China.
The Register has reported that Foxconn turned over two of their own staffers to Chinese authorities for allegedly leaking specs of the iPad 2 to case and accessories designers in 2010, well ahead of its recent release in 2011. Writer Richard Chirgwin reported that, “The design leak allowed the third party manufacturers to build iPad 2 cases that were the right thickness and accommodate the location of the camera on the rear of the device.”

The tech community did indeed do a double-take at how rapidly the top case case designers rolled out fresh, tight-fitting iPad 2 cases, given the fact that the second iteration of the iPad 2 did see some changes to its dimensions. But considering the form-factor of the iPad 2 is relatively similar to its predecessor, most tech pundits assumed that it was simply easier to adjust base iPad case designs the second time around, versus having to “inflate” the dimensions of iPhone cases to accommodate the first iPad, as they did in 2010. Little did we all know that Foxconn employees were leaking the iPad 2 specs — and for lots of money, no doubt, especially given the mammoth size of the consumer electronics accessories sector worldwide.
We’ve reported before in an earlier article how case designers for the iPhone and iPad struggle to keep pace with Apple’s famously tight-lipped product release schedule. Thanks to Cupertino’s legendary “Worldwide Loyalty Team,” secrets are kept close to Apple’s belt, with the idea being that, the fewer the leaks, the bigger the splash when CEO Steve Jobs walks out onto that stage with whatever newfangled gadget he’s come up with. Take, for example, original iPhone: it is well-documented that it was kept a total secret from the public for 30 months from the time of its inception. Even the CIA couldn’t hold a secret for that long.
Gizmodo has a great exposé on how the Worldwide Loyalty Team works. And Gizmodo should know, considering that their own Jason Chen found himself in their crosshairs last summer when he obtained a prototype of the iPhone 4.
But for as much as Apple is resoundingly solid in containing leaks from within the U.S., controlling the security situation at their components manufacturers overseas is another story. There is no doubt that Apple’s contractual relationship with companies like Foxconn includes a security and non-disclosure clause that is probably unlike anything else in the tech industry, requiring its partners to conform to strict security standards that must be followed in order to keep the working relationship in good standing. It can also be assumed that Apple “operatives” — even from the Worldwide Loyalty Team — spend a fair share of time slinking around Foxconn’s facilities (they are a worldwide organization, after all).
But they cannot keep their finger on the pulse of every aspect of security at Foxconn or other manufacturers, which is why the iPad 2 specs were able to be leaked last year.
How The Foxconn Bust Impacts the iPhone 5
Given the now delicate nature of the iPhone 5′s release date and purported features (or lack thereof), all eyes are going to point toward Foxconn, looking for any signs that the iPhone 5 has gone into production. But any information we gain over the summer about the iPhone 5 is most likely going to be circumstantial at best; it’s hard to imagine that anyone at Foxconn would risk leaking iPhone 5 photos, prototypes, or specs, all while two of their comrades are being sweated down by the Chinese police.
One could also imagine that there are some case manufacturers shaking in their boots as well, who, up until the arrests last week, may have been feeling out the prospect of getting an advance peek at the new iPhone 5 dimensions, so that they could once again be first to market with their iPhone 5 cases.
All of that seems unlikely now.
So, the next time a shady website claims to have new parts, photos, or specs of the iPhone 5, think of those ex-Foxconn employees under the hot lamp of the Chinese investigators and ask yourself: would anyone risk leaking this stuff to the media?

Unlocked iPhone 4S Will Work On T-Mobile

Posted by Nizar Jallouli 1 comment
T-Mobile didn’t officially get the iPhone 4S this year. But new claims indicate that the unlocked iPhone 4s, which will be available in the U.S. in November, will work on T-Mobile’s GSM network.
One of the big stories gripping the iPhone newswires today is that the unlocked iPhone 4S, due to be released in November, will not work on CDMA networks. AppleInsider reports that “Customers who buy an unlocked iPhone 4S will be able to use the handset internationally on GSM networks. They must obtain a micro-SIM card from a local GSM carrier to put in the handset.”
While CDMA dominates much of the network technologies for mobile carrier in the U.S., the unlocked iPhone 4S’s ability to work on GSM calls into question whether or not it would work on T-Mobile’s network, which is GSM like AT&T’s network. Apple’s own comments avoid mentioning T-Mobile, when they say: “The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment . . . You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.” However, an astute reader of the iPhone 5 News Blog has done some research and investigating, and has discovered that the unlocked iPhone 4S will indeed work on T-Mobile.
Joel Grissom, known as Green Joe here on the blog, reported the following at the start of this week, once it became clearer that an unlocked iPhone 4S was coming: “I called Apple’s iPhone sales department, and asked if they will make an unlocked version of the 4S, and if so, would work with T-Mobile other than just edge speeds. The answers were definite ‘yes’es.”
We called Apple as well, not identifying ourselves as journalists, and received the same answers from Apple customer service.
Joel also followed up on his research by contacting T-Mobile as well, and told us on Wednesday, “Today I spoke with more than 7 people in T-Mobile, till I could find someone who had knowledge of their Network in detail. I have it confirmed with Apple and with T-mobile: a jailbroken or unlocked iphone 4S will work on T-mobile with speeds up to the max of the iPhone’s capability. Using the UMTS 1 (HSPA+, 2100MHz) band of the iPhone.”
This was a superb piece of research on Joel Grissom’s part — many thanks for the information, Joel!
Why Isn’t the T-Mobile Capability for the Unlocked iPhone 4S Being Touted?
It comes as a surprise that neither T-Mobile nor Apple have boasted about the unlocked iPhone 4S’s ability to work on T-Mobile’s GSM network, and it begs the question: why? The answer may lie in the anti-trust suit against AT&T and T-Mobile, sensing that the perception that T-Mobile is “getting the iPhone” without a formal contract with Apple may complicate the process. It could also anger new Partner Sprint, who has invested a great deal and risked much of its future on adding the iPhone to its offerings. T-Mobile may have its hands tied in being able to promote and market the fact that the unlocked iPhone 4S will work on their network.
The ability to use the unlocked iPhone 4S on T-Mobile will give AT&T customers the opportunity to jump ship to a new carrier with better customer service and satisfaction, while not having to abandon the speed and versatility of the GSM network.

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