iPhone 5 (1 Viewer)

[HMD]

Here's a brief run down


Key features and specifications:
Thickness reduced to 7.6 mm (from 9.3 mm)
Weight reduced to 112 grams (from 140 grams)
Screen size increased from 3.5 inch to 4-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi
Retina display
8-megapixel iSight camera with panorama, backside illumination, hybrid IR filter, five element lens, and f/24 aperture.
More camera features include dynamic low light mode, sapphire crystal and precision lens alignment
Video recording, HD (1080p) up to 30 frames per second with audio
FaceTime HD camera with 1.2MP photos and HD video (720p) up to 30 frames per second
Improved video stabilization
Runs on quad-core Cortex A6 processor making it twice as fast as its predecessor
Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G
Standby time: Up to 225 hours
Prices: $199, $299, $399 for 16, 32, 64 GB versions respectively (US operator locked)
Pre-orders start September 14. Available from September 21 in US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Available in rest of Europe and New Zealand from September 28

 

[HMD]

That's one for the ages, HMD.

tru dat

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

This guy is not happy about the new dock

http://www.slate.com/articles/techn...hat_will_leave_you_cursing_apple_.single.html

I get why Apple needed to change the connector. But man is this going to be a pain. Like every other gadget user on the planet, I’ve accumulated a host of accessories to accommodate Apple’s old dock. Among them, my car (which features an old-style dock connector in the glovebox) and my clock radio. I’ve also got lots of charging cords sitting around my house, all designed to power up my phone and iPad wherever I go. Now all those things—tens of millions of iOS-compatible accessories—have been rendered obsolete. The only way to plug the new iPhone and iPods into gadgets bearing the old dock is to buy an ungainly adapter. Apple will sell you the adapter for $29, which is the definition of being unfriendly to your customers.

 

[parx]

Once again they have designed a beautiful little gadget. Don't know if I'll get this one coz I'm a broke student. Glad to see the changes they've made to both of the cameras and the faster processor though. For some reason I always expect a little more when they unveil their new phones and I have to say that this year and last year I was slightly underwhelmed. At the same time though, I'm fairly happy to hang on to my 2 year old iphone 4, which doesn't even have a scratch on it.
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As an ipad and iphone 4 owner I can definitely say I would not want a tablet smaller than the ipad nor a phone bigger than the iphone in terms of screen size.

Samsung make great phones too, don't get me wrong but i don't want a large screen phone, it just seems a bit too cumbersome for every day use.
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[magicbastarder]

i've met a few people for whom apple managed to make devices which perfectly fit with their size requirements.
i'm always dubious as to which came first.

 

[Anthony]

Seems like a decent time to upgrade from my iPhone 3G.

 

[Unicron]

i've met a few people for whom apple managed to make devices which perfectly fit with their size requirements.
i'm always dubious as to which came first.

Guy I know describes himself as a "tech and design enthusiast," but who seems to shit on everything that Samsung/HTC does and spooge over most of Apple's moves (a tweet when Jobs died went something like "now I know how some kids felt when Kurt Colbain died") went on a big rant to me one time over screen size, saying that Samsung were missing the point with a bigger screen and that the iPhone had a "perfect" screen size because you could hold it in the palm of your hand and reach pretty much every point on it with your thumb. I told him he just had tiny hands. I wonder how he feels about the new size. I'd ask him but then I'd have to talk to him.

Anyway, as ever with the iPhone I think it's too pricey for me based on what I want from a smartphone (basically, I want a phone, plus web/twitter, and something to listen to podcasts on, almost zero need for a camera) so I'll pass. Plus, k'now, iTunes on my computer, fuck that.

 

[parx]

i've met a few people for whom apple managed to make devices which perfectly fit with their size requirements.
i'm always dubious as to which came first.

Well the iphone was the first smart phone i've ever used, and based on what I use my phone for ( phonecalls/twitter/facebook/gmail/ipod/e-mail ) I don't need or want a bigger screen, my pockets are only so big and I don't want to have to upgrade my pockets.
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I wouldn't be so 'dubious' about such matters either, there's more important stuff to be 'dubious' about

 

[Unicron]

Well the iphone was the first smart phone i've ever used, and based on what I use my phone for ( phonecalls/twitter/facebook/gmail/ipod/e-mail ) I don't need or want a bigger screen, my pockets are only so big and I don't want to have to upgrade my pockets.
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I wouldn't be so 'dubious' about such matters either, there's more important stuff to be 'dubious' about

I'm still on Samsung's first Galaxy and it's an ideal size for me in terms of fitting in the pocket. I do wish it had a bit more CPU zip and the pinch zoom thing on later versions/iPhone's though. My dad had the Galaxy s3 for a while and I had a go on that when I was in my folk's house and it's a gorgeous phine, really really good too. But too big.

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

Just skimmed through the Apple Keynote. Polished as always with that slight Scientology feel about it.

The best quote has to be:

"The ocean just looks bluer on the iPhone 5. Kids look happier. And the world is just a more beautiful place."

I take it that porn looks awesome on it too.

 

[pissypants]

I thought Apple might pull something out of the bag with a bit of wow factor, but I can see a lot of 4 / 4s users not bothering with an upgrade. There doesn't seem to be a Siri or a Facetime (unsuccessful though it has been) that would prompt a "me wantee".

 

[Anthony]

Nah, it's the remaining 3G and 3Gs users they're after here.

 

[pissypants]

Nah, it's the remaining 3G and 3Gs users they're after here.

True, but the thing is, they might be more tempted by more innovative android phones.

 

[parx]

Don't get me wrong, I love my macbook, ipad and iphone but apple as a company really play off that 'cult' vibe. Their keynotes can be really difficult viewing.

Developers seem to prefer ios as a platform for programming reasons and for making money. Example, Wolfgang Palm ( Inventor of the ppg wave synths from the 70's) just released an absolutely incredible synth app for iOs. No sign of it ever appearing on android. The apps make the device really as an iphone or ipad or samsung or htc out of the box are pretty much indistinguishable from each other in terms of functionality

 

[Unicron]

Don't get me wrong, I love my macbook, ipad and iphone but apple as a company really play off that 'cult' vibe. Their keynotes can be really difficult viewing.

Developers seem to prefer ios as a platform for programming reasons and for making money. Example, Wolfgang Palm ( Inventor of the ppg wave synths from the 70's) just released an absolutely incredible synth app for iOs. No sign of it ever appearing on android. The apps make the device really as an iphone or ipad or samsung or htc out of the box are pretty much indistinguishable from each other in terms of functionality

I know the developer for one of the more popular twitter clients for iPhone, I think it may be echophone, said recently that they definately won't be doing an android version as he personally hates working in java, perhaps that being the language that Android apps have to be written in. But up till now I'd suggest it's to do with Apple's market share, the vast majority of smartphones were iOS so it wasn't worth it to develop for Andriod, if more people are using Android then there's a bigger customer base to exploit.

Incidentally, I was thinking about it yesterday when I heard they were launching the 5, what are the actual smartphone killer apps? As in the ones that really are only suited to the platform and aren't really much use for a proper computer. I could only think of Shazam, maps when used in conjunction with GPS, and voice recognition stuff like Siri and whatever Google call their voice recognised search and that thing for iPhone that converts text from one language to another. Most of the other stuff I use are things that I can do/have need of on my computer.

 

[parx]

Since i got my ipad i pretty much deleted most of my apps off my phone to make room for more music to be honest. I have one or two games on my phone just to kill time if i'm stuck somewhere but generally I just use my phone as a phone/music player/internetz. I have all my app fun on the ipad.

 

[pissypants]

Don't get me wrong, I love my macbook, ipad and iphone but apple as a company really play off that 'cult' vibe. Their keynotes can be really difficult viewing.

Developers seem to prefer ios as a platform for programming reasons and for making money. Example, Wolfgang Palm ( Inventor of the ppg wave synths from the 70's) just released an absolutely incredible synth app for iOs. No sign of it ever appearing on android. The apps make the device really as an iphone or ipad or samsung or htc out of the box are pretty much indistinguishable from each other in terms of functionality

I have to agree that the iphone has a much richer app environment, and that this is one area that android is far, far behind in.

However, in terms of functionality androids are miles ahead because they don't lock you in so tightly to the apple environment and the way that they want you to use the device. . For example, if I want to put music or movies on my phone I don't want to wait while itunes fires up, converts them to a usable format etc. I just want to fire them on like I would a usb data stick and off I go. Having to "sync" is frustrating and (a rare occurance in the apple environment) very confusing. Having an operating system that tells me that file is "too big to download" because it's over 15MB is awful. It also tells you similar things if you try to add large attachments to an email, or refuses to send full-length videos that you took on your phone via email. You've got bluetooth on an iphone, but your blocked from revieving / sending files to another device. All these kind of apple-isms drive me mad, and make for huge functional differences with Samsungs etc.

Regarding "missing out" on apps - I find that anything I would find worth doing in an app (like the synth one you mentioned above) I'm much better off using a computer / laptop for. Also there's very few deal-breaker apps that you couldn't live without. Most people I've talked to will play a few of the more popular games, have a twitter client, a photo editing app, and a few more - maybe 6 to 10 they frequently use or care about that much, and usually in these there's not a huge difference to what's available for android or other platforms. I've read elsewhere that one of the reasons why the Apple App Store is so attractive to software developers is that people who've had the money to buy these devices also have the money to spend on apps, and that they'll always make more money in the Apple store of the Play store for this reason.

Bottom line for me, the iphone is a beautifully designed device, with high build quality and a fluid intuitive interface, but hamstrung by the apple imposed rectrictions as to how they want you to use the device.

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

Android is much harder to make money from because of device fragmentation - there's just too many different screen sizes and specs out there. There's 5 types of iphone now available, almost 1500 android models out there - albeit a lot of Samsung Galaxys.

Beefy hardware specs are a red herring without software support.

Also users are less likely to pay for apps on android as there's always a way to get it for free.

 

[Mormon Nailer]

Maybe when Nokia finally goes bankrupt.
Anyway,Samsung is where its at.

I changed my Google Nexus One - which got over 2 years of hard hacking - very impressive for a phone, for a Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
The Nexus One was a fantastic phone - the gorilla glass was practically indestructable, it had heft and as it was completely unlocked I could use it anywhere and do tethering and all that nice stuff.

The Galaxy Nexus has a much bigger screen and Jelly Bean Android is pretty good. It's not as robust as the Nexus One though.

I have to say after owing 2 Nexus phones
A. Any time I hold someones iPhone, it feels like a toy in my hand.
B. You couldn't drag me back to getting a phone full of O2 or Telcel or whoever's crapware.
c. Tasker for andriod is the best thing ever.

 

[parx]

People complain about the limitations about ios so much. The bottom line is, ios is limited for 2 reasons. 1 - Apple want to control the way you manage your content, and 2 - They want to set up their devices so they're extremely easy to use and intuitive. My parents both have iphones now and are way more internet and tech savy as a result. They both had smartphones previously that they could never get their heads around.
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The people that complain about forced limitations of the iphone/ipad tend to be more tech savy and hit these boundaries a lot more than the average user. Jailbreaking is a really safe and viable option these days and it is so easy to. It only takes a few days now for hackers to develop an untethered jailbreak for the newest os. It involves plugging your device in and holding a button for 13 seconds and hey presto, you can use the device in any way you want and manage your content in a way that suits you.

Personally I've jailbroken my ipad because I want to use a vlc player and move all the .avi's that I have on my computer onto my ipad.