iPhone 3G S In Depth: Why the ‘S’ means more than ‘Speed’

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple, iPhone

What makes up a rumor? The common recipe starts with some truth or factual information, adds a healthy dose of hearsay, and then gets topped off with a 'pinch of this and a dash of that.' Then someone else starts with that entire rumor as their 'factual information', and adds to it from there. Pretty soon, you've got 100 different flavors in the wild, and some of them don't even taste remotely like the original dish.

The recent storm of rumors surrounding the iPhone 3G S turned out exactly the same way. Several of them shared some common elements, such as a better camera, video editing, and a compass. But beyond that, the features were anyone's guess, especially when it came to the physical appearance of the device. When Apple broke the news that the appearance was identical to the existing 3G, I really had to wonder: how many times have we seen someone using the new iPhone, and not even noticed?

And then there was the name: iPhone Video, or iPhone 3GS? Just plain 'iPhone'? Whatever the case, it is a given that the name would reflect one of the most important aspects of the device. After all, the iPhone 3G takes its name from its 3G radio, and the 4th-generation iPod was oft referred to as the "iPod Video" due to its video capabilities. So it stood to reason that if the most obvious feature of the new phone would be video recording (and possibly editing) capabilities, it could easily be called the 'iPhone Video'.

What is interesting, though, is that Apple instead chose to name it 'iPhone 3G S', stating that the 'S' stands for faster speed. But even a quick perusal of the specs on Apple's website will tell you that speed is far from the only improvement over the original 3G. Of course, there are the obvious features that Apple pointed out: video recording & editing, an auto-focus camera, voice control and dialing, and a digital compass, just to name a few. But what about all the other features listed on the website. How do they compare to the iPhone 3G?

Read on for a head-to-head comparison of the new features...

Continue reading iPhone 3G S In Depth: Why the 'S' means more than 'Speed'

iPhone 3G S In Depth: Why the 'S' means more than 'Speed' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone 3G S In Depth: Why the 'S' means more than 'Speed' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Matching IDs suggest fake matte iPhones may not have been so fake

You'd think -- starting from the moment you saw the glossy sheen of the iPhone 3G S to the waning seconds of this year's WWDC keynote when you realized that there would be no magical second model announced -- that the near-constant drone of matte iPhone rumors leading up to this week's festivities were all fake. But were they really? It's been astutely noted by @cabel (yes, we just threw out a Twitter handle there) that the matte black backing seen last month has totally matching information -- model number and FCC ID alike -- with the actual device. We suppose it could just be an unfinished component, but as Daring Fireball notes, this could mean that Apple toyed with a matte finish early in the 3G S' design but ultimately abandoned it -- or even more intriguingly, it could've been a unique one-off trap designed to identify leakers who'd otherwise tried to hide their identities. It sounds like a pretty far-fetched conspiracy theory at first, yes -- but we're aware of at least one wireless carrier that actively puts out bogus information to achieve the same effect, and you might remember that Microsoft was rumored to have done the same thing with prototype Zunes back in the day. Either way, it's a crying shame, because that glossless finish has left an indelible mark on our hearts that won't soon heal.

[Via Daring Fireball, matte iPhone picture via MacRumors]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Matching IDs suggest fake matte iPhones may not have been so fake originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone Push Notification Testing Round 2: AIM

Apple previously invited developers to help test the upcoming iPhone 3.0 Push Notification service using AP (Associated Press). Now they’re ready for some IM action, and have prepared a special, 7-day build of AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) to put push through its paces:

As a developer actively working with iPhone OS, we would like your help in a private test of the Apple Push Notification service. For this test, we have selected AOL’s AIM Developer Preview for iPhone OS 3.0 to create a high-volume test environment for our server.

Of course, as with most everything iPhone 3.0-related, at least news of the test didn’t stay private for long.

For a sampling of some of the screenshots we’ve received, check out the gallery after the break!

[Thanks to Rikimaru, and all the anonymous tipsters!)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Push Notification Testing Round 2: AIM

iPhone 3G S Speeds and Feeds Revealed: 256MB RAM, 600Mhz CPU

T-Mobile Netherlands (via Wired) has let slip the formerly elusive specs for the iPhone 3G S:

• 256MB of RAM
• 600Mhz CPU

Anandtech (via Macrumors) gives further info:

Although unannounced, the iPhone 3GS uses (again) a Samsung SoC but this time instead of the ARM11 + MBX-Lite combo it’s got a Cortex A8 and PowerVR SGX; just like the [Palm] Pre.

So add that to the fast PowerVR SGX graphics core, and — to quote Steve Jobs — it’s a screamer!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3G S Speeds and Feeds Revealed: 256MB RAM, 600Mhz CPU

Apple invites iPhone devs to test AIM/push notification

Filed under: Software, iPhone

We're getting tips from multiple sources that Apple has invited a group of iPhone developers to test drive AOL's updated Instant Messenger app for the iPhone -- complete with push notification -- in an effort to see how Apple's servers will handle the traffic. The invitation included the following:

"As a developer actively working with iPhone OS, we would like your help in a private test of the Apple Push Notification service. For this test, we have selected AOL's AIM Developer Preview for iPhone OS 3.0 to create a high-volume test environment for our servers."

Apple invites iPhone devs to test AIM/push notification originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple invites iPhone devs to test AIM/push notification originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone Launch Party: Upcoming Apps, and New Id Game for iPhone

MacHeist and TouchArcade are co-hosting an iPhone app launch party at this year's WWDC. The event to be held tonight will provide some demos and previews of some upcoming iPhone apps and games and will be streamed live starting at around 9:30 p.m. P...

Former Apple exec takes the helm at Palm

Jon Rubinstein will become chairman and CEO of Palm, and Ed Colligan will leave the company.

iPhone 3G S Oleophobic Screen Coating makes it Fingerprint-Resistant

Apple Now Testing High-Volume iPhone Push Notifications With AIM

Apple today invited a number of its iPhone OS 3.0 beta users to participate in a second high-volume test of Apple's Push Notifications system. This round of testing will use a developer preview of AOL's AIM instant messaging application and is sched...

De-clutter: How I used my iPhone and Evernote to travel light

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Recently I spent a few days in Paris, France. I travel light: One bag (pro tip: Roll your clothes), one jacket and one hat. I love getting my necessities down to a single carry-on bag. What I hate is all the paper. Airline confirmation receipts, bus schedules, relevant correspondence from family and friends, etc. Not to mention lists of restaurants to try, sights to see, etc.

This time I went nearly paper-free (I'm sticking with paper boarding passes for international flights, although iPhone scanning has been done and is now officially supported by some carriers), thanks to my iPhone and 2 applications. Here's how I did it.

Tracking flights

Of course, the first thing I've got to do is line up all of my flights. I typically go from Boston to Newark when I'm traveling internationally, which means there are several connecting flights to manage with Flight Update and Evernote.

Flight Update [App Store link] is among my top 5 iPhone apps. Here's how it works and why I love it. First, add a trip and then add your flights. You can designate a preferred airline if there's one you use often. Enter your flight number and date (or search by route if you prefer) and Flight Update fills in an incredible amount of data as if by magic.

You'll get airtime, departing and arriving airport, terminal, distance, scheduled meals and so much more. It even identifies the type of plane and offers a color-coded seating chart (the colors rate the seats by desirability). You can even search for alternate flights should a problem arise.

What I really love about Flight Update is that it consistently beats the airport at dispensing timely information. For example, the flight I took from Newark, New Jersey to Boston, MA this past Monday was listed as delayed on my iPhone before the announcement was made at the gate. When the delay was later lifted (thank goodness), my iPhone let me know before the airport did. That's awesome. At $4.99US, you simply can't beat Flight Update. Every iPhone-toting traveler ought to own it.

Eliminating paper

With Flight Tracker handling the airplanes, I turned to Evernote [App Store link] to handle the paper. This is straightforward: I made a notebook called "Paris" and filled it with:

• Confirmation codes for each flight, including the original emails as PDFs
  
• Hotel information
• Correspondence from family members I'd be traveling with
• Special instructions

With each one tagged "Paris," I simply created a saved search. Here's how. First, enter your search term. Next, click the little blue arrow, scroll down and select "Save Search." From then on, you can access all documents that meet your criteria (in my case, a single tag) by hitting the bookmark button. In fact, I just left it there for the duration of my trip.

When I checked in at the airport kiosk, I simply grabbed my confirmation number from Evernote. Same with the hotel. When I found the restaurants and other points of interest that I wanted to explore, I snapped a photo note and applied the "Paris" tag. Back at the hotel, everything was sent to the Evernote servers via the free WiFi.

This has been said before, but Evernote (free from the App Store, basic and premium plans available) is awesome. Human beings have short term memory, long term memory and now, Evernote.

Keep in mind

Going paperless isn't without risk. There's a good chance that your airport will have a lousy cell signal and no free WiFi. Having to pony up $5 or so just to get a code is a hassle if you forgot to sync before leaving the house. Additionally, not all ticket agents are tolerant of kids these days with their fancy smart phones, and may give you an odd look (or a hard time) when you say, "I don't have the printout, but I have my iPhone!" Hence my hesitation to abandon paper boarding passes.

Finally, Evernote displays PDFs as attachments, meaning you can't view them without an internet connection. If you think that might be an issue, copy and paste the text itself into a note.

In the end I had a very enjoyable travel experience with just a small bag, my wallet and my iPhone. Here's a huge thank you to the developers of Flight Tracker and Evernote. Your apps are awesome.

De-clutter: How I used my iPhone and Evernote to travel light originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

De-clutter: How I used my iPhone and Evernote to travel light originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know the iPhone isn’t cheap, but Billshrink shows the numbers

Filed under: iPhone

It's no secret that in addition to the initial price for the iPhone, that there's also months upon months of service plans to pay as well. BillShrink.com gave us some perspective yesterday, showing just how much of an Apple tax we really do pay for the iPhone.

In a very easy-to-read infographic, the site pits the entry level iPhone 3G S against the Palm Pre and Android G1 to see what you exactly get and how much you're paying for it when you sign up with the exclusive US carrier for each device (AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile respectively).

The winner, when it comes to storage space and features, is the iPhone 3G S. But, it's also showing that the Android G1 isn't that bad of a deal either. Its 3.2MP camera just squeaks by the iPhone and it has both a lower subsidized cost and price without contract.

But where Apple really loses is the overall cost of ownership. By far, the cheapest phone to own over a two-year period is the Palm Pre, which clocks in at $2,400. The cost calculated includes the initial price of the handset combined with two years of unlimited voice, data, and messaging services. The Android G1 follows with $3,240 and finally the iPhone 3G S at $3,600 -- not including tax for any of them. Those totals are for the service plans alone, not counting the initial cost of the handset as well.

We know the iPhone isn't cheap, but Billshrink shows the numbers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We know the iPhone isn't cheap, but Billshrink shows the numbers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone Live! WWDC Roundup! Tonight 8pm EDT/5pm PDT

iPhone Live! comes to you tonight (Wednesday, June 10) at 8pm EDT/5pm PDT.

We told you we were going weekly and we meant it!

As always, pre-show will start about 10 min. before if you want to drop by early and reserve a space in our still capacity-challenged chat room. See you then!

Join in via http://www.tipb.com/live

Chat with you soon!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Live! WWDC Roundup! Tonight 8pm EDT/5pm PDT

iPhone 3G: Apple Re-Invents the $99 Budget Smartphone

There’s a “budget” smartphone category that has so far revolved around devices like the Palm Centro, BlackBerry Pearl, and a host of Windows Mobile devices like the Samsung Jack — basically scads of devices aimed below the fat wallets of enterprise.

Typically these devices are small to the point of being cramped, with tiny keyboards or work-arounds like T9 or SureType, and are low-margin for manufacturers — sold more to grab new users, bolster market share, and create brand awareness than to serve as mobile computers for the internet age.

Well, Apple has just shot a cannonball through the heart of that smartphone category — the iPhone 3G at $99.

At least that was our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn’s reaction when we spoke following the big WWDC 2009 Keynote. And I think he’s right. Here’s why:

Come next week on AT&T (and Rogers and other carriers that match the price point), for $99 you’ll be able to get a full-on 8GB iPhone 3G running iPhone 3.0 software.

That’s not an iPhone nano or mini, not a stripped down, poorly built, cramped, barely functional budget smartphone, mind you, that’s the same phone that until last Monday’s WWDC Keynote was arguably one of the most advanced mobile computers on the planet. It’s the lower storage version of the hardware that shipped over 10 million units and has 50,000 apps ready to run. Never mind Apple branding and a super-slick user experience.

For $99.

Whether or not the price point remains, or it lasts only as long as current supplies, this has to send Palm, RIM, HTC, and others into panic mode. Palm, for example, has show quarter after quarter losses on the Centro even in the budget category, and Apple will still be making margins on the iPhone 3G.

Will this put downward pricing pressure on next generation devices like the Centro-replacement, webOS-powered Palm Eos? Will it force RIM to offer BlackBerry Tour-like features at Pearl-sized prices? And even if they do, with multiple form-factors and networks at play, can they achieve the economies of scale and maintain realistic margins at that price point? For companies like Palm, whose financials are still shaky at best, these become critical questions.

Which brings us to the elephant in the budget smartphone room:

If Apple is selling the iPhone 3G at $99, what does that do to premium devices like the Palm Pre, BlackBerry Bold, HTC Touch Pro 2, etc.?

Certainly not everyone, but just as certainly some budget-conscious people who were considering a new premium smartphone might just decide to save themselves a hundred — or several hundred — dollars and get an iPhone 3G at $99 instead…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3G: Apple Re-Invents the $99 Budget Smartphone

Review: 101 PhotoFilters for iPhone

This collection of photo filters looks to bring some image-editing fun to your iPhone and iPod touch. And while not every filter is a must-have, enough of the effects are appealing to make this app a success.

Review: American Idol: The Game for iPhone

American Idol: The Game recreates the fun of the TV show on your iPhone.

Chillingo releases Defender Chronicles for iPhone, iPod touch

Defender Chronicles is a side-view take on the tower defense genre.

iPhone 3G S Specs Reveals Faster 600 MHz Processor and 256MB RAM

iPhone 3G S features 7.2 Mbps, AT&T’s network doesn’t

The iPhone 3G S supports 7.2 HSPA, the fastest mobile broadband flavor currently available for 3G networks in the U.S. What will this mean for iPhone users? Glenn Fleishman takes a closer look.

Where Was Windows Mobile at WWDC 2009?

In a write up nonchalantly titled “Lies, damn lies, statistics, and Apple…“, our good friend Phil Nickinson over at sister-site WMExperts rightly points out that Apple gave Windows Mobile a full on shunning during the WWDC 2009 keynote:

Windows Mobile isn’t even mentioned. Sure, Microsoft hasn’t yet launched its dedicated app store, Windows Marketplace for Mobile. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t stores from which to buy apps – ahem, here’s one – and it’s an insult to all of the developers of the 20,000 Windows Mobile applications available.

Windows 7 did get a mention (and a ribbing, as usual, from OS X head Bertrand Serlet), but in the smartphone space…?

Nothing.

That might seem callous from Apple’s part — but here’s the worse problem for Microsoft: Windows Mobile was missing from a lot of post-WWDC analyst and media commentary as well.

Apple still owns significant smartphone mind-share and the Palm Pre has captured the attention of the blogsphere and, since RIM is holding fast, that’s coming at the expense of Microsoft (and maybe Android, which was last year’s next big thing).

Realistically, with so many platforms now, when someone writes “Apple iPhone and…” “BlackBerry and…” and now “Palm Pre and…” there’s only room for so many others in the sentence, and those places are becoming increasingly competitive.

With Windows Mobile 7 pushed out until 2010, and 6.5 not in consumer hands yet either, and with iPhone 3G S about to hit, things might not be changing any time soon either…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Where Was Windows Mobile at WWDC 2009?

iPhone stencil helps designers sketch out their app

A U.K.-based design company is offering a stainless steel iPhone stencil to help designers lay out their iPhone apps with pencil and paper.