Simplicity and Convenience have been restored; iOS 5 is here
Earlier today, but later than the midnight release time, Apple released the much anticipated iOS 5.
Admittedly, this will disappoint JailBreak fans, hackers and whatnot, as none of the jailbreaking tools, toys and tweaks will work on iOS 5, and iOS 4.3.5 is still a tethered solution.
That being said, this could possibly put a dent in the jailbreaking market due to some of the new features.
One feature in particular, which is the ability for any and all future upgrades to be done OTA (over the air), may also give Apple a piece of the android market share back. iOS 5 also boasts the fact that a computer is no longer needed for initial setup, as it too is done OTA.
iOS 5 brings a number of new features to iDevices. They include enhanced notifications, iMessage (an iDevice messaging platform that will work between iDevices, only, wireless iTunes syncing, iCloud, Twitter integration, Newsstand, a new Reminders app, improved camera and photo support, and a lot more.
Once iTunes was upgraded, the pop up notification came up with the iOS 5 download choices. On a windows 7 desktop, the upgrade (including backups, etc) took about 45 minutes. After going through the acceptance of the license agreements, it brought up the list of changes, which was impressive.
It made mention of much more than the few features written 2 paragraphs prior, including (but not limited to;
• Built-in support for Twitter
◦ Sign-in once in Settings and tweet directly from Camera, Photos, Maps, Safari and YouTube
◦ Add location to any tweet
◦ View twitter profile pictures and usernames in Contacts
• Camera improvements for devices with cameras
◦ Double click the home button when device is asleep to bring up a camera shortcut on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (4th generation)
◦ Volume Up button to take a picture
◦ Optional grid lines to line up shots
◦ Pinch to zoom in the preview screen
◦ Swipe to camera roll from preview screen
◦ Tap and hold to lock focus and exposure, iPad 2 and iPod touch (4th generation) only support exposure lock
• Photo improvements for devices with cameras
◦ Crop and rotate
◦ Red eye removal
◦ One tap enhance
◦ Organize photos into albums
• Mail improvements
◦ Format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts
◦ Indentation control
◦ Mass mark messages as flagged, read or unread
◦ Customize mail alert sounds
• Calendar improvements
◦ … new Week view for iPhone and iPod touch
◦ Tap to create an event
◦ View and add event attachments
• On-device setup, activation and configuration with Setup Assistant
• Software updates available over the air without tethering
• iCloud support
• Hourly weather forecast
• Real-time stock quotes
• Wireless sync to iTunes
• Keyboard improvements
◦ Improved autocorrection accuracy
◦ New Emoji keyboard
◦ Personal dictionary for autocorrection
◦ Optionally create keyboard short cuts for frequently used words
iOS 5 supports iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation) and iPad and iPad 2. It will, of course, be delivered on the iPhone 4S,
Showing posts with label IPhone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IPhone. Show all posts
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
iPhone 4s instead of iPhone 5
FILED UNDER:
MOLLY RANTS
The real reason there's no iPhone 5: The carriers
By: Molly Wood OCTOBER 4, 2011 4:15 PM PDT
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In retrospect, it shouldn't be a surprise that Apple released a half-step iPhone this week, instead of a revolutionary and redesigned iPhone 5. Think about it--the real reason for the iPhone 4S is the same as for the iPhone 3GS: carrier contracts are two years long.
The 4S isn't meant to be an upgrade for iPhone 4 users--it's a lure to get new iPhone users in the door, and you iPhone 4 folks will get your iPhone 5 upgrade just in time for a new contract. And if you decide you can't wait and spend big bucks to break your contract or buy the iPhone 4S at full price...well, that was your choice, wasn't it?
Is the most amazing iPhone yet good enough?
(Credit: Apple.com)
Look back at Apple's iPhone release history and you'll see that the iPhone 4S is just the next step in the product evolution, which went from 3G to 3GS to 4, and now to 4S. It actually makes perfect sense, once the lust for new technology and new Apple hardware starts to subside. If anything, Apple is playing a very clever shell game with carrier contracts that allows it to grab new buyers every year instead of every two years.
I polled my Twitter brigade after the announcement, asking them whether the iPhone 4 users in the audience would upgrade to the iPhone 4S. The vast majority of iPhone 4 users said no, and the main reason they cited was their contracts. Examples:
@mollywood No way. Vain nerds (me) don't care about behind the scenes improvements, and siri isn't cool enough to warrant contract breakage.
@mollywood I won't. I still have 1 year on my contract, so I'll wait for the next iPhone to "wow" me. The 4GS isn't impressive, IMO.
@mollywood it's a no for me Molly. I didn't upgrade from 3G to 3GS for the same reason - nothing to justify the ETF [early termination fee]
That was a pretty standard set of responses from the iPhone 4 set and no surprise, really. (A few said they'd get it no matter what, out of sheer Apple love, but that's to be expected.) On the other hand, here are some responses from 3G owners:
@mollywood iPhone 3GS owner definitely upgrading to an iPhone 4S
@mollywood I am buying, though upgrading from a 3GS, so the reason is pretty obvious. Always wait for the refined product!
@mollywood yes. Wife's 3GS done. She gets my 4, I get 4S
Think about the staggering for a second here and you'll see it's a pretty smart strategy on Apple's part. iPhone 3G owners on contract could skip the 3GS and get a meaty upgrade in the iPhone 4, while iPhone 3GS owners can feel great about jumping all the way up to the Siri-enabled iPhone 4S. Meanwhile, iPhone 4 owners get most of the features of iOS 5, minus Siri, and can pay a nice fat premium if they really, really want it. Either way, Apple sells iPhones year after year after year.
Sure, the iConsumer is being played, but the rage is less than what it would be if the forced upgrade march--an inevitability with Apple and all other consumer tech--was moving at a faster clip than the carrier contracts.
MOLLY RANTS
The real reason there's no iPhone 5: The carriers
By: Molly Wood OCTOBER 4, 2011 4:15 PM PDT
Share
103 comments
In retrospect, it shouldn't be a surprise that Apple released a half-step iPhone this week, instead of a revolutionary and redesigned iPhone 5. Think about it--the real reason for the iPhone 4S is the same as for the iPhone 3GS: carrier contracts are two years long.
The 4S isn't meant to be an upgrade for iPhone 4 users--it's a lure to get new iPhone users in the door, and you iPhone 4 folks will get your iPhone 5 upgrade just in time for a new contract. And if you decide you can't wait and spend big bucks to break your contract or buy the iPhone 4S at full price...well, that was your choice, wasn't it?
Is the most amazing iPhone yet good enough?
(Credit: Apple.com)
Look back at Apple's iPhone release history and you'll see that the iPhone 4S is just the next step in the product evolution, which went from 3G to 3GS to 4, and now to 4S. It actually makes perfect sense, once the lust for new technology and new Apple hardware starts to subside. If anything, Apple is playing a very clever shell game with carrier contracts that allows it to grab new buyers every year instead of every two years.
I polled my Twitter brigade after the announcement, asking them whether the iPhone 4 users in the audience would upgrade to the iPhone 4S. The vast majority of iPhone 4 users said no, and the main reason they cited was their contracts. Examples:
@mollywood No way. Vain nerds (me) don't care about behind the scenes improvements, and siri isn't cool enough to warrant contract breakage.
@mollywood I won't. I still have 1 year on my contract, so I'll wait for the next iPhone to "wow" me. The 4GS isn't impressive, IMO.
@mollywood it's a no for me Molly. I didn't upgrade from 3G to 3GS for the same reason - nothing to justify the ETF [early termination fee]
That was a pretty standard set of responses from the iPhone 4 set and no surprise, really. (A few said they'd get it no matter what, out of sheer Apple love, but that's to be expected.) On the other hand, here are some responses from 3G owners:
@mollywood iPhone 3GS owner definitely upgrading to an iPhone 4S
@mollywood I am buying, though upgrading from a 3GS, so the reason is pretty obvious. Always wait for the refined product!
@mollywood yes. Wife's 3GS done. She gets my 4, I get 4S
Think about the staggering for a second here and you'll see it's a pretty smart strategy on Apple's part. iPhone 3G owners on contract could skip the 3GS and get a meaty upgrade in the iPhone 4, while iPhone 3GS owners can feel great about jumping all the way up to the Siri-enabled iPhone 4S. Meanwhile, iPhone 4 owners get most of the features of iOS 5, minus Siri, and can pay a nice fat premium if they really, really want it. Either way, Apple sells iPhones year after year after year.
Sure, the iConsumer is being played, but the rage is less than what it would be if the forced upgrade march--an inevitability with Apple and all other consumer tech--was moving at a faster clip than the carrier contracts.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Iphone 5 is 4s??????
Apple iPhone 5? Nope. It's the 4S
Apple has announced its next iPhone and it won't be called the iPhone 5, but rather the iPhone 4S.
From the outside, the iPhone 4S looks just like the iPhone 4 -- which may disappoint some hoping for a new form factor.
On the inside however, the iPhone 4S is a new device, said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.
Most notably, perhaps, is the addition of Apple's dual-core A5 chip, which is built by Samsung.
The A5 in the iPhone 4S will offer seven-times faster graphics for better mobile gameplay and is "up to" twice as fast overall as the A4 chip in the iPhone 4, Schiller said.
Live coverage: Apple iPhone 4S
The iPhone 4S battery life will also be the best of any iPhone thus far, with eight hours of talk time and 40 hours of music listening capability.
The iPhone 4S has a new wireless system that can "intelligently switch" between its two antennas to "make even better call quality," Schiller said.
So what does that mean exactly? Apple is promising that users will be able to download data much faster than before using HSDPA cellular technology. The iPhone 4S won't be a 4G phone, but it will have 4G-like download speeds and send and receive data a lot faster.
As expected, the iPhone 4S will also have an upgraded camera -- 8-megapixels -- capable of shooting images at a resolution of 3,264x2,448 pixels. That's 60% more pixels than the iPhone 4's 5-megapixel camera.
Apple said the 4S' sensor is much better too with a "five element lens." Schiller said: "Here we've really gone overboard," with an f/2.4 aperture which will improve photo quality in low light situations.
Schiller even said the iPhone 4S takes photos a lot faster than its rivals too. The Droid Bionic takes 3.7 seconds to take a pic, Schiller said, while the iPhone 4S takes just 1.1 seconds.
The camera will shoot better video too -- at a high-definition resolution of 1080p.
Apple has yet to say just how much the iPhone 4S will cost, on what carriers it will be available or when it will be released.
iPhone 5 live from Cupertino
10:24 a.m. Cards is a new app being introduced. It lets you create and mail beauitful cards right from your iPhone or iPod touch. You make the card, Apple does the rest, printing it out on 100% cotton paper. There’s over 21 different designs in 6 different categories: including birthdays, birth announcements, love, travel.
10:24 a.m. Apple has paid more than $3 billion to app developers
10:23 a.m. The app store is the number one store for mobile apps. In a little over three years, customers have downloaded over 18 billion apps. And that rate is accelerating: 1 billion apps are being downloaded each month.
10:22 a.m. So Apple has sold 250 million iOS devices. iOS has 43% of the mobile market. Android has 33%, according to their pie chart. iOS makes up over 60% of the mobile browsing market. There are over 500,000 apps in the app store, including over 140,000 iPad-specific apps.
10:22 a.m. Scott Forstall is taking the stage to talk to us about iOS.
10:22 a.m. This morning they passed the quarter of a billion sales mark for iOS devices.
10:21 a.m. Consumers don’t want tablets, they want iPads, Tim quotes from AllThingsD.
10:20 a.m. 92% of Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying iPad. This is in less than 18 months, which is unheard of. “iPad is the undisputed top selling tablet in the world,” Tim says. “Despite everybody and their brother trying to compete with iPad, 3 out 4 tablets in the US are iPads.”
10:20 a.m. Over 80 percent of top hospitals in U.S. are now testing or piloting iPad.
10:18 a.m. Next up, the iPad. People have been thrilled with both the original iPad, and the iPad 2, he says. 95% satisfaction score in their most recent survey. And iPads are showing up everywhere: in schools (cute picture of a girl in a science lab holding an iPad). Almost a thousand K-12 schools have a 1:1 program so a child can enjoy an iPad for an entire day. Almost all school districts have an iPad program. iPads are in universities, flight cockpits. It makes the pilot and plane more efficient (fuel efficiency).
10:17 a.m. The iPhone has 5 percent share of the worldwide mobile phone market. That’s one in 20 people, worldwide. The market is 1.5 billion units annually.
10:15 a.m. The iPhone 4 makes up over half of the total iPhones sold since the iPhone was first introduced. It’s become the number one smartphone in the world. Year over year growth is at 125%
10:14 a.m. Now iTunes. It started with 200,000 songs, they’ve now got 20 million songs, or ten times that. It is the number one music store in the world. Over 16 billion songs have been downloaded from the iTunes store. Wow!
10:13 a.m. iPod is still a large and important product for Apple, Tim says. They’ve sold 45 million in the last year ending in June. Almost half of those are going to people buying their first iPod. “It remains a very important business for us.”
10:12 a.m. Next up, music: iTunes and iPod. It was only 10 years ago that the iPod launched, revolutionizing the way we listen to music, and the whole music industry. Tim says it also reminded us all that we love music, making music a more integral part of lives. iPod became the number one music player in the world, it’s market share has been above 70 percent for a long time. Apple has cumulatively sold over 300 million iPods around the world. It took Sony 30 years to sell 220,000 Walkman cassette players.
10:11 a.m. Apple’s Mac market share is now 23%, so nearly 1 out of every 4 computers sold in the US is a Mac.
10:10 a.m. The Mac has outgrown the PC market by almost 6 times in the past year. Every single quarter for 5 years the Mac has outgrown the PC market. They are now approaching 60 million users (58 million right now).
10:10 a.m. Macbook Air and iMac are #1 notebook and desktop in the U.S.
10:08 a.m. Tim is going to walk us through each of Apple’s major areas with an update. First is the Mac with OS X Lion — “It’s the best computer operating system out there,” Mossberg is quoted as saying. Results have been staggering: over 6 million downloads. This is 80% more than Snow Leopard.
10:07 a.m. Tim says Apple now has six stores in China, bringing Apple to 357 total stores in 11 countries.
10:05 a.m. The Hong Kong store offers a view of Victoria harbor. It has an even crazier glass staircase. They sold more Macs on opening day in this store than on any other store in the world, it was one of their best opening days in retail history.
10:04 a.m. Tim is showing us beautiful pics of the stores, one of a glass staircase. They welcomed 100,000 visitors their opening weekend.
10:04 a.m. A few updates: Just last weekend, Apple opened two new stores in China, one in Hong Kong and one in Shanghai.
10:04 a.m. — Today, Apple wants to remind us of the uniqueness of their company as they announce innovations of their mobile operating system, applications and hardware, and integrating them into a single experience.
10:02 a.m. — Tim Cook has taken the stage. This is his first product launch since being named CEO. He says it’s a pleasure to host us today, and he loves Apple. He says that this campus serves as a second home for many Apple employees. The room we’re in is called Town Hall. Nice pleasantries and introductory remarks.
9:56 a.m. — Apple seems to be a big fan of the classic rock.
9:50 a.m. — We’re in and seated, people are still getting settled. We’re listening to some classic Led Zeppelin.
9:32 a.m. — Sadly, the bathrooms are not as cool as I had hoped. Pretty standard, utilitarian. Top marks for cleanliness, however. Rating: A+
9:17 a.m. — An image of the MacBook Air graces one of the upstairs walls as art. Awesome.
9:11 a.m. — Quite the spread! Time for a mini-muffin.
9:06 a.m. — Oooh, fancy.
9:00 a.m. — Media check-in has begun! Apple sure is timely. Let’s get this thing started.
8:44 a.m. — Walt Mossberg from The Wall Street Journal just got here. And Lady Gaga?! Just kidding.
8:18 a.m. — We’re here! Waiting in line to register. We’re locked out of the Town Hall building until later this morning. We’re supposed to get a breakfast at 9. I wonder if it’ll be gourmet or continental style?
CUPERTINO, California — Rumors of Apple’s latest iPhone have reached epic heights over the past few months. Today — finally — they’ll be laid to rest, as the company announces what’s in store for its mobile products. We’ll be down at Apple HQ to deliver you the news as it happens. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates.
Read Wired.com’s previous coverage for a rundown of what we’ll hear about at the event. The keynote starts 10 a.m. PDT, and Wired.com will be live-blogging the event. Stay tuned on this post for the news, or follow @Wired for Twitter updates in 140 characters or less.
Photos: Christina Bonnington and Brian X. Chen/Wired.com
10:24 a.m. Apple has paid more than $3 billion to app developers
10:23 a.m. The app store is the number one store for mobile apps. In a little over three years, customers have downloaded over 18 billion apps. And that rate is accelerating: 1 billion apps are being downloaded each month.
10:22 a.m. So Apple has sold 250 million iOS devices. iOS has 43% of the mobile market. Android has 33%, according to their pie chart. iOS makes up over 60% of the mobile browsing market. There are over 500,000 apps in the app store, including over 140,000 iPad-specific apps.
10:22 a.m. Scott Forstall is taking the stage to talk to us about iOS.
10:22 a.m. This morning they passed the quarter of a billion sales mark for iOS devices.
10:21 a.m. Consumers don’t want tablets, they want iPads, Tim quotes from AllThingsD.
10:20 a.m. 92% of Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying iPad. This is in less than 18 months, which is unheard of. “iPad is the undisputed top selling tablet in the world,” Tim says. “Despite everybody and their brother trying to compete with iPad, 3 out 4 tablets in the US are iPads.”
10:20 a.m. Over 80 percent of top hospitals in U.S. are now testing or piloting iPad.
10:18 a.m. Next up, the iPad. People have been thrilled with both the original iPad, and the iPad 2, he says. 95% satisfaction score in their most recent survey. And iPads are showing up everywhere: in schools (cute picture of a girl in a science lab holding an iPad). Almost a thousand K-12 schools have a 1:1 program so a child can enjoy an iPad for an entire day. Almost all school districts have an iPad program. iPads are in universities, flight cockpits. It makes the pilot and plane more efficient (fuel efficiency).
10:17 a.m. The iPhone has 5 percent share of the worldwide mobile phone market. That’s one in 20 people, worldwide. The market is 1.5 billion units annually.
10:15 a.m. The iPhone 4 makes up over half of the total iPhones sold since the iPhone was first introduced. It’s become the number one smartphone in the world. Year over year growth is at 125%
10:14 a.m. Now iTunes. It started with 200,000 songs, they’ve now got 20 million songs, or ten times that. It is the number one music store in the world. Over 16 billion songs have been downloaded from the iTunes store. Wow!
10:13 a.m. iPod is still a large and important product for Apple, Tim says. They’ve sold 45 million in the last year ending in June. Almost half of those are going to people buying their first iPod. “It remains a very important business for us.”
10:12 a.m. Next up, music: iTunes and iPod. It was only 10 years ago that the iPod launched, revolutionizing the way we listen to music, and the whole music industry. Tim says it also reminded us all that we love music, making music a more integral part of lives. iPod became the number one music player in the world, it’s market share has been above 70 percent for a long time. Apple has cumulatively sold over 300 million iPods around the world. It took Sony 30 years to sell 220,000 Walkman cassette players.
10:11 a.m. Apple’s Mac market share is now 23%, so nearly 1 out of every 4 computers sold in the US is a Mac.
10:10 a.m. The Mac has outgrown the PC market by almost 6 times in the past year. Every single quarter for 5 years the Mac has outgrown the PC market. They are now approaching 60 million users (58 million right now).
10:10 a.m. Macbook Air and iMac are #1 notebook and desktop in the U.S.
10:08 a.m. Tim is going to walk us through each of Apple’s major areas with an update. First is the Mac with OS X Lion — “It’s the best computer operating system out there,” Mossberg is quoted as saying. Results have been staggering: over 6 million downloads. This is 80% more than Snow Leopard.
10:07 a.m. Tim says Apple now has six stores in China, bringing Apple to 357 total stores in 11 countries.
10:05 a.m. The Hong Kong store offers a view of Victoria harbor. It has an even crazier glass staircase. They sold more Macs on opening day in this store than on any other store in the world, it was one of their best opening days in retail history.
10:04 a.m. Tim is showing us beautiful pics of the stores, one of a glass staircase. They welcomed 100,000 visitors their opening weekend.
10:04 a.m. A few updates: Just last weekend, Apple opened two new stores in China, one in Hong Kong and one in Shanghai.
10:04 a.m. — Today, Apple wants to remind us of the uniqueness of their company as they announce innovations of their mobile operating system, applications and hardware, and integrating them into a single experience.
10:02 a.m. — Tim Cook has taken the stage. This is his first product launch since being named CEO. He says it’s a pleasure to host us today, and he loves Apple. He says that this campus serves as a second home for many Apple employees. The room we’re in is called Town Hall. Nice pleasantries and introductory remarks.
9:56 a.m. — Apple seems to be a big fan of the classic rock.
9:50 a.m. — We’re in and seated, people are still getting settled. We’re listening to some classic Led Zeppelin.
9:32 a.m. — Sadly, the bathrooms are not as cool as I had hoped. Pretty standard, utilitarian. Top marks for cleanliness, however. Rating: A+
9:17 a.m. — An image of the MacBook Air graces one of the upstairs walls as art. Awesome.
9:11 a.m. — Quite the spread! Time for a mini-muffin.
9:06 a.m. — Oooh, fancy.
9:00 a.m. — Media check-in has begun! Apple sure is timely. Let’s get this thing started.
8:44 a.m. — Walt Mossberg from The Wall Street Journal just got here. And Lady Gaga?! Just kidding.
8:18 a.m. — We’re here! Waiting in line to register. We’re locked out of the Town Hall building until later this morning. We’re supposed to get a breakfast at 9. I wonder if it’ll be gourmet or continental style?
CUPERTINO, California — Rumors of Apple’s latest iPhone have reached epic heights over the past few months. Today — finally — they’ll be laid to rest, as the company announces what’s in store for its mobile products. We’ll be down at Apple HQ to deliver you the news as it happens. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates.
Read Wired.com’s previous coverage for a rundown of what we’ll hear about at the event. The keynote starts 10 a.m. PDT, and Wired.com will be live-blogging the event. Stay tuned on this post for the news, or follow @Wired for Twitter updates in 140 characters or less.
Photos: Christina Bonnington and Brian X. Chen/Wired.com
Iphone 5
Apple iPhone 5: Reviewing the rumors before the debut
October 3, 2011 | 1:28 pm
Apple Inc.'s next iPhone is arguably the most anticipated gadget unveiling of 2011 and it's taking placeTuesday.
And with any big Apple product announcement, the rumors have been flying for months -- even former U.S. Vice President and Apple board member Al Gore has fed some of the speculation.
Times tech reporter David Sarno will be in Cupertino at the big event Tuesday, covering new Apple CEO Tim Cook's unveiling of the next iPhone, iOS 5 and maybe even Facebook-related announcements here on the Technology blog.
But, as of Monday, we don't know for sure what Apple will announce -- an iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S, an all-new lower-priced entry-level iPhone, one iPhone, two or even three new models.
So let's take a look at what's been reported so far, so we can see what pans out or what doesn't...
Specifications:
The standard right now for high-end smartphones (such as the Droid Bionic and Samsung Galaxy S II) is a dual-core processor, about 1 gigabyte of RAM, at least 16 gigabytes of storage memory and an 8-megapixel rear camera capable of shooting 1080p high-definition video and a better-than-VGA front facing camera.
The iPhone 4 currently runs on the Apple-designed and Samsung-built A4 single-core processor. The iPad 2 saw the debut of the dual-core Apple A5 chip, and the next iPhone is widely expected to gain the A5 chip, bringing it in line with its Android rivals. A boost in RAM would be needed to really capitalize on a faster dual-core processor, so these go hand in hand.
The iPhone 4's 5-megapixel rear camera is considered by many to be one of the most capable cameras available in a smartphone today, even at more than a year old. Nonetheless, a rumored upgrade to an 8-megapixel rear camera is expected and anything less would be disappointing considering how widespread of a feature this has become in competing smartphones.
Up front, the iPhone 4 has a VGA-quality camera (as seen on Apple's iPad 2 and iPod Touch), and that is rumored to be getting an upgrade too. An upgrade here would make sense, in part because Apple has already upgraded many of its laptops with high-definition cameras above their monitors.
The next iPhone is also rumored to be offered in storage sizes of not only 16 gigabytes and 32 gigabytes as is offered now, but also with a 64-gigabyte option.
Display:
The size of the next iPhone's touch screen has been a topic of debate and contradicting speculation for months. Rumors have ranged from the next iPhone retaining the 3.5-inch display of the previous four generations and an increase to 4 inches or even 4.5 inches.
The iPhone 4's 3.5-inch screen introduced the "retina display" with a resolution of 960-by-640-pixel and a crisp 326 dpi (dots, or pixels, per inch). The screen is so beloved by Apple iPhone owners that rumors have persisted since before the launch of the iPad 2 that the iPad would eventually see such a dense display.Given how much iPhone users enjoy the iPhone 4's screen, this rumor may end up not seeing the light of day.
However, the fact that the next iPhone has taken more than a year to hit stores since the iPhone 4's launch has given rise to rumors that problems with producing a larger display are what have delayed the release of the next iPhone.
iPhone 4S or iPhone 5:
Simply put, if the next iPhone has a bigger screen, it needs a new body, a new form factor. If the screen stays the same, it could make use of the same form as the iPhone 4.
When Apple moved from its second-generation to its third-generation iPhone, the name changed from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS. The form factor remained the same, but the internals were upgraded, and the S was added to the name to indicate the bump in speed and improved software of iOS 4.
We know for sure the iPhone 5 will run iOS 5 and receive upgraded hardware of some sort. If that upgraded hardware fits into the existing iPhone 4 form factor, then the likely name will be iPhone 4S.
If Apple debuts a new design, the likely name will be the iPhone 5, if the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant follows its past naming pattern.
Among the rumored design choices if Apple unveils a new look for the next iPhone is a "teardrop" shape that tapers from a thicker top to a narrower bottom, similar to the look of theMacBook Air in profile.
Supposed iPhone cases have been leaking from China for weeks and even reportedly showing up atAT&T stores, leading some to believe that the teardrop look is coming. However, Apple pundit John Gruber weighed in with a smart argument that a teardrop design wouldn't make sense for an iPhone because it would lead to an unbalanced feel in the hand, especially when playing games horizontally. That runs contrary to Apple's industrial design themes and emphasis on ease of use.
One iPhone or two?:
With differing views on whether the next iPhone will receive a new body, some have taken to the rumor that Apple could release two phones, both an iPhone 5 (possibly with a larger screen) and an iPhone 4S.
One move that is likely (whether we see two new iPhones or one) would be for Apple to take the existing iPhone 4, drop its storage memory down to about 8-gigabytes and sell it at a low price. Apple made this move with the iPhone 3GS when the iPhone 4 was released, selling an 8-gigabyte version of that handset for $99 from AT&T.
This too has been rumored, with varying and conflicting reports projecting just how it will all play out.
AT&T, Verizon and Sprint?:
AT&T has always sold the iPhone in the U.S., and Verizon has been selling the iPhone 4 sinceFebruary, after months of a coveted Verizon iPhone.
The latest rumor, however, is that Sprint, the nation's third-largest carrier, will sell the next iPhone too with unlimited data.Currently, Sprint is the last major U.S. telecom company to offer an unlimited talk, text and web data plan with no limits, surcharges or throttles.
Analysts have projected that Sprint could sell as many as 1.2 million units of Apple's next iPhone before the end of the year.
Siri and the Assistant:
Possibly the least reported of the rumors mentioned in this post is that the next iPhone could gain a groundbreaking new feature called "assistant" that would allow for deeper integrated speech controls.
But Assistant, as rumored, wouldn't be just any speech input feature, it would actually allow iPhone users to speak a conversational style request into their device and Assistant would perform the requested action by identifying the necessary app and then using that app to get the appropriate data.
For example, a user in Los Angeles could say something like "I want to go to a college football game on Saturday," and then the Assistant program would find out that both USC and UCLA play Saturday, then report back to the user where they play, against what teams and how much tickets would cost, with links to all the information needed to buy tickets and attend a game.
The technology behind Assistant would come largely from a start-up Apple purchased more than a year ago called Siri.
The news outlet that reported on what Siri could look like in the next iPhone the most has been the blog 9to5Mac, which has quoted Siri co-founder Norman Winarsky as saying that he doesn't know the particulars of what Apple is doing with Siri's technology, but "Make no mistake: Apple's 'mainstreaming' Artificial Intelligence in the form of a Virtual Personal Assistant is a groundbreaking event. I'd go so far as to say it is a World-Changing event."
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