Below, I give a quick review of the new notification screen, iCloud backup, and Siri voice recognition. If you can't see the video, click here.
VIDEO
I also tried out the video camera at the park. The iPhone 4S camera does a much better job at eliminating the jerkiness of filming a scene with your hand. With the iPhone 4 and previous phones, videos come out pretty shaky unless your phone is mounted on a tripod. Because I uploaded the video on my 3G connection, it's only in standard definition. Check out the video below:
THE VERDICT
As cool as the 4S is, I still don't recommend iPhone 4 owners pay for the upgrade. Now, if you can get it for free as I described in a previous post, I say go for it!
There's always the hope that if you sit and watch for long enough, the beachball will vanish and the thing it interrupted will return."
Steve Jobs passed away yesterday. He's had an undeniable impact not only on technology, but on the culture. An entire generation (after mine) has been reared thinking that Apple has always been a highly successful, innovative company.
I'm a PC guy. Ever since I got my first computer in college, I've enjoyed tinkering around with components and dealing with Windows BSODs. I was never drawn to the Mac because it was VERY expensive. Also, it was relatively closed off and difficult to upgrade. This holds true today - you pay a premium for good quality. I didn't think I'd ever get over this anti-Apple bias.
True to form, when the iPod first came out during my senior year of college in 2011, I completely clowned it. Here was another amazingly expensive ($400) product that you could only use with a similarly expensive Apple computer. Also, the idea of carrying a spinning hard drive in my pocket seemed disastrous (I had a number of hard drive crashes in the previous year). My roommate, who was and is a huge Apple fan, thought it was funny to put a page of the first iPod ad on my door, with my name written on it. I wish I had kept it.
However, I got over this once the 3rd gen iPod came out in 2003. That was when iTunes finally dropped for Windows, and there was a harmonious mix between the iPod's price and my new fancy job. I dropped in and haven't looked back. Hell, I have completely digitized and sold my extensive CD collection partly due to the convenience that the iPod has provided. This convenience has extended to the iPhone and iPad, both of which I own and love.
I bought into Apple has a consumer electronics company, not as a computer company. I've still never owned an Apple desktop or laptop (except for an ancient iBook that I was attempting to fix for a local nonprofit).
So, Apple announced the iPhone 4S today. The gory details are up on Apple's website. It's the same physical size, but its faster and has a few more features. Most notably, it has an improved voice notification system called Siri that promises to interpret voice commands into emails, texts, reminders, etc. If it works well, it could very well be the future of computing input. Pre orders start on October 7th, with the release on October 14th.
Ok, now that all that is out of the way, I wouldn't recommend the upgrade if you already own an iPhone 4. However, if you're willing to part with your iPhone 4, there's a great option available: Gazelle.com.
Gazelle is an online retailer that accepts trade-ins for devices. It has a strong emphasis on electronics and gadgets, and the prices are decent. They offer PayPal, Amazon Gift card, or a physical check. For my Black 16GB iPhone 4 in mint condition (not flawless), I received an offer of $191 - basically enough to cover the $200 price of the 16GB iPhone 4S. Best of all, my offer is locked in for 30 days, so I don't have to trade it in until after I receive the iPhone 4S on October 14th.
Because I'm getting it basically for free, I'm looking forward to the iPhone 4S. I'll definitely do a video review on the site.
I've been fascinated with the Windows 8 Developer build, especially the quick boot time. One of the key benefits of the ever-more-powerful smartphone and tablet market is that they are easy to boot up and get into. Desktops have never had this luxury, especially with traditional hard drives. As I showed in the video on my last post, the Windows 8 boot time is impressive. Are we finally at a point where a desktop OS can boot up comparably with a tablet?
In today's video, I put Windows 8 on a desktop to the test against an iPad 2. I start them both at the same time and see which one gets to the password screen the fastest. I use the password screen because both start pretty much instantaneously after a password is entered.
I was able to get Windows 8 to boot up extremely fast - about 30 seconds. Not bad at all for a developer build. If you can't see the embedded video, please click here.
Taken with iPhone 4S in Clark Park, West Philly
