Samsung Nexus Prime: Can it Deliver What iPhone 4S Couldn’t?

“It will be our most ambitious launch to date,” executives told PC Magazine.

The new phone may be able to take some more market share away from Apple. According to recent analysis Apple has 27.3 percent of the smart phone market. But Google has captured 43.7 percent of the market since its Android OS is available on a much wider array of smartphones.

Apple recently disappointed the tech community after a much hyped “Let’s talk iPhone” press conference didn’t result in the unveiling of the iPhone 5. Instead Apple announced the iPhone 4S.

The Nexus Prime’s screen will be almost a full inch bigger than the 4S’s 3.5-inch screen. Also 4G and Near Field Communication showed up on a lot of wishlists when tech reporters thought Apple was going to release the iPhone 5.

Samsung was due to announce the phone Oct. 11, but reports say they have postponed that announcement.

“Samsung and Google decide to postpone the new product announcement at CTIA Fall. We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product. New date and venue will be shortly announced,” the companies announced, according to Engadget.

Engadget also reports that Samsung postponed the announcement in respect of Steve Jobs, who passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 5, a day after the iPhone 4S was launched. The company may have also postponed the announcement because of the underwhelming response to Apple’s new products, and the company is no longer feeling the pressure to present a new smartphone.

No matter the reason we’ll probably get the first look at the new Android OS at the Oct. 11 event. We won’t have to wait too long for the Nexus Prime, since executives say the phone will be released in November.

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Article source: http://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/articles/227722/20111009/samsung-nexus-prime-can-it-deliver-what-iphone-4s-couldnt.htm

iPhone 5: Top 10 Things We Wanted and Where We Can Still Get Them (PHOTOS)

When Apple announced the launch of the iPhone 4S, the tech community was a little disappointed it didn’t see an iPhone 5.

With some of the wishlist and rumors flying around the Internet, the iPhone 5 speculation made for an exciting, yet fictional, smartphone. But don’t worry as there are already some great smartphones on the market that do everything we wished was in the new iPhone 5.

Motorola DROID BIONIC already has a lot of great features that were just announced in the iPhone 4S. It already has a 8-megapixel camera and voice-to-text capability.

Here are the 10 things we wanted to see in the new iPhone and how Android phones have already beaten Apple to the punch. Start the slideshow to begin.

Article source: http://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/articles/227733/20111009/iphone-5-top-10-things-we-wanted-and-where-we-can-still-get-them-photos-android-smartphone-iphone-4s.htm

iPhone 5 release date holdouts bypass iPhone 4S for 4G LTE, styling

October 9, 2011   by Bill Palmer  

by Bill Palmer

The iPhone 5 faces a further four to twelve month gestation period before its release date (logical emphasis on six to nine), leaving Apple’s interstitial new iPhone 4S to benefit via sales to those who’ve come to respect the advances which the 4S does bring along with those who simply want or need a new iPhone now. If preorder numbers thus far are an indication of what’s to come, the 4S is set to become Apple’s biggest hit product yet. But iPhone 5 holdouts abound, and while some will ultimately change their mind and plunk down on a 4S in the next several months after all, others will continue to wait until Apple launches the next generation one way or the other. The reasons range from the strategic (they live in an area in which ATT or Verizon offers 4G LTE and they don’t want an iPhone which doesn’t include it) to the superficial (they already have an iPhone 4 and they don’t want to replace it with an identical twin) to the situational (they’re on T-Mobile, and while the Sprint iPhone 4S is looking tempting, they plan to wait for a presumed T-Mobile iPhone 5 once their carrier’s merger is squared away). Here’s a detailed look at the various reasons for waiting for the iPhone 5 and the likelihood that each group of holdouts gets their way…

New iPhone 5 body style: This one is nearly a given. Apple has now technically used the current iPhone body style four times in sixteen months, if you count the original iPhone 4, the Verizon iPhone 4, the white iPhone 4, and now the iPhone 4S. That’s perhaps justified by the fact that they’ve all been part of the “four” era. But by that logic, the iPhone 5 must come with an external redesign. Apple previously employed a more curvaceous design with the original iPhone and the 3G/3GS before moving to the current boxier fourth generation design. Apple could shift back to curviness, albeit in a thinner body, with the iPhone 5. But the iPhone 4 design itself was enough of a departure from any previous iPhone hardware design that predicting the next one with any degree of confidence is a dangerous game – beyond the near certainty that the iPhone 5 styling will in fact change in some way…

4G LTE iPhone 5: Most of you are reading that as a string of alphanumeric soup. 4G represents the next generation of mobile cellular networking after the current 3G. LTE refers to the 4G variation which Verizon has begun building out and ATT is just beginning to build out, and Sprint is switching over to LTE from its current competing 4G variation next year as part of its new deal with Apple. So why isn’t 4G LTE in the iPhone 4S, if it’s the favored son of all three U.S. iPhone carriers? For one, most iPhone users don’t live in an area in which 4G LTE towers have been built yet by their carrier, meaning you can’t use LTE even if it’s built into your phone. Second, 4G LTE hardware antennas are big and bulky and drain a phone’s battery at stunning speeds (even faster if LTE isn’t available in your area and your phone is constantly searching for an LTE signal). In other words, an iPhone 4S with 4G LTE would be a big brick with minimal battery life and most buyers wouldn’t be able to put the 4G LTE to any use anyway. That’ll change by next year, when all three carriers will be closer to completing their 4G LTE nationwide networks (to varying degrees) and 4G LTE chip advancements will allow for normal-sized phones with acceptable battery life. Will this happen in time for the iPhone 5? One would think that Apple is waiting to launch the iPhone 5 until the precise moment at which it feels it can do a 4G LTE iPhone right. But if the phase-in to the 4G LTE era continues to crawl as slowly in 2012 as it has in 2011, and particularly if Apple has its sights set on an early 2012 iPhone 5 release date as opposed to a summer or fall launch, there are no guarantees. Here’s more on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5.

Updated 2:40pm PST with additional information on the Sprint iPhone

Article source: http://www.beatweek.com/news/9596-iphone-5-release-date-holdouts-bypass-iphone-4s-for-4g-lte-styling/

iPhone 5 Release Date in 2012: Top 10 New Features

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If the iPhone 5 is ready to go by January, why not put the device in the market in December holiday season when consumer spending is at its highest point?  A December or January release date is just too soon. 

Customers who lined up for the iPhone 4S will find their three-month phones obsolete.  And for those not mad at this rip-off, who would want to pay termination fees three months after taking a two-year contract?

A March release date would also be possible although unlikely.  The first and second generation iPads were released in March in the past two years, and the third one will be available in March next year.  Having two new pricey devices simultaneously would cannibalize sales of one of the devices — who would want to pay for a $649 (contract-free) iPhone 5 and a $499 iPad 3 at the same time?

A June unveiling at Apple’s developers’ conference would be a more plausible schedule.  Prior to this year, Apple has been launching new iPhone models in June.  Analyst Keith Bachman of BMO Capital Markets had said a few months ago that the all-new iPhone 5 would arrive only in 2012.  ”We believe the iPhone 5 will launch in mid-2012,” Bachman had written in a note.

An October 2012 release date for the iPhone 5 also makes sense.  Releasing a new iPhone 24 long months after the flagship iPhone 4 was made available — and 12 months after the “interim” iPhone 4S — would allow Android phones and Windows-based Nokia phones to gain ground.

With no iPhone 5, it’s rumor-time once again.  

HERE ARE THE TOP 10 RUMORED FEATURES OF THE IPHONE 5:

10. 4G LTE Connectivity.  ”Apple is saving the iPhone 5 brand for the LTE version, and the new model won’t arrive until the 4G LTE technology is ready to be used in smartphones, which won’t be out until next spring,” Will Strauss, president of market research firm Forward Concepts told CNET.  There have been reports that Apple was testing LTE but was unhappy with the first generation LTE chipsets from Qualcomm, which chipsets would make phones bulkier.

9. Quad-core processors and bigger RAM.  The iPhone 4 has a single core A4 processor, while the iPhone 4S has a dual core A5 processor.  Samsung Electronics and other Android device-makers are preparing to launch phones with quad-core processors with Nvidia’s quad-core Kal-El chips. 

iPhone 6 would have quad-core processors, Ars technica reported, after discovering that the Cupertino, California-based company has embedded support for quad-core chips in source code revealed in its Xcode developer tool.  But Ars technica’s report was based on the assumption that the iPhone 5 would be released this October. 

With the iPhone 5 still due 2012, it would be more likely that the quad-core processors, which will give phones with desktop-like performance, will be in the iPhone 5.  Linley Gwennap, founder and principal analyst at The Linley Group told PCWorld, told PCWorld that she expects the iPad 3 will have a quad-core A6 processor. 

The iPhone 5, which will be released after the iPad 3, will likely have the same processor.  As to the RAM, the iPhone 4S has the same amount of RAM as its predecessor, persisting at 512 MB.  “Don’t be deceived because inside it is all new”, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said about the iPhone 4S.  The iPhone 5 will be a full-version upgrade over the iPhone 4.  It will have a faster processor and a bigger amount of RAM.

8. Curved screen.  Digitimes, citing sources in the glass industry, Apple’s design team is working on a new iOS device with a curved glass screen.  There were rumors earlier that Apple has been purchasing glass-cutting machines that specialize in curve screens.  The iPhone 5 will have the external design changes fans have been looking for in this year’s new iPhone.

7. NCF Chips.  Apple will include near field communication (NFC) in the iPhone 5.  Google has just announced that it has signed deals with Visa, Mastercard and others for NCF readers at stores. More people will flock to Android devices for Google Wallet if the iPhone 5 can’t be a virtual wallet.

6. Operating system.  Each new iPhone launched in the market comes with new software.  Aside from the radical new design, the iPhone 5 needs the 200 new features from a new OS in order to entice Apple users to upgrade or Android users to switch. By the time iPhone 5 is available, Microsoft Corp. will already have Windows 8, a new operating system designed to work not only for personal computers but also for smartphones and tablets. 

The Mac OS X Lion launched together with the new MacBook Air laptops in August incorporated many developments made in Apple’s iOS.  This indicates that Apple could go Microsoft way and possibly merge the platforms for its mobile devices and PCs.  Apple’s iCloud infrastructure would function perfectly with a common platform.

5. Teardrop design and no home buttons.  Boy Genius Report months before had a report that the iPhone 5 that will be released this year will have a teardrop design.  Although BGR and others never predicted the release date, BGR’s “iPhone 5 will have radical changes” has not been proved wrong after Apple only unveiled the iPhone 4S this month. 

The iPhone 5 is expected to come with an aluminum plate casing rather than the current glass backing.  As to the home-button, Jobs removed the keyboard, so it’s not surprising that the iPhone 5 won’t have the home-button.

4. Display at 4 inches.  It is expected that iPhone 5 will have a larger edge-to-edge display possibly with 3.7-inch to 4.3-inch screen.  Samsung, HTC, and Motorola have launched new smartphones with 4.3-inch screens.  If CEO Tim Cook keeps the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen, he’ll be hearing “too small” criticisms everyday.  Apple knows how to challenge boundaries, so a massive display on an iPhone is not impossible.

3. AMOLED screen technology.  Apple is Samsung’s number one customer.  Samsung already manufactures the processor, the RAM and screens for Apple devices.  It will make more money if it manufactures and provides the AMOLED screen technology for the iPhone 5.  But the two have been at odds this year. 

Apple has sought a ban of the Galaxy S2 and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in its lawsuits against Samsung in three continents.  Samsung has responded with a lawsuit seeking a ban of the iPhone 4S on account of Apple’s infringement of Samsung’s wireless technology.

2. Dual-LED flash camera.  People were expecting an iPhone 5 that would have an advanced 8-megapixel this year.  Apple only launched iPhone 4S and it came with an 8-megapixel LED flash camera and a secondary VGA one for video chat. 

The iPhone 5 should have an upgraded camera, possibly at least a 12-megapixel.  The iPhone 5 is expected to have a dual-LED flash and the flash unit will be separated from the camera sensor.  The front-facing camera should At least have 2-megapixels rather than the archaic VGA. 

1. 3D Experience.  Toshiba has already unveiled the world’s first glasses-free 3D laptop, which uses a lenticular screen and integrated webcam.  And LG Electronics has already released the LG Optimus 3D, which claims to offer “the world’s first 3D experience on a smartphone.  Steve Jobs doesn’t like to incorporate half-baked features on Apple devices. 

3D technology on mobile devices is certainly in its infancy, making it unlikely that Apple engineers will add 3D features on the iPhone 5.  But Apple filed a patent application related to 3D picture taking to the US Patent and Trademark Office later in March, according to an AppleInsider report. 

The filing described a system that would be capable of capturing, processing and rendering 3D images with the additional dual-camera hardware.  Apple will continue to lead the industry in innovation if its 3D feature works better than rivals. 

The iPhone 5 will be awesome if the new virtual assistant, Siri, will be available in 3D.  The sky’s the limit for Apple if it has apps and cameras that provide 3D experience.

Article source: http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/227648/20111009/iphone-5-release-2012-top-features.htm

iPhone 4S cues up iOS 5, holds back iPod touch 5, iPod classic death

October 8, 2011   by Beatweek  

by Bill Palmer

The good news regarding Apple’s decision to go with an iPhone 4S this month instead of finding a way to get an iPhone 5 to market in 2011 is that it hasn’t held up the launch of iOS 5. The operating system which should have come with the fifth generation iPhone has instead become a part of the iPhone 4S generation, including all of its features previewed in June along with the new Siri voice assistant feature. The bad news, at least for those who still care about the iPod, is that the entire iPod lineup appears to have been punted back by a year as a result. If there was to be an iPod touch 5 it likely would have mirrored the new hardware styling of the iPhone 5. Instead Apple has left the existing iPod touch 4 in place, spec for spec and feature for feature, with the singular exception of launching a white model. That move has in turn left the iPod touch stranded at a sixty-four gigabyte ceiling capacity (interestingly, now finally on par with the iPhone 4S and its new 64 GB ceiling), meaning that the iPod classic gets to live on another year. And there’s other fallout to the Apple lineup as well…

If it’s to be assumed that Apple product launches have been on the backburner of late as the company has had to deal with the transition to Tim Cook as CEO even as Steve Jobs was living out what Apple appears to now have known were his final days, then the company can be forgiven for serving up the iPhone 4S and very little else this month. But it’s worth pointing out that most Septembers have come with a full revamp of the iPod lineup, and this is the first year in half a decade that hasn’t happened. The iPod touch remains the same product. The iPod classic didn’t go away as a result, with its hundred and something gigabyte hard drive capacity the only reason it’s still on the market. The iPod nano, which was completely revamped last year, didn’t even get Apple’s usual off-year treatment in which the nano has traditionally seen cosmetic hardware changes in the years in which it wasn’t fully revamped. The iPod shuffle now enters its second identical year. Apple TV saw no hardware updates of any kind, a year after having seen its biggest (or smallest, based on physical shrinkage) revision to date. The iPad 3 or iPad 2S, which some expected would be spring in time for Christmas so the iPad could be positioned as a “new” generation heading into the holidays, never got a mention. Now it’s up to the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 to carry Apple’s momentum through at least the next season. And that’s actually a lot…

Siri voice recognition alone will sell a good number of iPhone 4S units, even to those who are upgrading from an identical-looking iPhone 4. Additionally, other iOS 5 features which have been extended to older iPhone models like the 4 and 3GS will run more slowly or a limited fashion on the comparatively outdated hardware, leading some to upgrade to a 4S who were quite adamant that they never would. Early iPhone 4S preorder sales figures point to a multitude of people not needing any convincing before buying. Overall, the iOS 5 feature set arguably brings more new major features and makes more fundamental changes to the iPhone experience than iOS 2 through iOS 4 combined. That makes the iPhone 4S, in a software sense, the biggest upgrade in iPhone history. And that’s a wave Apple will now attempt to ride through at least the end of the holidays, before regrouping in early 2012 with whatever comes next. Here’s more on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5.

Article source: http://www.beatweek.com/news/9597-iphone-4s-cues-up-ios-5-holds-back-ipod-touch-5-ipod-classic-death/

iPhone 5 release date holdouts bypass iPhone 4S for 4G LTE, new style

October 8, 2011   by Bill Palmer  

by Bill Palmer

The iPhone 5 faces a further four to twelve month gestation period before its release date (emphasis on six to nine), leaving Apple’s interstitial new iPhone 4S to benefit via sales to those who respect the advances the 4S does bring and those who simply want a new iPhone now. If preorders are any indication thus far, the 4S is set to become Apple’s biggest hit product yet. But iPhone 5 holdouts abound, and while some will ultimately change their mind and plunk down on a 4S in the next several months after all, others will continue to wait until Apple launches the next generation one way or the other. The reasons range from the strategic (they live in an area in which ATT or Verizon offers 4G LTE and they don’t want an iPhone which doesn’t include it) to the superficial (they already have an iPhone 4 and they don’t want to replace it with an identical twin) to the situational (they’re on T-Mobile, and while the Sprint iPhone 4S is looking tempting, they plan to wait for a presumed T-Mobile iPhone 5 once their carrier’s merger is squared away). Here’s a detailed look at the various reasons for waiting for the iPhone 5 and the likelihood that each group of holdouts gets their way…

New iPhone 5 body style: This one is nearly a given. Apple has now technically used the current iPhone body style four times in sixteen months, if you count the original iPhone 4, the Verizon iPhone 4, the white iPhone 4, and now the iPhone 4S. That’s perhaps justified by the fact that they’ve all been part of the “four” era. But by that logic, the iPhone 5 must come with an external redesign. Apple previously employed a more curvaceous design with the original iPhone and the 3G/3GS before moving to the current boxier fourth generation design. Apple could shift back to curviness, albeit in a thinner body, with the iPhone 5. But the iPhone 4 design itself was enough of a departure from any previous iPhone hardware design that predicting the next one with any degree of confidence is a dangerous game – beyond the near certainty that the iPhone 5 styling will in fact change in some way…

4G LTE iPhone 5: Most of you are reading that as a string of alphanumeric soup. 4G represents the next generation of mobile cellular networking after the current 3G. LTE refers to the 4G variation which Verizon has begun building out and ATT is just beginning to build out, and Sprint is looking at switching over to LTE from its current competing 4G variation next year. So why isn’t 4G LTE in the iPhone 4S, if it’s the favored son of all three U.S. iPhone carriers? For one, most iPhone users don’t live in an area in which 4G LTE towers have been built yet by their carrier, meaning you can’t use LTE even if it’s built into your phone. Second, 4G LTE hardware antennas are big and bulky and drain a phone’s battery at stunning speeds (even faster if LTE isn’t available in your area and your phone is constantly searching for an LTE signal). In other words, an iPhone 4S with 4G LTE would be a big brick with minimal battery life and most buyers wouldn’t be able to put the 4G LTE to any use anyway. That’ll change by next year, when all three carriers will be closer to completing their 4G LTE nationwide networks (to varying degrees) and 4G LTE chip advancements will allow for normal-sized phones with acceptable battery life. Will this happen in time for the iPhone 5? One would think that Apple is waiting to launch the iPhone 5 until the precise moment at which it feels it can do a 4G LTE iPhone right. But if the phase-in to the 4G LTE era continues to crawl as slowly in 2012 as it has in 2011, and particularly if Apple has its sights set on an early 2012 iPhone 5 release date as opposed to a summer or fall launch, there are no guarantees. Here’s more on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5.

Article source: http://www.beatweek.com/news/9596-iphone-5-release-date-holdouts-bypass-iphone-4s-for-4g-lte-new-style/