iPhone 5

[TheL8Elvis]

LTE, meh, Samsung and others have been selling LTE phones for over a year. 4 inch screen? Meh, Samsung and others have been selling phones with 4 inch or larger displays for over two years.

So, it sounds like the proper conclusion is that every LTE and 4" phone that has come out in the last 2 years (after the first one) has been 'meh' ? It was only exciting the for the first ever LTE/4" screen phone ?

 

[kajata]

I'd argue we've been there since before the first iPhone came out.

The appearance of the iPhone was the huge leap. Eliminating the keyboard and stylus, introducing gestures instead of taps, multitouch... I wouldn't call and of those individually astonishing leaps.

I'd disagree with that. The whole industry shifted to that after Apple introduced it. And that wasn't just the appearance. It was the usability.

 

[CynicalSkeptic]

I'd disagree with that. The whole industry shifted to that after Apple introduced it. And that wasn't just the appearance. It was the usability.

You left out some key parts of my post.

They [existing smart phones] just didn't do it as nicely.
...
all combined in one device did make it a fairly big leap

I agree with you. Overall usability made a jump. And yes other manufacturers saw that and followed.

 

[kajata]

You left out some key parts of my post.


I agree with you. Overall usability made a jump. And yes other manufacturers saw that and followed.

Except BlackBerry (I know you didn't imply they did, just throwing it out there). I don't know what the hell they were waiting for! And now, they're toast.

 

[uruk]

I was hoping for something astonishing, or really innovative and this doesn't deliver that. For me it's like the S3, nice phone but just a tech refresh dressed up.

I agree. I was hoping for something that would make my eyes shoot out of thier sockets with incredulity. It's really just another upgrade.

 

[BenBurch]

All machines go through a period of great engineering diversity at their inceptions, and then fall into a form that persists often as long as devices of that sort are made.

Steam engines were very, very diverse at the beginning, but quickly all followed the same pattern of design laid down by "Rocket" and with very few exceptions remained in that pattern until the end of steam.

So too the pocket computer.

We call them "phones" but they stopped being mere phones.

I believe that they have found their stable form, and that form looks just like an iPhone.

I do not expect many revolutions in this space, just improvements.

 

[WildCat]

After five years they're changing the connector to make it a third of the size and make precious room, when every square millimeter counts, on the inside. It's a good thing. And you could always buy an adapter (rumored on MacRumors to be 10 bucks).

It turns out the adapter is $30 or $40, depending on the type you want.

Don't look for a cheaper non-Apple version either, not allowed.

 

[WildCat]

and ETA: The three things you probably would notice the most have gotten pretty big bumps...faster chip, bigger screen, 4G

But still no swappable battery or memory card slot. Inexcusable.

 

[TheL8Elvis]

But still no swappable battery or memory card slot. Inexcusable.

Meh.

When someone complains about 'swappable batteries' an I ask them about their own phone/laptop and how many extra batteries they carry, the answer has always been zero.

I understand that is anecdotal evidence, but there it is anyway.

Besides, external batteries/battery powered chargers can be had that serve the same purpose, so I don't even see how that is a valid issue.

If you must carry all your data on external memory cards, I guess you are SOL if you want an iphone. I don't see how this affects the average iphone user, but I would love to hear about all the use cases average users have for carrying their data on memory cards with no other way to access it ...

 

[CynicalSkeptic]

Except BlackBerry (I know you didn't imply they did, just throwing it out there). I don't know what the hell they were waiting for! And now, they're toast.

I thought they did somewhat. Yeah, many models still have keyboards on the front, but they at least offer some models with full screen and a slide-away keyboard like the early Android phones and the few current ones that still have a physical keyboard.

 

[Ginarley]

I was wow'd by the first iphones but they have lost the wow factor in the last couple of releases and especially this one compared with the competition. Just for one example the Nokia 920 generates wows with interesting looks, a touch screen you can use with ski gloves, and wireless charging. That doesn't necessarily mean it is a good phone or that the iphone 5 is a bad phone but my reaction to recent apple announcements has been "meh", not something I am used to associating with them even if I have never been a fanboy.

 

[CynicalSkeptic]

I don't carry an extra battery for my G1, but when my old one would no longer hold a charge, it sure was nice to be able to replace it myself.


I thought this was an eye opener:
http://mashable.com/2012/09/12/iphone-5-compared/

 

[Wowbagger]

I think it would be better if it ran Android, instead of their older, self-built, proprietary operating system.

 

[Aidoneus]

I'm not blown away by the new iPhone, but I'll probably still get one anyway, simply due to there being no reasonable alternatives. Android has an acceptable app catalog, but no nice hardware (expecting perhaps HTC's One X), where as Nokia's Windows Phone hardware is gorgeous, but the platform just isn't mature enough for my needs.

Looks like I'll be staying with Apple for at least the next year then.

 

[This is The End]

That is a good point. It is my understanding that there are tons of 3GS users that skipped 4 and 4S completely.

Either they had 3GS since launch way back when (09?), or else they got it more recently in the 4/4S era because it was dirt cheap.

Almost all of them have been waiting for this day.

So add to that the die-hards that update ASAP every time there is a new version.... We are going to be looking at huge iPhone 5 sales numbers.

They need it.

You are kidding, right ?

Could you please not dishonestly snip my posts?


The "They need it." was clearly related to the rest of the post. TheL8Elvis likely knew this but yet disingenuously snipped it to contain the unrelated first half of the post and not the 2nd half.

Here is the rest of the post TheL8Elvis intentionally left out.

They need it.

Android/Samsung have been absolutely gobbling up the smart phone market share:

Android has nearly 70% of the smartphone market, half of which are Samsung phones. Apple has like 15% smartphone market share. So, AFAIK, Samsung already has more than twice the smartphone market share.

Anyway I wanted to check my numbers <snip>


Here's an article from 3 days ago. I was very nearly spot on:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/08/technology/smartphone-market-share/

Google's Android surged to a whopping 68% share of the global smartphone market last quarter. That's four times the 17% market share held by Apple, according to a Wednesday report from research firm IDC.

More specifically, IDC pegged Android's gain "directly" to Samsung, which represented 44% of all Android phones shipped during the quarter. That's more than the next seven Android vendors combined, IDC said. Samsung's Galaxy S III debuted late in the quarter to favorable reviews.

Apple is seriously hoping this (3GS users like Vermonter) is one of the reasons, if not the main reason, why they have been losing market share.

The "They need it." in that context clearly means "if they want to stop losing ground in phone and phone OS market share". For the past 2 quarters it appears that Apple is going to eventually end up with about a 5 to 10% market share, just like with PCs.

TheL8Elvis tries to make it seem like I meant that Apple is going poor...

Yes, TheL8Elvis, we know that Apple is the richest company in the world. That doesn't make market share facts just go away.

 

[This is The End]

One thing I'm disappointed with is that the screen is only taller and not wider as well. I don't know if this was done for old app compatibility or what but I loved the proportions of the 4" screen on my Droid X (though I hated the phone).

I agree. Horrible ratio. They might just be doing that to make it harder to port apps back and forth. To give their products more proprietary distinction. That could be a good move, but it could also backfire.

 

[This is The End]

Anyway, this new article sums up many of those features we have been hearing about:

iPhone 5: 10 Rumored Features You'll Already Find in Competing Devices

Well here is the first of those 10 that it appears Apple did not come through with:

1. Near-field communication

This is an easy one, isn’t it? Near-field communication is an absolute necessity in every smartphone going forward, and yet, it’s not available in Apple’s iPhone. That’ll likely change with the iPhone 5. However, several companies, including Apple’s arch-nemesis Samsung, have already bundled NFC into their products. Sorry, Apple, but you’re a little late to the game.

And it was #1 on that list, they considered it a "no-brainer".

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-09-12/apple-iphone-5-in-stores-sept-dot-21

One feature missing from the new phone is a chip for near-field communications, or NFC. Other top-of-the-line phones are incorporating such chips, which let phones work as credit cards at some store payment terminals. They also enable phones to share data when "bumped" into each other.

 

[a_unique_person]

It's good to see they are following the innovation of Samsung, by making the phone screen larger and the phone itself thinner. It will use the new LTE technology that Samsung helped invent. Which is a good thing, as Apple is really just a company that designs the look and feel, the really hard stuff that's inside the phone is beyond them.

 

[kajata]

But still no swappable battery or memory card slot. Inexcusable.

For you. Not for me and many other people. I had a Droid X for a year. Never swapped the battery or memory card.

It turns out the adapter is $30 or $40, depending on the type you want.

Don't look for a cheaper non-Apple version either, not allowed.

Well, I was certainly wrong about the price.

But according to Phil Schiller it wasn't possible to make the phone any thinner with the 9-year-old plug.

Seriously, they stuck with the same plug for almost a decade. New tech arose and they went with it. I'm all for the change.

Just for one example the Nokia 920 generates wows with interesting looks, a touch screen you can use with ski gloves, and wireless charging.

As Schiller points out in the article I posted a few sentences up...

As for wireless charging, Schiller notes that the wireless charging systems still have to be plugged into the wall, so it’s not clear how much convenience they add. The widely-adopted USB cord, meanwhile, can charge in wall outlets, computers and even on airplanes, he said.
“Having to create another device you have to plug into the wall is actually, for most situations, more complicated,” Schiller said.

 

[kajata]

It's good to see they are following the innovation of Samsung, by making the phone screen larger and the phone itself thinner. It will use the new LTE technology that Samsung helped invent. Which is a good thing, as Apple is really just a company that designs the look and feel, the really hard stuff that's inside the phone is beyond them.

This is true. I hear they don't really employ hundreds of engineers but only a few graphic designers to create the pretty boxes to put the finished items in.