IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition • Hacker News Board

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#91

Post by azulum » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:00 PM UTC

Toddward wrote: post #46

guywithabike wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't get it. Why's everyone underwhelmed? Is a new case the only thing people wanted?

Apple failed to manage expectations - rumors ran rampant about a new design, larger screen, iPhone 4S and an iPhone 5, LTE/WiMAX... In the face of all the rumors of possible updates, an S version of what we already had is underwhelming. In the past Apple has done a great job of strategically leaking info to the press when rumors were getting out of hand (iPad 2 Retina Display is a recent example) - that did not happe…

i have a feeling that we've seen a variety of the iterations apple has been working on behind the scenes. apple doesn't like to comment on rumors as it might show their hand. i do think that there is an ipad with double linear resolution and an iphone with a body design/home button/larger screen similar to the rumored iphone 5. i think the disappointment comes from the fact that apples lead times are much, much longer than the year long release cycles. apple's secretiveness helps manage expectations by not promising things that don't ship, but does little to manage the raging speculation that makes a 4S seem downright boring.

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#92

Post by adbge » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:03 PM UTC

kenjackson wrote: post #36

dmix wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You lost me at Mango and iOS being in the same category - and then you want to "throw Android out and start from scratch"?... what? Android is not quite iOS but its a very close second and better than what anyone else has been capable of creating.

iOS and Mango are in the same class in fundamentals. Use a device with iOS, Mango, and Android. Honestly, try it. The iOS and Mango device respond very similarly to basic things like swipes, pinches, etc... Android is a lot more jittery, even on the SGII HW. The odd thing with Android is that it's not a LOT less jittery on the G1 (although it is). Android is second best in apps. And #1 in terms of market dominance. B…

    > The iOS and Mango device respond very similarly to
    > basic things like swipes, pinches, etc... Android 
    > is a lot more jittery, even on the SGII HW.

Before I ditched my iPhone 3G for an Atrix, the device was barely usable. It didn't just stutter, it would hang for upwards of a minute when opening certain apps (maps, I'm looking at you), and it's not like the device was defective as I've used others and had an identical experience.

Now, maybe the 4G offers a smoother experience than Android (no GC + hardware acceleration?), I don't know, but the 3G experience was sure as hell nothing to write home about. I can say, however, that my Atrix is noticeably more responsive after switching from Motorola's firmware to Cynanogen Mod, but -- again -- I don't know how it compares to a 4G.

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#93

Post by mahyarm » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:03 PM UTC

jesseendahl wrote: post #25

seanalltogether wrote: post #19

"And iPhone 4S is a world phone, so you can use it almost anywhere. Whether you’re a GSM or CDMA customer, you can roam GSM networks in 200 countries around the world." The term 'roam' is throwing me off there, does that mean you can't swap in your own sim card? That you have to use the roaming feature on whatever your current carrier is?

Well, so far there is no pricing available for an unlocked version of the iPhone 4S, and I assume the contract versions will carrier locked within the USA :(

That's not bad if it's unlocked outside of the USA, like the Droid 2 World phone.

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#94

Post by joebadmo » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:05 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #78

kenjackson wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apart from "faster", "better at connectivity", and "better at taking pictures", where does Apple have to go with this thing? A new chassis design? Why? And that's my fear. The first decade of the 2000s' Apple would answer this question with something you didn't think you needed. But it was a gamechanger. I could imagine Steve Jobs walking out on stage and saying: "We did the Retina Display. We changed displays foreve…

So we're setting the bar for new Apple products at "3D cell phone". Got it. :)

Maybe I shouldn't speak for kenjackson, but I don't think 3D was actually the feature he was hoping for, just an example of the kind of industry-changing innovation of which Apple is capable but was completely absent today.

And I say this not because I think you missed his point, but in a probably futile attempt to head off discussion about how 3D is stupid.

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#95

Post by azulum » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:06 PM UTC

kenjackson wrote: post #71

tptacek wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone 4 is (apparently) Apple's most successful product launch ever. It has been for me their most useful product ever. I am rarely without it. It's my phone, my music player, my camera, my alarm clock, my kitchen timer, my only game system, and often my web browser. It is also the most solid-feeling, elegant, understated thing Apple has ever sold me. Apart from "faster", "better at connectivity", and "better at…

Apart from "faster", "better at connectivity", and "better at taking pictures", where does Apple have to go with this thing? A new chassis design? Why? And that's my fear. The first decade of the 2000s' Apple would answer this question with something you didn't think you needed. But it was a gamechanger. I could imagine Steve Jobs walking out on stage and saying: "We did the Retina Display. We changed displays foreve…

any "3D" where the images are on one plane and the brain thinks that it is seeing depth—that is, several planes—will ultimately fail. so my prediction is that the iphone will never get 3D until it becomes, the eyePhone.

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#96

Post by spa942 » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:09 PM UTC

kenjackson wrote: post #71

tptacek wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone 4 is (apparently) Apple's most successful product launch ever. It has been for me their most useful product ever. I am rarely without it. It's my phone, my music player, my camera, my alarm clock, my kitchen timer, my only game system, and often my web browser. It is also the most solid-feeling, elegant, understated thing Apple has ever sold me. Apart from "faster", "better at connectivity", and "better at…

Apart from "faster", "better at connectivity", and "better at taking pictures", where does Apple have to go with this thing? A new chassis design? Why? And that's my fear. The first decade of the 2000s' Apple would answer this question with something you didn't think you needed. But it was a gamechanger. I could imagine Steve Jobs walking out on stage and saying: "We did the Retina Display. We changed displays foreve…

..and lots of people will be disappointed if they keep the chassis design on the iPhone 3D :)

I think it's funny how everyone expects a new design every year, just because that's how the cell phone world has always been. Looking at the iPod, Apple only had a few designs that they gradually improved and made smaller.

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#97

Post by gwright » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:10 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #87

gwright wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to think that someone else got a break that you didn't get but then you describe a situation that sounds exactly like what everyone else has experienced. I'm not sure why you have an expectation that any carrier would subsidize a new phone before you've effectively paid them for the previous phone. Obviously there is room to haggle on the margins of the contract but the entire business model of subsidized ph…

Read upthread. I have no expectations about subsidized pricing. I am not price sensitive. Someone said something, I expressed surprise. That's all.

OK. Looks like the original comment that you replied to was vague on details. I'm guessing when you dig down into them, there was no actual deal.

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#98

Post by kenjackson » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:14 PM UTC

joebadmo wrote: post #94

tptacek wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So we're setting the bar for new Apple products at "3D cell phone". Got it. :)

Maybe I shouldn't speak for kenjackson, but I don't think 3D was actually the feature he was hoping for, just an example of the kind of industry-changing innovation of which Apple is capable but was completely absent today. And I say this not because I think you missed his point, but in a probably futile attempt to head off discussion about how 3D is stupid.

Yes, I'm no Steve Jobs. I have no idea if 3D is a dead fad or the next big thing (even in Android land it appears to have died pretty quickly) -- it just made for a convenient example narrative. Although I must admit I think taking out an Evo 3D, looking at it, and then tossing it away would be get a fair bit of applause. :-)

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#99

Post by clistctrl » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:15 PM UTC

evilduck wrote: post #57

clistctrl wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would guess they're banking on LTE for the iPhone 5... so in that step up you'll see a much bigger upgrade, but as a technology LTE is probably a bit immature for Apple's standards.

Unless data caps get overhauled with LTE rollouts (hahaha, right), it's impossible for me to get excited about stupid fast connections you can only use at full throttle for about 45 minutes per month. Sprint just capped their WiMax phone tethering and modems, they'll surely cap the phones themselves when load increases.

Well I think in LTE the number of resource elements assigned to a UE will vary depending on the other phones connected to the eNodeB. So in theory it's not a problem anyways, because everyone will have an iPhone ;)

Re: IPhone 4S: A5 chip, 8MP camera, and Siri voice recognition

#100

Post by pohl » Tue, Oct 04, 2011, 9:21 PM UTC

gte910h wrote: post #67

pohl wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question. The results in mobile devices seems to be counter-intuitive, to me. A faster processor often means that, according to usage patterns, the work gets done faster and the machine can go into one of the many power-saving states more quickly, leading to better battery life. That probably varies by what you're trying to do, but for a smart phone the sooner it's done and back in your pocket, the better.

The CPU bound processes in most apps are tiny portions of the entire app.

Don't take my "back in your pocket" comment too literally. The CPU is going to go into low-power states quite frequently while you're using these I/O bound applications you describe, and the sooner it can, the better.

I don't think what I'm saying is controversial in the mobile industry. For example, here's an old article that has a quote about the effects of Intel's Quick Start technology from back in the year 2000 that captures what I'm saying:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2782/2

“"Intel has figured out that it is best to use full CPU power for a split second to finish a task and then put the CPU to idle as this conserves battery life the best. Although one may suspect that when running complex operations the CPU would not have time to go idle, this is not the case. To illustrate this point, Intel used an example of DVD playback. Very stressful on the system as a whole, Intel's quick start technology allows the CPU to "hurry up" and perform the DVD decoding operations and then go idle until the frame is displayed to screen and the next scene needs to be calculated. This saves battery life because, although the system may require 3 watts or so to "hurry up", the power consumption goes down near .25 watts when idle. By averaging these two numbers, one can quickly see how quick start can extend battery life."”