The Official Technology Thread

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Samsung Galaxy S II is just a much better phone than the Iphone 4S.

Apple will sell a ton of the new phone, but this is the first time it's legitimately trailing behind technologically speaking when it comes to introducing a new smartphone.

By the time Apple tries to release a 5, android phones are going to be about 12-18 months ahead of them. 

 

[hockeyfan1]

Picked up a Nokia E73 a month ago from Mobilicity on their $25 unlimited talk/text/data + CallerID (paid $150 outright, no contract). So far so good, its essentially a Blackberry Curve without BBM for half the price and a higher build quality.

I'll forever be sold on Nokia phones since I ran over the last
one I owned with my car and it still worked.

I have an unlocked Nokia E71 which I bought 2 years ago
from Celltech.  I use it primarily as an organizer, occasional
wireless usage, etc. Works very well in offline mode.  No contract since I haven't switched the SIM from my Moto Razr pay-go cellphone (Rogers).  Excellent build quality and nice keyboard.
 

 

[hockeyfan1]

Dual core and a new camera seem to be the only changes from iphone4.

Those are the big changes, yeah. Also, there's a 64GB model available.

I'm overdue for an upgrade (still using an LG Shine) and was hoping the iPhone 5 would be announced today, but, oh well. I'll probably pick up a 64GB 4S instead.

I'm still on my 3g iPhone albeit as dysfunctionally slow as it is getting.  My 3yr contract expired in August and it came with a good data (no voice) plan from Rogers at 6GB for $25 (before taxes).  Now, with no contract, I'm paying $52!  So, if I were to upgrade to the 4S -- (I was hoping it was going to be the Iphone 5, but, the 4S sounds much more of a capable performer with it's A6 microchip processor -- I'm probably going to go on another 3yr term and Rogers may give me a lower plan pricing again.

By the way, the 4S will incorporate SIRI Apple's voice recognition software to be a feature on it's next generation Iphones.

 

[sucka]

Dual core and a new camera seem to be the only changes from iphone4.

Those are the big changes, yeah. Also, there's a 64GB model available.

I'm overdue for an upgrade (still using an LG Shine) and was hoping the iPhone 5 would be announced today, but, oh well. I'll probably pick up a 64GB 4S instead.

I'm still on my 3g iPhone albeit as dysfunctionally slow as it is getting.  My 3yr contract expired in August and it came with a good data (no voice) plan from Rogers at 6GB for $25 (before taxes).  Now, with no contract, I'm paying $52!  So, if I were to upgrade to the 4S -- (I was hoping it was going to be the Iphone 5, but, the 4S sounds much more of a capable performer with it's A6 microchip processor -- I'm probably going to go on another 3yr term and Rogers may give me a lower plan pricing again.

By the way, the 4S will incorporate SIRI Apple's voice recognition software to be a feature on it's next generation Iphones.

You can try asking to downgrade the 6gigs to save the $5.  I did that and they still gave me the 6gigs.  i'm paying now around 45.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Dual core and a new camera seem to be the only changes from iphone4.

Those are the big changes, yeah. Also, there's a 64GB model
available.

I'm overdue for an upgrade (still using an LG Shine) and was hoping the iPhone 5 would be announced today, but, oh well.
I'll probably pick up a 64GB 4S instead.

I'm still on my 3g iPhone albeit as dysfunctionally slow as it is getting.  My 3yr contract expired in August and it came
with a good data (no voice) plan from Rogers at 6GB for $25
(before taxes).  Now, with no contract, I'm paying $52!  So,
if I were to upgrade to the 4S -- (I was hoping it was going
to be the Iphone 5, but, the 4S sounds much more of a
capable performer with it's A6 microchip processor -- I'm
probably going to go on another 3yr term and Rogers may
give me a lower plan pricing again.

By the way, the 4S will incorporate SIRI Apple's voice recognition software to be a feature on it's next generation
Iphones.

You can try asking to downgrade the 6gigs to save the $5.  I did that and they still gave me the 6gigs.  i'm paying now around 45.

Good idea.  In fact, Rogers has already pre-agreed to give me the $10 credit again if I choose a term contract again.  That would still be at 6GB but at a pared down price. 

I have a friend who manages a Rogers Wireless dealership and will try to negotiate some sort of price plan reduction for me.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Samsung Galaxy S II is just a much better phone than the Iphone 4S.

Apple will sell a ton of the new phone, but this is the first time it's legitimately trailing behind technologically speaking when it comes to introducing a new smartphone.

By the time Apple tries to release a 5, android phones are going to be about 12-18 months ahead of them. 

As an iPhone4 owner, I won't deny any of these claims. However, the App Store will always be head and shoulders above anything the competitors can put forth in that area. And that's even expanded for jailbroken users. And for that one reason I'll stick with my iPhone.

 

[bustaheims]

Samsung Galaxy S II is just a much better phone than the Iphone 4S.

Apple will sell a ton of the new phone, but this is the first time it's legitimately trailing behind technologically speaking when it comes to introducing a new smartphone.

By the time Apple tries to release a 5, android phones are going to be about 12-18 months ahead of them.

I'd say you're probably right up until this point. It wouldn't surprise me if part of the reason the iPhone 5 wasn't announced yesterday is because of how far Apple intends on pushing the technology, but they just haven't perfected it yet.

 

[Bender]

Dual core and a new camera seem to be the only changes from iphone4.

Those are the big changes, yeah. Also, there's a 64GB model available.

I'm overdue for an upgrade (still using an LG Shine) and was hoping the iPhone 5 would be announced today, but, oh well. I'll probably pick up a 64GB 4S instead.

There's gonna be a lot faster phones coming out by the time you decide to pick up a 4s. It sounds like the Atrix is just as fast, SGSII is faster. Samsung's gonna have their pow-wow in the next week or two with the possibility of announcing SGS3 and Nexus Prime.

 

[bustaheims]

There's gonna be a lot faster phones coming out by the time you decide to pick up a 4s. It sounds like the Atrix is just as fast, SGSII is faster. Samsung's gonna have their pow-wow in the next week or two with the possibility of announcing SGS3 and Nexus Prime.

Speed isn't everything, and I'm really not a fan of the Android platform.

 

[Bender]

There's gonna be a lot faster phones coming out by the time you decide to pick up a 4s. It sounds like the Atrix is just as fast, SGSII is faster. Samsung's gonna have their pow-wow in the next week or two with the possibility of announcing SGS3 and Nexus Prime.

Speed isn't everything, and I'm really not a fan of the Android platform.

Ok, but the screen size and quality gets crushed by SGSII. And TBH, I started on iPhone and it drove me ballistic that you can't use it as a flash drive to store your documents, the fact that you had to jailbreak it so you could change the themes, frequent restores no flash support (INSANITY!). I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a slick operating system and quite a lot of stuff is optimized for it. But I just can't get passed certain features and design elements. Android suits me a lot better: it's more open and customizable, plays flash, better organization system, moving backgrounds, functions as storage.

Anyway, the real reason I'm posting here is Google is likely going to announce Ice Cream Sandwhich as a major update to the Android operating system as well a possible unveiling of the Nexus Prime.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/13/samsung-confirms-ice-cream-sandwich-event-on-october-19/

 

[TheMightyOdin]

Anyone updated their apple mobile device to IOS 5 yet? I just updated last night and am so far I am unimpressed considering all the hype leading up to it.

To be fair I haven't really spent much time with it, maybe I'll change my mind.

 

[Bender]

Anyone updated their apple mobile device to IOS 5 yet? I just updated last night and am so far I am unimpressed considering all the hype leading up to it.

To be fair I haven't really spent much time with it, maybe I'll change my mind.

It's mostly loaded with stuff they should've done a while ago. They JUST added notifications? Please. They're losing ground to Android IMO. The only thing they've got is Siri which is interesting but not nearly a deal breaker. Its a decent phone, but not something I would pay a premium for anymore. The iPhone's riding the coattails of good marketing, that's all.

 

[Scot4bz]

Anyone updated their apple mobile device to IOS 5 yet? I just updated last night and am so far I am unimpressed considering all the hype leading up to it.

To be fair I haven't really spent much time with it, maybe I'll change my mind.

I like the notifications update and the camera availability from the lock screen and the main notifications screen (swipe down from top). I think the best features are really for the iPad (especially the Safari update for tabbed browsing).

I too was initially unimpressed but some googling and reading up on all of the features that were implemented helped me to find some interesting features and how to use them.

 

[Deebo]

Anyone updated their apple mobile device to IOS 5 yet? I just updated last night and am so far I am unimpressed considering all the hype leading up to it.

To be fair I haven't really spent much time with it, maybe I'll change my mind.

I like the notifications update and the camera availability from the lock screen and the main notifications screen (swipe down from top). I think the best features are really for the iPad (especially the Safari update for tabbed browsing).

I too was initially unimpressed but some googling and reading up on all of the features that were implemented helped me to find some interesting features and how to use them.

You thought the best features are for iPad?

Apart from tabbed browsing, which I feel should have been there a long time ago, I haven't noticed any tangible after upgrading.

What else have you found?

The notifications are nice, but it feels incomplete. There should be some indication on the main screen that there are notifications. Unless you heard the chime, you have no way to know if there are notifications. Maybe beside the clock there should be some icons indicating which apps have a new notification. I feel the whole should have been implemented a couple years ago. It is an improvement though since the pop up notifications were terrible.

This is an area where I think blackberry has them beat, without even picking up my torch I can see what new notifications have. The led light blinks a different colour for twitter, BBM, Facebook, texts or email and will cycle through the colours if I have more than one notification. And when the screen is on, right under the clock there would be a bar with a bunch of icons and numbers beside each one to indicate the number of new notifications.

I'm with mightyodin, I'm underwhelmed with this os update.

 

[Number 5]

Shhh....don't talk about how Blackberry has anything on Apple....you'll upset the fanbois.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

You raise some valid concerns Deebo, although you can now use the flash on the iphone as a message indicator too.  Although granted it is not as cool as the different coloured LED from the Blackberry.

With regards to your notifications, if your phone is locked there is a display right there on the front screen telling you that you have either texts, facebook messages or other types of notifications, when you unlock the phone this then disappears and can be accessed from the drop down, where clicking on any of these notifications will take you to the relevant section of the app.  If you aren't seeing these perhaps there is a setting off somewhere.

Largely I am with you though, the 4S is a huge disappointment, anyone with a 4 who goes out and gets a 4S is bordering on moronic.  The changes are marginal at best and although IOS 5 is decent, it pretty much only pulls Apple into a position where it's OS can do what the top smartphones have been doing for at least six months now.

The hands down most powerful, 'best' smartphone out there right now is the Galaxy S II.  I am neither a huge android nor Samsung fan, but just from a basic hardware perspective, it is at least six months ahead of even the Iphone 4S.  Like I've said previously, I work with all these devices and OS's on a daily basis and from anyone inside the industry, it's pretty much accepted as fact for now(there are a handful of devices that will drop before the end of the year that take things to a higher level yet again). 

Blackberry is becoming more and more of a niche market.  It had a fiercely loyal following who stuck with it through thick and thin, but that was in large part based around it's email power and BBM.  With those types of features being improved on other platforms, Blackberry really needs to 'reinvent the wheel' to hold onto or increase it's market share.

 

[Scot4bz]

Deebo,

Besides the tabbed browsing (and additional browsing functionality) I also liked the split/moveable keypad and have been playing around with the custom gestures. While the updates may not be earth shattering there are a few things that I have found useful and have been trying out a number of the new features over the last couple of days to see if there are any that I like.
Still doing a lot of "googling" and playing around with both iPad and iPhone features - but so far it's not a disappointment for me as some of the new features are a good fit for the way I use my devices.

 

[Kessel Run]

Here's a guide to some of the new iOS 5 features:

http://www.apple.com/ios/features.html#notification

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Samsung Galaxy S II is just a much better phone than the Iphone 4S.

Apple will sell a ton of the new phone, but this is the first time it's legitimately trailing behind technologically speaking when it comes to introducing a new smartphone.

By the time Apple tries to release a 5, android phones are going to be about 12-18 months ahead of them.

I'd say you're probably right up until this point. It wouldn't surprise me if part of the reason the iPhone 5 wasn't announced yesterday is because of how far Apple intends on pushing the technology, but they just haven't perfected it yet.

I hear Jobs was working almost exclusively on the Iphone 5 prior to his death so hopefully it will be a leap forward.  As for the reason as to why this phone was not a leap forward, you only have to look at the display.  They could not have made a profit on any device with a 'retina' display larger that 3.5 inches.  In no small part due to the fact they have a huge dispute with Samsung who is owning the display side of things right now.  Increasing the size of the screen on an Iphone as it stands would mean reducing the 'retina' quality and apple will never take a step backwards as we all know.

 

[TheMightyOdin]

The best thing I've found so far with IOS 5......( Or maybe it's been there all along and didn't find it earlier).....  Is the touch assistant. Basically I've added a home button icon to my screen so now I don't have to physically press a button I can just touch it, or double tap it, or triple tap it.. Etc... 

I've always worried about wearing out the physical button and wanted exactly this option. It's also silent instead of the "click click" button sound when checking to see what apps are open and running.

Edit: it's called Assistive Touch.