As I'm still sick at home, I might as well make my day worth it!
Currently watching the live blog on Engadget:
www.engadget.com/2011/10/04/apples-lets-talk-iphone-keynote-liveblog/
"Let's talk iPhone" is the banner so I guess it's just all about the iPhone today. I'll update this as I see more information on the page.
I find the stats that Tim's giving a bit skewed regarding user adoption of Lion vs. Windows 7. I think the user adoption rate is definitely due to the # of folks who have a Windows machine and most of them won't upgrade just due to cost. Your typical Mac user has probably a butt load of money and is more likely willing to upgrade than Windows users. I know I have never upgraded to a new Windows operating system just because I can and I don't want to spend too much money. What's a little sad is that Mac actually forces you to upgrade at a point. My mom's iMac can't download the new iTunes because it's "too old." Anyways, that's just my gripe.
iPhone only cover 5% of the worldwide market. That surprised me initially and then realized, wait, that's true. It's more likely someone has a normal phone than it is a smart phone. Also in Asia, Apple products are so expensive that they'd probably likely to get another brand than it is the iPhone. Another factor is that most international folks use the phone to text. That keyboard is not efficient.
Cards, that would be useful. They're outsourcing card sending. $2.99 for local and $4.99 for international.
iOS 5 feature that I'm excited about is iMessage. When I had a Blackberry, BBM was so convenient. Reminders is going to make productivity consultants pee in their pants. Being able to use location services to remind you that you have an errand to do where you're at. Be still my productive heart.
iOS & iCloud will be released October 12th! Free 5GB of storage, not that much but enough for those who want to share between Mac products. This whole Friend Finder is just a "Stalk a friend" deal. I'm glad you have to opt in to share your info. So it's not that much different than the whole Google Latitude.
iTunes match is interesting. Would you really pay $24.99/year?
iPod nanos have definitely evolved into a great smart design. I really want one and make it a watch. I'll definitely have to start a "nano buy fund" one day. Oh yay! Price drop! $129 for 8GB and $149 for 16GB.
iPhone 4S...kind of sad right now. So it looks like the iPhone 4S - 7 times faster in terms of graphics due the dual core processor (has the A5 chip - 2x faster in terms of processing) 4S will offer eight hours of 3G talk time. Six hours of browsing, nine on WiFi. 10 hours of video, and 40 hours of music. It has both CDMA & GSM which means you can now take your iPhone globally. New camera - 8 megapixels. 1080p HD video camera. Wireless mirroring so you can play or show images from your iPhone and project it to the tv (like the new Wii). New digital assistant called Siri. Hold down the home key and talk into the phone to ask. Pretty cool as you can ask it to set your alarm clock by just talking into your phone and saying "Wake me up tomorrow at 6am". This thing is powerful. Ask it for directions, find restaurants, reply to text messages just by voice. Siri's seriously powerful. It sets up calendar events and it's smart.
Siri will change how we use the phone. No more typing or clicking or touching, just all by voice. I thought this day would come a while back. Well here it is. This is going to help me a bunch now that I have issues with prolonged typing. It's like Dragonspeak, but better!]
Still waiting on pricing and carriers...
Pricing: Black and white versions 16GB: $199, 32GB for $299, 64GB for $399 with 2 year contract
iPhone 4 - $99 w/ 2 year contract
iPhone 3GS - Free with contract
Preorders start Oct 7. Orders out by Oct 14th. Available on AT&T, Verizon, & Sprint.
This is insane. All three carriers. I think AT&T will see people start jumping ship.
There's definitely more information that you can find on Engadget and on other technology sites. Thanks for stopping by as I'm experiencing the news at the same time and giving my reaction to it.
Now I need to figure out if I want to get a new phone and which carrier to go to.
I would also say the install base between iOS and Android is a little off as well... and I even looked up Nelson stats.
ReplyDeleteAs far as upgrade, it isn't a huge upgrade... it is the small little upgrades that Apple is famous for (hardware wise). But between 3G3 and 4S, the 4S is a pretty good upgrade option.
Siri is nice, and we have had something similar on Android for awhile, but it isn't useful a lot of the time, just due to background noise, but when I am in the car it is nice to start a call. But I have found it useful, especially when I can't figure out how to spell something! HAHAH
The tight integration between iOS5 and iCloud is nice though.
Well coming from myself, who has an original 3G iPhone, it's a huge upgrade, but I am still considering what carrier to go with. I just read on Gizmodo that AT&T claims it's going to have a faster iPhone 4S:
ReplyDeletehttp://gizmodo.com/5846655/att-iphone-4s-will-be-faster-than-verizon-and-sprints
I'll probably have to figure out my options, but I don't feel a big rush to upgrade right now, but can I really wait another year for the iPhone 5?
I wouldn't wait for the iPhone 5 at this point, especially as your phone is way past EOL.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I saw that same article on Gizmodo, but that is just talking about download speeds as the iPhone 4S can use the HSPA+ network AT&T (and even t-Mobile) have rolled out. It's more of a 3.5G network. Sprint and Verizon skipped this and went right for 4G.