Posted by Sir Four at 1:31pm Sep 13 '12Is Apple now playing catch-up rather than innovating?
For example, the iPhone 5's display is larger at 4 inches, but still smaller than my phone's 4.3. The phone I'm considering for my wife (Motorola Atrix HD) features a 4.5 inch display. Personally I like the larger size, but maybe others think 4 inches is perfect...that's fine. But Apple seems to be making a big deal out of now fitting five rows of app icons on the screen rather than four. Android users have had numerous phone options for some time with that much screen real estate.
The pixel density is excellent on the new iPhone: 326 ppi. This makes everything look gorgeous. But it's not new. The Atrix also has 326 ppi, as do other phones.
Apple says the new CPU is twice as fast as the old one. I haven't seen any specs...anyone else? I'm sure it's plenty fast, but I can't compare it against other phones without details.
iPhone 5 supports LTE....as many other phones have for awhile. Potentially interesting is Samsung vowing to sue Apple for violating LTE patents.
iPhone 5 has what seems to be a pretty good camera. That's a plus, but not revolutionary. Android phones have been experimenting with various camera features for awhile...my phone takes pictures and video in 3D (which is awesome, btw). You can take a picture while shooting video on the new iPhone...Android did this first. The front camera has software that enables face recognition...Android did this first.
iPhone 5 will not support NFC technology, which allows you to transfer stuff between devices wirelessly just by holding them close together, or potentially making payments in stores by simply holding up your phone. Google has been pushing NFC pretty hard lately. I guess Apple isn't interested, or maybe it's a patent issue.
iPhone 5 will have new Apple map and navigation software. It remains to be seen how it compares to what Google has been offering for awhile now.
Of course it must be said, the iPhone 5 is very thin and light-weight, resulting a super attractive physical device. I don't think there are smartphones any thinner. The Atrix is about 1mm thicker.
Pricing on the iPhone 5 with 2-year contract:
16GB: $199
32GB: $299
64GB: $399
For comparison, the Atrix goes for $50. Also, I hate this sort of pricing scheme and it makes me sad to see it creeping into the Android devices as well. Apple wants to charge $100 for an extra 16GB of storage? High quality flash memory retails for below $1 per GB. It's unbelievable that they're gouging people so badly.
For example, the iPhone 5's display is larger at 4 inches, but still smaller than my phone's 4.3. The phone I'm considering for my wife (Motorola Atrix HD) features a 4.5 inch display. Personally I like the larger size, but maybe others think 4 inches is perfect...that's fine. But Apple seems to be making a big deal out of now fitting five rows of app icons on the screen rather than four. Android users have had numerous phone options for some time with that much screen real estate.
The pixel density is excellent on the new iPhone: 326 ppi. This makes everything look gorgeous. But it's not new. The Atrix also has 326 ppi, as do other phones.
Apple says the new CPU is twice as fast as the old one. I haven't seen any specs...anyone else? I'm sure it's plenty fast, but I can't compare it against other phones without details.
iPhone 5 supports LTE....as many other phones have for awhile. Potentially interesting is Samsung vowing to sue Apple for violating LTE patents.
iPhone 5 has what seems to be a pretty good camera. That's a plus, but not revolutionary. Android phones have been experimenting with various camera features for awhile...my phone takes pictures and video in 3D (which is awesome, btw). You can take a picture while shooting video on the new iPhone...Android did this first. The front camera has software that enables face recognition...Android did this first.
iPhone 5 will not support NFC technology, which allows you to transfer stuff between devices wirelessly just by holding them close together, or potentially making payments in stores by simply holding up your phone. Google has been pushing NFC pretty hard lately. I guess Apple isn't interested, or maybe it's a patent issue.
iPhone 5 will have new Apple map and navigation software. It remains to be seen how it compares to what Google has been offering for awhile now.
Of course it must be said, the iPhone 5 is very thin and light-weight, resulting a super attractive physical device. I don't think there are smartphones any thinner. The Atrix is about 1mm thicker.
Pricing on the iPhone 5 with 2-year contract:
16GB: $199
32GB: $299
64GB: $399
For comparison, the Atrix goes for $50. Also, I hate this sort of pricing scheme and it makes me sad to see it creeping into the Android devices as well. Apple wants to charge $100 for an extra 16GB of storage? High quality flash memory retails for below $1 per GB. It's unbelievable that they're gouging people so badly.
So the new iPhone isn't that impressive, eh? - Sir Four