In a 21-city test across the United States, we found that Verizon’s new 4G LTE network is much faster than other mobile Web options, with speeds that often exceed home Internet connections.
Not surprising at all.
Page, however, seems to recognize that this project in some ways requires a different approach from the Google norm. One variation that users will notice comes in interface design — conspicuously, in Circles. With colorful animations, drag-and-drop magic and whimsical interface touches, Circles looks more like a classic Apple program than the typically bland Google app. That’s no surprise since the key interface designer was legendary software artist Andy Herzfeld.
Herzfeld is the design lead of the team Emerald Sea, code name for Google+. Check out the introductory videos for Google+. They are very well done.
Swiffy converts Flash SWF files to HTML5, allowing you to reuse Flash content on devices without a Flash player (such as iPhones and iPads).
The 4G in T-Mobile myTouch 4G might initially be what gets you excited, but I think it will be the photographic capabilities that gets you hooked. But first a quick blurb about the display: a 3.7-inch 800×480 Super LCD. Pretty standard. Now the camera: an 8-megapixel image sensor coupled with a fast f/2.2 lens that should be better at capturing moments in low-light environments than most other smartphones, including the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 packs a f/2.8 lens. Other features include burst mode, panorama and HDR.
The T-Mobile myTouch 4G also tops the iPhone 4 in video capture: 1080p. We all know quality isn’t synonymous with pixels. The 1080p video captured by the myTouch 4G doesn’t necessarily mean that it will look better than the iPhone 4′s 720p video. We’ll have to wait for some reviews to find out for sure.
I’m looking forward to Apple and others upping the ante when it comes to photography. What I would like to see are: a faster lens (f/1.8), optical image stabilization, a larger image sensor without increasing the number of pixels. Fingers crossed.
In a note issued early Monday, Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore is telling clients to expect both — an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 4S.
“With Nokia and RIMM struggling,” he writes, “the time is right for Apple to aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market (i.e. $300-500 category) to dramatically expand its [total addressable market] and market share.”
As Apple has done in the past, the old iPhone model will go for quite a bit less when a new iPhone model is introduced. Unlocked iPhone 4 prices would also come down. No surprise there.
Examine the history of the iPod to see how this will play out. They’ll press technologically at the high end, and they’ll expand into the mid-range market with lower priced models. Why not now?
The high end iPod touch was announced after the iPhone. Apple didn’t press technologically at the high end with the iPod touch. It was more that Apple stripped the iPhone down. Although I have voiced differing opinions about this before, I think Apple will continue with a single iPhone model introduction. Why?
Choice. I think having the choice of a $49 iPhone 3GS and a $199 iPhone 4 is good enough. We don’t need more choices. Soon enough we’ll have the choice of a $99 iPhone 4 and a $199 iPhone 4S. The iPhone 3GS might be offered for free at that time if there are any leftover. The Android smartphone market has too many choices and I think that’s a problem not only for customers but for developers, too.
The iPad is a different story. When Apple integrates a Retina Display into the next iPad there is a likely chance that the starting price will not be $499. And this is important. $499 has become a symbolic price point. A point that shows Apple can make the very best tablet and for $499 while making more money than others. Apple will bifurcate the iPad line by adding the iPad Pro: keep pushing the frontiers of the high end while making sure the $499 entry point is kept. The evolution of the iPad is not difficult to ascertain because the writing is on the wall with the iPhone 4. Apple will continue building on its Retina Display brand to distinguish itself from the rest.
comScore via PR Newswire:
The iPad is currently the dominant tablet device across all geographies, contributing more than 89 percent of tablet traffic across all markets.
Matt Richman: Apple makes US$370.55 for each Mac sold; HP makes $52.
Mike Elgan at Cult of Mac:
Second, Apple needs to do something about the iPad screen’s horrible performance in direct sunlight. I don’t know what the solution is — whether it could be fixed with a simple mat finish, a direct sunlight mode with a turbo-boost for the brightness or if some entirely new technology is in order. I have the feeling that Amazon’s Android tablet is not only going to be great in direct sun, but will emphasize that fact in TV ads. The iPad’s weakness here is becoming glaringly obvious.
Here are some suggestions to make the iPad suck less in direct sunlight: matte, anti-reflective coating, anti-glare coating, transflective (transmissive + reflective) design, higher brightness through more optimal optical film stack and/or brighter more efficient LEDs, optical lamination, etc. These are all doable as in mass-manufacturable at a reasonable cost, today.
Camera Technica: Preston Scott, the guy behind Camera Technica, shows how image stabilization works. Scott took off the front element of a Canon 18-55mm lens and filmed the floating lens element. So this is how in-lens image stabilization works. A must-read, and view.
Akihabara News: The Pantech Vega X+ is a 4-inch WVGA (800×480 or 854×480) Android smartphone powered by a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon CPU.
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