The iPhone Topic

[CVByrne]

I laughed out loud at that one rev.

[The_Rev]

iOS finally gets a decent YouTube app then. :nod:

[CVByrne]

I'm absolutely fascinated by what will be unveiled tomorrow. Because a similar looking phone with 4 inch screen, LTE and a few iOS updates to catch up with Android won't cut it with the tech journalists. The majority of whom have loved every iphone to date. But they are now making sounds of not being satisfied by what's been leaked so far.

Apple will have something up their sleeve. No way we've seen everything so far in leaks. But to be fair, in a world where apple fans don't look at android, Bigger screen and LTE is a big leap forward for the iphone.

As I said. Fascinating.

[The_Rev]

I'm absolutely fascinated by what will be unveiled tomorrow. Because a similar looking phone with 4 inch screen, LTE and a few iOS updates to catch up with Android won't cut it with the tech journalists.

Oh it will. I'll bet you that almost all of them buy one too.

[CVByrne]

In the US maybe, but outside the US tech sites have been less fanboish and more objective. In the US there is an Apple love in. Engadget are the publication wing of Apple and every apple device ever made is the top rated device in its category on The Verge.

But if Dieter Bohn, lauds this phone for having exactly the leaked specs, specs he's criticised more then once then he's a hyprocrit. I think a few may finally criticise apple if the phone we expect gets unveiled.

Most will hide behind the "its the best iphone yet" rubbish. The easy way out of losing readers as we know how fanatical large sections of apple fans are.

It's an editorial decision isn't it? To not criticise apple? Sites need traffic.

[Eames]

I'm absolutely fascinated by what will be unveiled tomorrow. Because a similar looking phone with 4 inch screen, LTE and a few iOS updates to catch up with Android won't cut it with the tech journalists.

Oh it will. I'll bet you that almost all of them buy one too.

With Apple offering HUGE discounts and incentives to NUJ members the new iPhone will be recieved by a massive wankfest. Rory Cellan-Jones on the BBC has been saving himself for weeks in preparation for this....

[VillaForever1970]

In the US maybe, but outside the US tech sites have been less fanboish and more objective. In the US there is an Apple love in. Engadget are the publication wing of Apple and every apple device ever made is the top rated device in its category on The Verge.

But if Dieter Bohn, lauds this phone for having exactly the leaked specs, specs he's criticised more then once then he's a hyprocrit. I think a few may finally criticise apple if the phone we expect gets unveiled.

Most will hide behind the "its the best iphone yet" rubbish. The easy way out of losing readers as we know how fanatical large sections of apple fans are.

It's an editorial decision isn't it? To not criticise apple? Sites need traffic.

Did you in this very thread say it should be thinner and have a bigger screen?

Looks like its both of those things.

[CVByrne]

A bigger screen to catch up with Android phones from 2 years ago. My first android phone had a 4 inch screen, I bought it in April 2010. 2 and a half years ago.

What we're asking is, can Apple get away with simply playing catch up with the iPhone 5. Can journalists retain credibility in talking up a 4 inch screen, a screen size that was average size for Android in 2011. Can they talk up LTE which was widely available on Android phones in 2011. Will they be placated by another software gimmic like Siri? Can they pretend new additions to iOS like notifications, or profiles have not been around in Android for years?

We just want to see if, as many of them have said, that they cannot be satisfied with the iPhone we seem to be getting based on the leaks. Most American sites try not to compare Apple and non Apple when Apple comes off worse, but do compare when Apple comes off better.

Can they finally criticise Apple for being "behind the times" and "playing catchup" to Android, something that's been obvious for awhile. Or will Apple surprise us, and bring out something really new and innovative in a market that's leaving them behind in innovation, despite their sales.

[b23avfc]

I don't care. I'm likely buying one outright on release, thereabouts as i'm away. There may be constantly better mobiles on the market, but it does what it says on the tin and you don't have to wait days, weeks, months for replacements. Accesories galore appear on the market. There's software easy to use to transfer docs without iTunes. I don't buy into the frenzy but simple and plain i'm getting it.

Yea no other phone causes this much media furore, apple marketing is love it or hate it a winner. For them. And the fanboys. I'm just a common user Who will be scared to lose his handset.

[CVByrne]

I totally understand that point of view. I'm ditching the best phone I've ever owned for a knowingly inferior phone for my own reasons. Choice is there. Go get what you want.

What irks though, is the belief that the iPhone is the best most advanced phone you can get, just because it's Apple. It's not, it's an inferior phone and the deliberate avoidance of any criticism of the device by large parts of the tech media is stupid, but misleading and irritating.

It's apple wide, the assumption of Apple being superior because it's apple and expensive. Take the Macbook Air, the top of the line Ultrabooks like the Series 9 wipe the floor with it in every spec possible.

Apple devices should be judged on their merits which they're not. They're judged with their hype and fear of offending readers who are Apple fans.

I'd love to read an objective opinion from engadget or the verge on the new iphone. We won't get it though. That's the part that irks.

[blandy]

it's an inferior phone

That's a subjective judgement, an opinion. To which you're quite entitled.

People judge things like smartphones by more than just tech specs.

Is a bigger screen size, by half an inch or whatever, more of a factor than, say, their preference for one OS over another? is the amount of storage or memory more of a factor than the ease of taking photos? or the build quality? is the availability of apps more important than how easy it is to send a text message? Does voice operation count for more than the swiping and typing?

Most people don't care or compare one type of processor against another, do they?

You know what you get, good and bad with (say) an Apple device - they're expensive, well made, user friendly, "closed" but better protected against nasties, hard to upgrade the hardware and don't have those little memory cards, but do have excellent software updates....and so on.

Some people prefer them, some don't.

Personally I think changing the connectors on them is a bad thing, and a bad move. It would put me off getting one, if I wanted or needed a new phone.

[Tegis]

or the build quality

Biggest myth ever when it comes to iphones. Cracked screen magnet

[CVByrne]

People judge things like smartphones by more than just tech specs.

Yes, that's why we love Android. The OS is so good, it's amazing on a 2 year old Nexus S as well as a cutting edge phone likes a Galaxy S3

It irritates that a common defense is the posturing that iOS as a phone operating system somehow elevates the whole package despite the hardware short comings of the iPhone. So why are the features being added to iOS features Android already pioneered?

The whole unveiling tomorrow will likely irritate me because everything will be copying things Android has been doing for years before, big screen, LTE. Yet how much did I hear Apple fans say, we don't want bigger screens, while in the US it was it's data that matters not speed with regards LTE.

If 3.5 inch screens are fine why are Apple doing what Android did years ago and make the screen bigger? If nobody needs LTE why is the iPhone adding it now years after Android? If iOS is the best OS why have all it's new key features like Notifications been cornerstones in Android?

People say they have a preference for one OS over the other, but the majority go one way, from iOS to Android and not the other way round. Most of the people who buy iPhones are existing users or first time smartphone users or blackberry deserters. Marketing works on them, they know nothing about phones.

My problem with your post is you generalise ever sentence, you assume the software is better somewhere, somehow it's better but since you actually don't know you avoid making any points at all.

You don't think or want to accept at all that the iPhone, especially the 5 if it comes the way predicted, is simply an inferior phone that's got a brand and marketing. The greatest style over substance piece of tech ever. Which is exactly what it is. You couldn't in a discussion explain what features of iOS are superior to Android. Because if there were any iOS features people wanted, Android would have incorporated them by now.

Tomorrow's iPhone unveiling will essentially be a homage to the pioneering Android has made in the past 2 year. Yet the morons will lap it up as if they are still the pioneers. That is what grates.

[mykeyb]

I wonder if Apple will be looking at a more competitive pricing structure if they feel that they might be struggling tech wise with the competition.........

[CVByrne]

So many people moving to smartphones, Apple will sell truckloads of the iPhone 5. They don't need to retain custom when so many new custom comes along. I have 3 mates who had iPhones up to the 3GS and now are through and through android. One the smartphone novelty wears off, people start making educated buying decisions and hence switch to Android. Apple know this, hence the patent wars.

[Dodgyknees]

I made the right choice, cannot see what the new Iphone will have that would make me put my Galaxy down.

[VillaForever1970]

That is what grates.

**** it, it's not just about phone tech.

[CVByrne]

That is what grates.

**** it, it's not just about phone tech.

I know, but if you're lacking in the hardware department then your software has gotta be full of amazing unique features. Which iOS isn't, it's actually just copying features from Android now.

I made the right choice, cannot see what the new Iphone will have that would make me put my Galaxy down.

The thing is though Apple is such a big company it COULD make something absolutely stunning and blow the competition away. They just wont as it's easier to make the device which makes the most money, not the best device that makes a lot of money.

[darrenm]

it's an inferior phone

That's a subjective judgement, an opinion. To which you're quite entitled.

People judge things like smartphones by more than just tech specs.

Is a bigger screen size, by half an inch or whatever, more of a factor than, say, their preference for one OS over another? is the amount of storage or memory more of a factor than the ease of taking photos? or the build quality? is the availability of apps more important than how easy it is to send a text message? Does voice operation count for more than the swiping and typing?

Most people don't care or compare one type of processor against another, do they?

You know what you get, good and bad with (say) an Apple device - they're expensive, well made, user friendly, "closed" but better protected against nasties, hard to upgrade the hardware and don't have those little memory cards, but do have excellent software updates....and so on.

Some people prefer them, some don't.

Personally I think changing the connectors on them is a bad thing, and a bad move. It would put me off getting one, if I wanted or needed a new phone.

LOL. So you've just listed everything that a top-end Android phone has over an iPhone anyway.

Amount of storage: check

Ease of taking photos: check

Build quality: check

Availability of apps: check

Ease of sending a text message: check

Voice operation: check

not quite sure what you mean by swiping and typing, but certainly typing: check

Did you just assume that iOS / iPhones have those advantages over JellyBean phones without even checking? It's hardly surprising with the media geared up as it currently is.

[The_Rev]

It's a self fulfilling thing though, new media (ie, the internet) can react to its audience very easily and they see the traffic they get on pro Apple stories, so they continue to produce pro Apple stories which then hypes more people which drives more traffic which leads to more pro Apple stories. It's the same reason why Manchester United are always on the **** TV.

As for the phone itself, I think it will be really good. The iPhone 4s was a great bit of kit, it broke too easily (how many shattered backs have you seen by now?) and I think some of the restrictions Apple puts on its users are draconian, but to interpret that as meaning the iPhone is a piece of shit simply isnt true.

I still haven't ruled out an iPhone 5 yet, though my purchase now is less likely than it was a few months ago because the iOS 6 announcement was so underwhelming and Jelly Bean turned out to be great but it's still a possibility.