Apple Posts User Guide for iPhone 4 and iOS 4

Wednesday June 23, 2010 01:46 PM EST; Category: iPhone

Written by Eric Slivka

For those people with a few hours to kill either waiting for a pre-ordered iPhone 4 to arrive or camping out to purchase one tomorrow, Apple has posted the user guide (PDF link) for iPhone 4 and iOS 4 for your reading pleasure. The 243-page guide, which is also available in an iPhone-formatted version accessible through Safari for iPhone, is broken down into 28 chapters and offers information on the features of iOS 4 as they relate to Apple's new iPhone 4 and 3GS devices.

The user guide covers a multitude of topics, from physical features of the iPhone to setup and on through the various software offerings included by default on the devices. Also included are sections on the iTunes Store and App Store, as well as Apple's free iBooks application available separately through the App Store and the iPhone's Nike + iPod capabilities.

iPhone 4 is Faster than 3GS and Slower than iPad in Early Benchmarks

Wednesday June 23, 2010 04:49 AM EST; Category: iPhone

Written by arn

 
iPhone 4 results on left, 3GS on right
Early benchmarks of the iPhone 4 show it to be 31% faster than the iPhone 3GS according to the Geekbench 2 app. Geek Benchhas been a popular benchmarking utility on the Mac that has recently made the jump over to the iPhone. As always, benchmarks are a bit of an artificial gauge of performance, but can be useful in head to head comparisons. 

The iPhone 4 is known to use the same Apple A4 processor that is also found in the iPad, but Apple has never revealed the processor speed of the iPhone 4. The iPad is known to have a 1GHz processor. We looked at a few benchmarking utilities to see if we could determine if the iPhone 4's A4 processor was the same speed as the iPad's. Unfortunately, the state of benchmarking on iOS seems a bit primitive, and is further complicated by the fact that iOS 4.0 does not run on the iPad. GeekBench, for example, only runs on iOS 4, so we can't compare it directly to the iPhone 4's results. A couple of other benchmarking tools available produced some inconsistent results, so we can't be completely confident in them, but it appears that the iPhone 4 is indeed faster than the iPhone 3GS but slower than the iPad.

BenchTest: 3GS: 2.298, iPhone 4: 2.514, iPad: 3.667 - This benchmark only showed a small increase in speed with the iPhone 4, but some of the results seemed strange. All the "seconds" in the iPhone 4 results were listed at 0.00, though a score was still generated. It's hard to say if the results are entirely accurate.

Checkup: 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad - This also showed the trend of iPad > iPhone 4 > iPhone 3GS, but running the benchmark multiple times could result in a large variance.

Early iPhone 4 Reviews Begin to Go Live

Tuesday June 22, 2010 07:15 PM EST; Category: iPhone

Written by Eric Slivka

Apple's embargo on iPhone 4 reviews has been lifted, and the big names in tech journalism have been rolling out their detailed thoughts on Apple's new device that is scheduled to officially launch on Thursday but has already made its way into the hands of a few lucky customers.

Here are a few choice snippets from some of the high-profile reviews coming out today:

Walt Mossberg / The Wall Street Journal:

I've been testing the iPhone 4 for more than a week. In both hardware and software, it is a major leap over its already-excellent predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.

It has some downsides and limitations - most important, the overwhelmed AT&T network in the U.S., which, in my tests, the new phone handled sometimes better and, unfortunately, sometimes worse than its predecessor. I'll get into that below. But, overall, Apple has delivered a big, well-designed update that, in my view, keeps it in the lead in the smartphone wars.

David Pogue / The New York Times:

Despite the strong initial, positive reaction, this must still be a nerve-racking time to be Apple; the iPhone is no longer the only worthy contender. Phones running Google's Android software are gaining rave reviews and packing in features that iPhone owners can only envy. The Android app store is ballooning, multiple phone makers are competing, and Google updates the software several times a year. Apple releases only one new model a year, so the new iPhone had better be pretty amazing to compete.

It is.

Ed Baig / USA Today:

The new iPhone 4 I've been testing for about a week and a half - along with the major refresh of the mobile operating system software at the core of recent models - demonstrates once again why Apple's handset is the one to beat, even as it faces fierce competition from phones based on Google's Android platform, among others.

Xeni Jardin / Boing Boing:

The fourth incarnation of Apple's iPhone is an incrementally improved, familiar device - not a new kind of device, as was the case with the recent introduction of iPad. Yes, the notable features with iPhone 4 - both the device and the iOS4, which came out yesterday in advance of the iPhone itself - are mostly tweaks. But what tweaks they are: Apple's focus on improvement is as much key to the quality of its products as innovation. But there's one flaw it can't completely eliminate: the unreliable quality of calls placed over AT&T, which remains the iPhone's only U.S. carrier.

Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:

We're not going to beat around the bush -- in our approximation, the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market right now. The combination of gorgeous new hardware, that amazing display, upgraded cameras, and major improvements to the operating system make this an extremely formidable package. Yes, there are still pain points that we want to see Apple fix, and yes, there are some amazing alternatives to the iPhone 4 out there. But when it comes to the total package -- fit and finish in both software and hardware, performance, app selection, and all of the little details that make a device like this what it is -- we think it's the cream of the current crop.

Stay tuned over the next several days as we continue to cover the iPhone 4 launch and all of the latest developments.

iOS 4 Features: MultiTasking, Folders, and Much More

Monday June 21, 2010 05:18 PM EST; Category: iPhone
Written by arn

Image from Post your Home screen thread
Today's release of iOS 4 marks a major upgrade to Apple's iPhone and iPod touch devices. High demand for the software update has caused a strain on Apple's servers resulting in slow downloads for many customers. For those who are able to get the software downloaded and installed, here are a few walkthroughs that go over the major features found in the new iOS.

- iLounge: Apple iOS 4.0
- ArsTechnica: iOS 4: what's new, notable, and what needs work
- Macworld: Exploring iOS 4's multimedia features
- TiPb: iOS4 Walkthrough
- Gizmodo: Hidden Secrets of iOS 4

From a casual user standpoint, the biggest features will include:

- Folders - With the explosion of the App Store, App management has been a major issue. The introduction of Folders allows users to simply drag and drop icons on top of each other to create a custom folder of Apps. Tapping on the folder brings up a display of all the enclosed icons. 
- MultiTasking / Fast App Switching - Exiting an App will now place it into a suspended mode that allows you to return to it quickly... at least for those apps that support it. Meanwhile, Apps with more sophisticated needs such as Pandora Radio can continue to play streaming music after you've left the app. Double tapping on the home button gives you a display of most recent apps that you've used and also gives you quick access to the iPod/Music controls if you swipe right on the icon bar.

Note that Apple's Game Center is not yet live. While an early version was provided to developers, Apple does not plan to launch the social gaming service until later this year.

Apple Announces Release of Safari 5 with Extensions

Apple just issued a press release announcing the launch of Safari 5, but it hasn't been officially posted on their site.

Apple today released Safari 5, the latest version of the world's fastest and most innovative web browser, featuring the new Safari Reader for reading articles on the web without distraction, a 30 percent performance increase over Safari 4,* and the ability to choose Google, Yahoo! or Bing as the search service powering Safari's search field. Available for both Mac and Windows, Safari 5 includes improved developer tools and supports more than a dozen new HTML5 technologies that allow web developers to create rich, dynamic websites. With Safari 5, developers can now create secure Safari Extensions to customize and enhance the browsing experience.

Features Include:

- Safari Reader makes it easy to read single and multipage articles on the web by presenting them in a new, scrollable view without any additional content or clutter. When Safari 5 detects an article, users can click on the Reader icon in the Smart Address Field to display the entire article for clear, uninterrupted reading with options to enlarge, print or send via email.

- Powered by the Nitro JavaScript engine, Safari 5 on the Mac runs JavaScript 30 percent faster than Safari 4, three percent faster than Chrome 5.0, and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6.* Safari 5 loads new webpages faster using Domain Name System (DNS) prefetching, and improves the caching of previously viewed pages to return to them more quickly.

- Safari 5 adds more than a dozen powerful HTML5 features that allow web developers to create media-rich experiences, including full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video. Other new HTML5 features in Safari 5 include HTML5 Geolocation, HTML5 sectioning elements, HTML5 draggable attribute, HTML5 forms validation, HTML5 Ruby, HTML5 AJAX History, EventSource and WebSocket.

- The new, free Safari Developer Program allows developers to customize and enhance, Safari 5 with extensions based on standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The Extension Builder, new in Safari 5, simplifies the development, installation and packaging of extensions. For enhanced security and stability, Safari Extensions are sandboxed, signed with a digital certificate from Apple and run solely in the browser.

According to the press release, Safari 5 should be available for free download today.

Update: The press release was pulled so we're not sure what the status of Safari 5 is at the moment.

Update 2: Apple has now officially posted the press release announcing Safari 5, and it is now available via Apple's Safari download site and Software Update. Apple has also released Safari 4.1 for Mac OS X Tiger users, bringing a significant number of enhancements in the areas of performance, usability, compatibility and security.

iPhone 4 Hands-On Reviews and First Impressions

With the WWDC 2010 keynote address now over, users are beginning to get their hands on Apple's new iPhone 4, and hands-on reviews and first impressions are beginning to trickle in.

Engadget posts a number of photos of the new device, as well as a video showing the new FaceTime video calling feature in action.

Some takeaways about the device:

- As we said, it's shockingly thin.
- The screen is truly outrageous -- you basically cannot see pixels on it. We're not being hyperbolic when we say it's easily the best looking mobile phone screen we've ever laid eyes on.
- The build quality is really solid. The home button feels much snappier, and on the whole it just feel like a tightly-packed device, but it's not heavy.
- The side buttons are really nice and clicky.
- iOS 4 is very familiar -- there's not a lot added to fit and finish.

Ars Technica also has a number of photos and notes the new iPhone "feels good in the hand" and is very speedy, on par with the iPad as a first impression.


The iPhone's 960 x 640 Retina display has predictably been garnering quite a bit of attention, with Daring Fireball's John Grubernoting that it "looks insane in person" and gdgt's Ryan Block "in complete awe" over the "unbelievable" screen.

Recombu has also posted another nice photo gallery showing off the Apple's latest and greatest iPhone.

Apple Announces iPhone 4 with Retina Display, HD Video Recording, More

Monday June 07, 2010 03:24 PM EST; Category: iPhone
Written by Marianne Schultz

As expected at today's WWDC keynote event, Steve Jobs announced the next iPhone model, dubbed iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 features a new design relative to previous models and is identical to the model obtained by Gizmodo earlier this year, over which a search warrant was issued and criminal charges are being considered.

The new iPhone will have Apple's own A4 chip and a larger battery that will offer 40% more talk time than the previous model. It will also be capable of HSDPA/HSUPA speeds of 7.2Mbps down and 5.8Mbs up. Surprisingly, the iPhone will not see a storage bump in this generation, maxing out at 32GB like the current iPhone 3GS.

Other new additions include 802.11n Wi-Fi, a gyroscope to detect motion on 6 axes, as well as an LED flash to supplement the new 5-megapixel auto-focus lens. The updated camera will have 5x digital zoom and will record 720p HD video at 30 frames per second. Videos captured can be edited on the device using the new iMovie for iPhone.

The new iPhone 4 will also have a secondary microphone on the top for noise cancellation, as well as a front-facing camera for video calls. It will also use the smaller micro SIM, making use of the smaller SIM standard like the iPad.

Size-wise, it will be just 9.33mm thick, which is 24% thinner than the current iPhone 3GS. It will have a glass front and back with a stainless steel band that wraps around all sides. This band is used as part of the antenna system for the GSM, UMTS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth radios.

iPhone 4 will also have a Retina Display, a new display technology that packs in 326 pixels per inch, compared to the current iPhone's 163 ppi. Noting that the detection limit of the human eye is 300 ppi, Jobs described that the iPhone 4's display will "comfortably" exceed this and that text will be seen as a "fine printed book." The new iPhone's display will be the same 3.5-inch size of the current iPhone 3GS but with a resolution of 940 x 640 pixels and an 800:1 contrast ratio and the same IPS technology used in the iPad's display.

The new iPhone 4 model will go on sale on June 24 in the U.S., France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In the U.S., it will cost $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model with a new 2-year contract. iPhone 4 will be available in 88 countries by the end of September.



AT&T will be offering an early upgrade special for current iPhone users in the U.S., allowing the lower upgrade pricing up to 6 months earlier than the company normally does.

An 8 GB iPhone 3GS will also be available and will be priced at $99 in the U.S. with a new 2-year contract.

MacRumors users are already planning meetups using our iPhone 4 Meetup forum.

Supply Shortages Hint at Possible Mac Mini Refresh

Thursday June 03, 2010 04:10 PM EST; Category: Mac mini
Written by Eric Slivka

AppleInsider claims that it has received multiple reports of supply shortages in Apple's Mac mini line, suggesting that an update may be approaching. The reports come from both purchasers looking to place volume orders as well as from checks of reseller supplies. MacRumors has heard similar whispers in recent days, although a time frame for a release is currently unknown.

The shortage has been verified four times over by AppleInsider, which has received numerous reports that suggest the constraints are indicative of new models on the horizon, rather than intermittent delays resulting from the onset of the back-to-school buying season, which sometimes sees Apple curb the flow of Macs to its distribution channels in favor of filling large orders to universities.

Rumors of potential updates to the Mac mini have been sparse, in part due to the fact that the line is only just now approaching the end of its usual product cycle, having been revamped last October.

Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) next week might initially appear to be an opportunity for Apple to launch new Mac minis, but the developer focus of the annual event has typically restricted product announcements primarily to the company's professional lines. Consequently, even if a refresh is imminent, it may not appear until a quiet update in the days or weeks following WWDC.

A report from earlier this year suggested that Apple may be planning to replace the Mac mini's existing DVI output with HDMI, making the machine more easily compatible with home theater systems. Sources have been otherwise quiet about what might be included in an update, although the Mac mini may face some of the same issues experienced with the 13" MacBook Pro related to a licensing dispute between Intel and NVIDIA. Those issues, combined with technical constraints in the MacBook Pro's small form factor that may or may not necessarily be shared in the Mac mini, led Apple to continue using Intel's Core 2 Duo processors in its smallest pro notebook in the latest revision rather than switching to the Core i5 or i7 offerings used in the larger MacBook Pros.