Apple iPhone 5 Rumors

Apple iPhone 5 is widely awaited and here is a quick summary of the rumors around the net related to the launch.

	Rumor
Appearance	Wider, thinner
Network	4G LTE
Screen	4-inch display, thinner
Battery	Higher capacity
Dock Connector	Smaller, 8-pin
Data Sharing	Near Field Communication
Accessories	New headphones
Availability	September 21

iMore is reporting a September 12th event planned by Apple for iPhone launch, if that is true we don't have to wait much longer. The event may also be used to announce a new 7-inch mini iPad.

Apple's Black Friday Sales Event

Apple announced their one day shopping event on Black Friday. Definitely anything that Apple does draws a lot of attention so wanted to see how good these deals were compared to other stores.

First up is one of the most desired products of the holiday season - iPad 2. The discounts ranged from $41 on 16 GB model to $61 on 64 GB model. Local Micro Center store was selling them for a $50 discount on all models before the Black Friday and the sale goes on until Dec 4th. Best Buy is selling at a $45 discount and the prices are valid until at least Nov 26th. So unless you are planning to buy a 64 GB model Apple deal is no deal.

Another popular device is the iPod Touch which had discounts ranging from $21 on the 8 GB model to $41 on the 64 GB model. Best Buy is also selling at $21 discount. So again unless you plan to buy the higher end model there is no saving.

The Apple iPod Nano had a $11 discount. Best Buy is selling at $5 discount, in addition they are offering a free $15 Best Buy gift card.

As for the the MacBooks Apple had a discount of $101. Again a quick check with Best Buy online showed a discount of $150 for the MacBook Air 11in 64GB model. Similarly the MacBook Pro had a $150 discount at Best Buy. Best Buy would be the choice compared to Apple.

Apple is offering discounts for accessories as well but I didn't research those. From the little I researched I think the Apple event fell short of its hype. The deals are very similar to what Apple offered a year before.

Here's a deal that seemed really exciting, the Sifteo Cubes Thanksgiving offer. The Sifteo pack containing 3 cubes sells for $149 and additional cubes sell for $45 each. As part of the Thanksgiving offer which is valid until November 28th buying a Sifteo Pack will get you a Sifteo Cube for free. The product was recently named the winner of the 2011 Best of What's New award by Popular Science Magazine.

Siri - The Witty Personal Assistant

Apple announced iPhone 4S recently. The highlight of the product is a new voice activated feature - Siri, the virtual personal assistant. I got my iPhone 4S yesterday in mail and spent sometime trying this new feature. Here are some screenshots from those witty conversations:

An interesting thing you may have observed is that Siri gives different answers for the same question. Only time will tell how game changing this feature will turn out for Apple but for me sure it was entertaining.

Apple iPhone 4S website down

At 8:20 am I was unable to complete the buy for Apple iPhone 4S at apple.com as I got the following error message:

On a related note I also observed that twitter.com went down yesterday evening. Check out the interesting error page.

Update at 8:50 am I was able to buy the phone.

Apple shipped the device on October 11th. Tracking the order, it looks like the order originates in Shenzhen, China, see below

Finally got the device on October 14th as promised.

The setup was simple and only took 10 minutes, the phone worked very well. Impressive!

Remembering Steve Jobs

The world today lost a visionary and innovator with the passing of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. "Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve," Apple board of directors said in a statement and I have to agree.

Steve was a very private person who rarely talked to media except during product launches. He had been facing health problems including pancreatic cancer and had to take several medical leave of absence. In his letter of resignation in August 2011 he wrote "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come."

Here are some of the most memorable moments from his life.

Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh in 1984.

Steve Jobs delivers the Stanford Commencement Speech in 2005.

Steve, you will be missed forever.

Apple iPhone 4S announcement

Apple iPhone 4S was released today finally after generating months of media buzz. While Apple and its new CEO Tim Cook touts it as one of the biggest iPhone release yet, its interesting to see what harm it has caused.

• Saddened people's hearts by not releasing iPhone 5.
• Tech news sites like CNET news, Mashable and Engadget were faltering with the heavy user traffic tuning for the live coverage.
• Sprint tumbled after reports of its commitment to buy $20 billion worth of iPhone, stock reacted with a 10% decline.
• Unhappy Apple shareholders, the stock was down by more than 4% after the announcement.
• Embarrassed so many tech reporters on various news sites including WSJ, New York Times who got it completely wrong. Boy Genius Report even had leaked pictures of iPhone 5 cases.
• Apple has made a joke of itself as the name of its new virtual assistant app Siri in Japanese sounds almost identical to 尻 (pronounced Shiri), a colloquial term for "buttocks".

Stacking the iPhone 4S to the rumors leading to the announcement:

	Rumor	iPhone 4S
Appearance	Wider, thinner, new home button	No
Processor	Dual core A5 chip	Dual core A5 chip
Maximum Storage	64 GB model	64 GB model
Network	4G LTE	HSPA+
Screen	4-inch display	3.5-inch display
Camera	8 megapixel, 1080p video	8 megapixel, 1080p video
Cellular	Both GSM & CDMA	World phone
Data Sharing	Near Field Communication	No
Carriers	Sprint in addition to AT&T, Verizon	Sprint in addition to AT&T, Verizon
Applications	Personal assistant	Siri - Personal Assistant

So looking at the table above it is clear that except the form factor, screen and the version, Apple seems to have gotten it closer to the rumors. Also iPhone 4S is more energy efficient than its predecessor while providing a faster dual core A5 processor as discussed here. Is it then because of the strong iPhone 5 rumor leading to the event that disappointed observers? Where will it leave Apple in its fight with Android? Only time will tell.

Please comment on how you feel about the announcement.

War and peace

Watch as iPhone and Android fight and make peace produced by Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.

Don't worry, the video is rated PG and enacts scenes from famous movies like Braveheart, Dirty Dancing and Titanic.

Who can forget the famous YouTube video of iPhone 4 vs HTC Evo that came out right after the iPhone 4 release last year, this one uses some explicit language.

In couple of days the mobile war heats up with the release of iPhone 5. Read here for some of the rumors flying around.