Let's Talk Tech
There still aren’t a lot of rugged and water-proof cases built specifically for the iPhone 5S. Thankfully, the changes between the 5 and 5S aren’t so severe that you couldn’t use a 5 case on a 5S, but there will be a few compromises.
The Ballistic Hydra is ready to go! Let’s take a look at how someone might better protect their shiny, pretty iPhone from drop and water damage!
Shop for the Ballistic Hydra rugged case on Amazon.
More info on Ballistic cases at: http://www.goballisticcase.com/
Yup. Apple and Nokia took our top spots last week in terms of tech coverage, with Google sneaking in at the last spot. What was most important to the readers of SomeGadgetGuy last week? Here’s our run down of the most read and most shared.
5. Google announces TONS of new features for Hangouts, Google Plus, Photo & Video sharing
People still make jokes about G+ being a ghost town, but the insane number of new features and add ons for Google’s social backbone service caught a lot of attention this last week. Whether it was improvements to broadcasting video, or improving the look of your photos online, there was something for everyone during this morning keynote. And of course you can get in on the fun by adding me to a circle…
4. The iPhone 5S in Action! Testing the Speakers and Camera of Apple’s Newest Phone
In covering smartphones, each review is now so large that we can’t do just one post or one video to fully explain a new device. These two videos are part of our standalone coverage of phone and tablet cameras and speakers. We here at SomeGadgetGuy have the most comprehensive collection of speaker and video tests on the web, testing performance in a variety of scenarios. The iPhone 5S is going to be a hot seller this year, so it’s only fitting you should be able to see how it performs against the competition!
3. Hands on with Nokia’s Lumia 2520 Tablet, 1520 & 1320 Phablets
Nokia might be getting swallowed up by Microsoft, but they’re definitely going out with a bang. Introducing the first Windows Phone phablets and a new Windows RT Tablet (which looks like it’ll give the Surface 2 and iPad Air a run for their money), Nokia cemented their position as the premier Mobile Microsoft Manufacturer.
2. A MONSTER Video Review of the iPhone 5S from a Windows Phone/Android User
But camera and speaker tests aren’t enough for you folks! You want the FULL run down, and our number 2 story isn’t a surprise. A proper review takes time, and since we’ve had a little time to get to know the iPhone 5S, it’s time to share our experiences using Apple’s new premier handset. How does it stack up when reviewed by an Android user? Watch on friends!
1. Real Person Review: Tony Talks About His Nokia Lumia 925
These reviews are my favorite to write up. While it’s nice knowing what the techie folks think about new gadgets, it’s also nice to check in with “real people”, and see how these devices are working out for them out in the real world. My pal Tony writes up a great post on his experiences making the switch from an iPhone to a Windows Phone. It looks like you readers responded as it was our number one most shared story of the week!
We’re nothing without you readers, and we certainly can’t compete against the big blogs by ourselves. We always greatly appreciate not only the likes, but the sharing on social sites like Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. The more we get to talk with other tech fans, the better we get, and soon we’ll be able to reward that participation with some fun contests coming up soon!
Thanks for reading, and if you feel we missed a big story this week, or you have a hot tip, please drop us a line on our Contact Page!
It’s time folks. I was there for the iPhone 5S launch day. I’ve played with the phone for a while now.
It’s time to talk iPhone.
I have not used an iPhone since the 3G. I’ve recently become a fan of Windows Phone, and I still use Android as my daily driver. iOS7 has brought some pretty significant changes to the Apple ecosystem, and now we have the first generation of iPhone purpose built for this new software.
Let’s see how it holds up to the expectations and ramblings of an angry smartphone geek.
Related:
Our comprehensive iPhone 5S camera and speaker tests!
I’m almost wrapped up with my full long term review of the 5S, but I thought I’d tease some of the videos we’ll be using to showcase the performance of Apple’s newest handset.
Starting off with the most comprehensive camera test you’ll find on this phone online, shooting in a variety of scenarios including bright outdoor scenes, low light, indoor, night time, tracking movement, and we played with slow motion video. If you’ve been curious to see how this new image sensor stacks up against Nokias and Androids, we have a ton of samples to show off!
Also, no discussion of a multimedia phone would be complete without some speaker tests. The iPhone is a svelte slab of phone. I was really curious to see if Apple could cram in a speaker which would be able to compete against recent outings from Nokia and HTC. I was very surprised by the results of our speaker test, and you can hear the iPhone playback movie clips and music in our video below.
Be on the lookout for our full long-term review in the coming days!
And no fights broke out…
I might just start doing this for all launch day activities. The folks at AT&T were kind enough to open a store early for me to check out the iPhone launch. I got hands on with the iPhone 5S, and got to see a store in action on one of their busiest days of the year.
I did the whole day on about three-ish hours of sleep, so I might’ve gotten a little goofy… Yes I’m holding a Lumia 1020… This photo of me MIGHT have been taken with an HTC one…
Yay iPhone!
I wonder if accessory manufacturers will continue to consider Apple a “safe bet”. The iPhone 5 is only getting a one year run, and the 5S will probably only get a one year run. You used to be able to count on at least two, if not three years of sales for a new model of iPhone.
Anywho, Zagg is getting out ahead of the curve by announcing their new line up of iPhone accessories for the 5S and 5C. A lot of their announced line up are universal products like iFrogz headphones and Zaggsparq portable batteries, but their terrific InvisibleSHIELD screen protectors are ready to go, and we’ll see a pair of case options. The iFrogz Chemistry is a slim cushioned bumper featuring bright colors and designs, and the Zagg Arsenal will be one of the slimmest rugged cases available for the iPhone 5S.
Full PR after the jump!
Continue reading “Zagg Ahead of the Curve with new Accessories for iPhone 5S & 5C”
If you’re on Big Blue and looking to shop one of those shiny new iPhones we’ve been hearing all about over the last day or so, AT&T has helpfully created an email alert page just for you. Of course they’ll be carrying the new iPhones, so if you want to make sure a little box has your name on it on September 20th, you will want to be alerted when pre-orders go live on September 13th.
Jump over to www.apple.com/iphone to make sure you’re all signed up.
“In the past, when we’ve launched a new iPhone, we lowered the cost of the old iPhone, making it more accessible to new people. But this year, we’re not going to do that.” – Tim Cook
Yes, they’re officially official! The iPhone 5S will reign as the new premier handset and the iPhone 5C will replace the iPhone 5 as a mid range offering. The iPhone 4S will remain as a “free on contract” option for frugal buyers.
The iPhone 5C is largely an iPhone 5 in a candy colored polycarb plastic shell. Inspired by phones like the Nokia Lumia, Apple is releasing the iPhone 5C in green, white, blue, pink, and yellow. Pricing will be very reasonable, coming in at $99 for a 16GB version and $199 for the 32GB model. This is a smart play by Apple, as it provides a much needed mid-range which wont be as expensive as the uni-body aluminum iPhone to produce. This should also help open up some Asian and African developing markets where consumers might not be interested in paying the Apple premium for the 5S.
The iPhone 5S will retain the aluminium shell of its predecessor, meaning in the wild it will be difficult to see whether someone is carrying the latest and greatest. In part to address that, the color options for the 5S have changed. Silver remains, but instead of Black, the 5S will come in “Space Grey”. This may also be a response to complaints that the black iPhone was easily scratched. Also, for those wanting a bit more bling, a Gold version will also be available. I would expect this to be the top seller for this generation of iPhone, as even I can be guilty of wanting other people around me to know I have a bleeding edge phone. And yes. I did just say “bling”.
While the 5S wont be visually much different than the iPhone 5, it is packing new equipment under the hood to improve the iOS experience. A new camera is on board, marking the first improvement in two generations of iPhone. The resolution remains the same at 8 megapixels, but the new sensor is larger allowing more light to hit individual photo sites. When paired with a new f2.2 aperture lens, this should improve low light capabilities. The new camera app will also be capable of shooting continuous 10 frame per second stills. A new slow-motion video mode is also included which can shoot at 120 frames per second to catch all those great sports and pet moments in delicious slow motion detail.
A new processor is on board. The Apple claims the A7 is up to twice as powerful as the A6, though details regarding actual performance are thin. Interestingly enough, the new A7 is a 64-bit chip. I can’t really understand why Apple made this jump now, as the move to 64-bit on desktops was to facilitate more than 4GB of RAM (which the iPhone does not have). This could perhaps be a preemptive move towards unifying OSX on the desktop and iOS on mobile devices? We’ll just have to wait and see…
The new chipset does feature improved graphics processing thanks to OpenGL ES 3.0. Apple showed off a preview of Infinity Blade 3 which demonstrated dynamic lighting, improved texture mapping, and larger playable areas.
For those active smartphone users, the 5S packs a new sensor co-processor dubbed the M7. It’s a small mini-brain responsible for driving and collecting all of the data from the various sensors, gyros, accelerometers, and the compass. This is a cool piece of tech, as all that info can be collected and sorted by apps without the new A7 processor turning on. This should help battery life, and open new doors for tracking and location apps with the new M7 API.
Speaking of power, Apple claims 10 hours of LTE browsing, 40 hours of music listening, and 250 hours of standby time. No word yet on whether the battery can sustain real world use through dinner time…
Lastly, for those a bit more security conscious, Touch ID was introduced, which builds a capacitive fingerprint scanner into the Home button on the 5S. Apple demo’ed the feature, which should make unlocking an iPhone near invisible to the person who owns the iPhone, just by tapping the Home Button. This should be of interest to corporate and government IT departments which have to force smartphone users into using alphanumeric passwords which can sometimes be difficult to enter on a touchscreen display.
iPhone 5s will follow in the footsteps of previous iPhones launching at $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for a 64GB version. The iOS7 update goes live September 18, and iPhone pre-orders start September 13. The phones will be available for purchase September 20 in the US, Australia, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and China. That last is very important for Cupertino, as this will be the first time an iPhone will include the Chinese market at launch, and offering that mid-range iPhone 5C could help open up Asian markets which haven’t warmed to Apple’s mobile offerings in the past.
Watch the keynote at Apple.com. Full Press Releases after the jump! Continue reading “Apple Officially unveils iPhone 5S & 5C. Available September 20th.”