Tag: iphone 4S

If it weren’t for iBox’s aggressive promotion for the iPhone 4 I probably wouldn’t have come across this clean piece of case for the 4S. They didn’t have cases for older iPhones anymore when I checked last month but this time they’ve got a few models out. Glad they’ve got this classy one picked out. There’s a black version too.

For 200k it’s not a bad deal. It’s gonna be filthy within days since it’s all white but at least the iPhone won’t get more bumps and bruises. Hopefully.

Kinda wish they left out a gap for the SIM card slot tough.

The Linley Group offers a possible reason why Apple is limiting Siri to iPhone 4S.

To reduce system cost and eliminate the extra package required for the Audience chip, Apple cut a deal to integrate the noise-reduction technology directly into its A5 processor, which appears in the iPhone 4S. This technology is critical for the new phone because not only does it improve call quality, it blocks out background noise when users provide voice commands to Siri, the intelligent assistant built into the iPhone 4S. Without this noise reduction, Siri would be unusable even with a modest amount of background noise.

Recently I had installed Dragon Search and Dragon Dictation on my 3GS. While the underlying software that power these apps and Siri are from Nuance, the above finding by The Linley Group could be a reason why Nuance’s Dragon software titles have difficulties in a crowded room in my phone.

Apple is of course known to refrain from introducing or featuring technologies and abilities that have yet to meet its own threshold of acceptable performance in its products.

Another reason that have come up in the past for the lack of Siri in older products was the possibility that because Siri is still in beta, the company may be testing and collecting data to eventually deliver a more complete experience.

Of course, should Apple offer Siri in older iPhones, the value of iPhone 4S will be diminished greatly, and Apple certainly doesn’t want that to happen given that the company still sells the 3GS and 4 for the lower end of the market.

Internationally though, it makes little difference since Siri doesn’t offer much of an assistance beyond dictation and personal reminders outside of the United States at the moment anyway. Additionally, its linguistic limitations makes Siri practically unusable in many markets.

/via @charlesarthur

The Linley Group offers a possible reason why Apple is limiting Siri to iPhone 4S.

The LA Times brought up the issue that Scottish people have with Siri. Despite being part of the UK, the Scots clearly have such thick accents that Siri has trouble understanding them. The results are obviously unfortunate for the Scots and for Apple but make for some humorous exchanges. At least Apple knows it has a wee bit of problem over the Atlantic.

Telkomsel and XL Axiata begin selling iPhone 4S in Indonesia today

Today Indonesia’s Telkomsel and XL Axiata will begin selling the iPhone 4S. In a departure from past pricing plans, this time each telco has markedly distinct packages and even different pre-paid costs. Additionally, there is approximately a 10% increase over the cost of past iPhones while in the US it has remain the same since 2008 for every iPhone model.

Previously outright cost of iPhone 4 used to be Rp 7 million and Rp 8.2 million for the 16 GB and 32 GB respectively. The iPhone 4S now start from Rp 7.7 million for the 16 GB all the way to Rp 10.3 million for the 64 GB.

The 4S being released in January may seem a little late compared to the December release of the iPhone 4 in 2010 but one needs to remember that it wasn’t until mid October last year that Apple began selling the 4S in the US, so now Indonesia is only four months behind instead of six or more. The 3G was released in March 2009 and the 3GS in February 2010.

As for the pricing plans, here are the packages from Telkomsel. The lack of contract plans in Indonesia means buyers are given the choice of 12 month credit card installments or full price purchase.

The included free calls and SMS are intra-network only, meaning they apply only within the same network, not to numbers from other mobile network providers as per local regulations.

It’s very likely that as it had been in the past, post-paid packages are valid for pre-approved customers only as new Telkomsel iPhone customers are generally directed towards pre-paid options.

Pre-paid customers have a new daily plan to choose from which limits them to 60 MB data consumption per day. Previously all packages had been monthly.

XL Axiata’s iPhone plans are different as well this year. In addition to the three 12-month credit card installment plans and the option for outright purchase, the blue network now offers six-month credit card installment plans for pre-paid customers. The total costs of the pre-paid installment plans differ very slightly from the full up-front purchase price which makes it quite an attractive option.

At the conclusion of the installment period, customers are enrolled automatically to a 1.2 GB monthly data package with the standard call and text rates. Excess call/text/data are charged at prevailing rates.

[update] 

Forgot to include pre-paid costs for iPhone 4S on XL Axiata. They are 16GB Rp 7,999,000; 32GB Rp 9,199,000; 64GB Rp 10,399,000

Personal hotspot use is included in the data packages of both Telkomsel and XL Axiata.

Telkomsel does not bundle voice/text/data packages for its pre-paid plans while XL Axiata does.

iPhone 4S coming to Indonesia’s Telkomsel January 27

Today Telkomsel revealed on its website that it will be bringing iPhone 4S to Indonesia on January 27. While the release seems rather late, it’s worth noting that the 4S did not make its world debut in the US until mid October, much later than in previous years in which Apple launched its new iPhone models in the middle of the northern summer.

Indonesia’s release dates of the iPhones had been erratic with the 3G model being released in March 2008, the 3GS in February 2009, and the iPhone 4 in December 2010. There were rumors that Indonesia was supposed to have been part of the mid-December roll out along with Malaysia, Thailand, and the rest of Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, the 4S is ready to roll now for an end of January launch.

Apple supposedly scheduled for a complete iPhone 4S roll out by the end of 2011 but apparently negotiations with some carriers in parts of the world took longer than expected and we ended up with January releases for a number of countries.

At this moment, there is no word on pricing and there is no indication of pre-orders. In the past, pre-order numbers for Telkomsel had been very misleading as it involved no commitment from the consumers and the actual sales number of the launch weekend never reached pre-order levels.

The other Indonesian carrier for iPhone, XL Axiata, has yet to reveal its plans.

The timing will be very close to the Indonesian launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus on January 21, which is two days from now, and ahead of the still rumored launch date of the Lumia series from Nokia, set for mid February.

PS: What about Siri? Well, it won’t be fully operational. Any location-based queries simply won’t work in Indonesia, or across Asia for that matter. Most of it would be there, but if you ask Siri anything to do with location, such as asking for the nearest sushi bar, you won’t get anything.

Android fan James Kendrick gives the iPhone 4S a shot

Don’t get me wrong, the Android Gingerbread interface isn’t bad, it’s just not always smooth. In just a few days with the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 I had come to expect operation to be fluid and consistent system-wide. That’s just not the case with Android, and every little interruption in smooth operation now accumulates into a feeling of frustration as I use the phone.

Android fan James Kendrick gives the iPhone 4S a shot

iPhone 4S vs Nokia N9 photo comparisons

Basically the N9 has a much more muted color dynamics. Which one is more natural? I can’t say but the photos from the 4S certainly look much more vibrant, attractive and lively. The N9 benefits from having a wide angle lens though.

iPhone 4S vs Nokia N9 photo comparisons