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Apple Announces the iPhone 4S, Leaves the Door Open for Nexus Prime to Impress

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When Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook took the stage today, the scene was far different from that of previous iPhone unveilings. The moment that has held the entire tech world captivated for the better part of the past year took place in a small auditorium housed at Apple’s Cupertino campus, a much smaller setting than the massive auditoriums that have housed previous iPhone announcements. And while the buzz was equally as large, the backdrop was fitting. The iPhone 4S is no slouch with an upgraded dual-core processor and camera that sits at the top of its class, but the end product reads as a marginal upgrade to last year’s iPhone 4. For all of its pomp and circumstance, the new handset has left many with mixed feelings.

Apple stock has dropped on the heel’s of the announcement, an unprecedented shift from the typical announcement day flare-ups that normally greet the company’s shares kindly. The blogosphere has erupted with the normal fervent debate expected to follow such an unveiling, with some disappointed, others feeling indifferent, and a typical group of excited supporters. Perhaps the announcement that was welcomed most enthusiastically was Apple’s refined voice command system Siri , which looked truly impressive with its ability to decode natural human language and respond by completing the appropriate tasks.

For the Android enthusiasts, Apple’s announcement was watched closely to see how the company would respond to the many recent advancements pushed forth by manufacturers allied with Google. While Cook was quick to jab at the likes of Samsung, remarking on the preoccupation of competitors to copy Apple’s designs (and success), the iPhone 4S didn’t do a whole lot to position itself ahead of the pack. It’s improvements put it on par with the recent crop of high-end Android devices, but the door has been left wide open for the Nexus Prime to swoop in with true innovations in tow.

While we expect the Nexus Prime to have a spec sheet reading fairly close to the Samsung Galaxy S II and its variants (much like the Nexus S didn’t do much to surprise us beyond what we saw in the original Galaxy S), the true differentiator will be Ice Cream Sandwich, the presence of next-gen network support (LTE), and NFC functionality. As a flagship for Google’s latest version of Android, the Nexus Prime should host a slew of hardware and software features geared towards advancing smartphones into the future, while the iPhone 4S remains squarely planted in the present.

With Apple’s latest announcement we more eagerly than ever await Samsung and Google’s October 11th event, which will come just three days before the new iPhone launches on AT&T, Verizon, and newcomer Sprint. Will it be enough to sway on-the-fence smartphone buyers considering Apple’s latest toy? Possibly, but even if the Nexus Prime fails to wow the general public, Google’s new flagship will set the tone for the next generation of smartphones, period. Apple will once again be playing catchup with the eventual release of the true iPhone 5. Expect the speculation on that device to start picking up any day now.

 

Kevin Krause
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260 Comments

  1. I’d like to see what the camera is like on the prime. I have a Droid Incredible 2 and an iPhone 4. The iPhone camera takes better photos and video. I take quite a few pictures on the go.

    1. The camera is the only feature on the iPhone that made me consider switching. There is NO Android that functions as a decent camera in my opinion. If the subject is standing dead still and you have about 30 seconds to get the camera ready and the lighting is perfect and you don’t wanna take more then one shot it might work ok. But lets be honest… does that EVER happen? I LOVED taking pictures on the iPhone I tried out for a few weeks. I found myself pulling it out and taking pics when I would have never even bothered with my Android. The problem was I HATED everything else about it. ANDROID and ANDROID MANUFACTURERS hear this!!! Put BETTER cameras and camera software in Androids. Your shutter speeds are awful and your sensors SUCK! Megapixels??? Who gives a shit!!! 8 mega pixels is plenty! Work on the hardware and software quality now!!!

      1. Windows phones do a good job of taking pictures quickly.

        1. “Reason Party” who is this guy..? A one man Apple defense team! Steve is that you? bored now your out of a job? Have you noticed how your the only person replying to everyones comment trying to put a good spin on the Iphone 4S?

          1. I don’t see a problem with someone trying to defend their OS. He probably should have looked at the name of the website first. The same thing is going on over at Engadget or iGadget if you ask me. This type of back and forth only helps to educate both parties and makes the comment section a little more interesting. That being said, I would not want to be the guy who has to try and defend the new iPhone 4S.

      2. Have you tried the MyTouch 4G Slide? The camera in it seems to be a direct response to the iPhone 4’s camera.

      3. Galaxy S II has a great camera

      4. The Amaze 4G will have as good as if not better camera than the iPhone 4S. Just play with that thing for a few minutes and you will be AMAZE-ED

      5. Not that i like htc sense, but their camera opens up in the blink of an eye for me, and takes pictures just as fast. I haven’t touched it yet, but the demos of the Samsung Galaxy SII appear to be just as fast. I would assume that google will be focusing on this with ICS and especially Nexus since its the last point of contention. After their camera matches iPhone, the only thing iPhone will have left is the iTunes store… With which there’s an Android alternative… though iTunes is the one thing that ever made me consider switching.

        1. I agree. Although Sense is a battery hog, I was surprised when I bought a TBolt how fast the camera was. No waiting, just touch the button, and it shot the picture. No waiting 5 seconds, then another few seconds for it to refresh. It’s the one thing I really miss after knocking the phone Sense-less with custom ROMs.

  2. No LTE on a flagship phone = Apple FAIL

    1. won’t make a difference where I live… bloody Three and O2 blocking 4G…

  3. We may be witness to the end of an era.
    The problem I have with this is that now that Apple is playing catchup others will not advance the tech as much as in the past.
    In my opinion this is a bad day for all smartphone users… advancement may well stall now.

    1. Advancement only stalls if no one else picks up the torch. I think that Google has appropriately positioned Android to step in and spearhead innovation from here on out; though it has been truthfully doing so for a while. Look at the list of iOS5 features and see how many you can name a comparable Google product for that is already out.

    2. I was thinking the same thing actually. I have no intention of purchasing an iphone, but competition is good for the consumer. If they had come out with something great it would have forced all the other manufacturers to do the same.

      1. I agree. I think the competition is neck-and-neck at this point. Look how Apple was forced to basically copy Android notifications and add speech-to-text (Siri seems cool though). Google Navigation still dominates.

        However, in terms of “putting it all together” Apple does a great job.

    3. would it really be bad if the newest device is outdated in 6 months compared to 6 weeks? It might help prevent buyers remorse.

    4. You also forget that more than one company uses android os. So even though apple may have fallen to the wasteside. Their are other companies, Samsung, HTC, and others that would be more then happy to fight each other over which company is supreme. It was long since decided that android was a better os. The world just didn’t take notice due to the fact that apple and ios “mesmerized” the world with ads and product placements.

  4. I wonder if people behind this iPhlop release were and concerned about the release of this phone and not the rumored iPhone5 as everyone was concerned it would be the iPhone5. Seems like a disappointing day for all!

  5. And, I don’t know if it’s fair to say Apple is playing catch-up. If they wanted to put NFC in their phones they could. If they wanted to build an iPhone with a bigger screen they could. If they wanted to make an iPhone with LTE they could. It’s just a different product philosophy. Sometimes Android phones are a bit much for the average consumer. Apple gets this. Also, a lot of Android manufacturers get that sometimes people want more.

    1. Yeah, “put out this half stepped upgraded device and then bring out the real deal some months later”

      Good thing is when this happens with Android, we can just look to another manufacturer and see what they’ve been cooking. iPhoners now have to wait and speculate if the iPhone 5 will be early next year, June, or “this summer”.

      1. I mean, the iPhone 5 will be an incremental upgrade too. Let’s not act like there was the Moto Droid 1 and then the Bionic came out. The fact that AT&T can still sell the 3GS is a testament to how well Apple builds their products, IMO.

        1. its true that android too has incremental upgrades, but the difference between android’s updates and those of apple’s is the frequency. Just from Motorola, there were 2 years between the org droid and the bionic, but how many different phones did they release in between? Include all of the other manufactures and follow the same recipe and you’ll see that Android’s incremental upgrades occur around the rate of something new every other month. Apple is doing what apple does best; and we have all seen what path that company took the first time Jobs left.

        2. They’re still selling the 3GS because it now gives Apple three points of entry for the iPhone

          Budget and entry pay as you go – 3GS
          Middle and high end pay as you go – 4
          High end, contract only – 4S

    2. Yeah still selling the 3GS does say a whole lot about the iPhone no doubt.

      The iP5 will now just be a step up from the 4S with a half inch or so bigger screen. It will be more like “FINALLY” than it will be revolutionary.

      Props to Apple though from me.

      1. Here’s the other thing: a lot of people with the iPhone 4 aren’t ready for a subsidized upgrade from their carier anyway. This upgrade is for people with that 3GS who want to upgrade. A lot of Verizon people just got the iPhone 4 in February.

        1. Yea, i’m sure that’s why… lol geez man

        2. dude seriously what is apple paying you? I WANT THIS JOB.

    3. A different philosophy yes, but not one bred by a company whose focus is on innovation. This is a classic apple move, feature creep wherever you can to maximize profits. Look at how far the iphone progressed before android compared to after. It is night and day. The first iphone didnt even have a camera. Every phone since 2001 has had a friggin camera.

      1. FACT: The first iPhone did have a camera. I think Apple is innovating behind the scenes, but isn’t putting stuff out before it’s ready. You don’t think they could make a phone with a 4.5″ screen and LTE if they wanted to?

        1. They absolutely could have a phone with a 4.5″ screen and LTE but if they jumped right into the deep end of the pool they couldn’t get the hoards of people to spend their money on minute changes they make year to year. Apple is going to SLOWLY milk this thing as long as they can. Why do you think they are still pushing out 3.5″ screens 4 years into this thing? Because they can, as long as people keep lining up for a slight bump in specs Apple will keep rolling it out that way.

          1. +100000
            You said it better than I ever could. For Apple the cash register comes first at any cost.

        2. Man you are all over this defending Apples decision to only scrape crumbs off to their customers while they wait for a meal.

    4. Oh, so you mean that Android likes to put it all out there from the start, and Apple likes to string along their customers so they can make more cash off each upgrade? Yea, that sounds about right… lol

  6. Welcome to the year of the droid. Looks like Jobs took all the innovation with him when he left.

    1. The first iphone was the only one that actually innovated. If you look at all the others since then they’ve really only been incremental improvements. A little more memory, a faster processor, but nothing really that different.

      1. I agree. But even the original iPhone wasn’t truly innovative. It took a bunch of things that other smartphones were doing, and put them all into one phone.

        1. Sometimes putting the puzzle together in a way that no one else has is innovative. There are a lot of Android phones with lots of pieces. The problem is that those pieces don’t always work seamlessly together.

          1. LOL all your arguments are worthless… Seriously.

          2. God your Android fanboyism is nauseating.
            As much as this guy is spinning for Apple, the iPhone DID put a lot of pieces other people had used before together and presented a package that has made other developers raise their game.

            The 4S is quite a disappointment as those 4 months extra wait should’ve presented something of a change for the device, but to attempt to belittle the iPhone’s impact on the market is stupid. Do you remember the prototype Android devices, which were essentially aping the Blackberry?

            Believe or not, people outside the tech world don’t give a damn about specs as long as their device does what they want it to do, when they want it to at a price point that is acceptable to them.

      2. That’s how all technology works. Can you name an Android phone that was leaps and bounds ahead of it’s predecessor? Also, the original iPhone only had EDGE. Apple has a history of waiting for the tech to mature unless it is absolutely needed. I for one would like LTE or NFC, but it isn’t a need at this point.

        1. Nexus One was leaps and bounds ahead of any predecessors. First 1GHz CPU, first AMOLED display, new, vastly improved OS, etc…

          1. Agreed. That was a pretty big upgrade. Part of the problem at this point is that our phones do a lot already and we just need refinements at this point.

        2. Sure can buddy. Nexus One had the same hardware specs as the iphone4 (minus the front facing camera) 6 months before iphone. Also, the Evo had video calling a full month and a half before iPhone.

          Where you say there’s no need for LTE, I get 20mpbs down. Sorry you live in a rural area with bad service, but those of us in big cities would like a bit faster data.

          If iPhone released NFC first, you’d say it was revolutionarily awesome and amazing. Keep suckling at their teet Reason Party.

    2. Everyone that was waiting for the 5 will flock to Android for the next few months. and THEN during CES Android will reign supreme again with 4core, better screens, etc. 2012 will see even more Android growth.

  7. I’m here to take my medicine……EPIC fail Apple

    1. How is this any different than the release of the 3GS. If that was an epic fail, they sure sold a lot of them.

      1. There was little to no competition in the market when the 3gs was released. Things have changed.

        1. I don’t think having a bigger screen or LTE makes a phone better hands-down. LTE can be a battery hog. Some people don’t like better screens. There are reasons for both.

          1. Is that really your argument? “Some people don’t like better screens”…I’de like to see that survey. Anyway, you are not really getting your point of view across because you are basically saying; My phone doesn’t have those features so they are undesirable features. Doesn’t really fly.

      2. Just because it was an epic fail doesn’t mean their sheeple are smart enough to realize it.

      3. yes, BUT the 3GS was released in a different “era” of Android phones. Android choices and features are abound. 4GS = Luke warm especially when Apple fans are saying as much.

        1. The response towards the 3GS was somewhat tepid too. Agreed, the Android phones at the time weren’t as competitive. However, I still don’t believe there is an Android phone which can offer the simplicity and reliability of the iPhone for the average consumer. Also, at $99 the iPhone four is a pretty good price. Also, I don’t know if AT&T has a budget android phone that hands-down beats the 3GS. Some of the budget androids are still a bit buggy or loaded with bloatware (the average person will not root their phone).

          1. Wrong again. There’s tons of Vanilla Android 1ghz phones from last year that were better than iphone 4 then, and sitll better than iphone 4 now, and sell for $99 now as well. 3gs is still a moot point, because when 3gs was out, Android wasn’t rampaging its way through the market like it is now.

            You iPhone users keep blabbing about ease of use… Please explain, how is it easier? Seriously if you can’t figure out Android, you’re slow. Please, fire away, I guarantee I have an argument for anything you find “easier to use”

      4. What was stopping them from releasing this in the summer??? We had to wait all this time for THIS????

        1. They were to busy trying to sue Android manufacturers.

      5. Its different because when the 3GS was released there wasn’t as much competition, and none of that competition was anywhere close to ahead of Apple. Now apple is releasing 8 month old features and calling them new. That’s why this is an epic fail.

    2. lol….wow…I’m shocked.

      I wont consider it an EPIC fail unless the antenna issue hasnt been addressed. This is what happens when you release 1 phone a year and the competition releases 2-3 a month. Whats gonna happen is the iPhone 4S is probably gonna be a nice complete package of all that technology.

      Either way….I was more taken away with the iPhone 4 announcement. The iPhone 5 …I cant see how they can impress any more unless it comes with a higher res screen, I guess.

      1. I guess I just don’t understand why they needed all this time just to release a souped up version of the same phone. Not that Android hasn’t done it though; there’s not a whole lot of difference between the Original Evo and the Evo 3D, for example….I just thought Apple had more up it’s sleeve, especially considering the stakes…..oh well

        1. Not a whole lot difference between the evo and the 3D? What?!

          1. Calm down fandroid! Lol! I’m talking about as far as they look…different features yes, but the phones look pretty much the same. Kinda like the iPhone 4 and 4S….

          2. I have both and they are surprisingly different. I see your point though.

  8. Apple sucks… we have been dead with Android news during Apple’s conference… I have a strong disdain for Apple and their products.

    Anything that Google puts out in ICS should beat it hands down.

  9. Wait the iPhone4s doesn’t have 4g? Then what was that slide about it having the same download speeds as some 4g android phones about? I should’ve known….apple always misleads everyone.

    Anyway….the bar has been set very low for the NPrime to impress us, thanks Apple ;)

    1. I does have HSPA+ “4G”, just not LTE

      1. And do you have to pay extra for the extra 0.5G on top of the 3g fee?

      2. HSPA+ is NOT 4g nor LTE, it is upgraded 3g.

        1. flogging stick, meet dead horse. Dead horse, meet flogging stick. Really?

        2. lte isnt 4g either,faster yes than hspa plus..but please dont make it 4g ,it isnt..

          1. The “International Telecommunication Union, the agency that develops and regulates telecommunications standards, mobile technology described as 4G must be capable of at least 100Mbit-per-second downloads. LTE is capable of downloads up to 300 Mbps,” although Verizon and other companies infrastructure (and greed) is currently limiting the speed it is possible. Granted LTE utilizes GSM and CDMA technology. LTE operates on different bandwidths than does current GSM and CDMA networks.

            Wikipedia states that true 4g would be LTE advanced which can give speeds upto 1Gbit. The reason I discount this is because of the definition given by the ITU.

            It doesn’t really matter, I support android, I have had an Iphone and will never go back….

    2. they support hspa+ technology (3.5g if you will) that at&t uses, while they transition to lte,, at&t would refer to these as 4g devices

    3. i believe they were referring to HSPA+

    4. the new radios in the iphone 4s are capable of 14.4MBPS which in the U.S. is only on AT&T and for when you travel overseas. verizon and sprint wont benefit from the radios except for the fact of better call quality.

  10. As I said on Twitter, this is the beginning of the End for iPhone, Apple has run itself a year behind, by not launching the iPhone 5

    1. We’ll see what happens. I think by having a free iPhone available on one US carrier and a $99 model available on two they are going to sell like gangbusters. Us android people are a bit nerdy and not representative of the majority of people. Most people want an easy phone, with great battery life and a good camera. Bam – there’s the iPhone.

      1. True that Mate!

        But when you get those “functions” easier and cheaper, why wouldn’t you go for it.

        BUT I cent percent agree with the battery life part

        1. Wait I’m confused… Where do you think you can get those functions easier and cheaper cause you’re definitely not referring to Android. The 3 things iPhone hands down KILLS Android in are 1. Simplicity and ease of use 2. Battery life 3. With absolutely ZERO comparison beginning to end taking pictures and video. 1 and 2 I personally could care less about but 3 is starting to wear on me. I HATE taking pictures with Android and I’ve had MANY to draw that conclusion from.

          1. Exactly. For 90% of users the iPhone has 100% of what they want. My grandma thinks LTE and NFC are government organizations. I think that’s fine. I don’t know if we want to widely deploy LTE and NFC until the tech is there.

          2. Like a true iSheep. “Oh they didn’t release already year old technology because it’s just not popular yet” … uhuh, keep telling yourself that while Android users enjoy their 20mbps down and their walletless use of credit & debit cards. Maybe next year iPhone will release these features and call them “Revolutionary, first of their kind!”

          3. The tech is there already though. What’s the harm in having the option of LTE? If it kills your battery too much, just turn the radio off. NFC is on the come up! Before the two year contract dies on your iPhone 4S, you will definitely want an NFC chip.

          4. Android does not make a single camera. The camera (quality) is up to the manufacturer. Cameras are becoming a priority for HTC, Motorola, and Samsung in the last year or so. I expect all high end smartphone cameras to come a long way in the next two years.
            As far as battery life – show me any high end smartphone that you don’t charge every night.
            Regarding simplicity, iPhone users typically use very little of the capability of their smartphone compared to Android users. To me, this would hint as to the ease of Android if the average user goes further in to the OS.

          5. Why do ppl like to talk in absolutes when comparing these phones, OS’s

            The iPhone 4 has the best battery life of current smartphones, with recent Motorola Android phones starting with the Droid X1 and the Galaxy S 2 coming a close 2nd.

            Simplicity? I was very lost playing around with an iPhone 4 last year for the 1st time from trying to use that 1 button to trying to find the Settings area. I picked up Android alot easier….coming from the old Win Mo.

            Since Android can be as easy or as complex as you want…I dont understand how iOS kills it for simplicity..

          6. iPhone 4 is only better in battery life when compared to a phone with a larger screen. Please compare battery times of any other 3.5″ device to the iphone4, and you’ll find that battery life argument is complete BS. Larger display = more power. It’s a fact of technology.

          7. what…………….i just peed myself….iphone has best battery life? hahahaaha..

          8. Don’t know what you’re talking about. I just compared my Sensations photos to the iphone4s, and I see VERY little difference. As for simplicity, that’s in the eye of the beholder. It took me no more than the press of a button to understand Android. If you find Android difficult, perhaps returning to some remedial education classes in order.

            Your battery life thing is a moot point. Any 3.5″ android phone lasts just as long as a 3.5″ iphone. Android phones are dieing faster because their displays are starting to range from 3.8 – 4.7″, which of course takes more battery life. If iPhone made a 4.5″ iphone, it would die just as fast as an Android phone. That is a fact.

            Please go back to your iFanBoy corner and sob about your minor upgrades to a phone that was behind the times when it was released, and remains behind the times now. If you don’t believe me, go back to February of this year and you’ll see all the dual core 8mpx camera phones that were released… yea, you’re behind, deal with it.

          9. I don’t know Samsung’s epic 4g touch gets amazing battery life and has one of the largest screens ever to grace a phone. Of course its the technology that’s in it. I would have to agree though Back lit displays are terrible battery hogs. The larger the screen the bigger the back lite.

          10. majority of people know little that proves it and i agree..im not in awe with apple,personally few phones i have kills iphone camera quality…gs2 for one..any se model..p.s if you were a pro you wouldnt use an iphone.

          11. I never put two and two together about the screen size on the iPhone and battery life. Of course that little thing uses less battery.

          12. While I would have agreed with you before my Epic 4g touch, I can’t anymore. This thing is blazing the photos are beautiful and the battery life is just retarded. 70% at the end of the day and it’s my work phone tons of calls and emails, a little internet and Audible running just about the rest of the time. My day starts around 5 am and ends around 7 pm. My evo was on the charger by lunch. I will still agree about the simplicity though.

          13. battery life?ha..that doesnt wash

          14. Just one question. did you ever take photos from both android and iphone camera’s and then upload them to your computer and compare them there? The iPhone’s screen is Higher Res than most phones out now. so it is gonna look “nice” but if you put it on the same device (computer LCD) you will see a difference then. Thank you very much

          15. I’m sorry your arguement is invalid I can take outstanding pictures on my SAMSUNG CONTINUUM and blow iphone 4 shots out of the water.

      2. You are also forgetting that people who buy the iphone also tend to be the type that are elitists who will scoff at buying a last gen iphone. They would rather buy a new low end android because at least its new and something they can show their friends that they havent seen 500 times

        1. You are forgetting that a ton of Android users (not us, the idiots) barely know they’re using Android.

      3. im not nerdy alot arent,its mostly what people like to stereotype these things.

    2. Its already a year behind. They will go two years behind now.

    3. What other improvements would they have needed to make for this to be worthy of the “iPhone 5” tag? A new exterior design? They added a lot of capabilities and speed improvements in this upgrade.

      1. Screen Size was one of the important upgrades that was required, If I had an iPhone4, I personally would NOT go ahead and buy a 4S, if you talk about simplicity what you can do with a 4S you can do it with a 4, expect gaming and shit.

        Why would you waste some more money if you want to use the phone for it’s simplicity.

        iOS should’ve have been widgetized by now.

        LOL, 2 antennas, I can only laugh at! seriously, AFAIK, most of the iPhone users are disappointed with the news.

        I wonder what will happen to the porn industry after Siri will make secretaries jobless

        On a Serious note, they already had that on Android, with a simpler name “Voice Actions”

  11. AAPL stock drops on every announcement, for the record.

    1. Almost every stock has been down recently.

      1. True, but historically Apple stock rises after every new tech announcement. Get your generalizing under control and pay attention.

        1. I’ve followed Apple for awhile. That isn’t true. You’re the one who generalized by saying their stock rises after each announcement. Amazon went down the day after the Kindle Fire was announced, does that mean it’s doomed? No.

        2. That’s not true. The market has for several years now, quite famously brought Apple stock on speculation and sold it on announcement.

  12. This is a major fail. Especially the screen size.

    However they will have an Iphone 5 by june-july guaranteed.

    I guess all this tells people is don’t believe the click bait rumour sites.

    Really should have spent more time outside court.

    1. Thye money they spent on lawyers should’ve been spent on innovation.
      I seriously doubt the Iphone 5 will be anything to write home about.
      It will have:
      – a 3d screen and call it the worlds first (completely ignoring the current 3d phones)
      -a bigger screen and call is magical (copying the bigger screened android devices)
      -nfc capabilities and say that they waited for the right time to release it (meaning they just finished “inventing” it again)
      -4g saying that now the battery can handle it (as in, we went cheapo on the 4s)
      -Some gimmicky app for the mainstream/housemoms/grandpa’s/5yo’s and call it revolutionairy (Think along the lines of a childproof-limited version of twitter or something else useless)
      -Widgets and give it a different name, claiming its different then android widgets. (Also theirs is supposedly better, because the limited functions it has allows for it to drain less battery)
      -Other features that we enjoy on android today

      1. nailed it right on the head imo

    2. Why is the screen size a major fail? The fact that they removed the physical buttons due to Ice-Cream’s touch capabilities means they can expand the screen size without significantly affecting the size of the phone.

      1. First he was talking about IPhones screen size …. has nothing to do with android or ICS, not sure why you are talking about ICS O_o.

        But since you did bring it up, i have to ask, where has it EVER been said OEMs will be removing physical buttons from phones? Just because ICS has the functionality (for tablets) doesn’t mean the phones will do the same. I honestly don’t think it even makes sense on the phones. If you can show me where it has ever been said or shown or anything that phones will be using the on screen buttons i would really appreciate it. Since everyone seems to think this is what is going to happen but have no proof ( that i know of ).

  13. Other than Siri (iOS’s new voice recognition software) there’s nothing for me to be jealous about. If ICS is a big step up software wise Android could become objectively better than than the iPhone; if it isn’t it’ll be back to “hardware vs. software” debates that have plagued the iPhone-Android debate for a while now.

    1. To a certain degree, the OS almost doesn’t matter. People spend 90% of their time in the Apps, and the rest navigating the OS. iOS is simple, but it works.

      1. Uhm, if that point is true, then there should be 0 difference between android and iphone since all the important iphone apps got ported to Android years ago.

        Btw, nice “Generalization”. You’re known for these at this point.

    2. The voice recognition on my Nexus S 4G is pretty good. I can give it simple commands or dictate a complete email and it understands my poor accent very accurately. It also learns your way of speaking. Siri is not to much of an improvement over what I already have. My Nexus is still better than that iPhone.

    3. Siri is just a slightly more polished version of what already exists… not really something to be jealous of. Pretty sure the “genius button” on mytouches do that… not that I would ever condone buying a myTouch (their carrier bloatware is atrocious)

  14. Life with a 3.5″ smartphone screen isn’t worth living. Now, a 4.6″ 720p AMOLED screen is heavenly. Relax, it won’t make the over all dimensions of the phone too much bigger.

    1. Apple could made it 4″ at least.

      You wouldnt believe how much better playing games, looking at movies, browsing the web is on a bigger screen. I got a Droid X1…and I dont want any phone under 4″ now.

  15. I don’t think smartphone innovation will stall simply because Apple didn’t move the bar higher. Remember there is still fierce competition between the companies that manufacture our beloved Android phones.

    1. It definitely won’t stall b/c of this. But by the looks of it, Apple isn’t doing anything to help the innovation. That’s alright, let other companies innvoate while Apple strives to simply stay alive by suing the rest of the industry.

  16. If you’re only releasing a new model once a year, you better make sure you’re ahead of the curve when it comes out. The specs of this thing about match that of the Atrix as far as I can tell, and that’s six months old. Yeah, there are intangibles, but if this is their only phone until next year, they’ll be falling really far behind.

    1. I could care less about the specs of the Atrix, it’s got the horsepower but isn’t a great phone.

    2. Agree with you, but its actually 10 months old… Making Apple ever further behind.

  17. I feel like I need to defend Apple because of all the ignorance in this thread. The iPhone 4 is not LTE by design. When the iPhone “5” launches it will likely be a very mature and polished phone with an efficient LTE chipset. Isn’t every Android phone release incremental? Do people care about NFC? Here’s what 90% of people care about:

    – Price (which has helped fuel Android growth)
    – Battery Life (usually best on the iPhone)
    – Camera (iPhone, hands down)
    – Reliability
    – Look & Feel of device

    1. Ignorance? Care to elaborate? When the iPhone 5 launches (in 10-12 months) the iPhone4S will be completely obsolete. The fact of the matter is the iPhone used to be innovative but now is going to have to play catch up to the plethora of smart phones with LTE, NFC chips, improved processors, increased RAM, better screen resolution, etc.

      1. The original iPhone didn’t come out with 3G!!! No 3G! Apple just has a different philosophy.

        1. Is that philosophy to release outdated junk and call it revolutionary?

      2. Was the Moto Droid 1 completely obsolete when the Droid 2 came out?

        1. Exactly, some of us.. including me… are still using the OG Droid

      3. What exactly will be obsolete about it? In 10-12 months will applications and games really put the A5 to its knees?

    2. I agree that the iPhone 5 *should* contain LTE tech, but the problem, as RedPandaAlex says, is that if you’re doing annual releases, you really need to future-proof your device so customers aren’t dissatisfied 6 months from now.

      1. That’s the thing, iPhone customers aren’t dissatisfied. They would be more dissatisfied if they had a thicker LTE iPhone with worse battery life. LTE tech is awesome, I just don’t think Apple believes it is right for their phone.

        1. If that was true Apples sales would be abismal. The Apple Army updates their iphone any time one comes out. And why would it be thicker if it had LTE? That makes no sense.

          What you’re saying is apple doesnt believe in the future? Interesting point.

    3. It’s a good thing you educated all us ignorant people with your speculation and assumptions. Where would we be without smart people like you and your opinions. /s

    4. Did you just make an account to troll around on Android fan sites?

      1. No, just this site. Look at his profile; 37 comments, and they’re ALL on this thread. Pathetic, very pathetic indeed.

    5. LTE itself is efficient, the problem is no carrier is offering VoLTE thus there’s the need for a CDMA or GSM for voice. Having two radios kill the battery life. Until LTE literally cover the entire POP and VoLTE is finally implemented, I don’t see iPhone using a LTE chipset anytime soon.

    6. Price – Android wins because they have a plethera of options that meet any customers demands.
      Battery Life – Iphone only wins if its compared against a phone that has larger that a 3.5″ display. If you compare a 3.5″ Android to an iphone4, I think you’ll find they last just the same.
      Camera – Compare the new 8mpx Sense cameras and the new samsung camera… i think you’ll be disappointed to find the difference is minute. You assume iPhone is better because they put fancy photos on their site and told you so.
      Reliability – Not really a point, I can list as many bugs on iphone as I can android. And i’m sure half the bugs you list about Android will be skin based, and not Android based.
      Look and Feel – This is completely opinion based, and does not put the iPhone above any other device.

      1. “Iphone only wins if its compared against a phone that has larger that a 3.5″ display. If you compare a 3.5″ Android to an iphone4, I think you’ll find they last just the same.”

        Damn, if I haven’t seen you make this ridiculous point twice.
        The screen size has nothing to do with it, the pixel count DOES.

  18. So, I don’t know how many of you kept up with the live blogs of reporters quoting Cook throughout the event, but there were several… exaggerations… that need to be addressed. There’s a difference between bending the truth and just lying, and there appear to have been a few times in there where the truth was ignored because it didn’t make a good presentation. I am waiting for the correction article backed with facts like we saw at the last big announcement.

  19. I was really thinking about buying the Sprint iPhone, but instead, I was severely disappointed when I learned about how small of an update this actually was.

    They didn’t even change the tiny 3.5 inch screen.

    1. Did you want Apple to throw out the design of the iPhone 4? I think it was a great industrial design, and still is.

      1. By industrial you mean made of of glass, and if you drop it be prepared to have it shatter?

        1. Industrial in terms of the materials and solidity of construction. Don’t drop it (I’ve dropped mine a few times and have been okay though). The Galaxy SII is great hardware wrapped in crappy plastic. You can say that design doesn’t matter, but I believe that it does. It’s important for cars, and it’s important for phones.

          1. No arguement for the drop and shatter though Reason Party? Pretty sure that cheap plastic won’t shatter.

      2. Boring right angles, cold and lifeless like being in a white padded room you mean? Not the best example of great industrial design.

  20. So, I wonder if Apple was to go against tradition and suddenly announce the iP5 December 15th. What would that do to the market? iP4S–the everybody phone, iP5–exclusive high end phone. I suspect most of their customers would jump and buy the more expensive one.

    1. This is an interesting point. I’m also curious to see if it would have a $299 entry point like the higher end android phones. For all the talk we hear about Apple being expensive they aren’t really more expensive than comparable android phones.

      1. Only Verizon’s High-End Android phones come in at $300 because of their expensive LTE. No other carrier sells phones at that price unless it’s an iPhone

  21. The announcement and expectations may = FAIL but rest assured the Apple sheep will line up and encourage this mediocre overhaul by shelling out gobs of cash like the zombies they are.

    1. You’re discounting the competition by assuming Apple consumers are sheep. I don’t think that’s Google’s philosophy. They get in line on day one because the products work on day one. You’d be a moron to get in line day 1 for something like the HTC Thunderbolt and expect it not to have hiccups. Not saying that it, or other groundbreaking android phones are bad, they just can’t bring that same size audience due to the nature of the product.

      1. I believe on day 1 of the iphone 4, you couldn’t make calls while holding it with your left hand. Sounds like a hiccup to me…

        1. Sorry Clint but the death grip affects lots and lots of phones.
          Guess what?
          After how many years of developing Sense….
          I am on my Sensation and still dealing with sporadic sense reloads.
          The quality control by both Google and the phone manufacturers is GARBAGE.
          Google CLEARLY wants to be the walmart of the phone OS world.They dont give 2 shits about how buggy IT STILL IS AFTER 3 FUCKIN YEARS!
          Tyler or Taylor at phonedog equates it to still feeling like a BETA software.
          Look how QUICKLY microsoft turned around their mobile OS.
          Why cant Google polish their OS?
          I really do hope that ICS turns around the google image.

          1. Wow moron, SENSE IS A THEME. Its not google fault that HTC’s crapware doesnt work with android. The fact probably is that the sensation doesnt have enough RAM to handle sense 3.0

          2. Its a theme?
            Really?

          3. Sense is a theme?! No. Sense is a UI that can BE themed. It’s also a battery hog and a half. As for Sense versions, the Sensation should have no problem running Sense 3.0. I was running Sense 3.5 on my TBolt for awhile, until I switched back to AOSP.

          4. I have never found iOS to be in any way more stable than Android. Can’t speak for Sense (which is developed by HTC by the way and has jack shit to do with Android as an OS) – but I find my phone to be relatively stable and am glad I walked away from the iphone.

            So the grip of death affects lots and lots of phones? To the point where a call is dropped? Name them,

            I could swallow my S2 and still get better reception than an iphone 4.

          5. Uh yea, I have a sensation too and it sucks… but guess what? I actually know why… and its called HTC. IT has nothing to do with Google. Comparing Google to Walmart is bs… i’d liken it more to microsoft… actually its exactly like microsoft… They take no responsibility for the devices because they don’t make it, allowing Google to dominate even more of the market.

            The thing you don’t notice is that Apple and its iPhone have a whole slew of bugs that I see iphone users complain about in my presence all the time… it just doesn’t get mentioned because all the sheep just keep baaaing “I want an iphone”

          6. U mad? You didn’t get a Vanilla Android phone so you don’t have any input on the ‘bugging’ of Android. Go rant on HTC’s Twitter or something, see where it gets you, bud.

          7. Ya and vanilla android is sooooooo beautiful.

          8. atl crap guy is an idiot..he doesnt even know who developed sense.

          9. Curtis is right. technically android runs in the device but it is basically an alternative launcher you can’t get rid of thanks to HTC. The_ATL_GUY if you look at phones like the epic 4g and the epic 4g touch. you can switch the launcher. and then you see that touchwiz is just an app that is an alternative Launcher. Like ADW and many other android Apps on the market that run over Android.

          10. Nonsense Apple fan boy!

            I owned an iphone before my current android. Just because ios doesn’t show a force close notification once and a while, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a issues from time to time.

            I remember several times when my iphone just locked up and wouldn’t respond to any button presses. I would have to hard reboot the phone to get it working again. My iphone 3g became almost unusable with the release of ios4.

            I will take those infrequent force close notices once and awhile over having to wait 2 minutes for my iphone to restart any day.

            Half of the new features (or more) of ios 5 have been in android for a long time and working quite well. I can’t believe that apple released the 5th version of ios and still doesn’t have a decent map/navigation program integrated.

            Android has it’s issues, all of us hear know manufacture modifications are a major part. But pretending that Android isn’t leaving ios in the dust is just plain stupid. Hey – but whatever makes you sleep good at night.

          11. hahahaa your such an iphone moron who knows very little of android devices,and yes i do know ive owned an iphone 4,so dont talk garbage that you know very little abbout..you braindead moron

          12. My HTC Desire has never had any trouble with Sense, maybe it’s the newer version of Sense, mine runs smooth and i’ve never noticed a glitch at all in the year i’ve had it. Yes i’ve noticed slower speeds here and there but it always works relatively well.

          13. You’re misunderstanding the death grip. Most phones lose some reception when you grip them like mad because your hand blocks the signal. That’s not what happened with the iPhone4. The hand was not only blocking the signal, but also shorted the antenna against a ground, effectively removing the antenna from the picture for the entirety of the time it was held. Not the same thing.

      2. People get in line for Apple iPhones because only 1 person makes Apple iPhones… Apple. Android has tons of devices made by several manufacturers on every carrier… It makes it a bit harder for the masses to line up behind 1 android phone.

        Getting in line for HTC Thunderbolt on day 1 and expecting hiccups is not indicative of Google. HTC Thunderbolt had hiccups on day one because it had a very resource intensive skin made by HTC called Sense. That’s not Google’s fault, that’s HTC.

        If there were ever to be a line for Android it would be for the Nexus. My Nexus One had no more issues than an iphone on day 1… the only difference is I had the same hardware as an iphone 4 (sans video chat) over 6 months before the iphone4. And even the video chat was on Evo 2 months before iphone4.

        This release is reminiscent of last years iphone release. A bunch of features and hardware thats already been out for half a year or more, put in a new shiny box and called “revolutionary”. Anyone who drops their recently purchased iphone4 for this minor upgrade are exactly what the OP stated, sheep, zombies, people that buy things just because its hip or cool, not because it actually serves any purpose.

        1. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the A4 chip is way better than the first and second snapdragon chips, SGX 535 > Adreno 200/205

          1. Correct me if i’m wrong but it came out 6 months after the snapdragon?

  22. Samsung: Judge, we request to see Apple’s next iPhone design.
    Judge: Apple, can they?
    Apple: Sure. Here.
    Samsung: That’s just an iPhone 4.
    Apple: Nuh-uh, look – voice commands and notifications and camera..
    Samsung: lol, oh you.

    1. Samsung: Judge, it’s the same thing.

      Judge: No, it’s got this app that’s always been available to apple users, see?

      Apple: Judge, we request to see Samsung’s next Nexus devi–

      Judge: Give it to them Samsung.

      Samsung: Aw shucks…

  23. I cannot believe Apple waited 15 months just to add a dual core cpu. Android and ICS is gonna TAKE OVER this holiday season!! iPhone whaaa?

  24. delete comment. Wasn’t supposed to be here.

  25. The camera on my Galaxy S II is superb, I can’t really imagine how much better iPhone 4S will be (although it has a backlit CMOS censor, which should be better for low light images). Samsung has a strong track record for good quality camera optics.. HTC.. not so much. When I compared my EVO 4G camera to the iPhone 4 last year I was blown away by the iPhones camera, it was better in every regard. I think Android is really closing in and in some aspects surpassed Apple technology wise. Voice actions has been out for Android for quite some time and I’ve been very impressed with it. All Google needs is a beautiful piece of hardware to get consumers drooling over, I love Samsung’s internals but the Nexus One was probably the sexiest Android device to date.. I think the Prime is going to blow the 4S out of the water!

    1. We’ll see. If samsung makes it, we’ll just have another cheap plastic body. The iPhone just feels good in the hand. I believe in America we design great looking cars, motorcycles, and buildings (many of which are glass and steel). The iPhone is an American designed phone and it shows. The same with the rest of Apple’s lineup really. The 3Gs is ugly though.

      1. From the rumors, I heard Nexus was going to be Aluminum instead of the rubber plastic Samsung usually uses.

      2. I disagree, iphone 4 feels like hard metal in my hand. Very uncomfortable to use… you see, its a matter of opinion, and yours certainly doesn’t represent all. My N1 feels way better in hand than the iphone 4, and now the 4s.

        BTW, iPhone is designed and built in China. Oh, and also BTW, Samsung makes over 50% of the iphone… so that company you think is cheap, makes up most of your beloved all knowing all seeing iphone.

        And once again to disagree with your opinion that represents all iphone users, and the public at large… i think the 3GS looked and felt way better than iphone4.

        Do you see how all your statements are opinions and not facts? I hope you do.

        1. Jesus Christ man, talk some sense will you.
          The entire range of Apple devices is designed by a British designer – Jony Ive, who works from Cupertino, CA.

          The iPhone is built in China and Brazil

      3. lol your arguement is also invalid part 2. the nexus prime is supposed to have a metal chassis as to google’s request.

  26. this is probably the first time where their software impressed more so than their hardware.

  27. All the things you just mentioned play 2nd 3rd and 4th fiddle to the fact that the iPhone will still have an unbearably TINY screen… 99% of people won’t understand the majority of the updates made in the iPhone 4S but EVERYONE would clearly understand “The screen is BIGGER”

    1. Agreed. People understand a bigger screen. However, I don’t think the screen is unbearably tiny.

    2. That tiny display was a joke when the iphone4 was release. Today, it’s pathetic.

  28. I expected them to release a crappy specced iphone 5, but i didnt expect them to just skim so little and redo 4. Regardless, it seems like apple is now coasting on the reputation they built for themselves. Sales of iphone will not match the quality of their product for some time since public perception of apple is still great.

  29. Samsung should sue apple for calling it the iphone 4S (galaxy s, galaxy s2,nexus s?)

    1. Iphone 3gS..

    2. Umm.. this is a silly argument. Anyway, The 3G*S* was out before the galaxy S

  30. So Sour Apple!! Where is Steve Jobs when you need him? They forgot to upgrade FaceTime to work over those slow 3G speeds and isn’t Google Latitude on IPhony why would those Zombies need Find My Friend!!!

    1. I wondered if I was the only one that noticed they released a year old feature and called it new. I don’t like people finding me on Google Latitude and certainly wouldn’t switch to iPhone to use that outdated app.

  31. Iphone 4s very disappointing but the camera look nice, Just wish all Android phone would spend more time on there cameras & video & microphone quality.

    No More Massive Android phones though please.

    Role on Next week ICS.

  32. This new iPhone is still not as good as my Nexus S 4G. I’ve got 4G speeds, NFC and voice recognition and a better looking screen. But the better question is how much does Apple pay people to troll these sites and spin for them. Reason Party guy, how do I get in business doing what you are doing. Because you are spewing a bunch of Apple crap!

    1. I more than like your comment, I want to give you a hug for it.

  33. For a company who is really preoccupied with who stole what from them these days, it’s funny to see a pull down notification bar being implemented in iOS 5.

    1. HAHAHA. I agree. However, let’s not forget that Android copied pinch-to-zoom at some point back in time. Not sure where the patent lie on these features, but at some point you realize they are needed and you can’t come up with another way to do them.

      1. You mean like NFC and larger screens? lol

  34. So basically they added “iCloud”, OTA updates, and voice recognition …

    … aka they are playing catchup to everything Andorid has done sense the EVO launched 18 months ago.

    Yes: Apple is officially playing catch up. No wonder they are in lawsuit mode.

    1. Apple still can’t put out a battery quite as crappy as the one on the EVO though. They have some catching up to do :)

      1. Apple still can’t put out a display that’s 4.3″… Dude seriously get off the battery life thing. Compare a 3.5″ android to the iphone and get back at me… Christ you’re such an Apple troll.

  35. Sooooo…who else noticed the lack of NFC in the new iPhone ;)

    1. Who else noticed the lack of NFC in the world??

      1. Actually, Europeans and most East Asians (well… S.Korea and Japan) uses NFC a lot. I hear it’s very efficient and easy. But it’ll take long time for US to implement new technology all over the markets.

        1. People with Nexus S 4G phones notice it. I use it everyday since Google wallet was launched. I love it. The rest of the Android world, wait till your phones have it too. You will love it. An iPhone owner saw me use it and looked for the app in the “App Store”. I told her that the iPhone can’t do it yet. I guess I will have to keep saying that.

        2. Dude, dont make a relevant point. Apple didn’t make NFC so Reason Party thinks its pointless technology. Its only good if Apple makes it.

        3. I can only talk as a UK resident, but outside of smart travel cards in London and some major British cities, there isn’t much NFC to speak of. McDonalds are JUST starting to roll it out, and a few banks have had it for a while in their ATM cards, but no one has anywhere to use it yet.

  36. Apple innovated with the iPhone. Like it or not, that’s what happened. But, ever since the first one, they’ve satisfied themselves with nothing more than incremental updates that can hardly be considered revolutionary, even though those that drink the Apple kool-aid were convinced that proper copy/paste was a revolutionary new feature. And now, several key new features in iOS 5 are direct rip-offs from Android, even while they seek to ban competitors from selling Android devices by claiming they copied Apple. I am the only one that sees the double standard here? I thought it was awesome how they claimed that competitors haven’t even come close to matching the iPhone, when they have to steal ideas from their competitors just to keep up now. Granted, iOS 5 has a few new tricks, but nothing earth-shattering. It’s just yet another incremental update to the existing platform, not a major overhaul like it should have been.

    No, I do not drink the Apple kool-aid, and to be honest, I don’t drink the Google kool-aid either. I really like the Android platform overall, as well as many of Google’s services, but I don’t believe all of their products/services are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I disagree with some of their philosophies in terms of source code openness and platform control. Plus, as will always be the case with a data-mining company, there are privacy concerns. As always, it comes down to a choice of the lesser of two evils, and right now, Google wins that battle hands-down. Oh yeah, tons of people will buy the new iPhones, regardless of how non-revolutionary they are, but I really can’t wait to see what the Nexus Prime does for the Android platform, and I will definitely be getting one, as it will be a significant advancement over my Fascinate, both in hardware and software.

  37. Well, my wife is now officially an Android convert. Thanks for doing the leg work for me, Apple!

  38. The iPhone 4s will sell poorly. Everyone who bought a 4 last year are shrugging their shoulders going…”I’ll wait for the 5″. Personally, I’m going to pounce on the Nexus Prime…the first real jump in smartphone design in @ 3 years. Check it out: http://www.intomobile.com/2011/10/03/google-nexus-prime-renders-looking-sexy/

    1. HOLY CRAP that looks SPECTACULAR!

    2. That is CELL PHONE PORN right there is what that is!

  39. Apple = Toyota of the Wireless World. Everyone wants their product and no matter what crap they put out there, people will buy it. It may not be cutting edge, but it’s reliably familiar. Comfort zones alone will sell this phone.

    Apple knows this and they’re just milking the iPhone4 for all it’s worth. They will have no problems selling this phone despite Android mopping the floor as far as innovation goes. Bring on the Prime! I can’t wait to show my wife how much her iPhone sucks. lol.

    1. I don’t know if putting out nascent technology is equal to innovation. Apple could have put out a phone with LTE, 4.5″ retina, NFC, and a water pistol attachment if they wanted to. However, a lot of these features either aren’t needed or ready. Not quite sure why they don’t want to put out a phone with a bigger screen though. I think 3.5″ is sufficient, but if you watch a lot of media bigger could be better.

      1. OMG here you go again saying technology that Apple didn’t bring out is crap. Seriously dude, get off their teet already. They could have, they should have, but they didn’t. Which means what? Apple has failed. Seriously man get over it.

        Next year, when Apple adds those features, because they are coming, and they are relevant, and they won’t escape them, you’ll be on this blog calling them new, revolutionary, and first of its kind. You’re a joke. Seriously do they pay you for this?

        1. Where did he say it was crap? He didn’t.

          He’s quite rightly pointing out that Apple don’t use cutting edge kit and that a lot of kit that goes into cutting edge Android phones isn’t mainstream, which is what Apple are courting. Outside of major cities in the US, there isn’t much of a 4G network to speak of yet.

          It’s about Apple’s margins. Its quite simple to figure out if you’re not brown nosing either Android or iOS.

    2. “I can’t wait to show my wife how much her iPhone sucks. lol.”

      You can already do that with many phones.

  40. Wow. Ok. The iPhone5 must be super awesome because they’ve got a bit of catching up to do now…

    The Prime and Galaxy S II will rule this holiday season.

    1. I’m really hoping the Prime shows up bigtime!

    2. In terms of sales? Doubtful. Tell my mom why she needs a prime over an iPhone.

      1. Tell my mom who has an Android why she needs an iPhone. She doesn’t have an Apple computer or iTunes, but she sure loves her free turn by turn navigation.

  41. Hater’s gonna hate, but this new 4S has some SIGNIFICANT candy! Going dual-core, putting in a majorly nice camera and that Siri voice-commands action are NOT to be discounted! And the fact that Sprint is now also an iPhone seller? Sorry, but anyone that thinks Apple’s going for a downslide is going to be in for a surprise.

    All this just makes me that much more eager and anxious to hear the official specs of the Nexus Prime. I’ve had my Nexus One since the day-after they announced it and only as of recently have I started feeling like it’s time for an upgrade.

    Come on Oct 11th!!

    1. Good point about Sprint.

  42. If you take all the, “I hate everything apple and I am a whiney obnoxious google fanbaby” out of the equation and have a reasoned adult conversation…..
    Apple clearly blew it today.
    They had a HUGE OPPORTUNITY to tout the iphone 5 and they didnt!
    Essentially they create a ton of hype over a phone that is finally catching up to what Android has been offering for a while now.
    Apple essentially handed Google a CLEAR PATH to introduce ICS and put the Iphone 5 to shame.
    I think the iPhone jumped the shark today and Apple WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND to hand Google more new business.
    I think Google should be BOMBARDING the internet with ICS and getting those let down by the apple flop hyped on ICS.

    1. Here’s the thing… what is Google going to hype about ICS. Honestly, they should have had ads for over a year trumpeting their voice command and navigation features. A lot of people are going to think apple was first to the game at voice. However, Siri does look pretty polished.

      1. I think that is where Apple shines.
        They polish it, it works, and you don’t see the bagginess like in Android.
        Yes good point about the year.
        Personally I will stick with Android. I am too entrenched in the google world to switch.

      2. You are aware Google doesnt sell phones right? It’s up to the Phone manufacturers and the carrier to advertise the phone, not google.

        No one thinks Apple was first to the game at voice except you. Everyone else knows that not only has Android had it for years, but unlike Apples 3 languages, Android has a list that scrolls. Siri looks like several apps and set ups already present in Android since last year.

  43. Did Apple creat the hype or did we?

  44. I laughed when I read about the new iPhone 4s. What little improvements and innovation on a small 3.5″ screen still. All they did was add the dual core chip found in the iPad2, upped the camera from 5mp to 8mp and added voice control similar to the Samsung Galaxy S II’s built in Vlingo app. As for software, it is iOS 5 with lots of things copied from Android, like the notification ba, sharing and cloud services.

    FAIL!

    Hopefully tomorrow’s news headline will be ” Samsung sues Apple for new iPhone 4s using its patents”

  45. As an OG Droid owner who has been off contract since January it has been a frustrating year. I put my eggs in the S2 basket and when it didn’t come to Verizon I started looking towards the Iphone. I have an Ipad which has been a stellar product and my friends enjoy their Iphones..and I openly envy the battery life. Am I still considering the 4S? Yup, but my fingers are crossed that the Nexus Prime is announced next week and that it’s coming soon. The iphone is intriguing because of my Ipad experience but now’s not the time to sign a two year contract without 4g.

    1. You just dont see people flocking from iphone to Android the way you see people moving away from Android to Iphone.
      I wonder why study after study shows this?

      1. Link to the study? I don’t know anyone fleeing from Android to iPhone. Most Android users i know are staunch iphone haters like myself.

  46. My wife has an upgrade this month on sprint, but is fairly happy with her Curve 3G. I think I’m gonna flip a sprint iphone in eBay and make a tidy profit if can put toward replacing my EVO 3D with a Nexus.

  47. Im not an Android “fan-girl” or an Apple one for that matter but what I can say is that I have been with Android since the beginning and every time I turn around they are releasing a different kind of desert titled opertation system and it never gets to all of the devices that are put out I currently have a Samsung Epic 4g and have been waiting forever for my 2.3; the problem with Android is they have too many devices that have there own operating system on top of the Android and you are consistently forced to buy a new phone to get the lastest update; say what you want about Apple but there is only 1 phone and that is used over a multitude of carriers and they are consistent…I dont watch movies on my phone because I have a TV. I have given Android numerous of tries and they have failed me on every occasion.

    1. Not if you root it. I’m still using a G1, but have 2.3.7 on it. I would never buy a phone just for an Os upgrade unless the hardware is incapable of running it. Since you can flash new roms to your phone, you don’t need your cell provider for anything but the service.

    2. Don’t blame Android for that, blame the manufacturers that insist on customizing the OS for their phones. You’re not getting timely updates because the manufacturers often are slow at integrating them into their custom version. If they left it stock Android then you’d be able to get the update the day it released, which is why I’m going for the Nexus Prime – stock Android, no waiting.

    3. Yea, like Perry said, buy a Nexus device. THe rest get slowed down because of carrier skins. My N1 got 2.3.6 last week before any other phone because it has no carrier skins and is managed by Google. No one told you to run out and buy Sense, or Touchwiz, or Motoblur… because really that’s what you’re arguing against. I barely consider any of those 3 a true android phone in the first place.

    4. Root it and ROM it.

  48. An 8mp sensor does not a good camera make. We dealt with this years ago in the point and shoot camera market. It can’t be argued that the 4gs is not late to the show- how many times did they push the announcement back? Apple is more concerned with integration than most of the android phone OEMs. They don’t want to alienate the people that are using their old hardware. I doubt we’ll see a whole lot that’s actually revolutionary in their mid-cycle offerings. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not on the bandwagon for apple and their stock showed how impressed people were with the announcement. Let’s be honest though, apple never promised the iphone 5 or any of the other things the rumormill churned out. They got a jump on smartphones when they integrated already available technologies in to a single device simple enough for anyone to use but their more conservative adoption of developing technologies may well lead to more disappointing news like this in the future.

    If they’re guilty of anything, it’s a failure to manage the press that they generated.

    1. You’re correct about mega-pixel count, but BSI, the widened aperture, the f2.4 camera speed and the 5 element lens is a big old jump.

      Especially to people who are due upgrades from buying a 3GS in the first four months of its life.

      You’re also spot on about the hype machine. They have to start managing it soon, else it’s going to eat Apple up. The hyper secrecy era of Apple may be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

    1. Awwwe, I bet you were looking forward to that iPhone 5. Sorry to see Apple failed you. Maybe next year.

  49. Am I the only one here not really interested in LTE? I keep my phone on 2G, and 3G when I’m going to do some “heavy” browsing. I can understand why Apple didn’t put it in.

    1. Yes you are. I use mine to tether to my computer (and pay for it specifically so that I can), and if I had to ride out on 2g, or even 3g, i’d be pissed. But then, they were 6 months late on tethering too.

      1. I do tether as well (my carrier doesn’t have “bonus fees” on that thankfully), and even then, 3G gives more than enough speed. I find tethering on 2G quite acceptable sometimes, as long as I don’t touch youtube.

        1. Good luck watching movies over 3G.

          It don’t work.

          1. what 3g do u have i watch netflix all day at work on my original epic 4g on 3g since there is no 4g in my area (big suprise there) but have no major problems or lagging hardly ever

          2. wow.. how do you get a job that lets you watch Netflix all day ?

          3. I stopped watching movies a very long time ago.

  50. ah apple fails. feels good inside.

    i knew they were way way behind once dual core android phones started coming out.

    i’d love to see apple try to keep up with the quad core chips coming out soon.

    1 phone a year = major fail

  51. I am holding out my comparison until a week from now. Compare the top tier Android to the top tier iPhone. I think Samsung and Google had some info. They wait for Apple to announce a phone with last years tech in it so a week later they can re-up the ante. The rumor has always been that the new Nexus was really going to focus on camera quality. Samsung and Google now have a full week to plan their keynote. They can take the comparisons Apple made today and re-write them for ICS and Nexus. Throw those numbers right back in Apples face.

  52. I had an iPhone then I got smart bought 4 android phones and gave my iPhone to my seven year old to use for music and games. Never to be reactivated on my account

  53. Doesn’t everyone remember “This is the year of the iPad”?!?

  54. Hopefully google will kick apple right in the mouth with the prime. Apple tried to act like they could keep the same design and only add more ram and a dual core processor. Hopefully the prime isn’t a let down like the iphone.

  55. EPIC FAIL. We are hitting dual core 1.5ghz there just getting dual core 1ghz and the phone is the same as last year and iOS 5 packing addons that we had from the start. ROFLMFAO Thank my lucky stars for Android.

  56. Am I the only one here that is tired of seeing this Reason Party guy comment on anything. As for NFC in a phone. You never miss it until you have the capability to use it. Now that I have that capability, I find myself gravitating toward businesses that have pay pass installed. They will regret not putting it in the new iPhone.

  57. Apple screwed the pooch on this one. Their stock is going to take a major hit. Jobs steps down, their flagship product was just announced with nothing new, and Google is ready to pounce with the next great phone.

    How much does everyone want to bet that Apple chose to get their legal team completely in place to stop the sale of the Nexus Prime because they could not develop the next gen phone?

    Apple is done. This proves that Jobs is the heart and soul of Apple. This could be the end of Apple because 90% of the users will drink the kool aid simply because Apple says so.

  58. The new iPhone is a joke compared to the expectations, the worst part is the tiny screen everyone wanted 4inches or more but Apple was to busy with litigations against Samsung instead of listening to customer demands. This one will hurt even Apple fan boys and girls are disappointed. The stock market reacted correctly. The Galaxy S2 has better specs maybe not as many pixels but the screen looks better is bigger and brighter, and it is more future proof with NFC, and this device is now 4 months old already. Sadly Apple dropped the ball I hope this doesn’t give competitors the bad idea to slow R&D down. But as a happy Nexus owner I will wait for the Prime, even if it’s nothing different to the Galaxy S2 but Ice Cream Sandwich

  59. My Samsung GS2 is better than this iFail 4S

  60. Apple fumbles and Android takes it for the home run this year and… most likely next year lol Ah Apple…you just disappointed many of your fans this year…

  61. I had the iPhone 3g. Decided to switch to Android so we could develop for it (total bust because of rampant pirating). Guess what my next phone and where our development dollars are going? Yep, I’ll be one of those guys waiting in line on Oct 14th.

    Good riddance, Android.

  62. If you want a “budget” Android to beat the iPhone 3gs, how about the impulse 4g? 3.8″ screen, 1GHz processor, 5MP camera w/flash, Android 2.3

  63. So yea..yea..yea… the iphone is a big half step upgrade dissapointment…we shouldnt be suprised in my opinion we saw the preview of ios 5 months ago and knew it wasnt bringin much new to the table…but take into account that it takes longer than a few months to mass produce any device. which probably means that this was the plan last year when the ipoo 4 was released. they werent prepared then to combat any top of the line android device releasing around this time. but of course it will sell to all those ipoo users that are interested in the minimal hardware upgrades that ipoo always puts out.

  64. Samsung should sue em.. obviously they are trying to benefit from the “S” branding.

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