Apple has finally sent out invites to their much anticipated September 12 press conference. What is almost here? Why, the iPhone 5, of course!
It’s not the new iPhone because, well, there’s that shadow there. It will be a taller phone with an aluminum back but still following the general design pattern of the iPhone 4/4S. Pretty much what all those leaked purported iPhone 5 photos all over the net show.
Although the display will be taller, the horizontal resolution will remain the same as the iPhone 4/4S because they want to leverage the current existing Retina apps. Apps not automatically supporting the new display size will be letter-boxed.
It will have a quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, and 64GB storage in line with current smartphones specifications. But these will not be highlighted or maybe even mentioned.
Finally, it will support glasses-free 3D and will have a second rear-facing camera at the lower section for taking 3D photos and videos.
Now let’s see if I got anything right.
Just like its “inspiration”, the case is composed of two pieces: a silicone inner layer and a polycarbonate outer layer. The silicon layer covers the back and wraps around the edges giving the screen a slightly raised protective rubber bezel. This protects the screen from direct contact when the phone is face down. The buttons have touch-through covers but are still reasonably easy to press. The proprietary Apple USB port is covered by a flap and should be easily accessible to most accessories. There are cutouts for the camera, flash, and silent switch. The silent switch is still easily accessible with a finger.
Aside from being a helluva beater of a watch, it’s also a gadgety watch. Consider the specs:
- Tough Solar Power – Solar rechargeable battery with power saving function and battery power indicator
- Battery life – 10 months on full charge an no further exposure to light
- Multi-Band Atomic Timekeeping (US, UK, Germany, Japan, China) – Receives time calibration radio signals which keep the displayed time accurate, accuracy: +/- 15 seconds per month
- EL Backlight – With auto (glance to light) and manual (press G button to light) Illuminate and afterglow (1 or 3 seconds).
- World Time – 31 times zones (48 cities + UTC), city code display, daylight saving on/off
- 4 Daily alarms and 1 Snooze Alarm
- Hourly chime
- 1/100 second stopwatch – Elapsed time up to 24 hours, split time, 1st-2nd place times
- Countdown Timer – 1 minute to 24 hours
- Full auto-calendar (pre-programmed until the year 2099)
- 12/24 hour formats
- Button operation tone on/off
Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the compass, altimeter/barometer and thermometer function of the recently departed Suunto Observer. Also, this particular inverted display is a bit hard to read especially since the numbers are smaller than those on the Observer. Finally, the backlight doesn’t remain on while being operated but shuts down in 1 or 3 seconds, depending on the setting. On those, Suunto had it beat. But at $150, it’s still a lot of bang for the buck.
Rating: 4/5
Google has announced their much-anticipated own brand tablet. At $199 it competes squarely against the older Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and Amazon Kindle Fire. More importantly it moves closer towards the high-value price points set by the iPad. Way to go, Google!
| Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 | Amazon Kindle Fire | Google Nexus 7 | |
| Size | 193.7 x 122.4 x 10.5 mm | 190 x 120 x 11.4 mm | 198.5 x 120 x 10.5 mm |
| Weight | 344 g | 413 g | 340 g |
| Display | PLS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | LED-backlit IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| 1024 x 600 pixels. 7 inches | 1024 x 600 pixels, 7.0 inches | 1280 x 800 pixels, 7.0 inches | |
| Processor | Dual-core 1 GHz CPU, PowerVR SGX540 GPU, TI OMAP 4430 chipset | Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, PowerVR SGX540 GPU, TI OMAP 4430 chipset | Quad-core 1.3 GHz processor, 12-core ULP GeForce GPU, Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset |
| RAM | 1 GB RAM | 512 MB RAM | 1 GB RAM |
| Internal Storage | 8/16/32 GB storage | 8 GB storage | 8/16 GB storage |
| External Storage | Up to 64GB | No External Memory | No External Memory |
| Data | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n |
| Operating System | Android OS, v4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) | Amazon-customized Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread) | Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean) |
| Primary Camera | 3.15 MP | none | 1.2 MP |
| Secondary Camera | VGA | none | none |
| Video | 1080p at 30fps | none | 720p at 30fps |
| Apps | Android Market + access to non-market apps | Amazon AppStore | Android Market + access to non-market apps |
| Battery | Standard battery, Li-Ion 4000 mAh | Standard battery, Li-Ion 4400 mAh | Standard battery, Li-Ion 4325 mAh |
| Battery Life | 8h | 8h | 8h |