The iPhone 4S

[baja_yu]

Mmm, no... 16GB of storage was $30, $60 for 32GB (2x16GB) and $120 for 64GB (2x32GB), about a year and a half ago. That would mean (assuming the costs are the same today) they're making $70 for you to upgrade from 16GB to 32GB, and $40 for you to upgrade from 32GB to 64GB. (This however was what they were making back then though.)

The iPhone 4 cost breakdown puts the (16GB) flash memory at only $2.5. And since 64GB USB flash drives retail for $50 and up, I'm inclined to believe that the cost of it for Apple is actually $10 or less.

Correct, but when they do start responding I believe we'll see several things:

1) Inaccuracy (this is just a guess)
2) Significantly longer response times
3) Larger amounts of data sent

Only point 2 could happen. 1 can't happen because the processing algorithm will be the same, software is software. Only thing that can influence this is the quality of audio recording, but I doubt 4S has some magical microphone. I'm guessing you're basing point 3 on what that guy said about the GPU coding the voice into a small pack of data. That has to be done other devices as well, one way or the other. The server won't know how to respond to anything else other than what it's programmed to accept. It's not like you can send it an MP3 file and expect it to work with it.

[Icyculyr]

The iPhone 4 cost breakdown puts the (16GB) flash memory at only $2.5. And since 64GB USB flash drives retail for $50 and up, I'm inclined to believe that the cost of it for Apple is actually $10 or less.

Mmm, got a link to that? I'd like to see it if you do.

Only point 2 could happen. 1 can't happen because the processing algorithm will be the same, software is software. Only thing that can influence this is the quality of audio recording, but I doubt 4S has some magical microphone. I'm guessing you're basing point 3 on what that guy said about the GPU coding the voice into a small pack of data. That has to be done other devices as well, one way or the other. The server won't know how to respond to anything else other than what it's programmed to accept. It's not like you can send it an MP3 file and expect it to work with it.

Yes, I am basing it off that. Well, apparently the Siri App on the 3G was incredibly slow and could only send large amounts of data. Keep in mind, the servers or whatever servers were in use previously accepted the 3G's input.

You may very well be right about #3 in which case I'd say it either won't work or it'll really take ridiculously long to process commands.

[baja_yu]

Here's the breakdown: http://dailyiphoneblog.com/wp-conten...ne-4-parts.png

Looking at it now I see that there are two items listed as flash memory, one priced $26 and the other $2.5. Logic would dictate that the higher one is price of the 16GB flash. But even then, lets keep in mind that that was year and a half ago, and that you can get 16GB SDHC for as low as for as low as $15 retail, and 64GB for around $60.

[Nightwalker83]

In-case some people buy the product because it is an apple that is pointless! I wonder how much I would get on ebay if I sell just the shell of the IPhone.

[Icyculyr]

Here's the breakdown: http://dailyiphoneblog.com/wp-conten...ne-4-parts.png

Looking at it now I see that there are two items listed as flash memory, one priced $26 and the other $2.5. Logic would dictate that the higher one is price of the 16GB flash. But even then, lets keep in mind that that was year and a half ago, and that you can get 16GB SDHC for as low as for as low as $15 retail, and 64GB for around $60.

Mmm, yes. Thanks for that, I'd say that the higher one is the 16GB flash as well. But yeah, prices have dropped.

[baja_yu]

There's some recent speculation that Nexus Prime will be priced around $600. The screen resolution is insane, let's just hope Samsung chose something else other than cheap and flimsy plastic for the body. The materials are one thing I love about iPhone 4 over all other phones. Oh, and it's been said that it'll use the default Android UI instead of Samsung's Touch Wiz which is such a bad and obvious rip off of iOS (because of the lawsuits or something else, I don't know but I'm glad)

[Icyculyr]

There's some recent speculation that Nexus Prime will be priced around $600. The screen resolution is insane, let's just hope Samsung chose something else other than cheap and flimsy plastic for the body. The materials are one thing I love about iPhone 4 over all other phones. Oh, and it's been said that it'll use the default Android UI instead of Samsung's Touch Wiz which is such a bad and obvious rip off of iOS (because of the lawsuits or something else, I don't know but I'm glad)

Yeah, the screen resolution on the Prime is pretty good, it's 720p right? And yeah, I really like the feel of my 4S over my 3GS. The screen looks much better too, it's brighter and whiter, but it also feels like it's popping out of the device a bit, whereas it's if my 3GS's display is sitting back inside of it. It's got much better viewing angles, too, I can literally tilt the device sideways and see (without that kind of cloudy blur like on my 3GS) what's on the screen.

Indeed, Touch Wiz is a pretty blatant rip off... is that three things in one post we agree on? haha.

Check this video footage from the 4S: http://vimeo.com/30578363
(From author: Colours are really good straight out the camera, but I did give this footage a slight grade with the 3-way colour wheel in Final Cut.)

[moti barski]

some questions regarding siri's voice recognition :

1 is the algorithm based on words & sentences sound to text or phonemes to text ?
2 the sound data processed, is it the time between 0 volume levels(volume sample time) and volume peaks per volume sample time ?
3 what is the interval in which a sound (volume, buffer) taken ?
4 does the voice reco have a mistake reduction mechanism ? if yes, plz if possible, tell me some about it's algorithm
5 and most importantly, from where have the codes (or techniques) that are used were aquired ? and could they be used in vb.net ?

granted win 7 has voice recognition but it is difficult to train as the spelling recognition correction uses
the user voice, unabling the access to too many letters, at times

[Icyculyr]

some questions regarding siri's voice recognition :

1 is the algorithm based on words & sentences sound to text or phonemes to text ?
2 the sound data processed, is it the time between 0 volume levels(volume sample time) and volume peaks per volume sample time ?
3 what is the interval in which a sound (volume, buffer) taken ?
4 does the voice reco have a mistake reduction mechanism ? if yes, plz if possible, tell me some about it's algorithm
5 and most importantly, from where have the codes (or techniques) that are used were aquired ? and could they be used in vb.net ?

granted win 7 has voice recognition but it is difficult to train as the spelling recognition correction uses
the user voice, unabling the access to too many letters, at times

I'm not sure anyone is going to be able to answer those questions. All I know is it understands context so it must be processing the words and figuring out what is meant. Additionally, from what I've read (unverified so far) it uses one of the cores in the SGX543MP2 for background noise filtering and to home in on vocal structures, as well as breaking the string down and sending it back to Apple. Most of the work is done on Apple's server.

No one knows any of that stuff yet... I'd keep an eye out for some thorough reviews of Siri, perhaps from Anandtech... they generally seem to do good and thorough reviews and I've no doubt Siri will get plenty of attention. Not sure details such as what you've asked for will be covered though.

[baja_yu]

Check this video footage from the 4S: http://vimeo.com/30578363
(From author: Colours are really good straight out the camera, but I did give this footage a slight grade with the 3-way colour wheel in Final Cut.)

Unbelievable for a phone camera. Just fantastic.

[penagate]

That's terrific! The wide aperture lens has clearly made a huge difference.
Motion doesn't seem quite as smooth as it could be, but that could be the stabilisation in effect.

[akhileshbc]

Wow! That's great with that phone camera. Looks like HD.

[baja_yu]

Here's the new cost breakdown



The cost has remained pretty much the same, while the retail price has gone from below $600 to $800. People buying on contract don't see the price change but I'm sure carriers will get this back through monthly costs.

[Icyculyr]

Here's the new cost breakdown



The cost has remained pretty much the same, while the retail price has gone from below $600 to $800. People buying on contract don't see the price change but I'm sure carriers will get this back through monthly costs.

Mmm... I don't remember the 16GB 4 being only $599? Are you sure?

Ah, that's right. I remember reading an article saying high end droids are becoming more expensive (by about $100) but it was talking about on contract price, not retail, IIRC.

That's terrific! The wide aperture lens has clearly made a huge difference.
Motion doesn't seem quite as smooth as it could be, but that could be the stabilisation in effect.

Yeah I thought that's what it would be, I remember someone mentioning that it didn't look so smooth. I wonder what we'll have in three years?

[baja_yu]

Mmm... I don't remember the 16GB 4 being only $599? Are you sure?

Yep, I got mine from Canada, about 640 with taxes, it's was around 600 in Switzerland, and even less in Singapore, about 540 I think.

Ah, that's right. I remember reading an article saying high end droids are becoming more expensive (by about $100) but it was talking about on contract price, not retail, IIRC.

Definitely, but the prices still go down a lot after a few months. They hunt the tech fans that want everything yesterday. 4 months in it will be $600 or less.

[Icyculyr]

Yep, I got mine from Canada, about 640 with taxes, it's was around 600 in Switzerland, and even less in Singapore, about 540 I think.



Definitely, but the prices still go down a lot after a few months. They hunt the tech fans that want everything yesterday. 4 months in it will be $600 or less.

Eh? I see... it must be due to different countries because in Australia the 32GB 4 was $999 whilst the 64GB 4S is $999. So, it got cheaper over here. The 32GB 3GS was about $1039 IIRC.

[baja_yu]

You have to take Australia out of the equation. For some reason iPhone, and I think many other phones are much more expensive there than probably anywhere else, not sure why really. I've seen a lot of articles complaining about this. Here's a few Google got right now:

http://bikyamasr.com/44895/apple-pri...ussie-wallets/
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/c...012-1ljzl.html

Just checked, 4S starts from $735 (including tax) goes up to $960 for 64GB model. So it appears that prices in AU are starting to equalize.

[Icyculyr]

You have to take Australia out of the equation. For some reason iPhone, and I think many other phones are much more expensive there than probably anywhere else, not sure why really. I've seen a lot of articles complaining about this. Here's a few Google got right now:

http://bikyamasr.com/44895/apple-pri...ussie-wallets/
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/c...012-1ljzl.html

Just checked, 4S starts from $735 (including tax) goes up to $960 for 64GB model. So it appears that prices in AU are starting to equalize.

Mmm, I see. It's $735 where? And yeah, slowly but surely. It sucks the price of things over here (sometimes) ... at least it's not getting worse though.

[baja_yu]

In Canada, I'm not sure about the US but it should be about $50 less there.

[Icyculyr]

In Canada, I'm not sure about the US but it should be about $50 less there.

Ah okay, I see.

[Nightwalker83]

I found this interesting!

[penagate]

This may explain why in almost all GPS navigation systems on the market, the default voice is female. One notable exception has been Germany, where BMW was forced to recall a female-voiced navigation system on its 5 Series cars in the late 1990s after being flooded with calls from German men saying they refused to take directions from a woman.

[Icyculyr]

Haha, I skimmed it but was an interesting read. Here's a comparison of cameras across the iPhone generations as well as two canon point-and-shoot professional-level cameras: http://campl.us/iPhone-Camera-Comparison

I would've liked to see an iPhone 4S photo with HDR enabled though.

[moti barski]

how does the iphone 4s compare to windows phone mango performance and price wize ?

[Icyculyr]

how does the iphone 4s compare to windows phone mango performance and price wize ?

I don't really know much about Windows phones, to be honest. Thinking of any model in particular?

[baja_yu]

How does the iPhone 4S compare to cooking cream price wize?!

[abhijit]

How does the iPhone 4S compare to cooking cream price wize?!

You could have several tubs full of cooking cream for the price of an iPhone 4S.

[SJWhiteley]

You could have several tubs full of cooking cream for the price of an iPhone 4S.

Apparently not at current prices. They are going to protest, I believe...

[baja_yu]

So, where's that 'well educated' forum member? http://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/29/...-and-iphone-4/

[Icyculyr]

So, where's that 'well educated' forum member? http://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/29/...-and-iphone-4/

It seems you may be right... and I'm not sure

However, I'm still waiting to see it respond to more complex commands which require it to think. For example, "What's the weather like tomorrow in Spain", etc., and then I shall eat my words.

But for now... I will warm up for that by eating cake.

[kfcSmitty]

Here is one with more complex stuff.. He even times it against his iPhone 4S and their response times are basically identical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHQyV9JQzSw

[Icyculyr]

Here is one with more complex stuff.. He even times it against his iPhone 4S and their response times are basically identical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHQyV9JQzSw

Indeed, I think I saw that one. I guess Baja was right... I did say I was going to eat my words...

omnomnomnom

>>>>>

Mmm, perhaps Apple has some more advanced stuff in it's pipeline for Siri. We'll see over time I guess. (Not that I necessarily expect it would come to the 4 even if it didn't though.)

Here's Anandtech's review of the 4S... a brilliant in-depth review with some very interesting facts about the CPU (as well as other components) such as:

Apple's A5, first introduced with the iPad 2, keeps process technology the same while introducing a brand new CPU and GPU. The A5 integrates two ARM Cortex A9 cores onto a single die. The improvement over the A4 is tremendous. At the single core level, Apple shortened the integer pipeline without reducing clock speed. With a shorter pipeline the A5 gets more done per clock, and without decreasing clock speed the A5 inherently achieves better performance at the same clock. The move to the Cortex A9 also enables out-of-order instruction execution, further improving architectural efficiency. I've heard there's a 20% increase in performance per clock vs. the Cortex A8, but combine that with the fact that you get two A9s vs a single A8 in last year's design and you get a pretty big performance increase.

There are several situations where the A5's two cores deliver a tangible performance benefit over the A4's single core. Like Android, iOS appears to be pretty well threaded. Individual apps and tasks can take advantage of the second core without a recompile or version update. The most obvious example is web browsing.