Apple’s iPhone 5 became the best selling smartphone globally in Q4, pushing past Samsung’s flagship Galaxy SIII, according to research by Strategy Analytics. It’s the first time the iPhone 5 sales have topped Galaxy SIII shipments. According to the analyst, a “rich touchscreen, extensive distribution and generous operator subsidies have propelled the iPhone 5 to the top spot”. → Read More
If there’s one person who’s nailed the art of Kickstarter-driven hardware production, it’s Scott Wilson. The designer’s MNML studio had considerable success with the crowdfunding site, which helped launch his Lunatik iPod nano watch bands, a stylus called the Touch Pen, and now the Taktik heavy-duty protective iPhone case. The last is just making its way out to market (for iPhone 4/4S – iPhone… → Read More
Want to see exactly how the iPhone 5′s speedy new A6 processor compares to the now-somewhat-pokey iPhone 4S A5 chip? I shot a side-by-side comparison shot of the two devices executing a number of tasks, including simple stuff like opening webpages and Facebook, to more processor intensive tasks like exporting a 1o second 1080p HD video in iMovie. Check it out, the iPhone 5 seems to edge the older… → Read More
The iPhone 5 is now on sale in most launch markets starting today, and as daylight approaches on the U.S. west coast, the coveted device will be hitting that market as well. According to early reviews, it’s a great device, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right one for everybody. Even if you’re still a potential iPhone buyer, the lineup has never looked so good. The iPhone 4 and the 4S… → Read More
Whether or not you’re an Apple fanboy or fangirl, it’s no secret that the iPhone has been selling like hotcakes. Every time Apple launches a new iPhone or iPhone(S), it seems that the Internet is about to explode. Naturally, when the iPhone 5 was announced, many were curious to see if it would actually contain any significant leaps in innovation from prior iterations, whether it would exceed… → Read More
At the Apple live event, Tim Cook announced that the iPhone 4S will still be available and the price will drop to $99.
Apple is perpetuating the same strategy by keeping the previous generation iPhone in its lineup to attract customers concerned by the price. The iPhone 4 will stay in the lineup as well and Apple will give it away if you sign a two-year contract in the U.S. A similar offering… → Read More
Apple is, as usual, remaining tight-lipped about whether it will be releasing any new devices this autumn — and even if there will be an event scheduled for September 12, as many have been reporting. Meanwhile, here is a sign that the company could be preparing for a new phone launch: Apple is offering users an option to recycle their iPhone 4S devices for up to $345 back in the form of an Apple… → Read More
According to new research from the NPD Group, Apple passed LG and Samsung to become the top-selling U.S. handset brand in Q4 2011. Combined, the three available models of the iPhone (iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS) accounted for 43% of the U.S. smartphone market.
Android, however, continued to see larger market share at 48%. → Read More
An iPhone case from Nissan? As you can imagine, it would make no sense for the automaker to develop an ordinary case, and the so-called Nissan Scratch Shield iPhone Case is actually special. According to the company, it’s the world’s first “self-healing” iPhone cover: in other words, it quickly fixes (fine) scratches by itself.
Nissan says they used their self-healing paint finish originally… → Read More
The nominations have been tabulated and the votes are in. Over 300,000 nominations were calculated across 20 categories. Along with our partners GigaOm and VentureBeat, we are very proud to announce the finalists for 2011′s best in technology. Voting begins now.
For 2011, we’ve added some new categories. Best Location App, Best Cloud Services and Biggest Social Impact join the Crunchies ranks… → Read More
Apple this morning announced that its massively popular smartphone, the iPhone 4S, will be available in China and 21 additional countries on Friday, January 13.
According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, that means the iPhone 4S will shortly be available in a total of 90 countries.
It also means the phone will indeed launch in China before the Chinese New Year (January 23), which is sort of the… → Read More
Japan-based accessory maker Sanwa Supply started selling the 400-PRJ011 [JP] in its online store, a DLP micro projector that slides onto an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. The device comes with a 2,100mAh battery, which takes about five hours to fully charge and provides enough juice for 2.5 hours of projector usage.
With the projector function turned off, buyers can also use the device to charge their… → Read More
Here in the States we’ve been chatting it up with Siri on the iPhone 4S for months, but the folks over in mainland China — the biggest mobile market in the world, mind you — have yet to hear that 42 is the meaning of life. The 4S launched in Hong Kong just last month, and since then we’ve heard that it would show up on the mainland in December.
People’s Daily is now reporting that… → Read More
You have to hand it to Google. They know that I prefer Apple products and have been generally critical of many Google moves in the past couple of years. And yet, they’re unafraid to give me their newest products to test out. To be honest, I’m not sure Apple would do the same. But I think this is a smart move on Google’s part. On one hand, they may get a negative review but they know that many will… → Read More
When Cyber Monday rolls around, everyone’s eyes dart to the big boys like Amazon and Newegg for cheap goods, but niche retailers have their own deals too. Case in point: the DIY repair nuts at iFixit have whipped together a nifty bundle for aspiring iPhone modders who would like to see the fruits of Apple’s design savvy instead of an opaque black panel. → Read More
If winter’s approach finds you yearning for warmer climes, Apple’s got you covered no matter which tropical locale you’ve got your eye on. As promised way back when, Apple has begun to sell unlocked versions of all iPhone 4S models in their online store.
Here’s hoping you managed to get a good deal on that plane ticket, because Apple’s globetrotting 4S comes with some hefty price tags. As… → Read More
The backlash was inevitable.
Siri has had a bit of an image problem this past week. Just like all technology propelled by the tailwinds of hype, it hit the inevitable wall of tech punditry. This magically turned the stream of largely positive stories into a river of negative stories under the guise of things like: “the voice of reason” or the “wake up call”. It’s the oldest trick in the book… → Read More
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve heard the same thing over and over again. “The iPhone 4S is awesome, but…” And it’s a big “but”. The battery life. It sucks.
Well, to be clear, it sucks for some users, but not all. For example, I’m not noticing anything out of the ordinary on my device. It’s essentially the same battery life I got with the iPhone 4 running iOS 4, as far as I can tell. But… → Read More
While most of the furor over the the new iPhone has died down around these parts, Apple has announced that a few new markets will soon be able to get their proverbial hands on the iPhone 4S very shortly. The 4S is poised to hit 15 new countries by November 11, including major Asian markets like South Korea and Hong Kong. → Read More
Sprint Nextel, the no. 3 carrier in the United States, reported its quarterly earnings today, and they’re quite solid. In Q3 2011, the company generated consolidated net operating revenues of $8.3 billion, up from $8.15 billion in the same period last year and relatively flat compared to Q2 2011.
The company booked a quarterly loss of $301 million (or 10 cents per share), roughly a third the… → Read More
It’s been proven again and again that Siri has a peculiar sense of humor, but what if there was something more calculating, more sinister hiding beneath that jovial facade? Well, dock your iPhone 4S into ThinkGeek’s new IRIS 9000 voice control module, and you may soon find out.
On paper, the IRIS 9000 is pretty straightforward — once the iPhone is in place, just carry around the included… → Read More
Already we’re seeing microbridges being set up, like the one that puts Twitter into your Contacts list as an SMS address so you can ask Siri to Tweet out a message. As these hacks accelerate, it will be incumbent upon Apple to expand API access to the routing layer so that third parties and especially users themselves can construct these macros. The more they’re used, the more the business… → Read More
The Gillmor Gang — John Borthwick, Robert Scoble, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — rebounded from a seven and a half minute gap to explore the mysteries of the Siri platform. As machines give up being trained by us and reciprocate by rewarding us for compliant behavior, our gestures are being finetuned to a social pitch.
While no one was looking, Apple has provided a fresh and… → Read More
It would seem that the iPhone 4S is one helluva record breaker. Apple recorded over 1 million pre-orders in the first 24 hours the phone was available, and a record 4 million devices sold in the first weekend. That’s double the amount of any other iPhone’s first weekend sales.
But the iPhone 4S isn’t just breaking records at Apple.
AT&T has just announced that its iPhone 4S activations… → Read More
If you read/watch one iPhone 4s vs Samsung Galaxy S II comparison, make it this one. It’s the only one that really matters in real life anyway. As your phone is falling to its potential death, you’re not going to be thinking about processor clock speed, the amount of RAM, or what operating platform it runs. No, the next week of your life is going to flash in eyes as you think about how you’re… → Read More
Apple just announced that it sold four million iPhone 4S handsets over the last weekend. The phone hit stores on October 14th and it took just three days to move the massive lot. Incredible.
Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of Worlwide Product Markteting notes, “iPhone 4S is off to a great start with more than four million sold in its first weekend—the most ever for a phone and more than… → Read More
The smarts in Siri turn out to be about context, all the more powerful as the service flows through apps. Regular updates will give developers impetus to wire in their app to the notification bus. Shouldn’t a New York times alert also search the major news sites for live video as it happens? I’d pay more for a notification-aware app, and even more for an uber notification routing service that I… → Read More
News from the never-ending patent war between Apple and Samsung: the Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Samsung filed for preliminary injunctions in the Tokyo District Court and in the New South Wales Registry, Australia. This time, the goal is to block sales of the iPhone 4S, which launched in both countries last Friday.
According to the report, Samsung also tries to stop sales of the… → Read More
The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, Gabe Rivera, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — marked a watershed moment in the history of realtime. When @gaberivera posted a summary Tweet rolling up the WSJ-induced VC semi-panic, he bookmarked a discussion that started and largely finished not in the blogosphere but on Twitter.
By the time the swarm slowed down, it was decorated by numerous… → Read More
Steve Wozniak likes to be the first person in line to buy the latest Apple products. This evening, the Apple co-founder and designer of the Apple I and II, was #1 on line outside the Apple store in Los Gatos, California to get the iPhone 4S. He tweeted about it and he’ll be staying up all night. TechCrunch TV caught up with Woz and asked him why he does it. He explains what feature the new… → Read More
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