The Four-eyed Journal » Apple

Short-of-expectation iPhone 4s and Samsung Galaxy Nexus leads to hopeful 2012

jhay — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 06:41:41 +0000

When it was first announced that Google has partnered with Samsung to make the Galaxy Nexus which is the flagship phone to carry Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, anticipation among Android fans grew as Apple fans salivated for the next iPhone.

It turned out that there was no iPhone 5 just the iPhone 4s. So we all thought that it was a good opportunity for Google to score with the Galaxy Nexus or so we thought?

Gizmodo has come out with a review of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which said that it’s the best Android phone to date simply because of the raw Ice Cream Sandwich on which it runs. No questions there as Android 4.0 has been received well by critics and tech pundits.

However, one cannot ignore the Galaxy Nexus’ shortcomings, Gizmodo points out:

the worst thing about this phone: The camera, the camera, the camera! Sweet Jesus Diaz, what were they thinking? When I heard they’d gone with a 5MP sensor instead of the now-standard-on-high-end-phones 8MP sensor, I promised I’d reserve judgement until I’d tried it. The camera does pretty okay in bright daylight, but it doesn’t come anywhere near its competition, plain and simple. Colors are washed out, low-light shooting is a noise-fest, and it’s not nearly as sharp. Why would you totally revamp your camera software, make it fast and awesome, include time-lapse, panorama, and really fun face-morphing video features, and then put a piece of crap camera in there? It’s utterly baffling.

Other deal breakers are the lack of an SD card for extra storage, the lack of a dedicated camera button and the cold hard fact that it is easily outperformed by the Samsung Galazy S II which is an older-generation phone.

With both Apple and Google falling short of expectations with their new ‘flagship’ phones, 2012 will be exciting as other phone manufacturers will try to fill in the void with their new handset offerings running on Android 4.0

But with the Christmas shopping season soon to pick up with stores offering current generation Android phones on great deals, it’s hard to resist waiting for another 6 months for great phone running the latest version of Android.

Image by laihiu

Could HTC Make a Better iOS Handset?

jhay — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:55:36 +0000

HTC was never a handset make in the limelight until Android made its debut. Suddenly, they were one of the most popular handset manufacturers on the market, with models like the Wildfire and Desire HD flying off store shelves and receiving great reviews from the press.

The iPhone, while lauded as the world’s best smartphone by many a user, has also been plagued by a recent poor design choice for the iPhone 4′s casing, resulting in the phone losing signal when held in a normal, right-handed manner. Their solution? Pay more for a rubber case to go around the sleek metallic edges of the handset.

It’s arguable that this wouldn’t have happened with HTC, or indeed any other manufacturer, and iPhone sales are rising despite this hiccup. But perhaps one of the reasons Apple are reluctant to give iOS to handset devs isn’t because it’s theirs and theirs alone – perhaps it’s because there’s a chance a company like HTC could do a better job.

Keeping their operating systems exclusive to their own platforms has always been Apple’s modus operandi, and whether you’d like to use OSX or iOS to work or play Party Poker, it’s certain you’ll be paying through the nose for an Apple device unless you’re IT-savvy enough to get a Hackintosh set-up running.

There have been hoaxes, where individuals have created mock-ups of iOS running on a non-Apple device, but thus far, no one’s cracked it yet. This is primarily because Apple ensure that their operating systems work alongside specific hardware, which makes it harder for other devices to emulate the OS to a high standard.

Would we use a HTC iOS device? Probably – there’s no reason not to, and this goes for a wide range of makes, from Samsung to Nokia. But Apple’s OSX and iOS are their golden geese, so for now we’ll just have to wait, or splash out on a device fresh from the Steve Jobs production line.

BitDefender Warns iPhone Jailbreakers About Security - Be careful about the apps you on your iPhone

jhay — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:00:09 +0000

Now that jailbreaking iPhones is completely legal, fans are raving about jailbreaking their devices. Who wouldn’t be? Even if I don’t own an iPhone, the prospect of seeing what other folks would and could do to their devices is enough to get me hyped up.

However, this would open the floodgates of potential security risks for iPhone and iPad users. I received an email from BitDefender warning against a new malware threat that has taken advantage of the jailbreaking craze:

BitDefender has identified a malware distribution campaign in which users receive an email where they find out they could receive a new application for iPhone jailbreaking. All the email recipient has to do is click a link that will take them to the webpage where the desired software awaits.

As the email recipient goes further into this labyrinth and clicks the link, an exe file attempts to download to their computer. But once saved and run, the executable opens the way for a Trojan.

Identified by BitDefender as Trojan.Generic.3010833, this piece of malware is a keylogger that transmits everything the user writes on the computer to a specific email address, in this particular case to directory[REMOVED]@hotmail.com.

This allows the malware creators to intercept the victim’s visited sites, usernames, passwords, and bank accounts information – such as pin number, bank account numbers, passwords, etc.

Common sense would be a good first line of defense. If you’re going to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad, be very careful about any third-party app you’re going to install because it might just be loaded with malware. Do some background check on it first, like asking the developer or users who have already used the app.

Stay safe and have fun with jailbreaking your iPhones and iPads!

Will the free Bumper cases for iPhone 4 be enough?

jhay — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 09:00:24 +0000

Apple has finally faced the music and came out with a quick solution to the iPhone 4 signal loss fiasco: free Bumper cases for everyone!

We love our users, we really love them. We try very hard to surprise and delight them. We work our asses off. When we fall short, which we do sometimes, we try harder. We pick ourselves up, figure out what’s wrong and we try harder. – Steve Jobs

What formerly sells for $29 a piece, is now free for everyone who has bought an iPhone 4 and to those who have already bought the Bumper case, a full refund. The offer stands until September 30. Will this be enough to solve this problem?

Though the costs to Apple would be negligible, around $87 million US by Yuga’s estimates, the real issue here is their image and Steve Jobs’ ego. After a sustained reign of being the coolest smart phone maker for years which started on the day the first generation iPhone was sold up to the present, who would’ve thought that this storm would hit Apple.

This wake up call will be something Apple nor Jobs would find hard to forget. iPhone 5 would have to meet higher expectations not just feature-wise but on the design and hardware aspects as well.

Though I think it’s unlikely that iPhone users would jump ship and switch to other brands. They just love Apple too much. And now that they’ve been given a freebie, it’s only a matter of time before they shut up and cease with the complaints.

Consumer Reports Warns Against Buying iPhone 4

jhay — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:09:49 +0000

Ever since Apple launched its iPhone 4 and the immediate user complaints about its faulty antenna, I knew something like this would soon happen:

When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side — an easy thing, especially for lefties — the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4.

This was the recommendation of Consumer Reports magazine who did an independent test to find out what’s really causing the iPhone 4′s frequent signal loss problem.

It’s not the poor signal from carriers, but the antenna itself that’s the root cause of the problem. Touching or covering the lower-left corner of the iPhone causes serious signal loss. Quick fixes like using specially designed cases or even using duck tape has been offered. Though it’s surprising that such a fundamental problem would plague an Apple product, more so the iPhone 4.

Of course Apple has promised a software fix but many analysts are still skeptical that it would cure the problem. Though it has not stopped the craze for the new iPhone 4 as many of my friends are itching to get their hands on it.

The iPhone 4 is still to be released here in the Philippines so there’s still no news any Pinoy iPhone 4 user complaining about the signal loss. So for now it’s a wait and see situation here.

As for me, I’m still saving up on a BlackBerry phone, sorry, not a real iPhone enthusiast here and it looks like it’s been a wise move so far.

Image by superstrikertwo