Well, it’s finally here, Apple’s keynote for 2011.  Their major event this year where they intend to blow us away with the latest tech
wizardry they’re incorporating into their flagship device, the iPhone.

After all the rumours and guesswork comes the facts.
Will it be an upgrade iPhone 4GS or will they leap into an iPhone 5?  Maybe they will astound us and do both?

Here it is – 6:00pm London time.

Tim Cook takes the stage, the new CEO (sorry got to say it… miss you jobs!).
Apple go through their usual “This is Apple – this is what we have achieved” intro.
70% of the portable music market is impressive though!

Nothing on the iPhone as yet.  Although it does appear a Japanese website has mistakenly put up a iPhone 4GS for sale?
Woops has that let the cat out of the bag?

Apple own 5 percent of the mobile market (global), I actually thought it would be more?  They also think one day everyone will own a smartphone, hummm, yep!

I’m concerned at this point.  We’re 15 mins into the keynote and nothing on anything new.  Maybe there’s not that much to say?

Right first new development:

iPhoto cards – you can now mail “cards” from your iPhone?  Really?  Are we looking at e-cards as a new feature?  oh.

iOS5 features, which we already know about are now being presented.  iMessage (Blackberry messenger anyone?) and the new notification system for starters.  Let’s face it, notifications did need fixing.  At least they’ve made sure of that.
Twitter integration as well, tweet tweet tweet from all areas of your iPhone – those messages are going to be so much more interesting now!
iCloud’s (oct 12 release) going to change everything apparently.  Maybe it will, maybe it won’t depends if Apple do it right.
It will be nice to set up the new phone without syncing to iTunes though.  Oh yes… new phone, isn’t that what this is meant to be about?
Friends and Family locator app?  Hopefully as long as they check-in, otherwise that’s a bit wierd?
iTunes match – pulls info from the cloud to help you sort out your music library, now that might be useful.  Although not exactly cutting edge.

New iPod Nano – has Nike+ built in.  That’s pretty cool especially as you have no additional sensors to buy.  Might get one of those beauties.

Here it is… iPhone 4S
A5 chip – 7 times faster than the 4!  Not bad, thank you.
Also allows for games with more detail, like infinity blade2, only available for the 4S.

Antenna switching – for switching between transmitting and receiving, a new feature never been achieved before.  This means upto 14,4Mbps, that’s quick.  That’s real 4G!

New camera – 8mp and 33% faster capture. Who made that, was it Sony?  1080p capture – whooohooo HD! all the way.  Real-time stabilisation and face detection – impressive.

Assistant (only on the 4S) – Ask your phone a question, it gives you the answer.    You ask in real language as well, not pigeon speak.
Siri?  What kind of name is that?
So, you ask “What’s the weather like today?” and you get a response… “Look out of the window!”.  Hopefully something a little more helpful.  But really, are we all going to be talking to our phone with no real person on the other end?
Siri can also set appointments/reminders (ring wife?) and reply to texts through your spoken voice.  Again, will we really use this?  Or be far too self conscious?  This is basically because of the deal with Nuance apple struck earlier in the year.
Seems harsh to make this only work on the 4S as it must be software based and the 4 is more than capable.

Ok, so Oct 14th release date – 16GB $199, 32GB $299, 64GB $399.  In black & white and you can buy an iPhone 4 for $99.

So here’s my “Sum it up in a nutshell”…

A5 processor making it 7x faster, that’s cool as is the improved camera although 8mp is hardly groundbreaking.  Quick capture is good though as phones are notoriously bad for speed.
The Antenna switching which makes this such a fast phone needs to be proved.  Let’s hope they tested it this time eh!
The whole Assistant thing?  I just can’t see it, I might be wrong but really?  Talking to your phone to organise your life?  That’s worse than wearing a bluetooth earpiece which is basically reserved for absolute goons!

The combination of iOS 5, the iCloud and the faster improved 4s specs may save it and keep it as the sought after device.  The Assistant… maybe apple’s dropped the ball!

Q: What’s the one thing that people fear most?
A: Change.

I remember mobiles becoming mainstream in 2003 with many of my friends having a Nokia 2100 phone. In fact it wasn’t just my friends that had this phone, it seemed like everybody did. Here in the UK, Nokia phones were more common than Burberry being worn by the local gang of lads in the town centre! every Tom, Dick and Harry had one.
Over the next few years although the model of the phone would change, the brand remained the same. Users were very loyal to Nokia and it’s simple navigation that barely changed with each new phone released.

People stuck to Nokia throughout this period because it is what they knew, what they felt comfortable with.

This is why it’s so difficult to launch a new operating system and this is the reason why, when things changed with the adoption of the smartphone, Apple’s iOS and Googles Android platforms were next in line to enjoy such success.

When Apple launched the iOS on the iPhone it didn’t just give us a fancy new interface, it gave us a user experience that was so simple yet powerful, it was perfect for a handheld device. That’s also why, 18 months later when the first commercially available Android OS Smartphone (HTC Dream) was released, it showed Google hadn’t so much re-invented the wheal as given a very similar wheal some new tyres!

As much as Android and Apple fan-boys may argue about it, the experience is not massively different and that is why both systems have been such a hit. Apple’s iOS defined the way in which smartphones should operate and any challengers to that would have to overcome the one thing people (even tech-loving innovative people) fear most… Change!

This is why the recent deal between Nokia and Microsoft just doesn’t make sense.

While I agree Nokia needed a smartphone OS other than the ageing Symbian platform. Why wouldn’t they follow the likes of Samsung, Motorola and LG and choose an open platform that is successful and growing at an astonishing rate?

Why wouldn’t they rely on what they do best (which is build quality handsets) and adopt Android as their platform?

While I take my hat off to Microsoft with their Windows 7 OS, it had to tick one of two boxes to make it the new mobile user experience of choice.

1) Be the first quality OS on a smartphone – impossible. While Microsoft should have invented this touch panel interface instead of their Vista styled Windows Mobile 6 (powered by Windows CE 5.0) in Feb 2007, they didn’t. Instead they were dealt a knock out blow by Apple four months later with the release of the iPhone and it’s iOS.

Or

2) Make the Windows 7 OS quick, slick and easy to develop for. Unfortunately, while many would argue it is slick, few would say it’s quick and it certainly hasn’t attracted the large developer base it needed.

The outcome of the Nokia/Microsoft deal will be interesting, but I don’t see it changing the mobile experience enough to win market share.  Apple’s iOS will remain popular enough to keep the iPhone as the no.1 selling handset and Android will be the platform that continually innovates enough to ensure the top mobile manufacturers continue to use it for their platform – resulting in Android being the no.1 smartphone operating system.

The winners and losers in the mobile industry are quickly being identified.  Companies that are not reacting quick enough and who’s innovations have fallen below par, are starting to suffer.  I’m only surprised by the fact that Nokia and Microsoft appear to be two of the companies that suffering most.

As I sit here enjoying my pork pie sandwich and watching a line up of hopefulls contend to be the uk eurovision entry, I cast my mind over the days events and think about what I’ve spent my hard-earned cash on.

Well, I purchased a second controller for my new wii, resident evil game, two snack sized pork pies and a loaf of bread.

in the uk?

What I didn’t buy is a brand new 190mm(w) x 243mm(h) x 13.4mm(d), touch screen, 16gb, wi-fi enabled, 1ghz A4 processor, 9.7 inch LED-backlit screen and 10hrs battery life device.  What I didn’t buy was the new apple ipad.

A couple of weeks ago I was going through one of my “I love apple” 15mins and was bigging up the fact they were launching this amazing new device globally at the same time.  Unfortunatly, that hasn’t happend.

Those lucky people in the US have been able to order today though, so if we’re lucky Steve Jobs is logging how many of his fellow countrymen have pre-ordered and therefore will be able to judge the demand that will be present in the UK and rest of the world.  Then when the ipads launched over here, apple will be able to meet demand and keep all its loyal followers happy… yeah right.

Almost certainly apple will limit supply, fire out a few thousand press releases about how the ipad sold out within a couple of hours and then say they’re working flat out trying to meet demand.

So, when is the UK public going to get its hands on the ipad?  Late April.
Yep… Late April.

You could buy one through using bundlebox who register a US postbox for you and have said they won’t charge duty.  Not bad.  But also be careful.  I’ve noticed a lot of blogs recommending this route and I’ve no idea how geared up they are.

If you can wait until the end of April, personnaly I would.

After all you’re only missing out on a non-flash-complient, non-multi-tasking, non-camera-owning, big ipod touch… and a revolutionary, lifestyle-changing, user interface experience you won’t find anywhere else.

Damn you apple for this love hate relationship.  If only you were marmite! I could make up my mind so much easier!