Apple iOS 5 Preview

iOS 5 is Apples new operating system with features that are exceeding two-hundred, this iOS is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2, and iPod Touch of both 3G and 4G. The new features in this iOS are iMessage, News Stand, Notification Center, Camera, Reminders, Photos, Twitter, Safari, PC Free, Mail, Calender, Multi-Tasking Gestures for iPad, Air- Play Mirroring for iPod 2, Wi-Fi Sync, Game Center and etc.,

iMessage : is a feature where we can send text messages using Wi-Fi or 3G from iPhone/ iPod Touch/ iPad to others having these devices. It also allows you to send photos, videos, contacts and locations, receive delivery receipts, read receipts which is optional, and other features like ellipsis points appear when you get a response to your message from others, a conversation begun in an iOS device can be ended on an other iOS device.

Newsstand : is a feature where it allows you to organize all your favorite magazines and newspapers for which you have subscribed. Subscriptions can also be made through App Store where you can search and also get the ratings for that particular magazine/ newspaper, and the newly subscribed appear on the newsstand automatically. It also updates your magazines/ newspapers including their latest outer cover when a new issue arrives.

Notification Center : is a feature where it organises all your notifications such as new email, text messages, friend requests and etc., to a single location which can be accessed while visiting any application, you can view them by sliding it down from the top of your screen, they also immediately disappear without interrupting while you work on different applications, and it also allows you to easily respond to notifications like a single swipe to listen to voicemails when the device is on lock screen mode.

Remainders : since this feature allows you to organize your to-do list with due dates and location it alerts you immediately while you reach that particular location, they also work with iCal, iCloud, and Outlook therefore an automatic updation is made to all your devices calendar.

Camera : Now you can access to camera app from lock screen with one tap, features like grid-lines, touch and  focus to lock a particular images focus and exposure, pinch to zoom, and take a snap by pressing the volume up button.

Photos : it includes features like Auto-Enhance, Red Eye Removal by making a single tap on the eye and double tap to undo it, crop, rotate within the photo app, and other features like a copy of the photo is sent to iPad automatically when taken with iPhone/ iCloud, organizing your photos in albums.

Safari : has been enhanced with features like Reading List where where it allows you to save your favorite articles/ pages for later reading and can be updated to all other iOS devices using iCloud, Tabbed browsing in iPad to shift between pages using tabs, and can read articles without any ads/ clutter.

Twitter : this feature allows you to tweet from your iOS devices, you can sign in through the settings given, add location,  and can tweet directly from photos, safari, youtube and etc., as twitter is integrated systemwide.

PC Free : this feature allows you to activate and set your iPhone/ iPod Touch/ iPad wirelessly therefore you need not have a PC or Mac for downloading free iOS software updates, editing photos, adding new email folder and etc., and can backup and restore your device with iCloud automatically.

Multi-Tasking Gestures : using four/ five fingers swipe the screen where you can view multi-tasking bar, pinch to restore to home screen, and swipe leftwards and rightwards to shift between apps.

Wi-Fi Sync : for wireless connection to your iOS device to your PC/ Mac, so that when your iOS device is connected to a power source it automatically syncs and backs up all new contents present to your iTunes.

Air Play Mirroring : as the feature now supports video mirroring streaming can be done wirelessly and securely from your iPad 2 to HDTV via Apple TV.

Mail : feature allows you to format the text which you type in your mail such as creating indents, bold, italics, underline, you can also rearrange the names in the address field, add/ delete folders, flag messages, search for any particular mails by typing the body of the message.

Calender : you can create an event by a single tap, organize your events such as add, view event attachments, delete and rename directly from calender app, adjust time and duration by dragging, and these events can also be shared and kept in sync with other iOS devices using iCloud.

Game Center : comes with even more Game Center features such as you can add a profile picture, get new friend recommendations depending on the games you play and the players, new overall achievement score to catch up with your opponents, find new games within the Game Center and etc.,

Apple iPhone for enterprise – Still inconvenient

Apple’s iPhone is  currently the king of Smartphone Jungle, there is  serious push from users in consecrations for its adaptation. And many have written articles regarding the improved security features  etc.

But in terms of usability of some of its basic enterprise  features iPhone is still lacking in a big way. I was quite surprised by lack certain features in the iPhone when I had the opportunity switch from Blackberry to iPhone 4.

When Apple first launched iPhone,  people who live on Blackberry questioned how can you seriously expect someone to type on a touch screen keyboard, but it wasn’t bad after all, and people quickly adapted to the virtual keyboard. But now after a few years if you take iPhone its email still lacks ability fine tuning. Like customizing alert/notifications  for a different mail accounts,  having a different setting for accounts/messages etc. Even  a proper profile management for sounds/alerts , which is available in almost all basic phone is hard to find in iphone.

These are just few examples but there are many little things, and makes me wonder if  Im using a Beta product.For many it might look silly, how could these features affect enterprise usage, but in the competitive world  missing an important message is as bad as getting disturbed by a silly message in middle of a meeting. And these fine nuances will definitely irritate serious users.

iPhone 4 CDMA Review and Specifications

Apple is launching IPhone in CDMA version with Verizon in few days, and soon Reliance (India) and China Mobile will also get the CDMA iPhone. iPhone 4 CDMA has 3G network CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A with data rate 3.1 Mbps CDMA2000 is a mobile technology standard which uses CDMA channel access for sending and signaling data between the mobiles and cell sites, it belongs to the family of 3G. CDMA channel access – CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access – channel access method which allows multiple terminals to be connected to same multi-point transmission medium for transmission and capacity sharing. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO is one of the set of standards in CDMA2000. EV-DO stands for Evolution-Data Optimized, which are the telecommunication standards for wireless data transmission via radio signals especially for broadband internet.

The dimensions of the are 115.2 * 58.6 * 9.3 mm with 640 * 960 pixels resolution, 3.5 inches screen size with LED-backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16 million colors, scratch resistant oleophobic surface and weighs 137 g. It is a speaker phone with 3.5 mm audio jack. The memory is of 16 GB, 512 MB RAM, there are no card slots for extendable memory cards. Its OS is iOS 4.2.5, and its processor is Apple A4 with 1 GHz speed.

The camera is of 5 MP with LED flash, auto focus, touch focus, geo-tagging. Its other features include Wireless LAN Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v2.1  with A2DP for high quality audio streaming from one phone to another through bluetooth, GPS, Messaging through SMS, MMS, Push, Email, Games, Voice commands, audio video player, Google Maps, Digital Compass. Its battery is 1420 mAh Li-Po battery. The phone comes in two colors white and black. The price of iPhone 4 CDMA is $199 on contract.

iPhone 4 CDMA Specifications :

3G : CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A with data rate 3.1 Mbps

OS : iOS 4.2.5

Processor : Apple A4 with 1 GHz speed

Dimensions : 115.2 * 58.6 * 9.3 mm

Screen size and Resolution : 640 * 960 pixels resolution, 3.5 inches screen size with LED-backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16 million colors, scratch resistant oleophobic surface

Weight : 137 g

Memory : 16 GB, 512 MB RAM

Camera : 5 MP with LED flash, auto focus, touch focus, geo-tagging

Speaker phone with 3.5 mm audio jack

Wireless LAN Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth v2.1  with A2DP for high quality audio streaming from one phone to another through bluetooth

GPS

Messaging through SMS, MMS, Push, Email

Games

Voice commands, audio video player

Google Maps, Digital Compass

Battery : is 1420 mAh Li-Po battery

Colors : white, black