Apple Will use 802.11ac WiFi Standard This Year

According to Apple Insider, Apple is planning on adopting the new 802.11ac wifi standard across their product line this year. 802.11ac has a max speed of over 1 gigabit per second, more than three times faster than the current wireless N. Broadcom will be releasing 802.11ac chips soon that feature better range and power efficiency than existing chips. Don't forget that you'll need an 802.11ac capable router to harness the full 802.11ac speed.

T-Mobile to Officially Support Unlocked iPhones

T-Mobile marketing chief Cole Brodman claimed that as of September 2011 there were over one million unlocked iPhone users on their network, and that T-Mobile offers a "no-compromise" iPhone experience. And even though T-Mobile has shown great interest in carrying the iPhone, they are still waiting on Apple to make that a reality.

In the meantime, however, T-Mobile will start providing official support for the iPhone starting January 30th, 2012. The carrier will provide technical support, information about the iPhone's features and specifications, and answer basic questions about the device. So even though T-Mobile is the largest carrier in the US that doesn't have the iPhone yet, it'll be more than ready to facilitate it when Apple decides to launch it on their network.

Siri on iPad & iPod Touch?

After updating to the newly released iOS 5.1 beta 3, iOS hacker Sonny Dickson uncovered an interesting reference to Siri Dictation within the Settings app on his iPad 2. As reported by 9to5Mac, a new section under the keyboard tab in the iPad’s settings, labeled as “About Privacy and Dictation,” has a legal blurb that mentions Siri dictation a number of times. The actual dictation feature is still absent in iOS 5.1 beta 3, but it could be implemented by Apple in the final release of iOS 5.1.

Alternatively, the Cupertino-based company might choose to release Siri as an exclusive feature for the iPad 3. The report also claims that the same legal statement can be found on the latest iPod touch, so it could be a case of iPhone 4S software code not being properly removed from the iPad or iPod touch versions of iOS. Regardless, let’s hope that Siri for iPad—and perhaps iPod touch, too—is inching closer to reality. That would be a real treat.

[via iFans]

Android Phone Roundup

So since I last posted, quite a few new android phones have made their way out to the market. The most notable of these are:

• HTC Rezound
• Samsung Galaxy S II
• Google Galaxy Nexus
• Motorola RAZR

HTC Rezound

     The Rezound is an impressive phone from HTC that resembles the HTC Thunderbolt. It packs a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor from Qualcomm, an Adreno 220 GPU, 1GB of RAM, an 8MP rear camera capable of taking 1080p video, a 2MP front-facing camera, 16GB of internal storage, a 720p HD 4.3" HD screen and integrated Beats audio. Of all its impressive specs, the screen is the most noteworthy. With a pixel density of 342ppi, it outshines even the iPhone 4S's screen with its sharpness, not to mention the fact that the screen is significantly larger. 

Samsung Galaxy S II

     The Galaxy S II is the successor to the widely popular Galaxy S, and at the time of its release it was one of the slimmest smartphones, weighing in at 8.49 mm thick. The Galaxy S II features a 1.2 GHz dual-core "Exynos" System on a Chip (SoC) CPU, 1GB of RAM, an 8MP camera capable of 1080p video in addition to a front facing cam, and a 4.3" Super AMOLED+ screen. The Galaxy S II is one of the first devices to offer a Mobile High-def Link, this allows up to 1080p uncompressed video output with HDMI while charging at the same time. 

Google Galaxy Nexus

     The Google Galaxy Nexus is one of the most anticipated android phones of the year. It boasts a 4.65" 720p Super AMOLED HD screen, a 1.2 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor, 1GB of ram, 16GB of internal storage, an 8MP camera that can take 1080p video & front facing cam, and is the very first phone to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Motorola Droid RAZR

     The RAZR is an Android-based follow up to Motorola's iconic RAZR flip-phone that dominated the market years ago. The RAZR is the thinnest android smartphone on the market right now, being 11.1 mm thick. The RAZR is powered by a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, has 1GB of RAM, has an 8MP rear facing camera that can take 1080p videos, a 1.3MP front facing cam, 16GB of internal storage, and a Super AMOLED Advanced 4.3" qHD screen.

Update

So it's been a while since I last posted here, mainly because of school. But my exams are almost over so I should be posting here regularly again. Thanks for being so patient with me guys!

HckrSvn

An Apology

Hey guys, I'm really sorry I haven't posted in so long now, my schedule's been really crazy and I've had several exams too. I should be back to posting here in a few days though, and I'll cover all the stuff I missed since I last posted.
Thanks for bearing with me,

HckrSvn

Samsung DoubleTime

AT&T has announced the DoubleTime, a new entry-level smartphone from Samsung that should appeal to messaging fanatics. The DoubleTime has two touchscreen displays and a flip out QWERTY keyboard.

The DoubleTime has 3.2-inch, HVGA (320 x 480 pixel) touchscreen displays on both the inside and outside. The inside of the flip contains a four-row QWERTY keyboard and shortcut keys for menu, home, back, and search. The DoubleTime is powered by a 600MHz single-core processor, and has 260MB of internal storage. It supports microSD cards of up to 32GB in capacity, and comes with a 2GB card pre-installed. The back of the phone features a 3.2 megapixel camera with camcorder functions.

The DoubleTime runs Android 2.2 Froyo with Samsung's TouchWiz interface. It will be available later this year in a white and pink color scheme. Pricing has yet to be announced.

[MobileBurn]

Your opinion on the iPhone 4S

So what do you think about the iPhone 4S? Do you think it's a great improvement? A disappointment? Why do you think what you think?

Let me know in the comments below or in an email to compjunkies@hotmail.com

iPhone 4S New Features

On October 4th Apple unveiled their newest addition to the iPhone lineup, the iPhone 4S. Many of us, myself included, were hoping for something more than just a slightly heavier iPhone 4 with features that have already been on Android phones for the past 6ish months, so the iPhone 4S was a letdown to many. Nonetheless, I have no doubt that the iPhone 4S is a great phone and that many people will be willing to buy it, especially now that it's available on Sprint.

Here's a list of new features:

• 1080p HD Video Recording w/ stabilization
• 8MP Camera with an advanced color and IR sensor, faster shutter, & face detection
• Apple A5 Dual-Core 1GHz processor
• CDMA & GSM capable (World phone)
• Siri voice assistant
• 4G Capable
• Improved antenna for fewer dropped calls and better reception
• Longer battery life

Note: I didn't include any of the features being added in iOS 5 because they aren't iPhone 4S specific.

[Apple]

Let's Talk iPhone Roundup

So as you may have heard Apple held their "Let's Talk iPhone" event today at which several announcements were made, the most notable being about the new iPhone 4S.
Here's the official CompJunkies roundup: (The iPhone 4S is being omitted because I'm writing a separate article about it soon)

General
At the "Let's Talk iPhone" event earlier this day, Tim Cook made the announcement that Mac is the number one selling desktop and notebook in the USA.

iPods
Apple stated that there have been no hardware changes to the iPod touch, as many were hoping, but rather the availability of a white iPod touch. In addition, Apple mentioned that the iPod nano is getting some new clock skins and a Nike+ adapter.

iCloud
Coinciding with the release of iOS 5, Apple is planning to launch their could service, iCloud, on October 12th while their new service, iTunes Match, will be available at the "end of October" for $24.99 a year.

iOS 5
This is one of Apple's most significant iOS upgrades to date. They've added many new features and apps, here are just a few of them:

• News Stand - A native app designed to facilitate your newspaper and magazine reading habits.
• Improved notification system - Strikingly similar to Android's, in my opinion.
• Siri Assistant - Your iPhone is now akin to that of the Starship Enterprise's computer!
• Launch your camera app straight from the lockscreen
• Faster web browsing
• Native todo list app
• Twitter integration
• iMessage - Similar to RIM's BBM service
• Photo editing straight from the photo app
• PC/Mac free setup
• Over the Air (OTA) updates
• iCloud integration
• Family location services
• More HERE