News From Apple's iPhone Event

Apple is currently announcing various things about a new iPhone; the CNN Live has coverage as it is happening. Watch for updates as more information comes in. For those of you who like to read instead of watch, PC Magazine is^W was^W is running a live commentary stream (it broke and then unbroke). The New York Times also has a working live stream which seems more reliable. Update: 10/04 19:04 GMT by U L :Unexpectedly, Apple did not announce an iPhone 5, but rather an incremental update. CNet has a decent article about the features of the iPhone 4S. Additionally, all major carriers except T-Mobile will be getting the phone October 14th.

Comments

Wow

[rlthomps-1]

Twitter reports that /. has a thread that says that CNN has some info about some iPhone stuff. A marvel of modern communication

Re:Wow

[edremy]

Going up and down fairly gracefully, continue to refresh and it will come up.

Am I wrong for finding this vaguely arousing?

Re:Wow

[Amouth]

from a PR point it makes sense - it makes it had for you to find exact details - makes people look different places.. also gives the perception that it is larger of an even than it is. (if it was so small then a single source could handle the job easy).

it's all part of the Reality Distortion Field Effect.

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep. The thing is over now, so here is the sum total of the announcement:

1. New camera. Has more megapixels. White balance may no longer suck. (That's the tweak.)
2. You can now take pictures using the volume up button. (Really? Not with a camera button? Really: double tap the home button, press the "camera" icon, press the "volume up" button. That's "ease of use," apparently.)
3. Remember how Android has a voice activation feature? iPhone is getting that now. Unlike the old "voice command" this one can now be used to search the web and enter text into text fields. Wasn't this available in Android 1? And as an app for iPhone?
4. "New" processor (it's the iPad 2's)
5. "Better than console game graphics." No, really. Seriously! They said that!
6. Remember how the iPhone tracked your location, and everyone got upset about it? The new one uploads the location to iCloud and this is, somehow, a feature. So you can locate your phone through the cloud. (It's in your house! Thanks, GPS!)
7. Antenna was redesigned. So you might be able to make calls and browse the web while holding the phone.
8. Now supports Sprint.

And that's it. That's everything.

Re:Wow

[Mike Buddha]

Oh and they tweaked the camera a bit...

This is a big deal. I've been using a Droid X since it came out and despite it having a dedicated camera button, when you go to take a picture, it takes friggin' forever to fire up. Being able to fire up the camera in 1.1 seconds is HUGE. Just think of all the opportunistic upskirts and nose picks you'll be able to automatically post to your Twitter account!

shocked

[w_dragon]

I'm shocked, utterly shocked. Oh, not about anything in the presentation, I'm shocked that Slashdot actually got this story up when the event was happening and didn't link to a recording three days from now.

One thing's for sure...

[RightSaidFred99]

Sales of ironically overlarge non-functional fashion glasses, skinny pants, and funny hats will concomitantly go up in direct proportion to iPhone 5 sales.

Re:Live?

[GameboyRMH]

The Apple fetishists are more than happy to see the reveal in slo-mo.

To me, Apple product announcements are like Hollywood movie trailers: There's no need to seek them out, they'll be shoved down your throat even if you try to avoid them.

Re:Yawn! Who cares?

[neoform]

Quick! I need to click the link for the Apple story, then post about how I don't care! This is a great use of my time!

Re:Who gives a hoot

[Hijacked Public]

You seem to be having a difficult time with that.

Re:Yawn! Who cares?

[mr1911]

No one forced you to ready the story. You clicked on it.

So, Slashdot brought you a story you wanted to read, which just happened to be created by the marketing department at Apple.

You complain about it, but here you are.

Re:Live?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Why? We didn't come here for news, we're here to argue!

No iPhone 5, just iPhone 4s

[ad454]

A year and a half later, all that they can offer is a slightly better camera, faster CPU, and universal (GSM+CDMA) mobile. :(

Most people including myself were hopefully for the thinner design, larger edge-to-edge 4 inch screen, metal back, NFC, 3D glassless display, 4G wireless data, etc. that were mentioned in the iPhone 5 rumours/hype. What a huge let down. No innovative must have features offer! Definitely not worth an update over the popular iPhone 4.

It also sucks that you still can't play video podcasts in the iPod Nano like you used to 2 generations ago!

In fact this entire iPhone+iPod refresh really is a big disappointment for me. I guess Apple does not think that hardware innovation is important anymore! What a great way to disappoint your fans, and have them look at other platforms that at least have some more frequent hardware improvements.

Re:No iPhone 5, just iPhone 4s

[shutdown -p now]

The good news is that the original iPhone 4 is now cheaper.

If you want new features this year, I think October 11 (Google/Samsung launch party) is the place to be.

Re:Oh exploitable

[knappe duivel]

"The camera app is now accessible from the lock screen. Double-tap the home button and you can go directly to the camera app, no password or anything required."

Hmmmm......

what, does your nikon or canon require a password?

Re:For something far more rewarding...

[MikeBabcock]

The Onion's story was an excellent summary of the event in advance I believe.

During a highly anticipated media event held today at the Apple corporation’s world headquarters, CEO Tim Cook announced the new iPhone 4S is good and people should buy it. “It’s a good phone,” said Cook, walking out onto a stage and gesturing at a picture of the device projected on a large screen behind him. "It's got e-mail, the Internet, and you can get apps on it. Everybody should get one. It's good." After standing in place for another four seconds without speaking, Cook walked off stage, at which point the houselights came up and all in attendance were asked to please file out of the auditorium.

Re:Pass the popcorn and chocolate rain

[Scowler]

It's pathetic, isn't it. In the Slashdot of old, there would be a lot of people dissecting the new features, especially Siri and the new camera, comparing those features to competitors (objectively), maybe explaining the prior art or comparative products that exist. There would still be a lot of criticism, but by and large most of it would be of the objective kind. The slashdot of now? A bitter cesspool of trollish negativity.

Re:Apple Disappoints -- Again

[SlowGenius]

There was one, and only one mega-fail here. It didn't happen today. It happened when Apple made their announcement of "Let's talk iPhone" and then failed to keep expectations within line. Everybody has now been buzzing about the dual iPhone 4S/iPhone 5 announcement for the past couple of weeks. Without an iPhone 5 announcement to be made today, Apple needed to kill that rumor DEAD. Instead, they've managed to totally underwhelm the world with a new product launch for a fine incremental update for something that would have looked fairly decent if examined in its own light. Mr. Cook, I'm sorry to inform you that you just flunked the oral portion of your CEO marketing exam and that the board is likely soon going to be announcing your imminent departure from the top spot. Nice knowing you.

Re:Live?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

The Apple fetishists are more than happy to see the reveal in slo-mo.

The other half are the haters that need a few minutes to cook up a rationalization of why each new feature isn't really a big deal. "7x the processing power for a device whose major selling point is the App Store? Pftbt lame."