iOS 5 to Offer Significant Voice Integration? Fall iPhone 5 Launch Opens Door to LTE?

[iPad 2]

So this fall, we can expect from Apple...

A 1920x1440 Retina Display iPad 3 (to be released in September)

An A5 powered iPod

and an...

A5 powered iPhone 5 with a 4" screen, 4g, better voice controls, cloud storage and drag and drop support.

Basically, every single thing on this list is about to come true...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1021233/


I could live with that. Apple is going to DOMINATE this Christmas.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Maybe they're waiting for HSPA+ to become more widespread. As it stands, only a few major cities have the expanded backhaul

 

[roland.g]

I think I'll enjoy my iPhone 4 a while longer and my battery life. LTE is not prevalent enough yet, nor are the chipsets able to run low power enough. Mid 2012 is the best timeframe for LTE. Any earlier and you are on the bleeding edge of no infrastructure. The networks and the technology simply aren't ready.

Oh, and the biggest myth about LTE: People actually believe there will be a significant bandwidth improvement. Sorry, but the jump from EDGE to 3G was much more significant than 3G to LTE, especially with 3G running at 7.2.

 

[spritelyjim]

Not sure about Voice Control... No matter how well it works, I will probably feel strange taking to a phone. And most of the time it's just easier to press a button than to say it.

This might be in response to Google's voice thing though, which also recognizes "Plain English" and works with speech-to-text instead of typing. This might be something cool for writing text messages and stuff like that, as typing on the iPhone isn't the best.

Actually, I've tried the Siri App, and the speaking part became pretty natural to me. But you could type stuff into it too. While it's currently very limited, the cool part was the contextualized searches and the potential that can have. Imagine a program that can access your calendar, notes, texts, Facebook, etc. through APIs and then be able to search for things accordingly. Like say you want to watch a certain movie tonight, it searches your calendar info to see where you're going to be tonight and finds the closest movie theater. Many other possibilities would make this awesome, perhaps especially in some good app developers' hands.

 

[roland.g]

So this fall, we can expect from Apple...

A Retina Display iPad 3

An A5 powered iPod

and an...

A5 powered iPhone 5 with a 4" screen, 4g, better voice controls, cloud storage and drag and drop support.

Basically, every single thing on this list is about to come true...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1021233/


I could live with that. Apple is going to DOMINATE this Christmas.

Except for the fact that Apple is not about to release an iPad 3 this year. They have absolutely no reason to.

June: Preview Lion and iOS 5.

July/August: Release Lion.

June-Sept: Updated iMacs.

Sept: Updated iPods.

Sept/Oct(even Jan): iPhone 5.

Spring 2012: iPad 3.

You really expect them to squeeze a new iPad into the fall. If anything you will see another Air update.

 

[ChromeAce]

stop calling it the iPhone 5

The iPhone 5 will not be released until 2012. The next iPhone will be called the iPhone 4G.

Until then, any self-respecting journalist should refer to it as "the fifth-generation iPhone."

 

[sjo]

But not widespread at all in the U.S the primary target audience of the first generation iPhone.

It's a pipedream to expect that (LTE) 4G would be widespread in the US even in a year from now. 3G was more widespread at the time of launch of the first Iphone was way more widespread.

 

[Kelmon]

This would be nice as long as my iPhone understands what I am saying. When I first got my iPhone 3GS (with iOS 3) I thought the voice recognition was excellent. However, since the update to iOS 4 the phone and I seem to be able to communicate. If I set it to use English (American) and fake an accent then it seems to work OK but not if it is set to English (British). I don't know what Apple did but having this functionality cease to working after an update, and never be fixed (judging by the Apple Support Discussion site, I'm not the only person to have encountered this), gives me cause for concern for future voice functionality.

 

[iPad 2]

You really expect them to squeeze a new iPad into the fall. If anything you will see another Air update.

Well it sounds like Apple wants to release all of their iOS devices (the iPad, iPod and iPhone) at the same time, a month or two before christmas, and a month or two after their new iOS release.

That way, they can make everything uniform.

A new iOS is shown every summer. Then a few months later, once developers are used to use, and all the bugs are fixed, a round of iOS devices built around the new OS debut, and people buy them up like crazy for the next several weeks to give as Christmas gifts.

 

[iScott428]

The iPhone 5 will not be released until 2012. The next iPhone will be called the iPhone 4G.

Until then, any self-respecting journalist should refer to it as "the fifth-generation iPhone."

Thank you, and seriously they are not going to make the jump to Iphone 5 for another generation after this one, that I think is still going to come out on time, with an A5 processor in June. I will be making the move from my 3Gs to the next gen as soon as it comes out. Btw I am not basing my knowledge of a summer Iphone release on the fact that apple has not let me down yet year after year of releasing Iphones early into the summer.

 

[mcmlxix]

It's not like it takes that long to press an icon, although it might help some in the cold winter when I have gloves on.

I'm in MN and gloves are a necessity for about half of the year. I made my own iGloves...bought some knit gloves opened up just the tips of the thumbs. Of course on very cold days knit gloves won't do, but I have have the heart to cut leather gloves.

 

[Starflyer]

But once 4G is implemented, will Verizon's internet and downloading be the same or faster speed-wise than AT&T?

I know currently AT&T is faster...

I have quoted this before but I think it is worth mentioning. IMO this whole 4G thing is a useless until data plans are either cheaper or become truly unlimited.

In reality, of course, why do you need more than a few Mbps? For video. But video only needs a few hundred Kbps to maybe 1.5 to 2 Mbps for a tablet device. If that. And service plans are so data limited, you’re not going to be routinely streaming huge amounts of video anyway when you’re on a 3G or 4G network. You’ll only do that over Wi-Fi. Who cares if the network is faster if it’s fast enough?

http://www.macworld.com/article/158505/2011/03/repeat_offender.html

 

[Starflyer]

Except for the fact that Apple is not about to release an iPad 3 this year. They have absolutely no reason to.

Except to get in on the September iPod refresh timeframe. Read this.

 

[einmusiker]

I would guess that iPhone5 will be duel mode GSM and CMDA... so I would assume the 4G should be able to adapt to either.

isn't LTE a completely different spec than GSM or CDMA?

 

[Jcoz]

Thank you, and seriously they are not going to make the jump to Iphone 5 for another generation after this one, that I think is still going to come out on time, with an A5 processor in June. I will be making the move from my 3Gs to the next gen as soon as it comes out. Btw I am not basing my knowledge of a summer Iphone release on the fact that apple has not let me down yet year after year of releasing Iphones early into the summer.

So you are saying that the new iPhone will release without iOS 5?

Because its doubtful iOS 5 will be released with no dev preview prior to release.

 

[CalBoy]

Thunderbolt anyone?

AFAIK, thunderbolt does work on the devices it exists on. The problem of course is that not very many devices make use of it yet. It also goes without saying that Apple would be eager to deploy a technology it had a heavy hand in developing, much like HTML 5.

Conversely, wireless networks that are a mishmash of different standards can be tough for a single phone to deal with effectively. When the iPhone 3g came out for the first time, dropped calls were notorious because many parts of the country didn't have thorough enough 3g to maintain a constant connection, resulting in the phone dropping the call and reverting to 2g. I think Apple will want to avoid such technical problems again, especially since LTE is so sparse still and 3g has finally become a stable standard. Plus, engineering an LTE phone before the market is ready to use it would be unnecessarily expensive and would subtract from the bottom line.

 

[roland.g]

Well it sounds like Apple wants to release all of their iOS devices (the iPad, iPod and iPhone) at the same time, a month or two before christmas, and a month or two after their new iOS release.

That way, they can make everything uniform.

A new iOS is shown every summer. Then a few months later, once developers are used to use, and all the bugs are fixed, a round of iOS devices built around the new OS debut, and people buy them up like crazy for the next several weeks to give as Christmas gifts.

That doesn't make sense from a revenue angle for them. By lumping all their releases in a narrower window, they don't get the more consistent spread out over the year press coverage, media buzz, and most importantly, buying. If all iOS devices came out so close together, people would have to prioritize which one to get as they typically won't spend the money on multiple devices in such a short timeframe. By keeping them spread out, someone can justify buying an iPad in the spring, an iPhone in mid to late summer and an iPod at the holidays, etc. And others will opt to get their devices in different combinations and sequences. Having a new iPad released this March didn't hurt Apple's iPad sales last Christmas, nor will it do so this Christmas, so releasing a new one in the fall won't help them. Steve even said that 2011 will be the year of the iPad 2. Not the iPad 2 and 3. There are already supply issues with panels and Apple is paying a premium to secure larger supplies of panels to keep iPad 2 production up. That points to an iPad retina display being a spring 2012 upgrade.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Well it sounds like Apple wants to release all of their iOS devices (the iPad, iPod and iPhone) at the same time, a month or two before christmas, and a month or two after their new iOS release.

That way, they can make everything uniform.

There is no advantage to Apple to do this. In fact it would be a huge disadvantage:

1) they would become a "black friday" company where the majority of their profit and cash flow comes from one quarter of the year;

2) they would have to hire more engineers as they wouldn't be able to shift them from other less pressing projects as they do now b/c everything would be shipping in the same time frame;

3) there would be less PR "boom" throughout the year because Apple would basically blow its yearly product wad in the span of a couple months. Out of sight, out of mind. Apple needs to always been in people's head, waiting for the next big announcement. Don't want to kill the Big Mo.

What it sounds like is Apple doesn't want to release iPhone 5 this summer b/c what it really wants the iPhone 5 to be won't be ready and they are not going to rush to market like they did the iPhone 4. Lesson learned.

 

[mcmlxix]

I have no interest in speaking into my device outside of answering a phone call or video chat.

I’ve had a lot of success with the voice command Google app. 90% of the time it understands my voice command, and it makes searches super easy. In any case, if Apple adds voice command, it’ll be just that, and addition and not a replacement for text input. There are privacy and quite place issues where voice would be completely inappropriate.

 

[tomegun]

I guess it wouldn't make good journalism and rumors to just say Apple will do things based on user experience while other companies want to dominate specs on paper. Things we (consumers) have asked for have been added to the iPhone slowly, but the implementation is better than other devices for the most part.

Good business sense says to leave the iPad alone until next year and (finally) have a level of transparency if you next iPhone doesn't come out until the fall or later. Reason being Apple has a cycle of customers locked into a buying pattern that ensures success for years to come. One thing that could mess things up is to change the pattern now. Of course, when you are one of the big dogs arrogance is an issue and going years with one carrier wasn't the best business move.

 

[seaweeds]

I feel like the cantankerous old man sitting on his porch and yelling at the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn...Yeah, I'm still rockin' the 3G.

Honestly though, I'm going to wait for iPhone5 (or whatever number/letter combo) regardless of when it comes out because I've had a great experience with iPhone. Come July I'll have had the same phone for 3 years, and yeah, it's getting slow and it can't do some of the same things 3GS and 4 users can, but the bottom line for me is that the phone still does everything that it's done since day-one, and still does it well.

This time around, I'm not going to wait in lines, or some of the more crazy stuff like camp out, but whenever it comes out I'll scoop one up.

I think competition from Droid and other phone OS and hardware producers is a good thing, it means a better product hopefully for everyone. And yeah stats do matter, but I think one aspect of technology that gets undervalued is user experience. I've had a great user experience from iPhone, and that's while I'll buy another.

 

[mcmlxix]

I realize that some people want X, Y, Z now! For myself, I can wait for new hardware…probably until iPhone 6 (or 5 if the next one is 4G)…as I like to get several years of use out of it. Heck, I just decommissioned my iBook G4 last year. What I’m excited to see is what iOS 5 will bring. This is how Apple will have dominance over Android phones.

As for waiting ~ 3 more months, while I’m not a blind Apple lap dog, I have a certain amount of faith that they know what they’re doing. I think that Steve, the master of shrewd and manipulation, has taught his disciples well.

 

[walnuts]

i hate voice recognition software...no matter what it's integrated with. i think it's gimmicky and rarely works reliably. pass

1) Voice control: I barely use it on my 3GS... and never see anyone using it. It's already been implemented for ages in every cellphones (remembering old Siemens GSM of 1999 already had it...) and nobody has been using it. Even more gimmicky than 3D imho... When in public transportation, you are trying to be as discreet as possible, not to shout into your phone/earphones mic. maybe for in-car purposes would voice control be a nice addition but most modern cars already offer similar, maybe superior capabilities (thinking about the Renault Carminat universal bluetooth connectivity kit which is great).

Not sure about Voice Control... No matter how well it works, I will probably feel strange taking to a phone. And most of the time it's just easier to press a button than to say it.

This might be in response to Google's voice thing though, which also recognizes "Plain English" and works with speech-to-text instead of typing. This might be something cool for writing text messages and stuff like that, as typing on the iPhone isn't the best.

Isn't this Apple's MO- taking something that may have been done before, but making it better/less gimmicky/more accessible (e.g. mp3 players, smart phones, touch screens)? I remember one of my big hesitations about getting an iPhone was that I just didn't believe a touch screen could work all that well or be reliable. We'd all seen touch screens before but nothing like the iPhone's. And yet, it was every bit as good as advertised. Maybe something like that could happen here.

That being said, voice control has the inherent limitation that it just isn't all that great for use in public. Something just feels odd about even using the current voice control while walking around on NYC streets.

 

[iScott428]

So you are saying that the new iPhone will release without iOS 5?

Because its doubtful iOS 5 will be released with no dev preview prior to release.

No not at all, Apple will release their new iPhone with iOS 5 but they will call it a 4Gs. Again my opinion based on previous apple moves.

 

[msb3079]

I love new technology and faster speeds, etc as much as the next guy... but personally I'd prefer the cell providers to work on other things:

Better speeds in crowded areas.
All the areas that have Edge (or less) having 3G.
ALL the rural areas that have NO service... having service.

I was driving back home from Mt. Washington this weekend and each time I'm up there, it amazes me how many roads have NO service. There's really no excuse. With the money these companies make.. it's a safety issue.