Others have claimed that this is Apple’s ploy to have users upgrade to iPhone 4S so Apple can sell more iPhone 4S, because they have found out that Siri was working with iPhone 4 before 4S was in the picture. This makes sense since Apple had acquired Siri, and Siri was independently worked as a service before iPhone 4S announcement. Apple reasons that it’s because of A5 chip which makes the differences in Siri. Others claim that iPhone 4 has enough processing power with its A4 chip to allow Siri to run smoothly.
Anyhow, it’s rather a disappointment to see iPhone 4 users will not be able to use Siri. On the plus side, there is a known app in Apple’s App Store known as Vlingo which provides similar functions as Siri. Others suggest that Vlingo isn’t as sophisticated as Siri, but it’s quite nice to use. iPhone 4 users may want to try out Vlingo until they want to pay the expensive upgrade of iPhone 4S.
It’s reported that iPhone 4S is failing to capture the excitement as iPhone 4 had, because it’s not that different than iPhone 4. People complain that what is the point of upgrading to iPhone 4S since iPhone 4 will have the same software upgrade which is iOS 5. I guess, faster processor and sharper image and better camera will not be enough to woo people to upgrade to iPhone 4S, because the price too of iPhone 4S will not be cheap. People who are thinking of getting iPhone might also go for iPhone 4 instead of iPhone 4S, because iPhone 4 is not far behind iPhone 4S in tern of performance — saving money for not getting a more expensive iPhone 4S and yet they can upgrade to the features of iPhone 4S (i.e., iOS 5 will also work on iPhone 4).
iPhone 4S will be officially made available on October 14. Apple’s stock is falling even right on the day that iPhone 4S was announced. Usually, the opposite had happened in term of stock market, because traders and investors know that Apple is dominating the smartphone market.
Enough with the gloomy and negative news of why Apple’s new product announcement has failed to capture the hearts of more people, let talk about the excitement of artificial intelligence feature, Siri, which will be made available through iOS 5. Siri will allow iPhone users to ask questions in natural way as if you ask a friend for a favor, and through iPhone Siri will answer your questions. Siri can do more than just answer questions — iPhone users can have Siri set up alarm schedules, find a restaurant in town (Siri will sort out the best available restaurants), and so on.
iOS 5 looks so promising already even without Siri, but with Siri it’s like iOS 5 on steroid. I’ve to say I can’t wait to test out Siri when iOS 5 officially makes its presence known for the mass. Still, with iOS 5, people might not upgrade to iPhone 4S, because iPhone 4 will be able to use iOS 5 too. People might be saving their money for iPhone 5 which might be released sometimes soon right after iPhone 4S. How soon? This is not yet known, but I doubt that iPhone users have to wait more than a year for iPhone 5 to come out.
In conclusion, iPhone 4S isn’t different in fashion, but it’s stronger and better as it now has faster processor, sharper image, and better camera. People might not go for iPhone 4S since iPhone 5 might come out just as soon. iPhone 5 might take on different design and equip with more features than iPhone 4S, therefore people might rather wait than rush to buy iPhone 4S. iPhone 4 is just as powerful as iPhone 4S, because iOS 5 will work on iPhone 4 — another reason why people might just wait for iPhone 5. iOS 5 is impressive, and Siri will get people to love iOS 5 even more, but iOS 5 might fall short in convincing iPhone users to upgrade to iPhone 4S unless there will be a clear difference in term of performance when using iOS 5 on iPhone 4 and 4S; of course, expecting that iPhone 4S to outperform iPhone 4.
Josh Wright and June Lai are relying on Kickstarter to help realize their project EscapeCapsule into reality. So far, there are 73 backers and pledge money is around $6,485. The goal is to get $30,000 in pledge money, because with that amount the two can mass produce enough EscapeCapsule for the market, I guess.
EscapeCapsule is sleek and cool. It is a case for iPhone 4 that promises to protect users’ iPhone 4s from snow, sand, water, and shock. Basically, you can swim in the ocean with your iPhone 4 as long it is encapsulated with EscapeCapsule.
The video at Kickstarter shows that EscapeCapsule isn’t a product of concept, but it’s already a full/complete product since Josh Wright and June Lai had used it in water and so on within the video to demonstrate to us that it’s indeed a working product. According to Techcrunch article “EscapeCapsule Lets You Use Your iPhone 4 In Water, Sand, Mud, Snow, And Other Gross Stuff,” users only have to pay $50 for pledging, but EscapeCapsule will cost around $70 for the users who do not pledge. Check out EscapeCapsule in action on Kickstarter’s article “EscapeCapsule – Waterproof iPhone 4 Case.”
I wonder, if Josh Wright and June Lai are able to make EscapeCapsule a successful product for iPhone 4, they might want to try to upgrade EscapeCapsule for iPhone 5 too. So, in another way of saying, I guess some of us who admire this product need to hurry up and pledge a $50. For me, I’m sort of in a tight budget situation, and so I pledge by writing about EscapeCapsule in this blog post, and I might get it at $70 price range when it comes out to the market.
Clarification: Don’t expect this very blog post of mine to conclude that EscapeCapsule is a great product and has worked as advertise, because I do not truly know its true capability unless I have one; so far I don’t!
Vinh Nguyen
