Blackberry Event: 9/18, Better Dazzle Or Else

I don't know. I get that this year unless Blackberry does something spectacular during the holiday sales, this may well be its last Christmas. On that note, it'll be hosting an event on 9-18.

So far, based on what's out there and leaks, it'll doesn't have anything that truly stands out from the crowd.

But I'm a hopeless optimist. Yes, folks, we want more competition, not less. So far, people aren't all that excited about this year's Galaxy and iPhone updates. This is a window of opportunity for the iconic Canadian smartphone pioneer.


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Despite Having The 8MP As the iPhone 5, 5S May Still Be Among the Best in the Mobile Market

Boy, that was a long title. I came by scientific background with the title can be a paragraph long. Just ask anyone on published a paper. Yeah, enough bragging. During the live blog of Apple iPhone event, learning the iPhone 5S has the same megapixel as my iPhone 5 was pretty disappointed.

Despite what Apple has said at the event, I cannot help but think that Apple was trying to pull a fast one on us. You know, using the famed reality distortion field.

However, upon reading more posts from experts. I think Apple I had done the right thing. Sure, Apple's competitors have been hammering the new iPhone by comparing megapixel on their own cameras. But if you're not aware, megapixels being nothing at all. Maybe just a little bit. But there are other factors that work.

This post from Anandtech provides a very detailed analysis and initial thoughts on the iPhone 5S' new camera system and sensors. Essentially, the writer was pretty optimistic about the direction that Apple has taken with the iPhone 5S camera.

Anandtech is a very respectable tech site that many go to for the final say. Of course, will have to see how the new camera works out in the field. For now, I'm mildly optimistic.

I look forward to do my own analysis. By that, I mean putting the camera though its paces and see if my mundane eyes noticed any major difference.

In today's social media dominated society, having a good camera phone it's very important. On top of that, it's unlikely that haps will allow users to upload 10, 12, 15 megapixel pictures to the website. It may be more important to have the very best 8MP picture to show the world.


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iMore Forum Gathering Place For Would Be iPhone 5C Owners

I'm following iMore's forum where a bunch of Apple fans and future iPhone 5C owners are gathering for Apple's online store to come back online for the preorder rush.

Plenty of other sites are probably standing by as well. If you're new to the Apple scene, we don't get a lot of excitement like this. Maybe just three times a year at most. And it's been a while.


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What the App Store Looks Like on the iPhone Just Before The iPhone 5C Preorder

I have never seen this before. This is what the Apple Store looks like just before the preorder starts for the iPhone 5C.




I wonder if we'll see the same thing next week when the iPhone 5S start selling.
Right now, Apple fans are waiting eagerly to order their new iPhones.
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Mobile: T-Mobile Shows Being Consumer Friendly Helps As "Uncarrier" Plans Added Record Number of Subscribers

Source:  BGR.

T-Mobile's consumer friendly plans, though not as perfect but close to what we all want, is paying off as it recorded a record number of new subscribers in August.  That's great news.  We'll have to see just where these customers are coming from and if it's enough to get its larger competitors off their butts and following T-Mobile.

It could be a while before you expect the likes of AT&T, one of the most unfriendly companies as far as consumers are concerned, does anything.  However, T-Mobile's lower monthly plans, because it no longer subsidizes devices, has created transparency never seen before in the wireless carrier industry.

For those new subscribers, what's not to like?  No more two-year plans that lock you in.  You pay for the plans you want and the cost of the phone is a separate line item charge if you pay T-Mobile on a monthly basis for the cost of the phone.  Once you're done paying off the phone, you only pay for the wireless plan.  Unlike other carriers, they continue to charge you even if you aren't upgrading your phone.

Boy Genius Report, the source for this post, also earlier called T-Mobile's disruption "gimmicky".  It's not perfect but I don't see where it's a gimmick, do you?

And with new devices like the Note 3 and iPhone 5s leading the charge, the more consumer friendly T-Mobile could benefit greatly.  I see AT&T suffering as a result.

iPhone 5s Order Strategy: Lots of Coffee, Perseverance, Chatting With Friends

Apple HQ is in Cupertino.  That in California.  That's in the Pacific time zone.  That means it's pretty awesome to be living in California where I'm at because I'm in sync with a lot of Apple going-on.  Events are PST and that means most launches are as well.
So, this is why the iPhone 5C preorder starts midnight PST - 12 AM, Friday morning.  Unfortunately, the iPhone 5s won't be available for preordering like other iPhones in the previous year.  Maybe Apple wants buzz by forcing fans to line up.  Maybe, as is likely the case, 5s supply is constraint at launch.  Whatever the reason, I'm hoping that Apple will make the iPhone 5s available for ordering on September 20th midnight, a week from this Friday.
That means my strategy for ordering a week from now, assuming Apple does open up order for the 5s on the same day it makes it available for purchase in the stores, also applies to you folks looking to order the 5C, about ten hours from now.
To start, stay awake.  That's key.  Also, it's about perseverance.  It's not enough you stay awake.  Depending on demand, which sounds like Apple has high hope that there will be plenty of folks who want the iPhone 5C, you could run into server issues.  When a few hundred thousand, maybe millions, of folks are trying to order at the same time, you end up slowing down the system.  It's can feel like a denial of service attack.
This is how I see my Thursday night a week from now.  I'm gonna go home, clean up, sort through the mail, and then go to the gym.  Order a nice dinner, haven't decided on what yet, and come around 8:30-ish.  Do some work while listening to podcasts or just have Netflix playing.  Meanwhile, I'll also be linked to an IRC or forums to keep an eye on whatever one else is doing or saying.
Then around 10:30, I'll head out and get coffee or snack/dessert and come back just after 11.  I've already told Siri to alert me around 11:40 that it's almost time.  I'll have my Macbook Air, Macbook point to the Apple store.  And iPhone/iPad at the ready with the Apple Store app.
Once 12 AM hits, Thursday give way to Friday, the race is on.  I think during that 5 to 6 hours, I'll probably also down about four cups of coffee.

iPhone 5s Has a Two Hour LTE Use Improvement Over iPhone 5

Source:  Apple, iMore (iPhone 5 specs)

I was "meh" or mildly pleased with what we heard about the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5C from Apple on Tuesday morning.  There was one major disappointment in my mind.  Yes, the battery life.  I'm sounding like a broken record but, my fellow mobile warriors, you know as well as I do that battery life is everything when we are increasingly on the go.

After seeing Apple wowed us with the 9 and 12 hours battery life for the Macbook Airs, I had high hopes for the iPhone 5S.  I was not expecting a substantial increase in battery life.  20-25% Overall increase in battery life would have been all I asked for.

Well, well, well...I guess we sort of did.  Under LTE Internet usage, the battery life for the iPhone 5s and 5C stands at 10 hours, just like Internet use under Wi-Fi.  The iPhone 5 only had 8 hours of LTE use.

Not bad.  Would have love to see Wi-Fi upped a bit but we can't have everything now, can we?