Nokia N8 vs. iPhone 4: camera showdown
What’s the first thing you should do when you get the N8? Considering it packs the biggest image sensor embedded in a phone yet, Carl Zeiss optics, and an eight-digit pixel count, it seemed obvious to us that the answer was to take it on a picture- and video-taking stroll around London. On our way out we saw our iPhone 4 looking all sad and lonely, so we went ahead and brought it along as well. Below you shall find one gallery of pure, unadulterated N8 sample shots, another interspersed with the iPhone’s results for comparison’s sake, and a final one with side-by-side 100 percent crops from each image taker. Once you’ve digested all of those, we suggest hopping past the break and tucking into some tasty video comparisons for dessert.
Naturally, all the images are entirely unretouched (but for our masterly watermarking) and the iPhone 4’s HDR hocus pocus has been left off. We’ve also provided a zip file containing all the full-res imagery shot with the N8 in a link below.
A quick note is also merited about the N8’s resolution. The sensor’s display ratio is 4:3, which means that full 12 megapixel shots are only available in those dimensions. The camera software, however, defaults to shooting 9 megapixel snaps at the increasingly popular 16:9 ratio — this is done simply by cropping away the “excess” bars at the top and bottom of the image, meaning that the 9 megapixel images are giving us identical performance as the 12 megapixel ones, they’re just chopped down (from 4000 x 3000 to 4000 x 2248) for the sake of convenience. Now, on with the show!
Gallery: Nokia N8 sample photos
Continue reading Nokia N8 vs. iPhone 4: camera showdown
Nokia N8 vs. iPhone 4: camera showdown originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple closes Beijing store temporarily to thwart iPhone 4 resellers
Despite the iPhone’s official release in China, a grey market continues to thrive. So much so that shoppers are buying units from Apple for private resale in such large quantity, that Apple had to temporarily down the Beijing Apple Store.
According to M.I.C Gadget, the trouble started when Apple lifted the 2-per-customer restriction at the Beijing store. People were buying up to 30 iPhones at a time, which they would privately resell for a profit. In fact, many were selling right outside the store. Things got out of hand as the crowd quickly swelled and scuffles broke out between the mass-quantity buyers and individuals looking for a single phone. Security eventually shut the store down.
Within hours, the store re-opened with a new policy. Customers must show ID when making a purchase. They may purchase only 1 iPhone at a time, which will be unboxed and activated in the store by an employee before the customer is allowed to leave. This policy has now been extended to all four of China’s Apple Stores.
Considering the high demand and extreme shortage of iPhones in China, it’s understandable how a grey market develops. This was an unfortunate circumstance. Good on Apple Store security and management for addressing it in a timely fashion.
Apple closes Beijing store temporarily to thwart iPhone 4 resellers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple closes Beijing store temporarily to thwart iPhone 4 resellers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Found Footage: A look at European FaceTime ads
Apple’s advertising for the FaceTime video chat feature on the iPhone 4 is emotional and effective, and now the ads are making it to the European market. All of the ads are backed with the universally-known voice of Louis Armstrong singing “When You’re Smiling,” and there is no audible dialog, so these ads can be used in just about any European market. So far, they’ve made it to the U.K., Italy, and Spain.
The ads are sponsored by carriers 3Italia, Vodafone, and Orange. Click the Read More link to view the videos.
[via Macstories.net]
Continue reading Found Footage: A look at European FaceTime ads
Found Footage: A look at European FaceTime ads originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Found Footage: A look at European FaceTime ads originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple, Google extend deal for iOS
Business Insider is reporting that Apple and Google have extended the deal that brought Google search to the iOS. In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Google CEO Eric Schmidt mentioned that his company’s arrangement with Apple has been “recently extended.”
That should extinguish any lingering rumors that Bing will become the default search engine on future iOS devices/updates. Presently, Bing is an option on the iOS, but Google is the default.
[Via Macsimum News]
Apple, Google extend deal for iOS originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple, Google extend deal for iOS originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW’s Daily App: Aftermath
I’ll be honest — I heard that Aftermath was a zombie game and almost gave up on it. I wouldn’t be offended if you did the same, since lots of developers (especially iPhone developers) are depending a little too much on zombies for their gameplay. Yes, it’s fun to fight the walking undead, but they’re used over and over again because a) they’re easy to program, and b) they let you make a “shooting humans” game without getting involved in the whole morality thing.
But Aftermath is still worth a look. While a lot of zombie games on the store go abstract or silly, this one sticks pretty close to realistic, and it has some serious quality and interesting gameplay behind it. You’re fighting zombies and moving through levels, but instead of aiming and shooting a gun, you’re actually aiming a flashlight, and your gun automatically fires for you. The projected light makes the whole affair very atmospheric; the game’s just dark enough that it actually feels a little spooky trying to navigate the shuffling brain-eaters to your next objective.
Particularly if you’re a fan of Left 4 Dead or that ilk, Aftermath is probably worth a look — it’s US$1.99 on the App Store right now. And please, developers, unless they’re as inventive and well-done as this one, let’s keep the zombie games to a minimum. Maybe we could fight werewolves instead? Or angry robots?
TUAW’s Daily App: Aftermath originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
TUAW’s Daily App: Aftermath originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iOS alarms broken for New Zealand users after Daylight Saving
We just started Daylight Saving Time in New Zealand yesterday. Since then, many iOS users here have experienced what’s probably one of the weirdest bugs I’ve ever seen: our alarms are now going off an hour early. My iPhone’s alarm woke me up at 5:50 in the morning today instead of 6:50, and it turns out I’m not the only one.
In the iPhone’s built-in Clock app, setting a recurring alarm will cause it to trigger an hour early every time if you’re running iOS 4.1, iTunes 10.0.1, and live in a Southern Hemisphere country that’s just gone over to Daylight Saving Time (which, for now at least, just means New Zealand). It’s also been affecting US users in Indiana since late June because of the weird time zone situation in that state. For some reason, non-recurring alarms aren’t affected; so far, changing recurring alarms to non-recurring is the only thing that’s fixed the problem.
Standard Time doesn’t start in the US until November 7, which is right around the time that iOS 4.2 is supposed to come out. Since this bug is probably something that can only be addressed by an iOS update, and since a relatively small portion of iOS users will be affected, I won’t be surprised at all if Apple sits on this bug until November and bundles the fix into iOS 4.2. Meanwhile, Australian iOS users in territories that observe DST will have something to look forward to: unless this gets fixed before October 3rd, their alarms are going to start going off an hour earlier, too.
iOS alarms broken for New Zealand users after Daylight Saving originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 26 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
iOS alarms broken for New Zealand users after Daylight Saving originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 26 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Griffin’s Woogie turns iPhone into a plush
When I was a kid, we just played with regular stuffed animals, and then Teddy Ruxpin came along and blew us all away. But kids these days, they get all kinds of cool stuff. Like look at this thing: they can stick an iPod touch in a “huggable plush accessory” called the Woogie, and run around with it to their heart’s content, watching videos, playing with apps, and, I don’t know, checking the weather, or whatever else it is that kids want to do on an iPod touch.
I especially like Griffin’s selling point on this one — this case is a bonus for the kids, who get a piece of technology that’s a little more fluffy and friendly than Apple’s sleek designs. It’s a bonus for parents too, as it’s much harder to lose or seriously break the iPod when it’s wrapped in the big mass of furry green tentacles.
The $20 accessory even comes with its own app, where kids can preview Sesame Street books and, oh I don’t know, check the weather or something. If I sound a little bitter, it’s probably because I am: Teddy Ruxpin never ran Pocket Frogs for me.
[via Super Punch]
Griffin’s Woogie turns iPhone into a plush originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Griffin’s Woogie turns iPhone into a plush originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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StarDunk going to a free demo model
StarDunk is one of my most favorite apps recently, ever since I covered it back for Daily App a little while ago. It’s an amusing little 2D basketball game, made even more impressive by the fact that it juggles online multiplayer across the world — as you throw baskets, you’re also playing in real-time against other users, and competing with various powerups and stunts for as many points as possible. The game was also notable for being one of the first titles integrated into Game Center, back when that service first arrived on the iPhone.
But the app hasn’t been doing as great as it could be, according to developer Godzilab — first, they had some issues with piracy, and now they’re saying that the game’s just not selling as many copies as they’d hoped.
So the game has gone free — kind of. You can pick it up right now in the App Store for free, and play ten games without paying a single cent. Once you’ve played those games, then you have the option to buy the whole app via in-app purchase for $2.99. That’s not exactly freemium (it’s more of a demo version), but at least players will be able to get a feel for the game and how it works before laying down their three bucks. Personally, I still recommend the game — I bought it on my own and still enjoy a quick game (even though I usually land in the middle of the rankings). But if you’ve been waiting for a chance to try it out, definitely take advantage of the new model.
StarDunk going to a free demo model originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
StarDunk going to a free demo model originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Confirmed: No FaceTime in UAE, reported working in SA unless phones are updated
We just got some confirmation on our story earlier this week that FaceTime had gone missing in parts of the world, mostly around the Middle East. @dutweets is the official Twitter account for du, the telecom operator for the iPhone in the United Arab Emirates, and in a tweet just a little while ago, the account confirmed that FaceTime is currently unavailable in that country. The iPhone hasn’t even officially launched there yet, but the account also says that FaceTime “won’t be working as of the launch” (which takes place tomorrow), so even official customers there won’t have access to the video chat feature.
Unfortunately, there’s no detail yet on why — we’ve heard that there may be local restrictions on VoIP technology that would block these kinds of communications. And this is only confirmation for the UAE, though it’s probably a pretty good guess that other outages are legit as well. Stay tuned — we’ll keep an eye out for official confirmation in other areas, as well as a reason why this decision was made.
Thanks, Joe!
Update: The Next Web Middle East has a confusing writeup that suggests Apple pulled FaceTime because it was assumed assumed the feature would run afoul of the region’s regulations around VoIP. The suggestion is that Apple made this move unilaterally, without consulting the carriers.
Update 2: We have a report from a Saudi Arabian source that FaceTime is working in the kingdom. However, subsequent reports show that once the iPhones are updated from the shipping iOS version, 4.02, to the current 4.1 version, the FaceTime feature drops away.
Confirmed: No FaceTime in UAE, reported working in SA unless phones are updated originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Confirmed: No FaceTime in UAE, reported working in SA unless phones are updated originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Exclusive photos from iPhone 4 launch in China, new Beijing Apple Store
Our favorite blogger in China, Maik Lutze of SuddenlyBeijing.com, has provided TUAW with exclusive photos from the official Chinese iPhone 4 launch this morning (9/25). Not only were there lines for the iPhone 4, but there was a new Apple Store being opened in Beijing at Xidan’s Joy City today, so he provided photos of the crowds on had for the opening:
This is the second Apple Store in Beijing, the first being the Sanitun store. Maik provided a batch of photos for TUAW of the iPhone 4 lines at this store as well:
The second Apple retail location in Shanghai also opened today. The new Huaihai Lu Apple Store is a two-story structure with the only curved window front of any Apple Store. Apple is really booming in the Chinese market, with a third Beijing store planned for Qianmen Street that will open this fall.
[Shanghai store information via Shanghaiist.com, Beijing store info via Asia Blog]
Exclusive photos from iPhone 4 launch in China, new Beijing Apple Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Exclusive photos from iPhone 4 launch in China, new Beijing Apple Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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