The Google Now Widget, for those that don’t know, is Google’s response to Apple’s Siri, but a bit smarter. I don’t mean “smarter” as in Google did it well, I mean that it is Siri that actually learns from you. Essentially Google Now is linked into every single Google account you have. From Maps, to Google+ to your own Google search history (as long as you’re logged in while doing it), it compiles all of this information and anticipates what you want to do, what you will do and what you may need in the immediate future.
Feb 15
Dec 05
Android phones are shy no more with the recent release of Cluzee, an app that is ready for download on the Android Marketplace. Cluzee is a lot like Siri in that you have full voice control over your phone. Not only does it have full voice control though, it talks to you. For example, in the demo video released, if you have a doctors appointment the app will remind you of it when it’s getting close, but it also depends on how far from the doctors office you are. If you are a good distance away it will remind you earlier, or if there is traffic it will warn you to avoid those streets and then remind you of your appointment. It’s like having an overly caring and nosey friend in your pocket!
Oct 05
So the apple conference came and went. No word on the iPhone 5 yet, but apple did officially announce the iPhone 4S, an improved iPhone 4 that may just be worth the upgrade. So what are these major improvements to an already popular iPhone edition? Voice. It seems the next generation of smart phones are really pushing voice control and the iPhone 4S touts Siri, an advance voice recognition software. In the testing room many people got to try out this new software and one of the first things many people tried to do was slip it up. The folks over at Engadget.com asked it weird requests “We tried to psych it out with a bunch of random requests, including the history of Chester, Vermont (a lovely town) and the best Ramen places in San Francisco. Siri never faltered, never missed a beat.”
Google may have had the first step into the future of Near Frequency Technology, but Apple now has their foot out the door with advance voice controls. No matter what people threw at the new Siri software it seemed to keep up with them almost every time. Voice control may seem like a minor thing until you try it out, I get slight chills every time I am able to control movies on my Xbox 360 via the Kinect voice controls like characters did with their computer on Star Trek. But voice controls aren’t the only thing the new iPhone 4S is packing!
The iPhone 4S has quite the hardware, like the apple A5 dual-core processor, making menu navigation and app start ups appear much quicker. Not only does the iPhone have a new processor, it also has a new camera. The iPhone 4 had a 5MP camera with 720p video capture. The new iPhone 4S has a 8MP camera and 1080p video capture. When being tried out in the test rooms, it appeared the camera had better resolution, but it was difficult to tell if it was better at capturing images. The room was, apparently, inadequate for testing such a thing, so we will have to wait for hands on reviews of the camera to find out if it has improved in capturing as well. The battery has taken a bit of a downgrade, though that can be blamed on the new hardware. In standby, the iPhone 4S lasts about 200 hours, which is 100 less than the iPhone 4. Depending on what you do for a living, and how often you charge your phone, this may be an issue.
Already, people are beginning to trade in their iPhone 4′s for the upcoming iPhone 4S, even though the iPhone 5 may be just around the corner. The new iPhone 4S will retail from $199 for the 16GB model, to $399 for the 64GB model. If you’re looking to update to the iPhone 4S and want to get rid of your iPhone 4, you can trade in your old iPhone 4 with us at TheBlueDot.net
