Apple's iOS 5 allows for PC Free setup over iCloud and new custom keyboard shortcuts. AppleInsider offers a first look at the developer build of iOS 5. Apple CEO Steve Jobs and fellow executives unveiled iOS 5, the next major update to iOS, on Monday at the Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco. The software update includes 200 new features, such as an updated Notification Center and a new messaging service exclusively for iOS users..
"Perhaps iOS 5’s paramount feature is that it’s built to seamlessly work with iCloud in the Post PC revolution that Apple is leading," Jobs said during the WWDC keynote.
People familiar with the matter report that the PC Free setup feature has been enabled in the beta version of iOS 5. Apple now provides three ways to set up an iPhone: Set Up as new iPhone, Restore from iCloud Backup, Restore from iTunes. Customers without a valid Apple ID can register for a free email address from iCloud. Apple's free iCloud service will support daily backups over Wi-Fi. Users can simply plugin their devices to a wall charger and the a backup will be initiated. iCloud offers 5GB of free storage for mail documents and backup, which doesn't count music, apps, books purchased from Apple.
Restoring from an iCloud backup is as easy as connecting the device to Wi-Fi and entering an Apple ID and password. According to Apple, "your personal data -- along with your purchased music, apps, and books from iTunes -- will appear on your devices. As if they'd always been there." A new Reminders app has been added to iOS 5, as well as a Newsstand app for managing newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Apple also appears to have separated the iPod function into Music and Videos sections.
iOS 5 now offers custom keyboard shortcuts that can be added under Keyboard settings. Apple has also added support for a split screen keyboard. Developers report that iMessage does not appear to be fully finished, though a FaceTime button has been added to the top of a message view. As previously reported, Apple has added system-level integration with Twitter. According to reports, Tweets can be sent from Apple's native apps, websites in Safari and photos in the Camera app via the sharing pane.
HTC Sensation couldn’t sound juicer with its 1.2Ghz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 768MB of RAM, 4.3-inch resolution with qHD resolution of 560×940 pixels. Combine that with an 8MP auto-focus camera capable of capturing 1080p full HD videos and the Samsung Galaxy S II has a real rival coming up against it. Both the phones will be directly competing with each other in the market. Hence we bring you a short comparison between the Two. Starting with OS version : Both HTC sensation and Galaxy S2 are having Android 2.3 Gingerbread Version, which is latest from Google, meant for Smartphones with Powerful Hardware.
Display : Coming to display Galaxy S2 sports a 4.27 Super Amoled Display with display resolution of 400×800 pixels, large enough to be a decent smartphone. On the other Hand HTC sensation has a 4.3 inch qHD display with 540×960 display resolution. Certainly HTC here has an edge over Galaxy S2 with a better Screen Resolution maintaining the HD standards.
Camera: Both the smartphones have high quality front and rear camera helping you with clicking pictures, videos and initiate comfortable Video Conference calls. HTC Sensation: 8MP rear , 1.2MP front Samsung galaxy S2 : 8MP rear , 2MP front (S2 has a better front Camera )
Processors : HTC Sensation will be powered By 1.2 GHz dual core processor Qualcomm Snapdragon, with Adreno 220 GPU. Now thats Some real Power. Where as Samsung galaxy S2 will come with two/three variants featuring Exynos 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GHz processor and nVIDIA Tegra 250 1 GHz dual core processors. This is something to lookout for ,if experts are to believed all the variants above mentioned are above par excellence in Mobile processing. So On the processor front Both the phones are Battling it tight.
RAM : Now heres something you look out after processor specification that is the RAM which powers the Processor powerhouse for its working. But here thers a Big difference between the two! Galaxy S2 has a 1GB powerhouse RAM where as Sensation will be working on a 768 MB ram, the difference is quite Huge. 1GB ram means faster and smoother processing.
Software and GUI: Both the Phones come with Android OS so you just have to go To the App market for your Apps. With Android They have GUI built over it , Samsung Galaxy S2 will be having GUI similar to Galaxy S, but HTC Sense 3.0 offers a much better experience than Samsung’s Touchwiz.
I believe iPhone 4 is not a direct competitor to Galaxy S2. The direct competitor of Galaxy S2 from Apple will be iPhone 5 — or whatever else it’s called — when it launches sometimes after August. But because many people want a comparison between Galaxy S2 and iPhone 4 — most likely because both are priced over Rs 30,000 — I will do one here.
Design and build quality: Galaxy S2 feels cheap and iPhone 4 stylish. Both feel fragile. Though, in reality, the plastic on S2 is likely to deal better with falls and bumps due to its flexibility. iPhone 4 is all glass and doesn’t take very well to falls.
In terms of usage, iPhone 4 fits well in hand and is comfortable to use. S2 may feel too big for people with smaller palms. Winner: iPhone 4
Screen: S2 screen is drop-dead gorgeous due to the use of Super AMOLED Plus technology. Colours pop out and its 4.3-inch screen, compared to the 3.5-inch screen on iPhone 4, gives it an advantage. In terms of resolution, iPhone 4 is better. It has a resolution of 960x640, compared to 800x480 pixels of Galaxy S. This means sharper display on iPhone 4.
Text indeed looks sharper on iPhone 4. For everything else, S2 screen is better. Unlike the older Android phones, screen responsiveness is no issue on S2. The bigger size of S2 screen means a lot better web browsing and video playback experience. Winner: Galaxy S2
OS & user interface: Galaxy S2 runs on Android, customized with TouchWiz 4.0. The iPhone 4 uses iOS 4.3. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. While it’s difficult to cover the Android vs iOS debate in a few lines, here is a summary: iOS is very simple to use. It is simple, effective and efficient. There are no hidden options, few ‘long press’ options and mostly you get what you see.
But this same simplicity may not appeal to everyone. Android, in comparison, is highly customizable. And it's not as complex as many would like you to believe. Most of the settings are easy to access, and if you are familiar with computers, you will not have much trouble. For power users, Android opens up a host of opportunities that can make a smartphone truly a ‘magical experience’.
The performance, especially the speed of navigating between apps and scrolling through web pages is great on both iPhone 4 and Galaxy S2. Earlier, Android had issues with browsing performance. They are not there anymore. As a bonus you also get Flash content on Android. The iOS doesn’t allow any Flash content. Winner: Tie (iOS is simpler to use. Android gives more options)
Camera: S2 sports an 8MP primary camera. iPhone 4 has a 5MP camera. In still photography, the S2 camera slightly edges out the one in iPhone 4. In video capture, there is no comparison as S2 can record some decent quality full HD videos while iPhone 4 can only manage 720P recording. Winner: Galaxy S2
Multimedia: This one is easy. Galaxy S2 is hands down the best smartphone when it comes to playing videos. On iPhone 4, you can play only 720P videos. This too depends on the kind of codec used and quality of encoding. The S2, on the other hand, can handle all popular video formats and codecs in 1080P. Winner: Galaxy S2
Ecosystem and apps: Apple claims that it has better ecosystem (read number of apps and their quality) than its competitors. And we agree. On iPhone 4, you will have access to better quality of apps. On Android, even though all popular apps are available, there could be a time when you do not find the app you want. Also, many apps — especially games — on Android may lack quality and optimization similar to what is found on the iOS side. Winner: iPhone 4
Worth the money: As far as I see it, Galaxy S2 is rightly priced (Rs 32,890 MRP) and iPhone 4 (Rs 34,500) overpriced for what the devices do. As I said earlier, it will be iPhone 5 that will be the natural competitor to S2. iPhone 4 is too old now. Galaxy S2 is simply a better device.
Of course, if you prefer Apple (as many do, supposedly because of better brand image, better aftersales service and the ‘premium’ tag attached to it), all this doesn’t matter. Still, my two cents: wait for iPhone 5. Once it arrives, go for it. Through a friend or relative who lives abroad. Or, maybe, by some other means. Or, maybe, it will come to India within weeks of its global launch. But iPhone 4 is too costly for what it does.
