What is APPLE planning?

[warrenw]

Re: United Pilots Will Use iPads

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.28a184296dda6208bfa99078cd9b334d.f1&show_article=1

United Airlines said Tuesday it was replacing the hefty flight manuals and ...

United Airlines said Tuesday it was replacing the hefty flight manuals and chart books its pilots have long used with 11,000 iPads carrying the same data.

The 1.5 pound (0.7 kilogram) iPad will take the place of about 38 pounds (17 kilograms) of paper instructions, data and charts pilots have long used to help guide them, parent company United Continental Holdings said.

The popular tablet computer will carry the Mobile FliteDeck software app from Jeppesen, a Boeing subsidiary which provides navigation tools for air, sea and land.

"The paperless flight deck represents the next generation of flying," said Captain Fred Abbott, United's senior vice president of flight operations.

"The introduction of iPads ensures our pilots have essential and real-time information at their fingertips at all times throughout the flight."

It will be supplied to all pilots on United and Continental flights; the two carriers merged in 2010.

United is the second major US carrier to adopt the iPad as a key pilot flight aid.

In May Alaska Airlines also adopted it, after the Federal Aviation Administration okayed the iPad for cockpit use.

United estimates that using the iPad will save 16 million sheets of paper a year, and that the lighter load it represents will save 326,000 gallons (1.2 million liters) in fuel.

"With iPad, pilots are able to quickly and efficiently access reference material without having to thumb through thousands of sheets of paper and reduce clutter on the flight deck," the company said.

I should be able to use my iPad or touchpad on the plane then, right? I could never understand how a none transmitting device can bring down an airplane.. If my ipod can create that kind of an issue with radio transmissions, then the avionics radios are not worthy of DOD compliance.

 

[Caustic]

Wasn't everyone waiting for 3 things really? Dual cpu, bigger screen and LTE? From all the rumors, I think that is what people were expecting. I guess double the processing power is cool...

 

[NetViper]

Pretty interesting results here:

http://www.tipb.com/2011/10/04/poll-iphone-4s/

so far nearly 60% are not getting one.

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

I may end up getting one... My 3G lags so badly for everything I do any my gps never shows my real current location which is frustrating when I'm lost...

 

[NetViper]

I may end up getting one... My 3G lags so badly for everything I do any my gps never shows my real current location which is frustrating when I'm lost...

I did a gps comparison while in the car today with the iPhone 4 vs. my new BB.

The iPhone kicked its ass.

Much more accurate and I love how your location moves with the screen.

We used the iPhone a lot to help get us around on vacation. It does a great job.

 

[Ultraman]

I did a gps comparison while in the car today with the iPhone 4 vs. my new BB.

The iPhone kicked its ass.

Much more accurate and I love how your location moves with the screen.

We used the iPhone a lot to help get us around on vacation. It does a great job.

No doubt.

BB is generations behind and I believe RIM's days are numbered.

 

[Jimbo]

Just watched the keynote. For me the big things were the improved camera and Siri.

I use my iPhone 4 camera way more than I ever thought I would. It's that good. I keep thinking I'll buy a nicer point and shoot or a DLSR but the 4S camera looks really impressive. I know Apple did more than merely spec-trolling. No doubt it will be the best camera in any smartphone. And with the built-in HDR and hopefully new panoramic features - it will rival higher end point and shoots.

Siri raises the bar for voice interface efforts. A big step above the Google voice and Vlingo stuff that has been available as apps. The depth of integration of Siri with the OS and other apps is impressive. The Wolfram Alpha stuff was particularly cool. The scheduling and rescheduling of the meeting was just amazing. The Google stuff is simply recognizing spoken commands. Siri goes far beyond command recognition. It understands context and content over time.

I think Tim Cook said it best at the end (paraphrasing) when he said that no other company buy Apple could bring together the hardware, software and infrastructure like iCloud to make all this technology work smoothly and seamlessly. You can bet that all these elements will be highly polished and refined.

 

[s14_tat]

I guess steve jobs still believes that 3.5 inch is the optimal screen size. Even though the market has changed quit a bit from when the first iphone debuted, the ideal size in most surveys shows 4-4.3 inch screens. If sprints service didn't suck so bad, I would've ditched verizon to get a galaxy S II over there with the monster 4.5 inch screen ( but its still physically smaller than verizon's droid charge which only has a 4.3 inch screen )If it doesn't have the exynos processor its not a real galaxy s II. This phone literally benchmarks 2 to 3 times higher than all other current dual core android phones.

Over on androidcentral, there was a lot of iphone 3gs owners that was on the fence when it came to the galaxy S II vs the next iphone. With this announcement they were all jumping on the samsung train. This phone can run live wallpaper with 6-7 apps at the same time, and still run a graphically heavy game without a hiccup

 

[s14_tat]

I knew S14 would chime in...I think you're gonna be really upset when benchmark comparo's come out.

:wink:

also the original galaxy S already out benchmarked the iphone 4 by quit a bit, so I don't see how this would be any different. The only reason why the iphone is smoother is because of the software acceleration of IOS, but when you actually run real bench marks on the amount of calculations it can do, it already lost to the galaxy S 1.

example when running nenamark 2 graphic benchmark the iphone 4 only gets 12 frames per second while the galaxy S gets 24. if you see speed comparisons of web pages openning and speed of the app opening the original galaxy s has the iphone 4 beat as well.

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

I did a gps comparison while in the car today with the iPhone 4 vs. my new BB.

The iPhone kicked its ass.

Much more accurate and I love how your location moves with the screen.

We used the iPhone a lot to help get us around on vacation. It does a great job.

Your iPhone 4> iPhone 3GS > my iPhone 3G...

I may just wait until the 5. Unless I throw this one against the wall!

 

[Arshad]

Ok. Let's look at all of that.

You can discount all features as "well it's not going to be used" or "well that's not particularly useful to me", and you can do that for anything. I don't see how those are valid arguments.

4x the GPU is a huge deal for me. Right now I'm developing a game that runs great on the 3GS and runs like ass on the iPhone4 because they both use the same GPU core, but the iPhone4 has 4x the number of pixels with its retina display. To me the A5 is what should have been in the iPhone4 to begin with.

As far as 1% of the games running better.. perhaps so, but as more and more games start pushing the envelope and start licensing hardcore engines like the Unreal3 engine, the extra GPU performance will make a HUGE difference.

 

[Arshad]

The only reason why the iphone is smoother is because of the software acceleration of IOS, but when you actually run real bench marks on the amount of calculations it can do, it already lost to the galaxy S 1.

Huh? I lost you on that why it's smoother argument. BTW, the end user cares about the overall smoothness and experience, not what's underneath the hood.

http://9to5mac.com/2011/09/12/samsu...e-but-it-likely-wont-be-a-match-for-iphone-5/

Here's a link to a comparison of GPU performance on various smartphones. The iPad2 that is squashing the GalaxyS2 by twice the performance uses the same SoC that is going into the 4S. Not only that, but the iPad2 has 28% more pixels, so you can effectively multiply that framerate by another 20+% when running on a 4S.

Oh and by the way, this isn't even a fair apples to apple's comparison since the iPhone4's retina display has 614k pixels whereas the GalaxyS2's much lower resolution only has 384k. If the iPhone4 had the same display as the S2, you could multiply its framerates by an additional 60%. If you're looking at pure pixel throughput, the 543MP2 in the 4S absolutely squashes the GalaxyS2's Mali400 -- it's not even remotely close!

 

[s14_tat]

Huh? I lost you on that why it's smoother argument. BTW, the end user cares about the overall smoothness and experience, not what's underneath the hood.

http://9to5mac.com/2011/09/12/samsu...e-but-it-likely-wont-be-a-match-for-iphone-5/

Here's a link to a comparison of GPU performance on various smartphones. The iPad2 that is squashing the GalaxyS2 by twice the performance uses the same SoC that is going into the 4S. Not only that, but the iPad2 has 28% more pixels, so you can effectively multiply that framerate by another 20+% when running on a 4S.

Oh and by the way, this isn't even a fair apples to apple's comparison since the iPhone4's retina display has 614k pixels whereas the GalaxyS2's much lower resolution only has 384k. If the iPhone4 had the same display as the S2, you could multiply its framerates by an additional 60%. If you're looking at pure pixel throughput, the 543MP2 in the 4S absolutely squashes the GalaxyS2's Mali400 -- it's not even remotely close!

nenamark 2 also benchmarked the 3gs and it did do better than the Iphone 4 but not by much, and still much lower than the original galaxy S. The galaxy S II on that benchmark runs 53 frames per second while other dual core phones are only in the 30's. So yes the resolution definitely effects the score but not by as much as the qhd screen guys are claiming.

 

[PoohBEAR]

I think I need to upgrade now... Been having a 3g since it came out. The screen cracked, the back cover broke...and it's been lagging. I over used it already

 

[Arshad]

So yes the resolution definitely effects the score but not by as much as the qhd screen guys are claiming.

It's simple math. The 3GS and the 4 use the exact same GPU core. Assuming equivalent clocks and assuming you are fillrate bound, the iPhone4 will have 1/4 the framerate of the 3GS. In the real world you have memory bound operations in the mix as well, so it's not quite as drastic but resolution makes a HUGE difference when you are pushing 4x the number of pixels!

In the game I'm working on, the 3GS runs smoothly at 60fps, whereas the iphone4 struggles to keep up at 30fps.

BTW, I re-read the caption on the graph I linked above and I made a mistake. They are measuring 720 offscreen which factors out native display resolution. So the 4S is "only" 2x faster than the GalaxyS2.

 

[NSX 2]

You guys do realize that the next iPhone (2012) won't be called the iPhone 5...right? It will be iPhone 6, or something else, but not "5", lol. The 4S is the 5th iPhone.

 

[heySkippy]

You guys do realize that the next iPhone (2012) won't be called the iPhone 5...right? It will be iPhone 6, or something else, but not "5", lol. The 4S is the 5th iPhone.

Wanna bet?

 

[kookoo4nsx]

I am sooooo disappointed in the 4s. Yeah, it has an amazing processor, cool Siri feature (which my iPad just corrected with a capital "S") and a hd screen.

What I wanted was a bigger screen, like 5" diagonal. I run a 3GS with no problems but the camera really sucks. I will probably buy the 4s since my AT&T contract is up. The 3GS still fetches some good coin on eBay.

White or black?

 

[NetViper]

You can discount all features as "well it's not going to be used" or "well that's not particularly useful to me", and you can do that for anything. I don't see how those are valid arguments.

4x the GPU is a huge deal for me. Right now I'm developing a game that runs great on the 3GS and runs like ass on the iPhone4 because they both use the same GPU core, but the iPhone4 has 4x the number of pixels with its retina display. To me the A5 is what should have been in the iPhone4 to begin with.

As far as 1% of the games running better.. perhaps so, but as more and more games start pushing the envelope and start licensing hardcore engines like the Unreal3 engine, the extra GPU performance will make a HUGE difference.

1. You might not think my opinions are valid, but you are stating your onion, I am stating mine. Fact wise the specs are great, real world.. we'll see (apart from games)
2. 3GS vs 4 vs 4S.. So how does that effect app development? Do developers build for 4S and leave the MILLIONS of 4 owners in the dark? Does this cause the kind of fragmentation android has? Do they make 2 versions? Or do the apps automatically scale based on the phone detected?
3. Sure pushing the Unreal3 engine will make great looking games, but I don't game on my phone. I have an Xbox and PS3 for that. That said, that EPIC game on the iphone has the most gorgeous graphics I have ever seen... probably because the pixels are so tight.. but wow it looks good.

 

[Jimbo]

I am sooooo disappointed in the 4s. Yeah, it has an amazing processor, cool Siri feature (which my iPad just corrected with a capital "S") and a hd screen.

What I wanted was a bigger screen, like 5" diagonal. I run a 3GS with no problems but the camera really sucks. I will probably buy the 4s since my AT&T contract is up. The 3GS still fetches some good coin on eBay.

White or black?

5 inch diagonal?! - Perhaps you should pick up one of those 7 inch Android tabs. :biggrin:

 

[Jimbo]

...2. 3GS vs 4 vs 4S.. So how does that effect app development? Do developers build for 4S and leave the MILLIONS of 4 owners in the dark? Does this cause the kind of fragmentation android has? Do they make 2 versions? Or do the apps automatically scale based on the phone detected?....

If developers follow the basic rules, all is fine. No fragmentation issues. They do not make two versions. In fact, it's possible to support iPhone and iPad in one binary.

 

[NetViper]

I think 4" screen is optimal for a phone.

 

[Jimbo]

You guys do realize that the next iPhone (2012) won't be called the iPhone 5...right? It will be iPhone 6, or something else, but not "5", lol. The 4S is the 5th iPhone.

Uhh... I don't think so. The next major change will be iPhone 5 and then 5s after that. I suspect Apple will try to get at least two years from one major design change.

 

[Arshad]

1. You might not think my opinions are valid, but you are stating your onion, I am stating mine. Fact wise the specs are great, real world.. we'll see (apart from games)

I wasn't stating an opinion, I was reiterating the specs. You discounted all the specs because you didn't think they were useful to you. That's fine and all, but it doesn't mean it's not useful to others. eg. I don't personally care that it supports both CDMA+GSM in one baseband, but for someone that travels a lot, this is an important feature.

2. 3GS vs 4 vs 4S.. So how does that effect app development? Do developers build for 4S and leave the MILLIONS of 4 owners in the dark? Does this cause the kind of fragmentation android has? Do they make 2 versions? Or do the apps automatically scale based on the phone detected?

If you push the envelope in your device, then yes there is fragmentation. The vast majority of apps will not push the hardware limits and will work just fine on older hardware, but at some point you have to start dropping support if you want to move forward. Android fragmentation is different because it allows for a MUCH wider range of hardware, from really really crap to state of the art. The problem is that you could develop something in the middle and it won't run very well on the low-end hardware -- you don't have this issue on iOS.

In the case where you are pushing the boundaries, you have to develop two paths in your code, where the experience will be different depending on the underlying hardware. This is no different than how modern games do it on PC's where you have a wide variety of GPU functionality and performance. If anything, it's a lot easier than PC's because you only have a small subset of hardware you need to support. eg. turn on all the bells and whistles if you're running on a 4S, and dial back some of the shader effects when you're running on a 4. Typically this will be subtle differences for atmospheric effects, and nothing that directly affects gameplay.

BTW, you may not be playing many games on your phone, but these devices are quickly displacing the PSPs and DS's. It's also the reason that Nintendo investors are up in arms because Nintendo won't bite the bullet and start developing for non-Nintendo hardware.

 

[NetViper]

Android fragmentation is different because it allows for a MUCH wider range of hardware, from really really crap to state of the art. The problem is that you could develop something in the middle and it won't run very well on the low-end hardware -- you don't have this issue on iOS.

.

Well, can't you say the 3GS hardware is "really crap" compared to the 4S? So I am not sure how you don't have this issue on iOS.

Obviously you know 100x more than I do on this subject since you are building a game and I don't know how to program, so I am just intersted in your thoughts.