Today we will be bringing to you a review of the iPhone 4S so that you can make your own decision as to make the switch to this new iPhone or not when it hit our Malaysian shores.

The news about the release of the iPhone 4S instead of the iPhone 5 was received with much disappointment from the die-hard Apple fans worldwide. Even with the disappointment, Apple has managed to sell 4 Million units of the iPhone 4S in the first 3 days of its launch. This is a new record for Apple in terms of iPhone sales. However, even with such impressive sales of the iPhone 4S, it still comes below the expectations of the Analyst which has sent its share price lower last week.

So, what is new in the iPhone 4S you may ask……

From the look and feel perspective, there is hardly any changes except for the left-hand side of the phone which now spots a line. i believe Apple has re-designed the antenna to a dual band aerial design to solve the embarrassing antenna-gate issue encountered in their previous version. With this new antenna design, the iPhone 4S can now intelligently and instantly switch between those exterior antennas, in real-time, even while you’re in the middle of a call and hence minimizing the drop calls. Also, the top one of the rounded keys on the left hand side of the iPhone 4 also acts as the camera shutter button now to make it easier to snap photos with the new iPhone 4S. That is about all the hardware changes there is to the iPhone 4S.

Below are the specifications comparisons of the iPhone 4S vs iPhone 4 vs iPhone 3GS:-

 So, most of the changes of the iPhone 4S comes from the inside instead of the external. One most significant change is the use of the new A5 processor which has a dual-core A5 CPU. This is the same processor used in iPad2. The processor is clocked at 800MHz and has a 512 MB of internal RAM. With this processing power, you now have an iPhone that has equivalent processing power as a tablet PC i.e. the iPad 2.

The next major change is in its wireless network support, the phone has a dual-mode quadband UMTS / HSDPA / HSUPA (850, 900, 1,900, 2,100MHz) and quad-band GSM / EDGE (850, 900, 1,800, 1,900MHZ) ,  Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.0 enabled. In layman’s term, all these means that you will likely have access to almost all of the different 3G data network around the world when you are roaming.

There is also some improvement in the back camera. The new iPhone 4S now spots a 8 megapixel back camera with improved optics which is able to shoot better quality photos as claimed by Apple. It can also handle the 1080pixel video. The front-facing camera however remains unchanged from the iPhone 4.

The biggest differentiator of the iPhone 4S compared to the iPhone 4 has to be in the sofware. One of which is the new Siri software which is the built in intelligent assistant that helps you get things done. Now you can command your iPhone 4S to do things with your voice instead of typing. So far, we have been hearing very good reviews about Siri. Not too sure how well it can “understand” our Malaysia slang or English though. If this really works well, this is a major game-changer in the smartphone technology where a smartphone is “smart” enough to understand your verbal commands and executes them without flaw.

 For the video review of the iPhone 4S, you may want to watch the video below:-

All in all, the iPhone 4S is hailed as another one of Apple’s greatest product launch. Since when is Apple not doing that. Every new product launch seems to outdo the previous ones.

So, is there anyone out there who is planning to queue up for their iPhone 4S when the device hits our shores…..

With that in mind, i am now eagerly waiting for the next iPhone 5 to come out. It is not rumoured to be launched only in the middle of next year!

Last night after market’s close, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook hosted the first ever quarterly report after Steve Jobs demise on the 5th October, 2011. In remembrance of the visionary Steve Jobs and his former boss, Cook started with a remark that, “The world has lost a visionary, a creative genius and an amazing human being. Steve was a great leader and mentor and inspired everyone at Apple to do extraordinary things. His spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple and we are dedicated to turn using the amazing work that he loved so much.” Cook then expressed gratitude for the long list of condolences that poured into the company on Jobs’s passing away.

Apple’s Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer informed shareholders and investors that Apple has achieved a record sales of 4.89 million Mac units. This represent the highest shipment of Macs and is an increase of 750,000 units compared to last year’s figure. Apple’s Asia-Pacific region saw an increase of 61% in the sales of Macs. Even in a market that is barely growing at all, Japan’s Mac sales has jumped 48% compared to last year’s figure.

Apple’s iTunes recorded a revenue of almost $1.5 billion in the quarter, Oppenheimer said.

Apple’s iPhone sales has increased 21% to 17.1 million units was better than what Apple has expected and ia a new record for the September quarter in Apple’s history. This figure is however, short of what the analysts have expected which is in the range of between 18 million to 20 million units. Apple’s CFO Oppenheimer remarked that the Apple iPhone’s sales in the Asia-Pacific region was “particularly strong”. Apple originally thought that the sales of the iPhone would drop in this quarter due to some not so favourable comments from fans about the iPhone 4S launch. Many of the die-hard Apple fans were actually waiting for the launch of the iPhone 5 but were disappointed. All in all, the iPhone’s revenue has increased by 24% to $11billion in this quarter.

“We’ve gotten off to a great start with the 4S,” said Tim Cook.

“We’ve sold over 4 million in just three days after launch and so we’re thrilled with the start that we have. We’re confident that we will have a large supply but I don’t want to predict when supply and demand might balance because the demand is obviously extremely high right now, but I’m confident that we will set an all-time record for iPhone this quarter.”

Cook said the goal with the iPhone is to “eat into” the 1.5 billion handsets sold each year, not just the 400 million smartphone units sold each year.

Apple has also toyed with the idea of reducing the iPhone 3GS by giving it out for free with a 2-year’s contract commitment plan with some carriers to test out the take up rate in the market. It has certainly not being practiced here in Malaysia though.

Apple’s CFO noted that Apple continues to be “thrilled” with the take up rate of its iPad. Apple has sold  11.1 million units of iPad this year compared to 4.2 million units sold last year. This figure is about 3 times the iPads sold last year.

Apple’s retail stores recorded a revenue of $3.6 billion, which is an increase of 1% compared to last year. The number of  Macs sold through the retail stores increased by 25% to 1.1 million units. Apple has also increased their total store count to 357 as of the end of this quarter. It has added 30 new stores, of which 21 stores are outside of the US. Apple is planning to open another 40 new stores in 2012. Out of which 30 will be located outside of the US.

Oppenheimer said the company sees gross margin being about the same this quarter as last quarter’s 40.3%. Even though component costs are coming down, which is good, that will be offset to some extent by “the impact of higher cost structures and reduced price points for the recently introduced iPhones and iPods, as well as the stronger U.S. dollar.”

During the earnings call, the big question that analysts and investors have for Tim Cook was what he intends to do with the huge amount of cash that the company has generated through the sales of its products. Apple is currently sitting on about $82billion in cash and investments. Tim Cook has replied that “The cash is always a topic and will always include to do what we think is in Apple’s best interest and I think we’ve done that so far and if you look at where we’ve spent it, I think you would agree.”

All in all i would think the results were not “bad”. However, this results were lower than what the Analysts have expected and the AAPL stock has been beaten down by more than 6.4% in its after hours trading to $395.12 at the point of this writing which is down by $27.12 compared to the market closing of $422.24 before the earnings call.

The news of Steve Jobs’ death has made headlines in most of the news portals and many die-hard fans of the iconic legend feels sad with his passing on. Many would like to have him leave a little longer so that we can enjoy more of his innovative and creative products. Somewhere in Penang on the beautiful island of Pulau Jerejak, about 40 people have gathered and took part in a ritual to bring back Steve Jobs through re-incarnation. This news was reported by Sin Chew Daily, a local chinese newspaper.

This ritual was performed last Sunday by a Medium from Rawang, Selangor. This ceremony has drawn many criticism from various groups including the Federation of Taoist Associations Malaysia and several Buddhist associations. Many had called it “ridiculous” and “superstitious”.

According to the daily, followers were asked to take a bite from an apple and observe three minutes of silence before throwing the fruit into the sea but some had finished half of the fruit before doing so as it was very sweet.

According to the report, most of the followers do not even know who Steve Jobs were and they were doing it to enjoy a day trip in Penang as well as to pray for good fortune. The followers also had to pay between RM50 and RM75 to take part in the ceremony.

Apple’s latest iPhone 4S went on sale last Friday to an eager crowd many of whom queued overnight around city blocks to purchase the last iPhone device that are unveiled during Steve Jobs’ life. This news is enough to send the Shares of Apple, AAPL to skyrocket to $422 last Friday. Up $13.57 or 3.32% last Friday. Some fans that were interviewed last Friday have quoted that they wanted something to remember Steve Jobs. This is truly a legendary remark and achievement for the late Steve Jobs. Even after he has passed on, his Product sensation has lived on!

After we have done some analyzing, we found that the launch of the iPhone 4S is indeed the right move for Apple for the below reasons:-

1.  The iPhone 4S is not meant to replace the iPhone 4. The reason for this is because there is not much enhancement of the the iPhone 4S compared to the iPhone 4 model except for the faster speed. In addition to that, the users of the iPhone 4 will likely still be under contract if they have purchased the iPhone last year. With a 2 year contract period, it is not easy for these users to upgrade to the iPhone 4S. Hence, for users who are having the iPhone 4, they will probably not dump their iPhone 4 to upgrade their unit to the iPhone 4S for the little added benefits of the latest device. iPhoneMalaysiaBloggers believe that the iPhone 5 will likely only be released sometime Summer of 2012 which is in June 2012. The reason why we predict this date is because this is about 2 years after the the initial launch of the iPhone 4 which means that all iPhone 4 users will be off contract by then and it would be a great group to target for the upgrades.

2.  The real target for the iPhone 4S device is actually for the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, current Android users and new smartphone users. For the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS users, their contract when the purchased the device would probably be over by now and it is definitely a great time to upgrade their current device instead of waiting until maybe mid of next year for the iPhone 5 to be released. This group is big enough to make the iPhone 4S launch a big success as what we have seen last Friday. In addition to that, the iPhone 4S will also likely attract a lot of converts from the Android loyal camp to the iPhone camp. This is the key group that Apple would be very interested and happy to acquire as this is an acquisition from their main competitor. Last but not least, another group that is an easy target is the new smartphone users. New reports have shown that this group is huge and with more and more people moving from a traditional phone to a smart phone, the ability to capture this group of subscribers is key to the success in this competitive landscape.

Another fact that you should know is that The iPhone product range which is the gold standard for smartphones is actually Apple’s highest margin product and accounts for 40 percent of its annual revenue. If Apple were to launch the iPhone 5 last week, they would probably have done much better compared to the iPhone 4S but they would have missed out on a huge opportunity in the future to launch another successful iPhone 5.

This is indeed a truly shocking news for all Apple and Steve Jobs fans around the world. This iconic figure who has steered Apple from the brink of a bankruptcy is announced dead on Wednesday at age 56. Steve Jobs will be clearly missed and remembered as one of the greatest CEO of all time. He has been battling with pancreatic cancer for sometime and handed the company’s top post to Tim Cook in August this year. Steve Jobs has been the heart and soul of Apple’s incredible and dynamic climb to be the most valuable company in the world.

As a true fan of Steve Jobs ourselves, we truly respect and miss all the guidance that this iconic person can provide and will be missed by everyone who has been following his progress.

A Heartiest Condolence to the person that we truly admire and may he rest in peace!

http://www.iphonemalaysiablog.com/news/news-steve-jobs-resigned-as-ceo

Apple yesterday unveiled a new iPhone, the iPhone 4S instead of the much anticipated iPhone 5 to a much disappointed crowd of Apple fans. After the announcement, the shares of Apple(AAPL) actually dropped over 5% before going back up and close at $372.50(down $2.10 for the day).

Many fans and diehard supporters of the Apple iPhone has been talking about the “Let’s Talk iPhone” event and was eagerly waiting for the new iPhone 5 to be revealed. This news was revealed by Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook who replaced Steve Jobs as the new CEO in August this year. Tim Cook provided some statistics on how Apple in particular the iPhone was doing in the first part of the presentation.

Among the highlights were the following:-

**  Apple has sold more iPhone 4 than all the other iPhones combined in the history of iPhone sales.

**  About 93% of all the Fortune 500 companies are either already using or testing the iPhone.

**  The Apple iPhones now account for about 5% of all mobile phone sales worldwide.

And unlike Steve Jobs who usually has lots of surprises for the Apple fans, Cook did not manage to pull out any rabbits out of his hat this time.

So, what is new with the iPhone 4S?  

Firstly, the S in the iPhone 4S stands for “Speed”. In terms of the look and feel, there is not much difference from its immediate predecessor iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S  will run on the A5 chipset which is used in the iPad 2. This gives it the same computing power of a laptop in a mobile device. The iPhone 4S will retail at $199 for the 16GB, $299 for the 32GB, and $399 for the 64GB with a two-year service contract with AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), or Sprint (S). Not too sure how much this phone will cost when it is offered in Malaysia though.

So, what are the other improvements?

1.  New wireless system – with this new wireless system it can intelligently switch between 2 antennas when transmitting and receiving calls and data which will result in better call quality and higher download speeds respectively. The new iPhone 4S offers up to 5.8MBps upload and 14.4MBps download speed.

2.  Camera improvements – The iPhone 4S comes with 8Megapixel(3264 x 2448 resolution)  camera module compared to the iPhone 4 which has 5Megapixels(2592 x 1936 resolution). It also has a new sensor, state-of-the-art CMOS backside illumination sensor and a Hybrid IR filter for better color accuracy. In layman’s term, the new camera allows you to take clearer photos at a faster speed as well as shoot high definition 1080p videos.

3.  Voice control – This is the key feature of the iPhone 4S according to Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller. The feature is called “Siri”. This new feature is based on the voice activated application that Apple bought in 2010. Siri doesn’t just listen—it also speaks. To trigger Siri, you press and hold on the Home button, the same way Voice Control works on older iPhones today. This is going to be the app to check out as it is said to be “your intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking.”

4.  AirPlay – This is a feature that is applicable in the iPad2 and being ported over to the iPhone 4S. This feature allows users to stream wirelessly to your Apple TV.  If you don’t have an Apple TV, you may use an HDMI cable to mirror over the wire, too.