I would love to see Apple come out with an app that learns the user's speech patterns. Just like in every movie or TV show that needs to fake someone's voice using a computer they have the person speak (often without their knowledge) a series of words or sentences to create an phoneme foundation.
That's largely how Google developed their TTS capabilities. They used their now-discontinued Google411 to sample millions of different speech patterns.
That's largely how Google developed their TTS capabilities. They used their now-discontinued Google411 to sample millions of different speech patterns.
I'm talking about speech to text that is tailored to the user's speech patterns not just the baseline that Google and others have created from a global pool.
IOW, my iPhone wouldn't be as accurate using speech to text if you picked it up to use it because it's tailored to my dialect, accent, pronunciation, etc. This is would be something that is setup with the device.
edit: I think Apple already does this for your contact list in iOS for speech to text for making a call.
Does Android have speech-to-text? I can imagine the new iPhone or the next having speech-to-text as really quite breakthrough. Sending an SMS just by talking would be awesome. As well as having someone's SMS read back to you (text-to-speech). I'm sure is what the whole Nuance thing is about. It would take "Hands-Free" to a new level and maybe make driving safer even.
Apologies if this has all been said, I'm late to the Nuance party, I know.
Yes Android has speech to text and can do all that. Use a BlueAnt Q2 to do it for the most hands-free experience with Android. I am going to get one soon. I have used Android's speech recognition daily for six months with 100% success rate (except one random word one time that I can't remember, it was a street name that was an odd pronunciation). Plus it has a feature to learn your particular voice. Also funny you mentioned Nuance. They released their app for FREE for Android to do their Nuance engine free. I haven't used it much but I definitely downloaded that when that deal was on, I'll let you know how that goes as well.
Android still has rough edges with the 2.2 I'm on with my Droid 2 Global. But I've read 2.3 will be a lot better and quicker.
I love widgets...I have my Contacts as button I can just click to call in one click on my home screen. That alone sold me on Android. Flash, better email support and downloading, customizing, etc were icing on the cake. Also I multitask a lot...I don't know what I'd even do without being able to multitask. I leave things in the browser half-filled in or at a spot...or an email halfway done, or text half typed in somewhere else...and I can just go back to it, after checking something else.
But if the iPhone vers. 5 gets better than Android for my purposes, sure, I'll make the switch to iPhone. Lack of physical buttons and keyboard I also don't know if I can get over, though. The solution that seems to basically solve this though is that case with a built-in keyboard I saw on Cnet or somewhere.
Whoops... missed what Aquatic was saying... too early in the morning for me.
{My original reply:
Maybe it has something to do with horsepower and battery drain. Speech to text has been on the drawing board for well over 15 years and yet all but the most rudimentary implementations have been used in the mobile space (or almost any space for that matter). }
Also I multitask a lot...I don't know what I'd even do without being able to multitask. I leave things in the browser half-filled in or at a spot...or an email halfway done, or text half typed in somewhere else...and I can just go back to it, after checking something else.
That has been possible in the iPhone OS since version 1.0.
Quote:
Originally Posted by island hermit
Maybe it has something to do with horsepower and battery drain. Speech to text has been on the drawing board for well over 15 years and yet all but the most rudimentary implementations have been used in the mobile space (or almost any space for that matter).
Maybe, but the pushing to a server to analyze seems to work well enough. Plus, It?s not like any desktop OS has this handled well. I think the technology just isn?t here, though it does seem like once this nut is truly cracked it will be progress very rapidly. Just a hunch.
That has been possible in the iPhone OS since version 1.0.
Maybe, but the pushing to a server to analyze seems to work well enough. Plus, It?s not like any desktop OS has this handled well. I think the technology just isn?t here, though it does seem like once this nut is truly cracked it will be progress very rapidly. Just a hunch.
I agree with your hunch, it'll probably move to processing onboard in a few years.
And I did not know that about iOS. I have only messed around with an iPhone once or twice in Apple stores. I just didn't like how long it took to call, and I wanted a physical keyboard and camera button. Many other ancillary things like Flash pushed me to Droid as well. The more I learn about Android the more I wonder whether it is something lacking in iOS. I didn't know how much I would multitask with this phone. I treat it as a laptop basically. So that's good to know that iOS can multi-task. So...I assume the way it does that is to save the state of the app into the flash memory? It saves the RAM onto the "hard drive" flash memory? (Kind of like how Mac laptops now save RAM to disk when sleeping and run out of battery)? If that is the case, then that would explain it. And that actually seems like a better way to do things. For now. Once phones begin to ship with 1 or 2 gigs of RAM perhaps it will not be. But I wonder whether apps will continue to expand RAM usage at the same rate phones ship with more RAM. I would say these days that computers are adding RAM faster than program developers are using it, and in that sense, users are "winning" the war for RAM. Ditto for hard drives. Computers "feel" faster to me these days than they did around 2000.
And I did not know that about iOS. I have only messed around with an iPhone once or twice in Apple stores. I just didn't like how long it took to call, and I wanted a physical keyboard and camera button. Many other ancillary things like Flash pushed me to Droid as well. The more I learn about Android the more I wonder whether it is something lacking in iOS. I didn't know how much I would multitask with this phone. I treat it as a laptop basically. So that's good to know that iOS can multi-task. So...I assume the way it does that is to save the state of the app into the flash memory? It saves the RAM onto the "hard drive" flash memory? (Kind of like how Mac laptops now save RAM to disk when sleeping and run out of battery)? If that is the case, then that would explain it. And that actually seems like a better way to do things. For now. Once phones begin to ship with 1 or 2 gigs of RAM perhaps it will not be. But I wonder whether apps will continue to expand RAM usage at the same rate phones ship with more RAM. I would say these days that computers are adding RAM faster than program developers are using it, and in that sense, users are "winning" the war for RAM. Ditto for hard drives. Computers "feel" faster to me these days than they did around 2000.
What iOS lacked until version 4.0 was multitasking of App Store apps. I say App Store apps and not 3rd party apps because even Apple?s own App Store apps didn?t have the option to multitask, only the apps that are native to the OS had that option, where applicable.
To reiterate, the iPhone could multitask since day one. Perhaps the most unique thing Apple did was make the phone an app. There was no special hardware button to make or end a call on the iPhone. It was an app just like all the rest. You can exist it, open Safari, check Mail, write an SMS, etc. with the saved state automatically going back right where you left off.
Well, that?s almost true. There are some caveats with that last sentence as Safari doesn?t retrain any data you?ve typed into a text box in Safari. This has never been an issue with Safari on the iPhone/Touch unless the app crashed, which isn?t an issue unless you go back to v2.0-2.2 from 2008. You can have 8 pages open in Safari and jump around between apps.
This was not the case with the original iPad which would close out Safari with even 2 pages open if you left the app for a second to check Mail. This was a big issue for me which made me return my first iPad since I type most of my responses on AI from my iDevices. (Yeah, that?s a lot of touch typing).
For iOS 4.0 they introduced a handful of multitasking APIs for App Store apps. It?s a more intelligent and structured environment than Android, just as Android is more intelligent and structured than WebOS. I think this was a good move by Apple as most users don?t want to bother with any resource controls. I do expect them to add to these backgrounding APIs with iOS 5.0. Hopefully we?ll see at least 768MB of RAM but Apple has a tendency to treat RAM like it?s oxygen in deep space.
1. Android is an OS, and if someone puts it on a POS hardware, you get what you pay for. The OS itself is pretty darned good. I switched 2 weeks back, and I am loving it. Both platforms are awesome, learn(I repeat LEARN) to give credit where its due and take off your rose tinted glasses.
...
God I HATE fanbois.
What? You need to learn to read. I don't have rose tinted glasses. Go read my post again and pay attention to the fact that I didn't disparage Android at all. I said Android is the OS of choice for pieces of shit hardware. The statement has nothing to do with whether Android is a good OS or whether there is good hardware running Android.
My point was that there is a market for POS devices and Android will always have that market because the OS is free. Apple refuses to even allow their OS to be used on such POS hardware.
And yes I hate fanboys too. You are obviously an Android fanboy. Why else would you take such offense to my discussion about the fact that manufacturers of POS devices prefer Android.
I find it humorous that you made incorrect assumptions about the OS when I associated it with POS hardware. That mistake is exactly why Apple doesn't let iOS or OS X be installed on POS hardware. There are a lot of stupid people in the world that can't distinguish between bad hardware and bad software.
What? You need to learn to read. I don't have rose tinted glasses. Go read my post again and pay attention to the fact that I didn't disparage Android at all. I said Android is the OS of choice for pieces of shit hardware. The statement has nothing to do with whether Android is a good OS or whether there is good hardware running Android.
My point was that there is a market for POS devices and Android will always have that market because the OS is free. Apple refuses to even allow their OS to be used on such POS hardware.
And yes I hate fanboys too. You are obviously an Android fanboy. Why else would you take such offense to my discussion about the fact that manufacturers of POS devices prefer Android.
I find it humorous that you made incorrect assumptions about the OS when I associated it with POS hardware. That mistake is exactly why Apple doesn't let iOS or OS X be installed on POS hardware. There are a lot of stupid people in the world that can't distinguish between bad hardware and bad software.
I'm sure many others here read it the same way.
Perhaps if Apple ever chooses to license iOS you can get it on a POS device too.
FOR FUCK'S SAKE THIS IS AN AMERICAN FORUM; WRITE IN AMERICAN!
FWIW, I used to be grammar/spelling picky, but I'm over it now. English is a hideous language to come to grips with.
I get what you maen, ( I guess most of it first grade sarcasm ).
But but, you see Apple has got americas finest products ( no sarcasm at all. I really mean it )
And all swiss Apple forums kind of suck. So I end up here with my wobbly iliterate non american english, hoping any one of you guys might still understand what my typing might mean.
But anyway, back to the topic, widgets isn't really my thing. At least on my mac I hardly ever use them. Sometimes on one of my Mac's I assign a corner to activate the dashboard. But most of the time I get annoyed, when all the widgets come flying in when I by error move the cursor too far. But as long as they can be turned off completely and there are people who adore those little suckers,-- well why not incorporate them in iOS5.
What iOS lacked until version 4.0 was multitasking of App Store apps. I say App Store apps and not 3rd party apps because even Apple’s own App Store apps didn’t have the option to multitask, only the apps that are native to the OS had that option, where applicable.
To reiterate, the iPhone could multitask since day one. Perhaps the most unique thing Apple did was make the phone an app. There was no special hardware button to make or end a call on the iPhone. It was an app just like all the rest. You can exist it, open Safari, check Mail, write an SMS, etc. with the saved state automatically going back right where you left off.
Well, that’s almost true. There are some caveats with that last sentence as Safari doesn’t retrain any data you’ve typed into a text box in Safari. This has never been an issue with Safari on the iPhone/Touch unless the app crashed, which isn’t an issue unless you go back to v2.0-2.2 from 2008. You can have 8 pages open in Safari and jump around between apps.
This was not the case with the original iPad which would close out Safari with even 2 pages open if you left the app for a second to check Mail. This was a big issue for me which made me return my first iPad since I type most of my responses on AI from my iDevices. (Yeah, that’s a lot of touch typing).
For iOS 4.0 they introduced a handful of multitasking APIs for App Store apps. It’s a more intelligent and structured environment than Android, just as Android is more intelligent and structured than WebOS. I think this was a good move by Apple as most users don’t want to bother with any resource controls. I do expect them to add to these backgrounding APIs with iOS 5.0. Hopefully we’ll see at least 768MB of RAM but Apple has a tendency to treat RAM like it’s oxygen in deep space.
UGH. I know. I'm very bitter Apple destroyed the smartphone. (While re-inventing the PDA at the same time). Android unfortunately followed suit. My phone is a phone first and foremost. My Droid would be perfect it simply had good old Send and End call buttons and I could just press Send twice to ring the last person I spoke to (e.g. my wife). Thus enabling dialing without looking in the car. And I'd much prefer that to futzing with BlueTooth or whatever. I tried a BT earpice and it sucked but then again, it was only $25. I may try a BlueAnt Q2...but still, it would be so nice for smartphones to be good PHONES. But at least I have Contact widgets and once I unlock my phone I just click them once to dial. Also, I don't know if iPhone has this, but...Droid unlock screen can use a swipe pattern. I can do it without looking in any orientation now. That's boss. I know iPhone can go without a lock and just have the slider, but then that has no security. I believe the swipe gesture is unique to Droid for now. (Not counting a jailbroken phone)
I don't really care what they add to iOS5, as long as it doesnt cripple my phone.
The upgrade to iOS4.3 has not been nice for performance, and while it has improved with the 4.3.x imrpovements, it is not great.
My phone used to be fast, no hesitation and no issues. but with the upgrade, little annoyances pop into things. Like opening hte camera app., and have it not be available for shooting for ?? 10seconds or longer (in some cases)... or delayed shooting.
Pausing when going to a video, or when I multitask back to a video and try to get back to the main ipod menu. Used to be great with <4.3 but now its almost android quality.
Removing all recently used apps and doing a full reboot appears to help - most of the time But its a pain having to do it daily.
I?m sure what angle that guy is pulling: troll or ignorant.
I believe it was Mac OS X Tiger that first introduced Widgets in Dashboard so Apple clearly doesn?t have a problem with Widgets. If his claim is that Apple doesn?t like Widgets when it comes to iOS how does he back that up? Where is the proof? Seems to me his only argument is that since they don?t exist in iOS it must be that Apple hates them which is a pretty poor logic.
With Apple?s purchase of two mapping companies over the last couple of years - Poly9 and Placebase - many have speculated that iOS 5 will finally be the iOS release where Apple moves from a Google Maps backend to an Apple backend. Multiple job postings on Apple?s official site backed up this speculation and even Apple promised some under-the-hood maps tweeks for their next-generation iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch operating system.
Now, sources have told 9to5Google that although Apple is working to improve the iOS Maps application, iOS 5 will not bring an Apple developed maps service and Google Maps is still in. Besides Apple?s purchase of both Placebase and Poly9, some speculated that Apple is building their own maps service to either compete with Google or step away from their input into iOS.
Apple began the process of distancing themselves from Google when former Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned over ?conflict of interest.? Apple has also added Microsoft?s Bing as a Safari search option and will be competing with Google head-to-head with their upcoming cloud-based music service. Those who enjoy Google Maps should not fear iOS 5, though, and hopefully Apple is working to implement turn-by-turn directions or something else to improve their maps application without changing the backend.
I?m sure what angle that guy is pulling: troll or ignorant.
I believe it was Mac OS X Tiger that first introduced Widgets in Dashboard so Apple clearly doesn?t have a problem with Widgets. If his claim is that Apple doesn?t like Widgets when it comes to iOS how does he back that up? Where is the proof? Seems to me his only argument is that since they don?t exist in iOS it must be that Apple hates them which is a pretty poor logic.
I sense a bit of the troll... I see he popped into the Samsung thread to spread his joy with Apple products.
But at least I have Contact widgets and once I unlock my phone I just click them once to dial. Also, I don't know if iPhone has this, but...Droid unlock screen can use a swipe pattern. I can do it without looking in any orientation now. That's boss. I know iPhone can go without a lock and just have the slider, but then that has no security. I believe the swipe gesture is unique to Droid for now. (Not counting a jailbroken phone)
Maybe for iPhone unlocking you could do:
*Swipe phone without looking*
Please speak your password
"Fifty-five Hundred Two Three One A"
Ready
But a swipe pattern to unlock is a good idea. Obviously with people around they could hear you speak your password.
I do use the voice controls on the iPhone 4 but for basic calling only. The speech recognition for songs, playlists, etc. is iffy and it doesn't learn as you go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatorguy
EDIT: Guess that function is available for Android too.
This should be the minimum for iOS 5 if they are going to do speech-to-text and vice versa. Really make using the iPhone a hands-free experience and improve safety at the same time. It goes without saying one sticking point with touchscreens is that tapping the screen while doing other stuff is difficult. That's one of the last several advantages of BlackBerry phones with physical buttons.
I missed the part where you waited a month. Your telco made you wait that long? Sometimes I forget how nice it is to live in a city with an Apple Store.
Yes, there are many things we take for granted in the developed world. When you move to a developing country, certain things just fry your brain. It's even more frustrating returning to your birthplace, as I have, after a long time away, and seeing the lack of progress in areas where it really matters. Such as transparency, accountability, organisation, etc.
The iPhone 4 was launched here in September last year. I signed up with one of the three telcos offering the iPhone 4. They have reasonable 3G coverage and sensibly-priced iPhone 4 plans. However for a few months now, they quote a one-month waiting list to get any iPhone 4 fixed. They claim there is a backlog, not enough stock or whatever for replacement units.
Of course they're still happily signing up new iPhone 4 contracts, surprise surprise, no stock issues there.
Apple would not be where it is now without official Apple Stores. It has been critical to their success to have a "refuge of last resort" to be attended to. Besides all the other functions it serves.
In countries where you're dependent on only the telco to service your iPhone, you're pretty much thrown to the wolves if the telco loses interest in keeping iPhone supply and service up to par. Macs and iPads are not that bad because those can be taken care of by Apple Resellers and Apple Authorised Service Providers who specialise in Apple sales and service.
You can see why Apple is interested in official Apple Stores in China. They have some work to do, but they see that growing and managing the brand through official Apple Stores is very important. They can't leave it purely to the Chinese telcos, Apple resellers and scalpers who will try to do whatever they please.
Australia is kind of the poster boy for why Apple Stores are important. For a long time things were done through resellers. However given the nature of Australia being quite similar to the US, Canada and Europe, Apple decided to go in themselves and things have never been better.
Comments
Great find!! It sure sounds impressive.
I would love to see Apple come out with an app that learns the user's speech patterns. Just like in every movie or TV show that needs to fake someone's voice using a computer they have the person speak (often without their knowledge) a series of words or sentences to create an phoneme foundation.
That's largely how Google developed their TTS capabilities. They used their now-discontinued Google411 to sample millions of different speech patterns.
Pretty weak retort.
Only if you didn't really think about it...
That's largely how Google developed their TTS capabilities. They used their now-discontinued Google411 to sample millions of different speech patterns.
I'm talking about speech to text that is tailored to the user's speech patterns not just the baseline that Google and others have created from a global pool.
IOW, my iPhone wouldn't be as accurate using speech to text if you picked it up to use it because it's tailored to my dialect, accent, pronunciation, etc. This is would be something that is setup with the device.
edit: I think Apple already does this for your contact list in iOS for speech to text for making a call.
Does Android have speech-to-text? I can imagine the new iPhone or the next having speech-to-text as really quite breakthrough. Sending an SMS just by talking would be awesome. As well as having someone's SMS read back to you (text-to-speech). I'm sure is what the whole Nuance thing is about. It would take "Hands-Free" to a new level and maybe make driving safer even.
Apologies if this has all been said, I'm late to the Nuance party, I know.
Yes Android has speech to text and can do all that. Use a BlueAnt Q2 to do it for the most hands-free experience with Android. I am going to get one soon. I have used Android's speech recognition daily for six months with 100% success rate (except one random word one time that I can't remember, it was a street name that was an odd pronunciation). Plus it has a feature to learn your particular voice. Also funny you mentioned Nuance. They released their app for FREE for Android to do their Nuance engine free. I haven't used it much but I definitely downloaded that when that deal was on, I'll let you know how that goes as well.
Android still has rough edges with the 2.2 I'm on with my Droid 2 Global. But I've read 2.3 will be a lot better and quicker.
I love widgets...I have my Contacts as button I can just click to call in one click on my home screen. That alone sold me on Android. Flash, better email support and downloading, customizing, etc were icing on the cake. Also I multitask a lot...I don't know what I'd even do without being able to multitask. I leave things in the browser half-filled in or at a spot...or an email halfway done, or text half typed in somewhere else...and I can just go back to it, after checking something else.
But if the iPhone vers. 5 gets better than Android for my purposes, sure, I'll make the switch to iPhone. Lack of physical buttons and keyboard I also don't know if I can get over, though. The solution that seems to basically solve this though is that case with a built-in keyboard I saw on Cnet or somewhere.
{My original reply:
Maybe it has something to do with horsepower and battery drain. Speech to text has been on the drawing board for well over 15 years and yet all but the most rudimentary implementations have been used in the mobile space (or almost any space for that matter). }
Also I multitask a lot...I don't know what I'd even do without being able to multitask. I leave things in the browser half-filled in or at a spot...or an email halfway done, or text half typed in somewhere else...and I can just go back to it, after checking something else.
That has been possible in the iPhone OS since version 1.0.
Maybe it has something to do with horsepower and battery drain. Speech to text has been on the drawing board for well over 15 years and yet all but the most rudimentary implementations have been used in the mobile space (or almost any space for that matter).
Maybe, but the pushing to a server to analyze seems to work well enough. Plus, It?s not like any desktop OS has this handled well. I think the technology just isn?t here, though it does seem like once this nut is truly cracked it will be progress very rapidly. Just a hunch.
That has been possible in the iPhone OS since version 1.0.
Maybe, but the pushing to a server to analyze seems to work well enough. Plus, It?s not like any desktop OS has this handled well. I think the technology just isn?t here, though it does seem like once this nut is truly cracked it will be progress very rapidly. Just a hunch.
I agree with your hunch, it'll probably move to processing onboard in a few years.
And I did not know that about iOS. I have only messed around with an iPhone once or twice in Apple stores. I just didn't like how long it took to call, and I wanted a physical keyboard and camera button. Many other ancillary things like Flash pushed me to Droid as well. The more I learn about Android the more I wonder whether it is something lacking in iOS. I didn't know how much I would multitask with this phone. I treat it as a laptop basically. So that's good to know that iOS can multi-task. So...I assume the way it does that is to save the state of the app into the flash memory? It saves the RAM onto the "hard drive" flash memory? (Kind of like how Mac laptops now save RAM to disk when sleeping and run out of battery)? If that is the case, then that would explain it. And that actually seems like a better way to do things. For now. Once phones begin to ship with 1 or 2 gigs of RAM perhaps it will not be. But I wonder whether apps will continue to expand RAM usage at the same rate phones ship with more RAM. I would say these days that computers are adding RAM faster than program developers are using it, and in that sense, users are "winning" the war for RAM. Ditto for hard drives. Computers "feel" faster to me these days than they did around 2000.
And I did not know that about iOS. I have only messed around with an iPhone once or twice in Apple stores. I just didn't like how long it took to call, and I wanted a physical keyboard and camera button. Many other ancillary things like Flash pushed me to Droid as well. The more I learn about Android the more I wonder whether it is something lacking in iOS. I didn't know how much I would multitask with this phone. I treat it as a laptop basically. So that's good to know that iOS can multi-task. So...I assume the way it does that is to save the state of the app into the flash memory? It saves the RAM onto the "hard drive" flash memory? (Kind of like how Mac laptops now save RAM to disk when sleeping and run out of battery)? If that is the case, then that would explain it. And that actually seems like a better way to do things. For now. Once phones begin to ship with 1 or 2 gigs of RAM perhaps it will not be. But I wonder whether apps will continue to expand RAM usage at the same rate phones ship with more RAM. I would say these days that computers are adding RAM faster than program developers are using it, and in that sense, users are "winning" the war for RAM. Ditto for hard drives. Computers "feel" faster to me these days than they did around 2000.
What iOS lacked until version 4.0 was multitasking of App Store apps. I say App Store apps and not 3rd party apps because even Apple?s own App Store apps didn?t have the option to multitask, only the apps that are native to the OS had that option, where applicable.
To reiterate, the iPhone could multitask since day one. Perhaps the most unique thing Apple did was make the phone an app. There was no special hardware button to make or end a call on the iPhone. It was an app just like all the rest. You can exist it, open Safari, check Mail, write an SMS, etc. with the saved state automatically going back right where you left off.
Well, that?s almost true. There are some caveats with that last sentence as Safari doesn?t retrain any data you?ve typed into a text box in Safari. This has never been an issue with Safari on the iPhone/Touch unless the app crashed, which isn?t an issue unless you go back to v2.0-2.2 from 2008. You can have 8 pages open in Safari and jump around between apps.
This was not the case with the original iPad which would close out Safari with even 2 pages open if you left the app for a second to check Mail. This was a big issue for me which made me return my first iPad since I type most of my responses on AI from my iDevices. (Yeah, that?s a lot of touch typing).
For iOS 4.0 they introduced a handful of multitasking APIs for App Store apps. It?s a more intelligent and structured environment than Android, just as Android is more intelligent and structured than WebOS. I think this was a good move by Apple as most users don?t want to bother with any resource controls. I do expect them to add to these backgrounding APIs with iOS 5.0. Hopefully we?ll see at least 768MB of RAM but Apple has a tendency to treat RAM like it?s oxygen in deep space.
POS devices? Are you serious/are you just blind?
1. Android is an OS, and if someone puts it on a POS hardware, you get what you pay for. The OS itself is pretty darned good. I switched 2 weeks back, and I am loving it. Both platforms are awesome, learn(I repeat LEARN) to give credit where its due and take off your rose tinted glasses.
...
God I HATE fanbois.
What? You need to learn to read. I don't have rose tinted glasses. Go read my post again and pay attention to the fact that I didn't disparage Android at all. I said Android is the OS of choice for pieces of shit hardware. The statement has nothing to do with whether Android is a good OS or whether there is good hardware running Android.
My point was that there is a market for POS devices and Android will always have that market because the OS is free. Apple refuses to even allow their OS to be used on such POS hardware.
And yes I hate fanboys too. You are obviously an Android fanboy. Why else would you take such offense to my discussion about the fact that manufacturers of POS devices prefer Android.
I find it humorous that you made incorrect assumptions about the OS when I associated it with POS hardware. That mistake is exactly why Apple doesn't let iOS or OS X be installed on POS hardware. There are a lot of stupid people in the world that can't distinguish between bad hardware and bad software.
What? You need to learn to read. I don't have rose tinted glasses. Go read my post again and pay attention to the fact that I didn't disparage Android at all. I said Android is the OS of choice for pieces of shit hardware. The statement has nothing to do with whether Android is a good OS or whether there is good hardware running Android.
My point was that there is a market for POS devices and Android will always have that market because the OS is free. Apple refuses to even allow their OS to be used on such POS hardware.
And yes I hate fanboys too. You are obviously an Android fanboy. Why else would you take such offense to my discussion about the fact that manufacturers of POS devices prefer Android.
I find it humorous that you made incorrect assumptions about the OS when I associated it with POS hardware. That mistake is exactly why Apple doesn't let iOS or OS X be installed on POS hardware. There are a lot of stupid people in the world that can't distinguish between bad hardware and bad software.
I'm sure many others here read it the same way.
Perhaps if Apple ever chooses to license iOS you can get it on a POS device too.
FOR FUCK'S SAKE THIS IS AN AMERICAN FORUM; WRITE IN AMERICAN!
FWIW, I used to be grammar/spelling picky, but I'm over it now. English is a hideous language to come to grips with.
I get what you maen, ( I guess most of it first grade sarcasm ).
But but, you see Apple has got americas finest products ( no sarcasm at all. I really mean it )
And all swiss Apple forums kind of suck. So I end up here with my wobbly iliterate non american english, hoping any one of you guys might still understand what my typing might mean.
But anyway, back to the topic, widgets isn't really my thing. At least on my mac I hardly ever use them. Sometimes on one of my Mac's I assign a corner to activate the dashboard. But most of the time I get annoyed, when all the widgets come flying in when I by error move the cursor too far. But as long as they can be turned off completely and there are people who adore those little suckers,-- well why not incorporate them in iOS5.
What iOS lacked until version 4.0 was multitasking of App Store apps. I say App Store apps and not 3rd party apps because even Apple’s own App Store apps didn’t have the option to multitask, only the apps that are native to the OS had that option, where applicable.
To reiterate, the iPhone could multitask since day one. Perhaps the most unique thing Apple did was make the phone an app. There was no special hardware button to make or end a call on the iPhone. It was an app just like all the rest. You can exist it, open Safari, check Mail, write an SMS, etc. with the saved state automatically going back right where you left off.
Well, that’s almost true. There are some caveats with that last sentence as Safari doesn’t retrain any data you’ve typed into a text box in Safari. This has never been an issue with Safari on the iPhone/Touch unless the app crashed, which isn’t an issue unless you go back to v2.0-2.2 from 2008. You can have 8 pages open in Safari and jump around between apps.
This was not the case with the original iPad which would close out Safari with even 2 pages open if you left the app for a second to check Mail. This was a big issue for me which made me return my first iPad since I type most of my responses on AI from my iDevices. (Yeah, that’s a lot of touch typing).
For iOS 4.0 they introduced a handful of multitasking APIs for App Store apps. It’s a more intelligent and structured environment than Android, just as Android is more intelligent and structured than WebOS. I think this was a good move by Apple as most users don’t want to bother with any resource controls. I do expect them to add to these backgrounding APIs with iOS 5.0. Hopefully we’ll see at least 768MB of RAM but Apple has a tendency to treat RAM like it’s oxygen in deep space.
UGH. I know. I'm very bitter Apple destroyed the smartphone. (While re-inventing the PDA at the same time). Android unfortunately followed suit. My phone is a phone first and foremost. My Droid would be perfect it simply had good old Send and End call buttons and I could just press Send twice to ring the last person I spoke to (e.g. my wife). Thus enabling dialing without looking in the car. And I'd much prefer that to futzing with BlueTooth or whatever. I tried a BT earpice and it sucked but then again, it was only $25. I may try a BlueAnt Q2...but still, it would be so nice for smartphones to be good PHONES. But at least I have Contact widgets and once I unlock my phone I just click them once to dial. Also, I don't know if iPhone has this, but...Droid unlock screen can use a swipe pattern. I can do it without looking in any orientation now. That's boss. I know iPhone can go without a lock and just have the slider, but then that has no security. I believe the swipe gesture is unique to Droid for now. (Not counting a jailbroken phone)
So Apple likes widgets now? I thought the consensus of Apple people was that nobody wants widgets. Has something changed?
Yes... Apple likes widgets.
The upgrade to iOS4.3 has not been nice for performance, and while it has improved with the 4.3.x imrpovements, it is not great.
My phone used to be fast, no hesitation and no issues. but with the upgrade, little annoyances pop into things. Like opening hte camera app., and have it not be available for shooting for ?? 10seconds or longer (in some cases)... or delayed shooting.
Pausing when going to a video, or when I multitask back to a video and try to get back to the main ipod menu. Used to be great with <4.3 but now its almost android quality.
Removing all recently used apps and doing a full reboot appears to help - most of the time But its a pain having to do it daily.
the iPad handles it fine.
Yes... Apple likes widgets.
I?m sure what angle that guy is pulling: troll or ignorant.
I believe it was Mac OS X Tiger that first introduced Widgets in Dashboard so Apple clearly doesn?t have a problem with Widgets. If his claim is that Apple doesn?t like Widgets when it comes to iOS how does he back that up? Where is the proof? Seems to me his only argument is that since they don?t exist in iOS it must be that Apple hates them which is a pretty poor logic.
4. Updated and feature rich mapping application based on new Apple backend.
http://www.9to5mac.com/69623/ios-5-w...ps/#more-69623
With Apple?s purchase of two mapping companies over the last couple of years - Poly9 and Placebase - many have speculated that iOS 5 will finally be the iOS release where Apple moves from a Google Maps backend to an Apple backend. Multiple job postings on Apple?s official site backed up this speculation and even Apple promised some under-the-hood maps tweeks for their next-generation iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch operating system.
Now, sources have told 9to5Google that although Apple is working to improve the iOS Maps application, iOS 5 will not bring an Apple developed maps service and Google Maps is still in. Besides Apple?s purchase of both Placebase and Poly9, some speculated that Apple is building their own maps service to either compete with Google or step away from their input into iOS.
Apple began the process of distancing themselves from Google when former Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigned over ?conflict of interest.? Apple has also added Microsoft?s Bing as a Safari search option and will be competing with Google head-to-head with their upcoming cloud-based music service. Those who enjoy Google Maps should not fear iOS 5, though, and hopefully Apple is working to implement turn-by-turn directions or something else to improve their maps application without changing the backend.
Only a rumor from "sources", but it's something.
I?m sure what angle that guy is pulling: troll or ignorant.
I believe it was Mac OS X Tiger that first introduced Widgets in Dashboard so Apple clearly doesn?t have a problem with Widgets. If his claim is that Apple doesn?t like Widgets when it comes to iOS how does he back that up? Where is the proof? Seems to me his only argument is that since they don?t exist in iOS it must be that Apple hates them which is a pretty poor logic.
I sense a bit of the troll... I see he popped into the Samsung thread to spread his joy with Apple products.
But at least I have Contact widgets and once I unlock my phone I just click them once to dial. Also, I don't know if iPhone has this, but...Droid unlock screen can use a swipe pattern. I can do it without looking in any orientation now. That's boss. I know iPhone can go without a lock and just have the slider, but then that has no security. I believe the swipe gesture is unique to Droid for now. (Not counting a jailbroken phone)
Maybe for iPhone unlocking you could do:
*Swipe phone without looking*
Please speak your password
"Fifty-five Hundred Two Three One A"
Ready
But a swipe pattern to unlock is a good idea. Obviously with people around they could hear you speak your password.
I do use the voice controls on the iPhone 4 but for basic calling only. The speech recognition for songs, playlists, etc. is iffy and it doesn't learn as you go.
EDIT: Guess that function is available for Android too.
http://www.starttalking.com/faqs.php
This should be the minimum for iOS 5 if they are going to do speech-to-text and vice versa. Really make using the iPhone a hands-free experience and improve safety at the same time. It goes without saying one sticking point with touchscreens is that tapping the screen while doing other stuff is difficult. That's one of the last several advantages of BlackBerry phones with physical buttons.
I missed the part where you waited a month. Your telco made you wait that long? Sometimes I forget how nice it is to live in a city with an Apple Store.
Yes, there are many things we take for granted in the developed world. When you move to a developing country, certain things just fry your brain. It's even more frustrating returning to your birthplace, as I have, after a long time away, and seeing the lack of progress in areas where it really matters. Such as transparency, accountability, organisation, etc.
The iPhone 4 was launched here in September last year. I signed up with one of the three telcos offering the iPhone 4. They have reasonable 3G coverage and sensibly-priced iPhone 4 plans. However for a few months now, they quote a one-month waiting list to get any iPhone 4 fixed. They claim there is a backlog, not enough stock or whatever for replacement units.
Of course they're still happily signing up new iPhone 4 contracts, surprise surprise, no stock issues there.
Apple would not be where it is now without official Apple Stores. It has been critical to their success to have a "refuge of last resort" to be attended to. Besides all the other functions it serves.
In countries where you're dependent on only the telco to service your iPhone, you're pretty much thrown to the wolves if the telco loses interest in keeping iPhone supply and service up to par. Macs and iPads are not that bad because those can be taken care of by Apple Resellers and Apple Authorised Service Providers who specialise in Apple sales and service.
You can see why Apple is interested in official Apple Stores in China. They have some work to do, but they see that growing and managing the brand through official Apple Stores is very important. They can't leave it purely to the Chinese telcos, Apple resellers and scalpers who will try to do whatever they please.
Australia is kind of the poster boy for why Apple Stores are important. For a long time things were done through resellers. However given the nature of Australia being quite similar to the US, Canada and Europe, Apple decided to go in themselves and things have never been better.