Monday, June 07, 2010

Safari 5 Clips Chrome and Apes Instapaper With Safari Reader [Apple]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5557673/safari-5-clips-chrome-and-apes-instapaper-with-safari-reader

It didn't warrant a keynote mention, apparently, but Safari 5 is here. The big new feature, besides speed—it's a whole 3 percent faster than Chrome—is Safari Reader, which reformats web articles into a single view, sorta like Instapaper.

Oh, and extensions, finally! It should be rolling out like nowish according to the release—though the Apple site is still full-blown Safari 4.

Apple Releases Safari 5

SAN FRANCISCO, June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today released Safari® 5, the latest version of the world's fastest and most innovative web browser, featuring the new Safari Reader for reading articles on the web without distraction, a 30 percent performance increase over Safari 4,* and the ability to choose Google, Yahoo! or Bing as the search service powering Safari's search field. Available for both Mac® and Windows, Safari 5 includes improved developer tools and supports more than a dozen new HTML5 technologies that allow web developers to create rich, dynamic websites. With Safari 5, developers can now create secure Safari Extensions to customize and enhance the browsing experience.

"Safari continues to lead the pack in performance, innovation and standards support," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Safari now runs on over 200 million devices worldwide and its open source WebKit engine runs on over 500 million devices."

Safari Reader makes it easy to read single and multipage articles on the web by presenting them in a new, scrollable view without any additional content or clutter. When Safari 5 detects an article, users can click on the Reader icon in the Smart Address Field to display the entire article for clear, uninterrupted reading with options to enlarge, print or send via email.

Powered by the Nitro JavaScript engine, Safari 5 on the Mac runs JavaScript 30 percent faster than Safari 4, three percent faster than Chrome 5.0, and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6.* Safari 5 loads new webpages faster using Domain Name System (DNS) prefetching, and improves the caching of previously viewed pages to return to them more quickly.

Safari 5 adds more than a dozen powerful HTML5 features that allow web developers to create media-rich experiences, including full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video. Other new HTML5 features in Safari 5 include HTML5 Geolocation, HTML5 sectioning elements, HTML5 draggable attribute, HTML5 forms validation, HTML5 Ruby, HTML5 AJAX History, EventSource and WebSocket.

The new, free Safari Developer Program allows developers to customize and enhance Safari 5 with extensions based on standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The Extension Builder, new in Safari 5, simplifies the development, installation and packaging of extensions. For enhanced security and stability, Safari Extensions are sandboxed, signed with a digital certificate from Apple and run solely in the browser.

Pricing & Availability

Safari 5 is available for both Mac OS® X and Windows as a free download at www.apple.com/safari. Safari 5 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8 or Mac OS X Snow Leopard® 10.6.2 or later. Safari 5 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista or Windows 7, a minimum 256MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor. Full system requirements and more information on Safari 5 can be found at www.apple.com/safari. The Safari Developer Program is free to join at developer.apple.com/programs/safari.

[Apple]

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iPhone 4 announced, launching June 24 for $199 with new FaceTime video chat

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-announced/

Digg this! Apple has unveiled its new iPhone 4 after a couple wild, unprecedented months of leaks. Sure, it looks exactly like we expected it to (Steve compares it to an old Leica camera), with a glass front and back, but it's what's on the inside that counts, kids. The stainless steel band that goes around the phone is an antenna system, while also providing the main structure of the phone, though it's plugged into the same old GSM / UMTS radio you all know and love -- there's a reason they didn't call it the iPhone 4G. There's also of course that front facing camera we were all anticipating, a rear camera with LED flash, and a new high resolution display that doubles the pixels in each direction (960 x 640) for a 4X overall pixel count increase -- Apple calls it a "Retina Display." It's rated at 326ppi, which Apple claims is beyond the human eye's limit of distinction. Check out an example of the new screen up against the iPhone 3G after the break. Similar to the iPad, it's an IPS display, offering 800:1 contrast. Naturally, it's still the same old 3.5-inch size. Under the hood is the A4 processor that runs the iPad. Despite the new engine (and the 25% thinner chassis), Apple managed to make the battery slightly larger, and the new handset is rated at 7 hours of 3G talk, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of WiFi browsing, 10 hours of video, and 40 hours of music. Oh, and that WiFi? It's 802.11n now. The camera has been bumped to 5 megapixels, with 5X digital zoom and a "backside illuminated sensor," which now can also record HD video at 720p / 30fps.

On the software front, applications will automatically get high resolution text and buttons as part of iOS 4 (the OS previously known as iPhone OS 4), and with "a little bit of work" developers can make their entire app compatible with the new resolution display. Developers will also get access to a new gyroscope, giving devs "six axis" motion control between the gyroscope, accelerometer, and compass, with a new "Core Motion" API to deal with it all. Users won't be left out in the cold, however: they can mess around with that new HD video using a brand new iMovie app, if they shell out $4.99 for it. If anyone's feeling particularly frisky, iOS 4 even lets you switch your default search provider to Bing. Last but certainly not least, that new front camera is enabled for video chat using the new "FaceTime" feature. It's a WiFi-only (for now) video calling feature that works from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 with "no setup" involved, and can flip over to the rear camera if your grandparents get tired of your face.

The phone will be available in white or black, retailing at $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for 32GB. They go on sale June 24th, and AT&T will be giving some extra grace upgrade timing -- up to six months early. The 3GS will be dropped to $99 and the 3G will disappear completely. Pre-orders start in a week, with 5 countries at launch (US, France, Germany, UK, Japan), with 18 more following in July. Apple will also be selling a first party case for $29, and a dock for the same price. PR is after the break, promo videos can be found here, and we got hands-on right here.


Check out more from WWDC 2010 in our liveblog!

Continue reading iPhone 4 announced, launching June 24 for $199 with new FaceTime video chat

iPhone 4 announced, launching June 24 for $199 with new FaceTime video chat originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3GS: the tale of the tape

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-vs-iphone-3gs-the-tale-of-the-tape/

Digg this! Apple's claiming that the iPhone 4 represents the platform's biggest advance since the original model's intro back in 2007 -- but does the argument hold water? Follow the break for a comprehensive rundown of the key differences between the newest member of the iPhone model and last year's king of the hill, the 3GS!

Continue reading iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3GS: the tale of the tape

iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3GS: the tale of the tape originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4 vs. EVO 4G... fight!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-vs-evo-4g-fight/

If you put your ear up to the screen, you can hear these two beasts snarling at one another. Hit up the gallery for more shots, along with some iPhone 3G for good measure. Let's see how they stack up on the big stats, shall we?

iPhone 4

EVO 4G

Screen 960 x 640, 3.5-inch 800 x 480, 4.3-inch
Thickness 0.37-inch 0.47-inch
Primary camera 5 megapixel 8 megapixel
Secondary camera VGA 1.3 megapixel
Video chat FaceTime Qik

Not enough for you? We'll have a big comparison of all the "majors" for you shortly.

Now, there's a lot left to learn about Apple's FaceTime video chat service. For instance, they called it "open," but they also only mentioned a zero-configuration iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 calling setup. Meanwhile Qik can make calls between EVO 4Gs, but also stream video live to the web (while the iPhone needs to record and then upload to get "social" using its official apps). No mention was made of the FaceTime call resolution, but given the fact that the front camera is merely VGA, it's probably streaming at the same 640 x 480 that Qik is constrained to in the free service. However, a premium version of Qik for $5 a month lets you go beyond that resolution, using the EVO's higher resolution cameras. Perhaps the largest distinction is the fact that the EVO can stream video calls over 3G or 4G, while the iPhone 4 is constrained to WiFi for the time being. Naturally, we expect other video calling apps (Skype, please?) to crop up on both platforms and give these initial offerings a run for their money.

iPhone 4 vs. EVO 4G... fight! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4 hits FCC, becomes world's second announced pentaband 3G phone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-hits-fcc-becomes-worlds-second-announced-pentaband-3g/

You really can't fault Apple's timing. While the iPhone 4 may have slipped out in physical form way ahead of its launch today, the FCC docs for it were kept under seal until this very moment. So what do we find out from the disclosure? The Commission identifies the fourth-gen iPhone as model number A1332, and also confirms that it carries a Bluetooth module, that precious 802.11n capability that's still missing from most phones, and -- here's the good bit -- five bands of 3G internet compatibility: UMTS I/II/V/VI/VIII (evidence after the break). Which is all sorts of interesting, since Apple omits one of them -- the 800MHz band VI, most commonly used in Japan -- on the iPhone 4's specs page. Feel free to speculate away on what that might mean. Sadly, the reports grow rather dry from there, with nary a word on how banging the new IPS screen is or how well the FaceTime video chat works -- guess we'll just have to figure those things out for ourselves. Oh, and the first announced pentaband beastie; why it's the Nokia N8.

Continue reading iPhone 4 hits FCC, becomes world's second announced pentaband 3G phone

iPhone 4 hits FCC, becomes world's second announced pentaband 3G phone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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