iPhone 5 and iPad Mini Engineering Sample Photos

A "trusted source" inside the Apple supply chain sent images of the metal iPhone 5 design, showing a slightly taller, slightly thinner phone, and about the same width as the iPhone 4S.

Apple’s iPhone 5 has been rumored to be coming with a metal back, and whilst the sample doesn’t provide any conclusive evidence, it does show that there could be two materials on the back of the iPhone 5.

The sample is just over 120mm tall, whereas the iPhone 4S is 115.2mm tall, showing the added height of the larger screen.

The front panel shows a 4-inch edge-to-edge display without drastically increasing the overall size of the device.

Rumored features of the iPhone 5 include:

• A 4-inch display that will replace the device’s usual 3.5-inch display.
• A thinner design rumored to be 7.9mm up to the current 9.3mm found on the iPhone 4S.
• A metal back that might replace the glass Apple used with the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
• A taller design to accommodate the device’s larger display
• An improved front-facing camera, possibly HD in quality
• 4G LTE data connectivity
• Quad-Core Processor, possibly the A6 chip
• Smaller 19-pin dock connector

iPad Mini Design

If the following leak is true, then the new iPad will be the thinnest Apple tablet yet. The sample in the below photos is a plastic mold that may be used to hone the production process and test accessories for the new iPad, which shows the Mini will be a little bit thinner than the current iPad, but it is only about two-thirds the size.

The bottom of the Mini shows the smaller 19-pin dock connector that's been rumoured for a while, with two speakers on either side of the dock connector, where current iPads have only one speaker. As current iPad speakers are almost rear-facing, moving them to surround the smaller dock connector would mean it would be harder to cover them with your hands when holding, which happens with the current iPads.
The sample doesn’t include markers for the display size, but rumors suggest that the iPad Mini display will be 7.85-inches.

The Mini is also rumoured to having a IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) display from Sharp, which apparently handle 330 ppi which means that the display on the iPad Mini could very well be a Retina Display.

Rumored features of the iPad Mini include:

• A 7.85-inch display with 1024×768 resolution. The display is also rumored to possibly be an IZGO display from Sharp
• $299 iPad Mini price
• October release date alongside the iPhone 5
• 16GB model

Source: gottabemobile- iPhone 5, iPad Mini

The Dark Knight Rises iPhone/Android Teaser Trailer

When Gotham is threatened...It's handy that Gameloft have squeezed the Dark Knight into your phone...

Apples WWDC 2012 Wrap-Up (Video's)

The full scoop on iOS 6, OS X Mountain Lion and the new Retina Display MacBook Pro.

Possible New iPhone Leaked

The iPhone repair experts at iFixyouri have unearthed what 'could' be the next iPhone - or iPhone 2012 as it's currently being called. From a production standpoint, it seems that the metal antenna band is molded into the metal backplates, possibly Apple’s way of creating a unibody enclosure. Apple introduced unibody notebooks in late 2008, and the purpose of the unibody is to allow Apple to produce thinner and lighter, yet stronger, devices. This could mean that now that most of the phone’s external elements are one piece, Apple is likely able to squeeze more into the iPhone internally.

Apple needs all the space they can get with their plans of producing LTE smartphones with proper improved battery life.

The long rumored smaller dock connector makes an appearance, and the headphone jack has been moved to the bottom of the iPhone. Speaker grills have been redesigned, and there is a new opening between the camera lens and the LED flash.

Obviously, this could be a pretty great iPhone fake, or even a design that just never got made into production, but the guys from iFixyouri were the first to reveal that the iPad would come in white, so who knows.

If it is indeed real, we expect the iPhone 2012 to be announced along with iOS.6 later this year.

Source: 9to5Mac via Engadget with Thanks to Brandon and Steven from uBreakiFix

The Return of...Tech Beever Rant! Today: Fanboyism

Why is there so much fanboyism surrounding our beloved tech?

The argument spreads way back to the age old argument "my dads bigger than your dad". Which may be true, but can your dad drink his weight in alcohol, but still complete a crossword or extensive maths question with little or no effort?



Today's more 'modern' fanboyism, revolves around Apple - Android, and Playstation 3 - Xbox 360. But why is there such a ridiculous amount of hate toward the opposition from it's fans? I'm not going to beat around the bush; I wont answer this question, and I dare say it'll never be resolved, so if that's why you're here; then you'll be sadly displeased with this article. I will, however, try to get my damned head around the whole ordeal.

Without going into too much detail, the majority of Apple vs Android arguments run from the single sentence "...iPhone's are sh*t".

Now, in my eyes, if you're going to say such a strong statement, then you better have good reasons to back it up. I've owned an iPhone 4 since launch day, and I don't regret dropping half a grand on the thing, and I understand completely that it was/is an awful lot of money to spend on a device, but why is that any different to people spending the same money on a high-end Android device? Other than OS and places to get apps & games, the majority of Smartphones are the same (save for all the guts and processing power), so why are so many people adamant that "my phone is better than yours"?

Among many things that were discussed, the App Store vs Google Play (Android Market) was raised, the argument being "Google Play is better because it has more free apps". Not really an argument.

Let's take a look at some figures:

Android (Google Play)
Current number of Android apps in the market: 450,000
Downloads to date: 10 billion

iOS (App Store)
Current number of iOS apps: 725,000+
Downloads to date: Over 25 billion

However, what many people don't realise, is that both Nokia's Ovi Store and BlackBerry's App World (both of which have only 26 percent free apps), also pull in higher revenues than Google Play despite having much lower downloading volumes.

In 2011, it was revealed that the iOS App store has 121,845 free apps and the Marketplace (now Google Play) has 134,342 (obviously both numbers have changed since then), but whereas Android fanboys will rejoice that Google Play has 'beaten' the iOS App Store, further statistics show that the percentage of low quality apps on Android is 29%, with users ratings of apps with less than 3 stars at a pretty high 226,012 (50.8 %).

Now, as I couldn't get any information on how the iOS App Store fared in the same circumstances, it kind of leaves the above paragraph rather redundant. Instead, users had to take into account that whilst Apple is far more strict in terms of what developers can/cannot put onto the App Store, Google is much more relaxed. This comes at a price, however, for there is a high count of malware on Google Play, something which isn't found on iOS.

Leaving the world of apps behind, many could argue one of the biggest strengths of Android is it's vast customisation. iOS is extremely limited to how users can customise it's OS, ranging from the simple change of the background to the message/ringtone alert. Whereas Android users can change all the icons, live wallpapers, themes, keyboards and many more. The look of a phones OS may not be all that much to some, but to others, it can reflect in a very personal way.

Sure, iOS users can 'jailbreak' their devices to gain the extent of customisation features Android lords over iOS, but why should they go to such measures?
Apple locks users into having the same experience as other iOS devices, which can be both a brilliant experience, or a dull, almost lifeless one, depending on how you use your device.

iOS is also the most open OS in terms of its audience, as its so simple to use, anybody can get to grips with it in a matter of hours, whilst Android differs greatly in its allure, but once you do get accustomed to it, it can be a very rewarding experience.

I am both an iOS and Android user, and whilst I enjoy both, they do house their advantages over each device.

For games, I cannot fault iOS. All top end developers are pushing brilliant and cutting edge games into the App Store. The likes of Infinty Blade II, GTA III, Max Payne, N.O.V.A III, Mirrors Edge, Shadow Guardian, Dead Space and many, many more, are all exceptional games. Sure, titles like N.O.V.A and Dead Space are available on Android, but the vast amount of handsets running different Android firmware means that many users miss out because their device "isn't supported". Of course, there is a percentage of games that only work on iPad and iPhone 4/4S, but those numbers are pale in comparison to the number of unsupported Android handsets.

There are, however, great gems on Google Play, and they go by the name of Emulators. Many free emulators allow you to play your favourite GB, GBA, N64 and PSX games on your phone/tablet (providing you LEGALLY have the bios/ROMS, Tech Beever does not condone the use of illegally obtaining bios/ROMS) and it's something that really adds to the users gaming experience on the go. I have many emulators on my Sony S Tablet, and paired with my PS3 controller, it makes playing the likes of Goldeneye 007 and Donkey Kong Country all that more fun. And there lies another win for Android; the support of USB. It's so simple to pair a controller (Xbox, PS3, Wii) to my tablet, making gaming easier, and even plugging in a mouse and keyboard to help write articles for Tech Beever; I've done many posts on the Sony S Tablet, but, I've also done posts from my iPhone 4 (on the move).

Other than the keyboard, my experience doing write ups from devices other than a PC or laptop is no different, so why should users experience on any phone, whatever the make, be any different to those with the opposite format?

Anybody who is a regular on Tech Beever will know that Tech Beevers Contributing Editor, Dan is a solid Blackberry fanboy, and hates (yes, hates) Apple and every iOS device. Why? Well, his reasons usually contain most expletives known to man, but in reality, RIM and its Blackberry devices are far behind Apple and Android, and now, even Windows Phone 7. However, the Blackberry World Keynote we featured earlier this month did impress even myself. RIM seem to have actually listened and paid attention to the world around Apple and Android, and crafted a very, very impressive device and updated OS. Will it make a difference though? Only time will tell, but if it rocks the smartphone world just a little, it may just be the incentive that the top dogs need to put some new ideas out there.

The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 argument can be held in the same light, with really, only platform exclusives holding their own. Personally, I much more enjoy the likes of Uncharted and Heavy Rain to Halo and Alan Wake, but I do prefer Gears of War to God of War. It's a merry-go-round, and one that I can't see stopping anytime soon.

Myself and Tech Beevers Contributing Editor, Dan, have had this argument many times. I do, overall, prefer my Playstation 3 to my Xbox 360, whereas Dan feels the same to his Xbox 360. Are either of us wrong? No, but an argument that grinds my gears, is that "X game looks much better on X platform". Let's get this straight, no multiplatform games utilizes the cell processor, only the gpu. It's also about memory allocation, the PS3's gpu is still a 256mb gpu and developers working with the 360 as the lead platform will work around that. Xbox 360 can utilize a little more memory, so they have the texture and gpu advantage. However, with the PS3, developers are given the luxery of putting all the data onto one Blu-Ray disk, whilst the 360 (if the game is large enough) has to take multiple disks to complete the game. This is where the textures fall flat on 360, and improve on PS3.

Rockstar (GTA, Red Dead Redemption) was one of the first to appoint the PS3 as its lead platform, and in doing so, made the likes of L.A Noire 'for' the PS3, then ported to Xbox 360. But in the end, it will always be platform exclusives that deliver the best eyecandy, with possibly (and I mean very, very minor points), the PS3 outshining the 360 by a fraction, but in reality, it takes some extremely good eyes to tell the difference.

So why all the fanboyism? Is there a real need to defend our tech? Or is it a case of "I brought this one, so I'm going to go to any length to protect my decision", whether or not you believe in your choice?

Personally, I'm just glad I'm in a position to try all types of tech/games, and take away my favourite features of all, in the hope that one day, they'll be something that truly deserves the title as "the best there is".

But for now, can't we all just get along?

Our Draw Something Art

Draw Something (available here for iOS and here for Android) has become something of a world craze, and as I've been playing a while, I figured I'd share some of my stuff.

Draw Something has gotten massive, and after it surpassed the 50 million download whilst OMGPOP, the company that developed the game, was bought by mobile gaming giant Zygna for $210 million.

iPhones to get shatter-proof with shock mounted glass

No matter what you think of Apple and their iDevices, they're always attempting to find new ways to improve them, and the company's latest patent application wants to keep its crack-prone glass blemish free. The big A's latest patent is called the "shock mounting cover glass in consumer electronic devices," and claims a tunable shock mount sandwiched between the phone's glass and other hardware.



Also on the horizon is a sensor that can distinguish a "drop event" from normal phone movements and an actuator to prepare the shock mount for impact, but obviously, neither of these will be implemented anytime soon.

Source: Engadget

The iPhone 4S: Need vs Want

Our new contributer, Simon from Best Mobile Contracts has the all important view on the iPhone 4S:

The iPhone 4S: Need vs Want

Here in the gadget heaven that is the tech-blogosphere, I’ve been spending a lot of my spare time of late poring over the rave reviews of the iPhone 4S. After blog number 138, I came to the conclusion that I absolutely had to have it. The only sensible option was to move some money around and buy the damn thing. Otherwise, how would I function in the real world? How would I speak face-to-face with friends and family? And what was I doing with a phone less than 3 inches wide, to which I could not even dictate text messages? It was a mystery.




Taking a break for a brew, however, I gained some perspective. I asked myself what was wrong with my current handset. Could I make and receive calls? Yes. Text messages? Yes. Did I have the internet? Yes. And yet, I still felt compelled to call up that loan shark and make that purchase. So what was the problem?

The problem is that the iPhone 4S (and the other iPhones before it, it must be admitted) have ushered in an era of the possible, if not strictly necessary, in communication technology. I don’t need Siri voice activation technology, but boy would it be cool to dictate texts to my phone as I drive, or sit on the train, or make spag bol. With the new iPhone you can ask questions like ‘Will I need an umbrella?’ and have Siri recognise the request, look up the forecast and respond. Truly, Apple has embraced the hands-free element of portable communications, and the iPhone 4S undisputedly takes this crown, single - or rather non - handedly. But I could have read the forecast in the paper; looked it up on the internet; watched it on the telly.
And what’s more, I was perfectly happy to do so until I heard about the iPhone 4S.

I own a digital camera. It works a treat. But the iPhone 4S has an amazing 1080p camera. It’s so good, it’s almost like my digital camera – but it’s on my phone. Never mind that I already have a perfectly functional, better quality, stand-alone camera. I was swayed by the idea of the all-in-one, the phone that would be my go-to gadget come rain or shine - the phone to guide and bind us all.

Similarly, Facetime, the non-Skype version of Skype that Apple has marketed as a means for keeping in touch, may be a wonderful bit of technology. But if I have Skype already, do I need it on my phone? The answer, of course, is no, but the iPhone is not about need - it’s about want.

In an inspired move, Apple has successfully enticed a demographic of buyers that know they don’t really need an iPhone. We do, however, want to be a part of one of the most innovative and technologically inventive products our generation has ever seen. (The space programme admittedly has a smidgen more of the wow factor, but I can’t throw a rocket in my handbag.) Apple’s pervasive marketing has made me believe that their products and innovations are part of the technology of the future. While I am detached enough to write this, I am still drawn to the smartphone that tops all others.

Reader, I have a confession to make: I bought an iPhone 4S contract. I put my hands up: I am now proudly on the waiting list for the newest trick up Apple’s sleeve. I don’t need it, but I sure as hell want it.

Remembering Steve Jobs

Remembering the man who changed the technology world and influenced the era of "Think Different"





On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs died in California at age 56 due to a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
The devastating news came to millions of tech fans all over the world.

Steve Jobs was a great man, and a brilliant influence and credit to the technology world, and everyone here at Tech Beever would like to send our condolences to Jobs' friends and family for their tragic loss.

The computer entrepreneur and inventor was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. and also served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios.

In 1978, Apple recruited Mike Scott from National Semiconductor to serve as CEO for what turned out to be several turbulent years. In 1983, Steve Jobs lured John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Apple's CEO, asking, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?"

Later the following year, Apple aired a Super Bowl television commercial titled "1984". At Apple's annual shareholders meeting on January 24, 1984, to which an emotional Jobs introduced the Macintosh to a wildly enthusiastic audience.

In 1984, however, Sculley relieved Jobs of his duties as head of the Macintosh division. Jobs later claimed that being fired from Apple was the best thing that could happen to him; "The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."

Following in 1985, Jobs founded NeXT Computer in 1985, which saw the birth of the NeXT workstation. The NeXT workstation was known for its technical strengths, with its object-oriented software development system. NeXT products were marketed to the financial, scientific, and academic community, highlighting its innovative, experimental new technologies, such as the Mach kernel, the digital signal processor chip, and the built-in Ethernet port.

In 1986, Jobs bought The Graphics Group (later renamed Pixar) from Lucasfilm's computer graphics division for the price of $10 million, with the first film produced by the partnership, Toy Story, bringing fame and critical acclaim to the studio when it was released in 1995. The company went on to (and still does) create brilliant animated films, including box-office hits A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010). Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3 each receiving the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

The second generation NeXTcube was also released in 1990, with Jobs touting it as the first "interpersonal" computer which would replace the personal computer. The NeXTcube could share voice, image, graphics, and video in email for the first time. "Interpersonal computing is going to revolutionise human communications and groupwork", Jobs told enthusiastic reporters. In 1996, NeXT Software, Inc. released WebObjects, a framework for web application development. NeXT was acquired by Apple Inc. in 1997 and WebObjects was used to build and run the hugely popular Apple Store, MobileMe services, and the iTunes Store.

Apple's subsequent 1996 buyout of $429 million for NeXT brought Jobs back to the very company he co-founded, and he served as its CEO from 1997 until his tragic death in 2011.

Under Jobs's guidance the company increased sales significantly with the introduction of the iMac, and later, the iPod portable music player, iTunes digital music software, and the iTunes Store.

On June 29, 2007, Apple entered the mobile phone business with the introduction of the iPhone, a multi-touch display smartphone, which also included the features of an iPod and, with its own mobile browser, revolutionized the mobile browsing scene. While stimulating innovation, Jobs also reminded his employees that "real artists ship", by which he meant that delivering working products on time is as important as innovation and attractive design.

With the ever importance of the Mac, Macbook, iPod, iPhone and iPad series growing all the time, it's hard not to look at Steve Jobs' work and think that this man brought something to the world with every product he placed his fingers to. Even if you're not a fan of Apple, no one can argue the influence Jobs brought to the technology world, that even if you're a firm 'fanboy' of Android, that the iPhone was a true innovation of the smartphone world. And that the iPad may not have been the first tablet in the world -- it was almost certainly a revolutionary bound forward, bringing the love, and even 'need' for a stylish, yet magical device.

It's all these things and more, that make the loss of Steve Jobs; a man who wasn't afraid to "think differently", all the more tragic.

Steve Jobs will be sadly missed, but for all the work he's done, for products that will continue to grow and evolve -- he'll never be forgotten.

Watch The "Let's Talk iPhone" Event

It's Like You're Right There. A Day After.



Apple had some guys with cameras, and, as guys with camera's do -- they filmed stuff. Cupertino has posted video of the event, and you can relive the magical (or dissapointing) birth of the iPhone 4S, iOS 5, Siri and the new iPods by visiting the source below.


Source: Apple

iPhone 4S vs iPhone 4: How do they compare?

iPhone 4S

iPhone 4

Price (on contract)	$199 16GB, $299 32GB, $399 64GB	$99 8GB
Processor	Dual-core Apple A5	Apple A4
Display	3.5-inch IPS 960 x 640	3.5-inch IPS 960 x 640
Primary camera	8 megapixel AF with flash and f/2.4 aperture	5 megapixel AF with flash
Secondary camera	VGA at 30fps	VGA
Video recording	1080p at 30fps, optional iMovie	720p at 30fps,  optional iMovie
Cellular	Hybrid GSM / CDMA "World Phone", Bluetooth 4.0	Quadband GSM,  pentaband HSPA
WiFi	802.11b/g/n	802.11b/g/n
Orientation sensing	Accelerometer, digital compass, gyroscope	Accelerometer,  compass, gyroscope
FaceTime video calling	Yes	Yes
SIM standard	Micro SIM	Micro SIM
Battery life	Up to 8 hours talk time on 3G 14 hours talk time on 2G Up to 6 hours data on 3G Up to 9 hours data on WiFi Up to 40 hours audio Up to 10 hours video	Up to 7 hours talk time on 3G,  14 hours on 2G Up to 10 hours  data on WiFi Up to 40  hours audio Up to 10  hours video
Weight	140 grams / 4.9 oz	137 grams / 4.8 oz.
Dimensions	115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm	115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3mm

Chart courtesy of Engadget

Is That...Yep, Meet The iPhone 4S (Gallery)

Wow...it looks like the iPhone 4. Indeed, but it's a hell of a lot more! Read the previous post here with all the specs, but before you go -- just look at it...

iPhone 4S: it's real!

Well, it was predicted, Apple have released all the info on the iPhone 4S.



On the outside, it looks identical to the iPhone 4, but inside it's packing a dual-core A5 processor, (the same one found in the iPad 2), which it says will provide up to 7-time graphics processing speeds.

Additionally, the iPhone 4S features a new antenna system, which intelligently switches between two built-in transmitters to optimize call quality and data transfer speeds -- capable of 14.4 Mbps download speeds.

iPhone 4S will also be universal, available for both GSM and CDMA networks worldwide.

The cameras has also been updated, with a new 8-megapixel sensor, which can achieve resolutions of 3264x2448, 60-percent more pixels than the previous version. Additionally, the CMOS sensor has been updated, allowing the camera to gather 73-percent more light than before.

For video, the new iPhone 4S can record full 1080p video, up from the original iPhone 4's 720p video support.

iPhone 4S will be priced at $199, $299 and $399 in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variations. Pre-orders begin on October 7, and will be released on October 14.

Apple "Let's talk iPhone" today!

Yep, today is the big day; the announcement of the next iPhone. Will it be the iPhone 5? iPhone 4S? Both? Something different altogether? Slight improvement? Bigger screen? A5 processor? 4G? Thinner? It's anyone's guess, but we'll be updating this post as soon as developments arise.

[note] It's all over now! 

Keep tuned! 

[note] the LIVE feed is in chronological order

Well, that's it!

11:38 a.m. That concludes today’s media event. iPhone 4S, Siri, new iPods. Hope you had fun!

11:37 a.m. Oops, available on all three carriers: AT&T, Verizon and now Sprint.

11:36 a.m. On October 28th, it’ll hit a bunch more countries, and by December, over 70 countries, over 100 carriers. This is the fastest roll out ever for an iPhone.

11:35 a.m. Pre-orders tart on Friday October 7th, and the iPhone 4S will be vailable October 14th in Uthe US, Canada, Asutraklia, the UK, France Germany and Japan.

11:33 a.m. The iPhone 4S will be avilable in black and white. 16 GB for $199, 32 GB for $300, $64 GB for $400, with a two year contract. The 3GS will now be available for free, and an 8 GB iPhone 4 will now be available for $99.

11:31 a.m. Video still going on, basically summarizing the points we already mentioned. Processor, camera, Siri, iOS 5 and iCloud. “We’ve thought about every square millimeter that goes inside the iPhone 4S.” And that concludes our video.

11:29 a.m. Phil is showing a video of the iPhone 4S. The video shows us the inside of the phone, almost like an x-ray. “Siri is a whole new way of interacting with your iPhone, using just your voice,” Scott says in the video.

11:28 a.m. Now we know all the features that are added in the iPhone 4S. To be clear, Siri is iPhone 4S specific.

11:27 a.m. With Siri you can use natural language. It’s conversational, contextual, personal. It works with built-in apps, adds dictation anywhere there’s a keyboard. It works across Wi-Fi or 3G. It’ll be built-in to the iPHone 4S and support English, French and German. It will be beta to start: more languages and services will be added over time.

11:27 a.m. “And that is the coolest feature of the iPhone 4S,” Phil says as he steps back onstage. On the keyboard, there’s now a microphone, which can be used to interact with Siri and dictate messages.

11:26 a.m. What is Siri, exactly? “I am a humble personal assistant,” Siri replies. Much laughter and applause.

11:24 a.m. Siri can also play any song you want, if it’s in iCloud or on the device, you can use it to make calls, send messages, set up meetings, set reminders, get directions, dictate and send emails, find out the weather, get information about stocks, set alarms, find a contact’s address, write notes, perform web searches, and answer any questions you’d normally ask Wolfram Alpha.

11:24 a.m. If you’re counting down to a special event, you can ask Siri. How many days until Christmas? 82 days (or 2 months, 21 days, 11 weeks 5 days, 58 weekdays, .22 years). Pretty precise there, Siri.

11:23 a.m. Traveling abroad? Siri finds the current exchange rates, so you can see how many Euros to a dollar, for instance.

11:22 a.m. You can ask Siri to “Define mitosis” and a definition comes up.

11:22 a.m. Web search is also integrated with Siri. So if you’re looking up info on the space program, you can tell Siri to “Search Wikipedia for Neil Armstrong.” The relevant Wikipedia page comes up in Safari almost instantly. Siri is also partnered with Wolfram Alpha (awesome!).

11:20 a.m. You can also set up meetings, hands free, just by talking to Siri. Scott set up a meeting with Phil Schiller for Friday. But there’s more! “Remind me to call my wife when I leave work?” Siri asks for verification about the request, then confirms that it will remind him.

11:19 a.m. If you get a message, and your phone is in your pocket, you can ask Siri to read it to you, hands free. You just have to say “Read my message.” Siri reads the message, and asks if you want to “Reply” or “read it again”. You can also ask it questions about your calendar. Scott checks he’s open on Friday, then tells Siri to reply “I can do Friday.”

11:18 a.m. You can also ask Siri Maps related questions, and it will show you the directions. Siri has a robotic female voice in this demonstration.

11:17 a.m. You can ask Siri about stocks. Siri says “NASDAQ Composite is down right now.” Siri is also partnered with Yelp, so you can ask something like “Find me a great Greek restaurant in Palo Alto.” Siri responds “I’ve found 14 Greek restaurants, 5 of them are in Palo Alto. I’ve sorted them by rating.” The ranked listing follows below.

11:16 a.m. Now, a question about the clock. “What time is it in Paris?” Response: “The time in Paris, France is 8:16 PM.” What about the alarm? “Wake me up tomorrow at 6am?” “OK I set it for 6am” Siri says. Impressive.

11:16 a.m. You can also ask the question a different way to get the same result. You can also ask something conceptual like, “Do I need a raincoat today?” Siri responds: “It sure looks like rain today.” The audience laughs and applauds.

11:15 a.m. You can get to Siri at any time by holding down the home button for a few seconds, like Voice Contorl on the iPhone now. Scott asks “What is the weather like for today”. The app says “Here’s the forecast for today” and brings up a forecast listing. It’s 66 degrees, with a high of 70 and low of 55.

11:14 a.m. Now we’ve got a demo of beta Siri software. It’s a live demo. Scott Forstall will show us how it works.

11:13 a.m. “What we really want to do is talk to our device, and get a response. We don’t want to be told how to talk to it, we want to talk to it however we like,” Phil says. This feature that does this is called Siri, your intelligent assistant. It helps you get things done, just by asking.

11:13 a.m. “It’s the most best iPhone yet.” It has one more feature, all about our voice. Oh boy, you can feel the excitement in the room.

11:12 a.m. Phil is giving an overview of the iPhone 4S’s features: improved processor, wireless technology, camera, AirPlay, and it comes with iOS 5. It’s also part of iCloud.

11:11 a.m. Now, AirPlay. You can stream photos and videos straight to your Apple TV setup. It also has AirPlay mirroring. If you don’t have an Apple TV, you can plug in an HDMI cable and do wired mirroring.

11:11 a.m. “For many customers, the iPhone 4S will be the best video camera they’ve ever owned, the best still camera they’ve ever owned.”

11:09 a.m. Next, video recording. It can take 1080p HD video with real-time video image stabilization. There’s also temporal noise reduction, which helps in low light scenarios. Now we’re going to see a sample video of the kind of quality you can expect from the camera. The colors are bright, vivid. It’s a video of three ladies and going hot air ballooning.

11:08 a.m. The photos don’t look like they’re shot with a smartphone at all. Last few shots are of the ocean, waves crashing, and wildflowers blooming near a calm beach.

11:07 a.m. Now we’re seeing some sample photos taken with the iPhone 4S. Sushi shot? Nope, first shot is of some mountains. Hot air balloons over tree tops, a woman with a dandelion. A squirrel! “Do you know how hard it is to get a squirrel to stand still?” (Just give it some food.)

11:06 a.m. We’re looking at a chart of smartphone camera speeds. The iPhone 4 takes 1.1 seconds for first photo, half a second for second photo. Droid Bionic takes 3.7seconds for first photo, 1.6 seconds for second photo.

11:06 a.m. Apple also uses that A5 chip, which houses an Apple designed image processor. There’s face detection, it has 26% better auto white balance than the iPhone 4, and the chip takes super fast photos.

11:05 a.m. The iPhone 4S has a five element lens (there were four in the iPhone 4), this provides a 30% sharper image. It’s got an f/2.4 aperture, which lets in more light.

11:03 a.m. Third: the camera system. The iPhone 4 is the most popular camera used on Flickr. “We set our sights on competing with great point and shoot cameras,” Phil says. So what’s the new camera like? It’s got an 8 MP sensor, you can take photos that are 3264 by 2448. That’s 60% more pixels than the iPhone 4’s camera sensor. But that doesn’t necessarily make a picture better. The new sensor is backside illuminated, which gathers 73% more light than the iPhone 4’s sensor. It’s 33% faster than the iPhone 4 camera as well. On top of that, it’s got a hybrid IR filter for better color accuracy and more color uniformity.

11:03 a.m. That’s the new antenna system. A breakthrough in antenna technology, faster downloads, world phone.

11:02 a.m. Next, a world phone. The iPhone 4 came in two flavors, GSm and CDMA. GSM lets you roam around the world. The iPhone 4S is a world phone, it has both GSM and CDMA.

11:02 a.m. The iPhone 4S is just as fast as other 4G phones.

11:00 a.m. Second: the wireless system. Phil’s talking about the iPhone 4’s stainless steel band. The iPhone 4S will intelligently switch between two antennas to both transmit and receive. It can do this in the middle of a call. It improves call quality and can download data twice as fast as before. It can achieve 14.4 down and 5.8 up (that’s Mbps). Sound familiar? It’s 4G performance, same as the Motorola Atrix 4G, HTC Inspire 4G, LG Thrill 4G.

10:58 a.m. Victory! Enemy defeated. Infinity Blade II will drop on December 1, 2011.

10:57 a.m. The graphics are super detailed. There’s koi swimming in a pond in the water, sunrays, fireflies. And of course, super detailed characters. Your character now has the option to use two swords.

10:56 a.m. Today, they are announcing an iOS Exclusive, Inifinity Blade II. It includes some graphics techniques not even used in high end gaming consoles. The goal of the game: track down and destroy the deathless.

10:55 a.m. Apple really sees this improving games. Mike Capps, president of Epic games is going to show us something now. Last year, they showed us Infinity Blade.

10:54 a.m. It starts with a retina display, glass in front and back, same form factor as the iPhone 4. But “inside, it is all new.” It’s got an A5 processor. It’s an Apple designed chip, dual core processor, dual core graphics (up to 7x faster than previous iPhone).

10:54 a.m. Today, we’ve got the iPhone 4S.

10:54 a.m. “Despite competitors trying really hard, they haven’t come up with anything close,” Phil says. It’s the number one smartphone in the world, and number one in customer satisfaction.

10:53 a.m. iPhone time!

10:52 a.m. iOS 5 is a tremendous update for the iPod Touch, Phil says. It’ll be available in both black and white. Price drop: 8 GB for $199, 32 GB for $299, 64 GB for $399. Available October 12.

10:50 a.m. Next, iPod touch, their most popular iPod. It’s the most popular music player in the world and the most popular game player in the world. It will now run iOS 5. With iMessage, you can communicate with other iOS users even though you don’t have a data plan, since it’s free and unlimited over Wi-Fi.

10:50 a.m. The iPod Nano is available in 7 colors, 8 GB for $129 and 16 GB for $149. Nice price drop. It’s available today.

10:49 a.m. Now we’re talking about iPod Nano accessories like watches. The updated Nano has 16 new clock faces for people who dig that trend. We’ve got a classic face with roman numerals, a retro looking one, one that’s color coordinated with your Nano, and a Disney Mickey Mouse clock. The audience applauds.

10:47 a.m. He’s talking about iPod. We’re getting iPod updates. First, iPod Nano, which features a compact design, multi-touch display and more, but now has updates. Now you can display big icons for the features on it and swipe between them with your finger. Fitness is one of the Nano’s most popular uses, so there’s an improved fitness experience. Right out of the box, it can track walks and runs. Plug your Nano into your PC to upload your data to Nike+’s website and compete with friends, gain achievements.

10:45 a.m. Eddie is giving us a summary of iCloud. It’ll ship October 12, the same shipping date as iOS 5. iTunes Match will ship in the US at the end of October.

10:44 a.m. You can stream any song in iTunes Match by just tapping on it. You can create playlists and share them across your iOS devices. Songs you listen to most are cached right on your device. iTunes Match is $24.99 a year.

10:43 a.m. iTunes Match is another add on. It gives the same benefits to music you purchased outside of iTunes. iTunes has over 20 million songs, so iTunes Match scans and matches your songs to bring your music to iCloud.

10:41 a.m. New app: find my friends. It lets you find the location of family and friends. It’s like Find My iPhone for people. But sometimes you just want to share your location for a few hours or a day. You can create a temporary event and share your location for a certain amount of time, like a day at the beach. You can easily locate friends and family, there’s a temporary sharing option, simple privacy controls, and parental restrictions (parents can restrict kids from turning it off!). All of this is part of iCloud, which is free for iOS 5 users and OS X Lion users.

10:39 a.m. When you purchase an app on one device, it’s available on all of your iDevices. Books works the same way. Another feature of iCloud is Backup. iCloud does a daily backup of your iOS device. Contacts are updated across all of your devices, too. Calendars work the same way, you can even share calendars with other iCloud users. Mail provides a free .me email ccount.

10:38 a.m. Documents in the Cloud. Now, when you create a new document, like in Pages, it’s automatically saved and stored in iCloud. You can open a document and start editing on any device and pick up right where you left off. Documents are available as Pages, Numbers and Keynote, and will be available on Ocotber 12.

10:37 a.m. Now, Photos. With Photostream, you can take a photo on your iPhone, it’s saved to iCloud, and it’s pushed to your other devices. It even downloads right to iPhoto on your Mac, and you can see it on your Apple TV.

10:36 a.m. Now, if you download something from iTunes, say on your iPad, it’ll also simultaneously download on your iPHone and iPod Touch. With a tap of a button, you can download a song you’ve previously downloaded from the iTunes store onto another device.

10:35 a.m. Now, Eddie Cue will talk to us about iCloud. “iClodu stores your content and wirelessly pushes it to all your devices.” iCloud is free. Now, music, photos and documents. Over a third of the music purchased from the iTunes store is purchased on iOS devices.

10:35 a.m. These are just 10 of the many new features of iOS 5. iOS 5 is a free update that will be available October 12, next week. That’s iOS 5, folks!

10:34 a.m. PC Free is the next feature we’re talking about. With iOS 5, you take a device out of a box, and there’s no need for a computer. There’s support for wireless updates.

10:33 a.m. Mail. Rich text formatting has been added, as well as drag-able addresses, you can flag messages and search entire messages (thank goodness, I’ve been waiting for this one). You can also just swipe to get to the inbox on iPad.

10:32 a.m. Next up, Safari, which will have a new feature called Reader. It makes it easy to read, like Instapaper. If you don’t have time to read a story, you can add it to Reading List, and read it later. Reading List syncs to iOS devices. Tabbed browsing has been added to the iPad so you can quickly switch between websites.

10:32 a.m. Game Center. There’s over 67 million people signed up for Game Center. There’s friend discovery, game recommendations, and more.

10:30 a.m. Next up, Camera. There’s now a lock screen shortcut that you can tap to be taken directly to the camera app, you don’t even need a pass code. You can use a volume up button to take a photo. You can use grid lines to compose a photo, pinch to zoom, ad you can set the auto exposure/auto focus lock. After you’ve taken a photo, you can edit them right on your iOS device, removing red eye, cropping, rotating, and a general enhance feature.

10:29 a.m. Newsstand now. Let’s you access magazine like The New Yorker, Esquire, GQ, Vanity Fair, and newspapers like The New York Times. These subscriptions are gathered together in a single place on your home screen, and new issues are downloaded in the background.

10:29 a.m. Twitter integration. It’s integrated into the OS. Once you’ve logged in, you don’t need to login again from another app. You can tweet photos, tweet websites from Safari, videos from Youtube, locations from Maps, and more.

10:28 a.m. Now another new app in iOS 5, Reminders. You can have location based reminders, if you need to remember something on your way home from work, or simple reminders like a grocery list.

10:26 a.m. Now iOS 5. It comes with over 200 new user features. 10 top ones: Notifications, including the notifications center which is accessed with a downward swype ont he device. Less intrusive than pop up notifcations. iMessage is a new messaging service between iOS users. It supports iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. You can send photo, video, messages, and they’re pushed to all of your devices. They can be sent over 3G and Wi-Fi. Messages are securely encrypted.

10:25 a.m. Apple even mails it for you, and if it’s sent in the US, you’ll get a push notification once it arrives at its destination. If you maile it to a US address, the service is $2.99. Anywhere else in the world, it’s $4.99. Cards is a free download on Oct 12. That’s Cards.

10:24 a.m. Cards is a new app being introduced. It lets you create and mail beauitful cards right from your iPhone or iPod touch. You make the card, Apple does the rest, printing it out on 100% cotton paper. There’s over 21 different designs in 6 different categories: including birthdays, birth announcements, love, travel.

10:24 a.m. Apple has paid more than $3 billion to app developers

10:23 a.m. The app store is the number one store for mobile apps. In a little over three years, customers have downloaded over 18 billion apps. And that rate is accelerating: 1 billion apps are being downloaded each month.

10:22 a.m. So Apple has sold 250 million iOS devices. iOS has 43% of the mobile market. Android has 33%, according to their pie chart. iOS makes up over 60% of the mobile browsing market. There are over 500,000 apps in the app store, including over 140,000 iPad-specific apps.

10:22 a.m. Scott Forstall is taking the stage to talk to us about iOS.

10:22 a.m. This morning they passed the quarter of a billion sales mark for iOS devices.

10:21 a.m. Consumers don’t want tablets, they want iPads, Tim quotes from AllThingsD.

10:20 a.m. 92% of Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying iPad. This is in less than 18 months, which is unheard of. “iPad is the undisputed top selling tablet in the world,” Tim says. “Despite everybody and their brother trying to compete with iPad, 3 out 4 tablets in the US are iPads.”

10:20 a.m. Over 80 percent of top hospitals in U.S. are now testing or piloting iPad.

10:18 a.m. Next up, the iPad. People have been thrilled with both the original iPad, and the iPad 2, he says. 95% satisfaction score in their most recent survey. And iPads are showing up everywhere: in schools (cute picture of a girl in a science lab holding an iPad). Almost a thousand K-12 schools have a 1:1 program so a child can enjoy an iPad for an entire day. Almost all school districts have an iPad program. iPads are in universities, flight cockpits. It makes the pilot and plane more efficient (fuel efficiency).

10:17 a.m. The iPhone has 5 percent share of the worldwide mobile phone market. That’s one in 20 people, worldwide. The market is 1.5 billion units annually.

10:15 a.m. The iPhone 4 makes up over half of the total iPhones sold since the iPhone was first introduced. It’s become the number one smartphone in the world. Year over year growth is at 125%

10:14 a.m. Now iTunes. It started with 200,000 songs, they’ve now got 20 million songs, or ten times that. It is the number one music store in the world. Over 16 billion songs have been downloaded from the iTunes store. Wow!

10:13 a.m. iPod is still a large and important product for Apple, Tim says. They’ve sold 45 million in the last year ending in June. Almost half of those are going to people buying their first iPod. “It remains a very important business for us.”

10:12 a.m. Next up, music: iTunes and iPod. It was only 10 years ago that the iPod launched, revolutionizing the way we listen to music, and the whole music industry. Tim says it also reminded us all that we love music, making music a more integral part of lives. iPod became the number one music player in the world, it’s market share has been above 70 percent for a long time. Apple has cumulatively sold over 300 million iPods around the world. It took Sony 30 years to sell 220,000 Walkman cassette players.

10:11 a.m. Apple’s Mac market share is now 23%, so nearly 1 out of every 4 computers sold in the US is a Mac.

10:10 a.m. The Mac has outgrown the PC market by almost 6 times in the past year. Every single quarter for 5 years the Mac has outgrown the PC market. They are now approaching 60 million users (58 million right now).

10:10 a.m. Macbook Air and iMac are #1 notebook and desktop in the U.S.

10:08 a.m. Tim is going to walk us through each of Apple’s major areas with an update. First is the Mac with OS X Lion — “It’s the best computer operating system out there,” Mossberg is quoted as saying. Results have been staggering: over 6 million downloads. This is 80% more than Snow Leopard.

10:07 a.m. Tim says Apple now has six stores in China, bringing Apple to 357 total stores in 11 countries.

10:05 a.m. The Hong Kong store offers a view of Victoria harbor. It has an even crazier glass staircase. They sold more Macs on opening day in this store than on any other store in the world, it was one of their best opening days in retail history.

10:04 a.m. Tim is showing us beautiful pics of the stores, one of a glass staircase. They welcomed 100,000 visitors their opening weekend.

10:04 a.m. A few updates: Just last weekend, Apple opened two new stores in China, one in Hong Kong and one in Shanghai.

10:04 a.m. — Today, Apple wants to remind us of the uniqueness of their company as they announce innovations of their mobile operating system, applications and hardware, and integrating them into a single experience.

10:02 a.m. — Tim Cook has taken the stage. This is his first product launch since being named CEO. He says it’s a pleasure to host us today, and he loves Apple. He says that this campus serves as a second home for many Apple employees. The room we’re in is called Town Hall. Nice pleasantries and introductory remarks.

9:56 a.m. — Apple seems to be a big fan of the classic rock.

9:50 a.m. — We’re in and seated, people are still getting settled. We’re listening to some classic Led Zeppelin.

9:32 a.m. — Sadly, the bathrooms are not as cool as I had hoped. Pretty standard, utilitarian. Top marks for cleanliness, however. Rating: A+

9:17 a.m. — An image of the MacBook Air graces one of the upstairs walls as art. Awesome.

9:11 a.m. — Quite the spread! Time for a mini-muffin.

9:06 a.m. — Oooh, fancy.

9:00 a.m. — Media check-in has begun! Apple sure is timely. Let’s get this thing started.

Liveblog courtesy of Wired.com (American time)

17:34pm

Still waiting, gearing closer to that 18:00pm start...

14:20pm

Home! Waiting for the whole thing to start!

5:21am

We're that excited we can't sleep...-laughs- no, going to work, counting down the hours...