iOS 5 vs Android Ice Cream Sandwich

So, Google has “unleashed Ice Cream Sandwich” – or Android 4.0 – and it’s ready to take on iOS5 in the battle for smartphone supremecy. But how do they fare in the ring? Ding ding… Round one.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5 – user Interface

Ice Cream Sandwich: ICS plays nice with both smartphones and tablets, combining the very best of Gingerbread and Honeycomb.
Its comically-named Roboto typeface keeps it fresh, while Apple-inspired UI tweaks like app folders, instant photo uploads to the cloud and an action bar to replace the physical keys keep everything flowing smoothly. Then there’s the webOS-inspired flick-to-dismiss gesture while multitasking. Gingerbread icons have also been swapped for resizable Honeycomb-style widgets and notifications are accessible from the lock screen.

Multitasking is the real improvement, though, utilising the Recent Apps button in Honeycomb to pull up a list of open apps used in thumbnail form.
iOS 5: Unlike ICS, iOS 5 hasn’t been overhauled, and on face value it appears almost identical to previous versions. Start prodding and sliding your way around, though, and you’ll find new icons and apps for Videos, Music, Newsstand, iMessage and Reminders, a customisable Android-style Notifications Centre feature and integrated Twitter functionality. Notifications and camera can now be accessed from the lock screen, too, but multitasking remains exactly the same as before.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5 – hardware

Ice Cream Sandwich: The Galaxy Nexus is going to be the only phone this side of 2012 to sport the new OS. So if you’re not particularly fond of Google’s new toy, next year is when everything else gets a look in, including the newly announced Motorola RAZR.

The good news? Google has confirmed it’s working on an ICS update for the Samsung Nexus S and other Gingerbread-flavoured devices. Unlike Apple, Ice Cream Sandwich fans have the luxury of choice, with a myriad of handsets available next year sporting the new OS.
iOS: As ever, Apple’s new OS spans the majority of its ecosystem – and of course comes as standard on the new iPhone 4S. So whether you’ve got an iPhone 3GS or 4, iPod or iPad, you can upgrade to the latest version via iTunes. The only caveat? No Apple products = no iOS 5.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5 – tools

Ice Cream Sandwich: Android offers more data control by charting and even curbing usage. Bumped up Gmail previews and offline mail search are a bonus, as is 16-tab browsing with live previews and Google Chrome bookmark sync.

A whole host of improvements have been baked into the photo-taking department, too. We’re talking about reduced shutter lag, panorama mode, time-lapse functionality and a basic image editor. Unlocking your phone with your face and its NFC-equipped Beam feature for sharing stuff are pretty nifty additions, too.

There may be no Siri onboard, but Android’s improved voice command system is on hand awaiting instructions. It’s certainly not as clever as Apple’s “virtual assistant,” but Siri might encourage Google to raise its game for the next installment.

iOS 5: Siri is undoubtedly the star of the show and has taken voice recognition to the next level. iOS 5 also debuts iCloud – so it’s playing catch up with Android, much like its over-the-air system updates – automatically pushing all multimedia, documents, calendars and mail to your iOS devices.
Apple also chucks in grid lines, face detection and image stabilisation to its camera capabilities, alongside viewfinder pinch to zoom functionality and (finally) the ability to use the volume + key as a shutter button.

Apple’s also added a Reading List feature to Safari, allowing users to view pages offline. Much like Android 4.0, iCloud keeps this reading list synced across Apple devices, while the free iMessage service, Wi-Fi syncing and PC-free setup are the icing atop this Apple shaped cake.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5 – in use

Ice Cream Sandwich: Android’s core user experience has never been as polished as iOS. But the times are ‘a changing and improved multi-tasking means you can flit between apps and features at a satisfyingly fast pace. Like Honeycomb, widgets now have their own tab in the apps screen, too. Throw in Flash and you’re looking at an all-round smartphone experience.

iOS 5: Leave a child alone with your iPhone and they’ll master it in minutes. iOS 5 is that intuitive. Now that it’s borrowed a few tricks from Android, its intuitiveness has gone up a notch. Chuck iCloud, Wi-Fi Sync and features like Newsstand into the equation and you’re looking at an extremely clever UI and a continued hassle-free user experience.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5 – staying social

Ice Cream Sandwich: Rebranding all your contacts as ‘People’ is very Windows Phone 7, but it does mean your favourite and most contacted pals are easily accessible from one place. Contact Cards take care of ICS’s social side by pulling in photos and contact details from all your social networks and letting you have a nose through aggregated posts and updates.

iOS 5: Apple has finally caught up with the competition by throwing in Twitter integration – so sharing info from multiple platforms with strangers is even easier. Unlike Ice Cream Sandwich, social network contacts aren’t integrated into the phone’s contacts, so social networking information is only accessible via the dedicated apps. Not great if you’re a social butterfly, but an absolute godsend if you like to keep social shenanigans, aggregated feeds and linked contacts as far away from your user experience as possible.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich vs iOS 5 – verdict

Google has tried time and time again to beat Apple at its own game, and iOS has remained victorious. But times are a-changing. Both operating systems have a vast number of identical features that make them equally appealing, but it feels like Android just has the edge when it comes to notifications, multitasking and web browsing.
A combination of iOS-inspired-instalments, complimented by its own non-Apple tweaks means Google has rolled out its most aggressive and advanced Android update yet, delivering something completely fresh to the forefront of Android smartphones.
Apple may rule the roost in the app department, but its user experience is starting to feel slightly hackneyed, even with a fresh injection of UI tweaks. With greater customisation options, more control and a complete overhaul Ice Cream Sandwich is, on paper, putting its feet more firmly forward than its iOS counterpart. If Android apps could up their game, too, we feel that even hardened Apple aficionados might find their loyalty wavering.

IPhone 4S Review

Let’s not pull any proverbials here – the iPhone 4S did not arrive as we imagined. But despite that, the phone Apple introduced to awed gasps in 2007 has evolved faster and further than the competition. Its build quality is unsurpassed. Its screen is – at 326ppi – still the crispest (on paper) of any smartphone display. And the App Store, Apple’s iOS trinket shop, is the finest emporium of mobile software in the tech world.
But those are all plaudits equally applicable to the iPhone 4, a handset that also now benefits from having Apple’s iOS 5 software on board. And you will be forgiven for asking if it’s even worth the upgrade, particularly if you’re already locked into some gruesome pact with your network provider. So, is it worth making the trade?

iPhone 4S – it’s not the iPhone 5

When the mythical iPhone 5 failed to turn up with its redesigned aluminium body hugging a 4in (or more?) screen, many fled to their virtual rooftops to discredit Apple’s position on top of the smartphone heap. But is it really time for the Apple faithful to lead a mutiny and head for Google’s Android platform with its tempting promise of Ice Cream Sandwiches for all and open hardware development? Or are we – just perhaps – overreacting a bit to Apple’s ‘incremental’ upgrade?

iPhone 4S versus iPhone

It may look nearly identical on the outside, but the iPhone 4S is markedly different inside to its Apple predecessor, the iPhone 4. Mainly, that’s down to the A5 dual-core processor (similar to the one found in the iPad 2) that makes the iPhone 4’s A4 chip look like a stammering wreck. Apps launch at a touch, web pages render in a blink and all that new eye candy in iOS 5 glides as smoothly as a baby’s bum on ice. Metaphorically speaking.


Plus Apple has finally answered its critics: the signal quality really is better. Stuff has tested the iPhone 4S in a number of situations known to defeat the well-publicised issues with the iPhone 4’s antenna. Remember those dropped calls? The forlorn ‘Searching…’ message in the top left of your screen? Gone. And thank goodness for that.

iPhone 4S – 8MP camera

The iPhone 4 introduced us to the notion of an iPhone without a toy camera on the back. And the iPhone 4S is stretching its photography legs with an 8MP snapper, bringing it up to speed with the HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S II.

It’s a virtual certainty that the Android hardware brigade will trounce Apple’s resolution numbers very soon, and you’d expect Nokia’s first Windows Phone handsets to come packing some heavyweight optics as well. Apple’s retort is a wide aperture and backside illumination (running the sensor’s ‘wiring’ around the back to let more light in). Does it work? In a word, yes. The iPhone 4S’s camera results are superb, the shutter is fast and the sensor is ready to snap a second shot almost immediately. Did we mention it now shoots 1080p with (digital) image stabilisation? And to great effect, too.

iPhone 4S – power and performance

Apple’s talked up the twice-as-fast processor and seven-times-quicker graphics of its new iPhone, but the 4S can only be judged on its real-life performance. Again, it’s up against better specced rivals; it has arrived late to the dual-core chip party, and with a clock speed (1GHz) that’s only just acceptable at the smartphone top table in late 2011.

But the iPhone 4S is no slouch. It puts rivals with bigger numbers to shame with its fluidity (funnily enough, in the 1990s similar claims were made in the spec war between Macs and PCs). Games designed for the iPhone 4’s abilities are notably smoother, and we’d expect apps designed with the A5’s abilities in mind to show a quantum leap in graphical quality. Put it this way: if we were on the cusp of launching, say, a PlayStation Vita, we wouldn’t sleep too comfortably.

iPhone 4S battery life

Don’t expect any miracles – the iPhone 4S claims an extra hour of battery life (with the 3G on). In all honesty, you won’t notice. We’ve no doubt the 4S is more efficient than its predecessor, but the processing grunt needed for Siri (more on that later) will probably end up taking back whatever benefits you’ll gain. In our experience, you’ll still need to pack a charger for an overnighter anywhere unless you’re willing to scrimp on data to conserve juice. Don’t expect a lifestyle change and you won’t be disappointed.

iPhone 4S and Siri

Siri is Apple’s latest ‘invention’, and only available on the iPhone 4S. As with video calling (FaceTime), Apple’s voice-command software isn’t a new idea. But again, it’s something that perhaps only Apple is in a position to bring to the mainstream with such aplomb. Siri intelligently understands your commands and questions, seeking out answers in your address book, the internet (it’s BFF with Wolfram Alpha), your 4S’s GPS nous and all but the darker recesses of iOS 5.

If there’s a reason to upgrade immediately and urgently to an iPhone 4S, it’s Siri. It may embarrassingly strike up Chris de Burgh’s Auberge from your iTunes library when you’re trying to set a reminder to pick up moussaka ingredients next time you go out, but it is such a clear harbinger of the future, it’s hard to resist. You may even overcome your bashfulness of barking instructions at your handset in public.
Admittedly, Siri isn’t quite baked yet: it does get confused and it needs more ability to deal with accents, background noise and languages, but it’s beta software and – with a bit of forgiveness – you can see how it might become part of our everyday lives. It’s like having HAL 9000’s less belligerent brother in your pocket: a decade too late, but conversational, colloquial and mercifully submissive.

iPhone 4S – the verdict

Apple’s iPhone 4S isn’t about changing the world. Not yet, anyway. If you’ve got an iPhone 4 in your pocket and your network wants to keep it that way, there are few legitimate reasons to make the instant leap to upgrade. Those reasons – the camera is sharper and faster, the processor more confident, Siri is a marvel – mean the iPhone 4S is an essential update for those with a 3GS, but only something to covet for the iPhone 4 crowd. It’s everything you wanted from an iPhone 5, minus the bigger screen. If that – and your thirst for fresh aesthetics – isn’t enough, an ever-changing Android landscape awaits you.
Slick, superfast performance
That new 8MP camera really shines
Siri is destined to be your new best friend

It’s not an essential upgrade, but Apple’s iPhone 4S is noticeably fitter than the iPhone 4 – and Siri is a temptation too far

Titan Clash: Apple iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Finally the wait is over and Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus has arrived, but to what? The mighty iPhone 4S waiting for it, that’s what. So in a fight to the death between two handsets whose parent companies are already at war, who will win? Let’s look at the stats.

Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S – Build
Galaxy Nexus: The latest effort from Samsung is slim at just 8.94mm. Yet it manages to support a 4.65in display on its sexy button-less body.
iPhone 4S: The form hasn’t changed, it’s still functional and attractive. But seeing the thinner, sleeker Nexus really does make Apple’s iPhone 4S look a little chubby at 9.3mm thick.

Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S – Speed
Galaxy Nexus: With 1GB RAM and a 1.2GHz dual-core Samsung’s baby is – on paper – way more powerful.
iPhone 4S: The A5 dual-core is clocked at 800Mhz but despite that sounding meagre, Apple manages to use the processor to its full potential. As a result the iPhone 4S would give a 1.5GHz Android a run for its money.

Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S – Power
Galaxy Nexus: The superb 1750mAh battery will have you pushing the handset to its limits all day long with plenty of juice to spare.
iPhone 4S: With an extra hour of talk-time added to a phone that’s the same size as the iPhone 4, it’s a much needed improvement on the previous model – you’ll get a day (more or less) out of the 4S before needing a charge.

Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S – Screen
Galaxy Nexus: Samsung has really amazed us here. Despite jumping up to 4.65in display, the Galaxy Nexus manages a 1280×720 resolution giving a whopping 316ppi, along with those always-impressive Super AMOLED colours.
iPhone 4S: The Retina Display is still king with 326ppi, but on a measly 3.5in screen is that still as impressive?

Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S – Camera
Galaxy Nexus: Sure, it’s only a 5MP snapper – but with 1080p video, facial recognition and smart-stitch panoramics you couldn’t ask for much more.
iPhone 4S: The 8MP shooter on the iPhone 4S is Apple’s best yet, shooting 1080p video. Apple’s made the lens bigger, added backlight sensors and even chucked in an extra lens layer – this really is an amazing mobile camera.

Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S – OS
Galaxy Nexus: Welcome to the world, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – we can’t wait to taste you. With NFC functionality, Google integration, improved multi-tasking and notifications, the Galaxy Nexus really has a cutting edge OS.
iPhone 4S: iOS 5 has brought with it the joys of pull-down notifications, iMessage threading, Twitter integration and improved camera functions. All caught up with the competition, then, Apple.

VERDICT While Apple may be winning in the courts, Samsung has managed to out-do Cupertino at what they’re both supposed to be achieving: pushing the boundaries of technological possibility.
The Galaxy Nexus is fast, has a beautiful display at a great size, and features an amazing new OS. The iPhone 4S has a very impressive new camera, while iOS 5’s new features bring it up to speed with the compeition. Oh yeah, and it has Siri. Which has some limitations. The Galaxy Nexus takes it.

Facebook Changes

Word on the web suggests Zuckerberg and his Facebook gang are about to drop the official Facebook app for the iPad. Yep, according to those trusty bloggers over at Mashable, the app will go official at the much-hyped Apple event on 4th October, alongside the highly anticipated launch of the iPhone 5, and hopefully the iPhone 4S or 4G.

Back in March, those intrepid web surfers over at TechCrunch unearthed the code for the long-awaited Facebook iPad app in the update to the iPhone app and were able to get it up and running on a jailbroken iPad, suggesting it was almost ready for its official unveiling. Since then, it’s been sitting in limbo just waiting to be prodded by the masses on Apple’s super slate. Looks like the wait is almost over.

Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch

Wacom has updated its entry level Bamboo tablet offerings. Now with classier styling and optional wireless capability, the pen and touch tablets come in three slightly different flavours. All three offer Wacom’s batteryless pen with 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, and the included Bamboo dock software allows users to add a variety of pen-specific apps and games.

Top of the bunch is the Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch which sports four Express (shortcut) Keys and multitouch control, and is bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Corel Painter Essentials 4. Then there’s the almost identical Bamboo Pen & Touch (not so fun, presumably) which comes in small with Photoshop Elements 8. Wireless is extra – the accessory pack comes with a battery to slot into the tablet and a USB dongle for Mac or Windows.

Finally there’s the basic Bamboo Pen tablet without the multitouch, Express Keys or wireless option of its more expensive siblings.
If you’re looking for some pen action it’s also worth checking out Wacom’s other new baby, the Inkling.