After upgrading to iOS 5 on my iPhone, my previously perfect Bluetooth connection to my Fiesta suddenly stopped working properly. After about 15-20 minutes the connection would just stop – the phone still thought it was connected, but the stereo was no longer receiving any audio. In addition, before dropping the connection, the message “Bluetooth audio error reading device” would pop up on the radio’s display every time I used the track skip controls.

Fortunately, there’s a solution – Ford have posted an update on to their Ford Connectivity website here. It’s a DIY fix – download the ZIP file, unzip it and you’ll find a folder called “ford_audio_update”. Simply copy the files from that folder onto a USB stick (make sure it’s not put into another folder on the USB stick), and you’re ready to apply the update.

It’s a simple process but seems a bit flakey. The steps are:

1. Turn off the ignition.
2. Turn on the stereo.
3. Plug your USB stick into your stereo’s USB socket.
4. Turn on the ignition to position II (i.e. the position before you start the engine).
5. The update starts.

After applying the update (which takes about 20 minutes) you’ll find that not only does the Bluetooth connection to the iPhone work again, but track names are now displayed on the stereo’s display, and you can now use the Apple USB > Dock connector cable on it’s own (previously you needed a cable which also connected to the headphone socket).

Apple’s latest iPhone, the 4S, starts shipping this week. As usual, there will be nutters lining up in their hundreds outside Apple stores up and down the country, whilst the less desperate early adopters will be keeping an eye on their online order status.

Some people will have placed an order the moment the online store opened for business. If you’re one of them, then this post isn’t for you. This post is aimed at the person who hasn’t decided yet whether the 4S is the phone for them.

First, let’s clear up one misconception that has been doing the rounds. The most common reaction to the iPhone 4S announcement was “What, no iPhone 5?!??”. The fact that Apple only named their new iPhone “4S” and not “5″ really seems to have upset people – yet Apple never said they’d be releasing a model called “5″ this year. It’s like a car enthusiast’s website saying they’re looking forward to the new Ford Capri, and then getting grumpy when Ford launch a new Focus instead. Or, on a more topical note, all the games fans who expect the next Xbox to be called the “Xbox 720″. Spoiler – it won’t be the Xbox 720. The current one was only called the Xbox 360 so it sounded equal to the PlayStation 3, despite only being the second Xbox. Anyway, I digress – Apple are clearly on a two-year product cycle with the iPhone; which makes perfect sense when you consider that most iPhone customers are tied in to two-year contracts (either from the 3G or 3GS). There’s no point releasing a major update every year when your customers can’t buy it.

So, the 4S it is. But is it worth going for, if you’ve already got an earlier iPhone? Well, if you’ve got an original iPhone, a 3G or a 3GS, then yes. Your phone was released over two years ago, and even if you bought it more recently than that, it’s still a museum piece by modern standards. At least if you’ve got a 3GS then you’ll be able to update it to iOS 5, but you won’t get all the features (and older models won’t get it at all). The improvements of the 4S over the 3G and 3GS are mainly:

• Much faster processor (apps load, quit and run faster, less “jerkiness” in general, web browsing is much faster)
• Better camera (higher resolution photos, video recording in high definition – 1080p)
• Retina display (higher resolution screen – text is clearer, images look sharper)
• Front-facing camera (for video calls)
• Siri “personal assistant” (you can ask the phone to do things for you, like set up reminders, send messages, look up information)

No.

You’d be forgiven for thinking it does – recent articles like this one from The Register or this BBC report give the impression that the iPhone is compiling a database of your exact movements down to the second. Fortunately  the truth, as is often the case, is nowhere near as interesting – but truth doesn’t sell as many papers. The Register in particular should be ashamed of the line “can be used to reconstruct a detailed snapshot of the user’s comings and goings, down to the second” as this is totally untrue (the full quote – in context – tries to claim that the people who originally uncovered the file are saying that, but they’re not; it’s The Register’s spin).

No fire without smoke

By simply following the instructions in the original blog post that revealed the logging, you can extract the information and see for yourself what’s going on. Ignore the “iPhone tracker” application – it doesn’t show you the actual data from your phone, it’s not precise enough. Instead, follow the instructions at the link I’ve posted.

The data you end up with looks like this (this is a .csv export of three rows):

“234″ “10″ “43382″ “1019432″ “301935119.905192″ “51.51168227″ “-0.4752497″ “1685″ “0″ “-1″ “-1″ “-1″ “70″
“234″ “10″ “43382″ “1004432″ “301935119.905192″ “51.505149″ “-0.47149378″ “500″ “0″ “-1″ “-1″ “-1″ “70″
“234″ “10″ “43182″ “4412484″ “301935119.905192″ “51.48238849″ “-0.51352369″ “500″ “0″ “-1″ “-1″ “-1″ “70″

There are three relevant bits of info in there:

“301935119.905192″ – this is the time, in seconds since Jan 1 2001, of the recording
“51.48238849″ – this is the latitude
“-0.51352369″ – this is the longitude

The rest relate to cell tower information and location stuff, including an estimate of accuracy (which is generally “not very”).

So why isn’t this data very scary?

First, contrary to what some people are saying, it’s not accurate to the second. In fact, the list often includes tens of positions – 20, 30, 80+, it varies – all with exactly the same timestamp. Since it’s clearly impossible for an iPhone to be in multiple places at precisely the same second, it seems more likely that the iPhone simply states when it starts recording positions in a new general location. How big this “general location” is (in other words, what triggers a new timestamp) isn’t clear – I’ve seen locations miles apart with the same timestamp in my records. Since the timestamps are identical, there’s no way of telling the time that has passed between entries – you could have been there for minutes or perhaps days, if the next timestamp isn’t for another week – it’s impossible to tell.

Second, the locations are not at all precise. I converted my data into a .kml file and imported it to Google Earth. There are frequent entries which make no sense; my phone thinks it has been spotted 80 miles off the coast of Africa, for example. There are many other impossible entries for places I’ve never been near, but that’s my favourite (and the most obvious). The important thing to note here is that this isn’t GPS data being logged – it’s nowhere near that precise. The points I’ve given above, for example, are not places I’ve been to – the closest I’ve been to them is the M25, and that’s over one and a half kilometres away!

Third, each location appears to be tied to a cell tower – so the iPhone is basically recording roughly where and when it was when it “saw” that cell. But since towers don’t (normally) move, each tower is only logged once. So whilst the data might show that you were somewhere within a few miles of a location sometime after the timestamp says (but before the next timestamp time), there’s no way of knowing how many times you were there. This also means that the phone isn’t recording a constant trail of your movements – no-one would be able to use the data to retrace your steps around London, for example. What you’ll often see is a number of points, all with the same timestamp, around a town or city – but it could mean that you’ve spent time there, or you’ve simply driven past there – my phone reckons I’ve spent time in quite a few places I’ve only driven past, never stopped at.

Now, those three points are key to understanding why things aren’t as bad as they seem. It’s probably easier if I put it in terms of the common concerns people seem to have, so I’ll do an FAQ:

Does the data show where I live or where I work?
No. Since a cell is only logged once, there is no way of seeing where you spend most of your time. Also, the chances of your phone first encountering any particular cell when you were in your home are remote – you’d have been in range of the cell long before you got home, and that’s when your phone would have made a log entry. My data had multiple points within a few miles of where I live, yet places I’d only been to once had far more entries. You couldn’t tell from my data where I lived.

I drop my child at school every morning – can someone find out which school it is?
Again, no –  the data is so vague that there’s no way of knowing something as precise as that.

Does the data prove where I was at any point?
Not really. It can show that you were within a few miles of a location, but the timing is very vague – in some cases it can be weeks between entries being logged, and each location is only logged once, so it’s not at all accurate.  And it often logs locations that the phone has never been near, so it’s not reliable by any means. It might show that you were near Leeds at one point, but it certainly wouldn’t show exactly how long you were there for, or which address you were at.

Does the data prove I spent three hours somewhere?
No. The most you can tell is that recording in location A started at, say, 10am on the 3rd, and then started at location B at maybe 7pm on the 7th. So there’s no way of knowing if you were near location A for one minute, one hour or one day.

What can I do to prevent this happening?
Short of going back to a normal phone (Android phones also track position data, and I would be surprised if Windows ones didn’t too), there are a couple of things you can do. Apple say that turning off “location services” prevents the data being monitored, but since this isn’t GPS data I’m not certain that would work. You should certainly encrypt your backups – regardless of this location data logging, it’s just good sense anyway. There’s more info on iPhone backups here. This will prevent anyone pulling the file off your computer or off your iPhone.

Hopefully that makes things a bit clearer. By all means make use of the comments section. And please don’t think I’m saying there’s nothing wrong here – as vague as the data is, no data at all would be even better – I’m just saying that most of the news reports about this are scaremongering, based on incorrect assumptions, and that’s what I’m hoping to correct. Data IS being logged, it seems like it IS being reported back to Apple, and potentially someone else could, given enough time and knowledge, get access to it. It’s just that the data being logged isn’t all that useful to anyone, and pretty much every “proper” report has got things wrong.

In an earlier post I asked “Is the iPad 2 worth upgrading to?“. I said it wasn’t, unless you’d use the cameras or wanted to sell your original iPad now (rather than next year).

Now I’ve had a few days to play with one, do I stand by my original statement? Yes. Here’s why…

I’m going to start by pointing out that although I got mine on launch day, I did not queue for it. My wife grew up on the ‘wrong’ side of the Berlin Wall, and when I hear about how her family had to queue for things we take for granted (like food), I really cannot imagine ever queuing for something as stupid as an iPad. Instead, I simply went onto the Comet website, reserved one at a local store, and dropped by after work to pick it up.

After the expected set-up (which still involves needing to ‘activate’ via iTunes) and restoring my old iPad’s content and settings onto the new one, it was time to play. Obviously the first thing you notice is that the new one is much slimmer then the original. On closer inspection it’s also a couple of millimeters short on width and height, but you’d never notice unless you stacked them on top of each other (obviously I did). Anyway, although the drop in thickness is part of the selling point for the new model, I actually prefer the thicker model; the thinner one feels a little bit more awkward to hold. I would have liked a larger battery instead of a thinner model, but I guess I’m the only one!

The faster CPU is not that noticeable, since the original iPad was hardly slow. At first I didn’t believe it was any faster, but putting the two devices side-by-side and loading the BBC News homepage for a quick test did show that the iPad 2 does load pages faster, but that’s certainly not to say the original iPad takes a long time. Some apps do load a little bit faster, but again, it’s not noticeable unless you run a simultaneous test. The screen is the same – any changes there would have probably increased the cost; this is no bad thing, though, as it’s a perfectly good screen.

That leaves the cameras as the only other reason to upgrade to an iPad 2, and it’s a pretty good reason. The rear one is only 1mp, which is adequate for HD video, as you’re not going to use something this big to take proper photos. The main reason for these cameras is to do video calls, and I can report that it does them well. Neither the iPad nor the iPhone’s front cameras are top quality, though, so face-to-face calls don’t look stunning on the larger screen, but they do the job. If you’ve got family in another country then you’ll be quite happy.

One last thing to mention – if you’ve bought accessories for the iPad 1 chances are they won’t fit the iPad 2. The official iPad dock – contrary to what some are saying – is not designed for the iPad 2; you can wedge it on there, but it’s at the wrong angle and looks like it’s going to break one of the dock connectors if you use it too much. The iPad keyboard dock is the same (and apparently Apple aren’t going to produce a version for the iPad 2). Most cases and all shells for the original iPad are also useless – shells won’t clip on as it is smaller, and cases will be too big. The exception will be sleeves – the iPad 2 will slip in nicely, it just won’t be such a snug fit any more. It’s times like this you’re much better off buying some of the third party accessories – check out my iPad dock review for once such dock that works just fine with both iPads. And speaking of cases and stuff, the Apple Smart Cover isn’t really that smart. It’s nice, but it’s not as easy to fold as they make it look in the videos, and that wonderful self-cleaning microfibre lining? That’s really NOT smart – when you roll it over and use it like a stand, the bit that touches the tabletop is the bit that then gets pressed against your screen. No prizes for guessing what’s going to happen when a bit of dirt or grit from the table starts getting rubbed across your screen- these screens aren’t made of diamond, despite what Apple would like you think they WILL scratch. So save your money, or at least buy an iPad 2 screen protector (that one has a back protector as well). And now we know where the magnets are, we may even see third party covers that are better.

So, that’s the comparison stuff out of the way – and as before, I still say that it’s not worth upgrading too unless you need the cameras or want to sell your iPad 1 sooner rather than later. If you’re wondering why I have one even though I don’t think it’s worth it, it’s because I’m told we need the cameras. Joking aside, we do use FaceTime a lot with my wife’s parents who are in Germany – they get to see their granddaughter every day, so it’s worth it.

But what if you don’t already have an iPad? Is it worth buying?

A lot of people looked at the spec of the first iPad and said “Nah, I’ll wait for v2″. Now it’s here, I’ve got to wonder if they’re going to wait for v3… For anyone who’s not so picky, and just hasn’t got around to buying one, then yes, it’s worth buying. The first iPad was worth it, and since this is an upgraded version, it’s still worth buying. But unless you need the cameras, you should consider that Apple are selling refurbished (fully guaranteed) first-gen iPads for £110 less.

Ratings

If you’re upgrading from an original iPad: Worth a look
If it’s your first iPad: Get it!

(What do these mean?)

Apple would like you to think that the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad are perfect. They’re pretty nifty, I’ll give them that – but hardly worthy of the term “magic” (and don’t get me started on the “magical and revolutionary” tag they’ve slapped on the iPad). Perfection is a way off, though.

However, you can take your Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad one step closer to perfection with the aid of a pretty nifty bit of software called “Better Touch Tool”. I’ve been using it for a while now, so I thought it was about time I did a review of Better Touch Tool.

The reason why Apple’s trackpads (and Magic Mouse, which effectively is a trackpad and mouse combined) are so useful is that they’ve taken the humble laptop trackpad beyond the simple point’n'click capabilities of old, and made them a much more useful part of your computer. You can use one or two fingers on the mouse to scroll or navigate, or make use of up to four fingers on the trackpad to do things like rotate, zoom, navigate or launch Expose.

And that’s where the much-vaunted Apple User Experience starts to fall apart. Apple often make a big thing about wanting a consistent user experience – but why let you use up to four fingers on the trackpad, but only two on the mouse? It’s quite capable of registering four fingers, but they only let you use two – and not only that, but Apple will only let you do a couple of specific things. They don’t even keep it consistent – navigating forward/back is two fingers on the mouse, but three on the trackpad! So if you switch between using a laptop’s trackpad on the move, and then back to a mouse when at your desk, you have to remember two different ways of using them.

Here’s where Better Touch Tool steps in.

BTT lets you choose from a number of “gestures” and assign them to pretty much whatever you like. For example, I have my mouse and trackpad set to use “TipTap” gestures to switch between browser tabs - keeping my forefinger on the pad and tapping with my middle finger switches to the next tab, and holding my middle finger and tapping my forefinger switches to the previous tab. that’s not even an option with the Apple settings, but it’s incredibly useful. I have another one Apple don’t let you choose – a three-finger tap to open a link in a new tab. When you spend a lot of time in the browser, those two shortcuts come in handy all the time. I didn’t have to use those particular gestures for those actions – I could have chosen any of the others from the long list of options – tapping or swiping with up to four fingers, tapping in a particular corner, drawing a triangle, clicking, scrolling - pretty much every option you can think of is available.

However, BTT doesn’t stop there. You can also assign new keyboard shortcuts if you like working that way, all in the same app. And in a stroke of genius, the author has added the option to set application-specific settings. Heck, it’ll even work with a normal (not Magic) mouse.

And just in case you thought that was more than enough to be getting on with, BTT packs in some extra features which have also come in really handy. The main one I’ve found useful is the Windows 7-style “Window snapping”, where you can drag a window to the side of the screen and have it automatically snap to a specific size; but there are a few other options to do with task switching and window management. Again, the level to which you can customise these options is pretty impressive.

Oh, and there’s one final thing to mention – it’s free. But the author does accept donations, and I strongly suspect you’ll be hitting that “donate” button after a few weeks of using it; I’ve certainly done so.

Rating: get it!
(What does this mean?)

Ok, so after all the speculation, we finally know what the iPad 2 looks like. And, as pretty much everyone had predicted, it’s just a small improvement over the first iPad. But is it worth upgrading from the current iPad to the iPad 2?

Just to recap, the improvements over the current model are:

• Slightly thinner and lighter
• Better processor and graphics
• Front and rear cameras

There are two more cosmetic differences, but they’re not really worth including in that list – it will be available in white as well as black, and there’s a new Apple-designed cover. Certainly nothing to get excited about.

I’m not sure about the thinner design – the current model is hardly thick, and I’d have thought it would be better to stay the same thickness but have a larger battery. The iPad can last a pretty long time on a single charge, but if they’re positioning it as a viable reading device, then they’re nowhere near the battery life of a Kindle. The improved processors are an understandable change; the current model is no slouch, though, so at the moment there’s no urgent need for them. This may change when iOS 5 is released, though – certainly the iPhone has never performed well with a newer version than the one it was shipped with (just look at the complaints when iPhone 3GS owners upgraded to iOS 4). The improved graphics capabilities remain to be seen – but as I don’t see the iPad as a proper gaming device (I prefer the PSP with it’s physical controls over using a touchscreen) then I don’t think worth getting excited about.

That leaves us with the cameras as pretty much the main feature on the iPad 2. They could well be the deciding factor for some people - particularly those who use Skype or Facetime to video call friends and family. It works great on the iPhone 4, and my wife for one is eyeing the iPad 2 for this very reason.

So do I think it’s worth upgrading? In general, no; but I can think of two reasons which do make it worth the upgrade. First, if you make use of video calling, then it’s definitely worth it. The second reason is purely financial – you’ll get more if you sell your original iPad now than if you sell it in a year’s time.

What about the original iPad?

If you don’t have an iPad yet, now is the best time to buy one – the first model, that is. Apple have just dropped the price by £100, and the refurbished models are even cheaper – the cheapest iPad (16Gb WiFi) is now just £289. Considering that model was £429 when it was launched, that’s a £140 saving (and in my original post about the iPad I hoped the price would drop by £100-£150!).

Will I be upgrading to the iPad 2?

I really don’t see the need right now. The main reason I might upgrade – and I haven’t decided that I will, yet – is that the value of the current iPad will be higher this year than next year. And I think that’s the problem with the iPad 2 – as nice as it is, it’s just not exciting enough to make me really want it.

Update 28 March 2011: This review was written before the iPad 2 was released. Now it’s out, I can confirm that this dock works perfectly with the iPad 2 – and the Apple dock for the original iPad doesn’t fit the iPad 2 safely.

The iPad is a lovely bit of kit. It’s also pretty expensive. And with prices starting at £439, it’s a bit cheeky for Apple not to include a dock in the box – especially as they pitch the iPad as an ersatz photo frame, for which you need a dock to hold it up and keep it charged. Instead, Apple expect you to cough up £26 for the Apple dock. £26 doesn’t sound too bad, until you realise that you only get the dock for that price (no cable), and it most likely won’t be compatible with any future iPad models – you’ll need to by a new dock every time you upgrade.

An iPad dock. Yesterday.

Fortunately, there are now a few other options. I’m taking a look at this iPad dock from Gearzap.com, who sell a range of iPad docks and iPad accessories. It’s currently available for less than £16, which makes it over a tenner less than Apple’s offering. At that price, you’re probably thinking there must be a catch.

You’d be wrong. Here’s why…

What’s in the box

There’s no fancy packaging; the dock arrives in a plain white box, containing the dock and the frosted back plate. The dock has two immediately obvious advantages over the Apple one – there’s a USB cable hardwired into it, and it’s black. The Apple dock is, bizarrely, white; a very odd choice considering that the iPad itself is black. So not only does this dock match the iPad, it also matches the iPhone.

Using the dock

Before you use it for the first time, you clip the back plate into the base. That frosted back plate is actually pretty smart – not only does it provide support for your iPad, but if you turn it around, it also allows you to use the dock with an iPhone. The iPhone and iPad are two different thicknesses, but the frosted plate has a little ridge which provides support for either device, meaning that it’s twice as useful as the Apple dock (which is specifically moulded to the iPad’s shape and can’t be used with any other Apple device). Heck, it’ll even work with the iPod Touch and most of the Nanos.

Summary

I really, really wish this dock had been available when the iPad was launched; it’s so much better than the Apple one. It’s cheaper, it’s black, it comes complete with a USB cable, I won’t need to replace it if I upgrade my iPad, and I can use it with my iPhone as well. And to top it off, it has a blue LED to let you know it’s connected to your computer (don’t worry if you don’t like blue LEDs – it’s hidden when a device is docked). I’ve tried hard, but I can’t find anything wrong with this dock. Which means it’s really easy for me to finish with…

Rating: Get it!
(What does this mean?)

Take two docks into the shower? Not me. I just sync... and go.

Doesn't the iPad look better with a black dock?

The iPad is well known for its finger-friendly approach to mobile computing, so is there any point (pun totally intended) in an iPad Stylus? I’ve been sent a Hard Candy stylus to try out – and I was pleasantly suprised…

First things first – this review is courtesy of GearZap.com, who sell iPad accessories and all manner of other tech-related goodness. They got in touch to ask if I’d like to write about the stylus, and the thought of using a stylus with an iPad was interesting enough for me to say yes.

Shiny!

The first question that probably springs to mind is “Why would I use a stylus with an iPad?”. It’s not a silly question – the iPad is marketed as a finger-based device, and the hardware/software designers put a lot of effort into ensuring that you didn’t need a stylus. However, there are certain things that just don’t seem natural when done with a finger rather than a pen; writing and drawing being the main issues. If you’ve ever had to sign for a delivery using your finger on a touchscreen you’ll know what I mean. The size of the iPad means it’d be ideal as a notepad/sketchbook device, it’s just the need to use your fingers that can be a drawback. You can’t just use any pointy object lying around, though; modern capacitive touchscreens only respond to a conductive input, such as a finger or a metal tool.

The stylus offers a pen as well as an iPad tip

So now you know why you might want to use a stylus, let’s have a look at one. The Hard Candy Stylus for iPad comes in a neat little plastic package; there’s no need for anything more elaborate, after all. Pop the stylus out and you’re immediately struck by a sense of quality. It’s made entirely of metal, the caps over each end are chromed and the centre piece is a nice satin effect with the Hard Candy logo on it. You’ll find the logo comes in very handy- hold the stylus with the logo the right way up and the stylus is on the left end, and the pen on the right. You’ll have to remember that as there’s no other way of telling the ends apart without taking off the caps.

The pen end takes normal Parker-type refills. It comes with a basic unbranded black one fitted, but of course you can replace it with any similar refill from Rymans or even a pen you’re already using. Despite the extra weight of the all-metal body, the pen feels pretty nice to write with.

The stylus end has a soft tip made of conductive rubber. It’s larger than the pen because capacitive screens tend to be designed to only respond to a large contact area (to minimise accidental input). The stylus end doesn’t have the tapering of the pen end, and you can hold it any number of ways – nearer the tip if you’re writing, or nearer the middle if you’re prodding buttons on-screen. The rubber tip moves very smoothly across the screen – I have a Clear Coat screen protector on my iPad and that felt no different than the naked screen on my iPhone 4.

I tried the stylus with a number of apps, and SketchBook worked really nicely (lines appeared quickly and followed my input) for writing, as did Adobe Ideas. Brushes works nicely for more drawing-oriented stuff. It may be because I was a heavy user of Palm PDAs in the past, but it also felt quite natural to use the stylus instead of a finger for more common menu- and button-pressing tasks; I actually found it quite useful with some apps where their buttons are quite small and using a finger can be a bit imprecise.

Rating: Worth a look

(I’ve actually had a bit of a hard time deciding on my rating – in the end I decided it’s not essential enough to make it a must buy, but it’s certainly something that a lot of people will find very useful)

I see a lot of blogs and comment sites saying there will be an iPhone 5 in 2011 – I thought it’d be fun to commit my predictions to the interwebs, and see how I fare.

So: No, I don’t think there will be an iPhone 5 in 2011. I reckon we’ll see an iPhone 4 S, and then an iPhone 5 in 2012.

My reasoning is that Apple will continue to do “major” versions every two years, alternating with “minor” versions inbetween. It would make the most sense, as I would imagine that the majority of iPhone users are on 18 or 24-month contracts – therefore having a yearly “major” update would only serve to annoy those users (who would have to pay extra to buy the handset off-contract). Now, this won’t be confirmed until next June, but so far it does seem to be the case.

For example, the original iPhone was released off-contract – everyone bought it outright. The iPhone 3G was the first iPhone to be available to buy through a carrier on contract, where part of the cost of the phone is subsidised by the carrier. Although this makes the phone cheaper to buy, it also locks you in to a contract for 18-24 months. Unlike most other handset manufacturers, Apple doesn’t want to offer loads of different models – they have just two on sale at any one time; the current model and the previous one. But they can’t go two years without a refresh, so a yearly update makes sense – but there’s no point releasing a major update if the majority of your users can’t buy it for another year.So the 3G S model – with a faster CPU, more storage and a compass – made sense; it’s not as big an update as the 3G was compared to the original, so it’s appealing to new customers, but not enough to make existing 3G owners angry.

Then the 4 came out – with the retina display and front-facing camera it was another big step; and at just the right time for everyone who bought a 3G when it was released (which was a lot of people) to sign up for new contracts and get a 4.

And so, for that reason, I suspect we’ll see a 4 S in 2011 – I suspect it’ll have a faster CPU again, maybe a 64Gb option, a higher resolution front camera (for better Facetime calls to desktops), a slightly re-worked external antenna (probably just lacquered, maybe that Liquid Metal Apple have bought), possibly a LiPo battery and maybe replacing the rear glass panel with another material, but basically the same design as the 4. Possibly a better set of internal sensors – it does seem to be all about the motion these days – but I’m not expecting anything major.

The iPhone 5 will be released in 2012, I reckon. I think it’s still too early to have a good idea of what will be in ther specs, but the obvious candidates are more storage (skipped this time around due to cost) and a LiPo battery (if not part of the 4 S). The Retina display should still be going strong in a couple of years, but higher resolution displays are being demonstrated right now so it’s a possibility. Something that is quite likely is some sort of integrated RFID/Near Field technology (like Pay Wave or Oyster cards use), since Apple have recently recruited a leader in that field. Mind you, I had that in a Sony Clie about eight years ago so it’s not exactly groundbreaking… It’ll probably have a different design again, too.

As promised in my earlier post, here’s an update on my thoughts on the iPad after a bit more time using it.

What have I been using it for?
The most common question about the iPad seems to be “What’s it for?”. A fair question – after all, it really is just a big iPod Touch, so what can it do that the iPod Touch can’t? Well, not much – actually, nothing – but that’s not really the point.

The real difference, as far as you or I are concerned, is the bigger screen, and this has meant that it has replaced my iPhone as my “sofa surfer”. The retina display on the iPhone 4 has really improved how websites are display on the phone, but the iPad is a much nicer experience due to the larger screen. It’s also come in very handy for showing stuff to other people – I tend to take it round to my Dad’s if I know I need to show him a website, rather than boot up his MacBook. I kinda expected this would be the case, and indeed it was the main reason I bought the iPad, so I’m relieved it has met my expectations in that area. It does feel a bit of a step backwards when I switch back to my iPhone 4, though – I guess iPad 2 will have a higher-res screen, though.

The second thing I mainly use the iPad for is iBooks. But not, under any circumstances, for reading books. iBooks is up against the might of Amazon in this respect, and although Apple have the lead when it comes to digital music, Amazon have the lead in digital books. I really don’t think Apple are going to win this one. However, iBooks is the best PDF reader on the iPad – even better than GoodReader, as far as I’m concerned. So I’ve loaded it up with Mac Format PDFs, manuals, brochures, maps and so on, and it comes in pretty handy. I’m not a fan of reading books on a backlit screen, but this sort of stuff works reasonably well – you’re not reading a manual or brochure in the same way as a book, so it’s less tiring on your eyes.

In addition, it is a very good way of showing photos. I’m not the sort of person to push holiday photos down people’s throats when they come round, but it does a nice turn as a photoframe when not in use. And again, I do take it to my Dad’s to show him photos of his granddaughter – and I was quite impressed to see that he immediately grasped the flicking back and forth concept. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted an iPad himself soon!

Email, of course, gets a bit of attention on the iPad; I generally prefer using Gmail on my laptop, though, as it makes it easier to reply from different addresses and update my filters. But the iPad email client is pretty good.

Finally, the Maps app gets quite a bit of use – again for sofa surfing.

In terms of third party apps, I mainly use the Kindle app (for training manuals alongside a computer monitor), 1Password Pro and Weather Pro. I have others on there but they don’t get as much use.

What I don’t use my iPad for that much is music and video. I’ve got a few movies on there – digital copies from triple-play Blu-Rays and home videos mainly – and I do occasionally watch a bit of video in bed, but not as much as I thought I would. I certainly don’t use it on the tube – the iPhone is much more subtle! And I really do prefer my Kindle for reading ebooks – it’s nice to have the same books on the iPhone and iPad, but the backlight is annoying.

Summary

So, five months on, do I think it’s worth it? Well, I’m very glad it exists, and I certainly wouldn’t sell it (until the next one comes out), but I really can’t say it’s worth the money – I think it’s about £50-£100 overpriced. It’s certainly not magical, either – Apple really are in their own little world if they think a big iPod Touch (which is technically superior now anyway) is in any way ‘magical’…