Gadgetory

this week on the scene EdTech review the iPhone 4s is here and it's not as bad as we thought plus more new phones and tablets from CTIA how to make your Android phone act more like Siri and a special goodbye to Steve Jobs it's all coming up right now hi everyone I'm Molly wood welcome to the CNET tech review where we collect our hottest videos of the week and tell you what's good and what's bad in the world of tech plus offer our own unique tech wisdom in the form of the bottom line regular viewers of the show may have noticed there was no tech review last week the death of Steve Jobs was of course the big story of the week and we were doing our best to give his memory the energy it deserved we'll take a moment to remember him in our bottom line later in the show but we have a lot of other items to cover this week too so let's get started with the good though it isn't the iPhone 5 that everyone was hoping for the shiny new iPhone 4s has made its way into our building and Kent German is here with his official first look hi I'm Kent German section editor for cnet.com today we take a first look at Apple's newest iPhone the iPhone 4s this is the first iPhone that will be available to three carriers Sprint is joining the Apple family here in the US and we finally get a 64 gig model and all versions will be available in either black or white from the start so we don't have to wait around for that white phone like we did last year today I'm gonna look at the Sprint phone now for the most part all of the versions are exactly the same now there are a few differences Verizon and Sprint have they do have a dual band CDMA and GSM support it is a good thing though to see that world roaming because the original Verizon iPhone did not have that with the design the iPhone 4s looks exactly the same as the iPhone 4 the only difference is you'd see is that the CDMA versions don't have a line where the gsm does in the antenna but that's really it one thing I would like to see in the design at some point is a bigger screen it's 3.5 inches that hasn't grown since the iPhone came out in 2007 we see a lot of phones now that are 44.5 I think 4.5 might be a little too big but you do notice a difference if you have a larger phone and then you switch back to this one the antenna is exactly the same but Apple did say that there are now two antennas for the cellular calls and the phone will switch back and forth on the screen you'll see most of the same icons there's some new icons from iOS viable course but the iPhone 4s does bring a few changes the first is Siri Siri is a voice assistant program now the iPhone has always had voice commands and dialing but see where he goes a whole step further by also delivering all sorts of information so you can ask it to do things and you can ask the deliver information what is the date today is brian tong the coolest person ever it's pretty cool it's still in beta prone format and there you go that's Siri on the camera side we finally get a bump up to 8 megapixels which is nice of course the iPhone 4 was 5 megapixels the iPhone 4s also adds a sensor which has more allows more light the camera is supposed to be 32 times faster when you take photos it also can record 1080p video clips at 30 frames per second things you need to know specifically have the sprint model a sprint is the only carrier right now that's gonna be offering unlimited data for its iPhone that's a big deal sprint says it's gonna keep this for a while we really hope it does because that really is a nice leg up for Sprint now as far as connectivity goes we don't have 4G I think apples gonna wait they're gonna come out maybe on the next iPhone but they really want those 4G networks to be everywhere and they want the technology to be really good before they add it on their phone so not quite surprising that we have to wait on that one of course the iPhone 4s does have all the benefits of iOS 5 just mention a couple new notifications the PC free activation and update system reminders better Twitter enhancements iMessage and some great camera editing features another big addition to the iPhone 4s is that a5 processor it is a dual-core 1 gigahertz processor along with a dual core GPU so it's twice as fast will offer graphics and performance that is seven times faster than the iPhone 4s so I've used it just briefly and I can't say I really see a difference of course if you're sprint customer being wanting the iPhone for years certainly now is the time to buy I like what I see here I like the enhancements and over a million people about this phone already so they certainly like it too I'm concerned and this has been a first look at the Sprint version of the iPhone 4s okay so sure it's not the new hardware and maybe not the phone that everyone was hoping for but there's no denying the iPhone 4s is a great phone although if you're an owner of the iPhone 4 already it might not be the most necessary upgrade speaking of phones the cell phone industry group CTIA held its fall convention this week and they focused it on the growing use of smartphones and tablets in the business world but don't worry that can still mean hot gadgets and there was no shortage of new business ready hardware on display in San Diego this week our mobile team was on hand to bring you the highlights everyone I'm testing it's all part for cnet.com here at CTIA in San Diego and I've got in my hands is the Samsung stratosphere this is a new phone for Verizon and a big deal with this phone is that it's much more enterprise friendly so it's got VPN got on phone encryption and it's got support for Microsoft ActiveSync so that will be your corporate email all your calendars things like that specs wise it's got a four inch Super AMOLED screen and that's bright and clear and really pretty to use it's also running Android 2.3 Gingerbread one of its other claims to fame is that it is the first 4G LTE for Verizon that comes with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard so it's got a five megapixel camera and camcorder on the back a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front it runs off of a 1 gigahertz single core processor it costs one $49.99 with a new two-year service agreement and that will be available on October 13th so I'm Jessica's all for it this is Samsung stratosphere for Verizon and you're watching cnet.com I'm Nichola senior associate editor for cnet.com and this is a person at the Motorola Atrix to the Atrix to is is successor to the original Atrix that was debuted earlier this year at CES the Atrix just a little longer a little leaner a little slimmer it also has a new 4.3 inch qHD display on the side you do get the micro USB charging port as well as the HDMI out on top is a 3.5 millimeter headset jack in the usual power button right here on the back is a new and improved 8 megapixel camera with LED flash the 8 megapixel camera has 1080p HD video capture the Motorola Atrix 2 has plenty of features and plenty of power he has a dual-core 1 gigahertz ti processor it also has plenty of features like GPS Wi-Fi and in terms of Android 2.3 Gingerbread it also has web top functionality that changes this phone into a portable PC when plugged into an HD station or a laptop dock the motorola atrix steel also supports the fashioned version of HSPA+ that's it SP a class with 21 megabits per second the Motorola Atrix 2 will be available October 16th for $99 after a two-year service agreement with AT&T I'm the colonist has been a personal at the Motorola Atrix 2 everyone is up kids all cars for cnet.com here in ctia and I'm looking here at the t-mobile springboard now this is a seven inch Android 3.2 honeycomb tablet manufactured by Huawei but it's co-branded with t-mobile so t-mobile has really customized it the way that it wants to one of those customizations that you can see is there that there are these five separate home screens that are organized by entertainment social networking productivity and then there's one for you to basically customize on your own so it's a 1.2 gigahertz dual-core processor that runs the show it's also HD it's 1280 by 800 pixels so that's a pretty high pixel density it looks pretty good and you know it's kind of a small screen but it does look really clear and really bright so that's something that's really nice about it it's also got an aluminum unibody it's got a 5 megapixel rear facing camera a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera there is Wi-Fi of course and 4G supports plus there is HDMI out there's a surround sound and there is six up to six hours of battery life pricing and availability have not been announced yet but we are told that we will be very impressed with the low cost of this so this again is t-mobile springboard and it is a 4G dual-core 7-inch tablet be sure to check out even more new phones right now at CNET TV although it's still in beta Apple's new voice command system called Siri is one of the most compelling reasons to buy an iPhone 4s but for all you Android phone users out there you don't have to wait to start using voice commands at all here's Sharon Vaknin to show you how to get started hey everyone I'm Sharon Vaknin for cnet.com and today I'll show you how to use voice commands on your Android phone when Apple announced Siri the voice recognition system for the iPhone 4s every Android user was like Hello we can do the same thing some Android phones come stocked with a proprietary voice command service like nuance but I've got a couple of other options that I think work much better let's start with Google Voice Search which uses Voice Actions to complete your tasks if you don't have it yet download it for free from the market to get started press and hold the search button on your Android phone to call it voice search or if your phone doesn't have that button long press a home screen select widgets and add the Google search widget now press the microphone and speak a command like get directions to target and you'll get driving directions to a store near you or email Christopher Parker subject hello message are we still meeting today and the phone will compose a message using that format there are 10 total voice actions that you can use to get things done which you can view by tapping the microphone pressing help and sliding through the options you'll see one called note to self so if you're driving and a brilliant idea comes to mind launch voice actions and say note to self I should start using voice control more often you'll get an email with the transcription and the voice recording voice actions is good for basic tasks but if you want to do more fun things like update your Facebook status or find movie tickets you should try out fling go grab it from the Android Market and launch it using the search button or add the widget to a home screen now tap the microphone or long-press the search button select of lingo and say a command like buy movie tickets for The Lion King in San Francisco Vlingo will complete the command and show you all the movie times if you tap the Vlingo icon you'll see a full list of voice commands and at the bottom there's an option to hear incoming messages tap it turn it on and Vlingo will read incoming text messages out loud to you to reply by voice open the text tap the microphone button and speak your reply sure let's meet at 6 you can also get emails played back to you by going to settings safe reader settings checking this box here and adding an email account if you like Vlingo more than voice actions set it as your default app by long pressing the search button checking this box and selecting Vlingo next time you tap and hold the button you'll immediately be prompted to say a command lingo also has an in-car component for hands-free commands which Antoine covered in an episode of tap that app to do play with both of these apps to figure out which one is right for you and realize that they might not always get what you're saying but they're smart so the more you use voice commands the better the apps get at understanding you if you have any questions or have suggestions for another voice command app leave me a comment on my Facebook page and visit how to cnet.com for more videos like this first CNET I'm Sharon Vaknin and I'll see you on the interwebs now me personally I use speech-to-text on my Android phone all day every day and I'm actually fine if my phone lets me do all the talking and with that it's time to take a break so director go to commercial we'll be back with more tech review right after this welcome back to the scene high tech review our weekly video digest of all things good and bad we've seen here at CNET TV continuing on in the good it may look the same on the outside but Apple's littlest touchscreen ipod also got a makeover and a price drop last week here's Donald Bell with a new iPod nano hey I'm Zalman Bell and this is Apple updated iPod Nano for 2011 this is essentially the same design that Apple introduced in 2010 offered in the same seven colors but with an updated software if you already have a 2010 model the software update comes free as an automatic iTunes download now one of the big changes that Apple's made for 2011 is the price which is down to $129 for 8 gigabytes or $149 for 16 gigs the touchscreen interface now shows just one icon at a time instead of grouping them together in a grid of four which makes it easier to operate also the watch feature now has 18 different watch faces to choose from including a few for the kiddies but the coolest feature Apple is thrown in here is the full Nike Plus fitness system before you'd have to use a sensor in your shoe and have a Nike connector plugged into the bottom of the iPod but now all you need is this the built-in pedometer can track walking and running as two separate features and when you plug it back into your computer iTunes will upload all that information to a free Nike Plus account where you can track your progress and set goals it's a great feature for this kind of gym friendly mp3 player everything else on the Nano is just what you'd expect you get apples outstanding support from music podcasts audiobooks and playlists the FM radio has this unique live pause feature that lets you temporarily pause and resume live radio and extras like photos timers stop watches are all nice to have and of course let's not forget the clip the metal clip here on the back makes it easy to take with you and no matter which way you clip it you can use two fingers to rotate the screen around it's also useful to know that a double-click on the sleep button will skip to the next track so that's the updated 2011 iPod Nano a useful and stylish choice for the gym there's still a little pricey compared to something like the sand of sand the line of mp3 players which can be had for under $50 seems calm I'm Donald oh okay the iPod Nano is fine but you will never convince me that it should be a watch never ever let's just not talk about it and turn our attention to the bat sure the iPhone 4s is getting rave reviews mainly because let's be honest iOS 5 has this phone ready for primetime but that does not mean the 4s delivers everything you wanted to have here's Brian Cooley with the top 5 let downs in the iPhone 4s well I'm not sure if apples slowing down or if we've just come to expect a jetpack from the one month and a flying car the next but it's pretty clear the iPhone 4s rollout was treated as a fizzle by the blue karate who turned on Apple like it had just eaten their red ball so to examine the origins of this site guys i'm brian coolie here with the top five ways the iphone 4s or at least its unveiling disappointed number five the screen is the same size that's code for small sorry but Apple has definitely slipped here iPhone is now categorized in the bottom third of the smartphone market if you sort them by screen size somewhere between its dainty three-and-a-half inch screen and the pizza box that is let's say a droid x is the roomier yet pocketable piece of real estate this phone's retina technology deserves come on Apple you're serving us a great meal but you're making a star while we eat it number four it's the same number apparently Apple ain't Porsche it can't just slap an S on a hotter model and have the crowd go wild this whole four versus five letdown thing was fed by the fact that almost every rumor about a pending iPhone 5 also had the statement somewhere in it maybe we'll just get an iPhone 4s so the idea of the 4s being some kind of consolation prize was baked in the rumor cycle from the beginning but remember of all the parties that suggested to you an iPhone 5 was even possible Apple wasn't one of them number three it's a 4s not for G a somewhat unfair disappointment I'll explain that in a moment but it is a stark one the Android phones for example have many handsets that are already working on the fast new 4G networks and those are all the buzz compare that to Apple who just isn't playing the 4G game yet but given the beta ish state of 4G networks and phones right now this is a little bit like whining that you can't enjoy the same spotty availability and crap battery life your friends are getting number two it looks the same the buzz around a dramatic new hardware design was huge there were reports that China's stick foundries are pumping out new cases it looked like lima beans or something and then there were those rendered images based on credible sources who we now know probably just spotted a chrome rice paddle in some kitchen store and started blogging about it drunk whatever happened you're gonna need to put a Hello Kitty sticker on your 4s to tell it from your friends four and that pisses off the shiny object crowd and the number one reason the iPhone 4s unveiling disappointed a lot of folks is that there was no one last thing this is where we're used to getting the jetpack steve-o would toss out something utterly new with a sanguinetti that made you feel like everything you've done in your life to now is lame compared to what Apple did just this week the team did wrap up though with a demo of a pretty amazing voice technology called Siri but it's still in beta came off like a response to something Android already does and Siri means ass in Japanese come on what's the upside of all these shortcomings nothing Apple will probably sell more for asses than any other smartphone in the world and any other iPhone ever made previously but Apple is getting one message clear enough to hear over a 3GS running on AT&T that it's a tough room now for more top fives like this go to top-5 cnet.com i'm brian cool obviously a lot of you decided you don't care about those disappointments given the number of people who pre-ordered the phone already but still I was totally ready to buy an iPhone 5 with a bigger screen and now I don't know what to do so frustrating while I ponder this dilemma let's move along to this week's bottom line as you know Steve Jobs passed away last week and all around the world people were visiting Apple stores to pay their respects and mourn his loss here are some of those reflections from the Apple Store in San Francisco genius only comes around once I know couple centuries so like this sing thanks and you know rusted piece I think through Apple and iPhone and everything he's gonna leave all I don't really think that words can really describe like anything about Steve other than just greatness it's just right to do you know to respect a guy who had given the world so much like in terms of technology and you know rejuvenated a company that was on the edge of disaster mister Jobs was a visionary he changed the world he changed the face of technology and his perfectionism shows itself and everything he did and this is where we go to recognize what his achievements I was founder and CEO of an app development company he made that entire company possible I wouldn't have been doing what I was doing for last few years if it wasn't for the iPhone and his inventions just feel incredibly sad I think the world over has lost a really incredible man and a visionary and he will be he'll be deeply missed pita showed the world that technology is obtainable there's the things that they prophesied it in back to the future and there's different movies you know this man here came out and he created it and he gave it to us you know and it was it was so obtainable to where every kid you seen had an iPod he's just one of the best minds of our generation I mean that's there's no other way to say I mean he's so affected our generation so and the those younger than me much you know so deeply because it's just changed the way they've all communicated with each other so I can't there's really there isn't really words to express how much he's changed Society it's incredible I was on the train here and I was like I just had to make a poster that to show everybody how I feel like my thoughts the quotes from the think different campaign in the 90s it's the last line said because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do and the end he did he changed the world the bottom line this week thanks for everything Steve no matter what you thought about Steve Jobs personally or even about Apple products there is no question that his vision and creativity changed the technology world forever twice over in fact with the personal computer revolution and then the mobile computing revolution and that vision and creativity will be missed Happy Trails buddy that's gonna do it for this time but come back next week for an all-new CNET tech review until then there are tons of great videos available every day at scene at tv.com see you next time and thank you for watching