Showing posts with label Upgrade Your Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Upgrade Your Life. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

What to expect from the iPhone 5

 What to expect from the iPhone 5
 What will it look like?
Last year's model, the iPhone 4, had a glass backplate that could get scratched. It's possible that the iPhone 5 will have a brushed metal backplate, which would help keep it from scratching and make the phone lighter as well.
There have been some recent rumors that the phone could get considerably thinner, even tapering toward the bottom. The square edges could round out, making it look a little more like an iPod touch.
Besides that, we've heard that Steve Jobs isn't a fan of physical buttons; the iPhone 4 only has one, on its front. The iPhone 5 might turn that one physical home button into a virtual, on-screen home button, which would get out of the way while you're watching videos. This would give it a four-inch screen, half an inch bigger than the iPhone 4's. But another rumor has the display bumping up to only a 3.7-inch screen, and the home button getting slightly larger.
Remember, none of this info is coming from Apple. It's all rumor, speculation and guessing, so take it with a grain of salt.
What performance upgrades will it have?
It'll have a faster, probably dual-core processor, plus more memory and an improved camera -- one that might be able to take 8 megapixel still pictures and record 1080p HD video. You'll be able to play more realistic games, switch between open apps more quickly, and keep more web pages open at once.
Beyond that, you can bet that Apple doesn't want a repeat of "Antennagate," and will be paying special attention to the iPhone 5's antenna to make sure there are fewer connection issues.
Will it have any new features?
We already know what features the iPhone 5 won't have: A removable battery, a memory card slot, and support for Adobe Flash videos. These features are commonly seen on other phones, but are not what customers expect from Apple products.
One feature that Apple recently filed a patent on is being called a "Smart Bezel" by rumor sites. These are areas just outside the screen that can light up and are touch sensitive. They could be game controls or battery indicators, or let you use new finger-swipe gestures to control your iPhone!
Another feature they might add is called NFC, or Near-Field Communication. This is a technology that would let you pay for things by waving your iPhone near a sensor, sort of like what some 'wave-to-pay' credit cards can do today. NFC is already in widespread use in Japan, and is being tested in the United States. Apple may decide to hold off on it, though, until people are more comfortable using their phones to make payments.
One other possibility is that the iPhone 5 will get induction charging. That's where you plug in a separate charging pad, and your iPhone recharges just by touching it.

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Friday, April 22, 2011

Upgrade Your Life Gadget secret powers

Cool secret powers of everyday gadgets
Our gadgets these days have superpowers. But they also have secret powers: Things you didn't know they could do. This week on Upgrade Your Life, Yahoo! News' Becky Worley shows us some hidden features, plus surprising tricks that you can use to get the most out of the gadgets you already own.

iPhone - An App that measures your heart rate with the iPhone's camera and battery
The free Heart Fitness app from Senscare measures your heart rate, by using your iPhone's camera and a light source to watch blood pulse through your finger. Just follow the directions, and it's pretty accurate! It shows your beats per minute, plus the pulsing heart rate graph we all know and love from medical dramas. It even charts your resting heart rate over time, as a measure of overall fitness.
Heart Fitness works best with the iPhone 4, since its camera flash lights your finger up nicely, but it can work with the iPod Touch or iPhone 3GS if you hold it up to a bright light. Got an Android device? Try Instant Heart Rate on the Android Market, instead! Both apps are free to download.
Amazon Kindle -- Hear books read aloud
While you're reading a book on your Kindle, just press the "Aa" button to the right of the spacebar, then select "Turn on Text-to-Speech." Your Kindle will start reading the book aloud to you, which is great if you're driving or resting with your eyes closed -- the Kindle has a headphone jack so you can listen without disturbing others. Just don't fall asleep, or you'll lose your place!
The Text-to-Speech feature isn't the same as an audiobook, since it uses an automated voice instead of a human's. It also doesn't work with some books, because individual book publishers can choose to disable this feature. On the bright side, you can set it to have a male or female voice, and you can speed up or slow down how fast it talks. Want to go back to traditional reading? Press "Aa" again and turn Text-to-Speech off.

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