Gadgets | Miles Tonkin's Blog!

So for those that are interested I thought I would jot down a few of my first impressions of my new iPhone 4. A couple of people have already asked! Bearing in mind I’m upgrading from an iPhone 3G so skipped a generation and some of the features that were in the 3GS such as video and general speed increases are new to me.

1. Size. When you stand the iPhone 4 next to the 3G/3GS they aren’t actually all that different in dimensions. The 4 is thinner, but the most obvious change is the flat back and squarer edges. It feels very different when holding it. The fit and finish feels A LOT nicer. The plastic is replaced by machined metal and high quality glass on the back. It just feels a lot more solid.

2. The Screen. Much was made of the new high quality “retina” display and when first using the phone the screen looks much crisper and detailed. But it’s not until you look at the old iPhone and compare them side to side that the difference really becomes obvious. The old screen looks pixelated and full of jagged edges after seeing the iPhone 4 whereas the new one is almost impossibly high res especially on those apps that have been updated to take advantage of it. It certainly is the nicest feature of the phone.

3. Speed. The whole phone is a lot snappier than the 3G. I can’t compare how much faster in reality than a 3GS but on paper it has 4x as much RAM as a 3G and 2x as much as a 3GS. Loading apps takes less than a second and data appears in as much time. Overall it’s much more responsive. As an example, I just tested loading the camera app which was notoriously slow. From clicking the icon to the “shutter” opening, ready to take a photo, it takes 13 seconds on the 3G… on the iPhone 4, just 2 seconds. Quite a bit faster!

4. FaceTime. So, when I first read about this it seemed like one of those features that’s kind of cool, but how much are you really going to use it. Video chat, even on a cell phone is not new. I have to say though, the implementation is awesome and although it will only run on a wifi connection for now, its seamless. The picture didn’t freeze or stutter once. I guess some of that comes down to how good your internet connection is. It doesn’t feel like you’re using a phone. Switching between front and back camera is also really nice and yes, although I don’t know how much I will use this feature after the novelty has worn off, it’s probably mainly limited by the fact that it only works between iPhone 4’s currently so my list of people to use it with is limited.

5. Camera. Can’t really test this properly as it’s dark now but it’s worth noting that the new flash is very bright. It lights up to illuminate what you’re taking a photo of (and also perhaps to reduce red eye) and then “flashes” with what seems like almost as much intensity as a small compact camera. More than enough for casual snaps. Video is also an awesome addition, really missed that on the 3G and although light conditions aren’t very good to test it now, the 720P HD video looks pretty great.

6. OS Changes. Although these aren’t completely specific to the new iPhone 4, multi tasking is such a overdue feature. As soon as you load Pandora to listen to music and click the home button to switch to reading your email, you realize how useful this is and wonder how you lived without it for so long. It does feel like some big wall stopping extra functionality has come down. Also, switching between apps once they’re loaded is instantaneous. The iPhone can finally handle multiple apps at once! Hoorah!!

There are probably a bunch of other features I am yet to see, but these are the most obvious and most compelling!

Earlier this year at E3, the video gaming trade show, Microsoft announced a new and updated version of the Xbox software that would heavily overhaul the tired and cumbersome interface and provide a new experience. Appropriate then that they call in the New Xbox Experience (NXE). The new software will be automatically downloaded for all Xbox owners on November 19th, but last weekend I heard that Microsoft were running a preview program to allow a couple thousand selected owners to receive the update early and allow them to play around with the software before official launch. I signed up and was luckily picked from the, I would imagine, huge list of applicants.

I got the update tonight and decided for the benefit of my fellow Xbox owners (and of course to make them jealous!) to upload a few photos and first impressions.

The update itself only took 2 or 3 minutes to update and then after a restart it was complete.

The first step is to create a Avatar. This is brand new to Xbox and obviously is heavily influenced by the Wii. The interface to customizing your avatar is really simple and pretty comprehensive. You can create and save wardrobes and you can bet special outfits will be available to download in the future (Halo Spartan armor anyone?). The whole avatar concept might seem a bit silly, but it does make the interface a little more fun and personalized. You can also see your friends avatars in the new 3D friends list.

The actual dashboard itself is much cleaner, easier and most importantly faster! moving up and down switches between menus such as “My Xbox”, “Video”, “Friends”, “Marketplace” etc. Moving left and right in each of these menus gives you more specific options. It feels a lot more instinctive and much easier to find the options you want.

Now we come to the cherry on top. The major new feature of this update, is the ability to watch your Netflix movies over the internet. This is a huge bonus if you are a Netflix subscriber and probably a good reason to become one if you’re not. Netflix has for a while offered the ability to watch movies on your computer, but this new feature allows you to easily watch your movies on your TV. Setting up couldn’t be simpler. A code appears on your screen, that you enter on the Netflix webpage. That’s it! After a couple of seconds, your queue appears in 3D on your screen. Not every movie from Netflix is available to stream, I think currently they have library of around 12,000 titles, but this will grow. The movies that appear on your Xbox are just those from your queue that are available to stream. Coming soon are HD movies! Once you select a movie to watch, it determines your internet connection speed and starts playing. This took around 10 seconds for me. The quality is definitely sub DVD, probably around the same as SD television, but again I am sure this will improve with time. Skipping ahead in the movie forces the stream to buffer and this only takes 3 or 4 seconds. Overall a very impression feature and even more impressive when you consider that this is all free with your standard Netflix subscription.

Lastly is the new screen that comes up when you hit the Xbox button on the controller. Again this is much easier to use and has several option that allow you to access features without exiting the game or movie and going back to the dashboard. One of the cool new features here is “Party” mode allowing you to invite friends into a party and move from game to game and stay together, This is a cool feature as those who play a lot of online games with friends will testify, it can be annoying when you get disconnected and separated!

Overall this is definitely a welcome refresh of the Xbox and addresses a lot of the issues and improves the experience. I’m sure that this will help to keep the Xbox fresh and competitive!