As you probably already heard, today was the much-awaited announcement from Apple about the release of their newest phone. I know that at my way-geeked-out-house last night, my husband and I spent most of the evening speculating about what would and wouldn’t be included in this update. Well, today the news dropped. It was less than titillating, but certainly the
Hey, look at the new iPhone...something looks familiar.
new iPhone 4s and iOS 5 will bring some useful, practical updates. As I tweeted today, it’s a lot like getting the latest model vacuum instead of the diamond earrings for Christmas. You know it’s something you need that will make life easier, but it just doesn’t have the same inspiration and excitement that really gets your heart thumping.
With that being said, here are some of the standout features that will make your life as an event professional that much easier. Hopefully I can explain them in the most non-techie/AVGirl way possible:
- Global Connectivity For many of us in the events industry, our job requires frequent travel abroad. The new phone offers functionality on both the GSM and CDMA networks. Technical explanations aside, this means more coverage and faster data speeds when traveling in foreign countries. It doesn’t, however, help with those insanely high prices for international roaming!
- Battery Life Ahhh, now here’s something we can all be excited about. The new phone promises an extended battery life over previous models (8 hours 3G talk time, 9 hours wifi browsing and 10 hours of video). As I’ve watched Jessica and other friends have to mar the sleek design of the iPhone by adding products such as the Mophie battery booster, this is great news for all of us.
- Faster Processing Speeds It’s a good thing the battery life has been updated, because the new processor is going to need it. This zippy chip is the same as what powers the iPad 2. What this means is that even though Apple chose not to go with 4G accessibility, they basically increased the speed of the internal processing system so uploading and downloading matches that of a 4G. Also – and this is a biggie – they are promising a more reliable coverage and LESS DROPPED CALLS. Again, I know that vacuum cleaner isn’t exactly sexy, but boy oh boy won’t life be smoother?! For those of us who live in the world of basement ballrooms and cement-enshrouded convention centers, faster and more reliable access could maybe equate to the thrill of those diamond earrings…
- Siri…she’s your new best friend. Artificial Intelligence has come to the iPhone. Meet your new virtual assistant, Siri, who will listen to your requests, answer you and then make suggestions. For example, have you ever received one of those last minute requests from your Board of Directors as they’ve arrived in town early and want to have a “quiet but lively dinner in a private room at a gastropub within 2 miles of the hotel”? Well, make that request to Siri and she will research various resources, give you the best option, make your reservations and even arrange transportation. Yes, it’s creepy, but oh so good!!
Beyond the 4s, Apple’s new iOS 5 operating system has a whole world of features that just might get me excited. One of them is especially interesting for an AVGirl like me…face recognition and where we can go with that for events. However, I’ll leave that for another blog post.