News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:iPhone X by geff82 on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @04:21PM (#15232097)
Honestly, my wife and I had no previous exposure to leaks besides "there will be something expensive".

And then it felt like the real Apple magic. We sat there and at every product presented we said "Wow, we want this. NOW!". While the iPhone 8 still felt quite normal, the iPhone X absolutely killed it for us. And let's not begin with the eSim-Watch... which is so SciFi that I wanted it back in 1990 when I was still 8 years old. We have to appreciate that there is more to life than revolution, Apple "simple" does evolution at a very high level and in the end, they lead the competitors. Today, we could see the stuff that Samsung and others will get right in a year or two. When Apple already presents their next evolution... It is not about having the right specs, but the right concept. I already know the friend who will come to me tomorrow that his HTC has and 8 core processor while Apple has only six. The point is: it is all useless without the whole package being perfect. And while Apple is freaking expensive upfront, the peace of mind is worth it.

Re:iPhone X by nunez on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @06:45PM (#15233681)
I'm glad you enjoyed it but I should have you know that Apple is using a Samsung display and Samsung has been leading the pack in OLED display technology for at least the last 5 years. In fact, the S8 has a crisper screen than the X with its Super Retina display (570 ppi vs 471 ppi)
Re:iPhone X by jskopek on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @07:28PM (#15233991)
To quote the person you just replied to:

"I already know the friend who will come to me tomorrow that his HTC has and 8 core processor while Apple has only six. The point is: it is all useless without the whole package being perfect."

Re:iPhone X by voltagex_ on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @09:47PM (#15234826)
I'm an Android user for years now but I still find it embarrassing that it takes 8 cores to make an Android phone run smoothly.
Re:iPhone X by burnte on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @12:40AM (#15235596)
It doesn't. I've been an Android user since the Nexus One. Android ran amazing on that phone, on pretty much every Nexus phone, and on my Pixel. It ran like crap on the LG G2x, a phone so flawed they lost a class action lawsuit about it. It ran mediocre on my Galaxy S2 and S4, but much better once I used Cyanogenmod. It ran beautifully on my Moto X Gen 1.

Android, just like iOS or any other OS, requires non-crap hardware (not amazing, just well designed) and an OEM that doesn't bloat it up with tons of crap. Newer versions of iOS run like crap on older iPhones, because the OS is designed for newer hardware. Android runs beautifully on well designed hardware, even inexpensive hardware like the Moto G. It runs great without bloated skins and shovelware that "adds value".

Re:iPhone X by randomsearch on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @03:44AM (#15236288)
Being a long-time iPhone user and recently using Android for work (high-spec Nexus models) I can safely say that Android has a _long_ way to go both in terms of responsiveness and design.

It baffles me that Google are so bad at this.

Re:iPhone X by burnte on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @12:01PM (#15239579)
I hear this from folks, and I must be missing something. My wife has an iphone as do many of my users/clients and so I use it a lot, and own an iPad myself. I really don't see a responsiveness difference. Design is more subjective.
Re:iPhone X by valuearb on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @07:32PM (#15234014)
Samsung has a Truetone display now? Don't think so. Samsung puts great components together in a good package then hobbles them with bad decisions, bloatware and incomplete features.
Re:iPhone X by kasabali on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @09:24PM (#15234709)
> Samsung has a Truetone display now? Don't think so.

Apparently it has, for a long time:

> The Adapt Display Mode provides real-time adaptive processing to dynamically adjust images and videos – for some applications it will vary the White Point, Color Gamut, and Color Saturation based on the image content and the color of the surrounding ambient lighting measured by the Galaxy S5 RGB Ambient Light Sensor (which measures color in addition to brightness).

http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_S5_ShootOut_1.htm

Re:iPhone X by valuearb on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @10:14PM (#15234978)
Yea, I meant one that actually works well.
Re:iPhone X by onion2k on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @01:57AM (#15235904)
So the 'true' in Truetone is actually a Scotsman?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman

Re:iPhone X by valuearb on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @11:20PM (#15244763)
No one thinks Adapt actually works as well as Truetone.
Re:iPhone X by whipoodle on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @10:22PM (#15235016)
Feeds and speeds, feeds and speeds.
Re:iPhone X by noen on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @11:33PM (#15235309)
I was an iPhone user from the 3GS until my 6+ finally bit the bullet, and refused to give up the headphone jack. I genuinely love the iPhone and MacBooks.

I've been using the Galaxy S8+ since launch. And the Note 8 is, by any definition, as good or better than the iPhone X.

If you haven't used a Samsung phone lately, go try an S8 or Note 8. They have "the package" down. It just works, and doesn't require a PC or iTunes. I don't care about speeds and feeds. I care about how the phone operates on a daily basis.

iPhone X has FaceID and pin# to login. Samsung has face, retina, touch and pin options.

The Note 8 is cheaper, with expandable storage, a higher density display (with the same white balance adjustment), stylus, side-by-side applications, a headphone jack, samsung pay, and NFC.

(There are probably many more, but these are things I use on a daily basis, or very frequently in the real world)

The iPhone has iMessage and Facetime.

Seriously, it's worth a sniff of the other side of the pond. It took me 2 hours to transfer everything - contacts, media, apps. And another day to get the UI sorted (there's even an "ios mode" for the launcher that acts almost exactly like the ios interface). I still use an iphone often for work and it's honestly painful going back to it, there are so many little annoying papercut experiences.

Re:iPhone X by plaguuuuuu on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @12:40AM (#15235598)
On the other side of the fence here. I've been on vanilla Google phones since the Android Nexus. I have a Nexus 6P now, which was the flagship of that generation.

Between Google knowing my porn fetishes and the increasing number of issues & bizarre bugs (severe battery degradation, performance issues during normal usage, random freezes, photos occasionally not saving properly and getting corrupted) plus no security updates after 2 years, I've just about had it.

Re:iPhone X by cdkee on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @05:20PM (#15242800)
I had a 6p and ditched it for the S8+. Never looked back, it's a night and day difference.

Google/Huawei should be ashamed for the 6p.

Re:iPhone X by randomsearch on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @03:46AM (#15236298)
I can confirm that Android has all these problems. I use both.

iOS is getting worse, but it's still an order of magnitude less buggy (in terms of crashes etc)

Re:iPhone X by kanwisher on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @03:15AM (#15236172)
Samsung face login was hacked with a static image of of a face on paper. Sure they are first to a lot of stuff, but if it's not right it doesn't matter
Re:iPhone X by burnte on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @12:34AM (#15235572)
I'm not normally a shit-on-Apple/Android-is-amazing guy, I'm actually typing this on a MacBook Pro right now. But let's reel it in for a moment. Edge to edge screen, Galaxy S8. Smart watch: Pebble, Galaxy Gear, ZenWatch, etc. SmartWatch with cell service that isn't huge: Galaxy Gear S2 3G (frankly, I think better looking than the Apple Watch). Wireless charging: YEARS go in dozens of Android phones. The only thing announced today that Apple very well may have done "right" is the face recognition. Nothing else today was new or r/evolutionary. Yes, Apple frequently does things right that other people have failed on. The iPhone truly revolutionized the smartphone, the iPad made the tablet a non-crap market, iPod was fantastic, but let's not pretend everything today was iPhone 1 level amazing.
Re:iPhone X by hvidgaard on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @03:49AM (#15236310)
> Yes, Apple frequently does things right that other people have failed on.

That is exactly what non tech people want. Things that just works. There is an enormous market of people that don't want cutting edge, but reliable and long lasting tech. Apple fits that way more than Android. That is their force. It is entirely within their philosophy to not include wireless charging unless it is their own they back for a long time, or a market standard emerges. Arguably since Ikea included Qi chargers in a lot of their affordable furniture, that made Qi chargers the emergent standard.

Re:iPhone X by cdkee on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @05:18PM (#15242793)
Then why are they still using Lightning instead of USB-C, when that's all they have on their new Macbooks?
Re:iPhone X by hvidgaard on Thursday September 14, 2017 @05:24AM (#15246222)
They began using the Lightning connector 2 years before USB-C was a thing. They have a long term support philosophy and they stand by lightning. Perhaps in the future they deem the adoption rate of USB-C good enough to use that, but until then they'll keep using Lightning.
Re:iPhone X by cbhl on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @05:22PM (#15242817)
Because of all the docks and alarm clocks that still only expose a lightning port.

It will be super easy to support the USB-C Macbooks out of box -- they just swap out the USB-A-to-lightning cable and charger in the box with a USB-C-to-lightning cable and charger.

Re:iPhone X by marcins on Thursday September 14, 2017 @03:15AM (#15245589)
That's not really a great reason - there were lots of alarm clocks and docks with the 30-pin connector (and still are if you go to a Hotel!). That said, I'm not sure why Apple went with Lightning for their mobile devices instead of USB-C - maybe timing?
Re:iPhone X by burnte on Thursday September 14, 2017 @01:47AM (#15245269)
Honestly, I like the lightning port and connector a lot more than USB-C, from a physical engineering standpoint. I think USB-C is really inferior.
Re:iPhone X by puranjay on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @03:20AM (#15236194)
I'll admit that I had written off Apple in the last few years. Felt that they couldn't get their mojo back after Jobs' departure.

This felt very different. The iPhone X is the first iPhone I've seen in a while that I want.

Same for Apple Watch. I'd written it off but the eSim makes it a very alluring buy

Re:iPhone X by roryisok on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @06:28AM (#15236995)
> Apple is freaking expensive upfront, the peace of mind is worth it.

Carrying a device worth $1000 around with me all day would not give me peace of mind. Quite the opposite. I'd rather carry a battered hand me down and not feel sick in my stomach if it falls off arm of the couch

Re:iPhone X by hesarenu on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @11:35PM (#15235315)
Do you how many I have triggered the hidden side bottom panels while browsing, scrolling. iOS is far from been perfect.
Re:iPhone X by jaquers on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @12:36AM (#15235582)
Funny, I could never trigger it when I wanted to. The method is simple though; start your swipe from below the edge of the screen. For you, maybe don't swipe from the bottom of the screen, that's what the scroll acceleration is for. ;D
Re:iPhone X by hesarenu on Wednesday September 13, 2017 @01:51AM (#15235873)
I have triggered the side contact panels as well. Hidden panels would always have these. They should have added a navigation controls like Android.
Re:iPhone X by kingnothing on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @04:35PM (#15232279)
Similar watches with LTE have been available from Samsung and others for years. Objectively speaking, Apple's latest watch isn't anything special.
Re:iPhone X by geff82 on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @05:46PM (#15233147)
Objectively speaking, no other consumer tech company grooms and refines their products do much as Apple. (Only got my first iPhone last year after being so hackerish minded as to avoid ever using them... could not be happier)
Re:iPhone X by dsego on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @07:21PM (#15233946)
You meant to say grooms their customers.
Re:iPhone X by valuearb on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @07:33PM (#15234022)
Lol, Samsung's watches still don't have the value and usability of the first Apple Watch.
Re:iPhone X by mockindignant on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @04:50PM (#15232503)
It's special in that it makes lots of money unlike really just about every other smartwatch.
Re:iPhone X by yodsanklai on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @05:06PM (#15232704)
and the $60 xiaomi 4K TV box has been around for a year...
Re:iPhone X by synicalx on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @08:20PM (#15234340)
The same Xiaomi that snuck spyware onto their phones a year ago?
Re:iPhone X by muninn_ on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @04:43PM (#15232412)
That's like saying the Model T was built a long time ago, so a new Ferrari isn't anything special.
Re:iPhone X by synicalx on Tuesday September 12, 2017 @08:13PM (#15234287)
But Samsung hasn't sold it anywhere near as well as Apple. Honestly, I don't care about watches all that much so I don't go out and look for smartwatch related news, but even as a bystander I can't help but to hear all about Apple's new watch whereas your comment is literally the first I've ever heard of Samsung having something similar.