back to article What's not in the iPhone 4S ... and why

No 4G radio and no NFC payment technology: the only new radio on the iPhone 4S is a CDMA connection for travellers that, it turns out, most travellers won't be able to use. We know Cupertino has been looking into Near Field Communications for a year or two, and presumably decided that the technology was still too immature to …

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  1. SuperTim
    FAIL

    world series baseball assumption fail!

    It was named after a newspaper called the "World". So it became the "world" series. Your example is a poor attempt at a comparison that isn't particularly valid.

    1. Miek
      FAIL

      Okay, so the paper was incorrectly named then? Or did it cover World events?

      a bit like http://theworldlink.com/

      "Daily newspaper covering Coos county. Local news, sports, weather, and advertisements."

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Except that it wasn't....

      This popular "fact" is nothing more than an Urban Legend.

      http://www.snopes.com/business/names/worldseries.asp

      1. Bear Features

        Really? Snopes.com and the author's opinion proves your point does it? lol

        1. Ru
          Facepalm

          "Snopes.com and the author's opinion"

          The snopes page cites its references. Anyone care to point us all at some opposing evidence that the series was ever sponsored by the World newspaper? No? Well, there's a surprise. Congratulations on being less useful even than a Wikipedia article. Lol indeed.

        2. Zippy the Pinhead
          FAIL

          @ Bear features

          And the opinion of the Baseball Hall of Fame who has also debunked the Urban Legend.

      2. SuperTim
        Facepalm

        I stand corrected.

        And have since learned that the world series does indeed allow competitors from the entire world (the US and Canada). There are some pesky other outlying nations who may want a slice of the pie, but given they are not contained within the 2 nation world, they can't enter!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Entire World?

          "...does indeed allow competitors from the entire world (the US and Canada)."

          That will be the entire world in the same way as the Golgafrincham B ark carried all the important people from Golgafrincham?

          1. Chris Miller

            When a US businessman tells you he has a global solution, he often means: "we have a solution that works in New York AND Los Angeles (and maybe Toronto as well, but we haven't actually tried it there)".

  2. SRaven

    ???

    "...while iPhone users are reduced to demonstrating their superiority by talking to themselves their phones"

    Errr, this feature has been on Android for quite a while now. How does that make iPhone4S superior?

    1. Paul RND*1000
      FAIL

      This is why HTML5 REALLY needed a "SARCASM" tag.

      Geez...

    2. LyingMan
      Happy

      sensible Android users..

      .. are not speaking to their phones but speak to people using their phones..

    3. JaimieV

      On the iPhone too

      Siri was (past tense!) available as an app for previous iPhones for over a year.

    4. foo_bar_baz

      @been on Android for quite a while

      And on even the entry level Nokias for years. Oh, but that doesn't count since it's That Company.

    5. robin thakur 1

      The iPhone solution is vastly different and improved to what is has been available on Android for a while. Watch the video. This is the true beginning of AI on consumer devices.

      1. Steve Gill

        but only if you have a network connection - so not much use on the tube, most trains, in the wilds, etc.

  3. daviesjohn
    FAIL

    LTE - not in the UK for a couple of years

    Given that the spectrum likely to be used for LTE isn't due for auction until 2012 - possibly the 2nd half, at that.

    Then they have to build networks.

  4. GitMeMyShootinIrons
    Facepalm

    Eternal optimists - the LTE Glass is going to half full soon!

    " These days it's more likely to be 24 months, by which time LTE will be much more widely available and the 4S distinctly dated."

    I do love an optimist. In Blighty, there are a few decent sized holes in the GSM network, let alone the gaping holes of 3G and you think 4G/LTE will be more widely available in 2 years?

    I suppose it depends on your definition of 'much more widely available'. If it means patchy coverage in the center of a few major cities, then I suppose you could be right...

  5. Buzzword

    HD Voice?

    Any word on whether the iPhone 4S will support HD Voice (also known as Wideband Audio or AMR-WB)?

  6. Turtle_Fan
    Headmaster

    Unclear or too much beer...?

    You write: " Apple's decisions are good news for the faster-moving competitors, but success will be dependent on operators not pushing LTE too hard and the proximity-payment crowd staying quiet for a while, neither of which seems terribly likely."

    So, whose success are you referring to? Apple's, the competitors'? To me it seems like you are referring to Apple's success although that sort of contradicts the start of the sentence saying Apple's decisions being good news for its competitors....

    If it's clear to someone else, please enlighten me....

  7. sonicnights
    Happy

    Think your missing the point

    Is it a world phone?

    Yes

    Here's how it works, buy the phone anywhere but US, Japan or China (CDMA carriers) and you use GSM, WCDMA at home and abroad. Just as it is now.

    But buy the phone on a CDMA carrier in those 3 countries you now have the option of roaming abroad on GSM, WCDMA by buying a local SIM.

    This is a boon for any travellers who want to use Sprint, Verizon, KDDI. etc at home while still having international roaming.

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge
      Boffin

      Well, that's fine.

      But a *real* global phone such as the Samsung Galaxy S2 that I have beside me in my hotel in the colonies currently requires none of that mucking around. Bought in the UK, with a UK SIM, I just had to walk off the plane in America and, well, it worked. Why do Apple have to make everything so damn *complicated*?

      GJC

      1. TeeCee Gold badge
        Joke

        Yes, but this is an Apple-centric article. Therefore the Samsung Galaxy S2 does not exist as it is illegal.

        Please turn yourself in at your local Apple Store for re-education.

      2. jubtastic1
        FAIL

        @Geoff Campbell

        That's what he said, there are GSM networks worldwide, so your GS2 and this 4S and the 4, and the 3(S) and the 2G and all the other GSM phones work like that and always have.

        However, if you have a CDMA phone from say Verizon, then when you visited another country you were likely to be SOL, basically the 4S has GSM backup for CDMA users. GSM users don't need a backup.

      3. jonathanb Silver badge

        Any quad-band phone bought in the UK will work like that, and this includes all earlier iPhone models. It isn't for your benefit.

        If for example you are a Verizon customer, and have their equivalent, something like the Samsung Fascinate, then it won't work outside of the US and possibly Canada, whereas the iPhone 4S will. There are other Verizon world phones, but not many, you have the choice of a few Blackberries and Motorola Handsets and the HTC Trophy.

        It isn't Apple that is making things complicated, it is Verizon and Sprint that are making things complicated by using a different network technology from the rest of the world.

        1. Naughtyhorse
          Happy

          I refer the poster to an earlier article

          merca and canadia _IS_ the world!

      4. AdamWill
        Stop

        the iphone will do that too

        You obviously misread the original author's comment.

        The iPhone will do that too, because the U.S. is reasonably supplied with GSM networks. Any GSM phone with the necessary range of frequency support is a 'world phone', pretty much, because there's very few places which have *only* CDMA networks.

        However, any CDMA-only phone certainly isn't a world phone, because there's tons of places which have no CDMA networks.

        Ergo, it doesn't make much sense to bother about letting primary-GSM users roam onto CDMA networks, because they rarely actually need to, and permitting it is a lot of trouble due to the issue briefly touched on in the original articles (CDMA doesn't use SIMs and hence can't rely on them for security, they have to use handset authorization).

        It certainly *does* make sense to bother about letting primary-CDMA users roam onto GSM networks, though, because this is something that they're going to need to do to use their phones in GSM-only places.

        So it makes sense to add a GSM radio onto a CDMA phone, but it really doesn't make much sense to add a CDMA radio onto a GSM phone. Things are only a mite confused with the iPhone because Apple's decided to just make one SKU (okay, three, with the different capacities) for all markets. But it still makes sense to worry only about the 'primary CDMA, secondary GSM' case. Apple's not doing anything dumb here.

        I'd be surprised if any primary GSM carriers have ever bothered to offer a phone with a CDMA radio, but it's pretty common for CDMA carriers to offer phones with GSM radios. That's what a 'world phone' is commonly understood to be, in North America. That specific situation is the reason for the iPhone 4S' dual radios.

        1. Daniel B.
          Boffin

          Lack of SIM

          To me, the lack of a SIM card is what makes CDMA a "shit" technology, as I haven't had to worry about handset auth since 2003. GSM was actually welcomed as 'freedom from telcos' because of the SIM card; this freedom was threathened by Apple and their "virtual SIM" thingy, thankfully it got blocked by the GSMA.

      5. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re well that's fine

        When I get off the plane in the colonies, my iPhone just works... You obviously haven't noticed that our colonial cousins have GSM networks as well. Apple actually make everything very simple butNin this case it's nothing to do with them it's down to AT&T or T-mobile...

    2. Zippy the Pinhead
      FAIL

      @ Sonicnights

      Except with Verizon you don't use SIM card slots.. oh and the iphone allows you to open the device to change the Sim Card?

      1. Stephen W Harris
        FAIL

        SIM!

        I have a Verizon Droid 3. A "world phone" on a CDMA network. Guess what; it also has a (Vodaphone) SIM. It roamed quite happily when I was in England 2 weeks ago. Expensive, like all international roaming, but it worked!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re open iPhone to change SIM

        Yes

    3. Version 1.0 Silver badge
      FAIL

      That's ssergorp for you.

      "we're a long way from having one phone working around the world"

      Odd - because my Motorola 2000i has worked reliably around the world (that's North and South America, Australia, Europe, Scandinavia and China) for years. OK, so it's not flashy whiz bang but the damn thing just works everywhere.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "So if you're a European hoping your 4S will work across the USA you'll be disappointed."

    No you wont. You'll just be forced to use AT&T in the US or Rogers in Canada. Much like an owner of any none CDMA equipped phone.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      AT&T...

      If you're stuck on AT&T then you might as well not have a working phone! Although since the iPhone4 came out on Verizon, maybe enough people have jumped ship that you might be able to use AT&T again!

  9. Velv
    FAIL

    Missing radio

    Still missing an FM radio.

    Apple claim this is a "dying format that can be replaced by streaming". However any streaming of radio I've done has been unreliable and behind the source by some considerable delay.

    Which is frankly rubbish when you're watching the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Firework concert and listening "live" on Radio Forth. An event where the fireworks are very carefully timed to the music.

    1. RichyS
      Happy

      That's a pretty specific use case. I'm not sure it's made too much of a dent in Apple's selling of 1/4bn iOS devices...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Specific?

        Clearly you are not a keen radio listener. High quality radio is important and at least one source of radio that does not cost network charges is more than desirable.

        The unreliable sync. and timing is one thing I notice with DAB (just turn on an FM radio and listen to how far apart they can be). In addition, an overloaded or poor network can cause serious disruption (I experience that as a listener to the BBC over the internet in Central Europe.

        So, internet radio is not bad; but it is not a full substitute for FM or even MW and LW, whatever kind of music one wants to hear (or anythng else)..

    2. Mostly_Harmless Silver badge

      As RichyS says, that's a bit of a specific case.

      My case for wanting plain old FM radio is that it's free (doesn't eat into my contract's data alowance) and is available in places where data bandwidth is non-existent or just inadequate for good audio quality.

      1. Ammaross Danan
        Coat

        Or...

        Just use your iPhone as the glorified iPod Touch that it is....you know, those things Android, et al users refer to MP3s? (iTunes converts them, so they can't be referred to as MP3s at that point).

    3. deains
      Happy

      Accessories are your friend

      For example: http://store.griffintechnology.com/iphone/navigate

  10. Wibble
    Holmes

    Lewis didn't write this...

    One hopes that Lewis read this article - it has some substance and basis in fact not supposition.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm looking forward to the handset releases that are going to be in the Apple sales interim. We'll be seeing phones with Nvidia Tegra 3 chips (see YouTube for appropriate demo videos) Q1 2001 - that's quad core 1.5ghz. Ram and storage are no big deal. We already know that the Super AMOLED screen in the Galaxy s2 is second to none (or perhaps only the retina display, for density, but what about contrast ratio?). And yes, as stated in this article, the lesser subjects of LTE/NFC. Then think about what Android will be doing in that time frame (you'll have Ice Cream Sandwich, and successor by then), and of course, probably another Google reference phone (Motorola?) or two. It's an opportunistic time to make Apple look like a poor mans substitute.

  12. Tom_

    roaming

    I find this a bit confusing because my 3GS from the UK worked fine in the US when I visited last year.

    1. Steve Evans

      That is because the US also has GSM networks. You just wouldn't have been able to roam onto CDMA networks. If your carrier only had a roaming agreement with a US CDMA network you would have been in trouble.

      Rather like the situation in the UK back in the last decade when O2/Vodafone were on GSM 900 and Orange/T-mobile (121 at the time I believe) used GSM 1800. For a few years you could buy single band phones which would only work on one or the other. Eventually dual band GSM became the norm and you could use your handset on any of the networks.

  13. Philippe
    Stop

    Can we have a clear "non partisan" analysis of that Voice control thing?

    I had voice control 7 years ago on my Nokia : i said:"Call Home." and it called Home.

    and i had a bit more than that for a while on the iPhone too.

    I can't say i had that on my blackberry because i have never, ever, managed to get it to do what i was telling it to do.

    Voice control was never really accurate but it does the job.

    What i dont have is something which understands context, which understand 3 languages, different way of asking questions and does not seem too bothered by accent and background noises.

    is this AI? and if it is how good is it?

    1. Andrew Jones 2

      It works pretty much the same way the Android does it -

      It records your voice, sends the entire sample (you asking a question) over the internet to their servers which process the file and send data back to the phone.

      Obviously I am unable to comment on the Apple system (although you will probably find someone who can as this functionality has apparently been contained in an app which has now been removed from the Apple store) - but the Google system works brilliantly - it even works with the background noise of driving on a motorway (I was a passenger). The Apple system is intriguing because while the Google system can do most of what the Apple system can do - the Apple system seems to have the ability to cope with context and states.

      1. TeeCee Gold badge
        WTF?

        Right. So a bit like telling a lunar astronaut what to do then?

        Does it go <BEEEEEP> to disguise the lag? I believe it's traditional.

        1. Naughtyhorse
          Joke

          and i thought all them beeps on the Apollo landings was cos Armstrong swore like a sailor

      2. foo_bar_baz
        Big Brother

        That would worry me a teeny bit

        So now Apple has your, name and address, credit card number (via iTunes), your location at any given time, and now a sample of your voice.

    2. Steve Evans

      Remember the presentation was PR by sales people. I seriously doubt the claims of "AI" will stand up to any real world standard definition.

    3. RichyS

      Good analysis of Siri (and why it's different from 'voice commands'

      Try here: http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/04/iphone-4s-hands-on-impressions/

      And here: http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/04/siri-work/

  14. El Rupester

    I had been asking about world roaming on to cdma networks.

    Interesing to see it discussed - thanks.

    That is a shame, as it would be a good thing: coverage in USA would be dramatically improved if visitors could use VZW

    However, given the relationship between Vodafone & Verizon it would not be hard to integrate IT to enable SIM to act as SE - after all, Verizon has done it in reverse for some time so the linkage already exist. So maybe it will come...

    Two other points:

    If Apple were to launch LTE next year that would still be well in advance of LTE availability in many countries so I wouldn't overstate its importance.

    Indeed, I could buy an iPhone 4S on 2 year contract and be on my next phone after that before I would think about getting an LTE phone in UK... If were in USA then it might be different - but I'd still wait a year or so till the network is widespread, and the 2nd generation UE chipsets rolled out.

    Similarly on NFC. I have had NFC in my credit card, for what, two years now...? Have I used it once? Like heck... I am really not going to base a choice on what phone to use because it has a technology I haven't used and no-one supports. Maybe in two years time...

    Not defending Apple, but these seem peculiar reasons to criticisize

    1. Galidron
      Coat

      NFC

      I would love to use NFC, but I live in the US so I don't have to worry about things like that. Some day our banking systems might become advanced enough to use something like chip & PIN too.

  15. Eddie Edwards
    Thumb Down

    NFC doesn't matter yet

    I'm not sure what the case is in London, but in my rural neck of the woods I've yet to see an NFC terminal in the wild.

    Add to this the basic statistical fact that 50% of those on 2-year contracts now won't be renewing until iPhone 5 comes out (mine isn't up until June 2012, but I do plan to wait until the next release cycle rather than snap up a soon-to-be-obsoleted model).

    Add to this the fact that Android users also have contracts.

    I don't see a headstart of more than a year, during which the banks have to get around to actually rolling NFC into shops.

    In other words, Apple is right on the money as far as the mass market goes (as usual).

    1. BoldMan

      plus, who the hell WANTS NFC payments? I certainly don't want my cash being broadcast to anyone who has a terminal!

      1. JeffC
        WTF?

        You will want it.

        You will want once apple tells you it is cool. Apple will invent this technology around June of next year and it will be so innovative.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      and many Android phones also have a microSD slot that can take a microSD based NFC

      as title says.

      http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3820/add-nfc-functionality-like-nexus-s-via-sdio-standard-in-microsd-to-non-nfc-phon/3832#3832

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

      What's with this constant conflation of NFC and contactless payment systems? That's only one application of the technology, and when we do get it, I suspect it will be via "very smart" cards from your regular credit card issuer, not embedded in an app on your mobile phone.

      To have NFC "pay its way", Nokia use the technology for Bluetooth pairing and wrap it up in a neat user experience (tap the devices together than they pair, or your music streams to it, or your chosen files are pushed to it). When you see this working, it really looks cool.

      That's the sort of "magic" feature that you'd expect Apple to do, and it needs no payment infrastructure or supporting services - they could have called it "AirShare" or something equally fatuous, and the press would have been all over it.

      (incidentally, NFC-pairing is also part of the Bluetooth 4 spec, and Apple claim that iPhone 4S has Bluetooth 4.0)

  16. Jonathan Hogg
    Boffin

    Bluetooth 4.0 though

    I noticed that the new iPhone 4GS - buried in the tech specs on the website - supports Bluetooth 4.0, which means support for Bluetooth low-power, which I understand is positioning itself as an alternative NFC technology/standard.

    1. flibbertigibbet
      Pint

      Re: Bluetooth 4.0 though

      > Bluetooth low-power, which I understand is positioning itself as an alternative NFC technology/standard

      One of the more bizarre assertions to come from "industry commentators". At bit like some of the claims made in this article, actually.

      NFC stands for Near Field Communications. Near, as in under 1cm, usually. As in "you have to be within 1cm of my phone in order to remove $10 from my account". Bluetooth 4.0 still operates at 10m, even the low power versions.

  17. Ian Watkinson
    WTF?

    £3 vs £499

    Yeah, because I'd much rather whip out my £499 phone and tap it on a terminal, than my free (credit card) or £3 oyster card.

    NFC for phones, brought to you by the same people that think putting ages old IR technology in the iphone so that you can spend 5 minutes unlocking your phone and running an app, is better than pressing a button on a TV remote...

    1. Zippy the Pinhead
      Mushroom

      @ Ian

      However I suspect you will be able to turn off NFC on a cell phone.. How are you going to turn it off on your CC? Now don't you feel more secure!

    2. Manu T

      @ Ian Watkinson

      Problem is that all these morons think that NFC has everything to do (and only that) with payement via a cell-phone. As is stated before Near Field Communication is really communication. It could be used for much more.

      Nokia's adds show some of the more interesting things you can do with it. Like transfering pictures and ringtones, pairing and activating headsets/speakers and more.

      Shows how shortsighted ppl are these days.

  18. PatC
    FAIL

    Why Steve Went When He Did ..

    .. he wanted to let the new boy make an a*** of himself telling the fanbois they've waited 18 months for the same frickin phone!

    Apple really are betting the company on the power of the cult on this one .. I can't imagine how even the most ardent fanbou can get excited by this - but then, I never really got religion ..

  19. Insane Reindeer
    Flame

    Oh come on!

    Look Apple, if Nokia, who according to people from the Cupertino part of the world seem to be totally irrelevant to the mobile space, can pack a pentaband 3G aerial setup and NFC into a middle of the road €330 phone they why the hell can't you? It's not like your shy about using other peoples technology and taking ages to pay them!

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    "Apple's reluctance to use 4G (LTE) tech is understandable..."

    Especially since I read somewhere on here that Samsung hold a few of the patents on LTE technology.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    can i roam in US with N9?

    N9 supports:

    http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-n9/specifications

    ...

    Quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900

    Penta-band WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100

    Automatic switching between WCDMA and GSM bands

    ... and

    Angry Birds Magic with NFC support

    ...whatever it means :)

    1. Manu T
      Devil

      RE: can i roam in US with N9?

      Don't forget that Elop wants to burn this N9 as fast possible (by delaying delivery for a starter) to state it's failure to his shareholders. It's meant as a proof of concept as to why Nokia ought to turn to Windows Phone 7(.5) phones. Although all current Nokia customers disagree.

      The N9 could have been in the shops LAST year as the tech behind it IS from last year, the production process has been used for ages (e.g. the C7 uses part o/t N9 process moulds). It's all a big scam. The N9 is being held hostage deliberately by Elop to pave the way for the W9 (it's Winphone counterpart WITHOUT the lovely NFC or the inovative sliding UI or the full multitasking OS underneath).

      We are fooled by execs who tamper and held technology hostage for their own agenda. Did I tell you we are doomed?

      1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

        No, the N9 could not have been out last year

        ... the reason why it wasn't is why Nokia are in this mess.

        The hardware was ready (what is now given to developers as N950), but there was no software to run on it. Maemo had been abandoned when MeeGo was born, and MeeGo wasn't moving fast enough, having spent the first year of its existence arranging the plumbing.

        Intel didn't help by constantly missing their goals on silicon, but by the end of 2010 there was nothing in the MeeGo software bucket that was remotely good enough for a consumer product. As evidence of this, It was only last week that the MeeGo 1.2 mobile ediiton was finally released, and when you see it running, it's a far cry from Nokia's N9.

        The attacks on Elop are drivel. I don't like Microsoft's products, including Windows Phone, and I'm annoyed by Nokia's decision to go with Windows Phone rather than the API that I liked (Qt) but it was the only rational choice. As CEO, Elop works for the board of Nokia, and if they weren't happy with a Microsoft deal, there wouldn't have been one. Are they also Microsoft plants?

        Jesus... What is it with nerds that everything they don't like has to be the result of some kind of unjust fucking conspiracy...

        1. Manu T

          "Jesus... What is it with nerds that everything they don't like has to be the result of some kind of unjust fucking conspiracy..."

          Because it usually is.

  22. Ramazan
    IT Angle

    450MHz band popular around the Scandinavian countries and across Russia

    and in Ukraine too BTW

  23. maccy

    If anyone thinks Sirir is really remarkable, try this test: Say "Call me a bag of shit tied up with chicken wire". It should either

    (a) call your boss

    (b) say "you're a bag of shit tied up with chicken wire"

    If it does neither, it's no use to me.

  24. Cyberspice

    What do you call an anti-fanboi?

    i always wanted to know. Just as the fanbois love anything apple regardless. There are the android lot who hate it just because. What do you call those with an irrational hatred of apple? Enquiring minds want to know.

    As for me. I'm holding off to see what the 5 is like. I develop embedded linux products as a day job so Android is too much a busman's holiday. The iPhone does what I want a phone to do. It just works. I have Apple computers so it works seamlessly with them. It looks nice. And I can afford it.

    Its like buying a BMW. You can get a Ford cheaper, may be quicker, may be more up to date. But BMW sell and there's a reason!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Everyone who buys a BMW wants their attention seeking moment of glory, broken down on the A406 during morning rush hour and a reason not to use their indicators.

    2. Manu T

      @ Cyberspice

      hmmm... I wouldn't compare a iPhone with a BMW. For a starter it's build in crap-land. I seem to recall the LandWind situation a few years back in my country and always compare an iphone with that POS. With the difference that with iPhone an American company is at the helm instead of a chinese one.

    3. naam

      Anti-fanbois

      Anti-fanbois are just fanbois as well. Usually the irrational-hating types just very much love something else.

    4. Stacy
      FAIL

      Love it!

      You managed to crap all over your own point there!

      Yes people do buy BMW's for a reason. And I imagine it's the same reason people buy iPhones. Badges carry a lot of clout these days :)

      The 3G was a great phone compared to the rest of the market - it's just a shame the market moved and the iPhone didn't - which is why I now have a HTC Desire (that 'just works' with much less hassle than the 3G ever did) and the iPhone is a music player plugged into my stereo.

  25. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

    Not worried about Paypal

    The Paypal system is flawed in so many ways I don't even know where to start. It's thus probably actually a recommendation for the iPhone 4s that it doesn't have the NFC chip in - I am avoiding NFC like the plague it really is, also in credit cards. There is no way in hell I'll accept a credit card with an activated NFC component.

    If you need a hint why, here is one clue: the distance limit over which NFC works is a function of a crap receiver in the *terminal*. With a decent antenna you can read an NFC chip from a good 10m away (20 if you don't need to worry about the size of the antenna). This is not the only flaw, but it ought to be enough to make you think.

  26. robin thakur 1

    Yes, but it's not connecting to a CDMA network when you step off the plane I assume like Sprint or Verizon? The iPhone will perform exactly as your Galaxy S2 will in that circumstance because you are using GSM networks.

  27. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

    I was with you right up until:

    "Apple has always made up for technical caution with overwhelming style and awesome design"

    I remember the PowerPc, which was an ugly rectangular box at a time when PCs were beginning to come in more stylish cases. The original iMac looked like an boiled sweet and had more than a passing resemblance to those 60's style rounded TVs. The later iMacs looked like desk-lamps. One of the Macs (the G4) I think was a cube. None of these things were, in my opinion, overwhelmingly stylish, or awesome. The iPod had minimalistic design, the wheel-thingy was really the only innovative thing about it though. The iPhone took the form-factor that was pretty much dicated to it as a touch-screen device with a large screen (HP Journada anyone?). The design of the iPad was pinched from Stanley Kubrick's 2001.

    I'm getting pretty tired of people spouting about how amazingly stylish and innovate Apple are. There are plenty of companies out there that produce equally or more stylish goods and they don't have, or need to have, gushing acolytes praising them. I'm sure that this is more than a small part of the reason so many people can't stand Apple.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      That explains it

      Must be why Apple kit sells so poorly and all those designers, artists and architects, Google developers and others avoid the kit, pushing the share price so low.

      So good to know why so many other companies are so well known, selling so much and so discussed, admired and denigrated.

      Must be good to be the only one in step.

  28. Frank Bough
    FAIL

    Horseshit.

    There'll be a new iPhone model in 12 months time, ready for any LTE networks that still won't have been built.

  29. Gradivus

    Get a Grip!

    Come on The Register, get a grip!

    How many people in the UK give a Tinker's Cuss about CDMA? How many had heard of it until this week? I came across it for the very first time only a few months ago, and I consider myself 'above average' with tecchie stuff. How many people would use it even if they could? I'd reckon 0.1% at most.

    And NFC. Do you really believe it will seriously catch on in the next two years? To the extent that iPhone users will feel disadvantaged?

  30. Chris Wilson
    WTF?

    Awful article.

    "So if you're a European hoping your 4S will work across the USA you'll be disappointed."

    It'll roam just fine on T-Mobile, AT&T or any of the other GSM networks. You won't notice.

    "450MHz band so popular around the Scandinavian countries and across Russia"

    So popular??? There are *zero* CDMA mobile-phone networks in Scandinavia (there's one mobile broadband one, but that's not really the same) and sod all 450Mhz subscribers in Russia too - which is predominantly GSM, just like the rest of the world.

    1. Manu T

      @ Chris Wilson

      "...just like the rest of the world..."

      Keep in mind that the real world begins at the pacific and ends at the atlantic ocean :-)

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