Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, you know that Apple is poised to announce something about their new iPhones next Tuesday October 4th. As my iPhone 3GS is about to shuffle off this mortal coil (well, its battery is anyway) I’m going to be very interested in what Apple has to say next week about its new iPhone 5 (or whatever they end up calling it). Here is a list of some of the items I hope they include.
Number 5: Format compatibility. I’ve owned every single iteration of the iPhone that has come out (well, my wife has the iPhone 4 although technically it’s registered to me). As a result, I have lots of accessories that I’ve used at one time or another with one of the phones. Probably the one I use the most is the clock radio dock from iHome on my bedside table. That’s where my iPhone parks (and charges) overnight while generating some nice white noise for sleeping. I am not going to be a happy camper if I have to buy a new docking station because the iPhone 5 doesn’t fit into the docking port.
Number 4: More Storage. In every iteration of the iPhone up until the iPhone 4 released last year, the maximum amount of storage doubled: from a maximum of 8 gig in the original iPhone to 16 gig in the iPhone 3G to 32 gig in the iPhone 3GS. One of my big disappointments with the iPhone 4 was that the maximum memory stayed at 32 gig. I hope that the iPhone 5 bumps that up by at least double. I’d like a minimum of 62 gig in a new phone, if not 128 gig (which would allow me to keep all my music on the phone and have all the apps I want). Somehow I’m guessing 128 gig is not going to happen next week, but perhaps I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Number 3: Increased Voice Recognition. The Voice Control in the 3GS and 4 is incredibly cool as far as it goes (and one of my favorite features to show iPhone owners who don’t know it is there). There’s been much speculation that the iPhone 5 will have even more ability to interact via voice commands with Apple’s purchase of Siri and deep embedding of the Nuance voice recognition technology in iOS5. It would be nice to be able to pick up the phone and say “send a text to my wife that I’m going to be late,” or have my phone read emails to me while I’m driving.
Number 2: Battery Life. Perhaps I’m spoiled by my old non-smart cell phones that would last up to a week without having to be recharged. Even when brand new, none of my iPhones have ever lasted more than a day (and sometimes significantly less). Yes, I know to shut off background programs, location-based services and the wireless technologies you aren’t using at the time (Bluetooth, WiFi and even 3G). It would be nice to have a phone that would last from the time I get up in the morning until the time I plug it into the bedside dock at night without having to manually manage power functions to eek out a few extra minutes of use. And it would be nice not to have to drag around an extra battery pack or two for those occasions where I have to be able to use the phone for extended periods of time without being near an electrical outlet (or USB port). I know having a user-replaceable battery isn’t in Apple’s ecosystem, but having a battery that lasts 24 hours when using the phone as intended doesn’t seem that much to ask.
Number 1: Ability to Make Phone Calls. As I’ve said many times before, the iPhone is a marvelous pocket computing device; I just wish it was better at making phone calls. Perhaps this isn’t entirely Apple’s fault; perhaps the fault lies mainly on the shoulders of my carrier (cough, AT&T, cough). I can’t count the number of times that my phone has been in my pocket at home and chirped that someone has just left a message without ever actually ringing to tell me they were calling in the first place! Or dropped a call in the middle of a conversation. More than once. In the same conversation. The good news is that if reports are correct and multiple carriers will be offering the iPhone 5, I’ll at least have a choice of finding a different carrier (notice I didn’t say better…in my experience they all suck, the just tend to suck at different things at different times).
Will any of this come to pass next Tuesday? We’ll all find out together.
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