We have seen a leaked promo video in the past, and now it has finally been made official. Google Now is available on iOS, compatible with iPhone and iPad. We first saw it with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean but it is now available to the hordes of iOS users.

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There seem to be a lot of rumours going around that Apple will release two new smartphones this year. It gathered pace recently, after a Chinese source claimed to have seen the forthcoming devices.

On Sina Tech, a micro blogging service, Old Yao claimed that his friend spotted the new edition of the standard-sized iPhone, most likely to be called the iPhone 5S, and also the 5-inch iPhone 6, in the factory of a major supplier to Apple. This lends more credibility to the rumours that two phones are coming this year, as Apple won’t release two upgrades to the same form factor in a year. Some argue that the second phone Apple is bringing to market this year is in fact an iPhone mini, following the same strategy they did with the iPad.

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It may seem strange to us, but the device pictured above is an iPhone. Even more surreal, this phone is an Android device. Thanks to a ruling by Brazilian courts, this device will retain the iPhone brand name.

Apple has been ruled not to have exclusive rights to the trademark in Brazil. The dispute was settled quite simply, as the local company Gradiente registered the iPhone trademark in 2000. That’s 7 years before the first Apple iPhone. While it would seem foolish for Apple to think they could invalidate this trademark, their argument centred on the fact that even though the trademark had already been filed, the company did not release a handset under that moniker until 2012.

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The iPhone is always a difficult phone to review, because by the time it reaches South Africa, interested people have already read everything they need to know about the phone. This time around South Africa got the iPhone quite late compared to previous years, and we were all too pleased when an iPhone 5 finally got delivered to us on launch day by Vodacom. First off, we did not want to rush a quick review of the device. We basically wanted to know one thing – is it still the gold standard in the smartphone world? And that meant spending a few weeks with it. (more…)

Vodacom seems to be the first South African network willing to give their pricing for the iPhone 5, which will launch on 14 December.

On the pre-registration page Vodacom shows the additional cost of an iPhone 5 16GB Black above the specific contract normal subscription cost, which is not really easy to analyze. So we went ahead and threw it all into one spreadsheet.

Here is the iPhone 5 16GB cost, broken down into total cost per month:

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Those of us who are eager enough to have already downloaded iOS6 would have noticed that the current new Apple Maps app is not yet fully featured in SA. In fact, before the weekend we were pretty sure SA would not get turn by turn navigation. But its not all bad news – routing works, so a person can ask how to get from point A to point B, and right now there are traffic updates already, as you can see from this screenshot. Take note of roadworks and accidents.

These traffic reports will become even better over time, because iOS6 actively monitors iPhone for traffic patterns and slowdowns, just like Waze (which Apple actually also uses as a data source).

But the best part of the new Apple Maps is not quite live yet: turn by turn navigation. Until now iPhone users had to shell out for dedicated navigation apps to get full turn by turn navigation (as in “turn left in 200m” type prompts). This is one of the most significant features of iOS6, because the entire OS’s location features integrate with Apple Maps. But as of today, Apple has put a notice up on its location features page that it will reach South Africa in October:

We have not had a crack at the new turn by turn features, but so far iOS6 looks like a great update for the Apple faithful. One negative is that turn by turn navigation will only come to the iPhone 4S and up, so users of iPhone 3GS and 4 will not receive this great new feature.

So far we have been very impressed by Apple Maps – the mapset is accurate, and aerial photography for SA is in many cases much better than Google Maps. Still, many people will miss Street View, so we are hoping for Google to release a Google Maps app soon, please.

iOS6 should be here by September 19th 2012. We have been using it since Beta 1, and its a great update.

The iPhone 5 has been unveiled. As widely predicted, its all-new design features a thinner metal case, a larger screen, and a new connector. It also packs iOS 6, which includes Apple’s Maps, Apple’s new proprietary mapping and navigation app and the replacement for Google Maps on iOS.

To welcome the iPhone 5, ALK have optimised CoPilot Live for its new taller screen for an a better widescreen navigation experience. They have also integrated with Apple’s Maps in iOS 6. A user will be able to find and select a location on Apple’s Maps and then navigate there using CoPilot’s offline, voice-guided, turn-by-turn GPS guidance. As with all CoPilot apps, CoPilot’s maps are stored on the phone for use when there is no mobile or data connection available.

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Every year we see some leaked images for the upcoming iPhone – and this year is no different. While there was no phone lost in a bar this year, the leaks from component manufacturers means we have a pretty good idea of what to expect already. In fact, so many components have been leaked that some intrepid folks have already built an iPhone 5 from the combined leaked parts. While it does not boot up all the way, it shows that the leaks might very well be the very thing that we see later tonight.

So what can we expect to see later today? (more…)