One of the new features of the iPhone 4S is a 1080p HD video camera. This new camera sports an f/2.4 lens and improved sensor to capture more light. It also has video stabilization to steady those shaky shots. To see me put this new camera to the test, check out the video above.

Extreme lighting

The first thing I tested was how well the camera deals with harsh lighting - meaning environments that have both dark, shaded areas and brightly lit, sunny areas. The iPhone 4S did a fantastic job of adjusting the exposure to bring in more light in the shade and less light in the sun. However, I did notice that if I was filming my daughter in an area that had bright backlighting, the video was a little underexposed even if I tapped to expose on my daughter's face.

Video Stabilization

The next thing I tested was video stabilization. First I tried out a non-extreme situation that has a similar amount of movement that the average person may experience - walking backwards while my daughter runs towards me. There was definitely still some camera shake present in these shots, but it wasn't too bad. My stomach tends to be pretty sensitive when it comes to bouncy film, but these clips didn't affect me.

However, the next test I did was to run down the street, and this one was pretty bad. It was still very shaky and I couldn't image watching an entire video like that, but I also couldn't imagine filming an entire video like that. This was an extreme scenario that expect not too many people will find themselves in.

The video stabilization performed best when panning the camera around. I was particularly impressed by the clips of me panning around the camera to follow my daughter as she walked past me. These were nice and smooth.

Low light

Next up was low light. The quality of the video in the low light environments of my house were not the best, but they weren't particularly horrible, either. Camera shake was a little more obvious and the clips were grainier, but overall, I was satisfied with its performance as a cellphone camera. I was particularly impressed with how the camera was able to compensate for the pink lighting in my daughters room and choose a good white balance setting. This was a huge improvement over the iPhone 4.

Macro

The macro lens on the iPhone 4S camera is incredibly sharp - when it's able to actually lock focus. On larger items, like leaves, the iPhone 4S has no issue focusing, but with smaller, skinnier items like twigs and sticks, the camera really struggles with grabbing a focus and often times never does. I tried to focus on some berries hanging from a bush for several minutes with no luck. It doesn't seem to make a difference between direct sunlight, shade, or overcast light, the iPhone 4S seems to frequently have issues with focussing. This is a huge disappointment.

Conclusion

Overall, I am very impressed with the iPhone 4S video camera. It handles the changes in harsh lighting, poor lighting, and movement quite well and also has great audio quality. The biggest disappointment is that the macro lens frequently has issues focusing. However, when the lens does focus, it looks amazing.

It's time to retire my Flip Video camera for good.

Have you been recording some amazing video with your iPhone 4S? Head on over to our Photography and Video forum to show them off!

The Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle is exactly what its name implies, a docking and charging station for your iPhone.

In contrast to Apple's white dock, this cradle is matte black. It is very sturdy which allows you to easily use and tap on your iPhone without the risk of knocking it over. With dimensions at about 4"x2.5"x1", the Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle isn't tiny, but it isn't bulky either. The cradle connects to your computer via micro-USB and iTunes does recognize when you dock your iPhone.

My favorite feature of this dock is that it is compatible with cases. There is a removable plate included with the cradle; this ensures that your iPhone fits properly in the dock regardless if you're using a case or not . I use an Apple Bumper on my iPhone 4, and it fits perfectly with the plate removed. If the plate is attached, my iPhone 4 fits nice and snug in its naked state. Although the Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle is advertised for the iPhone 4, I tested it with my 3GS, and it fit just fine with the plate accessory removed.

If you're looking for a charging dock for your iPhone, I recommend checking this one out. In addition to being a stylish way to charge my iPhone, I also enjoy having a slideshow display on it at the same time. The Seidio Desktop Charging Cradle is available in the TiPb Accessory Store.

Pros

• Compatible with case -Includes removable plate to ensure proper fitting
• Sturdy
• Stylish matte black
• Compatible with iPhone 4 and 3G/3GS bodies

Cons

• A little bit big (but not too big)

The Dooney & Bourke Pouch for iPhone is a great case for the lady who is looking for something fashionable and practical to carry her iPhone in. This multifunctional pouch works as both a wallet and iPhone case.

This pouch is much larger than your average case and is designed to not only carry your iPhone, but replace your wallet. The inside flap has 3 card slots and there are pockets in the front and back of the pouch. The main compartment is big enough to hold additional items with your iPhone, such as make-up, cash, and earphones. Because the pouch is bigger than the iPhone, it is also possible to have another case, like a bumper or skin case, on your iPhone and it still fit inside the pouch. For some, the extra large pocket will be a welcomed feature, and for others, it will be a frustrating amount of empty space. The Dooney & Bourke Pouch is also equipped with a leather wrist strap, but it is easily removable if you prefer to toss the case into your purse without the strap.

The exterior of the Dooney & Bourke Pouch is made out of a durable nylon material with leather trim. The coffee color is dark brown and branded with large "Dooney & Bourke" lettering. The black and gray version is gray with Dooney & Bourke's signature "DB" in black. The interior is lined with a material that isn't exactly soft, but won't scratch your iPhone either. The flap over the large pocket magnetically and securely snaps closed.

I find the Dooney & Bourke Pouch to be a great option when I'm looking to minimize the amount of items I'm carrying around. If I'm wearing an outfit without pockets and do not wish to carry around a purse, I grab this pouch, add my ID, credit card, random cash, and iPhone, and head out the door.

The Dooney & Bourke Pouch for iPhone is available in the TiPb Accessory Store.

Pros

• Extra pockets for ID, credit cards, receipts, etc.
• Big pouch has room for other items in addition to iPhone
• Compatible with thin cases
• Removable leather wrist strap
• Magnetic snap closure
• Fashionable

Cons

• Big pouch seems a bit awkward with only a (case-free) iPhone inside (too much extra space)
• Interior is not very soft

Tweetbot just hit the US App Store and boy is it a beauty. Tapbots has done it again and designed an application that is not only functional and pretty, but an artistic masterpiece that I cannot keep my hands off of. I was an instant critic when I read Tapbots' claim that Tweetbot is "a twitter client with personality", but they're right.

A text review can hardly do this app justice because it is impossible to put into words how beautifully Tweetbot is made. Sure, I can describe how, at your touch, a tweet slides up revealing a navigation bar while simultaneous emitting the perfect sound. I can explain that swiping a tweet to right reveals the conversation and swiping to left displays related tweets. I can tell you about smart gestures, multiple timelines, and customizable navigation. I can even spew out a concrete list of every feature that Tweetbot includes. What I can't provide you, however, is the experience.

The problem with Twitter clients these days is that they're all the same. Yes, the same. Sure, the features vary (slightly) between them and some come with cool themes. The experiences, however, are too alike. I used to get excited when a new Twitter app was released because each app offered something different, something new. Today, they all feel the same. What happened? When users flocked to a particular Twitter app, other devs copied what made that app special. Individualization was lost. Now the App Store is basically filled with slight variations of the same app - with the exception of Tweetbot.

Tweetbot is different. It's innovative and refreshing. Tweetbot isn't an app you use, it's one you interact with. Everything has an animation, a sound, a beautiful interface. And true to Tapbots' style, the sounds are subtle and pleasant - enriching the experience.

In case you can't tell, I'm a huge fan of Tweetbot, but it isn't for everybody. Tweetbot is full-featured, but doesn't have every possible feature known to those in the Twitter app world. Tweetbot doesn't have a mute option or display in-line photos. It doesn't have multiple themes or native push notifications (but it's compatible with Boxcar). If these features are deal-breakers to you, then Tweetbot isn't for you. Not yet anyway.

For those who are suckers for design, innovation, and dare I say, personality, Tweetbot will rock your world.

Check out the screenshot gallery after the break!

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

The iPad 2 is equipped with two cameras, a front-facing VGA camera and a rear facing 720p HD camera. Check out the video above for example footage with both cameras.

Recording video on the iPad 2 is a little awkward given it's large size, but it gets the job done. Another thing that takes some getting used to is that when using the front-facing camera to record yourself in landscape mode, the camera is positioned to the far left (or right). It feels strange looking so far from the center of the screen because I have grown accustomed to looking at the top of a device or just the screen while recording video. It's clear that you are not looking at the camera if you stare at the screen while recording.

The quality of video taken with the VGA and HD cameras are as expected. In well-lit situations, the HD camera produces excellent results and the VGA camera gives acceptable quality. Both cameras do an ok job in bad lighting situations, but admittedly do better than I was expecting. In fact, while taking footage in my daughter's poorly lit bedroom, the video looked pretty bad; but after uploading it to YouTube and watching on a computer, it didn't look too shabby.

Taking still photographs with the iPad 2 is not nearly as rewarding as video. The photographs come out mediocre even in excellent light conditions. With that said, I was actually rather impressed with the close-up photograph I took of a bush. Digital zoom with the rear-facing camera, however, is awful. It's not even worth your time to test it out.

Considering the fact that the iPad 2 is not, and should not be, regarded as a primary camera, I am content with the quality of the video and photographs obtained with the iPad 2. Of course, I would love to see better cameras, but they do a good enough job for my needs.

To check out the photos taken with the iPad 2, follow along after the break!

Side note: the video above was edited with iMovie on the iPad 2.

Photo Booth on the iPad 2 is a fun application that applies silly effects to your camera when taking photos. It is similar to Photo Booth on the Mac and is entertaining for kids and adults alike.

Photo Booth is equipped with 8 different effects: Thermal Camera, Mirror, X-Ray, Kaleidoscope, Light Tunnel, Squeeze, Twirl, and Stretch. You can edit the effect before snapping the picture by pinching and dragging on the screen. As you take photos (from either front or rear camera) with Photo Booth, they are saved to your Camera Roll and you can see thumbnails of the images at the bottom of the screen. From here, you can easily email, copy, and delete multiple photos. Be careful though, deleting a photo from Photo Booth also deletes it from your Camera Roll.

The quality of the photos taken with the VGA front-facing camera are not by any means outstanding, but given the nature of these shots - fun, quirky, and silly - it isn't too big of a deal.

Check out some images taken with Photo Booth after the break!

One of the new apps for iPad 2 is iMovie. It was originally released for the iPhone 4 this past June, but Apple recently updated it as a universal app for iPhone 4, iPad 2, and iPod touch 4. On the iPad 2, iMovie is fantastic.

The editing screen is set up similar to iMovie on the Mac and split into 3 different screens. On the bottom of the screen, you find the timeline for your movie, on the top left, you find available media, and video preview is located in the top right. The "My Projects" screen is beautifully designed to look like a vintage movie theater.

Editing movies is very easy on the iPad 2. You can preview clips by dragging your finger across them and trim the edges before adding them to your project. To move clips around in your timeline, simply drag it to where you want. If you want to split a clip, position the curser, select the clip, and swipe down along the curser. You can also easily record audio and video directly into the timeline.

iMovie is stocked with 8 different themes, each of which comes with its own title screen format, transitions, and theme music. It also comes with a plethora of sound effects to add to your movies. Sadly the new Trailer templates from iMovie '11 on Mac didn't make it into the iPad version but hopefully we'll see those in an update.

Sharing your movies is a breeze and iMovie is equipped the the ability to send directly to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and CNN iReport. Just tap the familiar sharing arrow from the projects screen and make your selection.

I am very impressed with how well iMovie runs on the iPad 2. It responds well and performs tasks quickly. iMovie on the iPad may well become my primary video editing software - yes, I will chose it over iMovie '11 on my Mac.

To check out the movie I created in the video above, follow along after the break!

AT&T boasts of being "America's fastest 3G network", so I've been putting that claim to the test by comparing the speeds with Verizon and AT&T iPhones side-by-side. The results were incredibly surprising. To find out what they were, watch the video above then follow along after the break!

First of all, I must preface this by saying that these tests took place in Denver, CO. Testing elsewhere could yield significantly different results.

When it comes to numbers, AT&T typically (not always) has faster speeds as you can see in the screenshots above. However, when it came to real world tests with Safari and Facebook, Verizon was neck and neck with AT&T and often times faster.

When out and about, I was consistently getting these results, but not at home. In my house, I have very spotty AT&T coverage and typically connect to a microcell to ensure I can make a phone call. In order to test AT&T against Verizon, I unplugged the microcell and got surprisingly mixed results. Even though I often only have 1 or 2 bars with AT&T, browsing with the AT&T iPhone is usually significantly faster than with Verizon. I say usually, because there are times when AT&T slows down to match Verizon. It's very inconsistent to say the least.

I cannot emphasize enough how my results were obtained from Denver and cannot be generalized to all of America. In fact, Ally has been executing the same tests in the Chicago area and been getting significantly different results than me. Not only do the following screenshots show AT&T with must faster speeds, but Ally reports that the difference is undeniable in practice.

Now, Chicago is one of the best places to have AT&T because it is very stable and running HSPA 7.2. It just goes to show that location is very important when choosing a network. If possible, run tests yourself while within your return period before committing to a network. Here in Denver, I may be considering a switch to Verizon if the iPhone 5 is available on Verizon the same day as AT&T.

Your data speeds?

To help increase our sampling, please add your carrier, location, and current data speeds in comments. Lets see what iPhone 4 can do on Verizon and AT&T in different parts of the country!

Verizon boasts of being "America's largest and most reliable network" and I've been putting that claim to the test. I've been comparing reception, voice quality, how quickly voice calls are placed, and messaging speeds with AT&T's iPhone. To see my results, follow along after the break!

First off, it's important to note that my testing took place in Denver, CO. Networks vary depending on location, so someone in a different parts of the country may obtain different results.

Reception

I must be going to all the wrong places, because I have yet to find a place where Verizon and AT&T both have 5 bars at the same time. One of networks seems to always have 1 or 2 bars more than the other and it's an even split between who has more bars more often. So, in my experience, AT&T does not have "more bars in more places", but only in some places.

With that said, I have not had a single dropped call on the Verizon iPhone 4 - not even a skip.

The dreaded 1xRTT

However, Verizon is not immune to that dreaded little circle that, on AT&T's GSM network, indicates GPRS. In fact, minutes after purchasing the Verizon iPhone 4 from the Apple Store, Ally called my AT&T iPhone 4 as I was leaving the parking garage. As you likely guessed, the call dropped. I instinctively grabbed the Verizon iPhone to check the reception, and there it was - the circle! But what exactly does this mean on Verizon's CDMA network?

When that ugly little circle appears on a Verizon iPhone, it is indicating a connection to 1xRTT which is basically CDMA's version of GPRS. According to Wikipedia, it supports packet data speeds of up to 153 kbps with real world data transmission averaging 60–100 kbps. It's probably not even worth trying to surf the web when connected to 1xRTT because of how painfully slow it is.

Voice Quality

I've heard many people praise Verizon for their superior voice quality, but I honestly didn't notice a difference. Ally had the same experience; neither one of use could differentiate the voice quality between Verizon and AT&T iPhone 4's.

Making a voice call

You know how there is always a pause between the moment you place a phone call and when you hear the ringing tone? Well, this pause is consistently shorter on Verizon's iPhone. When placing the same phone call (regardless of network) on both iPhones at the exact same time, the AT&T iPhone was always sent strait to voicemail while Verizon's iPhone went through with the call. To see the comparison in action, check out the video above.

Sending messages

The last thing I tested was sending SMS and MMS messages. In every instance, the Verizon iPhone sent out SMS messages faster than AT&T's iPhone. We only talking a matter of seconds, however; so in the grand scheme, it's not that big of difference. With MMS, Verizon usually sent the message quicker than AT&T, but as you can see in the above video, AT&T did win that race once.

Conclusion

Overall, I do agree that Verizon provides the iPhone 4 with a more reliable network in Denver, CO; however, AT&T isn't far behind. AT&T's network is very solid here and I generally only get dropped calls when in situations like in a parking garage. The best advice I can give is that before deciding which network to purchase your iPhone 4 with, ask around. Find out the reputations of the the networks in your area.

One of the news features introduced with the Verizon iPhone is personal hotspot. Personal hotspot allows you to connect up to 5 devices to Verizon's 3G network through your iPhone 4 via Wi-Fi. Watch the video above for a quick look at how to connect a Mac and iPad to Wi-Fi with personal hotspot.

Connecting with Wi-Fi personal hotspot is a breeze. After enabling it in the iPhone 4's settings, you just find the network with the device you want to connect with, enter in the password, and you're good to go. Check out our tip on how to use Wi-Fi personal hotspot for more details and follow on after the break to see how it works...

Speed

So, personal hotspot is easy and convenient, but is it fast? Absolutely. I am very impressed with how quickly websites load on both my MacBook and iPad while connected with Wi-Fi personal hotspot on Verizon's 3G network. I was expecting much slower results. Ally's doing speed tests so check back soon for more details on the exact numbers,

Battery life

Personal hotspot does make an impact on the iPhone 4's battery. In 20 minutes, I lost 7% battery life while connected to my MacBook. Because of this, when using a device that can double as a power source for your iPhone, like a laptop, I recommend doing so. You might think this defeats the purpose of Wi-Fi and doesn't make it any different than tethering via USB - the speeds are comparable. However, the biggest advantage to Wi-Fi personal hotspot over USB tethering is the ability to connect devices like iPads or other mobile phones that don't have USB ports. Additionally, Wi-Fi personal hotspot allows the connection of up to 5 devices at once. So if one device is helping power your iPhone that still leaves room for up to 4 others over Wi-Fi.

(If you really hate the idea of connecting for power, you can use an external battery case like the mophie juicepak air or juicepak plus)

Pricing

Personal Hotspot requires a 3G Mobile Hotspot plan on Verizon and is an additional $20 on top of your required voice and data plans. This plan includes a separate 2GB reserved just for 3G Mobile Hotspot and if you exceed 2GB, it'll cost you an extra $20.

Simultaneous voice and data

Because Verizon's CDMA EVDO Rev A network is incapable of handling voice and data simultaneously, the personal hotspot connection will be unavailable for the duration of any incoming and outgoing phone calls. You can ignore calls and continue using data but if you accept a call, the data gets paused. Once the call is ended, personal hotspot will automatically reconnect.

Personal hotspot on AT&T

As of now, Wi-Fi personal hotspot is not available on AT&T, but it has been announced that the feature will indeed be available soon, but no dates have been given yet, and it will require an iOS 4.3 update. However, AT&T does offer tethering over USB and Bluetooth.

If you're looking for a stylish pouch for your iPhone, the Pamela Durkin Designs Vertical Pouch Case for iPhone may be exactly what you're looking for. This leather pouch is slim, lightweight, and simply gorgeous.

The exterior of the Pamela Durkin Designs pouch is designed using a process that allows museum quality prints without sacrificing any of the performance of the leather. The design itself is very geometrical - evenly spaced rectangles with ovals and lines and comes in two different colors schemes: pink and green, or blue and green. There is a magnetic closure at the top and a belt clip on the back. The belt clip can be rotated 360 degrees into 8 different positions.

The interior of the pouch is lined with a soft, felt material that will protect your phone from scratches. There is also a little bit of padding for added protection.

One of my favorite things about this case is that it can be used simultaneously with any case similar to Apple's Bumper case. This allows me to use the Pamela Durkin Pouch for protection when my iPhone is not in use, yet have the bumper for looks and minimal protection while using my iPhone.

The Pamela Durkin Designs Vertical Pouch Case for iPhone is available in the TiPb iPhone Accessory Store.

Pros

• Beautifully designed
• Durable leather exterior
• Rotating belt clip
• Magnetic closure
• Compatible with bumper case

Cons

• None

iFixDirect now offers red and blue color swaps for the iPhone 4, and they not only sent me both conversion kits to take a look at and share with you, but are generously giving away a conversion service to one of you, our awesome readers!

Both colors look phenomenal. The red kit is very vibrant and rich in color and the blue kit is a nice deep blue and not quite as showy as the red. What's interesting about the blue kit is that it is very reflective like a mirror.

One of my concerns was that the parts would have a painted look to them. I'm happy to report that they do not. In fact, if Apple were to design red and blue iPhone 4's, I believe this is exactly what they would look like. I am very impressed with the authentic look of these parts.

Now for the give-away! For a chance to win a red or blue conversion from iFixDirect, head on over to our forums and let us know which color you want and why. We'll randomly choose a winner next week and put you in contact with iFixDirect to have your iPhone 4 converted to red or blue.

Now go enter!

iFixDirect is an iPhone repair company based out of New York and one of their services is an aftermarket white iPhone 4 conversion. Included in the swap is replacement of the front glass, back cover, home button, LCD screen, and flash diffuser. Additionally, they boast of being the only company that replaces the speaker mesh to ensure nothing can get trapped inside and damage your phone. The conversion takes less than 24 hours and it is shipped back overnight.

When Steve Jobs first announced the white iPhone 4, I was in love and couldn't wait for one to be in my iPhone-loving hands. But my heart was soon crushed when it was delayed at launch. This wound got increasingly worse as the white iPhone 4 was delayed further and further. It wasn't long before the white iPhone 4 became nothing but a mystical device to me - until now. My black iPhone 4 has been converted to white with iFixDirect.

How is it? Photos and hands-on impressions after the break!

iFixDirect did an excellent job converting my phone. All the parts look amazing and there is no evidence that the phone was taken apart. It looks particularly beautiful with Apple's blue bumper case. One thing that should be noted is that with a white front, you can see how light is passed through the glass at the speaker and home button. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, but it's there and you should be aware of it.

Remember the rumor that the reason for the white iPhone 4 delay was because of light leakage? I believe this may be true. With the conversion of my iPhone to white, a little bit of light does leak from the edges of the back. It's not noticeable in a brightly lit environment, but if it's dark enough, it's obvious. I do not consider this a flaw of the the service, but a consequence of the see-through nature of the material. With that said, I use a bumper so the light leaks do not bother me one bit.

Another rumor for the delay was that the camera's flash did not behave well with the white back. I've tested many photos and have not run into a single issue. All my pictures look great.

If you've been dying to have a white iPhone 4 and plan to use a case, I recommend the iPhone 4 white color swap with iFixDirect. They do great work and offer excellent customer service. The basic conversion runs at $249 and for an additional $50, you can have the dock connector and headphone jack also switched to white. However, the good folks at iFixDirect are offering TiPb readers a 10% discount on the iPhone 4 white color swap. Just use the discount code whiteTiPb at checkout.

If you decide to get the iPhone 4 white color swap, please let us know what you think!

The iPhone 4 color swap voids your warranty with Apple. iFixDirect offers a warranty for $4.99/mo.

iFixDirect converted my iPhone at no cost. However, this did not affect my review of the service.

[iFixDirect]

iOS 4.2 is the grand unification update, the software that brings iPhone, iPod touch, and for the first time, iPad all onto the same version number and at the same time. Yes, it's the one firmware to rule them all.

Announced during Apple's 2010 special music event, for iPad's that have been running iOS 3.2 since launch back in April, the change is nothing short of a revelation. Multitasking, folders, and unified inbox from iOS 4.0 join Game Center and TV show rentals from iOS 4.1, and add in AirPlay video sharing and AirPrint wireless printing fresh to iOS 4.2.

Huge.

And we're going to take you through it, after the break!

(Note, if you're interested in iPhone or iPod touch, we've got a complete iOS 4.2 for iPhone walkthrough as well!)

What hasn't changed

Almost everything has changed this time. Likely because there's no weather or clock apps to ignore. Still, there doesn't seem to be anything new in Contacts yet, but we'll keep our eyes peeled.

Huge update, we told you.

Hardware changes

No, that's not a typo. As you're read below, Apple has added a software orientation lock to iOS 4.2 for iPad, similar to how it works on iPhone. That means the previous, hardware-based orientation lock is no longer needed, so they've made that a mute switch like on iPhone. Yes, they really changed a hardware button. Yes, it will make iPhone owners less confused but it will mess with existing iPad owners.

Either way, be advised.

System-wide enhancements

Many of the system-wide enhancements that came with iOS 4.2 for iPhone were already present in IOS 3.2 for iPad -- spellcheck, text replacement, etc. And unfortunately, there's still no sign of VoiceControl, which both iPhone and iPod touch have. There is, however...

AirPlay

AirPlay is an evolution of Apple’s AirTunes system that used to let you stream music between iTunes on Windows or Mac and Apple TV or Airport Express connected speakers. AirPlay takes that to the next level, letting you stream video and pictures as well as music from iPad (or iPhone or iPod touch) and the new 2010 Apple TV. Built-in apps like iPod, Video, and YouTube can stream, but unfortunately it looks like all other apps, including Apple's own Safari and all App Store apps are currently limited to audio-only. Whether this is intentional or Apple simply ran out of time and didn't finish making public APIs for video is unknown but hopefully this will be expanded upon in a future update.

You can tell AirPlay is an option when its icon appears to the right of the volume slider. It looks like a TV-style box with a triangle being inserted up into it. (Yeah, seriously). AirPlay compatible apps, when AirPlay compatible devices are present, will show the AirPlay icon as a button. Tap it and you get a list of devices you can stream to. Tap one and your video will switch from iPhone to TV. And since it’s called AirPlay and not AirView, here’s hoping Apple also expands the functionality in the future to project game video onto the big TV screen, leaving iPhone and iPod touch as a full on multitouch game controller. Hey, we can dream…

AirPrint

AirPrint is Apple's wireless printing service. By the time it ships, it should be able to send pages to almost any printer on the same Wi-Fi network, or to certain printers directly (HP ePrint have already been announced). Needless to say, this answers one huge piece of previously missing functionality. (The one it doesn't answer, and still isn't answered, is easier file transfer and sync).

AVRCP Audio/Video Remote Control Protocol for stereo Bluetooth

Yes, you can finally -- finally -- control volume, skip tracks, and do pretty much anything your stereo Bluetooth headset allows. Unfortunately, at least in my tests, volume changes on the headset don't show up on the iPhone's volume slider -- but they do work in both iTunes Store streaming and iPod apps.

Home Screen

SpringBoard, the app that runs the home screen and overall interface in iOS, finally gets the iOS 4 crown jewels of multitasking and folders, but there are a few small changes to go through first.

The little northeast pointing arrow that indicates a location-based service is running, be it Wi-Fi mapping or aGPS, now shows up in the status bar along the top, just like iOS 4 on iPhone.

The red bar that shows background VoIP is here, long and thin though it may be. (And yes, tapping it does indeed take you right back to your VoIP/Skype call).

Spotlight

There's more control inside Settings for Spotlight, but nothing in the search interface itself that we can find yet. If Apple were to create a true universal search, including for settings, app content, etc. like webOS 2.0 or BlackBerry OS 6, that would terrific.

Multitasking

While Apple's built-in apps (like iPod, Mail, etc.) have had background multitasking since iOS 1.0 for iPhone and iOS 3.2 for iPad, with iOS 4.2 it finally comes to 3rd party App Store apps.

As to how it works, instead of a traditional "leave full apps running in the background" approach, Apple instead chose to implement a more restricted but, they felt, better performing and power friendly solution involving 7 specific background API (application programming interfaces.)

Local notifications

In addition to the existing push notification service from Apple's servers, which provide sound, badges, and alert popups for everything from IM to VoIP calls, to game challenges, iOS 4.2 adds local notifications so something like an alarm-clock app could register an alert that would sit in the iPhone in the background until the proper time, then activate. That takes the online server out of the equation which is good for tasks that don't need additional information from the cloud, and so don't have to activate the radios.

Task completion

There's another API for task completion so that, for example, if you're uploading a picture to Flickr and leave the app, it can register a thread to keep uploading the picture in the background while you do something else. That means the entire app doesn't have to keep running, freeing up memory and lightening battery load, and even the thread will terminate when the upload is done.

Fast app switching and saved state

Fast app switching deals with the perceptive speed that multitasking offers. With iOS 3.2 if you left an App Store app it would shut down completely. If you went back -- regardless if it was a second or a week or later -- it would usually restart not from where you left off but from the beginning. A few developers tried to add persistence on their own, saving your place when you came back as best as previous OS versions allowed, but most didn't -- especially games. Also, if you closed one app and went to another, you could theoretically be stuck swiping back or forth between 11 home screen pages. And with a 9.5-inch screen, that could be a lot of swiping!

Saved state is now built into iOS 4.2 for iPad. If you switch out, Apps have their currents state recorded to memory and if/when you go back, the app checks the memory save and resumes from that state.

To enable fast app switching, Apple's created a new UI metaphor. Now, when you double tap the home button, the screen turns translucent and slides up, allowing you to peek at the apps running "in the background". (Technically frozen with state saved and threads registered with the background API).

Apps in the fast switcher UI are sorted in order of last usage. That means, if you're moving between a set of commonly used apps, they're most likely right next to each other and not screens and screens away. These two elements combine together to make launching apps perceptively much faster, even though the apps don't have to be running in the background consuming resources just for that convenience.

Positionally the fast app switcher replaces the space traditionally reserved for the Dock, so while it's a tad confusing the concept of apps at the bottom of the screen being more permanent and easily accessible remains. Behaviorally, while they look like a secret Dock, they function like the Home Screen itself in that you can swipe from right to left to scroll through a several 4-icon sets of multitasking apps.

Given iPad has only 256MB of RAM, we assume Apple will discretely kill off the least-used app in the stack when things get tight or a certain amount of time passes. That means, yes, sometimes you will come back to that game and have it start over rather than resuming, but resources on mobile devices -- they be constrained.

(Here's also hoping iPad 2 gets 512MB of RAM like iPhone 4 did.)

iOS 4.2 helps users visualize what's going on when switching apps by introducing a new, carousel-like animation. It's a bit different than the carousel style used in iPhone and iPod touch, more like panels swinging around, but it works well. The new animation occurs when you switch between two apps either via the new, double-click-Home to trigger to launch the multitasking UI, or when one app calls another app (i.e. when you're in Contacts and you tap to send a contact an SMS).

Launching or leaving an app retains the same, zoom-based effect as always.

Interlude: Task Killing

At the iOS 4 event, Steve Jobs likened task managers (in the multitasking, not to-do sense) to styluses -- if you need them there's something wrong. Initially this created confusion in iOS 4 when it was noted, if you hold your finger down on multitasking apps, they'd jiggle and bring up a delete icon that, if tapped, removed them. So um, yeah.

It appears like there's a couple things going on. First, with built-in Apple apps, like Mail, if you "delete" it from the fast app switcher, the service will re-spawn immediately so you will still receive Mail (it doesn't kill the background thread that checks, sounds/vibrates, and updates the badge). However, the respawn will sometimes fix issues of mail not loading properly, for example.

For App Store apps, if you "delete" them it flushes their saved state and forces them to reset and reload when next you launch them, i.e. they won't resume from the previously saved state and their threads seem to be restarted.

And yes, you can still hold down the Sleep/Wake button until the red Shut Down slider appears, then hold down the Home button until you return to the home screen, and that will flush the RAM and give you a general reset.

Widgets

Just like to the left of the main home screen is a special Spotlight screen, to the left of the fast app switcher is a special widget dock containing a software version of the iPad's previous hardware orientation lock control.

That's right. The hardware orientation lock button has been reassigned as a mute switch, to match the iPhone, and now orientation lock is software based. Unlike the iPhone, however, you can lock in both portrait and landscape mode.

More over, there are three circular music controls to skip back/rewind, play/pause, or skip ahead/fast forward whatever audio is currently queued up (including streaming music). Whichever app is currently playing the music, be it iPod, iTunes or Safari (streaming podcasts, for example), or an App Store app (like Pandora or Slacker) is shown at the right so you can jump back to it and access further controls.

iPad 4.2 also gets something more than iPhone -- it gets all the widgets in one dock, and it gets a brightness slider thrown in to boot. The extra screen real estate pays off with instant access to crank things down for reading or up for watching movies.

The presentation may not be as visually slick as Palm webOS' Card view (which looks like iPhone Safari's Page view) or Mac OS X Expose mode, but it keeps tens of millions of existing iPad users grounded in the interface they're familiar with and that's what Apple is prioritizing.

Background music, location, and VoIP

Speaking of streaming music, perhaps most famously, Apple is allowing apps to register three specific types of threads for persistent backgrounding (they can just keep running until you close them). Again, this isn't the whole app running, just one thread from the app, so the idea is it won't slow down performance, use up memory, or drain battery to the same degree. These API are for streaming music, location, and VoIP (voice over IP).

This means you can listen to Pandora, Slacker, etc. while surfing the web. Navigon, TeleNav,TomTom, etc. can keep using the GPS and alert you to directions while you're on the phone, and to further save resources, non-critical location apps like FourSquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc. can be alerted when you change cell towers. Fring, Skype, Line2, etc. can answer calls and receive messages when you're not in the app, making them more equal telephony citizens.

What's still missing are background API for timeline updates, so that IM, Twitter, RSS, etc. could update like Mail does and have new messages ready and waiting when you return to the app. Also, there's no API to let internet sessions like SSH, RDP/VNC remain active when you exit an app making it more onerous for network administrators and others to manage remote machines. Hopefully these can be added in future revisions.

Folders

There are umpteen hundreds of thousands of apps in the App Store, tens of thousands specifically for iPad, and more and more every day. With iOS 3.2 on iPad we had 11 pages for 180 apps viewable, but you could install many more and use Spotlight as a way of finding and launching them. And Organizing them efficiently? Forget about it.

Enter Folders. A Folder is simply a grouped icon that holds up to 20 other icons inside it. (And for those keeping count at home, the new math means a whopping 3600 apps can be kept available at once. Super hudder).

The way it works is you tap a Folder icon and once again the Home Screen fades and splits open, this time below the Folder. Inside the split are all the apps contained in the group.

To create a Folder, you begin by tapping and holding an icon to put it in jiggly mode, just like you did before to delete or move it. Then, drag it over and drop it on top of another icon to create a Folder. (This works better when icons aren't at the right edge of the screen, as the "get out of the way" behavior sometimes supersedes the Folder behavior, causing the icon to wrap to the next line before you can drop on top of it.) Once created, iOS reads the apps' category data and tries to name the folder for you, but you can easily edit it and change it to anything you want.

As you add apps to a folder, tiny representations of the apps icon appear inside the folder icon in a 3x3 grid. Since iOS 4.2 on iPad supports more app than the iPhone version, 20 instead o 12, as you add more than 9 apps, the grid of tiny icons scrolls up to show the new apps being added. Since 20 isn't divisible by 3, when you hit 19 or 20 that row contains only 2 icons. Once you leave jiggly mode, the folder icon scrolls back down to show only the first 9 icons again. So, if you need visual reminded for certain apps being in certain folders, make sure you add them first so they'll be visible.

To remove apps from a Folder, put them in jiggly mode inside the Folder and drag them out (or just delete them if you don't want the app anymore at all). You can also move them around within the Folder to customize their order.

Folders can be put in jiggly mode and moved as well, but not deleted (they can only be deleted by removing all the apps from within them, and which point they self-destruct for you). You can even move them to the Dock, which means you could have 120 apps readily available at any time for quick launching.

You can also manage them from iTunes 10's app interface if a mouse and keyboard helps you speed up the process. (Oh, the irony.)

And while you still can't delete Apple's built-in apps, you can take the ones you're not using and hide them away inside a folder so they waste as little Home Screen space as possible.

Again, not as visually exciting perhaps as Mac OS X's Stacks, but it keeps current iPhone users in a familiar interface while adding much-needed functionality.

Calendar

Calendar app appears to be functionally identical to iOS 3.2 but for the color scheme. The shades are all pastel now, just like iPhone on iOS 4.1. Full on Miami Vice light purples and greens and peaches and tones only Prismacolor has names for. No idea what this change was about.

Notes

Notes finally -- finally lets you change fonts. That's right, if Marker Felt was never your thing, you can now jump into Settings and switch it to Chalkboard (essentially Marker Felt with a shave and a haircut), and Helvetica, used by the rest of the interface.

Curiously -- and frustratingly -- there doesn't seem to be AirPrint support for Notes.

Maps

A minor tweak, but the current location/current direction button changes from the previous crosshairs to a north-east pointer to match the new location services icon used in the title bar, much like the iPhone's did under iOS 4.0.

Video

Video, the app that unlike the iPhone but like the iPod touch houses all movie, TV, and video podcasts on iPad, enjoys AirPlay integration so all of the preceding should be able to easily stream to the 2010 Apple TV (and perhaps 3rd party AirPlay devices one day, if any offer video support).

YouTube

YouTube only gets a minor update this time, which is kind of disappointing given how great YouTube has been making YouTube.com work for iOS devices. In any event, if you've ever wished you could give a YouTube video the old thumbs up or thumbs down right on your iPad, the you're in luck.

And, of course, the AirPlay is right there, giving us hope any HTML 5 video will be instantly transportable to the TV.

iTunes Store

iTunes store gets AirPlay too in case you want to stream a video podcast and shoot it over to your 2010 Apple TV. Speaking of streaming, thanks to iOS 4.2 background audio, streaming on iPad is now as rock solid as it's been on iPhone since 4.0.

Most of the time you can scrub and it re-buffers and keeps playing flawlessly. You can stop it and come back hours or even days later -- even after using the iTunes app to search for other things or the iPod app to play different audio -- and it still knows where you left off and starts playing again instantly without missing a beat. I almost never download podcasts anymore. That's how good the streaming is now (especially if you're mobile with an iPad 3G).

Ping

Ping isn't exclusive to iOS 4.1 -- it's already available to iOS 4.0.x users -- but Apple is touting it as a new feature and it's being launched at roughly the same time, so it makes some amount of sense to fold it in here for easy reference.

A social music network, Ping debuted with iTunes 10 but only became accessible on iPad with iTunes 10.1 and iOS 4.2. You get to it via the double talk bubbles tab, bottom middle. If you haven't yet synced your iPad with iTunes 10.1, you'll get a Ping splash screen telling you to do so. Why it can't just ask for your login like Twitter or Facebook and even Apple's own Game Center is beyond me. Cut the tether already.

Once you've signed on, the Ping tab will come up with the Activities view. Activities show what's going on with the people you've followed -- status, pictures, and videos from recording artists like Lady GaGa, and comments, likes, and shared music from friends. It gives you the ability to like or comment on any of those things and, of course, instant access to preview and purchase the music being liked or commented on in iTunes. That also means there's currently no way to share or discuss music that's not in iTunes, specifically in your local country's iTunes store, which can be frustration for Beatles fans in the US, and fans of far, far more artists internationally.

Actions are fairly simple. To like or add a comment to an activity, tap the appropriate button. To preview or purchase a song that was posted, tap anywhere on the song widget, from album art to title. To be taken to the song's album, double tap on the title.

The People tab gives you a list of people you follow and people who follow you, as well as a featured button for a list of recording artists.

Tapping on a person gives you profile page with recent activity and an easy follow/stop following toggle. You can also switch to an info view that contains a short bio and buttons to see the person follows and who follows them. Similar to Twitter, people can either let anyone follow them or decide to approve followers on a person to person basis.

The My Profile view, as the name suggests, shows you your own recent activity and, at the bottom, has a button for My Info that shows you your own profile. You can't (yet?) edit this info on iOS, however, and will need to go back to iTunes 10 on Mac/Windows for that.

I'm not sure if it's the blank loading screen, but iTunes Store has never felt like the snappiest app on iOS and including Ping inside it likewise makes it feel less snappy than Twitter or Facebook. It also doesn't seem to save state of, or cache, the tabs - perhaps because they're web pages being re-loaded each time - which makes the experience of moving between apps seem sluggish. There's also no refresh feature, you need to switch between tabs to check for new data, and sit through more reload screens...

At least Apple finally added social integration, albeit by way of Twitter and not Facebook as they'd originally tried. Most of that seems to live inside the desktop iTunes, where you can link your Twitter account, find people you follow on Twitter, and friend them on Ping as well. What you like on Ping then gets tweeted to your Twitter account. That could be to your liking or incredibly not.

TV show rentals

The other addition is TV show rentals. They're only available in the US and from ABC (whose parent company, Disney, counts Steve Jobs as its biggest share holder), and FOX (whose owner, Rupert Murdoch, sees mobile devices as a way to save old media), and cost $0.99 per episode. You have 30 days to start watching and 48hrs. to finish once you start.

Ping

Ping hasn't show up in iOS 4.2, but since the UI is web-based Apple can update it at any time, so it's almost certainly will be coming to the iPad with this release. We'll update when it shows up. It will be interesting to see what Apples does to balance the rather awkward iTunes Windows/Mac UI with the fairly standard iOS on iPhone UI.

App Store - iAds

App Store, like iTunes Store is mostly just a thin app container around constantly updated web content, but Apple has snuck something new in this time, if not for users than at least for developers. And yeah, we're talking about iAds...

iAd

Okay, so iAd really shouldn't be considered a feature, at least not for users, but it will be a feature of iOS 4.2 for developers, and it will go in apps, so we're mentioning it here.

iAd will provide developers with an easy-as-Xcode way to place advertising in their apps, both paid and free. Apple is setting a high bar for their ads, however. No simple Google-style text, annoying punch-the-monkey, or jarring transition out of the app and into the browser, they claim to want great looking, highly interactive, emotionally compelling content that will connect with rather than alienate users. Served every 3 minutes...

Settings

Settings is a boring app that often contains a great number of terrific surprises when it comes to Apple iOS updates. iOS 4.2 for iPad is no exception.

Brightness & Wallpaper

iPad gets all the wallpapers that iPhone got with iOS 4, some of them re-rendered to look even sharper on the big 9.7-inch screen.

General: Location Services

Since Apple is, post Google-breakup, awfully serious about user privacy, Location Services get a new Settings tab that lets you turn them off completely, but also turn them off in each app separately if you like.

General: Passcode lock

iOS 4.2 brings alphanumeric passcodes to iPad by default (no more configuration file required). Turn it on and you can have a nice, strong, even gnarly pseudorandom string... if you can remember it.

And yes, you get the Vader-black keyboard standard if you flip that switch.

General: Restrictions

To the list of things you can lock down and lock out, iOS 4.2 adds Deleting Apps, no doubt to the cheers of parents with young children everywhere. You can also prevent changes to location services (so your kids can't stop you tracking them, unless they're hax0rs) and email accounts.

If you don't want them playing multiplayer Game Center games, you can stamp that out as well. You can even turn off friend requests.

General: Keyboard

iOS 4 spell check causing more problems for you than it's fixing? No problem, you can now turn it off.

Mail, Contacts, Calendars

Gmail is dead, long live Google Mail.

Inside MobileMe, Google Mail, or other IMAP accounts, you can choose whether or not to enable sync. Again, there’s no support for Exchange ActiveSync accounts yet (including Gmail via GoogleSync).

Because mail now supports threaded email messages, Settings now gives you the option to turn that feature on or off.

Notes

Notes now has its own Settings tab because, as mentioned previously, you can now change the font in Notes, and here's where you do it.

You can also choose the default account for Notes sync if you have more than one IMAP mail account set up.

Game Center

Game Center, Apple's social gaming network went live with iOS 4.1 for iPhone and iPod touch and comes to the iPad with iOS 4.2. As of this writing, Apple has a Game Center section set up in the App Store to help you find games that support it. To start off, you can create or login to an account, update your status, and add friends.

And yes, on iPad Game Center takes advantage of the full screen. You get a double column-view instead of single like on iPhone, and that means your lists (like friends) will on the left and the detail view (like stats) will be on the right.

Also, the sign in/welcome screen currently shows a number of app icons "dealt" card-like across Game Center's game table style UI. Tapping them does indeed take you to the App Store to get the game.

You can also see a list of your games that support Game Center. Tapping on one gives you general info and the ability to hit Play and go straight to the game. Tapping on Leaderboards lets you see top scores for Today, This Week, and All Time.

Achievements shows everything you can earn for playing the game.

Safari

iOS 4.2 finally gives iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad the ability to find text on a Safari web page. This is similar to Windows or Mac, where you just hit CTL-F or CMD-F, type your text, and off you go. On iPad Safari you use the regular old search field (still confusingly labeled Google by default) and start typing the text you want to find.

Where previously you only got suggested search terms, now you get an additional section at the bottom to find the word on the page. Tap it and the first match on the page is highlighted in yellow and a set of buttons slide up on the bottom for "Next" and "Done", as well as a counter for how many matches of the word there are on the page, and which one is currently highlighted (e.g., 7/16). Hit next until you find the one you want, hit done when you're finished. If you want to change the find term, the search box is repositioned alongside the controls to make it convenient.

No more tedious manual scanning, no more javascript bookmarklet workaround. Just happy surfing.

The previous + icon, for adding bookmarks and Web Clips is gone, replaced by the Action button found in other apps. Hitting the action button gives you all the same options as before, but now also includes AirPrint.

AirPlay will show up inline for videos where compatible but is currently limited to audio only.

Behind the scenes, Apple has added support for the accelerometer and gyroscope and generally improved HTML 5 support. (That means the potential for more, better web apps in the future.)

Mail

iOS 4.2 for iPad Mail gets a unified inbox just like iPhone has had since iOS 4.0. For those with multiple email accounts whose previous iPad experience involved tapping into and out of those boxes many, many times a day this is a hugely welcome addition.

Unlike iPhone, the split column view of iPad lets you see your inbox choices on the left in landscape mode and in popover in portrait so it can be even faster to move around. The list includes all Inboxes, a specific account's inbox (which is considered fast inbox switching), or into the complete folder and sub-folder system of a given account (how Mail has worked in iOS 3.2).

Once inside, All Inboxes is visually indistinguishable from an account-specific inbox, it simply contains all of their messages.

What is distinguishable are the carets (technically greater-than symbols) to the right of certain messages that indicate a message is part of a thread. A number, typically 2 or 3, accompanies the caret to indicate how many replies are in the thread.

Tapping on a message that's part of a thread gives a second list of all messages in the thread. Tapping on one of them shows you the message in the main column.

A thread view contains a small vertical bar at the top with the subject of the thread and time of the most recent reply. A button to the top left of the message contains the name of the inbox you came from so you can back out again, leave the thread completely, and see all your messages.

So yes, the tap, tap, tap of inbox navigation persists, albeit shifted from moving into and out of inboxes to moving into and out of threaded messages.

Great news for heavy ActiveSync users, iOS 4 supports multiple accounts. So, for example, you can now have your work Exchange server and home Google account both set up to push through ActiveSync (which is what Google Sync users behind the scenes) at the same time.

Also for Gmail users, the Delete button has now been properly renamed as Archive (since Google really doesn't want you deleting anything if they can possibly help it), and the trashcan replaced with a storage box icon.

Lastly, in iOS 3.2, when you wanted to abandon an email, you would hit Cancel and get options to Save (store the email in Drafts), Don't Save (trash the email), and Cancel (go back to writing the email). The naming of these options was likely too confusing so in iOS 4.x they've been replaced with a big red Delete Draft button (to trash the email) and Save Draft.

Photos

Photos get a bump in the functionality department, primarily through the Action button getting AirPrint. Just tap, choose a compatible printer, and your photos go wirelessly from iPad digital to hardcopy ink or laser.

Photos also get AirPlay and you can swipe through them and watch them change on Apple TV. Unfortunately AirPlay for video isn't supported.

iPod

iPod on iOS 3.2 for iPad was fairly well rounded already, so the bump up to 4.2 seems fairly minor at this point. You get AirPlay, so you can send music to Air Port express speakers, or video to the 2010 Apple TV.

Availability

iOS 4.2 is a free update currently in Gold Master (GM) for final testing, and unless anything major comes up, it should be released this week.

Conclusion

iOS 4.2 on iPad is a revelation. It's the way iPad is meant to be. That's not to say it's perfect or has every feature on every geek's wish list -- it certainly doesn't -- but it has enough new functionality to make iPad much more valuable.

Like with iOS 4 on iPhone, multitasking and folders extend the existing UI in a way that gives power users what they need, but keeps casual users either grounded in familiar metaphor, and feature-phone types blissfully unaware it's even there.

AirPrint addresses an important bit of functionality for home and business alike, and AirPlay has the potential to turn the TV video scene upside down.

Sure, non-obtrusive notifications, and glanceable, lock-screen widgets -- and hey, AirEasyFileTransfer -- would be grand, but iOS 5 beta is only 4 months or so away...

For now, we'll just thank Apple's iOS team again -- this is one hell of an update. If you notice anything we've missed, send us an email or drop a note in the comments and we'll add them to the next update.

UPDATE; YouTube finally unblocked the video, so here it is above!

There should be a video here but Viacom has flagged it with YouTube due to it showing copyright content. I used a few seconds each of iTunes rental, Netflix, and streaming content to show the quality of the video -- color, quality, artifacts, staricasing, etc.-- which I absolutely consider fair use as a reviewer. I've filed an objection with YouTube on those fair-use grounds and hope YouTube quickly makes it available for embedding here, on TiPb, where it should be, and stops blocking international viewers. The link to the video on youtube is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdpleOnhGKs

Hopefully at least some of you can watch it on there for now.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

Two iPhones, 6 apps. We know the iPhone 3G S is supposed to be "on average" 2x faster than the iPhone 3G, but stats are stats and what we're interested in is real-world usage. A few seconds here, a dozen or more there, and all of a sudden they add up to minutes.

In this video we launch apps on each iPhone 3.0 device at the same time, but imagine if every time the iPhone 3G S finished first, we immediately launched the next app. We wouldn't make you sit through that much iPhone 3G lag, but that makes the point.

Also, we put a few webpages into Safari, then launched a heavy app, waited for it to load, then exited and went back to Safari to see how many would still be in memory.

Let's just say, double the RAM makes more than double the difference...

Took this last night on the boat. Not bad, I was impressed.

Taken any great shots or video of your own with the iPhone 3G S? Head on over to the forums and show us what you got.

We're going to kick off the Palm Pre vs. iPhone 3G S excitement with a simple browser smackdown.  The short version: the iPhone 3G S is faster in our video above, but the Pre is close and actually is edging out the iPhone after the just-applied 1.03 webOS update.  The part you actually should pay attention to is "time to content," i.e. how long it takes to load up the stuff you actually want to read as opposed to the javascripty-bits. Bottom line: speed-wise there's a hair's-breadth between the two browsers, it's so close that you really ought not be making your purchase decision based on it -- or bragging about it either way.

Feature-wise, we give the edge to the iPhone 3G S -- they are on version 3.0 while the Pre is just getting started at 1.02 / 1.03.  The ability to pop up a link in a new browser window is quite nice -- not to mention Autofill.  I myself prefer the Pre's Card metaphor to the in-app tabs of Safari, but that 's a matter of taste.

Stay tuned for more as we pit these devices against each other!

[cross-posted at PreCentral.net]

Update: As noted in the comments and in a raft of emails, you can open links in a new card on the Pre with Opt + Space + Tap.  It works, but Palm, really, Opt + Tap isn't really doing anything here.  Just saying. Thanks everybody!

Okay, enough with the unboxings. Fair point. But we iPhone people only get one device a year, so this is our Super Bowl and dagnabit we plan to enjoy it!