John Manderson (Photo by Akil Simmons) November 1,2011

Tuesday October 4, 2011 marked the latest announcement of Apple Computer Inc’s iconic iPhone model. However sadly, the very next day the unthinkable happened to the very one who sought to have us all “think different”, Steve Jobs passed away and left a void in the tech world. But he also left behind a legacy of great inventions, toys and tools to enhance our lives and to make what we do every day, just a little easier, a little better and certainly a little smarter.

So what was announced? The iPhone 4S. Not the iPhone 5 we were all hoping for, but what appeared initially to be the same as the iPhone 4, with an S on the end. Fans that watched the live blogs on announcement day were somewhat underwhelmed by the event, and kept on thinking well any minute now, we’ll get the usual “and one more thing” at the end of the presentation. But not this time. That’s not to say it was a total non event, because a couple of new things were announced.

This is a much more powerful device running the same processor as the iPad 2 and if you’ve ever had a go on one of those you know it’s lighting fast. Web pages and videos open much faster, apps play much better and now the camera has a massive eight megapixel camera on board. My first proper digital camera only had four! Sharper and more brilliant photos are expected with better low light performance which as always been a bit of an issue on the models to date.

There is more however. A recent purchase of a company called Siri for $200 million is now embedded in the IOS 5 operating system that will ship with the new 4S that is touted as your own personal digital assistant. So what exactly is Siri? Well it used to be an app that you could install yourself from the app store, allowing you to ask natural language questions that would be analysed by the Siri servers, to make sense of what you asked for, then return the results to allow you to do things like book a dinner reservation at a nearby restaurant, or buy movie tickets. Apple obviously liked what they saw and figured they could take it farther and with the new processing power of the 4S turned it into an embedded service.

Only available in the new iPhone 4S and IOS 5 (no you can’t get it if you are a 3GS or 4 user) it will allow you to ask external queries about the weather, local businesses nearby and really cool capabilities like providing hands free assistance in creating a new appointment, contact info, timers/reminders and even location based reminders. For instance “remind me when I get close to a petrol station to stop and fill up”. Of course you’ll be able to compose emails or texts on the fly or control your music playback all hands free. Feasibly any app that has text input can have you simply speak to enter your text. All in all Siri looks like it will be pretty fun to try, but will the results and content it finds be relevant to us in Bermuda? We’ll see.

Well as usual Apple has outdone itself and in the first 24 hours of PRE-orders sold in excess of one million units. That amount alone pretty much took care of the $200 million they spent on acquiring Siri. Have you ordered yours?

John Manderson has spent the last 20 years in the telecommunications and IT industry. He currently heads up Wireless Ventures Ltd in Bermuda as its president and CEO providing consulting services and products to the Bermuda, US and UK telecoms markets. He can be contacted at john.manderson[AT]wirelessventuresltd.com

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To enter, all entrants need to do is pick up scratch cards with their purchases of Heineken and scratch off the code, enter the code into their mobile phone and send it to 1.441.300.HK4U!

Prizes include 2 Heineken branded Sony 40″ Bravia TV’s, Heineken Sub Zero refrigerator and 20 VIP invitations to attend the Champions League VIP viewing party! Each invite allows the winners to bring 3 friends.

So look out for scratch cards when you shop for your Heineken!

For more information on CTEXT Products and how to get your campaign going, click here. Or contact us via e-mail.

About Burrows Lightbourn Ltd

Established in 1808 and with 4 stores and a wholesale warehouse, Burrows Lightbourn is Bermuda’s biggest wine and spirits merchant. In addition to their flagship store on East Broadway (the eastern continuation of Front Street) they also have branches on Harbour Road in Paget Parish, Water Street in St George and on Main Road in Sandys Parish (Lopes Liquor Mart).

Visitors wishing to take alcohol back to their country of residence can purchase it duty-free and make significant savings over the retail price. Bermuda’s laws dictate that your bounty is delivered to your cruise ship or to the airport (you pick it up on departure) but the store provides this service free of charge.

Burrows Lightbourn also offer a full beverage catering service for weddings, parties and other functions. They can supply tables, chairs, glassware and bar staff.

The new BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone is now available in Bermuda from M3 Wireless and Research In Motion.

Lloyd Fray, CEO of M3 Wireless, said the phone is “an impressive handset that will certainly appeal to business users as well as consumers”.

He added: “M3 Wireless customers can take full advantage of our 3G network to get the most out of their new smartphone”.

Related articles

• White Blackberry Bold 9700 available on T-Mobile (dialtosave.co.uk)
• White Blackberry Bold 9700 available on Vodafone (dialtosave.co.uk)
• BlackBerry 6 OS (finally) available for Bold 9700 on T-Mobile (mobile.engadget.com)
• BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 caught in wild (slashgear.com)

Digicel Bermuda is offering its customers three months of free service if they sign up for a voice plan during February.

And if users add on extras, such as ‘Unlimited Local SMS‘, ’100 International SMS’, or ‘Unlimited Nights & Weekends’, they will also be free during March, April and May.

“In this economic climate, we know finances can be stretched; why not give customers a break for a few months out of the year?” said Digicel Bermuda’s CEO Wayne Caines.

The promotion applies to new customers, but current customers can also take advantage of Digicel’s ‘Refer a Friend’ programme.

Please be advised that M3 Wireless has set up a text campaign for Haiti Relief. Customers can donate $1, $5 or $10.

Text Help to 3001: donate $1

Text Help to 3005: donate $5

Text Help to 3010: donate $10

The amount will be billed on your next invoice. Prepaid customers will have the amount deducted from their balance. M3 will calculate the total donations and donate to two charities: The Salvation Army and Haiti Village Health.

Haiti Village Health is a registered Bermuda charity headed by Dr. Tiffany Keenan, an emergency room physician at KEMH. Her organization provides front line medical care in the rural areas of Haiti. Since the earthquake, Dr. Keenan has been in charge of a clinic in Jacmel, 25 miles south of Port au Prince. Our donation will help purchase much needed medical supplies, food and water. For more information on Haiti Village Health, visit www.haitivillagehealth.ca.