iPhone 4S vs. the smartphone elite: Galaxy S II, Bionic and Titan

Now that we know how the iPhone 4S stacks up against the iPhone 4, let’s take a look at how Apple’s latest smartphone compares to its mightiest competitors on the other major platforms — Android and Windows Phone. In Google’s camp we chose the superlative Samsung Galaxy S II models (focusing on the announced US variants) along with the Motorola Droid Bionic for its qHD and LTE chops. We then picked the upcoming HTC Titan to bat for Microsoft’s team. RIM’s not included here since it’s still stuck in the junior leagues. We left out the intriguing Nokia N9 because it’s a niche player. Check out the fancy table after the break — the results are pretty clear cut!

Apple adding DisplayPort to iOS devices?

Not content with just building offices in the shape of UFOs, Apple is on the hunt for a “Signal Integrity Manager.” That’s an engineer who balances the noise that chips and circuit boards emit — which, if left unchecked could overpower your iOS devices’ data signals. Apple is specifically looking for someone with DisplayPort experience (plus ten years general experience and two years leading a small team) to work on future chip development — like the A6. The move suggests that the standard could be coming in the future, but since the position is still listed, it seems unlikely that we’ll see DisplayPort included with the next iPhone / iPad at this point.

AppleInsider

Apple (Job Listing)

Apple's A6 processor may come courtesy of TSMC, Samsung left to wonder why

Apple’s fondness for anorexic handhelds knows no bounds, and if this alleged deal with the Asian foundry holds water, expect to see its waistband tighten further. Rumoured back before the iPad 2 launch, the house-that-Steve-built’s reportedly been eyeing Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp to produce an ‘A6′ for its upcoming iPhone refresh. While it’s easy to dismiss this purported move as a direct diss to Samsung, what’s more likely is that Cupertino’s engaging in a competitive bit of size does matter — specifically, the A5′s 45nm process. A transition to newer, lower power 28nm ARM chips would give Jonathan Ives’ employer a distinct market advantage, dwarfing even TSMC’s current 40nm in the process. While it’s all still just speculation for now, only time and an iPhone 5tear-down will tell for sure.

This Is My Next

Ars Technica

iPad 2 specs discerned, 900MHz dual-core ARM Cortex A9 and PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU blow away graphical benchmarks

iFixit may have physically uncovered Apple’s latest silicon, but it’s the processor gurus that have discovered what’s truly inside — using software benchmarks, they’ve unearthed the speeds and feeds of the Apple A5. As you’ll no doubt be aware having read our headline above, there actually isn’t a 1GHz CPU at the helm, as AnandTech and IOSnoops report the dual-core ARM Cortex A9 is dynamically clocked around 900MHz, likely in search of reduced power consumption. Perhaps more interestingly for all you gamers in the audience, the iPad 2 reports that it has a dual-core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU on the die as originally foretold — and, spoiler alert — it mops the floor with both the original iPad and the Motorola Xoom. Though the new chip didn’t quite demonstrate 9X the graphical prowess of its predecessor, it rendered 57.6 frames per second in a GLBenchmark test where the (admittedly higher-res) Tegra 2 tablet managed only 26.7fps, and last year’s iPad pulled only 17.6fps. That’s some serious Tai Chi. Hit up our source links to see the difference it can make in games like Infinity Blade.

The iPad 2 (Video)

Apple has just made its second-generation iPad official! It features a 1GHz dual-core A5 chip and, finally, cameras, both on the front and rear. The new CPU is said to be up to twice as fast, with graphics performance up to nine times better than on the original iPad, while power requirements have been kept the same. Battery life is, consequently, unaltered, with Apple promising 10 hours. Pricing, too, has been left unchanged, starting at $499 for a 16GB WiFi-only iPad 2 and stretching up to $829 for a WiFi + 3G SKU with 64GB of storage. The new tablet will come with an HDMI output capable of 1080p — which will set you back $39 for the requisite dongle, called an Apple Digital AV Adapter — but there will sadly be no rumblings of Thunderbolt connectivity here. What you will get is an enlarged speaker grille on the back, as expected, and the same 1024 x 768 resolution and IPS LCD screen technology as on the original iPad.