With the incredible launch that Apple had with the iPhone 4S it seems to have bolstered them into 60% of the mobile web browsing traffic. An incredible number considering that amount of non-Apple devices out there with mobile web browsing capabilities. As you can see in the image below from Net Applications, all platforms are taking a significant decrease in traffic as iOS and Android continue to rise. That alone seems par for the course as these two are the leading operating systems.

Apple remains dominant when providing mobile devices, offering the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, all of these devices have the ability to browse the web. With that said it is no surprise that they hold a large share of the mobile web browsing market and have continued to do so over the last two years.

What I do find strikingly odd is the size of the gap between iOS and Android. Is mobile browsing not an enjoyable experience on Android? With Android being dominant globally, it seems like there would be a decrease in that 40% difference between the two. Personally I try to refrain from web browsing on any phone size screen regardless I absolutely have to, but with the ever growing popularity and vast number of Android tablets and smartphones, it seems that the numbers should have been better. I don’t even own an Android based tablet, so I can’t compare the experience with my iPad 2.

I expected more from Android with the release of Honeycomb and companies like Samsung, Asus, and Acer offering competitive pricing on their devices when compared to Apple offering; the iPad. It seems, though, that most of the mobile web browsing is still coming from smartphones, when talking about Android, and not their tablets. Data shows that even Android smartphone users are buying the iPad instead of Android based tablets. I can partially understand as I feel that the Android tablets are feel cluttered; as-if there is just too much going on with the home screens. I felt that I needed to get certified in Android use just to navigate around.

(via MacRumors)

With over 25 million users already taking in the delights of iOS 5 across a range of iPod touches, iPhones and iPads, just what can they expect to gain over their previous version, iOS 4?

Along with the marquee features Apple has been touting, like the newly designed Notification Center and improved camera operation – not to mention iCloud of course – some less publicized  changes have also taken place under the hood.

One of those changes is a considerable increase in web browsing speed – in fact, pages now load more than twice as fast using iOS 5 than when running its predecessor, iOS 4.

This stat comes courtesy of New Relic, who performed side-by-side tests on 3,000 web apps using Safari 5.1 on iOS 5 and Safari 5.0 on iOS 4. Unfortunately however, New Relic hasn’t told us which device they used to test on, though we’re guessing it was an iPhone 4 or equivalent iPod, judging by the infographic they’ve released.

That infographic (included above for your viewing pleasure) shows that, on average, pages load in 9.6 seconds using iOS 4, but the same pages take just 4.1 seconds when running the latest release of iOS – iOS 5.

Apple has always been rather proud of the rendering engine built into Mobile Safari, and it tends to be one of the areas in which Apple spends some time with each iOS release.

With Apple’s iPhone 4S hitting shelves recently as well, these stats show that even those not wishing to upgrade, will see an increase in web performance just by updating their software. You can’t really beat a free speed boost now, can you?

Apple’s iOS 5 is available as a free update for its iPhone, iPod touch and iPad lines, depending on which model you may have.

Indeed, the iPhone 4 camera managed to fend off competition from major players in modern-day photography – Nikon and Canon – to become the most commonly used shooter on popular image social plot Flickr.

It would be naive to tout the demise of the brickier professional cams, despite the exceptional improvements being made year-by-year in the smartphone spectrum. The iPhone 4S sports tasty 8 megapixels of pure goodness, which, on paper, equates to a significant leap from the 5 megapixels of its older brother. As any photography enthusiast would vouch, though, there is more to a good camera than merely megapixels.

We could mull over the various aspects of what makes a good camera, but the best way to compare is to see images snapped by different cameras and comparing them. The iPhone has only been around in its various iterations for just over four years, and all of its features – particularly its camera capabilities, have improved in leaps and bounds. Photographer Lisa Bettany has posted an interesting comparison which puts into perspective just how much the iPhone camera has come along since the Apple released its first generation smartphone back in 2007.

As you can see, the images produced by the original iPhone and the 3G are something of a blur, and when placed next to the efforts of the more recent devices, it’s hard to decipher how anybody could have deemed that quality as acceptable. Furthermore, as the world raves about the iPhone 4S’s camera, lest we forget that the improvement made by the iPhone 3GS was perhaps equally as impressive.

It has been suggested that the point and shoot cameras are becoming obsolete, and to a degree that is the case. It cannot be argued that with millions already carrying the iPhone 4S in their pockets and cameras improving constantly improving from other smartphone brands, standalone cameras manufacturers will find it increasingly difficult over the coming years to find a market.

(Source Campl.us) (images via PetaPixel)

This video shows the two devices side by side doing just that. Everything is quicker, but what really surprised me was how much faster websites load in Safari on the 4S, they appear almost instantaneously.

This reminds me a lot of when the iPhone 3GS came out, and users of the iPhone 3G felt like they had a fast phone… until they saw and used the 3GS, which then became the must-have upgrade. Very tempting upgrade for those who want the quickest iPhone out there.

Update: More videos below, here are 3G speed tests on AT&T with iPhone 4S vs iPhone 4, as well as more wi-fi tests. The 4S is much faster in both cases:

Form: HTC Evo 3D – 126x65x12.1mm, 170g

Apple iPhone 4S – 115.2×58.6×9.3mm, 140g

Apple’s iPhone 4S has an identical outer-shell to the iPhone 4 and it’s a design which has appealed to millions since its release.

We can’t deny it has something about it which is very slick, but even so we find ourselves a little bored of the design.

It’s a bit too ‘soft’ for our tastes with curved corners and edges all over the place.

HTC frequently produces fairly average looking handsets and it’s often difficult to tell the difference between one model and the next.

The Evo 3D does suffer from this cookie cutter syndrome a little bit, mainly thanks to its shape, but we do think it’s actually a pretty good looking handset.

It’s helped by some thoughtful styling though, with its textured back panel and some mean-looking dark red accents which lend it a sporty appearance.

We think the HTC Evo 3D comes out looking better here.

Winner – HTC Evo 3D

Display: Apple’s new baby comes with the same 3.5-inch retina display – an LED backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 640×960 pixels and a razor sharp pixel density of 330 pixels-per-inch (ppi).

The iPhone 4S supports multi-touch input and features scratch-resistant glass with an oleophobic coating to reduce oily finger prints. An accelerometer and three-axis gyro sensor allow for screen rotation.

HTC’s Evo 3D has a much larger display measuring 4.3-inch LCD capacitive touchscreen with glasses-less 3D capability.

The resolution is a little lower than its opponent at 540×960 pixels giving a correspondingly lower pixel density of 256ppi, which is still really good compared to most phones on the market.

The Evo 3D has the HTC Sense user interface (UI) installed and supports multi-touch and screen rotation thanks to accelerometer and gyro sensors.

There’s little doubt the Apple iPhone 4S has a better quality display, it is one of the best on the market.

It’s smaller size leaves something to be desired but for image clarity it’s yet to be bested.

However, if you’re interested in glasses-less 3D capability we doubt the difference is going to be enough to sway you from the Evo 3D, which in reality is still an excellent display in its own right.

Winner – iPhone 4S

Storage: Onboard storage isn’t the Evo 3D’s greatest strength with only 1GB available for keeping all your apps, games and media on the phone.

It supports external storage up to 32GB via microSD and also packs in 1GB of RAM to help the processor along.

The iPhone 4S is better equipped for internal storage space. The minimum is 16GB, which is pretty good, but there are also options for 32GB and 64GB too. There is no card slot, however, so you won’t be able to keep files on external memory cards.

The amount of RAM is serviceable at 512MB but this is much less than the HTC Evo 3D carries.

We would of course prefer the double quantity of RAM found in the Evo 3D, between the fact that both devices pack such powerhouse processors and the iPhone 4’s setup is so well optimised compared to the Android powered HTC, we doubt many would notice much of performance difference on RAM alone.

We tend to favour higher internal capacities for the faster read speed but there’s no denying the usefulness of external card capability.

However, we’d never prefer this as a primary memory resource. Consequently the iPhone 4S is looking like the better option here, even if the complete absence of a card slot hamstrings it slightly.

Winner – Apple iPhone 4S

Processor: Typically for a high-end Android-powered phone the Evo 3D has a dual core processor as this brute force approach tends to work better with the relatively un-optimised Android platform.

The Evo 3D uses a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm processor on the MSM8660 Snapdragon chipset. It’s also fitted with an Adreno 220 graphics processing unit (GPU) to help with visuals.

Apple’s iOS system has for a long time been better optimised for single core processors and has consistently run with remarkable speed, smoothness and fluidity.

However, the company apparently saw fit to up the game somewhat and has fitted the iPhone 4S with a dual core processor to bring it right in-line with the competition.

A 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor running Apple’s A5 chipset, the very same one found in the iPad2, has been squeezed into the familiar iPhone frame. This is paired with a PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU for optimum graphical performance.

Both are very handsome processing setups and you can guarantee stunning performance from either one.

Winner – Draw

Operating System: The iPhone 4S is the debut device for the latest version of Apple’s iOS operating system, iOS 5.

The new iOS 5 has plenty of new changes, over 200 of them, in fact. It also offers great performance and reliability and with thousands of apps in the iTunes App Store you can make it do pretty much whatever you want. Most notably, and unique to the iPhone 4S, is the new vocie-powered Siri Assistant, which allows you to perform phone tasks simply by speaking into the phone. It will even ask questions to clarify what you want it to do.

The Evo 3D runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, which while good, is looking a little lacking next to its big cousin Honeycomb 3.0, which is a tablet only build.

Fortunately, we don’t have too long to wait until 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which as well as bringing new features will carry over much of Honeycomb’s tasty goodness to Android smartphone handsets, including the Evo 3D.

Winner – Apple iPhone 4S

Camera: HTC’s Evo 3D uses a purpose-built camera setup, designed specifically to capture 3D images and video.

On the rear of the handset is a dual 5-megapixel stereoscopic camera at 2560х1920 pixels with autofocus, dual LED flash, white balance, post-capture effects and geo-tagging.

Although the cameras are rated at 5-megapixels each, because of the way they work in tandem the 3D images come out at around 2-megapixel quality.

3D video can be captured at 720p while 2D is 720p HD and the phone also supports video calling. A secondary front-facing camera is rated at 1.3-megapixels.

Apple’s iPhone 4S is a more traditional 2D-only affair but it’s rated at a lofty 8-megapixels.

Not only that but picture quality is improved thanks to an enhanced aperture and the addition of a fifth camera lens.

The resolution clocks in at 3264×2448 pixels and camera features include autofocus, LED flash and video light, touch focus, image and video stabilisation, geo-tagging, face detection.

Video capture is at 1080p HD and the iPhone 4S supports video calling over Wi-Fi. There’s also a secondary VGA camera.

From a conventional camera standpoint the iPhone 4S blows the Evo 3D out of the water.

However, as is often the case with 3D capable phones, it depends on how much you value that 3D magic.

We’re not too fussed about it and would therefore take the iPhone’s high quality 8-megapixel 2D camera over it any day of the week.

Winner – Apple iPhone 4S

Final Thoughts: It may not have been the ‘game-changing’ phone we were hoping for but the iPhone 4S is a suitable upgrade to bring Apple’s iconic smartphone in-line with the Android competition.

It does a decent job of beating the Evo 3D in many key areas. The operating system is slicker, it has more memory to play with, a sharper display and a much better camera assuming you’re not fussed about 3D.

Don’t get us wrong though, the Evo 3D is still a great phone and one of the better Android offerings, we think it could benefit tremendously from an operating system update and it shouldn’t be too long before this happens.

The iPhone 4 has been Apple’s most successful yet, so its hardly surprising that expectation is extremely high once again this time around. Samsung’s Galaxy S II is a powerhouse of features, so how does it measure up to the latest from Cupertino?

The introduction of Apple’s A5, dual-core chip first seen in the iPad 2 enables the 4S to really compete in terms of power. Having said that, whilst the A4 processor is only single-core, it has still been a performance marvel during the course of the last 16 months, and could hardly be criticized for being slow.

One of the key features of the iPhone 4S is the ability for both GSM and CDMA users to roam worldwide on one device. The iPhone 4 launched as GSM only, and it wasn’t until the start of this year that Apple finally introduced a CDMA iPhone, allowing Verizon users to hop onto the iPhone bandwagon.

The 4S’ much-improved camera matches the Galaxy S II in terms of megapixels, although it’s hard to tell which is better until we’ve seen some actual shots from the yet-to-be-released device. Once suspects that Apple has done its homework on its friend/foe Samsung, and the improved light sensitivity could mean the latest iPhone’s snapper will be the best on the market.

On the topic of storage space, the 4S doubles the possibilities of its older brother by including a 64GB model. The Galaxy S II, although limited to a maximum of 48GB, does have the overt advantage a microSD slot – a freedom which consumers would love – but don’t expect – to see present on any iDevice. Ever.

Siri assistant, one of the main talking points of today’s keynote, is one of those features that could separate the iPhone 4S from all of its rivals – including the iPhone 4. Although voice control is not exactly a new idea, Siri covers most aspects of the device through voice alone. If adopted by the masses, it could prove to be staple part of our smartphone diet, forcing rivals to follow suit.