Looking forward to Christmas

At the end of every year, just like everyone else that I know — I look forward to gifting myself with something special.

For this year, I have my sights on that new iPhone 5S, dubbed as the forward-thinking iPhone. Through the years, I have seen every new incarnation of the iPhone that Apple has had to offer. And each time I am a little more impressed with the new model than I was with the last.

And so it is with the iPhone 5S. Fingerprint scanning is an innovation that got the techie in me really curious. Sure, well-meaning friends have told me that aside from the new color that is gold and the fingerprint scanning, nothing much is new with the iPhone 5S.

I still remember it was in 2008 when I got my first iPhone from Globe Telecom, then the exclusive network carrier of the iPhone in the Philippines. After all, I have been a Globe subscriber for almost 15 years now and when they offered it back then, I just had to have one.

Several iPhones later, I have been lucky get my hands on the latest iPhone year after year. Each new iPhone definitely offered something different from any of the other smartphones, and every iPhone fanatic knows exactly what I’m talking about.

Today, with technology changing faster than Superman’s speed of light, there are so many other smartphones in the market that have and continue to spark my techie interest.

But, old habits die hard — and so it is with the iPhone.  

There is always something new about the iPhone that captures the world’s attention. Clear sign of this are the thousands of people around the world who line up to be the first to own one.

What’s under the case

For starters, the most notable has to be the new Touch ID fingerprint scanner, which is embedded directly into the home button. I also noticed the dual-LED flash on the back, as well as the word iPhone in a slightly lighter font near the bottom of the rear to match the look of iOS 7.

When it comes to technology, the 5s steps up from Apple’s A6 chip to the A7, the first smartphone processor with 64-bit support. Rounding up the specs list, the iPhone 5s features Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and GLONASS for navigation, dual-band and options for 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of built-in storage. It also comes in three color options such as silver (just like the iPhone 5), space gray (gunmetal gray with black highlights on the top and bottom) and gold.

I wonder though why the gold-colored one has received the lion’s share of the attention. All that glitters is gold?

I really believe that it was a stroke of genius for Apple to add a state-of-the-art capacitive fingerprint sensor into the home button itself and protected it with a sturdy sapphire crystal overlay. It’s embedded so well, in fact, that the giveaway that it’s a fingerprint reader is the silver ring encircling the sensor. That steel ring acts as a trigger, which detects your finger and then initiates the scan. Once it’s activated, the sensor is capable of taking high-resolution pictures of your fingerprint from any angle, which it then sends back to the A7 chip for analysis.

The setup process is simple: it took me less than a minute to get scanned. The phone can memorize up to five different fingers (or thumbs), and they can belong to the same person or multiple people, depending on how many friends and family members you’d like to grant access. The training process may sound cumbersome at first, but it gets easier after just a few tries.

First, you start by placing your finger on the home button several times — it usually took us six or seven repeats — and then, once the phone has enough information, it asks you to put your finger on the button at different angles. This can be done by rolling your finger from one side to another, or lifting your finger on and off a few times. After that, you’ll see the final version added to your list of learned prints — you could rename each one so you don’t forget which one is which.

The Touch ID is a great added layer of protection while shaving a couple seconds off the unlock process. It also comes in handy for purchasing iTunes content: you can buy apps, music, books and more without having to type the entire password each time.

Get rolling

One of the first activities I tried with my iPhone 5S is video camera feature. The camera is armed with larger image sensor, larger aperture, and increased light sensitivity.  I have to say that I am more than happy with the video clips I took with the iPhone 5S. A friend asked me to video a concert she was a part of.

I had never taken a video of anything. But, I took the task at hand to heart, and armed with my iPhone 5S, I did the best I could.

No one was more surprised than me to watch just how well the sound of the choir and solo singers had come out and just how steady my hand was in capturing the video.  Pat on the back for me.

Connections matter

After I took the video, sharing it on Instagram and Facebook was my next project.

Using my Globe LTE connection, which offers  great Internet speeds, I was able to upload the video in a matter of seconds and read comments almost instantaneously. In this age of social media, it is considered a crime to store your photos and videos in your phone. With a reliable data connection, we are now empowered to share the things we see, hear, taste, smell, and feel to the rest of the world in just a quick click or tap of a finger.

And speaking of data connection, Globe launched its iPhone Forever program perfect for iPhone fans like me. With the iPhone Forever, subscribers can get a new iPhone year after year, allowing them to swap their current devices with the latest iPhone models for free or with a one-time cashout.

In the case of the iPhone 5S, subscribers can get it for free at iPhone Forever Plan 1999, which already comes with one gigabyte (GB) of LTE surfing and a monthly consumable amount for call and text combo services. The postpaid plan is already bundled with one-month free subscription to Globe Gadget Care and free access to Facebook until Jan. 2014.

If you are an iPhone Forever subscriber, you are bound to get a new iPhone every year. Who gets a new iPhone every year even without finishing the required contract? Only Globe subscribers are given this privilege, and I’m happy to be part of its almost two million postpaid subscriber base.

The forward-thinking iPhone is best paired with a forward-thinking postpaid plan that only Globe can offer with iPhone Forever. Like the millions of others who watch out for every new tweak that Apple adds to its iPhone, in the same way that Globe ups the ante when it comes to its innovative postpaid plan offers, I am there holding my breath and looking forward to see what these will be.