iPhone 5 will reportedly launch in the fall
Apple
Pointing to a scoop from an "Asian reliable source," the site says that Apple will unveil its next iPhone in September or October and maintain that same launch cycle for years.
Full coverage of Apple at Tech Talk
In the past Apple has traditionally released its latest iPhone in the early summer, with the
The official release of the iPhone 4 is set for Thursday, and it looks like demand is high. Get the skinny on what to expect. Carrier sells more phones the first day the iPhone 3GS went on sale than it ever has, even on the two previous iPhone launch days, according to an internal memo.
and
Preparing for iPhone 4 launch day (FAQ)
reaching customers in June and the 3G in early July. But last year the company broke the mold by delaying the debut of the
AT&T breaks sales records with iPhone 3GS launch
.
iPhone 4S launch: What's different this time?
Foxconn says it will raise salaries
AP
Full coverage of Apple at Tech Talk
iPad manufacturer Foxconn under fire again, Apple responds
The New York Times reported the news, adding that Foxconn said the increases would happen immediately and that overtime hours would be curbed at the factories as well.
Continue »
Apple supplier Foxconn hit by hackers
Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET
Apple supplier Foxconn now has another crisis on its hands.
A group of hackers known as Swagg Security is taking credit for a breach of Foxconn security, resulting in the theft of usernames, passwords, and other private information.
In a series of Twitter posts yesterday, the group boasted that it publicly released the information on the Pirate Bay Web site as well as on Pastebin. The attack grabbed the credentials of every Foxconn employee, according to 9to5Mac, including Terry Gou, CEO of parent Hon Hai Industries.
Beyond damaging Foxconn internally, the stolen information could also create trouble for some of the company's technology partners.
Continue »Cell phone pictures that surprise
"Accordion" taken with iPhone
/ Irene PannWalk into The SoHo Gallery for Digital Art in New York, and you'll encounter a feast for the eyes. Photographs of dream-like landscapes. Crystal-clear close-ups of nature. Artistic shots of inanimate objects. Posed and natural human interaction that pulls you in closer and closer until you are almost literally face-to-photograph.
Halfway through your examination of the digital screens displaying this creativity, you forget: these are all cell phone pictures.
Cayenne Douglass and her two friends, Ruby McNeil and Amanda Cassandra, created a temporary photo exhibition called "Click Send."
Continue »Drumbeats get louder: New iPhone in September
Looks like the recent round of new iPhone rumors we recently wrote about has legs to it.
Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore told clients in a note sent out Monday morning to expect an iPhone 5 as well as an iPhone 4S. He wrote that with Nokia and RIMM both "struggling," now's the the time "for Apple to aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market (i.e. $300-500 category) to dramatically expand its [total addressable market] and market share."
Whitmore's musings follow on the heels of a note circulated a day earlier by Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty, who Continue »
Faster iPhone with advanced camera on the way?
Chalk this one up to speculation - make that informed speculation - but new signs point to a September debut for a faster iPhone with what would be a killer camera.
The report, carried by the Bloomberg news agency cites a couple of sources said to be familiar with the product. (Bloomberg also reported that Apple is testing a new iPad with a screen resolution screen equivalent to that featured in the iPhone 4.)
Video: Apple unveils iOS, Lion
Apple's iOS 5 5 integrates Twitter, sports new notification menu
If you're considering the purchase of a new smartphone, how should you treat this latest report? To be sure, when it comes to Apple the rumor well seemingly never runs dry. But this latest apparent story may have something more to it. As the Bloomberg piece correctly points out, the iPhone has become Apple's biggest-selling product, kicking in about half of the company's sales during its last quarter. Even though it retains a special cachet in the marketplace, the iPhone still remains a minority choice - accounting for around 18% of the global marketplace, according to IDC. With Apple facing a bevy of new competitors in in the handset market who use Google's Android OS, anything that can help its device load apps more rapidly would offer a timely marketing advantage.
According to Bloomberg's sources, the upcoming device will include:
- A more powerful A5 processor (the same one Apple added to the iPad 2 this year)
- An 8-megapixel camera (compared with the current 5-megapixel model in the iPhone 4)
But just to scramble your brains that much more, there's also a report out there that Apple intends to release the iPhone 5 later in the summer. That one treat with caution as the sourcing in the report is thin. Still, it speaks to the intense interest around how Apple intends to map its smartphone strategy in an increasingly tough market.
One point to recall: During Steve Jobs' first turn as Apple's CEO, the decision was taken to keep the Mac's computing architecture closed. That let Apple develop a series of technically sleek computers, but it also doomed the company to minority status, effectively ceding the market to MS-DOS, and later, Windows. Even if a new and improved iPhone hits the market - any time within the next few months - Apple's smartphone strategy against Android is likely to mirror the same one it used against the PCs: Choose us because we offer a better computing experience.
We'll see how that plays out, though we ought to remember that history has a particular habit of repeating itself in the tech world.
Speculation rife after Apple receives touch screen patent
Gizmodo
If you're trying to figure out Apple's next product move - always a fun spectator sport - geek out over this recent patent abstract that speaks volumes about where Steve Jobs may be pointing the company.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Apple a broad patent for touch screen functionality on portable devices, offering concrete support for the belief that Apple intend to include that functionality in myriad ways, including a Web browser and a home screen.
"A computer-implemented method, for use in conjunction with a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display, comprises displaying a portion of page content, including a frame displaying a portion of frame content and also including other content of the page, on the touch screen display," the patent abstract reads. "An N-finger translation gesture is detected on or near the touch screen display. In response, the page content, including the displayed portion of the frame content and the other content of the page, is translated to display a new portion of page content on the touch screen display."
On the surface, this award appears to be a big win for Apple - and a big loss for its rivals in the smartphone business. Some patent experts now believe that Apple now may be able to use the patent to bully competitors as it covers the finger movement technology incorporated by many mobile device makers.
Of course, patent applications come and go and often nothing comes of them. However, the success of Apple's portable devices, such as the iPhone and iPad, would suggest that touchscreen technology may well become increasingly important in the future. You can read more about Apple's plans on CNET
Now you can buy unlocked iPhone 4s - at a price
Apple's iPhone 4
/ AppleFor once the Apple rumor mill turned out to be accurate. You can now buy so-called unlocked iPhone 4s, which come without a contract leaving you with the choice of using the device on any supported carrier's network. But the convenience comes at a cost: Users will pay the full retail price for the unit, which starts at $649 for the 16GB iPhone.
So why would anyone of right mind be willing to pay more than the usual price, which gets discounted by the carriers in return for signing up customers to multi-year contracts? The big advantage here is for people who want to take their iPhones on trips abroad.
"If you don't want a multiyear service contract or if you prefer to use a local carrier when traveling abroad, the unlocked iPhone 4 is the best choice," Apple writes on the device's product page. "It arrives without a micro-SIM card, so you'll need an active micro-SIM card from any supported GSM carrier worldwide."
Click here to read CNET's coverage to learn more.
Scientists unveil new app to identify trees
Wikimedia/Cephas
(CBS/AP) - If you've ever wondered what type of tree was nearby but didn't have a guide book, finding the answer is now as easy as a snapshot.
Scientists are introducing the first mobile app to identify plants by simply photographing a leaf. The iPhone and iPad app, called Leafsnap, instantly searches a growing library of leaf images amassed by the Smithsonian Institution.
Continue »Apple responds to Congress on location tracking
Bud Tribble, Apple's vice president for software technology testifies before a Senate subcommittee on privacy issues
/ U.S. SenateAlong with testifying in front of the U.S. Congress about location data tracking, Apple today responded to a letter from Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) about the company's location data practices.
In a letter (PDF) signed by Bruce Sewell, Apple's general counsel and senior vice president of legal and government affairs, the company addressed seven questions from Rep. Markey that had been sent to Apple before it made that information public in its "Q&A on Location Data" document published late last month.
"I am pleased that after my letter Apple announced that its next iOS update would address several of the concerns I raised about the company's practices with respect to the collection, use and disclosure of location information," Markey said in a statement. "Specifically, Apple will encrypt location information stored on customers' iPhones and iPads and other Apple mobile devices and significantly shorten the amount of time location information is retained by the company."
Steve Jobs: We aren't tracking anyone
Even in normal times, it takes quite a lot to get Steve Jobs to emerge from the Fortress of Solitude - aka Apple's Cupertino, Calif. headquarters - and comment on tech issues of the day. It's even that much harder now that Apple's CEO is on medical leave to tend to his health issues. But in a change from the usual script, Jobs broke with his usual reluctance to engage the public to offer his spin on the growing controversy involving the iPhone's use of personal location information.
White iPhone 4 set to debut - finally
The white iPhone is set to arrive - finally.
/ AppleAfter a year of promises, Apple's about to make good on its pledge to sell a white version of the iPhone 4.
"The white iPhone 4 has finally arrived and it's beautiful," Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said today in a statement. "We appreciate everyone who has waited patiently while we've worked to get every detail right."
That was a master understatement. The product was originally supposed to be available last year, one month after the black iPhone 4 debuted in June 2010. But production problems forced Apple to push back the debut date to later in the year, a deadline it similarly missed. But for anyone who has held out until now, the units will retail for $199 and $299 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. The device will be available from Apple's online store, Apple's retail stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores, as well as from select Apple authorized resellers. Have at it.
Japan quake may lead to gadget delays, higher prices
Toshiba is attempting to gauge the impact of the earthquake on production
/ Getty ImagesContinue »
Lufthansa to Gray Powell: Drinks are on us
Gray Powell, the Apple engineer who lost a next-generation iPhone prototype in a bar.
/ GizmodoIf Gray Powell, the Apple engineer who lost his iPhone prototype at a German beer hall in Silicon Valley, is thinking about drowning his sorrows somewhere, Lufthansa wants to help him indulge.
In a message put up on Twitter, Lufthansa's marketing director for the Americas, Nicola Lange, invited Powell to fly for free to Munich.
"At Lufthansa we also noted with great interest your passion for German beer and culture. We thought you could use a break soon--and therefore would like to offer you complimentary business class transportation to Munich, where you can literally pick up where you last left off."
"We got some hints so far from people who know him but we haven't heard from him as well," said Martin Riecken, a spokesman for the airline, who confirmed the authenticity of the tweet. Although no mention of accommodations was extended, Riecken said Lufthansa would "make sure he has a happy time."
Lufthansa is about to relaunch broadband connectivity on its transatlantic flights. The service was discontinued in 2006, but will resume this June, Riecken said. "So all technology subjects are of great interest to us right now," he added, tongue firmly in cheek.
Good to know in case Powell takes up the offer and wants to connect with the home office--via his iPhone, naturally.
Hacker runs Google's Android on Apple's iPhone
This Android home screen shows the fruits of David Wang's effort to run Google's mobile phone operating system on an iPhone.
(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland)There are matches made in heaven, and on the other side of the spectrum, there is David Wang's accomplishment: booting Google's Android operating system on Apple's iPhone
Wang, the "planetbeing" member of the a group called the iPhone Dev Team devoted to hacking iPhones, on Wednesday posted a video demonstrating Android on an iPhone.
The demo shows the boot process--complete with the Tux Linux mascot--and Wang using Android for browsing, receiving a text message, answering a phone call, and playing music. The phone is set up with a dual-boot configuration and indeed the video begins with the device running iPhone OS.
"It's not really production-quality yet," Wang said on the video. "I'd say it's alpha quality. But pretty much everything works."
The Android-on-iPhone hack is a notable technical accomplishment, but it's not likely to transform the industry or alter what mainstream users do. It does indicate, though, that the hacking ethos is alive and well despite Apple's attempts to keep its mobile phone locked down.
Wang has been working since at least 2008 to boot Linux on the iPhone, according to his blog. The demonstration uses a first-generation iPhone, but newer models should be supported at some point.
"It should be pretty simple to port forward to the iPhone 3G. The 3GS will take more work," Wang said on the blog. "Hopefully with all this groundwork laid out, we can make Android a real alternative or supplement for iPhone users. Maybe we can finally get Flash. ;)"
As you might expect, there are problems with Android on the iPhone. "It's slightly buggy because I didn't bother to implement all the Android-specific driver extensions," he said in the video demonstration. And it's slow, since Wang is using Android in debug mode.
He can type using a virtual keyboard, but the iPhone's one-button interface doesn't mesh well with Android, which runs on phones typically with five or more buttons.
"There's a little bit of a button shortage on the iPhone," Wang said.
