Archive for 2011

Investment research firm UBS conducted a study of 515 iPhone and Android users in order to judge consumer loyalty based on whether they plan to make their next purchase from the same manufacturer as their current handset. 89% of iPhone users report that they will purchase another iPhone. For other vendors such percent is falling rapidly. The second place was taken by HTC with 39% and the third one – by Samsung with 28%. Android phones in general are at 55 percent. 31% of Android users plan to switch to iPhone. Only 33% of current BlackBerry users planning to purchase another BlackBerry, down from 62% a year and a half ago. In overall 50% users of smartphone plan to move to Apple and only 10% of iPhone users prefer to stitch from Apple. The survey may not be terribly accurate due to a small sample size, but it helps understand market trends, demonstrating high loyalty of iPhone users.

Taiwnese company VIA Techologies has reportedly filed a patent lawsuit against Apple. VIA Technology accuses Apple of infregement of patent rights by using processors in Apple’s iOS devices.

Via, a semiconductor maker based in Taipei, seeks a jury trial and an order to prohibit Cupertino, California-based Apple from selling products containing the inventions in the U.S., according to a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.

“The products at issue generally concern microprocessors included in a variety of electronic products such as certain smartphones, tablet computers, portable media players and other computing devices,” Via said in the complaint.

The lawsuit is targeting Apple’s ARM-based A4 and A5 processors used in iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 4, iPhone 4 CDMA, iPod touch 4th generation, and Apple TV 2nd generation.

@Chronicwire posts new images of Otterbox case boxes specifically labeled for the "iPhone 4S". Cases have volume buttons on the right side above the SIM-card slot rather than on the left as in the iPhone 4. But, as far as we know the iPhone 4S leaked parts have not revealed such a change, so it is unclear which one is the correct depiction of the forthcoming device. AT&T stores are reported to have refreshed iPhone 4 cases with a change in the back opening for the camera that may be the rumored 8-megapixel camera. But these new cases may be a revision of the existing iPhone 4 cases. Moreover, earlier this month, there appeared information that several Apple stores had received iPhone bumper cases that didn’t fit right. Customers returned cases suggesting that they might be an early batch of modified cases for the new iPhone. Anyway, a clear light will be shed upon the situation only in October, then Apple reportedly plans to release its next-generation iPhone or iPhones (there are lots of controversial rumors claiming that Apple might release several models of the device: the iPhone 4S alongside the iPhone 5).

Keeping to the Apple’s schedule, the company opens six more stores on this weekend. It starts with the Nanjing East store in China opening tomorrow (Friday, September 23) and then the IFC (Hong Kong), Hornsby (Australia), Centro Sicilia (Italy), New Haven (Connecticut) and Metrotownn (Canada) Apple Stores will open on Saturday. The Nanjing East store (shown above) is the third Apple in Shanghai. IFC store is the first store that locates in Hong Kong. ifoApple Store notes that this store features a unique design:

The rear wall of both levels are glass windows looking out towards the city. On the inside, the lower level has two wide stainless steel walls, with a visitor entrance in the middle. The walls include back-lit display cases promoting Apple’s products. The upper level has an all-glass front window visible from the mall hallway.

BGR claims that Apple will introduce only one new iPhone model, the so-called "iPhone 4S", at its October 4th media event. It sounds reasonable because we still have not seen any sights of a redesigned iPhone 5 coming through supply chain. More specifically, there is a complete lack of such new iPhone 5 parts, suggesting that Apple may be planning to launch only the iPhone 4S as its next-generation iPhone model.

“We expect the focus of the new iPhone will be iOS 5, a speedier A5 processor and a higher resolution 8 MP camera with a small possibility of a larger 4 inch screen. We believe the casing will be largely similar to the iPhone with some particular modifications to the antennae [sic]. We don’t expect a second, dramatically different iPhone to accompany this as we don’t think Apple needs to have 3 models in the market to address the high end, mid-tier and low end since the iPhone 4 (with memory lowered to 8 GB) will drop to $99 and effectively attack those markets.”

Reuters reports that eight French publishers, including sports daily L’Equipe and newspaper Le Figaro, teamed up to strengthen their bargaining power in negotiations with Apple over digital content distributions. The publishers are dissatisfies with Apple’s too high commission of 30% and tight control over magazines and newspapers on iPad.

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Apple will reportedly hold its iPhone 5 media event on October 4th.

While Apple could certainly change its plans anytime, sources said that the October 4 date has been selected by the company to showcase the iPhone 5. Sources added that the plan is now to make the new device available for purchase within a few weeks after the announcement.

Of course, new Apple’s CEO Tim Cook will play a prominent role while the event, although it will be a team presentation. Other executives such as Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall, and Eddy Cue will participate in the keynote. Everybody waits Steve Jobs appearance, but it is still unclear whether he  will appear in the event. During this media event Apple may also announce new iPod touch with minor changes.

Today Adobe announced in a blog that it will add new features to its AIR platform and Flash Player allowing for use of 3D-accelerated graphics in mobile and desktop devices. Also the company notes in a press release:

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As VR-Zone reports, last week Intel revealed that their upcoming Ivy Bridge processors will support display with resolution of 4096x4096 pixel and also they will be capable to process video data at this resolution.

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On Monday, The Korea Times reported that Samsung had asked a ban on the iPhone 5 sales in Korea. Now Reuters claims that the company has gone further and asked an injunction against the iPhone 5 in Europe. The source that is familiar with the matter reports:

Samsung Electronics Co is considering legal action to ban sales of Apple’s new iPhone, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, in what could be its strongest step to defend against claims by the U.S. firm that the South Korean firm had copied its product designs. The source declined to elaborate further on where Samsung planned to take legal actions and the Maeil Business Newspaper reported that the South Korean firm may seek injunction request on Apple’s new iPhone in Europe.

It seems that the Apple’s accusations that Samsung thoroughly copied their iOS mobile devices with the Galaxy smartphone and tablets, initiated a long-lasting confrontation between the companies. And this change in Samsung’s defense only proves that suggestion.

Expecting the Apple’s annual fall press conference, most of the rumors, related to the iPhone and iPod touch, were focused on the next iPhone revision, but we heard very little information about the next-gen iPod touch.  MacRumors has obtained information indicating that the next iPod touch would be little changed. An oleophobic coating for the display and a revised ambient light sensor will be the main differences from the current generation iPod touch. New iPod touch screens could be installed onto the existing fourth-generation iPod touches. Apple is also expected to introduce white model of the device. Leaked white parts for the iPod touched started appearing on different websites in July, suggesting that Apple was working on the white model of the iPod touch. The new models are expected to be announced alongside the iPhone in the first week of October with availability in the middle of the month.

After adding iPad, iPhone and iPod touch support to Unreal Engine 3, Epic Games announced Unreal Development Kit Beta that allows developers to create games for Macs based on the latest versions of Epic Games’ engine. The company wrote in a blog:

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As AUSBT reports, Quantas Airlines is going to launch a six week trial service allowing passengers to watch movies on offered iPad 2. Passengers can use a ‘Q Streaming’ app on iPad 2 to stream movies from in-flight Wi-Fi access points. This six week trial service will be offered only on one Boeing 767-300 that can carry 254 passengers.

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After Apple and Intel made joint announcement of the new Thunderbolt input/output technology, one of the highly anticipated products to work with this technology has been the Little Big Disk from LaCie. This drive, which comes in SSD and HDD variants, in February was announced to be launched in summer, however only now it have eventually arrived at Apple Stores worldwide. LaCie notes:

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The photo above was posted on Chinese site Weibo. It shows what is thought to be components of Apple’s yet to be released next-gen iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S.

We can see the already familiar to us Apple dual core "A5" CPU, just like in iPad 2. However the chipset is not from an iPad 2 since it looks rather different. The layout looks more like the current iPhone 4′s A4 chipset. The visible part of the battery reads “430 mAh”, which leads us to believe that next iPhone will have 1430 mAh battery, which is slightly better than the iPhone 4′s 1420 mAh battery.

Unfortunately there is no proof this photo is real. One more reason to be skeptical - the photo is quite blur, while we can see A5 very well. What do you think, Fake or not?

Take a look at more comparison pictures:

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