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iPhone 5 To Get A Curved Cover Glass?
Samsung Nexus S
Today DigiTimes that Apple may adopt a "curved cover glass" for its iPhone 5.
The publication's industry sources revealed makers of cover glass will reluctantly invest into glass cutting equipment because of the high capital involved. They also told Apple has already purchased approximately 200-300 cutting machines for glass makers. However, the company hasn't yet created a timetable for iPhone 5, as it is still working with suppliers to improve yield rates.
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Leave a commentApple Reaches Deal with Sony Over Cloud Music
Bloomberg reported last night Apple has reached a deal with Sony Music Entertainment, following reports that the company managed to sign the Warner Music Group and EMI. This leaves Universal, the biggest label of all four in the United States, out of the equation, but according to the rumors Apple is actively focused on closing all the remaining paperwork with music labels by next week.
Apple has reached licensing accords with Sony Corp. (6758)’s music division, EMI Group and Warner Music Group, the people said. Universal Music Group, the largest recording company, is close to a deal, another person said. The company also would need to reach agreements with music publishers, which control different rights than the labels.
Apple “iTV” Prototype Shows Up on eBay
A prototype “iTV” of the device that eventually shipped as the first-generation Apple TV is now available on eBay for a “Buy Now” price of $350. The device, resembling the original Apple TV with only an Apple logo on top but lacking the “TV” branding, is still functional and also managed to receive Apple TV software updates throughout the years, in spite of its internal and not-for-release nature that would suggest the device is not capable of running the latest software. However, the iTV is apparently working correctly and showing the 3.0 software update from 2007. The iTV also has a couple of labels on its back, depicting the DVT (device verification test) status and the “Apple Development Team” that originally owned it and somehow gave it to someone else.
Survey Reveals 63 Million iOS Gamers Download 5 Million Games Per Day
Research firms Distimo and Newzoo conducted survey that revealed that there are roughly 63 million gamers on the iOS ecosystem who (individually) download, on average, 2.5 games per month. Games represent half of all apps downloaded across the iOS and Mac App Stores with more than 5 million games downloaded per day – based on the survey that included the US, UK and five other European countries. A clear majority of 4.6 million are downloaded for the iPhone or iPod Touch whilst just over 400,000 are for the iPad and just a sliver for the Mac with 41,000 per day.
Apple Inks Deal with EMI, Cloud Music Almost Finalized
Cnet reports that Apple has inked a deal with EMI over the upcoming launch of the rumored cloud music service that is expected to be unveiled at the WWDC in June. Cnet also claims the last two remaining deals with Sony and Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group (Warner Music Group reportedly signed a deal last month) could be signed as early as next week.
Apple has signed a cloud-music licensing agreement with EMI Music and is very near to completing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, multiple music industry sources told CNET.
Apple Opening A New Data Center in Silicon Valley
Apple is planning to open a new data center in Silicon Valley in the third quarter of 2011 to provide “additional IT capacity” to Apple’s rumored new cloud services that include music, video, storage, and more. The new space is located in Santa Clara, California, and it’s smaller than the massive data center Apple has been building in Maiden, North Carolina, throughout 2010 and 2011.
Apple is expanding its Internet infrastructure with a new data center in Silicon Valley, as it prepares to bring additional server and storage capacity online later this year. The new server space, housed in a third-party facility, will be smaller than the huge iDataCenter that Apple has built in North Carolina.
Apple Temporarily Freezing In-App Purchase Approvals
A number of iOS developers have been unable for over a week now to get their in-app purchase content approved by Apple, as the company requires in the iTunes Connect developer portal to test IAP with a test user account, but this account has been offline with no explanation from Apple.
As a matter of policy, Apple requires developers to test in-app purchases (IAP) with a test user account before the application in question can be approved. Unfortunately, this test account has been offline for a week now with no word as to why. If you are a developer, you can see the relevant thread on Apple’s own developer forums here.
OmniVision Introduces 5 MP Sensor With 1080p Video Recording
DigiTimes claimed that the new iPhone 4S would contain an 8 MP camera from OmniVision Technologies, and to some degree it makes sense. Sony’s CEO in April made a fleeting comment suggesting that it would be supplying Apple with an 8MP camera for the next iPhone.
OmniVision introduced a new 5MP image sensor, the OV5690, that was developed to produce the “best-in-class image quality” whilst being an effective solution for slimmer mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers by reducing the size of the camera module. With contradicting reports on whether the next iPhone will contain a 5 MP camera or an 8 MP camera, this new product certainly lends weight to the suggestion that it could have a 5 MP camera.
iPhone 4S To Go Into Production In August, Apple Reducing iPhone 4 Shipments
DigiTimes reports that the next generation iPhone, which they call the iPhone 4S, won’t have LTE capability and will go into production in August. LTE capability will likely make its way into the following (sixth generation) iPhone in 2012. A number of carriers, including three top Chinese telecommunication companies will be disappointed after expressing interest in selling an LTE capable iPhone.
With plans to begin production of the iPhone 4S in August, and nearly 2 million iPhone 4s in inventory according to sources, Apple has reportedly lowered its expected shipment volumes for the iPhone 4 (for Q2 2011) to 17.5-18 million units, a reduction of about 2 million units. Around 2 million are expected to be the CDMA version whilst around 16 million 3G models. Apple is however expecting shipments of iPad 2s to increase substantially from 7-8 million units to 10-10.5 million units in Q2, 2011.
iPhone and iPad Win “Display of the Year” Awards
Apple’s iPhone 4 and iPad have been awarded the Display of the Year prizes by the The Society for Information Display. Apple devices were mainly awarded for the usage of In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology, which provides greater viewing angles and brightness quality than other displays found on phones and tablets. The iPhone 4′s Retina Display, packing four times the pixels in the same old iPhone screen, was also mentioned for setting a new benchmark in mobile display solutions, as well as new standards in power consumption and image quality.
Apple Proposes Standard To Make SIM Cards Smaller
According to Reuters, an executive of Orange has confirmed the French carrier is backing Apple’s plans for a new standard to make SIM cards smaller in order to use them in future thinner mobile devices. The proposed standard aims at reducing the size of SIM cards, which are currently implemented as “micro” models in the iPhone 4 and iPad.
We were quite happy to see last week that Apple has submitted a new requirement to (European telecoms standards body) ETSI for a smaller SIM form factor — smaller than the one that goes in iPhone 4 and iPad,” said Anne Bouverot, Orange’s head of mobile services.
Large Pharmaceutical Companies Subscribing iPads to Sales Reps
Pharmaceutical sales reps are trying to find better ways to engage and sale their products during all their sales calls. Doctors and physicians typically only give these sales reps 30 seconds of their time as well. That’s not very much time so every second is important, and so is presentation.
Eric Newmark, an analyst at IDC Health Insights, says that sales reps “still struggle with their ability to differentiate themselves through clear, concise, and interactive messaging.” So the pharmaceutical industry may have a solution to the problem: Purchase many Apple iPads to give the sale reps “a quicker, lighter and more attractive way of displaying drug-related information,” Newmark wrote.
Survey Reveals How Consumers Use Their iPad
Business Insider conducted an extensive survey having asked more than 850 people questions that surround the iPad and how it is used. Their survey revealed that for about 70% of respondents, there was only 1 iPad in their household and only about 23% has 2 in the one household – less than 7% had 3 or more iPads in their household. Nearly 40% had downloaded between 20 and 50 apps, whilst 30% had downloaded more than 50 apps – with few paying for more than 20 of those apps and only 6% paying for none. Below are some of the other more interesting results:
iPhone 5 Parts Confirm New Camera Flash Position
Yesterday we posted some portion of information about a case design for the “iPhone 5G” that seemed to suggest the next-generation device would relocate the rear-facing camera flash to opposite side of the lens, 9to5mac points to leaked iPhone 5 parts posted by well-sourced website Apple.Pro which indeed show a rear camera lens with no Flash attached. The alleged parts, posted alongside old iPhone 4 camera components, show a redesigned internal front-facing lens, as well as a different rear-facing module lacking the flash part found on the iPhone 4. While it’s impossible to tell any improvements on the cameras from these photos alone, Apple.pro does seem to confirm today’s “crystal case” for the iPhone 5 with a relocated camera flash on the back panel.
“iPhone 5G” Case Suggests Thinner Bezel, New Camera Flash Placement
Alibaba.com started selling a new case for co-called “iPhone 5G” that suggests a new camera flash placement for the next generation iPhone, as well as a thinner bezel with an horizontal edge-to-edge display design. The case has a slot for the camera flash on the opposite side of the lens, which is rumored to receive an upgrade for the iPhone Apple will likely unveil in September. As far as theories about the larger display go, in April rumors claimed that Apple was working on a completely redesigned iPhone, a larger display, a new Home button, and worldphone capabilities.
Several rumors in the past months suggested Apple could release a redesigned iPhone 5 with a larger screen, NFC compatibility and a tweaked Home button design, but recently multiple sources and analysts close to “people familiar with Apple’s plans” seem to believe the next-generation iPhone will launch in September with a design similar to the iPhone 4, and upgrades to the CPU, RAM, and rear-facing camera lens.