News from category ‘Hardware’

Rumors about “iPhone 5” have been still circulating, even despite the fact that Apple launched last month updated iPhone 4S. The next-generation iPhone is expected to be released next year and will be redesigned significantly. Business Insider now reports that it has received information from the source who have had access to an iPhone 5 prototype, providing the following details on the device:

We've been told this by an industry source who has been right about future Apple products in the past. We have not been able to verify what he told us with a second source. So we're still treating these details as rumors. You should probably still read this post with a nice fat dose of salt.

The source confirmed that Apple planned to launch the iPhone 5 this year but was forced to change its plans. The source mentioned the following details of the next-generation iPhone:

• 4-inch screen
• Aluminum back
• Capacitive home button
• "Flatter" form factor
• Much faster than current hardware, but poor battery life
• 10-megapixel rear camera
• Siri prototype known as "Assistant", which had been the rumored name for the feature until its introduction

Apple reported that the battery in the first-generation iPod nano may overheat and pose a safety risk. Although, Apple had previously said that less than 0.001 percent of first-generation iPod nanos experienced the overheating issue, Apple has recently initiated a replacement program for the first-generation iPod nano. The company recommended users of the first-generation iPod nano to stop using the device and replace it for free.

The defect was firstly traced in 2008, when several customers experienced overheating on their first-generation iPod nano. South Korea, Japan and Europe international government agencies even initiated a special investigation and as a result the trade ministry in Japan ordered Apple to publicize the replacement offer on its Japanese website in 2010. Now Apple is notifying purchasers of the first-generation iPod nano about the replacement program, sending out emails.

"Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk. Affected iPod nanos were sold between September 2005 and December 2006," the company wrote. "This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages."

Patently Apple posted a new Apple’s patent application that describes integration of a speaker into the clip of the iPod nano or iPod shuffle and how a small domed or dimpled cover over the speaker could be designed to produce specific acoustic effects.

In some embodiments, the cavity size may be shaped to create a particular frequency response or to otherwise influence the sound produced by the acoustical element. In some embodiments, the interior surface of the cavity may be modified to increase the size of the cavity, to control the frequency response of the cavity, modify the amount of air displaceable by movement of the diaphragm of the acoustical element, and/or to direct sound waves within the cavity and/or out of the cavity. The shape of the surface may be configured to resonate at a certain desired frequency or frequency range that is desired based on its shape. For example, one or more indentations in the surface may be provided to increase the size of the cavity and/or control the frequency response of the cavity. Generally, the larger the size of the cavity, the lower the frequency that may be resonant within the cavity. In some embodiments, holes may be provided in the surface to adjust the frequency response.

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MacBook Air ships with either a moderately fast SSD from Toshiba or a significantly faster drive with an updated controller from Samsung. But some people want to have even faster drives. And SSD from OWC called Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G can provide them with faster speeds.

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The Sydney Morning Herald reports that despite the injunction prohibiting the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet in Australia, several Australian retailers have ignored Apple's threats and continue to profit from demand for the barred Samsung tablet.

At least one, dMavo, said it had created a separate entity in Europe to place it outside the jurisdiction of Australian courts, with the tablets delivered to customers from Asia.

"We have a new entity established and a separate server - just to deal with the tablet orders - that is undergoing testing as of last Saturday," dMavo managing director Wojtek Czarnocki said.

"Was Apple just bluffing or do they really want to play the cat and mouse game? We're up for it."

Melbourne law firm Watermark's senior associate and patent specialist Mark Summerfield suggests, however, it would be relatively simple to extend Apple's injunction to individual online resellers because it already applies to device maker Samsung. The only thing Apple will have to do is to apply to the Australian Federal Court for further injunctions. But it would be difficult for Apple, because the company is based overseas.

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The iPad 3 with Retina display will unlock very valuable capabilities for professionals, for example, for pilots who use tablet for electronic charts and doctors who use it for medical imaging. Many airlines replaced conventional flight bags weighing 40 pounds or more with light-weight iPad. But the iPad is not allowed to be used further than a 50-mile radius of the originating and destination airports, because the charts are quite complex to be displayed on any electronic device.

While "about 75 to 80 percent of a flight is done using the autopilot, in conjunction with the flight management system," according to Flight Safety Foundation executive vice president Kevin Hiatt, the ability to use an electronic device to navigate highly complex flight maps could be expanded with the additional resolution in a "Retina Display" iPad.

And this is only one example how the iPad 3 with Retina display might be used. Other professionals would similarly benefit from such a doubling improvement in resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels.

Despite the fact that iPhone 4 was launched last month, it seems that consumer Interest in the newest Apple’s smartphone is still increasing. Chris Whitmore with Deutsche Bank polled about 30 Apple retail stores and found out that between 85 percent and 90 percent of stores polled are experiencing stock-outs of the iPhone 4S.

"Apple employees are directing customers to make an online appointment (first come first serve) for next day pickup at nearby Apple retail stores as stocks appear to be refreshed daily at most locations," Whitmore said.

In-store Apple representatives advice customers to order the iPhone 4S on Apple's website between 9 p.m. and 12 p.m. Now most number of iPhone 4S units is sold via reservation, leaving a very little stock for customers who want to buy the device at a store.

Whitmore believes strong demand for the iPhone 4S both in America and abroad shows that supply remains the only factor in determining how many handsets Apple will sell this quarter. He has forecast sales of 28 million iPhones during the holidays, but admitted that number appears "increasingly conservative."

Apple demonstrates interest in improving OLED technology for future iPhone and iPad displays that will provide better battery life for such devices.  Earlier this week AppleInsider revealed a new patent application filled by Apple. The title of the patent is "Power Efficient Organic Light Emitting Diode Display" and describes different ways that could improve battery life, for example, displaying the color white.

OLED displays consume less power than traditional displays. This is possible because OLED technology is light emissive rather than light transmissive. But OLED displays, despite all their advantages, are less efficient that it is used for displaying a screen that is largely the color white, because an OLED panel has to utilize a range of color channels for every pixel on the display. Doing this can be power intensive and make the device inefficient.

For example, certain applications, such as word processing, spreadsheet design and use, database design and use, e-mail, and other business or productivity applications, typically utilize dark or black alphanumeric characters on a white background, such as to simulate writing or printing on a sheet of paper. As a result, these applications may cause the display of large expanses of white background with relatively little area devoted to the non-white alphanumeric characters. Such applications, therefore, may make the use of OLED displays unsuitable or undesirably power intensive for battery powered and/or portable electronic devices, such as handheld devices.

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A number of complaints regarding problems with echo on the iPhone 4S when used with a headset, with calls is growing. Moreover, the problem seems to appear on different phone models and carriers.

When using the Apple hands free headset with the phone during a call, I get an echo problem. It does not occur immediately. It can very from 30 seconds into a call and as far up to 9 mins in before it begins the annoying echo. If I unplug the headset it goes away but will return when I plug the headset back in. I have tried 3 brand new iphone 4s headsets with the same problems. So far I have tried rebooting, and also restored phone back to factory original settings as a new phone and still no resolution. I have been told by the other person on the line a screech sound is made then the echo begins.

Other issue that affects both incoming and outgoing calls is static on iPhone 4S call. The issue also occurs on multiple handsets as users exchanged devices at Apple retail stores in attempts to address the problem

The third problem involves users experiencing no audio on a subset of outgoing phone calls.

Picked up a Verizon iPhone 4S - 32GB and on about 1 in 10 calls I get no outbound audio when dialing. Call shows the timer counting as if the call is progressing but absolutely no ring back and cannot hear the party on the other end when they answer.

Digitimes claims that Apple plans to completely overhaul its iPad, iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air lines in 2012, saying nothing about MacBook Pro, Mac mini, Mac Pro and iPod lines.

Apple plans to completely overhaul its product lineups, including iPad, iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air, in 2012 and is expected to finalize order volumes for key parts and components for the next-generation iPad in December, according to sources in the upstream supply chain.

The iPhone is most likely to be redesign. The iPhone 4S has the same design as the previous generation iPhone 4. So it is quite reasonable to suggest that the iPhone will receive a new design. As for iMac, its design hasn’t been changed for some years. And it’s unclear how drastically it would be changed. The iPad is expected to become thinner in 2012. Some analysts believe that Apple’s tablet could finally receive Retina display. Finally, the MacBook Air. The notebook will certainly receive new design next year. There are rumors about a 15" Air-like design. Moreover, the Air and Pro lines is expected to be merged into one, but the Air form factor will dominate the consumer market in the near future.

Digitimes suggests that Apple's next iPad should enter mass production soon with a launch set for March 2012. But this new product won’t be a “real” iPad 3 rather an updated iPad 2. The “real” iPad 3 is expected to be launched no earlier that the third quarter of 2012. Although Digitimes does not provide any distinction as to what qualifies as a "real iPad 3", the site claims that it would be thinner than the iPad 2 and offer longer battery life.

The most obvious difference between the updated iPad 2 and the “real” iPad 3 is an ultra-high resolution Retina display that is rumored to be implemented in the iPad 3. Rumors about Apple’s plans to build in such display in their devices have been circulating for months. But the most recent reports indicate that Apple's suppliers are finding it challenge to produce such high density displays. Anyway Apple could change their plains at any moment.

Macotakara reported that Apple is allegedly testing a new thin-and-light 15-inch MacBook to add it to its lineup in the near future. Apple now is finishing up a taste phase. According to Asian source, Apple already finished development of an LCD test component for the new laptop.

The next Apple’s notebook is believed to be a next-generation MacBook Pro without a built-in optical disc drive. That means that the new notebook will undergo significant changes in design in 2012. Moreover, earlier this year, there were some rumors about drastic redesign of the MacBook Pro line. Last week, ahead of the holiday buying season Apple quietly updated its MacBook Pro models, adding slightly faster Intel Sandy Bridge processors, as well as improved AMD Radeon graphics. The new MacBook Pro may boast about Intel's next-generation Ivy Bridge processors. Moreover, Intel has already begun production of new processors.

A couple of days ago we reported that Apple is unlikely to release updated Mac Pro line until 2012 and Intel's Sandy Bridge E processors should be implemented in new computers. Apple's current dual-processor Mac Pro lineup utilizes Intel's "Westmere" processor family, priced at $387, $996, and $1440 respectively.

Newly-released pricing information for processors of E5-2600 series allows us to make suggestion that  Apple will be able to use the $406 6-core 2.0 GHz E5-2620 in its low-end dual-processor configuration at or near the current $3499 pricing. At the mid range the 8-core 2.0 GHz E5-2650 that costs $1106.  But such price may be high, so Apple could released a limited number of this model with such processor. Apple is more likely will use a cheaper a 6-core chip running at 2.5 GHz E5-2640 that costs at $884. The high end of Mac Pro may be run by the 8-core 2.6 GHz E5-2670 processor coming in at $1552 or the 8-core 2.4 GHz E5-2665 processor, which is expected at $1440.

For the lower-end single-processor Mac Pro, Apple is likely to utilize Intel's E5-1600 series processor line. Pricing on those chips was revealed last month. So, for low- and mid-end single-processor Mac Pro Apple is likely to use the quad-core 3.6 GHz E5-1620 ($294) and 6-core 3.2 GHz E5-1650 ($583), the high end of the single-processor line -  the E5-1660 at $1080.

Chinese customers prefer to buy Apple’s iPhone than Nokia’s smartphones, according a report published by the investment bank Morgan Stanley. As more than a third of 2,050 surveyed urban Chinese mobile phone users express a preference for iPhone, twice that for Nokia's models.

Apple presence on Chinese smartphone market grew significantly in 2011. Not surprisingly that over fiscal 2011 the company managed to earned as many as $13 billion, comparing with $3 billion in fiscal year 2010. Morgan Stanley says it believes "China could surpass the US as Apple's largest market in about three years, adding nearly $30 billion more per year to the top-line along the way." The firm notes that sales of iPhones are also driving purchases of related Apple products, noting that Mac use is nearly four times higher among iPhone users, where Mac user share jumps to 35 percent from the standard 9 percent of the general population.

Morgan Stanley’s survey demonstrates that Apple increased its share by 6 percentage points to reach 34 percent of planned purchases in the region. Nokia dropped 8 percentage points to make up just 16 percent of the nation's planned purchases.

According to a research note released by the investment bank Morgan Stanley on Wednesday, a lower-priced iPhone could generate a nearly three-fold increase in demand for Apple in China. The bank conducted research among Chinese customers who hesitate to but the iPhone. 85 percent of them called price as a key factor that prevents them from buying Apple’s smartphones. The right price point could increase demand for iPhone in three times in China.

The maximum price that Chinese customers are ready to pay is $425. But those who said that they were not going to buy an iPhone could afford to pay $344. Nearly 80% of those who took part in the research marked Apple as the leading brand in China. But in last quarter company's share of mobile phone purchases in the region fell from 12% to 7%.

In the third quarter of 2011, China area became the company's second largest market, behind only the U.S. China is "the fastest growing region by far."  China sales of iPhone were $4.5 billion in the September quarter, 16 percent of Apple’s total revenue, comparing with $3.8 billion Apple earned in the June quarter. Meanwhile, one analyst believes that the mobile market in China poses as much as a $70 billion opportunity for Apple.