News from category ‘Other’

UBM TechInsights posted their estimates  on price of the major components of the iPhone 4S. They suggest that the value of the components used to make the Apple iPhone 4S comes to $203 for the 32GB model which will be sold for $299 on a subisidized basis.

The most expensive part is the flash memory which costs $38. The second most expensive component   is Retina display wearing a $31 price tag. That is followed by the dual-core A5 processor, which costs $26. Making the new iteration of the iPhone a World Phone added $6 to the cost of a GSM-only unit, while the updated 8MP camera added only $3 to the price of the components.

iPhone’s rival HTC ThunderBolt was valued at $262 according to TechInsights. It includes such components as a LTE chipset, bigger battery, but lower resolution screen, and slightly slower processor, comparing with the iPhone 4S’.

The recently-announced 8GB Apple iPhone 4 indicated that Apple now offers the phone with small margin. Its component cost is $156 and the company is going to sell it for $99 with a signed 2-year contract.

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Implementing its plans to ban sales of Apple’s new iPhone over infringement of intellectual property, Samsung today has said that it is going to file requests with the courts in Italy and France for preliminary injunction of new smartphones.

“Samsung Electronics will file separate preliminary injunction motions in Paris, France and Milano, Italy on October 5 local time requesting the courts block the sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S in the respective markets”.

Samsung’s requests in Italy and France will refer to patent infringements connected with wireless telecommunications technology for 3G mobile devices. Also Samsung said that it plans to file the same requests in other countries after it reviews the situations.

Today’s statement from Samsung does not refer to the specific patents which iPhone 4S infringes, but it is possible that they are the same patents that already used by Samsung in a Dutch suit seeking the sales ban of iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad and iPad 2.

Apple has claimed that patents cited by Samsung are essential for 3G wireless technologies and should be licensed under FRAND terms. Apple argued that Samsung has not offered it licensing under reasonable terms, and two companies has been unable to arrive at agreement on licensing of those patents.
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Apple yesterday announced iPhone 4S  and seems to prepare the name “iPhone 5” for 4G LTE model of the smartphone that may be released next spring. Analyst Will Strauss, president of wireless chip market research firm Forward Concepts, has tried to explain why Apple showed off an iPhone 4S and not the rumored "iPhone 5" on Tuesday.

"They're saving iPhone 5 for the LTE version and that won't be out until next spring. There's no way they could come out with LTE now," he suggested.

Apple may need an LTE baseband chip that, according to Anand Shimpi of AnandTech, will arrive early next year, so first iPhones powered by it likely to arrive in the second quarter of 2012.

"While I don't like participating in the rumor garbage, if I were to guess at the release date of the rumored iPhone 5 I'd say early Q3 2012," he added.

But Apple is not in hurry. The company shows interest in LTE, but not going to implement LTE technology in the next iPhone as soon as possible. Quoting Apple executive Tim Cook, the reason is what that “LTE chipsets force a lot of design compromises with the handset, and some of those we are just not willing to make".

Yesterday during the expected media event Apple announced the new iPhone 4S, an upgrade to the existing iPhone 4 with improved A5 processor, new 8 MP camera with better optics, faster download speed on 3G, Bluetooth 4.0, and more. Media members who attended Apple's iPhone 4S event had the opportunity to spend some time with the new hardware following the presentation, and immediately started posting their first impressions about the iPhone 4S.

Engadget highlights the improved internal specifications of the new iPhone 4S, noting that it is faster than the previous model, with faster navigating between pages and opening the camera application. Engadget was also able to test the new voice assistant, Siri:

The most impressive part was the demo of Siri, the new assistant that lets you do just about anything you can do on your phone — but with your voice. We tried to psych it out with a bunch of random requests... Siri never faltered, never missed a beat… There’s nothing better to say than that. We even sent ourselves a few text messages, which Siri transcribed to a T. Of course, the lady on the other end still sounds eerily robotic, but we’re hoping for smoother responses from the alien within in a future update.

Jim Dalrymple at The Loop covers the differences in antenna design:

The current model has three bands — one on each side on the bottom, and one on the top. The iPhone 4S has four bands — two on the top and two on the bottom. The bands are where Apple houses the antennas for the device. The Wi-Fi, wireless and Bluetooth technologies use these areas. It’s not clear at this point if Apple moved any antennas or what they added the extra band.

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Yesterday Apple announced that iOS 5 would be released on October 12th and seeded the Golden Master copy of the new software to iOS developers. And now the company is asking their developers to start submitting iOS 5 applications for the App Store ahead of official release of the software.

This gives developers a chance to test better their applications and make necessary improvements before the final shipping of iOS 5 version of the applications. Noteworthy, Apple has already been approving many iOS 5 applications.

iOS 5 is promised to deliver over 200 new features and will be compatible with  the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, and the 3rd and 4th generation iPod touches.

Some analysts predict that Apple could keep its iPhone 3GS longer than predicted. The company might, probably, offer their handset for free on contract. As far as we know, the two-year old iPhone 3GS still remains the second best-selling smartphone in the United States of America. The first place belongs to the iPhone 4. Such situation only confirms suggestions that cost of a device is the key factor in customers' purchasing decisions.

Yesterday Mike Abramsky, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, issued a new research note where he told us about his expectations for the today’s iPhone event. Many of his predictions are in line with recent rumors we’ve heard -  HSPA+ iPhone 4S or 5 based on an A5 chip – he also believes that Apple keeps offering iPhone 3GS alongside the new smartphone(s).

We expect Apple to reduce the price of the prior iPhone 4 to $99 subsidized ($499 unsubsidized) and the iPhone 3GS to $0 subsidized ($399 unsubsidized, see 11/06/29 note for more detail and rationale); the prior iPhone 4 may be available only with 8GB memory.

Apple relationship with Facebook always was rocky. We know that when Apple introduced Ping, Facebook denied Apple access to integrate two networks. This is one example from plethora of the same ones. Over weekend, Marshable posted an inside information on history of Apple and Facebook confrontation. As far as we know, Steve Jobs visited   Mark Zuckerberg in order to discuss Facebook application for the iPad, and now it’s release is in doubt.  Recent rumors have suggested that Facebook will be integrated in iOS 5, but it appears that Apple has been working on Facebook integration for a long time:

“A source familiar with the chain of the events attributes the Ping debacle to a disagreement over iOS 4. Apple had fully integrated Facebook into the iPhone and iPad’s operating system, and was ready to launch the mobile-social fusion when API negotiations broke down. Apple, lacking confidence in Facebook’s ability to build a great application, asked to build its own Facebook for iPhone app. Facebook responded with a firm no. Negotiations came to halt.”

Facebook made no mention of an iPad app at its annual F8 conference a couple of weeks ago. It seems that HP is the reason why Facebook has yet released its iPad app, according to Mashable. Zuckerberg had been promising Apple an iPad app while at the same time working on an official client for HP’s TouchPad tablet.

During past weeks, we have heard lots of reports of next generation iPhone models that appeared in various inventories. And now German website iPhone-Ticker.de  has reported that it found other prove of the iPhone 4S release. German mobile carrier , the Apple’s partner in Germany, Vodafone is now offering a bumper for the new smartphone on their website. The next-generation iPhone, the so-called iPhone 4S, is available in three capacities both in black and white colors as well as the black/white iPhone 4 8 GB. This particular screenshot (above) was made from the iPhone 4 Bumper Vodafone shop page which claims compatibility with all these devices. The Vodafone listings confirm our expectations of a lower cost 8GB iPhone 4, and three iPhone 4S models (16GB, 32 GB, 64 GB). However, tomorrow, on October 4th, Apple is hosting a media event and all rumors will be dispelled.

Gismodo has managed to obtain images of the iPhone “N90A” model, manufactured by Foxconn's Brazilian factory. The new device is expected to be introduced next week. The N90A model is the low-end iPhone 4 model. As far as you know, the current-generation iPhone 4 has the N90 codename. So the rumors say that the changes will be minor. These images are not something really surprising, we have already seen images of that device, but these very shots prove that Foxconn has already started production of new iPhones in Brazil.  The cheaper iPhone will replace the iPhone 3GS in the low end. The higher end iPhone is rumored to be called the iPhone 4S. The below image demonstrates the model number ("N90A") in the top left and tells that it didn't pass inspection.

According to 9to5Mac the next generation iPhone will be released in 3 different capacities, but they do not sure about exact size of memory. It could be 16GB, 32GB and 64GB or 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB, or some other combination. What sizes Apple will actually release is up for argument. It seems unlikely that an 8GB model will appear, but all will be revealed at Apple’s iPhone 5 / iPhone 4S media event on Tuesday October 4th. But we should note that it is not the first time we’ve heard rumors about 64GB iPhone. Currently, the iPhone 4 is only available in 2 sizes: 16GB and 32GB. The source of the rumor comes from images of an iPhone 4 with storage of 59.1 GB, which shows that Apple have been experimenting with a higher-storage device.

As Wall Street Journal reports, Samsung has offered Apple a deal, which would allow Samsung to put its Galaxy Tab 10.1 on the Australian market. If the agreement will be accepted the Samsung tablet could be released in October. The terms of the agreement were not revealed to the court. But Stephen Burley, Apple's attorney, said that this agreement had some potential benefit for the company.

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According to Reuters, the $12 billion deal between Brazil and Foxconn to produce Apple’s iPad in a new Brazil-based Foxconn factory is now in doubt. It seems that negotiations between Brazilian government and the iPad-manufacturer have temporarily stalled. The main reasons are high taxes and lack of skilled workers that meet Faxconn expectations.

"We’re dealing with a lot of issues, like the (Taiwanese) trying to figure out how to do business in Brazil … and Brazil figuring out how to produce these complicated products,” a second government official told Reuters. Maybe we will end up starting with something smaller.

Start of production was already put off twice. We see that it still unclear whether the company will manufacture any Apple tablets in this country. As far as we know, Foxconn would like to build a new industrial complex with its own energy system, roads and infrastructure outside Sao Paolo. But the situation is complicated by the fact that the Brazilian government is now engaged in building more profitable $1 trillion projects related to the World Cup and the Summer Olympics the country will host in 2014 and 2016. The other problem includes lack of companies to partner with Foxconn in order to share costs in Brazil.

It’s a requirement to have Brazilian partners, (but) in the technology area the partners we have do not have the financial muscle for investments near that value.

Apple's new Thunderbolt display was torn down by iFixit.  Surprisingly, but this time it was very easy to disassemble the new display. iFixit found inside plethora of hardware to support normal work of display and docking station functions, which the display performs. iFixit told that both sides of the logic board were packed with different chips so that it was hard to believe that there was no computer inside the display.

The new display includes:

• Pericom PI7C9X440SL PCIe-to-USB 2.0 host controller
• L129NB11 EFL, which looks to be the Thunderbolt port controller
• Analog Devices ADAV4601 audio processor
• NXP LPC2144 USB 2.0 microcontroller
• Delta LFE9249 10/100/1000 Base-T LAN filter
• SMSC USB2517-JZX USB 2.0 hub controller
• Maxim MAX9736B Mono/Stereo high-power Class D amplifier
• LSI L-FW643E-2 open host controller interface
• Broadcom BCM57761 Gigabit ethernet controller
• Supertex HV9982 3-channel switch-mode LED driver IC

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According to a survey, conducted by a mobile advertising company InMobi, 41 percent of US customers is going to purchase the next-generation iPhone. 50 percent of them will do it within the first six months after public launch. This time Sprint customers will also have access to the new iPhone, so Apple seems to open new market for its smartphone, taking in account that Sprit has 52 million customers.

If consumers put their money where their mouths are, these numbers could go a long way to bumping up Apple’s overall market share in the UK and the U.S.. According to figures from Kantar Worldpanel, in Q2 Apple had an 18.3 percent share of the UK smartphone market; another research group, comScore, puts it around 20 percent. If people follow through with their purchasing intent, InMobi says this share would go up to 40 percent. In the U.S., the market share would grow to 41 percent.

Nevertheless, despite the InMobi’ estimates, Apple could release slightly revised version of the iPhone 4 – co-called iPhone 4S, reducing number of customers who will purchase such device.

According to Reuters, five persons were arrested in Shanghai for manufacturing and selling fake iPhones. As police said, these people were from an organized gang that assembled iPhone from genuine components for the Apple’s smartphones. Police found about 200 fake Apple’s smartphones during the raid.

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