News from category ‘rumors’

Unwire.hk has posted first photos of a screen protector that has been designed for the iPhone 5, suggesting the elongated home button.

A second shot shows how much bigger the screen protector is than the current generation iPhone 4.

Despite we have seen different cases for the next-generation iPhone, none of them had show a front panel of the device. But we have already heard about the elongated design of the Home button from the leaked designed documents that described areas to be exposed or open to the user. From the image we may see that the hole for the front facing camera was also elongated and camera itself was included in to the hole for the speaker. But we can say for sure that this case is not the accurate image of what the iPhone 5 will look like. Apple is widely expected to release the iPhone 5 in September/October.

MacRumors has heard that the MacBook Pro line will receive minor processor updates before the holiday shopping season.

According to people with proven insight into Apple’s future product plans, the late-2011 MacBook Pro refresh will deliver marginal speed bumps to the notebooks’ Core i-Series of Sandy Bridge processors but will otherwise introduce no material changes over the existing models. While precise timing for the update may change, those same people say the Mac maker currently anticipates an introduction of the refreshed line before the end of the month.

Moreover, Intel recently announced that its next-generation processor code-named Ivy Bridge will offer lower-power quad-core chips than the current generation of Sandy Bridge chips. As AnandTech notes, this development means that Apple could offer quad-core processors in its smallest 13" MacBook Pros. Now the 15" and 17" MacBook Pros are the only models that presently offer quad-core processors.

One of the customers, who emailed Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO to express dismay over discontinuation of same MobileMe features, claims that the service is transitioned to iCloud and then Tim Cook called him noting that Apple is “open” to return some features as customers support their return.

"Specifically, I bemoaned the loss of sync services (syncing application preferences, keychain, etc.) and the loss of iDisk," the reader said of his initial email to Cook . "I was pleasantly surprised to get a call from his office just now.

According to Cook's people, while there are no plans to add those particular services to iCloud at this time, "Apple is open to it if there's enough feedback on the subject."

Apple's customer service call centers - AppleCare has reported AppleInsider that the company expects that a large influx  of iOS-related support calls beginning Monday, October 10th, suggesting that Apple may release the iOS 5 on this date.

For instance, one person familiar with the matter said his local AppleCare call center has been told to expect an eightfold increase in customer calls on that day, and that staff are being advised ahead of time for the increased traffic.

The person could not say with any certainty what will be released on that Monday, but noted that the increase in call volume is related to iOS. This led them to speculate that Apple could release iOS 5 and iCloud on Oct. 10.

Apple always releases its major iOS updates a couple of days ahead of the new hardware release. For example, the iPhone OS 3.0 was released on June 17th, 2009 while the iPhone 3GS was released on June 19th, 2009; last year iOS 4.0 was released on June 21st following the iPhone 4 release on June 24th. So, we may expect release of new iPhone 5 after October 10th. Moreover, there are lots of rumors suggesting that Apple is planning to announce its next-gen iPhone in mid-October.

According to AppleInsider's report, Apple is going to launch an updated version of wireless base station AirPort Express. A source reports that Apple is now finishing development of its AirPort Utility 5.6 software which includes references to the AirPort Express 802.11n (2nd Generation).

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Bloomberg confirms information previously reported by The Wall Street Journal that Sprint will indeed begin offering the iPhone 5 next month with unlimited data plans for the device. Sprint reportedly will launch the iPhone 5 in mid-October.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) will offer Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone next month with unlimited data service plans to distinguish itself from rivals AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, plans to begin selling the device in mid-October under a deal with Apple for the next model, the iPhone 5, said the people, who wouldn’t be identified because the plans aren’t public. Becoming the country’s only operator to offer the device with unlimited data service for a flat fee may help Sprint draw customers from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which already carry the phone, they said.

Despite the fact the Apple is still only planning to build its new corporate campus on Cupertino, California, it seems that the company has already realized that it won’t be enough for 13,000-employees and is likely to begin planning on a third campus, said  Cupertino mayor Gilbert Wong.

And just like a new gadget, the company may not be done upgrading. Wong said Apple executives have told him the company is expanding so fast that it expects to start working on Apple Campus 3 at an unknown location after they finish the second headquarters in 2015. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on plans for a third campus.

Now Apple reportedly requests 13 separate approvals from the city in connection with the second campus. The company hopes to collect all necessary documents by late 2012. That schedule would see construction begin on the new 2.8 million square foot circular main building in 2013, with an opening targeted for 2015. The campus will include 25,000 square foot fitness center, 1,000 seat auditorium, a parking garage, an energy center, research and development buildings.

According to DigiTimes, production of iPhone 5 is in full swing with 150,000 manufactured units per day. However, this rate is not quite sufficient for Apple, as it plans to release the iPhone for the holiday season.

"Lens maker Largan Precision, touch panel maker TPK Holding, reinforced glass supplier G-Tech Optoelectronics and battery vendors Simplo and Dynapack are all operating at full swing currently, the sources indicated".

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Reportedly, Apple’s A6 processors will be produced on 28 nm process technology in TSMC, and will be shipped in the Q2 of 2012.

As DigiTimes reports, Shang-yi Chiang, TSMC’s VP of research and development, said that the company is preparing for mass producing of 28 nm chips:

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In July Dutch site AppleSpot.nl posted some rumors regarding an iPod touch with 3G capabilities, now AppleNApps revives the rumors claiming that a 3G-capable iPod touch is indeed in development, and while Apple is reportedly planning for a launch this September.

After talking with multiple people over the past few weeks, we had a lengthy chat with one person who gave us great news about the next iPod Touch. We’ve used this person in the past, but they did qualify their remarks, saying that the iPod Touch changes should make it, but there’s no guarantee the changes will be ready for fall. The 3G iPod Touch idea intrigued us so much back in July, and we’ve been trying to find one of our contacts who can give some credence to the idea. A few have declined to comment, while others honestly have no idea, but the source for this report says that Apple is indeed working on a 3G iPod Touch. Apple is intent on announcing the device during their September event which they usually save for their iPod line, but will include the iPhone as well this year.

Evidence of iPod Touch 3G was reviled in July when there was discovered a new "iPod4,2" model mentioned in property list files in early iOS 5 builds.  Its designation as a minor "4,2" evolution of the existing iPod4  suggested that the new iPod touch could be similar to the fourth-generation iPod touch currently available from Apple.

According to Japanese website Macotakara, Apple is finishing developing a new version of its professional audio software Logic. The new version is named Logic Pro X.

According to the report, Apple will terminate the Logic Studio’s component Soundtrack Pro. Both Logic Studio and Final Cut Studio has included Soundtrack Pro 3, but this component is no longer offered within application set Final Cut Pro X.

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Pocketnow.com claims that it has found a photo taken by the iPhone 5. The EXIF data shows that the shot was made by the iPhone 4, but the original size of the photo, before cropping, was nearly 8 megapixels. The iPhone 4’s camera resolution is 5 megapixels, so the shot touched off rumors that it was made by the iPhone 5. The original image was taken by an Apple engineer working on Safari and WebKit for iOS eating lunch at work.

This (very attractive) photo claims to have been taken by an iPhone 4, but the rest of its EXIF data tells a different story: although the image has been cropped to 2235x2291 (5.12 megapixels), the original picture was a much larger 3264x2448 -- or just shy of eight megapixels. What's more, the lens was recorded as a 4.3mm f/2.4, which is closer to that of a point-and-shoot than the iPhone 4's actual 3.85mm f/2.8.

Voice input in Android

9to5Mac has reported that Apple seeded some mobile carriers with a “near-final” build of iOS 5 with the enabling of Nuance's Speech to Text as a system-wide service:

According to a source testing the feature, it works almost identically (video above) to the Android operating system’s speech-to-text feature. It’s also very polished, quick, and accurate said the source – which is obvious for being an Apple product but also is indicative of the product being nearly complete.

The special microphone button was already noticed in iOS 5. This allows users to dictate rather than type. It seems that Apple plans to release its Nuance speech recognition system alongside the public release of iOS 5 set for launch in this fall.

Apple reportedly has made a deal with Simplo and Dynapack to produce and supply a thinner and lighter battery for the iPad 3. Such battery means that the company may work on the iPad with a potentially thicker high-resolution Retina display. The cost of new batteries is 20-30% higher that the current iPad batteries but provides longer service life and higher safety.  Mass production of such batteries are planed on the first quarter of the next year.

With the upcoming iPad 3 to feature a thinner, lighter battery module that is widely believed to be priced 20-30% higher than iPad 2’s, Simplo Technology Co. and Dynapack International Technology Corp., both Apple Inc.’s contract suppliers of iPad and Macbook battery packs, will hence secure a surefire profit drive for the near future.

Institutional investors pointed out that the battery pack for iPad 3, scheduled to be massively produced in the first quarter of next year, has been redesigned to be thinner and lighter with a longer service life than iPad 2 edition’s.

Apple’s current generation of MacBook Air is very popular with customers. Apple sells up to 500,000 units per month. MacBook Air’s success has drawn the interest of “Ultrabook” models’ manufactures whose aim is to compete with the MacBook Air. Intel and Windows PC seem to test the waters, limiting initial shipments to a combined 50,000 units.

First-tier notebook brand vendors Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba and Asustek Computer, understanding that demand for notebooks is unlikely to recover in the fourth quarter, while Apple's products are taking up all the glory in the market, will limit their initial Ultrabook shipment volume to below 50,000 units for testing the water, according to sources from notebook makers.

Intel planed that Ultrabook pricing will start under $1000 but the company faces difficulties trying to bring costs to the point where they can compete with the MacBook Air.