News from category ‘rumors’

According to France-based Hardmac, Apple is preparing a remote testing tool for iOS devices that will be used by its service personnel. It will remotely check a device and send the obtained data, relatively anonymously, over the Internet. Apple technicians have already used a similar tool, but, according to Hardmac, this one works remotely. Actually, it will operate entirely online.

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CNN reports that Wikileaks cables showed that in 2008 Apple formed an anti-counterfeit team to combat fake iPod touches and iPhones. Initially Apple planned to go after street vendors and retailers, cooperate with police to raid production facilities, and to catch online retailers.

The technology giant eventually organized a team in March 2008 to curtail the explosion of knockoff iPods and iPhones, according to an electronic memo from the Beijing embassy dated September 2008.

In recent years fake products has been a serious problem for Apple. More recently, several Apple stores selling almost identical devices were opened in China. It is likely that great amount of counterfeit sales is connected with insufficient number of stores in this region. At present, Apple has only 4 stores, and a new store in Hong Kong will be opened this year.

Recently Apple hasn’t managed to combat counterfeits, as more and more fake products appear ahead of iPhone 5 launch.

Reportedly Chinese government doesn’t give any help to Apple. CNN reports that, according to the cable dated April 2009, Chinese government refused to investigate facility where fake Apple laptops were manufactured, because this could affect local jobs. Also it doesn’t approve Apple’s plans for a raid on a mall selling electronics in the Guangdong province, as it could scare away shoppers.

Earlier this year a former Apple executive revived the old rumors about Apple’s television set. Recently it seems that the frequency of rumors about Apple’s television project has increased, and now Venturebeat reported that multiple sources suggest the same.

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As New York Post reports (via BGR), Amazon is preparing to release the rumored Android-based tablets that will cost “hundreds less” than $499 current base model of iPad 2. It is likely that “hundreds less” implies $299.

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Samsung, one of the main Apple’s component suppliers, is likely to face a financial blow from Apple. It is rumored that  Apple is actively looking for alternative A6 chip manufacturers. The designed in-house A6 processor is expected to debut in iPad 3 next year and afterwards find its way into iPhone 6.

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At least one developer reportedly has found evidences confirming fact that Apple is testing the dual-mode iPhone 5, supporting both GSM and CDMA in one phone, against current App Store apps.

The logs show that the app has been briefly tested by a handful of people using what is almost certainly an iPhone 5, evidently running iOS 5, sporting two distinct sets of mobile network codes (MNC) / mobile country codes (MCC). Those codes can be used to uniquely identify mobile carriers.

Sure enough, some registrations for the app – which the developer also asked not to be named – were logged from a new Apple device, using the MNC/MCC codes from both Verizon and AT&T.

Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the matter, that Apple is preparing to launch a cheaper 8GB version of the iPhone 4 this fall.

A Korean company is currently manufacturing the flash drive for the 8GB iPhone 4, as one of the sources said on Tuesday, refusing to name the company. At present, Apple sources its flash drives from South Korea's Samsung Electronics and Japan's Toshiba.

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Japanese site Macotakara reports that Apple may be planning on unveiling an all new Mac that is “absolutely different from current products” and potentially set for introduction by the end of the year. The site also claims that  the product will be so different from current product lines that it will indeed be given a new name.

According to anonymous source in Asian supplier company, Apple seems to be preparing project to release new Mac line-up which is absolutely different from current products until end of this year.

Though this source does not told in detail, this new Mac line seems to be clearly different products from current ones, so new product name could be given.

It’s a possibility these are the ultra-thin air-like MacBooks, or perhaps Apple is designing an all new product that will see a platform switch from Intel to ARM processors.

TVC Mall, iPhone parts supplier, has posted a few new claimed iPhone 5 parts, including the Battery, Back Camera Lens, and Headphone/Earphone Audio Jack Flex Cable. As you may notice, the new parts are different from the existing iPhone 4 parts.

The claimed iPhone 5 battery has the same shape of the existing iPhone 4 battery. The batteries have almost the same power. The specifications on the iPhone 5 battery shows 3.7V and 5.3Whr, in comparison the iPhone 4 part shows 3.7V and 5.25Whr. The only thing that slightly differs from the iPhone 4 is a connector on the battery of the iPhone 5 that is rotated.  The back camera module reveals a closely embedded camera flash, similar to the iPhone 4’s. As usual, there are no specifications.

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References to a "Quake Alert" notification was found in iOS 5 for Japanese users. It seems that Apple has added a new early earthquake warning notification option to iOS 5, following the devastating earthquake in Japan earlier this year.  So, Japanese users will be able to turn on early earthquake notifications at the very bottom of the iOS 5 Notification Center settings pane. The system gives warnings from seconds to one or two minutes before the earthquake hits.

Japan has the most advanced earthquake early-warning system in the world. A nationwide online system launched in 2007, it detects tremors, calculates an earthquake’s epicenter and sends out brief warnings from its 1,000-plus seismographs scattered throughout the country, one of the most earthquake-prone nations on the planet.

Early last week there appeared some rumors that Apple has been testing a 4G LTE-enabled iPhone with carriers. In an "internal iOS test build" was found a property list file (.plist) for LTE. This might mean that Apple was already testing LTE hardware. This LTE.plist file, however, was found only in some of the builds (GSM iPhone 4, CDMA iPad 2) and it was related to Apple's internal "Fieldtest" application.

LTE is the term the next generation wireless broadband network that is currently being deployed by both Verizon and AT&T. Data speeds for LTE should be significantly faster than the iPhone's existing 3G network.

Other rumors suggest that it is unlikely that Apple will make the jump to LTE so early with the iPhone 5, because, as Apple's Tim Cook said, the first generation of LTE chipsets forced a lot of design compromises, and Apple was unwilling to make those compromises. Such compromises could include very short battery life for mobile phones.  But, as far as we know, AT&T had installed 4G LTE equipment in a major Apple retail store and Apple had put out a job listing for field test engineers with expertise in LTE.

Samsung claims that Apple has once again submitted doctored evidence related to their claims of design patent-related infringement by Samsung, this time to a court in Netherlands. Apple has been “manipulating visual evidence, making Samsung’s devices appear more similar to Apple’s.” This time   the report claims Apple doctored images of the Samsung Galaxy S smartphone in comparison to the iPhone 3G.

“It surprises me that for the second time incorrect presentations of a Samsung product emerge in photographic evidence filed in litigation,” said Mark Krul, lawyer and IP law specialist at Dutch firm WiseMen. “This is not appropriate and undermines Apple’s credibility both inside and outside the court room.”

BGR  reports that an AT&T vice president has confirmed to some employees that the iPhone 5 will indeed announced in early October. AT&T higher-ups told their managers to prepare employees for a “really, really busy” iPhone 5 launch.

One of our high-level AT&T sources just informed us that an AT&T Vice President has confirmed to several employees that the iPhone 5 is slated to launch in early October. Additionally, the VP communicated the following to a group of managers: ‘Expect things to get really, really busy in the next 35-50 days, so prepare your teams accordingly’.

Apple's carrier partners, however, frequently don’t know Apple's exact launch plans. But AT&T is one of Apple's closer partners.

The New York Post is reporting that Apple is expanding its New York Office space. Apple has signed a lease for 45,000 square feet of space in a Fifth Avenue office building in New York City near Union Square. As reported, this larger space will be used for iAd team and new business projects.

Apple already leased a 10,000 square-foot chunk of the Kaufman building back in January for the iAd group, and now it is taking a bigger chunk of the building for its first executive office in NYC.

Apple will use the space to launch new business projects. The office will look and feel like the retail stores with an all-white lobby, sleek elevators and LED lights.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is working on its next generation iPad with the 2048x1536 Retina display that might be launched early 2012.

The next generation iPad is expected to feature a high resolution display - 2048 by 1536 compared with 1024 by 768 in the iPad 2 - and Apple's suppliers have already shipped small quantities of components for the sampling of the iPad 3. Suppliers said Apple has placed orders for a 9.7-inch screen device.

The Wall Street Journal's sources claim that Apple is aiming to launch the iPad 3 in early 2012 and has already started placing orders for many of the key components for the next iPad. They also indicate that a trial run will begin in October.