News from category ‘rumors’

The  Amazon UK website placed several manuals for the upcoming Mac OS X 10.7 Lion  that will be released late in July. That fact might suggest that the operating system will also launch around that time. It seems that the OS will be released right after WWDC, this year expected to be from July 5 to July 9. The cover of one of the Mac OS X Lion manuals makes reference to the already announced Launchpad and Mission Control features but also references the dock, most of which was demonstrated last year at the Lion announcement. Noteworthy to say that the release date of these guidebooks is a good indication of product launches. For example, Amazon information predicted the release date Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac.

Cult of Mac reports that Apple is working on a new notification system for iOS.

Apple’s pop-up notification system for new text messages, voicemails and the like has often been criticized as one of the weakest parts of the iOS. Notifications are intrusive, modal and often cryptic. It’s a mess.

And to build new technology into the operating system, the company is going to acquire a small iOS development firm that currently offers a notification system in the App Store. Cult of Mac suggests that it might be Boxcar, which offers an iOS application providing push notifications for a variety of services.

Rumors say that display of future iPad 2 will be updated to Super PLS. It does not mean it will have a better resolution. iPad 2 will utilize the same 1024 x 768 display as the current iPad, Super PLS is just a different technology and it is better.

Current iPad, as well as the iPhone 4, use a technology called IPS. It provides outstanding viewing angles. However Samsung’s PLS technology is even better. The viewing angles provided by PLS are improved. In addition to that Super PLS display is generally 10% brighter than the IPS technology. And the best part is that they cost around 15% less to manufacture than IPS displays.

iPad 2 is expected to launch sometime this quarter.

Recent rumors claim that Apple plans to update its MacBook Air line with Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors. The company is going to replace the Core 2 Duo chip, found in the current generation of MacBook Air, which is two generations behind Intel's processor. So it will be a significant upgrade for Apple's MacBook Air. The refreshed is expected in June, sometime during the WWDC 2011. Remind you that last fall the MacBook Air was already updated. It received a new, thinner design, and flash memory drive.

New iPhone Nano rumors! Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is working on a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone. The prototype is about one-third smaller than the iPhone 4. Rumors say it will be sold without any contract for just $200.

This sounds more like a fairy tale. Currently iPhone 4 costs approximately $600 without a contract.

Today Mike Abramsky, who is an analyst from investment firm RBC Capital Markets, released a note to investors, where he said that Apple and Verizon will sell more than 1 million iPhones in a week after its launch. He also forecasted that in the first quarter of device availability both companies will sell approximately from 3 to 4 million handsets.

He also took available inventory and estimated pre-order numbers and found out that Apple, Best Buy and Verizon may stock out completely as soon as in the first week after the launch of the device. The analyst believes that Apple has 1-1,5 million units for the launch in its channel inventory.

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Wall Street Journal reports that the next version of the iPad is now in production. The new iPad will be available through both Verizon and AT&T but not Sprint or T-Mobile, according to the newspaper.

The new device will be thinner, lighter and will come with a faster processor, more memory and a more powerful graphics processor, said the people familiar with the matter. It will have a front-facing camera for the first time for features like video-conferencing, but the resolution of the new iPad's display will be similar to the first iPad, they said.

iLounge has discovered that despite having a brand new antenna, the Verizon iPhone 4 also has antenna issues when held in a “Death Hug”. The “Death Hug” is when the phone is cupped by both hands and held in landscape orientation. A position is common when playing games or using the widescreen keyboard. The CDMA iPhone 4 still lose substantial cellular signal strength, as well as Wi-Fi signal when loading web pages.

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The next-generation iPhone will be probably announced between June 5th and 9th , 2011. On these very dates Apple booked the Moscone Center in San Francisco for this year’s WWDC. Noteworthy to say that on the Moscone Center’s website the June event is listed as the “Corporate meeting”, though, such description is usual one for this Apple’s event. Apple’s next iPhone is traditionally announced at each year’s WWDC event held at the Moscone Center sometime in June. Moreover, there are two other “Corporate Meetings / Events” on the Moscone schedule: one for May 10th through 11th, and the second between June 22nd and 23rd. The May event probably is for the iPad 2 launch and the June is for something more important because it is placed closer to WWDC.

MacRumors has reported that Apple is planning to eliminate boxed software, which only takes up retail space that could be used for higher profit items such as iPad or iPhone accessories. Apple is going to distribute their software through the Mac App Store, strongly believing that the future of software sales will be digital distribution. But how Apple will deal with software which is not available through the Mac App Store? It's not clear now. Though, the idea of total elimination of boxed software also sounds unreal. Perhaps Apple will replace such software with USB software installers.  It may make more sense; nevertheless, such replacement doesn’t appear to be quick.

Macotakara, Japanese blog, reports that Apple is planning to conduct a smaller than usual event to launch the next generation iPad. The site thinks that such event appears to be on track for March. It is believed that the device may only see an announcement during that time frame in the United States Shipments and international availability possibly will follow at a later date. Moreover, the site posted one more exclusive photo of the second generation iPad display (see above).

iLounge claims that got some details about what may be in store for the second-generation iPad. So the new device’s shell will be made from a carbon fiber that would allow reducing the weight of the second-generation iPad.  Moreover Apple has not yet abandoned the idea of a smaller iPad carrying a 7-inch display, contrary to Steve Jobs saying that 7-inch tablets were dead on arrival, and Apple's suppliers has been asked to manufacture a component that would be used in a 7-inch iPad. About NFC, iLounge mostly quotes the previous Bloomberg report:

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A new rumor about release of the next-generation iPad hit the web. The rumor claims that Apple is going to announce the new device during a special event which will be held to introduce in-app subscriptions with iOS 4.3 next week. MacNotes.de reported yesterday that the second-generation iPad could be presented as the famous "one more thing" at the end of the event. Moreover, one more thing proving that suggestion is that the iOS 4.3 is currently being tested with developers and has reached the beta 3 status, which may lead to a release of a GM seed next week. Rumors of Apple's second-generation iPad have spread up in recent weeks, as Apple approaches the one-year mark since the device was launched in April 2010.

Reuters claims that its “eyewitness” saw yesterday at a press conference to mark the debut of News Corp's Daily online paper (еру first newspaper for the iPad) a working model of the next iPad with a front-facing camera at the top edge of the glass screen. Comically, Reuters tells that in a room full of tech journalists, somebody was apparently playing around on an iPad 2. Reuters says "a source with knowledge of the device" confirmed its existence and that the real iPad 2 will have the camera along with other features.

iFIxYouri.com managed to acquire the new iPad 2 LCD display from iPhone repair shop in China. The display is a 9.7-inch display from LG with a 1024 x 768 resolution, the same resolution as the current iPad and is definitely higher quality in terms of its build. The display is also lighter and over a millimeter thinner than the current iPad's display with a smaller surrounding frame, suggesting Apple is looking to shave as much weight off the next iPad as they can for this update.

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