News from category ‘Hardware’

On January 9th 2007 Steve Jobs presented the first ever Apple iPhone to the world. The Apple CEO started off the epic keynote by saying the famous lines, "This is a day, I've been looking forward to for 2 and a half years. Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything…".

The iPhone launched on June 29, 2007. In its 4 years of existence, the device has changed a lot, starting from iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS and now it is iPhone 4. All these devices were truly revolutionary.

2011 has been an interesting year for the iPhone. In February Apple introduced the Verizon iPhone, ending AT&T 3 year exclusiveness in the US. In April we finally saw the white iPhone 4.

Apple sold close to 20 million iPhones last quarter and the rate is still quite amazing. The company is expected to sell 100 million units of its next-generation iPhone that will be probably released this fall.

Apple indeed "reinvented the phone". The iPhone completely redefined how a "smartphone" should look and act.

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According to Business Insider analyst Chris Whitmore reports that Apple plans to release not only the iPhone 5 this fall, but they will also release a cheaper version of the iPhone, the iPhone 4S.

This means that Apple will release a minor update to the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S, as well as a major update called the iPhone 5.

"With Nokia and RIMM struggling," he writes, "the time is right for Apple to aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market (i.e. $300-500 category) to dramatically expand its [total addressable market] and market share."

As Whitmore sees it, an iPhone 4S that is unlocked, priced around $349, and comes with a pre-paid voice plan would "drive significantly greater penetration" into an addressable market that has grown to include 1.5 billion potential customers in 98 countries, two thirds of whom prefer pre-paid plans.

The rumors about cheaper iPhone have been reports floating around for a long time. It's a pity that Whitmore only offers us his prediction without any evidence or inside knowledge.

Here is a summary of what we have in mind right now:

iPhone 5:

• 4" screen
• new design
• dual core
• 8MP camera
• possible dual LED and/or dual camera
• 64GB
• 1080p video

iPhone 4S:

• 3.5"
• old design
• single core
• 5MP camera
• 4GB Storage
• 720p video

Digitimes reports that the upcoming iPhone 5 set for a September might be released with a new dual-LED flash system. The article is citing Taiwan-based companies Everlight Electronics, Edison Opto and Lite-On Technology that are the potential suppliers for the new Flash sensors.

Everlight and Lite-On have strengthened their deployments in the smartphone market for a while, with their products already being shipped to the supply chains of brand-name handset vendors, said industry sources. Edison, which is specialized in the production of high-power LEDs, has begun shipping its LED flash products to branded handset vendors and therefore has a high chance of winning dual-LED flash orders from Apple, the sources noted.

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CNET writes on a comment made by analyst Doug Freedman at Gleacher & Company, who says that it is estimated that 48% of all Apple’s laptops will be of MacBook Air family:

“How big is this opportunity? In the 4-year lifespan of [Apple's] iconic MacBook Air, units sold as a percentage of its total notebook supply was 8 percent in 2008, 9 percent in 2009, and 17 percent in 2010 to an estimated 48 percent in 2011,” he stated.

Advanced Intel Sandy Bridge processors designed for ultraportable laptops (chips can “turbo” or overlock to much higher speeds) were priced today:

Core i7-2637M: 1.7 GHz (turbos to 2.8GHz), 2 cores, 17 watts, 4MB cache, priced at $289

Core i7-2677M: 1.8 GHz (turbos to 2.9GHz), 2 cores 17 watts, 4MB cache, priced at $317

Core i5-2557M: 1.7 GHz (turbos to 2.7GHz), 2 cores 17 watts, 3MB cache, priced at $250

Possibly more important that these chips are based on Intel’s newish fab process that will make power efficiency much higher. But the drawback is that they will utilize Intel’s slower chipset that doesn’t make use of Nvidia’s 3xx series graphics.

New MacBook Airs are expected within a month.

Gevey has released a new hardware unlock for iPhone 4 called Gevey Ultra SIM.

The main difference compared to the old Gevey unlock method is that you don't have to dial 112. dialing 112/911 and hanging up is illegal in most countries, now this problem is gone.

Gevey Ultra works with

• iOS 4.0, 4.1, 4.2.1, 4.3, 4.3.1, 4.3.2, 4.3.3
• Basebands 01.59, 02.10, 03.10.01, 04.10, 04.10.01

Some sources claim that Gevey Ultra works even with the latest iOS 5 beta 1.

If you have 01.59 baseband you can still use free software ultrasn0w unlock. For everything else - just buy Gevey Ultra for $35 here.

The installation is simple, but requires jailbreak. Good luck iOS 4.3.3 is jailbreakable. See our jailbreak instructions here (Mac OS) and here (Windows).

Take a look at the Gevey Ultra video demo:

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In recent weeks more and more reports have appeared, claiming that Apple is putting final touches to the new MacBook Airs that are expected to be released late June or July. MacRumors has a guess that  the high-end models may come with a black option for the aluminium case.

Over the past week, we’ve received several anonymous tips claiming that at least some models of the next-generation MacBook Air will be be available with a black finish, different from the aluminum case used on the current MacBook Air and most of Apple’s other Macs. The most specific of the claims suggests that a black anodized aluminum case would be available on a top-end MacBook Air model, in much the same way as Apple once offered a high-end black MacBook on top of the standard white offerings.

As for the black colour, Apple already offered black versions of the MacBook a few years. MacRumors also reports that their source close to Apple sent them e-mail, where he said that the  black MacBooks were indeed produced, but didn’t get Steve Jobs’ approval in the end.

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MICGadget reports that they received new information about Mac mini, Mac Pro and Time Capsule. Mac mini is expected to receive Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge processors and end up using Intel’s graphics that will be replaced by NVIDIA GPU.  The new Mac Pro will reportedly come in a "rack-mountable" design to replace the discontinued Xserve. As for the new Mac Pro, MICGadget reports that it will have a "unique CPU" developed for the Mac and not seen in the PC.

Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt are coming to the new Mac Pro, and at the same time, an unique CPU will be developed for Mac. This unique CPU is not seen in PC.

The Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme will receive new design with improved heat dissipation. The new Time Capsule will have a lower TDP and low power consumption hard drive. As for the new AirPort Extrime, it will have improved signal strength with six antennas built in.

CNET reports that Apple is going to launched revamped Mac Pro and Mac mini in late July or early August. Details, as usual, are unclear, though, according to the previous 9to5Mac reports, the devices may get a smaller, rackmountable design that can hold multiple solid-state-drives

My sources tell me ALL NEW Next-Gen Mac Pros and Mac Minis will launch either end of July first week of August.

The Mac mini models that are now short on supply, will reportedly receive the Thunderbolt technology and Sandy Bridge processor, the same as implemented in  the MacBook Pro and iMac families launched earlier this year. Both devices will have preinstalled Lion software.

August more likely, Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt on both. NO details for specs or configurations given. DO NOT BUY! WAIT for the new Macs!

Apple has reportedly reduced orders of LED flash components manufactured by Phillips. A person familiar with the company's supply chain claims that it may be a sign that Apple is planning to shift to a new LED camera flash module from a different manufacturer in the next-generation iPhone. The new supplier is rumoured to be  a firm based in Taiwan, though information is unconfirmed.

LED flash first was implemented in last year iPhone 4. In May appeared rumours related to the iPhone 5 that suppose that the LED camera flash would be moved  to the right on the rear side of the device. Perhaps, separating of camera lens and flash will lead to improvement of picture quality and reduce of red-eye effect. The next-generation iPhone’s camera could sport the OmniVision’s  8-megapixel  camera sensor.

Imagination Technologies, the contract manufacturer of graphic processor units (GPU) for the next-generation iPhone and iPad, has announced that its key partners have started licensing process of the company’s next-generation GPU with codename Rogue. It’s likely that one of such key partners is Apple, because the company uses Imagination Technologies' GPUs in many its mobile devices. Moreover, Apple not only a major client, it also owns 9,5% of the company’s shares. The current-generation iPad uses Imagination Technologies' PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU. And Apple claims that the new iPad with the new GPU will bring significant performance boost for mobile graphics.

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A new report confirmed that the production of renewed MacBook Air notebooks will be started this month by Apple and provided unverified information about the release of high-resolution iPad 3 later this year.

According to Taiwan's Economic Daily report, which was published on Tuesday, new MacBook Air will be shipped to the market in late June and, as Reuters noted, the first shipment will consist of 380.000 units. The report also reveals the total amount of shipments of existing and the new MacBook Air models makes it possible to expect that 460.000 units will be manufactured this month.

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The iPhoneIslam team created a hack that brings us cellular calling and texting on a jailbroken iPad 3G.

The new hack is called PhoneIt-iPad and is available in Cydia repository http://apps.iphoneislam.com/ for $20. Take a look at the video:

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Here is an interesting iPad modded with a 3D display at the Display Taiwan 2011 exhibition in Taipei. It requires 3D glasses, but still quite interesting gadget. In future iPad 3 might have such functionality.

Today we mentioned that Apple may release revamped MacBook Air soon. A Wall Street analyst Chris Whitmore from Deutsche Bank believes the release of new netbooks along with the launch of Lion may boost sales of MacBooks Air to 1.5 million orders per quarter.

In case that will come true he concludes that Apple's thin-and-light notebook may eventually represent nearly 50% of the company's total notebook business.

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The next-gen iPhone prototype should supposedly look as its predecessor to avoid attention

This weeken brought us some new stuff, and we'd like to share it with you.

1. 9to5Mac cites its reliable sources, which report that the next-gen iPhone is now on the final testing stage, also known as "AP" stage. Currently it is being carried around by high level carrier and Apple executives. Previous rumors about September launch of the new iPhone were confirmed again.

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