News from category ‘rumors’

Twitter-user named @cdevwill claims multi-tasking can be enabled on the iPhone 3G (and that means it can be used for every device with iPhone OS 3) just by setting a TRUE-flag in the capabilities list.

Some people are not surprised of this, because obviously Apple turned this function off to increase the battery line. But the way of turning multi-tasking on looks way too simple, don't you think?

BoyGeniusReport reports some interesting information about future Apple devices. The following references were found while digging inside the iPad's file system:

These are the references to new iPhones (iPhone3,1 iPhone3,2 and iPhone3,3), new iPod (iPod4,1) and the next iPad (iProd2,1). New iPhone is expected to be released this summer, probably in June-July. The other devices' release date is unknown.

A popular tech pundit John Gruber from the DaringFireball.net web-resource laughs at today's WSJ rumor about two new iPhone models coming this summer. He points at the lack of information in the article and hints at the features that he seems to know about:

"...And they have no actual details of the next-generation iPhone. Nothing. Not the A4-family CPU system-on-a-chip. Not the 960 × 640 double-resolution display. Not the second front-facing camera. Not even the third-party multitasking in iPhone OS 4."

Well, the multitasking and front camera were suggested before. But the higher resolution display is something new.

The Wall Street Journal has information about two iPhone models coming this summer. The only difference between them is a CDMA capability:

"The people briefed on the matter said one of the new iPhones is being manufactured by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which produced Apple's previous iPhones. The model that has CDMA capability, used by Verizon Wireless, is being manufactured by Pegatron Technology Corp., the contract manufacturing subsidiary of Taiwan's ASUSTeK Computer Inc., said these people."

Pegatron reports they plan to start mass iPhone producing in September. An AT&T spokesman claims there is a lot of incorrect information about CDMA iPhones and only Apple has the most reliable information.

After the beautiful drawings of the iPhone Pro designer Antonio De Rosa offers us the concept box of the device, showing all the various accessories that are contained within it. Pictures and video are under the cut:

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Few hours ago Steve Jobs and Eric Shmidt were spotted talking at Calafia in the Town and Country shopping center in Palo Alto.

The photos were made by the Gizmodo tipster. It is interesting that the Calafia cafe is owned by Charlie Ayers, who is a former Google chief. Gizmodo source doesn't know what the men were talking about, but he heard two phrases:

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PadGadget did some research of the the iTunes database last night and found that Apple has already approved and listed several iPad apps in the AppStore. The names use HD (High Definition) in the title to signify the bigger 9.7 inch, 1024×768 pixel iPad display. Here is a quick list of what was found:

• Ammoin HD
• Azkend HD
• Flight Control HD
• Grind HD
• HD Recovery
• Labyrinth 2 HD
• NBA Hotshot HD
• Numba HD
• Plants vs. Zombie HD
• Sparkle HD
• Worms HD

You won’t find any of these iPad titles using your standard iTunes browser, you need to use Apple’s more recent web interface to find the new titles mixed in with the thousands of regular iPhone and Touch titles.

UPDATE: Apple has corrected the iTunes Preview site and HD iPad titles are no longer listed.

The Street's analyst Jason Scwarz thinks that in June Apple will show a new version of iPhone, and it will have a smaller screen size. That will be a part of a new politics that will be focused on popularization of iPad.

Another analyst Ben Reitzes from Barclays Capital expects Apple to make another splash by new iPhone form factor:

“iPad yields should improve dramatically throughout the year even if the launch starts out capacity constrained. These developments support upside to consensus forecasts for the iPad, should demand materialize like we think it can. We estimate Apple will sell almost 5 million iPads for CY10; including 1.2 million in the June quarter – which could prove conservative.

… Also, we have increased confidence that Apple will make a big splash this summer with a new iPhone form factor. We believe that the new model will launch with considerable fanfare and expect unit expectations to rise in turn.”

According to BusinessInsider, reviewers will receive iPads from Apple reportedly this week:

"We've heard from an industry source that Apple is either shipping iPads to reviewers this Thursday, or has already shipped them to be received this Thursday."

It is interesting, that there is no information whether Apple will send wifi or 3G versions of the device.

As iPad goes on sale April 3, reviewers will have approximately a week to test the device before they will publish their reviews.

Here is a new concept for the iPhone 4G created by user JCross:

In some ways we can consider it as a small version of the iPad. However it looks more like an iPhone. The screen is slightly larger and there is also space for the front camera. Do you like it?

It seem like Apple have always been concentrated on Macs and iPhones/iPods/iPads, so their Apple TV product may be considered more like a hobby. But the company's main rival thinks of  it as of another field to work on.

Intel, Sony and Google created a team to work on the device called GoogleTV. The latter already has its prototype. The New York Times says it consists of Intel's Atom processor and Android OS with Chrome web-browser. The project has been under development for a few months and there is still a work to do, but preliminary the device will be introduced this summer. To test their set-top box Google cooperates with Dish Network.

The NYT's source say:

“Google wants to be everywhere the Internet is so they can put ads there.”

It sounds plausible, because GoogleTV device is planned to allow users to browse the Internet, watch YouTube videos, check out Hulu content and even run Web apps and games.

Fortune has two sources saying about the number of iPads that will be pre-sold by Friday.

Venezuelan analyst and blogger Daniel Tello, who tried to track order numbers that were submitted by internet volunteers, said:

“I think sometime during Friday, perhaps before noon, the counter should roll to 200,000 units pre-ordered.”

Boy Genius counted 222 retail locations in the USA with 700 in-store pick-up reservations for the first week of pre-orders. Fortune believes it is almost the same rate as online.

Summing the numbers of online and offline pre-orders we'll have almost 400,000 iPads to be pre-sold for only 7 days!

Macworld reports they have information from vendors who wish to stay anonymous that Apple will no longer sell screen protectors (and any other adhering products) for their devices. Some sources say the reason is an installation difficulty that leads to a higher rate of returns. Another explanation is that Apple tries to reduce the impression that its products require screen protection.

It is interesting that ban is related to any films, even anti-glare and those for the laptops, so many case vendors are looking now for the best and quickest way to repackage their products.

Apple hasn't yet commented on this situation.

For the last few months we have been witnessing the competition between Google and Apple that becomes more and more significant. We tried to analyze some facts and made a conclusion that the confrontation is more personal than corporate.

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Today Apple announced new photos of iPad. One screenshot is very interesting as it contains mysterious icon on the home screen. It is situated on the right of the device and appears only in the one picture on site.

As you can see it looks like the logo of National Geographic, so we can assume the icon is for a digital version of this magazine.