News tagged ‘iPhone 5’

Some analysts predict that Apple could keep its iPhone 3GS longer than predicted. The company might, probably, offer their handset for free on contract. As far as we know, the two-year old iPhone 3GS still remains the second best-selling smartphone in the United States of America. The first place belongs to the iPhone 4. Such situation only confirms suggestions that cost of a device is the key factor in customers' purchasing decisions.

Yesterday Mike Abramsky, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, issued a new research note where he told us about his expectations for the today’s iPhone event. Many of his predictions are in line with recent rumors we’ve heard -  HSPA+ iPhone 4S or 5 based on an A5 chip – he also believes that Apple keeps offering iPhone 3GS alongside the new smartphone(s).

We expect Apple to reduce the price of the prior iPhone 4 to $99 subsidized ($499 unsubsidized) and the iPhone 3GS to $0 subsidized ($399 unsubsidized, see 11/06/29 note for more detail and rationale); the prior iPhone 4 may be available only with 8GB memory.

TUAW reports that iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S were revealed on i-Wireless, prepaid cell phone section of the Cincinnati Bell website. Cincinnati Bell is a regional carrier in the US, not a major carrier like AT&T or Verizon. Information was quickly removed from the site, but we have couple screenshots

iPhone 5 was accompanied by a $639.99 price tag and a handful of specs: 32GB, 8MP camera, 4" screen and 4G data speeds. These specifications align with most of the rumors that we've heard about the device.

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According to 9to5Mac the next generation iPhone will be released in 3 different capacities, but they do not sure about exact size of memory. It could be 16GB, 32GB and 64GB or 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB, or some other combination. What sizes Apple will actually release is up for argument. It seems unlikely that an 8GB model will appear, but all will be revealed at Apple’s iPhone 5 / iPhone 4S media event on Tuesday October 4th. But we should note that it is not the first time we’ve heard rumors about 64GB iPhone. Currently, the iPhone 4 is only available in 2 sizes: 16GB and 32GB. The source of the rumor comes from images of an iPhone 4 with storage of 59.1 GB, which shows that Apple have been experimenting with a higher-storage device.

According to a survey, conducted by a mobile advertising company InMobi, 41 percent of US customers is going to purchase the next-generation iPhone. 50 percent of them will do it within the first six months after public launch. This time Sprint customers will also have access to the new iPhone, so Apple seems to open new market for its smartphone, taking in account that Sprit has 52 million customers.

If consumers put their money where their mouths are, these numbers could go a long way to bumping up Apple’s overall market share in the UK and the U.S.. According to figures from Kantar Worldpanel, in Q2 Apple had an 18.3 percent share of the UK smartphone market; another research group, comScore, puts it around 20 percent. If people follow through with their purchasing intent, InMobi says this share would go up to 40 percent. In the U.S., the market share would grow to 41 percent.

Nevertheless, despite the InMobi’ estimates, Apple could release slightly revised version of the iPhone 4 – co-called iPhone 4S, reducing number of customers who will purchase such device.

Giga.de has produced a physical prototype mockup of the future iPhone 5. They made it look like in the latest rumors. Everything is done from a solid block of aluminum.

A 3D computer model was created based on leaked CAD designs, hardware components, several leaked hints, cases and other believable mockups. This model was then used to build a very detailed, true prototype iPhone 5, that you can actually hold and feel in your hands.

This prototype width and height are 59.94 mm and 109.98 mm, compared to 115.2 mm x 58.6 mm dimentions of iPhone 4. The prototype is also a bit thinner than its predecessor. Teardrop style with a thickness of 6.86 mm at the top and only 5.33 mm at the bottom.

Here are photos of iPhone 5 Design Prototype compared to iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4:

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Take a look at infographic that summarizes all news coverage for Apple's next generation iPhone 5:

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In July Nuance released iPhone app Dragon Go! that has nicely combined voice recognition technology with intelligent search functionality. Today the company released updated version of this app (free download) with a number of new features added. Specifically, the update includes support for media content on Netflix, Google+ public posts and search engines Wolfram|Alpha and Ask.com. Besides, the Yelp support was improved and now you can see a map view directly within the Yelp tab.

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According to Reuters, five persons were arrested in Shanghai for manufacturing and selling fake iPhones. As police said, these people were from an organized gang that assembled iPhone from genuine components for the Apple’s smartphones. Police found about 200 fake Apple’s smartphones during the raid.

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Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray’s analyst, attributed additional meaning to the “let’s talk” part of the headline on invitations that were sent out for Apple’s media event on October 4th. He said that it is a clue to the Assistant feature of upcoming iPhone. In a note to investors Munster said:

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Facebook is expected to launch its long-awaited iPad application at the media event that Apple is going to held on October 4th alongside iOS 5 and the next-generation iPhone 5.

Facebook will launch its long-awaited iPad app at Apple’s iPhone 5 launch event on Oct. 4, Mashable has learned. In addition to the iPad app, Facebook is also expected to release a revamped version of its iPhone app and may unveil an HTML5-based mobile app marketplace.

Apple and Facebook worked together to integrate Facebook into iOS but due to disagreement, final release of the application was postponed. Now the companies seem to reach consensus. Last week, Robert Scoble also revealed that he had heard that Facebook would be releasing its iPad app at Apple's event on October 4th.  Facebook is also likely to introduce a revamped iPhone application.

M.I.C. Gadget is reporting that iPhone 5 prototype device was lost by Foxconn or possibly stolen. That is why there are lots of iPhone 5 cases in China today. The design could really be the final one since case manufacturers must be very certain to have shipped "thousands" of cases already. Producing a mold for silicone case costs tens of thousands of RMB (thousands of USD) and a mold for hard plastic cases costs even more.

A case supplier told that a device had gone missing from the Foxconn factory in the Shenzhen Futian district. The prototype was disguised in a case to make it look like the current device. It was apparently a test model with a finalized iPhone 5 teardrop chassis but only had slightly modified iPhone 4 internals.

The person who had access to the prototype wiped the phone's software, thus disabling the GPS hardware needed to track it down. It was then allegedly sold to one of the iPhone case manufacturers for RMB ¥20,000 (about $3,100). We were told that Foxconn was aware of the loss and had penalized internal management for the incident. We also heard from another source that the person who "lost" it was paid to do so.

We are very sure that one or more of these case manufacturers have access to what is believed to be the prototype of the iPhone 5 with the finalized design. It is not simply getting tipped on the dimensions and shapes of the next iPhone to make the molds.

By looking at iPhone 5 case photos one can say that the future iPhone 5 has teardrop desing. It is much thinner (33%) than iPhone 4, but a bit larger in height and width. The height of the case is 4.84 inches (12.3 cm), width - 2.72 inches (6.9 см). The dimensions of iPhone 4 are 4.5 x 2.31 x 0.37 inches (115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm).

Take a look at the video, where this new iPhone 5 teardrop design case is compared to iPhone 4 and iPod Touch:

Here are the photos:

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Apple has reportedly sent out invitations for a media event set for October 4th. As far as we know the event will take place at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. If you look at the invitation posted above, it becomes clear that this media event will obviously focus on the next-generation iPhone - the tagline for the banner is “Let’s talk iPhone”. The invitation also includes four Apple’s applications:  Calendar, Clock, Maps, and Phone. We suggest that all applications may be connected with the new system of voice recognition that Apple is focusing on now – Assistant that is waited to appear on the iPhone 5.

Apple is expected to unveil two iPhone's during this media event. The next iPhone 5 is rumored to feature the company’s A5 processor, 1 GB of RAM and a 8-megapixel camera, iOS 5 with iCloud integration. The iPhone 4S is expected to be a low-price smartphone.

The event will begin October 4th at 10:00 am PT.

9to5Mac reveals features of the "Assistant" voice-powered personal application that will appear on the next-generation iPhone. The site claims that Assistant allows users to handle scheduling, reminder, and messaging tasks by voice. The system will be also capable to ask user questions to clarify what is being said.

The system will actually speak back and forth with the user to gain the most information in order to provide the best results. The user essentially can hold a conversation with their iPhone like it is another human being. For example, if a user is making a meeting with me, they will say “setup meeting with Mark” and the first “bubble” of the conversation thread will say that. After that, the system will speak back: “which e-mail address should Mark be notified at, work or personal?” This question will both be spoken out loud by the iPhone Assistant and shown as a new “bubble” in the conversation thread. The user will then respond with the email address they want to notify me at, and the appointment will be made. The iPhone will even show a quick glance at a calendar view to confirm the appointment. If the Assistant was sending an SMS, as another example, a mini SMS view would appear so the user has a quick glance at the SMS thread.

Assistant will also integrate with WolframAlpha that will help users receive answers to factual, and  "Find My Friends" service and speech-to-text transcription from Nuance. Of course, such power-consuming application will require more powerful hardware, suggesting that Apple will integrate  A5 chip and RAM to 1 GB to support the heavy workload into the new iPhone.

Appleinsider reports that analyst Chris Whitmore from Deutsche Bank is predicting Apple will release two devices next month - a redesigned aluminum unibody iPhone 5 and a low-end iPhone 4S.

The 'iPhone 4S' will have a material cost lower than $150. This will let Apple sell the device for the price between $300 and $350 without a subsidy. The device is described as 8GB iPod touch with a cellular antenna. We've heard these rumors for a long time.

Whitemore also said he expects the iPhone 5 to be a completely redesigned smartphone with an aluminum unibody construction to replace the glass back on the current device. It will have a better camera and slightly larger screen.

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Multiple sources suggest that Apple is facing constant production and design delays that can result in shortages of iPhone 5 all the way into 2012. DigiTimes has reported additional information which corroborates these rumors and lays the blame on touch panel producer Wintek that is said to supply one-quarter touch panels for iPhone 5. According to the report:

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