News tagged ‘iPhone’

Hitachi and Sony are reportedly working together to supply Apple with 4-inch LCD displays for an unspecified iOS device that is expected to be launched in 2012. Apple is said to be working on a fundamentally new display technology for the iPad 4. Some sources claim that Hitachi Displays, Ltd. and Sony Mobile Display Corporation have already begun supplying Apple with 4-inch LCD panels for unknown iOS device.  Moreover, in 2012 spring the two companies will merge with Toshiba Mobile Display Co., Ltd. to form "Japan Display."

Earlier this week, we reported that Apple chose Sharp as a manufacture of panels for the iPad 3. The company even invested in a Sharp’s factory to ensure that Sharp will be able to satisfy Apple’s display needs and support Sharp's production capacity for IGZO (indium, gallium, zinc) LCD panels for the next iPhone and iPad.

"The IGZO technology is perfect in that it offers near-OLED power consumption while having a lower cost and thinness that is only 25% greater than OLED, based on our checks," said Jeffries analyst Peter Misek.

Semi-tethered jailbreak is already available for some devices for both iOS 5 and iOS 5.0.1. But we all want untethered jailbreak and we want jailbreak for iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. So why not help hackers to find new exploits and vulnerabilities?

The Chronic Dev-Team has a released a tool to collect crash reports from iOS devices in order to find vulnerabilities that could lead to an untethered jailbreak.

The idea is very simple. When your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch crashes it sends data to Apple (you can turn it this off though). Apple uses these reports to update iOS in the future. By the way, it also uses them to fix exploits found by jailbreakers. P0sixninja says that Apple closed several exploits they have found in IOS 5 beta before the final version of the software was released.

In order to find more vulnerabilities as fast as possible, the team has developed a tool which will copy the crash reports from your device and analyze them to locate potential exploits. The tool will also remove the crash reports from your device and modify your iTunes installation to prevent uploading of that diagnostic information to Apple.

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MacMagazine.br has received leaked photos that depicts an 8GB iPhone 4 produced by Foxconn in Brazil. But the 8GB iPhone 4 is not expected to go on sale in Brazil.

The back cover of the device contains the words "Brazilian Industry" in Portuguese, the stamp of approval from ANATEL, the country's telecommunications agency. The Brazilian iPhone 4 has reportedly iOS 5.0 and a model number that ends with "BR," indicating that the device was manufactured in Brazil.

Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn is said to be considering an investment as large as $12 billion on production facilities in Brazil. But, according a report from September, negotiations between the company and the government have stalled because of disagreements over tax rates, unprepared infrastructure and the lack of qualified workers.

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The Wall Street Journal’s sources confirm that Sharp will indeed produce display parts for the upcoming Apple’s iPad 3.

Apple Inc. is adding Sharp Corp. as a maker of screens used in the next-generation iPad, people familiar with the situation said Thursday, as the U.S. consumer electronics company moves to diversify component suppliers for its products.

Apple is also investing in Sharp's panel manufacturing factories in Japan. According to sources, Apple wants to ensure that Sharp will able to produce enough panels to satisfy Apple’s needs. Sharp already supplies panels for the iPhone and can be supplier of panels for the next-generation iPhone that is expected to be launched next year.

We should admit that Sharp was expected to be Apple’s new source of iPad screens. Moreover, the recent analyst report notes that production of iPad 3 screens already started and that Apple and Sharp have developed a new technology to allow a thinner high resolution display for the next iPad.

After Steve Jobs’ death, speculations arose on what would be done with his huge estate, estimated in $7 billion. The majority of his wealth is represented by the 138 million shares of the Walt Disney Co. that were placed in trust. Jobs acquired shares in 2006 having sold Pixar to the company for $7.4 billion. Tax experts suggest that Job’s family should sell all Apple and Disney share to avoid higher taxes. According to Bloomberg, the family could save $867 million in capital gains taxes.

Noteworthy, placing shares in a trust is also a method to avoid higher taxed, though it’s not clear what type of trust was set up in this case. According to Bloomberg, Jobs moved his assets into trusts toward the end of his life.

Now the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Laurene Powell, will manage a $4.6 billion trust. Some experts expect her to use a portion of the trust for charity and philanthropic work, as she is an active participant in the non-profit sector.

According to VR-Zone's report, Intel is developing a standard docking format for their future Ultrabook platform. The new docking system would include a Thunderbolt connector as well as a proprietary connector.

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Last week Gartner reported that Android doubled its market share year-over-year, while Apple experienced a decline at 15%, compared to the previous quarter. Despite that fact, a report from research company GfK (via Reuters) states that iPhone users are more likely to show loyalty to iOS by buying another iPhone when upgrading their smartphone.

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The US Patent & Trademark Office published (via PatentlyApple) an Apple patent application describing a new way of interacting with content on iOS devices. The concept is called “Persistent Overlay” and it aims to provide users with quick access to songs, files, photos and other data through an always persistent, accessible UI.

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1,000 workers at a factory in southern China that provides IBM and Apple with components, including keyboards, went on strike this week complaining of overtime requirements. The employees blocked the local highway during the strike to attract public attention to nightly overtime demands, common workplace injuries, layoffs of older workers, lack of benefits and verbal abuse by managers. The strike was halted after the company officials agreed to reduce overtime at the plant.

In a statement regarding the issue, the rights group called on Apple to "take responsibility, as there are more than 300 workers working on the Apple keyboard assembly line."

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Last week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office opened an exhibition devoted to Steve Jobs. The exhibition honoring Apple’s co-founder includes 30 giant iPhone-like display panels that demonstrate the front pages from over 300 patents that bear Jobs' name as inventor or co-inventor.

“This exhibit commemorates the far-reaching impact of Steve Jobs’ entrepreneurship and innovation on our daily lives,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos. “His patents and trademarks provide a striking example of the importance intellectual property plays in the global marketplace.”

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Jefferies analyst Peter Misek claims that commercial production of Apple's anticipated television set is expected to begin in February. Sharp was chosen as a manufacturer of TFT-LCD panels. Other TV makers, of course, want to find out as soon as possible what features of the product may be.

"They hope to avoid the fate of other industries and manufacturers who were caught flat footed by Apple," Misek wrote. "Having said that, it appears that mainstream TV manufacturers are likely to be at least 6 to 12 months behind in a best-case scenario."

TV makers believe in Android potential that may compete with Apple’s television set and add cloud capabilities to thier TVs. The other reason for TV makers to worry about the launch of Apple’s TV is that Apple is rumored to implement its unique voice recognition service, Siri, in the device. According to Steve Job’s biography by Walter Isaacson, he wanted Apple’ TV to be a completely new product that would feature "the simplest user interface you could imagine," as he believed that there was "no reason" for televisions to be as difficult to use as they currently are.

Misek expects the Apple television will be launched in the middle of 2012.

Last month rumors have it that Sony Pictures was persuading producer, playwright and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to write the script for the movie about Steve Jobs based on authorized biography from Walter Isaacson. Sorkin has gained fame for his work on Moneyball, The West Wing,  A Few Good Men and The Social Network.

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Rumors about Apple’s plans to implement high-resolution 2048x1536 Retina display to the next-generation iPad have been circulating for some time now. According to different sources, the new iPad 3 is required two light bars in order to manage the much higher resolution, so that it will be 0.7 mm thicker than the iPad 2.

Some analysts predict that Apple will continue using in-plane switching (IPS) technology for the new display. But Jeffries analyst Peter Misek together with Forbes suppose that Apple is not going to use IPS on the iPad 3, and seeks new ways and technology to produce the iPad 3 with a thinner and lower-power design.

Also, we believe that Apple and Sharp together have a modified IGZO (indium, gallium, zinc) technology to achieve 330 dpi, which is sufficient for an HD display while not using IPS nor having to include dual-bar LED backlighting. In our view, this should lead to several design advantages, namely the device can be thinner, battery life should be longer, and the overall experience for users should be meaningfully improved.

According to Bloomberg’s report, Apple launched a new class of offerings in App Store, by allowing game development studio Big Fish Games to offer its titles to iPad users on a subscription basis. Such offerings could be a new revenue stream for game publishers and new option for users, which was earlier available only for digital publications. Bloomberg reports:

“Big Fish Games, a Seattle-based game publisher, won approval from Apple to become the first to offer users access to dozens of titles for $6.99 a month. Until now, games have only been available one at a time, requiring users to download individual applications”.

The option will be available through a dedicated Big Fish app where subscribers can gain unlimited access to such games as “Mahjong Towers” and “Mystery Case Files” series.

Games that can be accessed through the subscription service are streamed to an iPad from Big Fish Games’ data centers and initially they will require Wi-Fi access to be played.

The standard subscription package from the game publisher will be offered for $4.99 a month, increasing to $6.99 monthly subscription early next year when more titles can be accessed through the app. Also the company will offer a free ad-supported option to play up to 30 minutes per day.

Lord Sacks, the Chief Rabbi in the U.K., made a comment in the presence of the Queen at an interfaith reception last week about Apple and its product, noting that the company produces an “egocentric society” and that “i” in Apple's popular naming scheme is a clear indicator of such totally selfish society. He even compared the iPad with Moses' stone tablets that bore the Ten Commandments.

“The consumer society was laid down by the late Steve Jobs coming down the mountain with two tablets, iPad one and iPad two, and the result is that we now have a culture of iPod, iPhone, iTune, i, i, i," he said. “When you’re an individualist, egocentric culture and you only care about 'i’, you don’t do terribly well.”

The rabbi claimed that such egocentric society makes people unhappy. Sacks called on the devout to observe the traditional Jewish day of rest, the Shabbat, and to thank God for everything they have not to be trapped by material culture.

Nevertheless, the Queen Elizabeth II is said to be a "big fan" of Apple's products and reportedly owns two iPods and she even knighted Jobs in 2009.