New photos claiming to be of the back cover for the upcoming iPhone 4G have surfaced online, according to MacRumors.
The site believes the authenticity of the photos is questionable since their meta data indicates that they have passed through Photoshop CS4. Read more…
Apple’s next update to the blockbuster iPhone handset is expected by one prominent analyst to have a lower total cost of ownership, and to also include new gesture-based functionality.
Katy Huberty with Morgan Stanley maintains that the biggest barrier to greater iPhone adoption is the cost of the hardware, followed by the service plan. The investment in the device has been its biggest issue in both developed markets like the U.S. and emerging ones like China. Read more…
Today the world witnessed that the production of touchscreen technology is not only sensitive and important to our way of life, it is often a particularly dangerous endeavor at the factories that produce them.
Chinese news outlets are reporting at this hour that a worker at Wintek (a Chinese-based production facility of touchscreens) has died resulting from complications related to n-hexane exposure or poisoning. As of this moment, it’s markedly difficult to cull any definitive facts from the Chinese news services reporting the death. Read more…
Apple is now the world’s third largest smartphone producer, coming in behind Nokia and Research in Motion. IDC’s latest report from its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker cites continued interest in the iPhone and Apple starting to offer the device in China as major driving forces behind the growing dominance in the smartphone world.
Apple shipped 25.1 million iPhone units in 2009, 8.7 million of those in the fourth quarter. By comparison, Nokia shipped 67.7 million device units throughout the year with 20.8 million in the fourth quarter alone. Manufacturers Motorola and HTC round out the top five smartphone makers. Read more…
Almost lost in the enormous hype surrounding the iPad release and subsequent Apple ‘town hall’ was the pre-announcement of the fourth-generation iPhone, which Steve Jobs declared would be an “A+ upgrade.” Rumors had been going around about a possible CDMA version of the phone which did not emerge of the iPad event, and there’s scanty evidence even to base a rumor on. The iPhone 3.2 SDK, though, at least provides some clues as toApple ’s internal development. Hidden in the details is an increased maximum video width for an unknown device believed to be the 4G iPhone, at a resolution that indicates that the new phone’s camera will be capable of HD recording. Read more…
Despite a slow start, Apple’s smartphone presence in China could grow to 5 million iPhone sales per year — and could even double that if the company were to offer a lower cost prepaid model.
Analyst Katy Huberty with Morgan Stanley issued a note to investors Friday stating that she is bullish on the prospect of improved future iPhone sales in China. This week, Apple executive revealed that more than 200,000 iPhones have been activated since the handset launched on carrier China Unicom last fall.
Huberty noted that the current install base of unlocked iPhones in China is about 2 million, according to a new study conducted by Morgan Stanley. That is already similar to the largest European and Asian countries. Read more…
With a rumored Jan. 27 event fast approaching, speculation regarding Apple’s still-unannounced tablet continues to mount. This week, one analyst shared alleged information on the device’s internal components, while another attempted to project the cost of its parts.
Analyst Ashok Kumar of Northeast Securities spoke with AppleInsider this week about the device, which is expected to debut this month and ship in March. Kumar said the tablet processor will be manufactured by Samsung and will be based on the Cortex-A8 ARM architecture. He believes it will have a speed of about 1GHz.
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As Apple and Verizon are rumored to be in negotiations for a summer 2010 CDMA iPhone launch, the nation’s largest wireless carrier and the handset maker are believed to be at odds over pricing.
In a new note to investors Tuesday morning, Maynard J. Um of UBS Investment Research said that a new iPhone is expected to launch in mid-2010. Whether that phone would be available for Verizon’s CDMA network remains to be seen.
“We believe a CDMA-iPhone is also in the works,” Um wrote, “though believe Verizon Wireless and Apple may currently be apart on pricing.”
Read more…
FOXNews.com claims to have received confirmation from a “source inside Apple” that the company will in fact be holding a media event on January 26th in San Francisco. According to the source, the “big” event will focus on the “mobility space”, suggesting an iPhone, iPod touch, or, as many people expect, tablet announcement.
Following a Financial Times report that Apple has scheduled a special media event for January 26th in San Francisco, I’ve spoken to a source inside Apple who confirmed a “big” event for January.
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More news on China Unicom’s attempt to build its own App Store designed to run in conjunction with Apple’s App Store for the iPhone.
A senior executive at a subsidiary of Apple’s current Chinese carrier confirmed these plans, saying that Shanghai Unicom is testing “Wan Jia Ying” (Player Camp) an online platform on which iPhone users can exchange information and share content.