Posted by mzaiss in I-Phone 4G Wednesday, 3 February 2010 19:24 No Comments
Now that the iPhone 3G S is officially behind us, let me be the first–or at least one of the first–to announce the countdown to the next new iPhone. If history is any indication, it should show up right around this time next year.
Interestingly, even though the 3G S is technically Apple’s third-generation iPhone, some tech pundits were expecting the iPhone 3G S to be called the iPhone 4G. But you could also argue that the iPhone 3G S is more like the iPhone 3.5G, which doesn’t have the greatest ring.
There’s also a chance that in between the iPhone 3G S and iPhone 4G (or whatever it’s called), we might see a totally new branch of iPhone, something akin to an iPhone Mini or Lite.
I’m not sure Apple needs to answer to the smaller form factor of the Palm Pre, but there are some people out there who think the iPhone’s just a tad too big. And there are some people who want a physical keyboard, but don’t count on Apple slipping in a slide-out keyboard anytime soon.
Gizmodo and other blogs posted this concept art for the iPhone 4G before Apple announced the 3G S.
(Credit: Rodolphe Desmare)
All that said, I do think next year’s iPhone will feature a new design that also includes a new screen. Some mock-ups floating around have suggested the aluminum unibody design of the new MacBooks. That’s possible, but so are a host of other innovative industrial designs.
The point is, the next go-round, it’s probably not enough to just stick with upgraded internal components. Some significant cosmetic changes will be required to differentiate the generations and more easily entice upgrades by existing iPod owners. And I’m not talking matte vs. shiny finish.
Ultimately, however, it’s what’s inside that counts and consumers are always wanting faster, more powerful smartphones with more memory that somehow manage to be more energy-efficient and offer better battery life. There’s already talk of the next iPhone having a dual-core processor and better graphics chips that can deliver higher video resolutions and better still images when taking pictures (read Brooke Crothers’ story on new ARM chips here).
The question is whether Apple can continue to increase battery life at the same time. In fact, one big reason a lot of people are interested in upgrading from the 3G to the 3G S is because of the improved battery life.
Beyond the hardware, there are still features concerns to address (everybody has their wishlist) and more importantly, carrier and pricing plan issues. Someday, some other carrier, perhaps Verizon, which is preparing to build out a 4G network, will get the iPhone. And someone, maybe Apple, will declare that iPhone the iPhone 4G. Or maybe it’ll just be the 3G V. All I know is that come this time next year, we’ll most likely be seeing a new iPhone. And it will be here before you know it.
Comments? Aside from a carrier choice, what are looking for in a true 4G iPhone?
Posted by mzaiss in Uncategorized Wednesday, 3 February 2010 19:03 No Comments
We all now about the release of the I-PAD on January 27th. But what can we expect out of the NEW I-Phone OS 4.0?
According to a new patent application filed by Apple Computer Inc., the new and upcoming iPhone
OS could offer contact icons on the home screen. These icons can be used to invoke apps, retrieve and display contacts information, or can be modified to display related info, tied to an individual contact. This patent, which was filed back in July 2008 states the following.
The icon can also be used to invoke one or more applications that are personalized to the contact. The icon can be modified to display information related to the contact. In one aspect, an icon associated with an entity can be temporarily displayed on the mobile device based on the proximity of the mobile device to the entity.
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office today has accepted Apple’s filing. This could probably mean that we may soon see this feature being introduced in the upcoming iPhone OS 4.0, which is expected to be announced with the next-gen iPhone in summer, at WWDC 2010.
Here is another look at one of the images from the patent, showing the option to add the contact on the home screen.
We will have to wait and see whether or not this new functionality is going to be included in the upcoming iPhone 4.0 Beta.
Posted by mzaiss in Uncategorized Wednesday, 3 February 2010 05:23 No Comments
Last week, some enterprising fans created a visual guide to the Apple Tablet rumors. Today, the French website Nowhere Else has done something similar for the next generation iPhone. The image highlights the various rumors surrounding the next version of the iPhone (the iPhone 4G if you will) into one annotated graphic.
An OLED display, 5-megapixel camera and a release date between May and July appear to be the most likely rumors (and we agree that those all sound like very distinct possibilities). Also ranking high are rumors of a front-facing camera, dual-core processor with more RAM and a touch-sensitive case.
IsAs for the removable battery rumor, 60% likely or not, we don’t see that happening. Apple has moved its portable line to built-in batteries; it seems unlikely to us that they would add a removable battery to the iPhone.
You can check out a larger version of the image directly at Nowhere Else. What do you think of this roundup? What features would you like to see in the next iPhone? Let us know!
Filed under: Odds and ends, Internet Tools, Surveys and Polls
Attensity Group has published a study showing people's attitudes toward the iPad. Their methodology for the study is fairly interesting: They analyzed 20,000 tweets from Twitter two hours before the iPad announcement, another 20,000 two hours after, and another 15,000 four days later. Two bits of data from Attensity's study are particularly intriguing -- four days after the iPad's introduction, a full 69% of analyzed tweets expressed positive sentiments toward the iPad, with only 27% having negative feelings toward the device. So given a few days' space, the iPad proves pretty popular.Out of the 27% of the twitterverse that disliked or even hated the iPad, what was their biggest complaint? Unsurprisingly, 41% of iPad haters cited its lack of Flash support as their number one gripe.
Of course, Twitter is a self-selecting group as well (I've seen spambots, geeks, and celebrities over there -- in roughly that order), so Attensity Group's analysis is probably not indicative of general public perception of the iPad. While the news media and the online tech community has been on fire all week about the "war" between Apple and Adobe over Flash, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that for average users, the iPad's lack of Flash support isn't going to deter people from purchasing one any more than it did for the iPhone or iPod touch. All the fervor over the Flash issue will eventually die away, but not because Apple's going to cave -- not if Steve Jobs has anything to say about it (and he does).
What do you think about Flash on the iPad? Give us your opinion in a poll by clicking on the "Read More" link below.
[Via Macsimum News]
There's been some extremely lively debate all over the internet on this issue, including here at TUAW. So far my general perception of things is there's been a roughly 50/50 split on Flash, with half of commenters being happy there's no Flash on the iPad or just not caring, and the other half being disappointed, annoyed, or outright angry about it. So let's have a (rather unscientific) poll of our own and see what you really think about Flash on the iPad.
TUAWiPad popular on Twitter, biggest complaint is no Flash originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Posted by Charlie White in Future Tech, Green Tech Tuesday, 2 February 2010 21:40 No Comments
Tech is moving fast in the lighting industry, and now Seoul Semiconductor announces an LED breakthrough. Its latest product, the next generation of its product it calls Acriche, is the first LED light that can shine at 100 lumens per watt (100 lm/W) without needing an AC-DC converter. The company says it's "25% more efficient than existing LED light products."
That 100 lm/W claim makes this little bulb even more efficient than a compact fluorescent, which typically emits around 70 lm/W. Beyond that, it's 10 times more efficient than an old-timey incandescent bulb.
The company didn't say how long its new LED light would last, or how much it costs, but did say it's ramping up mass production facilities, aiming to start selling the bulb to lighting fixture makers by the end of next month.
Via CrunchGear