This afternoon, we recieved some intel from an iPhone source that has been reliable in the past.  Most of the information is already known but it is important to weigh in on what’s going around.  The “big” news is that Apple will be selling two totally distinct iPhones in September.  One will be a low-end variety that will address the cheap Android market, according to the source.  The other will be a high-end device and will be an all new design.  There will be no mistaking these two devices, they will be immediately discernible.  The iPod touch, like it always has, will get updated in September as well.

So that’s where the info path trails off, and to be frank, it isn’t all that surprising.  There are currently two totally distinct iPhones on the market: the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4.  The 3GS is at a cheaper price point while the iPhone 4 is the high-end line.

So we’ll have the same thing in September?  iPhone 4 is the low end and iPhone 5 the high end?

I’m not so sure.  For one, the price of an iPhone 4 isn’t going to compete with cheap Android phones in any way.  Apple is currently selling them for over $600.  They aren’t going to cut the price in half overnight.  The 3GS doesn’t currently compete on price either.  I think that to compete on price with Android, Apple has to make a totally new low end phone as well.

What’s it going to be?  I think a good place to start looking is the curent iPod touch.  The iPod touch has the same resolution screen as the iPhone 4 but with poor(er) viewing angles because the screen doesn’t have In-Plane Switching.  (video below)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJSESZ3faH4&HD=1]

Also, the back camera is an order of magnitude worse than the iPhone 4’s, it doesn’t have GPS, has less RAM and the battery doesn’t last quite as long.

…and obviously the iPod lacks the “phone” bits.

But Apple somehow makes a lot of money selling this “almost iPhone” for just $229 retail (and under $200 at discounts) vs. the $650 that the iPhone 4 fetches without a plan.  It doesn’t seem infeasible to me that Apple could use the iPod touch platform that debuted a full year ago to build a cheap iPhone device.

Here’s how:

Start with the same hardware.  Add the GPS/3G baseband chips and some phone wiring and a solid 3 megapixel camera and you are 99% of the way to an iPhone lite.  iPhone Air?  Whatever.

Apple could make this device, one that is thinner than an iPhone 4, with most of the same specs, for $299.  But here’s the best part:
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We’ve heard from a few overseas sources that Apple Retail stores are planning ‘overnights’ on July 13th.  Overnights are generally where Apple refreshes store displays and trains up management on new products.  Sometimes it is big stuff and sometimes it is insignificant (at least to us).

July 13th, however, lines up with our Lion release date pretty nicely.  We’re expecting the Lion release obviously, and also some new MacBook Airs which may or may not have faster storage (but not this fast), a Sandy Bridge CPU, HD Facetime cam and Thunderbolts coming out the side.

We’ve heard some stories of backlit keyboards, 3Gs, a black option and the mythical 15-inch MacBook Air HD but they seem unlikely at this point.

Along with the Airs, there have been shortages of the White MacBooks, Mac Minis and (perhaps redesigned) Pros  — everything that doesn’t currently have Thunderbolt — so those could also see updates.  If not on the 14th, then perhaps shortly after.

In fact, MacBook Pros and iMacs with Snow Leopard pre-installed have also seen some hiccups in inventory globally so we’re thinking Apple is going to re-package those items for Lion at some point in the next few months.  Probably sooner rather than later.

Just one question?  Anyone camping out?

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DigiTimes reports that Apple’s share of the tablet market in Taiwan has dipped from 60 percent in May to 50 percent in June. Don’t worry, the decline is attributed to an demand and supply imbalance rather than competitive pressure from other tablet vendors. Of the 35,000 tablet PCs that shipped in the 22 million people market of Taiwan during June, iPad accounted for 50 percent of the volume and the other half was split between Asustek, Acer, ViewSonic and HTC. In other words, Apple sold 17,500 iPad units in the Taiwan market last month, amounting to a run-rate of 210,000 units. Industry sources warn that even though iPad should regain its share when supply is balanced, the onslaught of Android devices will put pressure on Apple:

Since demand for iPad 2 in Taiwan is still strong, the sources believe once the supply issue is resolved, the device’s shipment share in Taiwan should be able to climb back above 60 percent. However, as Android-based tablet PCs from non-Apple brand vendors are mostly set to appear in the third quarter, the appearance of these machines may still affect the share of iPad 2, the sources added.

In another report from this morning DigiTimes writes that panel maker Chimei Innolux shipped about half a million touch sensors for iPad 2 in the month of June, an increase suggesting improving yield rates compared to the first quarter of 2011.

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[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/25958231 w=400&h=225]

You may have heard about a recent video that is a compilation of recordings of people using Apple Store display Macs. The video, highlighted by Gizmodo, was created by Kyle McDonald. McDonald created the video, you see above, by installing special spy camera software on Apple Store Macs. This software took recordings from two New York-based Apple Stores and sent it to Kyle’s computer. This is obviously super-invasive and when we first saw this video, we we’re certain that it was not going to end well for McDonald.

Mashable now reports that Apple has, in fact, gone after McDonald — but does not detail what Apple is looking to do. That’s not all though as the United States Secret Service is also going after Kyle. Apparently, the Secret Service swiped two flash drives, an iPod, and two computers from McDonald’s home. After recording people, installing spy cam software on Apple’s private property, and having the Secret Service after him, McDonald reportedly believes he has not broken any laws.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op4t3h10vMU]

iPhone Download Blog posts a nice video of Swype on Jailbroken iOS

Swype is a keyboard system for touch mobile devices that enables users to type faster in some instances because it doesn’t require as much ‘tapping’. Apple has shown little interest in putting Swype on iOS devices however.

That’s where the jailbreaking community comes in.  Andrew Liu (@WyndWarrior) is working on porting Swype to iOS. With the recent Jailbreakme.com, making it incredibly easy to jailbreak your phone, many others will try it (remember it is in beta).

If you are the adventurous type:

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We’re in love with Guilherme Schasiepen’s iPhone 5 mockups (via MacMagazine.br).

More below:
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This is my next runs this story based on unnamed sources who claim that come this Fall tablet fans will have a choice between iPad 2 and an-all new high-end iPad aimed at creative pros, apparently dubbed ‘iPad HD’:

Our sources are saying that not only will there be a newly designed iPhone coming in the fall, but there is going to be a new entry into the iPad family as well. As hard as it might be to believe, the new tablet is said to sport a double resolution screen (2048 x 1536), and will be dubbed the “iPad HD.” The idea behind the product is apparently that it will be a “pro” device aimed at a higher end market — folks who work in video and photo production possibly — and will be introduced alongside something like an iPad version of Final Cut or Aperture. This product is specifically said to not be the iPad 3, rather a complimentary piece of the iPad 2 line. Think MacBook and MacBook Pro.

As for Final Cut Pro/Aperture, it would perhaps explain why Apple made such a drastic change in its X product, but the extra pixels don’t exactly make a professional video editor.   A bigger screen could, however :D.

Overall, we love the idea of an iPad HD and all of the previous evidence points to it (below from the iS 5 SDK). But why wait until the Fall?  Perhaps the screens just weren’t ready yet at price points that made sense.  That is a lot of pixels to throw on a 9.7-inch display.

Also interesting:

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Analytics company Localytics today published a report on the rise of the Verizon iPhone.  In the July month, it accounted for 32% of all iPhone 4s purchased (AT&T is still selling iPhone3GS, and has the US exclusive on the $49 iPhone).  That’s with AT&T’s 8-month head start.

It’s not all gravy for Verizon.  Localytics surmises that the biggest selling point to US users was the ‘unlimited’ data plans…which end today.

Why the recent uptick in Verizon adoption? One reason may be Verizon’s unlimited data plan, which they are scheduled to do away with on July 7th. AT&T officially discontinued its unlimited data plan in mid-2010, although existing customers were allowed to keep their plan as long as they remained AT&T customers. We’ll continue tracking the shift in iPhone 4 market share to see if Verizon loses momentum post-unlimited-data.

It will be interesting to see the split on iPhone 5 when all carriers (including Sprint T-Mobile and others?) are equally pitted against each other.
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China Mobile, by far the world’s largest carrier with more than 610 million subscribers as of March 2011, still doesn’t offer the most popular phone on the planet. Although we’ve been hearing whispers that Apple and China Mobile are engaged in talks over the iPhone, no hard evidence has been provided until today’s leaked shots allegedly showing off a next-generation iPhone prototype running on China Mobile’s 3G network.

Chinese-language web site Sohu.com re-published the images which we also included in this article for the sake of discussion. The phone appears to run baseband software with version number 06.10.01, which hasn’t been released yet. It also lacks an IMEI number, just like an iPhone 4 prototype we spotted on eBay. Evaluation devices normally have no IMEI number.

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Apple this morning announced that its venerable App Store has hit fifteen billion downloads, matching the number of song downloads on the iTunes Store as of last month. The company re-iterated that it has paid developers over $2.5 billion cumulatively since the App Store’s inception. This is after Apple’s standard 30 percent cut, meaning total App Store revenue before the break-down is almost $3.6 billion in aggregate.

Apple also said it sold over two hundred million iOS devices (iPhones, iPod touches and iPads). Unfortunately, the company wouldn’t say how many of those are devices in active use. The number of apps on the App Store has swelled to 425,000 items, of which a hundred thousand are native iPad apps – but we already figured out the iPad App Store. The App Store now operates in ninety countries worldwide, Apple notes. The company quoted its marketing honcho in a statement:

In just three years, the revolutionary App Store has grown to become the most exciting and successful software marketplace the world has ever seen. Thank you to all of our amazing developers who have filled it with over 425,000 of the coolest apps and to our over 200 million iOS users for surpassing 15 billion downloads. 

Apple in May actually approved 500,000 apps in total, but the store contains less apps because of withdrawals, replacements and so forth. Google confirmed at their developer conference in May that Android Market is approaching the 200,000 apps mark, having topped four and a half billion downloads since the store launched on October 22, 2008. Check out a one-minute clip showing off the App Store wall Apple installed at last year’s WWDC which depicts software downloads in real-time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfCxVE3A84E]

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Storage maker Western Digital today announced a redesign of its popular My Book Studio desktop drive family. The revamped gadget now caters to Apple fans with its brushed aluminum casing that complements your Mac desktop while keeping the drive cool. The back of the case features punched holes so engineers could ditch an internal fan, leading to quiet operation. Folks who have grown accustomed to noisy and ugly drives will certainly appreciate the pretty and silent gizmo.

Also on the back are three I/O ports: USB 2.0 and both FireWire 400 and 800 (hey Western Digital, how about a Thunderbolt interface?). In addition to one and two terabyte capacities, the My Book Studio is now available in a three terabyte storage capacity. The device comes pre-formatted for the Mac, it works with Apple’s Time Machine backup solution and ships with software for hardware encryption, password protections and automatic backup. How much, you ask…

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Space Orbiter ATGAtlantis lifts off from the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center on April 8, 2002.

Apple’s iconic iPhone smartphone has been deemed “more important than space travel”, a woman used it to shoot an astounding clip of the final Space Shuttle Endeavour launch and was even itself launched into space by Brooklyn enthusiasts. In addition to dozens of astronomy apps on the App Store, iPhone also lets you explore breathtaking space imagery with the free and official app from NASA. And now, the device will be part of the Space Shuttle Atlantis’ payload which is due for lift-off from Kennedy Space Center tomorrow at 11:26am Eastern.

The 135th and final mission of the Space Shuttle fleet will include two modified iPhone 4s that will be used for experiments on the International Space Station. The device is said to be hardened for use in space, all wireless communication will be disabled and its internal battery will be replaced with an external battery pack which is certified for use in space. Interestingly, it won’t be jailbroken. But why will NASA blast Apple’s phone into space?

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