Third-party Lightning connector products surface as manufacturers report cracking Apple’s authentication chip

Jordan Kahn

A new iPhone 5 dock being sold through China-based iPhone5mod.com could be the first third-party product to ship with Apple’s new Lightning connector. Earlier reports indicated that accessory manufacturers would have trouble producing Lightning-compatible products due to a unique authentication chip Apple is using in the new standard. According to reports from M.I.C Gadget and MacRumors, which spoke with representatives of the company, the dock and cable from iPhone5mod are actually using chips obtained from Apple’s suppliers. They also provide all the same functionality. However, the company hinted cracked authentication chips are available and working:

We spoke with representatives of iPhone5mod, who informed us that they are currently using original Lightning controller chips from Apple’s supplier, ensuring proper functionality… iPhone5mod did, however, inform us that they have also obtained cracked chips that bypass Apple’s authentication functions and that the cracked chips are working just as well as the original chips

The company is currently selling the product in two pieces: the iPhone 5 dock and Lightning cable for $19,90 each, or you can buy both as a package for $39.90: Read more

Taiwan asks Apple to blur imagery of early-warning radar facility in Maps app

Jordan Kahn

Turkish website Sosyalmedya reported last month that Apple was putting the country’s national security at risk by releasing high-resolution imagery of sensitive locations in its new Maps app. In that case, the issue was a clear view of a maximum-security prison. A quick comparison to Google’s Maps showed the location was obscured, something Google has been known to do upon request. There were other controversial locations discovered in the Maps app (locations that Google currently blurs), and today a report from The Associated Press noted Apple is being asked by Taiwan to obscure imagery of an early-warning radar station in the country.

Taiwan is asking Apple Inc. to blur a map image of its new $1.4 billion early warning radar station… The 10-storey high radar installation built with U.S. technology is expected to go online later this year. It’s near the Hsinchu Airbase in northern Taiwan.

According to the report, Taiwan Defense Ministry spokesperson David Lo said, “Apple should follow its rival Google in using only low-resolution satellite pictures.” The Associated Press said the facility is located near Hsinchu Airbase in northern Taiwan and will be used for monitoring aircrafts, missiles, and determining speed for targets “coming from as far as western China.”

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Apple’s next huge data center will be in Hong Kong, groundbreaking Q1 2013

Seth Weintraub

Map of Hong Kong post handover

We’ve received word that Apple is building another enormous data center—this time in Hong Kong SAR, China.

Apple recently finalized a location in the New Territories region of Hong Kong near the Shenzhen China border for the data center. We spoke to a bidding contractor employee who, on the condition of anonymity, told us the planned data center’s scale is unprecedented for his business: “There is simply nothing to compare it to and therefore it is hard to make estimates on size based on the materials required.” We were told that construction is to begin in Q1 2013, and it will likely take over a year for operations to start in the data center. The aim is to have it operational by 2015, which is the same time that Apple’s Spaceship Campus 2 is scheduled to go online.

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Report: iOS and Android make tech history with worldwide, fast-growing adoption

E. Betters

 

Mobile analytics firm Flurry published a new report today asserting iOS and Android handsets have experienced adoption at such a supersonic speed that their growth rate has now eclipsed all consumer technology in history.

According to Flurry:

The rate of iOS and Android device adoption has surpassed that of any consumer technology in history.  Compared to recent technologies, smart device adoption is being adopted 10X faster than that of the 80s PC revolution, 2X faster than that of 90s Internet Boom and 3X faster than that of recent social network adoption.  Five years into the smart device growth curve, expansion of this new technology is rapidly expanding beyond early adopter markets such as such as North America and Western Europe, creating a true worldwide addressable market.  Overall, Flurry estimates that there were over 640 million iOS and Android devices in use during the month of July 2012.

Smartphones making headway as they spread worldwide is nothing new, but their history-making adoption rate is certainly notable. The report illustrated countries with the greatest number of device activations as well as the fasting growing markets. The results indicated the United States sits at No. 1 with 165 million iOS and Android handset activations for July, but China experienced a leading 401 percent activation growth during the same period.

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More alleged iPhone 5 parts leak out of China, shows new nano-SIM card once again

Jake Smith

According to a new report from French publication Nowhereelse.fe and Chinese forum iColorOS, more sixth-generation iPhone parts have surfaced from China. As you can see above, we now have a look at the alleged glass front, home button, sensors, volume control buttons, and the protection element placed on the back of the phone screen that may appear in the next iPhone. The leak also adds a bit more validity to a report earlier this week that showed a new nano-SIM card and smaller home buttons for the device.

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This is what the new iPhone’s Nano SIM tray looks like

Jordan Kahn

According to a translated report from Nowhereelse.fr, images of the tray for Apple’s new nano-SIM design started surfacing from China. In June, the ESTI was thought to have selected Apple’s new SIM card design for its 4FF standard, and reports from just last month claimed European carriers are stockpiling the new SIMs in anticipation of a next-gen iPhone launch. A smaller home button appears to also be present in some of the images, which of course lines up with previous leaks.

Presented as being designed to slip into the SIM card slot of the iPhone 5, this element seems in turn confirm that the next iPhone indeed adopt this new standard imposed by Apple. I take this article to drag other photos with us in passing a Home button which should equip the iPhone 5 and which is also slightly smaller than previous generations, details of which we heard last Friday.

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