Otterbox, the renowned creator of some of the best mobile device protective accessories on the market, recently released a version of its popular Defender Series case for the new iPhone 5. Like its Defender products for other mobile phones and devices, the number one priority of the iPhone 5 Defender case is top-notch protection all around the device. We’ve been using the case for a couple of weeks, and we think that it lives up to the Defender name…
Klout for iPhone just pushed out version 1.8, and the update notably adds…wait for it…Passbook support!
The changelog mentioned users can show off a “Klout Card” equipped with their name, photo, and score to brag about their social influence. Yeah. Just what the world needed. Aside from Passbook support, the app is newly optimized for the iPhone 5. Users are also now notified of eligible Klout perks and can claim them right from their iPhone.
So, what are you waiting for? Start sharing your Klout Card now! Heck yes. And this.
There is nothing worse than dropping your iPhone…except maybe dropping it into a lake. That is just an awful feeling. Not shamed by the occasion, 9to5macreader Ken Hovanes shared his story of when he dropped an iPhone into Smith Lake roughly six months ago. He dropped it from a dock and was not able to see through six feet of water to pick it up. Hovanes considered it damaged/lost, so he bought a new iPhone.
Thinking all hope was gone, Hovanes was surprised this weekend to find his lost iPhone in the lake once the water levels lowered and the lake became clearer. Even more surprising: he discovered the iPhone still operates. As you can see in the gallery below, the screen turns on when plugged into a power source. There is a little water damage (including Wi-Fi, screen issues, and the bulges you can see below), but he is trying to clean out the 30-pin adapter area.
Lesson to learn? Do not give up hope on a water-damaged iOS device.
Although it isn’t going to change your life, it looks like a few iPhone 4s are coming off the assembly line with reversed volume buttons. Reader Eric sends us his which he says works like it should if the buttons were reversed.
Fast-forward a year:
.
Thanks Donut Bandit!
Those fine folks at Foxconn might have missed this one.
If you missed purchasing an iPhone 5 this weekend, we might have some good news for you. We are hearing Apple expects to launch its in-store product reservation system, Personal Pickup, for iPhone 5 tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern. Customers can use the Apple Store app or website between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. nightly to pre-purchase available iPhone 5 inventory for the next day. Because customers are actually purchasing the iPhone, they will have upwards of two weeks to pick up the phone (when it becomes available).
This certainly seems to be the best way to get your hands on Apple’s newest phone as ship times at Apple.com are still delayed “3-4 weeks”. Demand has been extremely high for this phone, so we recommend logging on to the reservation system as it becomes available.
Update: It appears Apple’s iPhone 5 Personal Pickup page has been updated ahead of the 10 p.m. launch. It reaffirms the reservation process which we outlined early this afternoon. All pre-purchased iPhone 5 units will be available for in-store pickup the next business day and any units not pre-purchased will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
TechCrunch did a panel at the Disrupt conference of ‘some folks’ who got to play with the iPhone 5 after Apple’s event. The running themes were the new iPhone’s light weight, the panoramic camera, and comparison to Android.
MICGadget translates a report from the Shanghai Evening Post that sheds some more light on the Foxconn assembly plants. A reporter went undercover as one of the many people hired to build the iPhone 5. He (pictured right) kept a diary but was only able to stomach the work for a few weeks (reporters are lightweights when it comes to real work, trust me).
By my own calculations, I have to mark five iPhone plates every minute, at least. For every 10 hours, I have to accomplish 3,000 iPhone 5 back plates. There are total 4 production lines in charge of this process, 12 workers in every line. Each line can produce 36,000 iPhone 5 back plates in half a day, this is scary … I finally stopped working at 7 a.m. We were asked to gather again after work. The supervisor shout out loud in front of us: “Who wants to rest early at 5 a.m !? We are all here to earn money ! Let’s work harder !” I was thinking who on earth wants to work two extra hours overtime for only mere 27 yuan (USD$4) !?
There is not much here you have not heard before and unfortunately no tech specs. The bottom line is it is incredibly hard work with little wages under pretty bad working conditions, but it is voluntary, legal and people know what they are getting themselves into.
Vietnamese website Tinhte, which has a solid record of procuring pre-release Apple products, has headphones that it claimed the new iPhone will come with next month. The current iOS device headphones have remained largely unchanged since the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, and many complain they fit poorly or fall out often (guilty!). Apple also makes in-ear headphones that many consider over-priced and under-performing (also guilty!).
These headphones appear to be a hybrid of the two current versions that Apple offers. It is not certain if they will be offered with the product or as a new add-on accessory.
Some stills from the website are below, including the comparison to current iPhone headsets, and the telltale “Designed in California, Made in Viet Nam” written along the cable:
If the accessory in the video above turns out to be legit, it would certainly indicate Apple is making some improvements to its headset…or at least trying.
The kit also comes with Phillips and Pentalobe screwdrivers. The iPhone 5 mod kit is available here, and a short promo video of the result is below. For comparison, images of the “real” thing are here.
Mobilecom Debitel, a German carrier, just announced a new iPhone is coming. As if we needed any additional confirmation?
Machine translated: “In September, it’s finally time for a new generation of smartphone to go on sale. mobilcom-debitel allows you to find free e-mail about everything worth knowing about iPhone.”
While just about everyone knows the announcement and launch dates, Apple has been silent so far. Mobilecom has a much more subdued public-facing teaser where it advertises:
The new smartphone special surprises? Perhaps a bigger screen of 4 inches or a thinner cell touchscreen? The world expects a faster processor or higher graphics performance? Maybe even a memory of 1 GB? It will be exciting …
If Apple ends up winning this case against Samsung — and either stops Samsung from releasing their phones and tablets to the market, or charges them a hefty license fee to do so — does anyone really believe that the market will suddenly become more innovative, or that devices will suddenly become more affordable? Similarly, if Samsung wins, do you really believe that Apple will suddenly slow its aggressive development of the iPhone and iPad? It’s certainly not what happened last time they lost one of these cases.
Now, if you’re with me so far, then I don’t think it’s a leap to suggest that having these companies duke it out in court over “who might have copied who” is counterproductive. Let’s have these companies solely focused on duking it out in the marketplace — where consumers, not courtrooms, make the decisions about innovation. In such a world, the best defense against copying isn’t lawsuits, but rather, to innovate at such a rate that your competition can’t copy you fast enough. That, to me, sounds like an ideal situation not just for consumers — but for the real innovators, too.
Pinterest updated its entire line of mobile apps today with a completely refreshed design, and it released an all-new iPad app that the developer described as “the best Pinterest experience yet.” As for the iPhone, the app received a new two-column layout, improvements to speed, stability, and an overall refreshed UI. Pinterest walked through some of the new features in a blog post announcing the updated apps. The universal app is available as a free download on the App Store.
iPad owners may have the best Pinterest experience yet. Our new iPad app is perfect for sitting on the couch, on a train, or in bed where users can effortlessly discover, save and organize the things that interest them. The app offers users new ways to engage with pins, whether swiping the screen to resume browsing after viewing a board, or using the embedded browser to see what others are pinning from their favorite sites.
Update: The original source, Nowherelse, posted an update with new information regarding the leaked dock connector images claiming the connector has 16 pins, eight on each side, with eight likely being reserved for future uses:
We have obtained new information about this connector. We have indeed learned that it is not equipped with 8 to 16 pins but distinct functions or 8 on each side thereof to note that one of them would have no basis of record and would be for possible future use.
There has been a ton of alleged next-gen iPhone leaks in recent weeks including images of the device’s thinner, higher capacity 1440 mAh battery, SIM card tray, and other internal components. Today, we get a look at parts related to the smaller, redesigned dock connector, as well as what French site Nowherelse.fr claimed could possibly be the first images of the connector itself. In our own image above, we see an insert component for the new iPhone on the right showing the outline of the new iPhone’s dock connector. The unconfirmed images from Nowherelse below show what appears to be an 8-pin dock connector next to the USB end for context. We recently discovered possible references to a 9-pin dock connector in iOS 6, while previous reports claimed a 19-pin or 8-pin design was in the works. While our leak of the next-gen iPhone backs in May gave us a good look at the port for the redesigned dock connector, the pin layout for the connector itself is still unconfirmed.
Update: iFixit told MacRumors that the metal frame counts as its own pin even though there are eight gold pins. This adds up to nine pins, as we reported the other day based on iOS 6 source code, and this may mean these above photos are legitimate.
Also: We cannot help but notice that these connectors seem to have similar pins and size to MicroSD cards (image via).
Other than the notable apps and updates below, developers of Shazam, the “9th most downloaded app of all time,” announced today its song recognition service has been used to identify over 5 billion songs. The five billionth tagged song on Shazam was “Blow Me One Last Kiss” by Pink. Head below for our full list of new apps and updates hitting the App Store today:
Sparrow for Mac version 1.6.3: Sparrow’s Mac App Store app was updated today with a number of performance enhancements and fixes. A full list of what’s new in version 1.6.3 is below:
– improved performance when loading huge conversations
– URL in subject can be clicked
– date and subject in headers can be selected
– improved avatar in message cells
– improved IMAP compatibility
– brazilian localization
– fixed progress indicator in message view
– fixed crash when loading some HTML messages
– fixed crash with POP accounts fixed
Spotify version 0.5.4: Spotify received a decent update today that brings the ability to show more stations for iPad users, fixes login issues for Facebook users, and adds stability improvements.
The New Yorker Magazine: Previously only available as an iPad app, The New Yorker is now bringing all of its magazine content to the iPhone with a new universal app available on the App Store now. To celebrate the release of the iPhone version, you will be able to get the Aug. 13 and Aug. 20 issues completely free (old issues are not accessible on the iPhone app). Expand Expanding Close
We brought you high-res shots of the black and white next-generation iPhone backs in May, and then we brought you a video hands-on with similar looking casings in June that surfaced online. Today, Neowin posted images it claims to be a “prototype finalized design casing” of the next-gen iPhone (not a functioning device) in the hands of an ex-staff member at MBK Center in Bangkok, Thailand. Present is the repositioned headphone jack, redesigned speaker grills, smaller dock connector, etc., from past leaks, but we have no way of confirming its authenticity. It is possible this is a really good knock-off based on our earlier leaks.
After iMore broke the September iPhone event news, Apple, through its channels, confirmed to not one, not two, three, or four, but at least five different publications that the iPhone event would be Sept. 12 with a Sept. 21 launch. If you do not think these are Apple PR confirmations, I have a nice bridge to sell you.
No, it has not. But these manufacturer pages show what a beat up, falling apart next-gen iPhone with slightly off-white components would look like in a cheap case.
BestBuy.com has the iPhone 4 in White or Black for $49.99 with a two-year service plan on AT&T, Verizon or Sprint. We have seen many price drops of the iPhone 4 throughout the last few months, but most were specials or small drops. This one appears to be more permanent and may last through to the new iPhone launch.
What does this say for when the new iPhone is released? Will the iPhone 4 be free on contract or will it continue to be $49.99? If I had to guess, I would say it goes free in October with a two-year plan…if you can wait that long.
The Verge has tracked down several images of old iPhone and iPad prototype designs from Apple the vs. Samsung trial case filings. Buzzfeed got their hands on a few more. Notably, many of these designs are codenamed N90, so what you’re mainly looking at are design considerations for the 2010 iPhone 4, the Apple device codenamed N90. Many of them are ugly and will hurt your eyes. Check out the entire gallery after the break or over at the Verge and Buzzfeed.
Besides iPhone prototypes, Apple was toying with an iPad design that featured an HTC Evo-like Kickstand. Given the above and below, we’re pretty happy with the decisions Apple made on these. Many, many more pictures below:
A quick Reuters report on an unsealed document in the Apple-Samsung trial reveals that iPhones are much more of a profit driver for Apple than its iPads. To the tune of double (!) per unit.
Apple Inc earned gross margins of 49 to 58 percent for U.S. iPhone sales between April 2010 and the end of March 2012…Apple had gross margins of 23 to 32 percent on U.S. iPad sales, the filing said.
That means Apple makes as much money on one iPhone as it does on two iPads (considering they cost roughly the same amount).
Australian airline Qantas previously announced it is dropping BlackBerry in favor of Apple’s iPhone and issuing iPads to pilots, but now it is rolling out iPads to passengers to compliment a new in-flight entertainment streaming service.
Qantas is abandoning RIM due to a recently conducted employee survey that indicated airline staffers prefer Apple’s smartphone offering. CIO Paul Jones told The Sydney Morning Herald that the iPhone offers a “user-friendly interface and simple access to emails, contacts and calendars, as well as meeting all Qantas’ security requirements.”
Staff members can also carry Android devices under the airline’s bring-your-own-device policy. The move to Apple’s iPhone will save Qantas millions of dollars, as will transitioning to the iPad to replace costly paper in the cockpit, according to NewStraitTimes. The airline will dole 2,200 iPads to pilots to improve communication and cutback on printed charts and manuals. The 64Gb iPads with 3G will save the airline about $1.5 million annually.
“Transition from the BlackBerry to the iPhone is part of Qantas’ broader mobility strategy and, once complete, will result in significant cost savings,” said a Qantas spokesperson.
With the full-scale shift to iOS in progress, Qantas further announced it plans to launch QStreaming across its B767 fleet. Qantas Domestic CEO Lyell Strambi revealed customers travelling on a Qantas’ B767 aircraft would now experience “in-flight entertainment streamed direct to iPads in every seat.”
“Following the successful trial of our QStreaming service this year, we will partner with Panasonic and use their eXW solution to provide over 200 hours of on-demand IFE content via iPads to every passenger in Business and Economy travelling on our B767 fleet,” Strambi explained. “QStreaming will be available free of charge to all our passengers across the B767 fleet.
Tvc-mall.com (via CydiaBlog) has some “iPhone 5” cases for sale (at just $1.58 each!) that seem to align with the many, many, many, many next generation iPhone body part leaks. One thing to remember: Just because a case maker is producing cases, does not mean the next generation iPhone will fit into it.
As you can see, the cases are longer to accommodate the larger 4-inch display and have a smaller dock connector hole at the bottom. The speaker holes are bigger with the addition of the headphone jack rumored to be moving down south.
If you are one of the 65 percent of smartphone owners who are already signed up for the next iPhone, are you buying a case for it yet?
Back when we used to write phone numbers down, the Little Black Book kept our “contacts” and contact information in one handy place. Twelve South today brings us up to date with the attractively styled black version of the BookBook iPhone case.
You can grab the Classic Black BookBook for $60 from Twelve South or Amazon now.
Product Features
Handmade, genuine leather case protects iPhone with style
Includes wallet pockets for ID, cards and cash
Unique book design disguises iPhone for added security
Dimensions
Size (LWH): 7.1 inches, 1 inches, 4.1 inches
The older brown version can be seen in the video below:
Other than the notable apps and updates below, developers of 
