iOS devices refer to any of Apple’s hardware that runs the iOS mobile operating system which include iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Historically, Apple releases a new iOS version once a year, the current version is iOS 10. Here is the complete list of iOS 10 compatible devices.
Droid Life got their fingerless Android paws on this shot of merchandising material from within Verizon.
What we’ve got in the image above, is a box full of new marketing materials for Verizon stores that mention the word “4G” and “iPhone” in the same sentence. We’re not saying this means that an iPhone 4G is planned or on the way, but that could be one possibility. Truthfully though, we’ve heard from two sources with the box that say it’s misleading as hell and that the materials included only mention the 3G iPhone. So what we’re really thinking, is that this is the launch of a new campaign which will try to sell customers on the idea that a 3G iPhone 4 is better than any of the 4G Android offerings currently available.
According to Reuters, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told reporters, yesterday, that Facebook is planning to “launch something awesome” next week. The product developed in Facebook’s Seattle-based engineering center can obviously be anything from a new site feature or a new mobile application, but with multiple iOS-related products coming very soon, we’re thinking this awesome launch might be their long-awaited iPad application.
Facebook has reportedly been readying a native iPad application for sometime now and according to a report from two weeks ago, the application is essentially complete and is undergoing final testing. This application is said to bring some unique features to the 9.7 inch tablet – and have an interface that goes way beyond what is currently available to Facebook.com and Facebook for iPhone users.
People who have seen the application said it has a slick design that has been tailored for the iPad and its touchscreen interface. Facebook developers and designers have also overhauled the Facebook Chat and Facebook Groups features for the application. And the app will go beyond the features available on the Facebook Web site by allowing users to shoot and upload photos and videos directly from the iPad’s built-in cameras.
Also on the table is Facebook’s “Project Spartan.” The project, originally detailed by TechCrunch, is essentially a web-based application store platform – focused on the iPad.
It’s entirely HTML5-based and the aim is to reach some 100 million users in a key place: mobile. More specifically, the initial target is both surprising and awesome: mobile Safari. Yes, Facebook is about to launch a mobile platform aimed squarely at working on the iPhone (and iPad). But it won’t be distributed through the App Store as a native application, it will be entirely HTML5-based and work in Safari.
A third upcoming iOS product from Facebook is an Instagram-like, photo-sharing application. Tech Crunch describes:
Either way, based on the images in front of us, the best way to think about it appears to be Path meets Instagram meets Color meets (Path’s new side project) With — with a few cool twists. And obviously, it’s built entirely on top of Facebook’s massive social graph.
With three iOS products on the table for an imminent launch, and with an iPad application that has been said to be launching in the coming weeks, we think it makes sense that at least one of these three initiatives is in store for Facebook’s “awesome” product launch next week.
As Apple’s iPad is picking up steam, so is the user base which in turn drives the increasing number of developers to write iPad-optimized apps. Today is a special day for Apple’s tablet which now counts more than a hundred thousand apps in the iPad App Store, MacStoriespoints out.
In April of 2010 when the original iPad launched, there were only a few apps available. At the end of March the number of software items on the iPad App Store swelled to 75,000. In other words, 25,000 new iPad apps were added since then, averaging to about 280 new apps a day. Strange how Apple isn’t making a big deal out of this milestone since the wealth and the breadth of apps are probably the biggest differentiators with Android.
Asian component suppliers say Apple has been increasing third-quarter orders for parts that go into its iPad 2 tablet. The company is seen shipping 12 million iPad 2 units in the third quarter, a substantial increase over an estimated 7-9 million units in the second quarter (we will know for sure July 19 when Apple will release earnings report) and especially compared to the 4.69 million iPad units shipped in the first quarter. DigiTimesreports:
In order to significantly increase its shipments in the third quarter, Apple has been piling up its inventory of iPad 2 components such as panels in the second quarter to minimize the risk of facing component shortages.
Apple’s increased appetite will benefit the most LG Display, Catcher Technology, TPK Holdings and Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation, the report notes.
The iPhone 4 officially landed in the 1.2 billion people market of India on May 27, beginning at 34,500 Indian rupees (about $760) for the 16GB version after a two-year service agreement. But pricing the phone at $760 (which also raised red flags with the government) meant putting the iconic product out of reach for the 41.6 percent of the total population that lives below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day.
No wonder Android is a big hit in India. Not for long, if Apple has any say over it. According to a local report, Apple’s pulling out its secret weapon – the cheaper, unlocked iPhone 3GS which is now being advertised by local carriers Airtel and Aircel. It ain’t gonna be cheap either – certainly not by the living standards of the 41.6 percent of impoverished population – but the upper-middle class could take the bait:
Apple’s new MacBook Air line has been expected for weeks now, with evidence supporting a refresh coming by way of constraints at global retailers and most recently at major Apple reseller BestBuy.com. Although this refresh has been expected, a well-sourced and specific launch time frame is yet to emerge. Now, we’ve been told that Apple is gearing up to launch their upgraded line of ultra thin notebooks in mid-July.
The rumors regarding what the new laptops will feature have been conservative, and according to a person who has seen the new MacBook Air, exterior changes (if any) were so minute that they were not noticed. In other words, don’t expect to be able to tell this mid-2011 MacBook Air apart from the late-2010 model. That is, except for the Thunderbolt logo that sits in place of the Mini Display port logo.
Also, as expected, these new models will pack Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors and are likely the models that Intel recently made available for thinner notebook lines:
In addition, the new notebooks, launching in mid-July, come with OS X Lion pre-installed. Apple shipping out their next-generation operating system with these new Macs would also mean a mid-July launch for 10.7 Lion. An exact release date for both products is yet to be pinpointed, but we’ve been hearing rumblings about July 14th, which is a Thursday.
Also, Apple is holding their financial results conference call on Tuesday, July 19th. Apple typically releases products during the days leading up to the financial results announcement (so they have something interesting to talk about). iPhones and iPads often are released the Friday before earnings, which would be the 15th.
Of course, Apple’s traditional product launch day is Tuesday, which would be the 12th or the 19th. In any case, we’re looking at Lion and new MacBook Airs in about 2-3 weeks. We are also looking, according to recent reports, at new Mac minis and Mac Prossoon after these upgraded MacBook Airs.
Google has announced on their Google+ information page that their new social networking service will be available as a native application for the iOS platform. Google does not provide a launch date for this application, but says it is “coming soon” to iPhones running iOS 4.0 or later. There is no mention of an iPad application at this time, but you’ll be able to run it in 2X mode like other iPhone apps. (via iPhone Italia).
TheNextWebreports that Apple has begun returning the $299 purchase price of Final Cut Pro X to customers who are unsatisfied with the product’s features and capabilities. Cupertino has begun issuing refunds to those who have filed an official request using Apple’s Mac App Store Customer Service form.
“Moving forward, I understand that you are not satisfied with the app “Final Cut Pro”. I can certainly appreciate you would like a refund, and I would be more than happy to help you out with this today. In five to seven business days, a credit of £179.99 should be posted to the credit card that appears on the receipt for that purchase.
Please note that this is a one time exception because the iTunes Terms and Conditions state that all sales are final.”
This is an interesting gray area because Mac Apps purchased through the Mac App Store aren’t usually up for return so long after they are purchased (unless you re in Taiwan). Whereas boxed software, especially Pro level stuff, usually has a longer guarantee even if there are restocking fees. Expand Expanding Close
As we broke last night, Apple is now carrying Thunderbolt parts. The Pegasus RAID units just showed up but we noticed something a little odd:
.
Interesting combo. Currently the Mac Pro doesn’t have a Thunderbolt port.
.
So yeah, Apple art team either jumped the gun, used the wrong equipment, or pre-announced the new Mac Pros. We were hoping for a slight redesign which doesn’t look to be the case (see what I did there?)… Expand Expanding Close
Nothing about the iPhone 4 sparked so much controversy like its stainless steel band running around the phone’s profile and doubling as wireless and cellular antennas. In spite of Antennagate, many people passed on the free bumper case program because some felt that keeping the iPhone 4’s iconic glass and aluminum design intact was the matter of design consciousness. Put simply, the stainless steel band was meant to be touched (no pun intended), seen and marveled at. How about taking it to the next level?
Folks at CaseMate came up with a sophisticated case which reframes your device with a cool titanium edge. The iPhone 4 Titanium case is sompatible with all iPhone 4 versions and machined from a single piece of titanium for a handcrafted look. It isolates the original stainless steel band from your fingers, so you might not experience a signal drop when touching that troubling gap. On the other hand, we cannot testify to the reception issues stemming from a possible interference with the phone’s antennas.
If none of that bothers you, the iPhone 4 Titanium case can be yours in exchange for a cool $300, which is the price of going outside of the norm for a cellphone case. It ships with a tool kit containing a mini-screw driver, screws and the buttons (volume up and down, power, mute) so minor assembly is required on your part.
Some interesting observations from Asymco’s Horace Dediu who used data published by Deutsche Bank and the ITU to put into perspective the world’s pre-paid users who buy contract-free $700-$1000 handsets for use with pay-as-you-go plans against post-paid subscribers who get the latest and greatest devices subsidized for up to $200 provided they pledge to a lengthy 12-24 months wireless contract:
Roughly 1.5 billion are post-paid and 3.7 billion are pre-paid. That means that nearly 70% of the world is not being addressed by the iPhone as it currently stands. Put another way, a shift in positioning might result in a 250% increase in addressable market.
The regional breakdown tells a similar story (below). Apple will eventually fill 100 percent of key post-paid (blue areas) addressable markets through the virtue of the expansion of carrier agreements. For example, half the US and Canada area being finally filled in this year. What about pre-paid orange areas?
The iPhone-Dev team dashed avid jailbreakers’ hopes with a morning post (via Ars) explaining that with iOS 5 Apple upped the ante in its cat-and-mouse game with the jailbreak community. According to the team, starting at iOS 5 and onward you will no longer be able to use iTunes to restore to previous firmware versions using saved SHSH blobs (created with tools such as Cydia or TinyUmbrella). Previously, jailbreakers always had peace of mind knowing they could revert back to a previous firmware should anything go wrong.
“Apple will be able to flip that switch off and on at will”, the team warns, adding that “tethered jailbreaks will still always be possible for devices where limera1n applies”. You will also be able to restore to pre-iOS 5.0 versions (with saved blobs) provided you carry out the procedure using an older iTunes version. This wasn’t entirely unexpected, the team wrote: Expand Expanding Close
We’re expecting Skype’s iPad client at any moment now, but old Skype collaborator and new foe Fring already has lept ahead with the ability to video conference between four people, right in the iPad 2 window, at the same time.
The 5.1.1.2 update also includes bugfixes, drag and drop navigation, Bluetooth support and connectivity improvements.
UK military has been using iPads to train soldiers since August 2010
PhysOrg.com is reporting (viaEngadget) that Singapore will be equipping their armed forces and navy recruits with iPad 2s beginning November. Some eight thousand devices will be distributed to servicemen who will run custom apps on the tablet and upload footage and stills to their online education platform. An interesting observation:
Considering all able-bodied male citizens are required to serve for two years, a large portion of the city-state’s population could eventually be using the Apple tablet.
Good way to improve recruitment. US Marine Corps aviators are also using iPads to obsolete paper charts and grid reference drawings with interactive multitouch interface and cutting-edge digital maps.
In what is becoming a global trend, IDC found that Nokia uptake in Australia fell spectacularly from almost 50% in Q1 last year to less than 25% this year.
Its first quarter 2011 figures show that in just 12 months, Nokia has not only lost market dominance, its phone market share has halved: from 49.5 per cent in the first quarter of last year and 44.2 per cent in Q4, to just 24.6 per cent in the first quarter this year.
Perhaps even more scary for the people at Nokia, who are also jumping from their “burning platform”: Windows Phone 7 is actually dropping share year over year from the previous Windows Mobile.
TechUnwrapped is reporting that famous jailbreaker George Hotz, known as Geohot, is now working at Facebook. You may know Geohot for getting in a lawsuit by Sony for his Playstation hack and his jailbreaking tools like purplera1n, blackra1n, and limera1n. In recent months Geohot has been off the map after the Sony ordeal, but it appears now he is back (unfortunately not as a rapper).
Techmeme’sGabe Rivera did some digging on Geohot’s Facebook to confirm TechUnwrapped’s story. It appears Geohot joined Facebook as a Software engineer in May, but he announced the news June 17th. June 22nd he said, “is Facebook is really an amazing place to work…first hackathon over.” What do you think he is doing as a Software Engineer? Perhaps he’s working on the secret Project Trojan…er Spartan. Expand Expanding Close
Craig Fox had worked as a carpenter his entire life until the economy took a turn for the worst and he found himself without work. Craig combined his newly acquired free time and his love for jailbreaking iDevices to conceive MyGreatFest (MGF), the world’s first iDevice Jailbreak convention. Craig’s motivation behind this convention is to alter the world’s perception of iDevice jailbreaking.
Individuals unfamiliar with jailbreaking see it as a medium for piracy, but Craig hopes that MGF will show the world “jailbreaking is not about piracy, it is about having the freedom to customize your [iDevice] in anyway you see fit.” In fact, Craig feels so strongly about the jailbreak community’s anti-piracy efforts that he would support future jailbreaks that block popular piracy sources.
More importantly, Craig hopes that this event will help stabilize the jailbreak community, which he believes began strong but has recently become more divided. He thinks MyGreatFest can have an uplifting effect on the community because it will show jailbreak users that “developers are real people, spending dozens of hours to produce free jailbreak tools and tweaks.”
The event will take place in London on September 17th and feature presentations from top jailbreak developers, such as: @p0sixninja, @pod2g and @limneos. An interesting note is that @p0sixninja, Joshua Hill, could not initially attend MGF due to the high cost of travel, but Craig began taking donations for Josh and quickly raised enough money to bring him to London. Craig believes this is another example of the jailbreak community banding together. Jay Freeman (@saurik), the founder of Cydia, will headline the event with a 1 hour talk and 10 minute question / answer session.
Craig is hopeful that MGF will continue to grow over the next 5 years. His goal is to have an United States and Great Britain event next year. In fact, he already has @Musclenerd, a well-known iPhone hacker, confirmed as a speaker for the Spring 2012 US event. Craig’s goal is to have the event in 3 different countries by 2016.
Tickets for MGF are on sale now. Adult tickets start at just £27 and can be purchased from the mygreatfest.net e-Store. If you can’t make it to London this fall, you can support MyGreatFest by purchasing branded bracelets and iPhone cases from the e-Store. Furthermore, anyone who purchases a MGF rubber bracelet will be entered in an iPad 2 giveaway. Expand Expanding Close
The infamous hacking group Lulzec finished their fifty day string of high profile hackings with the release of some AT&T internal documents. Jonathan at iFans discovered a section of the documents that discusses AT&T’s 4G LTE rollout. Of note, a particular document slide points to an LTE-capable iPad.
Pre-LTE scenarios. Testing will include iPad new activations HLS using the new rate plan, as well as a regression on netbooks and dongles. During validation E2E execution should ensure all functionality new and current is still functioning properly by validating account set up, provisioning, usage and notifications.
•SBP ST scenarios. Testing will include activations, add stacked plans, add international plans, perform customer service functions using the LTE devices. Testing will validate device is being provisioned and the proper policy from PCRF are being enforced. Usage should be added to decrement the account when needed in order to show RTDUNS are functioning properly.
Specifically, as you can in the LTE slide above, AT&T will be testing (or already tested) “iPad new activations HLS using the new rate plan.” This document was found in a November 2010 filing by AT&T, so we are unsure if this was testing in November 2010, or that document referenced the 2011 roadmap as well. The document itself is very unclear.
Additionally, if this November and December testing is in 2011, the rumors of a September iPad 3 with LTE can clearly be ruled out. An analyst reported earlier this month that according to supply chain sources, Apple is preparing a next-generation iPad with an improved display and LTE data. If the iPad gains LTE capabilities in 2012, the 6th generation iPhone in 2012 will likely also gain LTE data speeds.
Update: iFans found a page that might backup September iPhone 5 rumors. We definitely don’t think it means an LTE iPhone this year, though. Full presentation linked here.
iOS 5 includes support for China’s QQ, 163.com, and 126.com email services – in the same way that the mobile operating system for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch supports services like MobileMe and GMail. As Apple attempts to make a bigger impact on the Chinese market, adding new support for mainstream Chinese services is critical. Apple COO Tim Cook was recently spotted meeting with China Mobile executives ahead of a rumored deal to bring the iPhone to the world’s largest carrier. Expand Expanding Close
In early May, we reported that Apple is bringing a long-awaited over-the-air iOS software update feature to iOS 5. Sure enough, Apple announced the feature as a part of their iOS devices become PC-free initiative, but the keynote did not specifically mention that updates over 3G are coming (even though the phone showed a 3G symbol). Now, in line with our earlier report, we have discovered – through the iOS 5 SDK – that iOS 5 will, in fact, support over-the-air firmware upgrades over 3G networks. (Thanks, Sonny Dickson)
There is a catch, though. Based on these SDK findings, it looks like only certain iOS updates will support downloads over 3G. Perhaps small point upgrades like 5.1.1 will come over 3G but 5.1 will have to come over WiFi. Or perhaps 5.1 can come over 3G but 6.0 has to be downloaded over a WiFi network.
This update requires a Wi-Fi network connection to download.
Another catch will likely be carrier support, but that is unconfirmed. iOS 5 will also only begin the software update process if your phone has enough battery life and storage (looks like Apple will expect 500 MB of necessary storage per delta update) to make it the whole way through.
This update requires at least %i%% battery, and 500 MB of available storage.
Weighing in at a hefty 817MB for the iPhone 4, build 9A5248d just hit the Developer site. There was some question as to whether Apple was going to deliver the update OTA but obviously that’s going to be later.
Update:
-WiFi sync now works with iTunes for Mac
-iCloud logo becomes silver in settings
-Lockscreen notifications got an update from the UI department
