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.
Following our post about an internal memo dictating a April 27th launch for the white iPhone 4, Engadget has nabbed three pictures of the device at Vodafone UK. Supposedly a customer was able to purchase the device with model number MC604B/A. The biggest thing we take from these pictures is the white iPhone 4’s new proximity sensor. Notice the new sensor is just a black cut in the white front plate versus the old sensor with dotted cuts. Perhaps the proximity sensor was the main reason for delay? Anyways, count us thrilled.
A tipster at Netherlands phone retailer BelCompany sent us the above picture of a company memo, detailing a Wednesday, April 27th launch for the white iPhone 4. Our sources in AT&T and Verizon say that they have still recieved no concrete information about a release date, though. So, is the white iPhone 4 launching next week? We think this might be the best proof yet. What a had a picture of the memo but we were asked not to post it. Here’s the translation:
This Wednesday, all retail stores will receive the white T-Mobile iPhone 4 16 GB. Also, a limited number of retail stores will receive one single white iPhone 4 32 GB. New supplies will be scarce/very limited. If the supply is exhausted/sold out, inform the customer that new deliveries are expected in 4 to 5 weeks time.
The source says that T-Mobile might have one month exclusivity on the white iPhone 4, in the Netherlands at least. Also, the white iPhone 4 supply is said to be in limited in Europe at launch, with availability increasing in the coming weeks. Even more interesting is that the white iPhone 4 has already arrived today at some European retailers. They have arrived in boxes with embargo stickers all over them – “due not open until April 27” – and are kept in the company safe. Both 16 GB and 32 GB capacities are said to be offered, as we have previously detailed, but quantities are said to initially be limited. Thanks, Simon for translating the memo!
Big publishers tend to do massive discounts ahead of important holidays and this coming Easter is no exception. Electronic Arts announced their second annual Easter games sale, with over thirty iPhone, iPod touch and iPad games seeing their priced reduced to just 99 cents. These are triple-A releases that cost from five bucks up, most of them around ten bucks. The full list of discounted iOS titles is available below. Some of the notable price cuts that caught our attention include iPhone games Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Dead Space and The Sims 3 plus Scrabble for iPad and more. The deal is valid through this weekend. Expand Expanding Close
Samsung has fired right back at Apple and has sued the Cupertino, California company over Samsung patents filed in South Korea, Japan, and Germany. The lawsuit is said to involve five specific patents. Samsung provided the following statement to Reuters:
Samsung is responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property and to ensure our continued innovation and growth in the mobile communications business.
Apple sued Samsung earlier this week over patent infringements relating to the iPhone and iPad. Apple claims Samsung copied the designs found in the Galaxy S series of phones and tablet devices.
The iPad 2’s A5 processor not only is a speedy, dual-core chip, but also works to provide nine times the gaming performance of its predecessor, A4. So, what’s Apple to do for their best-selling gaming phone? Give it the A5 chip with remarkably better gaming performance. We have already discovered, in the iOS 4 SDK, that Apple is bringing the A5 chip to the next iPhone, and now we have heard Apple is going to push this gaming performance and speed as one of the next-generation iPhone’s major marketing points.
Apple isn’t taking the next iPhone’s A5-power lightly. They already have select developers working on versions of their iPhone applications that take full advantage of the next-generation iPhone’s speedier and much more powerful hardware. These developers, seemingly from high-level gaming outfits, have been given what is essentially an iPhone 4 but with an A5 processor instead of an A4. The device itself is virtually identical to the iPhone 4, and there is no way anyone can tell it’s not an iPhone 4 based on the phone’s exterior.
The person who chose to share this information with us calls it the ‘iPhone 4S’, though the device itself only has typical Apple prototype nomenclature. He also shared that the device spends its evenings in a safe in the company’s offices.
To be clear: these prototype iPhone 4S devices are not necessarily the next-generation iPhone. These phones are simply prototype units for developers to get ready for the new phone, rumored to be launching in September. The next-generation iPhone may end up looking just like the iPhone 4 (iPhone 3G-iPhone 3GS sort of thing) but we cannot confirm this. If the next iPhone does end up looking like the iPhone 4, we would assume that Apple would pack in more than just an A5. Probably an 8 megapixel camera, a world phone Gobi chips, and a few other things to spice up the package.
The operating system running on these phones is a version of iOS 4 that supports the next-generation hardware, and this may be why we found the iPhone 5 with an A5 chip in the iOS 4 SDK at all. If past history repeats itself, the fifth-generation iPhone will ship with Apple’s fifth-generation mobile software, in this case iOS 5. iOS 5 will be announced at Apple’s WWDC conference in early June with a rumored launch in September of this year. If anything, this news backs up claims that the fifth-generation iPhone will have an A5 and that Apple is taking gaming very seriously.
Commenting on Andy Inhatko’s article on iOS storing user’s location data, Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber reveals that iOS storing user’s location information is in fact a bug. The bug comes down to a consolidated.db being in place. This file is supposed to store a user’s recent location information to work with iOS and iOS applications, but, due to a bug, does not delete older location information.
I don’t have a definitive answer, but my little-birdie-informed understanding is that consolidated.db acts as a cache for location data, and that historical data should be getting culled but isn’t, either due to a bug or, more likely, an oversight. I.e. someone wrote the code to cache location data but never wrote code to cull non-recent entries from the cache, so that a database that’s meant to serve as a cache of your recent location data is instead a persistent log of your location history.
Gruber “wagers” that the bug will be fixed in a future release of iOS, and we tend to agree with him. We’re unsure as to why Apple is yet to comment on this issue. If you are worried about your privacy and want to block this bug, a free jailbreak utility has been released to do so.
Just a few years ago nobody had a phone with an Apple logo on it. Now, that phone equals about 50% of Apple’s business ($12.3b in Q2 alone). The chart of the day nails it:
Well, we’ve known this one for while but now it’s sort of official. Barrons reports that in Verizon’s earnings call today, Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said Apple’s next-generation iPhone will be a world phone. A world phone of course is a phone capable of connecting to both CDMA and GSM networks worldwide. You may remember that Shammo was the Verizon executive who spilled the beans on the upcoming Verizon-capable iPad 2.
Both the Verizon iPhone 4 and the CDMA iPad 2 carry the Qualcomm Gobi chip, which we previously detailed, and this chip is capable of connecting to both CDMA and GSM networks. Apple is rumored to start iPhone 5 production as early as July and is tracking a September release. Apple typically holds an early-September event so we’ll probably see the world phone there. The iPhone 5 is rumored to look similar to the iPhone 4 and will sport an A5 dual-core processor.
RockmeIt, a desktop browser available on Macs and PCs since last November, just hit the App Store last night (it was one we glossed over because of the earnings). If you’ve used the desktop version, expect quite a different mobile experience. RockmeIt is a browser focused on social media, which is all the rage these days in mobile.
Similar to the Skyfire web browser, RockmeIt lets you log into your social media accounts like Twitter and Facebook to stay on top of things while browsing the web. It’s also got a built-in RSS reader and it syncs everything seamlessly with your desktop. The app packs in a bunch of useful features, like saving articles for offline reading, rich sharing features and so forth. More features, screenshots and a video introduction after the break.
Noted jailbreak developer Ryan Petrich has released a new jailbreak-only utility tonight named untrackerd, which promises to block iOS and Apple’s ability to log your device’s location information. Petrich’s application comes in light of a new discovery that Apple’s mobile operating system tracks iOS device’s longitude and latitude. That location information is then stored on your computer’s hard drive and can later be accessed by just about anyone with the right computer skills or software. Untrackerd is available for free on the Cydia jailbreak store.Thanks, Will.
Untrackerd’s description in Cydia:
This package installs a daemon (process that can run in the background) to clean consolidated.db file) No new icons are added to your homescreen. There are no options to configure.
During Apple’s Q2 results conference call today, Tim Cook went on record to say that Apple is Samsung’s largest customer, and both companies value their strong relationship. This news comes amidst Apple’s lawsuit against Samsung over the Galaxy S line of phones and tablets. Apple claims that Samsung copied key design components of the iPhone and iPad lines. Apple COO Tim Cook also said that Apple worked with Samsung to try to settle their issues out of court, but had to go to court after Samsung’s mobile division “crossed the line.” Cook thinks Apple and Samsung’s strong relationship will continue.
Right now, Foursquare’s co-founder Dennis Crowley, a PR representative, and a business and partnerships executive are enjoying burritos at Apple’s employee cafeteria on the 1 Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino, California. But why?Apple is known to be looking at key acquisitions to put them even farther ahead of their competitors, maybe Foursquare would be a good pickup? Apple is rumored to be working on a new, location based social networking system called ‘Find my Friends.
Foursquare is a new social network that is all based on location and “checking in” at locations. Foursquare even has a popular application for the iPhone, Android, Palm, BlackBerry, and Nokia’s Ovi platform. Perhaps Apple is getting some “assistance” on this new network – presumably coming in iOS 5 – from the Foursquare team. Looking at which executives are there, the possibilities are seemingly endless at this point. Thanks, Jim D.
Out of everything revealed in yesterday’s white iPhone 4 prototype leak, a small settings pane titled ‘Facebook’ stuck to us the most. The first thing that came to mind was that iOS 4 was supposed to include some Facebook integration. It’s known that Apple and Facebook were working together on Ping throughout 2009 and 2010 – when Apple was also developing what was then called iPhone OS 4 – and now we have heard that Facebook integration really was in the cards for iOS 4.
Apple was planning to include Facebook integration into iOS’s photos application. We have been able to confirm Facebook video uploading directly from the photos app with SDK evidence, and we have also heard that Facebook photo sharing was planned. One thing Apple and Facebook never planned on integrating were Facebook.com features like the news feed. That is proven by the screenshot provided to us by Tinhte from their iPhone running a ‘test-version’ of iOS 4. There is a button that takes you to the Facebook App Store page.
Apple was also planning to integrate Facebook into the iPhone’s phone application. Facebook contact linking in iOS’s contacts applications was discovered last year. Business Insider also reported that iOS Facebook contact syncing was in the works in addition to Facebook messaging. Perhaps the settings panel you see above was to be a system-wide login for Facebook, separate from the main App Store app for contacts, photos, video uploading, and messaging integration in iOS. Apple also patented social-networking/Facebook integration: perhaps this is what we’ll be seeing system-wide.
We have no idea as to whether or not Apple and Facebook’s potential iOS integration deal fell through, like the Ping deal, but we do know it was planned and it would have been awesome. It’s obvious, though, that Apple didn’t want to scrap social features for their mobile platform. That’s where Photo Stream comes in. Photo Stream, as we were first to detail, is sort of like a combination of Facebook and Instagram photo uploading and sharing. It’s also built right in the photos application, like the Facebook integration, so it’s very easy and convenient for the user. Thanks Sonny D.
The game that knocked Angry Birds and Tiny Wings off of the top slots in the App Store games chart.
What is this with the App Store and bird-themed games, huh? First Angry Birds sat atop the App Store games charts, then Tiny Wingscame along and now we have Air Penguing, a Gamevil-branded feather-themed time killer. It’s currently #1 paid app in the App Store games category in the US, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Russia. I just bought it and played it for like half an hour. Here are my initial impressions…
At it’s peak, the iPad 2 shipped in 4-5 weeks from the Apple online store in the United States. Now, Apple’s second-generation tablet is shipping in only 1-2 weeks. It seems that Apple is really clearing up any production, supply, or shipping issues that they may have had. Apple stores are still a difficult place to find an iPad 2, so with a 1-2 week shipping time, the online store may just be your best bet.
Update: MacRumors notes that the shipping time has dropped to 1-2 weeks only in United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand but is still at 2-3 weeks in many European countries. These things usually work their way around the world, however.
Let’s just get this out of the way first: This is public info, please don’t use this to find out where your girlfriend really was last weekend.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/22608787 w=671&h=503]
That location data that is stored both on your iPhone and backed up to your computer through iTunes is available for your perusal using a little program here.
Crackle’s “It’s On!” moniker could refer to Location Services which the application asks to turn on the first start up. The problem is that Crackle, even when closed, leaves Location Services on, which could drain the battery. Users have to go into Setting/Location Services to deny it access manually (below).
We’re waiting for that bug to be squashed and also an Airplay option in an upcoming update (but otherwise it is a pretty solid way to get Sony content). Expand Expanding Close
Above: A location map from an iPhone that had been used in the southwest of England
Privacy advocates are going to have a field day with this one. According to researchers interviewed by The Guardian, your iPhone keeps record of your whereabouts in a secret file that gets copied to your computer as part of iTunes sync. It gets spookier, the paper explains:
The file contains the latitude and longitude of the phone’s recorded coordinates along with a timestamp, meaning that anyone who stole the phone or the computer could discover details about the owner’s movements using a simple program.
The root cause of the problem is iOS 4 which, for some reason, silently tracks our geographical location. This means, the paper explains, that for some people there could be “almost a year’s worth of data stored.” Keep on reading…
Here’s one we missed last week: Georgia Tech Research Scientist Grant Schindler has turned an iPhone (or iPad 2 or new iPod touch) into a 3D scanner.
The concept is relatively simple. The subject or object is photographed in a dark room with light from different part of the iOS device’s screen. Those images are sewn together to form the image in 3D. From there, you can either email a movie of the subject or print it out on a 3D printer.
“There are professional, $40,000 3-D scanners out there; this won’t perform like those do, but for anything under $100, this is your best bet,” added Schindler.
As developer Firemint promised a month ago, racing game Real Racing 2 HD is now live on the App Store with support for real 1080p video output that lets you enjoy action on your big screen in native 1920-by-1080 pixel resolution, without upscaling. It’s a first for iPad 2 and a testament to the power of the A5 chip. TouchArchade got a chance to test out this feature and they walked away impressed with the overall polish and frame rates. Check out a video demo right after the break…
Even though estimated iPad 2 shipping times are better than they were following the gizmo’s launch, the online Apple Store still has a three-week wait on the iconic device. Buying it from third-parties is a time-consuming process as a lot of calls need to be made in order to figure out best iPad 2 availability at your nearby retailers. Why not save yourself valuable time and let an iPhone app search for the device for you? Yes, there’s an app for that. Read on…
Reuters reports that the iPhone 5 will begin production in July and ramp up for a September release. This fits in with a lot of the chatter out there over the last few months. It isn’t certain why Apple chose to deviate from its previous June/July schedule, but perhaps iPhones are the new back to school items…or are going to be grouped with iPods from now on. Apple typically holds a fall media event at the beginning of September. This would be the perfect place to showcase their new iPhone.
The new smartphone will have a faster processor but will look largely similar to the current iPhone 4, one of the people said. They declined to be identified because the plans were not yet public.
The companies would begin production either in July or August before shipping components to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, flagship of Foxconn Technology Group, for assembly, they said.
Just as China approved eleven iPod nano design patents, Apple’s had a field day today with the United States Patent & Trademark Office awarding the company eighteen new patents. Patently Apple got the hang of them all (here and here) and we’re highlighting two key inventions. Before we dig deeper, Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive are credited among the inventors of the iPhone’s stainless steel band. There, now you know who to blame for the death grip non-issue. The creative duo was also behind the design of the 2007 iPod touch.
Apple also won a design patent for the iOS Maps and Compass apps, another one for reducing wait times in a call center plus the polycarbonate MacBook patent. More interesting than that is a patent describing methods for reprogramming your iPhone on the go, over-the-air, for use with any carrier. Read on…
Asymco andThisIsMyNextnote that in its complaint about Samsung, Apple produced some never before seen sales numbers which supersede the numbers from the last earnings call and the running total as of the last quarter. Additionally, Apple hasn’t usually broken out iPod touch as a standalone product, instead focused on the whole iPod product line. Now we have solid iPod touch sales numbers.
So now we know, as of the writing of this document, Apple has sold 108M iPhone, 60M iPod touch, 19M iPads. If you include AppleTVs, Apple has sold close to 200 million iOS devices.
Asymco took it astep further and was able to deduce some of the numbers for the upcoming quarter (not yet closed):
Total iPhones sold before Q1: 89,971,000 implying a minimum of 18.1 million sold during the quarter (my estimate is 18.4)
Total iPod touch sold before Q1 (estimated): 55.5 million implying a minimum of 4.5 million iPod touch sold during the quarter (my estimate 5 million)
Total iPads sold before Q1: 14,789,000 implying a minimum of 4.2 million iPads sold during the quarter (my estimate is 7.3 million).
Interestingly, for the quarter (again not yet closed), Apple would have sold 18.1 million iPhones, 4.5 million iPods touch and 4.3 million iPads. Expand Expanding Close
