iOS Devices

As if yellow tinting wasn’t enough, some early adopters are reporting dead pixels on their brand new iPad 2 and other spooky stories. Matt is our north Texas reader and he sent this in:

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Following up on the previous report that Apple stores might open an hour early today, we’re receiving the news about a limited number of Apple stores receiving fresh iPad 2 shipments this morning. AppleBitch reports about “extremely limited numbers of iPad 2 devices” being distributed to at least one local Apple store. The publication was able to confirm that this retail spot did in fact receive new deliveries.

Our reader Zaid Khraibut tipped us on a similar re-stocking taking place at Apple’s Buffalo store at The Walden Galleria in New York. Apple employees allegedly told him that a new batch of devices is en route on Wednesday:

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DWCable TV (left) and Dish Remote Access (right)

Time Warner Cable just posted their free live TV streaming app for iPad. Dubbed TWCable TV, it lets their subscribers stream live cable television programming via a high-speed WiFi connection to an iPad, the stuff like Bravo, Food Network, CNBC news and other selected live cable TV channels. The announcement has agitated spirits, prompting rival Dish Network to argue its Dish Remote Access app was first with live television streaming, even issuing a press release to back the claim.

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Djay for iPad was the closest thing to having a real turntable. With its realistic, low-latency turntable interface, BPM syncing, pre-cueing, cue point trigger, beat-synchronized scrubbing and a bunch of other features, it’s one of the best iPad apps available. Heck, this piece of software is more than capable of replacing the entire DJ setup (especially racks of components and piles of CDs) with an ultrathin sexy slab of tablet computing. Read on…

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Floorplan comparison: Apple’s A4 chip (left) and the latest A5 processor (right)

Reverse engineering wizards over at Chipworks put the A5 chip under a microscope. Yes, it’s a Samsung – confirming our hunch. The experts came to this conclusion by putting the chip under a microscope and examining dielectric layers and the shape of the transistor gates. The teardown analysis also revealed a die almost twice the size of the A4 chip from the previous-generation iPad and iPhone 4, the 45-nanometer manufacturing process and other interesting tidbits.

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iOS is throttling web apps that are saved and executed from home screen, according to an exclusive report by The Register. The publication found out that such home screen web apps run “roughly two to two and a half times slower” as opposed to executing them directly from the Safari browser. The issue was discovered in the recently released iOS 4.3 software which updated Safari with a speedy JavaScript engine dubbed Nitro.

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This is already becoming insane: the iPad 2 is now shipping in 4-5 weeks from the Apple online store. That means if you order an iPad 2 from the online store right now it won’t show up at your door step for over a month. That’s about 11 months before the iPad 3 or less if Apple has a fall surprise up its sleeve.

Apple’s own retail stores are also facing shortages with many customers walking out with a model they didn’t particularly want or nothing at all. Apple’s online store originally quoted a 3-5 day ship time but that jumped to 5-7 days to 2-3 weeks all within a few hours.

Shipment times then jumped to 3 weeks to a month a day later, on March 12th, and now we’re at 4-5 weeks (for all 18 models). At this point, if you want an iPad 2, you’re better off calling up and visiting your local Apple Store. Apparently stores are opening up a bit early tomorrow and are getting in some new iPad 2 shipments. (Thanks, Brandon)

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According to iDealsChina the iPhone 5 will not hold one, but two SIM cards to support dual phone lines. This sounds very strange and we think iDealsChina could have misinterpreted the information from their source.

The iPhone 5 is rumored to include a Qualcomm Gobi cellular/data chipset (just like the Verizon iPhone) that allows for both GSM and CDMA connections in the same phone. Perhaps this is what they mean by dual SIM-cards? Perhaps, but they add that the iPhone 5 will support dual phone lines.
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With iPad 2 now in the picture (no pun intended), exhaustive camera benchmarks from numerous publications paint a pretty bleak picture for Apple’s magical device. Like it or not, iPad 2 cameras mostly earn lower scores when pitted against Motorola’s Xoom, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and even Apple’s own iPod touch. The empirical testing backed by real-life footage proves what we’ve been suspecting all along, that iPad 2 takes substandard stills and grainier video than most tablets.

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AirPlay is a great new feature of iOS 4 that lets you wirelessly stream photos, video and music from an iOS device to your television via Apple TV. Like any new tech, AirPlay has its share of teething problems as it doesn’t work two-way between any iOS device, as originally planned. Apple fixed some of the concerns with iOS 4.3 and AirPlay can now stream video from the Photos app, web sites and Air Play-enabled apps that are now listed in a brand new section on the App Store.

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According to Anthony Morganti Apple has been so inspired and excited by the latest stream of iPad-optimized magazine applications that they are now working on a magazine-app template for use by developers in Xcode.

Apple’s goal is for any company, essentially, who wants their magazine in digital form for the iPad can have it done. The template will supposedly also allow developers to easily implement back issues and the new in-app-subscription service.

I’m told; “Imagine a guy drawing and writing a comic book. He can’t sell it to Marvel or DC so he hooks up with a programmer and within days, he’s getting his comic book published and sold on iTunes.”

The report claims Apple will implement the new template by the end of the year. This is around the time we can expect iOS 5.1 or 5.2.

According to the Independent, Apple has informed their European iPhone carriers that the next-generation iPhone will not include Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Apple is reluctant to include the technology and introduce a new “wave and pay” system due a “lack of a clear standard across the industry.”

The iPhone 5 not having NFC technology does not mean Apple isn’t working on their own NFC service for a 2012 launch.

Apple is understood to be working on its own NFC proposition, which would link payments through iTunes. It hopes to introduce the technology in a handset likely to be released next year.

Apple was rumored to include this NFC technology in their just released iPad 2, and that same report from Bloomberg noted the iPhone 5, too, will include the NFC technology. NFC being scrapped as an iPad 2 feature may led credence to the Independent‘s report claiming the feature won’t be showing up in the iPhone 5 either. iLounge, too, previously claimed Apple is working on NFC tech.

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iOS hacker extraordinaire, Comex has done what he does best and has jailbroken Apple’s latest device. Comex has yet to say when the jailbreak will made public, and how it works, but we now at least know the iPad 2 is able to be jailbroken.

Interestingly, Comex was able to jailbreak it remotely.

Even better is that it looks like the 3G variants of the iPad 2 will have a jailbreak available, too, as Comex’s white iPad 2 is the Verizon version. We’ll be sure to let you all know when and how you will be able to break your iPad 2 free. Oh, and 3G iPad FaceTime?!

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Although we already told you the white iPhone 4 will be launching this Spring, there have still been doubts since spring is right before the supposed launch of the next-generation iPhone – “iPhone 5.” This has made some people wonder if Apple would actually launch a new iPhone 4 model right before an entirely new iPhone ships.

Relieving these doubts is Apple’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, Phil Schiller, who via Twitter reaffirmed the “white iPhone” (didn’t say 4) will be launching  spring-time this year. A good followup question would be is this device for GSM networks? Or will Verizon (CDMA) gain a white iPhone option as well?

A somewhat accurate analyst recently reported that the white iPhone 4 is currently in production with an April launch month. This follows reported improvements in white painting techniques that were backed up by Apple’s launch of a white iPad 2 this weekend.

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The iPhone repair experts at iFixyouri have determined that most of the weight savings in the iPad 2 – a fifth of a pound, is in the LCD and Glass assembly.

Here’s a breakdown weights of the Wifi iPads:

iPad 1 – 712.60g
iPad 2 – 600.60g (iPad 2 – 112g lighter)

If we break that down even further, the iPad 1 LCD/Glass is almost half the weight of the original iPad.

iPad 1 front half(LCD & Glass assembly) – 347.90g
iPad 1 back half – 364.70g

However, breaking down the iPad 2, we find a much lighter glass assembly accounts for most of the weight loss.  The glass we found out last night is 27% thinner than the original iPad. Eliminating the frame that the glass sits on, using thinner LCD and thinner glass, Apple saved 84.7g. That makes up for 75% of the weight reduction.

iPad 2 front half(LCD & Glass) – 263.20g
iPad 2 back half – 337.40g

Apple was able to shave almost 30 grams off of the rest of the device, and with a slightly bigger battery, that is significant.  But the lightness you feel is mostly the glass weight savings.

Our report on the iPad 2 glass from over a month ago first detailed Apple’s effort to save weight in the LCD/Glass assembly.

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The Apple online store opened yesterday with 3-4 day shipping times then it turned to 5-7 days and then to a whole 2-3 weeks. Now the Apple store is quoting 3 weeks to a month before you get your iPad 2. That’s only the time until the shipment happens, you can add a few days to a week before the magical tablet actually drops at your door step.

Apple is yet to report how many iPad 2s they sold on launch day but this 3-4 week shipment time also has to do with some apparent shortages. Yesterday, many customers reported shortages of certain iPad 2 models at Apple retail stores and third party resellers. Analysts are expecting Apple to cross the 600,000 sales mark for iPad 2s this launch weekend.

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There have been a few reports this morning claiming the iPad 2 will not fit or charge in the original iPad dock, so we put it to the test. The iPad 2 fits perfectly in the original iPad dock and also charges constantly. Another point some have made is that the iPad 2 fits loosely in the original iPad 2 dock, but our tests prove otherwise.

The only downside is putting the iPad 2 in the original iPad dock. Due to the tapering it’s more difficult to put the iPad 2 in the original iPad dock than the original iPad, but it really is feasible. It just takes an extra few seconds to make sure the tilted dock connector fits in correctly.

Now you need to choose whether or not you should purchase the iPad 2 dock for $29 that is shipping in 1-3 weeks. If you will constantly use this dock it’s a good idea, but if you’re only planning on using it from time-to-time and have an original iPad dock you can easily make do.

Reports have also claimed that the Apple iPad keyboard dock accessory has been killed off by Apple and is no longer available for Apple. The fact is, it is still available from Apple’s online store and is shipping in 1-2 business days. Another picture of the iPad 2 in the original iPad dock is after the break.

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iFixit does a roundup of the iPad 2 teardown with their Teardown Highlights.  Most notable in their summary, the iPad 2’s glass is significantly thinner than the previous iPad.  Obviously that helps for weight loss but it also could theoretically make it more fragile.  We noted the weigh loss in our LCD screen preview a few months ago.  More from iFixit:

• We did a quick glass and LCD thickness comparison:
  • iPad 1: lcd = 3.2 mm glass = .85 mm
  • iPad 2: lcd = 2.4 mm glass = .62 mm
• The thickness of these components — especially that of the glass — could drastically reduce the durability of the device, especially the glass’ resistance to shattering. We’ll see in due time if the percentage of folks with broken iPad 2 front glass is dramatically different than that of the original iPad.
• Lifting off the LCD exposes the iPad 2′s battery. We found a 3.8V, 25 watt-hour unit. That’s just a hair more than the original iPad’s 24.8 watt-hours, so any improved battery performance should be attributed to software and other hardware improvements.
• We confirmed via software that the iPad 2 indeed has 512 MB of RAM.
• The markings on the 1 GHz Apple A5 dual-core processor appear to be Samsung’s, but Chipworks will investigate in the forthcoming days to find out for sure.
• Other components that power the iPad 2:
  • Toshiba TH58NVG7D2FLA89 16GB NAND Flash
  • Broadcom BCM5973KFBGH Microcontroller
  • Broadcom BCM5974 CKFBGH capacitative touchscreen controller
  • Texas Instruments CD3240B0 11AZ4JT touchscreen line driver
  • Broadcom BCM43291HKUBC Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM tuner combo chip
  • S6T2MLC N33C50V Power Management IC
  • ST Micro AGD8 2103 gyroscope
  • ST Micro LIS331DLH accelerometer
• There’s also an Apple-branded 338S0940 A0BZ1101 SGP chip. This looks like the Cirrus audio codec Chipworks found in the Verizon iPhone, but they’ll have to get it off the board to make sure!

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A few 9to5mac readers have written in to let us know that their iPad 2 orders have already shipped with delivery date for next week. Others have let us know that their iPad 2s are prepared for shipment with a March 18th delivery date.

These particular orders were processed prior to Apple delaying shipments for 2-3 weeks from the 3-5 business days starting point. Apple’s online store is not the only store seeing shortages with Apple retail stores quickly selling out of many of the 18 models. Share your iPad 2s fate, in the comments.

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Apple has been hyping up today’s iPad 2 launch since its announcement last week with its numerous newsletters, video guided tours, etc. Now it’s launch day and it could be fairly said that Apple disappointed a few. Signs of shortages occurred as early as this morning when the Apple online store opened with iPad 2s shipping in 3-5 days. Then an hour passed and it was 5-7 days for all models, and an hour later it turned in 2-3 weeks.  But that is expected for online.  People spend a minute at their computer (even if they had to be awaken in the middle of the night to do so).

But what about the people who spent all day in line?

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Just like the previous iOS device launch days, today’s iPad 2 launch is spawning reports of some minor issues.  We’re getting some images of the yellow tint we saw last year.

Reader N. Peach sent this in. In all likelyiehood they yellow will dissipate just like last year’s issues as the glue from the factory dries.  Another reader’s is below:
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