Smartphone

249 'Smartphone' stories December 2010 - December 2013

This is what the 5c ‘Crocs’ case would look like for the iPhone 5s

Mark Gurman Dec 3 2013 - 11:40 am PT

When Apple launched the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c earlier this fall, the company also debuted accompanying cases. To match the plastic colors of the 5c, Apple launched a “Crocs-like” case for the phone with holes on the back.

The iPhone 5s launched alongside a leather case in multiple colors. Now, technology writer Michael Andrew shares photos of what he claims to be a prototype version of the 5c case for the 5s.

There are, however, two crucial differences between the iPhone 5C version of the case that was meant for the iPhone 5/5S and the actual, official iPhone 5C case that was released to the public:

Instead of the seven-by-five grid of holes that is on the back of the released iPhone 5C case, the case for the iPhone 5/5S sports a subtly different six-by-five grid of holes.

Unlike on the iPhone 5C case, the top and bottom of the iPhone 5/5S is not protected by the silicon case.

We can’t verify that these photos represent an actual Apple prototype, but they, nonetheless, show what the 5c case would look like if designed for the 5s’s body. Another photo is below:

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It’s an iPhone-controlled paper airplane – of course I want one

Ben Lovejoy Nov 29 2013 - 7:22 am PT

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There are some ideas so silly they’re irresistibly cool. An iPhone-controlled paper airplane? Of course I want one!

The Kickstarter project has already quadrupled its $50,000 goal with 57 days to go.

iPhone 5s and 5c take lions share of Japan smartphone sales in October

Benjamin Mayo Nov 27 2013 - 7:26 am PT

1 Comment

Kantar World Panel is reporting that Apple took 76% of total smartphone sales in Japan during October. This means Apple outsold other manufacturers by about 3:1 in the country.

[tweet https://twitter.com/KWP_ComTech/status/405288467141115904]

The strong sales performance is likely due to the addition of DoCoMo to the iPhone carrier lineup in Japan. Until this year, DoCoMo has resisted accepting the iPhone. However, with the iPhone 5s and 5c, customers could buy Apple’s flagship devices from the carrier at launch. DoCoMo is Japan’s largest carrier, with over 60 million subscribers. According to Kantar, the iPhone accounted for 61% of DoCoMo’s total smartphone sales during October.

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eBay for iPhone adds AirDrop and Pinterest sharing, retail pickup option

Zac Hall Nov 13 2013 - 10:02 am PT

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Taking advantage of a new technology introduced in iOS 7, eBay for iPhone has integrated sharing support for AirDrop in the latest update to its app.

AirDrop sharing allows you to share content you are viewing with others around you without your friends having to search the app or click any links. eBay also integrated Pinterest board sharing in its new version.

Customers in the US and UK now have the option to pickup purchases at local retailers as well.

Download or update the latest version eBay for iPhone for free on the App Store.

(eBay for iPad also received an update, which was mostly supplemental. Both change logs below.)
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T-Mobile sells 550k iPhones in Q3, 10% of total smartphone sales

Jordan Kahn Nov 5 2013 - 7:06 am PT

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While T-Mobile didn’t disclose specific iPhone numbers in its Q3 earnings report this morning, BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk has followed up with numbers from the company’s conference call. According to T-Mobile, iPhone sales accounted for almost 550k units, or 10% of its total 5.6 million smartphone sales including pre-paid and MetroPCS branded devices. Piecyk notes that number is around 15% of the carrier’s post-paid smartphone sales under its own brand, which is down from approximately 950k last quarter. T-Mobile confirmed the numbers in a statement to AllThingsD:

Sales of iPhones represented about 15 percent of T-Mobile-brand smartphone sales, CMO Mike Sievert said. T-Mobile sold about 3.6 million smartphones under its own brand, meaning it sold about 540,000 iPhones in the quarter.

T-Mobile today reported that it sold a record 5.6 million smartphones during the quarter, which includes sales to prepaid customers, accounting for around 88% of total phone units sold. The carrier didn’t have much time to sell the new iPhone 5s and 5c in its third quarter as the devices launched late in September, but the company did make a point of noting that it launched the new iPhones at “very attractive introductory prices of $99 down and $0 down” in its earnings release today. Piecyk notes how that compares to the other guys in Q3:

[tweet https://twitter.com/WaltBTIG/status/397743765474930688]
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iPhone takes 51% share of smartphone activations at Verizon in Q3, unit sales flat compared to Q2

Benjamin Mayo Oct 17 2013 - 5:45 am PT

5 Comments

Graph by Benedict Evans.

Verizon has just reported their results for the third quarter, with smartphone sales topping 7.6 million units. While the press release does not disclose details about iPhone performance, on Verizon’s conference call, the company announced that iPhones were responsible for just over half of all Verizon’s smartphone activations, compared to about 43% in Q2. It is important to remember the distinction between activations and sales, with activations including passed-down devices to spouses or children as well as the strong iPhone reseller market.

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Olloclip updates clip-on iPhone lens system, 3-in-1 becomes 4-in-1

Ben Lovejoy Oct 16 2013 - 5:09 am PT

6 Comments

Olloclip has updated its neat clip-on lens system we reviewed back in 2012, adding a second, more powerful macro lens and improving the optical quality of the others.

The olloclip 4-IN-1 is a quick-connect lens solution for the iPhone that includes Fisheye, Wide-Angle and 2 Macro lenses in one small, convenient package that easily fits in your pocket – and the palm of your hand. It connects to the iPhone within seconds so you’ll be sure to capture the image you want. If you don’t see the picture you’re looking for, just flip it over to switch lenses.

The original 10x macro lens has now been supplemented with a 15x lens. The lens is compatible with both iPhone 5 and 5s, and is available for pre-order at $69.99 with delivery expected early next month.

As expected, Apple Store iPhone trade-in program reaches the UK

Ben Lovejoy Oct 14 2013 - 5:38 am PT

5 Comments

You may recall we broke the story that Apple’s iPhone trade program, launched in the U.S. in August, was coming to the UK. It’s now launched – but you may not want to use it.

Apple says it will offer up to £175 for iPhone models in its UK stores. Apple offers up to $250 in its U.S.-based locations. The program allows a customer with an iPhone 3G or newer to receive a gift card with the trade-in-value for use towards a new iPhone. The new device must be activated in-store.

An online version, based on a different recycling firm, launched in the UK last year.

But for those who really don’t want the hassle of dealing with private sales, it’s at least an option to make that shiny new iPhone 5s a little cheaper …

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Apple’s guidelines now officially allow developers to use all colors of iPhone 5s in marketing

Benjamin Mayo Oct 9 2013 - 6:45 am PT

1 Comment

Alongside the launch of the 5s and 5c, Apple has adjusted its marketing guidelines for App Store developers in response to the wider color palette of iPhones now on sale. Apple now officially allows developers to include iPhone models other than black in their marketing.

Up to now, developers were only supposed to use black iPhones although it is well known that Apple never really enforced these requirements. As such, many developers have used white iPhones in PR images over the years regardless of the regulations. Now though. developers are free to use gold or white colored devices in their marketing at will.

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The perfect gift for British gadgeteers: the iKettle

Ben Lovejoy Oct 9 2013 - 5:31 am PT

1 Comment

We Brits are famous for the copious amounts of tea we drink (as well as for the fact that we drink it with milk, a habit which puzzles us as much as it does the rest of the world). But who has time to stand around your kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil? A problem neatly solved by the iKettle.

Simply use your iPhone to switch the kettle on from wherever you are in the house, and it will alert you when it’s boiling. Wander through to the kitchen, and you can be drinking tea within seconds. Loose-leaf Earl Grey, naturally.

The app also offers to put the kettle on as soon as your iPhone comes within wifi range when you’re arriving home. All terribly civilised.

Ok, it’s $160/£99, and only available on pre-order for delivery in 1-2 months, but if I didn’t already use a Wemo plug to switch on my kettle from my home-office, I’d be seriously tempted …

Verizon confirms software glitch allowed upgraders to keep unlimited plan, but deal will be honored

Ben Lovejoy Oct 1 2013 - 3:51 am PT

1 Comment

AllThingsD has confirmed our suspicion that it was a software glitch that allowed iPhone upgraders to keep their unlimited data plans.

There is, however, good news for those lucky enough to have upgraded their phones before the glitch was caught:

[Verizon] said it would honor the unlimited plans of those customers who managed to upgrade while Verizon was working to fix its software.

Rumor: Apple will be moving to TSMC for A8 chip production for the 4th year in a row

Ben Lovejoy Sep 30 2013 - 4:01 am PT

6 Comments

A 20nm test chip from TSMC

Oh, Digitimes. This is the 4th year in a row that you’ve reported that Apple would be moving its chip business away from Samsung in Texas to the friendly local confines of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). This time however, the report hedges the bet saying only a portion of the production will move to Taiwan. It also sources a Korean publication Hankyung.

Apple shifting production of its iPhone and iPad chips away from Samsung to TSMC is one of those constant rumors, dating back to at least 2011.

Taiwan-based Commercial Times said a trial with Apple was set to kick off in Q1 for the A6X chip, which didn’t happen. DigiTimes, a site not noted for its accuracy, regularly reports that Apple is shifting its chip production to TSMC, and claimed back in June that this would be the case for the A8 chip, saying that production would start in early 2014. Since we’re not expecting the iPhone 6 until the fall, it’s hard to see why this would be the case.

The WSJ reported back in June of this year that a deal had finally been struck, but big investments by Samsung in its new Austin, Texas plant suggest that multi-year contracts are likely in place, and The Korea Economic Daily is claiming that Samsung will still make 30-40 percent of the A8 processors in next year’s iPhone 6.

This is said to be TMSC experiencing difficulties (presumably yield rates) with its manufacture of 20nm chips. It was recently confirmed that the A7 chip in the iPhone 5s was made by Samsung.
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Production analysis disputes claims of 5s outselling 5c; forecasts combined sales of 50-55M in Q4

Ben Lovejoy Sep 26 2013 - 5:33 am PT

11 Comments

KGI’s Mingchi Kuo, an analyst with an excellent track record, has disputed an earlier suggestion by web analytics company Localytics that the iPhone 5s is outselling the 5c three-to-one, suggesting that actual sales are closer to 50/50 – with 5c sales actually likely to be somewhat higher.

KGI estimates that the 9M initial sales comprised 3.5-4.5M iPhone 5s, and 4.5-5.5M iPhone 5c.

The confidential briefing document points out that analytics data is based on activation (or, more specifically, use of the phone to browse the web and run certain apps), which is not the same as sales. KGI’s estimates are based on production numbers …
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BlackBerry receives buyout offer from Fairfax Capital for $4.7 billion dollars

Benjamin Mayo Sep 23 2013 - 10:47 am PT

8 Comments

Blackberry has just announced (via Business Insider) that an investment firm has put in an offer for the company. At $9 a share, the deal is worth about 4.7 billion dollars in total. Fairfax already owns about 10 percent of Blackberry before the deal.

Having an investment company buy Blackberry does not have a direct impact on the smartphone market. Often though, investment firms buy out companies with the aim of selling off assets separately. For instance, BlackBerry’s patent portfolio may soon be put up for auction as a result of the deal, allowing for smartphone makers like Apple and Google to then bid for the intellectual property without the other baggage associated with buying out the failing company in its entirety.

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AAPL stock skyrockets toward 500 in pre-market trading following 9M iPhone sales and high-end guidance

Ben Lovejoy Sep 23 2013 - 6:20 am PT

3 Comments

AAPL quickly climbed 6 percent in pre-market trading following Apple’s announcement that it had sold a record 9M iphones in the first weekend, beating most analyst expectations. The last time it hit $500 was six weeks ago, when Carl Icahn announced his increased stake in the company, believed to be in excess of $1.5B.

Analyst forecasts for sales of the new iPhones had ranged wildly from 5M to 10M, but 9M was at the high end of what most were expecting and substantially above the more pessimistic forecasts. Four major financial firms had seemed unimpressed by the announcement on 10th September, downgrading the stock.

Apple’s SEC filing advised investors that it expects to hit the high-end of its earlier Q4 guidance …
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Apple announces record 9 million iPhone sales over first three days, 200 million iOS 7 updates

Benjamin Mayo Sep 23 2013 - 5:31 am PT

9 Comments

Update: On Twitter, Tim Cook has tweeted, for the second time, to thank customers for the “amazing” sales.

[tweet https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/382172377569689600]

Apple has just announced first-weekend sales figures for the iPhone 5s and 5c. Sales for both phones total 9 million. In comparison, the iPhone 5 shipments topped 5 million in the same period. These numbers come in at the higher end of analyst estimates, with many predicting bearish sales similar to the iPhone 5 launch last year. As expected, Apple did not reveal the breakdown of sales between the different iPhone models.

Alongside phone sales, the company’s press release also highlights iOS 7’s successful launch. Apple has announced that 200 million devices have been updated to iOS 7 since it was released last Wednesday. This is double the rate at which iOS 6 was adopted.

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Apple’s iPhone 5S renders 1080P video at twice the rate of the iPhone 5, Geekbenches close to 2010 Mac Mini

9to5 Staff Sep 22 2013 - 5:32 am PT

22 Comments

Almost the exact 2x Apple promised and great for people doing big videos. Also notable from Macsfuture:

The iPhone 5s’ Geekbench score of 2552 is close to the score of the “Early 2010” version of the Mac Mini.

So it seems that Apple’s processors are about 3-4 years behind Intel’s currently. If Apple’s Ax processors keeps doubling speed every year and Intel struggles to keep up with Moore’s law, it doesn’t take a Computer Science major to see what’s going to happen in a few years.
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Apple says demand for new iPhones is “incredible,” iPhone 5s in limited supply

Jordan Kahn Sep 20 2013 - 8:13 am PT

16 Comments

Screen Shot 2013-09-19 at 7.43.13 PM

Following the retail launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in Apple Stores and retail partners around the world today, Apple has provided a statement to AllThingsD calling demand for the new iPhones “incredible”. Apple also noted that the iPhone 5s is only available in limited supplies and sold out in many stores, lining up with what we first reported yesterday:

“Demand for the new iPhones has been incredible and we are currently sold out or have limited supply of certain iPhone 5s models in some stores,”

Yesterday we reported that many stores were getting little to no gold and or silver/white units of the new iPhone 5s, and that most retail outlets would only have the Space Grey model available for sale. We’ve heard that is indeed the case today even at Apple’s own retail stores as most locations have an extremely limited number of gold iPhone 5s units.

This morning the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has instructed suppliers to increase production of the gold iPhone 5s by one-third, as shipping times for the device online have now been pushed back to October in most countries. That’s compared to the 7-10 days quoted for other colors of the iPhone 5s in most of Apple’s initial launch countries.

Apple boosts production of gold iPhone 5s by a third after availability went straight to October

Ben Lovejoy Sep 20 2013 - 1:52 am PT

13 Comments

The WSJ reports that Apple has instructed suppliers to increase production of the gold model of the iPhone 5s by one-third after seeing high demand for the color. Availability for the gold model was into October within 30 minutes of orders opening on Apple Store sites around the world, with retail stores also reportedly selling out quickly and carriers getting few in the first place …
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iPhone 5s sales go live, with 7-10 day shipping estimates in Australia, Chinese Apple Store quoting October delivery

Benjamin Mayo Sep 19 2013 - 9:22 am PT

3 Comments

Update:

In the UK, the iPhone 5s has just gone on sale. Shipping estimates stand at 7-10 days. At the time of writing, all models are expected to be delivered in the first week of October.

The iPhone 5s has just gone on sale in Australia. However, as has been noted several times, supply of the 5s is extremely constrained. As a result, Apple is already quoting 7-10 day shipping estimates for the device. The prolonged availability applies to all models and all colors. 5s cases are similarly low in supply, to a similar extent, quoting 3-5 day shipping times.

Supply issues seem to apply to all countries. In the UK, O2 has announced that they will have no 5s’ in stock, but will order it for when it becomes available. Via CZ on Twitter, for the Apple Store in Hong Kong, the 5s has already lapsed into October for shipping.

@markgurman if you check HK apple online store. 5s available to ship in October

— CZ (@CSZhang) September 19, 2013

The iPhone 5s becomes available in the US at 12.01 Pacific Time tonight.

Thanks Sonny Dickson.

Opening weekend iPhone sales estimated at 6-8 million units, reiterates 5s supply constraints

Benjamin Mayo Sep 19 2013 - 5:29 am PT

8 Comments

KGI analyst Mingchi Kuo has released his estimates for iPhone sales over the launch weekend. The forecast is set at between 6 – 8 million units, accounting for both the 5c and the 5s. Apple opted not to report preorder sales figures for the 5c, leading some to speculate that demand for the device is weak. Kuo’s guidance does not seem to reflect this as an issue, however.

In 2012, the iPhone 5 shipped 5 million units across its launch weekend. If Apple hit the upper limit of Kuo’s forecast, 8 million units, that would result in sales growth of about 60%.

However, Kuo warns that supply is likely going to be a limiting factor in the near term. Kuo expects the available supply to skew heavily in the 5c’s favour, with only about a third of total supply in the launch period being 5s units. For the holiday quarter, Kuo says supply constraints will loosen to enable Apple to report record shipments of 55 million iPhones in fiscal Q4.

Designing an iPhone 5c/5s case? Here are your official Apple schematics

Benjamin Mayo Sep 16 2013 - 5:05 am PT

6 Comments

iPhone 5s schematic, click to enlarge. 5c below

Apple has updated it guidelines (PDF) for case manufacturers to include specific requirements and schematics for the iPhone 5s and 5c. As expected, the 5s schematics are similar to the iPhone 5 since the outer shell is largely unchanged.

The 5c design is more distinct from the 5, because while the internal layout is nearly identical, the exterior plastic casing is very different. See below for the 5c’s schematics.

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Some iPhone retailers seeing double the demand they saw at last year’s launch

Benjamin Mayo Sep 13 2013 - 8:13 am PT

7 Comments

Via KnowYourMobile, Phones4U are reporting that demand for the iPhone 5s and 5c has already surpassed that of the iPhone 5. Although this is the first year that Apple is offering two models of iPhone, which would naturally boost interest, the fact that this milestone has happened so soon is surprising. Phones4U say that growth in pre-registrations is already double what it was for the iPhone 5 for the same period. The company predicts that the phones will set their record for most handset pre-registrations ever.

The iPhone 5C became available for pre-order this morning. Certain SKU’s of the phone have already sold out.

Unlocked 16GB Yellow iPhone 5c is first to sell out, available to ship by 9/25 (Update: 1-2 weeks in Hong Kong)

Jordan Kahn Sep 13 2013 - 7:33 am PT

10 Comments

We have our first sellout!

Following pre-orders going live today for Apple’s new iPhone 5c, shipping times for the yellow, unlocked model of the device have just slipped from the expected delivery date of September 20 to “available to ship by 9/25.” That’s only for the 16GB model of the device, as all other colors and models are currently still listed as arriving by the previously announced Sept. 20 release date.

The device is also currently listed as shipping in 1-2 weeks on Apple’s Hong Kong website and in Canada all models and colors of the iPhone 5c are shipping between Sept. 20 and Sept. 24.

Apple is currently accepting preorders for the new iPhone 5c in the US, UK, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, and Singapore, and previously announced that the device would begin shipping alongside the new iPhone 5s later this month on September 20. Apple is still listing a delivery date of Sept. 20 in all other launch countries for the iPhone 5c, but we’ll keep you updated if shipping times slip in other countries.

Other than Apple, a number of its carrier and retail partners are also accepting for preorders for the iPhone 5c starting today, but Apple isn’t making preorders available for the iPhone 5s before its release.

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