Tech Industry

The US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple today (via PatentlyApple) detailing how a future iPhone could potentially utilize a virtual SIM card that integrates NFC technology. We reported back in October 2010 rumors of Apple experimenting with virtual SIM cards that would essentially allow consumers to bypass carriers when purchasing an iPhone and utilize a carrier-chooser App Store app to select the network of their choosing. Not long after, reports claimed Apple ditched plans due to concerns raised by European carriers who threatened to no longer subsidize the iPhone.

Today’s patent, which was originally filed in Q4 2010, gives us a much better look into Apple’s possible plans to integrate a custom SIM into a future iOS device. Of course, as reported before, the tech would potentially allow Apple to offer the device through their retail locations and cut the carriers out of iPhone sales. However, according to PatentlyApple, Apple claims another benefit the technology would provide is the ability to produce an even “thinner, astoundingly beautiful, next generation iPhone”, thanks to the lack of a SIM card slot and associated costs. PatentlyApple walk us through the patent:

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According to sources for Digitimes within upstream supply chains, Apple is planning complete overhauls for much of their product lineup for 2012. This seems likely seeing that Apple did not re-design any of their hardware products for a 2011 launch. The publication is calling for an all new iPhone, iMac, MacBook Air and iPad. This all new iPad is likely the one Digitimes spotted for a Q3 launch in the supply chain. This completely new iPhone could be the teardrop-shaped device we’ve heard so much about and rumors of an iMac redesign have yet to become specific.

Apple last overhauled the iMac in 2009 with larger, brighter LED displays, thinner unibody casings, and faster processors. The most recent update came in May with an HD FaceTime camera, improved graphics performance, and faster, quad-core processors across the lineup. In addition, the publication is calling for a MacBook Air overhaul, which seems unlikely given that brand new MacBook Air designs were launched in late 2010. If Digitimes is correct about a MacBook Air overhaul, we think 15 inch addition is what they are discussing. The report says that the new iPhone and iMac are scheduled for launch during the second half of 2012, but offers no launch details for the new MacBook Air line. (Image: The Verge)

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Apple engineers are in the process of contacting iPhone 4S owners in order to determine the cause of alleged battery life issues. One iPhone owner told the Guardian that Apple engineers “installed a monitoring program” on his iPhone to diagnose the source of the problem:

“I then got a call from a senior [Apple] engineer who said he had read my post and was ‘reaching out’ to users for data and admitted this was an issue (and that they aren’t close to finding a fix!) and asked lots of questions about my usage and then asked if he could install the file below and that he would call back the day after to retrieve the info. I extracted the file from my Mac after a sync and emailed it to him. He was incredibly helpful and apologetic in the typical Apple way!”

The unnamed iPhone user was apparently experiencing a “10% drop in standby every hour”, he turned off location services and Siri in an attempt to troubleshoot which new features exclusive to the iPhone 4S might be causing the battery loss to no avail. We first reported about users complaining about the iPhone 4S’s battery draining unexplainably fast a couple weeks ago. The issue seems to only be affecting a small number of users, although the Apple discussion boards are still full of people experiencing similar problems. If this account with an Apple engineer is to be believed, it looks like Apple is at least acknowledging the issue even if they “aren’t close to finding a fix”. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a6cNdhOKwi0#!]

Vapor. (via GeekWire)

China Mobile doesn’t officially offer the iPhone yet. But it is carrying 10 Million iPhones on its network according to Reuters.

“We have not yet got agreement with Apple,” Wang said on the fringes of the ITU World telecoms fair in Geneva. “Apple promised to provide, when they develop the iPhone for LTE, that it will include TD-LTE. We are discussing the details.”

There had been rumors that Apple would offer a TL-LTE version of the iPhone 4S earlier this year with China Mobile going as far as saying:

China Mobile and Apple hope to find a solution for close collaboration. We discussed this issue with Apple. We hope Apple will produce a new iPhone with TD-LTE. We have already got a positive answer from Apple.

It appears that positive answer wasn’t for this round of devices, though the CDMA Verizon iPhone arrived off schedule in January. TD-LTE will require some separate chips which could be hard to fit inside the iPhone 4S’s enclosure. Apple however has to look longingly at that 600 million+ subscriber base, however.

While T-Mobile USA is on the opposite end of the subscriber spectrum (China Mobile has around the same amount of subscribers as the populations of Europe and the US combined), T-Mobile is the #4 carrier in the US in the midst of AT&T attempting to swallow it.

But they both don’t officially offer the iPhone, yet have a significant number of iPhones floating around on their network. Both offer a different type of high speed 4G network that stock iPhone 4Ses can’t take advantage of. Both networks do offer EDGE/GSM speeds however which some may find valuable tied with reduced fees or better coverage. T-Mobile told us earlier this year that they had over a million iPhones on their network, a figure that is likely to go up with Apple sneakily offering iPhones 4S unlocked at launch.

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As always, the guys over at IHS iSuppli have just published analysis of their iPhone 4S teardown showing a BOM of $188 for the 16GB and in the process revealing some previously undisclosed suppliers.

The $188 BOM is of course for the entry-level 16GB model, which would also inflate to $196 if factoring in an $8 manufacturing cost. BOM for the 32GB model comes in at $207 (again, before manufacturing), and $245 for the 64GB variant.

The report describes the 4S’s insides as including a “wealth of innovation”, in contrast to the device’s feature set which was received as an incremental upgrade by most. Among the suprises revealed during the teardown– NAND flash memory supplied by Hynix Semiconductor (a first for iPhone) and a “unique custom” wireless module from Avago Technologies Ltd.  The device torn down by iSuppli carried the same sony Sensor as the device X-Rayed by Chipworks but they postulate that Omnivision may also provide an 8-megapixel sensor as well for some of the devices.

Senior director of teardown services for IHS, Andrew Rassweiler, explains:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIsdkOvySkk]

AT&T just released its earnings and showed strong iPhone sales despite having a 16-month old device on hand with updates looming.  The carrier reported activating 2.7 million iPhones in the quarter out of a total of 4.8 million total devices.  Android device sales doubled year over year.

Non-iPhone Smartphone Sales Increase. AT&T continues to deliver robust smartphone sales. (Smartphones are voice and data devices with an advanced operating system to better manage data and Internet access.) In the third quarter, the company sold 4.8 million smartphones, representing nearly two-thirds of postpaid device sales. Sales of Android devices more than doubled year over year, and almost half of all smartphone sales were non-iPhone devices. During the quarter, 2.7 million iPhones were activated.

Our polls show that significantly more than half of all US iPhone users go with AT&T, due mostly to the higher data rates and ability to talk and use data at the same time.

Press release follows:
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Since the release of the iPhone 4S, artificially intelligent Siri has amazed, surprised, and in some cases, disappointed when it comes to just how intelligent it is. While it seems to handle singing duets pretty well, many have pointed to issues with thick accents, lack of Maps and local service support in UK, and its ability to dial emergency services. Most of the time Siri understands what you’re saying, but if it doesn’t, it most often provides a simple response letting you know. However, when the guys over at Electricpig asked Siri to perform some tasks they knew it couldn’t, they came up with some interesting results:

As you can see in the image above, after asking Siri to “Make a voice memo”, it responded:

“I haven’t yet learned to take dictation, James. You’ll have to use the Voice Memos app for that.”

Obviously “yet” is the key word here. Could this be a hint at Apple’s plans to bring new features to Siri in future updates? Possibly incrementally through the cloud rather than waiting for a major iOS update? The guys also asked Siri a number of other similar questions from “Update my Facebook status” to “Send a tweet” and “Open in iTunes”. When they asked it to “Download an app”, Siri responded:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-F_ke3rxopc]

The keynote went a little bad over in Hong Kong with both the Facial Recognition and the Quick Response features not working or crashing the device. Overall though, there are some interesting new features that certainly differentiate Android from iOS and Windows Phone 7.

As for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone, it has a 5-megapixel camera which has to be a letdown when compared to 8 megapixel cameras that are standardizing on the high end across the industry. Its most impressive feature (unless you are trying to squeeze it into your pocket) has to be the 4.65-inch 720P display. Although Pentile, which means not every pixel gets RGB dots, it does get close to Apple’s 326 PPI Retina display with a 316 PPI density. Like the as yet unpopular Honeycomb tablets, it doesn’t have any front facing buttons but has screen buttons that shift around as well as all of those new Android 4.0 features.

Check 9to5Google.com for ongoing coverage.

…except the huge smartphone sticking out the back.

Imitation=flattery? Check the whole lineup below. via 9to5Google

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“It’s meaningless unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of their present size,” – Steve Jobs on a potential 7-inch iPad from the Q4 2010 earnings call

After digesting that boulder-sized grain of salt, here’s the latest rumor out of Taiwan.

A report from UDN (via Unwired View), claims manufacturers LG Display and AU Optronics have sent samples of 7.85-inch “iPad Mini” displays to Apple for approval. Apple has apparently already approved specifications for the device and the report claims it could ship as early as next year. Perhaps Apple execs don’t any longer share Jobs’ view that a 7-inch model would be “useless” or “dead on arrival”.

A rough translation of the report seems to mention the same resolution as iPad 2 but also notes 52% increased resolution “per unit area” for the smaller iPad variant. It also mentions “lower prices” and “emerging markets” as the motivating factor for Apple. We already know how Steve Jobs felt about the possibility a 7-inch iPad. After his sandpaper comment (above), Jobs continued:

“Apple has done extensive user testing on touch interfaces over many years, and we really understand this stuff. There are clear limits on how close you can physically place elements on a touchscreen before users cannot reliably tap, flick, or pinch them. This is one of the key reasons, we think, the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps”

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According to several news sources, the partial shutdown of key Apple manufacturer Catcher Technology due to environmental concerns could lead to supply constraints for the company’s MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lineups.

Financial Times reports:

In an emergency announcement on Sunday night, Taiwan’s Catcher Technology (2474:TAI), one of the world’s biggest makers of metal casings for notebook PCs, said it had been ordered to close part of its plant in China’s Suzhou province by regulators, after local residents complained of bad odours generated by the plant.

If you’ve never heard of Catcher Technology, you’re probably more familiar with their work than you think. The unibody casing of Apple’s current MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lineups is perhaps the main reason Catcher is one of the world’s biggest makers of metal casings for computers. The company expects the shutdown to cut sales by a fifth in October and Catcher’s president Allen Horng had this to say at a press conference on Monday (via WSJ):

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Sprint took a big risk on the iPhone, paying a rumored $20B up front to get the iPhone over the next four years (that is some pipeline!).

Mr. Hesse told the board the carrier would have to agree to purchase at least 30.5 million iPhones over the next four years—a commitment of $20 billion at current rates—whether or not it could find people to buy them, according to people familiar with the matter. In order to keep the price people pay for the phone low and competitive with rivals, Sprint would be subsidizing the cost of each phone to the tune of about $500, which would take a long time to recoup even at the high monthly fees iPhone users pay.

Directors debated what they had just heard. Some worried the payoff would be too long in coming. One member questioned whether the multiyear deal might outlast the iPhone’s popularity. To sell that many iPhones, Sprint would have to double its rolls of contract customers, convert all of them to the Apple device or a combination of the two.

It appears that the risk is already starting to pay off.

Today, spokeswoman Michelle Mermelstein told us:

Fared Adib, Sprint Product Chief, issued the following statement: “Sprint today reported its best ever day of sales in retail, web and telesales for a device family in Sprint history with the launch of iPhone 4S and iPhone 4. We reached this milestone at approximately noon CT/1pm ET. The response to this device by current and new customers has surpassed our expectations and validates our customers’ desire for a truly unlimited data pricing plan.”

Unlimited is a good thing.

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Update: Hard Candy CEO Tim Hickman reached out on 9to5Mac to talk about the experience. His full comment after the break.

Ever wonder exactly what iPhone case manufacturers go through prior to an next-gen iPhone unveiling? When it comes to Tim Hickman and his company Hard Candy Cases, the process consisted of spending more than $50,000 to create cases based on a rumored iPhone 5 design that never came to fruition. He even started taking pre-orders on his site.

Based on tipsters in China who sent Hickman 3D models claiming to be that of the, at that point, yet to be unveiled next-gen iPhone and sporting a widened Home button and tapered design, the company got to work. Unfortunately, when October 4th rolled around, that design was nowhere to be seen. Bloomberg reports:

“After three separate manufacturing partners in China sent him detailed 3D models of an iPhone with a widened, pill-shaped “home” button and a slightly tapered back, Hickman decided to roll the dice. He paid $50,000 to make steel moldings to mass-produce cases for the new design and, on the morning of Apple’s announcement, began taking orders on his website. The gamble backfired…Hickman suddenly owned $50,000 worth of paperweights.”

Hickman is hoping his $50,000 investment will pay off with the design being incorporated into a future iPhone saying, “The data we got came from somewhere.” It’s not surprising that Hard Candy took the risk, however, as the company won big with the September 2010 iPod touch, with their cases hitting the shelf the same week of release thanks to leaked designs.

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US District Judge Lucy Koh came down on Samsung today for infringing on Apple’s patents in a preliminary hearing on Apple’s request to bar some Galaxy products from being sold in the United States. She stopped short of issuing an injunction however, like her Australian counterpart yesterday, saying that Apple may have some issues establishing the validity of its patents.

Apple and Samsung have been at each others’ throats in more than 20 districts around the world. The fight has ensnarled some of the two companies’ partners and vendors.

Mobile providers Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA have opposed Apple’s request, arguing that a ban on Galaxy products would cut into holiday sales.

Apple must show that Samsung infringed its patents and that its patents are valid under the law.

At the hearing on Thursday in a San Jose, California federal court, Koh also said she would deny Apple’s request for an injunction based on one of Apple’s so-called “utility” patents.

She did not say whether she would grant the injunction based on three other Apple “design” patents.

Koh characterized her thoughts on the utility patent as “tentative” but said she would issue a formal order “fairly promptly.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, 11-1846.

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Apple’s current line of MacBook Pros is heavily constrained with all models appearing to be nearly out of stock. Don’t fear, though, if you want a MacBook Pro because new models are right around the corner. Updates to all MacBook Pro models have appeared in Apple’s inventory system for the 13-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch screen sizes. Apple will continue to ship two 13-inch models, two 15-inch models, and one 17-inch model.

This MacBook Pro refresh will not be the expected re-designed models, but will likely bring some marginally faster processors and the Bluetooth 4.0 technology that Apple started shipping in the latest MacBook Airs and the new iPhone 4S. The new internal code names for the updated MacBook Pro line are K90IA (13-inch), K91A (15-inch), and K92A (17-inch). The A in the codename signifies this next MacBook Pro refresh as being relatively minor. Thanks, Mr. X!

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Update: He’s wrong.  We’ve heard from an impeccable source that Google plans to have invites out “in the next day or so” and there is no patent delay.

We reported earlier that Google and Samsung were delaying the release of the new Nexus Prime phone and Android 4.0 “Ice cream Sandwich” out of respect for the passing of Steve Jobs.

“We believe this is not the right time to announce a new product as the world expresses tribute to Steve Jobs’s passing,” the companies said.

But according to often (but not always) correct blogger Eldar Murtazin, there are patent issues at hand which need to be addressed before the devices and OS  ship.  Specifically, Google is slicing out features which may be subject to Apple’s Patents…

See Steve Jobs introducing multi-touch in 2007 below, saying “Boy have we patented it!”.  More coverage at 9to5google.com
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxjiQoTp864]

Damn impressive.  I’m with the audience at 1:18 and again later when Kevin Lynch’s picture is unblurred.  I just hope I kept all of those amazing but flawed pictures that I can now unblur. via TNW

Update: A better version is over at Adobe.
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We’ve been hoping for a new Apple TV since Apple began transitioning its iOS device lineup to dual-core A5 processors, and we now have some compelling evidence for a next-generation Apple TV being in the works. Deep inside the iOS 5 file system is a reference to a Apple TV 3,1. This would be an upgrade from the current Apple TV’s 2,1 marking. The number changing from 2 to 3 represents major changes, and with the Apple TV recently gaining a fully re-designed case, we expect this upgrade to mainly consist of internal changes.

In all likelihood, this new Apple TV will gain some of internal power from the iPhone 4S and iPad 2: the dual-core A5 chip and maybe a boost in the RAM department. The Apple TV 3,1 reference comes from a file that Apple uses to activate unreleased devices that are in testing; furthermore this Apple 3,1 is already in testing stages. A dual-core Apple TV will likely mean 1080P video playback, a current restriction due to the current model’s A4 processor. We will also likely see some 1080P iTunes content to come along with this next-generation model’s new abilities.

Although this model has turned up in the iOS 5 file system, we must warn that devices that never have come to fruition have also shown up in the iOS file system; namely an iPhone 3,2 and an iPod touch 4,2. These devices have been characterized as internal development units, but with previous rumors pointing to an A5, 1080P capable Apple TV, we’d say this Apple TV 3,1 becoming a reality is very likely. Also lookout for an Apple TV with bluetooth in the near future.

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The same antenna expert who claims to have predicted the iPhone 4 “antennagate” controversy thinks Apple may once again run into trouble with the new antenna tech in the iPhone 4S. This time, however, the problems may arise due to patent infringement. This according to a translated report from ComON.

Danish professor Gert Frølund Pedersen thinks the new wireless system will be good enough to fix the antenna issues that “plagued” the iPhone 4, but questions whether or not Apple is entitled to use it:

“The idea is good enough, but the question is whether they are allowed to use it.”

Pedersen and others at the Aalborg University think Apple will run into legal issues related to patents the professors sold to Samsung in 2007. The report also notes Samsung has not yet used these patents in litigation with Apple.

He seems to explain the patents cover technology that intelligently switches between multiple antennas. The two he thinks Apple will most likely infringe on can be seen here and here. Both relate to an apparatus and method of selecting an appropriate antenna in a system utilizing multiple antennas.

As an example, one method in the patents selects an antenna based on whether a device is in portrait or landscape mode, and Gert speculates Apple might have included that feature in the new antenna:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py9TfZGie48]

Here’s the official statement from Google and Samsung:

“We believe this is not the right time to announce a new product as the world expresses tribute to Steve Jobs’s passing,” the companies said.

They are likely to make an announcement on the launch late next week.  The new Google phone is built by Samsung and is rumored to have a 4.65-inch, 720P display with dual core 1.5GHz Samsung processor, NFC, 1GB of RAM and other speeds and feeds.  It will likely be one of the stronger competitors the iPhone 4S faces this holiday season.

More at 9to5google.com
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