Hasta La Gadget!

On this week’s show, we dive into the top-secret Best Buy handbook for the Apple iPad launch; take a closer look at Alienware’s 11-inch M11x gaming laptop; and see if David …

Originally posted at Digital City Podcast

You heard right, folks — according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is currently “developing a new iPhone to debut this summer,” and as if that weren’t enough, it’s also “working on another model for US mobile phone operator Verizon Wireless.” As of this moment, details about the break are nowhere to be found, but it’s not like either tidbit is shocking. This summer will mark the one-year anniversary of the iPhone 3GS, and if the Cupertino-based company keeps with its historical refresh pattern, we’re just a few months out from seeing the latest and greatest iPhone. There’s also been no shortage of iPhone-to-Verizon rumors over the years, with the latest of ’em happening during the run-up to the iPad’s launch.

Update: We’re now learning that the “next iPhone is being manufactured by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry,” which just so happens to be the same outfit responsible for crafting all prior iPhones. That’s according to “people briefed on the matter” and sourced by the WSJ. It’s also stated that the world’s first CDMA iPhone will be manufactured by Pegatron Technology, which we caught just last week dabbling in some of NVIDIA’s Tegra 2-based wares. If all goes well, Pegatron could begin mass production of the CDMA iPhone (exact model not disclosed) this September, so it’s hard to say if Sprint or Verizon would have access before the all-too-lucrative holiday season. As for quotes on the matter? Most everyone involved wouldn’t say a word, but an AT&T spokesman did utter the following: “There has been lots of incorrect speculation on CDMA iPhones for a long time. We haven’t seen one yet and only Apple knows when that might occur.“

On a week that couldn’t possibly get any bigger for Apple, that’s exactly what just happened. Everyone suspected that a fourth-generation iPhone was in the works, but having an outlet like the WSJ confirm it just makes the summer that much harder to wait for. There’s also the possibility that 2010 will be the final year that AT&T retains its death-grip on the iPhone, but by the sound of this report, it still seems as if the nation’s largest GSM carrier may nab exclusive rights on the latest iPhone. We also can’t help but wonder about the future of a true 4G iPhone — will Sprint manage to grab a WiMAX-enabled version? Will Verizon get its grubby paws on an LTE model? We figured only Jobs would know, but now… there might just be someone else out there willing to spill the beans.

Update 2: Soon after the news broke, we were informed that the next-generation iPhone would be announced on June 22nd (a Tuesday, naturally) and would be dubbed the iPhone HD (a name that has been tossed around before). That certainly makes sense given that Apple almost certainly has to up the pixel count in order to rival the EVO 4G, HD2 and all of those other high-res handsets, but we’re still reserving judgment until we see that fateful media invite hit our inbox.

Update 3: John Gruber’s just weighed in with some more tidbits, in his characteristically polite way. Gruber says the next model will have an A4-class SoC, a 960 x 640 display, a front-facing camera, and that iPhone OS 4.0 will enable third-party multitasking. A pretty safe set of predictions, in all, but Gruber’s done pretty well in the past, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

[Thanks, Chris]

WSJ: Apple ‘developing new iPhone,’ plus another for Verizon (update: iPhone HD, front-facing camera?) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As many would expect, Apple is developing an iPhone upgrade to debut this summer, according to The Wall Street Journal, but more surprising is the rumor that a Verizon iPhone is in the works as well.

WSJ cites sources who were briefed on a CDMA-compatible iPhone being manufactured by Pegatron, a Taiwanese manufacturing subsidiary of Asus. CDMA is the standard used on Verizon phones.

The sources said Pegatron was scheduled to mass produce CDMA iPhones in September, but a release date was not made clear.

Whispers of a Verizon-compatible iPhone have made the rounds since last year. However, this report lends the rumor more credence, as it was co-written by WSJ’s Yukari Kane, who accurately broke the news on Steve Jobs’ liver transplant and was also correct about some key facts regarding the iPad prior to its official unveiling. Some have speculated that Apple has performed controlled leaks through WSJ reporters, including Kane.

Update 5 p.m. PT: Daring Fireball’s John Gruber has posted a sarcastic response criticizing Kane’s story for its lack of detail while incidentally listing what he’s heard will be in the next iPhone: an A4-family CPU system-on-a-chip,  a 960-by-640 resolution display, a second front-facing camera and third-party multitasking in iPhone OS 4.

See Also:

• Verizon iPhone ‘Unlikely’ in 2010, Says Analyst
• Analyst Predicts Verizon iPhone Announcement Next Week
• Verizon iPhone Could be Here Next Year
• Verizon iPhone? Don’t Hold Your Breath
• Verizon iPhone Could Arrive Next Year After All

Photo: Jami3.org/Flickr

The satellite TV provider says ESPN 3D and another dedicated 3D channel will be available to all customers as a free upgrade. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20001383-260.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Circuit Breaker/a/p

If you’re one of the many scientists and researchers using a PlayStation 3 as a cheap alternative to a supercomputer, you’ll want to steer clear of Sony’s latest firmware update.

Sony will offer a software upgrade on April 1 that will disable the “Install Other OS” feature that was available on PS3 systems prior to the slimmer models. The feature allowed users to run Linux on the console. Now, Sony says “security concerns” have forced it to remove the functionality.

Users who get the latest OS version will lose access their older data after the update, says a Sony spokesperson.

The PlayStation 3 has emerged as a favorite among researchers looking to create homebrew supercomputers on the cheap. When clustered, the PS3’s Cell processor — developed by Sony, IBM and Toshiba — can rival the power of a supercomputer, say some researchers.

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Physics Professor Gaurav Khanna, for instance, created a step-by-step guide to building a supercomputer using the PS3 that could potentially reduce the cost of general computing research.

Stanford has a Folding@home initiative where PS3 users can sign up to use their machine as part of a distributed computing project that simulates protein folding.

PS3 users not choosing to upgrade to the latest version will pay a price. They will lose the ability to sign into the online PlayStation network, chat or play Blu-ray discs that require the latest version of the operating system.

But if you are trying to model the effect of gravitational waves or molecular dynamics, you probably won’t miss those features much, anyway.

See Also:

• Astrophysicist Replaces Supercomputer with a Cluster of Eight PS3s
  
• Review: Custom Built Gaming PC Performs Like a Ferrari
  
• Microsoft, Cray Unleash $25K Supercomputer

Photo: (William Hook/Flickr)