Hasta La Gadget!

One of the reasons Apple’s supply of iPhone 5 devices couldn’t meet the opening weekend demand may be due to its decision to use thinner touchscreens vs. previous generations, which combine touch sensor and glass together in one. The tech in question is coming from just two suppliers at the moment, LG Display and Japan Display, and according to some, that’s leading to a shortfall in production numbers.

Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes said in a research note (via Bloomberg) on Monday that the supply issue could be helped by adding Sharp to the list of suppliers for the in-cell displays, but that the Japanese LCD supplier is having trouble getting production quality to where it should be in terms of reducing defects in new screens. Sharp was unable to begin shipping the screens ahead of the iPhone 5′s debut, Barclays claims.

IHS senior analyst Tom Dinges also told Bloomberg that supply constraints were a likely source of problems for Apple during opening weekend, but noted that that’s a very good problem to have. And Barclays anticipates that it will get better, with estimates of iPhone sales around 45.2 million for the December quarter, and 170.7 million for the iPhone 5′s first year on the market.

There’s also reason to believe that supply constraints could actually be a boon to Apple’s long-term financial performance. Analyst Rob Chira noted before the iPhone 5′s release this month that Apple’s stock has actually performed 2.2 times better in a quarter after official word of supply constraint has come from the company itself. That’s exactly what Apple did on Monday in its press release, with CEO Tim Cook providing a statement saying the company is working hard to meet demand but faces challenges in doing so. Chira saw the in-cell displays, as well as Qualcomm’s 28-nanometer baseband chip as potential weak areas in terms of supply volume, and Qualcomm has said that supplies of that part could be limited as it introduces new manufacturing processes.

So far, Apple’s stock is down, sitting at around $687 in aftermarket trading this morning ahead of the bell. But it could rebound easily once analysts get over the fact that opening weekend sales didn’t meet a lot of analyst expectations, and imagine what kind of numbers Apple can put up once it gets past initial supply constraint issues. We’ve reached out to Apple for more on what’s keeping initial supply of devices under demand, and will update if we hear back.

Update: Apple got back to us and said they had “nothing to add” to yesterday’s official press release when it comes to iPhone 5 supply constraints.

With Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 platform planned for a release on the 29^th of October, many are assuming that the announced Windows Phone 8 devices will be released shortly after that or on the day itself. Well if you’re looking forward to getting your hands on the Nokia Lumia 920, a small German retailer by the name of Handytick is already taking pre-orders for the phone with expected delivery dates pegged for the 17^th of October. Granted the dates are most definitely subject to change, website WPArea.de claims that the retailer is pretty reputable so there might be a slight chance that the 16^th October date might be on the money.

What we are hoping is not true are the prices which Handytick has listed that basically puts the Nokia Lumia 920 at around $968 (after conversion). Of course this will be a fully unlocked device but at an asking price of $968, Nokia might have a hard time convincing Android and iPhone users to jump ship when the latest iPhone and the end-high Android phones are cheaper by a few hundred dollars. Of course since no official announcement regarding availability has been made, perhaps the price listed is also a guess made by the retailer (we hope). In any case this isn’t the first time we’ve heard rumblings that the Nokia Lumia 920 could be released before Microsoft officially releases Windows Phone 8, but until it has been made official, we’ll be taking it with a grain of salt for now.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 5 and Nokia Lumia 920 compared in Nokia UK infographic, Nokia Lumia 920 passes FCC inspection, ready to rock and roll,

Anyone who’s dropped a cellphone in the bath knows that water and microelectronics don’t usually mix well. But at IBM’s Swiss lab in Zurich, marrying the two is becoming almost commonplace: microprocessors with water coursing through microchannels carved deep inside them are already crunching data in SuperMUC, an IBM supercomputer – with the heat that the water carries away used to warm nearby buildings. More »

A single line of code can apparently trigger an unstoppable factory-reset of the Samsung Galaxy S III, security researchers have discovered, with the potential for malicious websites to wipe out users’ phones. The hack was detailed by Ravi Borgaonkar at the Ekoparty security conference, with a simple USSD code – that could be sent from a website, or pushed to the handset by NFC or triggered by a QR code – that can reset the Galaxy S III or indeed other Samsung handsets.

Although the phone user is able to see the process taking place, hitting back on the device will not stop the reset. For QR code readers that automatically load whatever website has been stored to each code, or indeed NFC readers that do the same with NFC tags, the user would have no warning – and no hope of stopping – their handset from running the malicious code.

Only Samsung devices running TouchWiz appear to be affected, with basic Android only showing the code in the dialer screen but not running it automatically, Pau Oliva reports. Samsung’s default, though, is to dial the code automatically.

Perhaps most concerning, it’s reportedly possible to double up on the attack, Borgaonkar says, including a USSD code that also kills the SIM card currently in the handset. That way, a single message could be used to wipe a Samsung phone and leave the user with a broken SIM too.

It’s also possible to push Samsung handsets straight to a website running the bad code using a WAP-push SMS message. For the moment, the advice is to deactivate automatic site-loading in whatever QR and/or NFC reader software you use, and be careful about clicking links that you don’t implicitly trust.

Update: The same code has been found to work on the Galaxy Beam, S Advance, Galaxy Ace, and Galaxy S II. However, the Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus, which runs stock Android, is not susceptible.

Update 2: Other Samsung device owners are claiming that the hack does not work on their device. We’re running our own tests and will update when we know more.

Update 3: Tweakers’ Arnoud Wokke has filmed a demo of the hack in action on a Galaxy S II.

Update 4: “The USSD code issue in the SGS3 is patched, and has been for some time” TeamAndIRC claims. “Current i747 [AT&T Galaxy S III] and i9300 [European Galaxy S III] firmware are not vulnerable.” An update pushed out to the AT&T Galaxy S III last week apparently patched the loophole, with the i9300 being updated beforehand. We’re still yet to hear from Samsung with an official comment.

We’ve reached out to Samsung for comment.

[via Steve Troughton-Smith]

Samsung Galaxy S III remote data-wipe hack reportedly discovered [Updated] is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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If you own an iOS or Android device, then chances are you’ve either played or heard of the popular free running game, Temple Run by Imangi. For those unfamiliar, it’s a game where players try to collect as many coins as they can while avoiding obstacles and while trying to run as far as they can. It’s a strangely addictive game and is certainly a great way to pass the time while waiting for class to start or waiting for friends on while commuting to your destination. Interestingly it seems that Imangi has teamed up with Spin Master Games and announced that a Temple Run board game will be making its way into stores come 1^st of October.

Dubbed Temple Run Danger Chase, we’re not sure how exactly this one will play out, but based on the box art (pictured above), an “electronic idol” will be included. We’re not sure if this will tie in with the mobile game or if it will be completely separate, but it will be interesting to see how they have managed to take a mobile game and turned it into a board one. Perhaps it might be even more engaging, or perhaps it might lose the charm and the point of Temple Run to begin with, but we guess we will have to wait and see what everyone else thinks of it! So, anyone planning on picking up the board game version when it has been released?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Temple Run has been downloaded 100 million times since its launch [Infographic], Temple Run could make its way onto Windows Phone in the future,