Hasta La Gadget!

Granted, the existence of a 7-inch iPad mini is far from confirmed, but the latest “evidence” to fan those rumor flames is a photo of what appears to be a dock connector flex cable that connects the smaller dock connector, headphone jack and home button connector. The photo appeared on the site Nowhereelse.fr, which also recently published photos that purportedly show the next-gen iPhone’s tiny docking connector. Other reports have indicated that the iPad mini’s headphone jack will be located on the top of the device (as it is on the current version of the tablet) as opposed to on the bottom, which would contradict this latest leaked photo, but this new layout corresponds to rumors about the iPhone 5. The one semblance of certainty in all this? iFixit‘s Kyle Wiens weighed in to say that the component “is consistent” with Apple parts.

Filed under: Cellphones

Leaked photo allegedly shows iPad mini’s dock connector flex cable with headphone jack on bottom originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 18:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Viewdini streaming metasearch service launched a few months ago for Verizon’s 4G LTE-laden Android hardware, and now it’s finally available on iDevices. While the droid app is exclusive to those with a 4G plan on Big Red’s network, anything running iOS 4.3 and up can now make use of Viewdini, independently of carrier ties. As the screenshots above show, you’re also good to go on 3G, although you better watch that data allowance to avoid any nasty surprises. Interestingly, the iOS version currently only digs through the catalogues of 11 content providers compared with 18 on the Android version, but you’re still getting access to various big names like ABC, Crackle, Hulu Plus, Netflix and Verizon’s own video service. More providers should be added to the list soon, and if you’d like to give Viewdini a try, it’s available at the App Store now.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Wireless, Internet

Verizon’s Viewdini appears on iOS: works on any network, hunts video from 11 sources originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen the rumored next iPhone’s minuscule docking port more than once. Any of the cabling that plugs into that port, however, has been non-existent until today. If photos slipped to Nowhereelse.fr are more than just flights of fancy, they show a much narrower and possibly slimmer connector that matches up with the hole we’ve seen. It’s so small that a full-size USB connector dwarfs it by comparison, and there’s only eight contact pins per side (or possibly total) versus the 30 overall that we know today. We’re not told if there are any special tricks besides the size reduction, though: while the new cable end looks dual-sided, there’s no guarantee Apple will have eliminated the right-side-up requirement that afflicts just about every mobile-sized port format we’ve seen to date. If real, the redesign could lead to one less hassle for charging and syncing. It just wouldn’t be much consolation to those who’d been hoping for a switch to a standard like micro-USB — or, for that matter, to long-time iPhone owners who may have to give up or convert legions of accessories.

Update: since we first posted, the rumor has fleshed out a bit. It’s claimed that there are eight pins on both sides, but that they perform different functions and might not let us plug the connector in any which way. Supposedly, the connectors also aren’t the final models and reflect the problems the unnamed contractor has had meeting Apple’s standards. Don’t worry about claims of future iPads leaping to the new connector: if there’s really a format switch underway, it’s only natural that other devices will follow suit.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Next iPhone’s tiny docking connector possibly spotted (update: more details) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has been filing more than its fair share of NFC-related patents, but it was just granted what could be one of its more important wins at the USPTO. The design for an “on-the-go shopping list” app would help buyers find and pull the trigger on deals through every tool an iPhone has at its disposal, whether it’s taking a snapshot of goods with the camera, punching in the UPC code by hand or tapping an item for an NFC-based “touch scan.” We’ll admit that we’re a bit disappointed at how NFC is used, however. As with an earlier filing, the very short range wireless is kept largely to price comparisons and adding products to a list for a purchase from a store clerk later on, rather than closing the deal outright as we’ve seen with Google Wallet. The original 2008 filing date will also have seen a lot of water flowing under the bridge; there’s no guarantee that any enthusiasm for NFC from the iPhone 3G era will have transferred to the present day. Accordingly, we would be careful about drawing any connections between iOS 6’s Passbook and Apple’s ideas from four years ago — even if Apple has regularly been a never–say–never sort of company.

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple lands patent for NFC-ready shopping app, could make impulse spending an iPhone tap away originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The back and forth of Apple and Samsung’s spat can be tiring, it’s true, but the legal debacle has its moments. Cupertino’s Scott Forstall, for instance, took the stand on Friday to give some insights on the beginnings of what Apple called “Project Purple,” and the secrecy that surrounded the first iPhone’s development. “We’re starting another project,” Forstall would tell potential recruits to the project, “It’s so secret I cannot tell you what the project is. You are going to have to give up nights and weekends for a couple years.” These were the words that conscripted much of the team that would eventually build Apple’s first phone. Forstall said that the engineers he recruited weren’t told anything about the project or even who they would report to — eventually, Apple locked down one of its Cupertino buildings, affectionately calling it the “purple dorm” for its vague pizza-like aroma.

When Apple’s attorney questioned the senior vice president of iOS software about how the Project Purple team drove innovation, Forstall went on to describe the challenge of building a touch-centric OS. “Everything we dealt with before was based on mouse and keyboard, and here we were changing the entire user interface to be based around touch. We had to rethink everything about what big controls would be knowing where you are in the document, knowing when you reach the list… Every single part of every device had to be rethought for doing touch.” Samsung’s legal team was more concerned with how Project Purple was inspired by competitor devices; Forstall responded by saying that Apple simply tested Purple’s call performance against other devices, noting that “it’s fine to benchmark for performance reasons, it’s not OK to copy and rip something off.”

The comments are interesting, but they probably won’t weight too heavily on the jury’s final decision. Still, the stories are entertaining, and worth a read for those interested in the iPhone’s origins. Even so, we’ll be glad when the patent wars are finally over.

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets

Apple exec talks about the iPhone’s early days, the secrecy of ‘Project Purple’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 10:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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