Hasta La Gadget!

Apple awarded design patent for iPhone 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve just laid eyes on a video from the prolific leaksters over at Tinhte, who claim they not only have a white iPhone 4 from Apple, but it’s one with a “test version” of iOS that nobody else has yet seen. It’s difficult to ascertain how legitimate this software is — it could just be a neatly done jailbreak mod — but that site has a track record of getting its hands on Apple gear ahead of the pack. With that said, the multitasking menu shown here substitutes the current use of apps’ icons to represent them with a visual of each app’s open window. You can tap on a window to expand it (replete with animation) to fill the screen or long-press on it to bring up the familiar “x” button for shutting it down. This is all accompanied by a new “Search iPhone” dialog at the very top, which sends you into Spotlight search that looks very much the way it currently does (though it seems to no longer be accessible with a left swipe from the first homescreen as on previous versions of iOS). Jump past the break for the video.

Update: A second video has been uncovered, this one showing that we’re looking at a prototype unit and taking us on a tour around its body. A visit to the Settings menu shows a 64GB storage capacity, while app folder creation is also handled a little differently from iOS 4. The presence of the Touch Fighter app on this phone, which Apple built to show off the capabilities of earlier versions of the handset, and other internal-looking software seems to point to this indeed being some form of iOS beta build. Of course, it might not be iOS 5 at all, but simply a never-released version of iOS 4. All we know for sure is that the video’s after the break.

Update 2: All indications are that this is indeed an early, unreleased version of iOS 4. Interesting, but probably not something to get your hopes up about.

Continue reading White iPhone 4 used to demo new multitasking, Spotlight search in ‘test version’ of iOS? (video)

White iPhone 4 used to demo new multitasking, Spotlight search in ‘test version’ of iOS? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a clue how popular smartphones have become as cameras: Apple’s iPhone 4 is quickly approaching the No. 1 spot to become the most-used camera on Flickr.

Nikon’s D90 DSLR camera is still Flickr king, but the iPhone isn’t far behind, and the chart below suggests that the handset should surpass the D90 pretty soon. TechCrunch’s MG Siegler was first to make this observation.

That’s not to say general-purpose devices are killing the camera market. Worldwide still camera sales increased 10 percent to 141 million units last year, according to research from IDC. Canon remains the world’s largest camera maker, and Sony is in a close second.

One thing contributing to the growth of handheld cameras is the advent of mirror-less cameras with bigger sensors and better, sometimes interchangeable, lenses — aka EVIL cameras. These cameras are still a relatively small part of the camera market, though.

The explanation is probably even simpler: most dedicated cameras still have superior quality to most smartphone cameras, and people want their photos to look good. Plus, these cameras have things that a smartphone doesn’t, like a zoom lens and more complex controls to change the appearance of photos.

The Flickr data more directly suggests that people aren’t carrying around cameras as much as they do their iPhones — which shouldn’t be a surprise, because which device would you rather keep in your pocket everywhere you go?

The smartphone’s impact on the video world is a bit more interesting. The iPhone has driven massive growth in mobile uploads on YouTube. When the iPhone 3GS released in 2009, YouTube saw mobile uploads jump 400 percent each day.

Incidentally, Cisco just killed the Flip camcorder division last week. A few argue that Cisco made this decision solely because it no longer wanted to focus on consumer products. However, that’s a bit difficult to believe when you consider that smartphones shoot video that’s just as good, if not better, than a Flip; plus, they have an internet connection to send videos straight to the web.

In the case of the Flip, Cisco didn’t adapt to the changing, increasingly interconnected world where people want to share videos and photos as fast as they create them. That left an opening that smartphone vendors are happy to fill.

However, camera vendors are making the right moves by focusing on quality images and a wider range of features to keep still cameras alive and well.

See Also:

• iPhone 3GS Driving 400-Percent Growth in YouTube Uploads
• Creepy Bug Gives Some iPhones Unwanted FaceTime
• Just How Bad Is the iPad 2 Camera?

Looks like somebody pulled the trigger on an order page for the mythical white iPhone 4 a little early over at Three UK. The phone that had previously been listed on the carrier’s site for a long, long time (sans any ability to actually order it) has now sprouted up a page all its own with the magical option to “buy now.” We managed to get all the way through to an order confirmation page, so if it’s a mistake it’s a very thoroughgoing one. Calling up Three’s telephone ordering line and PR personnel brought us no closer to finding out the truth, but this particular order page was discovered via a tweet by a Three affiliate — whose tweets have since gone private — suggesting it was dug up from someone in the know. Our suspicion is that Apple’s finally about ready to dish this phone up to the people and Three has been caught testing out its order page ahead of the inevitable onslaught of white iPhone orders. Hit the source link to see the premature revelation for yourself.

Update: Three finally wised up to the fact nobody else was yet offering the pale phone for sale and has pulled the page. For now.

Update 2: Three’s official statement on the matter:

“This page is not live at the moment, it was built at the same time as the iPhone black page so that we have it ready when and should the time come to launch white. For now, it’s a hidden page that’s inactive.”

Continue reading White iPhone 4 appears to be ready to order at Three UK (update: gone!)

White iPhone 4 appears to be ready to order at Three UK (update: gone!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s an iPhone 4… but not the original iPhone 4. Verizon Wireless became the first CDMA carrier in the States to call an Apple smartphone one of its own, and the resulting handset is eerily similar to the AT&T variant in most regards. That said, we’re sure that a few of you folks would have done things differently if given the design credentials needed to do so, and this is place for you to vent. Would you have added any features to this guy not already found on the GSM iPhone 4? Offered a Big Red-exclusive color? Thrown an LTE radio in there? Changed up the antenna layout? Included a secondary display, Echo-style? Go on and get creative in comments below — you never know what suggestions may shape the shape of the iPhone 5! (Or something like that.)

How would you change the Verizon iPhone? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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