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There’s an addiction in the modern news reporting universe online to updates on details so very small that less than 10 years ago they’d never have left their respective sources lips. With Apple, we’ve got an addiction to details on the devices we’re holding right this minute. Chances are, in fact, that you’re working with a device right now that we’ve written about in the past 24 hours, and it doesn’t just have to be an Apple device.

When I write a story about a BlackBerry device, I don’t necessarily feel as though it’ll be read by BlackBerry fans alone. Our news cycle currently includes mainly stories about BlackBerry 10, an operating system that’ll be released inside the next few months, likely at the start of 2013. Because this operating system’s success will in a giant way affect the company that makes BlackBerry available to the world, each detail matters. As the iPhone 5′s absolute barrage of tiny details turned into full stories has shown you over the past several months, it doesn’t matter that the end product is greater than the sum of its parts.

With BlackBerry 10, we’re not expecting an operating system that’s going to change the whole mobile universe. It is interesting, on the other hand, to masses of people working with their smartphones on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, that BlackBerry 10 will bring a whole new keyboard to the mix. If you’ve got a keyboard that’s a hit on one system, the other systems see the success and step up their own game.

If we see Apple adding a new way to look at the map on your smartphone, the competition has no choice but to jump into the ocean. Google Street View recently added underwater panoramas to their archive. If Google was the only group in the world making an effort to map our planet, the public would expect that the speed at which they’re doing it was the fastest anyone could go. They’d also expect that noone else could do it better since Google would be the only one making the attempt.

So what does it mean when Apple’s Lightning connector is broken into? It means that Apple’s continually successful projection of a “magical” delivery of technology is inspiring the rest of the industry to “fight back”, so to speak. There’s no chance that manufacturers across the board don’t see an update about a hacked Apple cord and think, at least to some degree, “I wish our hardware mattered that much.”

Because of Apple – and the rest of the companies that find their way into our news feed every day – we’re seeing the personal technology market grow at a rate that’s absolutely astounding. Think about what we were working with just 2 years ago and consider how a story about clock image licensing is changing the speed at which we see great innovation every day.

Why every Apple news byte seems to matter so much is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Teething problems with Apple Maps failed to blunt mass market enthusiasm for the iPhone 5, new research suggests, with demand significantly higher than ahead of the iPhone 4S. 451 Research and ChangeWave Research surveyed 4,270 consumers in September, and found that those saying they were “very likely” to buy an iPhone 5 were almost double the number of those saying the same thing ahead of its predecessor’s release last year. Meanwhile, Windows Phone 8 could “make serious inroads in the smartphone industry” the researchers claim, surprisingly highlighting Samsung as likely to be the manufacturer that benefits the most.

While some suggested that the poor performance of Apple Maps might sour the iPhone 5′s appeal, consumers don’t appear to have reached the same conclusion. Only 3-percent of those iOS 6 users questioned said Maps presented a “very big problem” to them, while 90-percent said it was “no problem at all”; in fact, the change to the new Lightning port was more of an issue, with 6-percent saying the different connector was a “very big problem.” Only 26-percent said it was “no problem at all.”

“Despite the media attention surrounding both the Apple Maps issue and the Apple Lightning port issue, neither has had an impact on the massive numbers of buyers queuing up to buy the iPhone 5,” said Dr. Paul Carton, ChangeWave’s VP of Research. “Rather, the survey results show both issues hardly rank as bumps in the road.”

In fact, those who decided not to buy the iPhone 5 mainly did so because they were content with their existing device, according to the ChangeWave research. 61-percent said “their current cellphone is sufficient” while no respondents said it they were dissuaded because of “reported problems with Apple Maps.”

“Has Apple Maps been a problem for you?”:

As for Windows Phone 8, 2-percent of respondents said they were “very likely” to buy a phone running the OS in the future, while 7-percent said they were “somewhat likely”; integration with existing Windows apps and devices was the most cited reason for that decision, at 36-percent of the responses.

Most interestingly, though, despite Nokia and HTC being the two brands who have put the most effort into Windows Phone 8 device launches, it’s Samsung which gets most cited as the go-to manufacturer. Of the 55-percent who knew which Windows Phone 8 OEM they were likely to buy from, just over half said Samsung would be their brand of choice, with Nokia following in second place.

iPhone 5 appeal unblunted by Apple Maps says research is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Recently there have been several reports where iPhone 5 owners have noticed a certain purple lens flare when they take photos. Apple replied by saying that this is normal and suggested that they try taking photos differently. Well if you’d rather not change the way you take photos but want to get rid of the sometimes annoying purple flare, Fotodiox has come up with an iPhone 5 dubbed the camHoodie which is said to reduce the purple flare effect when taking photos. It’s your typical iPhone 5 case with the difference being that it comes with an added rubber ring around the camera lens portion, which we assume helps to shield it from excessive light from the sides which might cause the purple flare. Based on the comparison photos they showed, it seems that the camHoodie really does make a difference, so if you’d like to check it out, head on over to Fotodiox’s website where you can order one for $24.95.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple reportedly looking to expand iPhone production to Foxconn International Holdings, Apple expected to stock iPhone 5 cases later this month,

Apple‘s new Lightning interface has caused a bit of a ruckus ever since it debuted on the iPhone 5. It’s essentially been forcing previous-generation iPhone users to go out and buy all-new accessories. However, Apple released a Lightning adapter that allows 30-pin cables to be lugged into Lightning ports. One man was brave enough to open it up to see what was inside.

Peter, from Double Helix Cables, decided to earmark $30 towards an Apple dock connector that he would use to essentially destroy. However, he took pictures along the way and described the experience. First off, just opening up the connector was more difficult than expected, as a Dremel is about the only thing that’s able to pry it open.

One of the first things that Peter notices is that the connector is “beautifully manufactured like a cruel puzzle.” The lightning plug itself is steel reinforced, with a rubber dampening piece that wraps around it. Then, there’s a thin coating of epoxy that pretty much covers all of the circuitry, which makes it nearly impossible to tinker with. To top it all off, there’s a steel cage that encloses it all.

Peter mentions that in order to hack in a dock audio output cable to the Lightning connector, it “would require a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and specialized tools.” On top of that, the steel cage basically requires a tungsten carbide cutting blade in order to take everything apart in once piece. Plus, you have to chisel away at the epoxy that’s covering the chip itself. In the end, Peter said that it took him most of afternoon to take the adapter apart.

[via Gizmodo]

Apple’s Lightning Dock Connector gets teardown, almost impossible to mod is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.