Aug 27
In the market for a brand new iPhone? We’ve got an important piece of advice for you: WAIT! Now is the worst time to buy.
     |
Aug 27
Headphone parties, or silent discos, seldom translate well to mobile devices — the likelihood that every listener has the same songs is rather slim. If Apple implements a newly granted patent, however, it could be easy to start those private gigs. The technique shares the tempo of a master track with other devices invited to a party; those gadgets automatically pick similarly paced tunes and sync their playback. Participants could be part of an ad hoc local network, but the approach would also work when people are miles apart. Apple even proposes a social networking element that lets aspiring DJs share avatars and other identifiers. While there’s no guarantees that the patent will reach shipping products, we wouldn’t be surprised to see iPhone owners grooving in unison at some point in the future.
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile, Apple
Source: USPTO
Aug 27
Chromecast’s iOS app arrives, looks to make cross-platform living room magic
Posted in: Today's Chili
On the heels of a Cast SDK update that borked third-party streaming apps, Google released a version of its Chromecast software for iOS devices. That’s right, folks with an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch can use the free application to set up Chromecast on their flat’s WiFi network and to manage settings. Of course, YouTube, Netflix, Google Play purchases and Chrome can all be displayed on properly outfitted TVs easily. You may have to wait a bit to nab one, but at $35, there’s a world of inexpensive, cross-platform love within arm’s reach.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Google
Source: iTunes
Aug 27
The Apple-shaped stars are aligning, once again suggesting that September 10th is the big day for a hardware and software refresh of everyone’s iOS devices. The maker of Apple’s Siri tech claims iOS 7 is now said to be launching early next month alongside the updated iPhones.
| |
Aug 27
Goophone’s shaping up to be an enduring passenger aboard the iPhone clone train. Hence, it comes as absolutely no surprise that it’s conjuring up an iPhone 5C copy months after it released an iPhone 5S of its own. Despite popular belief that the 5C will be more affordable than the typical iPhone, the KIRFer has confirmed to us that it’s making a copy known as the i5C. Goophone has yet to spill the details (and the above image is just a mockup), but leaked specs suggest it’ll contain a 4-inch 960 x 540 screen, a 1.2GHz dual-core MTK6572 processor and an 8-megapixel rear / 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It reportedly supports quad-band GSM, has 3G connectivity and runs Android 4.2. It’s claimed that the Goophone i5C will ring in at $100, but anyone who’d like to get their hands on the cloner’s latest masterpiece will have to wait — Goophone tells us it’s waiting for the real one to make first arrival.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple
Via: GizChina
Source: Anybuying
Aug 26
This might not be a video of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5c. It might not show that Apple’s next flagship will look nearly identical to the iPhone 5. It might not reveal that the current black and white models will be joined by a gold—pardon, champagne version—when they are announced on Sept. 10th. But it would be far more surprising for those things not to be true than for them to happen. And that puts Apple—and you—in an unprecedented position.
| |
Aug 26
Apple is readying an official iPhone trade-in program that would allow owners of older phones to swap their handset for a discount on a new model, it’s reported, aiming to keep iPhone users loyal and drive up Apple Store sales of the smartphone. Preparation for the scheme will see retail staff training begin this week, […]
Aug 26
Apple is rumored to launch an iPhone trade-in program at its retail stores next month. Under this program, customers will be able to trade-in their old iPhone for a new model at a discount. For example, a customer may bring in their iPhone 4S and trade it in for an iPhone 5, and end up saving some money in the process. Carriers and retailers already run their own programs for the iPhone, this particular program would run across Apple’s brick and mortar stores.
It was reported recently that Apple CEO Tim Cook had held a meeting to discuss potential ways of increasing iPhone sales through the company’s own retail channel. At the meeting he reportedly revealed that 80 percent of the iPhones that Apple sells are not through its own stores. The trade-in program is said to be one major component of Cook’s plan to boost iPhone sales at Apple’s stores. The company will reportedly start training retail employees for the program throughout this week, training has to complete before the first week of September, it is said. Apple is yet to confirm that it is going to kick off an iPhone trade-in program right around the time when it is expected to launch two new iPhones.
Apple’s iPhone Trade-In Program May Launch Next Month original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
Aug 26
Rumors Of Apple’s New A7 Chip Could Indicate That CPU Innovation Is Flagging
Posted in: Today's Chili
With every new iPhone, most of the discussion centers around its look and not what comes inside. But, according to reports, Apple has designed a new dual-core A7 system on a chip for the iPhone 5S. If rumors are true, the A7 could supposedly be 31 percent faster, representing a serious slowdown in spec improvement. It could indicate that the smartphone market may have matured and that existing smartphone owners won’t feel the urge to upgrade to a new model anymore.
When it comes to smartphone chips, Apple is a lone ranger. It has been designing its own ARM-based chips for a couple of years. It outsources production to Samsung and other manufacturers. But the important part is that only Apple devices use Apple chips. So far, this strategy has proven to be successful.
The iPhone 4S was twice as powerful as the iPhone 4, and had nine times the graphics processing capabilities. The iPhone 5 was once again twice as fast as the iPhone 4S, with twice the graphics performance. That’s why this year’s 31 percent performance boost is lackluster, it it turns out to be true. If the new iPhone is indeed called the iPhone 5S, the ‘S’ will probably not stand for ‘speed’.
A 31% CPU speed increase sounds like a huge failure to me, specially considering previous generations showed ~100% improvements.—
Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul) August 26, 2013
On paper, Android phones are more powerful. Right now, the Snapdragon 800 and Tegra 4 both come with at least 4 cores and more raw power. But Apple doesn’t want to compete in the spec game.
The main advantage is that Apple can optimize the A7 for its own set of APIs, making it feel faster than it actually is. Even though Snapdragons have more GHz, iPhone apps are still fast because Apple takes advantage of its chip architecture like no one else. That’s why the gap isn’t as wide as expected. Moreover, Apple’s custom design strategy improves battery performance.
Apple needs to reduce both component costs and R&D costs
Yet, why were the A6 and the A5 much faster than their predecessors? Because smartphones were not as fast as Apple wanted them to be. If you want to use Siri or play nice games, you need the iPhone 4S. If you want to use the upcoming AirDrop feature, you need the iPhone 5. Today’s rumors could tell another story. Apple could think that the iPhone 5 can run everything perfectly fine, and there is no need to put more raw power. In other words, smartphones could have matured.
As smartphones get more widespread, Apple needs to reduce both component costs and R&D costs. The company can’t invest as much money in developing its new chips if smartphones become more and more commoditized products. The company wants to avoid hurting its margin more than it needs.
The A7 needs to be future-proof. While the iPhone 5C will not receive the A7 at first, entry-level iPhones will eventually get those rumored chips. It needs to be powerful enough and cheap enough so that Apple doesn’t have to develop yet another chip next year for its cheap iPhones.
If Apple judges that current chips are becoming fast enough to power iOS for years, iPhone users shouldn’t expect speed increases. Instead, the company will bet on new features and software updates. With market maturation coming soon, Apple faces a difficult challenge as well. How do you convince your customers to upgrade their phones?
The same thing happened for the iPod — they got lighter and lighter. In 2001, the original 5GB iPod was 6.5 ounces (184 grams). In 2004, the iPod mini was 3.6 ounces (102 grams). In 2005, the iPod nano was only 1.5 oz (42 grams). At this point, if you already had an iPod and used it as a portable music player, there was no real incentive to upgrade to a new one, except more gigabytes. The same thing is true for your microwave — you only buy a new one if your old one breaks.
Yet, there is one last thing that can be improved again and again on the iPhone — the camera. Everybody uses their phone as their primary camera. It’s the camera that you always have in your pocket. While it has greatly improved over the years, there’s still room for improvement — especially now that HiDPI displays are getting more popular. This single spec upgrade will make people upgrade.
That’s why the most interesting news of the day isn’t the A7 rumors, but the new dedicated chip for video capturing rumors. In addition to helping for image stabilization, it could allow you to take 120 fps videos.
If the iPhone 5S can shoot smooth slow-motion videos, it could be the feature that stands out and steals the show at Apple’s event. In fact, the ‘S’ could stand for ‘slow motion’.
The article was slightly edited to reflect the fact that the A7 specs are still unconfirmed.
(Image credits: Ascii.jp, Wikimedia Commons)
Aug 26
Apple’s iPhone 5S will be “about 31-percent faster” than the iPhone 5 and include new motion-tracking technology, insiders claim, sparking speculation about the presumed Apple A7 processor expected to power the next-gen flagship phone. “Sources are telling me the new iPhone’s A7 chip is running at about 31% faster than A6″ Fox News’s Clayton Morris […]
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.