Hasta La Gadget!

Remember that China Labor Watch report we recently covered? After digging further into the document, 9to5Mac‘s unearthed more possible evidence about that often leaked, low-cost plastic-clad iPhone. The introduction states:

Its assembled products include iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, and low-priced plastic iPhones.

Then, on page 27:

Today’s work is to paste protective film on the iPhone’s plastic back cover to prevent it from being scratched on assembly lines. This iPhone model with a plastic cover will soon be released on the market by Apple. […] The new cell phone has not yet been put into mass production, so quantity is not as important.

Of course, there’s no definitive proof that Apple will be launching a more affordable iPhone made of polycarbonate — after all the company might just be testing prototypes that are not destined to market. Still, the information in this report sure gives all these recent iPhone rumors a lot more merit.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple

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Via: CNET Asia

Source: 9to5Mac

The Google+ Local iPhone app mysteriously disappeared from the App Store this past Friday—and now we know why. The Google-owned Zagat has just released a new app for both iPhone and Android today, all coming in Google’s new card-based UI.

Read more…

There’s a folder appearing in the archives of the newest iOS 7 Beta with a title that suggests Apple is ready to bring a fingerprint scanner to the iPhone. This folder goes by the name of BiometricKitUI and brings with it the suggestion that the iPhone – or the iPad and the iPod touch, whichever you’d like to imagine – will be working with the recognition of its user by their unique characteristics or traits.

According to the contents of this folder, a sensor will exist within or under the iPhone’s home button. This code suggests that a “photo of a person holding an iPhone with their left [or right] hand while touching the Home button with their thumb” describes the pose you’ll be striking during your log-in process with the phone. This is the first physical lock created for the iPhone – if it does, indeed, come to fruition.

Also in this code embedded in iOS 7 beta 4 is a bit of a UI description: “a fingerprint that changes colour during the setup process”, complete with a “recognition is %@ complete”, suggesting it’ll take more than a moment. Now we’ll just have to wait to see which device this comes with, be it the iPhone 5S, a rebooted iPhone 5, or the full iPhone range, complete with the budget collection.

And on that note, you’ll want to take a peek at the full iOS 7 beta 4 from top to bottom. There you’ll find mainly bug fixes, but as developer Hamza Soon found and shared first with 9to5Mac, there are some hidden gems like what you’re seeing above! Keep on the search!

iPhone fingerprint sensor tapped in iOS leak is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple has released iOS 7 beta 4 to developers, the latest iteration of the pre-launch iPhone and iPad software expected to make its public debut later this year. The new version, which arrives three weeks after Apple released beta 3, can be downloaded either directly to an iPhone or iPad running the existing version, or loaded via your Mac.

Last time around, Apple tweaked several aspects of the iOS 7 experience, including modifying the default font to change the overall feel of the UI across the board. It also improved how Retina iPhone apps were handled on non-Retina iPads in “2x” doubling mode.

Apple’s release notes for this new beta are not yet available, and in fact the company’s developer portal itself continues to show error messages. That’s been a long-standing issue over the past few weeks, however, though it’s likely to become more contentious today as keen coders attempt to get up to speed with beta 4.

However, most likely are performance improvements and the sort of general tweaks a fourth-stage beta might be expected to deliver. What’s apparently unlikely to change is the somewhat contentious interface and color scheme Apple has switched to in iOS 7, which has left some iPhone and iPad users nostalgic for the “skeuomorphic” layout used today.

A full changelog of the new additions and modifications in iOS 7 beta 4 is likely to be fleshed out over the coming hours, as developers get to grips with the software. As for regular users, the timescale for the new platform’s release is still the somewhat nebulous “later in 2013″, though it’s expected to take place alongside the launch of a new iPhone 5S and perhaps a cheaper variant of the smartphone.

Update: The first changes are being reported, including a modification to the lockscreen “slide-to-unlock” control, the ability to swipe between Notification Center panels, the ability to put all music tracks on shuffle, and more.

VIA 9to5Mac

iOS 7 beta 4 download goes live for developers is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It should be clear at this point that Samsung’s profits in the mobile sector have not, as a report by Strategy Analytics last week suggested, taken over Apples’. According to Strategy Analytics, “Samsung’s operating profit for its handset division stood at US $5.2 billion in the second quarter of 2013″ while Apple “recorded an estimated iPhone operating profit of US $4.6 billion”. And that’s essentially the extent of their basic report – this is not just far too limited to have covered the claim they’ve made, it’s simply inaccurate.

Strategy Analytics claims “Global Handset Operating Profits” in converted US dollars for Samsung was $5.2 billion in the second quarter of 2013, while Apple’s was $4.6 billion. This is the quarter ending in June of 2013, which for Apple is fiscal Q3 and for Samsung is fiscal Q2.

According to Apple’s Form 10-Q for this quarter as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple’s total operating income was $9.2 billion USD – this minus Apple’s $2.5 billion in taxes makes a total of $6.9 billion in net income.

As Apple Insider notes, it’s from that $9.2 billion in operating profits that Strategy Analytics appears to get their total “global handset operating profits” for Apple. This comes from the idea that the iPhone accounts for a total of 51% of Apple’s total business.

Meanwhile you’ll find that Samsung’s total reported operating income was (converted from Korean Republic Won) in at $8.56 billion, minus $1.84 billion for taxes, ringing in at $6.98 billion in net income.

Samsung’s breakdown of device sales and profits is done – for mobile – with one called “IT & Mobile Communications.” This includes everything from handsets to tablets, network equipment to PCs. Samsung reported that operating profits of (converted) $5.64 billion for this quarter came from this IT & Mobile Communications segment. Strategy Analytics “estimates” that $5.2 billion of this number accounts for non-network devices.

This number still includes Samsung’s tablets, PCs, and Chromebooks, while the competing number here is just Apple’s iPhone, and the iPhone alone. That comparison doesn’t make sense to report. It’s as simple as that.

Samsung vs Apple Mobile Profits: the big Strategy Analytics mix up is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.