Hasta La Gadget!

According to USA Today, Apple is in late-game talks with Verizon about the iPhone. Specifically, the iPhone could be coming to Verizon’s network as soon as next year, lending some credence to the excited claims made by Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg in the WSJ last week.

This comes, you will remember, barely a week after Apple made an official statement that it would be remaining faithful to AT&T (in the US, at least) for the foreseeable future.

We don’t know which way to jump on this one. It makes sense for Apple to make the iPhone as widely available as possible, and making a CDMA version will open up new markets. And the iPhone is so ridiculously successful that pretty much any carrier would jump at selling it.

On the other hand, multiple carriers in the same country would probably bring at least some small differences in pricing and contracts, which is certainly not the Apple Way. Likewise, unless there was a hybrid GSM/CDMA handset, confusion would ensue at the Apple Store:

Apple employee: “Yes sir, an iPhone. Which network will you be using that on?”.

Customer: “Wait. What? Is the the Microsoft Store?”

We still don’t know for sure when the Apple/AT&T contract expires, or if it even will — maybe it was inked in blood in a Faustian pact. One thing is sure, though — this would be good for the consumer. Multiple carriers means competition and, seamless brand message be damned, the carriers wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from entering a price-war.

Apple and Verizon consider iPhone deal [USA Today. Thanks, all powerful John!]

Photo: GlennFleishman/Flickr

See Also:

• Apple: We’re Sticking With AT&T for the iPhone

Looks like those ultra-blurry photos of a new Pentax cam weren’t just a Sunday morning fever dream — the company’s now teasing the release of a new K-series DSLR on May 21. Obviously official details on what’s alleged to be the K7D are incredibly light, but there are already some rumored specs floating around — a square sensor with a 1.3 crop factor that may or may not be related to the one in the K20D, 1.0x viewfinder, new AF system, 3-inch screen, and 720p video are the highlights, but honestly, it’s all conjecture at this point. We’ll keep our ears to the ground — and our fingers crossed that this thing comes in white. Check a non-blurry pic of… something we were sent on Sunday after the break.

[Via Electronista]

Continue reading Pentax teases a new K-series cam for May 21

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Pentax teases a new K-series cam for May 21 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A gadget blog has posted a rumor that Apple plans to deny SlingPlayer — a popular TV-streaming service — from appearing as an app in the App Store. Why? To please AT&T, according to the unnamed source.

Electronista cites "a source close to Apple’s approval processes," who claims Apple is giving SlingPlayer the red light because AT&T fears it will strain bandwidth on its network.

SlingMedia, which submitted the iPhone app in late March, could not confirm the rumor.

"I know there’s a lot of rumors swirling around, but we talk to Apple pretty frequently about all sorts of stuff, and we haven’t heard anything one way or the other as to acceptance of SlingPlayer for iPhone," SlingMedia spokesman Jay Tannenbaum told Wired.com.

AT&T and Apple declined to comment.

If the story turns out to be true, it would not be the first time Apple rejected an application to appease AT&T. In August, Apple clumsily approved and then banned an application called NetShare, which enabled tethering with the iPhone. NetShare developer Nullriver told Wired.com that Apple pulled the app because it conflicted with AT&T’s terms and conditions.

Though the App Store has its share of success stories for developers, Apple has been scrutinized for being unclear with developers about its iPhone-app approval process. FreedomVoice Systems, for example, submitted its iPhone application Newber in October — and still hasn’t heard an answer from Apple. As a result, FreedomVoice tabled further development, complaining that this lack of communication could cost the company $600,000 in funding spent on Newber.

The rumor about SlingPlayer Mobile and AT&T is questionable, but believable. You can certainly imagine why AT&T would feel worried about bandwidth on its already strained network. PCMag’s Jamie Lendino wrote a hands-on report on an alpha version of the app, and she noted the app played streams "with reasonable smoothness over a weak 3-G signal and near 30 fps animation over Wi-Fi."

However, Wired.com thinks SlingPlayer will appear in the App Store for a few reasons. First, Sling is a very high-profile, popular service whose plans for an iPhone app have been well-documented; a flat rejection would cause an uproar. Second, Sling tells Wired.com it has a good, communicative relationship with Apple, and we trust Apple will not break that relationship. Third, Apple already announced it’s optimizing live streaming in the upcoming iPhone 3.0 OS — a Major League Baseball app using this improved streaming support is already in the works, although it remains unconfirmed whether this will only work with Wi-Fi.

Therefore, if Apple does reject SlingPlayer, we believe Apple will give Sling instructions on modifications it would like to see — most likely Apple would ask Sling to make its app work only with Wi-Fi and to disable the cellular network support.

What do you think? Would you care if Sling only worked over Wi-Fi? Add your thoughts in the comments section below.

Wired.com’s Ryan Singel contributed to this report.

See Also:

• Sling Your BlackBerry
• Hulu Competitor Sling.com Launches Public Beta
• Review: Sling Media Slingbox
• Sling Your Mac
• EchoStar Acquires Sling Media for $380 Million
• Ustream Goes Mobile With iPhone App

With summer approaching, speculation about the third-generation iPhone is
becoming rampant as fans eagerly anticipate a new handset from Apple.

So far, the rumor mill has produced nothing substantial, but on Tuesday the Taiwanese publication DigiTimes published a chart purporting to reveal component suppliers for the next-generation iPhone, which has the Mac community buzzing about the configuration of the new handset.

However, the table has been dismissed as unsubstantiated and worse — uninformative. It contains nothing of value for iPhone watchers.

DigiTimes published the table (right), citing unnamed Taiwanese sources who claim to possess knowledge of the next iPhone’s components and their respective suppliers.

But the only listed component that potentially reveals a new feature is a 3.2-megapixel CMOS image sensor supplied by OmniVision.   

"The so-called ‘iPhone 3.0’ reportedly will be launched by mid-2009, the
sources claimed," the DigiTimes report stated. "Assembly suppliers will kick off shipments for the
upcoming model starting from May, with the first batch estimated to be
around 5 million units, the sources said."

Apple has not made any official announcements about the next-generation iPhone, but analysts, journalists and Apple enthusiasts unanimously agree an upgrade is likely due in the summer.

A summer launch would follow the product cycles of the current- and previous-generation iPhones, which were released July 2008 and June 2007, respectively.

But thanks to Apple’s legendary secrecy, nothing is known about the anticipated handset’s hardware, other than a few hints of a possible video recorder and a digital compass.

Unfortunately, DigiTimes’ chart is no more illuminating, according to iSuppli, a California-based component research company.

"Their table makes no sense to me," said Andrew Rassweiler, an iSuppli analyst. "It is in no particular order, and is a bit of a random walk through a bunch of components, many of which are relatively insignificant and not worth calling."

Rassweiler said the suppliers in the list could potentially be
accurate, but even so, this is not a thorough chart. Many of DigiTimes’
listed components are the types that come from multiple suppliers,
Rassweiler explained; manufacturers like Apple strategically work with
multiple suppliers to avoid being financially bullied by a single
supplier.

Also, many of the listed suppliers are Taiwanese — such as
Unimicron, Nanya and Largan Precision — and the publication is
Taiwanese as well. So even if the chart proves accurate, it’s an
incomplete sample from Taiwanese companies who are likely trying to get
press, Rassweiler said.

Rassweiler added that the component list is filled with safe bets on
what will appear in the next iPhone based on the components in the
current iPhone 3G. The listed 3.2-megapixel sensor is a conservative
guess that anyone could have predicted, Rassweiler said.

"I would expect Apple to move to at least a 3-megapixel camera," he said.

Also interesting to note is a major component missing from
DigiTimes’ chart — the touchscreen, which could simply suggest the
publication doesn’t have information about the supplier. Broadcom is
the supplier of the current iPhone’s touchscreen, according to iSuppli.

Finally, DigiTimes refers to the next-gen iPhone as "the so-called
iPhone 3.0" — which is unlikely the name of the new handset. The
iPhone’s upcoming operating system upgrade is called iPhone 3.0, and Apple would probably not give the next iPhone the same name, as it would cause major confusion.

For your reference, iSuppli provided its list of known component
suppliers for the current iPhone. Click on the link below to download
the fiile.

Have any additional observations? Add your comments below.

iSuppli’s iPhone Component Summary (.xls)

See Also:

• Easter Eggs Give Clues to Next-Gen iPhone
• iPhone 3.0 Wish List: Accessory-Powered Apps We Want
• Apple Bestows Cut-and-Paste, MMS on iPhone Users
• What Apple Needs to Fix to Keep the iPhone Competitive
• Apple’s Next iPhone Will Rule at Gaming

Photo: Jon Syder/Wired.com

Very little is known about Apple’s next iPhone, but screens and files hidden in the handset’s latest beta software are providing some major clues.

IPhone 3.0 beta testers are
stumbling upon menus, system preferences and text strings that
Apple tried to keep secret — presumably because they give away features that will appear in the next upgrade to the iPhone hardware, which will probably be released this summer. Highlights include a video recorder, an auto-focus camera and a digital compass. Beta-testing sleuths have also found tantalizing suggestions about the operating system, including an unannounced tethering capability, voice control and a "find my iPhone" feature.

Apple has not released any information on the new iPhone hardware, and neither confirms nor denies any possibilities.

In the spirit of the season, we’re stuffing all the
iPhone 3.0 Easter eggs into one basket. Here’s the list.

Video Recorder and Auto-Focus

Evidence suggests iPhone 3.0 will introduce video
capturing. The image above is a screenshot of the MobileMe app in
iPhone 3.0; the "Publish Video" button indicates video recording is on its way.

Naysayers
speculated that the MobileMe button was a huge typo, but beta testers
hacking around found even stronger proof for a video camera this week.
According to MacRumors,
modifying a configuration file in the latest iPhone 3.0 beta (version
2) opened a secret door to a video recording interface. Interestingly, hackers had to manipulate the iPhone firmware into believing there was video-capturing hardware in order to access this interface. That suggests this feature might only be for owners of the third-generation iPhone hardware.

The video
function was not yet working, but a toggle switch for choosing between
video- and still-capturing appears in the screenshot above. Convinced?
We are.

In the same place they discovered the video camera
interface, developers also unearthed a configuration file alluding to
an auto-focus camera. Not quite as exciting, but that would likely be a hardware feature in the next iPhone as well.

Magnetometer
The hackers who discovered
the video-recording interface also found a file referencing a
"Magnetometer." Unfortunately, no one has
managed to find an interface for the feature, so nothing else is known.

If the text reference proves to be true, it’s a clue that the
magnetometer will likely debut in the next iPhone as a hardware upgrade. A very exciting
addition this would be indeed: A magnetometer operates on three axes to
determine absolute position. So for example, you could point the
iPhone’s camera at a Starbucks location and tap a button to find your
location. Using the compass information, accelerometer and GPS
combined, the iPhone would be able to tell you the exact address of
that Starbucks, then point you in the direction you really want to go.

Voice Control
A configuration file
alludes to a feature called "Voice Control." We’re not as excited about
this, because there are already iPhone apps that enable voice control
for dialing contacts, Google search and looking up directions. However,
we never underestimate Apple, and we’d expect the company to bring
"voice control" to more advanced levels.

Think voice control in
the Camera app to reduce the shakes. Or voice control to choose a song
or movie in the iPod. For voice control, we’d expect Apple to aim at
areas that haven’t been well addressed.

iPhone Locator

Another menu in the MobileMe app reveals a service called "Find My iPhone." Engadget reports
the feature wasn’t yet working, so its function remains unconfirmed.
But a reasonable inference, based on the name, is that the service will
enable you to find your iPhone if it’s been stolen or misplaced.

We’re
betting through any web browser, you can trigger your iPhone to locate
itself using its GPS and send an e-mail containing its coordinates to
your MobileMe account. The magnetometer would make these coordinates even more precise. Then you can drive to the thief’s house, knock
on his door and introduce him to your fist. Or, like Gadget Lab’s Charlie Sorrel, you could offer him €50 to give your phone back. Nifty, huh?

Internet Tethering

When journalists asked Apple about tethering (i.e., a feature that turns the iPhone into a wireless modem),
the company said it was working with carriers to ensure smooth
integration in iPhone 3.0. And it looks like Apple is making good progress, because one developer says he already got tethering to work.

Developer
Steve Troughton Smith said he discovered the option to enable tethering
while "hacking around." (How did he do it? Unfortunately he doesn’t
remember.) The menu (pictured above) suggests tethering will work via
USB or Bluetooth. And he reports success testing USB tethering with his
iPhone on the O2 network.

Now the question remaining is, how
much will tethering cost? AT&T typically charges an additional $15 per month for
tethering plans, so expect to pay about the same for iPhone tethering.

See Also:

• Wired.com Readers’ Best iPhone Dongleware Inventions
• iPhone 3.0 Wish List: Accessory-Powered Apps We Want
• iPhone 3.0: Will the Gold Rush Continue?
• Apple Bestows Cut-and-Paste, MMS on iPhone Users
• iPhone 3.0 Takes the Sheen off Palm Pre

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com