Posts tagged 4th gen iphone
Goodbye iPad Mute Switch, Hello iPad Orientation Lock Switch
Mar 12th
Something has changed on Apple.com’s revamped iPad specs page — the mute switch is gone and in its place, a physical hardware button for “screen orientation lock”. That’s right, now you can sit or lounge without fear of the iPad spinning around willy-nilly every time you shift one way or ‘tother. However, you can’t quickly turn the sound off. (We’re guessing you’re supposed to hold down the volume rocker for that function now).
We’ve long hoped for a Settings option for that, but hardware is certainly more convenient to rapidly turn it on and off at whim. Sacrificing the mute button though? Couldn’t it be (will it be?) user assignable like the home button? And what’s with the last minute change? Focus groups give feedback, or did Steve Jobs get tired of his screen flipping around, stormed down to the underground lab, and demand the change? Will it be confusing to have orientation lock on the iPad where mute is on the iPhone? Or will the 4th generation iPhone get the same change?
Are we reading too much into this, or is Apple not reading enough into what’s being hailed as the next great leap forward in personal computing?
[via the Loop]
Goodbye iPad Mute Switch, Hello iPad Orientation Lock Switch is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
iPhone 4.0 in June, “Grand Unifying” iPhone 4.1 in September?
Mar 9th
Following on Daring Fireball’s suggestion that iPhone 4.0 might bring the Calculator, Clock, Stocks, Weather, and Voice Memo to the iPad, The Loop Insight argues that it might just be iPhone 4.1 instead:
Phone OS 4.0 will include lots of new features, just like you would expect to see from Apple. However, It doesn’t make sense for Apple to unify the two operating systems for 4.0 with the timeline they are working with.
Rather, I expect Apple to release OS 4.1 in September or October. It will not only address issues with the 4.0 release, but also unify the operating systems.
iPhone 4.0 would presumably hit with the 4th generation iPhone (not to be confused with an iPhone 4G for LTE which is likely 2012). For the last two years, new iPhone software has been released as beta at SDK preview events in March while new iPhone hardware has been debuted at WWDC in June. New iPod touch hardware has followed in September, typically with updated software.
If Apple sticks to this pattern, the above does indeed make sense as getting as many users — iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch alike — on the same version of the OS is better for Apple, better for developers, and better for users.
For us, we’ll take it one step at a time and wait for that iPhone 4.0 sneak preview…
iPhone 4.0 in June, “Grand Unifying” iPhone 4.1 in September? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
O2 Posts Prices for… UK Video Calls for iPhone?!
Mar 7th
Before we once again get our Kevin Rose-colored glasses on and hope beyond hope this is a sign the 4th generation iPhone will support video calling and/or video iChat, we’re going to hunker down and go with O2 making a bit of a mess-up on their new iPhone plan web page (above).
It does say “UK video calls same as voice calls” but we’re just tired for being teased about front-facing cameras and SDK strings, you know?
Also, it’s important to remember that the carriers have no idea what Apple will release for the 4th generation iPhone anyway. Even if they had to test it for video conferencing, Apple would make them wait until they showed it off at a WWDC keynote or something similar because they wouldn’t want the carrier to leak the feature. Anyway, with our luck O2 will just be bringing an app see the video but not send any back… Sigh.
[O2 via FSM via Redmond Pie via 9to5Mac. Phew!]
O2 Posts Prices for… UK Video Calls for iPhone?! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Analyst: Apple Should Lower Price, Add New Features for 4th Gen iPhone
Feb 26th
Okay, that headline about how an analyst thinks Apple should lower the price and add new features next June/July when they release the 4th generation iPhone (not iPhone 4G, that’s a couple years and an LTE network away) is only semi-facetious. Apple has lowered up-front costs and increased features on every generation of iPhone, after all. Last year the iPhone 3G dropped to $99 and the iPhone 3GS added video recording, hardware encryption, voice control, and a host of other things — never mind iPhone 3.0. According to AppleInsider, however, Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley has two things more specific in mind.
“We expect Apple to launch new iPhones in June that offer both a lower total cost of ownership and new functionality, potentially including gesture-based technology.”
We’ll leave the part about gestures alone; just file it under “reads the same patent applications we do” and move right along. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), however, is interesting because in 2008, even as the iPhone 3G was offered at $199, the cost of the AT&T data plan rose to $30/m making the overall TCO (over the course of the 2-year contract) higher.
Now, if Apple wants the iPhone to battle it out with Nokia in emerging markets, TCO is vitally important. But Apple hasn’t historically chosen to battle it out in the low-end PC space, and their answer to netbooks wasn’t cheaper MacBooks but the iPad. Makes it tough to see them doing it with discount iPhones.
In the US, big, colorful charts show how much you can save in terms of TCO on other networks and devices. With the iPad coming, and tiered AT&T data plans coming with it, maybe it’s not unreasonable to think a reduction in TCO is in order — not just “everything unlimited” but “overall less expensive”. Then again, AT&T isn’t hurting for subscribers or iPhone sales, so where this downward pressure would come from, if not Apple or our simply wishing it so, is unclear.
What do you think? Any chance Apple will pull “magical new plans” out of AT&T for the 4th generation iPhone?
Analyst: Apple Should Lower Price, Add New Features for 4th Gen iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Analyst: Apple Should Lower Price, Add New Features for 4th Gen iPhone
Feb 26th
Okay, that headline about how an analyst thinks Apple should lower the price and add new features next June/July when they release the 4th generation iPhone (not iPhone 4G, that’s a couple years and an LTE network away) is only semi-facetious. Apple has lowered up-front costs and increased features on every generation of iPhone, after all. Last year the iPhone 3G dropped to $99 and the iPhone 3GS added video recording, hardware encryption, voice control, and a host of other things — never mind iPhone 3.0. According to AppleInsider, however, Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley has two things more specific in mind.
“We expect Apple to launch new iPhones in June that offer both a lower total cost of ownership and new functionality, potentially including gesture-based technology.”
We’ll leave the part about gestures alone; just file it under “reads the same patent applications we do” and move right along. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), however, is interesting because in 2008, even as the iPhone 3G was offered at $199, the cost of the AT&T data plan rose to $30/m making the overall TCO (over the course of the 2-year contract) higher.
Now, if Apple wants the iPhone to battle it out with Nokia in emerging markets, TCO is vitally important. But Apple hasn’t historically chosen to battle it out in the low-end PC space, and their answer to netbooks wasn’t cheaper MacBooks but the iPad. Makes it tough to see them doing it with discount iPhones.
In the US, big, colorful charts show how much you can save in terms of TCO on other networks and devices. With the iPad coming, and tiered AT&T data plans coming with it, maybe it’s not unreasonable to think a reduction in TCO is in order — not just “everything unlimited” but “overall less expensive”. Then again, AT&T isn’t hurting for subscribers or iPhone sales, so where this downward pressure would come from, if not Apple or our simply wishing it so, is unclear.
What do you think? Any chance Apple will pull “magical new plans” out of AT&T for the 4th generation iPhone?
Analyst: Apple Should Lower Price, Add New Features for 4th Gen iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Rumored 4th Gen Apple iPhone Parts Show Little Design Change
Feb 8th
Above is a image that is claimed to belong to the upcoming 4th generation iPhone, courtesy of iPhone repair Web site iResQ. As iResQ points out, there are a few interesting things that stand out in the photo.
- “The LCD appears to be factory glued to the digitizer which is more similar to the first generation iPhones than the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The digitizer can be separated from the LCD on the 3G and 3GS models, which should be interesting to all, but for the repair folks like us–this means that the 4G screen repair price will be higher since both parts will have to be replaced at once.”
- “The iPhone 4G front panel seems to be about 1/4″ longer than its predecessors.”
- “There is an interesting reflective, mirror-like surface directly above the speaker. This is likely a spot for the proximity sensor. If that’s what is is, it’s in a different location than previous models.”
Here at TiPb we are hoping for something more drastic in terms of design changes but based on these latest images it’s hard to tell if the “A+” upgrade Steve Jobs promised will hold true. These images may turn out to be bogus or simply be scrapped before the final product is put together. We’ve seen it happen before with the matte backing.
We are willing to give Jobs the benefit of the doubt on his A+ upgrade for the time being, how about you?
One more image after the break!
[Via Apple Insider]
Rumored 4th Gen Apple iPhone Parts Show Little Design Change is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
4th Generation iPhone Code Named N89; iPod touch G4, N80
Feb 2nd
Enagdget tipsters, digging deep into the iPad’s iPhone 3.2 SDK and iPhone 3.1.3 firmware, have found more evidence of the 4th generation iPhone (likely to ship this June/July) namely it’s code name — N89.
Buried way inside the platform simulator lies a set of folders dedicated to specific models of iPhone OS-ready devices, including the iPhone 3GS, second generation iPod touch, something called the “K48″ (yep, the codename we were told was the internal name for the iPad), and… the “N89.” Sure, it sounds like a Nokia phone just waiting to happen, but this is — according to our extremely knowledgeable and trusted sources — likely the codename of the next iPhone (previous versions were called the M68, N82, and N88).
There’s also news on the 4th generation iPod touch as well (likely to ship this September):
Apple’s just released firmware (3.1.3) also includes another new model, the “N80,” which we’re told will most likely be the next version of the iPod touch.
Sure, they’re little details for now, but there’s always more to come… it’s really only a matter of time.
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
4th Generation iPhone Code Named N89; iPod touch G4, N80
