The Worst-Case Scenario For The iPad 3

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RUMOR: iOS Devices Will Get A ‘Micro-Dock’

If Apple wants to totally blow the iPad 3 launch, it’ll release the device without a Retina Display.

Yes, all the speculation and leaks point to the next iPad coming with a nice, high-resolution screen, but Apple certainly isn’t afraid to shatter expectations.

Consider the iPhone 4S. Everyone was eagerly awaiting a redesigned mobile device that would be called the iPhone 5, not a purgatorial phone that hovered somewhere between generations.

The 4S was cosmetically identical to the iPhone 4 and internally improved, which flew in the face of expectations.

We’ll hear loads of groaning from technophiles if this happens with the next iPad, but it doesn’t seem it’ll play out that way. Apple has done a much better job of managing expectations this time around and MacRumors has lots of evidence that the iPad 3 will pack a nice retina display.

We’ve come to expect a lot from Apple’s iDevices. And even if the iPad 3 looks nearly identical to the iPad 2, as long as it has a killer display, people will line up.

Then again, the initial iPhone 4S disappointment didn’t stop people from buying.

Article source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worst-case-scenario-for-the-ipad-3-2012-2

MOBILE WORLD: Huawei Aims To Triple Smartphone Sales

— Huawei aiming to sell 50 million to 60 million smartphones this year

— Plans to more than double spending on marketing activities

— New Ascend D Quad smartphone likely to be priced at between EUR400 and EUR500

BARCELONA (Dow Jones)–Huawei Technologies Co., China’s biggest maker of phone equipment, aims to nearly triple its smartphone sales in 2012, the chief executive of its devices unit said Monday, after launching what it called the world’s fastest phone.

Huawei aims to sell 50 million to 60 million smartphones this year, up …

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120227-710311.html

Judge Awards Iphone User $850 In Throttling Case

When ATT started slowing down the data service for his iPhone, Matt Spaccarelli, an unemployed truck driver and student, took the country’s largest telecommunications company to small claims court. And won.

His award: $850.

Pro-tem Judge Russell Nadel found in favor of Spaccarelli in Ventura Superior Court in Simi Valley on Friday, saying it wasn’t fair for the company to purposely slow down his iPhone, when it had sold him an “unlimited data” plan.

Spaccarelli could have many imitators. ATT has some 17 million customers with “unlimited data” plans who can be subject to throttling. That’s nearly half of its smartphone users. ATT forbids them from consolidating their claims into a class action or taking them to a jury trial. That leaves small claims actions and arbitration.

Late last year, ATT started slowing down data service for the top 5 percent of its smartphone subscribers with “unlimited” plans. It had warned that it would start doing so, but many subscribers have been surprised by how little data use it takes for throttling to kick in, often less than ATT provides to those on limited or “tiered” plans.

Spaccarelli said his phone is being throttled after he’s used 1.5 gigabytes to 2 gigabytes of data within a new billing cycle. Meanwhile, ATT provides 3 gigabytes of data to subscribers on a tiered plan that costs the same — $30 per month.

When slowed down, the phone can still be used for calls and text messaging, but Web browsing is painfully slow, and video streaming doesn’t work at all.

ATT spokesman Marty Richter said the company will appeal the judge’s ruling.

“At the end of the day, our contract governs our relationship with our customers,” he said.

ATT area sales manager Peter Hartlove, who represented the company before Nadel, declined to comment on the ruling. He argued in court that his employer has the right to modify or cancel customers’ contracts if their data usage adversely affects the network.

Companies with as many potentially aggrieved customers as ATT usually brace themselves for a class-action lawsuit. But last year, the Supreme Court upheld a clause in the Dallas-based company’s subscriber contract that prohibits customers from taking their complaints to class actions or jury trials.

Arbitration and small-claims court cases are cheaper and faster than jury trials, but they force plaintiffs to appear in person and prepare their own statements. In a class-action suit, the work can be handled by one law firm on behalf of millions of people.

That means thousands – and possibly hundreds of thousands – of people who feel abused by ATT’s policy could seek to challenge the company, one by one, in arbitration or small claims court. The customer contract specifies that those who win an award from the company in arbitration that is greater than the company’s pre-arbitration settlement offer will get at least $10,000. Spaccarelli picked the same amount for his claim, though ATT’s stipulation about a minimum award doesn’t apply in small claims.

Nadel looked instead at the remaining 10 months in Spaccarelli’s two-year contract with ATT and estimated that he might pay $85 a month on average for using additional data. ATT charges $10 for every extra gigabyte over 3 gigabytes.

Nadel said it’s not fair for ATT to make a promise to Spaccarelli when he buys the phone while burying terms in his contract that give the company the right to cut down data speeds.

Spaccarelli, 39, researched his case for a few months, and then spent three days putting together a binder of documents to bring to court.

“I need the money, but for me, this case is not about money at all,” Spaccarelli. “You don’t tell somebody ‘you have unlimited’ and then cut them off.”

Spaccarelli didn’t quite uphold his side of the customer contract, and that’s one reason his data usage was high. He used the iPhone to provide a link to the Internet for his iPad tablet, a setup known as “tethering.” ATT doesn’t allow tethering unless customers pay extra for it, which Spaccarelli didn’t do. It detected his tethering last year, and switched him from the “unlimited” plan to a limited one. He complained, and got his “unlimited” plan reinstated.

Even with the tethering, Spaccarelli’s data usage wasn’t excessive, he said – about 5 gigabytes per month. ATT’s Hartlove told Nadel about the tethering, and Spaccarelli admitted to it.

Earlier this month, a Southern California woman won a small-claims action against Honda over the gas mileage she got out of her Civic hybrid car. She was awarded $9,867. Meanwhile, a pending class action against Honda over the same issue would net Civic owners a few hundred dollars each. The plaintiff, Heather Peters, is an ex-lawyer who had opted out of the settlement.

ATT’s throttling of “unlimited” data comes as it tries to deal with limited capacity on its wireless network. When the iPhone was new, ATT had ample capacity on its network, and wanted to lure customers with the peace of mind offered by unlimited plans. Now, a majority of ATT subscribers on contract-based plans have smartphones, and the proportion is growing every month. That’s putting a big load on ATT’s network.

Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA also throttle users, but their policies are gentler. Verizon only throttles if the specific cell tower a “heavy user” subscriber’s phone is communicating with is congested at that moment. T-Mobile’s throttling levels are higher for the same price, and the levels are spelled out ahead of time. ATT subscribers have no way of knowing if they’ll be throttled before a warning message drops in. If they keep using their phones, throttling kicks in a few days later.

Article source: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2012/02/27/237290.htm

HTC’s ‘One’ big challenge: Courting power users

I’ve never understood why the Samsung Galaxy range are so successful.

At work, we have a range of htc, Apple and Samsung devices. I personally have the 7 Mozart, Sensation and an iPhone 3GS. I also get to use the Galaxy SII and iPhone 4 and 4S on a regular basis.

To be honest, the Galaxy is a “plastic fantastic”, its hardware might be very slightly ahead of the Sensation (lower screen resolution, but OLED, slightly faster processor), but the case feels incredibly cheap and flimsy.

Likewise, the iPhone 4 doesn’t feel as good in the hand – a lot of our iPhone 3GS users are holding off upgrading, because they don’t like the iPhone 4 (“my battery is failing, but I don’t like the iPhone 4, I hope that Apple bring something new put soon”).

The htcs feel good in the hand, certainly feeling much more substantial and higher quality than the Samsung.

@dkusnetzky the Sensation is due for an update in February / March, the Desire HD and S should also be getting it in April.

Article source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/htcs-one-big-challenge-courting-power-users/70285

iPhone 5 tales & rumours

News

Beguiled by curvaceous images of yet another iPhone 5 “concept,” the iOSsphere contemplated a future where iPhone 5 has a smaller dock connector and a 3D screen and replaces your credit card.

Even though you’d be replacing it with something much larger and way heavier.

You read it here second.

___________

“Sometimes all you want to carry is your iPhone (or any other smartphone) without having to worry about a wallet as well. It’d be much easier to just pay for anything you want with the phone.”

~ Shawn Ingram, GottaBeMobile, on why “worrying about a wallet” is or should be, a design focus for the iPhone 5

__________

iPhone 5 will have a smaller dock connector

“Apple is fearless when it comes to driving the future,” writes Rene Ritchie in a ringing post at iMore.com. “And the dock connector might be next on their list.”

To be honest, Rollup doesn’t immediately associate Fearless Futurity with the iDevice dock connector. We usually associate that with LTE+ or High-High Definition screens or six-core processors.

“We’ve heard that Apple is getting ready to ditch the dock connector as it’s currently sized and implemented on iPods, iPhones and iPads,” says Ritchie, without even hinting from whom he might be hearing this. “The reason isn’t anything political, like a new desire to conform to an outdated micro-USB standard, but typically Apple: to save space inside the iPhone 5 for what are now more important components.”

His basic argument is that Apple has been ruthlessly imaginative in packing and repacking the iPhone’s innards to optimise the use of the highly limited volume for components. “The dock connector as it exists now is a relatively big component that takes up, while not a lot of space compared to the entire assembly, a lot of space compared to the difference between mini and micro SIM.”

Given that the iCloud synchronization and storage is now available, Ritchie notes, the use of that relatively big component is less important than it used to be. And more important are components like the long-expected LTE radio and more space for a bigger battery to run it and higher resolution screens and a four-core processor.

“Apple probably won’t go micro-USB either, because it’s not faster and not Apple’s style,” Ritchie predicts. “A smaller dock connector – a ‘micro dock’ if you will – makes a lot more sense.”

Such a decision would be a cause for rejoicing for many but for just as many a cause for weeping and gnashing of teeth because “not all current accessories would be compatible, of course, even if Apple offered an adapter dongle.”

As with any Apple decision, the rule is: Get over it.

iPhone 5 3D display “a possibility”

Over at the aptly named PlanetInsane.com, Delaon has finally picked up on recent reports that Apple has been granted another patent for 3D technology and spun this gossamer filament of fact into gold. “3D Display a Possibility for iPhone 5”, reads the headline.

As they say, anything is possible. It’s possible that President Obama will decide to forego the next election and retire to Martha’s Vineyard. It’s possible that the alternative energy industry will figure out to way to make money without taxpayer handouts.

Delaon apparently is convinced that Apple is filing 3D patents left and right in a frenzy of innovation because Android smartphones have been leading the way in 3D, stealing a march, getting the upper hand and so on. “The attempts of Android to offer a 3D smartphone have challenged Apple to file various bold patents for 3D displays in the previous years,” he intones.

But as PC World’s Ginny Mies concluded in her June 2011 review of the HTC EVO 3D, “Well, let’s just say it is a very good thing that there’s more to this phone than just a 3D display.”

Reviewing the same phone for Wired’s U.K. website, Dave Oliver wrote “Your eyes may start to cross after a while, but it’s certainly a fun party piece when you’re showing off your pics and vids taken with the stereoscopic cameras — though you’ve got to look at it straight on and it doesn’t take much of an angle to lose the effect.” The technical term for this is “damning with faint praise.”

Someone is being challenged, alright. But we don’t think it’s Apple.

iPhone 5 will have mobile payment feature to shut up clamouring consumers

“Consumers Clamouring For iPhone 5 With Credit Card Capabilities” screams the headline for Shawn Ingram’s post at GottaBeMobile.

Frankly, this came as a surprise to Rollup, who goes days, even weeks and sometimes months without hearing a single clamor for the Right to Pay With an iPhone.

“Mobile payments isn’t an entirely new concept, but it’s a concept that many hope would become a reality much sooner,” Ingram declares. The “many” probably refers to the venture fund backers who’ve poured money for years into various mobile payment software and hardware vendors, including near field communications (NFC) radios.

“Sometimes all you want to carry is your iPhone (or any other smartphone) without having to worry about a wallet as well. It’d be much easier to just pay for anything you want with the phone,” writes Ingram, veering dangerously close to whining.

But he’s got facts: specifically a “new Nielsen report,” which shows that “71 percent of people who download apps to their smartphones want to use their phones to pay at store registers.” And iPhone users are even more enthusiastic: 75 percent of them “said they would like to use their phones as a credit card.”

Apple needs to wake up and hear clamouring. “The Nielsen numbers are one of the more compelling reasons why Apple should build NFC into the new iPhone,” Ingram declares. “If Apple can make some sort of deal with credit card companies an iPhone 5 with NFC could make mobile payments much bigger than they are now.”

If they build it, people will buy with it.

Ingram doesn’t appear to have actually read the Nielsen report, instead linking to a VentureBeat story, by Jennifer Van Grove, who does link to it. Van Grove leads with a different Nielsen fact: “New data from Nielsen shows that nearly one-third of U.S. smartphone owners (29 percent) now turn to their devices for shopping dos and don’ts.” Mobile web, browser, social networking: we get that.

Then she continues: “And our new-found love affair with our phones is so promising, most of us are ready to close the deal – 71 percent of app downloaders said they’d like to use their phone to pay at the register.”

The problem is that the 71 percent did not actually say that, according to Nielsen’s own post. That post doesn’t give the exact question the respondents were asked but a chart labels the topic as “Interest in using mobile phone as a credit card.”

The possible answers are: not at all interested, slightly interested, somewhat interested, very interested and extremely interested. We can assume the verys and extremelys are the aforementioned venture investors and people like Sean Ingram.

But “slightly” and “somewhat” are, let’s face it, hardly “clamouring.” The actual number for the iPhone app downloaders in the survey were: 18 percent extremely interested, 21 percent very interested (totalling 39 percent of the sample), 23 percent somewhat interested, 13 percent slightly interested and 25 percent or one in four, not at all interested.

So one can say that 75 percent of these people selected one of four answers that all contained the word “interested” and therefore expressed some level of “interest” in using iPhone as a credit card.

But you can also say that 61 percent expressed little or no interest. Because, sensibly, they have many other, much more compelling things in which to be interested. So the Nielsen numbers actually become a compelling reason for Apple not to bother with NFC anytime soon in the iPhone.

iPhone 5 release ahead of schedule because iPhone 4S “losing steam”

That’s the theory of Michale Cadiz, in a post at DailyMobile. It’s based, very loosely, on some Gartner projections gleaned not from Gartner but from another story at International Business Times.

Gartner notes that the record-setting quarter benefitted by an extra calendar week, the holidays and decisions by some number of buyers to delay iPhone 4 purchases in early Fall in anticipation of the new iPhone’s unveiling. Essentially, the idea is that Apple’s record-setting pace of iPhone 4S sales at the close of calendar 2011 will not continue.

But in his post, Cadiz writes that “Gartner expects Apple’s market share to decline for a couple of quarters as holiday demands are sated and iPhone 4S’ availability widens.” But a decline in market share isn’t at all the same thing as “losing steam” — either through declining sales or a slower rate in the growth of sales. Not to mention the fact that widening the availability of the phone seems much more likely to increase sales than decrease them.

Cadiz says the improvements and changes in iPhone 4S – camera improvements, A5 chip, Siri voice assistant – “may not be sufficient to ensure a long-lasting success as the iPhone 4.”

And why’s that? “It’s ‘smallish’ screen (3.5″ as against 4″ from its Android competitor), lack of 4G-LTE support, short battery life plus it looks no different than its predecessor factors greatly against iPhone 4S novelty,” he writes. It’s a bit confusing because Cadiz actually seems to be arguing that the iPhone 4S is in fact only a novelty compared to the “long-lasting success” of its predecessor.

In any case, the failing 4S is likely to cause panic in Cupterino, Cadiz suggests. “This [losing steam] may ultimately lead to Apple pushing through with their original plans of releasing iPhone 5 ahead of schedule (June or earlier) instead of waiting for October, exactly a year after iPhone 4S was released.”

Another confusing comment, because it suggests Apple’s original plan was to release iPhone 5 in June 2012, just eight months after the 4S, but then it decided inexplicably to wait until October but now, faced with the coming collapse of iPhone 4S sales, will go back to June.

Cadiz describes himself in his online profile as “a corporate slave by day, a full-time partyphile at night.” It’s not clear when in that 24-hour period he posted his analysis.

 

Article source: http://www.macworld.com.au/news/iphone-5-tales-rumours-45381/

Don’t Trust the ‘News’ on iPad 3 and iPhone 5 Release Date & Specs

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Reports, which Apple will never confirm, say that a manifest from Apple.pro indicates that supplier Foxconn will begin shipping the iPad 3 to the U.S. not later than March 9.  Website YourDailyMac says iOS 5.1 carrier profiles carry the possible iPad 3 release date of March 9, 2012 in their names.  Apple news site iMore, citing “reliable sources” says Apple will announce the iPad 3 on March 7.

Sites also report about a quad-core processor, a retina display, an NFC chip, and two models (a 10 inch model plus a smaller model that would compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire) for the third generation iPad.

Gag Order

But Apple generates hype and publicity by, ironically, valuing its secrecy and privacy.

Even Apple’s own employees are kept in the dark about new projects.  Adam Lashinsky’s explains so in his book “Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired–and Secretive–Company Really Works”. 

“Apple employees know something big is afoot when the carpenters appear in their office building.  New walls are quickly erected. Doors are added and new security protocols put into place. Windows that once were transparent are now frosted. Other rooms have no windows at all.  They are called lockdown rooms: No information goes in or out without a reason,” says Mr. Lashinksy, an editor at large at Fortune.

Apple employees are subject to non-disclosure agreements, and employees who share Apple’s secrets are instantly terminated.

Apple requires employees to “[p]rotect the confidentiality of Apple’s information and the information of our customers, suppliers, and employees,” a breach of which can result to termination of employment.

Apple’s suppliers are not exempted.  Apple goes to extreme lengths to protect even the minutest details of products under development or currently in production.  Apple’s contracts with suppliers each include a confidentiality clause, and the contracts can be terminated if breaches occur.

Predictions

Predictions in the months and days before the iPhone 4S was launched in October show that the Apple sites could not win many accuracy contests.

After Apple defied history by not launching a new iPhone at a developers’ conference in June, rumor and news sites reported about the iPhone 5 release date being delayed until between August and September.  DigiTimes reported about an upcoming iPhone 5 with a curved glass screen.  AppleInsider said that Apple was evaluationg a new iPhone with a slideout keyboard.  BGR and This is my Next reported in June about an overhauled design for the iPhone 5.  The New York Times, citing an unnamed Apple employee, said that the new iPhone would be “fairly different” from the previous generation iPhone.  MacRumors reported about an elongated home button while BGR reported about an iPhone without the home button.  In September, Reuters, Bloomberg and other reputable sites reported about two models being prepared by Apple — the iPhone 5 and a budget-priced, 8-GB model of the iPhone 4.

So what did Apple’s Tim Cook show in the Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” event? 

Steve Jobs‘ successor touted a new iPhone that is not aesthetically different from Apple’s best selling smartphone, the iPhone 4.  Inside it was all new — the new phone, called iPhone 4S, features, among others, a faster processor, an 8 megapixel camera, and a built-in digital assistant, called Siri.  Apple newest iPhone did not have a new design, retained the 3.5-inch display (didn’t take the 4-inch-plus screens of the Galaxy S 2 and the Droid), had no NFC chips and didn’t use 4G LTE technology.

Of course many sites got it right with certain features.  But even a broken clock is right twice a day.  The so called experts didn’t need Nostradamus’ forecasting skills or any complex calculations to get them right.

The iPhone 4S was expected to have the A5 processor because the processor was already made available for the iPad 2 that was released in April 2011.  The iOS 5 and its 200 new features was a give-away as Steve Jobs unveiled the new operating system for mobile devices at the June developers’ conference. 

And so what will we expect from the upcoming iPhone 5 and iPad 3?  Probably the iPad 3 would have a better resolution, an A6 quad-core processor, a more advanced camera, and a longer lasting battery. 

Nah.  The easiest way to predict the future is to invent it.  We’ll only know the specs and features of the iPad 3 and iPhone 5 when Apple unveils them.

“A good forecaster is not smarter than everyone else, he merely has his ignorance better organised. ” — Anonymous.

To contact the editor, e-mail:

Article source: http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/305071/20120227/dont-trust-iphone5-ipad3-stories.htm

Gorgeous iPhone 5 Concept Looks Insanely Great

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The iPhone 5 might not be arriving any time soon, but that hasn’t stopped artists and design firms from creating their own mock-ups.

After analyzing the various iPhone 5 rumors, Italian designer Federico Ciccarese came up with these gorgeous renders.

Ciccarese’s vision of the iPhone 5 predicts a slightly curved back. The body of the phone, in fact, looks similar to Apple’s Magic Mouse. The display is flat and “retina” in nature and the phone tapers off at the top and bottom.

The headphone jack has moved to the side to accommodate the new design and the back looks to be blasted aluminum, similar to what is used on the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMac.

This isn’t the first time Ciccarese has mocked up his own version of future Apple products. In addition to previously trying to design the fifth-generation iPhone (what would become the iPhone 4S), Ciccarese has also taken on concepts such as the iScreen, his vision of the rumored integrated television from Apple.

We love the way the mockup details the glowing Apple on the back of the phone. It’s the sort of design touch that we think Jony Ive and company could even appreciate.

What do you think of these mockups? What would you like to see in the iPhone 5? Let us know.

Graphics and concept courtesy Federico Ciccarese/CiccareseDesign

Article source: http://mashable.com/2012/02/23/iphone-5-mockups-2/