Five smartphones that could kill the iPhone 5

Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 5 on September 12, potentially alongside a mini iPad device, with a release date scheduled for sometime in October. As technology launches go the iPhone 5 is likely to be the biggest event of the year bar none.

Analysts reckon Apple could sell around 250 million iPhone 5 devices in total, making it the most popular iPhone handset to date. And no matter how fashionable Samsung now is with consumers, there’s no way its Galaxy S3 can compete with sales figures like that.

In this sense the iPhone 5 is a big deal. But there are alternatives, dear reader. Alternatives from a variety of manufacturers on varying platforms that could very well give Apple’s latest and greatest handset a serious run for its money – both in terms of processing power, design, and functionality.

The top 5 potential iPhone 5 killers

HTC Zenith

Leaked back in June the HTC Zenith has all the makings of a classic HTC flagship with its massive 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 display, quad-core S4 Snapdragon processor, and Microsoft’s soon-to-be-released Windows Phone 8 operating system. Expected to land sometime in late-September, along with two other Windows Phone devices, the HTC Zenith looks to be an absolute monster and is well worth your attention.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2

The original Samsung Galaxy Note was something of a rogue, daring to venture where Dell’s doomed-from-the-start Streak phone/tablet first attempted to make waves in 2010. Powered by Android Gingerbread and Samsung’s 1.4GHz Exynos processor, the Galaxy Note was essentially a stretched out version of Samsung’s now almost cult-like Galaxy S2.

Many dubbed the phone stupid but consumers en masse loved the device. In the end Samsung sold well over five million Galaxy Note devices and this of course warranted a sequel. That follow-up is known as the Galaxy Note 2 and it looks set to iron out all the kinks associated with original via the introduction of a new quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and Android Jelly Bean.

The Galaxy Note 2 will also be even bigger than the original Note with a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display. Couple this with a few choice improvements in the way the phone looks and how its pen interacts with content and it’s looking likely that the Note 2 could be one of the handsets of late-2012/early-2013.

Nokia Lumia ‘Phi’

Nokia’s next-generation Lumia handset has been outed online as the Lumia Phi. Tipped to be the company’s first Windows Phone 8-powered handset out of the blocks, the Lumia Phi is said to feature a 4.5-inch AMOLED display and a dual-core S4 Snapdragon processor, making it not only the biggest but also the most powerful Windows Phone to date.

The Lumia Phi will also look a lot like Nokia’s Lumia 900, according to reports, which is fine by us as it means you’re getting all that awesome design and finish on a significantly larger device with more processing power. What more could a Windows Phone fan want?

HTC Endeavour

The HTC Endeavour – most likely a codename – leaked online this week and we’ve been talking about it ever since. The handset is said to run Android Jelly Bean out the box and feature a 1.7GHz processor – either from Nvidia or Qualcomm, we presume.

Tipped as the successor to 2012’s One X, the Endeavour will ship with HTC Watch 2, the latest version of the company’s video-on-demand service, an improved battery life, and a pair of UrBeats headphones. The handset will also be compatible with all existing HTC One X accessories, according to the leak, meaning it’s likely to share more than a passing resemblance to its predecessor (which is no bad thing).

Huawei Ascend D-Quad

We’ve been waiting for the Huawei D-Quad ever since we first clapped eyes on it at MWC 2012 way back in February. The device featured excellent design and a large 4.5-inch 720p display that has a Retina Display-level pixel density of 330ppi. It also has some pretty remarkable processing power under the hood, too.  

According to Huawei, the Ascend D-Quad is the fastest device on the market with its proprietary K3V2 quad-core processor, which comes clocked at either 1.2GHz or 1.5GHz. The chipset also features a GPU unit with 16 cores. Initial benchmark results for the K3V2 chipset were incredibly impressive, beating Qualcomm’s S4 in Basemark ES. Now all we need is a UK release date.

 

Article source: http://www.knowyourmobile.com/features/1530036/five_smartphones_that_could_kill_the_iphone_5.html

Forget the iPhone 5, buy a new original iPhone for only $10000

Are you eagerly awaiting the next iPhone? Thinner, faster and with a bigger screen, the next iPhone is going to sell millions. But collectors won’t be interested in that for long when there’s a brand new and unopened first-gen iPhone going for $10,000. Screw 4G LTE, this one’s got 2G!

Ebay seller “samsonbible” is calling his sealed in shrink-wrapped 8GB iPhone from 2007 a “vintage” item. While five years might not qualify for vintage status in practically everything else, in tech years, that’s an eternity.

Here’s some “vintage” specs to give you an idea of what Apple used to turned the mobile world upside down:

Quad-band GSM (no CDMA Verizon/Sprint model here!), 2.0-megapixels with no LED flash (perfect for those grainy Instagram pics), 8GB of internal storage (for storing no apps because the App Store didn’t exist in 2007), a puny 1,400mAh battery, a 3.5-inch LCD display with an incredible 320 x 480 resolution and the original iPhone OS (before it was rebranded iOS).

Yeah, that was the phone that revolutionized the cellphone industry (and many others) five years ago. It might seem silly that the original iPhone didn’t let you change your home screen wallpaper from the default black or that it didn’t even fit most 3.5mm audio jacks because of the recessed port or that there was no App Store, but that well, that was 2007 man.

$10,000 seems a seems like a lot upfront, but just you wait, in another five years this thing could be worth even more, provided you don’t open it and ruin its value.

, via Complex

Article source: http://dvice.com/archives/2012/08/forget-the-ipho-1.php

iPhone 5 Price, Specs, Release Date and Latest Rumors As Of August: 4-inch …

(Photo : Youngblah) A concept design of the iPhone 5.

With all the rumors swirling around the internet about the iPhone 5, it gets hard to keep track of what’s been discredited, and what’s worth looking at. Here’s a look at the most popular rumors about the iPhone 5: I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not they could be real.

Release Date:

First and foremost on everyone’s mind is: “When’s this thing coming out?” Going on current information out there, it will most likely come out sometime after September 21 and before November.

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Website iMore reported that Apple plans on revealing a line of products including the next-gen iPhone, an iPad Mini, a new iPod Touch, and a new iPod Nano at an event on September 12. They even went on to say that the iPhone 5 should be out nine days later, on September 21.

Other websites seem to think that an October release date is more likely. Either way, it’s definitely coming soon, since display manufacturers said they start shipping screens to Apple in August and Apple suppliers in China are ramping up hiring to probably meet the high initial demand.

Price:

A rumor made its way around Twitter that the phone will cost $800, but will most likely be much lower. If it’s anything like the iPhone 4S, it should start at $200 with a standard two-year contract, and increase in price with more memory.

Bigger Screen:

Android users seem to be getting all the eye candy. With the Samsung Galaxy S3′s screen at a whopping 4.8 inches compared to the 3.5-inch iPhone 4S display, it’s about time that Apple gave its smartphone buyers a better viewing experience.

The screen has been pegged at being around four inches, with website 9to5Mac confirming that an early build of iOS 6 can scale up to fit the 4-inch screen. If the 640X1136 resolution is right, then iPhone users might finally be able to experience 16:9 videos in their native form.

Size:

The iPhone 5 is expected to be taller than the current iPhone 4S, but not wider. A Taiwanese paper, Apple Daily, published what it believes to be the specs: 58.47 millimeters wide by 123.83 millimeters long by 7.6 millimeters thick – a full 1.7 millimeters thinner than the iPhone 4S. This would also make it thinner than both the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the slim HTC One S.

Smaller Dock Connector:

Apple wants to do away with the 30-pin dock connector that is currently in all iPhones, iPods, and iPads. Instead, the iPhone 5 will certainly come with a smaller dock, although what size is anyone’s guess. Some say 19 pins and others as low as eight. However, while digging around in iOS 6,9to5Mac found a hardware feature named “9pin.” Could this mean the new smaller dock will be nine pins?

Like many others, you might be worried that the smaller dock means that your iPod stereo, cables, and other accessories will now be useless. This might happen, but an accidental image posted in the Apple store reveals that Apple might sell a dock connector converter, allowing you to plug in your “insert number here” – pin dock connector into a 30-pin device.

The iPhone 5 should also be thinner, come with 4G LTE support, and NFC capabilities. 

How many of these do you believe will actually debut with the iPhone 5? Leave your responses in the comments below.

 

 

Article source: http://www.latinospost.com/articles/2740/20120809/iphone-5-price-specs-release-date-and-latest-rumors-as-of-august-4-inch-screen-thinner-than-samsung-galaxy-s3.htm

iPhone 5 Rumor: More Leaked Parts Seemingly Confirm Smaller SIM Card

Thanks to the release of iOS 6 Beta 4, we have been able to confirm a number of rumors concerning the iPhone 5. There are still some rumors that the iOS 6 beta can’t confirm. Thankfully, people are leaking iPhone 5 parts from Chinese factories so that we can get a better look at the device.

French tech site Nowhereelse had recently obtained parts for the iPhone 5 from a Chinese forum called iColorOS. As you can see in the image above, the parts seem to confirm much of the rumors that we’ve been hearing. The screen is indeed larger. What’s interesting however is the new SIM cart. It’s the rumored nano-SIM that we’ve been hearing about.

As is the case with the confirmed smaller 9-pin dock connector, the smaller SIM card doesn’t seem that important at first glance. It’s immensely important, however, when you consider how much more technology Apple is going to be able to cram into the iPhone 5. With the components getting smaller, Apple will be able to implement more technology like the rumored NFC chips.

Besides the obvious benefit of being able to fit more tech inside the phone, going smaller helps improve heat dispersement and battery life. Rumors have suggested that the iPhone 5 has been facing battery life problems. Apple may have moved to smaller components to combat that problem.

With the rumored confirmation of a smaller SIM card out of the way, it seems that we’re almost in the clear as far as iPhone 5 rumors go. Various sources have pretty much confirmed almost everything there is to know about the device. Apple is reportedly holding an event on September 12 to formally announce the device. We’ll find out just how right all these leaks were then.

Article source: http://www.webpronews.com/iphone-5-rumor-more-leaked-parts-seemingly-confirm-smaller-sim-card-2012-08

The iPhone 5: Everything We Think We Know So Far [Rumor Roundup]

The iPhone 5: Everything We Think We Know So Far [Rumor Roundup]

Alex Heath (10:14 am PDT, Aug 9)

Cult of Mac breaks down what you can expect to see in the next iPhone.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5 on September 12th. Industry experts agree that this year’s model is the most anticipated iPhone release yet, and Apple is expected to enjoy record sales this holiday season. You’re probably itching to see what Apple has up its sleeve this time, especially if you’re coming off a two-year carrier contract with the iPhone 4.

The iPhone 4S was announced on October 4th, 2011. Despite all of its new features and improvements, the 4S didn’t really fulfill all of the “iPhone 5’ rumors that predicted a totally new form factor, larger display, 4G, etc. For that reason, the 4S triggered some disappointment among Apple fans.

Now it’s 2012 and Apple is expected to finally unveil the redesigned iPhone 5 we’ve all been waiting for. In Cult of Mac’s rumor roundup, we examine everything we think we know about the iPhone 5.

It won’t be called the “iPhone 5.”

Let’s get this straightened up off the bat: If you own the iPhone 4S, you already own the iPhone 5. Apple has released the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S. After performing some complicated math, you will realize that makes 5 devices. The 2012 iPhone will actually be Apple’s sixth-generation model.

“If you own the iPhone 4S, you already own the iPhone 5’

“So if it’s not the iPhone 5, then what is Apple going to call it?!?”

Good question. See, you don’t call your Mac the “MacBook 12’ or “iMac 4.” It’s just a MacBook or iMac. When Apple unveiled the third-gen iPad earlier this year, it didn’t call it the “iPad 3.” Instead, we got “the new iPad.” Expect the same thing to happen to the iPhone this time around: “the new iPhone.”

Sites like Cult of Mac continue to call it the iPhone 5 for clarity’s sake. The general public still thinks this upcoming model is the “iPhone 5,” and while we know that the intelligent and devilishly handsome Cult of Mac readership knows better, we still need a way to make a clear distinction. So “iPhone 5’ it is, for now.

It’s going to have a fresh look.

Remember when everyone thought last year’s iPhone was going to be a huge redesign? It turned out to look exactly like the iPhone 4; all of the improvements (for the most part) were made under the hood.

This year’s iPhone is going to be different. Expect a full body makeover.

Are you a fan of the metallic look?

Rumors and part leaks have shown a two-toned metallic backplate design that’s reminiscent of the chrome-plated metal frame on the original iPhone. If there’s anything the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial has taught us, it’s that Apple likes to revisit its designs.

“Expect a full body makeover”

Like a supermodel, expect the next iPhone to be slim and tall. Rumors say it will only be 7.6mm thick, making it thinner than smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC One S. That’s also nearly 2mm thinner than the iPhone 4S. The display will help streamline the device’s dimensions, but more on that next.

The screen will be bigger.

The next iPhone should have an extra row of icons due to the taller display.

For the first time since the original iPhone, Apple is expected to depart from its 3.5-inch display. Rumors and part leaks reveal that the next iPhone will have a 4-inch, 16:9 screen. Essentially, the current look of iOS would be stretched in portrait mode and display media with the correct 16:9 letterboxing in landscape. And yes, the screen will still be Retina quality.

According to the rumor mill, Apple is partnering with Sharp overseas to implement new in-cell LCD technology. This will help the next iPhone’s screen be thinner to blend in with the device’s slimmer overall form factor.

There’s another key reason the next iPhone is expected to feature a 4-inch screen…

Page 2: 4G, speed boost, NFC, and more

Pages: 1 2

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Article source: http://www.cultofmac.com/183644/iphone-5-rumor-roundup/

iPhone 5 Hardware: 10 Design Ideas to Catch Smartphone Buyers` Eyes

iPhone 5 Hardware: 10 Design Ideas to Catch Smartphone Buyers` Eyes
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Apple’s
iPhone 5 is on the minds of current handset owners. The device, which could
be introduced as early as next month, could set off yet another rapid round of
smartphone upgrades among Apple fans who always opt for the latest model
available. A solid design, some nice software enhancements and improved
internal components will do the trick. Another nominal upgrade, like that which
came in the iPhone 4S, won’t.

There has already been a lot of speculation and discussion of about what sort of
components should be built into the iPhone 5. 
The most part, correctly guessing correctly what features will
eventually show up in the device isn’t all that tough. But predicting the look
and feel of the smartphone’s case, however, is far more difficult.

Apple historically has been very conservative in changing the overall look and feel
of the iPhone. But there are certain features that would help keep this popular
unit on the cutting edge. And it would be awfully nice if Apple delivered on
those hopes.

Read
on to find out what would be really nice to see in Apple’s iPhone 5:

1. A slimmer body

According to some reports, Apple’s iPhone 5 will be quite a bit slimmer than the iPhone
4S. One of the more recent reports say that the thickness could be up to 20
percent less than the iPhone 4S. That would be awfully nice. A slimmer body
makes for a lighter, more mobile device. And that’s what everyone wants
nowadays.

2. The same old width

The
last thing Apple should do is make the iPhone 5 any wider than it is right now.
With the current design, Apple’s handset is narrow enough to fit easily into a
pocket or purse. If it gets any wider, it might start to get a bit unwieldy and
that will hurt the mobility factor that has been one of its best features.

3. Gorilla Glass is a must

According to several reports, Apple will deliver Gorilla Glass 2 to the iPhone 5. If so,
that would mean that if users drop the device, the chances of it actually
breaking would be far lower than in the iPhone 4S. That will be appreciated by
anyone who has shattered the iPhone’s glass screen cover.

4. The long-rumored Liquidmetal

Liquidmetal might just be one of the most desirable features for the iPhone 5. Liquidmetal,
which actually isn’t liquid at all, is a mixture of titanium, copper, nickel,
and many other metals. It’s designed to make the iPhone’s case resistance to scratches,
corrosion, and other damage that can turn a smartphone into waste. It would be
a great addition to the iPhone 5.

Article source: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/iPhone-5-Hardware-10-Design-Ideas-to-Catch-Smartphone-Buyers-Eyes-281704/