iPhone 5 bigger!

This is a recent photo comparing the iPhone 5 size with it's predecessor iPhone 4 and the 4th generation iPod touch. And it's quite big! Have a look folks.
Thanks @9to5mac

LED relocated in next gen iPhone.

N9 hits FCC. !

Nokia N9 hits the FCC, packs more bands than a rubber tree

By Sean Hollister  posted May 11th 2011 4:09PM

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - America Under Siege. (trailer)

Just the trailer.

Is this the iPod Nano 7G?

Google gives away 5,000 Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets to devs at I/O

Hey, who said we'd only get software news at Google I/O? The Android maker just reminded us that Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet (the thin version) will be launching in a month's time, and to whet appetites, a white-backed version of the device was shown off on stage. It's described as a limited edition, potentially because it looks to be running stock Android without the TouchWiz UI layer on top, and will be given away to the gathered crowd of 5,000 conference attendees. They'll get it with Honeycomb 3.0 on board, but an update to 3.1 will be forthcoming over the next couple of weeks as well.
(via engadget)

Google announces "One for All" Android OS. ICECREAM SANDWICH at I/O 2011.

"One OS that runs everywhere." There you have it, folks! Google intends to meld itsHoneycomb tablet wares and Gingerbread smartphone software into one delicious Ice Cream Sandwich. Maybe that's why the "sandwich" bit is in the name? Either way, it'll be a universal OS that runs on everything from teeny tiny Android phones to 10-inch tablets and will intelligently adapt to each form factor with things like a resizable status bar. Some other fancy new additions are being demonstrated right now, including face-tracking and camera focus shifting based on voice recognition.
(via engadget)

Microsoft to purchase Skype for $8.5 billion.

Microsoft has officially announced that it is purchasing VoIP provider Skype for the sum of $8.5 billion in an all-cash deal. Microsoft claims that it will bring the service to the whole suite of Microsoft products, while still supporting it on other platforms.
Originally reported by The Wall Street Journal yesterday, the deal will bring Skype's 170 million users under the Microsoft umbrella. Microsoft intends to bring Skype services to Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone, and a wide array of Windows devices. Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other networks. Mac and Android users should not worry as Microsoft has committed to continue developing the service on non-Microsoft platforms.
"Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world."
Skype has had large companies purchase it before. In 2005, eBay paid $2.6 billion for the company, and later sold the majority off to investors and venture capitalists in 2009. This acquisition by Microsoft is Microsoft's largest purchase to date.
Microsoft will set up Skype as a separate business division within the company, and has appointed Skype CEO Tony Bates as the president of the new division.
The purchase is expected to close by the end of the year, once it has gone through the necessary regulatory proceedings. Microsoft is expected to use this purchase to bolster its Windows Phone 7 platform with VoIP calling, something that the wireless carriers will likely fight since it will encroach on their lucrative voice plan revenues.
(via mobileburn)

Amazon Cloud Player open for iPhone and iPad.

New Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) features revealed!

Guys from the Windows Phone Dev Podcast have revealed some new consumer-oriented features that will appear in the next major release of Windows Phone (version 7.5), codenamed Mango. According to the two, Mango will include two new Bing features—Bing Audio and Bing Video—as well as SMS Dictation (spoken text messages), on-device podcast support, and turn-by-turn navigation.

In their words:

Bing Audio allows you to search for music using your phone … Bing Audio allows users to hold up the phone to a song and identify it. [Similar to how Shazam works, apparently. –Paul]

iPhone 4 may make its debut on May 12 in India!

Apple's ubiquitous smartphone, iPhone 4 is going to make its debut in India this month or probably you can say May 12, as the sources say. Well iPhone 5 is on the way to make its debut (I think this year), it seems a ray of disappointment for indian costumers. iPhone 4 has been announced by the country's broadest cellular network Bharti Airtel. It says that the phone is COMING SOON!
Launch coming soon :)

Pissed iPhone 4 resellers smashed the Apple's $46000!

Update: 9to5mac just got the following unverified account:

There were dozens of resellers outside the store trying to get the white iPhone 4, they were told to wait in line and was not allowed to go inside. Resellers got pissed and smashed the glass door, which costs about 300,000RMB or 46,000USD, according to an apple employee at the store. Then a foreign(non-Chinese) employee came out from the store with a metal club and hit 4 people, including 2 young men and 2 middle age women. All 4 people are hospitalized right now and no money was paid by apple for medical purposes.

Pictures are just coming in but it appears that there was some sort of incident between “foreign Apple Store Employees” and some locals during the iPad 2 launch.  One account:

The afternoon of May 7, Beijing SanLiTun store Apple, crowds queued to buy the iPhone4 conflict with in-store staff. One stands more than 1.9 metres for expatriate staff armed with iron rods Brawl wounded four customers. A glass door of the store were hit and destroyed by excited crowds. Are 4-bit the injured have been admitted to hospital

Another account has another poorly translated view:

 Sanlitun Apple Store bloodshed, because too many people queuing waiting suddenly closed shop, where the weather is so hot multi-line Burongyia, Apple stunned party to a foreigner and a Chinese man actually hands-on, people with the scene confirmed the man was wounded also the guests lined up to buy Apple products.We look at the quality of foreigners, but also that, to earn the money we have in China is also the name of our people.

( via 9to5mac)

What's Next? A PAPERPHONE !

Canadian scientists have developed what they say is the world's first interactive paper phone, as thin and flexible as a credit card, which is set to herald a new generation of computers.

Extremely lightweight and made of a thin-film, the prototype device can do everything a smartphone currently does — from making calls to playing music to sharing books.

And most impressively, the PaperPhone uses no power when nobody is interacting with it, the Daily Mail reported.

“This is the future. Everything is going to look and feel like this within five years,” said its inventor, Roel Vertegaal, Director of Queen's University Human Media Lab in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

“This computer looks, feels and operates like a small sheet of interactive paper.

“You interact with it by bending it into a cell phone, flipping the corner to turn pages, or writing on it with a pen.”

The phone's display consists of a 9.5cm diagonal, thin-film, flexible E Ink display which, according to the researcher, makes it much more portable that any current mobile computer.

Being able to store and interact with documents on larger versions of these light, flexible computers means offices will no longer require paper or printers, said Dr. Vertegaal.

“The paperless office is here. Everything can be stored digitally and you can place these computers on top of each other just like a stack of paper, or throw them around the desk.”

The new device will be unveiled at the Association of Computing Machinery's Computer Human Interaction conference next week in Vancouver.

New to iOS: Bing Maps SDK, YouTube app replacement in China?

Two interesting iOS tidbits this morning related to iOS. A rumor has it that Apple is in talks with YouKu, Chinese version of YouTube, over replacing the native YouTube app on iPhones in China because YouTube is still blocked in the country, writes TechNode. A trusted source told the publication that YouKu founder Victor Koo discussed the possibility with Apple’s chief Steve Jobs. The report is questionable knowing Apple has never replaced a standard iOS app with a third-party alternative. The other tidbit is official: Microsoft has released the Bing Maps SDK that allows programmers to embed Bing Maps inside their apps…

Plus, it can retrieve contextual information for a given map location. I wonder how Googlereacts to this…The Bing Maps Control for iOS provides bells and whistles such as gesture-based interaction based on the Seadragon engine, adding pushpins and other overlays to the map and displaying your location.

Last week Microsoft made a bold move by releasing the API Mapping tool designed to lure iOS developers into porting their iPhone apps to Windows Phone devices.

(via 9to5mac)

IDC: iPad and other ARM devices can be classified as PCs

Influential market research firm IDC has begun listing ARM-based mobile chips alongside Intel PC processors. Previously, smartphone and tablets chips based on Arm Holdings’ CPU blueprints were listed in a category separate of Intel-based PC chips. CNET relayed an IDC research note that says:

For the first time, IDC is forecasting PC microprocessor units by processor architecture, including those based on x86 (Intel and Advanced Micro Devices) and those based on ARM.

IDC didn’t say whether the change means categorizing iPad as a personal computing device. If so, grim surveys showing a decline in consumer PC sales might look different. Folks are increasingly picking up tablets and prolonging computer upgrades. IDC expects that by 2015 over thirteen percent of PC processors will be based on ARM designs.

A number of chip makers have licenses ARM’s IP. ARM-designed processors are then combined on a single die with other components, such as graphics cores, the memory controller and logic that binds it all together. ARM’s CPU designs dominate in the mobile space, powering the vast majority of smartphones and tablets out there. This includes market leading iPad plus iPhone 4 and iPod touch.

Apple’s A5 chip in iPad 2 is based on ARM’s dual-core Cortex-A9 processor design and is being manufactured by Samsung, which is also an ARM licensee. Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, chip makers behind processors in most Android devices, use ARM designs.

Graphics giant Nvidia also licensed ARM chips for its Tegra processors. The company should debut a new desktop chip by 2012 capable of running Windows 8 as Microsoft announced at CES 2011 that its operating system will support ARM-based architectures in addition to Intel’s x86 platform.

(via 9to5mac)

The Daily: $10 million loss in the last quarter

The Daily, an iPad-exclusive digital magazine that launched February 2, has been a money-losing business for Rupert Murdoch-owned media empire so far. According to Peter Kafka of The Wall Street Journal’s MediaMemo blog who chatted with op-chief Chase Carey during an earnings call, the magazine lost ten million dollars last quarter. What’s surprising is the mention of just 800,000 downloads. Even though those downloads don’t equal paid subscriptions, it’s still a disappointing figure for such a high-profile digital publishing operation.

The Daily was the first iOS app that debuted ahead of then new iOS in-app subscription model which requires publishers to share revenue with Apple (70:30 cut) and price digital goodies the same as their physical counterparts. The Daily editorial staff counts more than a hundred employees who focus on creating original content specifically tailored to the iPad’s multimedia features. It’s been confirmed that the media conglomerate spent $30 million dollars to launch The Daily. The magazine has a weekly cost of half a million dollars. The Daily app for iPad is a free download but accessing content costs 99 cents per week in recurring payments or $39.99 per year upfront.

Lovely concept marries Polaroid Pogo to an iPhone 4 case

I bet you’d want an iPhone case that doubles as a portable Polaroid printer, like the one envisioned in the above shot. It’s just an artist’s rendition, mind you. Give a thumbs-up for this one to freelance designer Mac Funamizu who designed an imaginary iPhone dock which can instantly print iPhone images. But why bother? Funamizu explains on his blog:

Wifi only Galaxy Tab 7" differs from 3g model?

Apple releases iOS 4.3.3

Underpromise and overdeliver—always a good strategy. Apple said it would take a few weeks to issue an iOS update to fix a handful of bugs related to the storage of location data, but it’s taken just seven days between that announcement and the appearance of iOS 4.3.3.

iOS contains a cache of location information, pictured above, that was also synced to Macs and PCs via iTunes.

As Apple promised in its location Q&A last week, iOS 4.3.3 addresses three bugs related to the database of location information on iOS devices. Firstly, it reduces the amount of the cached location information to a week’s worth, rather than relying on a size limit, as it previously did. Secondly, it no longer backs up the cache to your Mac or PC via iTunes upon syncing, so the information isn’t available to anyone with access to your computer. And finally, the cache is now deleted from the device when Location Services are disabled in iOS’s Settings app. Apple has also announced plans to encrypt the location information on iOS devices itself in the next major update to the operating system, which presumably refers to iOS 5.

The iOS 4.3.3 update applies to the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad, iPad 2, third-generation iPod touch, and the fourth-generation iPod touch. The odd men out, though, are the iPhone 3G and the second-generation iPod touch, both of which were supported by the original release of iOS 4—when the location database is believed to have been created—but have since been dropped from compatibility. Also missing in action is the CDMA iPhone 4, although some reports have suggested that it didn’t log data in the same way as the GSM model.

These quick, efficient fixes should go a long way to settling concerns over the discovery of stored location data that sparked an outcry last month. The worries have even prompted a Congressional hearing on mobile privacy, scheduled for May 10, in which Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the company will participate.

(via macworld)

New iMacs get benchmarked, as fast as expected

Apple Going for a Smaller iPad?

iPhone 5 Will Debut in September, Sources Say

The oft-rumored iPhone 5 will hit store shelves in September with a faster processor and a similar look to the iPhone 4, according to reports. The new Apple rumors contradict previous assertions the so-called iPhone 5 wouldn't start production until September for a launch during the holidays or early 2012. Instead, the next iteration of Apple's iPhone would go into production in the summer around June or July to get ready for the big launch in the fall, according to three anonymous sources who spoke to Reuters.

It's not clear what kind of a faster processor the iPhone 5 would have, but most observers expect Apple to use the dual-core A5 chip that debuted in the iPad 2.

iPad 2 TV advertisement- If You Asked

iPad is being used in amazing ways by everyone from teachers to CEOs. And it's just getting started.

Apple Inc., the first trillion dollar company in future !

Apple is the most valuable tech company in the world. And it will be the first company overall to achieve a valuation of one trillion dollars, according to investor James Altrucher of Formula Capital on Yahoo Finance. Apple is currently worth $320 billion, so there’s still a long way to go to that one trillion valuation.

Altrucher believes Apple will make it because of its astounding growth-rate and relatively low global market share in its key markets. Altrucher isn’t even worried about Steve Jobs’ health. He thinks Apple is now large enough and diversified enough to succeed even if Jobs doesn’t return full-time.

But there are other good candidates for being the first trillion-dollar company. When Seeking Alpha’s Alan Sharp listed his five candidates for the trillion-dollar race last September, he named Google, Microsoft, oil and energy giant Exxon Mobile and Australian natural resource giant BHP Billiton in addition to Apple, and his pick was Google.

Apple’s strategy to control the devices, operating system and software may turn against it at some point. And while it certainly has delivered staggering financial results, it may be harder to do so in the future as the company grows and markets mature.

(via mobilebeat) 

4G in india next year!

I will be honest with you here – 3G has not taken off in India as it was expected to – It  has been more than 4 month since 3G has been launched, however, very few consumers have started using it. Instead a lot of them have moved to 2G unlimited plans, which got cheaper due to launch of 3G services.

Additionally, even the consumers who have subscribed to 3G services have been far from happy (yours truly included). Either the speed have been slow or the connectivity has been intermittent or both. 3G has just not taken off as it was expected to.

However, that has not deterred Industry experts to already start talking about 4G (4th Generation) services. Infact, it looks like Indian consumers may well see 4G services on their mobiles as early as next year. According to quote given by Nikhil Sadarangani (of JDSU India) to media – Upgradation to 4G technologies can easily happen (from Telecom providers perspective) as it requires similar backend Infrastructure as 3G services.

However, from consumer point of view there are couple of things that need to be looked at – Jury is still out on what exactly are 4G services. The technology often referred to as "4G" are simply an advanced form of 3G, called 3.9G by the ITU. It is not really 4G per say. The real 4G speeds are expected to be in the region of upto 100 mbps.

Another important aspect from consumers point of view is Handset compatibility. Most consumers are just switching to 3G handsets, which are rather expensive compared to normal 2G handsets. If 4G services get launched in next 12 to 18 months as expected, very few consumers will actually move. The cost of 4G handset are also expected to be significantly higher.

Personally, I believe we are atleast 3-4 years away from actually getting hands on with 4G. It will easily take Telecom Providers about 6 months to year for streamlining theirexisting 3G offerings itself. Only after that will consumers start adopting it in big numbers.

It would be interesting to know what are readers views on this…

Windows 8 latest build, build 7994

Today thehotfix forums has posted the screenshot of setup.exe file (courtesy torko) showing the latest Windows 8 build is build 7994. Though this is the latest known build, but according to our sources it was compiled atleast 2 weeks back. Also as it has already been two weeks since this build was compiled, probably Microsoft has already compiled Windows 8 build 8000, though the information about it is currently unavailable.

(via windows8beta)

Did Asustek’s Eee Pad Transformer fall prey of Apple’s buying power?

When a product sells out in minutes or hours, that’s usually a tell-tale sign of high demand. This has been the case with Apple and some other manufacturers. It can also be an indication of inadequate launch supply, which is usually a sign of bigger manufacturing woes. Seems the latter has been the case with Asustek’s hyped tablet-meets-netbook device dubbed Eee Pad Transformer.

German-language publication Netbooknews.de reports Asus hit a major manufacturing roadblock as they are unable to produce more than 10,000 Eee Pad Transformer units a month, substantially below the original target of at least 300,000 monthly units.

This jives with what upstream sources have been saying, that Apple’s rivals are pushing back their May tablet shipments due to the combined effects of the Japan crisis and the fact that Apple virtually gulped supplies of key components such as touch screen panels, NAND flash memory chips, gyroscope sensors from STMicroelectronics and AKM, cover glass, capacitors and chip-resistors and bismaleimide-triazine resin.

That report specifically mentioned the Eee Pad Transformer as the victim of Apple’s strategically exercised buying power, in addition to Motorola’s Xoom and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Some watchers even suspect Apple paid extra to secure smooth shipments of key components. Asustek began selling Eee Pad Transformer in China in the second half of April. First reports described quick sellouts at Amazon, Best Buy and Target, but AllThingsD blamed that on low stock, not high demand. The Eee Pad Transformer stock won’t be replenished until mid-May, sources indicated.Electronista pegged US launch quantities of the Asustek tablet at just 100,000 units, which is but a half of the planned 200,000 units.