Mac|Life iPhone Hardware RSS Feed

Apple Engineer Visiting China More. Wonder Why?

J Keirn-Swanson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:30:19 -0500

I guess if I were working for a company manufacturing some kind of long-awaited killer new product, and if I were an engineer, I'd probably be on a lot of plane flights to where the manufacturers are.

Hmmm...now where are Apple products made again?

Source: Gizmodo

Oh, that's right. All the manufacturers mentioned in conjunction with the mythical (possible/likely?) Apple tablet are all based in Asia. And according to Alaska Miller at The Business Insider, a source tells them that a friend of his working for Apple as a system integration engineer keeps making all these trips to China.

What's more, apparently, this friend doesn't even get to count on the Christmas holiday season without a vacation to the Pacific rim for a couple of weeks. That does sound important, now doesn't it?

If this is legit, it sounds like Apple's got something close to completion they'd like to roll out relatively early in the new year. Why am I somehow doubting it's a retooled line of iMacs?

iPhone Accused Again of Gobbling Up Bandwidth

J Keirn-Swanson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:39:39 -0500

Remember when Ralph De La Vega, AT&T's Wireless CEO, suggested that the carrier might have to figure out some way to effectively better manage the bandwidth of their 3G network?

Well, he's not the only one singing the "iPhone's hogging up the airwaves" blues. Turns out the Chairman of the FCC has that same song stuck in his head, and between the two of these men, iPhone users could be running into some stiff opposition to their unlimited access plans.

Bandwidth Use History and Projection. Source: Gigaom.com

FCC Chief Julius Genachowski in a recent ranging conversation with Business Week discussed net neutrality, broadband expansion, behavioral advertising, Google, censorship and filtering. But the comment he made that most caught our attention was this one in response to the question: How concerned are you about the available spectrum for wireless services?

Genachowski:

We've been spending time on long-term spectrum policy because the data suggest we face a spectrum gap. The demands that are being created by the [Apple] (APPL) iPhone and other mobile broadband technologies threaten to outstrip the amount of spectrum available for commercial mobile...

While Genachowski does mention smartphones in general, the only one singled out by name is the iPhone. This may be in part because he's an iPhone user or he may be obliquely referencing AT&T's complaints. Again we see the suggestion, much like De La Vega's that iPhone users are significantly cutting into the available spectrum bandwidth and that something will have to be done.

As it stands, while no one is talking about anything concrete, iPhone users would do well to keep their ears tuned to this conversation. From the sound of it, things might get interesting.

Radio on the iPhone

J Keirn-Swanson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:04:50 -0500

Like lots of people these days, I get most of my music either from my collection or through on-demand internet radio sources like Pandora and Last.fm. The last time I actively listened to the on-air radio must have been years ago.Clearly, I am not the target market of this rumored in-house app for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Of course, I'd be happy if such compatibility arrived in an update to the iPhone software. As little as I do listen, there are occasions where I have been listening to reporting of an incident of national importance or to a locally broadcast event and circumstances force me away from the radio. To be able to jack into the iPhone and pick right up where the story left off would be a nice feature.

Source: RF Cafe

According to Seth Weintraub over at 9to5mac.com, a tipster has alerted him to an FM radio app being worked on in-house at Apple for the iPhone and iPod touch. According to said tipster, the app would be one of only a couple that run in the background, allowing you to listen as you do other things. Whether or not the app would be a standalone or would be integrated into an update of the iPod app wasn't precisely spelled out.

While the iPhones and iPod touches have had the hardware capabilities to receive FM signals, the functionality has lain dormant (save for the Nike+ peripherals). Apple is said to be working hard to get the app to play nicely with the iTunes app to lead to something like in-app purchases for a seamless transition from listening to a song to owning it. Right now there's a version of such a feature available in apps like Pandora, though those require you to exit the music streaming app and enter the iTunes app. With the ability to run in the background or to sync up with iTunes, Apple's FM app could provide an interruption free experience.And that would be something I'd definitely be interested in.

iHome iP1

Ray Aguilera — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:42:00 -0500

Bongiovi DPS technology brings some serious rock cred to your iPhone or iPod.

We’re amazed how many iPod speaker docks these days still won’t play nicely with the iPhone--it’s been two-and-a-half years, people! Which is one of the reasons we’re so excited about iHome’s iP1. Besides being iPhone-friendly, it also looks great, a piece we wouldn’t mind having in our living room. The sound is a step up as well, which is fitting since the iP1 is the first in iHome’s new Studio Series line. And here’s the kicker--the iP1 features some high-tech circuitry that makes it rock even harder at the touch of a button: the Bongiovi button (more on that in a bit).

The iP1 features a pair of 4-inch woofers and 1-inch dome tweeters mounted on a smoky acrylic face. Besides the dock connector, which sports Power, Volume Up/Down, and the aforementioned Bongiovi button, the unit is free of any extra bells or whistles, giving it a clean, elegant look. At about 16.25 inches wide and 7 inches high, the iP1 can fit just about anywhere. In addition to the dock connector, there’s a line-in jack on the back, for use with practically any audio source. And if you’ve got video stored on your iPod, the iP1 will let you output it to your television, courtesy of the component video outs.

More than just a pretty face.

Sound quality of the iP1 was surprisingly good given its small size. iHome has incorporated Bongiovi Acoustics’ Digital Power Station audio processing, which widens the soundstage in addition to boosting bass response. Audiophiles might cringe at the idea of after-the-fact processing, but to our ears, activating the Bongiovi DPS button improved pretty much every kind of audio, from podcasts to rock tracks and Run DMC jams. Bongiovi Acoustics is helmed by Tony Bongiovi, who built NYC’s Power Station Studios in the 1970s and is cousin to Jon Bon Jovi, whose tracks also benefited from the Bongiovi button during our testing of the iP1.

We do wish the unit were a bit louder overall, for use in bigger spaces. But for desks, spare bedrooms, and other smaller areas, the iP1 has plenty of power. The included remote is thoughtfully laid out, although we had occasional problems with it skipping lines as we scrolled through large lists of artists or tracks on our iPods. You can adjust bass and treble from the remote, although since there’s no display on the iP1, there’s no way to tell what your current settings are.

AT&T - Give With One Hand. Take Back With the Other?

J Keirn-Swanson — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:16:33 -0500

In what could possibly be a somewhat related tip-off that AT&T might not be handing out goodies without hidden costs, AT&T's CEO of Wireless, Ralph De La Vega recently suggested that the carrier might have to implement "proper management" of their wireless users. What precisely was meant by these comments remains to be seen, but the suggestion that AT&T might need to control users' bandwidth access appears implied.

While stating the eminently reasonable position "that the few cannot crowd out the many,” De La Vega went on to cite AT&T research that showed 3% of the carrier's customer use 40% of smartphone data. For that 3%, one could reasonably believe that he was referring to iPhone users. With a robust app store from which to choose, as well as access to iTunes and Safari and email, the iPhone does have the greatest number of access points to wireless bandwidth.

AT&T's bandwidth issues are an ongoing source of problems for the company, suggesting that management were ill-prepared to take on the handsets when they first signed up with Apple. The lack of tethering, the absence of MMS, these are just the small symptoms of a company that refused to invest appropriate resources into building up a sufficiently stable and powerful 3G network and one without a satisfactory 4G network ready to roll out in its place.

Regarding other matters related to wireless, the CEO went on to suggest that no new regulations were necessary, a de rigueur position among most executives. Of course, one could easily see the carrier's newfound flexibility on the Skype/Vonage issue as the result of implied regulatory pressure. At the same time, making such apps able to work on the 3G network instead of keeping them corralled in WiFi, will only exacerbate the lack of bandwidth issues De La Rega bemoans.

Exactly what AT&T's double-edged strategy might be is hard to quite grasp in this instance, unless these are unrelated, one hand unaware of what the other is doing issues. We have our doubts though and wonder if opening up access to the 3G network to a small group of VoIP apps might not be a sacrifice play coming up.

Use Both Hands - Touchscreen Patent Emerges

J Keirn-Swanson — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:50:12 -0500

You've got tech vendors and unnamed sources leaking like mad various tidbits about the hardware and software specs, while publishers and content providers suggest a whole new market share for Apple to conquer. Then you've got this.

In a recently revealed patent application, we learn that Apple is seeking protection for touchscreen technologies that contain "unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device." The level of detail and particularity involved in what the patent envisions goes beyond theoretical, in our opinion, and walks right up to the door of tech specs.

For instance, note the level of specificity in the accompanying flow chart below:

Source: AppleInsider

The document makes pretty clear that Apple envisions a device that not only allows for the same kind of touchscreen interaction as the iPhone, but an expanded and far more complex touch response architecture. Are two fingers touching at the same time? What about more than two fingers? Are the multiple fingers moving as part of a multi-finger command or is it simply all the fingers moving at once in sync, as in pulling your hands away from the screen or picking up the tablet with all fingers touching it? Are the hand gestures decelerating, and if so does that indicate a cancellation of the original command request?

While many reports have suggested that the rumored tablet might not be designed to compete in the netbook market, Apple clearly envisions a device that integrates a touch screen keyboard, the patent showing hands in clear typing position. Likewise, much of the documentation is specifically about typing. The document also goes in to detail about the touchscreen's adaptability to hand gesture commands, addressing the lack of need for a stylus or a mouse or really any kind of peripheral device for on-screen controls.

While the patent application gives partial credit to Fingerworks, a company Apple bought up during the quest to deliver the iPhone, the essential two-handedness of the patent points to newer, larger technologies than the iPhone's screen real estate would allow. Two-handed typing on-screen also rules out the previously mentioned 7" screen, as such a size would involve crowding the users' hands together in what can only be considered a non-ergonomic fashion. A 10.7-inch touch screen is only fractionally smaller than the space necessary for the standard iMac keyboard.

As far as smoking guns go, we'd have to rank this pretty high up there.

Tablet Rumors Getting Pretty Specific

J Keirn-Swanson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:44:38 -0500

Fatigued of tablet rumors yet? Some of us are. Then something comes along that really jazzes us up.

At first these whispers started out rather vague, with conflicting sizes and hardware specs, but as the year closes out specifics are starting to coalesce. Is it a secret too big to keep or is it the bandwagon of rumor-mongering? Only time will tell. While we wait, let's follow along.

Image Source: Gizmodo

To start with, according to a source with a track record for reliability, iLounge is reporting that the 7" screen is out and the 10.7" version is in. This confirms what others have been reporting for the last month or so and corresponds to Apple's past history of making multiple iterations of a product during development, deselecting versions with time and testing.

The idea that the tablet might be a large scale iPod touch is also bolstered by this source who claims that the machines will run a modified iPhone OS, will appear in 3G and non-3G models, and will resemble the iPhone in design details even down to the curved back.

Where the rumors from iLounge get interesting is when the source claims the tablet is NOT designed to compete with netbooks, but is instead a "a slate-like replacement for books and magazines." Add this to sources at Gizmodo and an idea is beginning to coalesce as to what this machine is envisioned to be.

According to Brian Lam, two people "related to the NY Times" have spoken to him about contacts between Apple and the news org for delivery of their print and media content through iTunes. Stir in his contact, a "VP in textbook publishing" who claims that McGraw-Hill and Oberlin Press are working with Apple to move textbooks over to iTunes. Toss in a story about several magazine publishers visiting Cupertino to discuss the future of magazines, replete with some interactive mockups of titles. Add Andy Ihnatko's report of rumors that "trucks loaded with books would arrive at a loading dock on the Apple campus, and offload big, big, big, big, huge load of books, and then the trucks would leave empty."

Now we're getting somewhere. Not only have the rumors begun to solidify into definitive hardware ideas, but also a marketing plan appears to be shaping up that make the tablet not only viable but a game changer. Apple wants to have titles ready to roll out the moment the tablet hits the street, but there has to be something new to bring to the table rather than just larger screen viewing of media content. Too large to serve as just a phone and mp3 player, the tablet essentially melds the best aspects of the Kindle, its size and book catalog, with the best aspects of the iPhone, basically everything.

One can easily see Apple shaking up the entire print industry, much in the way its upended the music industry. Textbooks with additional multimedia content, newspapers and magazine subscriptions through iTunes, and, best of all, full-color comics not delivered panel by panel or scrunched down into a format requiring a day's worth of pinch resizing.

Last thing: rumors seem to be settling down on 2010 as the release date with an announcement in the second half of January. Most sources suggest January 19th as an announcement date with a summer release. We can hardly wait.

Check Your iPhones. MMS Here Early for Some.

J Keirn-Swanson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:36:50 -0500

Imagine what service will be like on 9/25 as suddenly millions of iPhones go live with a feature every other cell carrier has had for years. You think you have problems with calls dropped regularly? Our anticipation is something like molasses powered 3G that makes the Edge Network look lightning fast, along with every other call dropping into cellular hell.

(Not in the camera roll options.)

Quite possibly the idea is to slowly take the air out of the announced date by incrementally removing the "opt-out" codes that blocked MMS on the iPhone rather than letting people work themselves up into a frenzy. While MMS has been around since 2002 and plenty of cheaper, lower-tech phones have had it for years, iPhone users, by their nature heavy smartphone addicts, have been jonesing for some time.

(Not in my Messages either.)

While AT&T promised "late summer" for MMS at the WWDC, the official release date technically lands us in "early autumn." Nevertheless, as AT&T adds users bit by bit, they make good on their promise. That AT&T has begun this early suggests that the problem was merely their own rather wimpy network more than anything else.

As you can see by the above images, I was not one of the lucky duckies sporting the unblocked iPhone. However, if I were you, I'd check your phone. And if you're like me, and you're feeling adventurous, there are a number of places where you can download a carrier bundle that will let you join in the fun.