More rumored photos of the next iPhone, this time from a Chinese hardware supplier site called Luna Commerce. The site claims to be selling just the back case of the next iPhone.
With the variety of sources these photos are coming from, we’re pretty confident now this is what the next iPhone will look like.
As we approach Apple’s June 8 WWDC conference, the pace of leaks and photos of the next iPhone is growing to a crescendo. The latest from the grapevine is a series of blurry photos from the Chinese website UMPCFever that purport to show the next iPhone in action. Two features displayed in the photos, autofocus and a compass, are related to hardware changes and have not yet been announced by Apple.
Autofocus on the iPhone.
The autofocus for the iPhone’s new 3.2MP camera will function via a blue box on the screen that you can drag around with your finger, allowing you to focus on different objects in the shot. An example of touchscreen autofocus can be seen in the video below of a Sony Ericsson G900 phone.
Also shown on the Chinese website is a photo of the iPhone displaying a compass. The next iPhone is rumored to get a magnetometer that can determine the direction the iPhone is facing.
A compass on the iPhone.
An example of a how this feature is useful can be seen in the video below of Google Maps’s Street View on a Google Android phone:
Other photos on the site show other previously announced features, including MMS, an improved stock app, and voice recording.
UMPCFever: “Hong Kong Exclusive: Real iPhone 3.0 Test”
Apple rumor blog MacRumors has posted a new picture of the case of the alleged next version of the iPhone compared side-by-side with the iPhone 3G. The picture matches a previous leaked shot that displayed the back casing of the supposed next iPhone.
The new photo shows a casing that is matte black in contrast to the glossy texture of the previous iPhone 3G. The text on the casing also seems to better match the shiny silver color of the Apple logo instead of the dark gray of the 3G (which many felt was a design flub).
If authentic, the case could dispel the rumor that the Apple logo on the back of the new iPhone will glow. The logos on Apple MacBook laptops glow using light from the LCD backlight that shines through a piece of slightly inset translucent white plastic. The logo on the new iPhone case seems to match exactly the previous version with the addition of no new special material.
The shape of the new case resembles that of the first-gen iPhone more than that of the 3G. Its curves are more subtle and less bowl-shaped than the 3G.
New vs old leaked iPhone photos
Is the picture legit? Apple, of course, does not comment on such matters and has wisely stopped sending out cease and desist letters since they only legitimize the pictures. The case appears to contain none of the internal electronics, with both the camera and the ringer switch missing. In fact, the thing that gives us pause is that the area where the camera lens should be seems to filled in instead of being an empty hole as in the previous supposed leaked shot. It’s possible the case is an original iPhone repainted (although the speaker configuration and holes for screws on the bottom do not match the original iPhone) or Photoshopped, or, due to the filled in camera hole, simply a clever mock-up that someone built from scratch. Our best guess is that it is, indeed, legit.
The next iPhone is expected to be announced at Apple’s WWDC conference that runs June 8-12.
A poster on a Chinese forum at WeiPhone.com claims to have gotten his hands on the next generation iPhone and says upgrades to the hardware will be light.
The poster, named patapon200, states there will be modest upgrades to the CPU and RAM that will create a speedier operating system. The poster claims a new 3.2MP camera will be added with autofocus, the maximum flash storage will be upgraded to a 32GB option, and an electronic compass will be included as well as FM radio. Translation from the original forum post below:
First of all, the look is the same as the 3G iPhone, and the small print below the back and the Apple logo are the same as is the plating material. It’s a very light upgrade from the 3G iphone. The CPU frequency increased from 400MHz to 600MHz, and RAM 128MB to 256MB. The running speed has really improved!
The new 3.2MP camera has autofocus, and there’s also an electronic compass and FM radio. There is also a new 32GB version. Whoever said the home button will emit light said pure nonsense…. For those who are wondering about the screen size, resolution, and the battery, I’ll say a few words: There are no changes to the 3.5-inch screen, 480×320, or batteries, very regrettable.
Most dubious about the post is the inclusion of FM radio, which is something that Apple could have easily added to iPods in the past, but never did. The poster has not been a source for iPhone information before, but the accompanying iPhone screenshot he posted lends some degree of credibility to his claims.
Millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers will move to iPhone OS 3.0 this summer. Beginning today, all submissions to the App Store will be reviewed on the latest beta of iPhone 3.0. If your app submission is not compatible with the iPhone OS 3.0, it will not be approved.
Existing apps in the App Store should already run on iPhone OS 3.0 without modification, but you should test your existing apps with the iPhone OS 3.0 to ensure there are no compatibility issues. After iPhone OS 3.0 becomes available to customers, any app that is incompatible with iPhone OS 3.0 may be removed from the App Store.
Although a possible purge of old, incompatible apps from the App Store should appeal to many who find it cluttered, Apple hints that the transition should be a smooth one and that existing apps in the App Store should experience no compatibility issues with iPhone 3.0. The new iPhone software as well as possible new hardware are expected around the same time or soon after Apple’s WWDC event on June 8-12 in San Francisco.
Ars Technica is reporting that the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software could bring voice controls such as voice dialing to the iPhone as well as a speech synthesizer similar to the one included in the latest iPod Shuffle that turns text into speech.
Our sources turned up references to classes and methods named VSSpeechSynthesizer, VSRecognitionSession, SBVoiceControlDisableHandlerActions, SBSensitiveJibblerEnabled, and SBVoiceControlSoundCompletion. SB refers to SpringBoard, and VS likely refers to Voice Services. The separate Voice Services classes leave open the possibility that Apple may eventually allow access to these services via the official SDK. There’s no indication whether these voice features will be tied to newer hardware expected this summer or if the features will be compatible with existing iPhone hardware.
Many current cell phones already come with voice dialing, and the feature has long been one of the top requests for future iPhones. A speech synthesizer could not only make the iPhone more accessible to the vision impaired, in combination with voice controls, it could improve the iPhone’s hands-free controls, making it safer to use in while driving.
Ars Technica: “iPhone OS 3.0 to feature voice control and feedback”
Mobile-phone website Phonenews is reporting that Apple is clearing inventory of their proprietary AV cables ahead of the launch of the next iPhone. The site claims that the move is being made to make room for a new cable that will support the upcoming iPhone and iPod Touch revamps that, according to Phonenews, will pump out 720p and 1080i HD signals.
Multiple options will be given to users to get HD video onto their TV, via iPhone and iPod. First, consumers will be able to store HD shows on their devices directly. However, considering the limits of flash storage, this is a time consuming process. Enter Bonjour. Apple will also provide the ability for users to plug their iPhone into their HDTV, and gateway onto a user’s Wi-Fi network, and access their entire iTunes library on their HDTV.
The end result is that a user can sit at their HDTV, using an Apple AV Dock and an Apple Remote, controlling their iPhone much as they do an Apple TV today. This ensures that a new iPhone owner will be able to purcase, for under $100, all the equipment needed to access (via the iPhone) all of their computer-stored HD content, on their HDTV.
While it’s possible that the next iPhone will output HD video, we find Phonenews claims that the iPhone will work with the Apple Remote and contain Apple TV-like software to be unlikely. While it’s possible from a technical standpoint, Apple is unlikely to spend a lot of resources turning the iPhone into a wireless HDTV bridge that competes with a current product, the Apple TV, especially in light of Apple’s already full to-do list for the iPhone software (can we get a better Mail app please?).
Phonenews: “Apple Consolidating AV Cables Ahead of iPhone HD Launch“
One of the least popular features announced for the iPhone 3.0 software has been In-App Purchases. Tech blog Gizmodo has already posted a rant about how nickel-and-dime business practices drive customers crazy and possibly away. It hasn’t worked too well for wireless phone companies, and Apple should be worried too.
Over in our forums, I’ve posted an editorial about how In-App Purchases could possible turn into something much more sinister: the classic bait-and-switch con, and what Apple needs to do about it.
Head on over to the Art of the iPhone forums thread to discuss: “How In-App Purchases in the iPhone Could Turn into a Bait-and-Switch Con Game.”
In a hint at what may be the future of the iPhone and other rumored Apple hardware, Imagination Technologies, designer of chips used in current iPhones, announced today a new line of multicore GP-GPUs called the POWERVR SGX543MP. The chip offers scalability for the processing power of hardware in a very simple way–just add more chips, up to 16, for increased processing capability.
The term GP-GPUs stands for ”general-purpose computation on graphics processing units.” The term “general purpose” hints at the chips being used to handle duties normally done by a CPU, a breakthrough that has been the goal of many graphics processor companies, including Nvidia and Intel.
The chips solve a problem of previous multicore platforms that require software developers to code specifically for the number of cores being used. With the POWERVR SGX543MP, developers can code for a unified platform regardless of the potential number of cores.
Such scalability could make Apple’s iPhone operating system more versatile for larger devices such as the rumored Apple Tablet. On a larger device, consumers would presumably expect more powerful software than what’s currently available for the iPhone.
The chips could have a major strategic benefit to Apple’s overall business, as a scalable iPhone OS could prevent any further fragmentation of Apple’s software talent working on the iPhone and Mac platforms.
Link: Imagination Technologies press release.