Author: Alan

People forget that the iPhone works with Apple’s wireless bluetooth keyboard, but I suppose a virtual keyboard via a pico projector would prevent the need for lugging around a hardware version.

A report today from Taiwan Economic News throws cold water on the idea of a $200 prepaid iPhone flooding third-world markets. The report claims that the upcoming 8 GB iPhone 4 will be priced at around $400 without contract. That pricing is similar to what Apple did to the iPhone 3GS after the launch of the iPhone 4, where Apple released a new 8GB model of the 3GS and made it available for $99 with contract, which roughly translates into a $400 retail cost sans contract.

Noteworthy is that the iCloud is regarded as a budget-priced iPhone, which will be priced at around US$400 per unit, US$200 cheaper than the first-edition iPhone, and will sell for an even lower unit price, or be free of charge, when bundled with telecom service contracts.

The global market survey institute iSuppli explained that the reason why the device is so competitive is application of the cloud computing storage technology, which allows Apple to cut 15% production costs through using less storage components in the product. Hopefully, iCloud will be sought-after in the middle-end segment and help Apple to further boost global market share to keep competitors behind itself.

Early this year, Apple exec Tim Cook fanned the flames of an inexpensive iPhone by telling analysts Apple didn’t want the iPhone to be “just for the rich.” However, just a few weeks ago, Cook seemed to throw caution on expectations by saying Apple wouldn’t release a cheaper iPhone unless it was a “category killer.”

A recent report from Reuters also suggests that rumors of an inexpensive iPhone are just a repeat of Apple’s iPhone 3GS strategy, ie, releasing a version of the iPhone 4 with less memory (8 GB) and lowering the cost to around $400 without contract. However, including new technology such as a dual-mode CDMA/GSM chip would allow the phone to work in new markets such as India where previous iPhones couldn’t.

*Updated article to correct that Apple has never sold the 8GB iPhone 3GS without contract.*

The Wall Street Journal today is reporting that Sprint will become the third carrier in the US to offer the iPhone starting in mid October. Sprint will join rivals AT&T and Verizon in selling the most popular handset in the US.

Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, closing a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier’s lineup and giving Apple Inc. another channel for selling its popular phone.

Sprint is the third largest carrier in the US with 52 million subscribers. Verizon has 106 million subscribers and AT&T 99 million.

Sprint’s recent switch from WiMAX to LTE for its future 4G network buildout could have been the final piece in the puzzle to bring the iPhone to its network. Sprint’s current network uses the CDMA standard, same as Verizon, yet when Apple released a CDMA iPhone 4 this year, Sprint was left out of the loop. It’s possible that Apple wanted confirmation that there’s a future for the iPhone on Sprint when fourth generation LTE wireless networks become standard in the US in the next few years. Apple has been actively hiring LTE engineers and testing out LTE technology for possible inclusion in future iPhones.

It’s unclear from WSJ’s report if it’s the current CDMA iPhone 4 that will be offered on Sprint, or if it’s the rumored “new” cheaper iPhone 4 that is supposedly intended for prepaid markets. Both the upcoming iPhone 5 and prepaid iPhone 4 could include a dual-mode GSM/CDMA chip that will allow Apple to sell a true “one phone for one world” phone. CDMA phones do not use SIM cards like GSM phones but instead require networks to give permission to individual phones to connect to the network.

Reuters today had some new info on the release date for the iPhone 5, citing a source claiming Apple is aiming for a release at the end of September. Their source indicates that the iPhone 5 will look much like the iPhone 4, gaining only a few hardware updates like a larger 4-inch screen:

In addition to the launch of the smaller iPhone 4, Apple is targeting an end-September launch for the next-generation iPhone 5, one source said, confirming earlier reports on Apple follower blogsites and industry websites.

The new iPhone — which some call the iPhone 4S because of its largely identical appearance to the existing iPhone 4 — will have a bigger touch screen, better antenna and an 8-megapixel camera, one source said.

The iPhone 5’s two manufacturers have been told to prepare production capacity for up to 45 million units altogether, the source said. The phone will be made by Hon Hai Precision Industries Co Ltd and Pegatron Corp, the person added.

Reuters’ September release date is at odds with an emphatic report from a weeks ago by the Wall Street Journal’s AllThingsD that insists the iPhone 5 will arrive in October. Apple in the past has been relatively flexible on its release dates and could move it forward or back depending on circumstances and quality testing reports for the hardware and iOS 5, currently in beta.

Reuters is reporting today that Apple has placed orders for a smaller 8 GB flash drive destined for a cheaper version of the iPhone 4—the current iPhone 4 comes with a 16 GB or 32 GB drive. Sources speaking to Reuters say the flash drive is being built by a Korean company but declined to specify which one. The manufacturer is likely South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, which builds flash drives for the current iPhone along with Japan’s Toshiba.

Apple made a similar move in June 2010 when it released a cheaper 8 GB version of the iPhone 3GS alongside its new iPhone 4. The 3GS has remained the second best-selling handset in the US behind the iPhone 4.

Reuter’s report also claims that the 8 GB iPhone 4 will “launch within weeks.”

MacRumors added further color to the today’s report by claiming a “low-cost iPhone 4 screen” is already making the rounds with third-party suppliers.

Tired of waiting for the iPhone 5 to arrive? You may be able to build your own from scratch. Online retailer TVC-Mall is claiming to be selling pieces of the iPhone 5’s internal hardware, at affordable prices, we might add. Customers can buy the parts in lots of up to 5,000. The more you buy, the cheaper they get. The iPhone 5 battery can be had for around $12, not bad.

TVC-Mall isn’t necessarily doing anything wrong or illegal here. Most of the iPhone’s parts are “generic” in the sense that they are available to anyone who wants to build a phone. Some of these parts will likely appear in Android and other phones as well.

It’s impossible to confirm that these are indeed iPhone 5 parts without access to a real iPhone 5, but TVC-Mall does have ties to Shenzhen, China, manufacturers. The iPhone is assembled in Shenzhen by Foxconn.

iPhone 5 back camera part?

iPhone 5 front-facing camera?

iPhone 5 proximity sensor?

iPhone 5 headphone audio jack?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Apple and its Asian component suppliers have organized a trial production run of the next-gen iPad 3 in October. Sources speaking to the paper claim that Apple has ordered all necessary components and chips for a launch of the device in early 2012. A separate source speaking to the Journal who works for a component supplier claims that Apple has ordered enough parts for about 1.5 million iPads to be built in the fourth quarter.

One of the rumored new features of the iPad 3 is a high-res QXGA screen with a resolution of 2048 x 1536, double that of the current iPad. Previous rumors had placed the iPad 3 launch in the fourth quarter of this year, but recent rumors claim poor yield rates for the iPad’s new LCD screen have delayed the launch until next year. A source speaking to the WSJ claims manufacturers are working on improving yield rates for the new screen:

Suppliers will ramp up production and try to improve the yield rate for the new iPad in the fourth quarter before its official launch in early 2012,” said a person at the supplier.

A separate report today from Digitimes claims that LCD screen manufacturers are having a tough time meeting Apple’s quality requirements for its next-gen tablet. Taiwanese company CMI was one of the companies bidding to build the screens for Apple but failed to become a supplier due to technological hurdles:

The sources noted that the iPad 3’s resolution requirement of 2,048×1,536 pixels is also a challenge even for iPad panel regular suppliers such as LG Display (LGD) and Samsung Electronics. Apart from the two Korea makers, Japan’s Sharp has [also] been selected to supply panels for the iPad 3, the sources said.

Digtimes’ report seems to be a reiteration of a similar report from just a few days ago that claimed Apple was canceling plans to release the iPad 3 later this year due to poor manufacturing yield rates for the new high-res screen.

AT&T iPhone owners now have another reason to grouse about their choice of carrier. On August 21, AT&T Wireless will double the cost of its only text-messaging plan from $10 to $20 a month. Along with the price increase, the company will also raise the number of text messages included with the plan from 1,000 to unlimited. AT&T will also offer a $30 unlimited family plan that offers unlimited messaging for up to 5 family members. Customers can also choose to go without a text message plan altogether and pay $0.20 per message, or $0.30 per MMS message (text messages with photos/videos).

An AT&T spokesman explained the change to MSNBC:

Starting Aug. 21, we’re streamlining our text messaging plans for new customers and will offer an unlimited plan for individuals for $20 per month and an unlimited plan for families of up to five lines for $30 per month.

The vast majority of our messaging customers prefer unlimited plans and with text messaging growth stronger than ever, that number continues to climb among new customers. Existing customers don’t have to change any messaging plan they have today, even when changing handsets.

In January, AT&T also did away with a $5-a-month plan that included 250 messages. The change will only affect new customers. Current customers can keep their old messaging plans, even if purchasing a new phone.

Some speculate that price increase is AT&T’s way of anticipating a drop in revenue from text messages due to Apple’s upcoming iMessage feature that will allow iPhone owners to send free text messages to each other. Text messages have long been a highly lucrative business for mobile carriers.

Ever since Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal claimed earlier this year that Apple was working on a smaller, inexpensive version of the iPhone destined for prepaid phone markets, the flame of the iPhone Nano has been revived. Today we’re featuring some cool mockups from Qudong.com based on the “edge-to-edge” screen concept from the rumors.

This version of the iPhone Nano features a home button made of a thin sliver of metal that also doubles as a fingerprint scanner for security purposes. This fingerprint recognition could also be used for mobile NFC payments that all the phone carriers are desperate to get set up.

The screen remains the same 3.7-inch screen in a regular iPhone, so Apple will have to shrink, cram, or otherwise remove some of the internal hardware to get this phone to work.

It’s just a concept, but it’d be cool if Apple could pull it off. Check out all the images in the gallery below.