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    Posts Tagged ‘iphone’

    No iPhone 5? Apple Breaking with the Past?

    Thursday, September 29th, 2011

    It’s been confirmed. Apple will be hosting its next iPhone event on October 4 and this time at its Cupertino, California headquarters instead of in San Francisco.  Apple’s new CEO Tim Cooke will take the master of ceremonies ‘reigns’ from outgoing Steve Jobs. It will be at this event that we finally find out for sure whether the world will be getting and iPhone 5 or just a ramped up version of the iPhone 4.

    If the tech world prophets are right, and the iPhone 5 in unveiled on October 4th, then we could be in store for much larger, edge to edge display on the phone along with a thinner body, more prominent home button on top and last but not least a top of the line A5 processor along the lines of that currently in the iPad 2’s.

    Along with this potentially good news, there is a growing rumor that Apple will be breaking from its success in the past to kill its iPod Classic and Shuffle models. In the past Apple has introduced new iPods in September but this hasn’t been the case in 2011. In fact, the October 4th invitation simply states ‘Let’s Talk iPhone.’ More substantially, the people at TUAW have published this rumor citing as their source someone much more prominent than a low level analyst.

    This startling revelation comes as iPod revenue has been steadily declining the last two years and the fact that the iPod series currently accounts for a mere 5% of net quarterly earnings which is half what it was only a year ago.

    Whether the rumors about the iPhone 5 or its ailing ancestors, the iPod classic and shuffle, turn out to be true or not, we are in store for something exciting as Apple seeks to reassure the public it’s still headed in the right direction after Steve Jobs has resigned.

    Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law called Google and Apple

    Saturday, May 7th, 2011

    The Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law has called Apple and Google to testify on Tuesday, May 10, 2011. The hearing was dubbed “Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy” and will be presided by the Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Attorney General, Criminal Division among others.

    The panel will investigate the use of data shared via consumer mobile devices. Apple was the most recent to provoke outrage when it was discovered by researchers that Apple’s iOS keeps a record of users’ general locations.

    One argument that Apple may pursue before the committee will be that storing location data makes such information (stored on devices) more secure. Additionally, it makes the cache size of the data smaller on the device.

    This committee meeting may be a clear first step in designing legislation for such issues. Apple and Google will be fighting to keep this sphere largely self-regulated.

    Widespread Security Flaws In Android Apps Security Firm Discovers

    Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

    A security firm, SMobile (Columbus, OH), found from it’s investigation into Android Mobile Apps in the Android marketplace that security flaws are rampant. Over 48,000 apps in the marketplace were determined to have flaws based on SMobile’s study titled Threat Analysis of the Android Market.

    This discovery is particularly alarming since 20% of Android mobile apps request permission to access sensitive information from user’s accounts. The report also outlines apps that degrade the overall user experience of Android and Android marketplace. In some cases, the report documents apps that allow the software maker to monitor the communications of an unsuspecting user. Ultimately, SMobile’s report labeled the risky or sketchy apps with three classes:

    • Spyware
    • Suspicious
    • Notable

    This isn’t to say that these security issues are worse than the security problems faced by many PC owners for years.

    Apple has been criticized for such a tight control over it’s mobile marketplace, however, they seem to have less problems with security for the time being. Apple has made it much more difficult for developers and publishers on the other hand.

    There will continue to be a lot of debate over the best balance between competition and creativity within a mobile marketplace or tight control and security.

    The Price And Release Dates of iPhone 4

    Monday, June 7th, 2010

    Apple will be shipping the new iPhone (iPhone 4) this summer. The new iPhone will be available in standard prices in five countries starting June 24. Afterwards, Apple will begin to offer the new phone to other countries.

    Schedule of iPhone 4 release

    • June 15: pre-order the iPhone 4
    • June 24: for sale in US

    Cost of the iPhone 4

    • $199 for the 16GB version, for new AT&T subscribers
    • $299 for the 32GB version, for new AT&T subscribers
    • $499 for the 16GB version, for existing subscribers
    • $599 for the 32GB version, for existing subscribers

    Tethering the iPhone 4
    Tethering will only be available for customers who switch to one of the new data plans. Tethering will cost an additional $20 per month.

    Rates for monthly service
    Existing customers can keep their existing data/ phone plans. They may also switch to a new ATT plan if desired.  DataPlus, provides 200 MB of data for $15 per month. Additional 200 MB units of data also cost $15.  DataPro provides 2 GB of data for $25 per month, with every additional GB costing $10.

    With Two Million iPads Sold, A New Device Forces Designers To Consider Touch

    Monday, May 31st, 2010

    Outrageous Growth For A New Device – Selling Two Million iPads Per Month
    Apple has sold two million iPads in a two month period, according to the company. Twenty eight days after the iPad’s release, Apple sold the first million iPads. One month later, the company again sold another one million of the devices.Recently, Apple began to sell the devices internationally. This July the iPad will be for sale in and additional nine more countries.

    Affect On The Design Industry
    The iPad has already had an impact on the web design and graphic design industries. More companies, both large and small, have had to shift the way they approach mobile and portable devices, screens and the use of such web-focused technology. Many have stated opinions that the iPad failed to transform the news and media world in the way that Apple purported it would. However, it is very earlier in the game, technologies can often take hold in a more evolutionary way–creeping into the fabric of society with an initial sense of extravagance but later taking on more practical and profound applications with time.

    Vocabulary Of Touch
    The iPad is a tactile device that uses visual cues to instruct on the meaning of actions. The iPad and iPhone certainly changes our relationship to the screen.  For instance, the application Keynote has implemented a fairly sophisticated vocabulary of touch responses. From single touch, to long pauses, to double finger movements that can reshape objects or zoom in and out, to double tap interactions for deleting and copying. The iPad and iPhone will begin to form a new language of human/computer interactions and commands. Visual designers (from flat graphics to web) will have to guide users through this non-verbal and more tactile vocabulary of interactions. This will force designers to pay much more attention to the object / stylus (or finger as is the case) point of contact as a informative guide to how the user can interact with objects.

    Digital Magazines A Tough Sell For Loyal Print Readers

    Sunday, May 16th, 2010

    A new study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council (cmocouncil.org) states that loyal print magazine readers tend to be faithful to the medium and will not easily switch to a digital format. Within the poll, 92 percent of adults for one particular magazine say they receive the print edition and 90 percent say they prefer that format. Within the study, 67 percent prefer to hold the physical copy of the magazine, while 24 percent say that they will eventually switch to an e-reader version of that magazine.

    Potential Antitrust Case Against Apple For Programming Tools Ban

    Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

    The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice are considering launching an anti-trust case against Apple following Apple’s ban on non-Apple-sanctioned development tools as specified in their new TOS agreement. The case would focus on the new TOS (Terms of service agreement) for iPhone OS4, which dictates which development tools a programmer may use to design and create iPhone and iPad applications. Apple banned any approach that does not solely rely on C, C++ or Objective-C calls to Apple’s APIs.

    The ban weeds out competition from Google, Adobe and others. The ban prohibits the employment of Flash, Titanium, Unity3D, Ansca, MonoTouch, RevMobile and more.

    Apple says that it’s closed system is essential to ensure the quality and proper functionality of it’s products.

    1.5 Billion Downloads–For App eCommerce, iTunes App Store Has Cause To Celebrate

    Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

    Since the iTunes App store launched, customers have downloaded more than 1.5 billion applications. Currently there are 65,000 applications from more than 77 countries in the store for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

    RIM/BlackBerry, Google/Android, Nokia, and Verizon vigorously are attempting to enter the application game.

    Animoto Gets More Funding and Goes Video and Even 3D

    Sunday, July 12th, 2009

    Animoto is a web service that turns your photo albums and music into a delicious slide show. It has become a true sensation. Basically with the push of a button your photos can be packaged up into a neat slideshow for family and friends. Their iPhone app has been a strong marketing tool for the service. The full video and photo service will launch shortly.

    Doctors Use iPhone To Display Charts and Med. Info.

    Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

    Doylestown Hospital has a very mobile workforce and for this reason, the Doylestown IT team searched for communication tools to enable fluid, effective and efficient interaction. Their IT leaders were looking for “a multi-function, indispensable device that provides real-time information to community physicians” (Source: Apple Press Room).  It was also expressed that doctors would need “on-the-fly access to patient and clinical data stored in the hospital’s databases” and that this device would need to be simultaneously a cell phone and a pager / beeper. The iPhone became the top choice as the hospital’s communication tool due in a large part to it ease of use and ability to meet all requirements, including the assurance of great security.