Mobile Devices - Page 360

Well, after what turned out to be less than an hour total wait, we now have an iPad here at TweakTown.

The Altamonte Springs, FL Apple Store really did have things down quite well. They had two separate lines; one for people that pre-paid and another for those that did not. Regardless of which group you were in, you were walked back by a member of the staff to get your iPad and any accessories you wanted. We asked about the Keyboard Dock and were told it was not in stock. We then asked about the camera connectivity kit and were again disappointed to find it was not available. In fact, there were three items that were not available: the Keyboard Dock, the Camera Kit and the Wall Charger. No matter we had our iPad and were heading home before 9:30am.

You already know that the iPad is coming this weekend. With the launch of the iPad are also coming the launch of a bunch of iPad apps and publications like magazines and newspapers.

Whilst not for certain, it appears Apple's next-gen iPhone will be dubbed the "iPhone HD" which they see fit due to the much higher resolution display of 960x640.

The latest news from sources are saying Apple intends to unveil the new iPhone and its accompanying iPhone OS 4.0 on Tuesday, June 22 this year, of which apparently there will be two versions of the phone to come out.

Android has proven to be huge in the smartphone market and has helped more than one phone maker grab a new share of the smartphone market. Motorola was hurting prior to Android with no significantly popular handsets to speak of, but Android has changed that.

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Motorola announced a new Android device today that will ship around the world and be known as the Quench overseas and the Cliq XT here in America. The handset has a 3.1-inch touchscreen that supports pinch and zoom gestures. The device also uses the Motoblur UI.

An onscreen QWERTY keyboard is integrated and it has a touch pad on the front of the phone for navigation. A 5MP camera is built-in with autofocus and LED flash. Other features include 3G connectivity, WiFi, Bluetooth, and aGPS. The device will ship in Q1 2010.

It looks like Apple will be sticking with AT&T for at least the near future. Why? you ask. Well there are more than a few issues with moving to another carrier but the biggest reason is the negotiated contract rates that Apple gets from AT&T. As it stands right now Apple gets a rather large chunk of the money that people spend on their monthly AT&T plans for the iPhone. This will continue with the iPad as well.
If Apple moved to someone like T-Mobile (who also uses GSM) their much lower rates would not give the same revenue stream. This is something that the accountants at Apple would not like to have happen to their favorite cash cow.

But aside from the monthly money, Apple would have to put some real R&D money into phones to work on other networks. Both Verizon and Sprint (which will have a faster network once they finally get LTE out) are CDMA in the US and GSM in most of the rest of the world with the exception of India and some countries in Africa. This would mean that to Apple would have to make either a global device with both GSM and CDMA capabilities or one for each geographical region. Both of these choices cost money and would impact the margins that Apple so covetously guards on the iPhone.

So in the end I have to agree with many analysts, Apple will not be moving from AT&T in the US any time soon. There is too much (Money) to loose. Of course there is the very slim chance that the FTC will force them to move, but that is a one in a million shot. No, sadly enough iPhone users that are not unlocking their phones in the US are stuck with the shoddy and rather slow AT&T network and overpriced service for some time to come.

There are few things worse for the gadget hound and tech fan than dropping one of your beloved gadgets and breaking it. You can protect your gear by putting it in a case or being extra careful, but accidents do happen.

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If you are looking to get yourself an iPad when they start shipping soon, you will want to protect the tablet. A new protective system called iBallz has been spied that promises to protect the iPad by giving it balls. The foam balls have a slot that slips onto the corner of your iPad.

A cord then wraps around the balls and keeps them in place if dropped. The cord can also be held when gaming or carrying the iPad as well. Multiple color options are available and a full set of iBallz will sell for $14.99.

Well after all the long running rumors and the scuttlebutt at each and every Apple event that this was when the Apple tablet would be launched that day is finally here. Steve Jobs whipped the beast out not long after taking the stage at the press event and it's called the iPad.

Information has leaked onto the interweb today regarding the Apple tablet which is said to be presented at a press event tomorrow.

CES 2010 - Lenovo introduced their very own Smartphone. For reasons know to them they have decided to call it the Lephone. It has an interesting design and also includes features and a UI that centers on connectivity to social media. The Lephone has a very striking UI, with a home screen that resembles a flower. In the center of the flower is the contact you are staying connected with. The petals are the forms of connectivity. This is a departure from the traditional application centric phones that are out there.

Well, well, well it looks like we have a new rumor to toss around over the holidays. The rumor comes from a short tweet by Eldar Murtazin, the Editor-in-Chief of Mobile review. The tweet in question?

"Foxconn received order for next generation iphone"

This seemingly innocuous statement would not seem to be of much use if it were not for the history of accuracy that Murtazin has. He has typically been able to get information on upcoming mobile technology months ahead of others. When you add this statement to other "evidence" we do see the likelihood of a new iPhone in 2010. After all just last week the internet was ripe with articles on a new model ID found in the iPhone firmware, and the possibility that a new prototype was at work in San Francisco.

Of course it is all really academic until we have more details. If the next generation iPhone is like the 3G S was then it might be nothing to get excited about. If, on the other hand it is a new innovation then perhaps in the summer of 2010 we will see a new toy from Apple that will dazzle the world. Me I am hoping for the latter.