Is this the new iPhone 5?
Images published on a Chinese tech blog purportedly show “leaked” photos of the unannounced, unreleased, unavailable Apple iPhone 5 -- the hotly anticipated next version of the device that rewrote the rules for smartphone makers.
The images show a sleek, two-tone design, described by popular tech blog Gizmodo as a shocking change. The site's editors came around, however, admitting that “the first appearance of the stylized, 16/9 design with its unibody … looks kinda beautiful.”
Or did, before pulling down the post -- fooled by the phony knock-offs of a 36-year-old industrial designer.
“It’s been amazing and a lot of fun to see how many 'knowledgable' people fell for them,” Dutch designer Martin Hajek told FoxNews.com. Gizmodo wasn't the only blog to fall for his pictures. They have been posted on about a dozen popular sites so far, including BGR.com, Ubergizmo, Apple Insider, and more.
'It's a testimony to how embedded Apple has become in our daily life.'
- Dutch designer Martin Hajek
“It's a testimony to how embedded Apple has become in our daily life,” he said.
The images are a series of renderings Hajek created and posted to his Flickr site based on leaked images he had seen on various tech websites. He describes his passion for smartphones and tech design as his hobby.
“As a (former) industrial designer I like to play around with 3D modelling and visualizing,” Hajek told FoxNews.com. “Apple's unreleased products lend themselves perfectly to play with.”
Hajek works as an engineer for a large Japanese consumer electronics company he declined to name -- not in the design department but still quite close, he said. He cut his teeth at GRO design, a small design consultancy in the Netherlands, and still lives in Utrecht, “dead-center” in the Netherlands.
“One of my previous employers at GRO design attended the same college in the UK at the same time as Jonathan Ive did,” he noted.
Ive, senior vice president of industrial design at Apple, made waves in the week’s before Apple launched the latest MacBook Pro at its Worldwide Developer Conference. He told London paper the Telegraph that neither the iPad nor the Macintosh nor the iPhone is the most important product the company has ever done.
It's the secret something he’s currently working on that has his heart racing.
“What we’re working on now feels like the most important and the best work we’ve done,” Ive told the paper, when asked what he would like to be remembered for.
So which version of the iPhone does Hajek carry around?
“I’m actually ashamed to say that our company's choice of cellphone is a Blackberry Bold 9780,” he told FoxNews.com, “which I hate with a passion.”
Man to sue Apple after iPhone's Siri 'gave him wrong directions' - Daily Mail
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Siri, was it a left or right turn at Albuquerque?
So enraged by his iPhone 4S's unpredictable accuracy and response time when asking its Siri digital assistant for directions, a New York man is suing Apple for false advertising.
Frank M Fazio filed a class action lawsuit this week in California claiming Apple provided a 'misleading and deceptive message' about Siri's capabilities before purchasing his phone last November.
'In the commercials ... tasks are done with ease with the assistance of the iPhone 4S’s Siri feature, a represented functionality contrary to the actual operating results and performance of Siri,' his suit obtained by the Wall Street Journal states.
Claims: A dissatisfied Apple user is suing the company over the iPhone 4S's Siri digital assistant programme after given incorrect directions and slow response time
Fazio claims the phone, which costs approximately $100 more than the previous iPhone version, isn't worth its price especially while in beta-test form admitted on Apple's web page.
'Defendant's advertising and marketing campaign is designed to cause consumers to purchase the iPhone 4S over other smart phones because of its Siri feature,' Fazio's claim states.
With star-studded commercials featuring celebrities like Samuel L Jackson, Zooey Deschanel and John Malkovich, Siri is shown to deliver fast and accurate answers to vocal questions from where the nearest Thai restaurant is to how many ounces are in a pound.
'Plaintiff would not have paid the price he paid for the iPhone 4S, if he had not seen these representations,' his claim which has an unspecified amount in damages states.
Actors: Frank M Fazio has filed a class action lawsuit claiming that commercials for the phone's service using such seen celebrities as Zooey Deschanel, pictured, were misleading
Basics: Samuel L Jackson is seen in another Siri commercial asking his phone some cooking measurements in the kitchen
According to the Los Angeles Times, more recent Apple commercials for Siri issue a disclaimer that the amount of time between a direction to Siri and response were shortened for advertisement purposes.
They also note it being 'currently in beta and we'll continue to improve it over time.'
'Siri is, at best, a work-in-progress,' Fazio’s claim argues.
'Siri either did not understand what Plaintiff was asking, or, after a very long wait time, responded with the wrong answer.'
Value for service: Fazio's claim argues that the iPhone 4S is pressed to consumers for the Siri programme while costing at least $100 more than the regular iPhone 4
Apple offers a 30 day full-refund policy for dissatisfied iPhone costumers according to its website.
Described by Apple as 'the most amazing iPhone yet,' the device features upgrades from the regular iPhone4 of an improved A5 chip processor, sharpened 8 mega pixel camera, as well as faster download speeds and battery life.
Fazio's claim has requested a jury trial.
Amazon launches Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch - YAHOO!
Amazon Cloud Player App Now Available for iPhone & iPod touch
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(NASDAQ:AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. today announced its Amazon Cloud Player App for iPhone and iPod touch is now available on the App Store. The app allows customers to stream or download music stored in Cloud Player to their iPhone or iPod touch, play music that is already stored on their device, and manage or create playlists.
“Customers tell us that they want access to all of their music, wherever they are, and on all of the devices they use,” said Steve Boom, Vice President of Digital Music for Amazon. “By bringing Cloud Player to iPhone and iPod touch, we now have the most widely compatible cloud playback solution available, giving our customers the ability to buy once and enjoy their music everywhere.”
Customers using the Amazon Cloud Player App can stream, download, and manage their music in the cloud, eliminating the need to download files before playing them. With this new app, customers have full access to their Cloud Player music libraries and also can seamlessly add playlists that are currently on their iPhone or iPod touch.
All Amazon customers automatically start with 5 GB of free storage to begin uploading their digital music library to Cloud Player, and for a limited time, those who purchase any storage plan will receive unlimited space for MP3 and AAC (.m4a) music files at no additional cost.
The Amazon Cloud Player App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.
Vodafone unveils signal-boosting umbrella for music festivals - Digital Spy
iPhone 5 will have a tactile touchscreen - PC Advisor
This iPhone 5 rumor, as with so many, is based on the deep belief that every Cool Technology flows toward Apple as water flows downhill. It's a variant of the belief that every patent awarded to Apple reveals something that will appear in the very next iDevice, even if it's just weeks away from an expected launch. See also iPhone 5 release date, specs and rumour round up.
Feeling buttons or controls on a iPhone would be extremely useful for completing tasks
A variety of news outlets picked up on a new tactile touch-screen technology unveiled this week at the SID Display Week trade show by a Fremont, Calif.-based startup, Tactus Technology. Using something called "microfluidics," Tactus replaces the conventional top layer of a touch screen with a flexible membrane. Tiny amounts of special oil are pumped through tiny channels in the membrane, "inflating" the keys and buttons of, for example, a qwerty keyboard. You actually have "real" keys to press. When you're done, the oil drains away and the membrane, in theory, flattens out and disappears, to become a flat touch screen again. Visit New iPhone 5 to have flexible display.
The Tactus website has very few details but the all-important marketing video. See also Apple fails to ban Samsung Galaxy S3 in US
It all sounds impossibly complex, but The Verge's Nathan Ingraham was favorably impressed, talking with Tactus CEO and co-founder Craig Ciesla and actually handling a prototype, single image based on an Android smartphone. Go to iPhone 5 will "launch" in September.
In his post, Ingram says the channels are "invisible, for the most part." He also writes about the actual experience of touching the screen: "The key outlines did provide some feedback as to where individual keys start and end, but the physical act of 'pressing' a key didn't provide much feedback yet. Much of the time, it felt as though the capacitive touchscreen was triggered before you had a chance to feel the travel of the fluid-filled area. ... Still, once you notice the outlines of where the keys appear and disappear, they're hard to un-see (though we expect future versions will more naturally integrate the microfluid channels)."
Those qualifications alone, given Apple's obsession with industrial design and UI details, never mind Tactus' clear statement that first products won't be available until mid-2013, make it clear you can forget about this innovation appearing this year on the iPhone 5.
But this is the iOSphere, which rarely lets facts get in the way of enthusiasm.
Dave Smith, writing for International Business Times, covered the Tactus news, and then linked it to another recent patent disclosure covered in early May by Patently Apple, for a "flexible OLED display." Without going into the almost numbingly detailed speculation by Patently Apple, the patent seems to have some type of flexible surface, but uses stacked layers of "piezoelectric elements" to create the physical buttons or keys.
Smith says the patent reveals a "similar technology" to that of Tactus and makes the intuitive leap of faith that lies at the heart of iOSphere rumors: "A similar technology dealing with advanced haptics and feedback is reportedly being built for Apple's sixth-generation smartphone, presumably called the 'iPhone 5.'"
But if even it isn't in iPhone 5, "it's likely that a future iPhone will feature Tactus Technology's dynamic touchscreens," Smith declares. "Feeling buttons or controls on a smartphone would be extremely useful for completing tasks that typically require a keyboard. ... It's an incredible and exciting technology. ... But if this really is a hot technology, there's a great chance Apple will rush to get its recently-granted patent into its next iPhone, which is expected to arrive in September or October."
The conclusion: this incredibly exciting and hot technology may or may not be in this year's iPhone 5.
iPhone 5 release date, specs and rumour round-up - PC Advisor
Here it is, the iPhone 5 release date, specs and rumour round-up! This is the place where you can find out all of the sordid rumours about what the iPhone 5 will be like. Will it be 4G? Will it have an A6 processor? Will it even be called the iPhone 5 or will it just be called the new iPhone, like its tablet sibling? This is the place where you can pig-out on respectable and ridiculous iPhone 5 rumours alike. Contributing author: Chris Martin. See also new iPad review.
From launch date to specs: All your iPhone 5 news and speculation in one place
Once again, we need to make it clear that these are just rumours. We didn't make them up, we have merely rounded them up for you and presented them in an up-to-date and easy to digest format. If you think a rumour looks fishy, then let us know and vent your anger in our comment section below. Visit iPad 4 release date, specs and rumour round-up.
Ok, enough of the formalities now. Let's dive in to what the iPhone 5 is possibly/probably going to be like. Enjoy.
Visit latest version: Apple TV review (2012)
iPhone 5 release dates rumours:
iPhone 5 release date rumour 1
iPhone 5 will "launch" in September - that's the claim by rumorsite Digitimes, which cites the ever-elusive but unquenchably talkative "Taiwan-based supply chain makers."
According to the post, Pegatron Technology "reportedly" now has orders for the Next iPhone "to be launched in September" as well as orders for a 10-inch iPad - apparently meaning an iPad
iPhone 5 release date rumour 2
The October prediction is backed up by the Japanese Apple bloggers Macotakara who say they have 'sources' confirming the Cupertino brand would be honouring the same upgrade cycle from now on. Here's a translation from the report featured on the well respected Japanese blog: "According to Asian reliable source, next iPhone will be released in September or October, and this cycle seems to be kept for years".
iPhone 5 release date rumour 3
Technology website T3 made the interesting observation that the iPhone 4S launch back in October last year, was the only time Apple has made users wait 15 months for a new device, rather than the usual 12 month cycle used for the previous four iPhones. Updated 22/3/12
iPhone 5 release date rumour 4
Apple’s next-generation iPhone will launch in June, according to a recruiter working at a Foxconn factory in China. The recruiter was filmed speaking about the iPhone 5 by Japanese TV Tokyo's World Business Satellite program, which was broadcast on Monday.
As pointed out by Apple Insider, when asked how many people the factory is going to hire, the Foxconn recruiter said: "We're looking for 18,000 employees... for the fifth-generation phone."When asked if he meant the iPhone 5, the recruiter replied: "That's right. It will come out in June."
Though the next iPhone will be the sixth-generation, many people throughout the industry are currently still referring to it as the iPhone 5. It is thought, however, that the next iPhone will follow the naming conventions of the new iPad, scrapping numbers all together. Updated 4/4/12
iPhone 5 Specs:
iPhone 5 to may have tactile touchscreen
New Apple iPhone 5 patent seems to have some type of flexible surface, but uses stacked layers of "piezoelectric elements" to create the physical buttons or keys.
The patent reveals a "similar technology" to that of Tactus and makes the intuitive leap of faith that lies at the heart of iOSphere rumors: "A similar technology dealing with advanced haptics and feedback is reportedly being built for Apple's sixth-generation smartphone, presumably called the 'iPhone 5.'"
But if even it isn't in iPhone 5, "it's likely that a future iPhone will feature Tactus Technology's dynamic touchscreens," Smith declares. "Feeling buttons or controls on a smartphone would be extremely useful for completing tasks that typically require a keyboard. ... It's an incredible and exciting technology. ... But if this really is a hot technology, there's a great chance Apple will rush to get its recently-granted patent into its next iPhone, which is expected to arrive in September or October." Read the full iPhone 5 will have a tactile touchscreen article here.
iPhone 5 will have a flexible display
Future generations of the iPhone could have a flexible OLED display that can bend and twist.That's according to The Korea Times, which claims Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun has hinted that Apple is testing the display for its new iPhone. Kwon said that Samsung has been getting "huge" orders from companies wishing to use the display.
"Samsung is eager to push open an era of bendy phones and boasts a capability to mass produce OLED displays that bend from the middle or from around the edge," the report says. Read the full iPhone 5 will have a flexible display article here.
The 5 in iPhone 5 stands for 5-inch screen
The latest 5-inch rumor cited by Michael Nace is one posted at KnowYourMobile: "[W]e're hearing reports that Apple's up-coming iPhone 5 will feature a 5-inch Retina Display. The news comes via a source based in China. According to the source, they are familiar with Apple's production process and have access to pre-production models of the iPhone 5." Read the full The 5 in iPhone 5 stands for 5-inch screen article here.
Liquid metal to replace glass in next iPhone
Apple plans to use new lightweight liquid metal for its next-generation iPhone. According to Korea's Electronic Times Internet "the next flagship phones of the companies [Samsung and Apple] are expected to adopt unprecedented materials for their main bodies, that is, ceramic for the Galaxy S3 and liquid metal for iPhone 5, both being thin, light and highly resistant to external impacts."
This isn't the first we've heard about the possibility of liquid metal appearing in Apple's devices. In 2010, it was reported that Apple was seeking a number of experts on amorphous metals, as the company planned to create hardware from newly licensed, super-durable custom metal alloy known as 'Liquidmetal'. According to that report, Apple paid at least $10.9 million in licensing fees to Liquidmetal Technology to use Liquidmetal exclusively in the field of electronics.
iPhone 5 will have 1GB of RAM
Those chaps over at 9TO5Mac love a good gossip. What they've recently heard is that iPhone 5s are currenlty being tested in the shells of current iPhone 4s. After a lot of A5X processor comparisons with the new iPad the tech website goes on to make the impressive claim that the iPhone 5 will be packing a whopping 1GB of RAM.Updated 10/4/12
iPhone 5 will have a better camera
This is the sort of thing we like here at PC Advisor. A feasible rumour backed up to the hills with reasoning and examples. cnet is reporting that Apple have jumped into bed with Sony and are looking to use the Japanese tech company for its camera nous, more specifically its camera sensors. cnet is reporting that Sony's new 'RGBW' and High Dynamic Range (HDR) Movie' sensors are likely to be bundled into the iPhone 5 to boost the quality of it's already impressive pictures - particularly in low-light settings.
iPhone 5 will have "multi-point camera focusing system"
Talk about "wow." The reason for this is the fact that Apple was recently awarded a patent for a multi-point camera focusing system, (as noted by AppleInsider) and what better device to put the patent to use in than with the iPhone 5.
According to the website, the MPCFS patent "describes a system that lets the user of a camera-equipped device select two or more areas of focus on a touchscreen which, when a picture is taken, are passed through a dedicated image processor to produce optimal sharpness and exposure for both regions."
"The patent calls for an image processor that continuously tracks the user-defined "regions of interest" in a combination of live image processing and auto-focus technology similar to that found in the iPhone 4S," AppleInsider notes. "Unlike the current handset, however, the focus will not be limited to center-weighting or face-detection and will in theory choose the best mix of camera settings to achieve the highest possible clarity in the multiple selected areas." Read the full iPhone 5 will have "multi-point camera focusing system" article here.
A6 processor in the iPhone 5
PC Advisor's expert opinion: Based on previous chips that Apple has used, the iPhone 5 should have an A6 processor which could well be quad-core. However Apple could opt to use the A5X chip found in the new iPad which is dual-core with quad-core graphics.
iPhone 5 will not use liquid metal
A lot of the iPhone 5 rumour mills have tipped the new Apple smartphone to be made from the revolutionary new material know as Liquidmetal. However, dreams of the new metallic substance being used in the near future in smartphones were quashed by the material's inventor himself, who says Liquidmetal is not ready to be used in smartphones yet. Read the full iPhone 5 will not use liquid metal here.
iPhone 5 will have a bigger screen
The iPhone 5 could be larger than all its predecessors breaking the 3.5-inch screen size. According to iphonestuffs4u.com it will have a 4-inch display with a higher resolution than previous models. Across the web there are mentions of the screen being curved like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
The idea of a 4-inch screen has also got the website MacRumors.com excited too. It is citing research done by Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White, whose findings - to cut a long story short - also suggest a 4-inch iPhone 5 screen. MacRumors also went to the lengths to mock up an image of what the new 4-inch iPhone will look like.
Reuters however, have an article claiming that the iPhone 5 will have a 4.6-inch 'retina' display. The story goes on to name South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper as it source and state that the news came from "an unnamed industry source'. If the iPhone 5 does opt for a 4.6-inch screen it will match the Samsung Galaxy S2's 4.6-inch OLED display.
Airbag glass protection
Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? But it's not (ok it is). According to Patently Apple, the Calornian based technology company has applied for a patent to an airbag that instantly inflates when its accelerometer senses a dropping motion. It's not clear how many times the air bag can be deployed, but if it was completely reusable it was be a great addition to the Apple iPhone...they're expensive things to replace!
iPhone 5 will have a 3D camera.
This has to be one of the more far-fetched rumours we've heard on our travels, but Patently Apple - whose slogan is 'Celebrating Apple's Spirit of Invention...!!! - are convinced that Apple has "invented a killer 3D imaging camera' that will work for both photography and video.
In an attempt to explain exactly what Apple has planned, they've created a diagram [see below]. Patently Apple go in to a lot more detail than we want or can afford to here, so click here to see the full story.
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iPhone 5 to get bigger 4-inch screen? Video - CNET News
iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 Not Getting Turn-By-Turn Navigation and Flyover Features in iOS 6 - mobilenapps.com
- Credit: Reuters
The iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 won't get turn-by-turn directions and the flyover feature found in Maps, Apple's alternative to Google Maps. They will also not be getting the Siri, which will be coming, however, to the new iPad. However, Apple is still bringing iOS 6 to iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 and continues to market the 3GS as a budget device.
At its WWDC conference on Monday, June 11, Apple said 80 percent of its users were running iOS 5 - compared to around seven percent running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). However, Apple isn't bringing complete compatibility to all of its supported devices: the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, despite the latter releasing in 2011, will not support turn-by-turn navigation and flyover mode in Apple's new Maps app.
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Flyover mode is a 3D view of cities, while turn-by-turn navigation in maps was described as the best-looking implementation of any GPS service by tech site The Verge. Apple devices running the A5X chips will fully support the OS: the iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and the new iPad. The tech giant hasn't specifically explained why only its latest devices support the features, but the most likely reason would seem that the older hardware is incompatible. It's also been confirmed the iPhone 4 won't be able to use Facetime, Apple's video calling service, over cellular connections (3G).
In Apple's demo, flyover was noticeably stuttering (presumably on the iPhone 4S). Rendering a city fully in 3D probably isn't possible on three year old hardware, in the case of the 3GS. Undoubtedly, jailbroken iPhone 4s will access flyover to see if Apple's limitations are justified. When iOS 4 introduced multitasking, jailbroken iPhone 3Gs could use multitasking. The results weren't good.
The iPhone 3GS is also missing shared Photo Streams, the ability to set VIPs and flag e-mails, along with offline reading. iOS 6 users can set VIPs to receive a special notification when a message is received. While it may seem strange to suggest a device can't support offline reading, or minor e-mail functionality, it may be the overall impact of running a fully enabled iOS 6 and the impact that'll have on the user experience. The 3GS was released three years ago, with A4 chips.
Apple's WWDC conference can be tracked online.
A bloke just can't win! We get criticised for not asking for directions, and when we do they can be wrong anyway. Suggestion: try my system, which involves sensory input, electronic impulses of natural origin, and neuronal interaction and interpretation, all associated with the latest in hard-copy technology. It even has a simple, easy to recall functional designation. It's called Reading A Map. rofl
- DrMallard, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, 14/6/2012 05:16
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