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"Basically, we don't know," Lynnette Prigmore, head of product development at Proporta, told IB Times UK. "We sell cases into Apple under the Proporta brand as well as some of the third-party brands we work with and we have as much idea as you do about when a new iPhone, iPad or iPod is going to come out."
Naturally, the delay in matching accessories to the product can have an impact on how many are sold. Prigmore confirms that there is a burst of sales when a new device comes out in the shops.
"The ideal world from a retailer's point of view would be that we would have accessories on the day of the phone going on sale," she said.
"It tends to be electronic retailers who want it quicker because there is a much higher attachment rate for people buying a case at the same time that they buy a device. That is the sweet spot."
She added that the retailers generally understand that if they haven't got the device - which many of the phone shops may not have before day of launch - then the case manufacturers don't have it either.
Incipio approaches the news blackout in a very different way. CEO Andy Fathollahi said the company starts preparing for a new Apple device well in advance.
His staff monitor the rumours closely and begin to work on accessories that match those specifications.
"We start looking at possible designs around six months to a year before," he told IB Times UK.
"We take mills of devices that we carry around with us before we design the cases. We want to get a feel for what the product is going to be like. Then we carry those around with the cases on to see what that feels like because as a user you are going to live with that case for a long time and we want to make sure it is right"
Fathollahi said the designers throw away 75 percent of their designs along the way because the phone dimensions often change significantly from the early rumours.
Rumour Control
In order to operate that kind of design process Fathollahi has to be glued to websites promising the latest news on yet-to-be-launched phones.
"I look at them all, sites like 9to5mac.com. I have a whole bunch of sites set up on my Twitter and I use that like an RSS feed. I don't tweet much myself but at the end of the day I go home and I check Twitter and see what everyone has been saying and watch the videos," he said.
Even though Proporta does not make cases in advance of the specs being released, Prigmore also said her teams watched the rumour websites.
"We would be stupid if we didn't look at that. Also we are in the tech industry so we read rumours on everything not just phones or Facebook, anything that is out there.
"So we keep an eye on it until we actually know what it is going to be and that's the point where we actually push the button on anything," she said.
Prigmore did not name any specific sites but said the team might set up Google alerts and watch discussions on Facebook and Twitter.
With the latest smartphones being so prevalent in consumer minds it doesn't even need to be a technology site to find out the latest news.
"You'd have to be on the moon to not hear about it. Phones have progressed and when Proporta first started up it was very much aimed at the business user," she said.
"The company was in the protective market and now it's much more about having that lifestyle thing."
Time to Market
Prigmore said Proporta was fortunate to work very closely with its manufacturing partner so it could get product out quite quickly after a device launch or announcement.
"With the Samsung Galaxy S3 for example we had product out two weeks after it had been announced based on the little CAD drawings that Samsung had released," she revealed.
"Then once we actually got our hands on the device we checked it. Fingers crossed it matched up quite nicely, which nine times out of 10 it does."
Incipio CEO Fathollahi said his company also had to be prepared to make sure it is ready to roll as soon as a case is ready.
"We have manufacturing units all over the world and we are the biggest manufacturer of cases bar none," he said. "The analogy I use is that we're like a big ship, which means when we want to make a turn we have to start planning a long way ahead."
He said that meant making sure enough resin was ordered, that packaging suppliers were briefed and that important cogs in the company's distribution network have been prepped.
"We have a fabulous relationship with Fedex, their reps are in our offices every week to meet with different teams," he added.
With different kinds of cases being made from a wide range of materials, the two weeks to market timeline Proporta talks about does not fit every option.
So called 'Cut-and-sew' cases made in leather, PU or other soft material will be able to hit that target but Prigmore admits that hard shell cases made out of a polycarbonate can take six to eight weeks to create.
"With leather for example you don't have any tooled pieces in it because it is all handmade so that can be produced very quickly," she described.
"If you are making a hard shell we have to make sure we have got volume control and the holes in the right place and any ports for headphones. That goes into what is called tooling - we make a tool and then we can make the cases from that. It takes about three to four weeks to make a tool depending on the detail of it. So production takes much longer"
Those outside the industry might think that once an announcement has been made all the problems would be solved for accessory makers.
However, Prigmore said that even after a company has officially shown off a handset Proporta would not expect to be given a dummy model to work from.
She said practices had not changed much from how things used to be.
"Back in the day, with things like the iPod Nano, they used to announce it and then Steve Jobs would say, 'And they are on sale now!' and boom it would all go on the website," she remembered.
"We would then obviously buy them like any consumer would and wait for them to arrive."
Fathollahi seemed at ease with the Apple culture of secrecy and described how a similar system was in place at his production facilities on the west coast of America.
He called the Incipio laboratory a closed environment and revealed that the company had even written its own iPad app to take the photo of anyone who comes to the facility for added security.
"You can't get into our production plant without going through reception and signing in. The app is called Guestbook and instead of being invasive like airport security it's a fun thing," he explained.
"We built a custom desk so that when you enter you are looking at an iPad and the receptionist. The iPad takes your photo and you feel like, 'Oh that was fun'.
Business Tactics
So how do you build a business based on a product that is kept secret until the very last second?
Prigmore said Proporta did not just focus on those early sales when a new handset was launched but made sure the accessories it makes for companies such as Samsung, HTC and Apple hit specific events in the calendar year.
That could include a back-to-school range, Christmas themed cases or classic British designs that would live on beyond the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
"We work with Ted Baker so we have quite a lot of access to different trends that are coming in. We've worked with the London College of Fashion before as well. So it tends to be more on the design side," she said.
She was also thankful that the majority of the company's designs would work across a number of different accessories.
Even with the introduction of tablets or very large mobile phone handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy Note, they could still be applied across the range.
"Most of our designs are quite transferable and we use some of the same designs on an iPhone as we would use on an iPad," she said.
"It doesn't matter too much unless they release something star shaped, that might be tough to reconfigure. As long as it stays pretty much rectangular then we are usually OK."
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V-Moda VAMP for the iPhone: an analog converter and headphone amp with a $650 pricetag - engadget
V-MODA Vanquishes "The Great Compression" Via VAMP for iPhone 4/4S – Integrated Headphone Amplifier, Digital-to-Analog Convertor and Battery
Spy-worthy gadget for mobile audiophile connoisseurs ushers in a new era of pure sound, sophistication and power
LOS ANGELES – June 12, 2012 – V-MODA, the maker of critically-acclaimed and award-winning headphones including the Crossfade M-80 and LP-Class lines, introduces a novel accessory for the modern audio connoisseur with VAMP, a precision headphone amplifier made in Japan that combines a dedicated 150mW x 2 Hi-FI amplifier, DAC (Digital-to-Analog convertor), optical audio output and 2200mAh battery all integrated into a solid metal casing for the iPhone 4/4S.
"I have dubbed the last decade of sacrificing pure high-fidelity sound for the sake of mobile digital convenience as 'The Great Compression'. V-MODA's VAMP is a flashback to our passion and roots in the analog and solid equipment days of hi-fi." says Val Kolton, Chief Visionary Officer and Founder of V-MODA. "VAMP is a statement that you march to your own drum and appreciate sophisticated sound and style. People always criticize the quality loss in the analog-to-digital conversion but few consider the advantages of reversing the process. VAMP unleashes the full potential of your music with vibrant, pure, powerful sound for both power-hungry and small headphones."
VAMP's audiophile-grade, high fidelity DAC processor extracts the digital signal of the iPhone to bypass the iPhone's internal DAC. VAMP's 150mW x 2 amplifier is five times more powerful than the iPhone's amplifier and provides up to 8 hours of playback. VAMP's rotary volume knob allows you to finely adjust the volume and its hi/lo gain switch adjusts the output level.
The VAMP features two new audio processing modes for the most discerning audiophile. The PURE mode processes audio in the truest of forms while the VQ (V-MODA eQualizer) mode adds a slight spatial 3D soundstage, tightened bass and increased treble attack that invigorates an all-around sensory experience.
The AMP/DAC is seamlessly integrated into a beautifully sleek, aircraft-grade brushed metal that is designed to pay homage to the grooves in a vinyl record. The shock absorbing silicone protects your iPhone and allows for quick removal. The 2200 mAh lithium-ion battery can be used as a backup power source for the iPhone 4/4S, virtually doubling its battery life. Another unique feature is an Optical audio output that allows you to connect VAMP to your A/V receiver or DJ mixer via Toslink or SPDIF optical audio, transforming the iPhone into a Hi-Fi grade audio source that can be used a lifetime after the phone function is retired.
Specifications:
- Made in Japan
- Power: 150 + 150mW @ 32 Ohms
- Battery: 2200mAh Lithium-Ion w/ overcharge protection circuit
- Signal to Noise Ratio: > 95dB
- Headphone Resistance Compatibility: > 16 Ohms
- Smartphone Compatibility: iPhone 4/4S
- Warranty: One year V-MODA premier warranty
- Accessories: USB Cable
- Weight: 135g
VAMP is available immediately at V-MODA.com/VAMP and Amazon.com for $650. It is also available at the finest boutiques across the world including Collette in Paris. $50 from each sale at V-MODA.com will go to the InTheLoop Foundation, a non-profit entity dedicated to educate and promote the practice of "safe sound." For more information images and videos, visit V-MODA.com and facebook.com/VMODA.
iPhone 5 spotted in WWDC keynote, or rubbish Photoshop? - Crave
An elongated-looking iPhone showed up in Apple's WWDC keynote speech -- could it be a glimpse at the much-anticipated iPhone 5? Or just a rubbish Photoshop?
The stretched-out smart phone was spied by iDownloadblog, and crops up as Apple explains a new Siri feature whereby car manufacturers can build support for the pompous robot butler right into their vehicles.
You can check out the entire WWDC keynote on Apple's site -- the baton-shaped blower appears at the 79-minute mark, and has the CNET UK office squinting and doing that arm-out paintbrush measurement thing artists do. But could it be genuine? Let's try and see it from both sides.
Oh lawks it's the iPhone 5!
Is it even the tiniest bit possible that Apple could accidentally reveal its most anticipated gadget in its own presentation? The taller iPhone depicted in the snap above does -- superficially at least -- match supposed leaked casings for the new iPhone, which hint at a phone that's not any wider, but is significantly taller than the iPhone 4S, with a stretched-out display.
That panel is reckoned to measure 4 inches on the diagonal, making for a screen that has a 16:9 aspect ratio when you flip it on its side. I've taken the liberty of rotating the image above and using a selection tool constrained to 16:9, and can confirm the screen area of the pictured phone does conform to that aspect ratio.
That's obviously not the iPhone 5
On the other side of the argument is the fact that the image shown clearly has some funny perspective going on -- something you can see by looking at the oval shape of the BMW's steering wheel, and the dashboard controls just underneath the pictured phone. While it looks elongated, the stretched iPhone look could simply be down to camera-induced confusion.
While a tad blurry, that stretched casing wouldn't quite match the leaked design -- the purported bits of hardware that have been appearing over the last few weeks point to a front-facing camera in the centre of the device, whereas the phone in the snap above looks to have its camera set to the left.
The image could well be a composite -- stitched together from lots of different images. In which case the phone presented here could have been stretched out of shape, making this simply a rather shonky Photoshop effort.
For my money, an elongated iPhone is an entirely plausible choice for Apple's next mobile. But the idea that such a famously secretive company could let its plans be exposed in this fashion is nigh-on unthinkable.
Update: CNET UK Facebook fan Jon P Leebrick has fixed the perspective on the above image, resulting in a much more normal looking white iPhone (that no longer gives a 16:9 screen when we perform the constrained selection tool trick).
What do you think? What's the next iPhone going to look like? Stick some opinions in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
Droid RAZR Maxx beats iPhone as number one on Verizon - Phones Review
Although the iPhone 4S might be the top smartphone over in the good old US of A, when it comes to the USA’s largest carrier Verizon, it appears that the iPhone 4S doesn’t claim the top slot on the BIG Red network, as apparently the word is the top selling smartphone on Verizon is actually the Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx.
According to the guys over at Phandroid, by way of Barrons, an analyst has said that although the iPhone is overall the best selling device across North American carriers, their checks have highlighted initial signs that Apple’s momentum is under pressure especially with Verizon, due to the carrier aggressively marketing their competing 4G devices.
Obviously the iPhone 4S doesn’t sport 4G LTE capability, and as such it appears that with Verizon anyway, the iPhone looks to be falling behind somewhat. Having said that, of course the iPhone 5 might possibly offer 4G LTE connectivity one the new iPhone hits, which could rapidly change things around.
Apparently the analyst said that since the iPhone launch in North America they believe that this is the first quarter where the iOS smartphone was not the top seller at a North American mobile operator. The iPhone continues to be the top handset on AT&T and Sprint, but the Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx was the top selling handset on Verizon.
So according to checks, the Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx was the top selling smartphone on Version, followed by the iPhone and in third place was the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
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