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.
Motorola Droid Bionic ICS 4.0 release nearing - Phones Review
Apple made a big thing about the fragmentation on the Android platform at yesterdays WWDC keynote speech, and for actual users of the platform it can be frustrating waiting months for new software to arrive, and today we have news that the Motorola Droid Bionic ICS 4.0 release could be nearing.
Motorola themselves have said that the Ice Cream Sandwich update would be arriving for the handset during the third quarter of this year, but as GottaBe Mobile are reporting that the release of the update is on schedule as a test build has emerged. Apparently a test build surfaced over the weekend and was found by the Cheesecake application.
This app works its way through servers that are used by Motorola to host files, and it seems it stumbled across a Droid Bionic Ice Cream Sandwich build. While this may not seem like big news to some especially as it currently can’t be flashed, but it does show that work is well underway with Motorola getting the software ready for the smartphone.
Previously the manufacturer has given a quarter 3 rollout for the software, which leaves owners with a date of anytime between July through to September, but as a test build of the operating system is already out in the wild may mean the ICS update for the Droid Bionic is closer than was previously thought.
While it can’t be guaranteed when it will be released officially it would be nice if it is as early as next month. Motorola and Verizon arguably owe Droid Bionic owners something after delaying the release of the device until September 2011, and then releasing the Motorola Droid RAZR quickly after, which is arguably a better handset.
Hopefully the software is pushed out as quickly as possible so owners of the handset don’t have to wait too much longer. Do you own the Motorola Droid Bionic?
Nokia confirms PureView in Lumia devices - Know Your Mobile
Bringing the PureView to future Lumia and Windows phones was rumoured and hinted at, but was never fully confirmed by Nokia.
Well now it has, thanks to Nokia US President Chris Webber, who said, 'you can expect we'll be bringing PureView technologies to the Windows Phone platform in future Lumia devices'.
The PureView system debuted on the Nokia PureView 808 in February at Mobile World Congress 2012.
It may sound like it, but the PureView camera is not capable of taking 41-megapixel shots; it uses a system called oversampling, in which it combines data from seven neighbouring pixels and consolidates them into one pixel's worth.
Through this process, an image of about 5-megapixels is generated. The resulting image, though, is of far superior quality compared with a standard 5-megapixel camera.
In addition to still photos, the PureView will also provide users with full 1080p video capability.
The camera itself is quite large, about one centimetre in length, width and depth, making any phone that uses it rather bulky.
It is not clear when these devices will arrive, but we now know that they are coming and that Nokia is 'absolutely committed' to bringing the technology to the market.
Microsoft will be hosting a ‘sneak peek' on 20 June for the first unveiling of Windows Phone 8. The new Windows Phone is expected to have some camera improvements, but it is unsure whether the company will include the PureView.
Microsoft Windows Phone 8 'to merge Nokia and Bing Maps' - Digital Spy
iPhone 5 Spotted in WWDC 2012 Keynote? - TrustedReviews
Analysis: Apple's big enemy in smartphone wars: delay - msnbc.com
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc has spent nearly three years fighting its rivals in a global smartphone patent war. Now, setbacks in two key U.S. court cases are laying bare why a drawn-out battle could be bad news for the iPhone maker.
Last Thursday, Judge Richard Posner in Chicago federal court canceled Apple's long-awaited trial against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility division, which makes devices powered by the Internet search company's Android mobile operating system. The trial had been set to start this week.
Then in an order late on Monday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, effectively dashed Apple's hopes of stopping the launch of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's new Galaxy S III smartphone, which also runs on Android. Koh had said Apple's push to get a court order blocking the June 21 launch would overload her calendar, given Apple's high-stakes trial over other Samsung devices set for July that she is overseeing.
The latest decisions don't doom Apple's courtroom efforts - the company can appeal Posner's ruling, while Koh's directive had nothing to do with the merits of the Samsung case about to go to trial, or the legal arguments for an injunction on the new Samsung smartphone. But delays in moving its cases through the courts is a blow to Apple's efforts to get quick and favorable rulings that it hopes would give it an edge in the marketplace for mobile devices.
Apple has waged the international patent war since 2010, part of its attempt to limit growth of Android, which last year established its dominance as the world's best-selling mobile operating platform. Apple's opponents, meanwhile, say the iPhone maker is trying to use patents to avoid competing solely in the market.
A clear victory in one of the U.S. legal cases could strengthen Apple's hand in negotiating cross-licensing deals outside court, where companies agree to let each other use their patented technologies.
"The stalemate is much more of a victory for the accused infringers than it is for Apple," said Brian Love, a professor at Stanford Law School who studies patent litigation.
Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet reiterated a previous statement, saying the blatant copying of its devices was wrong. Google spokesman Jim Prosser said the rise of patent litigation is due to too many vague software patents, and that Google's success makes it an attractive target. A Samsung representative declined to comment.
Apple is not the only smartphone combatant that has faced setbacks in litigation over its technology. Last month, Oracle Corp came up empty in a trial against Google, a case where Oracle's damages estimates ranged up to $6 billion.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco rejected Oracle's copyright claims on parts of the Java programming language. The enterprise software company said it would appeal.
LAND GRAB
Apple is in a pitched battle with its competitors over who can develop the most innovative smartphone features. In an attempt to help keep Android at bay, the company announced new features for its voice-activated Siri software at its annual developer's conference on Monday.
The company's first lawsuit in its global patent fight was against smaller competitor HTC Corp in a Delaware federal court in March 2010. Apple also filed an action against HTC before a U.S. trade panel, which has forced delays in sales of some HTC smartphones.
Michael Yoshikami, chief executive of Destination Wealth Management, says HTC stock has suffered due to adverse court rulings. But for a larger player like Apple, the patent battle is important but not for its share price. Rather, it is used for a short-term edge in the land grab for smartphone and tablet sales, said Yoshikami, whose fund holds Apple shares.
In a move that was widely seen as a preemptive strike against an imminent Apple lawsuit, Motorola sued Apple in October 2010 in Chicago, and Apple filed its own claims against Motorola the same month. That case landed before Posner, who issued a series of pre-trial rulings that eliminated nearly all of Motorola's patent claims against Apple from the prospective trial, while maintaining more of Apple's claims against Motorola.
That meant Apple had more to gain in the trial, which was set to start on Monday. But in an order last week, Posner scrapped the trial after finding that neither side could prove damages. Apple had sought an injunction barring the sale of Motorola products, but Posner said that would be "contrary to the public interest."
Nick Rodelli, a lawyer and adviser to institutional investors for CFRA Research in Maryland, rated Posner's decision an "incremental negative" for Apple. However, Rodelli doesn't think it will stand up on appeal, saying in part that Posner improperly denied Apple a hearing on its right to an injunction.
Yet Stanford's Professor Love said that Posner's ruling, and the delay it causes in Apple getting the case to trial even if it wins an appeal, will reduce Apple's leverage during any potential licensing talks.
In the Samsung lawsuit, filed last year in California, the iPhone maker says Samsung "slavishly" copied the iPhone and iPad. Samsung denies the claims and countersued.
The trial centers around Apple's claims against multiple Samsung phones, as well as a Galaxy tablet. But those products are not the most pressing worry for Apple at the moment: Samsung's Galaxy S III phone is set to launch in the U.S. on June 21, and Apple fears blockbuster sales.
But courts don't move as quickly as new technology. At a court hearing last week, Apple attorney Josh Krevitt complained that Samsung is able to release new phones before the legal system has time to address their patent violations.
"Samsung is always one step ahead, launching another product and another product," Krevitt said.
Koh last week said Apple could ask for a temporary restraining order against the Galaxy S III phone, but that would likely delay the trial over a Galaxy tablet and other smartphones. In her order on Monday, the judge said Apple would have to request a new hearing date if it wanted to stop sales of the Galaxy S III phone. That likely would not take place before the phone's scheduled launch. Apple has not said what its next move will be.
Court-ordered mediation between the CEOs of Apple and Samsung did not produce a settlement in the wide-ranging litigation. Barring a last minute agreement, the trial is slated for July 30.
Apple cannot afford to get bogged down in its global legal campaign against Android, said Paul Berghoff, a Chicago-based patent attorney with McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff who is not involved in the litigation.
"If Apple's goal still is the Steve Jobs holy war, then the status quo is not in their benefit," Berghoff said.
(Reporting By Dan Levine; Editing by Martha Graybow, Amy Stevens and Phil Berlowitz)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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