For the last several months, the rumor mill has been chock full of reports about what Apple may have in store for the iPhone this year, especially a brand-new low-end iPhone model to satisfy customers with lower budgets. According to a new report straight out of China, Apple plans on to ship the new low-end smartphones with a Snapdragon chipset, as opposed to the A6 and A6X devices currently used on all of the Cupertino company’s recent iOS devices. This is not new though, as previously a report in January also pointed to a Snapdragon SoC for the low-cost iPhone.
As always tends to be the case a few months prior to a purported iPhone launch, the rumor mill has been awash with speculation that Apple could follow in the footsteps of Nokia et al and bring wireless charging to its prized smartphone this year. A report surfacing from the famously hit-and-miss Digitimes suggests the Cupertino company will indeed be introducing the technology as a built-in feature to the so-called "iPhone 5S", but 9to5Mac's notion to the contrary would seem more correct.
The tablet and smartphone markets are certainly crowded, although all devices in these two categories perform the main task that is expected of them: allow users to browse the Internet on the go, even 36,000 feet above the ground. However, a new study by in-flight Internet provider Gogo suggests that a vast majority of its usage takes place on tablets, most of them Apple iPads.
When you're the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for one of the richest and most successful technology companies in the world, chances are that you've forged yourself a pretty successful career and people will listen to what you have to say. Technology lovers will be more than familiar with Phil Schiller - who fills the marketing SVP role nicely at Apple - due to his numerous appearances on stage during product keynotes, but he has now taken to his Twitter timeline to share the latest developments in mobile security.
All eyes may be on next week's Samsung Galaxy S IV launch party in New York City, if rumors stemming from Asia are anything to go by, Apple's counter smartphone offering may already be in production. Japanese blog Macotakara, which has a reputation for some high-profile hits as well as misses, has stated that Foxconn, Apple's main manufacturing source, is ramping up production of the so-called iPhone 5S. Although the Chinese company famously struggled to cope with the production of the iPhone 5 initially due to the radical new design, but since the 5S is supposedly very similar to its would-be predecessor, the firm is reportedly having little trouble adapting to a variant of what it now become accustomed to producing.
We've been hearing on and off speculation about Apple's plans to launch a music streaming service, but just when the trail seems to have gone cold on the subject; new reports have emerged suggesting that Tim Cook and Eddy Cue have held relatively recent meetings with Beats Electronics LLC over a potential partnership. As a company, Beats have managed to propel themselves into an industry leading position in their particular field, but it seems to be the recently announced "Project Daisy" music streaming initiative that Apple are taking a keen interest in.
Apple has its fair share of hardware and software partners the world over, but one new partner may come as something of a surprise.
Considering how integral the iPhone has become in the mobile industry, it's amazing to think the device is scarcely six years old. It was in 2007 that then CEO Steve Jobs wowed audiences at the Moscone West Center with the game-changing handset, and for those with a more vivid memory, you may also recall a moment when Jobs made a prank call to the local Starbucks. Ying Hang "Hannah" Zhang was the Starbucks worker in receipt of Jobs' tomfoolery that day, and having retained her position at the world's most recognizable coffee chain, recently spoke of how die-hard Apple fans still, even today, call up the store and ask for "4,000 lattes to go, please."
Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is fast approaching and with that excitement and anticipation comes the discussion around the potential for any new hardware or software to be announced during the event. It's becoming increasingly difficult to predict the route which Apple will go down in terms of hardware specifications and release schedules, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is standing by his turn-of-the year predictions regarding the fruit company's 2013 plans.
Speculation regarding Apple's supposed "iWatch" endeavors has certainly been gathering steam over the past 24 hours, and following the report from Bloomberg earlier today that Apple could bring its smartwatch to market in time for the holiday season, we're now also beginning to get an idea of just how long Apple may have been contemplating this product. According to reports, boxes of Nike watches were ordered by Apple all the way back in the mid 2000s, with Apple engineers and designers then taking the time to study how they were made, and the materials used.
