The vast majority of Internet sites use it to display Flash video and other multimedia content. In addition, Flash is a convenient platform for application development

. The main trouble for it today is to dislike Apple chief Steve Jobs, for which the technology is not supported by Adobe nor the iPhone, nor the iPad – and this is a significant part of the market.

A couple of years ago make sense to implement support for Flash in the smartphone was not – the majority of power devices for normal mapping would not be enough.

But today the situation is quite different, smartphones and Internet tablets with gigahertz processors and graphics accelerators, the individual coping with Flash-graphics with a bang.

The fact that the development of Flash for Android entered the stage of debugging, and is about to be declared a set of all comers in a series of beta testers, said the chief ideologist of the platform from Adobe Li Braymelou.

According to him, users Android-smartphone after the implementation of them is waiting for Flash support “a lot of exciting, the possibility of devices markedly improved.

Register to participate in a public beta Flash-player for Android can be on the official website of the company.

Resource:
http://it-chuiko.com/internet/3416-adobe-is-tesing-flash-for-android.html

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According to Engadget, the Android-powered Mini 5 just showed up in the FCC database with the WCDMA Band IV radios. Those radios only are used on one US network: T-Mobile’s (DT).

The Mini 5 is just a bit bigger than a big smartphone (HTC’s Evo will be 4.3 inches vs. the Mini’s 5 inches) but is being marketed more like a mini tablet — but one with significantly more screen size than the market leading iPod touch from Apple (AAPL). It is powered by the same Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon processor that powers HTC’s latest Android phones as well. Unfortunately for Dell, it’s been only show running an older version of the Android OS, version 1.6 (vs. 2.1 on the latest Android phones).

Perhaps most importantly however, the Mini 5 will launch with a big content partnership from Amazon (AMZN) which will provide the device with music, Video-on-Demand, eBooks and anything else Amazon sells.

The questions that remain are: When will this device be sold and for how much ?

• Dell (DELL) could sell this through the carriers (T-Mobile in this case) like most phones and some Netbooks are sold
• Google (GOOG) could sell it ad-hoc like it sells the Nexus One (also on T-Mobile) on its website?
• Dell could sell this like Apple sells the iPad — With specialized unlocked data-only plans (though the Mini 5 can make phone calls)
• Dell could just sell this outright on Dell.com and let customers find their own SIM / plan options.
• Any combination of the above.

The device itself is probably going to cost south of $500 (if it wants to have any chance vs. the iPad and iPod touch) and any carrier deals will just bring that down further.

The Mini 5 is a big deal for Dell, which is coming to the US with its first Android devices and first portable devices since it killed the Axiom and Dell DJ lines years ago. Dell also sells a smaller Mini 3 in Brazil and China.

The Dell Mini’ 5’s size might be a good differentiator vs. Apple and HP which both make significantly smaller phones and larger tablets.

Speaking of larger tablets, Dell is slated to have a 7-inch version of its Mini Tablet at the end of the year and a 10-inch variety at the beginning of 2011.

Resource:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/04/19/fcc-database-reveals-dells-mini-5-to-come-to-t-mobile/

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Our iPad application developers understand the technical tweaks that would be required to an iPhone application to make it work well on the iPad and could utilize the unique features of the iPad that would give the entire application an absolutely different feel and make it iPad-compatible. iPod / iPhone Application Migration to iPad would bring a new delight to your tablet device with development of customized iPad apps from from existing iPhone/iPod apps.

Now, that the Apple iPad has already hit the stores and is believed to be a huge success, our iPad developers stand ready for migrating iPhone/iPod applications to the iPad. Most of the iPhone and iPod apps would run unchanged on the iPad but our dedicated iPad experts work dexterously at creating wonders even when an existing iPhone app is migrated on to an iPad.

If you wish to bring an extra fun to your iPad tablet by iPod / iPhone Application Migration to iPad, look no further. We are able to bring almost any category of existing iPhone application, from entertainment to music, from books to lifestyle, to the iPad.

Resource:
http://www.unlock-iphone.org/blog/2010/04/iphone-application-migration-to-ipad/

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After all, the two devices seem hardly comparable. The Kindle uses a black-and-white screen and is designed primarily for reading books. The iPad, by contrast, is a full-on portable computing device capable of reading, watching video and playing games as well as sending e-mails and typing up documents — all from a high-definition, 9.7-inch LCD touch-screen.

On top of that, Apple /quotes/comstock/15*!aapl/quotes/nls/aapl (AAPL 247.07, -0.33, -0.13%) managed to surprise the market by bringing in the iPad at a starting price of $499 — well below most estimations before the product was announced in late January.

“The iPad makes things much more difficult for e-reader devices,” said Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets who has followed the e-reader market. “Especially when you’re a higher-priced e-reader, then the value proposition becomes less clear.”

Still, many companies are making bets on the e-reader business. And analysts say those bets could still pay off, depending on how they are executed. IDC estimates that about 2.5 million e-readers were sold in 2009, and that number is expected to double to 5.1 million this year

Those estimates have attracted several players to the market, with more coming. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which took place in January, showcased several such devices, which targeted market niches that ranged from book readers to newspapers to devices that are designed primarily for business uses. See full story on e-readers making a big splash at CES.

Still, the Kindle from Amazon.com (AMZN 142.43, +0.26, +0.18%) rules the e-reader market with an estimated 60% share, according to estimates from Forrester Research. Sony Corp. (SNE 36.11, +0.55, +1.55%) is believed to have accounted for another 35% of the e-readers sold last year, with other vendors splitting the rest.

Worries about the iPad’s effect on the Kindle have helped weighed down Amazon’s stock this year. The shares are up 4% since the first of the year — an under-performance compared to the Nasdaq Composite, which has gained more than 8% in the same period.

“The market fears that the iPad will materially undermine the value proposition and growth prospects for the Kindle,” Mark Mahaney of Citigroup wrote in a note to clients on March 25.

Staying alive — and cheap

Many analysts still see a strong future for dedicated e-readers — depending on price, content and other factors that could help them stand out to consumers.

First and foremost, most e-readers are still priced at a sharp discount to the iPad. The Kindle and its rival device called the Nook — sold by Barnes & Noble (BKS 22.14, -0.52, -2.29%) — both start at $259. Sony sells a model for $199 called the Pocket Edition, with another touch-screen version priced at $299.

But others have little space from the iPad. IRex, a reader that went on sale at Best Buy earlier this year, sells for $399. Plastic Logic, a venture-backed startup, introduced an e-reader at CES that it planned to start at $650 for a model that only offers WiFi connectivity, and $800 for one that can access a 3G wireless network.

The Plastic Logic Que was originally planned to launch this month, but the company delayed the release until June 24 “in order to fine-tune the features and enhance the overall product experience.” See Tech Tales commentary on Plastic Logic.

Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps says e-readers will have to compete with the iPad mainly on price, since there is no way for them to offer the same capabilities.

“We do see a role for a stand-alone e-reader, but it’s not going to be a premium price point,” Epps said in an interview. “They will have to get under $99 to get the mainstream market.”

Ross Rubin of the NPD Group agrees, adding that markets such as textbooks remain largely untouched by e-readers, and have a lot of potential.

“We are still very early in this market, which is still expanding,” Rubin said.

Setting apart

Besides price, analysts believe e-readers can set themselves apart from the iPad in other ways.

Product design is one area. While the iPad is widely hailed for its sharp design, one disadvantage is its 1.5-pound weight, which is more than double the weight of the 10.2-ounce Kindle. This would be a serious issue for those looking to use a Kindle or iPad for long-form reading.

“Weight is an attribute that’s easy to overlook,” said Rubin. “If you have an extra pound on your laptop, you won’t be feeling it most of the time. But if you have an extra pound on a tablet device, you will certainly feel that.”

Adding a color screen is another. While fine for book reading, devices with black-and-white screens are unlikely to be a draw for readers — and publishers of — newspapers and magazines, who are all gravitating towards the iPad. Color screens using E-Ink technology are not available yet, but are in development.

“In this market, we don’t think it’s sufficient for Amazon to go with only a black-and-white Kindle,” said IDG analyst Susan Kevorkian.

E-readers such as the Kindle, Nook and Alex from Spring Design will have another advantage through ties to big retailers. The Alex will be sold through retail chain Borders (BGP 2.93, +0.19, +6.93%) later this year. The iRex and Sony e-readers are currently sold through Best Buy.

Amazon’s different avenues

Gauging the performance of the iPad compared to the Kindle in the market will be difficult, given Amazon’s long-standing policy of not disclosing sales figures for the device.

Amazon, which reports first-quarter results on Thursday, still refers to the Kindle as the top-selling product on its Web site. Mahaney of Citigroup estimates that the company sold 2.4 million units of the device last year and will sell 3.5 million units this year. He also expects e-book revenue to reach $760 million this year — or about 2.3% of total estimated revenue for the company.

“The strength and relatively low price points of the iPad increase the pressure on Amazon to deliver an improved product (perhaps with touch screen capability) at a lower price point (probably sub $200) in 2010,” Mahaney wrote. “But we believe this is a likely scenario.”

Kevorkian of IDC believes Amazon will also benefit from having its Kindle app available on the iPad – especially since its own e-reader does not have a color display. “The Kindle app lets the company get into the business of selling color content,” she said.

Still, few analysts believe the current number of e-reader devices on the mark is sustainable, especially with more tablet devices on the way. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 53.64, -0.11, -0.20%) , Dell (DELL 16.90, +0.14, +0.82%) and Google (GOOG 550.10, -0.05, -0.01%) are all developing competitor devices to the iPad, which will likely put more pressure on the e-reader market.

“We’re not going to have a market where 30 different e-readers survive,” Sebastian said.

Resource:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/can-e-readers-still-compete-with-the-ipad-2010-04-20?pagenumber=2

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For the people at Apple, it must be like a bad version of the guy walks into a bar joke.

The company is known as the most secretive in Silicon Valley, and leaks are rare. But after the phone prototype was left in a bar in the Silicon Valley town of Redwood City, photos of the device began appearing over the weekend in technology blogs, sparking a frenzy of hype among the Apple-obsessed.

Before long, pictures of the product appeared on Gizmodo, a technology news site, whose editors ripped it apart — as if it were an alien from another planet — to dissect its features. The Web site said late Monday that the phone belonged to an Apple engineer.

The phone’s authenticity was hotly debated, but most bloggers concluded it was real. And a person with knowledge of Apple’s hardware plans who was not authorized to speak on behalf of the company confirmed to The New York Times that it was real.

Apple declined to comment.

“It is very stunning,” said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, who has been following Apple for nearly three decades. “Apple has such tight control on new products, and they are kept under wraps diligently and religiously until the day of their release. If it is true, it is really a first.”

Some wondered whether the phone was planted by Apple’s formidable publicity machine.

“For the sake of the person who dropped it, I hope this is a devious marketing scheme,” said Paul Saffo, a veteran Silicon Valley forecaster. “But I think it is unlikely. There is no one else on the planet whose shoes I would less like to be in it at the moment.”

In a blog post on Monday detailing how it obtained the phone, Gizmodo said it was left by an iPhone software engineer at Gourmet Haus Staudt, a German specialty store and beer garden in Redwood City.

The person who found the phone peddled it to Gizmodo, which bought it for $5,000, Nick Denton, chief executive of Gawker Media, which owns Gizmodo, said by instant message.

His company’s sites have had a longstanding practice of paying for scoops, and the windfall was tangible. Traffic spiked on Monday, and at midday more than one million visitors stopped by the site in one hour to see pictures of the coveted gadget.

By late in the day, reports began to surface on the Internet that Apple’s chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, had called Gizmodo to get the device back. Mr. Denton declined to comment, saying any conversation between Mr. Jobs and Gizmodo would most likely have been off the record.

“We haven’t had any formal communication with Apple,” he said. Brian Lam, the editor in chief of Gizmodo, said his publication would “probably” return the device to Apple.

From the front, it looks similar to the current iPhone, but it has sharper edges and is a little thinner. The volume and power buttons are stylistically different, and the back of the phone appears to be a ceramic glass, which would enable better reception. That would address a persistent problem that has plagued the iPhone since its inception three years ago.

Late Monday night, Gizmodo said that it received a letter from Bruce Sewell, Apple’s senior vice president and general counsel, requesting the phone back. “It has come to our attention that Gizmodo is currently in possession of a device that belongs to Apple,” Mr. Sewell wrote in a letter that Gizmodo published.

“This letter constitutes a formal request that your return the device to Apple,” the letter said.

Resource:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/technology/companies/20apple.html?src=busln

The post For Apple, Lost iPhone Is a Big Deal appeared first on AI, ML and IoT application development company | Fusion Informatics.

According to Nokia, the cash prizes will be given for the best Puzzle or Brain Teaser application and the top Mobile Forms application in the competition’s Entertainment and Productivity categories. Optus will also be offering mobile and web advertising support to promote the winning apps on the Ovi Store.

In addition to the local incentives, Aussie developers have the opportunity to share in an even bigger prize pool. The top three global submissions in each application category will receive the following cash prizes:

1st Prize: USD$30,000
2nd Prize: USD$15,000
3rd Prize: USD$5,000

Above and beyond the category prizes, all application submissions – whether they are finalists or not – will be eligible to win special cash prizes that span across the four categories. These special prizes are based on the type of technology used to create the app, or other award criteria, as noted below:

Best application for the Nokia N900: USD$50,000

Best cross-platform application using Qt: USD$50,000

Best mobile computing application: USD$50,000, plus be included in a multi-million dollar global marketing campaign that will be used to help promote the winning app

Resource:
http://smarthouse.com.au/Phones/Industry/C9H5H4X5

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This jailbreak will only work for iPhone 3G users on a Mac. It’s still in beta, so it’s very buggy. If you plan to jailbreak, know that your unlock will be compromised since Apple updated the baseband in the iPhone 4.0 beta firmware.

Resource:
http://www.iphonestalk.com/jailbreak-for-iphone-4-0-beta-1-available-now/

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Did you know that you will soon get to load your mobile phone with an app (short for an application) that can kill mosquitoes?!! This particular mobile phone module will use light and sound generated at a specific frequency to repel mosquitoes.

Indeed, mobile apps today can take on just about any role, or even channel a recital for that matter. Take Shafeeq Khan, for instance. This 29-year-old mobile repair shop owner in Uttar Pradesh has close to 30,000 followers who listen to his shayari over a mobile app called RockeTalk in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan the US and UK.

Besides these two examples, there are thousands of more utility-based apps to be purchased — a combination of products and services that enhance personalised experience on mobile phones. Most utility or productivity apps, offer a blend of technologies with functional benefits that cater to various social or professional requirements. With over 500 million mobile subscribers, growing by approximately 10 million per month, mobile networks in India have undeniably become the country’s largest distribution platform for delivering information and services to the masses through innovative applications.

It sure explains how Rajiv Kumar, CEO and founder of RockeTalk, managed to get a subscriber-base of 1.5 million users for his mobile app, which runs on close to 550 models of mobile phones, mostly low-end ones (priced at about Rs 4,000). RockeTalk is a free mobile phone app that enables users to create text, voice, photo and video messages, and share them. It also enables users to join communities and chat with individuals and groups over GPRS (mobile internet). “Next step is to get the app on Apple’s iPhone and introduce it to 3G markets in the West. “In India, too, 3G will accelerate growth since it will enable real-time networking,” says Kumar. With no advertising budgets, RockeTalk was introduced to users by bundling it on LG and Samsung handsets and through tie-ups with operators like Idea and Airtel.

Innovation: Name of the game

Mobile device makers like Micromax believe a mosquito repelling app on its low-cost handsets would do well with consumers. Rohit Sharma, COO of Micromax, draws on Nokia’s torch-phone that became vastly popular among the masses, “If a torch-phone can work, then a mosquito-repelling phone can be a hit, too.”

Media, pharmaceutical, retail and even governments are asking app developers to create mobile apps. App developers like 2ergo, which have created iPhone apps for the UK-based newspaper The Guardian, have seen their apps being downloaded 70,000 times in just four weeks. Ramesh Krishnan, COO of 2ergo, explains how a pharmaceutical company approached the developer for an app that could prescribe a healthy diet to individual users to maintain the right body mass index (BMI). “We are developing this app for devices based on various mobile operating systems and it will be offered by the pharma company as an advisory app to healthy living,” adds Krishnan.

The company is also keen on developing a voice-based app, along with state governments and local governing institutions that will enable users to request a birth certificate, marriage licence or register real estate with just a click on their mobile phones. “This app needs extensive government support. We have received encouraging feedback from government bodies. We strongly believe that e-governance can take a new leap with mobile apps,” says Krishnan.

Companies call in

Krishnan’s confidence is shared by Infosys. The software major has forayed into developing mobile applications and is working with a large retail partner to launch an app that would manage your grocery list. Subhash Dhar, senior vice-president and head (communications, media and entertainment business) Infosys, explains: “Infosys is keenly following the mobile app economy and is working with partners on various productivity and utility- based apps.” The company is also developing apps that will allow users to book, rent and even schedule taxi pick-ups (GPS-controlled vehicles) from any part of the country.

With Nokia continuing to command 60 per cent of the handset market, the company is making sure that its users carry the ‘smartest’ phones. Soon, Nokia mobile phones will come with ‘Nokia Bots’, a collection of add-ons that autonomously learn a user’s personal preferences and improve experience with customised features and tricks. These add-ons observe how the phone is being used and automatically configure and activate themselves. So, for instance, if you are in a meeting, your phone can automatically set itself to silent mode or prompt you to activate the same.

With user spending an average seven minutes on apps on every usage, Jasmeet Gandhi, head (services marketing), Nokia, reckons the company needs to have apps that will deliver services within the stipulated time. “We are also hopeful of engaging our rural customers with transaction-based apps and services that work on the SMS platform.” For its urban consumer, Nokia hopes to put the mobile phone’s camera to good use. “We are experimenting with apps that will allow users to capture images, upload them directly and even search details of the captured visual images,” he explains.

‘Walmart of mobile apps’

CanvasM, the joint venture between Tech Mahindra and Motorola, is yet another company purely focusing on utility applications. The company has close to 6,000 applications still under wraps. Jagdish Mitra, CEO of CanvasM, is confident about apps meant for commercial transactions and mobile banking. Mitra’s aim is to be the “Walmart of mobile applications”. The company is also working on a project for a retail giant to deliver barcode-based discount coupons. “The idea is that the customer will just have to put their mobile’s screen in front of the scanner and the barcode will be read for earning discounts,” explains Mitra. Industry research suggests that mobile coupons can increase footfalls by almost 17 per cent.

Operators like Virgin Mobile, too, have caught on. Beginning with apps like Hatke Learning, Virgin Mobile provides insights into various alternative career options. Another app, called Hatke Naukri, developed with Naukri.com, informs users about openings.

Apps unbound

There are hundreds of utilities out there on app stores — some useful, some not. Here are a couple of our recommendations that we believe will give a bang for your buck:

Making mouse of an iPhone

For $1.99 (Rs 88), Air Mouse Pro (AMP) lets you convert your iPhone into a wireless mouse or trackpad. The app puts to use the phone’s built-in accelerometer to translate hand motions into mouse movements. AMP gives you two options to control your system. The first is via a touch-pad-style interface, where you drag your fingers around the screen in the same way you would on a notebook. The second mode is through the use of the accelerometer. The basic concept is that you press and hold the button in the middle of the mouse buttons and then tilt the phone in the direction you wish to move the mouse.

Do you have Wikitude?

Wikitude is a free, location-based Wikipedia app for mobile phones based on the Google Android platform. Aimed at tourists, this app superimposes information about points of interest on either a Google map or through the mobile camera’s viewfinder. The app calls this ‘augmented reality’, and it’s a pretty cool effect. If you’re looking for more information on where you’re located and the surrounding area, this app is perfect.

Readymade emails

If you want to cut short the time taken for emailing people you stay in touch with a lot, go to the Apple’s App Store and download the $0.99 (Rs 44) Mail Quick app. This allows a user to, with one or two clicks, open an e-mail template already addressed to a person on a favourites, list. Users can select a person they email often and, by clicking on the app icon, a mail already addressed to that person will open. They can also enter multiple addresses and have preset subject lines.

Location-based friendships

Affle, better known as creators of SMS 2.0, plan to have a location-sharing and -tracking service (for the Symbian platform) that lets members know where their friends are and share photos or notes about locations with others in an area. Members can post photos or comments about their location or activities and discover new people who use this niche app, ranging from within a few feet to an entire region. Affle has not indicated the app’s price.

Compile your own dictionary

Nokia is testing a new app for its mobile device, called the custom dictionary. This app can store user-defined words that are used frequently while typing. The words are then used in predictive text input. While price is undecided, the app will allow users to add and delete words from the dictionary, and even scan text files to add them to a text library. Other features include ability to transfer the dictionary to other devices.

Resource:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ringing-in-an-appday/391576/

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Microsoft has no plans to build an iPad friendly version of its Office software, Stephen Elop, president of Microsoft’s business division, tells Bloomberg.

Elop is quoted as saying he’d take a “wait and see” approach, but he also says, “We never say never, but we have no current plans.”

We understand Microsoft’s rationale for choosing to wait — the iPad will be relatively small for years, compared to the PC and Mac markets — but it’s risky (and seems pigheaded).

There is no sign the iPad will be a total flop. Even conservative analyst predictions forecast millions of iPads being sold this year. And while Microsoft twiddles its thumbs, waiting and seeing how many people buy an iPad, Apple’s word processor, Pages, is already on sale — and in early going, it’s the top grossing iPad app on iTunes.

We wouldn’t necessarily expect Word or Excel to be available on day one, but maybe in a few months? Is that asking so much? What does Microsoft gain by sticking its fingers in its ears, and closing its eyes? If Microsoft doesn’t make its own suite of apps for the iPad, or iPhone for that matter, then someone else will. Right now, it’s Apple. Tommorrow it could be some other startup.

Google just announced that it was optimizing its email and other apps for the iPad. Google Docs probably aren’t far behind.

Microsoft’s Office empire is under attack. As we wrote earlier this week, don’t mistake the fact that the attackers are puny right now. Microsoft is not safe. It is very exposed.

Instead of giving the competition a head start on the next big platform, it should be building the best software money can buy. Microsoft has already learned this lesson with the iPhone, now developing a few apps for it. But with the iPad, it seems to be pretending nothing is happening.

Resource:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/04/02/businessinsider-microsofts-ipad-strategy-ignore-it-2010-4.DTL

The post Microsoft's iPad Strategy appeared first on AI, ML and IoT application development company | Fusion Informatics.

Physical appearance

One thing you expect from newer versions of Apple products is; they will be slimmer and lighter than their predecessors. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with the iPhone. From what we understand of Apple so far, if it is physically possible to make something smaller, then they will make it. However, it seems that with the iPhone they just couldn’t and each new version came with the exact same dimensions as the older one.

The reason for this could be because Apple kept adding new features to the iPhone with every new version. Newer features also require more power and hence a bigger battery. This is why they couldn’t make the device smaller as it would then require a smaller battery.

With the fourth generation iPhone, we feel that Apple, instead of adding more features to the phone, will instead concentrate on how they would fit the current features into a slimmer and lighter body.

However, that would mean the fourth gen iPhone will have a fully plastic rear, just like the current iPhone 3G and 3GS, as it would be impossible to fit all the radio antennas inside a slim metal casing without disrupting their functionality. This was the reason for them to move away from the full metal back of the first generation model.

Another theory of ours is that instead of a slimmer body they will retain the current dimensions and instead make the rear side resemble the one on the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G model. This model of the iPad has a black plastic strip at the top where it hides the radio antennas. Since the iPhone has the exact same radio units inside the 3G model of iPad, it would work just fine. This would also make the iPhone a part of the ongoing aluminum-ising of Apple’s product line.

Display

Conventional wisdom suggests that Apple would equip the iPhone 4G with a higher resolution display, possibly even an OLED display, like the one on the Nexus One. But I have reasons to believe that neither would happen. Allow me to explain.

First I’ll explain why I think Apple won’t bump up the display resolution on the iPhone. The reason is simple: apps.

The iPhone currently has 150,000 applications for it on the App Store, all designed to work for one resolution: 320 x 480. If tomorrow Apple introduces an iPhone with a higher display resolution, all the current apps would have to scale to fit the higher resolution display, just like they currently do on the iPad. They will work, but they won’t look good.

But that’s just one issue. What about applications that will be created after the iPhone 4G if a higher resolution display is released? The developers will then have to write apps that would work on the new as well as the old low resolution iPhones and iPod touches. They cannot ignore the new ones because higher pixels would let them do a lot of interesting UI changes and they cannot ignore the older ones because there are millions of them out there. This will be troublesome for developers and I doubt Apple would allow this to happen.

Also, an increase in resolution will necessitate changes in the UI and basically the OS itself. And since the iPod touch runs the same OS, it will have to be given the resolution bump as well or else Apple would have to keep working on two OSes simultaneously, which they wouldn’t want to. Also an increase in resolution would also necessitate an increase in size of the device, which somehow I doubt Apple would do. So all in all, it seems to me that an increase in screen resolution seems unlikely, at least for now.

But does this mean the iPhone will never get a higher resolution display? Who know, maybe it will, if Apple manages to solve the above mentioned problems somehow.

Now I’ll explain the OLED part of the argument. Now this time I don’t have any solid reasons to back it up but just a gut feeling that says “they won’t do it”. I’m not saying that Apple hates OLED or anything. It’s just that they don’t find it worthwhile enough right now, just like Blu-ray. Plus they are heavily into the LED-backlit LCD panels now and their latest obsession is with IPS technology. I doubt they would use IPS technology on the iPhone as it wouldn’t make much sense but what I doubt even more is Apple using OLED on the iPhone or on anything for that matter for the foreseeable future.

Long story short, we think the iPhone 4G might just sport pretty much the same display as the current model. However, you can expect minor improvements. It’s not as if the display on the current iPhone is at the pinnacle of LCD technology and performance, and it can definitely be improved further without adopting any new technology.

Camera

The current iPhone 3GS has a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and also capable of recording videos in VGA resolution at 30 FPS. When asked about the fourth generation model’s camera, our theory is that the resolution of the still camera will remain pretty much the same. Apple is not a big fan of high resolution cameras or else they wouldn’t have launched their first phone with a 2 megapixel camera.

Another reason why I don’t think the camera resolution won’t increase is because of what we discussed earlier, the size. A higher resolution sensor also takes up more space inside the casing. Now if Apple is looking forward to make the iPhone slimmer, putting in a higher resolution camera would be the last thing they would want to do. You might then ask what about phones like the HTC HD2, which are pretty slim and yet has a high resolution camera. Well, in case of the HD2, the lens juts out considerably from the body – something you will never find on any Apple design. So, yes, the camera stays as it is.

Video has become a big deal for Apple recently. They put video recording on the iPhone 3GS and gave a convenient option to upload it on YouTube. They even went ahead and fit in a camera on the iPod nano. Not just any camera, but a video camera that records just videos. Also, recently we have observed Apple talking a lot about HD videos in particular. They talked about HD video playback on their Macs, they also talked about the HD video playback on the iPad. This leads us to believe that there is a possibility of the iPhone 4G actually recording videos in HD resolution. Maybe not full 1080p but definitely the 720p variety. Considering that Apple seems to have no plan to enter the digital camera market, they might as well make their iPhone do all the work.

I doubt Apple would advertise the iPhone 4G’s HD viewing capability though, well apart from the ones that it records. They would rather want you to do that on the iPad (which means you probably won’t get YouTube HD app on the iPhone 4G). Viewing HD videos on that low resolution screen won’t be much fun.

FM radio

We have a feeling that the iPhone 4G might have an FM radio built-in. The reason for this is the appearance of FM radio on the iPod nano recently. Apple vehemently avoided FM radio in their music players all this time, and then suddenly one day they decided to put it in the iPod nano. They even went ahead and put in the Live Pause function for the radio, which no one else offers. Also, when the iPod touch 3rd generation came out last year, the guys over at iFixit discovered during one of their usual product breakdowns that the latest generation touch actually has an FM radio receiver built inside but is disabled for some reason.

This strengthens our beliefs that the iPhone 4G would have an FM radio built-in. Apple would also issue a firmware update to the current iPod touch owners, which would unlock the dormant FM receivers inside their devices and then everyone can go back to listening music the old fashioned way. I’m pretty sure the Live Pause feature of the iPod nano would be carried over as well.

Hardware

I’m sure you are wondering if this is the hardware section of the article, and what the hell have I been talking about all this time? Well, here I’ll be talking about the processor; the heart of the device. The parts that make it tick. Well, you get the picture.

Before you start fantasizing about the iPhone 4G getting the 1GHz A4 chip from the iPad, we would ask you to stop right there and come back to reality. From what we think, the iPhone 4G will be rocking pretty much the same hardware as the current iPhone 3GS and there are two pretty good reasons for that.

First is that the hardware is pretty good and even though we have started seeing 1GHz smartphones like the Nexus One and HTC HD2, they run a different operating system. The iPhone OS can run smoothly on the current hardware so there is no real need to upgrade it. Even if Apple introduces HD video recording, it can still handle it. Remember the Samsung Omnia HD? It records HD video with the exact same hardware.

Secondly, a faster processor would require a bigger battery, something Apple could probably not fit in the current body; leave alone a slimmer one.

Connectivity

As far as the connectivity is concerned, once again we believe the iPhone 4G will be near identical to the current iPhone 3GS. There is a small chance that the Wi-Fi will be upgraded to support 802.11n, but that requires a lot of processing power, not to mention battery power. The iPod touch Wi-Fi unit is capable of 802.11n, as discovered by iFixit, but that doesn’t mean Apple will unlock it. It’s quite possible it is the same chip they use on the iPad, which does have 802.11n support. There is also a chance that Apple might come up with a CDMA version of the handset for certain markets.

iPhone OS 4.0

If there is one thing we are sure that the iPhone 4G will have it is OS 4.0. In fact, OS 4.0 would probably arrive even before the 4G model is launched, like they did with OS 3.0.

So what can we expect in 4.0? Well, the thing that we keep hearing most is the introduction of full-fledged multi-tasking, like you would do on, say, a Symbian or Windows Mobile handset. The current iPhone OS does support multi-tasking but it is limited to a handful of applications that have been built-in to the OS, such as Mail, Messages, Safari, etc. Third party applications cannot take advantage of it. However, there have been talks that Apple is introducing proper multi-tasking on 4.0.

The reason why Apple had avoided implementing traditional multi-tasking previously is because they were concerned that it would impact the battery life of the iPhone negatively. But if the rumors are true, then they have probably found a way to solve that problem. Or maybe it is just that; a rumor.

We might also see some improvements to the core applications. An updated version of the mobile Safari would definitely be nice. They might also replace the traditional Google search with Bing search (that is if the ongoing cold war between Apple and Google continues to rage). However, if they do that then they probably won’t just stop at Google search for Safari and would probably eradicate Google Maps as well, which I doubt they will right now. So expect Google services to be around for a while on the iPhone.

After the launch of the iPad, we have a feeling that some of the apps on the iPhone might take on a similar look and feel as their older siblings. So the iPod app could turn into the iTunes app and so on. Some people are even speculating that the iPhone would get the iBook Store, but we doubt that as it is one of the selling points of the iPad and Apple won’t take that away from it. Also, reading books on the smaller screen of the iPhone wouldn’t make much sense anyway.

Apple might even add Flash support to iPhone. Yeah, right! There are more chances of them equipping the iPhone with a rocket launcher than Flash support!

Well, that’s all we have for you now. But like we said, if you have anything else to add (and we are sure you will) then please mention them in the comments section below.

Resource:
http://www.techtree.com/India/Features/iPhone_4G_What_To_Expect_And_What_Not_To/551-110237-899.html

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