Earlier in the week, case manufacturer Tactus shared photos of cases that were supposedly designed for the next generation iPad. These cases fell in line with what we expect from the next iPad, showcasing a slimmer design with smaller bezels. Today, that same company shared photos of what they say is the shell of the purported low-cost iPhone. (more…)
Facebook wishes that it could deliver the full Home experience on iPhone, but tough Apple restrictions will likely prevent that from ever happening. In the meantime, the social network has updated its Facebook app to at least bring its new Chat Heads to iPhone; however, the feature is limited to use within the Facebook app only. That’s where 21-year-old developer Adam Bell comes in, with a new jailbreak tweak that expands the Chat Heads functionality across the iOS platform.
The experience is the same as it would be on Android smartphones, allowing you to tap, drag, and fling Chat Heads on top of your Safari web browser, home screen, weather app, or wherever else you might be on your iPhone. While the port isn’t absolutely perfect, as it does some suffer from some minor freezing, it is hardly a resource hog and doesn’t negatively affect battery life. Also, there is no SMS or iMessage integration yet. Look for the tweak to pop up on Cydia and GitHub in the coming days.
Verizon Wireless has announced its financial results for the first quarter, posting $29.4 billion revenue on sales of 4 million iPhones and 7.2 million smartphones overall. Comparatively, the carrier sold 3.2 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 800,000 units year-over-year.
Verizon did see its iPhone sales drop from the fourth quarter, when it sold 6.2 million of the popular Apple handset; however, overall sales are always inflated during the fourth quarter, which encompasses the busy holiday shopping season. (more…)
Within the iFans forums, we have posted a poll that asks when you think Apple will announce the next iPhone. There has been speculation that the Cupertino-based corporation could unveil the latest iPhone as soon as WWDC 2013, which should take place next June, but there has also been contrasting reports that claim Apple is behind schedule on the so-called “iPhone 5S” because of difficulties at integrating a new fingerprint scanner. Be sure to answer the poll within the forums and share your thoughts in the comments.
Facebook is in talks with Apple to launch its new Home software layer for iPhone, a top Facebook executive confirmed to Bloomberg. These discussions have been ongoing and nothing has been finalized yet, according to the report.
“We’ve shown them what we’ve built and we’re just in an ongoing conversation,” said Adam Mosseri, director of product at Facebook, referring to discussions with Apple and Microsoft.
“It may or may not be Home. We could also just bring some of the design values to the iOS app. That might be how it ends up. Or we could build just the lock screen. Maybe then it’s not called Home, it’s called something else.”
Facebook Home debuted earlier this month as a feature for Android-based smartphones, putting Facebook friends and services at the forefront of the mobile experience. The HTC First was the first smartphone to include native Home integration.
UPDATE: A number of sources have since debunked this report, including the highly-connected John Paczkowski of All Things Digital. Yet, the full legitimacy of the report is unknown, considering that it is based off comments from a Facebook executive directly. We’ll update this story when more details are known.
@bloombergnews nope.
— John Paczkowski (@JohnPaczkowski) April 16, 2013
The next-generation iPhone will have a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera and improved night shooting, reports Viatnamese source Tinhte.vn. We’ve heard that the so-called “iPhone 5S” would have an upgraded camera for quite some time, but this is the first we’ve heard about any specific details.
The iSight camera on the iPhone has long been the world’s most popular camera, at least according to Apple’s marketing team. The iPhone 4S is in fact the top ranked camera on popular photo sharing website Flickr, alongside the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4 in second and third place respectively.
[Tinhte via iPhone in Canada via MacRumors]
While the next-generation iPhone might be several months away from release, that hasn’t stopped the community from posting mockup images and videos that detail what the next Apple handset should look like.
One of the more recent videos, shown above, illustrates what an iPhone would look like with a larger 4.5-inch display, thinner chassis, narrower front bezel, and no home button. Overall, it is a modest improvement over the iPhone 5. Would you want one?
Apple sticks to a distinct trend when it comes to launching new iPhone models. The iPhone 3G was a massive change over the original iPhone, while the iPhone 3GS was an iterative refresh. Likewise, the iPhone 4 was groundbreaking compared to the iPhone 3GS, while the iPhone 4S was yet another incremental refresh. Most recently, Apple debuted the all-new thinner and lighter iPhone 5 with full anodized aluminum unibody. Again, a big change.
Each time Apple releases an incremental refresh to the iPhone, however, it includes a flagship feature that gives previous-generation users the urge to upgrade. With the iPhone 3GS, it was the massive speed improvements. With the iPhone 4S, it was the Siri voice assistant. And with the so-called “iPhone 5S,” at least one analyst believes that a fingerprint scanner of sorts could be the major selling point of the handset. (more…)
While the theft of Apple products might be becoming more commonplace, even contributing to a rise in the overall crime rate in New York City, a Chinese man, only identified by his surname of Wang, has gone to entirely new levels to steal a shiny iPhone from an innocent passerby.
Wang, in the middle of downtown Zhengzhou, a metro area with a population exceeding 6 million, was able to successfully pickpocket an iPhone off an unsuspecting woman riding her bicycle in the streets. Using chopsticks. And the lady didn’t even notice, and kept pedalling away.
Wang eventually turned himself into to local authorities after seeing images of his face plastered across media reports, claiming that he only began committing these petty crimes to support his young daughter that he raises alone.
[Shanghaiist via Kotaku]
T-Mobile has commenced its iPhone branding throughout brick-and-mortar retail stores. (Source: TmoNews via 9to5Mac)
We’ve known this day was coming for several months now, but today marks the official launch day of the iPhone 5 on T-Mobile USA. Considering that the iPhone was an AT&T-exclusive handset for quite a long time, before finally arriving on Verizon Wireless, and later Sprint, this is quite a monumental day.
T-Mobile offers the iPhone 5 for $99 with additional finance payments of $20 per month until the handset is paid off. That exclusive payment model allows for T-Mobile to offer contract-free plans with unlimited talk, text, web, and, in most instances, data. Have you switched to T-Mobile yet?