Category: Rumor

Photo of Matte-Back iPhone Emerges

iPhone Matte Back 1

Obviously this is a rumor and there is no way of knowing whether or not this is true but these images appear to be a new iPhone model number A1303.

The new case seems to have a matte finish instead of the current glossy look and the case also seems to have the usual model no., FCC ID, etc. etched onto the material which leads the iPod Observer to believe that the case is made out of metal instead of plastic. I don’t see Apple moving back to metal because of issues with the antenna but I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple found another material that was as strong as metal but let cellular signals through.

I hope that Apple will show us something in the world of iPhone this summer as they have been over the past two years and maybe this will be the new model. All I can say for sure is, when the next iPhone comes out I’ll be waiting with cash in hand.

Leaked iPhone Photo Suggests Matte Black Revision | MacBlogz – One Stop Apple News.

More images after the jump.

Continue reading Photo of Matte-Back iPhone Emerges

Peter Misek Predicts 3 iPhones This Year

Three new iPhones could be coming in 2009. The first is a 32G iPhone in multiple colours that is likely to arrive during the next six months. Next up is a lower-cost handset based on the 2.5G iPhone, which is targeted for China and India. Third is a smaller version – about one-third the size of the 3G iPhone – that costs 40% less and is also likely before year-end.

Thanks Peter Misek, but it seems as though you are just making these predictions on the chance that they might happen, because if they don’t, everyone will forget about your prediction, but if you are right everyone will praise you for your foresight.

Canaccord: Three New iPhones Expected in 2009 — Seeking Alpha.

Snow Leopard Might Include Location and Multi-touch Tools

Apple’s Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard operating system will include tools borrowed from the iPhone that let developers determine the geographical location of Macs, as well as extend additional support for multi-touch to their apps, AppleInsider has learned.

I’m sure many developers have been waiting to use some of those cool multi-touch gestures that have been included in the latest Mac notebooks but the question I pose is: what about the desktop Macs?

Of course the same question could be posed about the location services that could be included in Snow Leopard. Although, it might be useful for applications like Google Earth.

But, even if these particular features aren’t that useful to desktop Mac users the rest of Snow Leopard is compelling enough that most (if not all) Mac users will be purchasing Snow Leopard as soon as it is available.

AppleInsider | Apple’s Snow Leopard to include location, multi-touch tools.

Pioneer to Exit TV Business

A report in the Nikkei Japanese business journal claims that “Pioneer Corp. will pull the plug on its loss-ridden television business and shift its DVD player operations to a new venture with Sharp Corp. in a sweeping overhaul”.

This is very sad news if it is true. Pioneer (in my opinion and many others opinions) makes the best televisions in the world. Their Kuro HDTVs look better than any other TV in the world.

I really hope that Panasonic picks up the ball and starts making really good Plasma TVs. Although I don’t own a Plasma I do recognize that Plasma is a superior technology to LCD in terms of picture quality.

Report: Pioneer Exiting TV Business, Spinning Off DVD – Gearlog.

Amazon Kindle 2 official images, Price, and Release Date

Amazon Kindle 2

These images were posted on the forums at MobileRead.com and the poster (Alexander Turcic) claimed that they were official images. Alexander Turcic also claims that the Kindle 2 will go on sale on February 24, 2009 (release date unconfirmed) for $359.

The new Kindle looks significantly better then the previous Kindle. Not only does it seem much easier to hold then the previous Kindle but it also has a much better button layout and looks much thinner than the original.

I wanted the Kindle before, but now I really want the new Kindle, almost enough to pay $359 for it (seriously shouldn’t this device be like $249?).

Exclusive: Amazon Kindle 2 official images + price + release date – MobileRead Forums.

I’ve posted all of the images here just in case they get taken down from the linked page. View the rest after the jump

Continue reading Amazon Kindle 2 official images, Price, and Release Date

Apple May Allow Background Apps in Firmware 3.0

“While we aren’t sure what the specific issues are, we’ve heard that as an alternative Apple is considering allowing apps to run as user selectable background processes. If so, this feature would likely come in the rumored iPhone 3.0 software update but would be limited to only one or two processes on current hardware. The next generation iPhone, however, would likely see less restricted background process support due to its improved hardware.”

So if it is user selectable I wonder if Apple will require developers to (if they want to have a background app) allow users to choose whether they want it running the background when closed and if not the app will save whatever your doing when the home button is pressed.

This seems like a very viable solution and I’ve often wondered why Apple didn’t just have a limit on the number of apps you can have running in the background at a time. 2 Would probably be a good number of apps and the way they would be selected would be just to have the most recent two apps that were opened be the background apps.

Apple to Allow Background Tasks on iPhone? – Mac Rumors.

References to GDrive Appear in Google Pack File

GDrive Reference

Some references to the long rumored Google service “GDrive” have appeared in a file used by Google Pack. The file categorizes GDrive as a Online file backup and Storage service and has the following description:

“GDrive provides reliable storage for all of your files, including photos, music and documents. GDrive allows you to access your files from anywhere, anytime, and from any device – be it from your desktop, web browser or cellular phone.”

This is some pretty hard evidence that GDrive is indeed a reality but truthfully other than the fact that it will be done in Google’s own style the service will really only be an online storage service.

Currently the online storage service is chock full of competitors and even though Google will come in a bully them around a bit there is no indication to me that Google will do it right. To have a great online storage service you need to have some sort of desktop app. I can’t think of a single desktop application from Google that I would actually install on my computer. The only app that is even worth looking at is Picasa, but that is only because in the Windows world there aren’t any good free photo management applications and Picasa is the best option.

I know that everyone wants to look at Google as this big friendly company that can do no wrong but from what I can see, the only services that they built themselves that are worth using is their search engine and Gmail, everything else that I use (and probably most of you use) are apps that Google acquired.

I hope that Google can get it right, I really do, but from my perspective there really are no indications that they can do it.

First Official Description of GDrive.

Apple May Open Premium Game Section in App Store

App Store

One of the worries many big game developers have had about the iPhone is that they can’t put enough money into a game to make it good because unless they sell it at $1-3 it will get lost in the shuffle.

Apple may have found a solution to that problem however. PocketGamer.biz is reporting that Apple is planning on introducing a new section to the App Store with premium game titles priced at $19.99. The developers of those games would be hand picked by Apple and the games themselves would be of “PSP-quality.”

PocketGamer’s sources didn’t have any information as to when this new section would be implimented but WWDC seems to be a fairly logical announcement venue.

Not only will this convince some big developers to invest more money into game development but it would also indicate that Apple has been listening to criticisms about the problem with low priced iPhone apps.

The one thing that hasn’t been mentioned in all of this is that from a money standpoint Apple couldn’t care less about the price of applications in the App Store, as long as the amount of money spent on apps as a whole stays the same (they still get 30%). The only incentives Apple has for doing this is to keep the developers happy and to keep the quality of applications high.

I do think that this would fix many problems with the App Store but does add another one. How will Apple decide who is going to be in the premium section? I’m sure many indie developers of high quality games that don’t get into the premium section will be pretty peeved off that they are not included. The fact is that Apple isn’t going to make everyone happy with the App Store but this move gives some more indications that they are at least trying to.

Apple to Open $19.99 Premium Games Section in App Store? – Mac Rumors.
More Confirmation of a $19.99 Premium Games Section | Touch Arcade.