European Commission Moves Forward on Micro-USB Smartphone Charging Standard

posted by Eric Slivka on Thursday December 30, 2010 12:03 PM on MacRumours

Over the past year and a half, we’ve been following the efforts of the European Commission to make micro-USB a universal charging standard for smartphones as of January 2011. Follwing the European Commission’s adoption of the standard in August of this year, two European standards bodies have now weighed in with their approval on the technical specifications for the standard to be used.

Following a mandate from the European Commission, the European Standardisation Bodies CEN-CENELEC and ETSI have now made available the harmonised standards needed for the manufacture of data-enabled mobile phones compatible with a new common charger. This is the most recent development in the process towards a global common mobile phone charger initiated by the European Commission. It follows the June 2009 agreement of fourteen leading mobile phone producers to harmonise chargers for data-enabled mobile phones (i.e. that can be connected to a computer) sold in the European Union.

The fourteen mobile phone manufacturers participating in the agreement include Apple, as well as Nokia, Research in Motion, Samsung, and a number of other prominent smartphone manufacturers. According to yesterday’s press release, the first smartphones and standalone chargers supporting the standard are expected to debut in Europe early next year.

There has been considerable speculation about whether Apple will be able to meet the requirements of the micro-USB standard, as the company currently uses a proprietary 30-pin dock connector for charging and interfacing with computers over USB. But based on the original Memorandum of Understanding (PDF) signed in June 2009, it appears that Apple can comply with the regulations by including with the iPhone a small adapter to interface either directly between the dock connector and micro-USB or between the USB connector on the end of the existing charging cable and micro-USB.

In order that compatibility of as many Mobile Phones as possible with a Common EPS [external power supply] may be enabled, if a manufacturer makes available an Adaptor from the Micro-USB connector of a Common EPS to a specific non-Micro-USB socket in the Mobile Phone, it shall constitute compliance to this article.

Consequently, Apple will not be required to abandon the 30-pin dock connector currently in use on the iPhone or include a separate micro-USB interface directly on the device for charging purposes.

It is unknown whether any changes Apple makes to comply with the new European regulations will also be made in other markets around the world.

Skype Video Calling for iOS over Wi-Fi and 3G Now Available

posted by arn on Thursday December 30, 2010 12:36 AM on MacRumours

Skype unleashed version 3.0 of the Skype App for iOS this evening. The new version brings the long awaited video conferencing for iPhone and iPod Touch.

– Make Skype to Skype video calls on WiFi and 3G*
– Call Skype desktop users (Mac OS X or Windows) and other iPhone users.
– Two-way video calls supported on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 4th gen.
– Receive only video supported on iPad and iPod touch 3rd gen, with no camera.
– Make video calls in portrait and landscape.
– Skype video calling requires iOS 4.0 or above.

The new video conferencing feature works between capable iOS devices as well as desktop machines. Skype is a free download on the App Store. [App Store]

iPhone 4 Antenna Issues and Ping Rank Among Top ‘Tech Fails’ for 2010

posted by Eric Slivka on Tuesday December 28, 2010 04:12 PM on MacRumours

CNN has put together its list of the ten biggest tech “fails” of 2010, highlighting the technology and Internet products and features that failed most spectacularly during the year.

In what may be a bit of a surprise considering how little we’ve heard about it over the last several months, CNN ranked the iPhone 4’s antenna issues, known informally as “Antennagate”, as the top tech fail of the year. In fact, even CNN acknowledges that “fail” is “a pretty relative term” considering how successful the iPhone 4 was and continues to be.

First Apple said the problem didn’t exist. Then they said it was a software issue. Then they kind-of admitted it existed and gave away free cases to help. Then, they said it doesn’t really exist anymore and stopped giving away the bumpers.

Months later, the problem is all but forgotten and the phones show no sign of dipping in popularity. So “fail,” in this case, is a pretty relative term.

Coming in at the other end of the list at #10 is Ping, Apple’s new music-focused social network that rolled out as part of iTunes 10 in early September.

There’s a whole social network set up in Apple’s iTunes store now.

Didn’t know that? Well, there you go.

The report notes that Ping suffers from a shortage of musical artists participating in the network, and the lack of integration with Facebook is seen as a major shortcoming that leads Ping to be merely yet another social network instead of a key component of users’ iTunes experience.

Other top tech fails for 2010 include 3D television, Microsoft’s Kin handsets, and Google, which matched Apple’s presence on the list with two products of its own: its Nexus One smartphone and its Buzz real-time social networking and communication platform.

Next-Generation iPad to Come in Three Models, One of them CDMA Native?

by Alex Jordan on December 28th, 2010 on iSource

DigitTimes is reporting that Apple is planning to release three distinctive models of the next-generation iPad. Specifically, these models include a Wi-Fi only model, a UMTS 3G model similar to the one running on AT&T’s networked, and a new CDMA model that would work natively on Verizon’s network. All three models are expected to be released sometime in 2011, and are reportedly set for production in January.

Apple will ship about 500,000-530,000 units to channels in January with shipment ratio of Wi-Fi, UMTS and CDMA models at 3:4:3, according to industry sources, citing upstream component makers.

Of course, Apple already offers two iPad models. One that is Wi-Fi only and another that works works with AT&T’s 3G network along with Wi-Fi. Both come in 16/32/and 64GB capacities.

This report most certainly sounds plausible. After all, Apple and Verizon are already working together shipping the Wi-Fi only iPad along with Verizon’s MiFi portable hotspot. It would make sense for Apple to build the CDMA radio right into the device so it could function on Verizon’s network natively. However, if it can be done, I see this panning out a little differently. Instead of three distinct models like this report claims, I predict Apple will keep just two. One model will still be Wi-Fi, and the other will be have a universal radio in it that will work with both AT&T’s UTMS network and Verizon’s CDMA network. Just a guess on my part, but I can’t see Apple putting out that many models. They like to avoid consumer confusion.

My Blackberry Is Not Working! – The One Ronnie

This made my day when I saw it 🙂

Apple and App Developers Sued Over Sharing User Information With Advertisers

posted by Eric Slivka on Tuesday December 28, 2010 11:54 AM on MacRumours

Bloomberg reports that Apple and a number of App Store developers have been sued over the sharing of personal information with advertisers working through apps installed on the iPhone and iPad.

The complaint, which seeks class action, or group, status, was filed on Dec. 23 in federal court in San Jose, California. The suit claims Cupertino, California-based Apple’s iPhones and iPads are encoded with identifying devices that allow advertising networks to track what applications users download, how frequently they’re used and for how long.

“Some apps are also selling additional information to ad networks, including users’ location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views,” according to the suit.

Along with Apple, developers behind such apps as Pandora Radio, Paper Toss, The Weather Channel, and Dictionary.com have also been targeted with the suit.

In particular, the companies are accused of sharing Unique Device Identifiers (UDIDs) for users’ devices. As suggested by their name, these UDIDs are unique to each device, can not be changed, and transmission of them back to Apple or developers can not be blocked by users.

For its part, Apple notes that it screens all App Store applications to make sure that personal information is not transmitted from users’ devices without their express permission, although such information may be able to be passed along to ad networks.

It is unclear whether the lawsuit is targeting a legitimate privacy issue or if it’s simply objecting to the typical non-identifiable demographic information used by advertisers in targeting their content. While the UDID does not specifically identify any given user, tying any anonymized personal data to that fixed identifier is viewed as a risk by some privacy advocates.

An investigation by The Wall Street Journal published earlier this month hyped the ability of iPhone and Android applications to transmit such personal data, and it is possible that the new lawsuit was inspired by that report.

‘Quick Snap’ Maps iPhone Volume Buttons to Camera Shutter (For Now)

posted by Eric Slivka on Monday December 27, 2010 05:13 PM on iSource

Just last week, we noted that popular camera app Camera+ had reappeared in the App Store after a four-month hiatus. The temporary disappearance of Camera+ came after an update to the application earlier this year had been rejected after the developers added a feature that remapped the iPhone’s hardware volume buttons to activate the camera shutter, a violation of Apple’s terms due to the potential for confusing users. After the company squeezed through another update that left the volume button feature hidden as an easter egg, the app was quickly pulled by Apple.

But just as Apple appears to have let Camera+ out of the penalty box and back into the store (without the volume button feature present), another new app has been approved that not only offers this same functionality, but features it prominently in the app’s description and screenshots. Quick Snap – Camera Plus ($1.99), released on December 15th, was noted by Wired for its curious offering of the banned feature.

Turn iPhone Volume Button into a Shutter Button? “Quick Snap” is the app for THAT!

Why choose the soft or full screen shutter when you can use VOLUME BUTTON as the hard shutter button on your iPhone? You are now one step close to the real digital camera experience! Isn’t that awesome?

The approval of Quick Snap appears to have been an error by an Apple reviewer, as such changes to hardware features of the iPhone remain forbidden under Apple’s policies. Consequently, Apple will likely move to take down the application as soon as possible now that that news has been made public, although the ongoing holiday shutdown may slow the company’s response time.

New MacBook Pros and iMac Coming in the First Half of 2011?

by Alex Jordan on December 15th, 2010 on iSource

Digitimes is reporting that Apple is will likely release upgrades to their MacBook Pro and iMac lines in the first half of 2011.
The relevant excerpt from the report:

The sources noted that Apple plans to launch at least four upgraded MacBook Pros as well as an iMac that features a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market.

Interestingly, this is the first we’ve heard of the new “panel size” and “price points” attributed to the iMac line this release cycle. What that means is anybody’s guess. I’m guessing, if this holds true, they’ll re-introduce a smaller, more inexpensive iMac model, much like they’ve had in the past. Because, seriously, who needs a display larger than 27-inches in an all-in-one computer? I’m sure someone does, but probably not a large segment of the market.

Also, I have a beef with the scope of this report. First half of 2011? Really? Why not broaden the scope to “sometime” in the future and really cover your bases. Ok, my griping aside, the MacBook Pros last saw an upgrade in April of this year, and the iMacs saw an update in July, so the first half of 2011 sounds reasonable, if not a little vague.

Lastly, if I had to guess, neither one of these will be drastic overhauls, just minor, internal upgrades. We’ll keep you posted on future developments.

iPad Rumor of the Day: iPad 2 to Have Dual-core Processor

by patrickj on December 24, 2010 on  JustAnotherIpadBlog

An analyst’s note this week says we’ll see a dual-core processor in next year’s iPad 2 model.

“Apple is on track to refresh the iPad by March and iPhone by late summer. A key component upgrade across these platforms will be a dual-core processor featuring a pair of 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores,” according to a research note released on Thursday by Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw.

This is one iPad 2 rumor I really (really!) hope is true. A dual-core processor is a major upgrade and should allow for much greater multitasking possibilities and for running more and more powerful apps and games on the iPad. I think dual-core plus an upgrade to 1GB of RAM are virtually a must to keep the iPad on a par with / ahead of rival tablets next year.

Rumor Source: CNET via everythingiCafe

Christmas Cheer

Well I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

I’m sure like me everyone ate too much and is so not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow!

New Years is almost here… YAY!

See you all in 2011!