Apple to Cut iPhone 3GS Price to Free With Next Update?

With talk of Apple seeking to release a cheaper iPhone being revived in recent days, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky now weighs in to report that he believes that Apple will be keeping the iPhone 3GS around even after the next iPhone hardware update, offering the device for free with a two-year contract and at $399 for unsubsidized purchases. Apple currently sells an 8 GB iPhone 3GS for $49 on a two-year contract and $449 unsubsidized.

As its entry-level iPhone strategy, Apple is expected to cut iPhone 3GS to $0 (on contract, $399 unsubsidized) in conjunction with iPhone 5 launch (we continue to expect it in September). This approach is intended to target mid-market smartphone buyers and counter Android's mid-market expansion. We expect iPhone 5 to launch at $199/$299 ($599/$699 unsubsidized), and Apple to drop iPhone 4 pricing to $99 ($499 unsubsidized).

The claimed $399 price point for the unsubsidized iPhone 3GS is a bit higher than other reports have been hinting at, with the analyst report from earlier this week suggesting that Apple would try to come in at $349 for its cheaper iPhone.

Earlier reports had claimed that Apple was working on a smaller iPhone form factor that could allow the company to offer the device for as little as $200 unsubsidized. But while some rumblings of a new, smaller iPhone option for this year continue to float around, Abramsky believes that the "baby iPhone" will not be released until 2012, in part to fully take advantage of iCloud leverage that may not be possible as the service debuts.

HP Considering Licensing WebOS, Samsung Reportedly Interested

Bloomberg reports that HP has expressed interest in licensing its webOS mobile operating system to other companies, potentially opening the door for another major competitor in the smartphone and tablet industries.

"We are talking to a number of companies," Apotheker said in Beijing, declining to elaborate on details. "I can share with you that a number of companies have expressed interest. We are continuing our conversations."

The webOS operating system was originally developed by Palm as an answer to iOS, but was not able to gain much ground against Apple's platform and Google's Android. With HP'sacquisition of Palm last year, webOS has undergone a transition as HP has attempted to move directly into the smartphone and tablet markets. HP is launching its TouchPad tablet device within the next few days, and has been said to be trying to launch its own cloud-based media service similar in some respects to Apple's iCloud.

According to the Bloomberg report, Samsung is one of the companies interested in licensing webOS, presenting an alternative to the Android-based systems currently offered by the manufacturer.

A partnership with HP would allow Samsung, which uses Android for its Galaxy Tab tablet computers, to customize devices amid speculation that Google may restrict modifications for phones that use Android, said one of the people, who declined to be named because the talks are private.

If HP is able to find success with its new mobile products and Samsung adopts webOS as a leading platform for its own devices, the mobile industry could see a shakeup with webOS becoming a legitimate contender in the race to compete with iOS and Android. 

Microsoft has of course been pushing its own Windows Phone operating system as yet another competitive platform, although customer adoption has appeared weak thus far. The company has, however, partnered with Nokia in a deal to drive that manufacturer's future hardware, a deal that could make Windows Phone another major player if customers embrace the platform.

Apple's iOS more secure than Google's Android, says Symantec

iOS, the mobile operating system that powers Apple's popular iPhone and iPad devices, offers more protection than its Android counterpart, the security experts at Symantec have concluded in a newly published report.

Symantec this week published "A Window Into Mobile Device Security," a 23-page document that details the security approaches employed by Apple and Google in their respective mobile operating systems. It also offers a closer look at past and possible future security holes found in the iOS and Android platforms.

In a head-to-head comparison, Symantec found that Apple's iOS is more secure than Google's Android. Specifically, iOS was characterized as having "full protection" against malware attacks, while Android was deemed to have "little protection."

iOS also has more protection than Android against resource abuse and service attacks, data loss, and data integrity attacks. Apple's platform was also found to have greater security feature implementation in the categories of access control, application provenance, and encryption.

In fact, Google's Android platform only topped iOS in one security category: isolation. There, Android received the highest marks, while iOS was said to offer "moderate protection."

In specifically discussing iOS, Symantec's report concluded that Apple's "provenance approach" acts as a strong security barrier, as every app that is to be released on the App Store goes through vetting procedures. This, according to the paper, has “proved a deterrent against malware attacks, data loss attacks, data integrity attacks, and denial of service attacks."

The report characterized iOS as "well designed and thus far...has proven largely resistant to attack."

However, Symantec did find vulnerabilities within iOS, namely 200 different security holes dating back to 2007. While any vulnerability is a weakness, the bulk of issues were found to be of lower severity, which, according to the report, would allow the assailant to "take control of a single process but not permit the attacker to take administrator-level control of the device."

The study did discover security concerns that could allow entry to administrator-level control, and were therefore of the highest severity. If an attacker had administrator-level control, it would reward them with access to "virtually all data and services on the device," Symantec wrote in the report.

Synamtec's report highlights what is likely the most public example of an iOS security breach, the iPhoneOS.Ikee worm released in November 2009. But that worm only affected devices that users have willingly "jailbroken," a term used to describe a warranty-voiding process that allows users to install unauthorized software on their iPhone, and something that Apple explicitly tells its customers is a major security concern.

Also highlighted in the report is iOS’s isolation model. While iOS "totally prevents traditional types of computer viruses and worms, and limits the data that spyware can access," Symantec said it does not "prevent all classes of data loss attacks, resource abuse attacks, or data integrity attacks."

Lastly, iOS’s permission model can safeguard access to the devices location as well as the SMS and Phone applications. This stops the attacker from knowing where you are, being able to send SMS messages, and phoning numbers without your consent.

As for Android, Symantec found that although Google's mobile operating system is a considerable improvement over traditional desktop operating systems, it has two extreme weaknesses.

First, the provenance system in place "enables attackers to anonymously create and distribute malware," they found. In addition, its permission system "relies upon the user to make the important security decisions," and considering most of Android users are not of high technical capability, this causes problems.

During February this year, Sophos security researchers encouraged Google to cancel its over-the-air installation of apps. They urged Google because they expected it would allow the swift and quiet installation of malware to unsuspecting Android users.

Sophos warned that as soon as the "install" button was pressed on the website, the application would be installed on the device in the background, without any input from the user.

The review concluded that "mobile devices are a mixed bag when it comes to security." While they may have been built to be secure, they are made for the consumer market, which has has led to less security for more usability.

Use Your iPhone Headset As Shutter Release in iOS 5

A few of the hundreds of "new" features in iOS 5 were "appropriated" from other developers. One, the ability to trip the iPhone camera shutter by pressing the Volume Up button instead of pressing a soft-button on-screen, came from a hidden feature that iOS developer tap tap tap included in a version of Camera+, an iPhone camera replacement app. 

As an added bonus, if you press the Volume Up button on the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic that comes with every iPhone that will trip the shutter as well. 

It's a pretty clever trick, and for those who use the iPhone to take pictures -- of which there are many (see below) -- it might come in handy. Combine the iPhone and headphone remote with a simple tripod/stand like the Glif, and you've got a cheap-and-functional camera rig. 

Apple's Royalty Payments to Nokia Estimated at $608 Million Up Front, ~$138 Million Per Quarter

Deutsche Bank analyst Kai Korschelt today estimated that Nokia will be receiving on the order of a 420 million euro ($608 million) lump-sum payment from Apple as part of a patent litigation settlement between the two companies. 

The estimate, based on previous patent-related settlements in the industry, assumes a 1 percent royalty rate on all iPhones sold through the first quarter -- 110 million phones at an average selling price of $550. Korschelt also says that Apple would likely send Nokia recurring revenue payments covering future iPhone sales at the same rate, payments that would come in at around 95 million euros ($137.6 million) per quarter based on current sales, to cover ongoing licensing. 

It's a significant sum for Nokia. The Finnish company is feeling tremendous pressure in the market as it abandons its old Symbian-based smartphone strategy and transitions to Microsoft's new Windows smartphone OS. 

A report from Japanese analyst house Nomura, which got quite a bit of coverage yesterday, stated that the situation at Nokia was so poor that Samsung -- and perhaps even Apple -- would pass the Nokia in smartphone shipments this quarter. Of course, Nomura's numbers are based on an expectation of a massive drop in sales from Nokia as it transitions operating systems -- think the entire continent of Europe suddenly not buying Nokia phones -- plus a near doubling in smartphone sales by Samsung over the previous quarter. Samsung's mobile phones have been booming on the strength of Android, but that much growth in one quarter seems unlikely. Nokia is in trouble, but almost certainly not that much trouble. 

Robert Cozza, mobile devices analyst at Gartner, poured water on Nomura's report, telling MacRumors:

In 1Q11 Nokia smartphone sales were double those of Samsung, so it seems optimistic to see this overtake in 2Q. If Nokia's new Symbian devices will fail with consumers over the next couple of quarters then we could see this overtake from Samsung on Nokia happening in 3Q.

MacRumors also spoke to Ramon Llamas at IDC about Nokia's chances:

Nokia is very fast at turning things around. They're currently in transition mode, and anytime you're going to be transitioning from the way things have been to the way things are going to be, it's not going to be without some series of dips in revenue. 

Nokia has just provided the overall smartphone market with a gift: it's exposed itself and its vulnerabilities to everyone else. Lots of vendors are going to be able to turn up the heat.

And now Nokia gets to enjoy a little bit of the spoils from Apple's success as well. Time will tell if they can turn it around themselves.

Apple Offering 7-Day Refund Policy on App Store Apps in Taiwan

Over the past several days, a number of reports have been coming out about Apple and Google being pressured by the Taiwanese government to modify their app sales policies to comply with a law requiring a one-week return and refund window on all purchases. The first mention came on Saturday from WantChinaTimes, which reported that Apple will be complying with the order.

At the request of Taipei City Hall, Apple agreed to let their phone users have a trial period of seven days, within which a user can return the app for a full refund.

Until now, Apple has not allowed any trial period for paid apps, although refunds have been available on a case by case basis through iTunes support.

A new report from The Economic Times of India offers additional information on the situation, confirming that Apple has indeed complied with the requirement while Google has been fined $34,600 over its continued refusal to offer a 7-day refund period. That report and another one from the Taipei Times reveal that Google has gone as far as to completely withdraw its paid app marketplace in Taiwan rather than comply with the regulations. The suspension is said to continue while discussions to resolve the impasse are underway. 

It is unclear what changes were made by Apple in order to comply with the refund law, and we have received no word of obvious changes in the handling of purchases made through the App Store. Consequently, it is possible that Apple is simply addressing it through its usual iTunes support procedures and simply granting refunds upon request rather than building any specific refund functionality into the purchasing system. Also unknown is whether Apple will be extending the policy to other countries.

Analyst Claims Apple May Release $349 iPhone for Prepaid Markets This Year

Fortune reports that Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore today released a new research note claiming that Apple may be preparing to release two new iPhone models later this year, with the usual iPhone revamp being joined by the debut of a cheaper model coming in at an unlocked, unsubsidized price of $349.

In a note issued early Monday, Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore is telling clients to expect both -- an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 4S. 

"With Nokia and RIMM struggling," he writes, "the time is right for Apple to aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market (i.e. $300-500 category) to dramatically expand its [total addressable market] and market share." 

As Whitmore sees it, an iPhone 4S that is unlocked, priced around $349, and comes with a pre-paid voice plan would "drive significantly greater penetration" into an addressable market that has grown to include 1.5 billion potential customers in 98 countries, two thirds of whom prefer pre-paid plans.

Whitmore notes that while the market for prepaid smartphones is very small in the U.S., many other markets around the world have much higher levels of prepaid activity, and a cheaper iPhone would significantly lower the barrier to entry for those customers. 

A cheaper (and in many cases smaller) "iPhone nano" has been the subject of many rumorsover the years, although it is unclear just how Apple will be able pare down the current iPhone's feature set to bring the unsubsidized pricing down to the $349 level suggested by Whitmore, or even lower price points as suggested in previous reports. Unsubsidized pricing for the iPhone 4 begins at $649, although the 8 GB iPhone 3GS still sold by Apple comes in at a much lower $449. With Apple's iPod touch line starting at $229, there may in fact be some flexibility to put together a somewhat stripped down iPhone coming in at a price point in the $350 range. 

Also unclear is the basis of Whitmore's claim, whether it be concrete information obtained from Apple's supply chain or mere speculation on what Apple "should" do. 

A separate note issued yesterday by Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty claims that Apple is set to begin ramping production of a new iPhone in mid to late August, suggesting that a launch might not occur until late September. Rumors have increasingly pointed to a September launch for the next iPhone, although many have been hoping that Apple will introduce it at an early September event in line with the company's usual iPod-focused event.

iOS 5 Beta 2 Notification Center Now Shows Upcoming Calendar Events

Late last week, Apple released Beta 2 of iOS 5 to developers. The new release added anumber of small features to the previous beta, including the activation of Wi-Fi sync. 

One small but notable additional feature that we've been made aware of is the addition of upcoming calendar events on the Notification Center. 

Apple's Notification Center is a centralized view of all your push notifications and widgets. A simple swipe from the top of the screen brings the notification center into view. See this video for the Notification Center in action in both portrait and landscape mode. 

In the latest beta, Apple has also included calendar events for the upcoming 24 hours in the view, so you can see easily see your calendar appointments at a glance. There are no settings yet to adjust how far in advance you can see your events. Apple has announced it will be releasing iOS 5 to the public this fall.

iOS 5 Beta 2: User Interface Tweaks, 3G Over-the-Air Updates, Native Scrolling in Safari

Apple's iOS 5 Beta 2 that was released to developers Friday contains a number of new findings. The biggest one we covered yesterday with the additional of Wi-Fi syncing. 

AppleInsider posts a couple of screenshots from the new lock-screen notifications which show a slightly more prominent display: 

They also point out that the keyboard in iMessage now recedes when scrolling upwards into message history. 


3G download support for Over the Air updates appears to be confirmed with these strings found by 9to5mac. Apple had announced that the new version of iOS will support "Over the Air" updates which allows the operating system to be upgraded without syncing to your computer. These strings seem to indicate that this can occur over Wi-Fi or 3G. 

Another more subtle tweak was posted by Johan Brook which reveals that Apple is now supporting a new CSS property that will allow web developers to get "native" iOS scrolling behavior in their web apps. This refers to the "momentum" inherent in native apps.DaringFireball previously described this behavior:

One area in particular where iPhone web apps fall short of native iPhone apps is scrolling. Take for example a long list, such as your full address book in Contacts, or all your songs in the iPod app. When you scroll these lists, you can fling the list, and the list will scroll at high speed after you let go. The effect is sort of like spinning a wheel with very little friction. With iPhone web apps, you can make a list that looks almost, maybe even exactly, like a native iPhone list view. But all web views on the iPhone scroll with almost no momentum. You can’t fling them. iPhone web views feel like they have a lot of scrolling friction.

While there have been javascript work-arounds floating around, with iOS 5 this functionality will be easily implemented for web apps.

Apple Releases iOS 5 Beta 2 to Developers, Now with Wi-Fi Sync

As noted by ItsAllTech, Apple has released the first followup beta release to iOS developers. iOS 5 Build 9A5248d was just released this evening. The first changes noted include: 

- Wireless syncing has been enabled for Mac OS X computers 

WiFi Syncing

In iOS 5.0 beta 2, wireless syncing is now available for the Mac. It requires iTunes 10.5 beta 2 and OS X 10.6.8 or Lion. You will see an option to enable wireless syncing when you connect your device to iTunes with the USB cable. It is recommended you perform your initial sync with a cable after restoring your device.

Wireless syncing is triggered automatically when the device is connected to power and on the same network as the paired computer. Or, you can manually trigger a sync from iTunes or from Settings -> General -> iTunes Sync (same network as paired computer required). Be sure your device is plugged into a power source when performing Wireless syncs.
If you find issues with apps, media and/or photos synced to your device, you can reset then resync. From Settings -> General -> Reset, choose Erase all Content and Settings. Then reconnect to iTunes and sync again.

In this beta, iTunes may incorrectly report Photos as "Other" in the capacity bar. Photo syncing otherwise works as expected.

iTunes 10.5 beta 2 and Apple TV Software beta 2 has also been released.

iFans has release notes. Summarized here:

- iTunes 10.5b2 can’t sync iOS 5 Beta 1 devices
- iOS5 Beta 1 devices can’t iMessage iOS5 Beta 2 devices and vice-versa
- WiFi sync now works with OS X computers; it has to be enabled in iTunes 10.5 beta 2 first
- OTA updates have been released, though none are currently available
- iCloud has a new logo in the Settings.app
- You can now backup to iCloud or the computer when setting the device up
- If no notifications are available, Notification Center shows the text “No New Notifications”
- Stock widget in the Notification Center is now off by default
- Stock wallpapers are back, but are the same that were in iOS 4
- General speed improvements, kills bugs that were present in iOS 5 beta 1

Next-Generation iPhone With 'Radical New Case Design' Coming in August?

BGR reports that it has received word from a reliable source indicating that the next-generation iPhone will indeed be a significant departure from the existing iPhone 4 form factor, bringing a "radical new case design" for the handset. According to the source, Apple may be preparing for an event in early or mid August to introduce the next iPhone, which would become available in the last week of August.

While Apple has indeed been giving some developers access to a device known as the iPhone 4S -- an iPhone 4 with upgraded internals -- BGR has independently confirmed that the next-generation iPhone will not merely be an upgraded iPhone 4 as had been previously rumored. We have been told by a reliable source to expect a radical new case design for the upcoming iPhone. We have not been given any additional details surrounding the design of the new iPhone case, though.

BGR's claims contradict a number of other reports that have claimed that Apple's next iPhone will appear nearly identical to the iPhone 4, with most improvements confined to the internals of the device. Several reports have also suggested that the new iPhone won't appear until the September-October timeframe, in line with the company's iPod-focused media event traditionally held around that time. 

While BGR has demonstrated solid sourcing for Apple's iOS updates and offered some accurate information from Apple's retail store operations, the site has been less accurate with other recent claims. Recent misses include Back to School promo detailsand claimed MacBook Pro details

Apple Patched Gevey SIM Unlock Hole in iOS 5 Beta 2

According to MuscleNerd twitter account, and after some tests on iOS 5 beta 2, that Apple has successfully patch the hole used by Gevey SIM to unlock iPhone 4 on higher baseband. For who don't know Gevey SIM is a hardware used to unlock iPhone 4 on basebands that can't be unlocked with ultrasn0w.

No more unlocking with Gevey SIM starting from iOS 5 beta 2 even with 'ultra' version of Gevey SIM, so we expect to see a significant drop in price during upcoming inventory sell off.

Definitely Gevey SIM's developers will start to upgrade their tool to beat Apple again, but likely this upgrade will start after iOS 5 official release by fall. On the other hand, dev-team should focus on developing ultrasn0w to unlock iPhone 5.

Angry Birds Rio Carnival Upheaval update brings 15 new levels - Walkthrough

Trailer

Carnival Upheaval - Walkthrough

7-1

7-2

7-3

7-4

7-5

7-6

7-7

7-8

7-9

7-10

7-11

7-12

7-13

7-14

7-15

iPhone 5 to Have a Dual LED Flash?

Single (Left) vs Dual (Right) LED comparison with Nokia phones by Zomgitscj
Digitimes claims that the upcoming iPhone 5 will incorporate a dual LED Flash.

Recent market rumors have indicated that Apple's iPhone 5 is likely to come with a dual-LED flash with Taiwan-based LED packaging firms Everlight Electronics, Edison Opto and Lite-On Technology being pinpointed as potential suppliers. All related companies have denied they are involved in the production of dual-LED flashes.

The advantage of a dual LED flash appears to be brighter and more expansive lighting for your photographs. Back in 2008 Zomgitscj  showed differences between the dual LED flash and a single LED flash found on his Nokia N96 and Nokia N95. One is shown above but the site has several other examples for the phone at varying distances. 

We'd already seen rumors that Apple may be separating the Flash away from the camera sensor in the iPhone 5.

Evidence in iOS 5 that Apple is Building Its Own Mapping Solution

Despite statements by Google's former CEO that Apple had "just" renewed their Map partnership with Google, there appears to be evidence that Apple has been working on its own mapping solution in iOS 5. 

It's certainly no secret that Apple is actively working on some sort of mapping solution. In the past few years, Apple has acquired two mapping companies Placebase and Poly9. The company has also been actively recruiting for job applicants with navigation software experience and has even revealed work on a future crowds-sourced traffic database. 

Now, a look at the legal disclaimers found in iOS 5 reveal a new section called "Map Data". (full text) This section lists licenses from an extensive number of third party companies that provide mapping data and related services. 


This entire section is new in iOS 5's legal section and does not appear to be related to Google's own mapping data licenses. Google's own legal terms for their map data is distinct, and many of the companies do not overlap. In fact, one of the listed traffic-data companies is a competitor to Google's Maps. 

The companies listed in iOS 5's legal notices include the following diverse companies under the "Map Data" section: 

• CoreLogic offers Parcel data which marks boundaries for of properties to provide positional accuracy in location-based solutions. 
• Getchee provides location and market data on China, India and Southeast Asia. 
• Increment P Corp provides location and traffic data for Japan. 
• Localeze provides local business listings. 
• MapData Sciences Pty Ltd. Inc provides mapping data for Australia and New Zealand. 
• DMTI provides postal code data for Canada. 
• TomTom offers global TeleAtlas mapping data which is also licensed by Google for their map solution. 
• Urban Mapping provides in-depth neighborhood data such as crime, demographics, school performance, economic indicators and more. 
• Waze offers real-time maps and traffic information based on crowd sourced data. 

The last two companies are perhaps the most interesting. Urban Mapping offers extensive additional data over traditional mapping products. The company was even a partner of Placebase's back in 2007 before Apple's acquisition. Meanwhile, Waze seems to be exactly what Apple was talking about when they hinted at crowd-sourced traffic data. Waze offers mobile apps that can be used to send data back to a central database to show realtime traffic data. 

Given the news of Apple's recent agreement with Google, it may be that Apple's own solution wasn't ready for iOS 5, so we may have to wait a while before we see what Apple's been working on.