Is it possible to build a better smartphone for consumers that costs less to produce? Apparently so, if you’re Apple. A preliminary teardown of the iPhone 5 shows that the most expensive iPhone this year is cheaper for Apple to make than the iPhone 4S. Read more »
Welcome to the fast-growing world of work media, a class of social tools oriented toward the needs of enterprises. Their emergence is due to the shifting expectations of an increasingly social workforce and the sense that older approaches to work like email are arguably approaching obsolescence. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The iPhone 5 hasn’t matched very high sales expectations, but it has exceded previous opening weekend sales. We take a visual look at first-weekend iPhone sales over the years. Read more »
There was a 16-month gap between the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S releases, and the 2011 September quarter saw an earnings miss as a result. By releasing iPhone 5 right before the end of the September quarter this year, Apple’s ensuring that won’t happen again. Read more »
Who needs a light switch when you have smart bulbs paired with smartphones? LIFX is just that: a Wi-Fi connected LED bulb that you remotely control or even change the color. But will consumers want one-off connected gadgets or centrally-managed smart homes in the future? Read more »
The wave of orders for Apple’s latest smartphone have far outstripped the supply Apple will have ready to deliver on Sept. 21. The 2 million preorders in one day doubled the record for fastest-selling iPhone set by the iPhone 4S last year. Read more »
On this week’s audio podcast with Matt and Kevin, find out which host upgraded to iPhone 5 while the other sold iPhone 4S and ordered a new iPod touch. Also: What happened to NFC in the iPhone and why so many LTE handset models? Read more »
In the five years since the iPhone hit the market, Apple and Google have delivered more than 40 billion cumulative downloads of apps. Other sources predict the app marketplace will swell to surpass 66 billion downloads in 2016, a growth fueled by tablet, entertainment, and enterprise apps. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: new iPhone preorder stock sells out faster than ever, upgrade orders overwhelm carrier servers, Apple’s “boring” iPhone update, how FedEx benefits from the iPhone 5, and more. Read more »
The new connector in all the new iPods and the iPhone 5 is called Lightning (like Thunderbolt, get it?). It’s an 8-pin connector, which means it’s much smaller than the 30-pin connector Apple’s been using since it ditched FireWire almost 10 years ago. Read more »
As expected, Apple passed on NFC for the iPhone 5. Apple could have provided a big boost to the technology and helped educate users on the merits of the technology. Now, it will continue to struggle to gain mainstream acceptance. Read more »
Apple’s wholesale support for LTE across its devices means that 4G network deployment can really get rolling. As these new networks go online, carriers will be forced to start lowering the price of mobile data. It won’t happen immediately, but it will happen. Read more »
The new iPhone 5 is here with few surprises: a 4-inch 1136 x 640 display in a 16:9 aspect ratio, LTE support and a design that’s thinner and lighter than prior models. Apple was able to improve the battery life however; key for LTE devices. Read more »
It used to be iPhones at every turn, but now there are plenty of Android sightings. That makes sense since there are now 500 million Android devices activated since 2008. That’s more than total iOS devices, however, Google hasn’t yet monetized its broad Android base. Read more »
The smartphone boom that began with iPhone and captured fire with the release of Android-based devices is going to hit a fever pitch soon and by 2016, DisplaySearch expects a billion smartphones to ship, making me wonder if there will be a need for feature phones. Read more »
Here’s how our live coverage of Apple’s iPhone 5 event unfolded, with the oldest updates at the bottom of the page. Announced were a new iPhone 5 (natch) with LTE, iTunes 11, and new iPods. Read more »
Adam Cheyer is reportedly the second cofounder to split from Apple in the last year. The news of his departure comes on the eve of the introduction of a new iPhone and the rollout of updated iOS software, which will include major improvements to Siri’s software. Read more »
After releasing Google Drive for iOS in June, iPhone and iPad owners were disappointed by the lack of editing capabilities. Google fixes that with an app update today, but it’s still fairly limited: Only documents can be edited, even though Google’s demo video shows spreadsheet editing. Read more »
Apple’s yearly iPhone event is always a big deal. This year’s differs a bit because, for the famously secretive Apple, the expected iPhone 5 is one of the worst-kept Apple secrets ever. Thanks to an inordinate number of leaks, here’s what we can expect on Wednesday. Read more »
Sprint’s timetable is vague, but Monday it listed the 100 cities that will soon have LTE service. The carrier had an early 4G advantage if you count WiMAX in 2008, but has been lapped since then. Unlimited data is nice, but customers want more speed. Read more »
T-Mobile will have a “material” HSPA+ footprint in its iPhone-friendly PCS band by the end of the year. That means there will no longer be any technical barriers to supporting the iPhone as a full-fledged broadband device, a fact T-Mo is already starting to capitalize on. Read more »
Nasuni, the startup that built its business bringing secure unified cloud storage to mid-sized businesses and companies with remote branch offices, is attacking the BYOD problem with new support for iPhone and Android devices, says CEO Andres Rodriguez. Read more »
What’s normally a quiet time turned into a busy week: Before the new Kindle Fire HD tablets launched, Motorola introduced three new Razr phones while Samsung touted its Galaxy S III sales figures: 20 million to date. Android tablets sales are on the rise too. Read more »
Although Nokia did not detail release dates when it unveiled new Windows Phones this week, reports suggest a November timeframe. Coming after the expected next iPhone, that makes Nokia’s sales challenge that much tougher, regardless of how nice the new Lumias look. Read more »
As unlimited data plans disappear, consumers need new data-savings solutions. Snappli is the latest to out a mobile service that cuts down on data use through compression techniques; the free software, available today, works on iOS and saves data for the web, apps and even videos. Read more »
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: The significance of iPhone naming, nano SIM cards on delivery, Steve Jobs’ effect on tech company slogans, and the world’s largest retailer looks to incorporate the iPhone. Read more »
Samsung hit a billion dollar setback in the courts against Apple in August, but that same month it sold the top smartphone on 3 of the 4 big U.S. carrier networks. The Galaxy S III beat out the iPhone 4S, making for a good sales battle. Read more »
With shipments of the Galaxy S III beginning this week, mobile virtual network operator Ting has broken the curse of the budget operator: It not only has the latest iconic handset, it has the access to the latest network technology, LTE. One hurdle remains: the iPhone. Read more »
While cloud, mobility, social, and analytics have been driving demand for IT products and services in 2012, the worldwide IT spending picture has become dimmer as the year has progressed: We’re looking at 5.1 percent worldwide IT spending growth in 2012. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Already, workplaces are changing because of trends like BYOD and gamification. But other emerging technologies are also altering what our workspace looks like and how we collaborate. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
NFC in the iPhone may have to wait another year. Anandtech is concluding that the next iPhone, if it comes with a metal backing, will not be able to support an NFC antenna. Read more »
The implications of Apple’s recent billion-dollar victory over Samsung in a patent-infringement case go beyond the specifics of this particular battle — the reality is the war over software and design patents is bad not just for individual companies but arguably for society as a whole. Read more »
A new report says Apple will give the iPhone and iPad Mini their own press events, with the iPhone going first in September followed by the iPad Mini a month later. The move would give Apple plenty of press attention without diluting coverage. Read more »
Facebook says the app has been rewritten so it’ll not only open and scroll faster, but news feeds and notifications will load right away. To do that, Facebook rewrote it as a native iOS app, doing away with HTML5. Read more »
Prismatic, a news-filtering service, has launched an iPhone app that founder Bradford Cross says makes the experience of reading news on a mobile device appealing for the first time, because it strips away all of the clutter that tends to slow down mobile news sites. Read more »
With a reported 50 percent of all smartphone owners not knowing how much mobile broadband their handsets use each month, data usage tracking tools are becoming valuable utilities. Boingo just added one to its Wi-Finder for iOS app, which can help save you money. Read more »
AT&T says it’s not blocking any apps and that users can still use FaceTime over Wi-Fi as before. The carrier also says there’s a place for “reasonable restrictions” on preloaded apps on the iPhone — but the definition of “preloaded” can be a bit tricky. Read more »
UBS analyst Steven Milunovich argues that the biggest threat to Apple’s dominance in the long run is not a plethora of copycat smartphone and tablet makers — but a competitor out-innovating Apple, which could be ushered in by Samsung losing and Apple winning. Read more »
Standalone GPS navigation makers continue to face the battle against smartphones and location based service apps. At least one of them is embracing the change: TomTom first added support for Facebook Places and now it includes Foursquare, making it easier to get directions and check-in. Read more »
AT&T won’t make users pay to use Apple’s video call service over a cellular connection once that capability goes live this fall. But the carrier says this option is only available to customers who sign up for its new shared voice and data plans. Read more »
