iPhone 6 Powered By Hydrogen Lasts One Week on One Charge

There had been rumors that a British company was working very closely with Apple to develop a hydrogen fuel cell for the iPhone 6, which would allow the device to run for an entire week without recharging.

Intelligent Energy, according to reports, has reportedly created a working iPhone 6 prototype that looks identical to every single other iPhone 6 you've seen with one small change. There are now tiny vents on the rear of the device that allow imperceptible amounts of water vapor to escape from the smartphone. In addition to that, the iPhone 6 prototype also has a rechargeable battery along with its very own hydrogen fuel cell, the Telegraph reports.

Hydrogen fuel cells are capable of generating energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen with the only emission from the process being water. Fuel cells supply hydrogen to a negative anode which releases electrons. These electrons then flow to a positive cathode in order to generate electricity. What's more is that upon releasing the electrons, the hydrogen becomes a hydrogen ion moving to a positive cathode and then bonds with oxygen in the air, forming water. Yeah, science.

When it comes to our wonderful periodic table, hydrogen is the simplest and most common molecule that exists. Because of this, hydrogen is a part of pretty much every single substance known to man, including water and hydrocarbons. In addition to that, hydrogen is also found in biomass, which includes every single plant and animal on this fascinating planet.

Intelligent Energy has produced over 2,000 patents related to fuel cells, patents which it has used to create things like car batteries and a portable charger known as the Upp. The Upp is a mini-hydrogen fuel cell that charges any USB-compatible mobile device, like smartphones, tablets, handheld gaming consoles and cameras.

Like any other fuel cell, the one in this prototype iPhone 6 requires charging with hydrogen gas. Intelligent Energy has stated that this process could be completed via an adapted headphone socket. The company is working on a commercial version of this smartphone fuel cell, which would be in the form of a small cartridge that would fit into the bottom of a smartphone. The cartridge would supply power for up to a week and could be discarded after use.

Finance Chief for Intelligent Energy Mark Lawson-Statham was reported saying that this type of smartphone fuel cell technology is still a few years out from commercial use. While this technology is cool, I wonder what it would cost to buy these cartridges every single week. If that turns out to be expensive then this will be nothing more than a neat concept.

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New Liquidmetal Android Smartphone May Or May Not Be A Terminator

Apple's past has shown no sign of an upcoming Liquidmetal iPhone since they can only manage to use the strong material for small iPhone components. Alas in just a few weeks, Android is going to outshine Apple! An Android handset called the Turing Phone is actually set to launch the first smartphone ever to have a liquid metal case.

Venturebeat was told by Turing CEO S.Y.L. Chao that his company is the first company able to manufacture Liquidmorphium components, measuring more than 10 millimeters. The new liquid metal smartphone is finally beating Apple's iPhones tiny SIM card tray, that is the largest liquid metal smartphone part.

The lucky company to finally release the first "Liquidmorphium" phone in the world is Turing Robotics Industries. Since the handset's housing is far stronger than steel, aluminum AND titanium, you won't have to worry about the phone bending, even in the slightest. The front of the new smartphone has an appealing chrome look, but the back isn't as fortunate in the design. Also, the Turing Phone is coated inside and out with a nanoparticle treatment, to make it waterproof. Not even getting water INSIDE the phone and covering all the circuits will phase it.

The smartphone will include a 5.5-inch full HD display, 3GB of RAM, a fingerprint scanner, a 2.5GHz quad-core processor, a 3,000 mAh battery, 64/128GB of storage, a 13-megapixel dual flash camera and Android 5.1. The Turing Phone will be available in the U.S. and China, for preorder on July 31st, starting at $740.

Content originally published here

New iPhone Rumors Could Upset New Users

There are some new leaked images of the iPhone 6s that should be coming out this September. If the leaked photos are real, then everyone is about to be really mad. Apparently, the new 6s is going to start with only 16GB of storage.

This is an outrage, mainly because that is what the iPhone 5 started at... and when it came time to update the operating system, no one had enough room, and it was a huge deal. Apple then decided to make the iPhone 6 and 6 plus start with 32GB of storage, and there wasn't any bump in price from the previous generation of entry-level iPhones. So... now, for the same price you would have paid for 32GB last year, you can get 16GB and run out of space when you take too many pictures or download too many apps. Or, God forbid, you want to download the next operating system that comes out for it.

Text messages also take up a lot of space. So that is something to think about. Users with 32GB phones really don't have to worry about anything. It seems however that 16GB is just enough to make you wish you had more. I know this from experience.

Pretty much every other company in the world starts out at 32GB of onboard storage and also lets you add more with the use of SD cards. Apple, for some reason, refuses to make life that simple. Instead, they have given developers a tool called "App thinning" that lets them make apps take up less space. They also believe that because of iCloud, that onboard storage isn't important. Never mind the fact that iCloud is not free, and developers shouldn't have to do extra work. Instead of figuring out ways to release the exact same product every single year and charge more money for it, maybe they should revisit the technology of the late 90's and throw in an SD card slot. It can't be that hard.

To touch on the iCloud thing a little more, I exaggerated a little bit, it doesn't always cost money. You get 5GB free. The problem with this is that is barely enough to back up your phone with absolutely nothing on it. And you have to back up your phone on it. So if you want to store anything on the iCloud, you have to pay. Now, what happens when you have multiple devices linked to the same account?? You get where I'm going with this.

The simple fact is that Apple has made the choice to make more money off of their loyal customers rather than give them the product they deserve. They literally took a step backward just to make more money. Now, you can either pay more for iCould, or shell out a few hundred more dollars to get the iPhone with more storage. It's absolutely ridiculous that to get more storage you have to buy a more expensive model anyway. Apple is literally the only smartphone company that does this.

I can't wait for the day when people realize that Apple puts out phones using technology that is about 10 years behind, and they could have a Samsung Galaxy with brand new cutting edge features, and as much storage as they could ever want without any hassle... or paying more money. Micro SD cards are pretty cheap these days.

Content originally published here

iOS 9 Finally Delivers a Lowercase Keyboard

So... when you are typing on your iPhone and pretending that you are way cooler than every Android user ever... how mad do you secretly get when you accidentally type with uppercase letters when you shouldn't? Or when you don't realize you did something like that until it's too late and look like an idiot? Yeah, I know. All the time.

Well, now it seems that Apple has fixed this little "design flaw" after approximately 5 thousand years of everyone wondering why they haven't done it yet. One of the most welcomed changed that will come along with iOS 9 is that the keyboard will show lowercase letters when typing in lower case. And, as it should, it will show uppercase letters when typing in upper case.

Until this change, we have all had to deal with only seeing uppercase letters when we type anything at all. You only see the difference when the words appear as you type them. Maybe it was to mimic the design of the MacBook keyboard where all of the letters are uppercase. Either way, no matter what they were doing, it was wrong. Android keyboards have displayed uppercase and lowercase letters since the beginning of time. I'm pretty sure there was a T-Rex somewhere who had an easier time texting his buddies while having a great time knowing which set of letters he was using without remembering if the shift button needed to be white or grey.

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Before iOS 7 came out, the shift key was highlighted in blue when you had it engaged. This let you see pretty easily, as long as you weren't texting at all and your thumbs weren't blocking it... which was always. And then they changed it to a monochromatic highlight, which personally confuses me to this day a little bit more. Either way, now it's not an issue anymore!

I'd also like to point out that I am in fact an iPhone user. I've had almost all the iPhone's. So, I'm not hating on them in any way... But come on, even as an avid iPhone user, there are certain things you just have to scratch your head over! At least we can all have a good sense of humor about it while we shell out money for every new model.

Content originally published here

The Best Keyboards for Apple Smartphones

I'm sure everyone is enjoying their new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. The size of their screens are great for quickly checking your Facebook or Instagram, watching YouTube or Netflix, or even crushing all that candy. The only noticeable issue with having such a large phone is trying to type on it with one hand. iOS 8, which was released last fall, does give you the option of choosing from multiple different keyboards by downloading them from the Apple App Store and enabling them in the iPhone's Settings app.

The best keyboard for your iPhone would most likely be the SwiftKey. It has the best word prediction you could possibly get, it's fast when responding to the traditional tap-typing, and has a tracing feature you can use with just one thumb. In addition to that, the word prediction generally knows what you are trying to type or are about to type next. It also taps into you social media accounts, as well as your contacts list to help better personalize it's predictions based off of how you type everything else out.

SwiftKey also has some themes you can pick from such as light, dark, or the occasional holiday theme. It also has the standard auto-correct, double taping the space bar for a period, and auto-capitalizing that you're used to. The downside to using SwiftKey is the way iOS handles third-party keyboards. These keyboards tend to crash in the Messages app or when using Spotlight. You can't talk to your iPhone and have it input passwords or reply to your texts when you are on the lock screen either. It's nothing that you can't look past, but it can get irritating sometimes.

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If you are more of a simple person and don't want to bother installing a new keyboard, your iPhone has it's own built-in iOS keyboard. It's the most reliable keyboard for your iPhone and it's already on your phone. It works great with voice dictation anywhere you can type on your iPhone, even in the lock screen or for inputting texts. It's great with word prediction based on context and tap-typing and the keyboard will suggest different words depending on if you're just texting a friend or writing an email to your boss. The few downsides to this standard keyboard is that it doesn't have tracing or themes to customize.

Some other keyboards you can choose from include Swype ($0.99), which is the original tracing keyboard. It also has word prediction, auto-correct, and themes. Another one is Adaptext (free), which has the majority of the features you want in a keyboard: auto-correct, tracing features, emojis, and themes. TouchPal (free) is a good keyboard if you're really into stickers. It has tracing, themes, emojis, and auto-correct as well. Fleksy ($0.99) is said to have the best auto-correct engine you can get. It has word deletion and themes but the only downside with this one is that it doesn't have tracing. Minuum ($3.99) relies mostly on word predictions and auto-correct for the most accurate words you're trying to type. The thing that is most unappealing about this is that all your letters are in one straight line and it pretty much just guesses on what letter you're attempting at typing. All of these keyboards are not as smart with word predictions as the SwiftKey and are not as reliable as Apple's keyboard.

The best bet for a smartphone keyboard all around would be Swiftkey, but the safest and easier keyboards would be to just stick with your already built-in iOS Apple keyboard. Not an iPhone user? Check out our post about The Best Keyboards for Android Smartphones!

Content originally published here

More Storage Space for iPad Mini, iPhone 6 with Mophie's Space Cases

Since the release of the "Space Pack," Mophie has put out a new line of products for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Mini. They've also came out with a new battery pack called the "Spacestation." They all look pretty much like any of the already existing battery solutions, but they range anywhere from 32GB to 128 GB of flash storage, which is good for those who have a 16GB iPhone or iPad Mini. The iPhone Space Packs and the Spacestation start at $150 for 32GB of storage, and jump up to $200 for 64GB and $300 for 128GB. The iPad Mini pack, meanwhile, runs from $200 to $400.

The new cases still work with the Mophie's Space app, just like the old one, which lets you store and play media. The app allows you to create playlists with media on iOS devices and the Space case, as well as the company updating the app for iPhone uses to manage files you already have.

The iPhone 6 case will double your battery life, while the iPhone 6 Plus case will give you 50 percent more of a battery, which is basically giving you the same option with the new cases. If you'd prefer not to get a case, the Spacestation still can fully recharge an iPad mini and plug into multiple devices and smartphones.

If you're familiar with Mophie's products then the new cases and battery packs won't feel any differently to you. Personally, the Spacestation's metal case is the best feeling case in hand. The company's first battery case for a tablet was the iPad Mini Space Case, which only added a little thickness to the Mini. If you use a lot of media storage on your iOS then this is one of your only options for additional storage without going to wireless hard drives or the cloud for help.

Content originally published here

Samsung's Galaxy S6 Has The World's Best Smartphone Camera

Well it seems that the accolades for the soon-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy S6 just keep rolling in. We recently published an article where the Samsung Galaxy S6 was awarded the world's best smartphone display and now it has another "World Best" award to add to its repertoire. According to some reports, the Samsung Galaxy S6 has the World's Best Smartphone Camera.

Photo Credit: Lisa Eadicicco

The other real competitor to the Galaxy S6 is, obviously, the iPhone 6 but a lot of reports are saying that the Galaxy S6 has a slightly better camera, albeit with some nuances and small details. Other smartphones, like the new HTC One M9, don't even compare to the S6 or the iPhone 6, which is good  news for Samsung as the HTC One M9 will probably be the only real competitor on the Android front to the S6.

When it comes to smartphone cameras most people only tend to focus on the megapixels, which refer to the size of the image. However, the megapixels are only a part of the equation that makes up a good smartphone camera. Smartphone cameras typically don't need more than an 8 MP camera. What's more important is how well the cameras take images in different situations, like low light, how well they reproduce color and how much detail they can capture.

Recent photo images show that the Galaxy S6 camera allows you to see a lot more detail and the color reproduction is also a lot better than the iPhone 6. When you take pictures in low light the differences are a little less visible. But even though the two phones are similar in the low light category the S6 does have one other advantage.

If you double tap the home button on the S6 you can automatically launch your camera app. In addition to that, the camera sensor is always on too. This allows you to start shooting right away without having to wait a few seconds for the image to appear on screen. The iPhone 6 camera has to boot up for a second before you can start taking pictures, which could be annoying if you need to capture a picture on the fly.

The Samsung Galaxy S Series is the undoubted leader of the Android smartphone market and is the only (in my opinion) real Android competitor to the iPhone from Apple. With each new version of the Galaxy S Series the smartphones keep getting better and better and the Galaxy S6 is pulling out all the stops in its attempt to be the number one smartphone in the world. Content originally published here

iOS7's White Screen Of Death?

Everyone knows that a tech product is only as good as how it operates. That means that it needs a good operating system and the inner workings to back it up when the time comes to get work done. A product's OS is a bigger deal than most people think. It is what controls everything in the device. When iOS7 dropped, it was met with mixed reviews. For the most part, it was met with mostly positive reaction but there were obviously flaws that people were able to pick out. Any OS is going to have bugs when it first releases. Now a certain issue has gotten so serious that Apple is finally going to address a problem that some have been having since September.

Enter the notorious "White screen of death".

We are all familiar with the infamous "blue screen of death". Whether you have been a victim of it yourself or if you have seen it through memos, the "blue screen of death" is very well known. Should it pop up on your screen, 9 times out of 10, you are going to need a new computer. The "white screen of death" is essentially the same thing, but for Apple users on iOS7. Reports have shown that the "color" of the screen depends on the actual color face of your phone. If your iPhone has a black face, it is a black screen of death, and likewise it will be white if your iPhone has a white face.

So what does the bug actually do? It essentially causes your iPhone to have a "soft reboot". A "soft reboot" is an action that causes a software on the OS to trigger a restart without removing any of the power from the actual device. It is not necessarily a TERRIBLE thing, but it is annoying none the less. This issue is only following those who currently run iOS7 on their iPhones. Some users are even claiming that when their phones drop below 30% power, that is when their "white/black screen of death" takes place.

Apple has made a plan to fix this issue, though. The plans for the iOS 7.1 update not only include slight design and UI changes, but also a fix to this bug. There is no release date as of yet for the new update, but developers have the new update in its 4th beta so it should be soon.

Apple has already had a lot of backlash from a lot of people with its release of iOS7 at the start. This paired with its other mishaps, such as the fingerprint scanner, does not put forward a good look for the company. Just know that if you are suffering from this bug on your iPhone, help is coming soon. We just have to be a bit more patient.

Source.

Apple Unveils New iPhone 4S

The second coming of the iPhone 4 has arrived, led by none other than new Apple CEO Tim Cook. This adds a new milestone to Apple, being the first to launch three new handsets in 2011.

Aesthetically the iPhone 4S looks identical to its predecessor but the real changes are on the inside. Inside the new device Apple has added a dual-core A5 CPU alongside a new dual-core GPU that apparently boosts graphics performance 7x. On the front of the device is the same old 3.5" Retina display that has become quite the Apple fan favorite with a glass plate on the back.

The side antennae, which caused many problems during release, have been upgraded as well and iOS will now intelligently switch between two different sets on the fly to avoid dropping calls. In addition to that, those antennae are connected to a dual-mode GSM and CDMA radio that will allow Apple's handset to roam the globe while still enjoying either 14.4Mbps HSPA+ or EV-DO Rev. A.

The back of the iPhone 4S also sports a new 8 megapixel camera with a backside illuminated CMOS sensor for better low-light performance. In addition to that, the lens also comes with a new 5-element assembly with a hybrid IR filter and also sports aperture down to f/2.4.

The revamped visuals also extend to the video performance. The 4S can now record 1080p video and also has a new image signal processor for image stabilization as well as facial recognition. The camera itself is also a little faster, requiring only 1.1 seconds before being ready to take the first picture and only 0.5 seconds between successive images.

The new iPhone 4S is also Apple's first handset to feature a Siri virtual assistant tech built in. All you have to do is tap the mic on the keyboard and start talking into your phone, which will then convert your voice into text, check the weather, get directions or even perform web searches.

A typical eight hours of talk battery life can be experienced over 3G and 14 hours over 2G while web browsing over 3G will drop you down to six hours. You should get somewhere around nine hours of web when using WiFi and 10 hours of video playback with music topping out at 40 hours.

The 4S will come in both black and white colors for a starting price of $199 for a 16GB model and $299 for a 32GB model. However, both of those pale in comparison to the newly announced 64GB model which will run you a hefty $399. Pre-orders will become available Friday, October 7th with a shipping date of October 14th in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.

Oh, and if that isn't enough, you should also be happy to know that Apple has now added Sprint to its family in the United States with Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Three holding down the fort in the UK.

Source: Engadget - iPhone 4S officially announced: lands October 14th starting at $199 in sizes ip to 64GB, coming to Sprint

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Apple Brings in Great Second Quarter Numbers

According to the International Data Corporation, Apple has more than doubled the number of smartphones it has sold compared to the same quarter last year.

Strategy Analytics said that in the second quarter, Apple shipped 20.3 million iPhones, which is up 8.4 million phones from last year’s second quarter. They continued saying that this means that Apple has 18.5 percent of the global smartphone market, which is up from 13.5 percent last year.

"We had previously reported on Apple becoming the largest smartphone vendor in terms of revenue and profits. Now, just four years after the release of the original iPhone, Apple has become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume with an 18 percent market share," according to Strategy Analytics.

Samsung wasn’t far behind Apple. In the second quarter, they shipped 19.2 million smartphones grabbing 17.5 percent of the smartphone market. That was also quite a big bump from their numbers the previous year. Last year, Samsung only shipped 3.1 million smartphones and had a 5 percent share of the market. The success of Samsung and Apple caused Nokia’s numbers to drop however. Last year, they had snatched 38.1 percent of the global smartphone market, but this year their numbers dropped to 15.2 percent.

When it comes to the overall shipment of smartphones and feature phones, Nokia is still the number one phone provider. During the second quarter, Nokia shipped 88.5 million phones globally, down 20 percent. Samsung was number two, shipping 74 million units, a 16 percent boost. LG came in a close third right in front of Apple. They shipped 24.8 million devices, but were down 19 percent. Apple was so close to coming in third place. Strategy Analytics said that this is "the closest Apple has ever been.”

The IDC confirmed the numbers that Strategy Analytics released naming Nokia, Samsung and LG as the very top mobile phone providers. The firm also did say that Apple’s “record” quarter helped to close in on the gap and bring the company much closer to the top.

Apple "easily posted the highest growth rate of the worldwide leaders despite the fact that its flagship iPhone 4 is now more than a year old," IDC said. "The triple-digit shipment volume growth allowed Apple to more than double its share when compared to the same quarter last year."

IDC agreed with Strategy Analytics and reported sales of 20.3 million iPhones in the quarter. It gave Apple a 5.6 percent market share in the global handset market, as well as a 141.8 percent boost from the same time period last year.

"Apple’s ability to bring its smartphone momentum to developing economies, where it’s less successful, will help dictate the company’s smartphone fortunes in future," IDC said.

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Speculations for a Cheaper iPhone

On Thursday, February 10, Bloomberg reported that Apple is working on some different versions of the iPhone. These new versions will be cheaper (like around $200), feature a CDMA/GSM dual-mode, and have a “universal SIM.”

The report has not yet been confirmed by Apple, but it is saying that the new, cheaper iPhone should be out this summer. They did add though that there is always a chance that a device such as this could be postponed or cancelled.

The report from Bloomberg claims that the cheaper iPhone would be smaller and cost around $200. The report goes on to say that you will not need to purchase a contract, but it will include certain aspects of today’s iPhone. It is also believed that Apple is working on a dual-mode CDMA-GSM phone, as well as a “universal SIM” that would allow users to switch between GSM networks. This would be accompanied by software that would give users the ability to configure their own phones.

Now the universal SIM technology seems to be confirmed by a patent of Apple that was described as “dynamic carrier selection.” What this would do is allow users to pick which wireless carrier they wanted to use for their service plan depending on quotes that they received from each different carrier.

"According to one embodiment of the invention, access to a wireless cellular communication network can be provided by storing a network address on a mobile device," the patent reads. "The network address can identify a mobile virtual network operator server storing mobile network operator data for use by the mobile device. A request for network operator data can be sent from the mobile device to the mobile virtual network operator server, and in response to the request, network operator data can be received. A network operator for the mobile device can be selected based on the received network operator data, and communications can be conducted using the selected network operator."

Now that Verizon Wireless is providing a Verizon iPhone, the biggest complaint about the iPhone seems to be the price. Right now, the iPhone is available from Verizon and AT&T for $199 with a contract and $699 without. Compared to the competition though, the iPhone doesn’t seem that expensive. Right now, the Droid Incredible from HTC is costing users $299 with a contract.

There are some issues with a cheaper iPhone though. It would have to be manufactured in an extremely cheap fashion without sacrificing any of the iPhone’s quality. This would have to happen if Apple were to maintain its profit margins. The profit margins that Apple has are some of the highest in the industry.

According to an analysis that was released by IHS iSuppli on Thursday, February 10, if Apple wished to produce a phone that was on par with the iPhone 4 in all ways, the company would have to spend $178.45 per phone to produce them.

"With the CDMA iPhone 4, Apple Inc. has shown once again that it never recycles a product design," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director, teardown services, for IHS, in a statement. "Apple's new designs always exhibit changes, evolution and optimization. This approach is evident not only in the antenna design but also in items like the integrated GPS functionality and the shrinking of the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo module. As we dig deeper into our teardown analysis, we're certain that we will find a host of other tweaks all designed to improve quality but keep costs on a steady path of decline."

In Bloomberg’s report though, they claimed that the new, cheaper phone would be close to a third smaller than the iPhone 4. Why is this important? Well, according to iSuppli, the 3.5 inch, 960 x 640 screen of the iPhone 4 costs $37.80 and is the second most expensive component of the device. So if the new iPhone’s screen is a third of the size of the iPhone 4’s, that could really cut some cost.

It will be really interesting to see where Apple goes with these possibilities for the iPhone. Of course all of this could be rumor, but it all seems to make sense and match up with what we know that Apple is patenting and working on right now. Hopefully it really will be summer when we see this new iPhone, but until we hear something from Apple, I guess we are going to be left in the dark.

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Navigon Releases New iPhone Car Kit

Navigon has just unveiled a new iPhone car kit at the Macworld Expo 2011. The kit consists of an iPhone mounting device as well as a suction cup for mounting it on nearly any surface in your car. An Apple-certified connection cord is also thrown in as well as a car charger to power the iPhone while driving.

According to Gerhard Mayr, Vice President of Worldwide Mobile Phones & New Markets for Navigon, "The iPhone is the most elegant smartphone available, therefore a mount should never get in the way of showcasing the design." This kit from Navigon is a more stylish rendition of German tech design with a "barely there" look.

The mount is easy to fix in any position on any surface in your vehicle which reduces distraction to the driver and also places the iPhone in a position that is optimal for a GPS signal. The included car charger, as well as the 5-foot long connection cable, are perfect if you need to use your iPhone's navigation system on long trips or vacations.

It appears that the physical cradle could fit other devices besides an iPhone. However, if you buy this kit and you do not have an iPhone, then you now have a 5-foot long iPhone cable that you do not need. The charger, however, is a simple one that plugs into your lighter jack and has a USB port on the other end making it universal with practically every smart phone on the market that uses a USB charging system.

My point is that this case, while designed for the iPhone, would be good for most smartphones out there or even smaller GPS devices. The Navigon Car Kit is available now for the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 for a market price of $49.99. However, you can get an introductory price of $44.99 if you purchase one before February 3rd.

Source: Engadget

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AT&T Losing iPhone Customers to Verizon

According to data that was released Thursday, January 13 by ChangeWave, approximately 26 percent of current Apple iPhone users that are on AT&T’s plan are planning to switch to Verizon’s iPhone when it is made available in February.

ChangeWave polled 4,050 people a few days before the big announcement that Verizon Wireless made on Tuesday, January 11. They asked those polled that if Verizon were to announce that an iPhone would be made available on their network, would they be switching providers in the next 90 days? Ten percent said that they were planning on switching within 90 days. About 16 percent said that they would be purchasing a Verizon iPhone but not necessarily right away. Among the AT&T users polled, 26 percent said that they would be ditching the AT&T version of the iPhone for the Verizon iPhone.

About 41 percent of those polled, who said that they would be switching from AT&T’s iPhone to Verizon’s, said that they would be making the switch sometime within the next three months. Another 31 percent said that they would be making the switch within the next year.

AT&T users aren’t the only customers that plan on switching service providers though. About 15 percent of T-Mobile users said that they will switch to Verizon for the iPhone, 10 percent of Sprint’s customers also plan on doing this as well, and 4 percent of the existing customers at Verizon said that they will be switching from their current device to the iPhone.

ChangeWave reported that this is the biggest churn rate that has ever been recorded for AT&T. The most prominent reason for AT&T’s customers leaving and choosing the Verizon iPhone is due to poor reception or coverage. A whole 42 percent claimed that this was their reasoning. Another 27 percent said it was because of dropped calls, while 17 percent said their decision was due to the cost.

ChangeWave did report though that AT&T has made improvements in its dropped call history.
"While AT&T continues to struggle in this very important area and trails Verizon by a wide margin, it has made significant advances since our previous survey –improving from its all-time worst 6.0 percent rating last September to 4.7 percent in the current survey," ChangeWave said. "The findings suggest AT&T is now taking concrete steps to try to improve long-standing service issues. But can it do so quickly enough to forestall large-scale defections to Verizon?"

Who knows if consumers are really going to dump AT&T and jump on the Verizon bandwagon, but as data that was released by comScore on Thursday, January 13 suggested, the Verizon iPhone is really a big turning point in the smartphone market.

"The iPhone Verizon deal will no doubt bring even greater competition to the smartphone arena throughout the coming year as Android, iPhone and RIM jockey for the leadership position," Sarah Radwanick, comScore's marketing communications manager, wrote in a blog post.

Radwanick also pointed out Verizon’s smartphone market share that grew from four percent in the last year to 27 percent. Obviously, that’s less than AT&T’s 38 percent market share, but AT&T did drop 7 percent last year due to the abundance of different smartphones that were made available in the last year. Verizon’s numbers really rose mostly because of the strong Android-based devices that the company added to their lineup of smartphones.

In just overall mobile device market share, Verizon has 31 percent, while AT&T has 27 percent.

ComScore also suggested that the iPhone customers that Verizon does end up nabbing will most likely be in customer segments that are attractive to mobile providers. This basically means younger users that come from higher income brackets. Also important to note, iPhone users seem to remain loyal to the iconic Apple smartphone. More than half have subscribed via AT&T for more than three years now, while another 28 percent have had subscriptions for one to three years.

"Although it's too early to tell exactly how consumers will react to the Verizon iPhone announcement, it is fair to say that this deal represents a potentially significant turning point in the ascendance of the smartphone market," Radwanick concluded. "Only time will tell which carriers and platforms will emerge as the market leaders, but it's clear that right now the consumers are winners as they gain yet another option when making their smartphone choice."

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First Details on the BlackBerry Dakota

BlackBerry phones were some of the very first smartphones to hit the market and they took off like a bat out of hell. However, since then the BlackBerry craze has lessened with more and more people gravitating towards Apple's iPhone or similar devices like the Droid X from Motorola or the Fascinate from Samsung. But just because BlackBerry has been knocked down does not mean that it is down for the count. The newest device being hinted at by BlackBerry could be just what the company needs to get back in the game.

I'm talking, of course, about the BlackBerry Dakota, first pictures of which have recently been released for viewing by the public. The Dakota is being touted as the master of the BlackBerry family, the one that will reign supreme over all the rest. It's true that the internet is buzzing over the first pic of the Dakota and with good reason, I might add.

While details on the device are very scarce, we do have a picture and a rough spec sheet displaying everything this device will have to offer including the original Bold styling, NFC, magnetometer, HD video recording and 3G mobile hotspot. The full spec sheet is as follows:

• 3G mobile hotspot
• 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording, flash and image stabilization
• MicroUSB port
• Proximity sensor
• NFC
• Tri-band UMTS
• Magnetometer
• 4GB of built-in storage, 768MB of RAM
• Accelerometer
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Launches with BlackBerry OS 6.1
• WiFi b/g/n on 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies
• 10.5mm thick
• 2.8-inch VGA 640 x 480 capacitive screen

Sounds pretty good if you ask me. However, is it the touch and type BlacBerry fans have been waiting for? Does it have enough to draw customers away from the Droid X or the iPhone? We can only speculate at this point until we have more details. Keep checking back to see when we have more information including an official release date as well as an official price.

Source: BGR

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Apple’s Co-Founder is Buying a Verizon iPhone

Lots of people are extremely excited about the announcement that Verizon Wireless made Tuesday, January 11 about featuring the iPhone at their stores and online. Everyone has been waiting for quite some time for Verizon to finally make this announcement. AT&T’s exclusive iPhone contract made things a little difficult, so there were a lot of things that had to be worked around. Fortunately, the wait is now almost over, and you’re not the only one who is excited about the iPhone from Verizon.

When Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak was questioned about whether he would be getting the Verizon iPhone at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View on Jan. 11 after the announcement was made by Verizon, he responded, “A VeriPhone? Of Course.”

"I'm definitely going to get one," Wozniak said. "I always have at least one Verizon phone on me at all times, just in case I'm in one of those bad areas. You can find those areas where Verizon doesn't work and AT&T does, but in truth, it's usually the opposite."

"And I also love the mobile hotspot," Wozniak added. "I hope it's the standard $30 a month. I wish it was free like the Palm Pre because that made the Pre a cheaper Mi-Fi. Anyway, so I'm expecting that it's no big new iPhone, not even a new color. It's just going to be on the Verizon network."

The Verizon iPhone has been rumored for years, and the rumors have escalated and really started flying around in the past few months. Well, Verizon has finally officially launched the Verizon iPhone. Verizon says that they will offer a CDMA EVDO version of the iPhone 4 as of February 10. Any exsisting Verizon customers will be able to pre-order the smartphone as early as February 3. The 16GB iPhone will cost customers $199 with a two-year contract, and the 32GB iPhone will cost $299 with a two-year contract.

Wozinak went on saying, “I'm actually playing games in my head about which phones I want to keep. I actually want to keep at least one Android phone."

All this talk about the multiple phones that Wozinak has had me wondering exactly how many phones the guy has.

"I came to the conclusion last night that I'll have three activated AT&T iPhones, so if the battery runs down I have a spare," Wozniak said. "And I'm in Europe a lot of times, so maybe one of them will be Verizon, one of them will be AT&T. So I'll have two AT&T, one AT&T with the international plan, and one Verizon if I need it. Although the tethering's only to a computer. Although maybe I can give one number up and give it to Verizon. And I'll keep the Droid X. And I'll probably give up the Palm Pre because I now have another Mi-Fi."

Wozinak also added, though, that data plans are always an issue.

"I have those grandfathered [data] plans," Wozniak added. "I love those grandfathered plans, but you have to watch them [carriers] like a hawk."

I’m so excited that Verizon has finally worked things out so that they can carry the Apple iPhone. We’ve all been waiting for a very long time, but now we finally have an end date to the wait. I think we can all definitely make it until February. Many people suspected that the “event” that Verizon was holding in New York on Januray 11 had to do with the announcement of a Verizon iPhone, and all of those people were correct. I’m glad the cat is finally out of the bag, and everyone can start making their plans concerning Verizon’s iPhone.

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Skype Video Calling for the iPhone

Skype is one of the most popular internet phone services around. It gives you the ability to call, message and chat with people all from your computer without the need of a phone. There are also a lot of mobile Skype apps out there for the iPhone and Android phones that give you some of the functionality of the website. But now, the iPhone has something that everybody has been waiting for, full video calling.

Skype has just announced the newest version of its application for the iPhone which brings video calling to all iPhone users via 3G and WiFi networks. The app, downloadable from the Apple App Store, became available today and allows iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users to make and receive free Skype video calls for the first time ever. With 25 million Skype users logged in at any one time you can easily share things with anybody in any part of the world.

The video calling feature will enhance your user experience with the Skype app significantly, and the app itself is one of the top 5 free apps according to Apple. You can now make and receive free Skype-to-Skype calls, call mobile and landline phones around the world and share more moments with Skype video calling.

According to Neil Stevens, General Manager of Skype's Consumer Business, "With video calling representing approximately 40% of all Skype-to-Skype minutes for the first six months of 2010, our users have been eager to get Skype video calling on their mobile phones. By bringing video to mainstream users at their home or work via their desktops, on the go with their mobiles or into their living rooms via their TV, Skype has made it possible for millions of people to share video moments wherever they are."

If you are like me, then you get bored physically talking on the phone. However, with this new video calling you can liven up the conversation by seeing the other person. Loved ones can see each other no matter where they are. If you have a loved one away in the military, then you can rest assured that they will never miss anything with Skype's video calling. You can even collaborate with colleagues back at the home office if you are, let's say, away on a business trip in Hong Kong.

Users of the app can place video calls over both 3G and WiFi, and the new app is compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 4th Generation with ioS 4.0 or higher. The 3rd Generation iPod Touch and the iPad can only receive calls. Calls between devices can be made via the new Skype app for the iPhone and desktops including Skype for Windows 4.2 or higher, Skype for Mac 2.8 or higher, Skype for Linux and ASUS Videophone.

If you want true video calling from Skype, then head on over to the Apple App Store right now and pick up the newest app from Skype.

Source: Engadget

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Apple's iPhone is Still Going Strong

Apple’s iPhone is arguably one of the most successful companies of our time, and if you don’t agree with that statement, than you can’t argue with the fact that in the past few years the company has been incredibly successful. The iPhone is one of the factors that add a good bit to Apple’s success story. The iPhone revolutionized the smartphone industry and continues to do so. Many would say that it is the most popular and coveted phone right now. Well, according to DigiTimes, Apple must feel that their success will continue with the phone.

On Monday, December 27, the popular Taiwanese publication DigiTimes claimed that Taiwan-based suppliers could confirm that Apple was planning to increase its global shipment of iPhones for the first quarter of 2011. They seem to be planning on increasing the number of units from 19 million to 20 or 21 million.

It has been reported that Apple’s supplier Foxconn is shipping out between 14 and 15 million WDCMA iPhones, which is up from 13 million. It is also said that Foxconn and Pegatron are going to be shipping out 5 to 6 million CDMA iPhones. It is expected that these devices will be released in Asian Pacific and the United States (on Verizon’s network) in early 2011. A rumor is flying around that China and the U.S. will be the first countries to offer a CDMA compatible iPhone.

There have been rumors about Verizon carrying an iPhone for quite some time now, but the Wall Street Journal seemed to hint in October at the idea that Apple planned to introduce a Verizon version of the iPhone sometime in early 2011.

According to JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz, if Verizon were to launch some type of version of the iPhone, there is a potential for Verizon’s stock to add at least $1.25 in incremental earnings per share annually.

For the fourth quarter, it is expected that global iPhone shipments are going to come in somewhere around 15.5 million. For the entire year, it is predicted that Apple’s total iPhone shipments are going to be close to 47 million.

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said that his firm was forecasting iPhone sales to reach 13.3 million in the first quarter of 2011, and those numbers do not include what sales would be if Verizon were to release a version of the iPhone.

White wrote that if the number of CDMA iPhones that Digitimes claims to be shipping are correct, "these are big numbers and directly point to the growing popularity of the iPhone around the world in our view and the potential for a healthy upside to our earnings estimates.”

White said that during a trip to China, he noticed that the demand for iPhones definitely seemed to exceed the supplies that the country was receiving, as the exclusive official carrier of the iPhone, China Unicom, still seems to struggle to meet the demand for the iPhone 4. "For example, we indicated that the iPhone 4 was sold out for two months at authorized Apple resellers, Apple stores and China Unicom," he said. "We also mentioned that China Unicom was unable to fulfill approximately one-third of the iPhone 4 orders due to shortages." He said that China is still “in the early stages of catching ‘Apple Fever.’”

Earlier this month, Shaw Wu, one of Kaufman Bros. analysts, predicted that Apple would sell more than 62 million iPhones in 2011. This prediction did include Verizon contributing 2 to 3 million units in the U.S. per quarter or 8 to 12 million annually. Another analyst, Gene Munster, from Piper Jaffray said that Apple could sell another 2.5 additional iPhones next year if they add Verizon Wireless as a service provider.

iPhone sales are doing incredibly well, and it looks as though the sales will only continue to do well. Analysts are predicting that the first quarter of 2011 should be extremely successful. If Verizon can secure a version of the iPhone, I think that sales numbers will skyrocket. I know so many different people who prefer the iPhone to the Droid, but since they like Verizon Wireless service much better than AT&T, they settle with the Droid or some other smartphone offered by Verizon. If Verizon offered the iPhone, Apple would be sure to increase their iPhone sales by a good amount. The Wall Street Journal seems to think that Verizon should have some version of the iPhone early in 2011. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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According to Consumer Reports, AT&T Is the Worst Mobile Service Provider

Yes, AT&T is the service provider of the coveted and ever so popular iPhone, but many customers are not even close to being satisfied with the service that the company provides. Consumer Reports did an annual survey of different cell phone carriers and reported Monday that AT&T is the worst cell phone provider in the country right now. Consumer Reports polled 58,000 ConsumerReports.com readers to compile the numbers for their survey. More than half of the respondents whose carrier was AT&T said that they owned some version of the iPhone, but they didn’t seem too happy with their service.

Consumer Reports continued saying that AT&T was the only carrier whose overall satisfaction scores dropped significantly since the survey was conducted last year. AT&T only had a 60 percent score for overall customer satisfaction.

The data that was collected showed that iPhone owners were much less satisfied with their service provider than owners of comparable iPhone-like smartphones that were on another carrier. Electronics editor for Consumer Reports Paul Reynolds said in a statement, “Our survey suggests that an iPhone from Verizon Wireless, which is rumored, could indeed be good news for iPhone fans.” This rumor has been circulating for quite some time. It’s been shot down many times, but I guess it’s begun swirling around again.

“We take this seriously and we continually look for new ways to improve the customer experience. The fact is, wireless customers have choices and a record number of them chose AT&T in the third quarter, significantly more than our competitors," said AT&T in a statement. "Hard data from independent drive tests confirms AT&T has the nation's fastest mobile broadband network with our nearest competitor 20 percent slower on average nationwide and our largest competitor 60 percent slower on average nationwide. And, our dropped call rate is within 1/10 of a percent - the equivalent of just one call in a thousand - of the industry leader."

So how did the other national carriers do with overall customer satisfaction? Well, Verizon and Sprint were almost tied. Verizon had 74 percent satisfaction, and Sprint had 73 percent satisfaction. Consumer Reports said, "Verizon Wireless has an edge in voice service overall. Sprint scored better in some aspects of customer service, which is a remarkable turnaround from past years when that was a weak point for the company,"

The fourth top national mobile carrier, T-Mobile, came in with 69 percent overall satisfaction rates, making it the third top carrier in satisfaction.

There is also one regional cell phone carrier that did quite well with customer satisfaction. US Cellular is available in 26 different states and has an 82 percent satisfaction rating. Consumer Reports said, "It stands out for value, voice service, and customer service.”

Consumer Reports also went on to evaluate the best smartphones from each carrier. They checked out the Motorola Droid X for Verizon, the Samsung Epic 4G for Sprint, the Samsung Captivate for AT&T, and the Samsung Vibrant for T-Mobile.

It was very interesting to see that one of the most popular smartphones is on the worst national service provider. That is encouraging for Verizon though if they are be able to secure the rights to the iPhone sometime soon. AT&T needs to step it up, or they are definitely going to face some major issues in the future.

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Consumer Reports Continues to Wait to Recommend iPhone 4

Consumer Reports simply will not recommend Apple’s iPhone 4 to its readers. Why, you may ask? Well, they say that until Apple decides to offer customers a free, easily accessible case to solve the “death grip” issues that the iPhone 4 has been facing, they cannot endorse the smartphone.

The so-called “death grip” was noticed by iPhone 4 customers from the start. It occurs when a user grips the phone with a full or whole hand grip. Holding the device this way causes significant issues with the connection speed when uploading or downloading data and with the reception of the phone in general.

Due to all of the problems concerning the “death grip,” Apple decided in July to offer customers a free case or bumper to fix the issue. If you had already purchased a case, they even offered to refund you the money that you had spent on it. Unfortunately, Apple decided to only keep this offer up until September 30th.

Now, Apple is saying that they are going to discontinue this offer all together, instead of waiting until the 30th. They say that the antenna issue “is even smaller than we originally thought.” They feel that this justifies ending the free case or bumper offer.

Consumer Report feels that this is unacceptable. They have said, “Our tests found the Bumper successfully mitigates the iPhone 4's reception issue, which was a weak point in the phone’s otherwise-stellar performance in our tests. We agree with Apple that not all iPhone 4 owners will experience reception difficulties with the device, but putting the onus on any owners of a product to obtain a remedy to a design flaw is not acceptable to us. We therefore continue not to recommend the iPhone 4 and to call on Apple to provide a permanent fix for the phone's reception issues."

I believe that Consumer Reports is definitely right. I feel that it is ridiculous that Apple is discontinuing their offer to provide a case or bumper for the iPhone 4. They made the mistake, so they should be the ones taking full responsibility for it. It doesn’t matter if not everyone experiences these reception issues. Apple’s goal should be to satisfy all of their customers, especially when it comes to something as important as reception and uploading and downloading data.

I feel that Apple is making a huge mistake by discontinuing their free case program, but will it affect sales of the iPhone 4? I’m guessing that most likely it won’t. Although I wouldn’t want to deal with the issues, the iPhone has a prestigious enough reputation to keep the sales coming in. If you’re considering a new smartphone, the “death grip” is something that you should definitely consider before settling on the iPhone 4.

Not interested in the iPhone? Check out some other great smartphones like the Motorola's Droid X or the HTC EVO 4G.

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Pocket Manager for iPad and iPhone

Last week, the company Intersog LLC, an "international software construction company that is located in Chicago, Illinois," announced an updated release of Pocket Manager: Accounting for Management for the iPad and iPhone. Pocket Manager is considered a Top 50 grossing business app and that shouldn't change with all the neat new features!

The original iPhone version of the app has lots of updates, including an in-app search feature and social networking options that allow you to post messages on Facebook and Twitter. It will also allow you to email course text to friends and co-workers. You can get the app at the iTunes App store.

The app itself is actually a course that is divided into three sections: the course, flash cards, and tests. It contains 11 chapters that cover many aspects of financial management. You can save your place at any time during the course and pick up where you left off at any time. There is also a glossary that helps you with definitions to words you may not understand. Once you complete the text, you can use flash cards which help you prepare for the tests, which follow each chapter. Regardless of whether you get an answer wrong or right, detailed explanations accompany each test answer and each test can be retaken.

Check out these related stories:
1. Rent an iPad
2. Chicago Computer Rentals

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