Hardware

It looks like the iPhone may be capable of wireless phone upgrades based on a new patent published yesterday. But what is most exciting, and probably to Apple, the most profitable part of this capability is the possibility of purchasing iTunes content wirelessly.

[Via Gizmodo]

That’s according to Dean Bubley at DisruptiveWireless who suggests that the iPhone’s motion sensor technology, as seen on other phones such as the Nokia 5500 Sport Phone (yuk!), could be used as so much more than what it currently offers on the iPhone.

At present the iPhone’s motion sensor technology is used to turn the screen light on and off when the phone is drawn close to the human face - basically to conserve battery life - as well as being used to determine the orientation of the screen. However, Dean Bubley reckons that in years to come the motion sensor technology could be used to prevent criminals from using your phone. The idea, and that is all it is at this point, is that the phones motion sensor gets used to how its sole user walks, the moment that pattern changes (i.e, when someone has stolen the phone and runs away with it) the phone can only be used by entering a password - something a criminal wouldn’t know unless you’ve been stupid enough to write the… more...

The iPhone may be utilizing Intel flash memory but unlike the Apple notebooks and desktops, the mobile version of OSX will not be run on Intel chips. No, that honor goes to Marvell Technologies who bought Intel’s XScale business.
[Via The Inquirer.net]

You guessed it folks, yet more positive stuff coming in from the world known to tech heads as the internet regarding the beloved iPhone. Business Week has published a rather nice article on how the iPhone isn’t by any means perfect, but has the potential to be as successful as the iPod.

If you all cast your minds back to 2001 when the iPod was originally released it was probably one of the lesser MP3 players on the market, and by that I simply mean in the way of features plus space plus cost. Users complained about the rubbish battery life and the fact that only Apple Mac users could actually use the device. But Apple learned from their mistakes and kept enhancing it to make it what it is today - 5 or 6 generations later it’s still the leading MP3 Media player available on the market and yet, not 100% perfect.

Business Week has run over why they believe the iPhone is going to go through pretty much the same process as the iPod, with complaints about cost, memory size and other snags.… more...

In response to Samsung’s involvement in the iPhone, Toshiba, number 2 in the category(In NAND chip production) behind Samsung, announced they will take it up a notch. But instead of using words, Toshiba proves they can back it up with their actions. Samsung is going to put out the first 2 - Gigabyte NAND flash chip in March?  Toshiba says, “Move aside sucka! We’ll put one out in March too.” Then just so you didn’t think they were playin’ they plan to back it up with monthly shipments of 300,000 chips after that. And they’ll make it faster.

It’s going to be a showdown.
[Via Reuters]

They’re finally coming in piece by piece, some positive and well appreciated opinions of the iPhone. I know, I know, it’s been a long time coming. After the initial excitement died down people started to question the iPhones state of usefulness and functionality. Why is there no 3G? Why can’t we use Word and Excel? Why is there such limited and un-expandable storage? What’s up with the battery life (I still say it’s fine)? Of course, we did have some positive comments coming in, with analysts suggesting the touch screen will change the way we use phones, Google Maps being a fantastic tool and the brilliant way of dealing with voice mail.

So to continue the positive trend which has been so badly lacking over the past two weeks, Infosyncworld.com gives us their list of 5 reasons why they believe more...

Peter Wilson from the CanWest News Service decides to take all the complaints we have had about the iPhone and wrap it up in a nice little package. How convenient! Thanks Peter!

Some complaints like FairPlay and Cingular exclusivity, and cost are commonplace. But this article touches upon a new thing that I have not considered —  how the touch screen interface will be a big fat PITA for those who are visually impaired.

I am glad I am not visually impaired but I guess that would be a problem for those who are Mavis Beacon mad men on the keys. Which brings up another question. I would assume that if you were visually impaired, you might not really be able to take full advantage of the video playback and the display of your photos.

I guess you can’t be all things to all people.

[Via Canada.com]

Some people suspect that the revolutionary technology in the button-less iPhone was made possible by the innovations of two University of Delaware researchers. John Elias and Wayne Westerman developed products that required no contact to work. “A FingerWorks keyboard senses the motion of fingers in the air, allowing users to “cut and paste” or zoom in and out with such simple gestures as “pinching” or “closing the lid of a jar.”

Although they have not confirmed their involvement, the iPhone apparently draws from that same technology and the fact that Apple purchased FingerWorks and both researchers went to work at Apple shortly thereafter only adds to the speculation.

This article suggests that this technology could “revolutionize gadget control”. Although this article is an interesting read, the most intriguing is one of the comments:

Posted by: ivanw- Fri Jan 19, 2007 10:44 am
Thanks Eric for giving more credit to the “true” story of MultiTouch real life and potential. What Apple claims to get all the merit always comes from some individuals kept in the dark. This time,… more...

Franky over at amifamousnow takes a first look at the LG Shine. For those of you who don’t know the LG has appeared recently and it is might similar to the iPhone. There are even rumblings of a lawsuit. Here is what he notes are the specs of the LG:

Most popular phone in Korea
Successor of fashion icon LG Chocolate
2"2 bright screen
Full metal case
2MP camera with flash/torch
1GB storage, MP3 player and the already famous scroll wheel.

Unlike the iPhone this device has a touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard which would probably make Peter Rojas happy.

Franky goes on to observe:

As soon as you touch one of the 5 buttons unders the screens a new world of brilliance wakes up. The scroll wheel will soon become your best friend in live, and you’ll start navigating through all the menus with the aid of the 4 other push buttons. Two of them are lit. Sliding open the Shine is a pleasure. One smooth movement and the screen lights up. The keyboard is backlit. Flat metal soft… more...

According to a report by Strategy Anayltics via Macworld UK, the introduction of the fancy touchscreen on the iPhone using the Apple patented ‘multitouch’ technology will kick start a trend on future phones released by companies such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson, as it’s predicted around 115 million phones world wide will be released with touch screens in the next two years.

The report suggests that touchscreen manufacturers such as Synaptics, ALPS, Cypress, Quantum Research and Immersion will see their business grow considerably as companies such as Motorola jump in to get the technology on their phones.

“The introduction of the iPhone leads us to strengthen our existing view that the market for touchscreen phones is set to take off very soon,” said Stuart Robinson, director of the Handset Component Technologies service at Strategy Analytics.

Of course, whilst we sit here and bask in the glory of the iPhone and its lovely touchscreen, LG have recently released their own Prada Touchscreen phone which looks uncannily similar to the iPhone.

[Via Macworld UK]