But, at prices ranging from $730 for Wi-Fi less iPhone 3g 8GB, to $1000+ for an iPhone 3Gs 32GB, unsubsidized, it does not seem that China Unicom was happy with the initial demand.

The main reason? Imports of jail broken grey market iPhones to China. Where, according to some estimates, there already are 1.5 million of them. Bought at a prices, ranging from $430 for iPhone 3G 8GB to $730 for iPhone 3Gs. For a  $300 mark-up, quite a few potential China Unicom customers are happy to overlook that they are not carrying the original.

So what now? Well, if you can’t beat them, join them, they say. And that’s exactly what China Unicom plans to do.

One of it’s subsidiaries – Shanghai Unicom – already said that they have an amnesty for the grey market iPhone users, who will be able to sign a contract and use all the services available  to “legal” China Unicom customers. The amnesty to grey market imports will be extended to all China Unicom customers later.

Looks like a pretty smart move on behalf of Chinese carrier. They, after all, are not in the business of selling mobile phones. They are a communications service provider.

And, if the opportunity of not worrying about jailbroken software updates, hassle free iTunes sync, and access to the official app store gains them a few hundred thousand new lucrative 3G service customers, why the heck should they care were the phones are coming from?

Via: China Business Times

• China Unicom to announce the iPhone today and launch it in October
• China Unicom to launch iPhone on Oct. 15th. $293 for 8G, $439 for 16G on a 2 year, $27 a month contract
• 5 million iPhones bought by China Unicom – sales to debut in September
• China Unicom to start selling iPhones on October 30
• China Unicom denies having bought 5 million iPhones from Apple

And last month Apple finally managed to clinch the deal with one of the smaller (for China) operators, to start selling it. But no shipping date or price info has been made official yet.

We still don’t have anything official about the iPhone’s launch over there, but as China Unicom is  preparing to ship the device, the info about it started trickling out from the regional offices and sales channels.

According to China Business Times, China Unicom has set an internal iPhone launch date for October 15th. Two iPhone models – 8GB and 16 GB –  will be shipped. 8GB iPhone in China will cost 1999 yuan ($293), with 16GB model selling at 2999 yuan ($439). Both models with be offered on a 2 year contracts, starting at 186 yuan ($27) a month.

Well, it would be interesting to see how iPhone does in China. But, if the rumors of the price points above are true, I think that sales should be pretty brisk.   690 million strong mobile user base is actually bigger then the U.S. and Western Europe combined.

And, if you consider that there already are around 1.5 million grey market iPhones in China, which were bought at an average price of $680,  the deal offered by China Unicom sounds pretty darn good.

• 5 million iPhones bought by China Unicom – sales to debut in September
• iPhone 3G S may hit China in Q4 2009 as China Unicom and Apple sign 2-year deal
• China Unicom denies having bought 5 million iPhones from Apple
• China Unicom officially confirms Apple deal; iPhone will be launched in Q4
• China Unicom to offer amnesty to jailbroken grey market iPhone owners

It’s called “Consumer abuse detection system and method” and is meant to help Apple service reps to see whether the broken device you brought in was your fault or Apple’s.

To do that, Apple proposes placing a number of sensors that can detect liquid, thermal changes, shocks and tampering inside the device. Those sensors then record any occurrence of the “abuse” events – like dropping, drowning or burning your iPhone – onto memory chip, and make this info available to the service center staff.

Looks like an interesting approach, which, if implemented, can help Apple reduce  bogus warranty service claims.

And,  incidentally, help them rebut those stories about  iPods and iPhones exploding for no good reason, that get so much attention from the press.

Like that stupid story about exploding iPod, that ruled interwebs this Monday.

Why do I say it’s a stupid story? Because it is.

The guy in the original Times Online article admits that he actually dropped the iPod on the floor. And then, for good measure, threw it out the backdoor, before the darn thing exploded.

But our devices shouldn’t explode at all, even if dropped,  you say. Yes?

Errr… Not necessarily.

Look, it is an electronic device. If you drop it hard enough – it will crack. And, if you throw it really hard, you know, like 10 or 20 meters out the back door, maybe even non-removable battery cover inside your iPod will crack. And, if your battery cover has cracked, and it’s wet  outside, what happens?

It is Lithium Ion battery you have inside. Lithium! Remember your high school chemistry classes? What happens when you mix Lithium and water? Big Kaboom…

In case you forgot, here’s a nice YouTube video, showing how disposable lithium battery strap reacts to water:

Doesn’t that look exactly like what happened to the unfortunate iPod touch? And where’s Apple’s fault in that?

• Samsung develops technology for a hydropowered cellphone
• Apple’s iPhone – iPod Phone coming to Japan first
• Apple is thinking about having water exposure detector in iPhone
• Third-party apps and games built from iPhone SDK showcased
• Apple’s touch surface keyboard with tactile feedback

Last we told you about event based modes, intelligent and scheduled communications that could come with your new iPhone 4.0 or 5.0 OS.

Today a new batch of Apple’s patent apps surfaced, showing us some more interesting things that may come with your next major iPhone OS update.

Real world object identification

The idea in the patent app is somewhat similar to Nokia’s Point & Find service being tested right now in some countries – point your iPhone to a real world object, your handset will recognize what it is and then provide relevant additional info about it.

The object identification could be done via camera/image recognition technologies, RFID tags, barcode scanning, etc;). The user can set different location and context based modes to make the object recognition easier (e.g. Museum, Restaurant, Electronics shop, etc;), or an iPhone can to it itself based on location and other parameters.

The user also can create logs/albums of recognized objects for future reference.

Face detection and recognition

This one is pretty obvious. In a patent app Apple  decribes the techniques how to incorporate face detection and recognition technologies into an iPhone, iMac and other devices.

After implementation, face recognition capabilities  can be used to control the operation of the device – controlling access privileges and restrictions, deciding whether to put a device into a sleep mode, etc;

Text Message Filtering

In this patent app Apple describes  methods for filtering and controlling various text based communications via your iPhone.

This filtering can be applied to outgoing and incoming e-mails, text, MMS, IM and other  messages. The text control app can be set up alter the objectionable text (e.g – swear words in an e-mail app), or to help your kid lean foreign language, by making him send e-mails in it:

control application includes an instructional tool or study aid where the administrator sets one or more modes, such as language, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, punctuation and/or other content of a text-based communication based on, for example, a user’s age or grade level. This can be especially useful, for example, such as when a child’s grades go down. A parent can then institute a condition to improve a child’s grades. For example, the control application may require a user during specified time periods to send messages in a designated foreign language, to include certain designated vocabulary words, or to use proper designated spelling, designated grammar and designated punctuation and like designated language forms based on the user’s defined skill level and/or designated language skill rating. If the text-based communication fails to include the required language or format, the control application may alert the user and/or the administrator/parent of the absence of such text.

Smarter messaging interface

There are also couple of patent apps that describe the ways to make your overall messaging/communication experience easier.

One of them is related to multiple recipient messages. E.g. You send a message to your work team and not all the messages get delivered. After a preset time interval the messaging app checks the status of message delivery. If some messages have not been delivered, it alerts you and then provides an interface to easily resend a message to those who did not get it via the same or different means.

Another app is designed to help you deal better with unread messages.

Apple thinks  that if you have some unread messages from a person you are about to contact (call or send a message to him), you might want to at least look at them before initiating contact. And that’s exactly what this app does – compares your  unread messages, e-mails, voicemails, etc; to the info of a person you are about to contact and informs you if you have some unread messages from him sitting on your phone.

In addition to checking the contact info, the message app can also check for certain keywords – e.g. the name of a project you are writing about and alert that you have some unread messages relating to it.

This one sounds like one of those obvious (“Darn, how come I didn’t think of that..”) cool  little things that Apple is especially good at.

Changes voice output in your iPhone

And then there’s a patent app that describes the possibility of altering audio output from your iPhone.

There may be a multiple reasons you’d want to do this. Some of them, described in a patent app are:

Despite the restrictions involved in playing back audio files, users of media devices may wish to change the audio output of audio files. A mother, for example, might wish to change the narrator’s voice in a pre-recorded, commercially available audiobook to her own voice, so that her child can listen to the audiobook as narrated in the mother’s voice in her absence. In another scenario, a student listening to a lecture as a podcast file might want to change the audio of certain sections of the lecture to sound like someone else’s voice, so as to emphasize important parts of the lecture.

Well, that’s about it for today. Let’s see what Apple will try to patent next week.

• Sony Ericsson wants to equip cameraphones with built-in image dictionaries
• New in iPhone software patents
• Palringo launches on App store, gives iPhone pseudo-MMS function
• iPhone 4.0 OS: event based modes, intellingent and scheduled communications
• Apple is looking beyond Multi-Touch

We’ve already seen some of the things, like integration between Mapping and Calendar app in recent Apple patent filings. Some new patent applications from Apple reveal even more.

iPhone event based modes

One such patent application, called “Event-based modes for electronic devices” describes how your iPhone 4.0 device could be able to automatically adapt to different locations and life events.

The “life events” can include such things as:

any location-based event (e.g., the device entering or exiting a specific geographical location, such as a country, or a specific type of location, such as a movie theater, etc.), any environment-based event (e.g., the device being subjected to a specific physical orientation, movement, temperature, sound, light, etc.), any calendar-based event (e.g., the device reaching a specific time of day, day of week, date, etc.), any usage-based event (e.g., the device being used for a specific function, for a specific period of time, the device’s battery having less than half of its capacity remaining, etc.), any news-based event (e.g., the device receiving information about a particular worldly occurrence, such as a weather forecast, news report, or sport score, etc.), and combinations thereof.

In reaction to these life events your iPhone would be able to to automatically reconfigure it’s settings – e.g. switch the sound off and turn on a voicemail when calendar shows that you are in the meeting; prioritize certain functions and assets based on your location and time – e.g.messaging functions, e-mail access and notifications  during working hours and when device knows you are in your office, music and multimedia when you are out of your office in the evening; turn off or limit some power hungry functions -e.g active data connection – when your battery is running low, etc;

Scheduled communications on your iPhone

Another Apple patent app, called “User-programmed automated communications “  is somewhat similar to the one above, but describes a way for you to automatically schedule/preset communications activities based on calendar events, your location, caller id and other conditions.

E.g. your iPhone can automatically send a birthday greeting SMS or e-mail to your friends on a certain date, play a specific message based on caller id, if you are unable to pick-up the phone at the moment, send another message to your colleague  if your haven’t answered his voicemail message in an hour, set-up a call with John on specific time,  if a calendar entry says “Call John”, or send  an e-mail to your friends in LA when you arrive there.

Intelligent iPhone communication modes

Most of today’s smartphones are pretty dumb when it comes to setting up communications with others and reacting to communication requests. So it’s up to you to make it right.

Your phone doesn’t really care that you are in a meeting right now, so it’s your problem if you forgot to turn the sound off and some telemarketer calls. When you login on some IM service, all your contacts get an update that you are available, and it doesn’t matter that you only want to show that to your family and closest friends. And when your are unable to pick up the phone, people calling you are left wondering where the heck are you. And there’s no way  to tell the boss that you are closing the deal with a client right now, without broadcasting this to everyone else.

Well, patent app called “Systems and methods for intelligent and customizable communications between devices” shows how Apple might be able to do something about that.

By that I mean:

select appropriate communication modes for incoming communications requests based on a user’s preferences and availability. In addition, the communications device can determine the communication modes of a user based on the current activity and allow the user to provide customized information to his contacts.

If implemented in iPhone OS, the new software will let to set up various communication modes, different reply messages, availability notifications and status updates to all your contacts and contact groups in an address book. These modes then can be turned on/off manually or automatically based on your location, time of day, calendar entries or current activities.

Of course, all of these are just patent apps. But most of these things, if implemented right can make your iPhone much more useful and capable device.

And Apple is not the only one working on the ways to make your next phone an intelligent device.  Google also has some similar ideas in that direction, and I am sure Nokia ain’t sitting still too.

I guess our smartphones may actually become smart in a few years.

• Apple plans to integrate iPhone Mapping and Calendar apps
• Cheap and simple iPhone Nano for your Grandma
• Next in your iPhone OS: live object identification, face recognition, text filtering, smarter messaging, voice alteration
• LG KE850 PRADA was just a beginning
• WHERE for Nseries smartphones

But that is not the biggest problem.

The worst part is that swayed by the lure of iPhone 3G last fall, Russian mobile operators bent over and signed the contracts with Apple committing themselves to sell millions of iPhones during the next two years.

And, as the sales of the handset did not take off, they are now facing hundreds of millions of in fines from Apple.

Here’s what I’ve been able to parse from a few Russian sites – Vedomosti, Mobile-Review and Eldar Murtazin’s blog:

• All three main Russian operators have signed-up to sell iPhone in Russia. Of them,  Vimpelkom pledged to sell 1.5 million of iPhones in the next 2 years, Megafon took on to move 1 million iPhones in 2 years, and MTS went for 1 mil of iPhones in 3 years.
• At this moment a total 900 000 iPhones have been imported to Russia. The problem is, that only 400K of them were officially brought in by Apple’s operator partners. The rest are jailbroken iPhones that got there through “grey” channels.
• Of the 400K iPhones bought from Apple in Q4, 2008, operators were able to sell into retail channel 280K until April. And only 127 000 of them have actually been sold to the end user (or at least that’s what operators were paid by retailers).
• None of the operators have actually bought a single iPhone from Apple in 2009.  (data by Mobile Research Group, Russia)

So in the first six months from  launch, operators were actually able to sell only 127 iPhone units. If this trend continues, Russian mobile carries will sell around 400K of iPhones in the next 18 months, for a total of something like 550K units. Leaving them with a pile of 2-2.5 million of pledged, but unsold units when the bill comes due.

Depending on the actual iPhone sale price or fines in the contract, this could amount to $500 mil to 1 billion $ in fine payments to Apple. Two Russian carriers, in their reports to shareholders,  have already officially admitted possible significant fines and negotiations with Apple.

According to sources, since the start of the year all three Russian carriers have been busy in negotiations with Apple to change the terms of the deals. They want reductions either in price or quantities.  But so far Apple won’t budge.

Given the still enthusiastic support elsewhere and vibrant “grey” iPhone market in Russia, Apple may not care much what Russian carriers have to say. A deal’s a deal, after all.

On the other hand, angering all main Russian carriers with multi-hundred million dollar fines may close both official and “grey” Russian market to iPhone altogether.

Well, it would be interesting to watch how this situation develops in the next few months. Stay tuned

Update: While I was writing this article, Eldar posted an update on his blog.

Apple is now also looking to sell iPhones directly through big retailers in Russia. However the terms offered by Apple are unacceptable for now.

Meanwhile, mobile operators now officially told Apple – renegotiate the contracts, or there will be no iPhone in Russia. And (privately) noted that they’ll do anything in their power to disable all jailbroken iPhones on their networks otherwise.

• iPhone Will Come to Russia in 2009
• MegaFon announces plans to sell iPhone in Russia later this year
• Report: 8 million iPhones sold and counting
• Apple to Allow iPhone Subsidies, Lower Revenue Sharing
• Rumor: $99 iPhone coming to Wal-mart

I’d say spilling a coffee on it, or dropping it into a water somewhere. We all know that water is bad for electronics, but this sh$#& happens quite often.

Then, we may try to dry it and hope the whole thing works again. And, the less honest among us, may take the iPhone to the store, and claim that “… it stopped working and I have no idea why…”

Looks like Apple had a fair share of such claims. It is now thinking about installing water exposure detectors into the iPhones and iPods, so a technician can see what the problem is with a single glance, and tell you that the warranty is void, without even opening the darn thing.

The water exposure detector can be made to be seen by everyone, as a seprate opening in the device. Or it can be installed inside the headphone jack and require an additional simple tool to view.

I won’t go into the technical details of how it will be achieved. Looks a pretty easy thing to do, and if you want more, go read the full patent application for this here.

• Apple “tax” for iPhone accessories may be in the works
• Apple patents iPhone Mobile Navigation / Mapping App
• China Unicom to launch iPhone on Oct. 15th. $293 for 8G, $439 for 16G on a 2 year, $27 a month contract
• Copy-paste tech from Apple Newton could make its way to iPhone
• Apple’s device abuse detection system and the stupid exploding iPod story

Made from regular silicone, the ChocoCase from Homade sure can protect your beloved first-gen iPhone from scratches among other things but imagine whipping out your glossy black iPhone to answer a call and instead end up talking on a chocolate bar. For just $29.99, you could pretty much end your social life and begin a new courtship with toothsome confections.

But still if you want to carry a bar of chocolate in your pocket that does not melt, you can take home your style killer from GizFever for just under $30 a piece.

• New LG Chocolate – next generation “Black Label” series phone preannounced
• Apple launches iPhone Your Life mini-site
• New in iPhone software patents
• 3G iPhone confirmed to be cheaper, thinner, and more powerful?
• O2 Rumored to Slash iPhone Prices This Summer

The problem with this is that T-Mobile and Starbucks had already made an exclusive agreement for this matter, with T-Mobile already providing these services.

T-Mobile admits that there was a transition deal in place between Starbucks, AT&T and themselves, but they are alleging that the other companies are not living up to the proposed agreement over how Starbucks should transfer from its T-Mobile partnership to a new partnership with AT&T announced earlier this year.

T-Mobile had been exclusively providing Wi-Fi service at the Starbucks locations since 2002, and after filing a 12-page complaint Thursday, T-Mobile said publicly that “The conduct of Starbucks has caused T-Mobile monetary damages, and such damages will continue should Starbucks continue its breaching conduct”.

The amount of proposed damages and legal fees is unspecified, but an order is also included in the legal filing to prevent Starbucks from further breaching the transition agreement that was decided among the three involved companies.

To T-Mobile’s claim that they secretly developed a promotional plan with AT&T with which they would still offer “free” AT&T/Starbucks Wi-Fi even in store that were still reliant on T-Mobile’s infrastructure, Starbucks responded back stating that “Our goal is to ensure Wi-Fi access at all Starbucks locations. This is a benefit offered to our Starbucks Card Rewards members as well as AT&T subscribers and steps are being taken to ensure that this access continues”.

T-Mobile is seeking financial restitution for the unfair competition Starbucks has apparently created, and it will definitely be interesting to see what sort of agreement comes about here. We will be staying right on top of this story and letting you know when any new information becomes available to us.

Via: Yahoo! News

• T-Mobile, Starbucks, and AT&T settle Wi-Fi dispute
• AT&T finally offers free Wi-Fi for all iPhone users
• Starbucks to offer two hours of free AT&T Wi-Fi a day
• Microsoft and LG go hand in hand in mobile deal
• T-Mobile USA Launches Services In Former SunCom Markets

We already discussed the past rumor of DoCoMo bringing the iPhone to Japan and most of us thought this was a sure thing, but with this announcement there are sure to be some more dominant SoftBank customers.

DoCoMo spokesman Shinjiro Minami let it be known that the company was unhappy SoftBank had really beaten them to the punch here, as he admits that they were in fact strongly considering a deal of their own with Apple before SoftBank came into the picture.

There have been very few details released on this agreement, and SoftBank spokesman Naoki Nakayama said no further details such as pricing and dates were available as of yet. Regardless, now no one can question the fact that there will be a 3G iPhone within the year.

Japan is considered as being a huge market for the iPhone, just take a look at how well Apple’s other popular product, the iPod has done.

We will be sure to keep you up to date with new information as it becomes available to us.

Via: SoftBank

• NTT DoCoMo still waiting for “right condition to sell” iPhone in Japan
• Softbank confirms $215 iPhone in Japan
• Korea’s KTF in talks with Apple to bring the iPhone home
• Softbank Mobile nets first major corporate iPhone customer in Japan
• Apple’s iPhone – iPod Phone coming to Japan first

The Super Grip helps protect your iPhone from falls, ensuring a long life well worth the initial cost, making sure that it stays in perfect condition.

It grips onto even the slipperiest surfaces, costs $10.50 and is available in black and white. You can purchase this handy iPhone accessory through Mobile.Brando.Com.HK and there are also various other retailers with this product in stock as well.

It may not be the most attractive accessory in the world but for a mere ten bucks we think it is at least worth checking out.

Via: IntoMobile

• White 3G iPhone in the wild?
• Solar power leather case charges your iPhone the green way
• Brando starts selling iPhone 3G SIM unlocking tool
• Apple “tax” for iPhone accessories may be in the works
• AT&T turns $99 iPhone dreams come true with refurbs

Sources close to the 3G iPhone launch reported this information to Gizmodo just this morning, telling them that Apple will announce this new model at the WWDC Keynote almost exactly three weeks from today.

This move is clearly a logical step, one that was expected and now we know the details and can’t wait for the upcoming launch date.

According to sources, the 3G iPhone will not be available at a fixed price point after this, but the specific prices have not been released as of yet. We will be sure to stay on top of this story, providing you with further specs as they become available to us.

As the obvious cellphone to beat on the market today, one thing is for sure – the lineups for this new Apple iPhone model are going to be out the door.

• AT&T store stock rooms hold last Apple iPhone stocks
• Apple iPhone Launch in India
• Digg founder predicts new iPhone next week, price cut on old model
• AT&T May be Prepping $99 iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 3G can’t be used as modem, says AT&T

The DioPen software is able to recognize Korean, Chinese and English/European characters and digits written in cursive, print or mixed cursive/print.

One of the best features of this software is that it can easily be implemented with other mobile devices with capacitive touchscreen as well as resistive touchscreen, making it more versatile and convenient.

We will keep you posted on more details as they become available on this software.

Via: ZD Net Korea,

• DioTek’s DioPen 7 for Windows Mobile now available
• RIM files for hybrid capacitive/ resistive Blackberry touchscreen patent
• Next Nokia touch smartphone to come with capacitive touchscreen and multi-touch?
• Nokia is exploring 3D multi-touch interface
• Interactive keypad for Nokia phones

If this is true, then Apple will be on track for a June 3G iPhone release date, just in time for the forthcoming WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) 2008.

If I remember correctly, the reason why the iPhone is only capable of running on an EDGE network is because the Infineon chips were not ready for 3G yet. Well, it seems, now they are.

But again, you know how ugly rumors can get sometimes. I say the best option would be to wait for either company to drop a press release or watch out for the keynote of Steve Jobs at WWDC.

Via Wiwo

• T-Mobile Austria confirms upcoming 3G iPhone, becomes testing ground
• iPhone 3G to receive firmware fix on September
• New iPhone 3G teardown details chips, says Infineon and TriQuint bring home the bacon
• iPhone 3G S may hit China in Q4 2009 as China Unicom and Apple sign 2-year deal
• Sling confirms plans to roll out SlingPlayer for iPhone

There was not much information released alongside the pics, but our source says they received two photos not seen on the net that were possibly those of the iPhone 2 undergone all rumors in recent weeks or photos of a Chinese copy.

Check out the pictures to see for yourself and decide what you think, and either way not much is distinguishable from what we see here.

There is bound to be a certain level of hype surrounding the launch of the iPhone 2 as there was with the original, and there have been several rumors surrounding the specs and release date, nothing confirmed as of yet.

We will be sure to keep you updated on all the details and let you know when we receive further information on this.

• First Blackberry Clamshell Unveiled
• Latest 3rd-gen iPhone Pics Brought to Life
• Why the iPhone 2 leaked photos could be fake
• Launch Date of 3G iPhone Finally Confirmed
• 3G iPhone confirmed to be cheaper, thinner, and more powerful?

This is some fantastic news for residents of the Great White North – the iPhone is finally heading to Canada.

It seemed like it would never happen with millions of people across the country were hoping that it would, and now this wish has come to fruition.

Rogers recently revealed in their latest earnings report that they were thrilled to announce a deal that would bring the iPhone to Canada. This potentially could result in something even bigger than the introduction of the iPhone, because it may mean that other services not yet accessible to Canadians may become so in the near future.

The date of release has not yet been revealed, but it seems at this point as though it will be sometime in the fall of 2008. We will keep you up to date as more specs and retail information becomes available to us.

Via: Engadet Mobile

• BlackBerry Bold to debut for Rogers Wireless on July 25th
• Telstra’s Australian iPhone prices revealed
• Telus to launch the iPhone 3G S in Canada?
• Rogers to launch iPhone on Monday in Canada
• Nokia N95 really coming to Rogers Canada, actually 8GB version

As stated on the AT&T website:

Today, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced a new Text Accessibility Plan (TAP) for iPhone, designed to give iPhone customers with disabilities the choice of unlimited text messaging, Web browsing and easy access to e-mail for $40 a month.

The plan is available to both new and current eligible iPhone users with disabilities. In order to find out if you qualify for the plan you must complete an application form for eligibility, which is available through AT&T and which you can also go directly to here.

This is a great commitment on AT&T’s part and we will be sure to keep you updated on any further news on this in the future, and on any additional information about AT&T’s NCCD and other offerings for customers with disabilities.

• AT&T Unveils TAP system for iPhone 3G
• eReader for iPhone and iPod Touch in the works
• AT&T to sell the new iPhone with cheaper service plans
• iPhone 3G in-home activation may be possible after all
• France’s Orange iPhone 3G Pricing Revealed

This is a more significant release of the iPhone than usual because to date Indians have had to illegally buy, unlock and then use these devices if they want to take advantage of the technology.

The launch would mean that this would no longer be an issue as the iPhone would be made widely available throughout India.

The launch will be with telecom operator Vodafone, and hopes are high that this will all go through as planned, to offer Indians access to this desirable gadget as soon as possible.

One Apple source commented that:

The carrier deal for India is being worked out with Vodafone. Vodafone could also become the carrier for the Australian market once iPhone is launched there, though more than one carrier is likely for Australia.

Apple retail sources have also revealed that it will be the 8 GB version of the touchscreen iPhone which will be launched initially, with other models to follow up in the future.

The expected price is between Rs 27,200 to 28,000, but again this may change by the time it is actually released. We will be sure to keep you informed of any and all information on this.

Via: Business Standard

• Vodafone brings down iPhone 3G price in India by $47
• India to finally get iPhone with … 3G on BSNL
• Vodafone to sell iPhone 3G in India starting August 22nd from $708 up
• It’s official: Vodafone to offer Apple iPhone in ten markets worldwide
• T-Mobile and Orange in talks for the iPhone 3G in the UK

Even though the company’s research shows that smartphones from HTC Corp. are used for accessing the internet even more often (percentage-wise) than the iPhone, the latter has a much larger market share; large enough, in fact, to send Bank of America and Google scrambling to improve their support for mobile internet activities and meet the demands of increased web traffic from iPhone users.

What is the cause of such wide mobile internet usage among the iPhone owners? Apple’s product is, undoubtedly, ergonomic and convenient device, great for checking your e-mail or reading some news online without having to carry your laptop around. That is not the only reason, however; the unlimited Edge plans that the operators in US offer with the iPhone probably played a big part in making mobile web browsing with this device so popular. If a similar survey would be ran in Europe, where many operators charge per-MB fees, I would expect somewhat different results.

Via: iSuppli

• Study: US Spends More Time on Mobile Web than UK
• iPhone 2.0 software coming free to iPhone in July, $9.95 for iPod Touch
• iSuppli’s virtual iPhone 3G teardown puts BOM at $173.00
• Apple gaining popularity in Enterprise smartphone biz while Palm maintains steady decline
• Voice-enabled Google Mobile app for iPhone now available

He informs us that:

The first piece of news is that Nike+ will definitely be extending its compatibility beyond the iPod Nano to the iPhone and iPod Touch. No surprise there really, but the interesting detail is that it could also make use of both devices Wi-Fi (and, ultimately for the iPhone, 3G capability) to let you update your training log on the fly. Once you’ve legged round your local park you’ll be able to send the data (probably via a software app like the one the new SportBand uses) wirelessly without having to sit down and drip sweat over your computer. Very cool.

This is going to come in very handy for users around the world, even though it is still not super sophisticated when compared to miCoach. You will be able to add notes to each run and then share and compare schedules with your Nike+ buddies.

• iPhone Nike+ UI in the wild
• iPhone 2.0 software coming free to iPhone in July, $9.95 for iPod Touch
• Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch outed by Amazon
• Google offers improved search results for iPhone, iPod touch
• PwnageTool 2.0 released for old iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch

The new 3G UMTS iPhone should be announced after Christmas, or early next year (Macworld Expo?), so as not to negatively impact Christmas sales of the current generation iPhone.

Morse.it states in no uncertain terms that they have received the confirmation of these news from highly reliable sources.

This story resonates well with The Register report about 3G iPhone launch next spring, and Morse.it has reported the news already last week.

But it is contradicted by the news about Vodafone Germany suing T-Mobile over exclusive iPhone distribution rights. On the other hand the suit might have been a negotiations ploy and the may be dropped now, if the exclusive agreement was indeed signed.

And wouldn’t this violate distribution agreements with current iPhone carriers? Apparently not. O2, T-Mobile and others should be checking their contracts pronto. According to Morse, they cover only iPhones with Edge/GPRS…

Well, just as with the European launch of the original iPhone, lot’s of contradicting info flying around. And this is only a start, you can expect much more of it in the coming months.

• India to finally get iPhone with … 3G on BSNL
• O2 UK’s Palm Pre exclusivity confirmed?
• iPhone might be coming to Italy soon with 3G and a whole lot more
• Vodafone Samsung SGH-i560 GPS Symbian Slider in the works
• Vodafone Samsung SGH-F700V is almost here

Apple’s patents confirmed that Apple is exploring quite a few possibilities of the smaller iPod Nano like phone. There was full screen iPhone Nano with touchpanel at the bottom, there even was an iPhone Nano version without a touchscreen at all. And everything about the real phone was pure speculation.

But now, you tell me what’s this:

The pictures of the device that Dutch gadget site gadgetzone.nl came up with look very similar to the iPhone. Only instead of 11.5 cm this one is just 8 cm long.

Now, there can be four ways to explain this:

1. A very skilled Photoshop job
2. Some enterprising Chinese vendor ripping off Apple’s design
3. Some design shop’s experiments
4. First spy pics of the real iPhone Nano

The pictures look real enough for me and are not likely to have been photoshopped. So the options No. 2 and 3 are probably the most likely explanation here.

But until the author of the pics comes forward and denies it, we can not completely rule out the possibility that these are the first spy shots of the new iPhone Nano, can we?

Update: On the other hand, this one and this one looks very similar to the the pics above. So Chinese plain-vanilla 2GB PMP rip-off without even a touchscreen seems very likely

Another update – This is the response of gadgetzone.nl to our doubts (via machine translation from Dutch):

Our source in the US implores that us the photograph of the iPhone nano real is and comes from someone who works at Apple. The apparatus 4GB flash-geheugen will have, which would be not strange because Apple has stopped recent with producing 4GB the iPhone. Also is the apparatus provides with touchscreen with tactile feedback oftewel vibration if you press knopje on the baffle what kind of a more pleasant use looks. Further zit the ear-phone connection to the lower part, just like at the new iPod nano.

Well, I guess we’ll really have to wait and see…

And yet another (final) update: Well, it was fun while it lasted. But here’s the final proof that this ‘iPhone” nano is just a cheap Chinese rip-off:

• Entire line of iPhone nano cases showcased online
• Vaja turns into yet another iPhone nano case maker
• Case manufacturer gives further hints on an iPhone nano
• iPhone nano now available in Thailand, sort of
• Apple iPhone 3G Product RED Special Edition and iPhone Air, which one is legit?

This patent application caused a lot of hoopla and speculation around the net, with JP Morgan analyst Kevin Chang confirming it’s existence through his sources in supply channel and predicting the launch of iPhone Nano before Christmas. And don’t forget Apple’s patent for iPhone Nano with a touchscreen on the back.

Later JP Morgan said that they were unable to confirm the report through other sources and many news outlets considered it a retraction, deciding that there’s no such thing as iPhone Nano. But it is premature to call second JP Morgan report a retraction. They never said that there’s no iPhone Nano.

And in the latest patent application, filed on January 04, 2007 (just a couple of weeks before the official launch of first iPhone) Apple talks about exactly this kind of cheap and simple device. And clearly states that it is about a new cellphone in the patent application name – “Telephone interface for a Portable Communication Device” (download patent .pdf here, 3MB).

It looks like Apple decided that it does not even need any fancy touchpads or touchscreen at the back. Simple click wheel that you can find on any iPod and some clever software implementation will do.

As you can see from the drawings, the iPhone Nano would look very similar to your current iPod Nano. Probably just a bit longer, will have a bigger screen and a few additional text menu items for phone operation.

Everything else stays the same. Just when you select a phone mode, a rotary dial with numbers and letters appears on the screen. When you place a finger on a click wheel, the relevant number or letter is selected. As you move your finger around, highlight on a dial follows it. Press a finger and it enters the number or character for the names in address book. You can also switch between character entry and edit modes and give other commands by pressing menu, play, fast forward buttons.

With touch sensitive click wheel and some clever software tricks to differentiate between simple click and movement, overall operation of iPhone Nano can be made as intuitive as for any iPod.

And the same goes for SMS text messages:

Just scroll through the relevant letters with the movement of the finger on a clickwheel, use command keys to jump between different trays on the screen, ad some clever predictive text entry algorithms and sending SMS is even easier then on your current cellphone.

There you have it. Cheap and simple iPhone Nano.

Is it real? Yes. I think so.

Apple research department might just be exploring various avenues of phone design. But the whole idea revealed in this patent application looks too good and practical to pass up. The application itself too direct and complete for something to be put into the drawer and forgotten. And the whole trickle of the patent applications pointing in the same direction is too similar to the pattern we’ve seen last year with the original iPhone patents.

Will we see iPhone Nano this year? Probably not. Will it even be called iPhone Nano? I have no idea. What I am sure about now is, that we will see relatively cheap and simple phone/music player designed along the lines described here in 2008, latest.

• Cheap and simple iPhone Nano for your Grandma
• Next Gen iPod and iPhone Nano: Full Screen with TouchPanel at the Bottom
• Case manufacturer gives further hints on an iPhone nano
• iPhone Nano leaked once again, in slightly more detail this time
• First spy pics of iPhone Nano?

Now German magazine Focus online reports that T-Mobile may be the winner of Apple iPhone’s distribution rights in Germany. The report is based on an accidental find of the iPhone section in T-Mobile online shop in Germany:

It looks like T-Mobile online shop was testing an iPhone section of the site and it has been accidentally made accessible via the Web.

The page, that could shortly be accessed via t-mobile.de/iPhone URL , did not provide any details about the phone and only had an “indexierungstest” (indexing test) message on it. The section was promptly removed after Focus inquiries and now resolves to 404- Site not found message.

Both Apple and T-Mobile declined to provide any comments on the reports.

Via Inside-handy.de 

• Case manufacturer gives further hints on an iPhone nano
• Vaja turns into yet another iPhone nano case maker
• T-Mobile sold 120,000 iPhone 3Gs since launch
• AT&T store stock rooms hold last Apple iPhone stocks
• T-Mobile, still lone ticket to iPhone in Germany

But what if you actually do not need all this stuff? What if you are overhelmed with all the available options? After all the success of the original iPod was based on it’s simplicity. It did just one thing – made your whole music library portable. But it did it real well.

So what if a simple iPod with lots of storage is enough? And what if Apple just added a simple phone capability to it, so you don’t have to carry two gadgets anywhere you go.

Yes. Nothing fancy or revolutionary. Just a simple iPod music player and a simple phone to make calls. Wouldn’t that be a great device?

Apple thinks so too and may just have such a device soon in an iPhone Nano form factor, as it’s recent patent filing called “Touch pad with symbols based mode” indicates.

It describes a simple touchpad that can display different symbols for different modes of the device and the ways to operate such a device. These different symbols are illuminated as different modes of the device are selected and are used to operate iPhone Nano in that mode.

And while the patent application talks about many great ways such a device might be used, the real drawings and examples boil down to a very simple thing. A portable device with just two functions – iPod music player and a simple phone.

I think Apple might be on to something here. While there is a huge market and a lots of happy potential iPhone users, the market for a cheap and simple device like iPhone Nano, that just makes calls, plays your music and does it really well, may be just as big.

Of course, if Apple introduced such a device before the iPhone, there would have been a huge outcry of dissapointment among Apple fans. But now, that Apple proved to the world at large that it can revolutionize the cellphone, it might just go and make the iPhone Nano phone/music player that your grandma will be comfortable with.

• Next Gen iPod and iPhone Nano: Full Screen with TouchPanel at the Bottom
• iPhone Nano is real
• Case manufacturer gives further hints on an iPhone nano
• First spy pics of iPhone Nano?
• Chip orders for low-cost entry-level iPhone Nano to be made in March, device could be launched in June: report

As with all the taxes, not everyone was happy and not everyone complied. And there’s only so much Apple could do to about it.

Things may be different for the iPhone. The recent patent filing shows how Apple can make any iPhone accessory maker that connects to the device, become a part of “Made for the iPhone” certification program. For a small fee, of course.

Patent application is really simple and describes:

…accessory detector coupled to the connector and configured to detect whether an external accessory coupled to the connector may interfere with wireless communication with the handheld device.

If implemented, the detector will analyze any accessory – power and data cables, hands free equipment, speakers, etc; – that you will connect to your iPhone and will decide whether it may interfere with the phone operation.

If the answer is yes, the iPhone will adjust for the maximum performance. But first it will start giving us warning messages like, you know:

“OMG! This thingy you connected right now will certainly crash your phone in a few seconds…”

Of course, like with the third party apps on the iPhone, it’s all for our own good.

And the club such a detector gives Apple to herd all accessory makers into “Made for the iPhone” certification program, for a small 10% fee on each accessory, is just an accidental side effect.

• iTunes 7.7 pre-release version Read Me hints at iPhone/ iPod Touch remote app
• Cheap and simple iPhone Nano for your Grandma
• Red iPhone Coming for the Holidays?
• Apple iPod/iPhone as a remote control for Apple Media Centre
• Apple sells 1 million iPhone 3Gs, 10 million App Store downloads in first weekend

It would be difficult to put such an interface on iPod Nano – with your finger covering a better part of touchscreen, how would you operate it?

Don’t worry, Apple now has a solution. Why not make a full screen iPod or iPhone Nano, and put an operational touchpanel on the back side?

This way you can have a full screen of Next Gen iPod/iPhone Nano for viewing. When active touchpanel on the back side is activated, transparent device controls appear, depending on the mode the device is in – scroll wheel, song list for music, alphanumeric keypad for dialing, QWERTY softkeys for messages.

The cursor on the screen will follow the position of your finger. You can slide the finger through the force sensitive touchpanel, applying pressure when you reach the desired control or symbol and selecting it.

Since the materials on the bottom touchsurface need not be transparent, haptic controls like VibeTonz can be easily implemented in the device, providing vibration touch feedback when controls are pressed.

There are still technological and ergonomic limitations of how small such a device can be. You should not expect to see 3G iPhone Nano anytime soon.

But a full screen iPod Nano with active force sensitive touchpanel at the bottom is a real possibility even today. And so is a little bigger 2-2.5G iPhone Nano with the same technology.

Source: Apple patent filing

• First spy pics of iPhone Nano?
• iPhone Nano is real
• iPhone 2.0, iPhone 3.0 or iPhone Nano – a clamshell/flip phone?
• Cheap and simple iPhone Nano for your Grandma
• Case manufacturer gives further hints on an iPhone nano

When developing an iPhone, Apple has also thought of the newish docking station that will be needed to operate it comfortably when charging and synchronizing iPhone with your computer.

According to the new design – an iPhone can be docked and be operational in both horizontal and vertical modes, or even in any 360 degree orientation you like. There are two possible implementations of this docking station described Apple patent “Methods and apparatuses for docking a portable electronic device that has a planar like configuration and that operates in multiple orientations”

First (above) is a fixed docking station where the connection interfaces between the dock and the iPhone can be synchronized independently of the direction at which the device is put in the cradle.

Another embodiment has the docking station that includes the base and rotational platform. The iPhone is fixed to the platform in one direction only, however the platform itself can be rotated at 360 degree angle:

What’s interesting about this implementation is that Apple is talking not only about the iPhone, but specifically mentions Tablet PC as a possible user of such configuration:

The portable electronic device 14 may correspond to a tablet, and the base may serve as a location for accessing the Internet or connecting to peripheral devices such as printers, fax machines, scanners, and the like…. In cases such as these the portable electronic device may correspond to a monitor, tablet PC…

Now, we all know that Apple iPhone grew out of the Apple’s research on Tablet PCs and tablets were abandoned in order to focus all the efforts on reinvention of the cellphone. The main patent for the iPhone – “Multifunctional handheld deviceâ€? doesn’t even mention the Tablet PC.

Could this patent application that surfaced today be an indication that Apple is resuming it’s efforts to develop a new tablet?

.

• One iPod dock to hold them all
• Apple patents improved digital ink recognition techniques for pen-aware tablet
• Apple patents iPhone’s intelligent keyboard
• Verizon to launch an Apple tablet computer this year
• Cheap and simple iPhone Nano for your Grandma

Do you know when the first Apple phone patent was filed and issued? It was filed in 1982 and issued 1985.
And what was patented? Well, Apple phone of course

Check the original patent application here: Apple Phone Patent

Found via: MobileCowboys.nl

• Apple patents iPhone’s intelligent keyboard
• Apple sued for iPhone’s web-surfing capabilities
• iPhone Nano is real
• Apple patents iPhone Mobile Navigation / Mapping App
• Opera Mini for iPhone’s situation clarified

Nokia Explore :

Nokia Achieve:

• Nokia 7480 Fashion Phone Concept
• Tactile iPhone case concept goes a long way to pleasing the visually impaired
• New Nokia concept phone by designer Ulisses Gardim
• No Nokia N93i upgrade model until 2010?
• Asus Aura -iPhone like concept

To find out which of the cool iPhone features has been patented by Apple and are now protected from replication and which ones you can expect to be copied soon by the likes of Nokia, Samsung or Motorola, we’ve combed through the U.S. Patent and Trademark database and checked all relevant Apple’s patents.

And we came to a conclusion that this time Steve Jobs did his homework and most of the key features that make iPhone an iPhone will not be easily copied by competitors. This applies to Multi touch display, the idea to use full screen of the device for User Interface, scrolling, zooming and other finger gestures, soft on screen controls, multifunctionality, proximity, ambient light sensors and many other functions. Here are the details:

Multi-touch Screen.

It’s the key feature which probably led to the development of the iPhone itself. Multi-touch screen was created sometime in 2003-2004 and was the result of Apples efforts to improve Tablet PC interface. According to Time after seeing the new screen Jobs “Forgot all about computers” and decided to transform the cellphone instead. Apple described this screen in a patent application filed in May 2004, called “Multipoint touchscreen“.

Although they seem to be a part of the computer screen, touch screens are actually separate transparent devices that are placed above the display. Touch screens themselves are just clear panels with a touch sensitive surface. The touch panel registers touch events and sends these signals to the controller. The controller processes these signals and sends the data to the computer system. The software driver translates the touch events into computer events.

Touch sensitivity can be achieved through a number of technologies including resistive, capacitive, infrared, surface acoustic wave, electromagnetic, near field imaging, etc. However all of the previous technologies were unable to accurately distinguish positions of the touch, if more then one object a time was placed on the panel.

Apple solved this problem by putting a number of transparent electrodes or array of conductive lines formed from Indium tin oxide (ITO) on a panel and thus forming a number of separate reference points (grid), which could be used to determine the position of multiple objects touching the screen at the same time. The force sensing mechanism embedded between electrode layers also allowed them to deduct the intentions of the user based on the way he puts fingers on the screen and filter out accidental touches.

Apple claimed following key inventions related to multipoint touch screen:

“…the transparent capacitive sensing medium comprises: a transparent electrode layer, the electrode layer including a plurality of electrically isolated electrodes and electrode traces formed from a transparent conductive material, each of the electrodes being placed at different locations in the plane of the touch panel, each of the electrodes having an individual trace for operatively coupling to capacitive monitoring circuitry…..
…further including one or more integrated circuits for monitoring the capacitance at each of the electrodes, the integrated circuits being operatively coupled to the electrodes via the traces….
….wherein the electrodes are placed in rows and columns….
….wherein the electrodes and traces are formed from indium tin oxide (ITO)….”

And alternative implementation:

“….wherein the transparent capacitive sensing medium comprises: a first layer having a plurality of transparent conductive lines that are electrically isolated from one another; and a second layer spatially separated from the first layer and having a plurality of transparent conductive lines that are electrically isolated from one another, the second conductive lines being positioned transverse to the first conductive lines, the intersection of transverse lines being positioned at different locations in the plane of the touch panel, each of the conductive lines being operatively coupled to capacitive monitoring circuitry….
…..the conductive lines on each of the layers are substantially parallel to one another….
…..the conductive lines on different layers are substantially perpendicular to one another…
…..the transparent conductive lines of the first layer are disposed on a first glass member, and wherein the transparent conductive lines of the second layer are disposed on a second glass member, the first glass member being disposed over the second glass member…
…..wherein the conductive lines are formed from indium tin oxide (ITO)…

Multifinger gestures.

After creating a multipoint touchscreen Apple started working on various cool things that Multi-touch enables to do. You could see the results of this work during iPhone introduction. Like scrolling, flipping through cover art, increasing and reducing pictures, etc; and all of this with natural movement of one or several fingers.

Apple calls this method of device operation “Multifinger gestures” and describes them in detail in a patent application called “Gestures for touch sensitive devices“. This patent has 100 different claims related to the operation of Multi-touch device and basically covers all the ways Apple could think of to manipulate various objects that appear on the screen. That includes rotating, zooming, panning, scrolling, flipping and performing other cool stuff that you saw during the demo.

Device integration

After creating the basic software to operate an iPhone, it was time to fuse all the possibilities that it provided into a new device. It should be a novel device, the kind the world has never seen before. And, of course, since it was so new, everything about it should be patented. Apple’s patent called “Multifunctional handheld device” was the result. It tries to cover pratically every aspect of iPhone user interface, including:

Full screen touch screen display covering almost all the area of the hand-held device and operated mainly through on screen buttons:

…multi-functional hand-held device may be configured with a full screen display or a near full screen display. A full screen display consumes substantially the entire front surface of the device. The display may extend edge to edge or may fit within a small bezel of the housing at the edge of the device. The full screen display may consumes 90% or more of a front surface of a housing for a hand-held electronic device…
Because a limited number of physical buttons are provided, the hand-held device preferably uses a touch screen as the primary input device…GUI may present an on-screen button, and the touch screen may detect when a user presses the on-screen button…The hand-held device may be constructed with only cross-functional physical buttons, i.e., there are no buttons dedicated to individual devices. These type of buttons may include power buttons and hold switches…

Multifunctionality – iPod, Cellphone and Internet Communicator in one device. Functions changes through software. Switching between applications (Phone, iPod, Internet) through on screen buttons:

“…Alternatively adaptability may be accomplished by virtually incorporating the physical inputs for each functionality into the GUI in conjunction with a touch screen. This allows the GUI to adapt to whatever device is selected, and the touch screen can receive inputs corresponding to the GUI. With a GUI for each functionality, the UI for the hand-held device adapts such that the multi-function device, in effect, becomes a particular device. For example, if the cell phone functionality is selected, the GUI presents a set of virtual or soft controls that look similar to the physical controls typically used on a cell phone, such as a keypad, function buttons and possibly a navigation pad, for example….

Multitasking:

Preferably, the user may be able to activate two or more device functionalities simultaneously. In such a case, the software for the multiple functionalities is activated simultaneously and the display operates in a split screen mode where the screen is parsed into different sections, each section including a particular device GUI. Generally this would require the GUI for each functionality to fit on the screen. The multi-function mode may be selected in a variety of ways. In one implementation, when the user simultaneously touches two or more device icons, the device activates the multiple device functionalities and brings the appropriate GUIs into view on the screen.

Accelerometer:

The hand-held electronic device may also include a motion actuated input device. The motion actuated input device provides inputs when the hand-held device is in motion or is placed in a certain orientation. A motion actuated input device typically includes a motion sensor, such as an accelerometer, that monitors the motion of the device along the x, y, and/or z axis and produces signals indicative thereof. The motion sensor may, for example, include an accelerometer. Alternatively, the motion sensor could be an orientation sensor, such as an electronic compass, that allows the device to determine its orientation in a generally horizontal plane. The motion sensors may be attached to the housing or to some other structural component located within the housing of the device. When motion is applied to the device (gesturing, shaking, hand waving, etc.), it is transmitted through the housing to the motion sensor.

Other:

Other advanced sensors that are pat of iPhone also have their own patents. Proximity sensor is covered by patent application called “Proximity detector in a handheld device“. Ambient light sensor is part of “System for sensing ambient light“.

So Steve Jobs exclaimed during keynote “And boy have we patented it!” it was not an empty boast. The have indeed PATENTED it. And though not all of the claims have received patent protection yet and even less of them may withstand scrutiny in court if Apple decides to enforce them, many of the claims should should stick.

I guess Steve has learned his lessons from Mac and there it would be very difficult for Nokia or Samsung to repeat the Microsoft Windows feat and create an iPhone knock-off without violating at least some of Apple’s IP.

• Another take on PSP phone, or Sony Ericsson’s own iPhone patent
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• Touchzel – Apple’s new way to control your handhelds
• iPhone 2.0, iPhone 3.0 or iPhone Nano – a clamshell/flip phone?

Well, it seems that Barrons may have been correct. The recent patent filing for “Handheld computing device” shows that Apple has given a lot of thought of how to integrate cellphone functionality with it’s lucrative iPod franchise.

In order to improve robustness of the current iPod’s Apple has developed advanced manufacturing and assembly techniques for the device. Instead of plastics, Apple will use ceramic materials such as Zirkonia to make device enclosures (surfaces) through extrusion process. The use of ceramics has a lot of advantages such as:

“…they are highly scratch resistant, have color embedded in it (no paint or coatings), can be made into a wide variety of colors, and provides a variety of surface finishes including smooth and rough. Furthermore, the density of ceramics is typically higher than other materials therefore their weight is higher for the same sized part. This additional weight makes the handheld device feel more robust and it makes the device exude greater quality. “

Through extrusion the device body can be made from a single piece instead of top and bottom plastic plates.

Imagine what a device may look like when Apple applies it’s design genius to the new cover surface material properties.

But the design possibilities was not the main reason for Apple to explore the use of ceramics for it’s next iPod. It seems that the main attraction was the radio transparency of the material which is

“…especially important for wireless hand held devices that include antennas internal to the enclosure. Radio transparency allows the wireless signals to pass through the enclosure and in some cases enhances these transmissions…. Generally speaking, when using an internal antenna, it is desirable to increase the radio transparency of the enclosure in order to effectively perform wireless transmissions there through. Thus, a substantial portion of the enclosure is formed form materials capable of providing radio-transparency (e.g., ceramics, etc.). In most cases, the radio transparent portions of the enclosure constitutes a significant area of the entire enclosure. For example, greater than 50%, more particularly greater than 75%, and even more particularly greater than 85%. The radio transparent portions may even be greater than 90%, and more particularly greater than 95%, and in some cases 100% of the enclosure…”

And all these new manufacturing techniques and materials will allow Apple to produce a device that in addition to printed circuit boards, hard drive and audio assembly will:

“… include one or more antennas tuned to operate over the GSM, PCS and/or DCS frequency bands. By way of example, monopole, dipole and tri band and quad band antennas may be used. In one example, a PCS+DCS dipole antenna is used. The antenna may protrude out of the enclosure or it may be fully enclosed by the enclosure. If the later, some portion of the enclosure is configured to be radio transparent (e.g., capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals therethrough). For example, the end caps and/or the main body of the enclosure may be radio-transparent.
In one implementation, the main body is formed from a ceramic material that is radio-transparent. By utilizing a ceramic enclosure that is radio-transparent, an internal antenna may be used, which is typically more robust and durable than an external antenna. Furthermore, many advantages regarding the use of an internal antenna may be achieved. For example, a smaller and cheaper antenna may be used. Furthermore, the antenna can be integrated with other components and placed at almost any location within the enclosure, which helps make a smaller and more compact device in addition to reducing the cost of manufacture…”

Robust, scratch resistant colorfull and small iPod that doubles as a cellphone. Seems that Apple might soon take some market share from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and other handset manufacturers

• Apple working on radio app with iTunes support
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• Next Gen iPod and iPhone Nano: Full Screen with TouchPanel at the Bottom

Well, it seems that Apple feels your pain. Recent patent filing shows that Apple is working on a “Universal docking station for handheld devices” that should solve most of the problems described above. As you can see from the picture, this docking station can be a stand alone device that connects to computer or music system through separate cables and dataports. Alternatively it can be integrated inside your iMac, home stereo or even the desk to reduce cable clutter.

And Apple has thought of a great number of ways of how you can fit the different sized handhelds there. While the base of the docking station containing various data ports is stable, the device holding area will contain a number of clever mechanical tricks to accommodate different sized devices. These tricks include a number of various sliding, bending, conforming, rotating or pivoting members that adjust to accept and firmly hold in place handhelds of various sizes and shapes.

So with all mechanical problems for universal iPod dock apparently solved, we can expect to see one in Apple stores pretty soon. But what about the other devices, like my Sony PSP and Motorola KRZR cellphone, can I dock them too? Probably not. Apple doesn’t say anything about the different data transfer and power input jacks on other devices. But if they can come up with a clever way to solve this problem too… Now that will be one cool gizmo to have.

• New iPhone Docking Station. Apple Tablet next?
• Apple working on radio app with iTunes support
• RFID Tags for Apple devices. Wi-Fi Enabled Apple Remote, iPod and Other Peripherals
• Apple looks forward to add RF communications to everything
• Apple sells 1 million iPhone 3Gs, 10 million App Store downloads in first weekend

But speculations about Apples iPhone ran rampant ever since and recent news gives more confirmation that they might be true. Only now Apple is turning towards more competitive and advanced markets like Japan.

According to Reuters Apple is working with Japan’s Softbank to develop a cellphone with integrated iPod music player for a Vodafone Japan network recently purchased by Japanese firm. Softbank plans to use it’s new iPod phone to compete with it’s bigger wireless rivals – KDDI and NTT DoCoMo.

According to the report iPod phone will be able to download songs from ITunes store and will carry both Softbank and Apple brands.

• iTunes 7.7 pre-release version Read Me hints at iPhone/ iPod Touch remote app
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• NTT DoCoMo still waiting for “right condition to sell” iPhone in Japan