WebProNews

Tag: iPhone 4S

  • Sneak A Peek Inside An iPhone Factory

    Sneak A Peek Inside An iPhone Factory

    The iPhone is considered by many to be a magical device. It would almost seem like they’re made inside some kind of Willy Wonka-esque factory full of happiness and sunshine. We all know that is not the case as the Foxconn factories have been well-documented in the news. There have been reports of worker abuse and inhumane working conditions. This has led to worker suicides on multiple occasions, but the company has made great strides in the last year to clean its act up.

    M.I.C. Gadget obtained a video of Foxconn CEO Terry Gou and a Chinese reporter taking a tour through the Zhengzhou branch of Foxconn. It’s a fascinating look at the inside of a factory that many people always thought was some kind of internment camp full of human rights abuses. The video clearly shows what looks like a modern factory with everybody working in relative contentment even if it is extremely mundane.

    Unfortunately, the video is in Chinese so don’t expect to really understand what’s going on. Fortunately, The Next Web has translated parts of the video. Apparently, the tour consists of Gou talking about expanding the Foxconn plant in a flyover of a desert area. Then the group hits the plant proper where they show the production of the iPhone 4S and its display. Gou also make the claim that his factory is better than any other factory in other major production countries like Germany and the U.S.

    Even though I can’t really understand the video, it’s a fascinating look inside of the most infamous factories in the world. It looks much different than I expected it to, but I guess that’s to be expected. After hearing all of the horror stories, it only makes one think of terrible things when it comes to Foxconn. Check out the video for yourself to see the birthplace of your iPhone.

  • John Malkovich Stars In Two New iPhone 4S Commercials

    A little over a month ago, Apple took its advertising in a new direction by doing something they rarely do: using celebrities to sell Apple products. They released two Siri-centric ads for the iPhone 4S, one with Samuel L. Jackson planning a date night, and Zooey Deschanel planning a day in.

    For all that the move was unusual for Apple, it also proved to be pretty popular. And as you might expect, the ads each sponsored their own respective parodies. Jackson’s commercial got a parody video that put Siri in perhaps the best-known scene of his career. Deschanel’s commercial got a parody Twitter account that has her asking Siri a string of stupid questions.

    Now it looks like Apple’s use of celebrities last month wasn’t a one-shot (or, more accurately, two-shot) deal. Another pair of ads has started airing in the last couple of days. Both feature actor John Malkovich sitting in a cushy armchair drinking tea (presumably) and giving Siri one-word requests for things like weather, a restaurant that serves a certain dish, and his schedule. The first ad ends with Malkovich asking Siri to tell him a joke, while the second ends with him asking the meaning of life. Check them out below:

    It’s not entirely clear when the ads started airing, but they were posted on Apple’s YouTube page yesterday.

  • IBM Blocks Siri Over Security Concerns

    IBM Blocks Siri Over Security Concerns

    The rise of the consumer smartphone has presented a host of difficulties for the business world. Quite apart from savaging the market share of the once-dominant BlackBerry, the iPhone and Android have presented problems for business owners whose employees don’t want to carry separate devices for work and for personal use. This has caused concerns over both device deployment and security, and various businesses have dealt with these issues in a variety of ways.

    The advent of Siri with last year’s iPhone 4S has added a new wrinkle to the problem. As you may know, Siri doesn’t process voice requests on your phone. It uploads them to Apple’s servers (along with some basic data from your phone, including your contacts) and processes them there, then sends the results back. That has raised a whole new set of concerns with some companies.

    IBM takes a particularly cautious approach to such issues. IBM CIO Jeanette Horan recently told MIT’s Technology Review that the company disables Siri on employees’ iPhones over concerns that users’ requests might be stored on Apple’s servers. Of course, Siri isn’t the only one on the chopping block – IBM employees are also forbidden from using services like Dropbox to store company files, from using their phones to create wi-fi hotspots, and from forwarding work email to a web-based email service like Gmail.

    With the iPhone and Android continuing to eat away at BlackBerry’s market share, the number of businesses that issue mobile devices to their employees is diminishing rapidly. In fact, data released in February shows massive growth in the adoption of Apple’s iOS products – the iPhone and the iPad – in the business world. As these devices proliferate in the workplace, security issues are going to become an increasing problem. Fortunately, though, there are already a variety of companies that specialize in helping businesses manage the security and deployment of their employees’ mobile devices. While they may lack the simplicity of the services that come built into the BlackBerry platform, they offer similar solutions. Even so, businesses are forced to try and strike a very careful balance between making their workers happy by allowing them to use their own devices, and making sure that their data is secure.

  • Sprint Offers $100 Trade-In On Other Carriers’ iPhones

    Sprint Offers $100 Trade-In On Other Carriers’ iPhones

    In a bid to bring more iPhone customers into the fold, Sprint has started offering $100 credit towards the purchase of a new iPhone when you trade in an old iPhone from either of its competing carriers. The program began on Friday and runs through early July.

    There are a number of ways to take advantage of the deal. You can take your old iPhone to a Sprint store and trade it in directly, after reserving a new iPhone 4S online. This way you get the $100 rebate instantly. You can also order your new iPhone and set up your service on Sprint’s website, then submit your old iPhone through their buyback program. If your old iPhone turns out not to be worth $100, then Sprint will make up the difference. If you go this route, the $100 credit will be posted to your account, and may be split up over 2-3 billing cycles.

    The catch (not surprisingly) is that this deal excludes upgrades. That is, you can’t upgrade an existing line with a new iPhone and get the $100. You have to start a new line of service. That’s not terribly surprising, given what Sprint is trying to accomplish with this deal. Though Sprint sold a respectable number of iPhones last quarter, the company is still having major issues with profitability. In fact, the company has bet heavily on the iPhone, the point that iPhone sales are a major part of what is keeping Sprint afloat. With this deal, Sprint is plainly looking to draw in customers from other wireless carriers – i.e., AT&T and Verizon. While the company’s continued offering of unlimited data plans is a major differentiator, Sprint needs all the iPhone customers it can get. Offering $100 toward the purchase of a new iPhone (which effectively cuts the price of the 16GB iPhone 4S in half) is an excellent way to do it.

    In order to get the $100 trade-in, you have to activate your new iPhone by July 3rd, and complete the trade-in process (if you go the online route) by August 14th. The deal only started on Friday, so there’s no way to know yet how well it’s working for Sprint. Unless they make a special announcement about the program’s success, we’ll probably have to wait until their next quarterly earnings report, which should come in July.

  • Apple Seeks Dismissal Of Siri Lawsuit

    Apple Seeks Dismissal Of Siri Lawsuit

    Back in March we brought you news that a class action lawsuit had been filed against Apple over Siri, the personal assistant software that has been one of Apple’s main selling points for the iPhone 4S. The suit, brought by Frank M. Fazio of Brooklyn, New York, accused Apple of false advertising in commercials that show off Siri’s capabilities.

    Specifically, the suit alleges that Siri does not function as well as Apple says it does, often returning incorrect information, misunderstanding spoken commands and requests, or even failing to work at all. The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, sought class action status.

    Apple has responded by filing a motion to dismiss the suit. Apple’s filing argues that the suit fails to provide specific information about Siri’s failings, and that Apple has been extremely forthcoming about the fact that Siri is still regarded as a beta release, and is not yet perfect. While the ads in question show – as advertisements are wont to do – Siri at her best, the fact that the feature is still in beta should, Apple argues, be sufficient warning to purchasers that Siri may not work the way she’s supposed to all the time. They also insist that dissatisfied purchasers already have a legal recourse whereby they can express their frustration with Siri: Apple’s return policy. As such, Apple argues that even if the plaintiffs could prove their claims, the claims would still not be actionable.

    The full motion is embedded below. Here are a few highlights:

  • Plaintiffs do not tell the Court how Siri’s operation allegedly differs from any particular representation they relied on in purchasing their iPhones. They offer only general descriptions of Apple’s advertisements, incomplete summaries of Apple’s website materials, and vague descriptionsof their alleged—and highly individualized—disappointment with Siri. Tellingly, although Plaintiffsclaim they became dissatisfied with Siri’s performance “soon after” purchasing their iPhones, theymade no attempt to avail themselves of Apple’s 30-day return policy or one-year warranty—whichremains in effect.
  • Moreover, Plaintiffs’ sweeping allegations that Apple engaged in a unified course of fraudulentconduct to disseminate false and misleading statements in its advertising and marketing of iPhone4S’s Siri software fail as a matter of law because Plaintiffs do not allege a single actionablemisstatement that could support any of the claims in the Complaint.
  • Plaintiffs Frank Fazio and Daniel Balassone (as well as all out-of-state purchasers in the putative class) lack standing to pursue claims under California’s consumer protection statutes becausethey reside in other states, purchased their iPhones in other states, and apparently were exposed toApple’s advertisements in other states.
  • Plaintiffs Fazio and Balassone—and all out-of-state purchasers in the putative class—lack standing to pursue claims under California’s consumer protection statutes because they are notCalifornia residents and did not purchase their iPhones in California, and such claims should bedismissed. In addition, Plaintiffs fail to plead their claims against Apple with the level of particularity required by Rule 9(b), impermissibly rely on a selective reading of the challengedrepresentations that ignores specific disclosures, allege only non-actionable statements, and otherwisefail to allege sufficient facts in support of any of their claims. Because the Complaint is insufficientas a matter of law to support any of the claims alleged, Apple respectfully requests that this Courtdismiss the Complaint in its entirety.

    • Apple Response

    Apple’s motion to dismiss was filed on May 10th. The presiding judge, Claudia Wilken, has yet to issue a ruling on the motion.

  • iPhone 5 Rumor: Apple’s iPhone 4S Orders Begin To Taper Off Ahead Of Launch

    With the launch of the iPhone 5 (or iPhone 6, or, most likely, “new iPhone”) getting ever closer, Apple appears to be reducing its orders of the current generation iPhone 4S. The reduction is not large yet, as the launch is still about five months away (probably), and Apple can still sell an awful lot of the iPhone 4S in that time.

    According to Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee, though, Apple’s orders of the iPhone 4S have dropped to around 27 million for the current quarter. Wu speculates that the reduction in orders is not being driven by a reduction in demand. Rather Apple is preparing itself for the sharp dip in demand that is likely to occur in the month or so prior to the launch of the next iPhone in October (or maybe September).

    Wu also said that he expects Apple’s reduction in iPhone orders to cause Apple to miss Wall Street estimates unless analysts revise their expectations. Apple missed expectations in the September quarter of last year due to a similar reduction in iPhone shipments prior to the launch of the iPhone 4S. On the flip side, Wu also said that he expects shipments of the new iPad to meet or exceed Wall Street estimates, which may alleviate some of the problems caused if iPhone shipments do not meet expectations.

    While Apple tends not to comment on things like how many iPhones they’re ordering or selling (at least until their earnings call), and it’s difficult to know whether Wu’s estimation is correct, a move like this does make sense. Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones last quarter, but that was still only the second quarter since the iPhone 4S launched. It stands to reason that the natural decline in iPhone sales, coupled with the anticipation of the next iPhone’s launch, would prompt Apple to reduce the number of phones it’s ordering over the next two quarters.

  • Apple Fixes Siri’s “Best Smartphone” Problem

    On Friday we brought you a humorous bit of news about Siri, the personal assistant software on the iPhone 4S. It seems that someone discovered that if you asked Siri what the best smartphone ever is, she would tell you it was the Nokia Lumia 900.

    Of course, strictly speaking it wasn’t Siri saying that the Lumia 900 was the best smartphone ever. You see, Siri pulls information for things like product reviews from Wolfram Alpha, and given the consistently good reviews the Lumia 900 has been getting, it’s currently at the top of Wolfram Alpha’s results. Nevertheless, the fact that Siri even suggests that another smartphone might be better than the iPhone is, apparently, unacceptable. Over the weekend Apple made some changes to the backend servers that drive Siri, and made sure that from now on, she’ll give you a more… appropriate answer:

    Siri Best Smartphone Ever

    Of course, technically Siri still doesn’t say that the iPhone is the best smartphone ever. All she actually says is that it’s “the one you’re holding.” But that’s really just semantics, since the only phone Siri runs on (apart from jailbroken iPhones) is the iPhone 4S.

  • iPhone Coming Soon To Three New Carriers

    iPhone Coming Soon To Three New Carriers

    When someone asks which carriers have the iPhone, what names pop into your head? First on the list of course, is AT&T, followed by Verizon, then Sprint. After all, AT&T was the first carrier to get the iPhone, and the only one to have it until Verizon got the iPhone 4 in 2010. When Sprint cut their own deal with Apple last year, they became the third of the four largest U.S. carriers to offer Apple’s flagship phone. T-Mobile, of course, still doesn’t have the iPhone.

    But what about other carriers? After all, not everybody who wants an iPhone wants to go through the Big Three. Well, it turns out that Apple is beginning to spread the iPhone widely among smaller, local carriers. Last month we brought you news that the iPhone would be coming to five local carriers – Alaska Communications, Cellom, MTA Solutions, GCI, and Appalachian Wireless.

    Now, the list of local carriers who offer the iPhone has grown by another three carriers. Kentucky-based Bluegrass Cellular, California-based Golden State Wireless, and Kansas-based NexTech Wireless all announced yesterday that they would be offering the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 as of Friday, May 18th. In almost identical press releases, the three companies unveiled their pricing and plans for the iPhone yesterday afternoon.

    As with the five carriers mentioned above, Bluegrass, Golden State, and NexTech will all be offering the iPhone for $50 less than AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint. The 16GB iPhone 4S will sell for $149, the 32GB for $249, and the 64GB for $349. All three will also offer the iPhone 4 (8GB) for either $49 (Bluegrass and NexTech) or $50 (Golden State). The carriers’ plans vary somewhat, though they all give their larger-scale competition a run for its money. For example, all of Bluegrass Cellular’s and Golden State’s plans come with unlimited texting, while half of NexTech’s come with unlimited texting and all come with unlimited data.

    For those of us who have been paying attention to the iPhone since it debuted in 2007, the idea of Apple giving it to small, local carriers almost seems odd at first glance. After all, we got so used to thinking of the iPhone as a relatively exclusive gadget. The fact is, though, that this is a pretty big – and obvious – move for Apple. The iPhone accounted for two-thirds of the smartphones sold by the big three carriers last quarter.. With sales numbers like that, the iPhone appears to be well on its way to reclaiming its place as the holder of the largest share of the smartphone market, a title lost to Android in recent years.

    Of course, small carriers like Bluegrass Cellular or Alaska Communications aren’t going to do a lot to boost the iPhone’s sales figures on their own. On the other hand, if the iPhone comes to enough of these carriers, and if they all sell iPhones at the same rate as the big carriers, then it could wind up being pretty significant indeed.

    Does your local carrier offer the iPhone yet? If they do, does the promise of a lower price, unlimited texting, and unlimited data make you inclined to choose them over one of the larger carriers like Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon? Tell us what you think in the comments.

  • iOS 5.1.1 Jailbroken, But Don’t Update Just Yet

    iOS 5.1.1 Jailbroken, But Don’t Update Just Yet

    Yesterday we brought you news that Apple had released iOS 5.1.1, a minor update that focused mainly on squashing a few bugs that had been discovered since the release of iOS 5.1 back in March. As usual, those whose iOS devices are jailbroken were warned not to update to the newest version. We are, after all, still waiting on a working jailbreak of iOS 5.1. Even if we weren’t, there’s never a guarantee that the jailbreak that works on an X.1 release will also work on X.1.1.

    In a cruel twist of fate, though, it turns out that iOS 5.1.1 has already been jailbroken, but that the wider jailbreak community won’t be able to jailbreak their devices any time soon. Not long at all after Apple pushed out the update yesterday, Stefan Esser (i0n1c) posted the following tweet:

    @i0n1c
    Stefan Esser    Ohhh no while I was sleeping my girlfriend accidentally upgraded my iPad 3 to iOS 5.1.1 – http://t.co/Dip8t8Eq 20 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    The tweet includes a picture of the Cydia store running on his new iPad with iOS 5.1.1 installed:

    iPad 3 iOS 5.1.1 Cydia Jailbreak

    Now, you may be wondering why I called this a cruel twist of fate. After all, this is a working, untethered jailbreak. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for for two months, right? Well, yes, but the problem is the source. You may recall that shortly the new iPad launched, we ran a story about iOS 5.1 being jailbroken on the iPad 2. Well, the dev who accomplished this wondrous feat back in March was none other than Stefan Esser. Of course, the fact that we’re still waiting for a public jailbreak means that Esser didn’t share what he’d learned with other jailbreak devs. A few weeks later he explained why. In a Twitter conversation last month with another jailbreak dev, pod2g, Esser expressed his opinion that releasing a free-to-the-public jailbreak tool like the one pod2g is working on was a waste, and that having iOS exploits that Apple didn’t know about was a “huge research advantage.”

    So there it is: iOS 5.1.1 has, like iOS 5.1 before it, been jailbroken. Unfortunately, the person who did the jailbreaking isn’t inclined to share with the rest of the class. While that’s absolutely his prerogative, one could wish he would refrain from rubbing our noses in it.

    On the bright side, if you’re one of the few who is running a tethered jailbreak on an older device – original iPad, iPhone 4 or older – MusclenNerd tweeted yesterday that the redsn0w tool used to establish the tethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1 on those devices would also work for iOS 5.1.1:

    @MuscleNerd
    MuscleNerd    On the other hand, tinkerers with older devices can tether jailbreak 5.1.1 using last month’s redsn0w (just pre-select the 5.1 IPSW) 21 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    The fact that the tethered jailbreak solution works for iOS 5.1.1 gives some cause to hope that iOS 5.1.1 didn’t close the exploits pod2g is working with. With luck, that means that the release of iOS 5.1.1 won’t delay the jailbreak by much, if at all. Whatever you do, though, don’t ask pod2g when it will be done.

  • Steve Wozniak Calls Windows Phone “More Beautiful” Than iPhone, Android

    Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has a habit of annoying some of the more die-hard (or “crazy,” depending on your nomenclature of choice) fans of Apple’s products. How does he do this, you ask? Well, it seems that on occasion Woz has a tendency to speak favorably of smartphones that are not the iPhone. Wozniak famously carries multiple phones, and while he always insists that his iPhone is primary, he also uses other platforms, and is willing to speak freely about their advantages and disadvantages when compared to Apple products.

    Most recently, Wozniak did an interview with A New Domain. On that particular day, Woz happened to be carrying four – yes, four – different mobile phones: a Motorola DROID RAZR, two iPhones (one AT&T, one Verizon), and a Nokia Lumia 900. During the interview he praised the Lumia 900 and Windows Phone 7.5. The Windows Phone, he said, offered a far more aesthetically pleasing experience than either the iPhone or Android.

    He praised Windows Phone as “more intuitive and more beautiful” than both iOS and, especially, the Android platform. He said that “especially compared to Android, it’s just no contest.” Interestingly, he said that apps on his Lumia 900 were far more beautiful (he used the word “beautiful” a lot) than the same apps on the other platforms. This prompted him to speculated that either Microsoft or Nokia had approached the makers of apps like Foursquare in order to get them to make much more aesthetically pleasing apps for the Windows Phone platform prior to the Lumia 900’s launch.

    Nevertheless, he did say that the Lumia 900 had its drawbacks. He noted that the Windows Phone platform has far fewer third party apps than either iOS or Android, though he noted that that wasn’t a particularly fair criticism, since app selection has more to do with the third parties themselves than with Microsoft or Nokia. More importantly, he noted Windows Phone’s lack of a voice interface. While Android has a dictation feature that allows users to speak wherever they can type, and the iPhone 4S has Siri, Windows Phone has almost no voice interaction (apart from the occasional Siri clone in the Window Phone Marketplace).

    Wozniak went on to say that he owned about ten cellular devices, and that along with his two iPhones (a spare in case one battery dies), the Lumia 900 would be entering his day-to-day rotation.

    What do you think? Is Woz right about the Lumia 900? Is it that much more beautiful than the iPhone or Android? Let us know in the comments.

  • iOS 5.1 Jailbreak Coming Soon-ish. Maybe.

    iOS 5.1 Jailbreak Coming Soon-ish. Maybe.

    If you’re a member of the iOS jailbreak community, you know that sometimes a jailbreaking a new version of iOS can take awhile. While Apple is legally required to tolerate jailbreaking – and by “tolerate” I mean “not sue jailbreakers” – they are not obligated to make it easy. In fact, Apple has long been in the habit of making jailbreaking hard. Pretty much every new major release of iOS closes the exploits that allowed the previous version to be jailbroken. Such is the case with iOS 5.1. Apple not only fixed the exploits that were used to jailbreak iOS 5 (which took months to crack), they even acknowledged the Dev Team in the security release notes for iOS 5.1

    So it’s no surprise, then, that iOS 5.1 is taking awhile to crack. Unfortunately, though, some early successes gave many jailbreakers the idea that an untethered iOS 5.1 jailbreak was right around the corner. Despite assertions from pod2g, chpwn, and other jailbreak devs that the jailbreak would be coming later rather than sooner, people are still clamoring for it.

    Now it seems that pod2g is getting a bit impatient with repeated questions about when the jailbreak of iOS 5.1 will be ready for the public. He took to Twitter today to explain that there was still a lot of work to be done, and that those doing the work were doing it as a hobby, and have lives and jobs that also demand their attention. Check out what he had to say below:

    @pod2g
    pod2g    ETA for 5.1 JB: no clue! We’re going to set pieces of the puzzle together this week. We could have issues… Could be 1 month maybe 2… 14 hours ago via Twitter for iPad ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @pod2g
    pod2g    Maybe never… (!) 14 hours ago via Twitter for iPad ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @pod2g
    pod2g    I know 1 month seems long, but it’s short to work on a project like this when it’s a hobby and you’ve other things to do as well. 13 hours ago via Twitter for iPad ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Now, several reports today have taken these tweets as a timeline. You may have seen something like “iOS Jailbreak Coming In A Month.” I doubt, however that that’s what pod2g is getting at here. While the 1-2 month timeline may be accurate, the point he’s trying to make is that people need to just calm down and be patient. The work is getting done, but this is hardly the only thing he has to do.

    So, as impatient as you might be for the next jailbreak to be available, try to give pod2g and the other devs a little space and let them do the work in peace. After all, everybody knows how hard it is to get things done with people constantly asking “You done yet?”

    And while you’re at it, try not to think about how little time there will be between the iOS 5.1 jailbreak and the release of iOS 6.

  • iPhone Gets 5 New Rural Carriers

    iPhone Gets 5 New Rural Carriers

    The iPhone is now available at 5 additional U.S. regional wireless carriers, meaning users of Ivel, Kentucky-based Appalachian Wireless can get a hold of a 4S model for $50 less than AT&T customers. With the 3 largest mobile providers in the U.S., Verizon Wireless (108.7 million), AT&T Mobility (103.2 million) and Sprint Nextel (55 million), comprising the lion’s share of iPhone sales, the small, regional outfits aren’t as often mentioned.

    As of last week, Alaska Communications, Cellom, MTA Solutions, GCI and Appalachian Wireless all carry the iPhone 4S, and are selling the iPhone 4 for $99. Here’s a rundown of some of the plans:

    Appalachian Wireless –

    appalachain wireless

    Alaska Communications –

    alaska communications

    The rural services are also cheaper – both Alaska Communications and Appalachian Wireless’ voice and text plans with 5 GB of data are roughly $30 less that what AT&T charges, though it would be interesting to find out first hand how reliable their networks are.

    In related news, it has just been speculated that Apple’s iPhone 5 model will feature an In-Cell touchscreen, which would make the device thinner and lighter.

  • Apple Announces Details For Second Quarter Earnings Report

    Apple has issued a press release with the details for the company’s earnings report for the second quarter of fiscal year 2012 (which ended at the end of March). The report will be delivered on Tuesday, April 24th at 2 PM Pacific time (5 PM Eastern) via conference call. There will also be a live webcast, and the audio of the conference call will be rebroadcast for two weeks beginning at 5:30 on the 24th.

    It will be interesting to see how Apple will follow up last quarter’s earning report. In January Apple announced their best quarter ever. In the first quarter of the 2012 fiscal year (November-December 2011), Apple generated a staggering $46.33 billion in revenue, with $13.06 billion of that in profit. They sold 37.04 million iPhones and 15.43 million iPads, both increases of over 100%. With the new iPad launched near the end of the second quarter and the iPhone 4S still only half a year old, Apple’s revenues are likely to be high again.

    The webcast of the conference call can be listened to here. You can access it from any iOS device running iOS 4.2 or later, any Mac running OS X 10.5 or later, or any PC running QuickTime 7 or later.

    What do you think? Any predictions for Apple’s second quarter earnings report? Will they break last quarter’s record, or fall short? Let us know in the comments.

  • Samuel L. Jackson, Zooey Deschanel Appear In New iPhone Ads

    If you were watching TV last night, chances are you saw at least one of two new commercials for Apple’s iPhone 4S. Like many of Apple’s ads for the 4S, these focused on Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant software that is the phone’s flagship feature.

    These ads, though, depart from Apple’s normal advertising philosophy. Normally, ads for Apple products focus solely on features. In the case of Siri, they show all of the awesome things Siri will do for you if you just ask (and if her servers are working). One thing Apple has consistently not done with its advertising is employ celebrities (unless you could Santa Claus).

    These latest ads, though, feature Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel using Siri in their everyday lives: he’s preparing for a date night, and she’s relaxing at home on a rainy day. The videos are embedded below. They haven’t appeared on Apple’s YouTube channel yet, nor in the catalog of ads on Apple’s iPhone page, so these videos aren’t perfect (Jackson’s voice is absent for the first couple seconds, and Deschanel’s audio is just a bit out of sync). Check them out below:

    Nearly as I can tell, each of the iPhone’s three carriers got in on the action. The two videos above flash the AT&T logo at the end, while the versions I saw on TV last night showed the Verizon logo, and some people have reported seeing the Sprint logo as well.

    Did you see the ads on TV last night? What do you think of Apple using celebrities in its ads? Is it a good move, or should they stick to focusing on the products and their features? Let us know what you think in the comments.

  • iPad 2 Quietly Gets A Processor Upgrade

    When Apple unveiled their new iPad early last month, they also announced that last year’s model, the iPad 2, would be getting a reduction in price. Each model of iPad 2 got a $100 price reduction in the wake of the new iPad announcement, dropping the price for the lowest-end model, the 16GB Wi-fi only version – down to $399.

    This is pretty standard practice for Apple: a new product comes out at the same price points as the previous model, and the previous model gets a price cut. That’s why you could get an iPhone 3GS for free with a two-year contract after the iPhone 4S launched last year. What Apple doesn’t do, however, is upgrade the old versions. Except this time, that’s exactly what they did.

    It seems that the iPad 2 models that are currently rolling off the production line have a slightly more energy-efficient processor the A5 chip that has been in the tablet since it launched last year. This modified version of the A5 is the same chip that’s found in the new third-gen Apple TV that launched alongside the new iPad.

    According to AnandTech’s Brian King, who first made the discovery, the updated A5 chip is the same design as the old one, but “ported” to Samsung’s new 32nm HKMG manufacturing process. The result is a chip that performs almost identically to the old version, but does it with somewhat improved energy efficiency. For the end user, then, the upgrade doesn’t necessarily mean much, except that those who get the latest version of the iPad 2 may see slightly better battery performance than those who have the older version.

    Meanwhile, Chipworks confirmed the presence of the new chip inside the iPad 2 in the simplest way possible: they took one apart and looked. Here’s what the chip looks like:

    Enhanced A5 chip

    While they suspect that a similar change has been made in more recently-produced models of the iPhone 4S, they have not yet managed to confirm that.

  • Turn Your IPhone 4S into a GPS Bike Computer

    Here is a cool new iPhone gadget for all you bikers out there. The Heart Rate Watch Company has released the iPhone 4S ultimate bike pack, turning your iPhone into a personal GPS bike computer. It gives you speed, distance, heart rate, and maps on a convenient bike mounted display.

    The device works with a blue tooth chest strap to monitor your heart rate at all times. It is rumored they are working on a cadence sensor to monitor your real time pedal pushes, though it is not available now.

    You install the iPhone in a protector case that attaches to a bike mount that includes an extended battery pack. The battery pack lets you use your iPhone 3 times longer, perfect for running the battery draining GPS programs on long trips.

    The mounting hardware that comes with it, lets you attach it to your bike’s stem or handle bars, allowing continuous hands free use while biking.

    “The iPhone 4S ultimate bike pack turns your iPhone 4S into a great bike computer that will rival most any bike computer,” says Rusty Squire, President of the Heart Rate Watch Company. “It offers unrivaled features and protection for your iPhone and if you are bringing it on your rides anyway then you might as well make use of it.”

    I am not an avid biker, but this cool gadget kind of makes me want to take up the hobby. The mounting kit alone makes it a nice tool for listening to tunes while staying in shape. The portable battery pack has obvious uses outside of biking, and the bluetooth heart rate monitor is good for people trying to get in shape, regardless of the exercise. If you are an avid biker and you take your phone everywhere anyway, this thing makes perfect sense.

  • iOS 5.1 Jailbreak April Fool’s Day Prank Angers Some

    iOS 5.1 Jailbreak April Fool’s Day Prank Angers Some

    An April Fool’s Day gag drew the ire of a number of would-be iOS jailbreakers yesterday. A post on iJailbreak.com proclaimed that a new untethered iOS 5.1 jailbreak for A5 and A5X iOS devices (iPhone 4S, iPad 2, new iPad) was available. The article offered users a supposed link to download the AprilRa1n jailbreak tool and jailbreak their devices.

    Of course, there were plenty of hints that this was a gag. If the name AprilRa1n wasn’t enough of a giveaway, the phrase “april-fools-joke” in the article’s URL should’ve been a clue. Failing that, there’s the disclaimer at the bottom of the article:

    AprilRa1n Disclaimer

    Finally, if that wasn’t enough, there’s the download link. Instead of initiating a download of the AprilRa1n tool, the download link goes to the following video:

    Some people, however, weren’t quite sharp enough to pick up on the hints, and went ahead and updated their devices to iOS 5.1 anyway. In times past, this wouldn’t be too much of a problem: just roll back to the previous version of iOS, re-jailbreak, and you’re done. It’s a pain in the neck, but not a huge problem. Unfortunately, though, Apple took steps this time around to ensure that the upgrade to iOS 5.1 is a one-way trip. Once you’ve updated, there’s no going back. Which means that those poor souls who updated their devices without reading to the end of the article (or checking the date, or the disclaimer, or the article URL, or clicking the download link) are stuck waiting for the real iOS 5.1 jailbreak. Unfortunately for them, as we reported last week, they may have several weeks to wait.

    As you might expect, those who upgraded (and those who want to make fun of them) took to the post’s comments. Here are a few gems.

    At least two people went ahead and upgraded to iOS 5.1:

    AprilRa1n Jailbreak

    AprilRa1n Jailbreak

    Some got the joke but weren’t amused:

    AprilRa1n Jailbreak

    A few decided to play along:

    AprilRa1n Jailbreak

    While others point out that the clues were obvious:

    AprilRa1n Jailbreak

    What do you think? Was this a good joke or just too mean? Let us know in the comments.

  • Jailbreak For iOS 5.1 Still Weeks Away

    Jailbreak For iOS 5.1 Still Weeks Away

    When Apple unveiled their new iPad on March 7th they also rolled out iOS 5.1. This was great news for most iOS users, but frustrating for those (like me) who prefer their iPhones jailbroken. As expected, iOS 5.1 possessed none of the vulnerabilities that had been used to crack its predecessor, iOS 5. What’s more, iOS 5 proved especially difficult to jailbreak, especially on the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, both of which run on Apple’s A5 processor. Would-be jailbreakers with those devices had to wait just over three months for an untethered jailbreak (i.e., one that doesn’t require the phone to be re-jailbroken every time it’s rebooted).

    When iOS 5.1 released, then, there were fears that we would have to wait a similarly long time for an untethered jailbreak. Early signs after the release of the new iPad two weeks ago, though, suggested that the wait might not be quite as long. The day before the new iPad hit stores, noted jailbreak developer i0n1c posted a video and pictures of a jailbroken iPad 2 running iOS 5.1. The next day, just hours after the new iPad hit stores, another iPhone hacker, MuscleNerd, posted screenshots from a new iPad running an untethered jailbreak.

    All of that looked pretty promising. Such progress so rapidly suggested that maybe an untethered jailbreak would be a little quicker in coming this time around. Maybe not, says jailbreak developer pod2g, who was an instrumental member of the team that developed the iOS 5 jailbreak. On his Twitter account today pod2g said that he was spending hours per day looking for vulnerabilities, but that a public jailbreak tool was still “weeks” away. Check out his tweets below:

    @pod2g
    pod2g    About 5.1 jailbreak for A5+ devices : it’s not out and I have no clue when it’ll happen. I’m working some hours per week on finding vulns. 12 hours ago via Twitter for iPad ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @pod2g
    pod2g    But right now we (cdev) have some pieces of a userland jailbreak, but we miss some, and even if we had them all, there’s weeks of work… 12 hours ago via Twitter for iPad ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @pod2g
    pod2g    … to put them all together in a public ready tool. 12 hours ago via Twitter for iPad ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    So there you have it. If you have iOS 5.1 and want to jailbreak your A5 (iPhone 4S, iPad 2) or A5X (new iPad) device, you’ve got some waiting to do. On the other hand, if you’re using a jailbroken iPhone 4S or iPad 2 running iOS 5.0.1, then you’ll want to avoid updating to iOS 5.1, especially since Apple has taken measures to prevent users who have updated to iOS 5.1 from rolling back to iOS 5.0.1.

    Unfortunately, a jailbreak dev’s work is never done. The longer it takes to get an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1, the closer it will be to the release of the next iPhone. Not only is it likely to be running on a completely new processor, the A6, it will also coincide with the release of iOS 6. Whatever exploits are used to jailbreak iOS 5.1, you can bet that Apple will fix them in iOS 6. And so the jailbreak war goes on.

    Do you have a new iPad you want to jailbreak? Are you eager to get iOS 5.1 on your iPhone 4S or iPad 2, but don’t want to lose your jailbreak? Are you prepared to wait a few weeks before jailbreaking your device? Let us know in the comments.

  • Apple Targeted In Another Lawsuit Over Siri

    Another suit has been filed against Apple over Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant software that was one of the key selling points of the iPhone 4S. The suit accuses Apple of falsely advertising Siri’s capabilities and functionality.

    The class action suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by David Jones, according to the L.A. Times. The complaint alleges that Apple’s marketing of Siri is “deceptive.” Apple’s commercials show Siri responding quickly and flawlessly to a wide variety of user requests. Jones, however, found that Siri often took too long to return inaccurate responses, and often didn’t respond at all. Jones is asking for unspecified “relief and damages.” The suit seeks class-action status, which means that other disgruntled iPhone 4S users could try for a piece of the pie as well.

    This is the second lawsuit concerning Siri to be filed this month. Two weeks ago another annoyed iPhone user filed suit against Apple in U.S. District Court in New York. Like Jones’s suit, that suit sought class-action status and accuses Apple of misrepresenting Siri’s actual performance and capabilities in its advertising.

    For reference, here are a couple of the commercials:

    Though not perfect, Siri is actually pretty popular with users. A recent study found that most iPhone users like Siri, though they use it for a fairly limited number of things.

    The problem with suits like this, though, is that Siri isn’t meant to be perfect, at least not yet. Apple has clearly stated on a number of occasions – including on their website – that Siri is still in beta. Yes, Apple’s commercials show Siri working without the flaws that some users have experienced, but the truth is that when Siri works, it works pretty much how Apple says it will, which isn’t bad for a feature that’s still in beta.

    Siri is still in Beta

    Siri is still in Beta

    What do you think? Should Apple have to pay people who are upset about Siri? Is Apple’s advertising “deceptive”? What do you think of Siri? Does it work like you think it should, or do you have problems (or both)? Let us know in the comments.

  • Steve Jobs Didn’t Like Siri’s Name, Couldn’t Think Of A Better One

    When Tim Cook announced the new iPhone last fall, one of the phone’s biggest new features was Siri, a voice-activated personal assistant. While most iPhone users like Siri, it turns out that Steve Jobs wasn’t actually a fan of the software’s name, he just couldn’t think of anything better.

    That’s according to Dag Kittlaus, who co-founded Siri. During a keynote yesterday at Technori Pitch, a conference for Chicago-based tech startups, Kittlaus revealed that he had had several conversations with Jobs about Siri’s name. While Jobs was not terribly fond of it, Kittlaus kept insisting that it was a good name. A Norwegian name, Kittlaus says it means “beautiful woman who leads you to victory.” It’s also easy to say and to spell. Jobs was ultimately persuaded to keep the name for the iPhone 4S, partly for the simple reason that he couldn’t top it.

    Siri was founded in 2007 by Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer, and Tom Gruber. Kittlaus told the audience in Chicago that he had originally hit upon the name Siri when he worked with a woman by the same name in his native Norway. He decided to give the name to his daughter (though he doesn’t have a daughter yet), and when it came time to name his new company the name was available.

    Siri Assistant first hit the App Store as an iPhone app in early 2010. It integrated with a variety of services including Google Maps, OpenTable, and more to allow users to get directions, make restaurant reservations, get movie showtimes and buy tickets, and more. Shortly after Siri went live in the App Store, Kittlaus says Steve Jobs contacted him and invited him to his house. They spent three hours at Jobs’s house talking about the future of Apple and about Siri. In October of that 2010, Apple bought Siri for $200 million. The iPhone 4S debuted in October of 2011, and the original Siri Assitant app went dark just days later.

    After Siri’s acquisition by Apple, Kittlaus stayed with the company as CEO of Siri until shortly after the iPhone 4S launched. He left the company on “amicable” terms, moving from Cupertino to Chicago.

    What do you think of Siri’s name? Was Jobs right to want to change it, or is it fine as it is? Sound off in the comments.

  • Survey Shows Most iPhone Users Satisfied With Siri

    When Tim Cook took to the stage in October 2011 to unveil the iPhone 4S, there was one feature that got most of the attention: Siri. While the iPhone 4S sports several improvements over its predecessor – upgrades to the camera and processor chief among them – Siri is the iPhone 4S’s flagship feature. Heck, it’s probably what the S stands for.

    Siri has sparked all kinds of reactions. Some are scared of it, others think it doesn’t work the way Apple says it should (some have even sued over it). Many of those who don’t have it on their phones have tried to get it, or something like it, on their Android or Windows phones, or even their older (jailbroken) iPhones. Of course, Siri isn’t without problems. Though she recently learned Japanese, she appears to be struggling with it, and she’s notoriously bad with accents.

    One thing we haven’t seen much of, however, is attempts to quantify just how happy iPhone 4S users are with Siri. Well, a new study from Parks Associates aims to do just that. They surveyed 482 iPhone 4S owners, and found that just over 50% of them were “very satisfied” with Siri, and another 21% were “satisfied.” Less than a quarter of respondents said they were not satisfied with Siri, and most of those said they were “neutral.” It looks like the number of iPhone 4S users who dislike Siri is actually pretty small, only around 9%.

    Siri Satisfaction Survey

    Interestingly, Siri use tends to fall into a fairly narrow set of categories. The Wall Street Journal managed to get their hands on the full report, and found that people aren’t quite using Siri to her fullest potential. While 87% of respondents said that they use Siri at least once a month, they appear to use it for texting and making phone calls and not a lot else. About one third of users use Siri for phone calls, texting, and search daily. Just over a quarter use Siri to send email daily or almost daily, while 30% say they’ve never done so. Other features like playing music, scheduling meetings, setting alarms, and the like saw little use even among Siri’s heaviest users.

    Do you love Siri, or hate it? How do you use? Do you make phone calls and text? Do you play music or schedule alarms? What other uses do you have for Siri? Let us know in the comments.