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Tag: phones

  • Windows Updates: Microsoft To Merge To One App Store

    Windows is looking at a major update to its systems. Microsoft is reportedly planning to make it simpler for its users by creating a single app store that would encompass all of the company’s various devices including PCs, tablets and phones. With all of the success that the new iPhone is having,

    Microsoft certainly needs to do something in order to appeal to their consumers. Technology seems to be what makes the world go round in the consumer culture of today’s society, and this is the latest news in that trend, as Microsoft tries to keep up with Apple’s success.

    Combining the two stores that are currently separated into the Windows and Windows Phone app stores into a single unit could help lead to more apps and would also make it easier for people, since they will no longer have to shop in two different places. It has not been determined when the two stores will merge, but it sounds like the date may be closer than previously imagined. The Verge mentions that Terry Myerson, head of the operating systems group, has committed to the next releases of Windows and Windows Phone, which will likely be Windows Phone 8.1 and a special update that they have planned for Windows 8.1. These are both due to be released in the spring of 2014.

    We have still yet to find out how the single Windows Store would work, and whether Windows Phone apps will run on Windows in the new model. As it currently stands, users must download apps for their Windows and Windows Phone devices through separate stores, and apps can’t currently run across both systems, according to PC Pro. This creates confusion for people and also prevents them from using apps that they download from one device from operating on the other. For example, PC World states that the game Halo: Spartan Assault, is available on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, and while the game does allow people to carry over saved progress, they are forced to pay for it on both platforms because the purchases made on the different devices do not carry over.

    Some people have voiced their opinions on the dislike of the current store.

    There are still several unanswered questions that exist with this new information, but there often is with any new type of technology. Windows customers will anxiously await the answers to questions such as how these cross-platform apps would function and what would happen to the apps that people already have downloaded.

    Image via Youtube

  • Tablet Phone Features Could Become More Popular

    As the tablet market has grown, so the PC market has fallen. Tablets are now nearly as ubiquitous in western markets as smartphones, and sales of the devices are expect to hit record levels this holiday season.

    Though Apple introduced the original iPad in a 10-inch size it envisioned to be perfect, consumers seem to be comfortable settling in with smaller, low-priced tablets. The 7-inch tablet market is now overtaking sales of larger tablets, and consumers don’t even seem to be excited by an array of new 8-inch tablets out this year. At the same time, sales are also picking up for extra-large smartphones (sometimes dubbed “phablets”), some with screens as large as 6.4-inches. Today a new report predicts that phones and tablets could meet in the middle sometime soon.

    The report from DigiTimes states that demand for 7-inch tablets with phone capabilities is expected to rise in the coming years. The report’s unnamed “sources from tablet players” state that the low price of such tablets will make them popular in emerging markets, where future tablet and smartphone growth is predicted.

    The most obvious factor in this prediction is price. Larger smartphones such as Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 and Sony’s Xperia Z Ultra tend to have high-end hardware for smartphones, placing them in the upper price tiers for such devices. Smaller tablets, on the other hand, often have comparable hardware but much lower prices. DigiTimes’ sources claim that consumers in emerging markets such as Brazil and China mainly use mobile devices to watch multimedia content, something that can be done for a much lower entry price with tablets.

  • iPhone 5S Chinese Release Date Expected To Be In November

    The iPhone 5S anticipation is building up around the world, as the expected unveiling event for the device approaches. Apple is expected to show it off on September 10th, and while we don’t know the actual release date yet, rumor has it that it will hit China in November.

    CNET points to a report from China’s First Financial Daily (in Chinese) that indicates the iPhone 5S will see a November 28th Chinese release. According to CNET, the date has also been reported by BrightWire News, citing a telecommunications expert.

    The main global launch has been rumored to come on September 20th, but this obviously isn’t confirmed. We’ll find out soon enough.

    As usual, Apple’s next iPhone device has been the subject of many rumors. Some of them will be proven right, and others will be found false at the company’s September 10th event.

    The latest rumors have the device supporting motion tracking, and an A7 chip making it a reported 31% faster than the iPhone 5.

    Another longstanding rumor has Apple putting out a less expensive model of its flagship smartphone, which is frequently being called the iPhone 5C. This is expected to come in a broader range of colors, possibly even including a gold color that has graced one of the company’s iPod Mini models in the past.

    More on some of the recent iPhone rumors here.

    Image: Apple

  • Redditor Claims Samsung Galaxy S3 Exploded Overnight, Posts Pictures

    Redditor Claims Samsung Galaxy S3 Exploded Overnight, Posts Pictures

    One redditor had a pretty interesting night over the weekend, as they awoke to their Samsung Galaxy S3 on fire – and they have the pictures to prove it. According to the account, the device was stock everything – battery, charger, etc.

    Here’s the story, as recounted by redditor vizionx1208:

    Last night at about 3:15am EST (about 1 hour after i plugged it in and went to sleep) I was awoken by a loud noise and a weird squeaking sound. (I charge my phone while I’m sleeping on my bed right next to me)

    So, I woke up, and saw a ton of smoke coming out of my phone — it also smelled REALLY bad. Half asleep, I jumped out of bed and turned the light on, only to see that my phone was just beginning to go on fire. I dumped a glass of water I had in the room on it to stop it from burning…then woke up my brother to come help. The smoke smelled so bad and wafted through the entire second floor of my house. I had a foam mattress pillow top that had a hole burned through it too–which we later threw out because it was still burning throughout. Also, some of the plastic on my phone was melting and kind of shooting out of it, and some landed on my pinky finger and burned some skin off (very small burn though).

    From the rest of their comments on the post, it appears that the redditor has tried to contact Samsung and is at least debating the idea of legal action.

    Here are some more images:

    The battery:

    Of course, Samsung phones aren’t the only ones that may have a history fo spontaneous explosions. We’ve seen plenty of iPhones catch fire in the past few years.

  • Wet Phone? DryBox Offers Rapid Drying Solution

    Now you’ve really done it. Your big, dumb hands have fumbled your iPhone and it falls, in slow-motion, straight into the pool, toilet, puddle – whatever. Panic turns to helplessness. Your phone is waterlogged.

    What do you do? Surround the device with silica gel packets? Throw it in a bag with some rice? HALP.

    DryBox says they have the solution. Their patent-pending hyper-drying chamber can completely dry your soaked device in less than thirty minutes, and apparently there’s an 80% success rate in restoring phones to their former glory – as long as the wet phones get inside the DryBox within 36 hours of initial exposure.

    “The DryBox Rescue system utilizes a patent-pending drying chamber as part of a process that rapidly removes moisture at the molecular level from small electronic devices…DryBox saves time, money, and frustration.”

    As of now, there are only a few DryBox locations where you can take your device – one in Austin, Texas and two in San Antonio. But DryBox wants to rent their devices to stores across the country, in a profit-sharing deal.

    [Drybox via Engadget]

  • HTC One Draws Interest From Men In San Francisco, LA And Houston

    The HTC One has become the smartphone of the hour, with pretty much overwhelmingly positive reviews. Naturally, its drawing a lot of interest from consumers, but according to search data from Yahoo, it’s drawing interest specifically from men in select cities in the U.S.

    Yahoo tweeted today:

    77% of searches? That’s a pretty big percentage.

    ZDNet says, “HTC has pulled out all the stops with the One, which looks great, performs well and includes some clever features. The lack of storage expansion and the persistence of BlinkFeed are irritations, but overall the HTC One stands up well against rival flagship handsets.”

    The Salt Lake Tribune says it’s “slightly better” than the Samsung Galaxy S4.

    IBN says it’s “beautiful to look at,” and “powerful to play”.

    Here are a few official videos from HTC showing off the device:

  • Amazon 3D Smartphone In The Works [Report]

    Amazon 3D Smartphone In The Works [Report]

    A report is out from the Wall Street Journal today, indicating that Amazon is working on a new line of hardware products, which includes a smartphone with 3D display capability, an additional smartphone, and an audio-only streaming device. These are in addition to the previously rumored set-top box. Collectively, the report (which cites people familiar with the company’s plans as the source) says, the projects are known as Project A, B, C and D or “The Alphabet Projects” and are in development in Amazon’s Lab126 facility.

    The one smartphone would be able to display 3D images without users having to wear glasses, and would use retina-tracking technology to let people use their eyes to navigate through content, which would appear to float above the screen like a hologram, according to the report. The device would reportedly support 4G LTE and would come with Qualcomm chips.

    Finally, the Journal’s sources suggested that Amazon’s efforts could lead to a streaming music service that would compete with the likes of Pandora and Spotify, and presumably accompany the aforementioned audio-streaming device. They also indicated that the company wants to release some of the offerings in the coming months, but they could be abandoned if financial or performance concerns become too great.

    We’ve been hearing rumors about Amazon smartphones for quite some time. Speculation has been happening for years. Frankly, it would make a great deal of sense alongside its Kindle and Kindle Fire devices as the company increasingly competes with Apple and Google.

    In March, rumors heated up that Amazon planned to launch a Kindle Phone in Q2.

  • T-Mobile Lets You Put $99 Down On iPhone 5

    T-Mobile Lets You Put $99 Down On iPhone 5

    Not only did T-Mobile announce the availability of the iPhone 5 today, but it announced that consumers can put $99 down on the device, with monthly payments to make up the difference ($20 per month for 24 months). And that’s with no annual service contract plus unlimited talk, text and Web and 4G.

    The device will be available from Friday, April 12.

    In addition, T-Mobile is offering the iPhone 4S for $69.99 down and $20 per month for 24 months and the iPhone 4 for $14.99 down and $15 per month for 24 months.

    While the 4S and 4 will be available in select markets, the iPhone 5 will be available nationwide.

    “This is an important day for people who love their iPhone but can’t stand the pain other carriers put them through to own one,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA. “We feel their pain. I’ve felt the pain. So we’re rewriting the rules of wireless to provide a radically simple, affordable iPhone 5 experience — on an extremely powerful network.”

    T-Mobile also announced today a new simplified rate plan, and eliminated the need for customers to enter into contracts.

  • Source No Longer Claims To Have Leaked ‘iPhone 5S’ Motherboard Images [Updated]

    Update: iOSDoc, which first published these photos has now come out and said they found out they are fake. More from them here.

    Every so often, we see sources indicating that they have leaked images of Apple’s new devices, and the iPhone 5S (or iPhone 6, or whatever you want to call it at this point) is no different. Obviously, they’re not always legit, so a grain of salt is always required.

    Recently, some assembly line photos showed an alleged look at the device, but were later reported to be “likely an iPhone 5 clone”.

    Now, iOSDoc claims to have received some new photos from a “very reliable source,” showing an A7 quad-core CPU and GPU, and 2GB of RAM.

    Alleged leaked motherboard photo

    iOSDoc says:

    The iPhone 5S will come with a new quad-core Apple A7 processor, clocked at 1.2Ghz and iOS 7. The phone’s design will probably be very much similar to the iPhone 5, getting only hardware and software improvements. iOS 7 will also come with a highly improved Siri, able to “do a lot of new cool stuff.” Unfortunately our source didn’t want to speak very much about this aspect.

    The new A7 SoC was to be expected, but we didn’t anything until now about the amount of cores or clock rate. It should be much faster than Apple’s dual-core A6, which is clocked at 1.3Ghz. A7 will also feature the PowerVR quad-core SGX554MP4 graphics processor, also featured in the 4th generation iPad. This amount of power will definitely be able to widen the possibilities of gaming, but should get us worried about battery life.

    Obviously we can can’t confirm the legitimacy of the image, so take it as you will.

  • Mark Zuckerberg On Why A Facebook Phone Is A Stupid Idea

    Mark Zuckerberg On Why A Facebook Phone Is A Stupid Idea

    Facebook is a mobile company. That’s the message CEO Mark Zuckerberg sent to investors and anyone else who cared to listen to the company’s earnings call on Wednesday.

    He spent most of his segment of the call talking about the strides the company has made in mobile, and the monetization opportunities that come along with them. The company did announce that its mobile daily active users surpassed web daily active users for the first time in the fourth quarter.

    “Today there’s no argument,” Zuckerberg proclaimed. “Facebook is a mobile company.”

    So, being a mobile company, some may wonder if Facebook may follow its peers into the mobile device business. After all, what’s good enough for Apple, Amazon and Google must be good enough for Facebook, right?

    I’m sure Zuck is very sorry to crush your dreams, but no, there won’t be a Facebook phone anytime soon. Here’s the quote (via CNET):

    “We’re not going to build a phone,” he said during the social network’s earnings call Wednesday. “It’s not the right strategy for us to build one integrated system…Let’s say we sell 10 million units — that would be 1 percent of users. Who cares for us?”

    Even as recently as this month, some thought Facebook would unveil a phone. Ahead of the event at which Graph Search was unveiled, rumors circulated that the company would make such an announcement. Obviously that didn’t happen.

    Of course it’s unlikely that Zuckerberg would say, “Yeah, we’re going to work on a Facebook phone at some point in the future,” (although he did hint at the search product in previous conversations), but what he said on Wednesday makes a great deal of sense, and it’s consistent with the message he’s conveyed in the past.

    On top of that, Facebook already has a great relationship with Apple right now, and despite not talking to Google, is able to get plenty of use out of Android, not to mention other platforms.

    Who really wants to buy a Facebook phone anyway?

    Image: Gawker

  • Cheaper iPhone Could Cost As Little As $99 [Report]

    As previously reported, there are rumors going around that Apple is working on a lower cost version of its iPhone for emerging markets.

    Rumors are also coming out that the price of such a device could range from $99 to $149. Bloomberg is reporting, citing a person familiar with the plans, who asked not to be named because negotiations are private, that Apple is weighting retail prices in that range on the device, which would be launched in late 2013. Bloomberg’s Olgoa Kharif and Adam Stariano report:

    Executives at Apple have been particularly interested in building a lower-cost model with less-expensive components as a way to appeal to customers in emerging markets, another person has said.

    On Tuesday, a report from Digitimes indicated that Apple would release a low-cost version of the iPhone for emerging markets like China (where Apple CEO Tim Cook is said to have made a trip this week). That report said:

    Some sources claimed that they have seen the sample of the low-cost iPhone, which will come with a larger display, meeting the prevailing trend for the adoption of 5-inch displays for high-end models. They added that the low-priced iPhone will also have a brand new exterior design.

    Those sources also indicate that the recent introduction of low-cost Qualcomm processors could play a role in Apple releasing a low-cost iPhone.

  • HTC One X+ Release Date For North America Still Unknown

    HTC unveiled the HTC One X+ today. While the device will be available in Europe and North Asia this month, and in South Asia next month, the company has yet to specify a release date for North America.

    The device runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and HTC Sense 4+. It features a 1.7 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 AP37 processor and 64GB of internal storage. The LTE version is up to 67% faster than the HTC One X LTE, according to the company, which insists that it’s the best rated Android phone on the market.

    HTC CEO says of the device, “We are taking the HTC One X to a new level with the introduction of the new HTC One X+. Our customers will have super-fast browsing, an even better camera and more immersive entertainment with Beats Audio.”

    The device also features a 2100 mAh battery, which HTC says provides up to 50% (6 hours) more talk time.

    While no timeframe for a North American release has been given thus far, HTC says there will be a separate announcement regarding availability of the device on this continent.

    Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4+ is scheduled to begin rolling out for the HTC One S and HTC One X this month.

  • iPhone 5 Ads Prove Effective Compared To Celebrity Siri Ads

    According to research from Ace Metrix, Apple’s new ads for the iPhone 5 account for two of the top three ads among mobile phones of the year to date.

    The top ad, based on the firm’s “Ace Score” metric, was Samsung’s The Best Of A Phone And Tablet, but numbers two and three were “Pictures Made Bigger” and “Shaped to Fit the Ears” respectively. Those are both iPhone 5 ads. Here’s Ace Metrix’s list of the most effective mobile phone ads of 2012 to date:

    iPhone 5 Ads Are Effective

    The Ace Score is described as the measure of the ad’s creative effectiveness, based on viewer-reaction to national TV ads. Ace Metrix obtains this by randomly selecting respondents, which it says are representative of the U.S. TV viewing audience, and the results are presented on a scale of 1-950. Attributes that go into the scoring include: relevance, persuasion, watchability, information, attention, etc.

    “While they are still neck and neck with Samsung from ad effectiveness perspective in the mobile phone category, Apple’s performance in promoting the iPhone 5 was an improvement vs. many of the recent celebrity efforts for Siri,” noted Ace Metrix CEO Peter Daboll. “However, the iPhone ‘launch’ ads almost always perform well – part of the ‘i-phoria’ that accompanies these new product introductions.”

    According to the firm, Apple’s new ads have performed particularly well among wealthy young women. The panoramic camera ad in particular, the firm says, appealed heavily to moms.

  • iPhone 5 Comes With New A6 Chip, Ups CPU Power By 2X

    Apple finally unveiled the iPhone 5 today. You can get the full rundown here.

    In addition to a better camera, better battery life, better Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity, the device comes with a new A6 processor, which Apple says increases the CPU power by 2X. The graphics are also twice as fast, Apple says (compared to the A5).

    “With the new A6 chip, just about everything you do on iPhone 5 is noticeably faster — up to twice as fast compared with the A5 chip. So apps launch, web pages load, and email attachments appear almost instantly,” says Apple. “The A6 chip also offers graphics performance that’s up to twice as fast as the A5. So you can power through graphics-intensive apps and games. And enjoy higher frame rates for smoother, more realistic gameplay.”

    “Not only is the A6 chip custom designed to be fast, it’s custom designed to work with iOS 6 to be extremely power efficient,” the company says. “So even at its accelerated speed, iPhone 5 has more than enough battery power to last throughout the day — up to 8 hours of browsing on a cellular connection, up to 8 hours of talk time, and up to 10 hours of video playback time.”

    Here’s a slide the company showed indicating various speed increases (image credit: The Verge):

    iPhone 5 With A6 Processor

    The chip is 22% smaller than the A5.

    The device will release on September 21. Pre-orders start Friday.

    More iPhone 5 coverage here.

  • Galaxy S Relay 4G To Ship In Coming Weeks

    Galaxy S Relay 4G To Ship In Coming Weeks

    T-Mobile unveiled the Galaxy S Relay 4G from Samsung on Thursday, the latest in the Samsung Galaxy line, which will be offered exclusively by the carrier.

    It’s powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and leverages T-Mobile’s 4G (HSPA+ 42) network. T-Mobile is really touting the business features of the phone.

    “The Galaxy S Relay 4G is also a SAFE (Samsung Approved for Enterprise)-designated device that offers a full portfolio of enterprise-ready features and capabilities,” says T-Mobile. “Samsung SAFE offers comprehensive IT Policy support for top-tier mobile device management (MDM) solutions, on-device AES-256 bit encryption, and enhanced support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, as well as integrated support for a range of virtual private network solutions.”

    It has a ful 5-row QWERTY keyboard and 1.5-GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor. T-Mobile says this enables business customers to quickly view and edit documents and share files. It has Wi-Fi Calling and support for Smartphone Mobile HotSpot for up to five devices (with a qualifying plan).

    It has a 4-inch, Super AMOLED screen, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and 720p HD camcorder (1280×720) resolution. It comes with T-Mobile TV in mobile HD2, which lets you watch live TV, as well as Samsung Media Hub for renting and buying movies and TV show.

    “Consumers are increasingly looking for a powerful device that makes it easy to integrate their busy work and personal lives,” said Andrew Morrison, vice president of product management, T-Mobile USA. “The Galaxy S Relay 4G is the perfect addition to T-Mobile’s popular Galaxy smartphone lineup, providing our customers with a reliable and business-centric Android experience — and the easy access to entertainment for which Galaxy devices are known.”

    The Galaxy S Relay 4G will be available nationwide at T-Mobile stores, and other select retailers (and at T-Mobile.com, of course) in the coming weeks.

  • Galaxy S III Beats iPhone 4S In U.S. Sales, May Soon Get Jelly Bean

    Samsung revealed that its Galaxy S III smartphone has hit 20 million sales in over three months. The phone launched in Europe in May, and the following month in the U.S.

    According to reports, the device outsold even Apple’s iPhone 4S to become the top selling smartphone in the U.S. in August. Apple Insider shares this data from the U.S. carriers, showing the Galaxy S III on top for Verizon, and Sprint and T-Mobile, and in second, behind the iPhone 4S for AT&T.

    Carrier device data

    The phone had reportedly already hit the 10 million mark in July. Some think Apple will sell 10 million iPhone 5s in its first week (though that remains to be seen).

    I wouldn’t expect the Galaxy S II to be on top for long.

    Rumor has it that the device will soon be getting the Android Jelly Bean update.

  • Touchscreen Home Phone From Philips Taps Into Your Smartphone

    If you want your home phone to look more like your mobile smartphone (assuming you still use a home phone), Philips has you covered. Philips has unveiled some new cordless phones, one of which, the S10, comes with a touch screen, effectively making it look more iPhone/Android-esque.

    The phones actually link to your smartphone via Bluetooth and Philips’ MobileLink.

    “Whilst mobile phones are perfect if you are out and about, when you are at home it is not always so easy to make a call from your mobile,” the company says. “Problems such as poor signal, low battery life, address book integration and missing calls on your mobile because you cannot locate it in time, can make using your mobile phone at home troublesome.”

    “To resolve all these problems MobileLink automatically connects up to two smartphones to the S9 and S10 models via a Bluetooth antenna located in each base unit,” Philips adds. “This means when a call comes in on your smartphone, it will ring on both your smartphone and your home phone, giving you the choice to answer the call on either device. If you chose to answer using the home phone you can freely move anywhere in the home without the worry of losing reception thanks to a strong and stable DECT connection that will reach into areas of weak or no signal and has an indoor range of 50 meters.”

    Features of the S10 include:

    • Make and receive mobile and landline calls from one device
    • Transfer contacts from your mobile or computer
    • Make calls using the mobile line even in week reception areas
    • Large, 3.5” capacitive touch screen with 16 M colors
    • Outgoing call baring, caller blacklists
    • Screensaver, family notes
    • 60 minute answering machine
    • Premium Design
    • Solidly built with real metal parts
    • Best in class sound
    • HQ-Sound & MySound-Pro
    • Turn any tune into a ringtone
    • Bluetooth and 3.5mm corded headset compatible
    • Phone book with up to 2000 contacts & 6000 numbers

    While the S9 does feature some of the same features, it does not (among other things) come with a touchscreen. More details on both devices here.

  • Nokia Music: Nokia Launches Free Music Streaming Service In U.S.

    Nokia announced the launch of a new ad-free, non-subscription-based, free music streaming service today, simply called, Nokia Music.

    Users can stream music from its set of over 150 playlists, which are curated and “kept up to date by an expert team of US based musicologists,” Nokia says, adding that they span a “wide spectrum of musical genres from underground Detroit house tracks to New York Philharmonic favorites.” The service includes playlists created by famous artists like Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Lana Del Rey.

    Users can also create playlists based on artists – really more like Pandora-like stations than actual playlists, from the sound of it. These “playlists” can, however, be played offline. The stations are powered by The Echo Nest.

    “The Echo Nest is happy to power artist radio stations in the Nokia Music app, as the company expands its presence on the Windows Phone platform,” said The Echo Nest CEO Jim Lucchese. “This is another testament to the flexibility of our big data music platform, which can make sense of any music catalog for any user.”

    Another feature takes advantage of the user’s location to find nearby concerts.

    “The USA is the most vibrant and competitive digital music market in the world – by a wide margin. We have worked extra hard to ensure our service meets the expectations of the demanding, active and inspired music fans in the USA. I would like to challenge everyone to try Nokia Music and see just how easy and enjoyable the service is to use,” says Jyrki Rosenberg, VP of Entertainment at Nokia.

    Nokia Music is currently exclusive to Nokia Lumia handsets. That means the Nokia Lumia 900 or Nokia Lumia 710, but the company is expected to unveil some new Windows Phone devices this week at its Nokia World event in Finland.

  • iPhone Prices Drop Ahead Of iPhone 5 Release Date

    The new iPhone, which may or may not be called the iPhone 5 (probably not) is expected to be unveiled on September 12. That leaves retailers about a month to start selling more of the older models before people drop to their knees in excitement over Apple’s newest product.

    Rumors of the next iPhone have already put a dent in Apple’s iPhone sales. “We’re reading the same speculation about a new iPhone as you are, and we think this has caused some delay in purchasing,” CFO Peter Oppenheimer is quoted as saying on the company most recent earnings call.

    People want that new iPhone, so lower prices on the older iPhones should help move some of them off the shelves. We recently reported that Best Buy was selling the iPhone 4 for $50, but there are other price drops from other stores, as well.

    Ina Fried at All Things D reports that Target is offering the Verizon and AT&T versions of the iPhone 4S for $179, and that Sprint is selling the 4S for $159.

    The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Apple Stores are matching discounts on iPhones.

    Of course, if your’e in the market for a new iPhone, you may just want to wait a month, and see what the latest one has to offer. For an idea of what to expect, check out the latest rumors.

  • iPhone 5 Rumor: The Housing Will Look Like This [Video]

    The iPhone 5 (which may not actually be called the iPhone 5), is expected to be unveiled in September. The unveiling event is rumored to be scheduled for September 12 (when the iPad mini could be revealed as well), and there’s talk that the device would be actually released to the public a week after that.

    As is the case ahead of any major apple release, rumors have been running rampant, along with allegedly leaked photos of the device, or various elements of it. There’s now a video making the rounds from Macotakara, which claims to show off the housing, or at least what could be the housing of the device. Here’s that video:

    Obviously, there’s no way of knowing for sure that this is what it will look like, but as others have pointed out, Macotakara has a decent track record when it comes to Apple, so that could lend some sliver of credibility to the clip.

    Either way, September really isn’t that far away at this point, so we’ll all find out soon enough just what this thing is going to look like, as well as what it is actually called. The real question is: how much better will it be than its predecessors and competitors?

    To read about what’s expected of the device, peruse our iPhone 5 rumor coverage here.

  • iPhone 5 Could Be Bigger Hit Than Predecessors In China

    As previously reported, Apple’s Q3 earnings reveal that the company is doing pretty well in the Chinese market. Half of the company’s revenue comes from international markets, and China is no doubt high on the list.

    CEO Tim Cook says revenue from the country was $5.7 billion in Q3, accounting for a whopping 48% increase year-over-year. Things may soon get even better for Apple in China, despite increased smartphone competition in the region.

    Siri does not currently support Mandarin Chinese, which is widely spoken in China and in Hong Kong. A report from Reuters reminded us today that this is about to change this fall.

    Update: Wording has been adjusted to reflect that (as a reader pointed out) Mandarin was previously announced as a supported language in iOS 6, which will also come to other versions of the iPhone.

    Currently, Siri works in English (United States, United Kingdom and Australia), French (France), German (Germany), and Japanese (Japan). On Apple’s Siri FAQ page, it says that Siri will support addition languages, including Chinese, Korean, Italian and Spanish, in 2012.

    Siri can be used in any country in the supported languages, but it’s designed to recognize specific accents and dialects of its supported countries. Clearly, Siri has a great deal of room for growth in that department, and given that Siri has become one of Apple’s main selling points for the iPhone, more language support should have a significant impact on iPhone sales, which haven’t been as great as they have been in previous quarters (though Apple still managed to sell 26 million of them in the quarter).

    Of course, Google has added a Siri competitor to its Android operating system, so Apple may also find Siri to become less of a selling point as time goes on.

    The iPhone 5 (if that is its real name) is expected to be released in either September or October, depending on which reports you believe. The aforementioned Reuters report is sticking with October, but otherwise, the latest rumor is leaning more towards September.