The iPhone 5 News Blog

The answer to the mystery of what Apple was about in paying $20 million for licensing rights to Liquidmetal Technologies’ “amorphous metal alloys” nearly two years ago may soon be revealed.

On Wednesday the Apple blogosphere lit up over a new rumor reported by Korean journal ETNews’s Kim In-soon that the next iPhone will swap the iPhone 4 series’ glass case material for Liquidmetal alloy, the new design to be unveiled at is expected to be unveiled at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The high-tech alloy is said in the report to have an outer surface smooth like liquid, and would reportedly allow a thinner, lighter from factor that would also be more resistant to impact damage.

In-soon also reports that the Samsung Galaxy S3, scheduled to be unveiled in London in May 3, will have a ceramic main body. made by applying heat to a non-metallic inorganic substance, is extremely light and comfortable to grip.

Michael Nace has already addressed the potential veracity or otherwise of this rumor or otherwise at some length, but what of the material itself? What is Liquidmetal”

Liquidmetal was developed by a California Institute of Technology research team that later organized themselves into the Liquidmetal Technologies firm. Despite the name, Liquidmetal alloys are not liquid, but solid at room temperature, and are claimed to be hard-wearing and able to withstand thermal cycling, along with a constellation of other desirable material features including high tensile strength, excellent corrosion resistance, very high coefficient of restitution and excellent anti-wearing characteristics, while being able to be heat-formed in processes similar to thermoplastics. Liquidmetal, which was introduced for commercial applications in 2003, has reportedly been used to make golf clubs, golf balls, watches, covers of cell phones the cores of skis, baseball and softball bats, and tennis racquets.

According to Wikipedia, Liquidmetal technology has been used for making the SIM ejector tool of some iPhone 3Gs shipped in the US — done by Apple as an exercise to test the viability of usage of the metal. The alloy is claimed to retain a scratch-free surface longer than competing materials, while facilitating the molding of complex shapes — qualities that suit it to being used as protective coating for industrial machinery, petroleum drill pipes and power plant boiler tubes, and allow it to be considered as a replacement for titanium in applications ranging from medical instruments and cars to military and aerospace hardware.

More specifically, the explanation of Liquidmetal alloys’ properties notes that they contain atoms of significantly different sizes that form a dense mix with low free volume, and unlike crystalline metals, there is no obvious melting point at which viscosity drops suddenly. Rather they behave more like glass, in that viscosity drops gradually with increased temperature, and at high temperatures it behaves in a plastic manner, allowing mechanical properties to be controlled relatively easily during casting.

Because these alloys have relatively low softening temperatures (400 °C/752 °F for the earliest formulation), they can be molded, and allow casting of complicated shapes without need of finishing with material properties immediately after casting being much better than when casting with conventional metals, which usually need a lot of post-casting finish work. They also have low shrinkage during cooling. Liquidmetal can be formed into complex shapes using processes similar to ones used with thermoplastics, making Liquidmetal a potential replacement for many applications where plastics might otherwise be used.

Parallels with Apple’s interest in and development of cast aluminum “unibody” technology seem obvious, and if Liquidmetal iPhone enclosures prove successful, it would seem likely that the material and technique would be expanded for use with other Apple products as well, perhaps displacing the expensive and demanding process of machining device housings from a single piece of aluminum altogether. Casting should be significantly cheaper and faster than machining for volume production, and with Liquidmetal’s other desirable qualities, the upside for both Apple and for end-users could be substantial.

As for that June WWDC release date, as of this morning (April 19) a Bing search for “Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2012″ brings up only the WWDC 2011 link, which suggests that the June 11 date for the conference to open is looking a bit overly optimistic. It’s been speculated that WWDC might get pushed back to July or August this year. We’ll see.

By Charles Moore

It has long been speculated that the iPhone 5 might trade in glass for metal, with the LiquidMetal alloy providing the perfect construction material. Now, a new rumor has emerged, thrusting LiquidMetal back into the rumor mill again. Read how this new rumor may connect with what LiquidMetal themselves told us on the day of the iPad 3′s launch, further suggesting a June iPhone 5 launch.

The iPhone 5 News Blog has pursued the LiquidMetal story line in the iPhone 5 rumor mill since last June, when a weak rumor sent the meta alloy’s shares soaring. Since that time, we’ve made it a point to put out all of the LiquidMetal rumors we could get our hands on, since the unique metal could allow Apple to do some wondrous things for the iPhone 5′s form factor.

A new LiquidMetal-related story has popped today in the rumor mill, suggesting that the iPhone 5 could indeed end up replacing much of its glass form factor with metal.

All of the usual suspects have articles about it today, including MacRumors, SlashGear, and 9to5Mac. But all of these sites are quoting ETNews, a Korean-based tech news outlet, who had this to say:

According to industry sources, the next flagship phones of the companies are expected to adopt unprecedented materials for their main bodies, that is, ceramic for the Galaxy S3 and liquid metal for iPhone5, both being thin, light and highly resistant to external impacts. The new phase of the rivalry is because neither one of them can get a decisive edge over the other solely with its OS and AP specifications, features or design. 

Scanning the article, I could never get any kind of explanation as to who these industry sources are, or where they are coming from. And that would be both helpful and more reassuring, since it would add more veracity to the claim. The article also stated that “The new iPhone is expected to make its debut at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco in June,” but again didn’t qualify that statement, so we don’t know if it too comes from the above mentioned “industry sources,” or just a parroting of speculation and opinion found on blogs such as this one.

Reflecting on how much of this ETNews report can be believed, MacRumors points out that: “the site did incorrectly claim last year that the iPhone would launch in late June with a special event several weeks after WWDC. The site appears to have been more accurate with its January claim that Sharp had been cut out of the supply chain for the display in the new iPad. Sharp did experience difficulties meeting Apple’s quality control standards for the display production, and is only now ramping up production to help meet demand.” While MacRumors is willing to wholesale-brand the rumor as most likely unreliable, one could split the difference: if ETNews has gotten release date rumors wrong but production rumors right, then the LiquidMetal rumor could be more legitimate than their facile statement that the iPhone 5 will be released in June.

In an effort to match patents with rumor, Patently Apple joined the fray by leafing through its archives of Apple patent filings that relate to their licensing of LiquidMetal’s alloys, pointing their readers to a “report titled ‘Looking into One of Apple’s Special-Purpose Liquidmetal Projects” that was based on several patents related to Apple’s agreement with Liquidmetal Technologies.’” Patently Apple remarks that “While Apple’s iPhone 4′s glass design definitely had its share of critics and PR problems with antennagate, it still remains the number smartphone on the market. Yet without a doubt a fresh new design using liquidmetal will help to reignite the iPhone’s hysteria around the globe.”

All of these reports however, are failing to recall a more recent LiquidMetal-related news piece that could directly relate to what ETNews is telling us. On March 7th — the morning that the iPad 3 was to be announced, LiquidMetal released this statement to the press:

Liquidmetal Technologies today announced that its manufacturing operations are currently in the midst of shipping commercial parts to several of its customers world-wide. Parts delivery began this past December with continuing shipments scheduled for the months ahead.

The lake-breaking assumption that day was that the iPad 3 was going to have a LiquidMetal chassis. We didn’t get around to reporting it that day, since there was so much going on with the iPad 3 announcement, but you can read a report about it from 9to5Mac. What the tech media keyed on was that the “parts delivery began this last December,” which would have been in keeping with iPad production. However, with the possibility of a June iPhone 5 release date looming, what are the chances that these parts were actually for the iPhone 5?

Everything else in this article is total rumor — but the LiquidMetal press release isn’t. We don’t know where or for what those LiquidMetal shipments were/are for, but when you couple that press release with this new rumor, it makes a compelling case for a LiquidMetal iPhone 5, no?

By Michael Nace

America’s third-largest mobile carrier is back in the iPhone 5 rumor mill again, with new evidence that they are working quickly to roll out 4G LTE coverage in some of the biggest U.S. mobile markets. Is this in anticipation of the 4G iPhone 5? And does it point to a June release?

[UPDATED April 17, 2012, 12:08pm EST -- Sprint's media department responded to the iPhone 5 News Blog's enquiries on this story with the following statement from PR Representative Kristen Wallace: "Sprint has announced it will largely complete the rollout of Network Vision by the end of 2013. In order to meet that timeline, Sprint has begun work and is at varying stages of completion at every cell site across the country." The last sentence, while not directly confirming the leaked documents to the left, certainly corroborates the reports that they are in fact working widespread across the U.S.. Sprint did not respond to whether or not this heightened work on the 4G network has anything to do with an upcoming iPhone release.]

Since the launch of the iPhone 4S on Sprint’s network last fall, there have been several dubious reports concerning Sprint, and how the company’s hefty investment in the iPhone — as well as its gutsy gamble on its 4G networks — is leaving subscribers and shareholders alike wondering what the future of the company might be. In spite of this speculation, however, Sprint appears to be admirably pushing forward on its promise to build a robust 4G network across the U.S. and offer a wide selection of impressive 4G mobile devices. Many have assumed that the iPhone 5 will be one of them.

A new report citing a purported leaked document appears to point to Sprint aggressively rolling out its 4G network across top U.S. mobile markets, perhaps in a bid to prepare itself for a massive 4G iPhone 5 release that could be coming sooner rather than later.

The document comes by way of TechnoBuffalo, who reports that “We have received internal intel revealing that Sprint’s Network Vision deployment is further along than many critics would expect. The internal documents suggest Sprint’s Network Vision campaign has been underway in Akron, Chicago, Fort Worth, Nashville, New York, Rialto and Stockton since late last year.” These cities join the ones we already know are coming, thanks to a Sprint press release: Kansas City, Mo., Baltimore, Dallas, San Antonio, Atlanta and Houston. Just these cities alone will cover 120 million people by the end of the year.

TechnoBuffalo tethered this document’s revelations with that of an earlier Wall Street Journal report that Sprint already has a 4G LTE network up and running, and that “A Sprint spokeswoman said the carrier has 4G LTE towers operating in several other markets, but wouldn’t identify them.”

WSJ points out that “Sprint’s phones-first strategy for its new network is part of its push to catch up with rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless in offering what has become the industry standard for fourth-generation wireless broadband.” However, if the iPhone 5 is coming soon — June perhaps — and it is to be 4G, Sprint may have to ramp up its 4G rollout ahead of the announcement in order to maximize on sales. Sprint is planning to release two 4G smartphones, the LG Viper and Galaxy Nexus, on April 22nd, well ahead of any plans to fully implement whatever 4G coverage they are planning for 2012. There is already concern that Sprint subscribers could resent this “phones first approach” — and it remains to be seen if they would risk it with the iPhone 5, considering how coveted 4G capability for the next iPhone is in the U.S., according to a survey taken just after the iPhone 4S’s launch.

Another little-discussed possibility is that Sprint would like to begin selling the iPad 3 in earnest, and that getting their 4G network moving might be what it will take to make that happen for 2012.

Like most rumors we’ve been hearing lately, such as the sundry iPhone 5 production rumors coming out of Asia, this story is by far a smoking gun piece of evidence for a June iPhone 5 release. But it could be yet one more piece of circumstantial evidence that is worth considering.

Note: Sprint did not immediately respond to the iPhone 5 News Blog’s enquiry into this matter, but will update the article if and when we receive a response. 

 By Michael Nace

Concealed in old iPhone 4 form factors, iPhone 5 prototypes floating around the Cupertino campus reportedly are loaded with the 1GB of RAM users have long hoped for, as well as a smartphone-friendly variant of the A5X chip we saw in the iPad 3.

A new report from 9to5Mac today outlines several fresh leads for what the iPhone 5 might come to feature this year. According to their report, iPhone 5 prototypes are making their rounds on the Cupertino campus disguised as iPhone 4s in an attempt to avoid leaking out the new iPhone’s form factor, which, if you believe any of the recent rumors, could sport a dramatically new, unibody chassis. This tactic should come as no surprise — it seems to be standard operating procedure for all smartphone designers. I even read that Samsung is doing a similar disguise job for Galaxy S 3 prototypes, which are purportedly shipping to developers in plain metal boxes in order to protect its unknown form factor.

What did catch my eye, however, were a few of the other details outlined in the 9to5Mac article.

Namely, the 1GB of RAM: “Like the A5X-powered iPad, these new iPhone prototypes are packing 1GB of RAM.” Over the past year and a half, I recall reading several comments from iPhone 5 News Blog readers calling for 1GB of RAM for the iPhone 5. This new iteration could finally usher in the fulfillment of that wish.

Also interesting is what the 9to5Mac piece says about the possible processor for the iPhone 5: “The purpose of the prototype iPhone that we heard about is to test a variation of the “A5X” chip in an iPhone. The A5X processor in the new iPad was specifically built to drive the new Retina Display, so that chip wouldn’t make much sense in an iPhone.” This is actually an interesting development, since the processor for the iPhone 5 has been speculated on heavily since the launch of the iPad 3. Many have wondered if the fabled A6 processor will debut as the chip of choice for the iPhone 5, as opposed to the A5X and the quad-core GPU.

If Apple has a variant of the A5X in the works, I suggest that this could be yet another indirect clue of a June iPhone 5 release: if the current A5X processor only has to be tweaked in order for it to run optimally in the iPhone 5, then it would take much less to retool current A5X production to accommodate the iPhone 5.

By Michael Nace

Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White’s claims that his trip to Asia recently netted him a few iPhone 5 insights, including a unibody form factor and late summer release date. Read why I think the first rumor sounds plausible, but the second one makes little sense to me.

As a rule, we should take analysts’ prediction with as many grains of salt as we do tech rumor blogs, as many of them use their clout as analysts to gin up the market on speculation of wild, fantastical rumors. Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White, however, offered up a few new rumor tidbits about the iPhone 5 that are worth delving into, whether they turn out to be credible or not.

On his recent visit to Asia, Mr. white claims to have picked up some clues about the iPhone 5′s features and release date. His claim that the iPhone 5 will sport a 4-inch screen and 4G LTE aren’t really eyebrow-raising prognostications, since a 4-inch+ display and 4G seem to be foregone conclusions for the next iPhone. More interesting, however, are his comments about the iPhone 5′s form factor.

According to Business Insider, the iPhone 5 will sport “a new, sleek look that we believe will require a Unibody case. This new, sleek look will be the most important reason that consumers decide to upgrade to the iPhone 5.” This quote is a bit confusing: is BI saying that the iPhone 5′s form factor will be unibody, or that its sleek form factor will require a unibody case? Other tech publications have interpreted this quote differently. For example, ZDNET’s  Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, commenting on the iPhone 5 unibody quote, said, “I’m also not sure what to make of the unibody suggestion. It’s worth remembering that the original iPhone, the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS were unibody construction in a sense (although not machined out of a single aluminum block). Apple can do some amazing things with aluminum but putting the antennas back inside the iPhone would leave less room inside for components (and the battery),” indicating that he thinks we’re talking about a single-piece chassis for the iPhone 5.

It’s worth mentioning that unibody construction is not an alien design element for Cupertino: we’ve seen them deploy it with the MacBooks. There were also faint rumors of a future iPhone being cut from a single piece of metal, though the notion of it being “cut” might be inaccurate, with Apple opting for the use of LiquidMetal to mold a metal unibody iPhone 5 form factor instead. LiquidMetal did make headlines on the day of the iPad 3′s launch by saying it was shipping a large shipment of its alloy for something mysterious, which briefly made investors think that the New iPad would be made of LiquidMetal.

Suffice it to say, a true unibody construction is not out of the question for the iPhone 5.

What seems less likely to me personally, however, is White’s belief that the iPhone 5 is slated for an august/September release date. You’ll recall that throughout the 2011 summer, we were told over and over again that the iPhone 5 would be released in august, then September. It never seemed like a reasonable possibility then, and it still doesn’t, since august is a particularly bad month of any product launch, due to the large number of people going on summer vacations in the northern hemisphere. To me, the iPhone 5 will be released either in June or in the fall, like the 4S — a late summer release just doesn’t seem viable.

BI envisions the late-summer iPhone 5 release date this way: “Our sense is that some suppliers will begin production of certain components during the month of June, however, this does not necessarily mean the iPhone 5 will launch in June or even July.” while BI is going on sense, it would appear that components are already in production, notably from Samsung and Texas Instruments. And if the iPhone 5 is to utilize the A5X processor in the New iPad, then those are already into mainstream production. If key components like the display, power management chip, and processor are already in production, it remains to be seen why BI would think that it will not be until June that we see production ramp up for the iPhone 5, as it will not take three months for Apple to amass the raw components they need to begin assembly.

In the end, it appears that what is driving BI and other tech blogs’ belief in a iPhone 5 release that is later rather than sooner is this assumption: “In our view, a August/September launch may make more sense given the iPhone 4S was just launched in October 2011.” There is a tendency to believe that whatever Apple does immediately sets a new pattern. I am still of the belief that 2011 was an irregular year for the iPhone release, and not necessarily a paradigm shift.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the BI article has this to say near the end of the article: “We believe the iPhone 5 ramp for the December quarter could be extraordinary, dwarfing previous launches and driving the stock closer to our $1,001 price target.” This quote shows how tech analyst hype does indeed build into Wall Street, with these new predictions looking to drive up speculation on Apple stock.

By Michael Nace

An earlier rumor claiming that a Foxconn hiring manager had confirmed that the iPhone 5 release date was on track for a June release has been refuted. The new source? Another Foxconn HR manager.

Why can’t Foxconn get their rumor mongering straight?

Less than a week after Japanese rumor site Macotakara posted that Foxconn HR recruiters had confirmed that the recent spate of hirings were in anticipation of a June iPhone 5 release date, yet another HR professional at Foxconn has gone on record about the upcoming iPhone release, saying it won’t come until October.

Citing South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper, Kotaku claims that “the paper asked the head of human resources at Foxconn’s Taiyuan factory about the iPhone 5 release date. The human resources head apparently told the paper, “We just got the order. It [the release] will be around October.” The articles goes on to report that “The Maeil Business Newspaper reporter phoned the Foxconn factory in Taiyuan, and spoke to the H&R head. “Yes, it’s true we are hiring a large number of workers,” the human resources head told the paper.” However, when the Maeil Business Newspaper followed up with Foxconn’s PR Director, they were declined an official comment from the company.

Where does this leave us with the prospect of a June iPhone 5 release date?

It’s worth noting that none of these production rumors rise to the level of being “smoking gun” proof one way or another of when the iPhone 5 will be released. Rather, all of the stories and “chatter” begins to build up something more like a preponderance of circumstantial evidence. The original Foxconn report came from Macotakara, who has a middling track record for getting rumors correct.

At the same time, the Maeil Business Newspaper, in spite of their more official-sounding publication name, doesn’t really offer us a confirmed quote or source that is any more or less credible than the Macotakara article. In fact, both stories say almost exactly the same thing: that it is true that Foxconn is hiring a mass of new workers, and that their specific role is to build the new iPhone. Both reports also acknowledge to some extent that Foxconn has received the order for iPhone 5 production to commence.

The only difference is that this new rumor has a Foxconn executive claiming that the release will come in October, not June.

At worst, this story simply negates the first Foxconn rumor. But I am more inclined to see this new leak from Foxconn as damage control on Apple’s part, since we have to think of Cupertino’s role in all of this. If the first story is in fact true, and Apple’s iPhone 5 release schedule was indeed leaked by Foxconn HR, it would make sense to have another HR executive refute the claim, all in a bid to negate the story. It makes less sense to me that Foxconn would make two very candid remarks about the iPhone 5 production and release schedule less than two weeks apart — unless the second one was planned and scripted.

In the weeks to come, we’ll look out for other pieces to the iPhone 5 release date puzzle: mainly, iOS 6 rumors and/or a surprise beta release, and leaked photos of iPhone 5 components. We did have some good luck in seeing iPad 3 parts prior to the New iPad’s official release, after all. In the meantime, however, all we’re left to ponder are these Foxconn fables.

By Michael Nace

A recent rumor out of Korea suggesting that Samsung is producing OLED screens for the iPhone 5 harkens back to speculation that Apple’s next iPhone could have a curved, convex display.

As we’ve noted here on the blog throughout 2012, very few of currently rumored features for the iPhone 5 are anything new: most of what we’re hearing are recycled rumors from 2011. today, a report is coming out of Korea that Samsung is producing OLED displays for the iPhone 5. According to IBT, “The Korea Times recently reported that Samsung has increased the production of the OLED screen for the new iPhone.”

Amazingly, iPhone 5 News Blog columnist Charles Moore prognosticated the possibility of a curved glass display back on May 24th, predicting that the technology debut on an iPhone in 2012. Charles’ predictions continue to be impressively accurate.

Thus, if this new OLED production rumor proves to be true, then it shows that Apple is putting into production a patent for an AMOLED screen that we reported on in July of last year. In that article, we also reported that Samsung — the worldwide leader in AMOLED technology — would be the default producer of any OLED screens for the iPhone 5. They began showcasing the AMOLED technology back in 2010: “At the 2010 CES, “Samsung demonstrated a laptop computer with a large, transparent OLED display featuring up to 40% transparency and an animated OLED display in a photo ID card” (from Wikipedia), and are now rolling out their Super AMOLED Plus displays, which utilize “real stripe matrix (50% more sub pixels), thinner form factor, brighter image and a 18% reduction in energy consumption.”

The immediate benefits of switching the iPhone’s display from LCD to AMOLED is that it uses less energy and takes up less space. But perhaps the most compelling reason to use AMOLED is that it is completely flexible; you can craft curved and bendable screens with it. You might recall photos of future iPhones that could be as thin as a credit card and fit in your wallet. While that sort of design is most likely not forthcoming on the iPhone 5 this year, the use of an OLED screen could allow Apple to give the iPhone 5 a curved, convex display that “wraps” around the user’s head when making a call, thus improving signal clarity.

The rumor of a curved screen was well documented in 2011, when Apple reportedly invested in expensive glass-cutting machines, ostensibly to craft complex, curved displays (and perhaps other body components) for the iPhone 5. Obviously, those glass cutting machines were not utilized in the iPhone 4S’s production, since it simply reprised the iPhone 4′s form factor and dimensions. But if the glass-cutting machine rumors are true — together with these late-breaking rumors of Samsung producing OLED screens for the iPhone 5 — we very well may see a curvier iPhone this year.

Note: Wikipedia describes the difference between the OLED and AMOLED acronyms thusly: “AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) is a display technology for use in mobile devices and televisions. OLED describes a specific type of thin-film display technology in which organic compounds form the electroluminescent material, and active matrix refers to the technology behind the addressing of pixels.”

By Michael Nace

If Apple makes good on rumors of an iPhone 5 that universally controls televisions and the fabled iTV, together with the current Apple TV, Cupertino will very quickly become a key player in the television market.

It will be interesting to see what happens with iTV this year. In many ways, the iTV rumors and speculation are not unlike the long-traveled Apple tablet rumors leading up to the iPad. With the iTV, however, there is much less to go on in terms of what it could mean for television viewers. Will it simply be the full hardware version of what Apple TV already provides, or will the iTV experience be more ingenious than that? No one really has a clue, and the rumor mill is truly in the dark as to when the iTV will debut and what it will really be.

In some ways, it could turn out to be a much bigger surprise to Apple enthusiasts than the iPhone 5, which already has a ton of expectations attached to it.

Speaking of the iPhone 5, it too fits into Apple’s possible power move into the world of television. In fact, it could become the new standard in how one controls their television, DVD player, entertainment systems, and even other remote-controlled systems in their homes.

You may have read some stories last week about a curious Apple patent that would enable a handheld device — ostensibly the iPhone and/or iPad — to commandeer any remote-controlled device in your house. And the technological concept behind it is rather audacious. According to Patently Apple:

“In some embodiments, the remote control may include a camera that is configured to capture an image of controlled devices. The image is then processed to find a state of the device. For example, in some embodiments, the image may be processed to determine shapes and/or characters on a television screen. The shapes and characters may be used to determine that the television is displaying content from a particular source. If you think of it, that translates in-part to reading logos on screen from sources such as ABC, NBC or HBO for instance. Other shapes may relate to Apple-specific functions that patent doesn’t reveal at this time.”

Considering that Apple’s patent would require this “smart” remote control to be equipped with cameras and microphones, the assumption here is that it would not be developed into a separate, proprietary device that would have to be purchased separately. Instead, it would be your iPhone, and the software would utilize its camera and mic to be able to co-opt any remote control out there by matching the shape and brand to a massive database that would reside on iCloud.

For as much as this feature would be handy, the real groundbreaking could come from the iPhone’s ability to “watch” television with you, and somehow offer you choices and functionality based on what the iPhone is seeing. Much like the rumors of the 3D camera patent that could show up on the iPhone 5 that would be able to read and interpret things like depth perception and facial expressions, this television-reading feature would imbue the iPhone 5 with a new level of artificial intelligence that could revolutionize mobile computing.

Ad in this way, I foresee Apple quickly dominating — and changing — the way people watch television.

If rumors prove true about iTV, then we’re already headed toward the marginalization — if not the extinction — of broadcast television. Apple could quickly change the nature of television to become virtually all on-demand; television shows and movies will no longer broadcast at a fixed time, but rather will simply “become available.” All that will be left are sporting events and live news coverage.

But for the remaining segment of the market that will stick to traditional broadcasting, the iPhone 5 could come to dominate that segment as well. If the features of this new “universal remote control” are mind-blowing enough, the iPhone 5 could become a hard-core necessity for television junkies.

Just think: by the end of 2012, apple could have iTV, Apple TV, and the iPhone 5 with this newfangled remote control. that’s a pretty wide-ranging product line for a market segment that they have barely yet to penetrate. It may seem like an audacious move, but don’t put it past Apple.

By Michael Nace

A report on an Apple patent filing for 3D camera technology reignites the long standing rumor that the iPhone 5 could feature a 3D camera in 2012. Is adding 3D camera technology to the iPhone necessary?

The tech media is running with a story this morning about a recent Apple patent registration fr some 3D camera technology. Does this sound familiar? It is. We’ve been reporting on 3D camera speculation for quite a long time now. Last summer, when all of those purported iPhone 5 cases with the multiple camera cut-outs were being spotted in Asia, tech bloggers and speculators assumed that they had been tooled for an iPhone 5 with multiple camera sensors — the necessary layout for a 3D camera-equipped smartphone.

We’ve debated the point of 3D cameras here on the blog. We’ve even talked about whether 3D technology has been properly tested, and whether it is truly safe for human consumption — particularly if users start viewing 3D media on a daily basis. but if you read our article from last year about previous 3D camera patents (and their possible pitfalls), you’ll see that 3D technology has been kicking around in the rumor mill for some time now.

Today’s reports, however, give us a bit of different spin on 3D cameras, and what they could mean for the iPhone 5.

IBT reports that “a tech website cited on Thursday a patent filing in the US Patent and Trademark Office and said Apple could be working on an advanced camera for mobile devices that could create three-dimensional (3D) models of scanned objects and that the new development might arrive on future iDevices like the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.”

That “tech website” is the ever-interesting Patently Apple, whose new focus on a 3D camera patent filing from Apple reveals how being able to take a 3D photo with the iPhone 5 could simply turn out to be a means to a [very cool] end. IBT explains that, because Apple’s plans for a 3D camera analyze depth perception — a feature that no other 3D camera sensor offers —  ”the new 3D cameras could also recognize facial expressions and gesturing. With the knack to both capture and recreate 3D images, the new imaging system could enhance the imaging capabilities of the 5 megapixel iSight camera on the new iPad and the 8 megapixel camera found on the iPhone 4S.”

The “end” here would be a further extension of Apple’s interest in giving mobile users incredibly intuitive ways of not only taking pictures, but also editing, processing, storing, and sharing them. One can only begin to imagine the apps and other related software that could accompany a camera’ ability to detect and possibly even interpret things like depth and facial expression.

It begins to fit into the larger picture of artificial intelligence.

Of course, it would stand to reason that an iPhone 5 with a 3D camera would necessarily have to include a 3D display to go with it. It is worth noting that, in addition to 3D camera rumors for the iPhone 5, there have been a fair share of 3D display rumors as well. We recently highlighted one of them back on January 13th. However, none of the recent display rumors for the iPhone 5 have indicated anything about 3D.

Adding 3D technology in with a larger screen, new form factor, 4G LTE, NFC, iOS 6, and a new processor almost seems like too much to sell for the iPhone 5. And if the 3D camera and display feature turned out to be mere pastiche of what has already been tried on Android smartphones, it wouldn’t even seem worth it. But given Apple’s penchant for doing things better than its competitors, it is possible that they have big plans for 3D technology for the iPhone 5 that would simply blow our minds.

By Michael Nace

Rumors that Apple is manufacturing 5-inch retina displays for the iPhone 5 would seem far fetched. But it could be that these displays are slated for the fabled “Mini iPad.”

Imagine for a moment that Tim Cook unveils the iPhone this year and it doesn’t have a 3.7-, 4.0-, 4.3-, or even 4.6-inch display — numbers that we’ve all heard rumored for the iPhone 5. Instead, the iPhone 5 turns out to a tablet-smartphone line-blurrer (is that a word?) with a 5-inch screen.

That’s what Stuff’s hook-laden headline would like you to believe. According to their report: “Apple is building a 5in Retina Display – which could be used for the iPhone 5 or a rumoured iPad Mini. Reports from a Japanese manufacturer suggest that the 5in Retina Displays are going into production ready for a 2013 device release.”

It’s strange to imaging where a 5-inch Retina display fits into the possible 2012 Apple product ecosphere, isn’t it? Just about the only half-reasonable argument for a 5-inch iPhone 5 is that the Samsung Galaxy Note is already out there, and Apple thinks that it’s big screen and hidden stylus pen is a bold idea that they can do much, much better. But I find that doubtful: Steve Jobs was pretty skeptical of small-screen tablets and stylii. It’s hard to imagine that Cupertino would break from his ideologies so radically. Besides, the tech community is far from having embraced the notion of a smartphone with a 5-inch screen. Heck, the debate rages on if even a 4.6-inch screen is too big.

But the 5-inch Retina display rumor is even problematic for the never-ending “Mini iPad” rumor as well.

We’ve been hearing about the Mini iPad for quite a long time now — well over a year — and no one has ever talked about it having a tiny 5-inch screen; the estimates have always been in the 7-inch range. Just as the 5-inch iPhone 5 would be massive, conversely, a 5-inch iPad would a bit too diminutive. In this way, the rumor seems too outlandish to be true. And because the original source is from a Japanese-language website, it’s hard to parse out its veracity.

I think it’s always worth chronicling the iPhone 5 and iPad rumors, even if they seem too good (or bad) to be true. Most who follow iPhone and Mini iPad rumors will agree that a 5-inch display on either of these two devices would be a strange move that would completely turn the tech community on its head. But perhaps that’s exactly what Tim Cook is looking to do this year?

By Michael Nace