A new sighting of what looks to be a curved iPhone 5S has been purportedly spotted by the rumor mill just days after an Apple patent made the rounds sporting a similar design.
You have to give the iPhone 5S rumor mill credit: in a mere matter of days, it can magically turn a futuristic Apple patent into a sighting of what looks to be the next plausible iPhone design. That appears to be exactly what has happened with the photo above, which purports to be a grainy photo of an iPhone 5S with a decidedly curved glass.
What are the chances that an Apple patent for such a revolutionary design could be turned into a production model iPhone 5S in such a short amount of time? Read More
A new source has boldly predicted not only the month, but the exact release date for the iPhone 5S. Will we really see Tim Cook presenting the new iPhone on June 20th?
We’ve gotten to that next stage in the iPhone 5S rumor mill — the stage where the crazy, unmitigated release date rumors begin flowing with reckless abandon. Much like a roulette wheel, tech media blogs and websites — as well as a few financial tech analysts — begin choosing random or semi-random dates based on a “best guess” of the release month. Since the latest analyses from the financial sector has focused on an iPhone 5S release date in June, we now have our first submission from the iPhone 5S roulette wheel: June 20th.
Save the date. Read More
T-Mobile’s announcement that they will offer the iPhone 5 starting in mid-April harkens back to Verizon’s 2011 announcement — which could push back the iPhone 5S release date.
Well, T-Mobile customers’ long wait for the iPhone has finally ended. Beginning on April 12th, the company will offer the iPhone 5, which will also benefit from T-Mobile’s newly, hyped LTE network. T-Mobile will also be carrying the iPhone 4S and 4 is select markets as well, giving the carrier the opportunity to compete with the likes of the big three in the U.S..
The T-Mobile announcement to carry the iPhone gives Apple the opportunity to widen its distribution and sales network in the U.S. — a kind of strategic pivot against Samsung, who appears to be slowly encroaching on the iPhone with its Galaxy S as a contender that can take on Apple mano e mano. For their part, T-Mobile’s new marketing pitch to be the “Uncarrier,” with incentives like only having to put up $99 bucks for the iPhone 5, is a way to take on the likes of Sprint as a price leader in the mobile network market. So, everyone is making their play.
This move by Apple to allow T-Mobile to sell the iPhone 5 come April has. other implications, however. Namely, how will it affect the iPhone 5S release date? Read More
The tech media is juggling rumors of an iPhone 5S release for virtually every month starting with June. But for one of those early summer months to feature the iPhone 5S release date, we’ll need to see iOS 7 soon.
In a perfect world, we would already be seeing some agreement in the tech media about the iPhone 5S release date. However, as we enter into the spring, the rumor mill is bucking wildly, spinning out a wide range of new release date rumors that fragment any continuity that we hoped to gain from following the breadcrumb trail of production rumors. In spite of a few early reports, we still remain largely in the dark considering the iPhone 5S release date, as well as the viability of an accompanying “el cheap-o” iPhone.
And iOS 7 beta still remains elusive. Read More
Mobile tech users and the media are increasingly concerned about privacy issues surrounding the announcement of Google Glass. In the meantime, no one is raising red flags over Samsung’s new GS4′s always-on, front-facing camera.
Last week’s SXSW conference in Texas showcased Google Glass in its entirely, and while onlookers were amazed at its next-generation approach to mobile computing, early concerns about the technology — namely, that the glasses place the ability to photograph, record, and thoroughly cyber stalk anyone within range of view — have raised serious questions about the integration of technology with the human body, and whether or not such technology infringes on privacy and civil rights.
While these are all important questions to ask about Google Glass, what has been ignored in the media is the earlier release of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 smartphone, and, more specifically, its front-facing camera and accompanying “eye tracking” software. Knowing that Google’s Android mobile operating platform is running behind a camera that is always on and always watching the user, why isn’t the tech community concerned about the GS4 as much as Google Glass? Read More
With the new perception that the GS4‘s eye tracking features have now set a new bar for 2013, iPhone 5S rumors now claim that the 2013 iPhone will feature similar biometric features.
Once the Samsung brass took the stage last week and revealed the GS4 with its novel, new eye tracking features, one sensed that it was only a matter of time that the iPhone 5S rumor mill would seek to provide proof that the 5S too will include similar features. Now that the GS4 has its eye tracking features and Google is beginning to push its Google Glass, 2013 is shaping up to be the year of biometric features on mobile devices, or, for the more cynical, the rise of cyborgism.
Will Apple feel the pressure to ensure that the iPhone 5S offers comparable biometric features for the iPhone 5s? Read More
In theory, the new Samsung Galaxy S IV phablet appears to be a technological tour-de-force that presents a formidable challenge to Apple’s iPhone 5, which it will handily outsell in a global market context. However, I’m skeptical that the S IV will hang together as impressively as a whole unit.
One of the key attributes of Apple hardware, be it iDevices or Macs is their look and tactile feel. They are like fine jewelry, and that impression goes more than skin-deep. The inherent materials and build quality of especially Apple’s aluminum unibody machines is both gratifying to the user and also pays off in ruggedness and reliability. Read More
The new Samsung Galaxy S4 is making headlines with its new, novel software features, such as eye tracking and scroll pause. If the iPhone 5S is to rely on new software as well, Apple will have to raise the bar on iOS 7.
The GS4 cometh, and in spite of the big splash that it made in the press (the Drudge Report, for example, carried the story as its lead story last night), the new model is ultimately a refresh that relies more on software updates to sell it that hardware. The device does feature a slightly larger 5-inch display, up .2 inches from the 4.8-inch screen of the GS3, as well as some other improvements, such as a 13-megapixel camera, front facing camera, and improvements to the processor. But to the average user, the GS4 looks essentially like the GS3, and as we all know, you don’t have a smartphone “overhaul” until you radically update the form factor.
Yet, the GS4 is going to sell based on its software features — something that Apple is mostly like going to have to pull off with the iPhone 5S and iOS 7. Read More
Apple founder Steve Jobs was famously against the use of the stylus pen with mobile devices, seeing gesture control on the iPhone and iPad as the next generation of stylus-controlled “Palm Pilots” of yesteryear. In spite of Jobs’ hardline ethic on the stylus pen, the tech media has managed to keep the notion of an Apple-sanctioned stylus flowing through the mainstream rumor mill.
Today, a new rumor is circulating that a stylus pen will accompany the iPhone 5S in 2013: Read More
From wireless charging to a fingerprint reader, there are enough hardware rumors concerning the refreshed iPhone 5S to build a completely new iPhone model if they were to all come true. Chances are, however, we’ll see next to none of them on the iPhone 5S.
In spite of the fact that the off-year iPhone refresh has become one of the few conventions in Apple’s product release schedule, iPhone users — and particularly the tech media — are generally unwilling to accept the realities of a refreshed iPhone 5S. With the 3GS and 4S, Apple only lightly touched up the hardware, instead opting to do more with their accompanying iOS builds. The same will most likely be true in 2013, regardless of what we may hear. Read More
