Inside Apple's iPhone 4S and its improved antenna: 'S' is for Signal

The new iPhone 4S features a redesigned antenna design that allows for better reception and faster wireless data speeds, a tweak that should further distance Apple from the "antennagate" controversy that occurred around the launch of the iPhone 4.

Leading up to Friday's launch of the iPhone 4S, AppleInsider will offer a closer look at some of the features of the next-generation handset. Given that the 'S' in the device's moniker was never officially defined by Apple, we offer five potential definitions. Today: 'S' is for Signal, with a newly redesigned antenna.




'Antennagate:' A brief history

Soon after the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010, it was discovered that covering the bottom left of the phone, where two separate antennas meet, could reduce cellular reception with the device. In low-signal situations, this could result in a dropped call.

The ensuing media firestorm prompted Apple to uncharacteristically hold a special press conference last July, where the company announced it would give away free cases to iPhone 4 customers for a limited time.

The controversy stemmed from the fact that the iPhone 4 has a unique design where the metal edges of the device also serve as its antenna. Any reception issues could be resolved by adding a case to the phone, which prevented users' skin from touching the antenna and causing signal attenuation.

Apple also noted that competing smartphones experience similar issues with reception, and shared videos on its website showing decreased reception when holding a BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris, Samsung Omnia II, and even the iPhone 3GS.

For all the noise around it, the so-called "antennagate" didn't prove to be much of an issue for consumers. Apple eventually removed its website created in response to the controversy, and ended its free case program. The iPhone 4 went on to become Apple's best selling smartphone in the company's history, achieving a record 20.34 million sales last quarter alone.

With "antennagate" now well behind it, Apple has introduced a tweaked antenna on its iPhone 4S handset -- a modified, multifunctional design that promises better reception and even faster data transfer speeds.




An 'intelligent' antenna

In its promotional materials, Apple has stated that the iPhone 4S is "the first phone to intelligently switch between two antennas to transmit and receive, so call quality is better." However, the company has not gone into great detail to explain exactly how the dual-antenna system works.

In his review of the iPhone 4S, Jim Dalrymple of The Loop noted that the dual-antenna design is exclusive to Apple, and in his experience it boosted signal not only on calls, but also general reception.

"To be perfectly clear -- this is an Apple-only technology," he wrote. "While other companies can receive on dual antennas, no other company can transmit and receive on dual GSM and CDMA antennas."


Scpencer Webb, CEO of antenna design firm AntennaSys, told Gizmodo that he thinks that Apple may have come up with a unique algorithm for distributing antenna signals for the iPhone 4S. With this, Apple could implement a selective processing method where the handset would choose the better signal offered by the phone's two antennas, all while meeting radio-frequency emission requirements from the Federal Communications Commission.

While Apple has promised the new antenna will improve reception and call quality, it won't be a fix-all for network woes. For example, Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal found in his testing on AT&T's network that he still experienced a number of dropped calls. However, a colleague testing identical iPhone 4S hardware on Verizon's network experienced no such problems.

But Edward Baig of USA Today said he din't experience any dropped calls in his testing of the iPhone 4S on AT&T's network. He described call quality with the iPhone 4S as "generally quite good."




HSDPA speeds, world phone for GSM roaming

Improvements to the iPhone 4S antenna don't stop with its proprietary dual-antenna technology. Changes to the design of the phone have also made it HSDPA compatible.

That means that maximum download speeds on an HSDPA GSM network are up to 14.4Mbps. That's double the maximum speed of 7.2Mbps possible with the iPhone 4.

HSDPA speeds can, under the right circumstances, be comparable to some true 4G LTE networks. In his testing of the iPhone 4S, Mossberg said he experienced 4G speeds in areas where AT&T has deployed its HSDPA network.

"In numerous tests at three different locations in the Washington suburbs, I averaged download speeds of nearly 7 megabits per second -- better than in prior tests on Sprint and T-Mobile 4G phones," he wrote.


While 4G-like speeds may be possible in some areas with GSM carriers like AT&T, the upgrade does not apply for customers of CDMA carriers, like Verizon and Sprint in the U.S. Verizon customers who upgrade from an iPhone 4S, for example, will achieve the same speeds as with the iPhone 4.

Because of this, AT&T is believed to be pushing Apple to add a "4G" indicator to the iPhone 4S status bar. However, AT&T's HSDPA network is not "true" 4G long-term evolution, or LTE.

Beyond additional speed for some, the new iPhone 4S design and accompanying antenna will allow for more flexibility. The iPhone 4S is a "world phone," which means that both GSM and CDMA customers will be able to roam worldwide on GSM networks.

Previously, if a customer bought the CDMA-only iPhone 4, released on Verizon's network earlier this year, they could not roam outside of the country, such as in Europe where CDMA networks are not common. The inclusion of both GSM and CDMA radios in the iPhone 4S will allow those customers to use their handset worldwide more easily.


Source : Apple Insider | By Neil Hughes
Original Content: Inside Apple's iPhone 4S and its improved antenna: 'S' is for Signal

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iOS chief Scott Forstall profiled as a 'maddeningly political' mini-Steve Jobs

Apple senior vice president of iOS software Scott Forstall is hailed in a new interview as a polarizing genius, and potentially what company needs to continue its remarkable growth story in a post-Jobs era.

In a comprehensive look at how the company's youngest senior executive rose through the ranks at Apple,Businessweek contrasts Forstall's many attributes with, what the magazine calls, his "polarizing" features. He is a man who has both won the loyalty and respect of his staff, and the ire of several current and former Apple executives. The magazine describes him, in many ways, as a mini-Steve Jobs.

The magazine notes that while Forstall is brilliant at identifying what he wants, and how to get it, the senior VP is difficult to work with, and has allegedly prompted the departure of several high-ranking executives over the years. Similarly frustrated engineers from his iOS team have also quit, said one magazine source.

"I once referred to Scott as Apple's chief a-hole," said former Apple software engineer Mike Lee. "And I don't mean it as a criticism. I meant it as a compliment. You could say the same thing about Steve Jobs."

Businessweek argues that Forstall possesses the charisma, managerial skills, and tireless negotiating tactics that Apple needs to help lead Apple following the passing of its co-founder.

Forstall grew up in a middle-class family in Kitsap County, Wash., the second of three boys born to a nurse and an engineer. He excelled scholastically, participating in various clubs and contests, and had a knack for computer programming. Forstall graduated co-valedictorian from his high school, boasting a perfect 4.0 GPA. His valedictorian counterpart is now his wife, Molly.

After receiving and undergraduate degree from Stanford University in symbolic systems, an interdisciplinary department that combined classes in philosophy, linguistics and computer science, followed by a master's degree in computer science, Forstall joined Jobs' NeXT Computer. His job entailed work on the company's operating system, and led him to design user interfaces for the retooled Macintosh line when Apple bought NeXT in 1996. This was the year Jobs returned as interim CEO of Apple after being ousted in 1985 from the company he had co-founded in 1976.

By 2000, Forstall was a leading designer of Aqua, the Mac UI that featured water-themed visuals such as translucent icons. Later he would manage the group of developers that created the Leopard version of the OS.

A critical stage in Forstall's career came in 2005, when Apple and Jobs were in the process of creating the first iPhone. Jobs was faced with the dilemma of choosing which software would run on the future device, being either a Linux-based system from the team that built the iPod, or a stripped-down version of the Mac OS. Businessweekdescribes Jobs' choices as either shrinking the Mac, or enlarging the iPod. According to the magazine, Jobs preferred the former because it would give Apple a highly customizable mobile OS, able to be used in future products.

In classic Jobs fashion, he pitted the two teams against each other, with Forstall leading a 15 member team in the Mac approach, against then-iPod chief Tony Fadell and his team. Inter-office politics flared as Forstall was reported to have stolen top talent from the opposing team, and refused to share early versions of what would become iOS. He religiously followed Jobs' obsession with secrecy, even among company departments.

With his OS shipping on the first iPhone in 2007, and Apple's goal for software to be completely integrated with its hardware, Forstall's strength grew within the company. Because of Apple's mantra of seamless software and hardware co-existence, hardware engineers couldn't add new features without going through Forstall's engineers. Thus, if he didn't like the idea, it was vetoed.

By 2008, when he was promoted to senior vice-president, Forstall had the reputation of making sure his accomplishments were noticed, blaming others for failures, reportsBusinessweek. According to the magazine, some former associates say Forstall routinely takes credit for collaborative successes, deflects blame for mistakes, and is "maddeningly political. "


Though even critics are quick to point out that Forstall is a great troubleshooter, citing the introduction of an ecosystem for third-party developers to create apps for the iPhone. The device was initially closed and Jobs viewed the device as a standout, as it combined a phone with an iPod and a web-browser. The thought then was that Forstall's team would partner with market leaders such as Google to create apps built specifically for the device.

When consumers began unlocking their iPhones to run unauthorized apps, though, Forstall oversaw the creation of a software developer's kit and would is now the App Store, so that Apple could leverage the new trend. He was first earnestly thrown into the public eye in June 2009, when he was tasked with delivering a large portion of a keynote during one of Jobs' medical leaves. Although not as charismatic as Jobs, he did prove to be capable of holding his own on stage.

The 2010 iPhone 4 prototype fiasco forced Forstall into a corner, as he was responsible for persuading Jobs to allow the prototypes to be tested in public. To add to the serious breach of secrecy, the main reason behind Forstall's idea to let the phone out in the open turned out to be unsuccessful. The iPhone 4 dropped calls due to an alleged flaw with the software and antenna design, and turned into a target for customer complaints.

Forstall survived that debacle and Apple has since given him authority over quality assurance and testing.

The company has good reason to lay so much faith in the iOS chief, as over a quarter billion devices running his iOS have been sold to date. The devices account for 70 percent of Apple's revenues.

It's also suggested by Businessweek that Apple may have more need for Forstall than he does for them. Over the past ten years, he sold about 237,000 shares worth over $42.5 million, according to regulatory filings. On the other hand, Apple needs Forstall's gravity in the development community to draw programmers toward iOS, and not competing platforms like Google's Android. He has control of the development tools and processes that make iOS so popular, and thus has the ear of many developers.

In the end, Forstall is seen as an asset by many, though the magazine profiles him as a young Steve Jobs, "scorching the earth behind him while retaining a remarkable ability to come out ahead."

Jobs and Forstall were close, remarks the magazine's sources, with Jobs taking pride in the young executive. Forstall may be Apple's best hope at preserving the legacy of Jobs, and it's suggested that perhaps Jobs saw that as well. At Apple's World Wide Developers Concerence in June, Jobs referred to Forstall's software as the "soul" of Apple's products. Later in the keynote, Forstall detailed the latest version of iOS, and when passing by the late CEO as he walked off stage, the audience could hear Jobs say, "good job."


Source : Apple Insider | By Mikey Campbell
Original Content: iOS chief Scott Forstall profiled as a 'maddeningly political' mini-Steve Jobs

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IPad Apps Help Kids Master the Alphabet

For kids, learning the alphabet isn't exactly as easy as A-B-C. While you and I may have mastered the alphabet from books or television, children today are just as likely to study letters and their sounds with the magical multitouch device that is the iPad. My daughters (ages 4 and 2) helped me test three ostensibly educational apps. Our questions: Are they really teaching the kids anything? And perhaps even more importantly, are they fun?


What to look for

My kids are iOS pros. They can unlock an iPad, swipe between screens, and launch the app they're after. The best kid-focused apps offer simple navigation, clear instructions, and easy targets for little hands to manipulate.

Apps that purport to help my kids master the alphabet should do all that and more. Beyond offering fun, engaging visuals, they should employ both lowercase and uppercase letters, associate letters with their sounds, and ideally not feel too repetitive (and thus unworthy of repeat launching).



ABC Expedition

The first app my kids and I tried out together was ABC Expedition ( Macworld rated 4 out of 5 mice ). The $3 game from developer Meldmedia stars Captain Wallace, an accented character (of the non-typographic variety) who leads an alphabet expedition through a virtual zoo. The app's main menu presents a grid of colorful, clear capital letters; tapping on any visits the animal whose name begins with that letter. The approach is somewhat similar to Safari Animals HD ( Macworld rated 3 out of 5 mice ), another animal-themed ABC app that suffered from some navigation limitations when I reviewed it recently. (The Safari Animals HD 1.1 update, released after my review, added sorely needed bidirectional navigation.)

Because of the limits of the English language, some letters in ABC Expedition link to less well-known animals--or at least ones that are a bit unlikely to appear in a real zoo. But the narwhal (for the letter N), urial (U), and x-ray fish (X, naturally) are just as charming to visit as the lion (L) and the monkey (M), so it's not a problem.

When you tap a letter, the delightfully drawn animal appears with an animated entrance, accompanied by realistic sound effects: the koala grabs some leaves to eat, and the rhinoceros runs around the screen before bumping into the R. Each animal is presented with upper- and lowercase representations of its initial letter, along with the written name of the animal in question.

Once the animal's entrance animation is complete, you can tap the animal to trigger its sound effect, tap the capital letter to hear it pronounced by Captain Wallace, tap the lowercase letter to hear it pronounced by a similarly chipper kid, or tap the animal's name to hear Captain Wallace say it aloud. Frustratingly, to me and the kids alike, you can't tap on any of those things‚--or tap buttons to navigate to other letters or back to the main menu--until the animal's entrance animation completes.

ABC Expedition's other flaws are minimal: The app shows buttons to go forward and backward to the next letters, even on A and Z, where half of those buttons have no effect. And my kids, who are accustomed to kid-friendly e-books, kept trying to swipe to turn pages, instead of tapping those buttons. Regardless, the drawings are adorable and the speech is clear. While ABC Expedition's gameplay is repetitive, my kids enjoyed it, and it's cute enough to avoid driving their parents crazy.


ABC Go

ABC Go ( Macworld rated 4 out of 5 mice ), a $2 universal app from Peapod Labs, takes a very different approach. The app launches with a massive, vertically scrolling alphabetical grid. Kids can tap on any of the squares--some of which preview their contents, but most of which don't--to see objects that start with the corresponding letter.

Once you're on that object, you have plenty of options. For example, we tapped on B, and were presented with a colorful, full screen image of bumper cars. Tiny characters--whom ABC Go dubs Little Explorers--hold up signs that spell out the word(s). Swiping reveals another picture of bumper cars; swiping again reveals a third. Many photos (including each of the three bumper car images) are also linked to videos. Tapping the video button plays an embedded YouTube video--pre-screened for appropriateness by Peapod Labs--on the topic. Tapping the exclamation point button displays a factoid ("Bumper cars draw power from the floor and/or ceiling of the track, and they can be turned on and off remotely by an operator"), which my own kids quickly learned never to bother with. After swiping past the last of the bumper cars, we were guided directly into the app's showcase for its next entry: bus.

But you needn't navigate alphabetically. Tapping any of the letters in the written word--say, the "s" in "bus"--instantly transports you to a new object. In this case, that would be "steamroller."

I vacillate on whether the app's high quantity of more unusual words is a feature or a detraction. There are many words your kids likely won't hear much elsewhere ("gondola," "hovercraft," "maglev," "omnibus," "quad bike", "news van," "xtrapolis"), which might broaden their horizons, or might leave them a bit confused. (Peapod offers a similar app called ABC Wildlife that showcases animals instead of means of transportation; the words in that app are a bit more accessible overall.)

Regardless, my kids love ABC Go. I'd love an option to turn off the videos; we limit our kids' video-watching time, and my four-year-old sometimes likes to use ABC Go for noun-based channel surfing. And the app's endless musical backing track can start to grate after its dozenth loop. These quibbles aren't major, though. The pictures are great and engaging, the words are pronounced clearly with focus on their initial sounds, and the app is a snap to navigate.


Alpha Writer

The last app my kids and I looked at was the $5 Alpha Writer ( Macworld rated 3.5 out of 5 mice ), a universal app from Montessorium. This one's fairly different from the other two, and while both my daughters had some fun with it, only my 4-year-old really understood the app's focus. It's meant for kids who are learning to read, to help them practice forming words.

The app has two modes. In Alpha mode, you're presented with a grid of 50 colorful icons--a lamp, a dog, a jet, and more. Tap one, and you land on a new screen featuring that object, a horizontally scrolling alphabet, and not much else.

A pleasant female voice announces the object's name ("lamp,") and then pronounces it again, focusing on the phonetics ("ull a mmm puh"). You're meant to drag letters down from the horizontal strip to anywhere on the screen, to spell out the word you're hearing. Drag down the wrong letter, and you're very subtly coached ("I hear 'ull a mmm puh'"). You can drag erroneous letters back up to the bar to discard them. (Mercifully, the voice over artist in Alpha Writer shares none of the qualities of the grating narrator in Mathaliens HD. [ Macworld rated 3 out of 5 mice ])

As you drag letters down, you hear their sounds voiced. The app doesn't offer any additional corrections or help; this is really an educational tool meant to be used by you and your kids together. When you tap the checkmark to indicate that you've finished spelling a world, there's no overt indication of whether you've spelled the word correctly or not. (In truth, the app only repeats the name of the word you've spelled when you press the checkmark if it's spelled correctly, but that's a very subtle cue.) With some words, like "ship," Alpha Writer wants kids to figure out the "sh" sound, but of course the "s" and the "h" don't make those sounds when tapped individually. Again, while you can certainly hand this app off to your kids if you want to distract them for a few minutes, you'll want to instead stay by their side if you're hoping to teach them something.

In the app's second mode, Writer, kids can create "storyboards" by dragging objects and letters onto the screen. You can resize and reorder each object, and then invent whatever narrative you'd like to accompany your storyboard. My 4-year-old loved this part.

My kids and I encountered a couple freezes with Alpha Writer on occasion, where the game stopped responding until we restarted it. But on the whole, it's very well-designed and smartly implemented. I don't mind sitting by my daughter's side as she uses the app, though I do wish the game would provide more kid-friendly feedback on how the child is doing.


Other options

Alpha Writer employs the same design aesthetic as Montessorium's Intro to Letters ( Macworld rated 4 out of 5 mice ) app, and it works just as beautifully here. Intro to Letters focuses on recognizing and drawing the characters, while Alpha Writer's focus is more on putting those letters together to make words.

Still, if you're looking for an app to teach kids how to draw their ABCs, Intro to Letters is a solid option. The app features a lovely design with beautiful letters against beautiful backgrounds. Coupled with the app's pleasant female narrator, the overall experience of the app is likable, if a bit dry. If you're looking for a more game-like experience, you won't find it with Intro to Letters.

If you're looking for a more fun approach to practicing letter writing, try the aptly named Alphabet Fun ( Macworld rated 4 out of 5 mice ). In the app's letter mode, tapping on any letter in the alphabet brings up a screen featuring a colorful drawing of an animal whose name starts with that letter. From there, you can trace the letter and words or practice freeform writing. Alphabet Fun lets kids pick from a variety of virtual crayons and colored pencils. (The app also features numbers and color modes.)

The apps we've looked at here focus more on learning and practicing letters. But for just enjoying a good alphabet-themed story, you can't go wrong with Dr. Seuss's ABC Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice . It's a great adaptation of the classic children's book, done with the same commitment to quality Oceanhouse Media has demonstrated with its other iOS versions of Dr. Seuss books.


Final thoughts

Here's the good news: All of these alphabet apps are very good. If you're looking for apps to keep your kids entertained on their own, ABC Go is the best choice, but it functions a bit more like a game than an educational tool. Alphabet Fun offers an enjoyable way of practicing letters. ABC Expedition, on the other hand, really drills letter sounds while remaining entertaining--though with just 26 animals to page through, it can feel repetitious.

The most educational of the apps included here are Montessorium's offerings. But remember that Alpha Writer in particular really requires that you sit with your kids to help them practice spelling and sounding out words with the app.



Source : PCWORLD | By Lex Friedman 
Original Content:  IPad Apps Help Kids Master the Alphabet

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IPod Accounts for One-Third of Apple Sales

The iPod Touch makes up one-third of Apple's total device sales, according to a filing as part of its lawsuit against Samsung, indicating the importance of the music player in the iOS ecosystem.

pple has never before released numbers on iPod sales, but thanks to its pending suit against Samsung, a public filing by the Cupertino, Calif.-based company indicates it has sold over 60 million of the devices since 2007.
In this last quarter alone it sold 10 million, lending credence to CEO Steve Jobs' assertion that the music players are one of Apple's most popular products.

Compared to the 108 million iPhones purchased to date, the iPod Touch ranks a close second in Apple's list of devices, while iPads come in third at 19 million sold. Apple regularly releases its phone and tablet sales, but it has never separated those figures out from iPods, which are similarly capable of running iOS apps.

The figures offer a fuller picture of Apple's ecosystem of devices, as well as the interesting role that the iPod plays in the larger iOS platform. Much more than a music device, the iPod is a crucial driver of app sales -- iPod Touch owners tend to buy more apps than even iPhone or iPad users.

Among popular features for iPod Touch users are Facetime, which lets iPod Touch 4G users video chat with friends, and gaming, as well the ability to download movies and TV shows. This takes the device beyond its original marketing as a music-playing gadget, adding smartphone-like functionalities -- multimedia, connectivity, apps -- but without the phone.

In this sense, the device is almost in a class by itself, although Samsung's Galaxy Player may challenge that. It may also show a market opportunity for other device makers, looking to connect with consumers who are looking for mobile functionality on devices beyond phones.

Apple's lawsuit against Samsung over copyright issues prompted the revelation, requiring the company to file public statements on aspects of its business. Apple and Samsung are currently suing each other for violating intellectual property rights, though they depend upon each other as customer and supplier and intend to maintain good relations despite the court battle.


Source : Mobiledia | By Kendra Srivastava 
Original Content : IPod Accounts for One-Third of Apple Sales

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Apple to begin production of Thunderbolt MacBook Airs next month

Apple next month will reportedly begin manufacturing the first updates to its rejuvenated MacBook Air line as the company looks to maintain the impressive sales momentum generated by the ultra-thin notebooks and limit the market opportunity for would-be competitors hoping to wedge their foot in the door.

Sales of the aggressively-priced 11.6- and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs got off to a hot start following their introduction last October, with Apple assembling roughly 1 million units within their first quarter of availability. During those three months, consumers reportedly chose the new MacBook Airs at a one-to-two ratio to the company's more established MacBook Pro offerings, making for one of the company's most successful Mac product launches ever.

However, shipments of the Airs declined 51 percent sequentially during the first calendar quarter of 2011 -- including a 40 percent month-over-month decline in February -- as Apple introduced new MacBook Pros that caught consumers' eyes, according to Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has proven sources within the Cupertino-based company's Far Eastern supply chain.

Kuo tells AppleInsider that his latest round of checks with suppliers and system builders in the region reveals that MacBook Air shipments are set to rebound during the current calendar quarter, fueled by an upgrade to Intel's latest Sandy Bridge microprocessors, integrated Intel graphics, and the expected adoption of the new Thunderbolt high-speed I/O technology that made its debut on MacBook Pros earlier this year.

Specifically, he said the new models will "go to mass production in late May," which corroborates an earlier report that cited reliable sources as saying Apple would be ready to publicly announce and ship to consumers MacBook Airs with Sandy Bridge processors during following month of June.

The upgrade should help boost Apple's overall notebook shipments between 5 percent to 10 percent sequentially for the current quarter, according to Kuo, reversing a 5 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2011, which he notes was still less than the 11% average decline for notebook shipments from the top 6 OEMs worldwide during the same period.

In moving to Intel's 32-nanometer (nm) Sandy Bridge architecture, the mid-2011 MacBook Airs will jettison two-year-old Penryn-based 45-nm Core 2 Duo chips for the chipmakers' new line (below) of low-voltage and ultra-low-voltage Core i5 and Core i7 chips, which sport between 3MB and 4MB of Smart Cache and support a theoretical maximum of 8GB of internal system memory.

hould Apple follow its current trend of using ultra-low-variants for the 11.6-inch MacBook Air and low-voltage ones for the 13.3-inch models, consumers can expect to see new 11.6-inch MacBook Airs sporting 1.4GHz to 1.6GHz Core i5 and Core i7 chips and 13.3-inch MacBook Airs with 2.10 and 2.30GHz Core i7 processors.

In a report shared with AppleInsider last week, Kuo also noted that production of Apple's legacy white MacBook model has been on a steady decline since the start of the year, with shipments falling 10% and 50% in February and March, respectively. As such, it's likely that Apple will similarly need to make some form of announcement regarding the future of this offering sometime in the coming months.


Source : Apple Insider | By Kasper Jade
Original Content: Apple to begin production of Thunderbolt MacBook Airs next month

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Thinner iPad 2 glass: Will it break?

Apple's decision to shave the iPad 2's profile and reduce its weight may mean a slight increase in broken screens, a repair expert said today.

But other analysts who have torn apart the iPad 2 said that the new design will prevent shattered screens because Apple's using a new, more flexible material.

As part of its work to slim down the iPad 2, Apple reduced the thickness of the tablet's glass overlay by 25%, from 0.8 millimeters to 0.6 millimeters, according to teardowns by the likes of IHS iSuppli and iFixit.com.

The move will translate into a small increase in broken screens, said Aaron Vronko, CEO of Portage, Mich.-based Rapid Repair, a repair shop and do-it-yourself parts supplier for the iPhone, iPod and iPad. Vronko also pulled apart an iPad 2 to get an idea of how Apple designed its new tablet.

"On balance, I would guess this design change results in a modest increase in broken screens and at times greater damage, with both the digitizer/glass and LCD modules being broken," said Vronko when asked his take on the impact of the iPad 2's thinner glass.

But he cautioned that the modest increase should be judged in the context of the iPad's overall durability.

"We have been surprised and impressed that the rates of broken screens on the original iPad seems to be the lowest for any of Apple's mobile devices to date," Vronko said, referring to Rapid Repair's past year of experience with the original model.

And while the design change may translate into more broken screens, the iPad 2 may have the advantage at times because of the thinner glass's greater flexibility.

"For slower collisions with a larger point of impact, like dropping the tablet from a low elevation, say onto a corner of a coffee table, the thin glass can provide more time for deceleration by safely flexing further, which could result in fewer broken screens," Vronko said. "However, as the actual point of impact gets smaller or the speed of impact gets faster, it becomes more likely to break."

In the latter scenario -- dropping something atop the iPad 2, for example -- the thinner glass the isn't able to flex enough at the point of impact.

Others were certain that the thinner glass will mean fewer problems for owners, however.

According to iSuppli analyst Wayne Lam, there's a major difference between the physical properties of the glass used in the two iPads. The original tablet's glass was "brittle" and "delicate," said Lam, because it was thicker and isolated from the load bearing case because the glass was fixed to the case with metal clips."

But the second generation [iPad] uses a very, very flexible material that behaves quite differently. It's almost like plastic," said Lam. "We had a very tough time getting it to shatter, and finally had to do an edge cut to make it break."

Lam said that the new material resembles the aluminosilicate glass used on both the front and back of the iPhone 4. Last summer, several analysts connected Apple's use of the aluminosilicate material to Corning's "Gorilla Glass."

The iPad 2 uses something similar, but because Apple didn't call out "aluminosilicate" in any description of the tablet -- as it did with the iPhone 4 -- Lam believes it's not sourced from Corning. One possibility: Asahi Glass Co.'s "Dragontrail Glass" technology.

"Dragintrail is very similar to Gorilla Glass," said Lam.

Lam said it was impossible to tell whether the iPad 2 uses Dragontrail, but the timing of the Japanese company's January 2011 announcement (download PDF) was intriguing. Because iSuppli believes that Apple isn't getting its iPad glass from Corning, it may be obtaining it from Asahi.

The experts also split on whether Apple's new Smart Cover accessory will be enough to protect the iPad 2's screen from accidents.

"The Smart Cover will provide a decent level of protection," said Vronko. "The screen is tough enough, and you usually don't run into as many [potential breakage] situations with the iPad as with the iPhone, so I don't think you need a whole lot more than the Smart Cover."

Apple's Smart Cover is a polyurethane or leather screen cover that magnetically attaches to the iPad 2. The covers retail for $39 (polyurethane) and $69 (leather).

Lam disagreed with Vronko. "I doubt [a Smart Cover] will provide protection if you drop your iPad," he said.

A search of Apple's iPad support forum turned up no reports of iPad 2 screen breakage problems by new owners of the tablet, which has been in consumers' hands less than a week.

Source : COMPUTERWORLD | By Gregg Keizer
Original Content : Thinner iPad 2 glass: Will it break?

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iPads fuel flight of paperless planes

Tablet computers such as the iPad are revolutionizing aircraft cockpits as tens of thousands of private pilots bring the powerful mini-computers into planes. Several of the nation's largest airlines are poised to follow suit.

The Federal Aviation Administration this year for the first time granted approval for two charter companies to use iPads instead of the bulky paper charts and manuals that pilots have been required to carry since the birth of modern aviation. Alaska Airlines is testing iPads in some of its planes, and Delta Air Lines and American Airlines say they're planning on launching tests soon.

Safety advocates also are enthusiastic about tablet computers, but they warn that there could be a downside: more distractions in the cockpit. "It's a two-sided coin," says National Transportation Safety BoardChairwoman Debbie Hersman.

While the devices could become inexpensive safety warning systems for weather and other uses, distractions have increasingly played a role in NTSB accident investigations. On Oct. 21, 2009, pilots on a Northwest Airlines flight working on their laptops stopped talking to controllers and flew past their destination.

Concerns about distractions have not slowed sales of the devices. Private pilots, who do not need FAA approval to use the devices, have vaulted aviation software firms into the top-seller lists at Apple's App Store. Pilots say the iPad is faster, lighter and more versatile than paper. Another attraction is cost: airlines are hoping to save millions of dollars a year in reduced fuel and paper.

• PREVIOUSLY: FAA wants no pilot distractions

"Any pilot who looks at it, wants it," says Michael Klein, president of OpenAir, a Gaithersburg, Md., charter operator. "It's better than paper. It does everything for you. It's amazing."

Klein says he uses the iPad on all his personal flights and is hoping to receive FAA permission soon to use it while carrying paying customers.

Before commercial operators can use the iPad, they have had to demonstrate to the FAA that it can withstand an explosive decompression, that it doesn't emit radio waves that could interfere with a plane's electronics and that it is reliable.

The FAA also shares the concern about the device becoming a possible distraction, says spokesman Les Dorr. Under a directive issued after the Northwest incident, airlines are expected to improve training and review internal policies to ensure that electronic devices do not create distractions, Dorr says.

The rush to bring iPads into the cockpit has helped the fortunes of aviation companies, large and small.

The iPad app for pilots created by a four-person Houston software firm, ForeFlight, became the largest grossing weather-related app at Apple.

"It has really vaulted our company into the stratosphere," says Tyson Weihs, a co-founder of the company. Weihs predicts that by year's end 25% of the nearly 600,000 licensed pilots will be using iPads or similar devices when they fly.

Jeppesen, which supplies airlines with paper charts, has started selling versions of its software for the iPad.

Source : USA Today TRAVEL | By Alan Levin
Original Content : iPads fuel flight of paperless planes

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Android vs iPhone web page loading speed contest flawed

Test results promoted by Blaze Software that purport to prove that Android is much faster at loading web pages than Apple's iOS 4.3 did so using a poorly performing custom iPhone app, rather than using Safari itself.

The results of the test, according to Bloomberg, said that an Android-based Nexus S phone performed 52 percent faster on average after loading more than 45,000 pages from 1,000 websites compared to iPhone 4.

The average speed difference was about a second longer page load on iPhone 4: 2.14 seconds compared to 3.25 seconds. The more complex the page, the greater the performance difference, Blaze reported. Guy Podjarny, the firm's chief technology officer, said "it’s not that Apple doesn’t care about speed, but Google is fanatical about it."

However, while Blaze maintained that its benchmarks used the newly released iOS 4.3, suggesting that it took into account the fast new Safari browser with Apple's new Nitro JavaScript engine, the way it performed the tests completely bypassed those improvements.

Rather than using Apple's Safari browser directly, Blaze tested page loading on iPhone 4 using the company's own proprietary app that did not take advantage of the new improvements in iOS 4.3.

As noted in a previous report by AppleInsider, apps that implement Apple's UIWebView to provide web browsing functions within an app (as Blaze did), in addition to full screen web apps, do not take advantage of the new web acceleration features Apple introduced in iOS 4.3, including Nitro and a variety of other improvements to the mobile Safari browser.

While Apple hasn't officially commented on the disparity between the newly revamped Safari and the features of the UIWebView framework, it appears that the difference relates to both to the fact that Apple wanted to rapidly roll out new WebKit features quickly to mainstream iOS users in Safari (and simply didn't have time to retrofit every other element of the system with the new code), and also to security considerations.

Apple's new Nitro JavaScript engine (originally called Squirrel Fish Extreme) competes against Google's Chrome V8 and Mozilla's FireFox TraceMonkey to speed JavaScript (the programming language behind the web) using various different approaches, each of which has different strengths and advantages.

Apple's Nitro uses a JIT (just-in-time) compiler as opposed to a traditional interpreter. This requires that Nitro obtain additional security privileges required to compile data into executable code, something Apple reserves for the iOS itself and its bundled apps. Third party iOS apps can't compile code as both a security feature and, apparently, a limitation that prevents middleware platforms (such as Adobe Flash) from competing for iOS developers' attention.

Running an automated test on page loading using the actual Safari browser on iPhone 4 would be far more difficult to perform, but would also fail to account for other, likely more important differences between iOS and devices running Android.

These include overall stability and usability of the platform, power management and battery life, hardware quality, and easy access to iTunes music and movie rentals, iBooks, and App Store, three features Apple has started promoting in series of new ads that end with the line, "if you don’t have an iPhone, well, you don’t have an iPhone.”

Source : Apple Insider | By Daniel Eran Dilger
Original Content : Android vs iPhone web page loading speed contest flawed

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Apple iPad 2 India Launch Announcement Soon?

India has always been a dumping ground for leftover products by Apple, be it the iPhone or the iPad. But now things seem to be getting better because Apple may launch the iPad 2 in India in just about a couple of weeks, according to a report.

The iPad 2 has already been launched in the US, and will be launched in several other countries on March 25, but India doesn t figure in that list yet. Apple has not yet confirmed any India date, but a senior manager at a leading Apple partner has revealed on informal enquiries, that the company is working on a launch date to be announced in just two weeks. This was discussed during the Apple partners meeting held in New Delhi last Wednesday. The source added, "iPad 2 launch figured prominently at the meeting and most partners were urging Apple's management to intimate them about the launch in advance so that they draw up sales strategies."

Apple partners are said to have expressed unhappiness about how Apple launched the original iPad in India, 10 long months after its US launch. The India launch of the iPad 2 seems even more feasible now because Apple has been promoting the iPad 2 on their Indian website, which they never did for the original iPad. So let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that iPad 2 would not be atrociously priced. Would you buy the iPad 2 if it is launched in India?

Source : TechTree
Original Content : Apple iPad 2 India Launch Announcement Soon?

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Wireless NFC e-wallet won't be a part of Apple's iPhone 5 - rumor

Apple has allegedly decided to abandon the inclusion of a wireless near-field communication e-wallet in its forthcoming iPhone 5, expected for release this summer.

Citing sources with "several" mobile operators in the U.K., The Independent reported Monday that Apple recently held meetings in which it disclosed it will not include NFC technology in the next iPhone. The inclusion of NFC technology like radio-frequency identification, or RFID, can allow mobile devices to serve as an electronic wallet, letting users authorize transactions without using their credit card.

In January, it was claimed that Apple was finalizing NFC technology for both the iPhone 5 and iPad 2. But the iPad 2 arrived last week without any support for NFC.

Apple allegedly told British mobile operators that it is concerned that there is a lack of a clear standard across the mobile industry for e-wallet payments. The report also indicated that Apple still hopes to include NFC technology in the supposed iPhone 6, expected to debut in Apple's annual summer timeframe in 2012.

While the iPhone 5 will reportedly not include NFC technology, Google's flagship Nexus S, released late last year, did include a NFC chip for short-range wireless data transmission. However, its use has failed to gain any mainstream traction.

As recently as this January, Apple has been looking to hire experts on RFID and mobile payments, adding to numerous rumors that Apple plans to add NFC support to the iPhone. But that interest is not new, as it was reported in 2009 that Apple was already testing RFID technology in a prototype handset.


Source: Apple Insider | By Sam Oliver
Original Content : Wireless NFC e-wallet won't be a part of Apple's iPhone 5 - rumor

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The handiest iPhone/iPod Touch accessory you’ll ever own

If you’re a frequent viewer of movies on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you’ve surely run into the problem of having your hand fall asleep while trying to hold the thing. Or maybe you’ve been at the gym, wanting to read headlines while on the treadmill, while your device just keep slipping off and yanking your earbuds from your head.

Enter the PodFlexPro. It’s a simple, innocuous piece of metal, wrapped in neoprene, that will save you from sliding-device heartbreak. Simply slide your iPhone or iPod Touch into the pouch, bend the PodFlexPro to hang or sit wherever you’d like, then enjoy the pleasure that a simple accessory can bring.

The only problem? It’s a bit steep on the price (oh, and the website looks a lot like one of those “As Seen on TV” things). For $25, it would be great if they sent two.

But it’s still a handy thing to have around. Sliding the PodFlexPro into the tray table on your flight will let your iPhone display the movie of your choice in easy viewing range, without you having to hold it. Set it on your desk to keep your iPod in viewing range without having to hold it yourself.

Simple? Yep. Effective? You bet. Worth the money? That’s your call.

Source : thenextweb 
Original Content : The handiest iPhone/iPod Touch accessory you’ll ever own.

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Inside the iPad 2: chip brings 50% browsing boost

Wondering what makes that iPad 2 you just got tick and how much faster it is than the original iPad? Anandtech, iFixit, iosnoops, and UBM TechInsights have provided some answers.

Processor performance: Let's address this first--for obvious reasons. Apple has already been very public about the dual-core 1GHz A5 processor--a step up from the single-core chip in the original iPad--and the chip's "up to 9X faster" graphics" (Apple's ad copy).

And the verdict from an independent review? "CPU [Central Processing Unit] performance...we found to be a healthy 50 percent faster than the A4 in the original iPad--at least in Web browsing," said Anandtech in a "performance preview" of the iPad 2. (More detailed benchmarks here.)

But a boost in raw "clock" speed is not the reason, according to iosnoops. "The new Apple A5 processor...may offer twice as many cores as the Apple A4 processor featured in the first generation iPad [but] it appears that each processing core is actually clocked at a slower speed," said the review site.

iosnoops continues. "While doing some early iPad 2 benchmarks, the team discovered by chance an interesting tidbit: the A5 doesn't run at 1GHz like the Apple A4, but is instead clocked around 890MHz (the speed of the A5 does not seem to be constant, and varies depending on the apps running on the iPad 2)."

Whatever the case, the iPad 2's performance is considerably better than the original iPad. "The iPad 2 is much faster. Web pages load quicker, the OS is more responsive, and applications even launch faster," said Anand Shimpi, who heads up Anandtech, responding to an e-mail query.

That said, it should be noted that the Motorola Xoom (with an Nvidia processor and graphics) surpasses the iPad 2 in some browser benchmarks, according to Anandtech.

Graphics-specific performance: And the new Imagination Technologies' PowerVR SGX 543MP2 graphics processor? On certain benchmarks, an increase ranging from 3X to 5X, according to Anandtech. Here's what that review site said about one benchmark--the so-called "fragment lit triangle test": "While the PowerVR SGX 535 in the A4 (original iPad) could barely break 4 million triangles per second in this test, the PowerVR SGX 543MP2 in the A5 manages just under 20 million. There's just no competition here." Gamers rejoice!

Source : News CNET | By Brooke Crothers
Original Content : Inside the iPad 2: chip brings 50% browsing boost

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