Ever wonder how far in advance Apple works on their products? According to a new report, the 2012 iPhone was in progress even before co-founder Steve Jobs’ death last year, which he reportedly worked closely on.
Bloomberg is reporting that Apple plans an “overhaul” of the iPhone design for this year, confirmed by “three people with knowledge of the plans.” Rumors have ramped up in the last week that Apple will introduce a new iPhone with a larger display, which “could be released by October.”
This latest report is noteworthy because one source has revealed that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs “had worked closely on the redesigned phone before his death in October,” which nearly coincided with the launch of the current iPhone 4S.
“The design change will be Apple’s first for the iPhone since 2010, when it introduced the iPhone 4,” the report reveals. “Electronics makers, led by Samsung, are moving toward bigger screens, as consumers use handheld devices for a broader array of tasks, including watching video, playing games and browsing the Web.”
Another of Bloomberg’s sources appear to have confirmed that Apple “has placed orders from suppliers in Asia for screens that are bigger than the 3.5-inch size now on the smartphone,” although as usual, the name of the source was not revealed since these plans have not been made public.
“Apple has been working on the new device since before the current iPhone 4S model was introduced last October, said one person with knowledge of the project,” the report concludes. “Jobs, who had gone on medical leave from Apple starting last January, played a key role in developing the phone, this person said.”
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Still refuse to believe that the next iPhone will come with a larger screen? It may be time to cast aside your doubts, with a new report confirming that Apple will jump on current trends and increase the next iPhone screen to “at least four inches.”
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is poised to finally release a bigger iPhone this year, a first since the iconic handset debuted in 2007. In keeping with current speculation, the report claims Cupertino’s next handset will “measure at least four inches diagonally compared with 3.5 inches on the iPhone 4S.”
There’s little doubt that the current trend leans toward larger smartphones, with Samsung leading the charge. The Korean manufacturer recently debuted its upcoming Galaxy S III handset with a massive 4.8-inch display, which could be putting pressure on Apple to do the same with the iPhone.
Apple is expected to only slightly increase the length of the next iPhone, which would be enough to squeeze a taller, four-inch display onto the front of the handset. While still dwarfed by giant Android screens, such a move would also allow HD videos to play back at proper 16:9 aspect ratio, without the black bars that currently fill in the top and bottom of the frame.
The report is light on further details, but claims “production is set to begin next month” for the new display, which likely puts the handset on target for a fall release.
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With all of the recent chatter about new MacBook Pro models sans optical disc drive, it’s not hard to imagine that a discless future lies ahead. Apparently, Microsoft agrees, as they’ve let slip that Windows 8 will not only ship without Media Center but also without DVD player software as well.
The Verge is reporting that Microsoft has decided to make its Media Center software a paid upgrade in Windows 8, and that includes the ability to play DVDs. Claiming that optical disc use on computers is “in sharp decline,” Redmond will ship its latest operating system later this year without either of these once-major features.
The reasoning behind the move is merely dollars and cents — as in, the “significant amount in royalties” that Microsoft is required to pay to include optical media playback support. Instead, Windows 8 will focus more heavily on online media, with support for H.264, VC-1, MP4, AAC, WMA, MP3, PCM and Dolby Digital Plus codecs.
Sure, the primary use of Dolby Digital these days is for playing back AC3-encoded audio from video DVDs, but apparently nobody told the folks in Redmond. Media Center itself will be available only as an additional purchase after installing Windows 8, available from the new “Add Features to Windows 8” control panel — although the company isn’t saying how much that will set you back just yet.
Could Apple follow suit with the same sinister scheme in OS X Mountain Lion? That doesn’t appear to be the case thus far, and Cupertino historically isn’t one to try to gouge its users with extra costs (notable past exceptions include QuickTime Pro and that odd accounting quirk that forced iPod touch owners to pay for iOS updates).
Meanwhile, the market for free and inexpensive third-party DVD player software on Windows is likely to get a nice boost later this year, while OS X Mountain Lion users will continue with business as usual — at least for now.
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The next Samsung Galaxy S smartphone is set to be unveiled next week, and the Korean manufacturer is aiming to get the masses excited about it a few days early with word that the handset will come packing a quad-core processor.
Reuters is reporting that the next Samsung Galaxy S smartphone will feature a “faster, energy-saving quad-core mobile microprocessor” when it’s finally announced at the company’s “Mobile Unpacked” event in London on May 3.
But the Korean consumer electronics giant has bigger designs than simply beefing up its latest handset — it plans to also offer the new processor to other manufacturers as well.
“Samsung said it is sampling the chips to major handset makers as it seeks to expand its customer base from Apple Inc. to its handset rivals such as Nokia, HTC and Motorola,” the report reveals. “The South Korean firm is the world’s top manufacturer of mobile application processors (AP), enjoying booming sales of Apple’s iPhone and iPad as well as its own Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets.”
Samsung’s Exynos 4 Quad — based on ARM Cortex 9 technology — promises to “enable more tasks in a shorter period of time,” such as streaming video on one core while the other three tend to background tasks for other apps.
While Samsung hasn’t officially confirmed the handset’s name, it’s widely being referred to as the Samsung Galaxy S III, the third generation of the company’s wildly popular Android smartphones.
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ER star Noah Wyle was the first actor to portray Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on film in the 1999 TV movie The Pirates of Silicon Valley, but he definitely won’t be the last. Ashton Kutcher is going from replacing Charlie Sheen to stepping into the late CEO’s shoes for a new film called Jobs.
Variety is reporting that Two and a Half Men star Ashton Kutcher has been confirmed as the next actor to portray Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on the silver screen in an independent production called Jobs, directed by Joshua Michael Stern of Swing Vote fame from a screenplay by Matt Whiteley.
“The film will chronicle Steve Jobs from wayward hippie to co-founder of Apple, where he became one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of our time,” Variety reveals, with the film slated to roll next month while Kutcher is on hiatus from his CBS series.
The news broke on Sunday, which just so happened to be April 1st — better known to pranksters as April Fool’s Day — but the casting news is quite real, having been confirmed a second time by The Hollywood Reporter.
If the choice of former That ‘70s Show doofus Kutcher doesn’t tickle your fancy, keep in mind that this is not the Sony Pictures film based on Walter Isaacson’s bestselling book — that’s still in development while this independent production tries to steal some of it thunder by presumably hitting theatres first.
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(Image courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter)
