Analyst Predicts Next-Generation iPhone Will Offer Lower Total Cost of Ownership

Fortune reports on a new research note from prominent Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty citing strong sales of Apple's iPad and the potential for increased growth in the iPhone segment from new models she predicts will carry lower total cos...

Apple Files Trademark Application for ‘Magic Trackpad’

Patently Apple reports that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) today published a trademark application filed earlier this week by Apple covering the term "Magic Trackpad". The application requests registration in International Class ...

AT&T Microcell to Boost iPhone Reception in 5 More Markets

George Ponder over at sibling site WMExperts brings word that AT&T’s Microcell — the device you plug into your home cable/DSL connection to boost your phone reception — is being rolled out to Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, San Diego, and Las Vegas.

If you are lucky enough to live in these areas, all you need to do is visit AT&T’s 3G Microcell website and enter your specific zip code to see if the Microcell is available. If you are in one of these trial areas, you will be provided with a list of retail locations where you can purchase the Microcell. There was no mention on the pricing for the Microcell itself but it appears, in reading the fine print, the service will run $19.99 per month. There are still rumors that bundled discounts will be available to lower the monthly cost.

While many might gaff at the idea of paying AT&T for the privilege of using their home internet connection to fix AT&T’s coverage, for others — especially in business who just. need. a. signal — this rollout likely can’t come fast enough.

If you’re in one of those markets and take the Microcell for a whirl, let us know how it works for you. If you’re not, how eager are you for it to get to your market?

AT&T Microcell to Boost iPhone Reception in 5 More Markets is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Analyst: Apple Should Lower Price, Add New Features for 4th Gen iPhone

Okay, that headline about how an analyst thinks Apple should lower the price and add new features next June/July when they release the 4th generation iPhone (not iPhone 4G, that’s a couple years and an LTE network away) is only semi-facetious. Apple has lowered up-front costs and increased features on every generation of iPhone, after all. Last year the iPhone 3G dropped to $99 and the iPhone 3GS added video recording, hardware encryption, voice control, and a host of other things — never mind iPhone 3.0. According to AppleInsider, however, Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley has two things more specific in mind.

“We expect Apple to launch new iPhones in June that offer both a lower total cost of ownership and new functionality, potentially including gesture-based technology.”

We’ll leave the part about gestures alone; just file it under “reads the same patent applications we do” and move right along. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), however, is interesting because in 2008, even as the iPhone 3G was offered at $199, the cost of the AT&T data plan rose to $30/m making the overall TCO (over the course of the 2-year contract) higher.

Now, if Apple wants the iPhone to battle it out with Nokia in emerging markets, TCO is vitally important. But Apple hasn’t historically chosen to battle it out in the low-end PC space, and their answer to netbooks wasn’t cheaper MacBooks but the iPad. Makes it tough to see them doing it with discount iPhones.

In the US, big, colorful charts show how much you can save in terms of TCO on other networks and devices. With the iPad coming, and tiered AT&T data plans coming with it, maybe it’s not unreasonable to think a reduction in TCO is in order — not just “everything unlimited” but “overall less expensive”. Then again, AT&T isn’t hurting for subscribers or iPhone sales, so where this downward pressure would come from, if not Apple or our simply wishing it so, is unclear.

What do you think? Any chance Apple will pull “magical new plans” out of AT&T for the 4th generation iPhone?

Analyst: Apple Should Lower Price, Add New Features for 4th Gen iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

New patent hints at iPhone camera gesture control

Filed under: iPhone

An interesting patent application came to light via PatentlyApple yesterday. The patent, titled "Camera as Input Interface," was filed by Apple in August 2008 and details a means of controlling an iPhone by swiping a finger across the device's camera lens. The patent proposes using the iPhone's camera, which is typically idle when the user is on a call, to control voicemail options such as rewind, fast forward, and pause while the iPhone is at the user's ear:

"In one embodiment, to access his voice mailbox, a user may tap the phone to cause playback of a message to pause, tap the phone again to resume playback, swipe his finger over the camera lens in one direction to fast forward playback, and swipe his finger over the camera lens in another direction to rewind playback. These actions allow the user to control functions of voicemail review without removing the device from over his ear."

The patent also describes using the iPhone's accelerometer to detect tapping input to supplement the finger swipes:

"In another embodiment, functions for controlling call features utilize similar user actions or motions. Features such as merging multiple calls, putting a call on hold, and switching between or among multiple simultaneous calls may be controlled by single or double (or any number of) taps of the device, as detected by an accelerometer of the device. These taps may be preprogrammed by a manufacturer, or selected and programmed by a user."

The patent application goes on to describe how the camera swipe could be used when the phone is away from the ear. It details how the camera swipe feature could be used to navigate web pages or applications while the user is looking at the iPhone's screen. Using the camera swipe method in this way would allow the user to view the full screen of the iPhone without his fingers obstructing the view.

This latest patent application shares similarities to a mid-January rumor by Bloomberg that Apple was working on an iPhone with a touch-sensitive backside casing similar to the Mighty Mouse. While it's not clear how much adding a touch-sensitive casing to the iPhone would cost, it might be cost-prohibitive if Apple wants to keep the iPhone margins high and purchase price low. This latest application could present a nice middle ground using the iPhone's existing hardware to mimic the functionality of a touch-sensitive backing.

Interestingly enough, this kind of functionality was one of the top ten hardware "wants" TUAW readers hoped to see in the next iPhone, albeit through a touch-sensitive casing instead of the camera.

[via AppleInsider]

New patent hints at iPhone camera gesture control originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New patent hints at iPhone camera gesture control originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Review: iTimeLapse Pro for iPhone

If you've ever wanted to make your own time-lapse videos or even a cool stop-motion animation, look no further than this app. With iTimeLapse Pro, you can easily create your own masterpieces straight from your iPhone and share them with the world.

Consume 1.6 Hits App Store, Goes on Sale

Consume [$0.99 on sale - iTunes link] is the awesome little app for the those of us who don’t have unlimited anything on our iPhones… or ISPs. Yes, tiered data is a reality in some parts of the world, and we have to watch our MBs/GBs as closely as we watch our voice minutes. While I’ve been using Consume to do that on Rogers for a while now, their latest update — version 1.6 — improves support for existing providers and adds support for:

• Comcast in the US
• T-Mobile (Vertrag) in Germany
• Vodafone (Pay Monthly), T-Mobile (Pas As You Go), Tesco Clubcard in the UK
• Airtel Mobile (Postpaid), Airtel Broadband, Airtel Landline in India
• Bell (Broadband) in Canada
• Simyo (Prepaid) in France
• XNet, Snap (Prepaid), Subway Subcard in New Zealand
• SJ in Sweden
• Easy Way Tea’s in Australia

They’ve also added a new “Package Tracking” category for USPS, AAE (Australia), TNT Express (Australia), and Apple Order Status (now if Apple would just release those new MacBooks for us to track!)

And yes, it’s made by Bjango who do the great iStat [$0.99 also on sale - iTunes link] app (among others) for iPhone, and widget and menu system for the Mac. If you give it a try, let us know what you think!

Consume 1.6 Hits App Store, Goes on Sale is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Adafruit shows off the Square dongle for credit card payments on the iPhone

Filed under: Hardware, Software, iPhone, App Store

Adafruit is one of a few companies that has been chosen to test the Square dongle that automagically takes credit card payments on any iPhone. Even though we got to see it in action at Macworld, I think every look we can get at this thing is worth it, considering just how darn revolutionary it seems. The video on Flickr shows just how quick and easy it is -- just swipe the card, and sign with your finger on the iPhone's screen.

I haven't bothered carrying cash for a few years now, and something like this only makes it easier to not only take payments for vendors, but for me to pay. Hot dog guy needs a few bucks but doesn't have a landline connection to run a credit card on? No worries, just swipe and done. Want to give to the Salvation Army guy over the holidays but don't have any money left in the wallet? Just swipe and done. Word has it that the transaction cut will be 2.9% (though the video above shows 3.5% -- maybe you can change the percentage depending on circumstances), but odds are that in most cases, the convenience will be well worth it.

The whole program's still in beta, but it probably won't be long before you'll see (and maybe even use) one of these out in the wild.

[Via Engadget]

Adafruit shows off the Square dongle for credit card payments on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Adafruit shows off the Square dongle for credit card payments on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

A Multi-Touch iPhone OS Layer On Top of Mac OS X?

In a NYTimes' blog post, Nick Bilton describes how PCs aren't as easy to use as the iPhone, and explores why the iPhone OS simply can't be used in a future iteration of Mac OS X.

Bilton quotes a former senior Apple engineer who explain...

Final Fantasy I and II available for iPhone and iPod touch

Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II are available on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Plants vs. Zombies breaks records on the iPhone

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

PopCap has released some sales information on their latest iPhone game, Plants vs. Zombies, and it's a runaway hit: the game has sold over 300,000 copies in just the nine days it's been out on the App Store, which means the company has garnered over $1 million in sales already. Very impressive -- first, we had an app make a million total, then a company was making a million a month, and now PopCap has done the same in just over a week.

So what's their secret? It's a high quality game, first of all, and PopCap has a reputation for making those already. Second, the game itself had a fairly high profile even before release, since it was extremely successful on the PC as well. And finally, you have to think that the price figures in as well -- I thought the game would sell for PopCap's usual $5, but they actually sold it two dollars less than that. They'd probably have still made a lot of money, but I don't know if they'd be talking about 300,000 sales at a price just two dollars higher.

Then again, the game is already available for free online, so maybe the quality and PopCap's profile played a bigger part than the price did (they also trumpet the fact that Bejeweled 2 is also one of the top five grossing apps on the App Store). Congrats to PopCap on all their success. Oh, and our free time called, too. It surrenders.

Plants vs. Zombies breaks records on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Plants vs. Zombies breaks records on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple Patent Provides Interesting Insight On How Users Will Be Able To Control iPhone With Finger Swipes Over Camera

Review: Self Image for iPhone

If you've ever tried to take a self-portrait with the iPhone's built-in camera, you know how difficult that trick is. Self Image removes the guesswork by using face detection technology to snap a picture.

TiPb Live Podcast #88 – Explicit

• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

Rene, Mickey (The Cell Phone Junkie), and Phil (Android Central, WMExperts) for the great sex-apps rejection, Steve Jobs and Tim Cook speak, iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 3 for iPad, iPhone+AT&T first, Droid+Verizon last, and all the week’s news. Listen in!

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

TiPb Live Podcast #88 – Explicit is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Found Footage: One designer’s vision of an iPhone 4G

Filed under: Video, Odds and ends, iPhone

Before the original iPhone and iPad appeared, TUAW and other blogs were inundated with mockups of what the devices could look like. Some of them were hastily thrown-together Photoshop mashups, while others were beautifully-rendered depictions.

Antonio De Rosa of ADR Studio has created his own vision of what the next-generation iPhone could look like. In both the short video seen above and the individual renderings displayed on the ADR Studio website, De Rosa shows a thinner device with an aluminum shell and stand, AMOLED screen, and a "frontal camera."

Of course, this design could be as far off as some of the impressive mockups that were developed for the iPad, but we appreciate De Rosa's detailed work and beautiful design sense.

Found Footage: One designer's vision of an iPhone 4G originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Found Footage: One designer's vision of an iPhone 4G originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iPhone Modded With Titanium Alloy Back Casing

TiPb Give-Away: WeeMee Avatar Creator for iPhone

WeeMee Avatar Creator from WeeWorld [$0.99 - iTunes Link]. The application allows you to make your an avatar for yourself and your friends. Select various hairstyles, clothing, accessories, over 250 choices in all. Then you can use these avatars for your address book, Facebook, Twitter, MMS or just to email to friends.

I had so much fun using this application that I forgot that I was testing out the app. (It would also keep your children entertained as the controls are simple to use.)

You choose a male or female WeeMee and then you can select the head shape, eyes and mouth, eye color, clothing, background etc. Select the item type at the top of the screen and then just swipe through the choices till you find the one you want.

The Gallery view helps maintain all your WeeMee’s and you can choose to export or edit your saved WeeMee’s.

So how do you get this app for FREE? Just comment below and say which famous person (or TiPb staff member! ahem) you want to make into an avatar, and we’ll select three people at random. Give-away starts now and ends Sunday February 28th at 12pm PT. Promo Codes require a US App Store account (Apple’s rule, not ours). They also expire, so if you win, redeem quickly!

And if you buy the app or win it, I would love to see your TiPb staff member WeeMee’s!

TiPb Give-Away: WeeMee Avatar Creator for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Nite Ize Clip Case for iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS

If you enjoy the outdoor activities such as hiking and you don’t feel like spending a lot of money on a heavy duty case then the rugged Nite Ize Sideways Clip Case for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS [$16.95 - TiPb Store Link] is definitely worth a look. For the full review follow us after the break!

The Nite Ize Sideways Clip Case is very well constructed with leather and ballistic nylon accented with weather-resistant hypalon. Your phone’s top flap secures firmly with velcro. Those of you who favor magnetic closing may come away disappointed, but if you are using this case for some sort of outdoor activity you are better off with velcro. On the back of the case you will find a super strong “flex-clip” that will fit belts, waistbands or straps up to 2 3/16” (5.5cm) and features an easy on, easy off design. To remove the case you simply pull it away from your hip and then pull up. With that being said, it will not accidentally come off during your hiking or mountain biking trip.

The interior of the Nite Ize is sure to protect your iPhone with its very soft lining. There is no need to worry about the actual case doing any damage to the phone like we’ve seen in the past with other cases. A really nice touch with the interior is a pocket to store your credit cards, identification, money or whatever else you can get to fit. This especially came in handy while going on some hikes where I did not want to carry my wallet. The interior pocket is a very welcomed addition to this style of case.

The more hiking I do with the Nite Ize Sideways Clip Case [TiPb Store Link - $16.95] the more I like it. Is this a case I would use on a daily basis? No. However, those of you who are looking for a well built, rugged case – give it a try. You should not come away disappointed.

Nite Ize Clip Case for iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Opera 10.50 Beta for Mac Released, Performs Well in JavaScript Benchmarks

Opera today announced the release of Opera 10.50 Beta for Mac, bringing several new features to the Web browser.

Highlights
- Cocoa
- Unified tool bar
- Growl notifications
- Multi-touch gestures...

Evidence Of Basic Photo Editing Features Discovered in iPhone OS 3.2 SDK For iPad