iPhone 5, iPhone 4s Combo To Get Competition From Samsung and HTC

If you’ve bought into the notion that Apple will indeed be releasing both the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4s in a bid to capture a wide swatch of smartphone users, then you might be interested to know that the same theory is beginning to develop in the Android- and Windows-based smartphone camps as well. A broad range of reports have surfaced over the past day or so that reveals the possibility that Samsung and HTC may both be planning to release value-priced versions of their most popular smartphone designs to counter the eventuality of an iPhone 4s, while still planning for a heavyweight bout with a beefed-up iPhone 5.
The new rumors suggest that Samsung will release two versions of the Galaxy — the Galaxy S2 Plus, which would be an upgrade from the current model, as well as a Galaxy Z, which would be a natural competitor to the iPhone 4s.
The Galaxy S2 Plus, according to Daily News Engine, “will support 1.4GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. The handset will most likely continued featuring the Super AMOLED screen that comes with Samsung’s popular TouchWiz User Interface.”
The Galaxy Z, on the other hand, according to IT Pro Portal, “is expected to come with an Nvidia Tegra 2 SoC with two cores clocked at 1GHz which is not a lot slower compared to the 1.2GHz of the Samsung Exynos 4210 SoC that equips the Galaxy S2. The screen itself is not much smaller than the Galaxy S2′s (4.2-inch vs 4.3-inch) but is not of the same vein (Super LCD vs Super AMOLED plus); it does carry the same resolution as the Galaxy S (480×800 pixels) and at 9.5mm and 135g is just a bit stockier than its elder brother.”
But Android-powered Samsung isn’t the only smartphone designer indicating that they could have an answer to the iPhone 5/iPhone 4s combo.
HTC is also in the news with a potential new contender for the fabled iPhone 4s. The rumored HTC Eternity would run on Mango instead of Android (mmmm . . . mangoes), and, according to the Times Wire Service, “will be a notable product from the company. The device will run on a single-core 1.5GHz MSM 8255 processor and sport 512MB RAM and 16GB internal memory. HTC Eternity will feature a 4.7-inch WVGA Super display for great clarity and brightness. The 0.38-inch thick device weighs at almost 5.9oz.”
The HTC rumor is more nondescript on whether the Eternity would take on the iPhone 4s as a “pro” device, or as the value-priced device that many are conjecturing about.
We have collected all of the stories that are mentioned here on the iPhone 5 News Ticker. Take a look, or click “Read More” to read the rest of this piece.
The iPhone 5/iPhone 4s Rumor Goes Android (and Mango). But Does Anyone Care?
Now that we are entering the dog days of Summer in the northern hemisphere, the iPhone 5 rumors are lethargic at best, with only the prospect of Apple releasing both the iPhone 5 and 4s concurrently gaining any traction in the tech news community. Givcen the fact that the iPhone 5/4s rumor may turn out to have been completely fabricated by the malicious snake oil salesman, otherwise known as “tech analysts,” the notion and “logic” of a dual iPhone release has now gone viral and is seeping into the Android and Mango rumor mills (which are, by the way, much smaller rumor mills that few even seem to care about).
My question is this: does anyone out there even like the notion of the iPhone 5/4s combo, much less a copycat approach from Samsung and HTC?
Even those who seem to believe that the dual iPhone release is imminent have expressed little enthusiasm about having an el-cheapo iPhone 4s to go with the big guns of an iPhone 5. The same seems to be true about these fresh Samsung Galaxy and HTC Eternity rumors. Even if all of these speculations are true, a quick gander from Apple, Samsung, and HTC at the lackluster reaction from both the smartphone intelligentsia — as well as the “unwashed masses” — would give them pause about whether ir is such a good idea to further dilute the potency of the smartphone market.
Android has already done this by empowering the release of, like, 137 smartphones this year.
It remains to be seen if we, the people, really need cheap smartphones. After all, the notion of a smartphone is that is it “smart” — it towers over the functionality of even an advanced mobile phone. There are hundreds if not thousands of mobile phones available in the world today, and you get most of them for FREE from your favorite mobile carrier with a contract upgrade. Or, you can go to your local supermarket and buy a pre-paid one for less than $50 bucks.
Shouldn’t smartphones as a whole remain something akin to a luxury product? Shouldn’t there be some sort of excellence associated with them? Some sort of investment on the part of the user?
This, after all, has been the crux of Apple’s marketing message for the iPhone up until this point. Hence the slogan: If you don’t have an iPhone, then, well, you don’t have an iPhone.

Dueling Apple/Samsung Lawsuits More a Wash Than a Gambit

A new legal gambit by Samsung to seek to force a U.S. import ban on the iPhone and iPad is leading tech analysts to conclude an “ugly divorce” between the two companies for a purported A6 chip for the iPhone 6. But this recent move by Samsung may actually pave the way for a renewed Apple/Samsung partnership in 2012.
The technology sector makes for strange bedfellows.
Take, for example, the strage case of Apple and Samsung: while on one hand the two technology giants pummel each other in the U.S. court system, claiming patent infringement, anti-trust . . . you name it — on the other hand, Samsung diligently manufacturers the A5 wonder chip that has made its way onto the iPad 2 and will most definitely debut in the iPhone 5 as well. To this point, all indications are that Samsung has held up its end of the production deal swimmingly, with no suggestion that their quality or production schedules have slipped.
And yet, the dreaded tech analysts are assuming that Apple and Samsung are headed for an irreperral split over the current legal disputes between the two companies. In lieu of a brand-new suit filed by Samsung that seeks to ban U.S. imports of the iPhone and iPad due to what Samsung claims are violations of key patents by Apple, CNN Money reports that “Apple and its main supplier of memory chips seem headed for ‘ugly divorce.”
The article goes on to postulate that “The move may have been a preemptive strike. According to FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller, Apple was expected to ask the ITC for a similar ban on Samsung’s Galaxy product line, which includes smartphones and tablet computers that closely resembles Apple’s.” This notion comes on the heels of Apple recently obtaining a landmark patent on touch screen technology that could given the legal power to challenge virtually every multi-touch device on the market today that is now Apple-produced.
The immediate assumption that comes to mind when considering the aggressive nature of these Apple/Samsung legal disputes is that the two companies will go their separate ways in 2012, with Apple finding a new manufacturer for the rumored A6 chip for the iPhone 6. There is even a report suggesting that this “divorce” is imminent, which Charles Moore reported on earlier. But for as much as it would be easy to assume that these lawsuits will lead to the end of Apple and Samsung’s partnership, the opposite could be true: these lawsuits could eventually lead to a wash, clearing the way for A6 chip production in 2012.
As it stands now, Samsung and Apple both have potent legal legal claims against one another. Because the legal ramifications are so dire, and because the cases match one another “tit for tat,” both parties may be much more inclined to settle the dispute based on the fact that the prognosis for the conflict is a stalemate. Almost like a technological “cold war,” the hostilities between the two companies are equally devastating; there is no real upper-hand in the conflict.
And for as much as these battles may not seem significant to the average iPhone user, Apple fans should hope for a resolution with Samsung. They have, after all, produced high quality chips for apple as of late, with ringing endorsements of both the A4 and A5. Changing out Samsung for a new chip producer would be an x-factor, and could call into question the quality and release date of the iPhone 6 and iPad 3.




Analyst Claims iPhone 3Gs To Stay Around After iPhone 5 Release, Offered For Free

In recent days, new analyses from a wide range of techno-financial analysts have posited the theory that Apple will release a new, contract-free iPhone 4s along with the iPhone 5 in a bid to make the iPhone more affordable and available to developing countries. Combined with the notion that the iPhone 4 would continue to be offered, that makes three iPhone models on the market at the same time.
Today, Mike Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, added a fourth iPhone to that list — the iPhone 3Gs — and suggested that Apple will make the iPhone 3Gs available for FREE to users looking to upgrade their contracts, or for prospective iPhone users who are unwilling to plunk down any money to sample the whole “iPhone experience.” Abramsky explains:
“This approach is intended to target mid-market smartphone buyers and counter Android’s mid-market expansion. We expect iPhone 5 to launch at $199/$299 ($599/$699 unsubsidized), and Apple to drop iPhone 4 pricing to $99 ($499 unsubsidized).”
You can read our full coverage of the IBT article that reported this story on the iPhone 5 News Ticker.
Abramsky’s model conveniently leaves out mentioning the iPhone 4s, sensing that the idea of four iPhone models available at once seems implausible at best. That being said, the sum total of these recent analyses combine to suggest that Apple will flood the iPhone market with 2+ years of iPhone iterations in an effort to pave the streets with iPhones.
There’s also a business logic error with Abramsky’s theory, which fails to take into consideration that the iPhone 3Gs is only available in the U.S. on AT&T, which means that Apple would be favoring AT&T over Verizon by incentivizing a FREE iPhone 3Gs. Think about it: Apple would be sending AT&T tons of potential sales direct from its website and stores, not to mention AT&T’s own promotional initiatives to sell the iPhone 3Gs for free with a contract extension. Now that Apple maintains partnerships with AT&T and Verizon, it seems like an improbability that Apple would risk damaging their partnership with Verizon over the iPhone 3Gs.
iPhone 5 Analysts — Clueless
There’s a reason why tech analysts like Mike Abramsky don’t work for Mr. Jobs — rarely do their ideas make any sense. While it is true that iOS 5 currently supporting the iPhone 3Gs lends some creedence to the idea that Apple is not yet ready to put the 3Gs into mothballs, the prospect of the 3Gs remaining in the mix of iPhones — and being offered for FREE on AT&T’s network — suggests to me that Mr. Abramsky might be hallucinating.
Moreover, when you step back and look at the dearth of incoherent, uninformed opinions levied by these so-called “analysts” — none of which ever seem to come true — what it suggests to me is that top investment companies simply affix the “analyst” title to someone who isn’t responsible enough to broker multi-million-dollar deals and instead let them do ad hoc interviews with IBT, Forbes, CNET, and other top media outlets as a way of promoting the company they work for and stoking the rumor mill. The rumor mill, after all, can move the stock market — remember the recent bogus form factor rumor, or the postulating of Steve Jobs’ health?
The fact is, your perspective on the iPhone and Apple’s next move often makes a great deal more sense than what these analysts claim. After all, you’re not suggesting in your blog comments that, come September, Apple will be selling an iPhone 5, iPhone 4s, iPhone 4, and FREE iPHone 3Gs . . .
. . . are you?

Lofty iPhone 5, iPhone 4s Expectations Set The Bar Too High For Apple


iphone 5The iPhone 5 rumor mill is a double-edged sword for Apple.
On one hand, the technology giant enjoys a buzz machine and media circus that rival companies like Nokia, Samsung, and even Google could only dream of. The excitement that surrounds an iPhone release is unprecedented in the marketplace — you’d be hard-pressed to find any other product that gets as much attention from the media and consumers.
And yet, the downside to such a media circus and consumer frenzy is that Apple is always at risk of failing to live up to the dreamed-up standards that it places on whatever the next iPhone is bound to be.
We see it playing out with the iPhone 5 right now: the expectations for the next iPhone have rollercoastered up and down for almost a year no, undulating between the breathless excitements of a totally redesigned iPhone 5 to a simply refreshed iPhone 4s. And for as much as the iPhone 4s in place of the iPhone 5 would be a disappointment for some, it would not come as a complete surprise, seeing as Apple has released a refresh model (the 3Gs) before.
However, these new rumors that Apple will indeed co-release an iPhone 5 and accompanying iPhone 4s places a great deal of pressure on Cupertino, and if in the end “only” the iPhone 5 is released, imagined expectations could once again be dashed and feelings could even get hurt.
There is already enough at stake with the iPhone 5: iPhone users desperately want a product-leading iPhone that they feel will either match or exceed what Android is currently offering. This speculation-driven expectation alone is hard enough for Apple to meet — though I think we can all agree that they are up to the task.
However, the rumor of the iPhone 4s is a trickier matter, because of the manner in which top tech analysts are framing it.
Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmor put it this way in a recent article: “”[T]here are large swaths of the world — especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where iPhone penetration is low — where customers prefer to pay the full cost of the phone upfront,” This perspective, which joins further speculation that Apple will do what it takes technologically to make sure their new partner China Mobile gets on board the iPhone 5 train, puts a lot of pressure on Apple to make the iPhone 5 some kind of globalizing miracle gadget that the entire world must have access to. Now, instead of the iPhone being a premium smartphone, analysts are calling for Apple to make it accessible to anyone and everyone.
That’s a tough challenge for Apple to meet, and not because they are disinterested in the developing world. It’s just that the bread and butter of Apple’s business model has not ever succeeded on being price leaders in the marketplace. Sure, they’re trotted out the iPod Shuffle and Mac Mini — but those products are not the ones that consumers hunger for: they want the iPhone. the iPad. The MacBook Pro.
For all we know, apple has absolutely no plans or interest in offering a stripped down, value-priced, contract-free, el-cheap-o iPhone 4s for the developing world. It is worth stating again that there is no real evidence that the iPhone 4s will be mass produced. While it may have been a demo model crafted for a few of the top app developers, there really is no reason to believe that the iPhone 4s is imminent.
And yet, the iPhone 4s rumor is getting major traction. Even IBT is positively convinced that it is coming.
Now, Apple is put into a tough spot of failing to live up to expectations if the “only” new thing we get in September is an impressive iPhone 5.

Sprint’s Unlimited Data, Value Pricing A Perfect Match For iPhone 5

Sprint iPhone 5A new article from Beatweek outlines how Sprint’s unlimited data package and value pricing would be a powerful selling point for the iPhone 5. But Sprint’s price-leading business model could also be what keeps Apple from blessing them with the next iPhone.
For current iPhone users, seeing the iPhone 5 come to Sprint is not much of a focus. After all, those of us with a legit iPhone invariably have a contract and/or account with either AT&T or Verizon. That being said, Beatweek‘s new piece makes some interesting points about what Sprint would bring to the table for the iPhone 5 — namely, unlimited data plans: “But the carrier could easily be quietly working with Apple to make a Sprint iPhone 5 happen, as the carrier with the unlimited data and the quasi-4G may want to avoid being the only carrier without the iPhone and the only one relying solely on Android.”
At present, data usage for the iCloud-equipped iPhone 5 is a big unknown. I’ve done some research on the issue around the web, and there simply is no consensus on whether cloud storage and computing will dramatically up the ante on how much data we swap on our our iPhones. Some analysts are quick to point out that the average iPhone user rarely crosses the 2GB data usage per month, and that iOS 5 appears to have plenty of easily-accessible options for turning syncing off and on to stem the flow of data.
Others, however, suggest that, while options to moderate the flow of data on the iPhone 5 seem viable, the reality will be that users will want — and even need — to have an open data flow in order to tap into the wonders and magic of “the cloud;” having to constantly toggle syncing will become cumbersome, and users will just “leave it on.”
Given this possibility, iPhone users who are currently at the end of their contracts — as well as iPhone 5 hopefuls who are ready to get onboard the iPhone train with the 5 — could be easily enticed by a Sprint iPhone 5 that would offer unlimited data. As Verizon and AT&T pull away from unlimited data options, Sprint could offer a price and plan that would make it the most attractive carrier for the iPhone 5.
Of course, that could also be the primary reason why Sprint won’t get the iPhone 5.
The Main Purpose of iCloud: Raking In the Big Bucks
As consumers, we get ultra-excited with new technologies like iCloud. And as well we should: cloud computing and storage is the wave of the future. But let’s take our consumer hats off for a moment and think like The Man: Apple created iCloud for one purpose: to rake in big bucks. That isn’t a criticism on my part — I have no qualms with Apple making money, and they do it quite well. But because iCloud is tied directly into data usage, and data usage is a service that mobile carriers charge for, it isn’t hard to see that iCloud is all about further monetizing data usage. If the reports are true and most iPhone users use way less than 2GB of data per month, wouldn’t it be worth Apple and its carrier partners’ while to engineer a new technology that would increase data usage?
From a business perspective, that would make total sense. And it could also be a deal-breaker for Sprint and Apple in terms of getting the iPhone 5.
Apple may want Sprint to lose the unlimited data package in order to create parity between them, Verizon, and AT&T in order to get the iPhone 5. But because Sprint’s business model is all about being the cheapest, they would  most likely never do that, which might be the only roadblock for the iPhone 5 coming to Sprint. It really cannot be for any other technological reason, as Sprint uses CDMA, just like Verizon.
What Ever Happened To a 64 GB iPhone 5?
Remember way back in the good old days of the iPhone 5 rumor mill, when we used to dream of a 64GB iPhone 5 option? It seems that, now that iCloud has become a reality, we’ve all but forgotten about an iPhone 5 with a beefed-up, on-board storage. But the nice thing about more hardware storage is that it would give users the option to keep more of their oft-used data — like music — on the iPhone 5 and off the iCloud grid. It would be nice of Apple to still give us the 64GB option on the iPhone 5 — iCloud or no.

 
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