Gadgets Blog » iPhone

Stop the presses! This week marks a new generation in smartphone-dom, as well as Apple fanboy-ism. The release of the iPhone 4G, despite some worries about the number of available devices on the market, triggered a mass-rush to pick up the hot item. Apple’s been on a roll the last few months, with the iPad only setting the tone for this week’s new gadget. With Steve Jobs and company poised to take over the world, and the tech news-media salivating over the company’s every move, it seemed like nothing could possibly go wrong. Right?

Unfortunately, there seems to have been a bit of rain on Apple’s parade. The much-anticipated next-gen iPhone was indeed released to thrilled crowds of gadget-lovers, but a second wave of reports began streaming in that seemed to point to some serious engineering failures on the part of Apple. Namely, the new iPhone has some issues with its WiFi and 3G reception caused by interference from the user’s hand. While any wireless device experiences a bit of this interference when in use, the iPhone’s issue is related to the lower left hand corner of the device, a common area to be covered while holding the phone in your hand.

The folks over at Gizmodo had themselves quite the time with their most recent story. Some poor sod at a bar in Redwood City accidentally left a next-generation iPhone behind, which Gizmodo claims was “camouflaged to look like the iPhone 3Gs.”

Except it wasn’t, and the results of some keen hacking and testing were posted to their website in a news story that has gadget nerds salivating to be sure. The features of this new addition to the Apple family are certainly exciting, and represent some interesting changes in function that could really shake up the next round of smartphones. Design-wise, the gadget looks like an iPhone in an iPod classic body. The rounded corners and three-dimensional build make it look quite distinct from an ordinary iPhone.

The screen is vivid and clear, with resolution at a staggering 960×640, making for exceptional application use and crystal clear images. The device sports two cameras now, one mounted on the back for taking pictures and one on the same side of the screen, presumably for video chatting (!!!). The operating system is Apple’s brand new iPhone OS 4.0, which Gizmodo claims the phone was running prior to the official announcement of such a thing.

Weighing in at 3 grams heavier than the older models, it boasts a larger battery on the inside, presumably extending the life of one of Apple’s flagship products. Other technical changes are exciting, yet a bit puzzling at the same time. The smartphone uses Micro SIM cards, which is likely to be the industry standard in the future. Yet this development is a bit puzzling in light of the iPad’s release. Many were surprised to find out that Apple had not adopted the Micro SIM card for their tablet computer, and now it’s introduction onto the iPhone, and the announcement that the iPhone OS 4.0 will support multitasking, place some questionable light on Apple’s development of two of its featured products.

Ultimately though, Apple will continue to be the trendsetter for smartphones with the release of the next iPhone, and indeed there is much to be excited about, provided Gizmodo’s specifications are correct. If the introduction of the front-facing camera does indeed signal that video chatting will be present on the next generation of iPhones, then perhaps we are looking at applications to 4G technology that will revolutionize telecommunications. It seems as though Steve Jobs and company have created another winner, one that will dominate the market and thrill users for some time to come. Image Source: flickr.com/photos/niw/3347008791

For today’s tech roundup, we’ve got a variety of news involving all sorts of nifty gadgets! While this week was a bit of a media cool-down following the release of the iPad, there were still some important stories to go around, and one even involves Apple!

But first, on the larger end of the gadget spectrum: electric, high-speed trains! On Wednesday, United States lawmakers in California and executives at General Electric started a partnership designed to bring bullet trains to the Bear Republic. But it turns out they’re getting some help from a rather unlikley source: the Chiense Government! Don’t believe me? An article from the New York Times spills all the details, including the licensing of federal Chinese technology to GE to aid in the manufacturing of electric locomotives. The California High Speed Rail Authority was impressed by China’s recent prolific development in the realm of high-speed rail: they opened a staggering 1200 miles of track in 2009, all of it capable of running engines at 215 miles per hour.

And in another bout of legal ridiculousness involving the internet, a 16 year old boy has filed a harassment complaint against his own mother after she changed the passwords to his email and Facebook accounts. Lane New said in a written statement that his mother had posted several slanderous things on the social networking site regarding his personal life. While neither he nor his mother would identify said slanderous things, a victory for the teen would likely reinvent the parent-child dichotomy the world over! A possible end to curfews everywhere?

I’ll confess that I recently converted from the world of PCs. Perhaps I was drawn in by the shiny aluminum bodies the new MacBook computer possesses, or perhaps it was due to chronic frustration caused by Windows Vista on my old HP laptop. Regardless, I’ve been immensely satisfied with my MacBook Pro, although a few things do still bother me about the Apple brand as a whole.

Apple users, the sort with iPhone, iPod, MacBook, and additional Apple paraphernalia, can be bothersome to me at times. While yes, Apple makes some great electronics, the level of devotion to the brand can be a bit absurd. Nonetheless, Apple promises to give people something new to get excited over, as they announced a January 27 event to roll out their newest foray into the electronics market.

Inviting people to “Come see our latest creation,” the company has (wisely) left the exact content of the unveiling up in the air, leaving many people to speculate on what it will be. In all likelihood, the product will be Apple’s much-speculated upon tablet, as sources have told the Wall Street Journal that the new product is intended to ship in March. That makes it fairly certain that Apple will be showing it off starting on the 27th, unless they have something truly remarkable up their sleeves, which would be exciting in its own right.

With such an important company preparing to launch a tablet based computer, a look at what exactly such a unit would entail can give us a bit of a sneak preview of such a hypothetical Apple Tablet. First and foremost, the tablet would operated with touch screen type interface. The iPod Touch has been a tremendous success for the company, and its possible that this tablet would feature at least a portion of its menu arrangements in a similar style to the Touch and its cousin, the iPhone. The idea of a computer that is operated without a mouse is exciting, and the fact that this technology is now being adapted to larger units means some great new technology is in the future.

There are some questions that need to be asked about the tablet, however. First of all, price is a huge concern. Before its untimely demise, the CrunchPad was rumored to go on sale for around $400. The Apple Tablet has been speculated as high as $1000, which in some ways is unsurprising, given that this is an Apple product. The unit would likely have the same great wireless capability as Apple laptops, making connecting to and surfing the Internet a breeze.

However, what sort of operating system can we expect with the unit? Will it run Snow Leopard, or a more application based operating system similar to the iPhone? These types of specifications will likely be answered when the gadget is unveiled, but issues over what types of programs will be able to run on the computer will be a concern for most users.

The main question I have for the future of tablet computers is where they fit into the computing world as a whole. Will a tablet be able to have all the functionality of a normal laptop? This seems very unlikely, and let alone the fact that for effective word processing, an external keyboard would likely be needed. If the primary capabilities of the unit are Internet use, then why pay so much money for such a gadget? The flexibility the unit will have, as well as the fragility of the tablet design, is concerning for such an item. Nonetheless, it will be exciting to see Apple’s product when they (hopefully) unveil it. I’m just not sure if its something I’ll be adding to my wish list anytime soon.