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Filed under: Cellphones

Hey look, that NDA box which Apple never, ever sends was opened to reveal a severely misaligned reflection. Next.

[Thanks, Hays Y.]

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Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_3G_iPhone_firmware_leaked_tri_band_HSDPA_and_GPS_are/blog’;It’s easy to take for granted the 3G iPhone’s launch at this point. After all, Steve said it was “coming later this year,” as did a number of prominent mobile executives. And then there’s been the barrage of carrier announcements, many in international markets that use UMTS and have zero support for the iPhone as we know it today. But the fact of the matter is we’ve had very little to go on by way of material evidence — until now.

We have it from a reliable source that a version of the 3G iPhone’s firmware has been released — possibly for carrier partners currently field-testing the device — and has since been dissected. While nothing is ever guaranteed, in combing through the raw data, we think we got more than enough information on the low-level hardware and drivers that run the device to make some informed conclusions about what we can expect: quad-band GSM support (as we currently have), A-GPS (as we’d already gotten from another source), and tri-band UMTS / HSDPA — which would make the new iPhone(s) 3G-capable in just about every market in the world. Hardware details after the break. We’re through the looking-glass, people!

Continue reading 3G iPhone firmware leaked: tri-band HSDPA and GPS are go

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Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

Looks like El Steve’s getting the house in order before all the guests roll in for WWDC — AppleInsider says there’s been some exec reshuffling at the top. Most prominently, Scott Forstall has been bumped up to Senior Vice President of iPhone Software, which means he now reports directly to Jobs. Given Apple’s big push into the mobile devices space, that’s a big responsibility, but Forstall’s got the chops — he’s been working on the core of OS X since the NeXT days, and he was responsible for the release of OS X Leopard. Also getting a fatter paycheck is Bob Mansfield, who’s the new SVP of Mac Hardware Engineering and will report to COO Tim Cook. MHE hasn’t had a leader since 2004, when a committee of Mansfield, Jonathan Ive, and Dan Riccio was put in place to lead development. Of course, all these guys are merely puppets in the grand schemes of Dear Leader anyhow, but hey, someone’s got to do the paperwork, right?

[Thanks, Mark]

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Filed under: Cellphones

VoIP has been ushered onto the iPhone in quite a few incarnations, but we’d wager than none of ‘em are as useful as iCall. Said application is currently in beta form, though a release isn’t quite ready for the public at large. Put simply, it enables iPhones to switch from GSM to WiFi (when WiFi is nearby, of course) on-the-fly in order to save cell minutes and bypass the hassle of manually changing over. Interested? We thought you’d be — hop on past the break to see a demonstrative video of the app in action, and keep a close eye on the read link for a sure-to-surface-soon download.

Continue reading iCall enables seamless GSM to WiFi switching on iPhone

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Filed under: Cellphones

Reuters Italia is reporting that the 3G iPhone will be announced by the Italian carrier TIM (and presumably the rest of Europe) on Monday, Tuesday at the latest. Better yet, Reuters’ source within TIM says that the 3G iPhone will be available immediately, Tuesday at the latest. Availability is still rumored for sometime in June for Italy and it’s been awhile since Apple did an announce-and-launch on the same day. Quietly distributing 3 million or so iPhones around the world even with Apple’s stealth is no easy task and we still haven’t seen it, or anything from Apple hit the FCC. Still, at this point the biggest surprise of WWDC would be for Jobs not to announce a 3G iPhone.

Update: After some initial confusion over the translation, Reuters says that it will be announced on Monday or Tuesday.

[Via ToTouch, thanks Giovanni]

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BBC News reports that University College London, the Open University, and Trinity College Dublin are putting lectures onto iTunes U, which now features content from universities in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. “Our students will be able to revisit materials presented to them in lectures, so they can learn anywhere and anytime,” says Professor Peter Mobbs of University College London. Learn more about iTunes U by watching their new video tour.

Filed under: Cellphones

We’re just four days away from WWDC, so the rumor mill is churning at a fever pitch — and the latest context-less bits of info to emerge from the churn are these purported photos of the 3G iPhone’s touchscreens over at iLounge. Yeah, that’s touchscreens, plural — if these are to believed, Apple’s got two sizes of iPhone in store for us on Monday: a 3.2-inch model, and a smaller 2.8-inch model. Note that both of those sizes are smaller than the current iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen, which seems slightly implausible — but kinda-sorta matches up with other rumors we’ve heard, including those persistent “iPhone nano” whispers from last year. We still really doubt that Apple will shrink the iPhone’s screen size, however, and there are literally hundreds of touchscreen iPhone KIRFs these panels could have come from, so we’d say there’s a better chance this is just more hype — but we know y’all have your own ideas. Let us know in comments!

[Thanks, Sleuth]

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Probably you’ve heard of Wikipedia, the revolutionary online encyclopedia. Perhaps you’ve used it, too. But did you know that you can now access Wikipedia directly from Dictionary? Or from any Mac OS X Leopard application that supports it, including TextEdit, Mail, and Pages? Read on.

Filed under: Cellphones

As we inch towards the towering precipice of WWDC 2008, rumors swirling around Apple’s next iteration of the iPhone are being deposited onto the interblogs at an alarming rate. The latest set comes in three distinct flavors, the first of which recalls an earlier story that telcos would be offering subsidies for long-term contract signers. According to separate sources, Spain’s Telefonica and the UK’s O2 would offer the 3G iPhone at discounted rates (as low as €100) for those willing to put pen to paper, while some are claiming that O2 might also offer a “free” upgrade to the new phone for existing users. In other pot-stirring news, iDealsChina is reporting that the phone will suddenly be 2.0mm shorter and 0.5mm thinner than previously spec’d by Griffin in its new casing molds, thus causing all kinds of trouble for the accessory-maker… and people with big hands. Finally, we can safely report that AT&T has run out of stock of the device online (finally joining Apple). The site claims it’s a “temporary” situation — one which we suspect will be rectified by the appearance of a new model. Time to get in that line?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Telefonica to be sole distributor of 3G iPhone in Spain for 100 euro
Read - Rumour: O2 plans free iPhone 3G upgrade and pay-as-you-go
Read - iPhone 3G last minute size change!
Read - AT&T iPhone page

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If you’re in Santa Monica, California, on Saturday, June 7, come to the Apple Retail Store and hear director Peter Segal and Dwayne Johnson (who plays Agent 23) speak about the eagerly awaited film, “Get Smart.” The first of a series of Filmmaker Talks featuring cast members of the new comedy, other Filmmaker Talks will take place at the Apple Retail Stores in SoHo (New York) and San Francisco.