Posts tagged with "iPhone"

AppleCare+ Provides Accidental Damage Protection

Apple now offers  a new AppleCare plan for iPhones called AppleCare+. This new plan is $99 and covers the device from two incidents of accidental damage. Each incident will cost you a $49 service fee to get the phone repaired. The AppleCare+ plan covers:

  • Your iPhone
  • Battery  (battery depletion of 50 percent or more from original specification)
  • Included earphones and accessories
  • Coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage from handling

Just like the original AppleCare plan, software support is included as well.

AppleCare+ for iPhone extends repair coverage and technical support to two years from the original purchase date of your iPhone and adds coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage due to handling, each subject to a $49 service fee.1 With AppleCare+ for iPhone, Apple experts can help troubleshoot issues over the phone or at an Apple Retail Store. They’ll answer questions about iOS, Apple iPhone apps such as Mail, iMessage, and Calendar, and help you solve interconnectivity issues between your iPhone and Mac or PC. And if your iPhone needs service under the plan, Apple technical support representatives can even set up a repair during the same call.

Sprint To “Bet the Company” on $20 Billion iPhone Deal

It was previously reported the next-generation iPhone would be available on U.S. carrier Sprint, and today The Wall Street Journal adds some details to its initial report, claiming that Sprint is “betting the company” on a $20 billion iPhone deal that will see Sprint purchasing 30.5 million iPhones over the next four years.

New details, not previously reported, give a rare look at Apple’s closely guarded dealings with carriers, and reveal just how high the stakes are for Sprint.

Mr. Hesse told the board the carrier would have to agree to purchase at least 30.5 million iPhones over the next four years—a commitment of $20 billion at current rates—whether or not it could find people to buy them, according to people familiar with the matter. In order to keep the price people pay for the phone low and competitive with rivals, Sprint would be subsidizing the cost of each phone to the tune of about $500, which would take a long time to recoup even at the high monthly fees iPhone users pay.

Sprint’s board called the iPhone “project Sony” internally, and a person familiar with the matter has been quoted by the WSJ saying “We have to have it”. The deal’s hit on Sprint’s operating income is “staggering”, according to another source. In a lawsuit filed against the AT&T / T-Mobile merger in September, Sprint said the company “has had to compete without access to the iPhone for nearly five years”.

Apple is expected to introduce a new iPhone tomorrow in Cupertino at 10 AM Pacific time. Check out our roundup for a breakdown of rumors and predictions.

iPhone Parts For An N90A Model Found In Foxconn’s Brazil Factory?

The above photo, taken by Gizmodo Brazil, is supposedly a new iPhone SKU taken from a Foxconn factory in Brazil. Shown on a quality control form, these iPhone parts are for a model N90A iPhone - a new model that does not currently exists.

Our Brazilian brothers, Gizmodo.com.br, got their hot little hands on a few photos of one a new iPhone, to be announced next week. How? Well, there’s a Foxconn factory in Brazil, and Pedro & co got one of their men inside. Inside, they found a new-SKU iPhone that looks just like the old iPhone 4.

A report from earlier this week noted that an iPhone with the codename N90A had appeared in Apple’s internal inventory system. Because the current codename for the iPhone 4 is N90 it is believed that this new SKU would represent an iPhone 4 with minor changes — likely becoming the cheaper iPhone available with 8 GB of storage at a lower cost.

[Translation of key sections of the above image, from Mike in the comments below]

JULGAMENTO DO LOTE means something like BATCH EVALUATION RESULT, certainly from quality control. APPROVADO and REPROVADO means APPROVED and REPROVED and the current batch was reproved with the indication “lentes manchadas” (stained lenses), written in blue over the REPROVADO box.

[Via Gizmodo]

Shazam’s Free iOS App Gets Unlimited Tagging

Shazam

, the very popular music ID service for iOS, made a major change to the free version of its iOS app. “Shazamers” are now getting unlimited free tagging. Shazam believes this shift will give them more opportunities for users to discover and interact with their favorite music and television shows.

Andrew Fisher, Shazam CEO said, “Shazamers already identify over 1 billion songs each year and go on to purchase over $100 million in digital music via our service. Now, with no limits, people can Shazam even more songs they don’t know – or they already know - to conveniently purchase them, see the lyrics, watch the official music video, share on Facebook, Twitter or email, get recommendations and purchase concert tickets instantly. Unlimited free access means people can use Shazam even more as part of their daily lives.”

Users of the Shazam service can of course upgrade to the paid app, called Encore, and get the benefits of ad-free usage and features like LyricPlay, which allows users to view lyrics as the tracks play.

A link to the free Shazam app can be found here.
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Rumor: New iPhone And iPod Touch Models Appear In Apple’s Inventory

Next week’s iPhone event on October 4th is still somewhat of a mystery, with rumors going round and round in circles as to whether Apple will launch a brand new iPhone 5, a slightly upgraded iPhone “4S” or perhaps both. 9to5 Mac claims to have some information on new products that have turned up inside Apple’s internal inventory system. According to their source, there are now three new iPod touch models under the codename N81A, which 9to5 Mac speculates could represent a white variation of the device.

Since there are only new three iPod touch models - at this time – it’s likely that the black models won’t be updated. This also likely means the storage capacities will stay at their current 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities.

What has also appeared is two new iPhone SKUs that are marked as tweaked iPhone 4s. Codenamed N90A (the current iPhone 4 is N90), this could represent a new 8GB version. In previous iOS SDK releases there has been reference to an iPhone with the codename of N94, this has not yet appeared in the inventory. As noted below such a codename would be given to a device with vastly different features and large improvements - rather than just a new white version or a new storage capacity model.

It is very possible that the two SKUs mean black and white models, but that is unconfirmed. We don’t think Apple’s next-generation iPhone – coming next week- would be labeled as an N90A – as it includes major internal hardware upgrades that would typically constitute a new codename.

If you’d like a recap of all the iPhone 5 rumor shenanigans that have occurred over this past year, be sure to have a read of our recap of the more reputable rumors that have been shared around.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

Apple Could Be About To Discontinue The iPod Shuffle and Classic

Apple could be about retire the iPod classic and iPod shuffle as part of a “product transition” that was hinted at by Apple in their last earnings call. The news comes from TUAW who seem reasonably confident that at some point this year Apple will axe the two devices — likely keeping the iPod nano and iPod touch, for now.

To back up their source’s information they cite a recent report from CNet in which it was noted that the iPods now only make up for 8% of Apple’s total revenue. As the above graph shows, iPod sales have also been stagnant or falling over the last few quarters and although Apple doesn’t break these figures down model by model, its believed the iPod touch is what has held iPod sales up. Interestingly the iPod’s 10 year anniversary is coming up soon on October 24th and as CNet said it would be a nice for Apple to say “It had a great run, now go buy an iPhone”.

The shuffle is basically the same form factor as the nano, minus a screen. The classic uses a platter-based hard drive, while Apple is largely transitioning to flash-based memory solutions. The shuffle’s lack of a screen has been an issue since it first appeared as a memory stick with music playback functions. If Apple killed these off, all of its iPods would have touchscreens, and something tells me it wants it that way.

Concluding their report, TUAW notes that their source is “NOT an analyst” and that Apple’s plans are to consolidate the iPod line into just the nano (which would become Apple’s lowest-end iPod) and the touch. The iPod touch would become the premium iPod, with few changes except the availability of a white version.

[Via TUAW]

iPhone 5 To Include New iOS 5 “Assistant” Voice Feature

In a new article published this morning, 9to5mac claims to have the details surrounding Assistant, a new software service that has been built on top of Apple’s acquisition of Siri last year, and which should be enabled on the next generation iPhone. According to the website, Assistant will run on next-gen hardware as it’ll require the iPhone 5’s purported A5 processor and 1 GB of RAM. These hardware upgrades have been rumored before, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if Apple decided to bump the specs of the iPhone 4 to accomodate more RAM, which would allow for more tasks running in the background. Such tasks would include Assistant, which is described as a brand new way to have “an infinite amount of information” available at the sound of your voice.

9to5mac reports Assistant will work with your voice, and it’ll be activated similarly to how Voice Control can be opened on older versions of iOS. Unlike Voice Control, Assistant should take up a smaller section of the screen – like the multitasking tray – and it’ll be associated to the Home button. Assistant-related code has been found in the iOS 5 SDK before, and 9to5mac confirms the new service will be integrated with contacts, messages, Maps, email and pretty much any other feature that supports systemwide frameworks on iOS – like Calendar and the message sheet.

Some of the features mentioned in the article:

  • There’s an “info” button in the Assistant UI to “view some of the most commonly spoken commands”.
  • You can create calendar events, reminders, get directions, send text messages directly with a voice command.
  • Find My Friends will be integrated with Assistant, and there will be privacy settings to control how you “can be found” when you’re online with your iOS device.
  • There is a “conversation view” to speak back and forth with the Assistant to confirm voice commands, and give further instructions like “send email to Mark’s work address”.

More details are available in the original article – such as Wolfram Alpha integration and the user interface design of Assistant.

Back in March, it was reported Siri would be “a big part” of Apple’s announcements at WWDC, but the company didn’t showcase any voice-related functionalities at its developer conference. That move would make sense if Assistant has been made exclusive to the new iPhone, which obviously didn’t get an announcement at WWDC either, and is currently rumored to be unveiled at Apple’s headquarters on October 4th. The voice recognition features of Siri were based on Nuance’s technology, which is also rumored to be in an agreement with Apple for the upcoming iOS 5. Previous iOS 5 betas revealed hidden functionalities (not enabled on existing hardware) related to “dictation”, a feature that, supposedly, would let users “speak text” they want to write on screen.