MacRumors.com

iPhone 3GS on left, claimed fourth-generation iPhone on right
iPhone repair site iResQ has posted photos of what it claims are parts for the fourth-generation iPhone presumably due for launch later this year. Among the most notable features of the claimed parts are a front panel that appears to be approximately 1/4" taller than the current iPhone 3GS.


iPhone 3GS on left, claimed fourth-generation iPhone on right
Also present on the new front panel part is a "reflective surface" located just above the earpiece slot on the iPhone. It is not immediately obvious what the feature might be, and iResQ offers no speculation on its function beyond suggesting that it is a likely location for a proximity sensor, although that would not explain the need for the mirrored surface to be visible on the front of the device.


From left to right: iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, claimed fourth-generation iPhone
Claimed leaks of future iPhone parts from Asian suppliers have been relatively common in the past, although such claims should generally be taken with a grain of salt, as evidenced by a claimed iPhone bezel leaked last May that actually turned out to be a part from the Creative Zii Egg.

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AT&T today announced the release of AT&T FamilyMap, a new iPhone application that integrates with the company's existing FamilyMap service to allow families to keep track of each other while on the go.

The AT&T FamilyMap app brings a streamlined approach to helping families stay up to speed on each other's whereabouts by locating wireless devices within a shared family account. The app provides iPhone users with access to FamilyMap's popular features, which until now, were only accessible through a computer.

The FamilyMap service is priced at $9.99 per month for two phones or $14.99 per month for up to five phones charged to the customer's AT&T bill. The iPhone application carries no additional charge beyond the monthly subscription.

Features offered in the service include the ability to view each phone's whereabouts on an interactive map, as well as the ability to label frequently-visited locations on the maps for easy reference. The application also offers on-demand locating, integrated messaging via e-mail, SMS, and voice, and automated checks to see if a family member is on schedule to reach a given location.

AT&T FamilyMap can only be established for phones on a single shared billing account, with the account owner overseeing all privacy preferences.

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Yesterday, AT&T announced that it had finally decided to allow Sling Media's SlingPlayer Mobile to stream video over the carrier's 3G network. As part of the announcement, AT&T claimed that it had "worked with" Sling Media to develop a version of the application that was optimized for performance on AT&T's network. Early reports on the approval also included specific quotes from AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega claiming that Sling Media had modified the application in response to AT&T's requests.

"The key for us is Sling Media was willing to work with us to revise the app to make it more bandwidth sensitive, "Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, said in a statement. "They made important changes to more efficiently use 3G network bandwidth and conserve wireless spectrum so that we were able to support the app on our 3G mobile broadband network."

De la Vega's statements, however, no longer appear in AT&T's official press release, and Ars Technica has heard from Sling Media, which claims that it did not work with AT&T on the application's approval.

"We didn't change anything," Sling Media's John Santoro told Ars. "AT&T never discussed any specific requirements with us."

Santoro explained that SlingPlayer Mobile has always contained code to adapt the stream quality to the given network conditions. AT&T has been in discussions with Sling since it was first released last year, but AT&T never asked the company to make specific modifications. No changes were made to the app's 3G streaming capabilities between its being barred from AT&T and now.

Sling Media's claims and AT&T's apparent backtracking suggest that AT&T may simply have decided either that SlingPlayer Mobile's video streaming would no longer place an excessive burden on the carrier's network or that its continued refusal to allow such streaming was simply indefensible as expectations for wireless data networks have grown. Consequently, the carrier may have been looking to the SlingPlayer Mobile approval announcement as a venue to encourage future developers of bandwidth-intensive applications to reach out to AT&T to ensure from the very beginning that such applications are optimized for network performance.

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In a posting on its news page for iPhone developers earlier this week, Apple encouraged developers to integrate the Core Location framework into their apps, offering the ability to deliver information to users based on their location. Perhaps more importantly, Apple also clarified that the use of such geolocation solely for serving ads to users is not permitted.

If you build your application with features based on a user's location, make sure these features provide beneficial information. If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user's location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store.

Apple's exact motives for the restriction remain unclear, although some have speculated that Apple may be seeking to give Quattro Wireless, its own mobile advertising unit, a leg up on competitors such as AdMob. The restriction does not, however, prohibit all location-based advertising, instead requiring useful content to also be served using the technology. Users are typically required to confirm that they wish to allow an application to access their location, and thus it seems possible that Apple merely wishes to restrict such required user input to applications that are actually providing useful location-based information to users.

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Research firm IDC today issued a report highlighting fourth quarter and full year worldwide sales numbers of "converged mobile devices", more commonly known as smartphones, revealing continuing outstanding growth for Apple's iPhone above the overall industry already-healthy growth rate.

According to the data, Apple's shipments for the fourth quarter of 2009 were up 97.7% year-over-year, in line with results reported by Apple in its most recent earnings release and well ahead of the smartphone industry's 39% growth overall. The 8.7 million iPhones shipped during the quarter placed Apple solidly in third place with 16.0% market share behind Research in Motion and Nokia, both of which saw growth in line with the overall industry's growth rate.


Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 4Q09 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)
For all of 2009, Apple similarly held down the third position behind Research in Motion and Nokia, shipping 25.1 million iPhones for an increase of 81.9% over 2008 and enough to hold 14.4% of the worldwide market for year, up from 9.1% in 2008. Overall, the market grew by only 15% year-over-year, with only Research in Motion (46.2% growth) joining Apple in outperforming the industry.


Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 2009 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)
Earlier this week, data from ABI Research revealed that Apple's share of the worldwide smartphone market had slipped slightly between the third and fourth quarters of 2009 as Apple was unable to keep pace with overall industry growth rates. The report apparently failed, however, to address the typically stronger seasonal effect seen in Apple's sales numbers compared to other manufacturers that release multiple new handsets throughout the year.

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AT&T today announced that it has decided to allow Sling Media's SlingPlayer Mobile iPhone application to stream video content over its 3G network. SlingPlayer Mobile allows users of Sling Media's "Slingbox" hardware to control and stream live and recorded content to their iPhones and iPod touches.

AT&T attracted significant attention when it refused to allow the SlingPlayer Mobile to stream video over the carrier's wireless networks, citing the potential for the video traffic to overwhelm its network capacity and create service issues for other users. Consequently, the application has been Wi-Fi-only in the U.S. since its launch in May 2009.

Since mid December 2009, AT&T has been testing the app and has recently notified Sling Media -- as well as Apple -- that the optimized app can run on its 3G network. The SlingPlayer Mobile app already is available for use today on AT&T's Wi-Fi network, the nation's largest with more than 20,000 hotspots.

In its press release, AT&T also took the opportunity to publicize its willingness to work with developers on bandwidth-intensive mobile applications in order to create the best possible experience for users.

"Just as we've worked with Sling Media in this instance, we look forward to collaborating with other developers so that mobile customers can access a wider, more bandwidth-sensitive, and powerful range of applications in the future," said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "Collaboration with developers like Sling Media ensures that all apps are optimized for our 3G network to conserve wireless spectrum and reduce the risk that an app will cause such extreme levels of congestion that they disrupt the experience of other wireless customers. Our focus continues to be on delivering the nation's most advanced mobile broadband experience and giving our customers the widest possible array of mobile applications."

Support for developers is offered through AT&T's dedicated developer site.

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TechCrunch reports that Apple has expanded its browser-based 'iTunes Preview' functionality to include pages for App Store applications.

To see this for yourself, open any direct link to an iPhone app (example) in your favorite Web browser.

You'll notice that instead of only throwing up a dialog box prompting you to confirm that you wish to launch iTunes on your desktop, you'll see a nice page with the app logo, price, description, screenshots, rating, reviews and more in a new window or tab.

Simultaneously, iTunes will be opened and you'll be directed to the app's detail page in the App Store.

iTunes Preview was launched last November, offering users the ability to view iTunes Store music content in their browsers without the need for iTunes to be separately installed. The functionality was later updated to allow users to listen to 30-second song samples, although users remain unable to actually purchase content though iTunes Preview.

While Apple's iTunes Store has always been something of a proprietary browser, the company has only recently made a significant push into the real browser environment itself. With Apple's recent purchase of streaming music service Lala Media and rumors of the Lala team being deployed to develop a cloud-based iTunes, Web browsers appear poised to play an even greater role in the iTunes experience.

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Earlier this week, a report briefly mentioned that Clayton Morris of FOXNews.com, who offered several reports about the iPad coming to Verizon in the weeks leading up to the device's introduction, had spoken to a Verizon source who claimed that Apple and Verizon are continuing to work on an iPad deal despite AT&T having been the only announced partner at Apple's media event. Morris has finally filed his full report on the events, noting that according to his source, the companies are "still talking", although Morris acknowledges that the statement does not necessarily mean much.

Of course "still talking" doesn't mean anything. It would be ridiculous to think these companies aren't still talking: that's what big companies do. To be fair, these talks are very much in keeping with reports from Wall Street analysts who expect some Apple/Verizon partnership announcement this year. But I'll believe it when I see it.

Despite all the attention focused on the iPad at the moment, the report also claims that Verizon is much more interested in the iPhone due to its more lucrative revenue stream of contracted voice and data service. While sources are optimistic that a deal is in the works for later this year when AT&T's exclusivity agreement for the iPhone is reported to expire, other observers remain skeptical of the benefits of rolling out new iPhone or iPad hardware compatible with Verizon's CDMA-based network just as the company is preparing to transition to the next-generation LTE (4G) standard that will offer global hardware compatibility.

Another interesting tidbit claimed in the story is that AT&T won the battle among GSM-based service providers with its willingness to "outbid" its competitors in pricing.

"I think the pricing speaks for itself," said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel. "Apple sets the price for these plans and the $29.99 unlimited plan is comparable to our data plans for other devices."

Comparable? Actually AT&T brought its A game, offering much cheaper options for consumers than currently exist for netbooks.

It remains unclear exactly why a Verizon-Apple deal for the iPhone didn't get done as many expected, although it seems possible that AT&T may have set the bar with its pricing structure and Verizon was unwilling to match it. Alternatively, Apple may have decided that it was unable or unwilling to offer hardware compatible with Verizon's CDMA network at this time.

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Patently Apple reported yesterday that Apple has been granted a patent regarding the use of touch-sensitive bezels in electronic devices, primarily focused on portable devices. While the content of the patent is not new, having been previously disclosed with the publication of the initial patent application in October 2006, the technology has gained renewed interest as the granting of the patent and the introduction of Apple's new iPad tablet device have provided additional perspective not available at the earlier time.

According to the patent documentation, the invention describes the use of a touch-sensitive bezel, offering discrete areas on the bezel for controlling the device. Visual cues displayed on the screen next to the touch-sensitive areas would instruct the user on each area's function. In addition, the patent describes the integration of an orientation sensor such as an accelerometer that would allow the device to adjust both the locations of touch sensitivity for certain functions and the corresponding visual cues.


Orientation sensing for device offering touch-sensitive bezel
At the time of the original patent application's publication, neither the iPhone nor the iPod touch had been introduced, and the application's included images offered an intriguing glance at what a "Video iPod" might look like. With last week's introduction of the iPad, which offers a relatively substantial bezel around all four sides of the display, additional opportunities for deployment of the technology have become possible.

It remains unclear, however, exactly what benefit a touch-sensitive bezel would offer to an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad user given the multi-touch capabilities of those devices' screens. The ability to control certain functions of the device without obscuring the device's screen would appear to be a benefit at first glance, but the need for visual cues on the display to identify the controls would appear to mitigate that benefit.

The bezel is not the only component of the iPhone that has been rumored for touch sensitivity. A report several weeks ago suggested that Apple may be planning to offer a touch-sensitive casing in the next-generation iPhone that would allow users to control the device by touching the rear of the iPhone. While little evidence for the claim beyond an anonymous source was offered, previous patent applications from Apple have also pointed to its interest in "back-side touch".

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DigiTimes today offers a series of reports involving Apple, revealing a number of claims from industry sources in Taiwan regarding the next-generation iPhone, Apple's possible plans for USB 3.0, and iPad component suppliers.

One report claims that Taiwanese firm Pegatron Technology, a two-year old company created as part of a restructuring of ASUS, has landed a contract with Apple to manufacture the next-generation iPhone. Pegatron reportedly will join existing iPhone manufacturer Foxconn in production of the new models due for introduction later this year.

Another report notes that Genesys Logic has denied that recent sampling quantities of USB 3.0 device controllers are destined for Apple, refuting claims from industry sources that Apple is company behind the design request. USB 3.0, which finally began to make an industry splash with numerous product introductions at CES earlier this year, theoretically offers a 10x improvement in transfer speed over USB 2.0 as well as increased power capabilities for powering attached devices.

The same report offers a look at major component winners for Apple's iPad, with Broadcom reportedly supplying Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and touchscreen controller chips, while Infineon is handling the RF and baseband chips. Novatek (LCD driver), Linear (battery power management) and NXP (system power management) are also named as suppliers for the iPad. A separate report claims that Radiant Opto-Electronics will have provided 300,000 LED backlights to Apple for the iPad during the month of January. And finally, Yageo, Cyntec and Mag.Layers Scientific-Technics, manufacturers of passive components such as resistors and diodes, are all also reportedly providing components to Apple for the iPad.

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Engadget reports that an internal model number for Apple's next-generation iPhone ("N89") has apparently surfaced in the the new iPhone SDK 3.2 that was released alongside the introduction of the company's iPad tablet device.

Buried way inside the platform simulator lies a set of folders dedicated to specific models of iPhone OS-ready devices, including the iPhone 3GS, second generation iPod touch, something called the "K48" (yep, the codename we were told was the internal name for the iPad), and... the "N89." Sure, it sounds like a Nokia phone just waiting to happen, but this is -- according to our extremely knowledgeable and trusted sources -- likely the codename of the next iPhone (previous versions were called the M68, N82, and N88).

In addition, a similar entry entitled "N80" has also appeared in Apple's just-released iPhone OS 3.1.3 and reportedly corresponds to the next-generation iPod touch.

Interestingly, Apple's just released firmware (3.1.3) also includes another new model, the "N80," which we're told will most likely be the next version of the iPod touch.

Several previous reports had claimed that the iPad was carrying the internal model number "K48", which appears to have been the case. One of those earlier reports had also claimed, however, that the next-generation iPhone carries internal model number N90 instead of the N89 discovered in the iPhone SDK 3.2.

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TechCrunch reports that French game developer Gameloft reported its 2009 financial results today, specifying "iPhone revenue" of 17.6 million Euros, or about $24.5 million. That number was up 231% over 2008, and was responsible for approximately 14.5% of Gameloft's total revenues for the year. Gameloft's iPhone revenue was even more impressive when considered only under the fourth quarter of 2009, where the segment was responsible for nearly $10 million in revenue, or 22% of the company's total revenue.

Gameloft withdrew from boxed games in January 2009, and says mobile games accounted for 94% of the company's sales for the whole year. The remaining 6% are related to consoles game sales.

Full-year revenues from the mobile game segment grew by 12%, self-reportedly due to the success of the games the company distributes through Apple's App Store. To demonstrate this growing importance for the company, you need only look at its revenue figures for the fourth quarter of 2009: iPhone revenues for the company reached €7 million ($9.75 million), while initial expectations were €4.4 million.

Gameloft is a major player in the mobile gaming industry and a frequent participant in app demonstrations at Apple's iPhone-focused media events.

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Apple today released iPhone OS 3.1.3 for all iPhone and iPod touch models, addressing several specific bugs as well as offering fixes for a handful of security issues.

This update for the iPhone and iPod touch contains bug fixes and improvements, including the following:

- Improves accuracy of reported battery level on iPhone 3GS
- Resolves issue where third-party apps would not launch in some instances
- Fixes bug that may cause an app to crash when using the Japanese Kana keyboard

Full details on the security updates included in iPhone OS 3.1.3 are available in the associated support document.

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Just prior to Apple's media event introducing the iPad last week, Engadget posted several photos of what did turn out to be the iPad, bolted down to a table and covered with a black cloth as Apple has been rumored to do with tightly-guarded pre-release products. One of the images shows an iPhone sitting on top of the iPad, offering a size comparison between the two devices.


AppleInsider reports today that it has received information from a source claiming that the iPhone shown in the photo is in fact an unreleased prototype of Apple's next-generation iPhone model.

People with an impeccable track record in matters such as these say the iPhone in below photo, published by gadget blog Engadget in the hours leading up to Apple's iPad announcement last Wednesday, is a prototype of one of the handsets due to hit the market in roughly five months.

Unfortunately, the quality of the photo leaves much to be desired, and few details on the purported prototype can be determined beyond a very similar likeness to the current iPhone 3G and 3GS casings. The report offers, however, a couple of possible visual difference between the pictured iPhone and current models.

Most obviously, the photographed iPhone appears to lack the iPhone's traditional aluminum bezel around its front edge, instead appearing to reveal an all-black bezel, although it appears possible that the iPhone is covered by some sort of skin or cover or even that reflections could make the aluminum bezel appear black in this image.

Second, a "whitish blotch" appears to the left of the iPhone's earpiece in the image, although it is again unclear whether this is an actual feature of the next-generation iPhone or merely a reflection shown in the iPhone's glass surface. Speculation regarding a hardware feature in that location obviously centers on the possibility of a forward-facing camera.

Evidence of the next-generation iPhone hardware being tested surfaced in late November.

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The Wall Street Journal reports on data from technology market research firm ABI Research showing that the iPhone's share of the worldwide smartphone sales market slipped in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 16.6%, down from 18.1% in the previous quarter. Despite strong performance from Apple during the quarter, the overall market grew even faster, resulting in a dip for Apple's market share.

Apple's sales still grew, just not as quickly as everybody else's. Apple sold 8.7 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, which is 18% more than in the quarter before. But the overall smartphone market grew 26% in the same period of time, as Motorola Inc. introduced its first devices on Google Inc.'s Android platform and Nokia Oyj boosted its sales by 4.6 million alone.

Not mentioned in the article is the fact that Apple's sales, with only a single iPhone model, tend to follow something of a cyclical pattern centered around new handset launches in June or July of each year. While Apple experienced record-high iPhone sales for the fourth quarter coming on the heels the third quarter's first full sales period for the iPhone 3GS, the margin of improvement was likely smaller than otherwise would have been if the third quarter had not had the boost of new hardware behind it. Manufacturers offering multiple models of smartphones are more likely to see more consistent performance reflecting overall industry trends as they introduce new and updated models at staggered intervals.

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9 to 5 Mac reports that Apple has updated its App Store Review Status clock on its iPhone developer news page, now offering aggregate data for app review processing time for both new applications and updates over the past week.


Previously, the review status widget offered only a single number displaying the percentage of applications currently being approved within two weeks of submission. The new wording of the status indicator leaves some question, however, about whether it continues to refer to an approval rate as it implied previously or if the data refers strictly to Apple having reviewed submissions.

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Cloned in China reports on an article [Google translation] from Chinese site PCPOP claiming that Apple partner Foxconn has begun manufacturing WAPI-capable iPhones for distribution in China. The Chinese WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI) standard is similar to the global Wi-Fi standard.

The iPhone launched in China at the end of October, but did not offer Wi-Fi-like connectivity due to legal restrictions imposed by the Chinese government. The restrictions were lifted prior to the iPhone's launch, but not before Apple had already produced a significant quantity of the WAPI-less models. At the time of the iPhone's launch there, China Unicom representatives had expressed hope that revised models offering WAPI could be available by the end of 2009.

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AT&T today released its earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2009, revealing that the company activated 3.1 million iPhones on its network during the quarter, just shy of the record 3.2 million iPhone activated in the previous quarter. The iPhone continues to be a major contributor to AT&T's "integrated devices" segment of smartphones, which have grown to 46.4% of the company's postpaid subscriber base and who continue to generate 1.8 times the average monthly revenues of traditional phone users.

Overall, AT&T experienced a net gain of 2.7 million wireless subscribers for the quarter, the company's second highest net gain in history. Over 4 million postpaid integrated devices were added to the company's base during the quarter, and while the activation of 3.1 million iPhones might suggest that Apple was responsible for approximately 75% of the total smartphone additions, the company has in the past noted that not all iPhone activations represent new devices sold. AT&T's "activations" term includes existing handsets transferred to new owners, making comparisons between new activations and device additions invalid.

Not addressed in AT&T's earnings release is Apple's new iPad tablet device. Apple and AT&T have partnered on the 3G-capable versions of the iPad in the U.S., with AT&T offering no-contract data plans for the device at $14.99 (250 MB) and $29.99 (unlimited) monthly price points. The 3G-capable iPad models are not expected to begin shipping for another 90 days.

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With Apple's major media event scheduled for tomorrow, the company's plans for wireless carrier arrangements in the U.S. for the iPhone and tablet device remain unclear, with reports coming down on all sides of the issue.

Regarding the iPhone, AT&T has long been thought to hold exclusivity in the U.S. through mid-2010, although a recent report has claimed that it will be losing its exclusivity at Apple's media event tomorrow. Claims of a Verizon-compatible iPhone have also fed the hype over new carrier arrangements coming in the very near future for the iPhone, although reports have differed over when such a launch could occur. In fact, just yesterday, an analyst claimed that T-Mobile will be the first to break AT&T's exclusivity this summer, with Verizon and Sprint having to wait until the fall.

The question of what carrier or carriers would offer wireless data access for Apple's tablet device, should it offer the connectivity as many expect, similarly remains shrouded in uncertainty. Reports dating back many months have claimed that Apple has been working with Verizon on the tablet project, with more recent reports continuing to hint at such a possibility. Boy Genius Report even reported yesterday that Verizon is holding a quarterly update meeting with its store managers tomorrow, with staff expected to view a "live webcast" scheduled for 1:00 PM Eastern time, coinciding with Apple's media event.

The tablet may not be a Verizon-exclusive, however, if other reports are correct. An analyst report earlier this month pointed to support for multiple carriers, with another article just last week claiming that Apple is in last-minute negotiations with both AT&T and Verizon over wireless access for the tablet. Daring Fireball's John Gruber, who has offered accurate information on Apple's plans in the past, has said that he believes the tablet may even be an AT&T exclusive, although a multi-carrier arrangement involving both AT&T and Verizon may be an option.

Despite all the months of rumor and speculation regarding the assumed impending end of AT&T exclusivity for the iPhone and Apple's carrier plans for its highly-anticipated tablet device, the picture remains unclear. Tomorrow's media event should certainly offer clarity to the situation with respect to the tablet, with many hoping that the company has news to share on the iPhone front as well.

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Reuters reports that Google has released a new browser-based web app version of Google Voice, offering iPhone users access to a broader array of features than had previously been available through the service's basic mobile interface.

Google already had a version of Google Voice available through mobile Web browsers.

But Google described the new version of Google Voice as a "Web app," noting that it is much more interactive than the previous browser-based version of the service, with the ability to listen to voice mails directly from within the browser and to dial phone numbers on an interactive on-screen keypad.

Google said the new version of Google Voice is designed for iPhone 3.0 and higher and Palm Inc Web OS smartphones.

Apple and Google have offered differing views of whether Apple rejected Google's native Google Voice application for the iPhone, with Apple claiming that it was merely continuing to study the application for inclusion in its App Store. According to today's report, however, Apple has yet to provide any further status updates to Google on the native application's fate.

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HotHardware claims that AT&T may be losing its iPhone exclusivity as early as Wednesday at Apple's media event:

According to an inside source close to the going-ons involved in all of this, a new tablet of some sort may not be the only thing on deck for next Wednesday though. We have been led to believe by an inside source that AT&T will lose their iPhone exclusivity on the same day, though it's not yet clear what other carrier (or carriers) will be stepping in to also carry the phone

We've never reported on a rumor from HotHardware before, so we have no record of the accuracy of their sources. That said, AT&T exclusivity has been a hot topic ever since the iPhone was released. In the U.S., AT&T remains the only mobile phone carrier that offers the iPhone.

This deal has been rumored to be expiring in mid 2010 with indications that Apple has been working on a Verizon-compatible iPhone. While the announcement of a Verizon-compatible iPhone certainly seems possible this year, we're not sure how it would fit in with what is believed to be an event focused on the new Apple Tablet.

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