With just two weeks to go until Apple is expected to unveil new iPhone hardware, it appears that supplies of the low-end 8 GB iPhone 3G are beginning to run dry. According to Boy Genius Report, Apple has stopped supplying AT&T stores with the device, suggesting that the model is being phased out of production.
We've heard that Apple has stopped shipping iPhone 3G 8GB units to AT&T stores and orders are not being placed for the device. Could this mean we might see the iPhone 3GS drop to $99 and make way for a new model?
Meanwhile, several MacRumors readers have noted shortages of the iPhone 3G in other countries. In Australia, where Apple sells contract-free iPhones online at unsubsidized prices, the 8 GB iPhone is listed as "Currently Unavailable". Similarly, customers looking to order iPhone 3G models in the United Kingdom through carrier O2 similarly appear to be having a difficult time, with a drop-down menu on O2's iPhone ordering page showing only new and reconditioned iPhone 3GS options despite the menu's description noting an iPhone 3G option.
O2's iPhone ordering page
While Apple's exact plans for the next line-up of iPhone models are not yet known, many observers, including analyst Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley, have suggested that Apple may follow its existing pattern by introducing new hardware in multiple capacities while sliding the existing low-end iPhone 3GS down to the $99 price point currently occupied by the 8 GB iPhone 3G.
Update: Even Apple's U.S. online store appears to be out of iPhone 3G models, as the "Select" button has been removed from under the model's listing on the ordering page.
PocketNow offers a comparison of Web browsing speeds between Apple's iPhone 3GS and Google's new Android 2.2 "Froyo" announced earlier this week. Froyo is notable for Google's claims regarding browsing speed, but also for its support of Adobe's Flash Player 10.1 Beta, which will allow Android devices running the updated operating system to handle Flash content on the Web, unlike the iPhone.
PocketNow's lengthy video comparison seems to show that Froyo does in fact offer a speedy browsing experience, but that speed increase is canceled out by the need for it to load Flash content on many websites. The result means that users may be able to enjoy the benefit of seeing webpages rendered with Flash content included, but at the expense of slower page loading.
Furthermore, while the demonstration appears to show adequate ability to play Flash-based games, the browser's ability to deal with Flash content on a fluid basis as integrated into a webpage seems less impressive. Flash elements lead to stuttering while scrolling and zooming on webpages with Flash content, and even resulted in a low memory warning requiring the tester to actively manage the currently open applications on the test device. Commenters on the PocketNow article report that users have the ability to load Flash elements only on demand, but that even so the browser experiences some increased lag compared to Flash-free browsing.
While Flash 10.1 remains in beta form and will likely see improvements in both the software and hardware partners' ability to offer hardware-accelerated Flash performance on mobile devices, the current performance is not likely to sway Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who noted in his "Thoughts on Flash" open letter last month that he had yet to see Flash "performing well" on mobile platforms.
We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it.
PocketNow is planning to completely uninstall Flash from its Nexus One handset running Froyo in order to more accurately assess the speed increase associated with the new Android browser when not being hampered by Flash content. Preliminary indications based on benchmarks suggest that its speed easily exceeds that of Android 2.1 and should significantly surpass that of the iPhone 3GS.
Update: PocketNow has now posted a follow-up video showing that, with Flash disabled, the Android 2.2 browser is indeed faster than Safari on the iPhone 3GS in many of the real-world tests shown, sometimes by a significant margin.
Elgato today announced the launch of its new EyeTV HD for Mac, offering users the ability to bring high-definition TV content to their Mac and stream it to iPhone OS devices using the dedicated App Store app.
Today, Elgato debuted the world's only DVR solution which provides full access to premium cable or satellite TV content on a Mac - EyeTV HD. Customers can now watch record, edit and enjoy cable and satellite in high-definition, including all their premium channels. EyeTV HD includes a unique dual-format capture mode that records in iPad and iPhone formats at the same time, allowing users to stream live and recorded TV to an iPhone or iPad using the optional EyeTV app.
EyeTV HD offers easy setup, simply requiring the user to connect the device to his or her cable box via component cables and Mac via USB. Simple configuration of an IR blaster for channel changing then brings the user's complete TV package onto their Mac, where Elgato's EyeTV 3 software handles navigation, editing, export, and streaming of content.
EyeTV HD also offers S-video and composite inputs to allow users to connect standard-definition sources such as VCRs and camcorders to video import and manipulation.
EyeTV HD sells for $199.95 with one free year of TV Guide service. Renewal service is available for $19.95 per year. Streaming to the iPhone or iPad requires the company's EyeTV App Store application, priced at $4.99.
Fortune reports on a new research note from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty incorporating survey data suggesting significant upside for the next iPhone upgrade cycle. One of the most interesting pieces of data to come from the survey shows 16.8% of Verizon customers saying that they are "very likely" to purchase an iPhone once it breaks free of AT&T's exclusivity to land on their carrier. Huberty notes that that demand could add 8 million iPhone sales per year once Verizon gains access to the device.
Huberty also raised her target price for Apple from $275 to $310 on the basis of a number of factors.
In a note to clients issued early Monday, Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty raised her Apple (AAPL) price target to $310 per share (from $275), suggesting that investors continue to underestimate 1) continued iPhone share gains, 2) better-than-expected iPad demand, 3) the growing Chinese market, and 4) increased penetration of the corporate market.
Huberty also increased her prediction of 2011 iPhone sales to 61.5 million, 25% higher than the current consensus among Wall Street analysts. Driving that projection is a surge in the percentage of customers looking to upgrade their current iPhones and expectations of Apple being able to offer a $99 iPhone 3GS as part of the hardware revisions expected next month.
Morgan Stanley's Huberty was famously pessimistic on Apple and the iPhone in recent years, but has come around in recent months with significant boosts to performance predictions for the iPhone and iPad.
Apple today officially announced that CEO Steve Jobs will present an opening keynote address on June 7th to kick off the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.
Apple will kick off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address by CEO Steve Jobs on Monday, June 7 at 10:00 a.m. This year's WWDC sold out in a record eight days to over 5,000 developers.
The five-day event running from June 7 to June 11, is focused on providing advanced content for skilled developers across five key technology tracks: Application Frameworks; Internet & Web; Graphics & Media; Developer Tools; and Core OS. Apple engineers will deliver over 100 solutions-oriented technical sessions and labs. WWDC 2010 gives an incredibly diverse community the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPhone, iPad and Mac developers from around the world.
The news is not considered a surprise, as Jobs has traditionally presented the keynote address at major Apple events. Jobs did miss headlining at Macworld Expo and WWDC 2009, however, due to a liver transplant.
Just this weekend, Jobs reportedly emailed a customer about WWDC, noting that "you won't be disappointed" in response to a question about announcements scheduled for the conference.
While all eyes have been on the possibility of a Verizon release of an iPhone this year, we've also been hearing whispers that Apple's phone may be spreading to Sprint as well.
The problem is we hear whispers of a lot of things all the time, so it can be hard to substantiate these unconfirmed rumors. For what it's worth, James Kendrick of jkontherun first posted about the possibility in early May. Kendrick dismissed the possibility even while acknowledging that the source had been reliable in the past:
In the totally unlikely to come true department, yesterday I was told that Sprint will be getting the iPhone this summer. You heard that right, while rumors have long pointed to Big Red getting the iPhone this year, never has it been mentioned that Sprint would be selling the iPhone. I cant believe this is true, although the source has been reliable in the past and does work for Sprint.
Since this time, we had also heard similar rumblings from a Sprint-connected source that Sprint was going to be readying for the iPhone later this year. Likely in the September timeframe -- placing it in the same timeframe as Verizon rumors.
Finally, a TechUpdate post claims that a BestBuy employee "confirms" that Sprint will indeed be one of the new iPhone's carriers. Unfortunately, this is the sketchiest of sources. Best Buy employees tend not to be privy to much advanced Apple-related information, and, if it were true, I suspect we'd be hearing it from multiple sources.
Sprint has been suffering from subscriber losses and is only now reaching stability. When questioned last week about the possibility of offering the iPhone, Sprint's Chief Financial Officer Robert Brust said "we'd love to have it", though said he denied any knowledge of it being a possibility.
While all the attention has been on Verizon, itself, Apple would stand to gain the most by expanding to multiple U.S. carriers as its exclusivity contract with AT&T expires. One of the reasons for Android's growing success has been attributed to broad availability across multiple carriers.
After the big news from Google last week, MacRumors reader Bryan Webster emailed Steve Jobs: "I hope you have some good WWDC announcements to blow [Google] out of the water".
To this, Steve Jobs reportedly replied "You won't be disappointed". While it's always hard to authenticate emails sent to and from 3rd parties, Bryan did post headers as an offering of proof.
Apple is expected to be making new product announcements at the Worldwide Developer's Conference from June 7th-11th. In particular, everyone expects that the next generation iPhone will be introduced at that event. Other rumors have suggested that we may see the iPhone with Verizon this year, though it may not come as early as June.
Apple Pro has posted photos of a partially assembled 4th generation white iPhone. As best we can tell, the images are of a white front plate, LCD screen and metal casing put together. All these parts have been circulating in the past, so it appears they simply put them together to show what a completed unit might look like. (via Engadget)
The case contains the screwholes seen in the Gizmodo leak. Apple is widely expected to introduce the next generation iPhone at WWDC in June.
Boy Genius Report posts a couple of screenshots that are supposedly from the "field test firmware" from the next-generation iPhone.
There's not much to say about the shots. There has already been overwhelming evidence that the next iPhone will have a front-facing video camera with video conference. The evidence has ranged from firmware hints all the way to actual photos and hands on with the next generation iPhone itself.
In April, there had been some rumors that AutoCAD may finally be returning to the Macintosh platform. The Apple Lounge has posted some screenshots from the private beta that were found on Italiamac's forums.
AutoCAD is a 2D and 3D design and drafting application that was first released in the 1980s. AutoCAD for the Mac was discontinued in the early 90s. According to the tester that posted the images, this beta runs pretty poorly, but, obviously, there is much time for improvement as this is the first seeding. The Beta is 64-bit only and support for multi-touch gestures (see above screenshot). No word on when the final is expected.
It's been a busy week for Google with the announcement of a number of new initiatives. We've covered them here on MacRumors because it's clear that Google has its sights set squarely on Apple. If there was any doubt about the growing animosity between the two companies, there is none now. Google spent a lot of its on-stage time during the conference making direct swipes at Apple, even going so far as comparing the company to Big Brother from 1984. Google's new product announcements pit it directly against Apple in many key areas:
Apple CEO Steve Jobs seemed to know this was coming and made his own jabs against Google at Apple's town hall meeting in January.
On Google: We did not enter the search business, Jobs said. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won't let them, he says. Someone else asks something on a different topic, but there's no getting Jobs off this rant. I want to go back to that other question first and say one more thing, he says. This dont be evil mantra: "It's bullshit." Audience roars.
Google's mantra now seems to be "openness" in a refrain that might have been lifted from Microsoft's Steve Ballmer.
"I agree that no single company can create all the hardware and software. Openness is central because it's the foundation of choice." - Steve Ballmer
Microsoft has always been about creating the platform and distributing it to as many customers as possible through their hardware partners. Microsoft, of course, made money through the sale of each software license. Google is eyeing the same basic plan but their plan revolves around monetizing ads on the platform. Beyond internet search, Google hopes to infiltrate mobile phones and television as well.
Apple's role, however, remains the same as always -- as a staunch proponent of vertical integration and a tightly controlled user experience. How tightly they control that experience, however, has been a point of contention amongst users and developers. Apple lost the previous round when it was against Microsoft, but Apple has also never had such a strong lead before.
The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that as of June 1st, AT&T will nearly double the early termination fee for customers on smartphone contracts such as for the iPhone, going from $175 to $325. The change, which would apply only to new contracts, appears set to come just prior to the launch of a new iPhone.
The iPhone is AT&T's biggest wireless growth driver; however, the company's contract as Apple's sole U.S. partner is expected to end over the next year. The loss of exclusivity could enable iPhone customers--particularly those frustrated by the carrier's network issues--to go to rivals, specifically Verizon Wireless, although high early termination fees could serve as a deterrent.
An AT&T spokesman, however, said the timing of the move wasn't related to any device.
Verizon similarly doubled its early termination fee for "advanced" devices such as smartphones and netbooks to $350 last November. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has taken an interest in the fee policies of Verizon and other carriers, and is seeking to understand how these policies affect consumers.
Earlier this week, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega noted that his company does not expect many iPhone customers to jump ship to rival carriers once AT&T loses its exclusivity in the United States. He pointed to data showing that 80% of customers are on family talk or corporate discount plans that serve as a significant barrier to switching. A significantly increased early termination fee would obviously also be a deterrent to switching for those customers signed up to a multi-year contract.
iPhone repair site uBreakiFix earlier this week claimed to have received next-generation iPhone front panels in both white and black. The parts appear similar if not identical to the ones that surfaced at about the same time on a Chinese e-commerce site.
Interestingly, the white front panels from both sources show a physical feature located above the earpiece. uBreakiFix suggests that the feature is the iPhone's proximity sensor, although current iPhone models' proximity sensors are hidden under the glass and nearly invisible unless viewed under bright light. More curiously, neither the black front panel parts from these sources or the prototype next-generation iPhones that surfaced over the past month or so seem to share this physical feature.
Black front panel parts obtained by iPhone repair site iResQ in early February do, however, show a similar physical feature in that location, further muddling the situation.
Meanwhile, with this week's appearance of white front panels, observers have been interested in seeing what such a next-generation iPhone would look like fully assembled. While Apple has offered white versions of certain iPhone models since the introduction of the iPhone 3G in 2008, the color has been limited to the back side of the device's body.
White next-generation iPhone rendering from Seraphan
One set of renderings has been gaining publicity over the past couple of days in light of the possibility of an all-white model. The renderings were first posted as part of a set from user "Seraphan" at Italian site iSpazio. Notably, the renderings were published on April 23rd, well before claims of an all-white iPhone surfaced, but they are based on the next-generation iPhone protoype design that surfaced just days prior to their publication.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today announced that it has closed its investigation of the proposed acquisition of mobile advertising firm AdMob by Google. The FTC had been seen as likely to oppose the move over antitrust issues, but cited Apple's recent announcement of its own iAd mobile ad service as a significant factor in the decision to not take action against the Google-AdMob proposal.
In a statement issued today, the Commission said that although the combination of the two leading mobile advertising networks raised serious antitrust issues, the agency's concerns ultimately were overshadowed by recent developments in the market, most notably a move by Apple Computer Inc. - the maker of the iPhone - to launch its own, competing mobile ad network. In addition, a number of firms appear to be developing or acquiring smartphone platforms to better compete against Apple's iPhone and Google's Android, and these firms would have a strong incentive to facilitate competition among mobile advertising networks.
"As a result of Apple's entry (into the market), AdMob's success to date on the iPhone platform is unlikely to be an accurate predictor of AdMob's competitive significance going forward, whether AdMob is owned by Google or not," the Commission's statement explains.
Apple had reportedly been considering its own acquisition of AdMob before Google swooped in to snap up the leading ad company. Apple in turn acquired Quattro Wireless to assist in developing its iAd platform. Google's poaching of AdMob from under Apple's nose has also reportedly led Apple to become more serious about its corporate acquisition strategies in recent months.
Full details of the FTC decision on the Google-AdMob situation can be found in a set of PDF documents on the commission's site:
In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Pac-Man, Google has released a playable Pac-Man game "doodle" on their front page in place of their traditional logo.
Written in Javascript, the game is playable on iPhone OS devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) using swipe gestures. iPhone and iPod Touch users may need to switch over to "classic" from "mobile" (located at the bottom of the site).
Two weeks ago, several reports indicated a complete lack of availability of 3G-capable iPad models in partial surveys of Apple retail stores in the United States, with Wi-Fi models also seeing significant supply constraints.
Digital Daily today reports on a new research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster indicating that the shortages are continuing, with none of the 50 stores surveyed this week having stock of 3G-capable iPad models and only about a quarter of stores even having stock of Wi-Fi-only models.
"74 percent of the stores we checked were completely sold out of all iPad models," Munster said in a note to clients. "26 percent had some WiFi models in stock, and no stores had any 3G models available. We note that the stores have implemented a reservation system, by which customers can request to be placed on a waitlist for future iPad shipments, notified upon arrival, and given 24 hours to pick up the iPad. One Apple store representative indicated that the in-store reservation system typically takes 4-7 days."
Munster suggests that Apple's supply constraints could take months to resolve, with a supply-demand balance perhaps not likely to be achieved until late fall.
Just yesterday, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky increased his 2010 iPad sales prediction from 5 million to 8 million, although it is unclear to what degree Apple's continued shortages are due to unexpected demand that could continue to drive up observers' sales predictions or to supply issues that could hamper the company's ability to reach the sales numbers expected by analysts. In either case, Apple continues to struggle meeting the demand of its customers.
The U.S. shortages continue even as Apple prepares to launch the device in nine new countries one week from now. Several customers with pre-orders in those countries have indicated that their order statuses are now showing as "Shipped", although no delivery information has yet been posted and orders are not expected to arrive before the official launch day of May 28th.
Update: We've heard of one Apple Store location that currently has on the order of 400 requests for 3G-capable iPad models registered on its "Notify Me" waiting list. The store is reportedly receiving only 15-20 new iPad 3Gs each day, indicating that it may be quite some time before it is able to work through its backlog of demand.
With Google's announcement earlier this week that it is releasing a new open source, royalty-free video format known as "WebM" to compete with the Apple-backed H.264 standard, observers have wondered what Apple's response will be. Google's inclusion of several other prominent industry players including Mozilla and Opera has suggested that Apple may find itself under pressure to adopt the standard as it gains traction.
The Register reports that one of its readers emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs to ask about his thoughts on Google's announcement of WebM, which utilizes the VP8 video codec acquired by Google when it purchased On2 Technologies earlier this year.
Jobs reportedly simply responded by sending a link to a lengthy and technical blog post from an independent developer working on an open source x264 project for encoding video in the H.264 format preferred by Apple. In short, developer Jason Garrett-Glaser calls VP8/WebM "a mess" and "not ready for primetime", with Google even having declared the standard "final" despite a number of flaws already discovered in it. In addition, while appearing to be a significant upgrade over the Theora format previously preferred by Mozilla and Opera, the new format on the whole does not seem to be any better than H.264.
Larger questions, however, are arising over the patent picture with respect to VP8/WebM. One of the format's main selling points for Google has been the fact that it is open source and royalty-free. This is in contrast to H.264, for which a group of patent holders (in which Apple plays a small part) oversees licensing and royalties for encoder/decoder manufacturers and content providers. While end users are currently not subject to royalty payments for the H.264 format, there is some concern that such fees could be implemented in 2016 after the current licensing agreement term expires.
Garrett-Glaser raises the issue in his piece about whether VP8/WebM can stand up to any patent tests, as it seems to carry a significant amount of similarity to H.264. Consequently, he calls into question whether Google can truly offer a royalty-free format with it. Digital Daily's John Paczkowski also dug into the issue a bit further and shares comments from Larry Horn, CEO of MPEG LA, the body that oversees the patent pools behind H.264 and other standards.
JP: Let me ask you this: Are you creating a patent pool license for VP8 and WebM? Have you been approached about creating one?
Larry Horn: Yes, in view of the marketplace uncertainties regarding patent licensing needs for such technologies, there have been expressions of interest from the market urging us to facilitate formation of licenses that would address the market's need for a convenient one-stop marketplace alternative to negotiating separate licenses with individual patent holders in accessing essential patent rights for VP8 as well as other codecs, and we are looking into the prospects of doing so.
Horn's comments suggest that VP8/WebM may become subject to similar licensing and royalty terms as H.264 once certain patent holders come together to assert ownership over aspects of the standard, negating one of the primary selling points of the standard. For its part, however, Google maintains that it has thoroughly vetted the standard and is confident in its ability to offer it as an open source and royalty-free option.
Last month, actor Justin Long revealed that Apple's long-running "Get a Mac" ad campaign, in which he appeared as the "Mac" character, appeared to have been discontinued. The last set of "Get a Mac" commercials had been released in October 2009.
It now appears that Apple has finally pulled the "Get a Mac" campaign from its site, redirecting the page to an expanded "Why You'll Love a Mac" page highlighting five key marketing points for Macs in comparison to PCs: Better Hardware, Better Software, Better OS, Better Support, and It's Compatible.
Apple's extensive gallery of "Get a Mac" ads has also been removed from the site, with the URL similarly redirecting to the "Why You'll Love a Mac" page.
Apple's Mac television ad plans for the future remain unknown, as the revamped features currently offer no hint of a specific TV-focused campaign. While Apple has not aired any new Mac commercials since October, the success of the award-winning "Get a Mac" campaign suggests that Apple may be interested in continuing a television presence in some manner. In the meantime, the company continues to regularly release new iPhone commercials, and has begun ramping up iPad advertising.
