New iPhone components falling into place
Not much news leaks out of Apple's (AAPL) tight-lipped Cupertino campus. The suppliers and developers working on the new family of iPhones, however, are another matter.
Over the past few weeks, enough bits and pieces have dribbled out of the companies making parts and the programmers writing software for the new iPhones to put together a detailed — if speculative — picture.
Based on leaks from these sources, we can expect at least one of the new iPhones to have:
- A higher-res camera. OmniVision (OVTI) has won an order to supply 3.2 megapixel CMOS image sensors for a new iPhone, according to DigiTimes. The iPhone 3G uses the same 2.0 megapixel camera that came with the first-generation model.
- Video recording and editing. MacRumors has published screen grabs of video controls hidden in the beta version of the new iPhone operating system, and AppleInsider's sources say that the video processing power will be supplied by Imagination's (IMG.L) new multi-core PowerVR chips.
- Lots of memory. A new report, via DigiTimes, that Apple has placed orders for 100 million 8Gb NAND flash chips, mostly with Samsung Electronics, lends support to rumors that one of the new iPhones will come with 32GB of memory preinstalled — presumably to handle those big video files.
- Faster downloads. Wireless radio specs within iPhone OS 3.0 refer to a more powerful version of the Broadcom (BRCM) chip that supplies Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to the iPhone 3G. The new chip adds support for so-called 802.11n Wi-Fi networks, according to AppleInsider, including the ability to find and join networks in the 5GHz band. That should allow considerably faster throughput than the more commonly used 2.4GHz band.
- More goodies. Among the other capabilities found in various configuration files of OS 3.0, according to MacRumors, are "auto-focus camera," "magnetometer" (i.e. digital compass), and "Voice Control."
It's all coming together now. According to a report carried by the Chinese- language Commercial Times — and picked up by the English-language DigiTimes early Thursday — Taiwan-based handset component suppliers have already begun shipping components and parts for the new iPhones.
We expect them to be unveiled on June 8 at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
See also:
- Apple building 5-6 million new iPhones – Analyst
- Has Apple begun clearing iPhone 3G inventory?
- Rumor round-up: Major iPhone hardware upgrade
- Major iPhone OS upgrade coming this summer
[iPhone 3.0 screengrab courtesy of MacRumors.]
All I want is to able to forward text messages. Even the cheapest phone available in the market today is able to do this simple function and why does iPhone can't do it? You reply but you can't forward messages?
Everytime I come to this site in either Safari or Firefox I keep getting the stupid Favicon.ico downloading to my computer. Can you please fix this or I'll un-bookmark the site.
ex ped: It's driving me nuts too. Complaint registered to CNN Money tech.
Lots of juicy gossip, which is the reason I accommodate this thread into my hectic life schedule.
I would like to take this opportunity to say how happy I am with the cut and paste functions included with the new 3.0 iphone OS. It is excellent. It is fast, easy, and it works.
I still think the person responsible for not having it on the initial release should be sacked. And if nobody is responsible, someone should be held responsible, and sacked, just so the other folks at apple don't get complacent.
And I still do not have that xserve. So sack everyone in the UK, as well.
Uhm, dontmarry, while the monthly cost may seem high, I pay $65 a month on the EDGE data plan, and if you are on 3G, probably pay around $76, depending upon your state's taxes. I have been pleasantly surprised by AT&T's service. They don't have difficult bills to understand. There haven't been odd charges, other than the well-known international data charges. If you go outside the US, be sure to get a plan or turn off the data.
Customer service has been quick and pleasant. No muss, no fuss. Honestly, my experience with other cell carriers has been awful to the extreme, so I'm just wondering if AT&T is making a special effort to accomodate iPhone users, because they've really been helpful. I would never have expected it.
Article is incorrect. That order was for 8Gb chips (gigabit). That would mean they have an actual capacity of around 1GB (gigabyte)…
dontmarry, what everybody keeps overlooking is that the iPhone IS NOT PRIMARILY A PHONE. A phone with 25,000 applications?
Nope. It's an extremely powerful personal computer with a built in phone that can connect to the internet almost anywhere – including tooling down the road in your car!
And THAT'S why the price is reasonable!
I find it still costs way too much to use an iPhone. Bare minimum is like $80 a month in my area. That doesn't include set up fees, hidden fees, or any other surprise cost that gets thrown into there. How does everybody afford it?
All these additions sound nice, and I'm sure the "tech types" and Apple faithful will find this all very positive. The reality of this news is that it is a non-event. Obviously RIMM's Blackberry still had the business user and the other phone makers (Nokia, LG, Sharp, etc.) are keeping the iPhone from getting much of a foot hold in Europe and Asia.
Ah, yes…DigiTimes…the Taiwan-based Web equivalent of the National Enquirer. Always get independent confirmation of their rumors!
Correction: 5GHz is an alternate WiFi radio band (frequency range) to the more commonly used 2.4GHz band; it is not a transmission speed.
ex ped: I am a tech writer of very little brain. Thanks for the correction.
uhh…u can forward messages in 3.0…do some reading sean