Category: iOS hardware

AT&T loosens up, allows FaceTime on LTE For most

~ Matthew Jagiela

20121109-130716.jpg

AT&T is famous for annoying their customers with iPhones. At the launch of iOS 6 AT&T made it so only members with a shared data plan would be able to use FaceTime off 4G. It seems AT&T has learned that was a reason many people were leaving their network for Verizon and will make it so anyone without an unlimited data plan can use FaceTime over cellular.

Of course it says LTE device meaning iPad 3,4 and iPhone 5 customers exclusively with the upcoming LTE iPad mini as well. It says LTE models but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will not run off of AT&T 4G hspa+ networks as LTE doesn’t cover very many places. This will be available in the next 8 to 10

This means users with an LTE enabled device running on AT&T will be able to FaceTime on cellular data as long as you don’t have an unlimited data plan.

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iPad Mini First Impressions

~ Matthew Jagiela

The iPad mini is officially here into the world of the consumers and I want to share my first impressions. A later review will be coming soon I just need a little more time testing the device. Expect it at the end of this weekend.

Screen

Compared to the retina displays I will be completely honest this is a disappointment. I was hoping I wouldn’t notice it and when I am playing games I don’t. It’s text that is the main issue here. The text looks fuzzy but it is better than the iPad and iPad 2 but it doesn’t beat out the iPad 3 at all. The iPhone’s have better displays it feels but thats okay because this is a first generation, images look okay, if you use it long enough you’ll start to not even notice or really care. The screen displays colors very nice and it makes up a little for the lack of retina.

Size

I will do a complete review of this later but I do like the size and that’s all that needs to be said right now.

Speed

I have been spoiled by the iPhone and iPad 3rd generation so the iPad Mini seems a little sluggish but it isn’t really. For an A5 it works very fast. The network is fast for an A5 getting around 32 mb/s which is more than enough.

So that’s all I am going to cover. I cannot cover battery times yet because I am trying to drain it for the first charge to get 100% to almost 0 usage times. I will cover more about the screen,speed, iOS, and day to day usage later this weekend. For all of you who got one or are holding up for the LTE model I think you are going to enjoy it if you can get over being a little spoiled with the display.

Apple Could Replace the 30 pin dock connecter for iDevices

~ Matthew Jagiela ~ Leave a comment

Apple could be ready to ditch the 30 pin dock connecter it uses in all of it’s iOS devices. This would make some room for better hardware.

An Updated “micro dock” could make room for bigger batteries, 4G radios, and other components far more important to the iPhone and iPad in a PC free world.

Apple has made some components in their iPhones smaller for thinner designs. Like the micro sim to make a thin design for the iPhone 4 for more hardware improvements and a thinner design. Could we see a smaller dock connecter or even better wireless charging? This could be a problem for some people and case makers as all cases for these products are based around the 30 pin dock connecter.

This comes from popular rumor site iMore.com which has great iOS news and rumors. They are what we are basing the iPad 3 launch date off of. March 9th.

[iMore]

Hitachi and Sony shipping 4inch displays to Apple for next iPhone [Rumor]

~ Matthew Jagiela ~ Leave a comment
Picture From MacRumors

Here we go again with the 4 inch display iPhone rumors for the next generation of the iPhone. Macotara states:

According to Asian source, Hitachi Displays, Ltd. and Sony Mobile Display Corporation started to ship 4-inch LCD for new iOS device and LCD for iPad 3. These 2 companies will be merged their business with Toshiba Mobile Display Co., Ltd., as “Japan Display” in 2012 spring.

However the 4 inch display might not be such a bad idea for the next iPhone. Apple would be able to keep the same 940×640 resolution they do now to keep developers happy and to avoid fragmentation. However some people would probably say that the display would not be retina which is not true. However there is a problem with apps that are old and do not support the retina resolution of the current iPhone 4(s). Would we see boxes around the display like with the iPad using iPhone apps or would some magic happen and the phone would just make the pixels larger to fit the screen?

[Picture VIA MacRumors]

Will the iPad 2 get Siri?

~ Matthew Jagiela ~ Leave a comment

There has been a lot of talk on if the iPad 2 will get siri or not. It seems to meet the requirements a microphone and the A5 processor so why isn’t it there and will we ever see it? Well there is a reason we haven’t seen it yet and a giant IF of the iPad getting it. Siri is right now in Beta testing for everyone with the iPhone 4S to get rid of all the problems in it and make it even better and to make sure servers are ready for it which haven’t been doing to well because they have already crashed. Also right now Siri is the biggest if not the only selling point to get the new iPhone. So will we ever see it for the iPad 2? Maybe but probably not. I think Apple is going to actually have Siri for iPad as a selling point of the iPad 3. Also remember Apple views the iPad differe’t than the iPhone they don’t expect it to be everywhere and you to need voice controls for it which is probably the reason the iPhone 3Gs- iPhone 4 voice controls aren’t there. So I think we will see it in the next model and if we are lucky maybe in a software update when beta on the iPhone 4S is done.

iPhone 4S Photos confirm A5 processer

~ Matthew Jagiela ~ 1 Comment

Here is something that just will not quit. The rumor of the iPhone 4S having a new processor which is basically the only change in the iPhone 4s has a picture and that is what you see above. You can see everything is the same as the iPhone 4 but it has an A5 instead of the iPhone 4’s A4 processor. Maybe now we can lay this rumors to rest until the unveiling.

Here is a higher res photo:

Is this the iPhone 5 form? Apple rumor round up 9/15/11

~ Matthew Jagiela ~ 2 Comments

Well it seems we have a lot of iPhone 5 news so lets get started!

iphone 5 to have radical new design according to new case-mate cases.

Well here is something that caught me. The Case maker Case-Mate has posted a new page on their site allowing people to get information on the iPhone and sign up for notifications when the iPhone 5 and cases are ready for the device. This page can be viewed here. The page has been pulled so thank you to BGR. You can also get to this page by going to case-mate.com and then scrolling over iPhone Cases and there will be iPhone 4s/5 categories both bring you to the same page. I sort of like the device mockup I don’t this this is actually what the device will look like and Case-Mate is going along with all the rumors but I definitely like the Aluminum back.

iphone 5 screen protecters show larger display and longer home button

Something didn’t seem right about that home button I reported on a while ago as the shape didn’t look right. And screen protecter makers must have thought the same thing as you see above is a screen protecter for what they think will be the iPhone 5 screen size and home button size. Notice that the home button hole is a large oval shape which has been reported for some time. I think it is real and it will in fact will fit the iPhone 5.

[BGR, Case-Mate, Apples-Genius,]

Sprint iPad 2 ready to go with iPhone 5?

~ Matthew Jagiela ~ 1 Comment

Well here is something unexpected. It seems that Apple has ready a Sprint 3G iPad 2 that could launch alongside a Sprint iPhone 5.

Apple and Sprint have completed work on a version of the iPad for Sprint’s data network. This Sprint compatible iPad appears to be ready for public consumption and will join the family of GSM (AT&T) and Verizon capable Apple tablets before the holidays. With Apple soon launching a Sprint version of the iPhone – which we independently confirmed in June – we suspect that the Sprint iPad will come alongside or soon after that release.

This seems like a great way to expand the iPad to even more users and along with an iPhone 5 is a great idea. So will you pick up an iPad 2 on Sprint if it is a reality.