Apple TVs coming soon

Posted on December 30, 2011 by A123B Staff

The rumor is that Apple plans to sell television sets in the near future. Possibly sometime next year or in 2013. Apple TVs will probably integrate iTunes, connect to the Internet, and feature motion sensors. iTunes integration will allow users to listen to music and watch videos and movies. The App Store will probably be bundled with the iTV or whatever name Apple decides to use. Just imagine an iPad but larger and is stationary in your living room.

iTunes will enable audio and video delivery. Apple may sign content licensing deals with the major studios and television channels. Apple may also acquire Netflix or Hulu to gain access to content if negotiation is taking too long. With music and videos being delivered via iTunes. Apple can also target gamers with the App Store.

The App Store has a lot of apps for almost anything. Games may soon be a major component of the App Store. If Apple decides the company wants to take a bite out of the PlayStation and Xbox’s lunch. Full action pack games that would normally have to be brought at the store may soon be available for purchase on the App Store. Apple will have to negotiate with game studios to get the games on the App Store.

If television set producers like Westinghouse, Vizio, ViewSonic, Toshiba, Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, LG, and AOC don’t start offering more integration between the Internet and their products. Apple may take their lunch and dinner in one swing. Sony’s PlayStation, Microsoft’s Xbox, and the Nintendo Wii are also prime targets, if Apple decides to target gamers with built-in gaming support.

What to expect in any possible television set made by Apple? iTunes and the App Store will be on it. Touch interface is a high probability. Just like an iPad but larger and is in your living room.

Amazon Kindle Fire is coming

Posted on November 14, 2011 by A123B Staff

Amazon.com is set to release the Kindle Fire tablet to the public later this week. The Kindle Fire will be the latest model in the Kindle line of e-reader products. The previous Kindle models were non-color and meant for reading ebooks purchased from Amazon.com. The newest Kindle model may propel Amazon.com’s sale and make the company’s product an alternative to Apple’s iPad 2 tablet.

The Kindle Fire features a 7” color touchscreen and a fast dual-core processor. The 7” display has a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi with 16 million colors. The Kindle Fire is 190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm. Weighting in at 413 grams or 14.6 ounce. The Kindle Fire has 8GB of internal storage space with 6GB available for storing user content. Included with the Kindle Fire is free cloud storage courtesy of Amazon.com for all Amazon content. The Kindle Fire can run up to 8 hours when the user is reading something on it and may be lower if there is a lot of wireless usage. The battery itself takes about 4 hours to fully charge.

What is unique about the Kindle Fire is the browser that comes with it. The Amazon Silk browser is different from ordinary browsers. Instead of just fetching data from the web like other web browsers. The Amazon Silk browser is connected to the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) service. When a Kindle Fire customer uses the Amazon Silk browser to request a web page. The Amazon EC2 service does the work and pushes the content to the Kindle Fire. Resulting in less time needed to download a web page.

Amazon Prime users will be allowed to borrow one book a month for free through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. The library has thousands of books that Kindle Fire users may borrow.

The Kindle Fire will be $199 dollars and includes free super saver shipping from Amazon.com. The Kindle Fire may soon be Apple’s most formidable competitor.

HP may resurrect TouchPads with Windows 8

Posted on October 25, 2011 by A123B Staff

HP TouchPads may get a new chance with Meg Whitman, the new CEO of HP. Fox News is reporting that HP is testing internally TouchPads running with Windows 8. The operating system that used to be running on the TouchPads, webOS is actively being shopped to Amazon, Nikon, LG, and HTC as possible buyers.

The former CEO of HP, Leo Apotheker, had plans to divest the PC division of HP. Since the change in leadership at HP, Meg Whitman, the new CEO of HP. The company’s PC division’s fate is still unknown. If HP decides to divest the PC division after all. The TouchPads will probably not be resurrected. If HP decides to keep the PC division than the TouchPads will likely re-enter the market in late 2012 when Windows 8 is released.

[via Fox News]

South Korea to require mobile phone sellers to show price tag with phones

Posted on October 25, 2011 by A123B Staff

South Korea has a new government decree. Mobile phone sellers starting next year will have to put price tags on all mobile phones. The price tags will help inform consumers the real price for ownership of a phone. Some mobile phone sellers in South Korea have some phones offered for free, but in reality the phones real cost is hidden in monthly installments.

The discrepancies in the pricing and discounts on the same model of phones can lead to consumer confusion. With the new price tag system, mobile phone sellers will have to display the original price of the phone, the exact discount, and the amount consumers will have to pay.

[via Korea Herald]

Nintendo 3DS costs $103 dollars to make

Posted on October 25, 2011 by A123B Staff

The Nintendo 3DS costs an estimated $103 dollars to make. IHS iSuppli did a physical teardown of the Nintendo 3DS and found the portable gaming system had a bill of materials of $100.71 and after adding the manufacturing costs. The Nintendo 3DS cost an estimated total of $103.25 to produce.

The cost for manufacturing the Nintendo 3DS adds $2.54 dollars to the total cost. The display/touch screen costs $33.80 dollars and was supplied by Sharp. The mechnical and electrical wirings costs $20.81 dollars. The Sharp application processor for the Nintendo 3DS costs $10.02. The remaining components and accessories only cost a few dollars. The display/touch screen was the most expensive part of the Nintendo 3DS.

The Nintendo 3DS costs more to make compared to the Nintendo DSi. The Nintendo DSi had a bill of materials of $75.58 dollars.

[via iSuppli]

How to create an Apple ID for iTunes and the App Store without a credit card

Posted on October 11, 2011 by A123B Staff

If you recently purchased an iPod, iPhone, or iPad and want to create an Apple ID/iTunes App Store account without entering any credit card information. Follow this guide for the exact steps

1. On the home screen click on the App Store icon.

2. Find a free app that you want to install on your iPhone. Try looking at the most popular free list.

3. Tap on the app you want to get more information about and read the information about the app.

4. Tap on the “FREE” button in the upper right hand corner.

5. The “FREE” button will now appear as a “INSTALL” button. Tap on the “INSTALL” button.

6. A screen will appear with the following options: Sign In, Use Existing Apple ID, Create New Apple ID, and Cancel. Tap on “Create New Apple ID”.

7. Now the App Store will ask for your country. Select your country from the drop down list and tap on the “Done” button after you have selected your country. A checkmark will appear next to the country you select.

8. The legal screen will show up now. You can read the whole terms & conditions, have Apple send you the whole terms and conditions or just tap on the “Agree” button that is located at the bottom of the page. You need to tap on the “Agree” button to continue the process.

9. Now you will be required to enter some information about the Apple ID account you are creating. Enter your email address. Enter a security question that you will be asked if you forget your password. Enter the answer to your security question. You will also need to enter your date of birth. You will also need to enter your desired password for the Apple ID account. Tap on the “Next” button once you are done.

10. A new screen will appear. The screen will show “Credit Card None”. Tap on “Credit Card None” and a drop down will appear. The options will include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and at the bottom of the list is the option “None”. Select the “None” as the payment option by tapping on it. A checkmark will appear next to the “None” option if you have taped on it successfully.

11. Now you will need to enter some more information about yourself. Fill out the other information required to create an Apple ID on the same screen. Required information includes your email address again, your address, and your phone number. After you have filled in the information. Tap on the “Next” button to continue.

12. A “Verify Your Account” screen will appear. It will tell you to check your inbox to verify that the email address you used is real. Go onto your computer, open up your email client, and look for the Apple ID account verify email. The verify email from Apple should show up within a minute after the “Verify Your Account” screen appearing on your iPhone.

13. Inside the email will be a link to verify your email address with Apple. Click on the link to verify. After you click on the link. You should be on the apple.com website. You will need to enter your Apple ID email address and password again to complete the process.

14. Now back on your iPhone you can simply go onto the App Store or iTunes to find something for free. Once the Apple ID screen appears. Tap on the signin option. Enter your Apple ID and password. You should be set now to download free apps.

Tablet brands, models, and operating systems

Posted on October 11, 2011 by A123B Staff

A list of tablet brands, their models, and the operating system that the tablets run. The products listed below were found on Newegg.

Apple iPad (iOS)
Apple iPad 2 (iOS)
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (Android)
ASUS Eee Pad Slider (Android)
ASUS Eee Slate (Windows 7)
Archos 70 Internet Tablet (Android)
Archos 101 Internet Tablet (Android)
Archos 48 Internet Tablet (Android)
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (Android)
Acer Iconia Tab A100 (Android)
Acer Iconia Tab A500 (Android)
Acer Iconia Tab W500 (Windows 7)
ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro (Windows 7)
ViewSonic ViewBook 730 (Android)
ViewSonic ViewPad 7 (Android)
Augen Gentouch78 (Android) (Unknown status)
Nextbook Next2 (Android)
Nextbook Next3 (Andorid)
Nextbook Next5 (Android)
Fujitsu STYLISTIC Q550 (Windows 7)
HP Slate 500 (Windows 7)
HP TouchPad (webOS) (No longer for sale)
iView IVIEW-710TPC (Android)
Le Pan TC 970 (Android)
Lenovo IdeaPad K1 (Android)
Maylong M-250 (Android)
Motorola XOOM (Android)
MSI WindPad 110W-014US (Windows 7)
Pandigital Novel (Android)
Pandigital Panet (Android)
Sony Tablet S (Android)
Toshiba Thrive AT105-T108 (Android)
Velocity Micro R102 (Android)
Wintec FileMate Light (Android)

Android is by far the most popular operating system that is running on the majority of tablets offered for sale. Followed by Windows 7 and iOS. Android is powering at least 27 of the tablets. Microsoft’s Windows operating system can be found on 7 of the tablets.

Market share of the tablet industry is led by Apple’s iPad (iOS) and then followed by the other Android tablet manufacturers.

Starting iPhone data plans

Posted on October 11, 2011 by A123B Staff

Comparison of Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless iPhone offerings and their minimum data plans.

Sprint
Sprint offers the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Both models of the iPhone are available for pre-order online. Sprint has available the iPhone 4 8GB model. Sprint has the iPhone 4S available in 16GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB model. Sprint has a $10 per month surcharge for smartphones and a two year contract is required with the iPhone. Sprint plans to offer unlimited data with their phones.

AT&T Mobility
AT&T Mobility offers the iPhone 3GS 8GB model for free with a two year contract. AT&T also has the iPhone 4 available. The iPhone 4 is available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32 GB. The iPhone 4S is available as a pre-order. The iPhone 4S is available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S require a two year contact and requires minimum data service that starts at $15 per month which includes 200 MB allowance.

Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless has the iPhone 4 available. The iPhone 4S is available for pre-order. Verizon Wireless has the iPhone 4 with 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB. The iPhone 4S is available with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB of storage. The iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S offered by Verizon Wireless include a two year contract and requires a data package that starts at $30 per month for 2GB of monthly data allowance.

Apple wins market share with only a few smartphones

Posted on October 7, 2011 by A123B Staff

Looking back at the market share data made available for August of this year by IDC. The top five worldwide smartphone vendors were: Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Research in Motion (RIM), and HTC. Apple had 19.1% of the market share followed by Samsung with 16.2%. Nokia was third with 15.7%, RIM was at 11.6%, and HTC was fifth with 11%.

When comparing 2010 market share versus 2011 market share. Nokia had a -30.4% loss. Samsung had the most gain with 380.6% change in market share.

Source: IDC

Apple will probably continue to lead the market and gain more market share from Nokia and RIM. It is pretty shocking that one company. Apple alone with only a few models of the iPhone can do so much damage to Nokia. Samsung and HTC both have at least a dozen different smartphone available. Apple right now is selling the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S.

TSMC and Apple working on new A6 processor?

Posted on October 6, 2011 by A123B Staff

It is being reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has sent a team of 60 employees to Silicon Valley to talk with Apple about the company’s upcoming A6 processor. It has been rumored for months now since the lawsuits between Samsung and Apple. That Apple was looking to end its relationship with Samsung and was looking to switch to somebody else. Apple pays Samsung multi-billion dollars each year for chips and memory products supplied by Samsung. The most popular chip is the A processor that can be found in iPods, iPhones, and iPad products.

Apple will probably begin to introduce non-Samsung manufactured chips starting sometime in late 2012 or 2013. Switching from one fab partner to another requires careful planning on Apple’s part to make sure the transition goes smoothly.

Apple in the past has transitioned from IBM’s PowerPC processors to Intel’s x86 processor family. Apple this time is not simply using a different chip manufactured and designed by a third party but the third party would be manufacturing the chip.

Apple in 2008 brought P.A. Semi, a fabless semiconductor company for the engineering talent. Since then Apple has used P.A. Semi to design the A series of processors that can be found in the hottest selling Apple products. Apple will probably work closely with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in the months ahead to shift some manufacturing from Samsung to TSMC.

[via IntoMobile]