Since January, bits and pieces about the next-generation smartphone have been making the rounds on the Internet, with different rumored specifications and concept images offered by various Web sites and blogs.

Apple is a couple of days away from announcing the arrival of the most anticipated iPhone to enter the U.S. smartphone market. The company has issued invites for an event Tuesday that will showcase the fifth-generation iPhone.

The iPhone5 is expected to run on the latest iOS5, which will come with 200 new features, including an improved notifications system, as well as the Newsstand and iMessage applications. In addition, the iPhone5 is expected to feature the new iCloud service for operating iTunes, enabling wireless remote access of purchased and personally collected music from all computers and mobile devices.

The iPhone5 will likely support HSPA+ networks that will provide faster Internet speeds compared with its predecessors, Japanese blog Macotakara reported, citing a China Unicom executive’s presentation at Macworld Asia.

The arrival of the iPhone5 will trigger a smartphone battle in the U.S. market as its strongest rivals — the Samsung GalaxyS2 and Motorola Droid Bionic — have come to this market after several design changes.

Samsung’s GalaxyS2 continues its strong march in the smartphone race, giving stiff competition to Apple’s iPhone4 as well as the upcoming iPhone5.

The GalaxyS2, which runs on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and sports Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, comes with an 8-megapixel camera with flash and can record high-definition video in 1080p, offering the richest video content on a smartphone. The phone also has a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video chat.

The device, which was recently launched in the United States, sold a whopping 10 million units since its launch in late April 2011, not including sales from the U.S., the largest market for smartphones.

On the other hand, Apple sold 20 million iPhones in the third quarter. Though the Galaxy S2’s sales lag behind iPhone sales, it implies that the Samsung Galaxy S2 is the toughest rival Apple will face for its iPhone 5, which is expected to be launched in October.

Meanwhile, the Motorola Droid Bionic has undergone several design changes. At the beginning of this year, this smartphone looked like the Motorola Atrix, but now it looks very similar to the Motorola Droid 3, one of the latest high-end phones. However, the Motorola Droid 3 has a slider QWERTY, unlike the Droid Bionic, which is just a touchscreen phone.

Other changes in the Droid Bionic include higher RAM capacity, a change in chipset from the Tegra 2 AP20H to the TI OMAP4430 and, surprisingly, less battery capacity compared with the battery capacity introduced in previous iterations of the phone.

So the heated battle will begin with the arrival of the Apple iPhone 5. All the three smartphones are right up there in the hype cloud, and hopefully they will live up to it.

Meanwhile, Samsung has announced a press event on Oct. 11, exactly one week after Apple’s “Let’s talk iPhone” program on Oct. 4. It is expected that Nexus Prime, the flagship smartphone for the Google Android platform, will be officially presented at the Samsung event.

Samsung’s Nexus Prime will be the first smartphone with an Android 4.0 operating system, codenamed “Ice Cream Sandwich,” which is designed to provide strong competition to Apple’s iPhone 5.

[Thanks: http://www.ibtimes.com]

Is Facebook’s long-awaited iPad app going to make its debut at Apple’s iPhone 5 unveiling event, which is expected to take place Oct. 4?

That’s the rumor, according to Ben Parr of Mashable, who says his unnamed sources have told him a Facebook iPad app will be announced at Apple’s iPhone 5 event along with a new Facebook iPhone app and maybe even an HTML5-based mobile app store.

Apple and Facebook officials weren’t available for comment on the report Monday, although Apple always declines to comment on speculation. And, so far, Apple has yet to confirm that the next-generation iPhone will be announced Oct. 4 or even be called the iPhone 5.

But the information, while exciting to those who have been waiting months for a Facebook app on the iPad, does have some odd aspects given that the event will no doubt be focused on the iPhone 5 (or iPhone 4S, or whatever name Apple gives its new iPhone).

The announcement of a Facebook iPad app and a new iPhone app would make sense at an Apple event if the apps were shown taking advantage of some new features in iOS 5, the latest version of Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad operating system, which will ship on the iPhone 5.

But it’s also worth keeping in mind that iOS 5 places Twitter front and center.

Twitter, not Facbeook, is the social network built into iOS 5 and integrating into the iPhone’s photos, contacts and Safari Web browser apps. It has been reported that Apple at one point wanted to integrate Facebook into iOS 5 before going with Twitter, but that obviously didn’t happen.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive and co-founder, showed off what his social network’s new Timeline-style profile pages would look like on an iPhone at the company’s F8 developer conference keynote last week and that would either have to be presented in a updated app or maybe an HTML5 version of Facebook.

The one bit of Parr’s information that seems to me to be unrealistic is that Facebook would launch an HTML5-built mobile app store of its own at the Apple iPhone 5 unveiling. Apple has built a major business on selling apps for its devices through its iTunes App Store and now its Mac App Store.

Why in the world would Apple want to let Facebook unveil an app store of its own that operated outside of the Apple ecosystem? Why would Apple give stage time to Facebook apps, and not iPhone or iPad apps, at an event announcing a new iPhone equipped with a new version of its own operating system?

However, if Parr’s sources are correct and Apple, the world’s most valuable tech company, and Facebook, the world’s most valuable and most popular social network, were to team up for an app store, it could be huge and a threat to both Google’s Android operating system and the Google+ social network.

We’ll all find out what’s what when Apple unveils its next iPhone.

[Thanks: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com]

There are huge expectations for the iPhone 5’s features, which will boast significant hardware and software upgrades. Given the increasing rivalry in the smartphone industry, with Android smartphones catching up to Apple’s iPhone, the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant can’t compromise with the growing demand of high-end specs that are expected in the fifth generation iPhone.

Here are the top features that an iPhone 5 can’t afford to lose.

High-quality camera: In the tech world, a 5-megapixel camera seems passé and several of the iPhone’s competitors in the Android world have phones with an 8-megapixel camera.

Therefore, at this point an 8-megapixel camera on the iPhone 5 looks like a foregone conclusion. It is expected to include a dual LED flash, with rumors that the flash unit will be separated from the camera sensor. Apart from the rear-facing camera, Apple’s smartphone is also expected to have a front-facing one for video chat.

Hardware upgrades: Several of Apple’s rivals, mainly LG, Motorola and Samsung, have already released dual-core processor phones. Hence, it is expected that the iPhone 5 will integrate a faster 1.2-to-1.5 GHz dual-core A5 processor chip, which powers the iPad 2, with probably 1GB of RAM. This hardware upgrade will give the iPhone 5 better speed in processing information and apps.

New OS: Since each new model of the iPhone has been accompanied by an upgraded operating system, the imminent iPhone 5 is also expected to feature Apple’s newest mobile operating system version: iOS 5. The new OS comes with 200 new features that will include an improved notifications system and iMessage, along with new applications, such as the Reminders app and Newsstand, an application resembling Folders and iBooks.

Improved display: The iPhone 5 is anticipated to have an edge-to-edge 4-inch retina display. A curved glass display screen is also rumored, which may offer more privacy while viewing in public areas. The Samsung Galaxy S2 features a Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touch screen display. With the RGB matrix making the display sharper, the Super AMOLED Plus is considered the best available technology for mobile displays.

Considering this, the Quantum Dot LED technology could be a possible delivery system for the iPhone 5. The new technology needs less power consumption while delivering the same quality as an OLED screen.

Near Field Communication: Samsung Galaxy S2 supports NFC chip that allows data exchange, simplified transactions and connections with a touch. Given this, the iPhone 5 without NFC can turn out to be a setback.

There have been reports since early this year that Apple is testing an iPhone that incorporates Near Field Communication technology. Citing a source “with knowledge of the inner workings of” the iPhone 5, New York Times recently reported that a chip made by Qualcomm with NFC capability is expected to come with a future iPhone. The report, however, left open the possibility that that functionality could accompany the iPhone 6.

Enhanced battery life: “If the Galaxy S2 was used all the time, then a user will be lucky to get 10 hours of battery and that’s with the enhanced 1650 mAh battery widget on board,” according to Techradar.com review. In comparison, the iPhone 4 lasts up to seven hours on a 3G network. Since each successive iPhone has had a better battery life than the prior, why not iPhone 5?

More memory: Constantly growing app store and new features surfacing every other day have increased the demand for more space. The Apple iPhone 4 comes in 16GB and 32GB versions. However, it is expected that the iPhone 5 will have 16/32/64 GB internal storage.

4G: There have been a lot of rumors regarding the possibility of the iPhone 5 being available on 4G networks for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. The consensus from analysts and tech experts seems to be that the iPhone 5 will not have 4G support.

Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies & Co., stated that Apple will not release a 4G LTE capability in the iPhone 5 this year because Qualcomm’s LTE chipsets, which Apple would have used, were not reaching the yields that Apple expects for its iPhone 5.

Meanwhile, along with the Samsung Galaxy Epic Touch 4G, Motorola Droid Bionic also features a powerful 4G LTE network.

[Thanks: ibtimes.com]

The patents involved cover microprocessor functionality in the above mentioned products, Via said, singling out U.S. Patent No. 6253312, “method and apparatus for double operand load,” and U.S. Patents Nos. 6253311 and 6754810, “instruction set for bi-directional conversion and transfer of integer and floating point data.”

Taiwan-based Via bills itself as “a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms.” Today’s patent complaint was filed with the United States International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court of Delaware.

“Via has built up an extensive IP portfolio consisting of over 5,000 patents as a result of significant investments in…research and development,” Via CEO Wenchi Chen said in the statement. “We are determined to protect our interests and the interests of our stockholders when our patents are infringed upon.”

Apple did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment by publication time.

This is the latest legal salvo aimed at Apple in recent months, the company is currently involved in a patent spat with Samsung over Apple’s iOS devices. The struggle includes lawsuits in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia, and South Korea and has led to a temporary ban on Samsung selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Germany.

Patents, of course, have long provided a busy battleground for tech companies, which seek to file as many patent claims as possible, to protect themselves from suits as well as come out stronger in settlements.

[Thanks: http://news.cnet.com]

A Best Buy source released a document to BGR.com, which shows that the store is anticipating the pre-sales and also that Sprint will be carrying the iPhone 5 at the launch of the new device.

Meanwhile, the next iteration of the iPhone is expected to boast of significant hardware and software upgrades, along with an 8-megapixel dual-LED flash camera and A5 dual-core processor found in the iPad 2 to give stiff competition to other dual-core smartphones found in the market today.

Apple is rumored to increase the screen size of iPhone 5 to compete with Android smartphones, probably going for a bigger edge-to-edge 4-inch curved glass screen, compared to the current iPhone 4 screen of 3.5-inch with multi-touch display.

Apple may boost the speed of its A5 chip in the range of 1.2 or 1.5 GHz with 1GB RAM. The iPhone 5 would feature iCloud that will store photos, apps, calendars and documents instead of the phone’s memory storage.

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 5 as a “World Phone” - both GSM and CDMA compatible. Another rumor suggested that the iPhone 5 will feature a SIM card slot for other countries except the U.S, allowing users to insert any SIM card when traveling abroad.

Meanwhile, here’s a look at the top Android smartphones features that will be missed in iPhone 5.

Near Field Communication (NFC) Facility:

Previously, a rumor that Apple will prepare its next iPhone with NFC had gained impetus when Google released Google Wallet, its NFC-based mobile payment feature, in May.

NFC technology can transform the device into a convenient way for payment and device communication. NFC has potential for more than just money transaction. The technology could offer features that allow multiple mobile devices to sync for speedier information exchange and gaming.

It was also said that Apple had disclosed in some of the meetings that it won’t feature NFC on the next iPhone. The Independent said that Apple will sacrifice NFC in its next iPhone due to lack of industry standards about the technology.

Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi cited that Apple will not adopt the NFC-based mobile payment feature in the upcoming iPhone 5 until Apple is convinced that the technology’s chicken-and-egg-problem is solved, as the NFC requires widespread consumer adoption and critical mass with merchants.

4G LTE:

Any phone coming with 4G technology has to bear the highest component costs than any other smartphone coming without it. The iPhone 5 has very little chance of being 4G LTE compatible. In fact, 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless chips required for the faster speeds in Thunderbolt cost an extra $39.75, according to industry researcher IHS.

Also, given the size of the LTE chip, Apple iPhone’s minuscule printed circuit board (PCB) will have to grow in size in order to support the first-generation LTE base-band processor as well as all the supporting chipset, which is in clear contrast against Apple’s plans to deliver a lighter and thinner smartphone.

So most likely, iPhone 5 will not be featuring 4G LTE support. Never a day passes without consumers using their smartphones for online searches, banking, bill payment and for booking tickets online. 3G doesn’t offer the cutting edge and the demand for more speed has become a necessity now.

Peter Misek, analyst at Jefferies & Co. had stated that Apple will not release a 4G LTE in iPhone 5 this year as Qualcomm’s LTE chipset, which Apple would have used, were not reaching the yields that Apple expects for its iPhone 5.

Keith Bachman, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, also stated that Apple won’t release a fourth generation phone data transfer on 4G network that will severely impact iPhone’s battery life.

Operating System:

As Apple unveiled iOS 5 at the WWDC 2011, rumors about changes and improvements in iOS 5 are constantly surfacing.

The iOS 5 will now be arriving with iPhone 5, and analysts are saying that Android operating system features are copied by iOS 5. They added that Apple has borrowed a few features from Android, most notably: cloud synchronization, notification center, over-the-air updates, photo sharing and Twitter.

Entire Android OS is an open-source system. The open-source movement has inspired increased transparency and liberty. It also constitutes an example of user innovation. Being made publicly available enables anyone to copy, modify and redistribute the source code without paying royalties or fees.

This is also a double-edged sword, in the sense, it allows those with less-than-ideal intentions to discover any weakness of the phone. But that can be seen as an indirect plus because when weaknesses are found in the open source community, they are quickly fixed. There is hardly any cap on how much you can tweak your Android experience. The same thing cannot be expected in iPhone 5.

Display Size:

With a 4-inch display screen considered ideal for a smartphone, the possibility of Apple featuring a bigger screen seems remote. Apple previously moved its base of operations from Japan to Taiwan in the hope of finding “more cost-effective sources,” and Apple is unlikely to spend so much just to increase the screen size. But on the other hand, most of the smartphones that has Android OS will come with a 4.3-inch screen.

3D Display:

There are couple of 3D display smartphones in the market. However, it doesn’t seem to be featured in Apple’s next iPhone. For the most part, 3D functionality works best on larger screen sizes. Therefore, 3D would make sense on the iPad, but not for iPhone 5.

Flash Integration:

Apple’s unwillingness to include Flash has taken away the experience of accessing full Flash Web sites, watching Flash videos, or playing Flash games. Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to Web pages. A previous estimation suggested that 95 percent of PCs have it. Adobe, however, claims that 98 percent of U.S. Web users and 99.3 percent of all the Internet desktop users have installed the Flash Player. Flash, recently, has been positioned as a tool for Rich Internet Applications.

Battery:

Although the iPhone 4 has an amazing battery life, it is still limited. The batteries are also not replaceable. Like every battery ever made, it’s going to lose the ability to hold a charge over time. The fact that previous versions of iPhone did not feature a removable battery means even the iPhone 5 will not have it.

App Integration:

Application integration allows users to send messages and files back and forth between systems, transforming the messages and automating the process. The process also provides end-to-end and real-time connectivity between internal applications, existing Web-based applications and other software products. The true benefit of internal application integration is that it allows businesses to computerize and manage end-to-end business processes that involve both human and electronic operations. Apple is yet to showcase anything like this.

If Google Voice is considered, it is available in iPhone as well as in Android phones. It’s altogether a different experience in Android and iPhone. Other iPhone apps always direct you to the default dialer and visual voicemail apps, so even if you want to use Google Voice full time, you have to manually navigate it to yourself, but that’s not the case with Android. In Android, Google Voice integrates directly with the operating system. That means, when you try to make calls with Google Voice, as you click on a phone number in your browser or in Google Maps, it goes through Google Voice instead of sending you to wrong dialer.

Computer-Smartphone Adaptability:

One of the major features of Android smartphones is that there are a few apps that can be controlled from the computer. The iPhone 4, however, has to be Jailbroken to allow the same. But, anyway, it is not the same as using a separate app that accesses its base functions, similar to the ones used in Android.

Over-The-Air (OTA) Updates:

OTA has become an increasingly important feature for new updates and services come on stream as mobile phones accumulate new applications and become more advanced every day. The updates are sent out by the carrier and the Internet is needed to receive them. Apple, however, may not introduce such a feature now. Currently, Android devices are updated via OTA method.

Expandable Memory:

Over the years the iPhone has offered impressive internal storage (from 8GB to 32GB), however, some iPhone users are unhappy over the lack of a memory card slot, which can expand the handset’s storage capabilities and provide a quick and easy way to back up data. On the other hand, almost all the Android smartphones have an external memory card slot.

[Thanks: http://www.ibtimes.com]

Ever since the most anticipated phone of the year after iPhone 5 was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show, Droid Bionic has undergone several changes. And many Verizon customers have focused their attention on Motorola’s smartphone after Verizon failed to rope in Samsung Galaxy S2, the second best-selling smartphone ever.

Motorola Droid Bionic has undergone several changes in terms of design. It had looked like Motorola Atrix in the beginning of this year but now it looks very similar to Motorola Droid 3, one of the latest high-end phones launched by Motorola. But Motorola Droid 3 has a slider QWERTY unlike Droid Bionic which is just a touch screen phone. And other changes include higher RAM capacity, changed from Tegra 2 AP20H chipest to TI OMAP4430 chipset and surprisingly the inclusion of lesser battery capacity compared to the one introduced in the beginning. And it is also presently (127 x 66 x 10 mm) thinner compared to original Droid Bionic (125.9 x 66.9 x 13.3 mm) introduced in January.

As for iPhone 5, most of the features attributed to it are in the realm of rumors. But some features are more likely to be there in the phone than others. For sure iPhone 5 will feature the latest iOS 5 operating system, the A5 processor found in iPad 2, higher megapixel camera compared to iPhone 4 and a slimmer and thinner design.

In the first half of 2011 the heated battle was between iPhone 4 and HTC Thunderbolt. Henceforth the fight will be between iPhone 5 and Motorola Droid Bionic. Both of these smartphones are right up in the hype clouds, and hopefully they can both live up to the hype.

Here is a look at 10 reasons why Droid Bionic will score over Apple iPhone 5.

Display Size:

Motorola Droid Bionic uses qHD (540 x 960 pixels, 256 ppi pixel density) TFT display for its 4.3-inch screen. qHD is a display resolution of 960×540 pixels which is exactly one quarter of a full HD 1080p and three quarters of a 720p frame, in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Droid Bionic’s screen fits the same 16:9 ratio as your HD TV which, in conjunction with that extra inch or so, and makes film and TV viewing a far more natural fit. Full HD resolution (1920×1080) looks good on 40-inch LCD TV, but here we are talking about a quarter of the full HD resolution (i.e. 540 x 960) which perfectly fits the 4.3-inch screen and is more than enough to get that HD effect.

If Retina display is taken into consideration, it is an LCD display that boasts of a super high pixel density by squeezing a 960-by-640-pixel resolution into 3.5 inches of iPhone 4 — a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch (ppi). It’s this resolution — 326 pixels per inch — is the same as that of the human eye, Apple claims. The resolution was achieved on a relatively small screen thanks to pixels that are just 78 micrometers wide, according to Apple. However, Raymond Soneria, the president of DisplayMate Technologies, previously stated that the resolution of the human retina is higher than claimed by Apple, working out to 477 ppi at 12 inches (305 mm) from the eyes.

Now with Apple iPhone 5 expected to feature 3.7-inch or 4-inch display according to different case designs, it is to be seen how Apple plans to fit in that perfect retina display capability into the upcoming iPhone. The bigger the screen gets for Apple, the more difficult it becomes for Apple to fit in that perfect 300 ppi.

If we are speaking about pure size and shape here, Motorola Droid Bionic easily wins provided one values clarity over compactness. At 4.3 inches, the Droid Bionic’s display dwarfs the upcoming iPhone 5.

The iPhone has the superior all-round picture with its sharpness and clarity at all angles due to its smaller display size. However, the Droid Bionic wins out for sheer size. Besides it has a movie-friendly 16:9 aspect ratio.

With major smartphone manufacturers opting for 4.3-inch as ideal screen for their phones, it will be interesting to see what comes out through new iPhone 5.

Processor:

The Droid Bionic offers TI OMAP4430 chipset clocking at 1 GHz which uses dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 with a PowerVR SGX540 integrated 3D graphics accelerator that runs at a clock frequency of 304 MHz. And it comes with ARM-Cortex A9s with ARMs SIMD engine (Media Processing Engine, aka NEON) which may have a significant performance advantage in some cases over Nvidia Tegra 2s Cortex-A9s with non-vector floating point units. And there is a dual-channel LPDDR2 memory controller compared to Nvidia Tegra 2s single-channel memory controller.

Apple’s A5 processor, which will be featured on iPhone 5, has a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU with NEON SIMD accelerator and a dual core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU. Apple lists the A5 to be clocked at 1 GHz on the iPad 2’s technical specifications page, though it can dynamically adjust its frequency to save battery life.

Presently the devices that use this processor are LG Optimus 3D and RIM BlackBerry Playbook. Through various tests OMAP4430 has overtaken even Samsung Galaxy S2’s Exynos 4210 Mali 400MP processor.

According to Engadget, Texas Instruments’ OMAP 4430, NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 and Samsung’s Exynos 4210 went head to head in a gauntlet of browser and graphical benchmarks, and it looks like the LG Optimus 3D’s OMAP 4 came out on top, boasting of minor but significant improvements practically across the board.”

Given how many other SoC vendors are shipping dual-core Cortex A9 SoCs, the A5 was likely no different from NVIDIA’s Tegra 2, TI’s OMAP 4 or Samsung’s Exynos in that regard: armed with a pair of Cortex A9s running at 1GHz.

WebTop Application:

Get the revolutionary webtop application from Motorola that instantly extends the Motorola Droid Bionic into something far beyond the average smartphone. Just connect your Droid Bionic to unique HD Multi-Media dock accessory and webtop does the rest. Via an HDMI connection to HDTV or PC monitor, the user can launch a full Firefox 4.0 browser that gives access to the phone’s interface as well as 200,000 Android Marketplace apps. You can surf the Web, make calls, send texts, or run GoogleDocs, and other Web apps. To make sure this data remains yours alone, several business-grade security measures such as data encryption and remote device management are implemented for maximum security.

HDMI:

HDMI support is available in Motorola Droid Bionic which is not found in iPhone 4 and most probably will not be there in iPhone 5. How do you hook it up to your HD monitor? The short answer is that you don’t. The maximum audience for an iPhone screening is one or two. You want more? Use your laptop and hook that up, or your desktop machine. Apple offers expensive HDMI adapter to please a few geeks.

HDMI connects digital audio/video sources (such as set-top boxes, DVD players, HD DVD players, Blu-ray Disc players, AVCHD camcorders, personal computers (PCs) and video game consoles such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and AV receivers) to compatible digital audio devices, computer monitors, video projectors, tablet computers, and digital televisions.

Card Slot:

Quite a few smartphones have slots that support a range of memory cards which allow you to keep one card in the device for a permanent storage solution, and still have a slot available for cards from your camera or other devices. With the falling price of memory cards, you could have several cards with music and videos tucked away in the carrying case.

One way in which Apple’s iPhone versions differ from other smartphones on the market is in terms of removable storage. None of the previously released iPhones have featured removable storage. This is probably by design as it helps justify a higher priced model with more memory.

Over the years the iPhone has offered impressive internal storage (from 8GB to 32GB). However, some iPhone users are unhappy over the lack of a memory card slot, which can expand the handset’s storage capabilities and provide a quick and easy way to back up data. As iPhones usually don’t feature card slots, Droid Bionic hold an edge over iPhone 5.

4G LTE:

Many reports and rumors show that 4G capable iPhone 5 is on the way, but in fact it may be 4G supported through AT&T network and most probably not the Verizon’s LTE. Presently Verizon’s LTE network is still being built and AT&T’s is still being planned. Even if iPhone 5 comes with 4G title, the users will not have access to 4G network initially whether it’s built or not.

According to a research note from Hudson Square analyst Todd Rethemeir, the iPhone 5 due this fall will support HSPA+ technology, a development that will allow the device to offer faster data speeds on GSM networks such as AT&T. The present iPhones are shipped with standard HSPA. Even though HSPA+ is slower than the LTE standard, AT&T has begun marketing its HSPA+ network as “4G”, meaning that the carrier could position the next iPhone as a 4G device despite it failing to offer LTE compatibility.

Now the question that remains is how many networking technologies can Apple pack into iPhone 5 which is expected to be thinner than iPhone 4. May be they will have to separately manufacture a different model with modified hardware to fit in this technology.

One of the reasons why HTC Thunderbolt, which supports 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless chips (costs an extra $39.75), being priced at higher rate is because 4G technology has to bear higher component costs than any other smartphone coming without it. That means Apple will be forced to increase the price of iPhone 5. With Apple shifting its base from Japan to Taiwan for cost efficient purposes, it is highly unlikely for iPhone 5 to come with 4G LTE chip.

However, Motorola Droid Bionic will be the first dual core smartphone to feature the 4G LTE technology and is expected to make waves in days to come.

Speed:

The speed on the device depends on a number factors including RAM, processor and the network on which the device will run.

Droid Bionic has received an upgraded RAM memory of 1GB of DDR2 from 512 MB RAM featured during the beginning of this year. And Droid Bionic also has 2 GB ROM support along with 1 GHz of dual core processor. And with LTE 4G, surely Droid Bionic can be up to the claim made by the Verizon ad, which describes it as “ferocious force and an all powerful unstoppable device. Control it and you can control everything.”

In contrast iPhone 5 has a dual core processor but is doubtful to come with a better RAM capacity than that of Droid Bionic. And with 4G LTE option looming low, iPhone 5 may not stand a chance against Motorola’s flagship phone.

Open Source Advantage:

The entire Android OS is an open source system. The open-source movement has inspired increased transparency and liberty. It also constitutes an example of user innovation. Being made publically available enables anyone to copy, modify and redistribute the source code without paying royalties or fees. Anyone can get access to the source of Android to better the system. This is also a double-edged sword, in the sense that it allows those will less-than-ideal intentions to discover any weakness of the phone. But that can be seen as an indirect plus because when weaknesses are found in the open source community, they are quickly fixed. The same thing cannot be expected in iPhone 5.

Flash:

This is a big advantage an Android systems holds against iPhone. Flash enriches Web experience. Any Flash player has to be able to animate on top of video renderings, which makes hardware accelerated video rendering at least not as straightforward as with a purpose-built multimedia player. Therefore, even when only displaying video, Flash players are more resource-intensive than dedicated video player software. Presently for Apple only Mac OS 9/X supports flash. As Droid Bionic comes with Android OS, it enjoys the full support of flash.

Other Goodies:

To support the high-end Motorola Droid Bionic there is a whooping 1735 mAh battery which should give enough power to keep the phone running for a longer period. It has a 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture, 2-megapixel with VGA video capture and connectivity supporting Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR, HDMI, 3.5mm TRRS audio jack, Micro USB, DLNA and 802.11b/g/n. There is free ZumoCast app that lets Droid Bionic access or stream data straight from your home or work computers. And the smartphone is expected to be priced at $299.

[Thanks: http://www.ibtimes.com]

“As I have said,The Motorola Droid Bionic is confirmed to release on September 8th,” tweeted @DroidBionic on Friday.

The Motorola Droid Bionic is powered by Android 2.3 and it looks similar to Droid X2, which is another dual core smartphone without 4G support.

Droid has a huge battery power, 4G LTE and a qHD display of 4.5 inch 540×960 pixels TFT capacitive touch screen. The iPhone 5 is rumored to have a 3.5-inch or 3.7-inch, 960×640 resolution at 312 ppi display screen.

Compared to the Motorola Droid 3 (167.2 grams) or HTC Thunderbolt (176.6 grams), the Motorola Droid Bionic is lighter(158.8 grams)

The input features in Droid Bionic will include multi-touch input method, accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, touch-sensitive controls, and proximity sensor for auto turn-off. Droid Bionic also comes with Biometric fingerprint reader, MOTOBLUR UI with Live Widgets and Gorilla Glass display similar to Motorola Atrix.

The iPhone 5, like iPhone 4 will come with a scratch-resistant oleophobic surface, multi-touch input method, accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, three-axis gyro sensor and proximity sensor for auto turn-off.

Motorola Droid Bionic will come with a memory of 512 MB RAM, 2 GB ROM and 16 GB storage. The iPhone5 may feature a 768 MB RAM similar to HTC Sensation 4G from iPhone 4’s 512 MB RAM. Since iPhone 5 is expected to feature processor similar to iPad 2, the possibility of iPhone 5 running on 512 MB RAM cannot be ruled out.

Motorola Droid Bionic will come with 8-megapxiel 3264×2448 pixels camera along with autofocus, dual-LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection and image stabilization support. With Motorola Atrix just featuring 5-megapixel camera but expected to receive 1080p via future update will help Motorola Droid Bionic’s hopes of upgrade from 720p to 1080p. But, if 3D enhancement is making its way into Motorola Droid Bionic, then possibility of Droid Bionic featuring 1080p@24fps (2D) and 720p@30fps (3D) similar to HTC EVO 3D is expected.

In the case of iPhone 5, Bloomberg reported that Apple’s next version will have 8-megapixel camera and will closely resemble the iPhone 4. And 1080p video recording along with dual-LED flash will be found in iPhone 5. As leaked by Sony CEO Howard Stringer, iPhone 5 may also carry an “HD” FaceTime camera similar to those shipping with the current MacBook Pro lineup.

With iOS 5 and iPhone 5 releases expected to be on September, Apple iPhone 5 will come with iOS 5 operating system. Motorola Droid Bionic will come with Android OS v2.3 (Gingerbread).

As iPhone 5 is going to come with Apple iPad 2 processor, the smartphone will have 1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU Apple A5 chipset processor. But, with iPad 2 featuring a 900 MHz processor, iPhone 5 can expect to get a 1.2 GHz processor to counter the 4G LTE support to some extent for speed enhancement.

[Thanks: http://www.ibtimes.com]

Italian blog Macitynet.it has posted a photo gallery of a case that it says will fit the iPhone 5. The blog took comparison shots with the iPhone 4 and the iPod touch, both of which fit into the case with plenty of extra room, suggesting the iPhone 5 will be wider and taller than the current devices.

Slots for the power button and headphone jack remain at the top of the case, but on the left side, there are only two buttons for volume; the slider “mute” option is now on the right. Macitynet.it also notes that the curves of the case are better equipped for the iPod touch rather than the iPhone 4.

Of course, pre-release cases in the wild aren’t always the best predictor of what Apple might do. Most third parties likely have just as much information as we do and simply build a few different cases based on rumors. This could be one of those cases.

In May, another iPhone 5 case suggested the device would have an edge-to-edge screen. Many recent rumors have actually focused quite a bit on the device’s screen size. There were reports that the next-gen iPhone would have an HD, 4.2-inch screen (the iPhone 4 is 3.5 inches), but recent rumors put it at less than four inches.

On Monday, meanwhile, MacPost and Engadget posted photos of an LCD display labeled “N94 EVT 1.” The posts said the photos were from an iPhone prototype in the Engineering Verification Testing phase that date back to March 3.

Losing track of all the Apple iPhone 5 rumors? Be sure to check out What the iPhone 5 Might Look Like and Six Amazing Phone Technologies We Want in iPhone 5, as well as the 8 Likely iPhone 5 Rumors, and 2 Wild Ones slideshow below.

[Thanks: http://www.pcmag.com]

Enough already; when will the games stop and the tech drama delays that has the public at bay stop — like really stop (Motorola Droid Bionic music playing in the background)?

The answer to that has a lot to do with Apple’s CEO and a so-called date circled on his calendar. Who knew humans even still used wall or desk calendars?

Anyway, it goes that Tim Cook circled a day on his calendar that signals the drop-dead iPhone 5 release date. Holy internal leak Batman!

And according to Matt Clark, a gadget stolen from a bar (no police reports) has many people perplexed — because it reeks of a scandal, leak, or repeat of the pre-iPhone 4 launch.

But Beatweek says the public’s ability to see through the fiasco effectively makes the prototype police hype vanish. Given time, things usually always work out to squelch rumors that just don’t sit right.

Listen, an Apple iPhone 5 release date is coming. The hype about a lost special phone only in the hands of a select few only served to piqué the interest of the buying public. Mission accomplished Cook and company, or some covert operatives that just want the darn thing now.

The advice here is to settle down and ride the delay storm out; there’s a good reason for it (at least for the Steve Jobs’ company).

But it better move its buns fast; the Motorola Droid Bionic is on its way (no delay seen there), and the Samsung Galaxy SII changes the game altogether.

Still, the iPhone 5 has some nifty bells and whistles of its own. Thanks Tim Cook for giving the sign (fingers crossed).

Follow the live blog watch for the iPhone 5 release date for updates.

[Thanks: http://technology.gather.com]

The Holiday is rumored to boast a 4.5-inch display, supposedly the first of a new wave across the Android landscape with 4.5-inch displays.

The recent breed of Android phones, like Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Thunderbolt and Motorola Photon, found expression in 4.3-inch displays. The trend seems to highlight that the next barrage of Android phones will follow the 4.5-inch form factor.

Apple is rumored to increase the screen size of iPhone 5 to compete with Android smartphones, probably going for a 4-inch screen, compared to the current iPhone 4 screen of 3.5-inch.

Until now, the iPhone 4 was a generation behind Android superphones like the Galaxy S2 and HTC Sensation, but the appearance of Holiday reveal that Apple has a new breed of bigger and faster Android phones to counter.

An earlier report said Taiwan SemiConductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) had started trial production of the Apple A6 line of processors. It is reported that the TSMC manufactured A6 chipset will incorporate 3D IC technology.

It has also been reported that TSMC is in production with 3D IC technology and is in a race with Intel to manufacture a 3D IC chip. EETimes reported that TSMC could deliver processors with 3-D interconnet by the end of 2011.

If that report is true, Apple could further delay the iPhone 5 launch as it places a faster A6 chipset in the upcoming iPhone. Recently, Computerworld reported that certain Taiwanese suppliers of Apple claim they are starting the production of 25 million iPhone 5 units that would be delivered in the second half of this year, essentially confirming a December release.

And a few analysts predict that the other features of iPhone 5 will most probably remain the same with minor tweaks, also it will most probably come without 4G and LTE support.

Hence, Apple would rather delay an iPhone 5 than release a phone with an A5 processor to tackle the mighty Androids with 1.5GHz dual-core chipsets.

The arrival of such a piece from HTC is a cause of concern for Apple, which is rumored to release iPhone 5 only in 2012. Apple is due to release the next iteration this fall, but analysts are expecting only an iPhone 4S in the fall and iPhone 5 with a materially revamped user interface in 2012.

Here is a look at the speculated features of Apple iPhone 5 and HTC Holiday, which is expected for an early to mid-September release.

Operating system: HTC Holiday is expected to run on the latest version of Google Inc.’s smartphone operating system, Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread OS. On the other hand, Apple’s iPhone 5 will be running on iOS 5, which is the newest of the OS versions. The new iOS 5 is expected come with 200 new features that will include Improved Notifications System, News Stand and iMessage.

Though Gingerbread isn’t quite as refined as iOS yet, it has true multitasking support and is Google’s best bet yet against iOS — at least until it releases Ice Cream Sandwich. It is left to see which platform will outsmart the other in the long run.

Camera: Apple’s iPhone 5 is expected to have an 8MP dual-LED flash camera with 1080p video playback and panoramic photo capture, while iPhone 4 has 5MP camera with 720p video playback. The Holiday, when compared, will sport an 8MP dual-LED flash rear-facing camera with 1080p video playback and a 1.3MP front-facing camera for video chat.

Screen: The new Apple iPhone 5 is expected to have a bigger edge-to-edge 4-inch curved glass screen, compared to iPhone 4’s screen size of 3.5-inch with multi-touch display. HTC Holiday is expected to have a 4.5-inch qHD display with 960×540 screen resolution.

Processor: Holiday will be powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 1GB RAM. Apple’s iPhone 4 runs on 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, and the iPhone 5 is rumored to sport a 1.2-1.5 GHz dual-core A5 processor, which powers the iPad 2, with probably a 1GB RAM.

Storage: There is no word about internal storage details of HTC Holiday yet, but it is expected to have an external storage via a microSD card slot of up to 32 GB. On the other hand, iPhone 4 has fixed 16/32 GB internal storage. Apple iPhone 4 doesn’t have external storage, but that doesn’t matter as 32 GB at the maximum is enough for the users. It is expected the iPhone 5 will have 16/32/64 GB internal storage.

Pricing: Apple’s iPhone 5 has been rumored to be priced at $600, while iPhone 4 is listed on AT&T at $299 for 32GB version with 2-year contract. The Holiday is expected to be priced at $199 to $249 at AT&T.

NFC: HTC Holiday and Apple iPhone 5 are expected to support near field communication (NFC). NFC technology can transform the device into a convenient way for payment and device communication. NFC has potential to do more than just money transaction. The technology could offer features that allow multiple mobile devices to sync for speedier information exchange and gaming.

But Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi cited that Apple will not adopt NFC-based mobile payment feature to the upcoming iPhone 5 until Apple is convinced that the technology’s chicken-and-egg-problem is solved as the NFC requires widespread consumer adoption and critical mass with merchants.

3G: Holiday is expected to have HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) 21 Mbps and HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) 5.76 Mbps support. On the other hand, iPhone 4 has HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 5.76 Mbps support, while iPhone 5 is expected to have HSDPA 14 Mbps to 21 Mbps.

WLAN/Bluetooth/USB: HTC Holiday has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot support along with advanced Bluetooth version 4.0 with A2DP and EDR. Apple iPhone 4, on the other hand, has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth version 2.1 with EDR wireless technology. iPhone 5 is expected to have Wi-Fi and an advanced Bluetooth version.

Battery: The battery details of HTC Holiday is yet to be revealed but one can expect a huge battery for the huge smartphone. iPhone 4 has standard Li-ion 1420 mAh battery which gives up to 14 h of talk time on 2G and up to 7 hours on 3G with a standby time of up to 300 hours.

Apple certainly knows how to surprise and already has a few things in place like iCloud which can steal the thunder from Android devices. Apple’s iPhone features are extensively varied from HTC Holiday, which means loyal Apple fan base remains the same. And for Apple, there is no reason to fear a potential loss with respect to buyers.

[Thanks: http://www.ibtimes.com]