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]

Bluetooth support has been enabled for iPhone 3GS and 4 users as well as for the iPad 2 and fourth generation iPods. This opens up the opportunity to use headsets to make and receive hands-free calls.

iPhone 4 users can take advantage of the new image stabilization feature that kicks in when the rear camera is in use. This makes it more enjoyable for other parties involved in a video call to see what’s going on without having to endure sea sickness-inducing camera shake.

Another update to both the iPad and iPhone versions of the Skype app sees the introduction of advertisements. Anyone who has Skype credit available will not see ads, and the same is true for anyone with a calling or premium subscription — everyone else has to view them.

It is worth noting that to avoid potential problems such as slow contact syncing and a misreported loss of Skype credis, it is a good idea to delete your existing version of the app before installing the new one rather than simply updating in the usual way.

[Thanks: http://betanews.com]

We should note right at the top that Adobe is not announcing (or delivering) Flash support on iOS devices. Apple has chosen not to support Flash on its mobile devices, citing a variety of issues centered around performance and battery life. Instead, Apple supports HTTP Live Streaming, which is what YouTube and other video streaming sites use to deliver their content to iPhones and iPads.

What Adobe has done with Flash Media Server 4.5 is add in support for HTTP Live Streaming so that content providers can use the software to deliver their video streams in whatever form the user’s device supports. If a Mac or PC with Flash installed calls up the video stream, it will automatically be delivered via Flash. If an iOS device calls up the video stream, Adobe’s software will deliver it via HTTP Live Streaming, all without the content provider having to worry their pretty little heads about it.

This is significant for Adobe, because it removes a reason for its customers to leave Flash behind entirely as the needs of iOS device owners increasingly dictate online standards. The company has simultaneously increased the relevancy of Flash, but has done so in a way that keeps the burden of supporting the technology on the server side.

Please note (again) that this is not the same thing as “Flash on your iPhone.” Today’s announcement has nothing to do with playing Flash games on your iOS device or viewing other interactive Flash content. It is instead about delivering streaming video in a format that is already supported by iOS.

[Thanks: http://www.macobserver.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]

For example, we don’t know if app developers will be able to make apps that put widgets in the notification bar so that you can pull down and see the information you need most. Right now, the only widgets are for stocks and weather, but we hope that Apple allows third-party developers to place widgets in the notification area without forcing users to jailbreak their devices.

Here’s a look at some cool features we might see in iOS 5, or more likely in iOS 6, when Apple gives developers the access to these areas.

I’m not a fan of all of these ideas, but I love the home screen widgets, live icons, call widget in the notification drop down and the ability to collapse notifications.

Other features shown off in the video include;

• Call notifications as pop over
• Persistent notifications
• Additional gestures
• Widgets in Spotlight
• Changing app icons

What do you think about this vision for iOS 5? It isn’t anything official from Apple, but as an Android user who has thought about switching on more than one occasion, this version of iOS 5 would make it a much harder decision when I went to purchase my next phone.

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

Apple is prepping for a bigger iPhone market in this second half of the year analysts say, ramping up the orders of its current iPhones and also stepping up production of the anticipated iPhone 5.

However, the technology giant is expected to face tough competition from Android smartphones, particularly from HTC that has planned to introduce its biggest smartphone known as the HTC Holiday.

Let’s see how the HTC Holiday would fare with the iPhone 5:

iPhone 5:

The iPhone 5 is expected to run on an upgraded operating system, iOS 5, and is supported by a strong ecosystem including iCloud. iCloud will store photos, apps, calendars and documents without storing them onto the phone’s memory storage.

Apple may fit a near-field communication chip in the iPhone 5 as some high-end Android devices are expected to sport the NFC chip. NFC allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections with a touch. A smartphone or tablet with an NFC chip could make a credit card payment or serve as keycard or ID card.

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

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 5 as a “World Phone” - both GSM and CDMA compatible. It is conjectured that the phone will have a SIM-less design with 3-4 antennas. Another rumor suggested that the iPhone 5 will feature a SIM card slot for other countries except the U.S. This will allow users to insert any SIM card in the iPhone when traveling abroad.

Apple has made improvements in the camera department by fitting a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash. Apple’s iPhone 5 is expected to sport an 8-megapixel camera.

There is also near-unanimity in gadget circles that Apple will bring its A5 chip on to the iPhone 5. The A5 processor is the same one that Apple rolled out to power its iPad 2. Apple may boost the speed of its A5 chip in the range of 1.2 or 1.5 GHz as several Android smartphones are coming with 1.2 GHz processor.

HTC Holiday

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.

HTC Holiday is expected to run on the latest version of Google Inc.’s smartphone operating system, Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread OS.

The Holiday will sport an 8MP dual-LED flash rear-facing camera with 1080p video playback and a 1.3MP front-facing camera for video chat. The device is expected to have a 4.5-inch qHD display with 960×540 screen resolution.

The Holiday will be powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 1GB RAM.

The Holiday is expected to have HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) 21 Mbps and HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) 5.76 Mbps support. In addition, the smartphone would have Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot support along with advanced Bluetooth version 4.0 with A2DP and EDR

There is no word about internal storage details of the HTC Holiday yet, but it is expected to have an external storage via a microSD card slot of up to 32 GB.

On the pricing front, 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 a 2-year contract. The Holiday is expected to be priced at $199 to $249 at AT&T.

However, 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 the 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]

We all want to know

Though highly speculative, there’s little new in this morning’s claims, in brief: Digitimes now says the iPhone 5 won’t possess a 4.2-inch screen. (iPhones have never had such a screen). The iPhone 5 will boast a metal back with a 3.5-3.7 inch screen with a thinner bezel for a larger-looking screen.

The new claims do render some interesting gleanings: “The rumored specifications of iPhone 5 include a 4- to 4.2-inch HD touch panel, 8-megapixel camera, Full HD video recording, A5 dual-core processor and new ultra-thin industrial design; however, the sources believe that the leaked specifications are rather the market’s expectations for iPhone 5.”

This is interesting because a second rumor this morning claims that the introduction of Apple’s A6 processor may not take place until the second-half of next year, which suggests a late 2012 launch for post iPhone 5 models and any significant A6-powered iPad upgrade.

A6 for late 2012?

Analysts at the Linley Group say that the A6 processor “may not arrive until later in 2012″. That’s no great surprise — particularly since Apple seems far more amenable to remaining flexible in its product release schedules these days, presumably to keep competitors guessing.

However, any perceived delay in the introduction of any predicted (or imagined) Apple product in the coming months will likely be seized on by a traffic-greedy media as evidence the company under new CEO, Tim Cook, is losing its grip.(Which it isn’t).

Such reports will hopefully be taken by the majority of the Apple faithful as the shoddy wish-fulfillment fantasies that they will eventually emerge to be.

Returning to the Linley Group, analysts there warn the A6 processor won’t likely hit market until the second half of next year.

This is interesting because it could imply the iPad 3 will host an A5 processor, fully souped-up to deliver the more advanced ‘pro’ features many expect this imagined configuration may deliver. It could also suggest the A6-powered iPad 4 will make its own blushing debut at a later-than-anticipated juncture.

Apple ditches Intel?

Linley analyst Kevin Krewell explains: “This pace would make the A6 one of the first 28nm mobile processors (along with Qualcomm’s MSM8960) to enter production.”

The move to 28nm process is likely to be a tough one for Apple’s suppliers, but will offer the company some serious possibilities when it comes to the development of new, ultra-powerful but low power mobile devices, perhaps equipped with multiple multi-processors.

That’s well-timed as Apple continues to apply pressure to chip giant and current Mac processor supplier, Intel, to deliver ever-faster, ever-more-low-power processors to feed its busier than ever production lines.

Meanwhile, Apple’s moves to replace Samsung as supplier continue while the company’s litigation against its old ally seem to support Cupertino’s claims against it. Samsung is not winning the legal arguments in any territory, and faces real danger of its seemingly Apple-inspired Galaxy products being banned in key markets.

[Thanks: http://blogs.computerworld.com]

Smartphones and tablet computers — including the iPhone, iPad, Android devices and others — can also take advantage of location-awareness, with which a new social networking application by BitFlx (news, site) lets users share videos that are time-bound and location-aware.

Geo-Tagged and Time-Bound Videos

BitFlx is a social video application for Apple iOS devices that integrates video content and locations for better interactivity with one’s vicinity, says BitFlx founder and CEO Sebastian Andreatta.

BitFlx creates a window into what’s happening near and now and provides a new way for users to experience their community, both visually and by location. We believe BitFlx will help shape the way members of communities engage with one another in a compelling and visual manner.

Social networking and collaboration become more interesting when the location and time aspects are embedded in the content.

Think of checking into a place, but only with video and not just a short textual post. Most smartphones and tablets today — from cheapest to most high-end — will have GPS and location-sensing built-in, and so tagging content for location has never been more accessible.

BitFlx interface on the iPhone shows time-bound and geo-tagged videos

BitFlx is not just about location, though. Unlike YouTube, which acts more as an archive of shared video content, BitFlx displays shared video by the day, organized by place. This means that relevant videos today might no longer be as relevant tomorrow, although they are still accessible.

Collaboration, Marketing, Events, Crowdsourcing

The applications of location-aware video sharing are actually diverse. While initially intended to augment the capabilities of existing social networks like Facebook, BitFlx can also be used in a variety of applications. For instance, videos can be used to document events and activities from any location. Businesses can interact with BitFlx users through localized video content (commercial sites are given a special mention in the BitFlx interface). Organizations can crowd-source content, asking members for contributions that can be tagged according to time and place.

BitFlx is a free application for the iPhone and iPad, and iPod Touch, and is currently available for download through the iTunes App Store. The developers are currently working on an Android version, which is targeted for release later this year.

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

Before we take a look at some ideas you may be interested in our article from yesterday where we told how the absence of the US Galaxy S2 and the iPhone 5 would benefit HTC and also Motorola so hit the link if you’d like to see more on that. Although at one time it was thought the main competition for the iPhone 5 was the Galaxy S2 there is a plethora of new and upcoming smartphones that are highly impressive on the way, which could also rival the Galaxy S2. Just some of them include the Motorola Droid Bionic, the HTC EVO 3D, Motorola Droid 3 and we recently detailed leaks of a new handset not due until the fall, the HTC Eternity, which will be a Windows Phone 7 Mango handset. We even told earlier today about a rumor regarding a Galaxy S2 Windows Phone 7 edition instead of Android so there may be yet be more competition although as yet this is still unconfirmed.

Over on Top10.com a useful article by Joe Minihane details 10 pointers for Apple to consider for the iPhone 5, in order to see off the Galaxy S2 competition. Bearing in mind we recently told of smash sales for the Galaxy S2 it’s likely of course that Apple has already decided on what features and specs are needed for the iPhone 5 to stay ahead of the game, but these suggestions for must-haves may interest you. Firstly the screen size needs to be larger to keep in line with the much bigger displays on recent and upcoming smartphones and also a dual-core processor is a must. It won’t be long before people won’t consider buying a smartphone without a dual-core chip. A slimmer, slicker design would also go a long way to helping sales while 1080p video capture and also 1080p onboard editing would give it an edge over the Galaxy S2 which doesn’t yet feature this but does have 1080p video recording.

The release date is crucially important too. If iPhone buyers wait until September or October for release they will have waited far past the summer time frame when it was originally expected to launch. If it doesn’t arrive in the fall to compete for the holiday season Apple will lose out in a big way. We also spoke recently about different pricing levels for the iPhone with a cheaper option and this is seen as important, along with the fact that iOS 5.0 for the next iPhone, when it’s released, must run smoothly without glitches. We told previously about an improved camera for the iPhone 5 which we think is one of the most likely additions. Finally Minihane makes the excellent point that Apple need to resist the urge to slate the Galaxy S2, considering its present legal shenanigans with Samsung. The iPhone 5 should be good enough that this is not necessary and besides, slating other products turns consumers off.

We’d like to tack on a couple more additions wanted for the iPhone 5, one of them being 4G LTE. Although this may not be as likely as other must-haves we know it’s something that many of our readers would like to see, along with a better battery performance. Are you patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for the iPhone 5? Do you agree with these pointers or have you more ideas for must-haves that you’d like? If the iPhone 5 appears with most of the above do you think it will then be excellent competition for the Galaxy S2?

[Thanks: http://www.onlinesocialmedia.net]

The Hearst-owned NBC-affiliate has launched a Casey Anthony trial app, which provides headlines and news from the court proceedings, as well as video reports, photos and more than 20,000 pages of legal documents. The app, which costs 99 cents, is currently the second-most downloaded iPhone app in the news category.

“I think it’s safe to say we never guessed it would have hit as high as it has in the App Store,” the station’s digital media manager Gabe Travers told Lost Remote. “For WESH, an app for the trial was a natural extension of our extensive coverage on the trial and just of the state of the industry.”

WESH was the first Orlando station to devote its entire daytime schedule to continuing daytime coverage of the trial. They also stream court proceedings live on their website and maintain several Casey Anthony-related Twitter accounts, including @caseyupdates and @judgeperrysays.

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