R.I.P. - Steve Jobs

Because of cancer, Steve Jobs died yesterday within the family circle. This is a very sad day. Not only for Apple enthusiasts, but for everyone in the world.

This man was probably the most important inventor of the last years. With the original iPhone in 2007, he set the stage for all other upcoming smartphones. With his iPad in 2010, he started the tablet-hype and it's still the best-selling tablet of the world. And last but not least, with his Mac computers with their own operating system, Apple is the biggest competitor of Windows.

Even though we weren't pleased with Apple's newest "baby", the iPhone 4S, we just have to say: Steve Jobs did an incredible job leading this company to one of the most important ones in the world. And Steve, you're legacy will live on. Rest in peace.

Here it is! The iPhone 4S is finally revealed!

Apple has really kept us waiting for their newest smartphone. To be exact, it's been 16 months since the iPhone 4 was released. But now, the waiting time is finally over. Today, Apple introduced their newest smartphone. And no, it's not the iPhone 5. It's called the iPhone 4S. As the name suggests, it's an improved version of its predecessor. Read on to find out what those improvements are.


First of all: it looks exactly like the iPhone 4. Every speculations about a thinner phone, with a bigger screen and that wider capacitive home-button did (very sadly, in our opinion) not become real. Apple kept the changes in the inside. To sum up, it's the following:

• A5 dual-core processor
• 8MP rear camera recording in 1080p at 30 fps
• 16, 32 or 64GB of internal storage
• 3.5 inch IPS display at 960x640 pixels
• GSM and CDMA
• Bluetooth 4.0
• running iOS 5 (obviously)

In addition to that, it's got a new function called "Siri". It lets you do basically everything you can with your iPhone - but with your voice. Texting, browsing, calling someone etc. And it's supposed to work brilliant. But we'll see about that.

Wrap-up

Well, I suppose everyone can see that this doesn't even nearly get close to a revolutionary phone. With its dual-core processor, it barely catches up to current Android devices. Soon, even the screen will be outdated when the first phones with a HD-display hit the market (not to mention that 3.5 inches can't be taken seriously these times anymore). Trying to not punish Apple too hard, I have to say it is indeed a good phone. But for the price of $199 (16GB), $299 (32GB) or $399 (64GB) on contract, I want a brilliant phone.

However, if you think it's worth the money, you can place your order on October 7th and it will start shipping on October 14th.

Steve Jobs is no longer CEO of Apple!

Jep, it is true. Steve Jobs retired as CEO of Apple!
In his official statement, Jobs delared that he is not longer able to "meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO"
Here is the letter which was published by Steve Jobs these hours:

Steve Jobs when he showed the world for the first time the iPad

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve


The company thanked and sayed that "Steve's extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world's most innovative and valuable technology company."

Steve Jobs' successor will be Tim Cook. It was also confirmed that Steve Jobs will stay as Chairman in Cupertino.

iPhone 5 to be released in September? iPad 3 at thanksgiving?

Impatient about the release of Apple's newest smartphone? Well, according to some rumors of China, the iPhone 5 is going to be released in the second week of September. So far, September, 5th was thought to be true, but the 6th to the 15th seems also very reasonable.

Looks like this isn't applicable to the iPad 3. Rumor has it, that there are some problems with its hardware. Due to this intricacies, the release is more likely to be about thanksgiving, which would be November, the 24th this year. Christmas present? Well, most likely for some of us.

As for the release of the iPhone, it's almost certain that it will be released some time in September. But you shouldn't count on the iPad, yet. Some experts wonder why Apple would even release a successor already, since the iPad 2 is still sellig extremely good. Well, we hope they're wrong. Stay tuned.

Rumor: iPhone 5 features no LTE!

 

There are nearly endless rumors about Apple and their iPhone 5. And of course, we have them all! Our friends from iSupply may have a very interesting news for you: It is about the connectivity!
As we all know, iSupply always looks inside of a device and tells us what it is worth. Remember when they said that the HTC Thunderbolt is quite expensive to build? The main reason is the LTE connectivity ($30 each unit!)!
That is why iSupply believes that Apple will only be 3G ready. It is not Apple's style to create a device which is up-to-date at any cost.
Sounds plausible. We say this rumor is right for about 70%. Can't believe Apple will pay more only for the LTE...Maybe they will wait for the iPhone 6....

Rumor: Retina display for the iPad 2 this fall?

Got an iPhone 4 and an iPad 2? Disappointed if you compare this stunningly sharp Retina display to the ordinary one on the iPad 2? Well, according to some rumors, that might change this autumn.


If the rumors are true, Apple is already looking for manufacturers to build the screen for the new "iPad 2 HD". Therebye, the screen resolution will be raised from the current 1024x768 to amazing 2048x1536 pixels. In addition, there might be preinstalled two new applications: the image processing application "Aperture" and the video-editing program "Final Cut". We're looking forward to a sharp autumn.

More than 100,000 apps for the iPad!

Last year, Apple released the iPad and nearly no application was optimized for the higher resolution. Only one year later Apple announced a new milestone:
100.000 apps for the tablet are waiting for you and are ready to download. Quite impressive, hm?
We will se what the competitors will do in future and when they will reach this high number...

New iPhone 5 won't be a iPhone 4 "s" ?

Again, we have rumors about Apple's new iPhone. In the last weeks, we have heard several rumors about an iPhone 4"S" having nearly the same design and only the new SoC, same as in the iPad 2. This might be wrong! Here our new information:
The guys from Boy Genius Report believe that version #5 will be a mayor release again. According to a reliable source, Apple is planning to design a whole new kind of mobile phone. The presentation is arrangend for August and (as always) immediately after the PR, the iPhone will be ready to ship. The only thing we can do now is to drink a cup of tea and wait....

Rumor: iPad 3 to have 4 times more pixels?

According to a report of Tech Unwrapped, the iPad 3 will have four times more pixel than the current iPad generation. Several pics might have been seen in the SDK and in the twitter service which had the resolution of 2.048 x 1.536. Is this just a coincidence? We don't think so. Several analysts already believed that the iPad 2 would have the Retina display...Maybe we will see it on the iPad 3...

iOS 5 to be released in fall - we already know the features

Got an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 3 or 4, iPad or an iPad 2? Well, if you do so, you're gonna be enjoying Apple's latest OS for the mobile section. As mentioned before, Apple is going to release it sometime in autumn. But if you can't wait, check out our list of the most important improvements and new features.

• first of all, now you can see new messages, mails, calls etc. right on your lockscreen and in order to go directly into it, you just press on the icon and "slide to unlock"
• you've also got a notification bar now which you can just slide down from the top, no matter in which app you're in at the moment... yes, just like on Android
• Twitter is now fully integrated into the OS and no matter what you'd like to post, a picture, a video or even a website, Twitter is just one tap away and it even adds your location... if you like
• One feature that is limited to the iPads, is tabbed browsing: actually not much to tell about it, you're just able to open new tabs and switch between them just like you do on your Mac
• in order to take a picture really fast, now you just need to double-press on your homebutton and a camera icon appears on your lockscreen, tap on it and the the camera app launches
• probably the most important improvement: with iOS 5 you'll be able to sync all the stuff on your devices directly to Apple's new service called "iCloud", there you've got unlimited (!) storage for your photos and music and 5 GB for the rest, even updates for the OS will now come "over the air" which means you don't need a PC anymore if you don't want to
• the new app "iMessage" is basically the same as the "WhatsApp" application, which allows you to send text messages e.g. for free using 3G or Wifi, the difference of iMessage is that it's fully implemented into Apple's basic messaging application and it recognizes if the recipient also has iOS 5 - if he does, it's free, if he doesn't, it will be charged as usual
• if you think, the buttons on the keyboard of the your iPad (especially those in the middle of the screen) are hard to reach, now you can basically cut it in to pieces, one being on the left side of the screen and one on the right and you can reach even the "G" and the "H" very easily
• and last but not least, if you own a HDTV with AppleTV you can now mirror the screen of your iPad right onto your TV screen using "AirPlay Mirroring"

Round-up

We think those features definitely enhance Apple's OS and are looking forward to its release.

iPhone 4 - no strings attached

Apple has just started selling an unlocked version of their iPhone 4. But don't get to excited about it. Because within the US, it's still only going to work on AT&T's 3G network. What's the point of it than, you ask? Well, if you plan on taking your iPhone abroad, it's a whole other story. Outside of the US you'll be able to put in any MicroSim you want. That may even be the reason for the pricing. $649 (16GB) and $749 (32GB) indeed seem pretty steep within the United States, but to the countries across the atlantic it's still a tolerable amount of money.

Brando's iPad 2 telescope gets you an even closer look

Looking for a digicam because of the optical zoom but already got an iPad 2? Well, Brando might have the solution for only $26. The company just announced the "Super Gear Telescope", which brings 6x optical zoom to Apple's most recent tablet. Now you can even stay on your front porch watching the girls play volleyball at the beach.