Day: January 9, 2010

App Store Downloads Reach Three Billion

Apple today announced that more than three billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide. Thats around 5.5 million downloads per day!

“Three billion applications downloaded in less than 18 months—this is like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The revolutionary App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users an experience unlike anything else available on other mobile devices, and we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon.”

iPhone and iPod touch customers in 77 countries worldwide can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel.

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8GB iPhone 3GS Coming Soon?

There have been rumors about a 8GB iPhone 3GS going around since the summer. But a man in Hamburg, Germany who recently bought a refurbished 8GB iPhone 3G was supirsed to find on the label that it said “iPhone 3GS v2.2, 8GB.” The model and part number are for the older model, but “iPhone 3GS” appears on other places on the packaging as well, implying that the label wasn’t just a typo but an actual part label for an existing or soon to be existing iPhone model.

Back in August, screen caps from an internal website for the Canadian iPhone provider, Rogers Wireless were posted to the internet showing a 8GB iPhone 3GS and stores were apparently under strict orders to sell out their current stock of 8GB iPhone 3G to make room for the new 3GS, which never appeared in stores.

Hacker Sends Warning To iPhoneUnlockUK Customers

Customers who had used the controversial unlocking service, iPhoneUnlockUK.com recieved an unexpected email recently informing them that the company had been using unlicensed software and that their personal details, including email and physical addresses has been compromised.

The hackers had broken into the web server back in February, where they gained access to the personal information of several users who had illegally unlock their iPhone. The hacker sent emails that the software iPhoneUnlockUK was selling for profit had been stolen, suggesting the customers demand a refund from the fraudulent company. Some people might of thought the iPhone Dev Team, who put a huge amount of work into unlocking the iPhone could of been involved but the hacker made it clear that they were not.

The breach in February is the only one currently known, when the hackers copied the personal details of customers and defaced the website. Since then, iPhoneUnlockUK moved web hosts and claim they have not suffered any more attacks. No financial details were believed to have been compromised during the breach, as all the credit card transactions were handled by a third party company.

iPhone 4G To Have 802.11n WiFi?

A recent job opening which was posted on the Apple website may hint at the possibility of 802.11n WiFi in the next gen iPhone.

It has been suspected that the iPhone 4G would support 802.11n WiFi since the third generation iPod Touch was found to contain the Broadcom BCM4329 chip, capable of 802.11n (but only enabled for 802.11g). The job posting is looking for a software engineer specializing in WiFi protocols to join the iPhone tem.

The job specifications:
* Implementation of 802.11 a/b/g/n & related specifications.
* 802.11i/802.1x Security protocols
* Good understanding of wireless RF technologies & co-existence issues of 802.11 PHYs with other Wireless interfaces like Bluetooth.

Apple Patent For Location Sharing

Location Sharing is one of latest technologies recently released into the mainstream by Google in the form of Latitude, last year Google tried to put the application on the iPhone but Apple rejected the app, maybe this patent shows the reasoning behind that.

Apple’s method of location sharing involves sending SMS messages between phones. The message would be encoded in such a way that the phone can then extract your current location. Locating sharing is only part of the package — another patent titled ‘position fix indicator’ focuses on ways of displaying the user’s location, and the location of people that you’re connected with.

The diagram also seems to suggest a forward-facing camera, something that was speculated for the iPhone 3GS but turned out false, perhaps meaning the iPhone 4G will have this feature. It’s possible the diagram is just a placeholder (it looks identical to the one used in other patents), but it could be indicative of a forward-facing camera in the iPhone 4G arriving later this year.

iPhone 4G To Have 5 Megapixel Camera With LED Flash?

OmniVision technologies has secured a deal with Apple for 5-megapixel camera sensors for the upcoming next-geniPhone. Sources report that OmniVision Technologies is expected to supply Apple with 40-45 million 5 megapixel sensors in 2010.

It’s reported that Apple is looking for a large quantity of LED camera flash components, suspected for the upcoming iPhone. Apple is seeking tens of millions of LED camera flash components for delivery in the 2010 calendar year, to go with the 5 megapixel camera sensors perhaps?

The same sources believe that the Philips’ Lumileds Lighting sector may have already secured the contract, and it’s thought that Apple will use the Philips LUXEON LED camera flash technology which combines the brightness of regular lighting with the long life and tiny size of LEDs.
Another interesting piece of information is that this flash is usually used with 5 megapixel or above camera sensors, which would confirm the use of 5 megapixel camera sensors in the new model.