Month: January 2010

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.

Apologies For Lack of Posting

As you might have noticed, there has been a lack of posting recently this is due to exams that I have next week and I’ve been revising my notes so I’ve not had much time to post. I have many posts ready to come but they might be delayed a bit, or maybe this weekend depending how much work I’ve got done.

Thanks for understanding and come back soon

@sbraidley