iPhone 5 new design rumours, and Apple TV to be built by Loewe?

Now that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has been announced it’s time to move onto the other big smartphone news of the year: the imminent and inevitable arrival of the iPhone 5. Having left many fans disappointed last year with the incremental update that was the iPhone 4S, the next model is widely expected to be dubbed iPhone 5 and feature a major redesign. Rumours have been flying around for years that Apple was planning a larger handset to better compete with hugely popular Android phones such as the Galaxy S2 which have long since moved on from the 3ish-inch screen size. In 2011 The Register reported that Steve Jobs had vetoed a bigger iPhone to prevent fragmentation but given the tough fight Apple faces against Android, and the fact that Jobs is no longer around to prevent it happening, it would be very surprising indeed if the next iPhone did not sport a larger screen, no doubt with a higher resolution like the New iPad. Cult of Mac has noted that the iPhone 5’s internal components appear to have been redesigned, which almost certainly means some changes in the look of the iPhone 5, though this doesn’t tell us whether it could be a larger handset. It’s also possible the phone will be built using LiquidMetal, a glass/metal hybrid material for which Apple has an exclusive license. When will the iPhone 5 be released? Apple’s annual WWDC event is due to take place next month and there’s a distinct chance an announcement will be made at the conference. If that happens it is possible the iPhone 5 could go on sale in the US before Samsung’s Galaxy S3. The S3 isn’t expected to be available in North America until later this summer and Apple usually puts its devices on sale very shortly after unveiling them, potentially leaving Samsung in a very difficult position. The other major news coming out of Cupertino this year could be the announcement of the Apple ‘iTV’. Apple has been rumoured to have been working on its own smart TV for some time now, bringing iTunes and the App Store to living rooms and no doubt causing major problems for Sony, Samsung and LG at the same time.

TechRadar has claimed Apple is negotiating to buy German TV manufacturer Loewe for $112 million, a small fraction of the $100 billion it is currently sat on. Loewe makes stylish and very expensive equipment so would be a natural fit. It was also claimed that Foxconn - which builds much of Apple’s hardware - had been asked to constructthe TV, something it later denied. If Apple does produce a smart television we can expect history to repeat itself. Smart TVs have been available for some time but Apple will probably make it more attractive and market it better, selling millions and leaving everyone else fighting to catch up. wholesale accessories,iphone accessories,ipod accessories,ipad accessories