If you’re resolute in your anti-Android stance, you’re probably not all that bothered by what Samsung had to show off last night. While there’s some amazing technology on show in theGalaxy S3, it won’t be a patch on the iPhone 5, right? No one outside Apple knows for sure, but if it looks like this – and with these specs – it should be golden… Now, first off, we should say that none of this is certain. Far from it: it’s speculative stuff form iLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz. Horwitz has a track record of getting this stuff both right and wrong, and it’s opportune to present some iPhone 5 ‘specs’around the time of the Galaxy S3 launch, but even so there’s enough here that rings true. For a start, Horwitz claims that the iPhone 5 will be hewn from both Liquidmetal (as was previously rumoured) and that part of the back will be made of a similar metal to that found on the band wrapping round the iPhone 4 and 4S. In keeping with the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 will keep the squared-off shape, rather than adopting the tapered build of the iPad. Samsung Galaxy S3: All the details Even so, it’s going to shave off 2mm in thickness. Horwitz also claims that the display is going to expand. According to his insider gossip, the iPhone 5’s display will grow from a 3:2 aspect ratio to a 16:9, 4-inch one, in order to better support HD movies. This’ll happen by simply growing the length of the iPhone. So far, so plausible. But that’s just about where the plausibility ends. Horwitz claims that Apple will use the iPhone 5 to ditch the standard pin connector that Apple’s been using since day one. We highly doubt that’ll happen. Why? Because it’ll mean that none of your chargers, docks and speakers will work with it. We just can’t see that being the case: one of the thing’s the iPhone really has going for it is the universal abundance of these docks. To send them to the scrap heap would be a bold move indeed. As mentioned, this is mere speculation, so take it lightly. What would you like to see in the iPhone 5? Or is it all redundant in the face of the Galaxy S3? Let us know below. wholesale accessories,ipad accessories,iphone accessories,ipod accessories

iPhone 5 to feature a 4-inch screen, new Dock connector?

What's next for Apple's iPhone line? (Credit: Apple) The iPhone 5 rumors keep coming. Apple's upcoming smartphone will come with a 4-inch screen, due mainly to a thinner, taller body, according to Apple-focused site iLounge, citing an unnamed source. The site's source claims Apple's new iPhone will be 10mm taller than the iPhone 4S, and about 2mm thinner. By keeping the same width and tossing in the display to fit the new form factor, Apple is able to deliver more screen space than what's available on 3.5-inch-equipped iPhones, according to the source. Although the front of the iPhone 5 will look about the same, the back will feature a flat, metal panel stretching from beneath the camera to nearly the bottom. iLounge's sources did not say why the device might come with that additional element. Aside from the metal panel, the device will boast Gorilla Glass 2 technology, according to the site's source. One of the more surprising moves, though, might be iLounge's contention that Apple will launch the iPhone 5 with a new Dock connector featuring fewer pins than the 30-pin option found across its mobile devices today. The new connector is "closer to a pill shape" and will find its way to all future mobile devices the company launches, according to iLounge. Rumors have been surrounding the iPhone 5 for months now. Much of what iLounge claims will be coming to the device has already been cited in previous rumors. And in each case, Apple has stayed tight-lipped, allowing the rumor mill to heat up and speculation to run rampant. So, be sure to take all of this with a healthy heaping of salt until the final product is officially announced. And when might that final product be announced? iLounge says the iPhone 5 is slated for a fall release. wholesale accessories,ipad accessories,iphone accessories,ipod accessories

The upcoming iPhone 5 of Apple may be thinner and lighter

The upcoming iPhone 5 of Apple may be thinner and lighter if reports that the much-anticipated smartphone the in-cell touch panels are proven to be accurate. Due to an increase in the production yield rates for the panels, Apple was reportedly encourage to start working with a pair of companies based in Japan, Sharp and Toshiba. The panels will reportedly allow Apple to do away with using glass or extra sensors on the upcoming iPhone 5 since the touch technology is integrated into the LCD itself. This will result to a thinner and lighter design for the upcoming Apple iPhone 5. The technology will reportedly be highlighted in upcoming display conferences that are set to be held in Taiwan. The use of in-cell touch panels have been discussed by a number of companies in the past couple of years. With the possible use of the in-cell touch panel technology on the iPhone 5, a number of component suppliers of Apple may be affected including Wintek and TPK Holdings, which supply the standard glass used on glass touch technology. Reports have also hinted at a possible third quarter release for the iPhone 5 of Apple and may be launched by Apple either in June or in October. Last year the iPhone 4S was introduced by Apple in October. Some industry watchers have also hinted that Apple may not use the name iPhone 5 on its next product offering due to the fact that it called its latest iPad offering as the new iPad instead of the iPad 3. Since no confirmations were made by Apple on the supposed features that were reported earlier on the upcoming iPhone 5, it remains uncertain if these will be actually used on the next version of the iPhone of Apple. Earlier reports indicated that the upcoming iPhone 5 will use Liquidmetal to make the device quite durable although this report also remains uncertain since the company has remained silent on the possible features that will come with its upcoming device offering. wholesale accessories,iphone accessories,ipad accessories,ipod accessories

Judge again orders Apple, Samsung to streamline claims in iPad patent case

IDG News Service - Apple and Samsung Electronics have until Monday to further boil down the number of claims to be considered in the sweeping intellectual-property lawsuit concerning their smartphone and tablet products, which is now scheduled to go to trial July 30. Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the companies to pare down the case, in which Apple and Samsung are suing each other over patent infringement and other claims, so a jury can understand and fairly judge the issues in one trial. It was the second time the judge had asked them to downsize their claims. The order came at a case management conference at the court on Wednesday afternoon. In a joint statement filed Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday’s conference, Apple and Samsung each had offered to drop some patents and claims from the case but said lack of cooperation from the other side prevented greater streamlining. But that left 16 patents, six trademarks, five “trade dress” claims, and an antitrust case, with 37 products accused of violations. The companies each will have 25 hours to present their cases to a jury. “I think that’s cruel and unusual punishment to a jury, so I’m not willing to do it,” Judge Koh said. “If you’re going to trial in July, this is not going to be acceptable.” If the companies don’t present a more workable set of claims, the trial date could be pushed back to 2013, she suggested. Apple said it was the only party with an interest in bringing the case to trial on time, and attorney Harold McElhinny of Morrison & Foerster, representing Apple, did most of the pleading for another chance to pare the case down. He asked for guidance on how much the companies could bring to trial, but Koh would not spell it out. “We will do whatever we need to do to hold the trial date,” McElhinny said. Apple sued Samsung in April 2011, claiming the South Korean electronics giant had violated a long list of Apple patents and trademarks in its Android smartphones and tablets. Samsung then sued Apple on patent claims of its own. In February, Apple sued Samsung again on similar grounds, citing products Samsung had introduced after the 2011 complaint was filed. The companies are now embroiled in an array of disputes in courts in several countries. Also in the joint statement filed Tuesday, each side asked the court not to allow some opposing witnesses and made a variety of other requests for ground rules of the trial. Among other things, Apple asked that the Samsung logo on in-court video screens be obscured during the trial. Apple also wanted the court to exclude any arguments or evidence based on statements attributed to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in the popular biography written by Walter Isaacson, as well as any references to working conditions in China or to the size of Apple’s tax bills. wholesale accessories,ipad accessories,iphone accessories,ipod accessories

Samsung set to unveil iPhone challenger

If Apple were to challenge its smartphone competitors to a contest with its all-conquering iPhone 4S, Samsung’s Galaxy S would probably be the model thrown into the arena to compete. A new, third version of the Galaxy S will be unveiled in Earls Court, London, on Thursday amid speculation that it could be the official phone for the 2012 Olympics, which Samsung is sponsoring. It will be a flagship phone but one added to the many models offered by Samsung that now make it hard to catch in the smartphone race, according to some analysts. Juniper Research reported on Tuesday that Samsung overtook Apple again in smartphone sales in the first quarter “in what is increasingly becoming a two-horse race“. It estimated that the two companies provided 60 per cent of the 139m smartphones shipped worldwide, up from 46 per cent in the previous quarter. Samsung “may now have established a firm lead” with 47m units to Apple’s 35m, Juniper said; although analysts have widely different estimates of Samsung sales, which are not specified by the company. Samsung overtakes Apple, Nokia in phone sales Apple still leads in handset revenues though, according to Juniper, with sales of $22.7bn in the first quarter compared with about $17bn for Samsung, including the Korean company’s non-smartphones, or feature phones. Samsung has produced a wide variety of smartphones running Android, Windows Phone and its own Bada operating systems. Screen sizes have varied wildly, ranging as big as the 5.3in Galaxy Note, a smartphone/tablet hybrid equipped with a stylus. In contrast, Apple has stuck to a 3.5in screen size since the iPhone’s debut and sales are focused on the latest 4S model, although the 4 and 3GS versions continue to be available. While Samsung has enjoyed success with the Note and built Google its own flagship smartphone in the Galaxy Nexus, it is the Galaxy S that has won the most praise from critics and proved the most popular with customers. After the Galaxy S II was introduced last year, TechRadar blog gave it five stars and said it set a new bar for smartphones in 2011, while Engadget gave it 9 out of 10 and called it “the best Android smartphone yet” and “possibly the best smartphone, period“. Samsung sold 10m units in the first five months and, after it was introduced in the US in autumn, sales had reached 20m by February this year. “The S II has been a phenomenon,” says Ben Wood, mobile analyst with CCS Insight. “Its volumes have been eye watering and it really has been the making of Samsung, while other competitors have fallen away.” The blogosphere has been rampant with rumours of what the Galaxy S III will feature. It is expected to have Samsung’s own Exynos quad-core processor, improved video performance, a screen size as large as 4.8in, possibly a 12 megapixel camera, an NFC chip for payments and data exchanges, while it will run the latest version of the Android operating system, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich. “We’re expecting a super-thin device with a stunning display and a top-of-the-line processor,” said Mr Wood. Mr Wood predicted it would quickly become the number-one selling Android smartphone but added that the true test of the device would come later this year when Apple launches its next iteration of the iPhone. wholesale accessories,ipad accessories,iphone accessories,ipod accessories

Samsung smartphone shipments soar stunning 267%, trouncing iPhone

Apple apologists’ brief respite is over. Late last week, IHS iSuppli and Strategy Analytics released first quarter data putting Samsung handset shipments ahead of Nokia, ending the Finnish company’s 14-year reign. But the analyst firms couldn’t agree on smartphones, with Strategy Analytics positioning Samsung ahead of Apple, but IHS giving the nod to iPhone. The Apple Fanclub clung to the “We’re No. 1!” data, unsurprisingly. But the last word comes today from IDC, which corroborates Strategy Analytics, crowning Samsung king in both categories. “The halcyon days of rapid growth in the smartphone market have been good to Samsung”, Kevin Restivo, IDC senior research analyst, says. “Samsung has used its established relationships with carriers in a mix of economically diverse markets to gain share organically and at the expense of former high fliers such as Nokia”. Strategy Analytics puts Samsung’s Q1 smartphone shipment at 44.5 million, compared to Apple’s 35.1 million, IHS says 32 million for the South Korean electronics giant. IDC’s number is way closer to Strategy Analytics, but not as high: 42.2 million. Samsung ended the quarter with 29.1 percent share to Apple’s 24.2 percent, according to IDC. Market share rose a stunning 267 percent, lifting Samsung from fourth to first place year over year. However, in the broader handset market, change was 35.4 percent. Apple rose 88.4 percent broadly and 88.7 percent in smartphones. Together, Apple and Samsung accounted for all the growth in smartphones among the top five during the quarter, dramatically taking it from all the major vendors, including HTC, Nokia and Research in Motion. However, the “other’ category grew by 59.6 percent, lifted by some Chinese name and white box manufacturers. “The race between Apple and Samsung remained tight during the quarter, even as both companies posted growth in key areas”, Ramon Llamas, IDC senior research analyst, says. “Apple launched its popular iPhone 4S in additional key markets, most notably in China, and Samsung experienced continued success from its Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet and other Galaxy smartphones”. He emphasizes: “With other companies in the midst of major strategic transitions, the contest between Apple and Samsung will bear close observation as hotly-anticipated new models are launched”. Samsung will beat Apple to new model launch, during an event scheduled for Thursday in London. Disaster wouldn’t strongly enough describe Nokia’s quarter. Handset sales plunged 23.8 percent year over year and more severely for smartphones — 50.8 percent. This tremendous share loss comes during the first full quarter of Lumia Windows Phone sales. Last month, I wrote “Nokia does the Windows Phone death dance“. Nokia’s Q1 performance makes my analysis look faint. Emerging markets, China among them, where Nokia once was overwhelmingly dominant, greatly contributed to share declines. Apple and Samsung saw strong sales growth, particularly in China. Research in Motion and HTC loses were severe, even if less than Nokia’s — 29.7 percent and 23.3 percent, respectively. An early leader among Android licensees, HTC can’t keep pace with Samsung. The manufacturer had a particularly hard quarter in the United States, which Asia-Pacific performance somewhat overset.

Broadly, global handset shipments declined 1.5 percent during first quarter — 398.4 million units from 404.3 million a year earlier. By comparison, smartphone shipments rose 42.5 percent year over year but nowhere as strong as the holiday quarter’s 57.4 percent. Growth beat IDCs forecast by 1 percent. Manufacturers shipped 144.9 million smartphones compared to 101.7 million a year earlier. wholesale accessories,ipad accessories,iphone accessories,ipod accessories

iPhone 5 Release Date Rumors: News and Specs Update

ccording to a report from global securities and investment group Jefferies, Apple’s next iPhone will be 20 percent thinner than the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4 due to the use of new materials. In addition, the device is expected to have a 4-inch screen and get an improvement resolution. According to Jefferies’ prediction, given that the iPhone 4 and the 4S both have Retina display, the iPhone 5 could come with a screen with higher than 324 pixels per inch. The analyst firm also notes that the release date of the iPhone 5 is economically unimportant to the Cupertino company. “We have penciled in 15 million iPhone 5 shipments for [the third quarter], out of their 40 million total estimate, and 50 million total iPhones in the fourth quarter,” the research note said. “Beginning in September, Apple will have more than 175 million iPhone subscribers globally. Assuming a two-year replacement implies a base case of about 20 million iPhones a quarter.” Jefferies is also counting on the presentation of iOS 6 and an upgrade to iCloud at the upcoming WWDC in June. wholesale accessories,iphone accessories,ipad accessories,ipod accessories