Apple releases iPhone 3.0.1 software to fix SMS exploit

Responding to a dangerous security exploit unveiled this week, Apple released an update to its iPhone operating system Friday to patch gaping security hole.

Firmware 3.0.1 is now available for the iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS through iTunes. The update is around 300MB. There do not appear to be any other new features or fixes other than the text message exploit patch.

New iPhone out June 19, 2009. Older 8GB 3G priced at $99

Schiller:

“But we want to reach even more customers. So we’re going to keep the iPhone 3G on the market… at $99.”

New iPhone 3Gs will be priced at $199 for 16GB, and $299 for 32GB.

iPhone 3GS available on June 19th. In U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and U.K.. Week later to six more, and in July to more countries, and into August to even more. Very quickly will take it to all over 80 countries iPhone is already in.

Apple to launch cut-price version of iPhone

Financial Times confidently reports that Apple is planning on launching a “cut-price” version of the iPhone on Monday.

Apple plans to introduce a cheaper version of its popular iPhone as soon as Monday, in a move that could dramatically increase the company’s share of the market for web-surfing devices, people familiar with the initiative said on Thursday.
Analysts said that the company wanted to show off either a $149 phone or a $99 phone, down from the current low end of $199 and still subsidised in exchange for an AT&T communications service contract.

They has been reasonably accurate in the past, though most their previous information had been surrounding Apple’s negotiations with record labels.

source:macrumors

Best Buy issues memo warning of iPhone constraints

Best Buy over the weekend became the latest Apple partner to warn staffers of dwindling iPhone supply that could leave some of its stores without product to sell for a few weeks later this month.

In a memo from its corporate division, the Richfield, Minnesota-based specialty electronics retailer told mobile sales employees that the iPhone 3G is now in constraint, noting that inventory of the touch-screen handsets will be light over the coming weeks and that some locations are likely to run out all together.

source:appleinsider

New Comparison Photo of Matte iPhone Enclosure?

A new image obtained by MacRumors is embedded above and shows the same matte case beside the current iPhone 3G, which is housed in a shinier plastic casing. The side-by-side image shows the clear difference between the two finishes. We have no further evidence that this case necessarily represents what the next iPhone will look like, but it does seem to be consistent with circulating rumors.

Apple is expected to launch a new iPhone this summer and may announce details at WWDC in early June.

Rumor Describes More Powerful 32GB iPhone

The current iPhone 3GJohn Gruber of Daring Fireball has stepped into the iPhone rumor arena for the second time this week. Initially Gruber gave some insight into the potential for background applications on the iPhone, this time the prominent blogger is talking hardware.

Gruber who has been accurate with rumors in the past concurs with speculation that the new iPhone will come in capacities of 16 and 32GB. On top of this Gruber also describes the new iPhone as having a 600MHz processor compared to the current 400MHz processor, but states that the “next-generation” CPU will give the illusion of being much faster than the megahertz increase would suggest.

Let’s say the rumors are right — and I believe they are — that the next-generation iPhone’s CPU will be running at 600 MHz. In the same way that, say, a 90 MHz Pentium was more than 1.5 times as fast as a 60 MHz 486, the 600 MHz CPU in the next iPhone will be more than 1.5 times as fast as the current 400 MHz iPhone CPU.

Alongside the change in processor the new iPhone will also sport 256MB of RAM twice that of the current iPhone.

As we’ve heard from other sources Gruber suggests that the external casing will remain very similar to the current iPhone.

Finally the Daring Fireball blogger confirms the presence of a digital compass (magnetometer) and the ability to record video. The new iPhone is said to have an auto-focus lens which will improve still photography and videos will be able to be edited and very easily uploaded to the Internet.

The new iPhone is expected to be announced at the WWDC 2009 opening keynote on June 8th.

source:worldofapple

iPhone doubles smartphone share in early 2009

Apple has managed to more than double its smartphone market share from year to year in the first quarter of 2009, according to Gartner data. iPhones jumped from 5.3 percent of the industry in early 2008 to 10.8 percent a year later. The jump has made Apple the third-largest smartphone maker in the world and gives it twice as much share as HTC, which had just 5.4 percent of the market and grew slowly even with the launch of Android phones.  In terms of unit sales, Apple jumped from 1.7 million in the first quarter of 2008 to 3.9 million during the same period in 2009.

Cheaper iPhone Plans from AT&T?

So many rumors, it must be true, right? BusinessWeek reports that AT&T is considering introducing a discounted limited data plan for the iPhone at $20 per month. AT&T currently offers only an unlimited data plan for $30 per month, and the data transfer cap for the rumored discounted plan remains unknown.

Analyst Richard Doherty claims that the additional data plan option is being driven by Apple, which wants to offer a lower-cost entry point for the iPhone. AT&T, which is reportedly still trying to lock up an extension to its exclusivity agreement for the iPhone, is also looking for ways to continue to increase its subscriber base.

The report also touches on rumors of a price drop for the next-generation as component prices continue to decline and AT&T considers offering the entry-level iPhone for $99 instead of the current $199. A prepaid iPhone is also reportedly under consideration.

Apple execs disclose options for boosting iPhone market share

This from Appleinsider today:

Apple executives said this week they believe the iPhone remains in its infancy and went on to — somewhat uncharacteristically — reveal a series of strategic measures they may employ in the near term to help grow the handset’s share of the booming smartphone market.

The comments came during a meeting between senior company officials and analysts for Oppenheimer, who stopped at the iPhone maker’s Cupertino-based campus Thursday as part of a bus tour that also swung by the headquarters of Synaptics, Trimble Navigation, Zoran, and Cypress Semiconductor.

In a report on the meetings issued to clients Friday, analyst Yair Reiner said Apple sidestepped his questions on new products but remained upbeat about the potential for “considerable” growth through share gains in two of its three core business segments: the Mac and iPhone.

Click here for complete article on Appleinsider.

New iPhone and iPod Touch details? iPod to get camera?

HardMac claims that they have heard some interesting tidbits about future iPhones and iPods from their sources. 

• The future iPhone models will have exactly the same shape and size than the current iPhone 3G, despite fakes and rumors circulating.
• Apple should refresh models for the iPod nano and Touch in september. Both should now include a camera, similarly to the iPhone.

The iPhone retaining its current shape and size is perhaps consistent with the recent rumors from China, but the addition of a camera to the iPod Touch and iPod Nano is a new possibility.

A camera on the iPod Touch may make the most sense as it would bring the iPhone and iPod Touch closer together in terms of features. A camera addition to the iPod Nano, however, would be a surprise. There has been talk that Apple might be positioning video to be a killer feature in the next iPhones, and this could be an extension of that.

Meanwhile, some Best Buy inventory screenshots reveal some product placeholders for something called “Project Charlie”. Some are speculating that this could be the new iPhone, but we have our doubts of the significance of this. In the past, it’s been shown that Best Buy frequently adds inventory items without any insider knowledge.

source:macrumors|hardmac