Singapore Deems iPad 2 to Be Military-Grade with an Order of 8,000

Singapore is either technologically-advanced or just likes to keep up with the mass-consumer market. Either way, the Singapore Ministry of Defense recently purchased 8,000 onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.ipadngravy.com');" target="_blank" title="iPad" href="http://www.ip4help.com">iPad 2 tablets to be used by the country’s military, navy, and air force beginning in November. That is quite an investment, especially considering how the iPad is aimed at consumers and professionals. It is not necessarily designed for or ready for such abuse without a few durability modifications.

The more basic in-field usage of iPad would be for taking photos and videos to then upload to Singapore Armed Forces’s LEARNet. We’re not sure if they got the memo that the iPad 2′s camera quality is not one of the device’s strongest points, but then again that is a reasonable tradeoff as long as that isn’t the main reason for putting tablets into the field. Soldiers will also be encouraged to use the tablets to hold video chat discussions and easily contact one another.

Of course, expect tons of custom-tailored apps to be developed specifically for the Singapore Armed Forces; seemingly-futuristic, deserving-of-the-adjective “cool” apps you will never get to try.

The fact that Singapore is strongly based around its Armed Forces makes the news more significant. Every legal resident 18 and over in the country is required to complete two years of military training.

Defense chief Neo Kian Hong (indirectly) addresses my opening thoughts with his statement on the use of the iPad: “By exploiting the use of popular and current information and communications technology, we are able to harness our advantage of today’s technologically savvy servicemen.”

[via onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/old.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110627/tc_afp/singaporemilitaryinternettechnologyipadusapple');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Yahoo! News]

Report the weather with Weddar for iPhone

Weddar for iPhone is a weather forecast app powered by the people, for the people. You can check out current weather reports from real people as well as contribute your own. Instead of a generic forecasts, Weddar provides reports such as “feels good, but a little windy” for a more personal and realistic feel.

The recent update of Weddar includes the following:

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think! Check out the screenshots after the break.

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

[Free - iTunes link]

UPDATE: Released – TRANSFORMERS: Dark of the Moon, Native iPhone Game Rolling Out

Kudos to EA Mobile, one of the most popular movie franchises is on its way to the iPhone. Fans of the TRANSFORMERS movie series will be psyched to hear that a native iPhone and onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.ipadngravy.com');" target="_blank" title="iPad" href="http://www.ip4help.com">iPad version will soon be rolling out (pun very much intended!) on the App Store.

UPDATE: The game is now out on the US app store for $2.99 (introductory price, full price $4.99). You can buy it onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/transformers-dark-of-the-moon/id442480572?mt=8');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">here or wait for my review and then buy it onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/transformers-dark-of-the-moon/id442480572?mt=8');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">there.

UPDATE: The game is currently out in New Zealand (which is a full day ahead of the US) at a price equivalent to $4.99. It will release on the US app store tonight at 11 PM EST.

I recently received an email with press assets to EA Mobile’s, as far as I know, most-close-to-release iPhone title. This Tuesday, June 28th, a game based on the TRANSFORMERS series’ newest movie, TRANSFORMERS: Dark of the Moon will be launching on the App Store – and I’ll have a review for you!

Here’s the game’s official trailer: width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hK9V_Os-23E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Daily Tip: How to tethered jailbreak iOS 5 beta 2 via Redsn0w 0.9.8b1

Just get iOS 5 beta 2 and already wondering how to Jailbreak it? We recently showed you how to jailbreak iOS 5 beta 1 with Redsn0w. Fortunately, the process for beta 2 isn’t much different. You’ll simply need to use the beta 1 IPSW in order to jailbreak.

As always, betas are already buggy to begin with, and iOS 5 is no exception. The Dev-Team and many jailbreak devs are really only encouraging developers to jailbreak iOS 5 beta as of now. So if you are a developer (or a ninja who is afraid of nothing), follow along for a short walk-through.

And I can’t say this enough times, if your device is not listed above, please do not attempt to jailbreak it on iOS 5!

After you have iOS 5 beta 2 installed on your device and your version of iTunes upgraded to 10.5 beta 2, follow the steps below to jailbreak.

1. First launch Redsn0w.




2. It should ask you to navigate to a firmware file. Simply navigate to the iOS 5 beta 1 firmware file instead of beta 2.


3. Once you click next, Redsn0w will take a minute to do it’s thing. You should see a patching kernel message and that Redsn0w successfully recognized your firmware.




4. Next select the options you’d like Redsn0w to perform. I typically only select Install Cydia. It’s worth noting that this is where you will perform a tethered boot if needed as well. You will just select Just boot tethered for now if you need to do this or your device reboots or dies.




5. Redsn0w will now walk you through putting your device into DFU mode




6. After you’re successfully in DFU mode, simply let Redsn0w do its thing and you’re done!

That’s it! The process is pretty much the same as the first time around. But if you do run into problems or have questions, make sure you check out our TiPb Jailbreak Forums. We’ve got tons of great members more than ready and willing to help!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

iPad Live 62: SHSH it

Georgia, Craig, Seth, and Rene talk iOS 5 beta 2, MobileMe to iCloud transition, iPad 3 rumors, New York Post lockout, Skype app, and AirPlay mirroring. This is iPad Live!

Thanks to the TiPb iPad Accessory Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Music Hear me Roar by iPad Live theme song contest winner, DieselJesus!

ThinkGeek’s Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard – A Fantasy for Many?

Now, why someone normal (I’m not normal, evidently) would actually purchase one of these is completely past me, but they are pretty darn cool. ThinkGeek’s onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/cell-phone/e722/');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Cube Laser Keyboard, made especially for the iPhone, iPod Touch and onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.ipadngravy.com');" target="_blank" title="iPad" href="http://www.ip4help.com">iPad, retails for $170 and is a gizmo for people who like virtual keyboards, but dislike the iPhone’s and iPad’s.

This does have some significance to href="http://www.ip4help.com">our poll on whether people prefer the iPhone’s virtual keyboard or would rather have an external keyboard. ThinkGeek’s laser keyboard is an external keyboard, but is not something you can “feel” – rather, it’s a virtual keyboard.

The product is basically a tiny, very-practical-for-traveling, projector that projects a full-size QWERTY keyboard on to any surface. The virtual, laser keyboard can then be used for typing on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad by pairing via bluetooth.

I wouldn’t mind one of these, but I’m starting to wonder how comfortable it would feel. In my opinion, it seems as if typing on a desk could prove to be a bit weird after awhile. And the projector’s small size does conflict with the fact that the keyboard will take up a considerable amount of room. Not sure what I’m quite yet getting at. Skepticism aside, the project looks as it is a pretty innovative venture, though once you see the price, your jaws may hit the floor. It’s not surprising that it costs $169.99, because it is a projector, but it’s not too ideal. If you are intrigued by the product, you can purchase it onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/cell-phone/e722/#tabs');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">here. And it also does work with PCs and Macs with bluetooth-pairing capabilities.

Here’s a quick demonstration of the Laser Keyboard in action on an iPad:/> width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bSNOAUExTsw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

TRANSFORMERS: Dark of the Moon, Native iPhone Game Rolling Out

Kudos to EA Mobile, one of the most popular movie franchises is on its way to the iPhone. Fans of the TRANSFORMERS movie series will be psyched to hear that a native iPhone and onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.ipadngravy.com');" target="_blank" title="iPad" href="http://www.ip4help.com">iPad version will soon be rolling out (pun very much intended!) on the App Store.

UPDATE: The game is currently out in New Zealand at a price equivalent to $4.99. It will release on the US app store tonight at 11 PM EST.

I recently received an email with press assets to EA Mobile’s, as far as I know, most-close-to-release iPhone title. This Tuesday, June 28th, a game based on the TRANSFORMERS series’ newest movie, TRANSFORMERS: Dark of the Moon will be launching on the App Store – and I’ll have a review for you!

Here’s the game’s official trailer: width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hK9V_Os-23E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Fring updated with iPad support and 4 way group video calling [video]

Fring has just stolen a big march on Skype, releasing an iPad optimized version that can do 4-way video calling. That’s right, a 4-way video call can now be made on an iPad 2 and you can see all the participants at once; as the screen is quartered to accommodate the four separate streams.

You can make the video calls over 3G as well as WiFi and as an added bonus, it is a multi platform app. You can use it to talk and video chat with your friends even if they have an Android or Nokia device.

Take a look at the video of Fring in action after the break. Let us know if you currently use Fring at the moment or plan to after seeing this update?

[Free – iTunes link]

A Few More Kickstarter Projects Worth Checking Out

As a continuation of my previous article on target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">interesting iPhone endeavors soon to be, I’ve got three more today from onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.kickstarter.com');" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Kickstarter that I have been dying to share. If you don’t already know what Kickstarter is, it’s a community website designed to aid creative people in “kickstarting” their products. By donating as little as $1, you can help different projects materialize. Different things are promised in return for backing a product, which could include the product itself.

(Goal reached; funding still going on)

href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19713">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/red-pop12.png" alt="" title="red pop1" width="258" height="145" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19713" />The Red Pop, from the same guys who made the href="http://www.ip4help.com">Movie Peg, is a product that will make taking pictures easier. Feeding off of the fact that some pictures just need to be taken at the right moment, the innovative product allows you to take pictures with a single, physical click. The product itself will wrap around the bottom of your iPhone, providing you with a simple and easy way to snap photos when most needed – vacations, sporting games, etc.

style="padding-top: 60px;">

onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.kickstarter.com/projects/1851768099/the-infinite-loop-tablet-and-smartphone-stand?ref=live');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">The Infinite Loop

(Goal reached; funding still going on)

target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19726">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/infiniteloop.jpg" alt="" title="infiniteloop" width="233" height="175" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19726" />The large mass of stands currently available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.ipadngravy.com');" title="iPad" href="http://www.ip4help.com">iPad is actually quite overwhelming. Every major accessory retailer has their own take on what should be propping up your iDevice when you want to go hands-free. This new project on Kickstarter, is a stand, but not just any – it’s most definitely in a whole other category from all of the rest. This stand lets you take control of what exactly you want it to be. Instead of the product limiting you from where you can prop up your iPhone, iPod Touch of iPad hands-free, whether it be your bed, your stomach or someplace else, there is no limit. Hence the name, Infinite Loop. You can mold the stand into any shape wanted to give you an almost endless amount of possibilities for standing up your device. The highly innovative design also makes the Infinite Loop easily portable, with the ability to roll up into a compact circle. When the product becomes available, an iPad and mini iPhone/iPod Touch version will be sold separately.

(Goal reached; funding still going on)

href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19743">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/indie-game.jpg" alt="" title="indie game" width="200" height="150" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19743" />Indie Game: The Movie is a documentary based on the hardships of being an indie, in other words an independent, developer. The film will follow the emotional process of development of Edmund McMillen’s and Tommy Refenes’s “Super Meat Boy” for the XBLA, of Phil Fish’s “Fez” and of Jonathan Blow’s “Braid”. Based on the trailer posted at Kickstarter, the title seems like it will be a great illustration of the difficulties behind game development: time, money while developing, and more. It doesn’t quite pertain to the iPhone, though does represent what iPhone indie developers go through. Look out for it soon.

That’s all for now. Keep a lookout for more cool Kickstarter projects soon – there are plenty of upcoming iPhone/iPod Touch gizmos that will soon be coming out, and some will definitely be worth keeping close tabs on.

Turn Your iPad 2 Cover Into A Smart Cover

Have a nice iPad 2 case/cover, but it doesn’t sleep and wake your iPad when you open it? Here’s a quick and easy way to to modify your existing cover into a smart cover. All you need is a thin magnetic strip or sheet with a sticky side for attaching. You can get this at Walmart, ACE Hardware or home goods store of your preference.  Cut out a piece of magnet approximately 3/4″ X 1 1/2″.

Before peeling off the paper from the sticky side, place the magnet face down on the right side of the iPad near the edge and at the top and slide the magnet down until your iPad responds. Now that you know where the corresponding iPad magnet is, peel the paper off the magnet and lay face down over the corresponding iPad magnet.

 

When you have it placed the way you want it, just close your cover and the magnet is stuck to the inside. Open it and close it to make sure of the proper placement. That’s it, you’ve just converted your iPad 2 cover into a smart cover.

This article was published as part of the everythingiCafe Guest Blogger Program. Interested in writing about the iPhone or iPad? Learn more on how your contributions can earn you valuable iTunes Gift Certificates.

Found Footage: A Wedding Shot Entirely With iPhones

Properly photographing a wedding usually involves having 2 or 3 different cameras on hands, a bunch of lenses, strobes, weird lighting rigs, assistants, and more than a little liquid courage in order to deal with angry brides and in-laws. Yet here we have a wedding shot entirely on the iPhone 4, and what can I say? Some of the shots look downright good! And it’s certainly a lot less intrusive then getting all up in someone’s grill with a Nikon D3s.

[via FStoppers]

Electro Chuck for iPhone now available

Electro Chuck, an adventure/skill game for iPhone, is now available. The goal of the game is to tilt your iPhone to steer Chuck through all the levels without touching the electric line. The more centered and precise you are, the more points you get!

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think! Check out the screenshots after the break.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Developer Spotlight: Igor Zhadanov of Readdle

TiPb’s developer spotlights are like DVD/iTunes Extras for the App Store — a weekly look behind the scenes at the programers and designers that bring you the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games you love. This week Rene talks with Igor Zhadanov from Readdle.

What’s your name? My name is Igor Zhadanov, I am the CEO and co-founder of Readdle.

What’s your company’s name? Readdle.

Why Readdle? Once the very first iPhone was released, we were thinking about the way to read books on it. There was no API nor AppStore, so we built a web service to store books online and access them via Mobile Safari. Back in the 2007 the term “cloud” wasn’t a buzz word, and we were looking for something related to web 2.0 and reading. So we settled on “Readdle” as the name of the service. Later this turned into the company name.

Where are you located? We are based in Odessa, Ukraine.

What’s your website address? http://readdle.com

What’s your Twitter name? @readdle, most tweets are done by @denzhadanov

What apps do you make? PDF Expert for iPad, the ultimate solution for all PDF needs: fill forms, annotate PDFs and sign documents on the go. Scanner Pro, which transforms the iPhone into portable scanner. It lets you scan multipage documents, email them and even upload to Dropbox, MobileMe iDisk or any other WebDAV enabled server. Evernote integration is there too. Calendars, the most elegant and easy to use Google Calendar client available on the App Store. Printer Pro, which prints attachments, documents, web pages and more right from the iPad. And ReaddleDocs, a revolutionary document viewer, file manager and attachment saver for iPhone and iPod Touch

What apps, other than your own, are currently among your favorites? Reeder, Skype, 1Password, and Things for iPhone and Things for iPad

How long have you been a developer? I personally was a developer 7 years ago, but that didn’t last long. Thankfully, two of my partners has 10+ years of development experience, so our team always have someone to rely on.

How long have you been an iOS developer? Since the day one of the App Store, ReaddleDocs was available. We were also present on the launch of the iPad App Store. Therefore, we are in iOS development for almost 4 years so far.

Do you develop for any other platform in addition to iOS? If so, which one(s)? Not now. We had two Android projects in the past, but those did not succeed and we sold them.

What primary computer setup do you use for your iOS development? Most of the development team use Macbook Pros or the latest Mac Mini with two displays connected to each. Dual monitor setup turned to make the development faster and everybody loves working this way.

What iOS device(s) do you personally use most often? iPhone 4, definitely. Even though I spend most of the day at the computer, 50 phone calls or 20+ new todo items per day are typical to be handled on the iPhone.

What mobile devices, other than iOS, do you currently use? None. We do monitor Android and WP7 phones and there are some great features from both of them, but overall, they lack the integrity of the iOS.

What’s your favorite thing about developing for iOS? You never know what is the next step. The iOS is growing so fast, that new discoveries are available daily. For instance, we had some concerns about our products running in the aviation industry, as technically it is close to impossible to ensure 100% stability of the app. But the aviation industry said “We are using laptops now and they are crashing all the time. So the iPads are much better, as they weigh less and you don’t have to reboot it”.

What’s your least favorite thing about developing for iOS? There is no way to know whether Apple approves your app based on a new concept or not. Once you make something really different, there is a chance it won’t go live due to some unclear Apple’s concerns.

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the iOS SDK? More control for the system-wide aspects available to the application. For example, once I am on the call on Skype, I do not want to be interrupted by incoming cell call. Now it is not possible for developers to do something about that.

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the App Store? The ability to reply to user comments. Some users do not understand that their App Store comments can not be answered by developers. Eventually it leads to cases when irrelevant comments hurt the application sales and reputation, even when the issue can be solved in a single email.

What do you do when you’re not coding iOS apps? Everything else related to the business: new business models, application design, marketing, legal deals, payrolls etc. I make things happen and ensure that business runs properly, and each of the 25 people at Readdle does their job.

What should we look for from you next? One productivity product for iPad and one for iPhone. Both are coming in July.

Our new business card scanner for iPhone will be best in class app with the most advanced OCR engine. As for iPad, we are launching a PDF Converter app, which will convert everything (web pages, office files, docs) into PDFs. Moreover, it will have print option, which will make it very handy productivity app.

We’ll keep TiPb posted very soon!

Thanks Igor!

If anyone has any follow up questions, leave them in the comments or head on over to Readdle’s Facebook page and ask away!

TomTom HD Traffic Service for iPhone now available [giveaway]

TomTom International has updated their family of navigation apps with the availability of TomTom HD Traffic Service. This service chooses your route based on the current traffic reports and is available as an in-app purchase for $19.99.

TomTom HD Traffic: Experience the most-accurate, real-time traffic coverage available with revolutionary TomTom HD Traffic service. TomTom HD Traffic is more accurate, provides more road coverage, and delivers updates every 2 minutes to get you around traffic more effectively than ever before. Available via in-App purchase.

Updated TomTom maps: Because roads are constantly changing, on average 15% of roads change every year, your TomTom App update comes with the latest and most up-to-date map.

Multi-stop routes: Make your journeys simpler. With up to five stops on your journey, you can pick up friends and visit places of interest more easily – and you only need to plan your route once.

The good folks at TomTom International have give us a promo code for TomTom U.S. & Canada to give away to one of you, our awesome readers! For a chance to win, let us know approximately how many miles you drive per week. (Note that the traffic subscription will still be an additional $19.99).

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think!

[$59.99 for U.S. & Canada - iTunes link] [other prices vary - TomTom developer iTunes link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

iOS 5 Beta 2 Brings The Wireless Revolution

Friday saw the release of iOS 5 beta 2 to those with developer accounts, and given that nobody bothers with NDAs anyway, we’re already seeing all the cool new features — chief among them some pretty hefty wireless capabilities.

Wireless syncing with iTunes is now up and running, minor OS updates can now get sent out over 3G and you can now enter recovery mode without being attached to a computer. This latter development could end up being a major boon for jailbreakers — the need to tether and enter recovery mode for certain jailbreaks could potentially be circumvented through this new ability.

What else is in the new edition? Better support for Chinese mail servers. iMessage only works between beta 2 users, but is much faster. The OS update also killed off a non-jailbreak, SIM-based unlock that was in the works.

The notification/lock screen has received an overhaul, making individual alerts much larger and web apps now get native scrolling.

Oh, and that video at the top? That’s the new boot animation.

Full changelog after the jump:

Notes and Known Issues:

The following issues relate to using the 5.0 SDK to develop code.

Accounts

Address Book

AirPlay

Apple TV

Assistant

Audio

Bluetooth

CalDav

Calendar

GameKit

Graphics

iBooks

iCloud Backup

iCloud Storage

iMessage

iTunes

MMS

Reminders

Settings

Springboard

UI Automation

UIKit

WebKit

WiFi Syncing

Xcode

 

ZENandTECH 5: Food fight

Georgia and Return talk about nutrition. And phasers. Okay, mostly nutrition. Why it’s important, how you can get the fuel you need even while living a fast-paced, tech-filled life, and some tips, tricks, and picks on how to eat and feel better.

Read on for the show notes!

One week left to enter! To coincide with ZENandTECH 4: Exercism, we’re giving away a barely used, mint-condition Nintendo Wii (we review a lot of stuff we never have a chance to use later). One lucky listener will get to work out, and have fun, with Wii Sports and a bunch of other active, exciting games.

All you have to do to enter is head on over to iTunes and give ZENandTECH a review. (We’d love 5 stars, but that’s not a requirement!)

Because iTunes doesn’t provide contact info, once you’ve posted your review, just shoot us an email at podcast@zenandtech.tv and let us know which one is yours. We won’t make your email public, but we will use it to contact you if you win!

And hey, if you already have a Wii, enter anyway. You can give it to a loved on or friend, a child or grandparent, anyone who would benefit from staying healthy and having fun!

That’s it! Go enter!

This episode of ZEN and TECH is brought to you by the TiPb.com Store, your one stop shop for everything iPhone and iPad. Check out all the latest cases, cables, chargers, headsets and more at store.tipb.com. Go get ‘em.

You can reach all of us @ZENandTECH, via email at podcast@zenandtech.tv, or leave a comment below!

Thanks everyone, you’re the best community on the web and we love having you with us!

While Georgia is a therapist, she’s not YOUR therapist. Everything said or implied on this show is for informational and entertainment purposes only. And shouldn’t be taken in any way as a replacement for proper, professional care.

Analyst Eightball: Apple To Release Two iPhones This September

How’s this for a hell of a rumor? According to Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore, Apple will take this September as an opportunity to release two iPhones — a minor iPhone 4S upgrade, and a major one in the shape of an iPhone 5. Say what?

According to Whitmore, the iPhone 4S will go for $350 unsubsidized and unlocked, and much like the iPad, will have a pay as you go data/voice system. He thinks this will allow Apple to penetrate the gap left behind by the woes of Nokia and Blackberry. It would also help with the international scene, especially where prepay plans are the norm.

Oh, I totally don’t buy it for a second, but it’s an interesting diea.

Apple to move chipset production from Samsung to TSMC with Apple A6 SoC in 2012?

Given the increasing legal contention between Apple and Samsung, perhaps it should come as no surprise that Apple is considering moving production of their next generation Apple A6 system-on-a-chip (SoC) to from the Korean conglomerate to Taiwan’s TSMC.

Dan Heyler, a semiconductor analyst with Merrill Lynch in Taipei, told the China-based Commercial Times newspaper on Friday that TSMC will most likely be producing “A6″ processors for Apple, a next-generation ARM-based design, in 2012. That jibes with what Ars has heard from a plugged-in source—that the chatter on the foundry grapevine about an impending Apple/TSMC deal is growing deafening.

If Samsung doesn’t get to see iPhone 5 early, why should they get the designs to the Apple A6, right? Of course, the nature of huge mega-corporations means Apple could be viciously suing one part of Samsung and still be on productive business terms with a completely separate division. Could being the operative word. Apple may simply not like the idea of Samsung having access to the SoC (and other specs) for competitive reasons. Or TSMC could be providing something else even more compelling to Apple for the A6, and moving away from Samsung is just a bonus for headline writers and Apple execs alike.

The current generation Apple A5 SoC debuted last spring with iPad 2 and is expected to hit iPhone 5, iPod touch 5, and perhaps an upgraded Apple TV this fall. That would put the timeline for an Apple A6 at spring 2012 if Apple holds to pattern.

[Digitimes via Ars]

Electro Chunk for iPhone now available

Electro Chunk, an adventure/skill game for iPhone, is now available. The goal of the game is to tilt your iPhone to steer Chuck through all the levels without touching the electric line. The more centered and precise you are, the more points you get!

If you pick this one up, let us know what you think! Check out the screenshots after the break.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Analyst Expects Apple to Launch Two iPhones This Year

On Monday, Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore told clients to expect Apple to announce both the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S this year. Whitmore believes Apple needs to release a cheaper unlocked iPhone to penetrate the pre-paid market.

“With Nokia and RIMM struggling,” Whitmore said, “the time is right for Apple to aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market to dramatically expand its [total addressable market] and market share.”

Out of 1.5 billion mobile customers, two-thirds are pre-paid users, and Whitmore thinks Apple will price the iPhone 4S around $349, and offer a pre-paid voice plan to attract the pay as you go crowd.

“Apple shipped (about 87 million) units over the past 2 years which suggests it has reached only 6% penetration of its current addressable subscribers,” Whitmore wrote. “Looking forward, we believe Apple has room to run both in terms of greater market penetration as well as incremental carrier additions going forward.”

It makes sense, all of the recent tips, leaks, and rumors have been pointing to either an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 being released in 2011, so why not both? Plus this isn’t the first time a lower-priced iPhone has been mentioned, back in April, Avian Securities also suggested Apple was href="http://www.ip4help.com">developing a lower-spec/lower-priced model.

via [onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/06/27/apple_seen_introducing_mid_range_contract_free_350_iphone_in_sept_.html');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Apple Insider]

Skype To Hit iPad Soon

To call Skype late to the show is an understatement. It took them forever to get 3G capabilities on their iPhone app, video calling was late, and if you have an iPad, you’ve been stuck running it in 2x mode since launch. Why haven’t we seen a native iPad version for Skype? Thankfully this drought is almost over, and an iPad edition of the app is in the works.

Late last week the video above was accidentally released by Skype before getting quickly pulled — but not before getting mirrored all over the web. TUAW has since talked to Skype VP of Consumer and Product Design Rick Osterloh, who talked about the soon to be released app. There isn’t much in the way of details about the app, except that it’s coming out in the near future after months of testing, and Skype is expecting some pretty heavy user numbers.

iPhone 5 release pool: Morgan Stanley say Apple to start iPhone 5 assembly in mid to late August, with a September release

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty has issued a note to her clients stating that the iPhone 5 will begin production in mid to late August for a September release. This after Huberty had spent a few days in Taiwan, presumably meeting with Apple’s supply chain companies.

A lower priced iPhone may also be in the works, according to Huberty. Apple is forecasting a large iPhone sales increase in 2012; which she is putting down to new products with potentially a lower price point. This would enable Apple to make gains in emerging and prepaid markets. TiPb’s been hearing about that

Okay, Morgan Stanley, your entry is hereby added to our iPhone 5 release pool; no doubt it will soon be joined by a ton of others. Now, when iPhone 5 launches (likely this fall, but who knows?) we’ll see who the last analyst standing is, won’t we?

[Appleinsider]

Apple Can Now Unlock iPhone 4s At Checkout

According to 9to5Mac, Apple stores now have the ability to unlock iPhones when they sell them. If the store is running low on officially unlocked handsets, they can now take an AT&T handset and just chose to unlock it, tripling the price, but getting you out from underneath AT&T’s yoke.

While right now it only looks like they’ll do this at the point of sale, I hope this indicates that the near future will see them transitioning to unlocking phones they’ve already sold. If my mandatory contract with AT&T is over, I don’t see why they wouldn’t unlock my iPhone if I asked nicely…

Lulzsec Leak Hints At LTE iPad

Infamous and short-lived hacker group Lulzsec released a bevy of internal AT&T documents onto the web, and it looks like there might be some hints about faster iOS devices hidden within. Over at iFans, Jonathan Kizer examined the release, and on a slide titled “LTE Status” there’s mention of an iPad:

Pre-LTE scenarios. Testing will include iPad new activations HLS using the new rate plan, as well as a regression on netbooks and dongles.  During validation E2E execution should ensure all functionality new and current is still functioning properly by validating account set up, provisioning, usage and notifications.

•SBP ST scenarios.  Testing will include activations, add stacked plans, add international plans, perform customer service functions using the LTE devices.  Testing will validate device is being provisioned and the proper policy from PCRF are being enforced.  Usage should be added to decrement the account when needed in order to show RTDUNS are functioning properly.

That sure makes it sound like they’re testing an LTE iPad, right? And the current school of thought is that next year’s crop of iOS devices that will be 4G compatible. It’s not very substantial, but it’s something.