Thats right people! We have now recieved strong evidence about what is bound to be ‘Video Call’ capability for the next
generation iPhone. The proof is actually a screw up by a UK phone provider called O2. They recently just updated their phone plans and is now listing a ‘Video Call’ plan that costs the same as their voice call service. You can check this out via attached image or look it up on their site.
Knowing this, it is pretty obvious that the next generation will include a front facing camera, along evidence from the latest iPhone SDK images. For more information about that, click here.
cGraw-Hill’s CEO has outed the iTablet before Apple’s “Come see our latest creation” event, scheduled for tomorrow, revealed it runs the iPhone OS, and undoubtedly has just earned himself a “bag of hurt” at the hands of one Steve Jobs. At 2:50 seconds in, Terry McGraw tells CNBC:
“Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they’ll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while. And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now — we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format on that one. So now with the tablet you’re going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.”
Yeah. Oops! (But at least we appreciate the news!)
More Apple tablet-related news? What we might quite possibly have is a solid Apple / Verizon tablet or maybe even iPhone?.
Verizon Wireless has a “kick off” event planned for the beginning of each quarter that covers and goes over new things that are in the works such as devices, products, services, etc. for store managers.
This kick off is coincidentally on this coming Wednesday, the same day as the much hyped Apple Media Event. We have been told that a “live webcast” that everyone attending will be viewing around 1PM ET.
As part of a broad report in advance of Apple’s media event scheduled for Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times claims that a team of New York Times employees has been traveling to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California to work on a new version of the newspaper’s iPhone application offering video and optimized for a large-screen tablet device.
Apple has been slowly amassing digital reading material for the forthcoming device. A team from the New York Times has been working in Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters in recent weeks, developing a large-screen version of the newspaper’s iPhone application that incorporates video for the yet-to-be-unveiled device. - Acording to an idividual with inside information. A Times spokeswoman declined to comment.
All of their information is centered on the alleged mystery device that will allegedly be announced at a now official event next week. maybe they really do know what’s happening on Inifinite Loop.
Always partial to the education market, one thing this device might be used for is e-textbooks, presumably including the sort of multimedia content that goes beyond the printed page.
Textbook publishers aren’t the only publishers Apple has been talking to. They’re chatting up Conde Nast, Harper Collins, The New York Times, and even CBS, Walt Disney Co, and Electronic Arts (for games).
A “Best of TV” service is possible, with a subscription to a set of on demand programs chosen by the consumer.
Those same people are also reporting there is a revamp of iTunes coming, which would separate the purchase of iTunes content from the iTunes application.
The device will have a 10 or 11 inch screen, a virtual keyboard, and “sharing” is mentioned — two ideas being thrown around are the ability to leave sticky notes on the device or even have the camera recognize faces of those using it.
Price is expected to be around $1000, and they’ll be selling it to people who already have iPhones and laptops as well.
Apple’s buyout of Lala revolves around an online locker for a user’s music, MP3tunes head Michael Robertson says. A “variety” of internal sources
tell him that iTunes will roll the online access into a software update that will make a note of the user’s music and video collections, updating in the background to mirror this online. Once done, listeners will have access to their collections either through a web browser or through an Apple handheld like the iPhone, iPod or rumored tablet.
Since customers will already own the music, Apple won’t need to renegotiate with labels to get sharing rights. Lala had to negotiate for its streaming but only for customers that weren’t using their existing collections.
Two new images have now surfaced that put the size in context. Both are consistent and show the glass itself being roughly as long as a MacBook Pro’s keyboard tray end-to-end, or enough to theoretically house a 10-inch diagonal screen.
Other traits visible in the Mac Observer shots are a home button on one side and a speaker grille on the other, implying that it will have at least voice support. A small hole in the top corner remains a mystery and could be a place for anything from a camera to a sensor or a construction element for the overall enclosure. Contradictory rumors have appeared in recent days, but the most recent hint at no camera at all.
To me, this seems too much like the digitizer of the iPhone. Possibly some playing around in Photoshop could have given us these pieces of art?
While no corroborating evidence yet exists, the photos don’t show obvious signs of manipulation and may be the closest to evidence that outsiders will see of the rumored big-screen Apple handheld before a possible unveiling on the 27th.
More and more evidence that Apple has been pursuing trademarks for the name “iPad”, with some filings occurring as recently as late last week. The move has obviously led to speculation that Apple may be planning to use that name for its tablet device rumored for introduction next week.
Apple’s lawyers have filed three requests with the USPTO over the past few months asking for extensions to the allowed time for parties to oppose the trademark application filed by Fujitsu. In their most recent request, which has been granted, Apple’s lawyers requested an extension of the opposition period to February 28, 2010.
We noted that Apple had not pursued an “iPad” trademark in the United States, probably due to existing claims on the name by Fujitsu for an electronic retail inventory device. While Fujitsu initially filed its trademark application for “iPad” in March 2003, the trademark has yet to be officially accepted, and was in fact classified by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as “abandoned” in April 2009 after Fujitsu failed to respond to a request for additional information. In June 2009, Fujitsu applied to have the application revived and, after amendment, was published for public comment and opposition on September 1, 2009.
FOXNews.com reports that Apple’s January 27th media event is expected to include the introduction of Apple’s much-anticipated tablet device and iPhone OS 4.0, as well as iLife 2010. According to the report, no iPhone hardware is expected to be shown.
I spoke to a source at Apple this morning, before the invite hit my inbox, who said the event would likely focus on three projects: The tablet device, iPhone 4, and a new round of iLife 2010 software. While we won’t see new iPhone hardware just yet, we will see the next-generation software.
The author of the report, Clayton Morris, had previously claimed to have “confirmed” a January 26th date for the media event, although it is unclear whether the early reports of an event on the 26th were incorrect or if Apple tweaked its plans to move it to the 27th. Morris had also vaguely claimed in his earlier report that the media event would focus on the “mobility space”, which would be in line with discussion of the tablet and iPhone OS 4.0.
A report from earlier this month claimed that Apple has been developing a multi-touch version of iWork, although Morris’ source made no mention of iWork as a topic of discussion for next week. It is unknown at this time what enhancements will be included in the next generation of iLife and whether any of them will include multi-touch capabilities and the ability to run on Apple’s tablet device as rumored for iWork.
According to the latest news, Apple and the ebook company Harper Collins are in the negotiation stage over ebooks for the new tablet. It is rumored that the publisher of the book will set the prices of the books with Apple taking a cut, in similar fashion to the 30/70 split currently in place for the App Store (but percentages not determined). The most interesting line notes that the ebooks “…will have added features.”
Back in December, HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray noted that “…e-books enhanced with video, author interviews and social-networking applications” were a possibility. These additional features will serve both the consumer and the publisher: Shoppers get a more interesting ebook experience, wrapped in Apple style, while publishers receive a bigger payday.
The Wall Street Journal notes that other publishers have been talking with Apple without offering any additional details. Now that we have a firm date for the tablet’s introduction (probably, maybe) the rumors are going to swirl ever faster. Hold on to your seats.
