Cloud Storage on the iPhone 5 Could Worsen Data Usage Abuse by AT&T, Verizon

A recent report outlines how AT&T is overcharging iPhone and iPad users on their data usage. Will "iCloud" on the iPhone 5 give mobile carriers like AT&T and Verizon yet another channel for overcharging their customers for data?

few monthly bills cause more stress and consternation than that of a mobile phone bill. With the exception of people who take out the most expensive, flat-rate "Cadillac" plans, phone and data usage is in constant flux for iPhone users, and a lingering fear of being over one's data allotment usually leads to hefty bills that no one likes to pay.

A recent report, however, has shown that AT&T is consistently overcharging all of its iPhone and iPad customers on data usage, suggesting that iUsers are getting fleeced on a regular basis.

The Daily Mail in the UK is reporting today that "AT&T are 'systematically overcharging' up to 20 million Americans who use their iPhone or iPad 2 review to access data on the go, an investigation has uncovered." This investigation has led to a lawsuit against the mobile carrier, "alleg[ing] the phone giant routinely over charges customers between 7 and 14 per cent, and in some cases up to 300 per cent."

The investigation reveals that much of the overcharging is being caused by data transfer that is occurring even when the user is not on the Internet or actively using their iPhone, likening the effect to a "rigged gas pump." This overcharging is apparently happening constantly for some 20 million Americans who use their iPhone on AT&T's network, with all of these incremental data overages adding up to 7%+ higher bills at the end of the month.

AT&T is trying to get out in front of this building scandal, suggesting that this data leakage is caused by apps and functions on the iPhone and iPad that engage in regular, automatic data useage in order to remain constantly updated.

Needless to say, this is an outrage for AT&T iPhone customers, who already pay higher rates for service compared to other mobile carriers, such as Sprint.

Who Is To Blame — AT&T or Apple?

The Daily Mail piece clearly places the blame for this "data leakage" on AT&T, which at this point must be a relief to Apple and Steve Jobs, who have recently been on the defensive over privacy and anti-green allegations. Because AT&T is the one overcharging for the extra data usage on the iPhone and iPad, they are bearing the brunt of criticism and, to our knowledge, Apple is not named as a defendant in the current lawsuit.

However, given the location tracking "bug" recently uncovered on the iPhone 4, it would stand to reason that iPhone users could also begin to ponder whether it is possible that this extra, erroneous data leakage, while being capitalized on by AT&T, might in fact be yet another software design flaw inherrent in the iPhone 4, causing it to transfer data even when not in use.

As this story develops, it is quite possible that Apple will have to issue yet another software update — either on iOS 4 or on the anticipated iOS 5, to further ensure that the data faucet is shut off tightly when users are not on their iPhone or iPad.

Undoubtedly, investigators will also now look at Verizon's data billing on iPhone 4 users, and conspiracy theorists are bound to ask the age-old question, What did Steve Jobs know, and when did he know it? — suggesting that the the data leak was less of a "design flaw" and more of a "malicious feature" meant to aid mobile partners in increasing revenues on data charging.

iPhone 5 and "iCloud" — Yet Another Data Transfer Billing Trap for Users?

The biggest question for the new iPhone 5 speculation society is how this revelation calls into question the well-developed "iCloud" rumor, and whether or not cloud storage on the iPhone5 will lead to yet more abuse of iPhone data usage. After all, if the iPhone 5g makes heavy use of cloud storage and computing, this would mean that users would be transferring data on the fly for a wide range of uses, such as listening to music, videos, photos, business-related documents, and other dynamic media. At present, all of that data remains on an iPhone's on-board storage.

If the next iPhone encourages more data to be stores in Apple's data center, one could speculate that there will be exponentially more opportunity for leaky data transfers to take place.

And as we now know, leaky data transfer is a lucrative leak for carriers like AT&T.

Here's more on the iPhone 5 verizon

iPhone 5 To Possibly Feature Curved Glass

The speculation continues about what the next generation iPhone may or may not feature today with the rumour that the iPhone 5 could possibly come out to play packing a curved glass display like that seen on the Samsung Nexus S, and as Apple has previously used curved glass on the previous generation of the iPod Nano there is a possibility that this rumour could hold some substance.

According to an article over on Cult of Mac by way of Macrumors, this latest iPhone 5 speculation comes via DigiTimes claims that according to unnamed industry sources Apple is going to adopt curved glass for the iPhone 5g, or iPhone 4S as some are calling the device.

Apparently the word is the high cost of the tech to product curved glass makes glassmakers reluctant to adopt the tech but apparently Apple has forked out for 200 to 300 glass-cutting machines to do the task and apparently are being stored at "associated assembly plants."

As for just when we are likely to see the iPhone5, with or without curved glass, the article states…" There has been no timetable yet for the volume production of iPhone 5 as Apple is currently still working with related suppliers including those involved in cover glass, glass cutting, lamination and touch sensors to improve yield rates, the sources commented."

Having said all this, previous rumour has it that the next generation iPhone wouldn't be that much different from the iPhone 4 when it comes to design, so for now at least this latest rumour should be taken with a spoonful of Apple sauce.

iPhone 5 Rumors Spawn Mockups

The explosion of rumors that Apple is working on a variety of iPhone designs including smaller ones and iPhones with 4″ screens has spawned a significant amount of speculation and mockups about the possibilities.

In particular, the talk of a 4″ screen and rumors of an "edge to edge" screen resulted in this mockup by mjay2k which shows that a 4″ screen could fit on an existing iPhone 4 sized device by extending the screen to the left/right edges. Similarly a smaller iPhone could use the existing 3.5 screen in a similar fashion.

Another take on the "edge to edge" screen, submitted by a reader. This image tries to look like a "spy" shot, but we believe is just another creative mockup.

Finally, this old design mockup pre-dates the iPhone 4, but shows another take on a large screen format with a reduced prominence of the home button.

iPhone 5G Case Design Shows Redesigned Camera Flash

GadgetsDNA points to a new Chinese case design found on Alibaba that claims to be for the "iPhone 5G".
1.100% brand new high quality crystal case for iphone 5g .
2. Provides a comfortable grip, added protection against accidental drops .
3. Perfectly fits the iPhone 5 g, easy to insert and remove .
What's unusual about the case is that it seems to depict a very thin-bezel design as well as a distinct camera design. (It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" designs also have little in the way of bezels") The camera flash appears to be on the opposite side of the case rather than adjacent to the camera itself.

While there's been talk of these more dramatic changes, the most recent reports have claimed that the next iPhone will actually only contain minor cosmetic differences over the iPhone 4.

It's possible we could see these design elements in the future if not the next release, as the iPod Touch camera was found in case designs a full release cycle ahead of the ultimate release.

Update: It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" cases also share the same thin edge, so the camera design alone may be main difference in the new iPhone case design. This would fit with the "minor cosmetic differences" described in the previous report.

iPhone 5 May Get Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text Feature

So now, we might get a new feature of Text to Speech in the next generation iPhone by Apple. The Patently Apple reports, Apple has filed a patent application for a system that provides you the ability of converting text to speech and vice versa on iPhone. The system for Apple filed a patent, would be also helpful in loudy background environment and as well as at those places where user can't talk loudly.
According to a new Apple patent application that was published this morning by the US Patent and Trademark Office, future iPhone's are likely to provide end users with effective new ways of communicating in both noisy environments like a restaurant or even during a quiet office meeting without stirring a mouse.

For this purpose, Apple might add a new sensor in handset for noise detection. And the new system will work like this; when the user at loudy environment, the iPhone automatically convert the speech from the end into the text. And when user less noisy environment i.e meeting, iPhone will allow user to write text, which would be converted to speech and send to the other end. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news

[via hackphone]

Apple Slows Production of iPhone 4 In Anticipation of iPhone 5/4S

In what is now actually being deemed the 'iPhone 4S' (albeit to the disagreement of many tech analysts), Digitimes has reported that Apple has reduced their production of the iPhone 4 in anticipation of the iPhone 5 release this fall.Although Apple hasn't come out and outright said that they're not releasing the iPhone 5 this summer, the release of the white iPhone 4 earlier this month was more than enough to confirm that it won't be.

According to Digitimes, Apple is preparing for a Fall 2011 launch of the iPhone5 or "iPhone 4S" as they've put it and has lowered their expected shipment volumes for the iPhone 4 accordingly.

The report goes on to state that the "iPhone 4S" will feature the rumoured 8 megapixel camera that tech industry analysts have been buzzing about and also went on to confirm that it will also include an A5 dual-core processor that is also featured in the iPad 2 review (pretty powerful for a smartphone eh?).

The report also agreed with a handful of rumours that have been circulating recently about the re-locating of the LED flash and that the iPhone 5g/4S will not carry LTE (an unsubstantiated rumour that we didn't report on for just that reason).

The biggest news from this report is definitely the confirmation of the iPhone 5/4S and the growing likeliness of it having an 8MP camera, which is definitely a huge upgrade from the iPhone 4′s 5 megapixel camera. We're pretty excited about Apple's upgrading of the camera as it was an issue that was pretty unanimously targeted by Apple consumers, tech analysts and their competitors alike.

Catch up on previous iPhone 5 news here

iPhone 5 mystery release date elicits carrier 4G conspiracy plot

If the four major U.S. carriers haven't conspired, separately or collectively, to delay the iPhone 5 release date until later this year, then it sure as heck looks a lot like they have. While most signs point to the iPhone 5 (here's the scoop on iPhone 5 features) arriving the latest of any new iPhone generation in its respective year, no clear reason for a delay on Apple's part have surfaced. Even as Apple attempts to extend the iPhone 4 era with the white iPhone 4, the Verizon-specific iPhone 4, and whatever other iPhone 4 tricks might be up its sleeve, it's still a mystery as to why the iPhone 5 apparently isn't on track for summer 2011 release, even as customers prepare to feel the burn. For insight as to what's really going on, one might best look at those who have the most to gain from a late iPhone 5 arrival, and their primary motivation for it. The latter is clearly 4G, and the former comes in the form of Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and even Sprint.

Why would all four carriers want the iPhone 5g to arrive late? They don't, per se. But what they do want is for the 4G era to officially commence in the minds of the public. Each carrier appears to believe, for various reasons, that it has the upper hand when it comes to the 4G era. Sprint already has a sizable 4G network; Verizon has the marketing lead on the faster 4G LTE variant; AT&T is acquiring T-Mobile which should give it a combination of homegrown 4G LTE combined with a broader non-LTE 4G base. The trouble is, outside of geeks and enthusiasts, few care about 4G or even understand what it is. That won't change until there's a 4G enabled iPhone. So while Apple doesn't like to adopt technology while it's still largely in the vaporware stage (4G LTE barely exists on Verizon or AT&T), Apple may nonetheless feel the pressure to make 4G happen with the iPhone 5. And oddly enough, each carrier potentially benefits from a iPhone 5 4G happening later than sooner.

First there's Verizon, which is in the process of betting its reputation on a 4G LTE network that it's barely begun building. The millions of Verizon customers who just bought the Verizon iPhone 4 when it launched earlier this year are going to be more likely to upgrade to the Verizon iPhone 5 if more time has passed since the launch of the former. Then there's AT&T, which still has almost no 4G presence at all. The carrier needs time to integrate T-Mobile's network into its own, which will allow it to offer "4G" of one kind or another in various places. Assuming the iPhone 5 includes multiple 4G variants, AT&T could be the big winner – but not until the merger is sufficiently complete; a 4G LTE iPhone 5 launch right now could do AT&T more harm than good. And then there's Sprint, which is about to become the only major U.S. carrier without the iPhone, and the smallest. Sprint is unlikely to add the iPhone to its lineup until 4G happens, so if Apple needs more time to make a 4G enabled iPhone 5 happen, then so be it. Bottom line, the carriers desperately want 4G to be accepted by the public, as it's their collective best shot at continuing to upgrade cycle of new smartphone hardware this year and next, even as speeds and capacities begin to surpass what a pocket sized device might reasonably need. And because the public will begin caring about 4G at the precise moment the iPhone gains 4G, the behind the scenes pressure on Apple to release a 4G iPhone 5 is enormous. If pulling that off takes a little longer than expected and the iPhone 5 release date is held back by a season as a result, the public may be less than thrilled but the carriers won't mind a bit. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news.