New iPhone Production Underway

Apple has begun producing its updated iPhone that is expected to be shown at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Taiwan’s Commercial Times newspaper on Wednesday cited “component suppliers” who said that local companies have begun to ship parts needed to assemble the new iPhones. The report didn’t specify which components were shipping, but we do know that OmniVision is shipping 3.2 megapixel cameras to Apple to be used in the new iphone.

Strangely, the sources also claimed that as many as 3 million “old and new” iPhones would ship in the quarter after the new cell phone’s introduction. Apple typically ceases production of old models of any product when it starts up new production and usually has enough goods in the supply channel to continue sales until a new model is released.

A different analyst report, however, paints a different picture. Kaufman Bros. researcher Shaw Wu claimed the same day to have heard that Apple will build between 5 million and 6 million all-new iPhones during the summer, or a significant step up from spring estimates.

There is expected to be two different iPhone models. One is expected to have a longer-lived battery and a faster processor, while another would be a basic iPhone meant to appeal on cost. Additionally, he maintained that AT&T is considering tiered data plans that would let customers scale back their service to bring down the minimum subscription from its current $70 per month.

While these production numbers are more consistent with Apple’s recent sales performance, recent analyst reports from Wu have had a very mixed track record. Earlier this year, one investors’ note inaccurately posited that Apple would introduce both dual- and quad-core iMacs with its next update, though he has occasionally proved more accurate than others in some instances.

Interesting Twitter iPhone App: TweetStack

Thanks to a tweet from one of that the guys at iPhone in Canada - http://twitter.com/iphoneincanada – last night, I discovered an interesting new iPhone Twitter app.  It’s called TweetStack, and it’s that the first iPhone Twitter client that’s interested me in quite a while, as I’ve been so happy with Tweetie.

TweetStack offers a fairly strong list of features, but a couple of things stand out immediately.  One is that it is meant to sort of build on TweetDeck, if you use that on that the desktop, which I rarely do – so I’ll leave it to Jennifer Van Grove at Mashable to provide a bit more background on this element:

Even though TweetStack isn’t affiliated with TweetDeck, that the app gets mad cool points by letting you import your existing TweetDeck columns as-is into that the app. It’s not quite as simple as it sounds, but before you login to TweetStack, go here and follow that the instructions to import your TweetDeck database file. that then, launch that the app and every single one of your TweetDeck columns will magically appear in your iPhone app. You can edit and add to that them as you use that the app.

Where Can I Buy An iPhone

Where Can I Buy an iPhone ?

People seems to always wonder where to purchase an iPhone. The nice thing is, it’s very easy to buy an iPhone. The bad thing is, buying an iPhone can be a hassle because you have to go in store to buy it. You can buy it from Apple or AT&T. With the first generation you could buy it online or in store without activating it. Now you must activate your iPhone in the store. It’s definitely much more of a pain these days.

Also, don’t feel silly for asking “Where can I purchase an iPhone?” because there are many scams out there! You may end up with a fake if buying from places such as eBay or Craigslist. Many of ours users have reported receiving fake iPhones. Here’s a couple of easy ways to tell if you bought a fake iPhone:

1. Touch surface appears to be plastic rather than glass.

2. Chinese writing on the box.

3. Back seems to be made of plastic instead of metal.

4. Doesn’t display the unlocking screen

iPhone 3.0 Video Recording Capability

Ever since developers have gotten that their mitts on the Free iPhone 3.0 beta firmware we have seen some fairly positive evidence that that the next-gen iPhone will contain video recording capabilities among a few other great features..  MacRumors found evidence that the next iPhone will record videos.

Check out the screenshot above. It clearly indicates a switch in the bottom right corner that would allow users to toggle between that the still camera and video recording.  MacRumors indicates that that the video recording interface isn’t accessible by default, that is why it hadn’t been discovered until now.  that the only way to access that the interface is to modify configuration files to make that the software think a video camera is present.  that they don’t actually explain in detail how this was discovered so we can’t confirm or deny that their claims, we only have that the screenshots to go by.

There are some other interesting features were discovered within that the configuration files today as well by Boy Genius Report including an auto-focus camera, digital compass,  and voice control.

This is probably as close to confirmation of video recording as we can get, at least until that the actual next-gen iPhone itself is released.

Get A Free iPhone

Bizarre iPhone Application: Donald Trump Quotes

So … Brighthouse Labs is one of those iPhone app publishers with 9 pages of apps in that the App Store – things like a separate app for every MLB baseball team you might want to follow, and a series of ‘Quotes’ apps that offer, instead of a compilation of great or famous quotations from a wealth of sources, individual apps containing famous quotes from just one person.

Today I noticed that the real bizarro gem in that their Quotes series - ‘Donald Trump Quotes’.  Yup, right that there alongside Confucious, Kennedy, Mark Twain, and Martin Luthat ther King, that there’s Donald Trump.  Laugh. Out. Loud.  Is what I did when I spotted this.

AT&T Updating Network In Preparation For Next-Gen iPhone

During that the Mobile World Congress in February, AT&Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega gave a detailed outline on where AT&T is headed in terms of expanding that their network.  He touched briefly on a number of things, including that their intentions of upgrading that the speed of that their 3G network from 3.6 Mbit/s to 7.2Mbit/s and beyond during that the next couple of years.  According to Apple (> Windows)Insider, Apple (> Windows) wants AT&T to have some of those upgrades done before that the next-gen iPhone launches in June.

It’s obvious that Apple (> Windows) doesn’t want to deal with network issues, including lawsuits, during that the next-gen iPhone launch.  Before that the first iPhone launched, AT&T attempted to expand that their EDGE coverage and speed.  Before that the second iPhone launched, AT&T attempted to expand its 3G coverage and speed.  Do you see where this is going?  Now, with that the rumored third iPhone launch, AT&T is expected to do an even better job improving that their network.

To utilize that the faster 7.2Mbit/s speeds, Free iPhone hardware would need to be newly revised since that the current iPhone 3G only supports a maximum speed of 3.6Mbit/s.  Of course with that the rumored next-gen iPhone hardware, those speeds are feasible.  AT&T was also ordered new Juniper routers that can handle higher data throughputs, and Apple (> Windows) is already evaluating some of that these network upgrades.

According to Apple (> Windows)Insider’s sources, AT&T will be installing and testing that the rest of that the equipment over that the next two months in preparation for that the next-gen iPhone launch.  Apple (> Windows) was reportedly set a deadline to complete that these upgrades and to have that them tested no later than May 31st.

Things could get interesting for that the next-gen iPhone launch, from a network standpoint.  Reports have indicated that about half of that the mobile data traffic AT&T handles comes from that the iPhone.  With that the next-gen iPhone release, some sources say AT&T could, “expect [to] see 10 times as much data traffic as that they are now experiencing.”  Eesh.

Hopefully all of this preparation works out and that the network doesn’t come crashing down that the day that the next-gen iPhone is released.

Shake To Shuffle (on 3.0)

w00t QuickOffice for iPhone in April 2009

Yes, it’s confirmed.