Technology blog Gizmodo is in a difficult position. The site’s editor, Jason Chen, recently had his home searched and electronics equipment seized to see if he committed a crime at any point over the past few weeks when he paid $5,000 for a lost iPhone 4G.

Chen says he’s innocent and Gizmodo’s legal counsel has publicly said that Chen was acting well within journalistic standards. The legal counsel says that he cannot be charged with any crime for acquiring the iPhone 4G.

But determining exactly what happened and whether laws or journalistic ethics were violated might be more difficult that it seems on face value. Gizmodo has been forthright about its contention that it acted within its rights as a news service in sharing information about the Apple iPhone prototype with the public. If its account is true, it appears that Gizmodo tried to perform journalistic due diligence before it started the process of acquiring the iPhone 4G and posting details about the device on its site.

But that doesn’t mean that Gizmodo was necessarily entirely right in this scenario. It also doesn’t mean that law enforcement has made the right moves. It seems that there is adequate blame to go around. And it’s incumbent upon us as the spectators to be as informed as possible before we pass judgment.

So, let’s take a look at 10 things to know about Gizmodo’s iPhone 4G saga.

1. An Apple employee lost it

   Although some have said that Apple secretly leaked the iPhone 4G to Gizmodo, it reportedly didn’t happen that way. An Apple employee lost the iPhone 4G in a bar, which was eventually recovered by another patron. After unsuccessful attempts at getting the iPhone back into Apple’s hands, the person offered it up to Gizmodo. According to Gizmodo, the person held onto the iPhone for weeks before giving it to the tech blog. That’s an important factor in all of this. Considering the person tried hard to give the device back to Apple, some fault might need to be placed on the hardware company for not performing its own due diligence.

2. Gizmodo paid $5,000 for it

   Gizmodo reported recently that it paid $5,000 for the lost iPhone. That figure might not mean much to some, but under California law, that puts the transaction into felony territory. That’s not a good thing. But it also speaks to whether or not Gizmodo should have paid for the product and if it acted ethically by doing so. It’s difficult to say what any publication or editor would do in a similar situation, but a spectator’s individual ethics must come into play when deciding where the fault should be placed.

3. Apple had ample time to recover it

   As mentioned above, Apple had about three weeks to find and retrieve the lost iPhone, according to Gizmodo. The tech blog said that the person who recovered the iPhone from the bar attempted to contact the company to no avail. Rather than hold on to it, he decided to sell it off for a handsome sum. It makes sense. But it also begs the question of whether or not Apple truly cares. Steve Jobs has a proven track record of being secretive and unbending in his distaste for those who leak company secrets. If he was really that upset about what was lost, wouldn’t he have attempted to more proactively seek it out? One would think so.

4. There’s still no telling if it’s really the iPhone 4G

   Try as it might to say that the phone it found is in fact the iPhone 4G, Gizmodo, like the rest of us, cannot confirm it. Apple has yet to say whether or not the lost device was actually the new version of the iPhone and it’s entirely possible that the device is one of many prototypes the company is working on. As appealing as it might be to seemingly look at the next version of the iPhone that Apple doesn’t want us to see, there’s no way to know if it’s what we’ll be using in the coming months. Gizmodo recovered an iPhone prototype, but not necessarily the iPhone 4G.

5. Apple finally got it back

   After the news broke that Gizmodo had acquired the iPhone and it discussed its features, Apple’s legal counsel sent a memo to Gizmodo requesting the device back. The tech blog used that request as proof that it was in fact an authentic Apple product. Upon receiving the iPhone, Apple has said nothing about the device and has yet to confirm it was really the iPhone 4G. Nonetheless, the iPhone is back in Apple’s hands and we won’t learn anymore about it until Apple finally confirms its existence.

6. Chen could be charged with a felony

   Until Apple recovered the iPhone, it was all fun and games for Gizmodo and those that wanted to learn more about the new iPhone. But it quickly turned serious when reports started surfacing claiming Chen could be charged with a felony because of the way he acquired the device. Since then, his home has been searched and computers and other electronics have been seized by local police in an attempt to determine if a crime was actually committed. For his part, Chen says he is innocent. But whether or not the district attorney will agree remains to be seen.

7. He could also be covered under media shield laws

   Chen might have a valid defense if he is in fact, charged with a crime. Gizmodo’s chief legal counsel sent a letter to local police, which was subsequently posted on the tech blog, saying that Chen is a journalist and thus, under California (and Federal) law, a warrant cannot be issued to search his home and seize property that could have been used for the purposes of a news story. Court decisions in the past provide Gizmodo and Chen with the precedent they need to show that online journalists are, in fact, covered under the same protections as traditional journalists. Assuming the district attorney interprets the laws the same way Gizmodo’s legal counsel does, Chen might not be charged with a crime.

8. Apple hasn’t chimed in

   As the drama continues at Gizmodo, Cupertino has been silent. Steve Jobs, his executives, and even his PR team have been mum on whether or not they have any opinion about what’s happening to Chen or Gizmodo. It’s rather typical from Apple. The company has imposed its will by acquiring the lost iPhone and now that its work is done, it has decided to say nothing about the issues Gizmodo is facing. Depending on where the law-enforcement effort goes, though, at least one Apple employee—the man who lost the iPhone—might need to chime in.

9. Gizmodo maintains its journalistic standards

   Some journalists have contended that Chen’s decision to buy the iPhone for $5,000 breaks journalistic ethics and standards that have been in place for years. They contend that from an ethical perspective, Chen shouldn’t have paid for the story and instead should have reported on the news that the iPhone was lost. Gizmodo and Chen don’t agree. They contend that they were doing what they were supposed to do: inform the public on Apple’s upcoming products. Either side of the debate can make a valid argument, but it’s tough to say which is right.

10. It’ll probably blow over

    In the end, the chances of Chen being charged with a crime and Apple taking issue with Gizmodo seem relatively slight. Gizmodo could potentially have its trump card, thanks to journalistic protection. And Apple, realizing that Gizmodo was only doing its job, likely won’t press the issue more than it already has. In a couple weeks, Gizmodo’s ordeal with the iPhone 4G will blow over and the story will be just another interesting saga to discuss in end-of-the-year roundups. But it’s certainly fun to watch while it lasts.

Resource:
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/10-Things-You-Should-Know-about-the-Gizmodo-iPhone-4G-Probe-313161/

The study based on the survey of more than 1500 women claimed that more than 50 percent of the women surveyed are interested in men who own iPhones, and referred to them as more reliable, humorous, intelligent and well-groomed than the men who do not have Apple’s signature phone.

However, in a press statement issued later in the day, the company denied to have conducted any such survey and called it absolutely fake, directing the sites to drop the it.

Later, it came out that the survey was published by Sticky Eyes, its digital marketing agency, which conducted it through a third party, without a prior permission from Phones 4U, leaving the press deceived.

Apple’s smartphone alone has led the Cupertino-based to surpass all estimated targets of its earnings, by increasing its second-quarter income of the last fiscal by almost double

Resource:
http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/4/22/phones-4u-denies-commissioning-iphone-survey/

The iPhone HD is coming at the end of June. When Gizmodo got hold of a lost or stolen iPhone this week, they only cemented what insiders like Daring Fireball’s John Gruber have been speculating for weeks: that the next iPhone will be a video-centric device.

According to Gizmodo and Gruber, the new iPhone has front and back cameras and a super-high-res, 960-by-640 display. The rear camera has been greatly improved over the iPhone’s camera, with a bigger lens and a flash. There’s a second microphone, which might be for noise cancellation, and a larger battery.

The new phone will not be called the “iPhone 4G,” as it probably won’t run on 4G mobile networks, and otherwise the name would be really confusing. Along with Gruber, I’m betting Apple will call it “the iPhone HD,” with high-def video recording, iChat video calling and amazingly lifelike video playback.

Needless to say, Apple refuses to comment on the leaked phone, or acknowledge plans for a launch event in June.

Mobile video has existed for a decade; I reviewed phones that did two-way video calls back in 2004. But video calling never became mainstream because it was expensive, unreliable, and didn’t work on enough phones. (Did you know that AT&T sells a one-way mobile video calling service even today? Yup.) Recording and sharing mobile videos is more popular, but not enough people understand how to share the videos on their phones. And mobile video streaming services such as MobiTV have had trouble sweeping the market with their tiered pricing plans and complex menu systems

Apple’s recent strength has been in taking existing technologies like the MP3 or the smartphone, and mainstreaming them by adding terrific user interfaces. If it offers a truly awesome experience, the iPhone HD could do for mobile video recording and sharing what the iPod did for music and the iPhone did for mobile apps.

Apple has wanted to rule the video world for years, but they’ve never fit all of the pieces together. They sell movies and TV shows through iTunes, but they haven’t changed the economics and politics of the video world the way the iTunes Store changed music. The AppleTV remains only a “hobby,” but Apple hasn’t discontinued it. They’re just trying to find the right timing and angles for a market-dominating move.

The iPhone HD would be another attempt to jump-start the digital video market and get it under Apple’s control. Apple will probably offer a slick, easy way to upload and share high-def videos, and their video recording and sharing abilities will strive to make Cisco’s little Flip cameras irrelevant. A powerful processor could enable full-scale video editing on the device. The high-res screen will be great to watch TV shows on through Netflix, CBS, or even a rumored upcoming Hulu app. The iPad is, in part, about video consumption; the new iPhone will be about video creation and communication.

I’m not convinced video calling has mass appeal no matter how well you do it, but that’s not going to stop Apple from trying. They have an unparalleled ability to make people want their latest feature, and I know I’m not as smart as their product designers.

Video calling has another missing piece, though, and that’s the network. The iPhone prototype that Gizmodo got is almost certainly an AT&T phone — it uses GSM MicroSIM cards, just like the iPad. Video calling is a network-intensive use, and it’s hard to see how AT&T would be happy with another major assault on their network.

That said, I still think the iPhone will remain an AT&T exclusive through 2010. I’m convinced that any rumored CDMA iPhone model is probably for China, not the U.S.

I think that in the last ten days of June, we’re going to be welcoming the video-centric iPhone HD, exclusively with AT&T. We’ll see if I’m wrong.

Resource:
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/21/future-forecasting-iphone-hd-june/

You know the story by now. Some Apple guy leaves his iPhone prototype in a bar. Some guy finds it. A few weeks go by. He then leaks photos of the thing to both Engadget and Gizmodo. Then he sells Gizmodo access to it for $5,000.

It’s a good story, with a lot of ins, outs, and what have-yous, as Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski would say. But while a lot of attention has been focused on whether it was, like, cool, for Gizmodo to have paid for information, man, the real question is what would you have done if you’d been the one to find the prototype?

We’ve got an official poll with a few choices, but if you want to get more creative, let us know how you would have played it.

Would you have sold the device and risked possible legal action? Written Steve Jobs an e-mail telling him you had one of his new phones? Held out for more than $5,000?

What was the right move here?

Resource:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-20002983-82.html

Apple apparently chose a rectangular “boxy” form factor with lots of hard lines to maximise volume and pack as much electronics as possible. Gizmodo promised to provide with more details in a future article.

Jason Chen, the reviewer, said that the back was entirely flat made either of glass or ceramic or shiny plastic but later said that Apple apparently opted for a black plastic back instead.

This reminded us of an article by John Gruber of Daring Fireball about a patent filed by Apple back in 2006 which covered high durability ceramic enclosures which ressemble glass but are far more resistant and stronger.

Shedding Aluminium will possibly to improve reception yet Gizmodo says that it feels much less plasticky than the iPhone 3GS. That said, either glass or ceramic have lower density than Aluminium

Gizmodo says that the new iPhone 4G design is back to basics and the shape actually reminds us of the iPod 5G. There’s also an aluminium border going all around the phone and interrupted only by the various holes for microphone, volume buttons, connectors etc.

The iphone 4G prototype dimensions are 4.50 by 2.31 by 0.37 inches while the old ones were 4.5 by 2.4 by 0.48 inches; so slightly thicker and wider.

Finally, the iPhone 4G is a tad heavier than the previous version as well at 140g vs 135g for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G. Note though that this could well be a prototype rather than the final version of the iPhone 4G so things may change.

Resource:
http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/4/20/apple-iphone-4g-behind-new-design/

Apple has had a history of releasing their iPhones in the month of June. Hence, it was only logical that this June too shouldn’t be any different. However, on previous occasions, the launch usually happened in the second week of June and on Mondays. This time though, Apple has booked the the Yerba Buena Center for Arts (pretty close to the venue of the launch on previous occasions at Moscone Center) for June 22 which also happens to be a Tuesday. This is why there is this speculation and rumour that the latest iteration of the iPhone could be revealed on June 22. Now, it would be interesting to see if Apple actually reveals the new iPhone on the day or goes on to reveal something else and turns this entire thing in to a damp squib.

The iPhone 4G is anticipated very keenly partly owing to the release of iPhone OS 4recently. As you might already be aware, the iPhone incorporates multitasking abilities and a host of other new improvements in the OS. The hardware too is expected to be upgraded significantly. Till June 22nd, we wait in anticipation!

Resource:
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/iPhone_4G_Might_Be_Announced_on_June_22/551-110590-893.html

The software platform also paves the way for the next iPhone which should be launched by the end of June 2010 during Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference and coincides with the official “summer” availability of the iPhone OS 4.

The single most important feature that Steve Jobs showed yesterday was the introduction of multitasking, something that almost all competing platforms have had for quite some time already.

Steve Jobs acknowledged this fact but also promised that while they weren’t the first to the party, they would still be the best at it. Unfortunately because of hardware demands, only the latest iPod Touch and iPhone GS smartphones will be able to offer multitasking capabilities.

Apple also showed that it is aiming to become a massive mobile player with the introduction of mobile advertising platform iAd, which came out of the acquisition of Quattro Wireless earlier this year

Also of interest to the mobile gaming industry is the Apple Game Centre which some have compared to Sony’s own Playstation Network or Microsoft Xbox popular online gaming platform.

To help develop new products, 1500 brand new application programming interfaces (APIs) will be released as well as a brand new software development kit for Apple coders.

The analysis (or dissection) of the iPhone OS 4.0 has only just begun and we will be probing the platform and the numerous announcements that Steve Jobs has done during what has been a rather long intervention.

Resource:
http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/4/9/apple-finally-launches-iphone-os-40/

According to the iPhone OS 4 SDK Developer Program License Agreement released by the company, developers will have to create applications using Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine because applications which will be created using an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool will not be approved by the company.

With this not-so-surprising move, Steve Jobs, who has been actively campaigning against Adobe Flash, has ensured the exclusion of Adobe and its software from everything even remotely related to Apple, starting with the iPad and its blockbuster iPhone smartphone device.

The new iPhone OS 4.0 SDK licensing agreement will prohibit the use of Adobe’s upcoming Flash-to-iPhone compiler which has been touted as one of USPs of Flash CS5 which will be launched on April 12th.

When contacted, an Adobe spokesperson said in statement that “We are aware of the new SDK language and are looking into it.” while Apple refrained from making any comments regarding the new app development rules.

That was something unexpected and could have some devastating consequences for small developers. Apple seems to have changed its strategy from being neutral (towards the likes of Adobe or Google) and going outright on the offensive.

Resource:
http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/4/10/apple-iphone-os4-introduces-legal-adobe-flash-block/

4G means fourth generation technology. 4G mobile technology is the name refers to the next generation of mobile phones. There is not yet an agreed industry standard for what constitutes 4G mobile, so for now it is merely a marketing term.
G is for generations

• 1G technology – involved in mobile phones
• 2G technology started 1990s, used in Digital format and introduced text messaging
• 3G technology improved data is carried, carry enhanced information services such as web.

4G mobile is in its starting face not yet established as an agreed set of standards, so its features are simply goals rather than requirements increasing data transfer speeds, security messages and reduce blips during network switched. 4G mobile networks are based on IP address system.

In USA, two major systems using 4G mobile technology, one is WiMax and another is LTE.

4G mobile technology is widely used for internet access on computers and also used for cell phone communications. In which area, there is strong 4G coverage able to access broadband connections, not requires cabling.