Much like the open platform Windows invaded the traditionally closed hardware platform of Apple’s Macs — first unofficially, and then later officially condoned — Android is now establishing a beach head on Apple’s coveted iPhone.

Hacker David Wang, better known as “planetbeing” on the internet, made waves a few weeks ago when he showed off a first generation (2G) iPhone that he got running a modified Android OS kernel. Wang is well know in the hacking community for being one of the key contributors to the iPhone 3GS jailbreak. This week he showed off Android running on the iPhone 3G, or the version with the “nasty plastic, easily scratched back”, as Wang puts it.

Wang’s solution is dual booting. You can only run one OS at a time. Wang is using the OpeniBoot tool to manage the multiboot. Rebooting takes a while because the NAND and FTL (flash translation layer) drivers aren’t optimized yet, though Wang feels this will soon change.

Wang had to port UltraSn0w (from the iPhone Dev Team) into OpeniBoot to get the radio working. It starts running during the boot process — this is one of the slowest steps.

Currently almost everything — including Wi-Fi, internet, SMS, and MMS — is working in the Android port. The only thing not working is sound, which is a disappointment as you can’t make or receive phone calls. Don’t worry, though — Wang is promising that he’s make major progress in getting the sound fully working and ready for primetime.

There are now several new developers working on this exciting project. Wang states, “With their help I’m sure we’ll be able to bring the system to production quality before too long.”

Currently the code has not been published, but Wang plans to release a polished version within the next couple days for public consumption. Keep checking Wang’s website here.

Apple surely won’t be happy when they discover what Wang has been up to. It wouldn’t be surprising even, if they try to sue to stop the spread of Android on the iPhone. Apple has already stated that it believes jailbreaking and unlocking the iPhone to be illegal. Ultimately, though, it’s just one more sign that Android is threatening to do to the iPhone’s version of OS X what Windows did to MacOS/OS X on the personal computer.

Resource:
http://www.dailytech.com/Hacker+Brings+Android+to+the+IPhone+3G+IPhone+3GS+Up+Next/article18331.htm

Apple has refused to confirm whether the device in the images is a prototype of its new device. Gadget fans are well known for creating “mock ups” of supposed Apple devices, and then seeding them around the internet.

There are rumours that the new iPhone will be unveiled in June, and will feature an eight megapixel camera with flash, more storage and a front-mounted camera. The iPhone 4.0 software update, which was revealed by Apple last week, will also add multi-touch capabilities to the device.

A return to the aluminium form factor would make sense for Apple. Its very first iPhone, launched in July 2007, had an aluminium back, as does its latest gadget, the iPad, which went on sale in the United States earlier this month. Shoppers in the UK will have to wait until late May to get their hands on the touch-screen, tablet style computer, after Apple pushed back the launch date, citing “overwhelming” demand.

In February, rival phone maker HTC unveiled a handset made from a single piece of aluminium, using a manufacturing technique similar to the one used by Apple to make its unibody Macs. The HTC Legend has been widely praised for its cutting edge design and ease of use, and for the software laid over the Google Android operating system that makes it easier for people to communicate across social-networking sites.

Resource:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7598828/Leaked-photos-show-iPhone-4G.html

Materials for the iPad, which went on sale on April 3, include a touch-screen display that costs $95 and a $26.80 processor designed by Apple and manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co., according to El Segundo, California-based ISuppli.

Analysis by ISuppli indicates that components of the lowest-priced, 16-gigabyte iPad amounts to 52 percent of its retail price of $499. That leaves the iPad on par with other Apple products, including the iPhone 3GS. A high-end 64-gigabyte version of the iPad, which retails for $699, contains components that cost $348.10, according to ISuppli.

Much of the iPad’s component costs went toward making the device appealing to use, said ISuppli principal analyst Andrew Rassweiler, who supervised the “teardown” analysis of the product. More than 40 percent of the iPad’s cost is devoted to powering its touch-screen display and other components of the computer’s user interface — “what you see with your eyes and what you feel with your fingers,” he said. The distinctive aluminum casing on the back of the device contributed about $10.50 to cost of materials.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Harrison declined to comment on ISuppli’s findings.

Teardown Analysis

Research firms conduct so-called teardown analysis of consumer electronics to determine component prices and makers and to estimate profit margins. The estimate doesn’t include costs for intangible items such as software development, advertising, patent licensing or shipping. In February, ISuppli had estimated that the least expensive iPad would carry a $219.35 cost of materials.

Once it took one apart, ISuppli found more silicon chips than it had expected to power interactions with the iPad’s 9.7- inch screen.

“Because of the sheer scale of this device, we’re seeing more here than we expected,” Rassweiler said. Apple uses three chips to control the iPad’s touch screen, for example.

Over time, Apple may have leeway to combine many of the iPad’s electronic components, or integrate them into the display, Rassweiler said.

“We’ll see a lot less silicon required to make them work,” he said.

Pricey Touch Screen

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, rose $1.06 to $240.60 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have climbed 14 percent this year.

The most expensive component in the iPad is its touch- sensitive, custom-manufactured screen. South Korea-based LG Display Co., Samsung and Japan’s Seiko Epson Corp. make the LCD display, according to ISuppli. Taiwan-based Wintek Corp. makes the glass overlay necessary to detect touches of users’ fingertips. The screen’s special design makes it about twice as expensive as those used in comparably sized netbook computers, according to Rassweiler.

LG spokesman John Taylor didn’t return a call seeking comment. Wintek spokesman James Chen, based in Taiwan, and an Epson spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Chris Goodhart, a spokeswoman for Samsung, declined to comment.

Flash memory chips, obtained from various suppliers including Samsung, account for $29.50 in costs on the 16- gigabyte model, $59 in the 32-gigabyte version and $118 in the 64-gigabyte model, Rassweiler said. These chips push the cost of manufacturing the 32-gigabyte version of the iPad, which sells for $599, to $289.10. They boost the cost of the 64-gigabyte version, which sells for $699, to $348.10.

Samsung Processor

While Apple designed the main processor in the iPad, Rassweiler said South Korea’s Samsung built the chip for Apple and also supplied a memory chip attached to it for a combined cost of $26.80, a difference of $9.80 over the previous estimate of $17.

“We believe that this chip was designed by PA Semi,” Rassweiler said, referring to the chip company that Apple acquired in 2008 for $278 million. “But the markings make it look like a Samsung chip.”

Other chips found in the iPad also proved more costly, and more numerous, than original estimates. Broadcom Corp. supplied a chip that cost $8.05 and handles both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless data connections, as well as two others that together cost $3.70 and are used to control the touch screen. Texas Instruments Inc. provided a chip used to help control the touch screen at a cost of $1.80, while Cirrus Logic Inc. supplied an audio chip that cost $1.20.

Bill Blanning, a spokesman for Broadcom, didn’t return a message seeking comment. Kimberly Morgan, a spokeswoman for Texas Instruments, and Bill Schnell, a spokesman for Cirrus, declined to comment.

–Editors: Tom Giles, Stephen West

To contact the reporter on this story: Arik Hesseldahl in New York at arik@businessweek.com.

Resource:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-07/apple-ipad-s-components-may-cost-260-isuppli-says-update1-.html

“We’ve factored the iPad into our network technology planning, and we’re ready,” an AT&T spokesperson said in an e-mail. AT&T, which claims to have the fastest 3G network, is reportedly spending between $18 and $19 billion on network upgrades this year, including a doubling of its wireless network investment.

Still, while carriers in other countries are planning to offer subsidized iPads with contract agreements, AT&T is going a different route by letting customers buy 3G service on a month-to-month basis. The iPad will launch with two data plans from AT&T: one with a monthly data cap 250MB a month for $14.99, the other with unlimited data for $29.99.

If AT&T’s network is ready for the iPad, why isn’t it locking customers into 3G service agreements? According to industry experts, AT&T appears to think that iPad users will get the bandwidth they need primarily from Wi-Fi.

Dan Croft, president and CEO of Mission Critical Wireless, a solution provider in Lincolnshire, Ill., says AT&T is betting that subscribers’ actual 3G consumption will be less with the iPad than it is with the iPhone.

“An iPhone is attached to your hip, in constant use even when you’re mobile. I believe a larger device like an iPad will be more session oriented, and that could result in less airtime,” said Croft.

Last month at CTIA Wireless, Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T’s wireless and consumer markets, suggested that Wi-Fi and femtocells will play an important role in complementing cellular networks.

Given the increased multimedia capabilities of the iPad, AT&T’s 3G network may be hard-pressed to handle bandwidth intensive tasks like streaming video, especially once iPad-optimized apps start to arrive.

“The iPad is targeted to a different audience, one that’s more used to getting online with Wi-Fi. So AT&T is trying to get people to go to Wi-Fi first,” said Gary Berzack, CTO and COO of eTribeca LLC, a New York City-based wireless solution provider.

Another possibility is that AT&T simply wants to avoid another PR disaster like the one stemming from its angry iPhone subscribers’. AT&T has said all its previous models for predicting network capacity needs were blown away by the iPhone, with the not-so-subtle implication that other carriers will encounter the same issues if they’re granted the rights to sell the iPhone.

Resource:
http://www.crn.com/mobile/224202025

Development and Initial Release

Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, revealed the concept behind the iPhone back in 2003. The idea was to leverage the success of the iPod introduced back in 2001. Many rumors followed throughout the years before the official announcement on January 9, 2007 at the Macworld convention. The public reception of the iPhone was mixed, but much praise was given to its hardware specs and multi-touch support which was considered new to the phone industry at that time. It was also backed with some solid software including a special operating system that is based on Apple’s own Mac OS X. Some of the familiar programs like Safari were included to make the browsing experience smooth.

Although the disk space of the iPhone was quite limited with 4 or 8 gigabytes of flash memory, the best features of the iPod were incorporated into the iPhone while adapting to the new multi-touch interface highlighting its versatile usage as both a mobile phone and a portable media player. Various other features such as the Clock, Mail, Notes, Calculator, and Maps applications also make the iPhone a solid PDA device as well.

One of the things that users disliked about the iPhone was the enormous price tag at $600 for the 8 GB model with lower prices requiring a 2-year phone contract. Other disliked features were the lack of MMS support and inability to copy and paste text as well as the restrictions that prevent homebrew applications from running.

iPhone Successors

Despite the mixed reactions, the iPhone continued to sell well to millions of consumers worldwide causing Apple to release a newer model known as the iPhone 3G on July 18, 2008 which sported faster network speeds and an updated OS. The OS eventually updated to 3.0 which finally added cut, copy, and paste support along with MMS support putting Apple ahead of the pack in the mobile phone market.

The iPhone 3GS followed offering considerable speed improvements, higher camera resolution, video capabilities, and a higher capacity 32 GB model. This has caused the older iPhone model to drop in price at $99 with contract.

The Birth of the iPad

Apple’s other goal in addition to tackling the phone market was to also get into the tablet computer industry which spawned many rumors throughout the years. Some mockups of the Apple tablet describing its potential in taking on eBook readers and slate computers head on. Apple followed with an official announcement. Calling their device the iPad which resembles a blown up version of the iPhone without the calling capabilities. The main highlights were the same hardware technologies that power the iPhone along with a bigger screen and full support of the many applications that run on the iPhone.

The general reception of the iPad was mainly negative due to the lack of the USB or SD card slot, no multitasking, and no Adobe Flash support. The target market, however, is aimed at notebook and eReader users and the real results will be seen regarding its success this coming March 2010.