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CNET - Looking for a deal on a red-hot smartphone? You've come to the right season. Carriers and big-box stores like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart slash prices to entice you to fill your shopping cart.

For high-end devices hat are typically backed by a lot of dollar signs, a seasonal buy-one, get-one deal or other deep discount could be enough to put a smile on your face, and a new smartphone in that lucky someone's pocket. That lucky someone might even be you.

View the Phones!

Control these large smart appliances with your iPhone

Looking to justify an iPhone purchase? Here's a handful of smart kitchen and laundry units with iOS-compatible apps.

CNET - The definition of the word "smart" as it applies to appliances is still finding itself. Breville considers its Smart Oven smart because adjusts the active heating elements based on which preset you use. Microwave ovens from various manufacturers have used sensors to measure temperature and humidity for years.

The definition also forks if you narrow down "smart" to meaning "connected." Dacor's high-end Discovery IQ oven and Samsung's RF4289HARS refrigerator both have large touch screens and Wi-Fi connectivity, but no companion mobile app.

Most smart appliances, though, do have an accompanying app. All of those apps are available on iOS, and, to varying degrees, Android (Samsung restricts its washer and dryer app to iOS and to Samsung's Galaxy mobile devices, not the rest of the Android universe). For those of you contemplating a new iPhone purchase, and interested in using it for some degree of appliance control, here are your choices from some major appliance manufacturers.   More

What to Expect From the Apple Event?

iOS 7 and a new iPhone are both near-certainties, but what about everything else?

Ars Technica - On September 10, Apple will host its first major event since its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) back in June. Unlike that event, which revolved around mostly product announcements and not product launches, Tuesday's keynote "should brighten everyone's day" with a bunch of shiny new stuff.

This list isn't comprehensive, but it should encompass all of the major announcements that Apple could make. We'll also share just how likely we think those announcements are.

iOS 7: Definitely

Enlarge

A release date for iOS 7 will be one of the largest announcements we get from the show. While iOS 6 was all about spit-and-polish, iOS 7 is the most extensive redesign Apple's mobile operating system has gotten since its introduction in 2007. It brings new features, new APIs, and a brand new design that sheds faux-realistic textures in favor of flatter, brighter colors and gradients. The new operating system will support the iPhone 4, 4S, and 5; the fifth-generation iPod touch; and the iPad 2, iPad mini, and both Retina iPads. It's the end of the line for both the iPhone 3GS and the fourth-generation iPod touch (though there have been rumblings that the iPad builds may not be ready at the same time as the iPhone and iPod builds).   Read More

Live Blog Tuesday, September 10th, starting at 1PM ET / 10AM PT

Chrome for iOS gets wireless printing, full-screen browsing

Chrome for iOS now lets you print Web pages via AirPrint or 

Google Cloud Print. The latter also supports print-to-PDF via 

Google Drive.

(Credit: Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET) 

The latest update to Google's mobile browser also provides a save-as-PDF option for Google Drive users.

CNET - It seems like just last week that Google was rolling out updates for its Chrome browser for iOS.

In fact, it was: Last week, Google added sharing and history features to Chrome for iOS.

Yesterday, Google brought a few more worthwhile features to its mobile browser: support for AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and full-screen browsing. Version 26.0.1410.50 also lets you save any Web page as a PDF to your Google Drive account.

Full-screen browsing works just like in Safari: When you scroll up, the Omnibox (i.e., address bar) disappears to give you a bit more viewing area. When you scroll back down (or tap the top of the screen), it reappears. Simple, but effective. The feature is good for video and Web-based games, where you don't want distracting user-interface "chrome" getting in the way of what you're seeing.

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Apple responds to iPhone SMS security vulnerability

The company says the threat of text message spoofing is a limitation of SMS. Oh, really?

More ways for texts to get yucky.

(Credit: CNET)

 

CNET - Yesterday I reported on revelations that iPhones may be particularly vulnerable to an SMS spoofing attack. Basically, because of the way iOS handles text headers, a nasty person could manipulate the "reply-to" number to appear to be someone they're not, like a financial institution.

Ever received a text from your bank on your iPhone? You may want to take a closer look and make sure it's the real deal.

A hacker who goes by the handle "pod2g" says a security flaw has made receiving texts on an iPhone insecure since the inception of iOS, and that the vulnerability still remains in the latest beta of iOS 6.

The issue lies in the header of a SMS message, which includes both the originating number of the message and a reply-to number. According to pod2G, the iPhone only displays the reply-to number and loses track of the originating number, which creates a few possible problems:

- pirates could send a message that seems to come from the bank of the receiver asking for some private information, or inviting them to go to a dedicated Web site. [phishing]

- one could send a spoofed message to your device and use it as a false evidence.

- anything you can imagine that could be utilized to manipulate people, letting them trust somebody or some organization texted them.    More

Yesterday I reported on revelations that iPhones may be particularly vulnerable to an SMS spoofing attack. Basically, because of the way iOS handles text headers, a nasty person could manipulate the "reply-to" number to appear to be someone they're not, like a financial institution.

More

Ahead of iPhone 5, AT&T-Verizon battle heats up

(Credit: Apple)

CNET - The second-quarter earnings report from AT&T is out today, revealing that the company activated 3.7 million iPhones, with 22 percent new to the company.

AT&T also posted its best-ever churn rate -- 0.97 percent for postpaid devices like the iPhone -- and total smartphone sales of 5.1 million, a third of them 4G-capable devices.

But it's the iPhone number that's most interesting. AT&T, of course, was the first American carrier to offer the industry-leading Apple device, and it enjoyed a domestic monopoly on four generations of the phone from June 2007 to February 2011. After that, Verizon joined the fray with the iPhone 4. Sprint followed later that year.

Much ink has been spilled about declining iPhone sales in the face of stiff competition from Google devices, and that's certainly an interesting angle. Just as interesting is AT&T's continued hold on the iPhone crown, five generations in -- and its slipping grip with each passing quarter.    More

iPhone 5 images leak online? - iPhone 5 rumor roundup

(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

 

 

CNET - After unveiling a marginally improved iPhone 4S in 2011 instead of a radically different iPhone 5, Apple has returned to its development labs to cook up (no pun intended) the next iteration of its popular phone. In 2012, we're fairly certain that the real iPhone 5 will roll out of Apple's gates and that the device should be a bigger leap forward than the 4S was.

That's why after taking some time off at the end of last year, we've resurrected CNET's iPhone 5 rumor roundup to cover the new tidbits from 2012. So join us again in watching the rumor mill churn. We'll add to it until we get the real thing; please let us know if we've left any gossip out.

May 29, 2012

Photos of purported iPhone 5 leak onto the Web

A host of new photos have emerged from two sources who claim the devices in the pictures are actually Apple's next-generation iPhone. 9to5Mac posts photos that look like the back plate of a new iPhone model allegedly from a Chinese supplier. Similarly MacRumors published an additional set from repair firm uBreakiFix with the same part.

What could be Apple's next iPhone.

(Credit: 9to5Mac)

 

 

iPhone 5 likely to launch by Sept. or Oct., says another analyst
RBC analyst Amit Daryanani says Apple's next iPhone is coming in September or October, similar to the time last year when Apple rolled out the iPhone 4S. Daryanani added that the device will sport 4G/LTE technology and be fully redesigned.       More

Why the Next iPhone Won’t Be 16:9

Gizmodo - Every year it's the same stupid rumor: "the new iPhone will have a 16:9 display." It even circulated before the first iPhone came out. And it happens with the iPad too. This year isn't different. But does it make sense? Would the next iPhone really have a 16:9 screen?

What are the benefits?

 

This is the main question you should ask yourself. What good would a 16:9 screen bring to you, the user?

First, proponents of the 16:9 iPhone say that this is the "format of the future." It's the resolution of HD video, be it 720p or 1080p. TV shows are filmed in 16:9 format. Home video is filmed in 16:9 format. They claim that people want to see all this video without letterboxing—that people hate black bars on the top and bottom of their displays. They argue that a 16:9 format will allow the iPhone to use the whole screen when watching video of this kind.

But while a 16:9 screen would fit this content perfectly, it would also push that "problem" elsewhere. It will actually make it even bigger. There are tens of thousands of movies and videos filmed in other formats (both 4:3 and all kinds of panoramic aspect ratio). More importantly, there are hundreds of thousands of apps and video games that are not designed for 16:9. Even if scaled, that will bring letterboxing to a much broader range of content.          More

Top accessories for your iPhone and iPad: gallery

ZDNet - Summary: Dozens of iPad and iPhone accessories tested across a variety of categories, whittled down to a handful of the very best you can buy for your iDevice.

The iPhone and iPad are both considered by most to be the best devices in their class, but you can dramatically improve upon both of them buying the right accessories. However, given the incredible popularity of these devices, there are an overwhelming number of accessories available for both. Finding the best accessory in a particular category can be very difficult.

Over the course of this gallery, I will work my way through several categories of accessories and highlight “best of the best” that you can buy for your iPhone or iPad.

Read More & Browse the Gallery!

Next iPhone said to ditch glass for Liquidmetal, arrive in June

(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)


CNET - After a brief hiatus, the long-standing rumor that Apple will employ more metal in the iPhone, has made a return — and even taken a new twist.

Citing unnamed industry sources, Korean news site ETnews says Apple will use Liquidmetal technology for the next iPhone, which the outlet boldly claims will be unveiled at Apple’s annual worldwide developers conference.

That conference, which has yet to be announced, typically takes place in June. Up until the last year, it has also been ground zero for the unveiling of new iPhones, including Apple’s first-generation model.             More

Senator Calls for FTC Probe Into iPhone, Android Data Privacy

PCMag.Com - Sen. Charles Schumer is once again turning the spotlight on privacy, and this time the subject is Apple and Android phones.

The senator’s office on Sunday called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate reports that some apps on iPhones and Android handsets allow your entire photo library to be uploaded without your knowledge.

In the statement, Schumer said, “When someone takes a private photo, on a private cell phone, it should remain just that: private… Smartphone developers have an obligation to protect the private content of their users and not allow them to be veritable treasure troves of private, personal information that can then be uploaded and distributed without the consumer’s consent.”

“It is my understanding that many of these uses violate the terms of service of the Apple and Android platforms through which the apps are marketed and sold,” Schumer continued. “However, it is not clear whether or how those terms of service are being enforced and monitored… I hope you will consider launching a comprehensive investigation to explicitly determine whether copying or distributing personal information from smart phones, without a user’s consent, constitutes an unfair or deceptive trade practice.”

In recent weeks, the issue of smartphones secretly uploading your address book or photos has been a hot topic in tech circles, prompting Apple to promise a fix in an upcoming version of iOS.

“While they are telling you what movies are playing nearby they are also going through your files and using it for other purpose,” Schumer alleged. “It sends shivers up the spine to think that one’s personal photos, address books and who knows what else can be obtained and even posted online with the consumer’s consent.”              More

DiabetesPilot for iPhone: Diabetes management in your pocket (review)

Summary: DiabetesPilot for the iPhone makes sophisticated control of the disease as easy as pulling the phone out of your pocket.

Articles covering mHealth tools are very popular as smartphones can play integral roles in helping manage chronic health issues. Apps for managing diabetes are evolving as primary tools in daily care for many afflicted with the disease. A diabetic spends a significant effort constantly tracking his/her diet, glucose levels, exercise, weight, and insulin usage over time.

The DiabetesPilot app for the iPhone is not the cheapest solution, but it works in tandem with a desktop app to track every facet of the diabetic’s life.

I was previously using the Track3 app for the iPhone (reviewed here), but found it falling short in the reporting area. While a good solution for easily entering information, the app was lacking in the ability to produce detailed printed reports and charts to share with my healthcare provider.

DiabetesPilot is very good at that, and while expensive at $14.99 I find it worth the cost.



This review doesn’t cover the desktop program, but concentrates on strictly the iPhone app.

There are Mac and Windows versions of the desktop app. I use the Mac version ($29.99), and the ability to sync the desktop data with the iPhone via Wi-Fi keeps both apps up-to-date. The sophisticated reporting is compliments of the desktop version, as the iPhone app is only capable of very basic charts and graphs. The iPhone app is self-contained, so even though the desktop app has better reporting it is not required. There is a free trial of the desktop app to test it prior to plunking down the relatively high cost.                More

CES 2012: IPhone 5 to Support T-Mobile Network

Forbes - Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 will support T-Mobile’s network, giving the struggling fourth-place carrier an opportunity to gain ground on its competitors.

T-Mobile’s chief technology officer Neville Ray at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week told CNET and several other sources the chipsets in the new iPhone 5 will support the Advanced Wireless Services, or AWS, frequency the carrier uses in its 3G network.

Just because the iPhone 5 is capable of running on T-Mobile, however, doesn’t mean the companies will be able to strike a deal. Apple largely ignored past requests from the carrier to create an AWS-friendly version of the iPhone, and T-Mobile aggressively promotes Android phones it says are as good, or better than, the iPhone.

However, adding the iPhone 5 to its lineup would be a major boost for a network still reeling from its failed merger with AT&T. The company is reforming its business strategy after the lengthy nine-month process resulted in thousands of lost customers due to uncertainty about the carrier’s fate.

In addition to figuring out how to lure returning and new customers, T-Mobile is the only “big four” U.S. carrier that does not offer the highly coveted iPhone due to its HSPA+ network, which Apple’s device does not support.

More than its other challenges, lack of the iPhone is often cited as T-Mobile’s biggest hurdle to overcome, but that obstacle may be temporary.

Acquiring the iPhone is a costly move for a smaller carrier like T-Mobile. The carrier received a hefty $3 billion break-up fee from AT&T, giving it some cash to invest, but third-place rival Sprint will spend $20 billion over the next five years to sell Apple’s top-selling device and create a more data-friendly network.               More

Steve Jobs, Google+ and iPhone top Google’s 2011 search list

Tech topics, led by Apple terms, were hot this year on the annual Google Zeitgeist list

Computerworld – What technology and technologists most interested the online world this year?

Based on the most popular 2011 Google search terms, people were most interested in getting information on Apple founder Steve Jobs, the iPhone 5, the iPad 2, and Google+.

Out of the billions of searches that people conducted on Google this year, these were the top tech topics in the company’s annual list of top searches.

“This year marks our 11th annual look back at the searches that compose the year’s Zeitgeist — the spirit of the time,” wrote Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow, in a blog post. “With Zeitgeist, we look at the most popular and the fastest rising terms — the terms with the highest growth in 2011 — in many categories across many countries around the world.”

On the list of fastest-growing search terms, Google’s new social networking site, Google+, came in at a strong second, while the release of Battlefield 3, a first-person shooter video game, came in at number five, and the anticipated release of the iPhone5 was number six.      

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The 40 Best Free iPhone Apps

PCMag.Com - The iPhone made its debut in June 2007. One year later, in July 2008, Apple launched the official App Store, the ultimate source of programs for the iPhone (in the first year, iPhone owners got apps through iTunes).

For iPhone owners, 2008 may seem like a long time ago, but it’s only been three years. What’s most interesting to me about the iPhone is the thought that neither consumers nor developers have yet worked out what standards and norms they want in the app ecosystem. Sure, Apple has its own set of rules, some of them quite strict, about the process for getting apps to market, but in terms of what consumers are willing to buy and how much they’re willing to pay, I think we’re still in uncharted water.

And you might as well drink up while you can! Truth be told, for most paid apps, there is a free and suitable alternative. Some developers give their apps away for free, but require a subscription or membership to get the real meat of the content. Other developers charge $4, $5, or $6 for their app, but it’s a one-time only fee. And of course, some developers program their apps and give them away totally free. Because the marketplace for iOS apps is still relatively new, I think we’re going to continue to see free apps—truly free apps, and good ones at that—for some time to come…another year or two at least.

The 40 free iPhone apps that made the cut for this list are the ones that have shown outstanding performance, have been well received by a variety of technology users, and are free. And “free” means free. No gimmicks, no “membership required.” Free. Period.
Missing from this list are apps and features (like Siri) that come pre-installed on the iPhone, although they are certainly not to be overlooked. The YouTube, Maps, and Clocks apps in particular should not be ignored, while the iTunes, Music (formerly called iPod app), and App Store apps typically see a fair share of well-deserved usage, but I suppose you technically paid for them because you bought the phone, so they’re not really free. In any case, you don’t need to choose to download them, so we’re not listing them here.

If you have more recommendations for more free apps that we at PCMag need to check out, post your suggestions in the comments.

Adobe Photoshop Express
Digital photography editing, until very recently, has been a task best suited for desktop and laptop computers, but Adobe proved that it could be done in the mobile space with Photoshop Express, a free photo editing application for the iPhone and other iOS devices. It’s a powerhouse of a mobile app, and can even handle noise reduction (extraneous particles that show up on photos). All in all, Adobe Photoshop Express is a solid tool for making light photo edits on your iPhone.

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Amazon Mobile
Amazon.com sells practically anything you might need, from toilet paper to dog food to magazine subscriptions. The mobile shopping app makes sure you can buy it anytime. The app contains a barcode scanner and photo tool, so if you’re in a store deliberating the cost of an item, you can snap a picture or scan the barcode and see if Amazon has it for less.

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BBC News
Among news apps, The BBC’s has one of the best interfaces—clean, with relevant headlines, good photos, and no advertisements. (Whether you agree with its angles and choice of coverage is another matter.) As far as international news organizations go, though, the BBC really does have correspondents in every corner of the globe, as well as varied and widespread topics. Another perk is that you can elect to view some news in other languages, such as Urdu, Arabic, and two kinds of Chinese.

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Bing

PCMag proclaimed Bing for iPhone “the best general search app” in the iTunes App Store when it debuted in 2009. Since then, Microsoft has expanded the functionality of its Bing app to include voice, barcode, and photo-based search to give users a variety of ways to gather information. The iPhone app sports a simple yet elegant black-and-white interface, highlighted by a large wallpaper image. The Vision Search feature needs more time to mature, but Bing delivers consistently good search results on the iPhone.                     More

Apple: iPhone battery issue due to iOS 5, fix coming

(Credit: CNET)

CNET - Apple has finally broken radio silence over criticisms of lackluster battery life affecting iPhones old and new since releasing iOS 5 last month.

In a statement provided to AllThingsD, the company said it’s aware of the problem and plans on offering a fix in the form of a software update.

“A small number of customers have reported lower-than-expected battery life on iOS 5 devices,” Apple told the outlet. “We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.”

As noted last week, users have flocked to Apple’s support site to complain about lower than advertised battery life on the new phone, which went on sale in mid-October, as well as on Apple’s previous models.

Affected users say fully-charged devices are running out of juice during the course of a workday, even with minimal use, a problem that was not present on their devices before the iOS 5 software update.              More

Walmart Selling iPhone 4S for $188

PCMag.Com - Want the cheapest Apple iPhone 4S in town? Head to your nearest Walmart.

The “always low prices” retailer has begun selling the 16GB version of the iPhone 4S on Verizon for $188, or $11 less than units offered through Verizon’s own retail stores or the Apple Store. The iPhone 4S is only available in select brick and mortar Walmart stores.

Last Friday, the iPhone 4S hit Apple Stores and three U.S. carriers: AT&T, Verizon, and for the first time, Sprint. The devices start at $199.99 for a 16GB model with a two-year contract, to $299.99 for a 32GB model, and $399.99 for a 64GB model. The iPhone 4S is also available from Best Buy, and in-store at select Radio Shacks.              More

Released Today - Why iOS 5 is a big deal

CNET - iOS 5, which made its debut at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, marks a turning point for the company’s mobile software. Yes, it’s largely a collection of tweaks, improvements, and fiddling with a tried and true formula, but it’s also one that–for the first time–breaks iOS devices apart from computers running Apple’s iTunes software and goes further to try to unify the devices into the same family.

That vision is miles away from where Apple’s iPhone journey started and a response to the fact that iOS has long since rocketed past the company’s computers in popularity, with devices like the iPad growing to compete directly. No, this isn’t a “Mac OS X is dying” post, as much as now is a very good time to point out that what may seem like just another software update is something much bigger in the grand scheme of things.

The “PC Free” era

For the last four major versions of iOS, stretching all the way back to the original iPhone, Apple has demanded that users plug into a computer–be it a Mac or PC–to sync music, ferry over data, and grab software updates. Now those features are built into iOS itself.

Of course, if you have a computer, you can still plug in your device and continue to use iTunes, but Apple’s big idea is that these devices now stand on their own, right out of the box. That’s further augmented by a new wireless sync feature built into today’s iTunes 10.5 software update and iOS 5 that lets users continue to sync with their computer as they always have, but without the wires.

To get to the “PC free” era, as Apple’s calls it, the company’s gone through each built-in application to make sure it can function fully without the need for a computer running iTunes.

Apple laid the groundwork for that in previous system software updates, letting users download content from the iTunes Store directly onto devices. But where that was largely a ploy to encourage people to make more content purchases, this move takes the decoupling approach system-wide to make the hardware more appealing to those who wish it exclusively. That amounts to things like letting users delete media that’s been synced over from a computer, as well as editing photos that have been snapped on the device.

In order to make what could be considered a sacrifice of decoupling it to iTunes, Apple’s tied it to something else: iCloud. That’s Apple’s new cloud-based service that both stores and ferries files from one iOS device to another.

Launching tomorrow alongside iOS 5, iCloud does many of the same things as MobileMe (the service it’s replacing), while adding new hooks like:

-A back-up service that can store near-full copies of your iOS device on Apple’s servers for safe keeping
-The capability to re-download previously purchased content from any one of Apple’s digital stores
-A feature called Photo Stream that transfers photos from one device to another in the background
-File storage for app developers to keep certain files, like documents or application settings

Collectively, the service acts as a safety net for some of the things consumers originally needed a computer for when using these devices, something Apple is banking on to be attractive for users with one iOS device, or many.           More

Gizmodo Explains: What’s So Smart About the iPhone 4S’s Antenna?

With the iPhone 4S, Apple says it will deliver an iPhone that works anywhere in the world, and with fantastic reception.

How did they do it? One word: antennas.

Apple’s marketing guru Phil Schiller said the iPhone 4S “intelligently switches between two antennas to receive and send.” Brilliant! But vague. How exactly does a smart antenna act?

When you have a small, thin device that needs to receive and send multiple types of signals without interfering with one another, you need to get creative. As we learned from the iPhone 4 “antennagate,” even the best engineers and designers can’t always come up with perfect antenna scheme.

But antenna gurus have plenty of tricks up their sleeves, it’s just a matter of finding the best recipe—and sometimes inventing a spanking new technology.

“What [Apple] seemed to allude to was a switching or selective processing technique: taking the better signal between two antennas and using it,” said Aaron Vronko, co-founder of Rapid Repair, in Portage, Michigan.

That’s one step in the right direction, but there are many other antenna hurdles to clear. On a cell phone, antennas have to be placed close together simply because cell phones are little. And antennas close together tend to interfere with each other. One way phone makers can address that is by placing antennas at opposite ends of the phone, a technique called spatial diversity.
In the AT&T version of the iPhone 4, however, both cell antennas were at the bottom. So if you happened to grab the phone too close to both of them simultaneously, you would experience signal attenuation. Antennagate!

But Verizon requires that the antennas on their phones be separated at the top and bottom of the device. That way, if you’re holding the phone at the bottom, you likely have a free antenna at the top.

Still, since a cell phone is so small, simply separating the antennas won’t prevent all interference. You need a space between them of at least one full wavelength. At the lowest wavelength, about 900 MHz, that would be 13 inches. Not even Gordon Gekko’s phone was quite that big (his DynaTAC was 9.8 inches). So engineers use other “antenna diversity” approaches, like polarity—placing the antennas at varying angles, or pattern diversity—using antennas with different radiation patterns.          More

iPhone 5: 'Most Revolutionary User Interface in History'

Steve Jobs with iPhone 4 (Image via Wikipedia)

Apple’s plans to introduce the iPhone 5 on Oct. 4 have spawned a huge wave of the typical informed speculation, trendy rumor, and uninformed innuendo that precede every Apple announcement, but I want to share the most-intriguing report I’ve heard.

Forbes - What makes it worth repeating is that it comes from an Apple follower and investor named Jason Schwarz, whose commentary over the past few years about Apple and its strategy, products, and financial performance have been exemplary. Not long after the original iPhone debuted in 2007—and this was way back in the days before Apple had become the most highly valued company on the planet—Schwarz was perhaps the first advisor to proclaim (and he did so loudly and repeatedly) that Apple’s breakthrough smartphone was triggering an enduring wave of mobile innovation that would push Apple’s stock price up to and past $300.

With that backdrop, I’ve come to place a fair amount of trust in Schwarz’s analyses of Apple, which this time around include some jaw-dropping claims about the power of the iPhone 5’s new voice technology (and before I insert this excerpt from Schwarz’s analysis, bear in mind that this guy is an investor and investment advisor and that he holds long positions on Apple):

At the original iPhone event in January 2007, Steve Jobs stated, ‘We are all born with the ultimate pointing device-our fingers-and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse.” Well, I would add that we’re also born with the ultimate communication tool-our voice-and iPhone is about to create the most revolutionary user interface in the history of technology (emphasis added). I expect that this voice assistant will quickly make its way into laptops and desktops as well. Apple’s competitive advantage is widening by the day. (End of excerpt.)

That’s quite a claim. And Schwarz makes such an audacious forecast because he believes the iPhone 5’s new capabilities will create for Apple a breakthrough level of competitive advantage in its battle with Google: “Voice search, rather than browser based search, could prove to be a real threat to Google’s dominance,” he writes. And here’s how that could play out, thanks to Apple’s acquisition last year of the Siri voice-assistant technology:

The Siri voice control system allows users to instruct the iPhone to ‘send a text message to Jason Schwarz asking him meet me for lunch’. Think about this capability in terms of safety. We all know that too many drivers send and receive text messages, now they will be able to safely operate an iPhone in the car. The voice assistant adds a layer of intelligence as well. If I ask my iPhone to ‘call Dad’ it might ask me whether it should dial his home phone or his mobile. It is also able to perform Web based search functions such as ‘book a table for two at 9:00 tonight’ or ‘send a taxi to my house’. Siri worked with Citysearch, Opentable and Taxi Magic before the Apple acquisition.(End of excerpt.)



For CIOs and the mobile workforces trying to deliver real-time insight and decision-making to the point of the customer, any additional layer of intelligence can truly be a game-changer as rapidly growing numbers of professionals begin to rely on smartphones and tablets as their primary computing device.

In fact, with these reported new capabilities for the iPhone 5, we shouldn’t be surprised if Apple, during its earnings call on Oct. 18, is able to report that it’s come even closer to having 100% of the Fortune 500 testing or deploying its mobile products. The most-recent corresponding numbers reported by Apple in late July were in the mid-80’s.

But even having made his claim that iPhone 5 will include “the most revolutionary user interface in the history of technology,” Schwarz made yet another remarkable forecast in his piece called ‘Let’s Talk’ iPhone 5 Is a Game Changer. After touting the iPhone 5’s implications for Apple’s iCloud business and highlighting how trends in mobile retention rates are favoring Apple over its competitors, Schwarz says he expects Apple to double the total number of iPhones it sells in the fourth quarter of this year compared to last year’s Q4:

After witnessing 142% unit growth for the iPhone in Apple’s most recent quarter, we believe that the upcoming iPhone 5 will command a similar growth trajectory in the holiday quarter. Last year Apple sold 16.24 million iPhones, this year we expect they will sell at least 32.48 million units. (End of excerpt.)                     More