Apple iPhone News

When using a phone while driving there are a number of issues that drivers tend to have to deal with and one of the first is that local law enforcement authorities may not be that impressed to discover a driver who has their hands tied up with a mobile phone. Due to this, a number of different products have been developed to help make hands free iPhone use quite a popular trend these days and of the manufacturers on the market, not all make a very solid product. Since the accessories market is not limited to any specific qualifications that a manufacturer is going to need to have in order to make a product that can be used with the iPhone, it means that many see a chance to make some quick money with a cheap product that does not last and will not end up doing what it promises. Out of the few trusted phone products for this smart phone, perhaps the Apple iPhone 3G Brodit holder is the most well known for both strength and quality. Its construction is far superior to many other similar products on the market and this alone justifies it as easily one of the better purchases for those who want to be able to drive safely while using their phone’s capacity to the max.

Since this is a very well known brand to those who are familiar with well made accessories, it has become a case of the Brodit products getting stellar reviews online from people who are extremely grateful to have the sort of product that they provide. This is definitely a much more high end accessory than the vast amount of similar goods, plus it enables the phone to be mounted in a variety of different locations within a vehicle in a smooth, easy way.

Word has now come out that the primary manufacturer contracted by Apple will begin building the next iPhone and is already preparing to produce 24 million units for shipping by the end of the current year. Foxconn, the company based out of Taiwan which will be making the new units has let the press know that by the end of June 2010 there will be 4.5 of the next gen iPhones being shipped out with the rest of the 19.5 being shipped around the world by the end of this year. This is a quick response from Apple after a proto type was leaked earlier and shows the company is trying to scramble to retrieve some of their surprise factor that they prefer to be well known for around the world. Industry insiders have stated that they are surprised at such a huge number because even for Apple, 24 million of a single product is definitely not a standard production level. Since 2007, the debut year for the first iPhone, only 50 million have sold and this represents quite a large jump in initial production.

Analysts speculate that the surge in production could be due to expected price cuts for this model of the new iPhone which is intended to bring in a more robust market saturation for the rapidly burgeoning smart phone market. According to reports in the tech industry, the company will be putting together a CDMA phone that will have another carrier partner this time. That means more outlets and with that, more supply is needed.

The golden child of Apple, the iPhone, has proven to have a much stronger appeal as a consumer device than its rival Android from Google, according to industry experts, due to its ability to lure in the gamer crowd who have done much to patronize the device due to its focus on entertainment products such as gaming apps. Google’s recently released Android was believed to be a competitor for the same demographic, but time has shown that it is not as solid in its offerings of games and not the type of platform that many developers wish to utilize when creating games. Given this in combination with the fact that the iPhone reaches a much larger fan base of savvy gamers, Android has not seen anywhere near the growth that some analysts had suggested would be impending upon the operating system’s release. The revolution from Google in mobile device terms has been lacking in this area from what reviewers have expressed in the press over the past few months.

Surveys have shown that only 17% percent of Android users are actively seeking out game content using their mobile devices while those on the iPhone are doing so at a rate of just over half, 64% and climbing. The statistics were based on a survey of 61,000 Facebook users randomly polled for their activities with their mobile devices. The general consensus is that Android can not compete with the established iPhone that has such a strong grip on the mobile gaming market share at this time.

Plenty could be said about the way that Apple came seemingly out of nowhere to take over the smart phone market, but that is the past and consumers today are interested in getting the best for their money. In most cases, makers of smart phones will tend towards higher end models in keeping with the standards that the iPhone set forth in its initial release, but research in the consumer device market is showing there is ample room for expansion in the lower end sector where products are offered at bargain prices in exchange for having a few less options for features that consumers may or may not truly care about in the end. Research in this market has proven that when it comes to making decisions about which make and model of smart phone they will buy, many buyers are prone to looking at which features they either do not want or are willing to live without. Smart phone maker LG has mixed this into their product philosophy and begun to deliver lower cost units that are designed to trim the so called fat from the more expensive smart phone models which have been crowding the shelves of late. Their aim is to offer a more affordable phone that will work for consumers who want to surf the web and do many things smart phones can do, but who do not want to shell out the cash for state of the art.

This has lead to the development of the LG Pop, which builds upon its predecessor, the LG Cookie and offers up a far lighter design that is a direct result of the fact that it has fewer features taking up on board space. This has given a robust, low cost phone that can create its own market share.

Ease of use has been the war cry for many new pieces of software and various devices that have been coming onto the market in the past decade and 2010 sees no shortage of companies pounding exactly this point, particularly in the smart phone market. These phones are growing more sophisticated with each passing season as they are unveiled at a head spinning pace. The facts, say analysts, are lining up to support the way tech industry manufacturers are delivering their product: making ease of use king. This has been the way that Apple marketed its iPhone, as an incredibly state of the art device with a huge assortment of features that is stunningly easy to use. Consumers have embraced the concept and taken the product to the absolute peak in terms of sales. This has lead many competitors to go back to the drawing boards in an attempt to make their own devices equally easy to use. Because of the vast amount of design work that goes into these phones, it can take a 1 to 2 year design cycle, if not longer, to get things right for a new model that will actually offer the maker a competitive edge. Korean based Samsung knows all about this since they have been creating a powerful electronics industry brand for quite some time and their new phone, the Wave, is definitely going to cause a stir in the coming months.

The behemoth of a market share that Apple enjoys right now just may have a piece of its pie cut right out when it comes to what the Samsung Wave can offer consumers. Bookmarks, shortcuts and a whole range of exceptionally well tuned touch screen features make the Wave a truly competitive entry to the market that is now nearly run by the iPhone.

One of the key things that a huge number of customers have requested of Apple for the upcoming 4G version of the iPhone is the inclusion of software which would enable the device to receive and process vocal commands. While it is not yet known whether the latest incarnation of the iPhone will feature this when it comes out later this year, what is known is the the developer Vlingo has created an App that will allow consumers to access their iPhone vocally and give voice commands for a number of the main functions that are available on the device. Based on extensive research and a very large amount of customer feed back, Vlingo has determined a mix of features that iPhone users wanted to see for their favorite phones and responded by developing a package that caters to their requested interests by making their phones more useful to their every day lives.

There are a number of features that were built into the software, all of them gleaned from the mass levels of feed back that Vlingo received, but chief among these are the ability to send and receive their email using speech activated options which make the process much easier. The users can simply say aloud the subject of the email, the message and the name of the person they want to send the email to. This allows for a hands free experience at sending and receiving emails, plus the same features are offered for users who wish to send a text message. Hands free calling is another strong feature offered.

One of the strongest commercial appeals for developers of both software and hardware on the iPhone has been the fact that many consumers consider it to be something of an extension of themselves and therefore the device is considered to be more than an electronic gadget and more of a ‘life style device’ which is a much different type of product. A life style device has a more loyal market and thus those companies who are able to penetrate sucha  device’s market share are far more likely to be able to build a strong business base even with a single product release. The company called Thinkflood has recognized the opportunity that the iPhone offers to hardware developers and come up with a way to turn the iPhone from a mere mobile device to handy household remote control not by adding anything very expensive, but with one $50 dongle that can convert the iPhone into a convenient remote control that will let viewers channel surf with ease.

The RedEye from Thinkflood is a step in this direction, but it was the decision to step away from WiFi to actually connecting directly with the iPhone’s head phone jack that made the real difference in the design of the product. This new RedEye Mini allows the iPhone to control devices from up to 30 feet away with ease and is priced to a point that experts believe it will sell quite heavily since it effectively creates a touch screen remote that is very easy to use.

As more and more iPhone users turn to gaming on their mobile phones, game developers are responding with new ways to keep fans tuned into their intellectual properties and secure ever larger stakes in a hotly contested market. The rise of gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch has given way to a whole new way that gamers can keep in touch and add an extra dimension of fun to their gaming experiences. Web company Playhaven is making it even easier for gaming fans to create their own communities with forums and other features to extend enjoyment from all of the entertainment titles on the iPhone.

Developers can then swoop in and claim the communities themselves, using them as official fan sites and proving their loyalty to their customer base. Game creators can easily sign up and since there’s no fee, 40 developers have joined within Playhaven’s first month of operation, taking advantage of the unique service that also costs gamers nothing to utilize. The word of mouth factor is what is attractive to developers who need to be able to create buzz around their titles in order to push them to the level of success seen on Mafia Wars and other phenomenally popular gaming titles. Playhaven is expected to do brisk business as the games for iPhone grow increasingly more complex and user friendly.

As the global population begins to strain towards what leading climate experts believe could be the limits of the planet’s ability to sustain heavy industry in its traditional form, more and more consumers are looking for ways to make use of freely available power sources such as wind and solar power. Energy innovator Mariah Power has developed a new application for Apple’s iPhone that will allow users to gauge the wind speed around their homes, a crucial feature for those home owners considering the installation of their own wind turbine. 

The app will make use of the iPhone’s built in microphone to gauge the speed of the wind by capturing the sound, filtering out all ambient noise and making use of a highly complex algorithm that will convert what the phone ‘hears’ into a decibel rating that is correlated with wind speed. Mariah has worked with California digital design firm Create with Context to create the software which it hopes will boost sales of its 1.2 kilowatt residential turbine, a piece of equipment that makes use of uniquely designed horizontal blades to generate power from even low level wind as slow as 10 miles per hour. Even so, developers are insisting that the app be viewed as a tool for raising awareness of wind’s potential for power generation rather than as a scientific measurement tool.

With the growing popularity of smart phones such as the iPhone, one of Apple’s largest smash hits in recent years, businesses are turning increasingly to not only connecting with customers via online services, but by bringing their mobile devices into play. Car makers are the latest to enter the market and make a big impact, giving consumers a wide range of features that would have not been possible prior to the digital age. Mercedes-Benz steps into the arena with an extensive platform for telematics that upgrades its vehicles navigation systems by offering up to date reports on traffic and weather, in addition to a feature which allows iPhone users to use their phone to unlock their vehicle.

Working in tandem with Hughes Telematics, Mercedes offers its mbrace system to through Hughes’ servers in an effort to replace the auto maker’s former Tele Aid system. With GPS built in and two way data transfers over the Verizon network, the system will offer automatic collision notification and features that let drivers call for emergency help. The iPhone unlocking function will even work across the continent as demonstrated by the company which unlocked a car in California from a location in New York.