Bloomberg today corroborated many features allegedly coming to the Tenth Anniversary iPhone aka iPhone 8. Describing 2017 iPhones as “Apple's most extensive iPhone lineup to date”, Bloomberg says Apple is testing a revamped iPhone with an all-screen front, curved glass and a stainless steel frame alongside upgrades to iPhone 7 models.
Apple's next-generation handset will feature a stainless steel frame, reports Japanese blog Mac Otakara. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the site claims the new iPhone will use an improved version of the Apple Watch's stainless steel casing, which will sit sandwiched between two pieces of glass.
Purported technical measurements for iPhone 8 that surfaced Monday on iFanr, a site without an established track record, would have us believe that Apple will ship a handset come this fall with a physical slit at the top of its OLED screen for an embedded earpiece and possibly other integrated components, like a 3D camera and sensors.
Not only should the top speaker of iPhone 8 be cut through the glass cover, but the OLED panel itself. Many bloggers and outlets that reported on the story have noted that this may not even be possible.
Samsung Display, the display-making unit of Samsung Electronics which holds a 95 percent market share for smartphone OLED panels, should exclusively build curved OLED screens for iPhone 8 during the next two years. The Korea Herald suggested Monday that other South Korean firms have won important contracts for iPhone 8, too.
In a research note issued to clients Monday, a copy of which was obtained by MarketWatch, Pacific Crest analysts have cautioned that Apple might be having issues with iPhone 8's rumored optical fingerprint sensing functionality.
To refresh your memory quickly, the revered Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities predicted in January that iPhone 8 could adopt a new fingerprint-reading solution in the form of an optical sensor that wouldn't require physical contact with a user’s finger.
A report Monday by the Israeli outlet The Verifier has it that the next major update to the operating system powering the Apple TV set-top box will include support for Picture-in-Picture mode and the ability for multiple users in a household to share the device with multi-user logins.
Picture-in-Picture launched on iOS 9 two years ago. Currently available on compatible iPad and Mac models, Picture-in-Picture allows users to watch videos in a floating window while multitasking.
Developer Square Enix this morning issued a new content update to its turn-based isometric puzzle mobile game, Lara Croft GO. Bumping version number to 2.1.7, the game now lets you take Lara through a whole new journey in an alternate reality. Specifically, the update brings out a whole new chapter named Mirror of Spirits with 25 new puzzles and three new mechanics. As a bonus, players get a brand new Lara-themed sticker pack for iMessage. The update is available at no additional charge to those who have purchased the game.
A photo that was posted to Chinese social network Weibo by an unknown user appears to depict an engineering design drawing of Apple's rumored 5.8-inch OLED iPhone, tentatively named “iPhone 8” (or “iPhone X”, “Tenth Anniversary iPhone” or simply “iPhone Edition”).
The leaked technical schematic depicts a device as thin as iPhone 7 with very slim bezels on the left and right sides of the screen, significantly smaller top and bottom bezels, a fingerprint sensor relocated to the backside, a vertically aligned dual-camera system and more.
Apple's long offered a dedicated podcast directory, titled iTunes Podcasts. As first noted by 9to5Mac, the company has rebranded iTunes Podcasts as Apple Podcasts and is now offering redesigned badge artwork and icons for publishers to use via its Apple Podcasts Identity Guideline webpage.
Refreshed badge graphics is now showing the “Listen on Apple Podcasts” message.
Apple in March 2017 purchased the powerful iOS automation app Workflow. Even though Workflow is now free and the company has refunded some of the users who have paid for the app, it seems that no new features will be coming to Workflow going forward. That's according to French blog iGeneration, which reported Thursday that the Workflow team's confirmed that the software will no longer be updated with new features.
Apple's hired a small group of dedicated biomedical engineers who have been tasked with the development of advanced sensors that would monitor blood sugar levels non-invasively, an effort described as a holy grail for treating diabetes and life sciences. The initiative was reportedly initially envisioned by Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs before his death. According to CNBC, this team is working from a nondescript office in Palo Alto, miles from Apple's corporate headquarters, reporting directly to Johny Srouji, Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies who joined Apple back in 2008.
We heard before that iPhone 8 could get delayed due to various technical issues stemming from a new augmented-reality 3D camera system, the lamination process of curved organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels and a new thin-film 3D Touch system.
Analyst Timothy Arcuri of Cowen and Company, however, contends that iPhone 8's rumored in-screen Touch ID sensor remains its biggest bottleneck.