Tag Archives: iPhone

Apple’s Future Hinges On Smaller Bets

November 10, 2024AppleiPhoneJenThorpe

Apple may never find another product with as much revenue potential as the iPhone, but it can still thrive with several new Apple Watch – or iPad-level businesses. For years, Apple Inc. watchers, customers and investors have been fixated on the same question: What is the company’s next blockbuster product? Bloomberg reported.

They’ve been waiting for Apple to deliver something with the same revenue potential as the iPhone – a gadget that can become its next growth engine.

That’s quite a challenge. There are more than a billion iPhones in use globally, and the device is at the center of the company’s product ecosystem. Consumers also haven’t indicated that they want some bold new alternative to a smartphone, a powerful computing platform that fits in their pockets.

The iPhone generates more than $200 billion for Apple annually — more than half its total revenue — while also helping fuel another $100 billion in services and more from accessory sales. The company’s App Store, Apple Watch, music service, TV+ streaming platform and AirPods are all popular because of a smartphone that first hit the market almost two decades ago.

PCMag reported Apple may launch an updated version of the Apple Vision Pro in late 2025 or in the spring of 2026, Bloomberg reported. Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter claims that the revamped version of the $3,500 headset is likely to arrive before a more budget-friendly option is released.

“Apple is working on several ideas for its Vision headset line, but at least one version of the second-generation Vision Pro — assuming it’s released — will look almost entirely like the current design,” Gurman says. “The big changes are internal, including a processor upgrade.”

The rumors come after Bloomberg said in September that Apple’s Vision Products Group was looking to produce a cheaper Vision headset without the “Pro” branding, costing $2,000. The budget Vision Pro would have reportedly used slightly cheaper materials and removed several features of the current version, such as EyeSight, which allows users to show their own eyes while wearing the headset.

DigitalTrends reported Apple’s foray into the XR wearable segment may not have stored the same kind of success that it tasted with the likes of the iPhone or the Apple Watch, but the company is still moving ahead with future iterations.

While plans of a cheaper headset may have been pushed, the Vision Pro could get a successor within a year, or so.

In my opinion, Apple has a lot of fans who will happily buy Apple products. The biggest problem could be the wait time for specific items to become available – and how much it will cost.

iPhones In Police Custody Reportedly Reboot Themselves

November 9, 2024Apple, PhoneiPhoneJenThorpe

Apple iPhones stored for forensic examination are allegedly rebooting themselves, making it difficult for police to get the info they need, PCMag reported. The reports come from a document put together by Detroit Law enforcement officials and obtained by 404 Media.

After the mysterious reboots, the devices supposedly enter what is called the Before First Unlock (BFU) state. This makes cracking them to get data about criminal activity much harder.

The document seen by 404 Media theorized that the iPhones rebooted in “a short amount of time” when removed from a cellular network, potentially around 24 hours. According to the document, one of the iPhones was even in Airplane mode and one was inside what is called a Faraday box, a type of container that blocks electronic signals from reaching the iPhone, stopping them from accessing telecom coverage, as well as things like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

TechCrunch reported iPhones might be harder for police to unlock, thanks to a new reboot feature. New code introduced in the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system could make it more difficult for both police and thieves to unlock phones.

404 Media reported Thursday that law enforcement officials were warning each other that phones being stored for forensic examination seems to be rebooting themselves — something that security experts confirmed in a follow-up story. After the reboot, it’s harder for those phones to be unlocked by password-cracking tools.

This reboot appears to be taking place after iPhones with iOS 18.1 have not been unlocked for a set period of time. According to Chris Wade, founder of mobile analysis Corellium, iPhones seem to reboot after their fourth day in a locked state.

Gizmodo reported: We seem to have gotten an answer to the mystery of why iPhones in the custody of law enforcement have been rebooting themselves, making it harder for cops to break them open. Security researchers have found that the latest version of iOS, version 18.1, includes a feature called “inactivity reboot” that restarts a device approximately four days after being in a locked state.

404 Media reported earlier that week that police officers in Detroit were freaking out because iPhones in their custody for examination were randomly rebooting, making it more difficult to crack them open and exfiltrate data that could be useful in investigations.

Law enforcement and forensic experts quickly make their way into group chats in order to warn others to get data off devices in their custody as quickly as possible before the reboot happens.

Apple is constantly implementing new security measures into its devices, and it’s not likely that the company was specifically targeting law enforcement with this security enhancement.

In my opinion, it sounds like iPhones are going to be much harder for law enforcement to crack open and collect data from.

An Apple By Any Other Name Would Sound As Sweet

September 17, 2018Apple, iPhoneApple, iPhoneAndrew

The new Apple iPhones announced last week have been analysed to the nth degree. They’re all very understandable and credible additions to the evolutionary tree of species iPhone. However what I can’t understand is how anyone thought that the new names were worthy of these otherwise excellent devices.

Much as Apple would like everyone to pronounce the Roman numeral X as a number, iPhone 10, plenty of people call their own phone the iPhone Ex. No doubt the Applerati will condescendingly sneer at this social faux pas, but that’s the reality. You’d think that Apple would have known from OS X but apparently not.

And now we have the iPhone XS – “excess” – and the iPhone Excess Max which slaps on the irony with a $1000+ price tag. It’s like a riff on Harry Enfield‘s “Loadsamoney” character from the 1980’s- “Hey, look at me, I’ve got an iPhone Excess Max and I’ve got loadsa money!”

To be fair, it is very hard to come up with product branding that combines track record with improvement and excitement: you only have to look at Windows 3, NT, 98, ME, XP, 95, 7, 8, 10 to see how difficult it is. But this is Apple. They embody excellence and we all expect better.

The automotive industry has been at this a long time and they’ve learnt a thing or two. Mostly they stick with the brand, product and model, and then simply iterate the year. Ford Mustang GT 2018.

Apple iPhone Plus 2018. That’s what I expect – taste, style and refinement.

With apologies to William Shakespeare.

Japan man arrested for selling unlocked iPhones

September 30, 2016iPhoneApple, iPhoneAlan

iPhone 5c

Most people are probably familiar with the term jailbreaking when used in conjunction with Apple’s iPhone. If not then it is essentially where you exploit bugs in Apple’s software to remove the restrictions imposed on your device by the operating system itself.

It can be a scary prospect for users who don’t know precisely what they are doing. But what if you could spend a few dollars more to get one that has already been jailbroken for you? That’s precisely what an enterprising Japanese man thought.

A recent report from Toyama, a city in the central part of Japan, says that a 24-year-old man named Daisuke Ikeda was recently arrested for selling five pre-jailbroken iPhones online. These apparently also included a copy of game called Monster Strike which is popular in the nation.

According to the Japan Times, Ikeda had sold 200 iPhones before his arrest, “raking in an estimated ¥5,000,000 [about $50k] in sales”.

This has mostly been a grey area, and many people jailbreak their own phones, though probably not for selling them. It’s going to raise some interesting legal questions.

Cygnett Reveals iPhone 7 Details

September 7, 2016Apple, iPhoneApple, iPhoneAndrew

Although we are only a few hours away from official announcements on the iPhone 7, some aftermarket suppliers are letting slip details on the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Accessories supplier Cygnett has all but confirmed that the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus designs will have no headphone jack but there’s good chance of two speakers for improved sound quality. Further, their new cases also show a larger hole slightly higher up on the iPhone 7 Plus, perhaps for a more protruded camera area suggesting an improved lens or dual lens. Early iPhone 7 rumours thought that the iPhone 7 might have a dual camera configuration, though this seems to have reverted to a single lens.

Cygnett’s Tim Swann also mentioned that while he thought there would be new colour options over the iPhone 6, the actual dimensions of the phone will be similar to that of the 6s and 6s Plus. This fits with what’s been mentioned elsewhere.

There’s been some discussion too as to whether the special connector on the iPad Pro will come to the 7 Plus but Cygnett’s founder didn’t think that was likely as the connector hadn’t appeared on any of the design drawings.

I guess we’ll just have to see what comes out of Apple in a little while….

Azoi Kito+ Health Tracker Review

May 16, 2016fitness, health, iPhone, review, smartphoneAzoi, fitness, Health, iPhone, review, smartphoneAndrew

After interviewing Azoi at Gadget Show Live, the team there sent me a Kito+ to review. I’ve been using it to check my vital signs over the past few weeks. If you didn’t read or listen to the original interview, the Kito+ is a credit-card sized health tracker that measures heart rate (pulse), respiration rate (breathing), blood oxygen, skin temperature and ECG.

The Kito+ sends all the data via Bluetooth to a nearby smartphone or tablet which displays the readings in real-time. It’s even more impressive when you consider the Kito+ costs GB£100 (around US$140). The Kito+ can work as a standalone device with both Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, or it can be embedded into a case for the iPhone 6 series of phones from Apple. Let’s take a look.

The box opens up to show the Kito+ on the left with the iPhone cases and charging adapter on the right. Beneath the lids are instructions and a USB cable. There are two sizes of iPhone 6 case included, one for the standard iPhone 6 and one for the Plus versions. The magnetic charging adapter snaps into place and the micro-USB cable powers it up. Fully charged, the Kito+ is good for a whole month of tests.

Turning to the Kito+ itself, it’s flat on one side with the sensors and buttons on the other. There are four sensors, an “on” button and two contacts for the charging adapter. The Kito+ is easy to use – simply hold in two hands with thumbs on the flat side, forefingers on the big shiny metal sensors and index fingers on the lower two smaller sensors.

As mentioned earlier, the Kito+ sends data to an app for processing, display and recording. It’s a straightforward app without too many bells and whistles, but it does have some good touches, such as being able to email your data to a doctor or physician.

When starting the app, you can either login to track your stats over time or you can go without a login, which is handy if you want a friend to try the Kito+. Once in, the next step is to press a small button on the Kito+ to prep the link between it and the smartphone. I found that occasionally this step didn’t always work but turning Bluetooth off and on again usually resolved it.

When successfully connected up, the smartphone shows how to hold the Kito+ and then moves into the measuring mode. This shows a real-time ECG graph and other figures as they are acquired over around 30 seconds. When the measuring phase is done, you can review your vital statistics.

I can’t comment on the accuracy of the figures or the ECG but they seemed to be in the ballpark when I tried to measure my own heart and respiration rate. The blood oxygen measurement didn’t always succeed and it seemed very dependent on correct positioning of fingers and no movement during the test period. However, all the other measurements recorded correctly every time and I never had any figures that were so outlandish as to be unbelievable.

If you are logged into the app as an individual , the data is saved against the date and you can review your historical measurements if desired.

Overall, I think the Azoi Kito+ is a great little device, especially considering the price (GB£100). I can see a number of potential users, from athletes and sportsman, or people who have a heart condition that can use the Kito+ under the guidance of a physician. I’m not medically trained so any docs who read GNC should chip in with comments on their view of the Kito+ and its potential.

For a full unboxing and demo run, there’s a video below. Thanks to Azoi for supplying the Kito+ for review.

Azoi Kito+ Health Tracker at Gadget Show Live

April 25, 2016Gadget Show, health, Interview, iPhone, medical, smartphone, Special MediaAzoi, Gadget Show Live, Health, Interview, iPhone, Kito, Medical, smartphoneAndrew

Only a slightly bigger than a credit card, the Azoi Kito+ is a personal health tracking device that measures ECG, heart rate (pulse), blood oxygen, skin temperature and respiration rate. I’ve seen the Kito tracker a couple of times now and every time I see it, I’m impressed that such a small device can gather so much data for so little money (GB£99). Miran from Azoi tells me more at Gadget Show Live.

The Kito+ works in conjunction with a smartphone or tablet to measure the five stats mentioned earlier. The user holds the Kito+ with both hands and two fingers from each hand rest on four measurement points for about 20 seconds, during which the time the Kito+ records the data and passes it on to the Kito app. In real-time the app shows the ECG graph trace and other figures are shown once they’ve stabilised.

As can be seen from the picture, the Kito+ can be embedded into phone cases for the Apple iPhone 6-series of smartphone cases. It’s not essential and the Kito+ works fine outside of a case with Android or other Apple devices. The Kito+ isn’t tied to one person, so a whole family can share the unit.

The Kito+ is available now from Azoi’s webstore for GB£99, which I think is great value when you think of the technology and potential value of the data. I’ll be bringing a full review of the Azoi Kito+ to GNC in the next few weeks.

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