Apple

More evidence of LTE connectivity on the next iPhone has surfaced in a document acquired by AppleInsider. Apple is reportedly reviewing parts that were submitted by suppliers, a key step in deciding which components will be used in the iPhone 5.

The information comes from a research note produced by investment firm Barclays. The firm contends that Apple is expected to include the Qualcomm MDM9615 LTE chip in the next generation iPhone, which supports 4G data connections and voice. In contrast, the LTE hardware found on the new iPad is the Qualcomm MDM9600, which only supports data connections.

Everyone is looking forward to the super quick LTE capable iPhone 5 this fall, right? Maybe everyone except for wireless carrier Sprint. Unfortunately, word on the street is that Sprint faces problems, including possible bankruptcy should Apple launch the next generation device with LTE.

Problems for Sprint are already likely given the fact that Apple has shipped the new iPad with LTE, in both Verizon and AT&T flavors. Notice the lack of a third-generation iPad for Sprint. The main problem here outside of spectrum issues remains that Sprint's LTE network is coming online this year, putting the carrier behind its major rivals by a year and a half.

Even disclaimers and beta software status hasn't prevented Siri from sparking a new lawsuit against Apple. iPhone 4S users including Frank Fazio, who is suing Apple in a California class action suit, have observed that Siri does not always work on their devices exactly how it works on television.

They claim that Apple is providing "false and misleading" advertising and that the iPhone 4S without Siri is simply a more expensive iPhone 4. Of course, this ignores the fact that the iPhone 4S has several hardware upgrades from its predecessor and Siri is just one feature of many available in Apple's mobile operating system iOS 5.

While the release of the third generation Apple TV may have been exciting, tearing the device apart was even more so for one forum user at xbmc.org. In the process of disassembling the 2012 Apple TV they discovered that Apple has doubled RAM from the previous model to 512MB.

Not only this, but the new ATV sports an additional antenna over its predecessor. It's not entirely clear how the addition of a second antenna helps. When it comes to the processor, a single-core A5 chip is an upgrade from the A4. Some have suggested that the new ATV processor is simply a normal dual-core A5 with one core switched off.

The sixth generation iPhone will be here in no time, and thanks to the release of the third generation iPad we have a glimpse into Apple's plans for hardware on their next big product. Widely rumored to have a larger screen, the iPhone 5 is highly anticipated to launch in summer or fall 2012.

So what can we expect to see in the iPhone 5? DigiTimes is making predictions again, all based on their connections within the Asian supply chain. Although their track record is not 100 percent, they claim that Apple is planning to provide similar LTE functionality on the iPhone 5 as is currently delivered on the iPad 3.

Apple has launched the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 5.1. So what can iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users expect from the update? Although it may not be a huge step, there are many additions and improvements to the firmware, some of which Apple did not officially announce before the release.

As usual, those iPhone owners running a jailbroken device should avoid the stock iOS 5.1 update until further notice. One of the previously heralded changes in iOS 5.1 is the addition of Japanese support for the Siri personal assistant. So what else has Apple included in iOS 5.1?

Once again, Apple is offering one lucky winner a $10,000 iTunes gift card for simply downloading an iOS app. Of course timing will determine who wins, with the 25 billionth app marking the winner and another milestone in the 3.5 year history of the App Store.

Apple ran a similar contest when the App Store hit 10 billion downloads in January of last year. As of this writing there are less than 700 million apps remaining to be downloaded according to the Apple contest page.

Apple plans to use Liquipel technology on the next generation iPhone, making the iPhone 5 immune to problems resulting from exposure to water. The waterproof iPhone 5 would be treated internally with a thin layer of Liquipel's material that prevents water molecules from ever contacting sensitive electronic components.

The news that Apple plans to utilize this technology comes from a source in the UK phone retail industry, who stated that wording for insurance documents will be changed to accomodate the waterproofed iPhone 5. Liquipel's technology was demoed at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Another report has surfaced pointing to a summer iPhone 5 announcement from Apple. The analysis from Daiwa Securities claims the next generation device will be revealed at the Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) in June. This would bring Apple back to its tradition of mid-year iPhone releases.

The shift back to a summer release would mark a departure from last year's October iPhone 4S launch, leaving just eight months between the two generations of smartphones. The normal venue for WWDC already has the dates June 11-15 blocked off for a "Corporate Meeting" and is expected to host the Apple event during this week.

Apple was named with T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, HTC, Samsung and Motorola in a class action lawsuit on Monday. Sianni & Straite of Wilmington of Delaware and two other law firms from New Jersey (Crutchlow Zaslow & McElroy of Edison and Keefe Bartels of Red Bank) filed the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in the District of Delaware. The lawsuit alleges Apple and other companies committed an "unprecedented breach of the digital privacy rights of 150 million cell phone users.”

The class action lawsuit is in response to the Carrier IQ software installed in various cell phones that logs the keystrokes, texts and geographic data of its users. Apple admitted using the diagnostics tool in the past, but said they never recorded "personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so.” Apple also promised to remove the software from all their devices in a future firmware update.