News
iPhone Theming Platform DreamBoard Now Free
The popular skinning app for jailbroken iPhones, DreamBoard, is now free on Cydia. DreamBoard is a great alternative to Winterboard because it doesn't require you to restart your springboard every time you change themes. Dreamboard also allows much "deeper" themes and user-interface redesigns compared to Winterboard. Where Winterboard basically allows theme developers to re-skin existing iPhone graphics and interfaces, Dreamboard allows theme developers to build entirely new interfaces and methods of displaying information.
Analyst Wars: Free iPhones For the Masses
I don't know why I started following all these analyst reports, but since I did here's the latest:
Monday: Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore predicts Apple will announce an unlocked mid-range ($300 to $500) iPhone to penetrate the pre-paid mobile market share.
Tuesday: BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman believes Whitmore is wrong because Apple will never release a low-end phone. Instead, Bachman thinks Apple will discount the iPhone 3GS to attract people on a budget.

Today, analyst Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets said Apple will break tradition and not discontinue the iPhone 3GS when the iPhone 5 is announced. Abramsky said Apple is “expected” to offer the iPhone 3GS for free to attract mid-market buyers and slow the growth of the Android market.
Analyst Wars: Don't Expect An Affordable iPhone in 2011
On Monday, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore told his clients to expect Apple to release two iPhones, one of which would be an affordable device to help Apple grab a part of the pre-paid mobile market share. But BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman says Apple is all about making exciting high-end devices, and he doesn't see them releasing a low-end phone this year. Bachman believes that AT&T's re-marketed iPhone 3GS will be the phone Apple uses to hook budget-conscious consumers.

Is Apple Looking to Conquer the Pre-Paid Mobile Market?
Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore thinks Apple should and will embrace the mid-range/pre-paid mobile phone market in 2011. Two-thirds of the 1.5 billion mobile customers worldwide are pre-paid users, and Whitmore believes Apple will try to reach these customers by releasing an unlocked iPhone priced between $300 and $500. Perhaps the iPhone 4S?
“With Nokia and RIMM struggling,” Whitmore said, “the time is right for Apple to aggressively penetrate the mid range smart-phone market to dramatically expand its market share.”

Whitmore predicts that an affordable iPhone priced around $349 will not negatively impact profitability, and will help give Apple a bigger share of the $70 billion worldwide market.
Apple Samsung Feud Will Affect iPhone 6 Production in 2012
Forget the iPhone 4S or the iPhone 5, how about the iPhone 6? The Apple/Samsung catfight has made things awkward for the two companies, and may cause Apple to move to its orders for A6 processors to Taiwan.

The iPhone's A5 chips are currently made in Korea, the latest battleground for Apple's lawsuit against Samsung. Apple alleges that Samsung's Galaxy S and other mobile devices "blatantly” copy its technologies and designs.
Over a Million T-Mobile Subscribers Are Using Unlocked iPhones
A T-Mobile spokesperson told 9to5Mac they are carrying more than a million unlocked iPhones on their network. When asked how, the spokesman said people with older iPhone devices had “taken the scissors” to their T-Mobile SIM cards. T-Mobile doesn't offer MicroSiM cards for iPhones, so people had to create their own. Owners of the new unlocked iPhone 4 can't access T-Mobile’s 3G or 4G data speeds, so they will probably want to stick with AT&T.

New Apple Patent Could Spell Trouble For Android Devices
Patent number 7,966,578 could change the face of the mobile device market. The newly approved iPhone patent filed by Apple over three-years ago is for "[a] computer-implemented method, for use in conjunction with a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display, [that] comprises displaying a portion of page content, including a frame displaying a portion of frame content and also including other content of the page, on the touch screen display."
Depending on how the patent is interpreted, it could give Apple control over all capacitive screen and multitouch interface devices. Several patent experts warned that if it's not invalidated, it could allow Apple to bully other smartphone manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung and Motorolo.

“Unless this patent is invalidated or at least narrowed, it will be a potential impediment to innovation until December 2027,” patent expert Florian Muller told Macworld. “I don’t see any innovative achievement disclosed in that patent document that would justify a monopoly of that breadth and duration. Apple could use it in various ways throughout that period, including some that would be highly undesirable.”
The most likely "undesirable" method would be demanding high licensing fees from competitors.
iPhone 4 Production on a Decline to Make Room For iPhone 5
The next generation iPhone rumors are steadily increasing while orders for the iPhone 4 are decreasing.
Tech blogs have the iPhone 5 arriving this August, September, November and not at all. There are rumors that Apple's next phone will be the iPhone 4S, an iPhone 5 with new case, and everything in-between, but the closest report that I've seen that even supports a next generation device being released in the near future, comes from the DigiTimes.

The Times reports that Taiwan-based PCB companies are lowering quotes for Apple orders.
"Despite the third quarter being a traditional peak season for the consumer electronics industry, Taiwan-based PCB suppliers have cut quotes for the quarter by 10% on average for their orders placed by Apple, according to industry sources."
Apple to Release Bigger, Badder iPhone This August?
Minutes after chasing down another next generation iPhone rumor, BGR hit us with this iPhone 5 bomb.
BGR claims to have confirmed that the new iPhone will not be an upgraded iPhone 4 as originally rumored, but that the next iPhone will feature a major case redesign. The details are slim, but a source revealed that Apple will break tradition by announcing the new device in August, followed by a late August launch.

BGR's tip seems to support a previous report that the iPhone 5 will feature a teardrop case design, and use the same dual-core A5 processor found in the iPad 2.
iPhoneradamus Predicts September 7 iPhone 5 Launch
I don't know which is more annoying, all the iPhone 5 release date predictions, or all the conflicting reports about who will win the smartphone marketshare.
The latest next-generation iPhone rumor has the iPhone 5 being released the first week of September, prompting some tech blogs to crunch some Harold Camping type numbers and predict a Sept. 7 launch. According to the unverified reports, the iPhone 5 will come pre-loaded with Apple's latest operating system, the iOS 5, which was confirmed to be getting a fall release at this year's WWDC. Sept. 7 is also a Wednesday, the day Apple generally chooses to make its announcements. I guess that is another reason the date was chosen.

Some blogs are pointing to misinformation from the International Business Times, who appears to have started the rumor by plucking it out of thin air. Chris Smith noted that the IBTimes said iOS 5 will be released in July, but that's OS X Lion's launch date, not the iOS 5. And John Brownlee of Cult of Mac was left scratching his head over their claim that Apple is finding it “difficult to contend” with future Android devices.