As per a report by The Wall Street Journal, Sprint will join AT&T and Verizon to offer the iPhone 5 when it launches this year. Sprint will be the third carrier in U.S. to offer the iPhone. The report says that Apple will release its next generation iPhone in “mid-October”.

In another report, Reuters says that a lower priced 8GB version of the iPhone 4 will be launched this fall. There has been considerable speculation on Apple changing its strategy to target low-end mobile users with a low cost iPhone 4. The report further says that Apple is targeting end of the September launch for the iPhone 5 and completely refutes claims that the IPhone 5 will have significant changes in form-factor. The new iPhone 5 is reported to look identical to iPhone 4 but will have a bigger screen, 8 MP camera and better antenna.

An iPhone developer has also reported to found evidence that the iPhone 5 will be a dual mode device supporting both GSM and CDMA.

The iPhone 5 release has generated considerable speculation in the last few months. As the above two reports show, it is still very unclear when Apple will release its next generation iPhone. But it would be safe to say that the next two months might see an iPhone 5 release.

Tags: Apple, iPhone 5 news, iPhone 5 rumors

Apple recently released beta 6 of its soon-to-be launched operating system iOS 5. The iphone maker is making several changes in its OS. One not-much talked about but significant change first pointed by Techcrunch and later picked by other websites say that Apple is phasing out unique device identifier (UDID) for iPhone app developers. Apple has communicated this to the registered iOS developers in its latest documentation to iOS 5.

Phasing out UDID is a significant change as it is used by mobile marketers, ad networks and iOS app developers to identify devices. Most app analytics use the UDIDs to monitor user engagement with an application. With this change, iOS developers will now have to create own user identifiers to know about user engagement.

It would be interesting to see whether Apple itself will use UDID to target users for it iAd network or not? If it does then iPad and iPhone developers will have every right to call foul.

Apple has released the 5^th beta version of its soon-to-be launched operating system iOS 5 for iPad and iPhone developers. The iOS 5 beta 5 has build number 9A5288d. The latest beta version is available as OTA update but iOS app developers are required to erase all content and recommended backing up their device before installing it.

The latest beta version only fixes bugs and has no major upgrade from the previous version.

Apple has released beta 4 of iOS 5 two weeks back. The iOS 5 is expected to be released in September coinciding with the release of Apple’s next generation iPhone 5.

People familiar with matters at Apple say that the Cupertino based iPhone maker is planning to give a major ramp to iPhone next year and one of the changes may be in the charging method of the device.

On Wednesday iPhone 5 rumor mills went again abuzz with possible details on Apple’s next generation iPhone. A report on The Wall Street Journal claimed that Apple’s next iPhone will be smaller and lighter and will feature an 8-megapixel camera. Apple reportedly expects to build 25 million units of iPhone by the end of this year though people familiar with the matter say the company could face production constraints as the new model is complicated and difficult to assemble.

Data from comScore Device Essentials sheds light on the influence of Apple’s iPad and other tablet devices. According to the study, covering thirteen countries across five continents, iPad is presently the leading tablet device across all geographies and accounts for more than 89% of tablet traffic. Apple iPad’s contribution to overall non-computer device traffic is highest in Canada with 33.5% followed by with 31.8 percent and 26.2% in Singapore.

Android tablets which significantly lag behind iPad in the U.S. market, bests Apple in the Smartphone space with 35.6 percent as against 23.5 percent for iPhone. iPod Touch contribute notably to non-computer traffic across most countries.

A survey conducted by BTIG Research reveals that Apple’s iPhone is the best selling model on Verizon and AT&T network.  The survey was conducted over the past three weeks and surveyed 250 Verizon and AT&T stores across the United States to name their number one smartphone.

At Verizon stores, 51 percent said iPhone was their top-selling phone whereas an additional 38 percent were of the opinion that it was tied a rival Android device, normally the Samsung Droid Charge or the HTC Thunderbolt.

At AT&T stores, 65 percent said the iPhone was their top selling phone while another 31 percent picked Android device.

Overall, in 58 percent of the stores iPhone was the most selling smartphone with an additional 20 percent saying it shared honors with a rival device.

A study by RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky reveals that 76% of those surveyed are planning to make use of Apple’s free iCloud services. The survey further reports that 30% of participants in the survey are very likely or somewhat likely to use iTunes $24.99/year service. The survey was conducted among 450 iPhone users, a part of a larger survey involving nearly 1,500 people.

Based on the survey results, the report notes that Apple could see 150 million users for its free iCloud services with 60 million of those users also utilizing iTunes services. Apple is expected to earn an additional $1.5 billion annually in gross revenues from these services and around $450 million after sharing content providers revenue.

The survey also reveals that 73% of participants are very likely or somewhat likely to use Apple’s new iMessage services.

Couple of weeks back, we reported that Apple is backing iPad and iPhone developers in their fight against patent firm Lodsys over in-app purchasing system. Last month, Patent-holder Lodsys has sent legal notices to some iPad and iPhone developers requesting them to get licenses for using the in-app purchasing system. Apple now has filed a motion to intervene in legal action taken by Lodsys. And, legal experts believe that Apple may be admitted as intervenor in the suit. In its filing to the court, Apple stressed that all iPad and iPhone developers submitting applications in its App Store and using in-app purchasing system and covered by an existing license with Lodsys.

“The app developers whom Lodsys sued appear to be bound by a non-disclosure agreement (which makes sense), so they can’t speak out on their current relationship with Apple,” Mueller wrote in his blog on Friday.

“While I don’t have any confirmation from anyone that Apple has agreed to cover those defendants’ costs and potential risks, it’s hard to imagine how else this could work.”

“In its motion, Apple states explicitly that the sued app developers ‘are individuals or small entities with far fewer resources than Apple and [...] lack the technical information, ability, and incentive to adequately protect Apple’s rights under its license agreement.”

iPad and iPhone developers will surely feel relieved with Apple playing active role in the lawsuit and hope for a favorable solution to the dispute.

Tags: Apple, in-app purchases law suit, iOS developers, iPad-developers, iphone developers, Lodsys, Lodsys lawsuit

iOS developers threatened by Lodsys legal notice wished Apple could bail them out of the imbroglio. And, now they can breathe easy as Apple has finally responded regarding iPhone developers being sent legal notices by by patent holding firm Lodsys for patent infringement and demands for licensing. Apple’s General Counsel Bruce Sewell has sent a letter to Lodsys claiming that iOS developers are “undisputedly licensed” clearly indicating that Apple will back developers and will take steps to protect their interest.

The full text of Bruce Sewell was posted by Macworld. Here are some key excerpts from the letter-

• Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the Apple App Makers are protected by that license. There is no basis for Lodsys’ infringement allegations against Apple’s App Makers.
• First, Apple is licensed to all four of the patents in the Lodsys portfolio. As Lodsys itself advertises on its website, “Apple is licensed for its nameplate products and services.” Under its license, Apple is entitled to offer these licensed products and services to its customers and business partners, who, in turn, have the right to use them.
• Second, while we are not privy to all of Lodsys’s infringement contentions because you have chosen to send letters to Apple’s App Makers rather than to Apple itself, our understanding based on the letters we have reviewed is that Lodsys’s infringement allegations against Apple’s App Makers rest on Apple products and services covered by the license. These Apple products and services are offered by Apple to the App Makers to enable them to interact with the users of Apple products—such as the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and the Apple iOS operating system—through the use or Apple’s App Store, Apple Software Development Kits, and Apple Application Program Interfaces (“APIs”) and Apple servers and other hardware.

iPad and iPhone developers can read the full text of the letter here.

Source- Macworld

BGR.com reports citing one of its Apple sources that the Cupertino major is going to address the location tracking issue soon. Apple will soon release iOS 4.3.3 to fix the issue.

BGR.com claims that it has received the updated iOS version and has been told that the update will no longer back up the location information to iTunes. Moreover, the iOS 4.3.3 version will also reduce the size of location database and the database will be completely deleted whenever an iPhone user turns off the location services.

In addition to addressing the location tracking issue, the update will also improve battery life of devices and fix any bugs on iPod devices.

Source- BGR