Mobile

Apple iPhone 4S gets lukewarm analyst response

Wall Street analysts weighed in on Apple's iPhone 4S launch as a "mildly disappointing," but acknowledged the device will be a big hit.

Like the tech blogs, the reaction to the iPhone 4S was decidedly mixed. The major gripes were that Apple didn't release and iPhone 5 even though few analysts noted what they'd want from such a device. The lack of 4G was an issue for many.

Here's a roundup of analyst comments:

Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu:

Overall, there may be mild disappointment as many were expecting an "iPhone 5" … Read more

RIM execs don't want to buy stock either, report says

Research In Motion's top executives, including co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, have not purchased any of the company's shares on the open market since last year, a new report claims.

According to Bloomberg, which compiled data on stock purchases made by RIM executives, none of the company's "insiders" has acquired shares on the open market since July 2010. Over the last year and a few months, those people have, however, sold off stock "at least 11 times," Bloomberg's research has found.

From a personal financial perspective, the move may have behooved … Read more

Nokia to unveil first Windows phone this quarter

Nokia is promising to launch its first Windows Phone during the current quarter.

CEO Stephen Elop made the announcement yesterday at a technology event in the company's home base of Helsinki, Finland, according to Reuters and other news sources. Nokia has been eyeing a 2011 launch for its first Windows Phone devices since this summer, so it has little choice but to hit the market this quarter to reach that goal.

The first handset could come as early as the end of this month to coincide with the Nokia World trade show taking place in London on October 26 … Read more

RIM just looks like a bargain

Research In Motion's stock may look like a bargain, but looks can be deceiving.

RIM has seen its shares tumble by 71 percent since February, and many of its problems are well understood at this point. But the unlikely scenarios of a takeover or drastic strategy change suggest that the company will continue to be mired in its problems, leaving little opportunity for optimism, according to Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu.

"On the one hand, we must admit RIM is today a bargain in many respects, and we can imagine new directions to get the company out … Read more

Samsung targets iPhone 4S in France, Italy

Samsung is already moving to block the sale of the new iPhone 4S in Europe barely a day after Apple announced its new flagship phone.

In a blog post today, Samsung said that it is filing requests for preliminary injunctions both in Paris and in Milan, Italy, asking the courts to ban the sale of the new iPhone.

In filing the motions, Samsung plans to accuse Apple of two patent infringements related to wireless technology, specifically the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) standard used on 3G phones. The mobile handset maker said it believes that Apple's violation of … Read more

Samsung's next Android phone looks a lot swoopier

Samsung has posted a teaser video for the new Android phone it plans to debut next week, likely the Nexus Prime. And its design makes the the curved face of the Nexus S look positively flat.

The video for the Samsung Unpacked event on October 11 in San Diego states, "Another perfect combination is just around the corner."

It closes with a side view of the curved phone and the words, "Something big is coming"--perhaps an indication of the phone's screen size.

The video popped up right after Apple debuted its iPhone 4S yesterday. … Read more

Branded iPhone 5 won't arrive until LTE, analysts say

An Apple phone branded as the iPhone 5 won't arrive until "4G" LTE technology is ready for compact smartphones, according to analysts.

Needless to say, the iPhone 5 did not make an appearance today. Will Strauss, president of wireless chip market research firm Forward Concepts, says there is a very good reason that it was the 4S that showed up today and not the 5.

"They're saving iPhone 5 for the LTE version and that won't be out until next spring," said Strauss, who tracks companies like Qualcomm that supply the chips that … Read more

What the iPhone 4S means for the carriers

Apple's much-anticipated new iPhone was unveiled today at the company's headquarters in California. And for the first time in iPhone history, three of the four major U.S. operators will be offering the latest version of the device.

AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon Wireless will each begin selling their version of the iPhone 4S on October 14. Apple and its carrier partners will begin taking preorders for the device on Friday. Even though the announcement of the new iPhone 4S may have disappointed some fans because it was not the hoped for redesign known as the … Read more

iPhone 4S: Apple rethinks the inside

The iPhone today got an internal overhaul--its remarkably unchanged exterior notwithstanding.

Apple is "completely rethinking the inside" of the iPhone, according to Greg Joawiak, vice president of iPhone product marketing, who spoke in a video now up on Apple's Web site.

The biggest change is the dual-core A5 processor packing improved graphics silicon. "With two processors handling the workload, it really makes a big difference," Bob Mansfield, senior vice president of hardware, said in the same video.

"In Safari, Web pages will load up to twice as fast. Apps will run and launch faster...graphics can [load] up to seven times quicker, making game playing a lot better," Mansfield said.

If the A5-equipped iPad 2 is any indication, that second-generation Apple tablet showed big jumps in benchmark scores compared to the original iPad.

The other big change is the camera. In fact, the balance of statements by Apple today about internal changes were about the camera and optics. "We've increased the size of the aperture to let in more light," Mansfield said. "And added a fifth lens [resulting in] sharper images, more detail, more accurate color...and 1080p video at 30 frames per second."

Apple has also included a backside illumination sensor for increased sensitivity and a shorter exposure time to achieve the same scene brightness. "Colors are less saturated, and you'll see more details," Apple states on its iPhone 4S camera Web page. The camera also adds face detection and reduced motion blur.

And the A5 chip helps out here too. "The A5 chip is designed with an image signal processor that's just as good as the ones found in dSLR cameras," Apple claims. The image processor allows you to tap to focus and control exposure. And the A5's image processor also enables immediate photo capture (aka "zero shutter lag") when taking pictures.

And the camera also uses better algorithms in iOS 5 for more color accuracy, better white balance, and greater dynamic range. … Read more