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Apple rethinking Samsung chip partnership, say sources

Apple has begun the process of lessening its dependency on Samsung for chipmaking, an analyst told CNET.

"Apple is working with TSMC at 20 nanometers," said Gus Richard, a chip analyst at Piper Jaffray, referring to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's most advanced 20-nanometer (nm) manufacturing process.

Another chip industry source contacted by CNET confirmed this. "The Apple-Samsung relationship has deteriorated to such a poor point that they're just looking to fill contractual obligations, then make a change," said the source, who corroborated the move to TSMC at 20 nanometers.

An Asia-based news report said … Read more

Softbank-Sprint: U.S. wireless consolidation or just a land grab?

It's not exactly clear what's behind Softbank's tentative proposal to acquire control of Sprint. But that hasn't stopped lots of folks from trying to make sense of a cross-Pacific deal that hasn't even been formally struck yet.

At least the outline of a possible transaction is coming into focus. According to The Wall Street Journal, Softbank -- which zoomed to success in the Japanese market thanks to a years-long exclusive on the iPhone -- would pony up as much as $12.8 billion to acquire a roughly 70 percent stake in Sprint Nextel. That payment … Read more

Samsung chip architect leaves for Apple

Apple taps Samsung for the processors inside its popular portable devices, and it's apparently fond of the company's employees as well.

The Wall Street Journal notes that Jim Mergard, who joined Samsung last June to be its chief system architect, has left to go work at Apple. Before Samsung, Mergard spent 16 years at Advanced Micro Devices, where he was a vice president and chief engineer.

The move is the latest in a series of behind the scenes shuffles among some heavy hitters in the chip market. In early August Advanced Micro Devices hired former Apple chip architect Jim Keller … Read more

iPhone 5 so far: One road warrior's two-week test

Two weeks in, I've got a better feel for the iPhone 5, both good and bad.

After upgrading from the iPhone 4S to the 5 two weeks ago yesterday, I've been on the road -- bouncing between the east and west coasts. That's plenty of opportunity to test the iPhone 5's mettle.

The good, the bad, the meh:

Wi-Fi: This was the first gotcha. After arriving at my destination in Philadelphia, a Wi-Fi network I needed to access didn't take -- despite working fine with a host of other devices, including an iPhone 3GS and … Read more

Facebook-connected vest hugs you when you get a 'Like'

What if every time a Facebook friend liked one of your Facebook posts, that friend appeared out of nowhere, wrapped her arms around you, and gave you a big hug of appreciation? That would be pretty sweet.

Since that's not likely to happen in reality, you'll have to settle for the Like-A-Hug vest from Melissa Chow, Andy Payne, and Phil Seaton at the MIT Media Lab.

When a friend likes your photo, video, or status update, the vest inflates. Send a hug back to your buddy by squeezing and deflating the vest.… Read more

Lightroom 4.2 supports large swath of new cameras

With the Photokina show in Germany producing so many new high-end cameras, it's evidently been a busy season for Adobe Systems' Lightroom team.

That team just released Lightroom 4.2, which supports 22 new cameras, 43 new lenses, and lets people shoot with 11 new cameras tethered to a computer. It takes work to figure out how to decode each camera's proprietary raw format.

Here's the full list of new cameras supported, but note that the Nikon D600 support is "preliminary and there is a minor risk that the appearance of your images may change when … Read more

Madness: iPhone case deflects .50 caliber bullet on video

One guy has definitely found the ultimate gig -- shooting at inanimate objects with high-powered weaponry and monetizing the results through videos on YouTube.

That gentleman, known online as RatedRR (Richard Ryan), shoots up a Marudai bulletproof iPhone case with a high-powered sniper rifle for our enjoyment. The very thick iPhone case came out last April with tank-like aesthetics and the claim of being able to withstand a .50 caliber bullet. Aside from a boisterous weight of 4.6 pounds, the Japanese iPhone case costs 52,000 yen ($665). … Read more

Here's why the iPhone 5 is the best gaming phone

Back before the iPhone 5 was a known quantity, back before we even knew it was definitely going to have a larger screen, the iPhone was already a great gaming handheld. Millions of people know that. Gamers may hate to admit it, because the iPhone lacks physical buttons. It doesn't matter.

What the iPhone did to mobile gaming has reverberated across the industry, forcing the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita into catch-up mode, battling for second and third place. Free-to-play and the very concept of redownloadable gaming apps -- not to mention the rebirth of indie development -- can all be traced to Apple's App Store and this little handheld device. … Read more

Apple's A6 processor appears faster than previously thought

The silicon powering the new iPhone 5 appears to be more powerful than previously thought.

The A6 processor found in Apple's next-generation smartphone has been clocked at 1.3GHz by a new version of iOS benchmarking software Geekbench, faster than the 1.02 GHz previously reported .

The new version of Geekbench, which landed today at the App Store, "features a dramatically improved processor frequency detection algorithm, which consistently reports the A6's frequency as 1.3GHz," Primate Labs John Poole told Engadget.

Earlier results posted by Geekbench suggested the A6 was roughly twice as fast as any chip … Read more