iPhone 5 May Get Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text Feature

So now, we might get a new feature of Text to Speech in the next generation iPhone by Apple. The Patently Apple reports, Apple has filed a patent application for a system that provides you the ability of converting text to speech and vice versa on iPhone. The system for Apple filed a patent, would be also helpful in loudy background environment and as well as at those places where user can't talk loudly.
According to a new Apple patent application that was published this morning by the US Patent and Trademark Office, future iPhone's are likely to provide end users with effective new ways of communicating in both noisy environments like a restaurant or even during a quiet office meeting without stirring a mouse.

For this purpose, Apple might add a new sensor in handset for noise detection. And the new system will work like this; when the user at loudy environment, the iPhone automatically convert the speech from the end into the text. And when user less noisy environment i.e meeting, iPhone will allow user to write text, which would be converted to speech and send to the other end. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news

[via hackphone]

September iPhone 5 release date: odds of 4G, redesign, white, colors

Don't expect the iPhone 5 to see a release date prior to September, as the recent arrival of the white iPhone 4 means Apple doesn't expect to have a new iPhone generation ready to go quite as soon as this summer. But the longer the iPhone 5 takes to arrive, the better the odds of certain features coming along for the ride. Here are the odds of various iPhone 5 potential features making the cut if September 2011 indeed ends up being the official release date.

4G: This is tricky because the two current iPhone carriers, Verizon and AT&T, both barely have any 4G rollout to speak of. For Apple to add 4G networking hardware to the iPhone 5, it would have to be confident that one or both carriers will have far more 4G LTE in place by the end of the iPhone 5 era than at the beginning of it. The odds of Apple including it are reasonable, but not great.

Redesign: Here's where the odds get better. Apple has used the current iPhone 4 body styling three times: first with the original iPhone 4, then with the Verizon iPhone 4, and now with the white iPhone 4. Sure, it's all been less than a year in the making. But Apple has used the styling one too many times (arguably two too many times) to be using it yet again, particularly at a time when many or most are expecting a full revamp for the iPhone 5.

iPhone 5 white : The iPhone 4 will stick around as the bargain bin model in the iPhone 5 era. The fact that Apple has released a white iPhone 5 at all means that both the black and white iPhone 4 models are likely to stick around in the iPhone 5 era. And while Apple could blow up the blueprint with an exposed brushed metal iPhone 5 design or some such, it's difficult to picture there being a white iPhone 4 but not a white iPhone 5. So the odds are strong, to say the least, that there will be a white iPhone 5.

Colors: The more colors Apple adds to the iPhone lineup, the more retail SKUs there are to deal with and the more inventory snafus (witness the current eighteen iPad 2 models, and that's for just two colors). But if the iPhone 5g is indeed to be a hybrid device which works on both carriers, that would mean a mere four SKUs total: 16 and 32 GB models in a choice of black or white. That would give Apple room to add colors to the mix, as a way to differentiate the iPhone5 both from the cheaper iPhone 4 and from competitors who have over-fixated on the color white. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news.

September iPhone 5 release date: odds of 4G, redesign, white, colors

Don't expect the iPhone 5 to see a release date prior to September, as the recent arrival of the white iPhone 4 means Apple doesn't expect to have a new iPhone generation ready to go quite as soon as this summer. But the longer the iPhone 5 takes to arrive, the better the odds of certain features coming along for the ride. Here are the odds of various iPhone 5 potential features making the cut if September 2011 indeed ends up being the official release date.

4G: This is tricky because the two current iPhone carriers, Verizon and AT&T, both barely have any 4G rollout to speak of. For Apple to add 4G networking hardware to the iPhone 5, it would have to be confident that one or both carriers will have far more 4G LTE in place by the end of the iPhone 5 era than at the beginning of it. The odds of Apple including it are reasonable, but not great.

Redesign: Here's where the odds get better. Apple has used the current iPhone 4 body styling three times: first with the original iPhone 4, then with the Verizon iPhone 4, and now with the white iPhone 4. Sure, it's all been less than a year in the making. But Apple has used the styling one too many times (arguably two too many times) to be using it yet again, particularly at a time when many or most are expecting a full revamp for the iPhone 5.

iPhone 5 white : The iPhone 4 will stick around as the bargain bin model in the iPhone 5 era. The fact that Apple has released a white iPhone 5 at all means that both the black and white iPhone 4 models are likely to stick around in the iPhone 5 era. And while Apple could blow up the blueprint with an exposed brushed metal iPhone 5 design or some such, it's difficult to picture there being a white iPhone 4 but not a white iPhone 5. So the odds are strong, to say the least, that there will be a white iPhone 5.

Colors: The more colors Apple adds to the iPhone lineup, the more retail SKUs there are to deal with and the more inventory snafus (witness the current eighteen iPad 2 models, and that's for just two colors). But if the iPhone 5g is indeed to be a hybrid device which works on both carriers, that would mean a mere four SKUs total: 16 and 32 GB models in a choice of black or white. That would give Apple room to add colors to the mix, as a way to differentiate the iPhone5 both from the cheaper iPhone 4 and from competitors who have over-fixated on the color white. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news.

iPhone 5 May Get Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text Feature

So now, we might get a new feature of Text to Speech in the next generation iPhone by Apple. The Patently Apple reports, Apple has filed a patent application for a system that provides you the ability of converting text to speech and vice versa on iPhone. The system for Apple filed a patent, would be also helpful in loudy background environment and as well as at those places where user can't talk loudly.
According to a new Apple patent application that was published this morning by the US Patent and Trademark Office, future iPhone's are likely to provide end users with effective new ways of communicating in both noisy environments like a restaurant or even during a quiet office meeting without stirring a mouse.

For this purpose, Apple might add a new sensor in handset for noise detection. And the new system will work like this; when the user at loudy environment, the iPhone automatically convert the speech from the end into the text. And when user less noisy environment i.e meeting, iPhone will allow user to write text, which would be converted to speech and send to the other end. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news

[via hackphone]

September iPhone 5 release date: odds of 4G, redesign, white, colors

Don't expect the iPhone 5 to see a release date prior to September, as the recent arrival of the white iPhone 4 means Apple doesn't expect to have a new iPhone generation ready to go quite as soon as this summer. But the longer the iPhone 5 takes to arrive, the better the odds of certain features coming along for the ride. Here are the odds of various iPhone 5 potential features making the cut if September 2011 indeed ends up being the official release date.

4G: This is tricky because the two current iPhone carriers, Verizon and AT&T, both barely have any 4G rollout to speak of. For Apple to add 4G networking hardware to the iPhone 5, it would have to be confident that one or both carriers will have far more 4G LTE in place by the end of the iPhone 5 era than at the beginning of it. The odds of Apple including it are reasonable, but not great.

Redesign: Here's where the odds get better. Apple has used the current iPhone 4 body styling three times: first with the original iPhone 4, then with the Verizon iPhone 4, and now with the white iPhone 4. Sure, it's all been less than a year in the making. But Apple has used the styling one too many times (arguably two too many times) to be using it yet again, particularly at a time when many or most are expecting a full revamp for the iPhone 5.

iPhone 5 white : The iPhone 4 will stick around as the bargain bin model in the iPhone 5 era. The fact that Apple has released a white iPhone 5 at all means that both the black and white iPhone 4 models are likely to stick around in the iPhone 5 era. And while Apple could blow up the blueprint with an exposed brushed metal iPhone 5 design or some such, it's difficult to picture there being a white iPhone 4 but not a white iPhone 5. So the odds are strong, to say the least, that there will be a white iPhone 5.

Colors: The more colors Apple adds to the iPhone lineup, the more retail SKUs there are to deal with and the more inventory snafus (witness the current eighteen iPad 2 models, and that's for just two colors). But if the iPhone 5g is indeed to be a hybrid device which works on both carriers, that would mean a mere four SKUs total: 16 and 32 GB models in a choice of black or white. That would give Apple room to add colors to the mix, as a way to differentiate the iPhone5 both from the cheaper iPhone 4 and from competitors who have over-fixated on the color white. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news.

iPhone 5 myths abound: five concocted reasons to avoid next gen party

The iPhone 5 is no different than the previous four in that detractors will have no difficulty in coming up with reasons not to buy one, ranging from irrelevant to imaginary. "Don't buy the first iPhone," say said, "because it's not 3G." Nevermind that AT&T's 3G network barely existed in 2007. "Don't buy the iPhone," they said in 2007, "because there are no third party apps." Then they turned around in 2008, after third party apps had been launched in a big way, and said "Don't buy the iPhone 3G because third party apps aren't 'open' enough." Nevermind that what they really meant was that the iPhone wasn't enough of a geek-leaning tinker toy. Then came the iPhone 3GS. "Don't buy it either," they warned, "because it's just like the previous one." Nevermind that the hardware specs of the 3GS outshines that of the 3G in every category. So heading into the iPhone5, what will the geeks and other detractors come up with this time by way of trying to talk you out of the iPhone you want and into the Android-based geekphone they're desperate for you to buy instead? A look back at all the reasons they told you not to buy the iPhone 4 is a good start.

First it was the supposed iPhone 4 antenna issue, which turned out to have been completely fabricated on the part of geeks and never existed – but not before a good chunk of the population had been irrevocably convinced otherwise. Apple even had to hand out free iPhone 4 cases just to get the geekholes who created the controversy to shut up, knowing that they'd "won" and gotten a free case as a trophy. Then it was the fact that the iPhone 4 wasn't a 4G phone; nevermind that 4G AT&T's 4G network literally didn't exist back then and still basically doesn't to this day. Then they made up the imaginary "scratching" controversy, which unlike with the imaginary antenna controversy, relatively few fell for. And then later Apple released the Verizon iPhone 4, which the geeks attempted to create another phone antenna controversy around before finally settling on the mantra that it wasn't 4G (still largely irrelevant) and, humorously enough, that it wasn't the iPhone 5 4G. So now that the iPhone 5 is only a season away from arriving, here's what the geeks will point to this time as to why you shouldn't buy one. The validity of their reasoning doesn't matter; keep in mind that geeks get out of bed in the morning in the hopes of being able to convince the non-geek majority to buy geek-leaning products, and Apple's products are the least geeky on the planet. So here's a sampling of the anti-iPhone 5 nonsense they'll come up with, if they haven't already.

1) If the iPhone 5g doesn't have 4G, they'll label it as being outdated. If it does have 4G, they'll say it's the wrong kind; if it's 4G LTE a la Verizon and AT&T, they'll point out that the 4G offerings from Sprint and T-Mobile are more widespread. But if the iPhone 5 instead offers the kind of 4G which Sprint and T-Mobile are using, the geeks will say that it's not "real" 4G because it's slower. And if the iPhone 5 pulls a hat trick and offers every kind of 4G under the sun, the geeks will warn that it might be too much drain on battery life. No matter what Apple does regarding 4G, the anti-Apple geeks will be able to spin it into some kind of negative you should fear. And that's a trend that'll continue down the list.

2) If the iPhone 5 uses the same glass material for its body as the iPhone 4 did, the geeks will say that it's too fragile; nevermind that the iPhone 4 has been the most bulletproof iPhone design yet. And if the iPhone 5 moves to something else, the geeks will say that Apple should have stuck with the bulletproof glass.

3) If the iPhone 5 gets thinner, the geeks will claim that it's too thin and therefore perhaps too fragile.

4) If the iPhone 5 body style remains the same as the iPhone 4, the geeks will claim that it's last year's model, regardless of how improved the specs are (see the iPhone 3G / 3GS era).

5) If the iPhone 5 screen gets bigger, geeks will claim that its edge to edge design will be too difficult to use; if the iPhone 5 screen size remains the same as the iPhone 4, those same geeks will say that it's too small.

If you see a pattern here, you're not the only one. No matter what Apple does with the iPhone 5, those geeks whose entire sense of self worth comes from steering people away from Apple products and toward geekier products will find a way to spin it into a negative. They'll misrepresent the facts, misplace the relevance, and if it comes down to it, flat out make things up; they've done it all before with previous iPhone generations. Your job, then, is to tune these lunatics out and make your own decision. If you want an iPhone, get an iPhone. It's as simple as that, anti-iPhone geek wanking be damned. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news.

Apple iPhone 5 Release Date – Is it Worth Waiting?

Rumours are circulating as to when the iPhone 5 release date will be. Is it worth waiting for the new iPhone which is rumoured to have HD gaming?

Originally we were expecting the iPhone 5 to be released some time in late June, early July. This would have been consistent with Apple's previous iPhone launches. However the recent release of the white iPhone 4 has led to suggestions that we may not see the iPhone, or iPhone 4GS as it also may be know, until September at the earliest. This is certainly a blow for those who were holding out for the iPhone5.

The question is, is it worth the wait? We can only know for sure when the iPhone 5 features are announced. It is looking very positive for us gamers. Our wish for Flash support is not expected to be granted, as Apple continues in their believe that Flash is a security risk. What we can certainly expect is a higher resolution screen, hopefully HD. The camera is also expected to be significantly improved once more, rendering the need for a separate camera for anyone other than a keen photographer needless. Rumours are that it may be as powerful as 8 MP. Yet what excites us the most is the new dual core processors that will introduced. They will allow significantly more CPU hungry games to be developed. This can only increase the quality of iPhone games further. Before we know it standalone consoles will be needless. We will be able to plug our iPhone into the TV and use it as a console. Well maybe we can dream….

What are you hoping for in the iPhone 5 news?

iPhone 5G Case Design Shows Redesigned Camera Flash

GadgetsDNA points to a new Chinese case design found on Alibaba that claims to be for the "iPhone 5G".
1.100% brand new high quality crystal case for iphone 5g .
2. Provides a comfortable grip, added protection against accidental drops .
3. Perfectly fits the iPhone 5 g, easy to insert and remove .
What's unusual about the case is that it seems to depict a very thin-bezel design as well as a distinct camera design. (It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" designs also have little in the way of bezels") The camera flash appears to be on the opposite side of the case rather than adjacent to the camera itself.

While there's been talk of these more dramatic changes, the most recent reports have claimed that the next iPhone will actually only contain minor cosmetic differences over the iPhone 4.

It's possible we could see these design elements in the future if not the next release, as the iPod Touch camera was found in case designs a full release cycle ahead of the ultimate release.

Update: It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" cases also share the same thin edge, so the camera design alone may be main difference in the new iPhone case design. This would fit with the "minor cosmetic differences" described in the previous report.

iPhone 5G Case Design Shows Redesigned Camera Flash

GadgetsDNA points to a new Chinese case design found on Alibaba that claims to be for the "iPhone 5G".
1.100% brand new high quality crystal case for iphone 5g .
2. Provides a comfortable grip, added protection against accidental drops .
3. Perfectly fits the iPhone 5 g, easy to insert and remove .
What's unusual about the case is that it seems to depict a very thin-bezel design as well as a distinct camera design. (It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" designs also have little in the way of bezels") The camera flash appears to be on the opposite side of the case rather than adjacent to the camera itself.

While there's been talk of these more dramatic changes, the most recent reports have claimed that the next iPhone will actually only contain minor cosmetic differences over the iPhone 4.

It's possible we could see these design elements in the future if not the next release, as the iPod Touch camera was found in case designs a full release cycle ahead of the ultimate release.

Update: It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" cases also share the same thin edge, so the camera design alone may be main difference in the new iPhone case design. This would fit with the "minor cosmetic differences" described in the previous report.

iPhone 5 May Get Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text Feature

So now, we might get a new feature of Text to Speech in the next generation iPhone by Apple. The Patently Apple reports, Apple has filed a patent application for a system that provides you the ability of converting text to speech and vice versa on iPhone. The system for Apple filed a patent, would be also helpful in loudy background environment and as well as at those places where user can't talk loudly.
According to a new Apple patent application that was published this morning by the US Patent and Trademark Office, future iPhone's are likely to provide end users with effective new ways of communicating in both noisy environments like a restaurant or even during a quiet office meeting without stirring a mouse.

For this purpose, Apple might add a new sensor in handset for noise detection. And the new system will work like this; when the user at loudy environment, the iPhone automatically convert the speech from the end into the text. And when user less noisy environment i.e meeting, iPhone will allow user to write text, which would be converted to speech and send to the other end. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news

[via hackphone]

The Data Plan Dilemma Gets Uglier: Verizon To Drop Unlimited Plans Ahead of iPhone 5 Release

Data transfer is the lifeblood of smartphone usage — and the thing that sends mobile phone bills (and tempers) through the roof. New news of Verizon canceling its unlimited data plan ahead of the iPhone 5 release joins a recent report that AT&T is overcharging for data usage on the iPhone and iPad 2 review. When will the data gouging stop?

As the summer heats up, people might have more to stress about than the rising price of gasoline — a pair of news stories have surfaced this week concerning data plans on America's top mobile carries — AT&T and Verizon — and how iPhone users are systematically getting as gouged at the "data pump" as they are the gas pump.

The iPhone 5 News Blog posted an article earlier in the week about a class-action lawsuit filed against AT&T for purportedly overcharging all 20 million of their  iPhone and iPad users for "phantom" data transfers when the devices are not even in use, leading to bills that are anywhere from 7% to 300% higher than what they should be. Clearly, stories like this raise the level of concern on the part of prospective iPhone 5 customers, who fear that new features such as a cloud storage, NFC, and the 4G network (likely to debut in the iPhone 6), will only exacerbate data transfer usage. In our previous article, we postulated that the next shoe to drop on this developing story would focus on Verizon.

Well, the second shoe has dropped.

Tech media outlet ZDNET is reporting that, according to Verizon CEO Fran Shammo, their "unlimited data plans would be replaced by tiered service plans aimed at heavy users. Verizon's tiered data plans would likely mimic AT&T's own, which offer 250MB of data for $15 per month and 2GB for $25." This news comes ahead of the eventual release of the iPhone5 (or "iPhone 4s" as some have suggested it will be called), as well as several new Android phones that will have 4G LTE functionality. While consensus still remains that the next iPhone will now be a 4G smartphone, there are other possible features, such as cloud storage and NFC, which could lead to exponentially more data usage from iPhone users. It would seem that, in light of these possible new features, Verizon is positioning itself to gouge iPhone 5g users as they are potentially forced to swap data at much higher rates.

Data Plans: Moving In the Wrong Direction

Over the years, telecom-related plans have always moved from incremental billing to flat rate billing. Think about it: early Internet access on services like AOL were billed hourly, but eventually were forced to move to a flat rate billing model. The same has been true with long distance phone calls, with most land line voice plans replacing minute-by-minute billing with a flat rate.

Data plans, however, seem to be moving in the opposite direction.

With this news of Verizon abandoning unlimited data plans, smartphone users will be forced to scrutinize their own mobile Internet usage (particularly in our weak economy), much in the same way that mobile phone users have struggled to keep track of their "minutes" of phone usage. But as more and more mobile plans include either unlimited or high-level voice usage allowances, it is clear that carriers like Verizon and AT&T are looking for new ways to raise revenues, and hitting smartphone users up for data usage is clearly the new cash cow.

What the larger companies like Verizon and AT&T are failing to recognize is that they are giving price-leading mobile networks like Sprint the opportunity to undercut them on data plan pricing in the future. In the past, when Internet providers like AOL switched from hourly billing to flat rate pricing, it was a viable and necessary move, since more and more people were getting "online" every month; there were enough newcomers to the Internet experience to allow AOL to make more money with flat rate pricing, since it would attract more new customers.

But with an already established smartphone customer in place worldwide, carriers like Verizon would seemingly have more to lose by nixing their flat rate data plan, ostensibly losing that edge over their fiercest competitor, AT&T, and encouraging their own iPhone users to conserve and script on their data usage. And what if Sprint gets the iPhone 5? In spite of the fact that Sprint uses the slower CDMA technology, wouldn't the iPhone 5 paired with Sprint's Simply Everything plan look attractive compared to Verizon and AT&T nickel and diming iPhone 5 users on data?

Data plans are getting increasingly ugly for iPhone users, and it looks like the trend toward data gouging is only going to increase as the iPhone 5 looms closer.

Here's more on the iPhone 5 verizon

iPhone 5 Jailbreaking

One of the features that many never liked the IOS iPhone 5 Jailbreaking is the fact that Apple does not allow software upgrade without having to connect to iTunes. So, in fact, need to download the new firmware, connect to the computer and wait for the update.

According to the words of 9to5Mac however, with the introduction of iPhone 5 Jailbreak IOS 5.0 everything should be just a "bad" memory.
5.0 Obviously the same can not be introduced without wires, as unsupported by the current version of IOS, but all his successors should instead take off without having to require a link to your computer.

This seems iOS push beyond its famous closing time, which requires the transition from iTunes to many, if not almost all, functions. In short, taking place a kind of "androidizzazione" of IOS, which is an update that introduces features similar to those of the OS from Google, which allows devices to upgrade the mountain without the need for a PC / Mac.

Of course, this sounds very interesting, if not for the iPhone 5 Jailbreaking fact that updates introduced by Apple always have a sufficiently large weight. For as you have noticed, the firmware for different devices weigh average 500MB or more and make them available over the air "could lead to use of its 3G network really hard. It would be interesting to see what could be the move to Apple about it: If you decrease the size of the updates, or update, allows the cordless, but only in WiFi.

iPhone 5 Will Be Thinner and Smaller Says Orange CEO

Ah the continuing speculation over what the next generation iPhone will look like carries on today, this time in regards to the earlier rumour of Apple working on a smaller SIM card for their Apple gear and apparently whilst chatting in an interview the CEO of France Telecom/Orange made mention of the iPhone 5 being smaller and thinner.

According to an article over on 9to5 Mac, Stephane Richard, CEO of Orange in an interview with AllthingsD, apparently stated that the next generation iPhone would be smaller and thinner, although the CEO didn't say the iPhone5, he actually referred to the device as the next iPhone.

But as the "next iPhone" is presumed to be the iPhone 5g or iPhone 4S that's being bandied about one can assume he was referring to the iPhone 5 apple, but he didn't say how much smaller and thinner the iOS smartphone would be.

Although this latest rumour does give credence to the possibility of a smaller SIM card, a rumour that came about because Apple wants to make future iPhones thinner and needs the space. Having said that, the only people who really know what Apple is up to is Apple so as usual this should be taken with a pinch of salt.

So what do our readers think, would you like the iPhone 5 to be smaller and thinner, or do you feel Apple shouldn't make the iPhone smaller when others are making their handsets larger?

Here's more on the iPhone 5 news

iPhone 5G Case Design Shows Redesigned Camera Flash

GadgetsDNA points to a new Chinese case design found on Alibaba that claims to be for the "iPhone 5G".
1.100% brand new high quality crystal case for iphone 5g .
2. Provides a comfortable grip, added protection against accidental drops .
3. Perfectly fits the iPhone 5 g, easy to insert and remove .
What's unusual about the case is that it seems to depict a very thin-bezel design as well as a distinct camera design. (It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" designs also have little in the way of bezels") The camera flash appears to be on the opposite side of the case rather than adjacent to the camera itself.

While there's been talk of these more dramatic changes, the most recent reports have claimed that the next iPhone will actually only contain minor cosmetic differences over the iPhone 4.

It's possible we could see these design elements in the future if not the next release, as the iPod Touch camera was found in case designs a full release cycle ahead of the ultimate release.

Update: It should be noted that their iPhone 4 "crystal" cases also share the same thin edge, so the camera design alone may be main difference in the new iPhone case design. This would fit with the "minor cosmetic differences" described in the previous report.

Apple iPhone 5: Two Models Coming – Pro & Normal?

The Apple iPhone 5 is something that many people want to see but we have recently learned that it won't be with us until around September. This is good if you are waiting for your contract to run out but bad if yours has already! Something we would point out is that the Internet is full of rumors about the new Apple device and we have another one to tell you about today.

We have just read over on iClarified.com that there may in fact be two models of the iPhone 5 Apple coming the Pro and Normal versions. It might seem to be quite farfetched at the moment but it's not beyond belief especially if you are one of the many that believes Apple needs to give the new device a makeover and a shake up.

The original source of this information is the iphonedownloadblog.com where their author has published an article talking about the reasons to believe there will be two versions. The only problem we have with some of the information that was shared is that when they say that Apple is ordering parts and then re-ordering them of a better quality, surely this relates to testing the device to get optimum performance out of it before releasing it.

We are thinking that if Apple is going to release the iPhone 5 then perhaps it won't be too dissimilar to the iPhone 4 but with updated specifications including the A5 chip and perhaps NFC. We believe that it will pretty much have similar specs to the new iPad 2 review with a few slight differences because of the size differences.

What do you guys think? Will there be two iPhone5 models? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Here's more on the iPhone 5 news

iPhone 5 May Get Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text Feature

So now, we might get a new feature of Text to Speech in the next generation iPhone by Apple. The Patently Apple reports, Apple has filed a patent application for a system that provides you the ability of converting text to speech and vice versa on iPhone. The system for Apple filed a patent, would be also helpful in loudy background environment and as well as at those places where user can't talk loudly.
According to a new Apple patent application that was published this morning by the US Patent and Trademark Office, future iPhone's are likely to provide end users with effective new ways of communicating in both noisy environments like a restaurant or even during a quiet office meeting without stirring a mouse.

For this purpose, Apple might add a new sensor in handset for noise detection. And the new system will work like this; when the user at loudy environment, the iPhone automatically convert the speech from the end into the text. And when user less noisy environment i.e meeting, iPhone will allow user to write text, which would be converted to speech and send to the other end. Here's more on the iPhone 5 news

[via hackphone]

The Data Plan Dilemma Gets Uglier: Verizon To Drop Unlimited Plans Ahead of iPhone 5 Release

Data transfer is the lifeblood of smartphone usage — and the thing that sends mobile phone bills (and tempers) through the roof. New news of Verizon canceling its unlimited data plan ahead of the iPhone 5 release joins a recent report that AT&T is overcharging for data usage on the iPhone and iPad 2 review. When will the data gouging stop?

As the summer heats up, people might have more to stress about than the rising price of gasoline — a pair of news stories have surfaced this week concerning data plans on America's top mobile carries — AT&T and Verizon — and how iPhone users are systematically getting as gouged at the "data pump" as they are the gas pump.

The iPhone 5 News Blog posted an article earlier in the week about a class-action lawsuit filed against AT&T for purportedly overcharging all 20 million of their  iPhone and iPad users for "phantom" data transfers when the devices are not even in use, leading to bills that are anywhere from 7% to 300% higher than what they should be. Clearly, stories like this raise the level of concern on the part of prospective iPhone 5 customers, who fear that new features such as a cloud storage, NFC, and the 4G network (likely to debut in the iPhone 6), will only exacerbate data transfer usage. In our previous article, we postulated that the next shoe to drop on this developing story would focus on Verizon.

Well, the second shoe has dropped.

Tech media outlet ZDNET is reporting that, according to Verizon CEO Fran Shammo, their "unlimited data plans would be replaced by tiered service plans aimed at heavy users. Verizon's tiered data plans would likely mimic AT&T's own, which offer 250MB of data for $15 per month and 2GB for $25." This news comes ahead of the eventual release of the iPhone5 (or "iPhone 4s" as some have suggested it will be called), as well as several new Android phones that will have 4G LTE functionality. While consensus still remains that the next iPhone will now be a 4G smartphone, there are other possible features, such as cloud storage and NFC, which could lead to exponentially more data usage from iPhone users. It would seem that, in light of these possible new features, Verizon is positioning itself to gouge iPhone 5g users as they are potentially forced to swap data at much higher rates.

Data Plans: Moving In the Wrong Direction

Over the years, telecom-related plans have always moved from incremental billing to flat rate billing. Think about it: early Internet access on services like AOL were billed hourly, but eventually were forced to move to a flat rate billing model. The same has been true with long distance phone calls, with most land line voice plans replacing minute-by-minute billing with a flat rate.

Data plans, however, seem to be moving in the opposite direction.

With this news of Verizon abandoning unlimited data plans, smartphone users will be forced to scrutinize their own mobile Internet usage (particularly in our weak economy), much in the same way that mobile phone users have struggled to keep track of their "minutes" of phone usage. But as more and more mobile plans include either unlimited or high-level voice usage allowances, it is clear that carriers like Verizon and AT&T are looking for new ways to raise revenues, and hitting smartphone users up for data usage is clearly the new cash cow.

What the larger companies like Verizon and AT&T are failing to recognize is that they are giving price-leading mobile networks like Sprint the opportunity to undercut them on data plan pricing in the future. In the past, when Internet providers like AOL switched from hourly billing to flat rate pricing, it was a viable and necessary move, since more and more people were getting "online" every month; there were enough newcomers to the Internet experience to allow AOL to make more money with flat rate pricing, since it would attract more new customers.

But with an already established smartphone customer in place worldwide, carriers like Verizon would seemingly have more to lose by nixing their flat rate data plan, ostensibly losing that edge over their fiercest competitor, AT&T, and encouraging their own iPhone users to conserve and script on their data usage. And what if Sprint gets the iPhone 5? In spite of the fact that Sprint uses the slower CDMA technology, wouldn't the iPhone 5 paired with Sprint's Simply Everything plan look attractive compared to Verizon and AT&T nickel and diming iPhone 5 users on data?

Data plans are getting increasingly ugly for iPhone users, and it looks like the trend toward data gouging is only going to increase as the iPhone 5 looms closer.

Here's more on the iPhone 5 verizon

Foxconn Plant Explosion May Delay iPhone 5

A massive explosion and subsequent fire at a Foxconn plant in China has killed two workers and injured 16 others, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The explosion took place at the Hongfujin Precision Electronics Plant, which is located just west of Chengdu, in Sichuan province. No other injuries or damage to buildings was reported.

As Foxconn is the largest manufacturing partner of Apple and is currently producing the iPad 2 review and ramping up for production of Apple's next iPhone 5, investors are worried that the explosion could cause delays or worse. Reuters reports that shares of Apple stock, traded on the Nasdaq, were down over 1.5 percent to $335.22 at closing.

It is currently unknown what is actually in production at the plant. Foxconn International Holdings, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision and the largest contract manufacturer on the planet, owns and operates a large number of factories in China with a wide variety of high-tech electronics produced at each.

Edmund Ding, a spokesperson for Foxconn, emailed Bloomberg that "the fire was under control, and full cooperation had been given to investigators." Ding also pointed out that Foxconn had "halted production at the site of the explosion until the investigation is complete," but wouldn't comment on which products were affected.

Foxconn has been in the news quite a bit recently – including making headlines over the past year for worker suicides caused by the high levels of stress that come with working at the plants. The company has worked hard since then to improve both working conditions and its brand image – something that may suffer a minor setback due to these recent events.

Apple issued a brief comment through spokesperson Steve Dowling, stating "We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at the Foxconn plant in Chengdu and our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We are working closely with Foxconn to understand what caused this terrible event." He would not comment in regards to any possible disruptions in production of Apple products, including the iPad 2 or iPhone 5g.

One analyst, Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities, told Reuters that he is confident that the plant did produce iPads in Chengdu. He referred to the shifting of iPad production from Shenzhen to Chengdu recently as an indication that Apple may suffer some supply issues down the road due to this fire, however Apple has yet to confirm or deny this as fact.

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iPhone 5 Features

Dear Apple please be upstanding while we take you through a few pointers of the top 5 most wanted iPhone 5 features that will make us applaud you.

There are so many new features customers would love to have on the next generation Apple smartphone and if the iPhone 5 expected to release in September incorporated any of the ones we mention below then happy days all round as they say.

iDB have given a few features and we have a few more, 1080p video capture would be a fantastic addition if Apple could give users this on the new iPhone 5 because seeing 1080p streaming to the Apple TV would be amazing.

Many have the GSM iPhone 4 and Verizon has the CDMA version so it makes sense to give all a world phone, basically the new iPhone 5g should have both GSM and CDMA capabilities. The third feature has to be a 720p front-facing camera, which would be perfect for FaceTime as the video call would be of superior quality.

Number four has to be a brand new design, please get rid of the glass back and bring us the old aluminium back cover or push the boat out and make it carbon fibre.

The Apple Mac Pro and Mac Airs feature the Thunderbolt port so surely the new upcoming iPhone 5 should have the same port. So far that is the top 5 most wanted iPhone 5 features 2011, if you have any more features you would like the iPhone5 to have please let us know.

Pushing The Boat Out (More Features): Edge-to-Edge display, 3D cameras, 4G technology, Smaller SIM cards, better battery life, 8-megapixel camera or better, Speech to Text Conversion

Here's more on the iPhone 5 news.

iPhone 5 Will Be Thinner and Smaller Says Orange CEO

Ah the continuing speculation over what the next generation iPhone will look like carries on today, this time in regards to the earlier rumour of Apple working on a smaller SIM card for their Apple gear and apparently whilst chatting in an interview the CEO of France Telecom/Orange made mention of the iPhone 5 being smaller and thinner.

According to an article over on 9to5 Mac, Stephane Richard, CEO of Orange in an interview with AllthingsD, apparently stated that the next generation iPhone would be smaller and thinner, although the CEO didn't say the iPhone5, he actually referred to the device as the next iPhone.

But as the "next iPhone" is presumed to be the iPhone 5g or iPhone 4S that's being bandied about one can assume he was referring to the iPhone 5 apple, but he didn't say how much smaller and thinner the iOS smartphone would be.

Although this latest rumour does give credence to the possibility of a smaller SIM card, a rumour that came about because Apple wants to make future iPhones thinner and needs the space. Having said that, the only people who really know what Apple is up to is Apple so as usual this should be taken with a pinch of salt.

So what do our readers think, would you like the iPhone 5 to be smaller and thinner, or do you feel Apple shouldn't make the iPhone smaller when others are making their handsets larger?

Here's more on the iPhone 5 news