allaboutsymbian
January 12th, 2010, 20:40
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/11/19nov09app235rb0.jpg Now that CES is officially over, it's apparently time for the vague Apple rumor factory to start churning out sketchy reports about tablets, next-gen iPhones, and "vanishing" domain names. Yeah, it's getting silly out there, but judging by our tip box you all can't get enough, so let's do this thing rapid-fire style.
The rumor: The Korea Times, citing unnamed sources at Korea Telecom, says the carrier is planning for a 4G iPhone (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2010/01/133_58873.html) featuring an OLED display, a front-facing video camera, a fast new dual-core CPU, and a removable battery. General launch is expected in June, but corporate clients will be doing a "litmus test" in April.
Our take: We will eat our hats if Apple puts a removable battery in the iPhone. Plus, Apple doesn't do focus group testing, least of all with enterprise customers. This just seems like wishful thinking -- we could have made up a more convincing rumor while eating a hat.
The rumor: 10.1 OLED and LCD display panels are no longer available anywhere (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/12/apple_corners_market_on_10_1_inch_lcd_oled_screens _report.html), because Apple has "pre-ordered them all" to secure volume discounts and keep the tablet's price down.
Our take: We certainly saw plenty of new 10.1-inch netbooks and slates at CES, including some multitouch LCD units, and no one was complaining. Also, we saw several larger OLED displays (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/studio-xps-16-oled-concept-laptop-hands-on/) at CES, but they were all too expensive (http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/30/lg-roadmap-predicts-oled-panels-will-cost-less-than-lcd-panels/) and impractical (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/samsungs-14-inch-transparent-oled-laptop-video/) for shipping products, so that's gotta be one hell of a discount.
The rumor: Apple has mysteriously shut down the FingerWorks website (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/12/fingerworks_dies/), which means something tablet-related because... well, it must mean something, right?
Our take: Apple bought FingerWorks years ago -- we're surprised this hadn't happened sooner. We bet the hosting contract just ran out. Alternatively, Steve Jobs is trying to send us a message by yanking an obscure touch-related domain just weeks before a highly-anticipated product launch, because he is the master of extremely minor hints about nothing.
All in all, a pretty lame set of rumors -- there's barely anything here for pundits and the mass media to conflate and distort into something bigger. At least give us a poorly-translated French telecom executive speaking off the cuff (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/11/orange-exec-confirms-existence-of-apple-tablet/), you know? Have some dignity.Continue reading Apple rumor roundup: improbable removable battery edition (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/)
Apple rumor roundup: improbable removable battery edition (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/) originally appeared on Engadget (http://www.engadget.com) on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/) | | Email this (http://www.engadget.com/forward/19314052/) | Comments (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/#comments)
More... (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/)
The rumor: The Korea Times, citing unnamed sources at Korea Telecom, says the carrier is planning for a 4G iPhone (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2010/01/133_58873.html) featuring an OLED display, a front-facing video camera, a fast new dual-core CPU, and a removable battery. General launch is expected in June, but corporate clients will be doing a "litmus test" in April.
Our take: We will eat our hats if Apple puts a removable battery in the iPhone. Plus, Apple doesn't do focus group testing, least of all with enterprise customers. This just seems like wishful thinking -- we could have made up a more convincing rumor while eating a hat.
The rumor: 10.1 OLED and LCD display panels are no longer available anywhere (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/12/apple_corners_market_on_10_1_inch_lcd_oled_screens _report.html), because Apple has "pre-ordered them all" to secure volume discounts and keep the tablet's price down.
Our take: We certainly saw plenty of new 10.1-inch netbooks and slates at CES, including some multitouch LCD units, and no one was complaining. Also, we saw several larger OLED displays (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/studio-xps-16-oled-concept-laptop-hands-on/) at CES, but they were all too expensive (http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/30/lg-roadmap-predicts-oled-panels-will-cost-less-than-lcd-panels/) and impractical (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/samsungs-14-inch-transparent-oled-laptop-video/) for shipping products, so that's gotta be one hell of a discount.
The rumor: Apple has mysteriously shut down the FingerWorks website (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/12/fingerworks_dies/), which means something tablet-related because... well, it must mean something, right?
Our take: Apple bought FingerWorks years ago -- we're surprised this hadn't happened sooner. We bet the hosting contract just ran out. Alternatively, Steve Jobs is trying to send us a message by yanking an obscure touch-related domain just weeks before a highly-anticipated product launch, because he is the master of extremely minor hints about nothing.
All in all, a pretty lame set of rumors -- there's barely anything here for pundits and the mass media to conflate and distort into something bigger. At least give us a poorly-translated French telecom executive speaking off the cuff (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/11/orange-exec-confirms-existence-of-apple-tablet/), you know? Have some dignity.Continue reading Apple rumor roundup: improbable removable battery edition (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/)
Apple rumor roundup: improbable removable battery edition (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/) originally appeared on Engadget (http://www.engadget.com) on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/) | | Email this (http://www.engadget.com/forward/19314052/) | Comments (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/#comments)
More... (http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/12/apple-rumor-roundup-improbable-removable-battery-edition/)