Apple’s Low-Cost iPhone 6 Will Feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon Single-Chip

When it comes to the latest Apple rumors, there’s always more than one thing that draws interest, although as we’ve seen lately with this company, its latest-generation products aren’t exactly game-changers. What would definitely be revolutionary is for Apple to actually release a low-cost iPhone and according to the more recent rumors that’s one dream that should come true. In fact, analysts at Detwiler Fenton believe the cheap iPhone 6 will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon single-chip.

“It is likely that the work with QCOM is being driven by AAPL’s concern regarding maintaining gross margins as well as the need to differentiate the product by performance” reads Detwiler Fenton’s research note. “AAPL would not want a value priced iPhone to offer the same kind of graphics and video support, processing power etc. that its premium priced device would, therefore a less powerful and lower-end Snapdragon integrated solution would help segment the product” the note adds.

What this means effectively for you? The Qualcomm Snapdragon single-chip will not be able to run premium features such as 4G LTE, although it is very possible Apple will release two versions of its cheap iPhone 6 since Qualcomm makes separate chips for 3G and LTE.

A report by China Times confirms the analysts’ research note, with news from an insider saying that Apple has hired TSMC for the production of Qualcomm Snapdragon chips. It’s been rumored that TSMC is currently testing A6X chips for Apple, for which production is expected to begin as of next year.

A recent statement by Morris Chang, Chairman and CEO of TSMC, was interpreted as a strong hit that TSMC will produce Qualcomm Snapdragon chips for iPhone 6. “Enough discussions have taken place, with enough customers who have large requirements (on 20nm) to lead us to believe that the volume will be very large” he said talking about the company’s 20 and 28 nanometer process technologies.

The Best 100 Cydia Apps and Tweaks to Install on a Jailbroken iPhone

Jailbreaking your iPhone gives you access to customization possibilities that will sweep you off your feet. But don’t limit your jailbreaking experience to adding ringtones to your iPhone that the App Store is ashamed off. The Cydia app store features a list of iPhone tweaks that will definitely improve your smartphone experience, transforming your device in a faster, more powerful personal assistant.

First of all, let’s see the essential Cydia apps and tweaks for iPhone you should install after performing a jailbreak. These are apps and tweaks that will help you get started. Don’t ignore them, particularly tweaks such as AppSync, iFile and the Safari Download Manager. Without these jailbreak apps there’s not much you can do with a jailbroken iPhone.
1.    AppSync
2.    SBSettings
3.    iFile
4.    Safari Download Manager
5.    FolderEnhancer
6.    Activator
7.    WeeKillBackground
8.    WinterBoard
9.    Installous
10.    InstallousAlive

And now for the really thrilling Cydia apps and tweaks, those that will help you personalize your iPhone in the way you have always dreamed about. Tweaks that boost your browser’s download and live streaming speeds, file organizers that you will definitely love, tweaks that install free games and apps, all kinds of themes and theme organizers, tweaks that install Android features or apps that create resilient Wi-Fi hotspots.

So, enjoy experimenting with Grafiti, a custom drawing keyboard or Aero, a 3D multitasking app switcher, or have fun with EmojiPro and the over 300 Emoji icons it adds to the iPhone’s keyboard. Or take advantage of functional tweaks, such as the TruPrint that makes it possible to print via hundreds of printers from your iPhone, Call Blocker and iTransmission, which downloads torrents straight to your device.

11.    iAP Cracker
12.    Infinidock
13.    iCleaner
14.    Auxo
15.    NC Settings
16.    Barrel
17.    IntelliScreenX
18.    ProTube
19.    Zeppelin
20.    iBlacklist
21.    PasswordPilot
22.    Zephyr
23.    Springtomize 2
24.    UnlimTones
25.    MewSeek
26.    Multifl0w
27.    PKGBackup
28.    AndroidLock XT
29.    Quick Reply for WhatsApp
30.    Chrome Download Manager
31.    Clockify
32.    MyWi
33.    Dashboard X
34.    ScrollingBoard
35.    iAPFree
36.    Spire
37.    Whozcalling
38.    CameraTweak
39.    MobileTerminal
40.    Bridge
41.    VLC Media Player
42.    iProtect
43.    Action Menu
44.    Deck
45.    CallBar
46.    Grooveshark Enhancer
47.    Pandora Downloader
48.    Prometheus
49.    WiFi Booster
50.    Numberbook
51.    iWep PRO
52.    AnyuRing
53.    Photoalbums+
54.    DisplayCandy
55.    DoubleDock
56.    ICSLockPro
57.    AquaBoard
58.    Firewall iP
59.    MountainCenter
60.    Switchy
61.    EmojiPro
62.    Aero
63.    Grafiti
64.    Lockwee
65.    Call Blocker
66.    AnimateLockscreen
67.    Unlockize
68.    Favorite Contacts Widget for Notification Center
69.    WeeRoll
70.    AppsCenter Widget for Notification Center
71.    MusicCenter Widget for Notification Center
72.    Double at
73.    SMS+
74.    OmniStat Widget for Notification Center
75.    AppMosaic
76.    DreamBoard
77.    Imperium
78.    TruPrint
79.    XMBC
80.    DisplayOut
81.    Safari Download Enabler
82.    Speed Intensifier
83.    SuperSiwtcher
84.    Graviboard
85.    Recent/Call Log Delete
86.    My3G
87.    Music Controls Pro
88.    PowerCenter Pro Widget for Notification Center
89.    SIManager
90.    iTransmission
91.    Pull to Refresh for Safari
92.    AskToCall
93.    PictureMe
94.    KillBackground
95.    Android Recent Apps
96.    YourTube 2
97.    ToneFXs
98.    Dock
99.    NoLockScreen
100.    I’m Busy SMS

The iPhone Honk App That Saves You Money and Time

Parking tickets are a common “affliction” for every driver in a big city, and so is forgetting where you’ve parked the car. Now there’s an iPhone app that saves you money and time memorizing the parking location and alerting you when the meter time is about to expire.

Honk is an app for iPhone and iPad that has been receiving raving reviews for dealing with one of the most common problems. It has happened to all of us at least one time. Remember how much time you’ve wasted remembering where you’ve parked your car? Or the amount of money you’ve spent on parking tickets?

Tech-savvy magazines and websites have made Honk one of the Ten Essential Navigation Apps, not to mention a top choice app when it comes to cars.”Honk’s the Swiss Army Knife parking app... It not only helps you find your car but helps you do so before risk getting a parking ticket, and it looks great through and through” reads Gizmodo’s Honk review.

And it’s simple to use: “swipe your finger across the meter to set how long you plan to park”. The app will remember your parking location on the map and it will honk you when it’s time to get back to your car, before your meter time expires. The app will also display the remaining minutes on your iPhone’s home screen.

Honk app also allows users to write their parking space location in a notepad and to photograph the actual spot and superimpose that picture onto a note.

“It’s designed to be quick and easy to use and it really works – just open up the app whenever you park and set yourself a time limit in seconds” reads a review on Cult of Mac. “Honk is a stroke of simple genius, and it’s not often you come across a one dollar app that could potentially save you a small fortune” the website adds.

Will jailbreaking cause damage to an iPhone, iPad or iPad: Questions & Answers

Jailbreaking an iOS device provides perks that users are definitely interested in to fully customize an Apple gadget. Even if it’s only because you want to download ringtones or install customized themes, jailbreaking your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch does make the overall user experience feel more personal. In the end, everybody turns their smartphone, tablet and mp3 player in an extension of their personality, so why should Apple limit that?

The first issues that come to the mind of people interested in jailbreaking for the first time their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch are linked to software safety and potential damages to hardware. Will jailbreaking cause damage to an iPhone, iPad or iPad is one of the first questions that users ask and it is also the main reason many don’t go all the way through with the jailbreak research process.

Jailbreaking is a process that does not damage your iDevice. The process only impacts the software and restoring to a safe, original, previous version of the iOS firmware is easy and fast to perform. It doesn’t even take intricate programming knowledge. All you have to do is connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to iTunes and perform a restore procedure. That’s where SHSH blobs come into work, so make sure you save those before anything else.

There’s one red flag though: if you use the faulty version of the unlock or jailbreak software and update an iPhone using an iPad baseband that can cause damage. Compatibility is always something to check out before launching a jailbreak procedure.

Each jailbreak tool employs a certain vulnerability in Apple’s iOS system. Before A5 devices such as iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S, hackers would exploit a bug that became known as Limera1n. It was a low-level boot ROM exploit which was able to perform untethered jailbreaks on devices earlier than iPhone 4 and including.

For iOS 6, the evasi0n jailbreak tool employs a much more complicated process, although for the user the invested effort is as close to minimum as it gets. Just like previous jailbreak tools, evasi0n works by itself after the user has downloaded, extracted and launched the app.

iPhone Owners Sue Google for Tracking Safari

It’s not the first time Google is being accused of using unethical methods to collect information about users’ web browsing habits. In UK, almost a hundred iPhone owners have initiated a class lawsuit against Google for tracking Safari without their approval and knowledge.

The Guardian writes there are about 10 million British Apple device owners that could have been impacted by Google’s bypass of Safari’s privacy settings. It first began with ten iPhone users initiating the legal proceedings but several days later the number is close to 100 and from the looks of it the number of complaints isn’t going to level out just now.

“We’ve had more than 70 people come forward to join this action. We are seeking further details in respect of these individuals’ cases and, where appropriate, will be making further claims for them against Google” Dan Tench, lawyer in charge of the case against Google told The Guardian.

The British law firm Olswang was hired by the iPhone users to represent them in the Safari privacy breach lawsuit against Google. Lawyers have already requested Google to reveal the final purpose of the data obtained without users’ knowledge as well as which personal data has been collected. The firm says its clients are suing Google for violating the Data Protection Act of 1998 as well as privacy breach, computer misuse and tresspass.

“This is the first time Google has been threatened with a group claim over privacy in the UK” Dan Tench explained. “It is particularly concerning how Google circumvented security settings to snoop on its users. One of the things about Google is that it is to ubiquitous in our lives and if that’s its approach then it’s quite concerning” the lawyer added.

A Facebook group called Safari Users Against Google’s Secret Tracking says “Google deliberately undermined protections on the Safari browser so that they could track users’ internet usage and to provide personally tailored advertising based on the sites previously visited”.

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission fined Google $22.5 million for the same thing. At that time, Google’s statement denied collecting any personal information.

Baird Analyst Cuts Apple Shares Estimates to Neutral

Apple is under a lot of scrutiny from markets and investors fearing earnings will fall shorter than expected as demand for the company’s iDevices seems to be in a slump. Forbes published today a Baird analyst’s rating update, as William Power decided to cut his Apple shares estimates to neutral over fears that Wall Street’s estimates are too high for what the company is able to deliver.

There is a lot of uncertainty for the March quarter, as rumors about Apple’s upcoming products and slow-performing current sales are adding to investors’ anxiety. The news that Apple will release this summer two new iPhones and most likely in October a new 4th generation iPad and a 2nd generation iPad Mini is concerning, as investors fear consumers will not welcome the new products with just enough enthusiasm to boost revenues over estimates.

Baird analyst William Power took into account reports, predictions and expectations and has decided to cut his rating of Apple shares to neutral from outperform. Power estimates the Apple stock will drop to $465 from $570 and has firm concerns the June quarter is going to be problematic.

“We are increasingly wary of several near-term risks, particularly consensus estimates that we believe remain frustratingly too high” reads William Power’s research note to investors. “With estimates likely to fall further and gross margin concerns likely to linger, we believe the shares could drop further, despite the sharp sell-off and valuation” the analyst adds. “Notably, we remain positive on Apple’s leading product portfolio, unmatched ecosystem and potential new products, and would look for a more significant reboot of estimates to potentially get more aggressive again” he says.

The intensely rumored cheaper iPhone might not have the effect most imagine. Cheaper will give Apple a better grip of the budget smartphone market, but at the same time it will deeply impact margins for the quarter. Add that to the impact iPad Mini’s cheaper price has had over Q1 and Q2 and as an investor you’ll have enough reasons to keep a close eye on Apple’s stock evolution.

iOS and Android Grab 92% of Smartphone Shipments in Last Year's Quarter

Apple’s iOS and devices deliver top-notch design and technology at steep prices, whereas Android based smartphones are delivering more and more for an insanely appealing price tag. It’s a tight race, like never before, iOS and Android grabbing a whopping 92 percent of smartphone shipments in last year’s quarter.

A recent report by research firm Strategy Analytics revealed Android and iOS smartphones accounted for 92 percent of fourth quarter worldwide shipments.
Android might be a front runner too in the smartphone market, but at least for the moment, Apple’s iOS remains the predominant force, holding 70.1 percent of the smartphone market.

Whereas Apple remains the main force in the smartphone market, last year’s quarter shows there’s more and more interest with consumers for Android devices. Strategy Analytics’ report reads that there were 152 million Android devices sold in the fourth quarter, while Apple sold only 47.8 million iPhones.  It’s a staggering gap and it shows consumers are looking for cost-effective devices that offer quality tech and not necessary brand pride.

“Apple grew 29 percent annually and shipped 47.8 million smartphones worldwide for 22 percent marketshare in Q4 2013, dipping slightly from 24 percent a year earlier” explains Scott Bicheno, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.  But Google’s Android is according to Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, the “undisputed volume leader” with a share of the global market that has surged to such an extent it has crushed “Symbian, Bada and other platforms in its wake”.

“The worldwide smartphone industry has effectively become a duopoly as consumer demand has polarized around mass-market Android models and premium Apple designs” Scott Bicheno has concluded. However for Android to keep growing at such an intense pace, the challenge is to make sure it crushes rising rivals early ahead.

For 2012 the volume of smartphone shipments has reached 700.1 million units, up almost by half compared to 2011, when the figure was at 490.5 million units.

Consumers Are Buying Cheaper iPhones Again, UBS Slices Estimates

It’s not exactly breaking news that consumers are so keen to own an iPhone, they’d rather buy a cheaper less memory version than pay hundreds of dollars they don’t have. A survey by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found that consumers are buying more and more cheaper iPhones with less memory. Taking that into account, an UBS analyst decided to slice estimates for FY 2013 and FY 2014.

The slow sales trend that has been afflicting Apple for months now and if we believe the rumors and recent reports, iPhone 5 isn’t that appealing for consumers. UBS analyst Steve Milunovich believes the survey is an accurate depiction of consumers’ behavior and he estimates it’s going to impact Apple revenue for FY 2013 and FY 2014.

UBS analyst Steve Milunovich estimates Apple will make profits of $44.68 a share, down from $47 in FY 2013, and the plunge continues for FY 2014, at $52.80 a share, down from $55.85. However, the analyst still advises investors to buy Apple stocks, “in the belief that risk-reward is favorable given improving growth, a China Mobile deal by calendar Q4, and skepticism about innovation”. Demand for older iPhone models has increased to 50 percent since iPhone 5 was released.

The recent survey from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners concluded that fewer Apple customers are favoring the 64GB iPhone, opting instead for the 30GB 4S and 20GB iPhone 5. At the same time, despite Apple marketing the hottest smartphone in the market, consumers are still looking at the price tag, choosing more and more older models instead of iPhone 5.

More and more, it seems like former Apple CEO John Sculley is right: a cheap iPhone is really a must for Apple, even though current management declines that would be the case. “As we go from $500 smartphones to even as low, for some companies, as $100 for a smartphone, you’ve got to dramatically rethink the supply chain and how you can make these products and do it profitably” former Apple CEO John Sculley told Bloomberg Television.

Apple Earnings and iPhone 5 Rumors Have Investors Scared

Apple might be one of the most thrilling financial investments, but the past few months have brought some scrutiny and uncertainty regarding the company’s future success. Recent stock slips, iPhone 5 slow-sale rumors and the upcoming Apple earnings report for last quarter have investors scared of a plunge in revenue.

It’s been a difficult time for Apple, trying to stay at top of a market when innovation in technology is no longer that hard to provide at affordable prices. iPhone 5 should have fixed the slow sale problem that impeded on Apple’s earnings throughout 2012. Recent rumors indicate that Apple is trying to cut losses with iPhone 5 by reducing the orders for parts from suppliers. Meanwhile, Apple is also rumored to be launching two iPhones this summer, one extremely affordable.

“There’s this lingering unease about the stock because Steve is no longer around” said Charles Wolf, Needham & Co analyst. “The problems last quarter have raised the issue in investors’ minds that Apple no longer has a leader of Steve’s stature” he added. Analyst Walter Piexyk with BTIG has a similar take: “If the company gets on the call and provides a positive outlook to sales, then investors will be relieved. But any reduction in earnings guidance could scare people”.

Investors have had a hard time seeing as Apple stock keeps plunging instead of skyrocketing like it once used to. Last September, Apple’s stock was at $702 and in only a few months, it dropped $200 to $500 last week. So, Wednesday’s release of Apple’s earnings for last quarter might only cause more loss if they came under Wall Street’s earnings estimates for $54.69 billion and $13.41 per share.

However, CNN Money writes about a consensus view that Apple’s earnings year-over-year will record a 3 percent decline. But as the website notes, “the so-called consensus is hardly that. It’s merely the average of all the estimates”. So, while everybody is talking about Apple’s earnings taking a plunge, analysts’ predictions aren’t so gloomy. In fact, Apple’s earnings in last quarter are positive, but not impressive.

Thomson Reuters talked with analysts that had estimates ranging from 14 percent decline to a 14 percent increase in Apple earnings. The most accurate seems to be the estimate made by crowdsourcing site Estimize which sees Apple’s earnings rising by about 4 percent.