China regulator approves Apple’s iPhone 6 for sale in China

BEIJING — Apple Inc’s iPhone 6 can now be sold in China, after the firm received a license for the device to be used on China’s wireless networks.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on its website on Tuesday that it had approved the iPhone 6 after Apple addressed potential security risks that could allow personal data to leak.

The iPhone 6 had been released in other countries, including the United States, on September 19 but Apple did not give a release data for China.

The approval paves the way for Apple to sell the iPhone 6 in China, the world’s largest smartphone market and one of Apple’s biggest for iPhone sales. Analysts expect the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to sell well in China, where many people prefer phones with larger screens.

The MIIT said it had conducted “rigorous security testing” on the iPhone 6, and that it had held talks with Apple on the issue. Apple also shared with the ministry materials related to the potential security issues, which it said were related to diagnostic tools, the statement said.

Apple sold a record 10 million units of the iPhone 6 models in the first weekend after their launch, which excluded China. Last year, the U.S. tech firm sold 9 million iPhone 5S and 5C models in 11 countries, including China, in the same period.

Apple was not available for immediate comment.

source: interaksyon.com

iPhone comes out of a ‘bygone era’, reviewers hail bigger handset

Bigger is better and Apple Inc has finally realized that and given iPhone users a product that may be low on novelty but high on improvements, reviewers wrote.

Most reviewers say that the iPhone 6 is the best smartphone available or “ever made”, while the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus has been described as a “phablet” that will give competition to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s Galaxy S line of ‘big’ Android phones.

“I think it’s a terrific phone. In my view, it’s the best smartphone on the market, when you combine its hardware, all-new operating system, and the Apple ecosystem whose doors it opens,” Walt Mossberg wrote of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 in the tech blog Re/code.

Geoffrey Fowler, who reviewed the phones for the Wall Street Journal, said Apple has “successfully addressed its size deficiency.”

Mossberg said the increase in the screen size is a “catch-up” feature. But it is seen as a welcome change by Fowler, who said the iPhone “felt stuck in a bygone era called 2012″ before the launch of the bigger phones.

New York Times reviewer Molly Wood appreciated the new “thinner, flatter and more rounded shapes” of both the phones. But she pointed out that the sleek look comes at the cost of the phones feeling “slippery”. (nyti.ms/1woWs9r)

The improvements made to the operating system – the iOS 8 software, and that to the camera were given a thumbs up by reviewers across the board. However, most believed that Apple could have done more to enhance the battery life of the phones.

Joshua Topolski, who reviewed the phones for Bloomberg, said they were faster than their predecessors.

“Apple will tell you that these are the fastest mobile devices it’s ever made, and it wouldn’t be lying. These phones scream,” Topolski wrote.

The new iPhone 6 goes on sale on Sept. 19 in the United States.

source: interaksyon.com

Apple unveils ApplePay mobile wallet

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple unveiled a new mobile wallet on Tuesday aimed at allowing consumers to use iPhones linked to credit cards for more secure, convenient payments.

Apple chief Tim Cook said the ApplePay system would replace an “antiquated payment process” with “an entirely new payment system” that allows consumers to touch their phones to retail terminals.

The new payment system will be built into the new iPhones and Apple’s operating system which were also unveiled Thursday.

Cook said that each day in the United States alone “that’s 200 million times that we scramble through our credit cards and go through what is a fairly antiquated payment process.”

He said other efforts have failed because the companies introducing mobile wallets were working on the basis of “their self-interest” instead of the user experience.

Cook showed a video of a consumer tapping a phone on a payment terminal, commenting, “it’s so cool.”

source: interaksyon.com

New iPhone 6 screens to enter production as early as May: sources

TOKYO — Apple Inc suppliers will begin mass producing displays as early as May for the next iPhone, expected to be launched third quarter of 2014, with a 4.7-inch screen likely to be produced first while a 5.5-inch version could be delayed, supply chain sources said.

Japan Display Inc, Sharp Corp and South Korea’s LG Display Co Ltd have all been tapped to make the screens, said the sources, who asked not to be identified.

Representatives for the three suppliers and for Apple declined to comment.

Both iPhone 6 screens will be larger than the 4.0-inch panels on Apple’s existing iPhone 5S and 5C models.

Larger iPhones, the subject of months of speculation, would mark yet another incremental tweak to the popular smartphone line and an attempt to catch up to rivals like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

The company that helped to define American technology innovation is under increasing pressure to once again revolutionize the gadget industry, but CEO Tim Cook, while promising only “new product categories” for 2014, has played his cards close to his chest.

Apple’s shares have languished below $600 since November 2012, in part because of worries about smartphone market saturation and its ability to stay at the forefront of tech innovation.

Both iPhone 6 screens are expected to use in-cell touch panel technology – built into the screen and allowing for thinner construction than with standard touch panel films – that was introduced with the iPhone 5, the sources said.

But due to difficulties with in-cell production technology for the larger 5.5-inch size, one of the sources said, a decision was made to begin mass production with the 4.7-inch version alone.

Production of 5.5-inch screens is expected to start several months later, with the possibility of a shift to a film sensor instead of in-cell technology for that size, the source said.

Japan Display will be the first supplier to start production, at its flagship plant at Mobara, east of Tokyo, as early as May, the sources said. The others are due to begin output around June.

source: interaksyon.com