Apple planning to launch a 4.7-inch and 5.7-inch iPhone in a variety of colours?

When we think of the iPhone 5, we know that it has a smaller 4-inch screen compared to other flagships in the market. We also know that it is only available in two colour options. These include black and white. According to a report, this is about to change, as Apple is said to be thinking of launching a 4.7-inch and 5.7-inch iPhone in a variety of colours. This is exactly what its biggest rival, Samsung, has done with great success. The Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2 are two of the most popular devices in the market.

The news comes to us courtesy of Reuters. Their anonymous source said, “They constantly change product specifications almost to the final moment, so you’re not really sure whether this is the final prototype.”

Apple itself has dropped a hint regarding bigger-screened iPhones. At last month’s AllThingsD conference, Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said, “We haven’t so far. That doesn’t shut off the future.”

Of course, since Apple is yet to confirm planning to launch larger-screened iPhones in a variety of colours, take this with a pinch of salt.

Will Apple launch 4.7-inch and 5.7-inch iPhones in a variety of colours? Share your opinion through a comment on our Facebook page.

Tags: apple, casing, display, iphone, phablet, screen, touchscreen
Category Hardware News |

Hackers to demonstrate hacking iPhone via malicious charger

A group of Georgia Institute of Technology researchers will be demonstrating at the Black Hat 2013 hacker conference in July how to hack into an iPhone using a malicious charger.

On the Blackhat website, the group announced, “Apple iOS devices are considered by many to be more secure than other mobile offerings. In evaluating this belief, we investigated the extent to which security threats were considered when performing everyday activities such as charging a device. The results were alarming: despite the plethora of defense mechanisms in iOS, we successfully injected arbitrary software into current-generation Apple devices running the latest operating system (OS) software. All users are affected, as our approach requires neither a jailbroken device nor user interaction.

“In this presentation, we demonstrate how an iOS device can be compromised within one minute of being plugged into a malicious charger. We first examine Apple’s existing security mechanisms to protect against arbitrary software installation, then describe how USB capabilities can be leveraged to bypass these defense mechanisms. To ensure persistence of the resulting infection, we show how an attacker can hide their software in the same way Apple hides its own built-in applications.

“To demonstrate practical application of these vulnerabilities, we built a proof of concept malicious charger, called Mactans, using a BeagleBoard. This hardware was selected to demonstrate the ease with which innocent-looking, malicious USB chargers can be constructed. While Mactans was built with limited amount of time and a small budget, we also briefly consider what more motivated, well-funded adversaries could accomplish. Finally, we recommend ways in which users can protect themselves and suggest security features Apple could implement to make the attacks we describe substantially more difficult to pull off.”

Still think iPhone chargers are safe? Let us know through a comment on our Facebook page.

Tags: apple, Apple iPhone, Black Hat, Black Hat 2013 hacker conference, charger, hack, iOS, iphone, iPhone charger
Category Hardware News |

Tim Cook explains why Apple didn’t make a 5-inch iPhone – puts down phablets

At the AllThingsD conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook explains why Apple didn’t make an iPhone sporting a 5-inch display. He also put down large-screened phablets.

Cook said, “A large screen today comes with a lot of tradeoffs. Customers clearly are looking at size, but they’re also looking at do the photos show the proper colour, the white balance, reflectivity, battery life, brightness, the longevity of the display — so there’s a whole bunch of things that are very important to the display.

“What our customers want is for us to weigh those and come out with a decision. At this point we felt that the retina display we’re shipping is overwhelmingly the best. In a hypothetical world where the tradeoffs didn’t exist you could see that being one of the things that differentiates.

“We haven’t so far, that doesn’t shut off the future. It takes a lot of really detailed work to do a phone right when you do the hardware, the software and services around it. We’ve chosen to put our energy in getting those right and have made the choices in order to do that and we haven’t become defocused working multiple lines.”

It’s pretty clear that Cook was criticising Samsung. The Korean tech giant, unlike Apple, has a variety of sizes of smartphones in its roster. From entry-level smartphones to the high-end Galaxy S4 and from small screens to the large-screened Galaxy Note 2, it has everything any type of customer may need. Since the Korean firm is the biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world, we’re sure they disagree with Apple’s CEO.

Is Apple right not to make iPhones sporting 5-inch screens, or should it take a page out of Samsung’s book? Let us know what you think through a comment on our Facebook page.

Tags: apple, Apple iPhone, display, iphone, phablet, Retina Display, screen, Tim Cook, touchscreen
Category Phone News |