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New iPhones may be using Multipath TCP for Siri
NetworkWorld is reporting that Apple's iOS 7 may be the first instance of large-scale use of a new type of Internet protocol called multipath TCP, or MPTCP. Just what is MPTCP -- and what does it do -- you may ask? Here's what NetworkWorld's John Cox says: Researchers have been working for years on creating "disruption tolerant" networks, which can automatically work around failures, sometimes multiple failures, and adapt to changing network conditions. Today TCP is a single path protocol: if that path should fail for any reason, the session ends, and the connection has to be re-established. By contrast, MCTCP is a TCP extension that enables the simultaneous use of several IP addresses or interfaces. Existing applications – completely unmodified -- see what appears to be a standard TCP interface. But under the covers, MPTCP is spreading the connection's data across several subflows, sending it over the least congested paths. The benefits of this include improved network utilization, higher throughput, and greater resiliency by letting the network automatically and smoothly react to path failures. Though MPTCP support has not been acknowledged by Apple, professor Olivier Bonaventure with the IP Networking Lab in Belgium found evidence that Apple is indeed using the latest protocol in Siri in iOS 7. Such a use is a no-brainer for Apple's personal digital assistant software. After all, the better connections Siri can make -- and keep -- enable it to work and return results faster, improving every iPhone owner's user experience.
Five great features of the iPhone 5s I don't have
Hey, this iPhone 5s that I don't have is really great, so I thought I'd share some of the new features with you. First, let's watch my unboxing video: Wasn't that great? Yes, since the order system coughed last night during my first try -- when it said the phone would ship in one to three days -- I have an imaginary iPhone, and the nonexistent box is just beautiful. Inside that gorgeous box is a gold, 32 GB iPhone 5s. It's the same size and weight as my iPhone 5, but wow -- that gold! 1) The first feature I'm not using today is the Touch ID fingerprint recognition system. Wow, what a great way to unlock your iPhone. If I had one, I'd just place my finger on this beautiful gold ring right here and bam! There's my home screen. It's so good to know that I won't have to tap that four-digit passcode into the phone again... at least after October 8-10 when I actually have my iPhone 5s in hand. 2) This 64-bit A7 processor... all I can say is WOW. Everything would seem so smooth, so effortless if only I really had the iPhone 5s. It makes the iPhone 5 I actually have seem like a 1973 Chevy Vega trying to make it over a steep mountain pass. 3) Ermagerd -- the fit and finish on my nonexistent iPhone 5s is incredible! The gold isn't flashy at all; in fact the entire phone looks rather refined. I'm glad I got to wait for three weeks for this. Those delicately chamfered edges are astounding in my imagination. 4) The camera. Oh. My. God. I'm selling my DSLR. I just filled the storage of my device by taking one long burst-mode picture that took up 1,200 frames! (It's a picture of my cat). And the slo-mo mode video? Well, all I can say is that if I was actually able to take videos of myself getting out of a chair, it would be even more slo-mo than usual. That faster lens and the True Tone flash will be perfect for taking photos of food in dim restaurants. 5) The official Apple leather case. It's made from premium leather, which ... comes from premium cows. And wow, it's like they took a microfiber cleaning cloth and lined the case with it. Now the back of the iPhone 5s I don't have will be shiny and clean all the time, unlike the front, which will still have hand and face prints on it. And there you have it. My first-hand review of the iPhone 5s that I don't have. I hope you enjoyed not using this incredible new iPhone as much as I did.
iPhone 5s first-person shopper report
Didn't get the experience of hauling yourself out of bed at an ungodly hour, only to go stand in a line with other enthusiasts waiting to buy your new iPhone? We caught up with two 5s buyers in New York City who did just that; iOS developer (NYC Bike Buddy) Brian Papa and friend Megu Kobayashi. The two queued up outside Grand Central Terminal starting around 7 AM; by the time they got into the store, the gold and white iPhone 5s handsets were sold out.
Apple's "incremental approach" to innovation hides in plain sight
There's a great line from the exceptionally addicting television series Breaking Bad where drug kingpin Gus Fring explains why he humbly runs a fast food chicken restaurant and even donates to police related causes. "I hide in plain sight," he says. So too does Apple's innovation hide from the critical eyes of analysts and investors who reacted to Apple's iPhone announcements with a collective sigh. For reasons that defy explanation, Apple alone is seemingly held up to a standard of innovation that no company could ever live up to. So like clockwork, Apple's iPhone announcements last week were followed by the same tired arguments about how the company has lost its luster, and rather bizarrely, how the company needs to innovate faster. While the flaws in these commonly levied assertions have been pointed out time and time again, Glen Fleishman recently addressed the issue in an insightful article that's worth reading in its entirety. Responding to claims that Apple's iPhone announcements lacked pizazz, Fleishman writes: My reply is that Apple makes its living through punctuated equilibrium, not through disruption. Revolutions are hard; small but significant improvements are far easier. The all-in-one iMac, the MacBook Air, the iPod, the iPhone, and iPad all changed the way in which the entire industry created similar products. Those were released at years-long intervals, not every year. The reality is that products like the iPhone simply don't come around every single year, or even every 4 years. If they did, they wouldn't be as revolutionary and groundbreaking when launched. With that in mind, Fleishman astutely points out that while not every product Apple releases is revolutionary, many of Apple's design choices go on to have widespread influence on the tech industry at large. These innovations, like Gus Fring, often hide in plain sight. Starting with the iMac, Fleishman writes: Floppy drives hung on, but USB quickly became much more widely adopted because peripheral makers created stuff for Macs that could also be used with Windows systems. All-in-one designs became de rigueur. The MacBook Air, after being ridiculed and after necessary improvements in various features, became the model for "ultrabooks," a category into which Intel poured hundreds of millions of dollars to help PC makers produce their own versions with varying levels of success. More often than not, industry-wide changes prompted by Apple aren't readily apparent at the outset, but with the benefit of hindsight, Apple's influence is obvious and far-reaching. The technology used in Apple's products is typically not new, but the implementation is routinely best in class; and that's when competitors really start to take notice and industry-wide change can be affected. The iPhone serves as a perfect example. Initially mocked by tech pundits for not having a QWERTY keyboard, capacitive touchscreens are now ubiquitous. It's hardly a coincidence that the one company that blindly tried to keep QWERTY keyboards alive -- RIM -- is floundering. Apple approaches innovation methodically, slowly but surely adding value and features to its product line. Each new feature by itself may not seem like much, but over time, as we take a step back and look at these features as a whole, the subtle flair of Apple's innovation prowess becomes apparent. So how does this relate back to the iPhone 5s? Well, as some critics bemoan the fact that it's not a revolutionary new product, there are a bevy of notable new features and improvements that, taken together, make the iPhone 5s an absolutely impressive device. Fleishman writes: But the 5s has just enough to be interesting: the new camera features are intriguing (slow-mo, burst mode, auto-selection of "best" shots, bigger individual sensors and thus better low-light shots, bigger maximum aperture, two-color LED flash mixing), the fingerprint sensor sounds like a way to get security and avoid irritation, and one wants to wait and see what happens with a 64-bit processor and the separate motion processor. Toss in iOS 7, the potential for iBeacons and MFi controllers and more, and there's a whole lot of innovation bubbling underneath the surface. So yes, Apple's annual iPhone upgrades in and of themselves may not be revolutionary, but the hardware and software improvements Apple has implemented over time are extremely impressive. Even the leap from the iPhone 4s (a product that's not even two years old) to the iPhone 5s is astounding. Daring Fireball's John Gruber astutely pointed out recently that "innovation is missed by most people because it is so often incremental." Indeed, look at how quickly camera quality on the iPhone, for instance, has improved in just a few years. As a final point, a quote from Apple Senior VP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi in a USA Today interview perfectly illustrates how Apple's innovations, again, hide in plain sight. Oh they exist alright, but because Apple takes pains to make sure the user experience is as seamless and simple as possible, sometimes you may not even pay it any mind. Talking about the new Touch ID on the iPhone 5s, Federighi is enthused: "This right here is what I love about Apple, this incredibly sophisticated powerful technology that you're almost not aware of, it absolutely blows me away," he says. "You can't get this without working cross-functionally." Federighi is quick to admit that any engineer tasked with such a challenge would be sure to call attention to his brilliant work. "You know, you're going to have some big message saying 'Scanning!' and buzz-buzz-zzz-zzz later it says 'Authenticated,' blink-blink-blink, with 10 seconds of animation," he says, as Ive starts laughing. "Ultimately we realized all that had to disappear," says Federighi. "If it disappears, we know we've done it."
Gold iPhone 5s in short supply as Apple only ships 'tens' of units to stores
Many scoffed at the notion of a gold iPhone, but it seems that metallic champagne is the color everyone's trying to buy. While online orders are being pushed back to next month, sources have told Engadget directly that some of Apple's flagship stores only received "tens" of gold iPhones, which sold out the moment doors opened. In a statement to AllThingsD, the company said that demand for the new hardware has been "incredible," and that supplies are already limited. On the upside, Cupertino is said to have already increased orders for Auric Goldfinger's favorite iPhone by up to a third, but until those devices make it out of the factory, it's probably easier to knock off Fort Knox than to get a gold iPhone.
iPhone 5s and 5c sorta, kinda pass chest-level drop tests
Android Authority is in Hong Kong with both the iPhone 5s and 5c. Like it has done in the past, the blog put the two phones through their paces in a classic comparison drop test. Joshua Vergara dropped the phones from a chest-level height and sent them to the pavement in the front-first, back-first and side-first positions. In the end, the iPhone 5s fared well in the tests with only minimal scratches and dings. The iPhone 5c passed with flying colors until a front-first drop shattered the screen. Bummer. You can check out the torture test in the video below.
Distro Issue 108: With the arrival of two new Apple handsets, do the i's have it?
Just over a week ago, Apple pulled the wraps off of not one but two new smartphone options for the iOS faithful. In this week's edition of our slate magazine, the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c head through the Engadget review gauntlet to test Cupertino's latest against the competition. Eyes-On peeks at Chrome bags, Hands-On visits IDF 2013 and Rec Reading investigates Nintendo's secret weapon. A rather colorful issue is ready for your e-reading device of choice via the repositories down below. Distro Issue 108 PDF Distro in the iTunes App Store Distro in the Google Play Store Distro in the Windows Store Distro APK (for sideloading) Like Distro on Facebook Follow Distro on Twitter
iPhone 5s and 5c sales kickoff worldwide with long lines, October ship dates
The iPhone 5s and 5c went on sale today with people lining up at Apple stores around the world. Lines reportedly were long in Japan, Australia and across Europe. As of the writing of this post, the lines are still forming in the US. Online orders also commenced with ship dates quickly extending out to seven to 10 days as soon as the stores went live. Though some lampooned the color, one of the more difficult iPhone models to purchase apparently is the gold iPhone 5s. Shortly after it went on sale, ship dates for that color choice slipped to October in the UK, France, Germany, Australia and the US. It is no longer available to order in Hong Kong or Singapore. The chatter from Twitter suggests many stores in Europe do not have the gold model in stock either or have limited supplies. Inventory of the iPhone 5c appears to be holding up well with the handset still showing a ship date of one to three days worldwide. Pre-orders, which kicked off last week, should land on customers doorsteps today.
PSA: iPhone 5s now available on Apple Store
You've had a couple of days to mull over our review, but now it's go time: the iPhone 5s is now available for order in Apple's online storefront (if you're not seeing it on the web yet, the official app is usually the way to go). The new handset appeared on the store after the typical pre-release downtime, listed in 16, 32 and 64GB flavors for $199, $299 and $399, respectively. Impatient buyers can also find the iPhone 5s at their local brick and mortar store, assuming they're willing to brave long lines and potential stock shortages. Not ready for a whole new phone? Check out iOS 7 -- it's available right now and it won't cost you a dime.
The Apple Store is down, down, down!
Get those fingers ready to hit refresh and those credit cards out as the Apple Store is down. The next time it comes back up, you'll be furiously clicking and typing your way to a new iPhone 5s. Don't forget -- the store will come back online for iPhone 5s orders at 12:01 Pacific Time, 1:01 Mountain Time, 2:01 Central Time and 3:01 Eastern Time.
iFixit starts to tear down the iPhone 5s (Updated)
iFixit is quick to get their hands on the iPhone 5s and start to tear that beautiful piece of hardware down to its screws and rails. This time around, iFixit is not the first to crack open the iPhone 5s. Australian iPhone repair company iExperts can claim that honor as it already showcased the innards earlier today. iFixit, though, has a way with words, which makes the teardown as entertaining as it is informative. Some highlights of the teardown include the confirmation of AuthenTec as the company behind the fingerprint sensor, which was expected since Apple acquired the biometric hardware company last year. The sensor uses a CMOS chip and requires 5 to ten images to create a complete profile of your fingerprint ridges. iFixit also notes that the display in the 5s should be familiar to everyone as it is "no bigger, better, or badder than the [iPhone] 5." In fact, it is the same 326 ppi Retina display assembly. No big surprises yet, but the teardown is just getting started. Check back as we will update this post with additional details as they are uncovered by iFixit. Update: iFixit is done and has given the iPhone 5s a 6 out of 10 for repairability. It gets a lower score for using pentalobe screws, a battery with a more sticky adhesive and an all-in-one front panel that includes the front glass, digitizer, and LCD. Other goodies include the potential identification of the camera module as a Sony component and the sighting of 1GB of RAM. WIth some help from Chipworks, iFixit also confirmed the A7 processor is made by Samsung.
iFixit blows apart the iPhone 5s, fingers Apple's Touch ID sensor
Apple's latest flagship smartphone is due in stores tomorrow morning, and naturally, iFixit has put one of the shipping units under a screwdriver before launch. We can't say we're surprised: these folks have sort of made a habit of it. The iPhone 5s teardown is currently marked as "in progress," but the disassembly artists have already found the device slightly more difficult to take apart than its predecessor, due to the Touch ID sensor's short connector cable. The new iPhone's 1560mAh battery (a modest upgrade from the iPhone 5's 1440mAh) is also held down by a ton of glue. The team expresses some concerns over the CMOS Touch ID sensor's sapphire crystal cover, cautioning that its accuracy could degrade over time if it isn't adequately protected. At the time of this writing, the 5s is still coming apart, and iFixit is adding more detail by the minute. Hop on over to the source link below to see the tear down in progress, or check back here later for an update with the company's final word.
UK's Three to sell iPhone 5c and 5s this Friday with unlimited 4G data
The UK's low cost mobile carrier Three has just announced that it will begin selling the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c with unlimited 4G data on Friday, September 20. The iPhone 5s will be available starting at £99 and the iPhone 5c will be available starting at £49 on a 24-month contract from Three stores. As all of Three's mobile plans come with unlimited data, that means owners who buy the latest iPhones through Three can enjoy surfing the web to their heart's content when they're out and about. Do keep in mind though that Three has not rolled out its 4G plan yet, so iPhone 5s and 5c owners will be browsing on 3G until the 4G rollout begins in London and a few other cities in the UK in December. You can check out the full PR release below. Show full PR text Three today announced it will offer iPhone 5s, the most forward-thinking smartphone in the world, and iPhone 5c, the most colourful iPhone yet, beginning Friday, September 20. iPhone 5s will be available starting at £99 and iPhone 5c will be available starting at £49 on a 24-month contract from Three stores, online at three.co.uk or by calling 0800 358 1799. "We are very excited to announce that the much anticipated iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are now available on our network," said Thomas Malleschitz, marketing director at Three. "iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, along with our commitment to provide 4G at no extra cost, means that our customers can look forward to an even better network experience. We will also continue to offer all-you-can-eat data, so customers can truly enjoy the full capabilities of iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c without having to worry about exceeding their data allowance." Plan Ultimate 500 Ultimate 1000 The One Plan Voice (minutes) 500 1,000 2,000 SMS 5,000 5,000 5,000 Data (MB) Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited iPhone 5s 16GB £99 upfront + £37/mo for 24 months £99 upfront + £39/mo for 24 months £99 upfront + £41/mo for 24 months iPhone 5s 32GB £99 upfront + £42/mo for 24 months £99 upfront + £44/mo for 24 months £99 upfront + £46/mo for 24 months iPhone 5s 64GB £99 upfront + £47/mo for 24 months £99 upfront + £49/mo for 24 months £99 upfront + £51/mo for 24 months iPhone 4s 8GB £0 upfront + £27/mo for 24 months £99 upfront + £30/mo for 24 months £0 upfront + £33/mo for 24 months
iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c join Three UK's lineup this Friday with unlimited 4G data
'C,' it turns out, is for color -- not cookie, or cheap or China. Yes, the pretty in pastel iPhone 5c, Sir Jony Ive's repackaged ode to Apple's last-gen iPhone, as well as the iPhone 5s will be joining Three UK's lineup starting this Friday. The operator will be offering both iDevices on a two-year plan for an initial upfront payment of £49 and £99, respectively. That means you'll still have to pony up a monthly fee for either device, the amount of which depends on the particulars of your voice and data package. Regardless of which you opt for, however, the privilege to surf Three UK's (not yet live) 4G network is included at no additional cost. And it's unlimited.
UPDATED: European Apple online stores go dark in preparation for iPhone 5s launch
In the last hour all European online Apple stores have gone offline in preparation for the iPhone 5s launch here. Visitors to Apple's European online stores, like the UK store, are now greeted with the familiar "We'll be back" message. However, the wait will soon be over because at midnight local time those stores are set to go online and (presumably) sell out of Apple's latest flagship iPhone in minutes. Of course, if you can't nab one in the first few minutes when the store comes back online, you can always head out to your local Apple Store. The image above is one I took of people camping out in front of the Covent Garden store in London just an hour ago. As you can tell from the pic, only about 20 people were in line. UPDATE: The online stores are now open again and all iPhone 5s models come with a 7-10 business day ship time right out of the gate. These things are going to be in limited quantity for a while, folks.
Daily Update for September 19, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
The iPhone 5c can be cheap in China
When Apple introduced the iPhone 5c, analysts and pundits were taken aback that the device was not as cheap as they were anticipating. How, they pondered, would Apple be able to increase market share without a more affordable device aimed at emerging markets? The result? A huge sell-off in Apple shares. As is typically the case with respect to Apple-related panic, however, the reality is much less alarming than the hysteria would have you believe. AllThingsD, for example, recently pointed out that both China Telecom and China Unicom are offering substantial subsidies for Apple's newest iPhones. At 4,488 yuan -- about $730 -- the off-contract price of Apple's new iPhone 5c may well be too heady for China, the world's most populous mobile phone market. But the carriers distributing the device there are offering plenty of on-contract plans that pare its price down to a more appealing level. Peruse iPhone 5c rate cards from China Telecom and China Unicom as Apple 2.0 did, and you'll find that both carriers are offering significant subsidies on the device for customers who want them. Indeed, China Unicom and China Telecom each have a few free-with-contract plans for the 5c. The funny thing is, unlocked iPhones have always been expensive, and yet, that hasn't stopped Apple from selling millions of subsidized iPhones every single quarter. Going back to China for a second, we reported just a few days ago that pre-orders for the iPhone 5s in the country sold out extremely quickly.
Target also selling the iPhone 5c for $79.99 on-contract, now accepting pre-orders
We've already seen Walmart undercut Apple by selling the iPhone 5c for less than the MSRP right out of the gate, but it turns out it's not the only retailer offering a deal. Target's also selling the 16GB version for $79.99 on a two-year contract from your choice of carrier, offering a savings of $20. You'll still pay the same $199.99 for the 32GB model, though, and there's no similar discount to be found on the iPhone 5s, either (Walmart has knocked it down ten bucks to $189). You'll find that price in store tomorrow, or you can get your pre-order in on Target's website now.
iPhone 5c, 5s teardown by Australian repair shop
They're not due in the US until tomorrow, but it's already tomorrow somewhere in the world, and that somewhere is Australia. Well, that didn't make any sense, but the point is that some blokes at Sydney, Australia-based iExperts got their hands on some brand-new iPhones and did a teardown before the guys at iFixit were able to do the same. As usual, the devices are locked down with pentalobe screws and require the use of a suction cup to remove the screen. The team noticed that there's a special cable that connects the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 5s to the charging port assembly -- not sure of the reason, but I'd speculate that it's for grounding the sensor when the iPhone is docked and charging. The batteries on the new devices have higher capacities than the one on the iPhone 5 (5.45 Whr), with the iPhone 5s coming in at 5.92 Whr and the iPhone 5c at 5.73 Whr. Those batteries, according to iExperts, are made by Apple Japan, something they've never seen before on iPhone batteries. The logic boards for the new iPhones are quite compact in comparison to the one in the iPhone 5, and iExperts noted that the 5s and 5c boards share a similar design. The team also marveled at the "incredible functionality for such little circuitry" found in the Touch ID sensor on the 5s (below). If you're one of those people with an iPhone 4, iPod touch, iPod nano (sixth generation) or iPhone 5 that had a power switch failure, you'll be happy to know that the switch assembly has been changed in the new iPhones. The iExperts team will be posting more information on the chips located on the logic board later, so be sure to visit their site to get more information as the day rolls on.
Daily Roundup: iPhone 5s and 5c reviews, Cyber-shot QX10 review, iOS 7 now available, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
