How small will Apple make the iPhone 5 dock connector?

Summary: Rumors range from a 19-pin dock connector, a 16-pin connector, and even an 8-pin connector. How small (and simple) will the dock connector be?

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes for Hardware 2.0 

There's been a flurry of speculation that Apple is preparing to abandon the 30-pin dock connector that has adorned the iPod, iPhone and iPad for almost a decade and replace it with a smaller, more modern connector. But how big -- or small -- will that new connector be?

The catalyst for all these rumors seems to be the a video showing a metal chassis purporting to belong to the upcoming iPhone 5 that was posted to YouTube by parts reseller ETradeSupply. This showed a much smaller slot for the dock connector and a headphone jack hole that was moved to the bottom of the iPhone. This metal chassis has since been detailed in a number of photos and videos. Alleged blueprints for the chassis have also been leaked.

The new connector will save a hefty chunk of space inside the iPhone, being as much as 50 percent smaller than the current connector, and it is rumored that it will also feature a magnetic connector, similar to the MagSafe connector found on MacBook systems. This would help prevent breakage when a cable or accessory is yanked accidentally and unceremoniously from the connector; a surprisingly common occurrence based on personal experience.

What all these photos and video show is that Apple has likely shrunk the dock connector on the bottom on the iPhone dramatically. What we don't know is how the internal hardware of that dock connector may have changed. (Though, I hedge, because nobody is quite sure until Apple is ready to deliver what it's been baking.)

Initial rumor suggested that 11 pins were going to be dropped from the 30-pin dock connector, making the new connector a 19-pin far more svelte and slender than the current offering. Cult of Mac found that there are indeed 11 pins that could safely be dropped from the current 30. These include eight pins that supported FireWire and a further three that handled video-out functionality for the now defunct iPod Color and iPod Photo devices.

However, in recent days rumors are circulating that Apple could shave even more pins from the connector. 16-pin and 8-pin connectors are the most popular suggestions. These two rumors appear to be linked in that it has been suggested that the male connector -- such as that found on the connector cable -- will have 8-pins on each side, while the female connector -- found on the device -- has only 8 pins on one side. This would allow the iPhone to be connected in either orientation to a male connector or docking port.

While earlier rumors suggested that the new dock connector would be chipped to prevent unauthorized accessories -- even cables -- rumors now suggest that Apple will offer an adapter to allow old accessories to be connected to the new iPhone, though no evidence has been offered up to back up this claim. A chipped connector would allow Apple to more tightly control its "Made for iPod" business, but I doubt that it will prevent unauthorized accessories from flooding the market.

Some 250 million iPhones have been sold featuring the 30-pin dock connector, along with another 85 million iPads and countless iPods.

There's no doubt that the current dock is a pretty big piece of kit, taking up valuable space inside its iOS-powered devices; space that could be better put to use by other hardware. The following image gives you an idea of how much space the dock takes up inside the current iPhone 4S:

Shrinking the dock connector brings with it benefits that go beyond a smaller physical connector. It has a knock-on effect on the ribbon cabling and connectors, which many seems quite small already, but even being able to shave a millimeter off a component is an opportunity to pack more useful stuff into the iPhone, or to make the overall device smaller by a fraction.

My hope is that if Apple does indeed revamp the dock connector -- if all the rumors are indeed building up into a compelling case for a smaller dock connector -- that an adapter of sorts is offered. This would mean that a new handset didn't immediately render every accessory, such as chargers, in-car chargers, FM transmitters, music docks, and so on, obsolete overnight.

It would also mean that hardware makers could support both the new iPhone and older iPhone and iPads by offering an adapter. This would not only be cheaper for accessory makers, but also help reduce consumer confusion.

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iPhone 5 front glass panel leaked

Summary: Leaked fron panel suggests that rumors of a 4-inch screen are true.

Parts supplier ETradeSupply has posted a video purporting to show the front glass panel of the much anticipated as of yet unannounced iPhone 5.

The screen area, measured diagonally, comes out at 4.065-inch, which seems to suggest that new new iPhone will indeed sport a 4-inch screen.

The new screen is 0.91 millimeters, about 0.1 millimeters thinner than the glass panel on the iPhone 4S. There are some other changes relating to the position of the receiver hole, camera hole and proximity sensor hole.

In a scratch test carried out by ETradeSupply, the new screen appears to be much more scratch resistant than the lens on the iPhone 4S. There is also evidence to suggest that the light transmittance of the new screen is much better than that of the existing screen.

Last month the same parts supplier posted a video which allegedly shows the metal chassis that Apple will use for the iPhone 5. This showed a number of interesting new features, including:

• Unibody metal chassis, which to me looks and sounds like it might be made from Liquidmetal alloy;
• Width appears unchanged;
• Longer body, suggesting a 4-inch screen;
• Substantially thinner design;
• Smaller SIM tray;
• Headphone jack moved to the bottom;
• Smaller dock connector;
• Larger speaker grill;
• The on/off switch, volume control and mute switch seem to be similar to those found on the iPhone 4 and 4S.

If these are genuine parts -- bear in mind that I'm not making any assertions that it is although the evidence is compelling -- then Apple has just made it much harder to get at the battery on the forthcoming iPhone. Replacing that would require removing the screen just as it did with the earlier models, but the thinner screens used today -- along with copious amounts of adhesive -- mean that it's a lot easier to break the screen.

Image source: ETradeSupply.

Image Gallery: What is Liquidmetal used for?

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Apple may finally be providing their own mapping solution in iOS 6

By Matthew Miller 

Summary: Apple has always included Google Maps in their iOS products and left high end navigation and mapping up to 3rd party developers. It looks like Apple may finally be stepping up and trying to take on Google Maps Navigation found on Android devices.

Apple has always included a version of Google Maps on their iOS products and for basic mapping and GPS needs it has been fine. However, Google Maps Navigation on Android blows it out of the water for actual navigation needs and I always found it odd that Apple hasn’t tried to beat Google in this area. There are excellent 3rd party applications that took on this role, but according to 9to5Mac it looks like Apple may finally be stepping up to the plate and launching their own mapping product in iOS 6.
This is still a rumor since we won’t hear about iOS 6 until the WWDC in June, but it makes perfect sense to me and the trusted sources 9to5Mac cites appear to have provided some solid information. It looks like the service will be similar to Google Maps, but with some advanced 3D functions thanks in large part to recent companies Apple purchased to develop their mapping solution.
There is no information on whether or not this new app will support turn-by-turn navigation, but if Apple wants to take on Google Maps Navigation then they need to get it in there eventually. Do you want to see this or do you prefer to use your 3rd party application?

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Five texting tricks for the iPhone (screenshots)

by ZDNet 

As Business Insider points out, every time you exceed 160 characters in a text message, your service provider charges you for another SMS. If you're on a limited SMS plan, you can keep track of your character count as you compose your messages.
Head to Settings > Messages > Charcter Count ON.

There are some phrases we use over and over again, like "On my way," "How's it going?" or even things like your e-mail address or signature.

To type these words and phrases faster, customize your own shortcuts. For example, typing "eml" would prompt your full e-mail address. Access the feature by going to Settings > General > Keyboard > Shortcuts.
Check out Rick Broida's very useful Ten Handy AutoText shortcuts you should create.

Once upon a time, you had to go through a set of complicated steps to get emoticons like smilies, hearts, and other clipart symbols on your iPhone. Now, the feature is built in to iOS 5 and can be enabled in a few steps. Check out the guide here.
However, know this: only fellow iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users will be able to see the emoticons. Everyone else will see garbled symbols, so beware of using emoji in fields like Twitter or Facebook status updates.

In my experience, it is not easy to go through the entire process of sending a text message via Siri. It's frustrating, time-consuming, and has a (non-scientific) 50% failure rate. (To be fair, you can make Siri more efficient with some configurations.)
A more useful feature is speech-to-text within the Messages app. So, you do the work of selecting the recipient, but instead of typing your message, you speak it.
Go to a message thread and tap the text field. Then tap the microphone icon by the spacebar, wait a beat, and begin speaking your message.

There's little as heart-stopping as an awkward text message popping up on-screen for your nearby friend to see. The badge alert also happens to be annoying when you're in the middle of another task.
To fix this, you'll need tweak two things: message preview settings and notification type. Head to Settings > Notifications > Messages. Turn Notification Center ON, Alert Style: Banners, and Show Preview OFF.

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