The Financial Times reported earlier this week that carriers in Europe were starting to “stockpile” nano-SIM cards in preparation for Apple’s (AAPL) upcoming iPhone release this fall. It’s been rumored that the new iPhone will feature an even smaller SIM card than what’s used now, and we can confirm that the new iPhone will feature these tiny SIM cards called nano-SIMs. Multiple carrier sources have exclusively told BGR that Apple is supplying nano-SIM adapters so its carrier partners can test how nano-SIMs work on their networks in standard test devices before they are widely deployed when the new iPhone is introduced. This includes AT&T. On Wednesday, BGR exclusively confirmed that Apple’s new iPhone will feature 4G LTE, 1GB of RAM and NFC. We’ve reached out to AT&T for a comment and we’ll update this when we hear back.
There are several reports suggesting that Apple (AAPL) has begun final production of its next-generation iPhone already, but we have learned from a trusted source that this isn’t quite true. Apple goes through multiple stages before a product is manufactured, and two of these include the “engineering verification test” stage and the “design verification test” phase. Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone is currently in the EVT3 stage, the third revision of the engineering test stage, and has not yet entered the DVT stage. For reference, production of past iPhones was as follows, according to our source: More →
Amazon is working on not one, but two new Kindle Fire tablets that will launch in the coming months. Earlier reports suggested that Amazon will announce a new addition to its Kindle Fire lineup late next month and while we cannot speak to the timing of Amazon’s upcoming announcements, BGR has confirmed that Amazon is indeed finally readying the launch of its 10-inch tablet. More →
We have heard from a source that Apple will be introducing a TV SDK at WWDC next week. This would enable third-party developers to create software for Apple’s TV products. BGR reported late last month that Apple has plans to demonstrate an all new TV operating system during its WWDC keynote next week. For more information, head to our WWDC 2012 article.
UPDATE: Apple did not introduce a TV SDK at WWDC this year, though we’re told “it’s coming.”
Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III, went up for preorder on a number of U.S. carriers (like, all of them), but it’s been tough to pin down an actual launch date. We have confirmed that Verizon Wireless will be making the Galaxy S III available on July 9th.
BGR has learned from a trusted source that Apple is planning to demonstrate a brand new version of the Apple TV operating system next week at WWDC. This new OS is said to be much more feature-complete than the current OS that runs on the Apple TV, and is apparently the one that Apple’s upcoming HDTV will run. Yes, that one.
Apple has been working on an in-house mapping solution for a few years, and it appears as if the company is finally ready to release a new Maps app for iOS, sidestepping Google’s mapping data for its own. BGR has obtained exclusive information and photos of parts of Apple’s new Maps app from a trusted source, and the app features a refreshed user interface including a brand new navigation bar. This bar, we’re told, is silver instead of blue. Since the current Maps app follows the standard blue iOS color scheme, we think it’s possible Apple might shift toward a silver color theme in iOS 6 like on the iPad.
The iPhone version of Maps has a floating locate me button (it sounds very similar to Android’s Google Maps app) in the bottom left corner. To access 3D mode, which will make use of Apple’s C3 Technologies acquisition, you have to peel back the lower right corner of Maps just like the current version and enable 3D mode. Once enabled, you can switch in and out of 3D mode by tapping a 3D icon in the lower left corner. A photo of this feature can be seen in our gallery.
Apple is now putting the finishing touches on its 3D mapping functionality, and it is currently being tested in build 10A3XX of iOS 6.
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BGR has learned from a reliable source that Microsoft is currently planning to release the company’s full Office suite for not only Apple’s iPad, but for Android tablets as well. The company is targeting November of this year for both launches. Additionally, our source has seen Microsoft Office running on an iPad first-hand and has said that it looks almost identical to the previous leak from The Daily a few months back, despite the fact that Microsoft flat out denied that the app was authentic. It is also plausible that Microsoft Office will be coming to the iPhone and iPod touch rather than only the iPad, as we’re told the loading screen in the app clearly said “Office for iOS” and not just iPad. More →
RIM made an unprecedented move earlier this week when it gave away pre-production BlackBerry 10 hardware to developers, but it was a smart one. In order to develop for a brand new operating system and help grow develop support for a new platform, you need to be able to test on real hardware. Since this isn’t the phone that RIM will launch in the fall, there’s no issue letting the public see the hardware, right? Well, there’s more to the story.
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We’re only a day from the official announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S III, but that doesn’t mean the leaks are done. One of our contacts sent us a photo of the Samsung Galaxy S III’s boot screen as it is turning on, but wouldn’t allow us to post photos of the actual device. Maybe next time! Samsung is set to unveil the highly anticipated Galaxy S III during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
We received a photo of what looks like it could be Samsung’s upcoming flagship handset, the Samsung Galaxy S3. Although it isn’t confirmed at this point, this is one of the most compelling images we have seen so far. We’ll know in a couple days if this is the real deal but compared to all the decoys we’ve seen, we definitely hope the flagship smartphone Samsung unveils next week ends up looking like this instead. This phone also matches up exactly with what we have reported, something many people have continued to miss — the Galaxy S3 will have a physical button in the center beneath the display.
UPDATE: Looks like this image was sent to a few different sites around 3:00 a.m. this morning…
While Samsung’s Galaxy S3 has been the star of the rumor show for the past few months — with BGR leading the pack — we now have a clear picture of the smartphone landscape for late summer and early fall this year. BGR has exclusively learned details about most, if not all of Verizon Wireless’s flagship smartphone launches for the remainder of 2012, and things are definitely looking good for Verizon subscribers in 2012. All the details follow after the break. More →
