I still take photographs the old fashioned way, but photographers with a tripod and mount will love this tip. From the Why Didn’t I Try This department, OS X Hints shares that you can use the volume up button on the included Apple headphones to snap a picture. Photographers who don’t want to be hands on with their iPhones when taking photographs will appreciate having free remote bundled in with their iPhones — those headphones don’t need to be in your ear after all.
Perhaps the best part is that this can be paired with Bluetooth devices! I’m not sure if every headset with volume controls will work (as the buttons need to map correctly to the iPhone), but if a Bluetooth headset can increase the iPhone’s volume it should work.
You can turn your bluetooth headset into an instant wireless remote.
A steady photograph is ultimately a cleaner photograph. You can reduce a lot of camera noise, improve the quality of the picture, and take better night photographs by simply steadying your iPhone. If you have the kit available to prop your iPhone for photographs, then getting even more hands off will really help make the different between a good photograph and a great one. The iPhone 4S camera is among the best in class for smartphones, and what better way to utilize as a semi-professional device than to use what we already have available as a remote shutter release? It’s an excellent tip, and if you hadn’t already tried this, consider it a worthy addition to your knowledge noggin.
Quick note: Camera+ recently got its volume-snap back, and it works here too. Don’t forget about the GLIF (shown above) for easy iPhone mounting to your favorite tripod.
According to the latest data by research firm NPD, Apple’s iPhone 4 and two year old iPhone 3GS continued to lead US smartphone sales in the third quarter of 2011. The data, based on NPD’s Mobile Phone Track and Smartphone Track services, shows declining smartphone prices reaching an average selling point of $135 in Q3, although ”consumers originally considered paying more”. The top five phones in Q3 according to NPD:
1 – Apple iPhone 4
2 – Apple iPhone 3GS
3 – HTC EVO 4G
4 – Motorola Droid 3
5 – Samsung Intensity II
Despite their age and typical slowdown in popularity and the rise of Google’s Android operating system in smartphone market share, the iPhone 4 and 3GS still lead sales in the United States. In October, Apple announced the iPhone 4S, which went on sale on October 14th in seven countries and reported over 4 million sales in the first weekend of availability. US carriers AT&T and Sprint said they were very pleased with the initial results of iPhone 4S pre-orders, which isn’t included in NPD data for Q3, but Apple didn’t provide specific US numbers for iPhone 4S sales. Alongside the iPhone 4S, however, Apple also introduced a new 8 GB iPhone 4 model, sold at $99 on a two-year contract, and kept the iPhone 3GS around for free with a carrier contract. At Apple’s Q4 2011, CEO Tim Cook said about the free iPhone 3GS:
We did it because we want the iPhone more accessible to a broader market and so not only did we take the 3GS to free in a postpaid plan, but we also lowered the price of the iPhone 4….we did both of those because as we looked at it, these are still fantastic products and we think we can do reasonably well in selling these in the postpaid market. It also has the advantage of having a lower price in the prepaid market…we did it for both the prepaid and postpaid markets, they are both very important to us. It has been our thinking for a while to do that.
The iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS run the latest version of iOS, but Apple made a major software feature of iOS 5, the voice-based assistant Siri, exclusive to the iPhone 4S. With a lower price point, it’s likely the iPhone 4 and 3GS will continue to be an important source of revenue from customers willing to get an iPhone, but not necessarily the (more expensive) new model.
AT&T’s earnings call for the last quarter is on today and they’ve revealed that last quarter they sold 2.7 million iPhones out of a total share of 17.07 million iPhones that Apple sold over the same period. Unsurprisingly however, other non-iPhone, smartphones have become increasingly popular for AT&T with activation of 2.1 million such devices. iPhone activations were down significantly from the previous quarter in which they activated 3.6 million iPhones – although keep in mind that Apple also saw a decline in iPhone sales this quarter.
At the earnings call AT&T also noted that they had activated more than 1 million iPhone 4S’ as of Tuesday this week, making it AT&T’s most successful launch. For comparison, Sprint saw 200,000 pre-orders on the iPhone 4S launch day. Verizon has yet to reveal specific numbers for iPhone 4S sales, but have said they were very pleased with the reception.
The above photo, taken by Gizmodo Brazil, is supposedly a new iPhone SKU taken from a Foxconn factory in Brazil. Shown on a quality control form, these iPhone parts are for a model N90A iPhone – a new model that does not currently exists.
Our Brazilian brothers, Gizmodo.com.br, got their hot little hands on a few photos of one a new iPhone, to be announced next week. How? Well, there’s a Foxconn factory in Brazil, and Pedro & co got one of their men inside. Inside, they found a new-SKU iPhone that looks just like the old iPhone 4.
A report from earlier this week noted that an iPhone with the codename N90A had appeared in Apple’s internal inventory system. Because the current codename for the iPhone 4 is N90 it is believed that this new SKU would represent an iPhone 4 with minor changes — likely becoming the cheaper iPhone available with 8 GB of storage at a lower cost.
[Translation of key sections of the above image, from Mike in the comments below]
JULGAMENTO DO LOTE means something like BATCH EVALUATION RESULT, certainly from quality control. APPROVADO and REPROVADO means APPROVED and REPROVED and the current batch was reproved with the indication “lentes manchadas” (stained lenses), written in blue over the REPROVADO box.
Next week’s iPhone event on October 4th is still somewhat of a mystery, with rumors going round and round in circles as to whether Apple will launch a brand new iPhone 5, a slightly upgraded iPhone “4S” or perhaps both. 9to5 Mac claims to have some information on new products that have turned up inside Apple’s internal inventory system. According to their source, there are now three new iPod touch models under the codename N81A, which 9to5 Mac speculates could represent a white variation of the device.
Since there are only new three iPod touch models - at this time – it’s likely that the black models won’t be updated. This also likely means the storage capacities will stay at their current 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities.
What has also appeared is two new iPhone SKUs that are marked as tweaked iPhone 4s. Codenamed N90A (the current iPhone 4 is N90), this could represent a new 8GB version. In previous iOS SDK releases there has been reference to an iPhone with the codename of N94, this has not yet appeared in the inventory. As noted below such a codename would be given to a device with vastly different features and large improvements – rather than just a new white version or a new storage capacity model.
It is very possible that the two SKUs mean black and white models, but that is unconfirmed. We don’t think Apple’s next-generation iPhone – coming next week- would be labeled as an N90A – as it includes major internal hardware upgrades that would typically constitute a new codename.
If you’d like a recap of all the iPhone 5 rumor shenanigans that have occurred over this past year, be sure to have a read of our recap of the more reputable rumors that have been shared around.
TechCrunch reports the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has ruled Apple, and not Samsung, has the world’s thinnest smartphone with the iPhone 4:
The ASA ruled that since the iPhone’s thickest point is thinner than the Galaxy S II’s thickest, Apple has the right to continue claiming the title. Samsung likely isn’t too pleased — save for a single thick bit, their GSII is mostly thinner, and Apple gets to maintain their positioning (in the UK at least) as purveyors of slim, sleek design.
This is a minor detail in the sea of ongoing litigations and lawsuits between Apple and Samsung, but a curious piece of information design-wise. The Galaxy S II is thinner than the iPhone 4 on most of its surface (8.71mm at the thinnest points, versus the iPhone’s 9.3mm), but the thickest point at 9.91mm (see photo) makes sure that the iPhone 4 can still claim to be the thinnest smartphone. The ASA’s interesting choice is that they didn’t measure by average thickness, they simply looked at the thickest point of the device.
Apple has touted the iPhone 4 as the world’s thinnest smartphone in its commercials and magazine ads.
Apple may be preparing to launch a revised iPhone 4 that would feature a smaller 8 GB flash drive within weeks according to a report by Reuters today. It suggests that Apple may be preparing to launch an iPhone that would be priced at a lower level to help target emerging and the pre-paid mobile markets – something which Apple has expressed interest in utilising.
Most recently Apple’s COO, Tim Cook, said that Apple wanted to do “clever things” to attack the prepaid market so that the iPhone could be “for everyone”, not “just for the rich”. The obvious question is whether this iPhone 4 is more than just the old iPhone model at a lower price point with reduced storage – as was the case with the iPhone 3GS. It could just be that Apple decides to aggresively lower the price of this iPhone model – going further than what they have done with the iPhone 3GS and 3G when they were deprecated. Alternatively it could mean a new iPhone “4S” that is cheaper but also features some minor feature additions.
Reuters doesn’t specifically put a date on when this model could be released but past trends and common sense would suggest it launches alongside the new iPhone 5. They concur with previous iPhone 5 rumors and suggest it will feature a larger screen and better camera – they also note that Hon Hai and Pegatron have been told to prepare production capacity for 45 million units.
Gizmodo Officially Not Being Charged in iPhone 4 Case
We are pleased that the District Attorney of San Mateo County, Steven Wagstaffe, has decided, upon review of all of the evidence, that no crime was committed by the Gizmodo team in relation to its reporting on the iPhone 4 prototype last year. While we have always believed that we were acting fully within the law, it has inevitably been stressful for the editor concerned, Jason Chen, and we are glad that we can finally put this matter behind us.
The two men behind the stolen iPhone, however, are being charged with misappropriation of lost property, and possession of stolen property according to the DA’s official statement posted on Gizmodo. I’m sure both Gawker Media and Apple are glad to have this case put behind them.
In recent days there have been reports of various retailers beginning to reduce the price of the iPhone 4 as the release of an iPhone 5 draws ever closer. Rumors on when exactly the next iPhone will be released have varied quite substantially from an August release to a September release and most recently, suggestions from AllThingsD of a late October launch.
Whenever the release is, US retailers Radio Shack and Target have both cut the price on the iPhone 4 models. Radio Shack is currently offering the 16GB model for $169.99 and the 32GB for $269.99 whilst also offering $100 credit with the trade-in of previous iPhone models. Meanwhile Target is now offering the 16GB iPhone 4 for $149.99 and the 32GB model for $249.99. Unfortunately these discounted iPhone 4’s still come attached with a two-year contract with either AT&T or Verizon.
These iPhone 4 prices being offered by Radio Shack and Target are reduced from the standard $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model that AT&T, Verizon and Apple are still offering.
