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Technology Stocks : Apple Tankwatch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pyslent who wrote (21887)	9/17/2012 9:55:54 AM
From: sylvester80	2 Recommendations Respond to of 32692

Apple, What’s The Deal With The $29 Lightning To 30-Pin Adapter? FREDERIC LARDINOIS posted yesterday techcrunch.com Chances are you have a few iPhone or iPod chargers and cables in your house right now and maybe even a speaker dock or alarm clock that lets you plug in your iPhone. In one fell swoop, Apple made these obsolete when it launched its new Lightning connector on Wednesday. In typical Apple fashion, the company didn’t just replace its old proprietary connector it introduced in 2003 with a standards-compliant one. Instead, it went with its own design. The Lightning connector is significantly smaller than the old 30-pin connector, but the one feature that Apple really seemed to feel the need to stress is that it’s “reversible” (because plugging in the old connector was always so hard). If you made any investment in iPod/iOS hardware ecosystem in the last 10 years, chances are you will need to buy a few of Apple’s overpriced $29 adapters (or $39 with a cable) so you can keep using your devices. With millions of devices ranging from simple speaker docks to clock radios and all the way up to cars featuring 30-pin dock connectors, most people probably would have preferred for Apple to keep the old connector anyway. But time obviously moves on and Apple had good reasons to switch to a new and smaller plug. But going with yet another proprietary connector is a step backwards, and the $29 price feels like a slap in the face to the company’s long-time supporters. Apple wouldn’t be Apple if it just sold the adapter for a more reasonable $9, but its users (and all those hotels, car manufacturers and others that only recently started investing in accessories with 30-pin connectors) would surely appreciate it. In Europe, where Micro USB is now the standard for all phones, Apple offers a Lightning to Micro USB adapter and currently bundles a Micro USB adapter for its old dock connector with all of its phones there to comply with this standard. As far as I can see, neither the old nor the new adapters are available in the U.S. store. The fact that converting Lightening to USB is apparently no problem for Apple makes it even more annoying that Apple didn’t just go with a standard USB plug to begin with. A regular Lightning to USB cable is “just” $19, which is a bit easier to stomach, but just to put that into perspective, a 6-foot USB to Micro USB cable costs just under $1.50 on Monoprice.com. The USB adapter apparently doesn’t even support all of the Lightning and 30-pin connectors’ features, but most Android OEMs seem to make do with them just fine and Apple could surely make Micro USB work for its purposes, too. All of this obviously didn’t stop iPhone 5 pre-orders from breaking records, though most mainstream users probably aren’t even aware of this new adapter yet. I have to say that it did put a damper on my enthusiasm for the new iPhone, though, given that I will likely have to shell out a good $100 extra just to keep using my old accessories.

To: pyslent who wrote (21887)	9/17/2012 10:08:38 AM
From: sylvester80	Respond to of 32692

iPhone 5 won't support simultaneous voice and data on Verizon or Sprint...but the Samsung Galaxy SIII does By Dan Seifert on September 13, 2012 05:20 pm @dcseifert theverge.com Apple's new iPhone 5 features support for LTE networks across the world, but it won't be able to offer simultaneous voice and data on all of them. The Verge has confirmed with Verizon Wireless that the iPhone 5 won't support the feature when it's on the carrier's cellular network, even if it is connected to LTE. This is in contrast to the rest of the LTE phones in Verizon's lineup, all of which support simultaneous voice and data when connected to LTE. A Verizon spokesperson provided this comment on the matter: "The iPhone 5 was designed to allow customers to place a voice call on the Verizon Wireless network, while letting customers access the Internet over the WiFi." AT&T has confirmed to us that its version of the iPhone 5 does indeed support the feature, whether on HSPA+ or LTE (though the phone will not be able to use LTE speeds while on a call). Since Apple says that Sprint and Verizon will be offering the same version of the iPhone 5, it's safe to say that simultaneous voice and data will not be available on Sprint's network either. We have reached out to Sprint and will update this post if we receive a comment. Given the various LTE bands in use on the different versions of the iPhone 5, it can be pretty difficult to make a decision as to which version to purchase. Now that we know Verizon's model won't support simultaneous voice and data over LTE, that decision just got a little bit harder for some customers that wish to use that feature. UPDATE: Sprint has responded to our inquiries and has also confirmed that the iPhone 5 will NOT support simultaneous voice and data on its network. Chris Ziegler contributed to this report.