Want some dip with that Samsung chip? (credit: Chipworks)
When Apple announced the iPhone 5S 10 days ago, it revealed a more powerful next-gen processor was ticking along for the ride.
The 64-bit ARM A7 was a widely expected edition to the Apple SoC line-up, and some thought Apple might finally turn to a chipmaker other than arch-rival Samsung to produce the silicon in its new flagship.
Alas, Apple apparently couldn't cut the cord, as research firm Chipworks confirmed through "early analysis" that the chip is the product of Samsung's fabrication Foundry.
Through some microscopic dissection, the Chipworks crew came to the conclusion the A7 is built using the same 28-nm HKMG process as Samsung's Exynos 5410 CPU, the processor found inside the octa-core version of the Galaxy S4.
Blood is thicker than water, we suppose.
Made a break with M7
Apple is stuck relying on Samsung for its mobile CPUs it would seem, though perhaps by the time the iPhone 6 lands the company will have made a clean break.
There is, however, one third-party chip claim Apple can stake with the 5S.
Chipworks identified the M7 co-processor, which collects and processes accelerometer, gyroscope and compass data, as an NXP Semiconductors product.
BlackBerry released its preliminary second quarter financial results today, and as jargon-y as that sounds, the company dropped a few big bombshells.
We'll start with the news that will affect consumers directly: BlackBerry has decided to shift its future smartphone portfolio from six devices to four. Cost saving measures are to be expected, but there's more.
The phone maker will now focus on making "enterprise and prosumer-centric targeted devices," producing for that space two high-end devices and two entry-level devices. All-touch and QWERTY models are in the offing, but the days of BlackBerry plying phones ardently to consumers are over.
What's more, following the announcement of the BlackBerry Z30, BlackBerry will re-tier its predecessor, the disappointing Z10, making it available to "a broader, entry-level audience."
BlackBerry reiterated a special committee continues to explore strategic alternatives for the company's future, which it has stated include an all-out sale.
Money pit
Of course, BlackBerry wouldn't just up and decide to shift its attention to the enterprise space. It would have to be losing bucket loads of money. And it is.
According to the company's preliminary calculations, it expects a net operating loss of approx. $950 million to $995 million.
A huge portion of that - $930 million to $960 million - is a primarily non-cash, pre-tax inventory charge "resulting from the increasingly competitive business environment impacting BlackBerry smartphone volumes."
A pre-tax restructuring charge of $72 million is factored in there as well.
Cutting even deeper to the quick, BlackBerry's restructuring will result in the lay off of approx. 4,500 employees.
As for whatever positives there are, BlackBerry expects to pull in second quarter revenue of approx. $1.6 billion and sales of 3.7 million smartphones. It plans to chop its operating expenditures by about 50% by the end of the first 2015 fiscal quarter.
If you shrugged off sleep, kept your track-pad finger hovering over order options at the online Apple Store, or camped out/paid someone to in front of a physical one overnight, you're helping the new iPhones get off to a rousing start.
"Demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and we are currently sold out or have limited supply of certain iPhone 5S models in some stores," an Apple representative told AllThingsD.
But you really have to look no further than the long lines and extended shipping dates to know that.
The gold iPhone 5S looks of particular interest to consumers, and Apple is reportedly preparing to give them more of what they want.
All that glitters
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has tugged on suppliers' ears to up production of the new gold iPhone.
Apple apparently wants production to jump by another third based on the strong demand it's seeing for the champagne-colored handset. AllThingsD noted in a separate report that Apple's manufacturing partners have been asked to "significantly" up gold iPhone 5S production.
The Journal's report focused on Hong Kong demand, but in the U.S., the gold iPhone's ship time has been pushed to October on all four carriers and in all storage configurations. The white and space gray models, meanwhile, are able to ship within seven to 10 business days from any carrier in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB options.
Supplies of the iPhone 5C, meanwhile, appears to be holding steady, and will get to U.S. customers in one to three business days.
Read our review of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C to see if the phones are worth the wait.
Apple's new Touch ID fingerprint sensor might safeguard the iPhone 5S against thieves, but it wasn't much good to one poor Apple fan who had his handset robbed before leaving the Apple Store on Friday.
After queuing (probably for hours) at the flagship Apple Store on Regent Street in London, the unlucky fella unboxed his handset and placed it in his pocket, only to be pick-pocketed by a light fingered little toe-rag.
He only realised the iPhone was gone after he left the store and now cops, who were out in their droves on Friday and still managed to miss the incident, are looking at CCTV footage to determine what happened.
"It's not clear what happened, because the store is so busy," a Met police source told The Register. "This is why we draft in extra officers. There's always going to be people having their new phones nicked."
More blips!
Some more blips, with less heartbreaking iPhone thievery, can be seen here
With Vodafone and O2 launching their 4G networks to take on the increasingly speedy LTE offering from EE, we picked up a handset from each carrier (along with an 'Ultrafast' HSPA+ phone from Three) and trawled around London to see what kind of speeds consumers can really expect if they fork out the extra money for the next-generation mobile speeds.
It's very hard to give definitive speed results in any given location, but as London is one of the only places in the UK with 4G from O2, EE and Vodafone at the moment (plus one of the highest densities of masts broadcasting the signal) we considered it adequate for getting a feel for what was on offer when it came to next generation speeds.
How did we test?
We decided to go with a variety of phones all capable of connecting to the 4G signal – in the case of 3 this wasn't necessary, so we stuck with the tried and tested Samsung Galaxy S4.
(We'll be re-testing this with our double-speed 4G-enabled LG G2 in the near future, so stay tuned!)
We used the Speedtest.net app to determine ping rates and download speeds in each location, ensuring there was a 4G connection (or HSPA+ in the case of Three) wherever possible – although no matter how hard we tried, there were occasions where an LTE signal just wasn't happening.
Ping test: to determine latency (the delay) between your phone / tablet and the server. The lower the rate, the faster the connection, and the less time waiting for your data to start arriving.
And in the interests of fairness, we ran the test at least three times on each phone, giving an average score at the end to ensure we didn't get caught out with an anomalous result during the testing.
We gave each network a score out of four for each test to help us determine TechRadar's utterly unofficial Best 4G network.
So how did each network get on? Does Three's claim that its Ultrafast network can be a good stopgap before it brings 4G later in the year hold water? Does EE's double-speed 4G network actually allow users to get much faster speeds (which would be unlikely, given no phones on the market can actually use the connection as yet)?
And can one man walk around London holding nearly £2000-worth of telephony and not get mugged several times?
TechRadar Towers – Balcombe St – 15.54 (indoors)
To kick off our test, we decided to start at home – right in TechRadar's offices. Checking the coverage maps showed that we were supposed to get good indoor coverage with O2, Three and EE, while Vodafone was outdoors only.
Colour us as surprised as a leopard that realises it looks better in pinstripes to find that not only did O2 and EE not manage to get anywhere near the expected speeds (O2 not even finding a 4G signal) but Vodafone defied its own maps to provide blistering speeds time and time again.
Vodafone – 4pts
EE – 3
O2 – 2
Three - 1
London Bridge – 20.15
Next up, a stop at the Shard later in the evening provided a great chance to test connection speeds. With loads of people milling around and a number of offices and homes within reach, this would surely test the signal in a new way, with all networks promising good coverage – and achieving it too for the most part.
EE fans will be pleased to note that once the indoor shackles were off, it leapt to the top of the leaderboard. Vodafone did not fare as well with a 4G signal hard to come by, while O2 and Three sailed through the test.
EE – 4pts
O2 – 3
Three - 2
Vodafone - 1
St Albans – 07.50
Now here's an odd one: while neither O2 nor Vodafone confirmed the outlying parts of London as towns or cities imbued with 4G, several of them were actually able to connect to the service, according to the coverage trackers.
St Albans station was apparently covered with good outdoor 4G signal according to the coverage maps, but only EE managed to get such a thing while waiting for the train, with many other commuters playing with their smartphones at the same time (although few were likely running 4G speeds).
Sadly, Vodafone didn't even manage to connect to the Speedtest.net app, despite multiple attempts, so scored nil points in this test. Three was once again a creditable distance behind the 4G rivals.
EE – 4pts
O2 – 3
Three – 2
Vodafone - 0
St Pancras – 08.25
Now we hit the big leagues – outside one of the busiest stations in London at rush hour. With all networks promising good indoor and outdoor coverage, which would leap to the top of the leaderboard?
Vodafone and O2 were the front runners in this test, with EE a close third and Three some way behind. The latency was a little slower than expected, but it seems the congestion from thousands of phones emerging blinking into signal all at once wasn't helping things.
Fresh from its previous two disasters, Vodafone narrowly missed out on top spot – another excellent showing from the new boy O2.
O2 – 4pts
Vodafone – 3
EE – 2
Three - 1
South Kensington – 10.25
So to quieter locations: in a more affluent area of London, would 4G speeds be slower?
It seems not, as all four networks raised their game in this location. EE really began to flex its muscle in this more open space, while O2 kicked it up a gear once more. Three suddenly remembered that it could pump some pretty whizzy speeds over HSPA+, and even managed to beat the 4G-connected Vodafone into fourth place.
EE – 4pts
O2 – 3
Three – 2
Vodafone - 1
Buckingham Palace – 10.55
For our final test, we wanted to ask the question everyone has been dying to know since the launch of the 4G networks: can the Queen get a 4G signal in Buckingham Palace?
With 4G signals promised once more – and this time delivered promptly and powerfully – this was going to be the test that sorted the 4G men from the GPRS boys.
Three bowed out early on, with a meagre result given its fine showing in Kensington. However, with many tourists thronging around and a number of businesses close by, its 3G networks may have been taxed rather heavily, while its unlikely foreign visitors would be paying up for 4G signal.
Vodafone managed to finally get another one over on its launch rival, boasting speeds just faster than O2, which will please some lovers of the Big Red Network.
However, EE showed that it knows what it's doing with 4G, bringing nearly double the download speed with the lowest ping rate. So if you can't decide whether you want to download an HD movie or watch guards changing at the Queen's London digs, then it looks like EE may be your best bet.
EE – 4 pts
Vodafone – 3
O2 – 2
Three - 1
The results
There's no doubt there's a large gap between Three's 3G Ultrafast network and the next generation speeds on offer. However, there were times when the distance was narrower, so if you're able to hold on until December with speeds hovering around 4-5Mbps on average, then you might just be in for a 4G treat.
EE has definitely got the most robust network on offer, with the fastest speeds shown in most locations, and more often than not far exceeding the competition.
EE – 21 pts
O2 – 17 pts
Vodafone – 11 pts
Three – 9 pts
O2, with less spectrum on offer than its rivals, surprised us in this test by often providing fast and impressive results – however, with a high price plan it will be interesting to see if consumers pay up.
Vodafone looks like it needs to do some more work, but with the red network promising to turn on a mast every 30 minutes in London, perhaps it won't be too long before its coverage map actually mimics real life usage.
We'll be running the same tests again in two weeks' time to see if anything has improved, so stay tuned to see if EE can hold on to its impressive lead.
Want to know if you should really care about 4G? Well, luckily we've spent ages putting together everything you need to know.
