Motorola to launch Droid 4 in December?

Less than six months after launching the Droid 3, Motorola is apparently ready to give us its successor.
The Droid 4 will launch December 8, according to purported promotional materials obtained by Droid Life. The site reports it has confirmed that employee training is already in progress at some Verizon Wireless stores.
The Droid 4 will reportedly have Droid Razr styling and run on Verizon's 4G LTE network, but like the previous Droids, it will feature a five-row, slide-out keyboard. It will also sport a four-inch touch screen, a 1.2GHz

dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a front-facing camera for video chatting, and an 8MP back-facing camera.
There's no indication in the materials which Android version it will run, but if Droid Life's report is accurate, the new smartphone will launch the same day as Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, the new flagship phone for Google's Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich.
A Motorola representative declined to comment, and Verizon representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

What HTC's Thunderbolt means for the iPhone 5

With the next generation iPhone 5 on it's way from Apple, enthusiasts and analysts are looking to glean any clues as to what will be packed into the anticipated phone.
With regards to a few important aspects, clues have come from a surprising source -- Apple rival HTC with

its Thunderbolt 4G phone.
With its fast 4G advantage, the phone sports the highest component costs of any other smartphone, and even rivals some tablets.
But it's that same 4G technology that allows industry watchers to understand some of the challenges that Apple is facing as it builds out its iPhone 5.
The 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless chips required for the faster speeds in the Thunderbolt cost an extra $39.75, according to industry researcher IHS.
This presents a problem for Apple, which observers believe is mulling adding the capability to its forthcoming iPhone 5.
There are some options.
Apple could forgo 4G technology all together. Indeed some analysts have predicted just as much, given the current chips are relatively new technology that haven't been 100 percent proven.
The company has already dropped hints, saying at a Verizon press conference in January that it will be conservative with the implementation of LTE, primarily because of battery and other concerns that didn't meet Apple's demands.
On the other hand, there are already three models of LTE phones on the market from competitors Samsung, and LG, as well as HTC's Thunderbolt.
To combat, Apple would certainly need a 4G offering, but would need to make some sacrifices given the size and cost of the chip.
"First, the iPhone's minuscule printed circuit board (PCB) will have to grow in size in order to support the first-generation LTE baseband processor as well as all the supporting chipset," explained firms senior analyst, Wayne Lam.
"Second, the next iPhone's BOM value certainly will increase substantially compared to the iPhone 4 if LTE is implemented in the same manner as in the HTC Thunderbolt."
The current iPhone 4 costs $171.35 to make, meaning the addition would run costs up to roughly $211 per unit, cutting down on Apple's margins, which could be passed on to the consumer.
But seeing that Apple executives have publically complained about the poor designs of current LTE chips, Apple could opt to use someone else entirely.
Enter the Qualcomm's "SnapDragon MSM8960." The chip is the newer version to the 4G chip in the Thunderbolt, and features a number of advantages over standard 4G implementations.
It combines LTE, the "EVDO" standard for existing CDMA networks, and the GSM standard used at AT&T, in one chip, allowing Apple to sell one iPhone 5 that can run on multiple networks.
Currently it sells one for AT&T and one for Verizon.
Given the iPhone 5 is expected to ship a lot more units than HTC's Thunderbolt, Apple has the advantage of pushing down prices even more.
"I would imagine the caveat would have to be added that strict cost of components may vary between Apple and HTC, given Apple's purchasing power in the semiconductor market," Lam says.
The iPhone 5 is expected in Q4 this year.

Droid Bionic 4G aimed for August: report

The Droid Bionic, successor to the Droid and the Droid X, looks to be locked for launch.
Or mostly locked: The good folks over at This Is My Next have published a Best Buy promo advertisement featuring the Bionic. The ad seems real enough, although the poster is missing the precise launch dates and a

spec lists. What we can tell from the advert is that the Bionic is aesthetic: a face-lift, some nipping and tucking, and some rounding around the corners.
In fact, if you just glance at the Bionic, you could be forgiven for confusing the thing for an iPhone 4. It seems identical, except the Apple home button has been swapped with the familiar Droid button array. "Control it, and you control everything," reads the Best Buy promo copy. "With the ferocious force of Verizon 4G LTE, the Droid Bionic is an all-powerful, unstoppable machine."
Among the other additions promised in the advertisement: video chat functionality, a beefed-up dual core processor, and the ability to wirelessly pull files from your hard drive. Of course, as This Is My Next points out, the Droid Bionic has been promised before, and just as quickly yanked away from the spotlight. After taking the wraps off the device at CES in January, in April Verizon announced production on the Bionic would be delayed until this summer.
At the time, Verizon said only that it was "incorporating several enhancements to make this an even better consumer experience."
So when, exactly, will the Droid Bionic launch? Well, the tech rumors site Android Central is pointing to an August 4 release date, which lines up with the early Verizon statement. More when we know it.

Apple iPhone 5 Will Feature Curved Glass Display: Report

Apple’s iPhone 5 will feature a curved-glass touch-screen display, according to a new DigiTimes report.

“Cover glass makers are reluctant to commit investment to the purchase of glass cutting equipment due to the high capital involved,” according to the May 23 report, citing unnamed sources. “Apple reportedly has purchased 200-300 glass cutting machines to be used by glass cutters.”

Those machines are supposedly stored at various assembly plants in anticipation

of covered-glass production ramping to acceptable levels. DigiTimes also hints that Apple is partnering with its suppliers over manufacturing processes such as glass-cutting and lamination.One of the iPhone’s recent rivals, the Google Nexus S, debuted in December 2010 with a screen curved ever-so-slightly inwards. At the time, Google claimed the display “fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and along the side of your face.” The Dell Venue Pro, a smartphone running Windows Phone 7, also features a curved display—albeit slightly outwards, perhaps in a bid to broaden its range of visibility.

Other rumors have suggested Apple is prepping an edge-to-edge screen for the next iPhone. Those reports stem from an “iPhone 5G” case offered on Chinese manufacturer Kulcase’s Alibaba.com Website, which was noticed by Electronista and subsequently picked up by Apple-centric blogs such as Apple Insider.

Still more scuttlebutt suggests that, no, the next iPhone will feature only incremental upgrades, even as it appears on a broader set of carriers.

“We believe the likelihood of the iPhone 5 launch in September including LTE [Long-Term Evolution] is now remote,” Jefferies & Co. analyst Peter Misek wrote in a May 13 research note. “According to our industry checks, the device should be called iPhone 4S and include minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ [Evolved High-Speed Packet Access] support.”

That note also claimed that, based on “industry checks,” Sprint, T-Mobile and China Mobile will be announced as new iPhone carriers in time for the holiday season: “On Apple’s last earnings call, management responded to a question about launching the CDMA [Code Division Multiple Access] iPhone at other carriers as ‘we are constantly looking and adding where it makes sense, and you can keep confidence that we’ll continue to do that.’”

AT&T and Verizon remain the only two U.S. carriers of the iPhone at the moment. Despite AT&T’s plans to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion in cash and stock, the smaller carrier has denied it will carry the iPhone in the short term.”

As always, Apple’s tight in-house secrecy creates a vacuum in which even the most fanciful rumors can flourish to full live. That being said, the latest surrounding the iPhone 5 should probably be taken with a dump-truck-sized grain of salt until the company makes an official announcement.