Tuesday, January 13, 2009

iPhone nano now rumored for June, Unicorn delayed again until September


Ready for more iPhone nano rumors? Good, because apparently the Chinese trade paper Economic Daily News is now reporting that Taiwan Semiconductor Company (TSMC) will be handling chip manufacturing for a low-cost device being referred to as... you guessed it: the iPhone nano. While the paper has a fairly good reputation, it is filtered through the lens of DigiTimes on our end, so as usual, take it with the required grain of salt. Still, the source is calling a June launch of the handset on the heels of an order for the components in March. The time frame is reasonable enough, and if history is any lesson here, Apple loves to intro iPhones in the Summer. Given that China has yet to see a deal for the iPhone proper, and a lower-cost entry may be perfectly tuned for vast Asian markets, the nano could gather in a whole new fold of users (and the smaller screen would be less of an issue given the need for character recognition). That theory falls in line with statements from analysts, though as always, putting too much stock in any of this speculation could be hazardous to your health. Just ask Steve Jobs.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

LG celebrates 5 million Viewtys in 14 months


Touchscreen, 3.5G, 5-megapixel autofocus camera -- what's there not to like? It's a winning formula, obviously, as evidenced by LG's announcement that they've managed to push some 5 million Viewty handsets around the globe since the series' launch a little over a year ago. North America sadly excluded, variants of the Viewty have graced large swaths of Europe and Asia, and if we had to guess, LG's tasteful application of color to the different models probably has something to do with the rousing success. And heck, if they wanted to bring it to the States, we'd wager they could sell a few more before this craze has run its course.