News for Tuesday, 11 September 2007

The Swiss online shop Nextway reports to have successfully tested iPhoneSIMFree application on an imported iPhone. It perfectly works on the Swisscom network.
However, we should warn you to avoid immediately order such unlocked iPhone on the web, as it remain unclear how Apple could in a really near future block such hack via an iPhone software or firmware update.

According to Businessweek, the availability of the 700Mhz spectrum in 2009 could be of interest for a company such as Apple. Currently used by analog TV broadcasters, the 700Mhz spectrum could be the next generation wavelength for faster mobile Internet access as signals can easily pass through buildings, and less weather-dependent than current cellular or even Wi-Fi networks.
For Apple, such a move could be the perfect way to promote the iPhone, as well as notebook models, as Cupertino could offer compete and integrated mobile hardware and software solutions to customers. It could also make a lot of sense according to Apple's history, and its goal to avoid depending on someone else behavior or actions. On the other end, Apple would have to massively invest, for both acquiring the license and developing the network infrastructure required to offer a true mobile network. Here again, Apple's history have proven many times that Apple does not like to be in danger by strongly decreasing its cash due to huge investment.
Some analysts report that Apple could team up with Google and Cisco to divide risks and investments while bringing 3 main players together to bring their expertise to offer ultimate service to customers.
In all cases, Apple will have to make a choice, and the price for the entry to the wireless world is rather expensive.

When Intel released Core architecture, it massively impacted AMD due to the important performance gap it created with the CPU offer from the Texan founder. AMD at that time had no CPU ready to be launched to fire back to Core Duo and Core 2 Duo mobile, desktop and Core Xeon server CPUs, so it strongly decreased prices of its mobile and desktop CPU.
It took 18 months to AMD following the first Core CPU introduction to release the first native Quad Core CPU, known as Barcelona, and aiming to compete with Core architecture-based Xeon.
Quad Core Xeon are in fact two Dual Core Xeon on the same die, communicating via the system bus, the same way that two Dual Core CPUs installed on two independent sockets on the same motherboard. To that extend, Barcelona is more advanced with its interconnected Quad Core technology. But does it translate performance wise?
Anandtech could test a Barcelona clocked at 2.0GHz, and compared results with those obtained from a Quad Core Xeon Clovertown. In almost all test, the Barcelona was faster than the Xeon at the same clockspeed, indicating already that latest AMD will lead the race of performance/watt for couple of month, till Penryn Xeon or next generation Xeon arrive.
The Barcelona will be initially launched with a top clockspeed around 2.0GHz, before evolving towards 2.5GHz frequency, and will mostly invade server market, before finding its way to desktops and workstation hardware models. The Barcelona should be cheaper than the corresponding Intel CPU, so Intel could fire back by offering price discount on its current Quad Core Xeon to maintain the pressure on the Texan founder, the time required to release the next Xeon generation. For sure customers will benefit of having AMD back and track and bringing competitive CPU to the market, it will force Intel to innovate and release top notch CPUs

Perpendicular recording technology allowed a breakthrough in HD storage space by massively increasing capacity of our HDs. Thanks to this technology we can today have a 1.8" HD featuring 160GB of storage space, finding its way in an iPod, while the first iPod had 5GB capacity... This is also true for 3.5" HDs now available with capacity reaching 1TB.
Toshiba announced to have manufactured a 1.8" HD prototype based on a single platter of 120GB (vs. 80Gb currently) thanks to a new technology known as Discrete Track Recording (DTR). The DTR is expected to boost area density of a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) by up to 50%, by forming a groove between the tracks on the PMR support. By reducing the signal interference between adjacent data PMR tracks, DTR will shorten the tracks, and as a consequence increase recording density and improve signal/noise ratio

Toshiba expect to launch mass production of DTR-enable HDs from 2009, and first drives to benefit from this new technology will be 1.8" and 2.5" HDs.

The website iphonesimfree was refreshed to celebrate the launch of the patch, only available for resellers. Gizmodo published a video demonstrating the hack.
So far, most resellers are located in USA, and considering how Apple cut price of the iPhone without any notice, customers should take care not to embark in some adventure with purchasing such "hacked iPhone model". Indeed, one should wait for the first feed-back to surface, as no one knows if the hack will work equally for all carrier networks.

In a short PR, Apple announced to have sold its millionth iPhone in 74 days. This is a real achievement taking into account that it took almost 2 years for reach same milestone for the iPod.
In the coming month, Apple will have to demonstrate that the iPhone is engaged on a long-term success road, as competitors do not intend to let Cupertino take control of a market that they have built over the last 10 years.