Apple 3GS Cost $179 To Build, Sells For $199
In building the iPhone 3G S, Apple managed to punch up the product line without spending much more on components, a teardown analysis showed.
Researcher iSuppli found that the cost of components and other other materials for Apple's latest smartphone was $172.46. Add the manufacturing expense of $6.50, and the total is $178.96, or a mere $4.63 more than the older generation iPhone 3G.
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Teardown TV takes a look inside the guts of the new Blackberry Bold -- Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM)'s newest smartphone.ISuppli's cost estimate does not include other costs associated with a product, such as marketing, distribution and the accessories bundled with the device. Nevertheless, the teardown indicates that Apple was able to boost the iPhone's performance without dramatically increasing expenses.
The new, low-end iPhone offers double the memory of last year's low-end model, without costing Apple much more to make. ISuppli conducted its teardown on the entry-level 16 GB version of the iPhone 3G S, comparing it to the low-end 8 GB iPhone 3G based on pricing in July 2008. AT&T (NYSE: T), the exclusive iPhone carrier in the United States, is offering the latest iPhone for as low as $199 with a two-year data contract, the same deal as with the older product when it first launched. AT&T today is offering the older phone with a contract for $99.
Without a service contract, the iPhone 3G S costs $599, which was also the original price for the iPhone 3G. But despite the price similarities, there are differences in the technology.
Features unique to the iPhone 3G S include video capture, an autofocus 3 megapixel camera, versus a 2 megapixel camera in the older iPhone, and a built-in digital compass. Aside from these extras, the hardware is not much different, iSuppli said.
"From a component and design perspective, there's also a great deal of similarity between the 3G and the 3G S," iSuppli teardown analyst Andrew Rassweiler said in a statement released Wednesday. "By leveraging this commonality to optimize materials costs, and taking advantage of price erosion in the electronic component marketplace, Apple can provide a higher-performing product with more memory and features at only a slightly higher materials and manufacturing cost."
One of the most noteworthy hardware changes is the use of a Broadcomm single-chip Bluetooth/FM/WLAN device. This component represents the industry trend of integrating more functionality into one chip. The iPhone 3G used two chips to implement the same functions.
Making its debut in the iPhone is Dialog Semiconductor's power management integrated circuit. To implement the digital compass, Apple added AKM Semiconductor's electronic compass and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM)' accelerometer.
Toshiba scored the biggest single design win in the iPhone 3G S with its 16 GB multi-level cell NAND flash memory device, which at $24 is the third most expensive component, after the display module and the touch-screen assembly, iSuppli said. However, Apple is likely to shop around and get the same memory part from other suppliers, most notably Samsung Electronics.
Samsung maintained its position as the supplier of the iPhone's applications processor, the fourth most expensive component. The processor plays a key role in the iPhone 3G S's faster performance over its predecessor. Where the 3G used an ARM RISC microprocessor with 400 MHz clock speed, the 3G S uses a 600 MHz version.
Posted at 12:41AM Jun 26, 2009 by jovbon1 in General | Comments[44]
Sony exec admits "certain premium" associated with PSPgo
Michael Pachter retracted one of the most correct statements he's ever made: the PSP Go is a "rip off" for consumers. The PSP Go takes away the expensive-to-manufacture UMD drive and replaces it with cheap flash memory -- and yet it still costs more than the current PSP-3000. Fun fact: You can buy a standard PSP and 16GB Memory Stick Duo Pro right now for less than a PSP Go.
Sure, the new form factor looks nice, but Sony should have no manufacturing costs to pass down to the consumer. MCV asked SCEE's Andrew House if R&D or retailer markups were the reason behind PSP Go's high price. "Those aren't the factors," House admitted. "When you introduce a new piece of hardware you have the opportunity to say there is a certain premium that is associated with it, and we took that into account."
Essentially, House is admitting you can charge more for technology when it's new. It's unsurprising, but it certainly leaves a bad taste knowing Sony can easily charge less for the PSP Go. Perhaps Sony will follow the iPhone's footsteps and suddenly drop the price of the PSP weeks after early adopters pay their "premium" price.
[Via Joystiq]
Posted at 12:35AM Jun 26, 2009 by jovbon1 in General | Comments[15]
'Adult' iPhone App causes a stir
"Hottest Girls" adds spicy content to App Store [Read More]
Posted at 12:23AM Jun 26, 2009 by jovbon1 in General | Comments[6]
Playing Mobile Device Videos on Your Computer
Question: I emailed myself a video I took from my blackberry curve. When i try to play the video on my computer it says it can't find the file extension. What is the deal?
Answer: The deal is that you either need a program installed on your computer that can play the video file, or a program that will convert it to a common video format like Quicktime or Windows Media.
I'll cover both approaches, and will introduce you to some free and low-cost programs that'll handle the video viewing and converting. I'll also show you how to convert Quicktime or Windows Media videos into a format that can be viewed on a Blackberry, iPhone, or virtually any mobile device that supports video.
Video Players
Most computers come with some form of a video player, such as Windows Media Player that plays video files with a .wmv extension. You can also get the Quicktime video player for free from Apple that plays .mp4 video files.
However, videos that are recorded from a mobile device will usually have a different file extension, such as .3GP for movies recorded on Motorola RAZR phones. These videos won't play in Quicktime or Windows Media.
You'll need a video player designed to read the video format that your specific mobile device uses, or better yet - one that can play a wide range of video formats so that you'll still be in luck if you switch phones in the future.
Rather then look for a universal video file player, look for a video file converter. Not only will you get the ability to view all kinds of video files, but you'll be able to convert them to be viewable on other devices or other computer systems like a Macintosh. Two for the price of one.
Video Converters
I've been a fan of Aimersoft DVD Ripper because it let's me rip copy-protected movies and backup my movie library, so naturally I checked with them first for video converters.
It turns out that Aimersoft recently developed an HD video converter that supports literally every video format I've ever seen, from .3GP cell phone videos, to iPhone videos, Blackberry videos, AVI, WMV, MP4 - you name it.
Aimersoft HD Video Converter will play videos recorded on your Blackberry on your computer, and will also let you convert those videos to HD-quality formats that will play in Quicktime, Windows Media, and even on your regular DVD player (*.vob format).
There are two Aimersoft features I use often. The first is a huge time saver - the ability to batch convert several videos in one shot. Just add the videos to the list, select the output format (iPhone 3G in the example shown above) and away you go. You can even combine all of the videos into a single video.
The second feature I like is the ability to take still shots of the video and save them in a variety of image file formats.
Aimersoft HD Video Converter can be downloaded here
Posted at 02:38AM Jun 22, 2009 by jovbon1 in General | Comments[5]
Tips: Rip DVD and convert video with an all-in-one editor & converter program?
I found many gadget owners asked this kind of questions - "How to rip DVD to my iPod/iPhone/Zune/PSP/etc?" and "I tried to put videos on my iPod, but it always turned up some errors".
Actually, these are common issues for digital players as different players support different video formats, and if your want to play DVD movie with your gadget, you also need to rip DVD to video formats that your gadget support. In order to solve this issue, you can download a program that supports DVD ripping and another program that supports video conversion.
There are many this kind of suppliers on Google, just find what you need. Here I would like to recommend a comprehensive program that can rip DVD and also convert video, and it also provides some useful video editing features such as Video Clip, Screen crop, etc.
This software called Aimersoft Video Converter Pro, it can convert both DVD and video, see the "Add Video" and "Load DVD" button.
Follow the easiest steps to rip DVD and convert video
1. "Add Video" or "Load DVD"
2. Select output format by click "Profile" drop list
3. "Start" conversion.
Input formats
Output Formats
Or you can get advanced parameter setting or effect editing after you "Add Video".
Here, I will use it to cut clips from a DVD and a Video file respectively then merge them into one video file.
1. Choose the video file you want to use then click the "scissor" in the "Edit Region", you will see the window below. Customize the clips and press OK.
2. Do it again to DVD title you want to use.
3. You will see three Segments below the original video and DVD files in the main interface (see the first picture). Press "Ctrl"+choose the three Segments, then click "merge" (the second button in the "Edit Region").
4. Select output format.
5. Start conversion.
You can see its integrated guide from here.
Note: Remember to use "merge" when you want to convert all DVD titles to one video file.
Posted at 10:27PM Jun 14, 2009 by jovbon1 in General | Comments[16]
How to convert MP3 to M4A (DSI AAC) ?
As a lot of music playing devices, such as the pretty new Nintendo DSI,
require DSI AAC files and not MP3s. Files converted to AAC will play
fine on any AAC compliant device.
This article is about how to
convert MP3 to M4A (DSI AAC file) for Nintendo DSI with two methods.
First, convert MP3 to M4A with iTunes (free). 2. Convert MP3 to M4A
with MP3 to M4A converter.
[Read More]
Posted at 04:46AM Jun 10, 2009 by jovbon1 in General | Comments[10]
PSP Go spec sheet
PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) Go (PSP-N1000)
Product Name PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) Go
Dimensions:
External Approx. 128 x 16.5 x 69 mm (width x height x depth)
Weight Approx. 158g / 5.6 oz (with the internal battery)
Keys:
Key / Switches Directional buttons (up/down/right/left), analog stick,
Action buttons (triangle, circle, cross, square), L/R buttons, START
button, SELECT button, PS button, POWER/HOLD switch, WLAN switch
display button, sound button, volume (+ / -) buttons
PSP Go! package:
Power sources Lithium-Ion rechargeable internal battery pack
AC adaptor
USB power supply
Internal memory 16GB (Flash Memory)
Supported PSP(R) Game
Access Control Region code, parental control
Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b) (Wi-Fi) communications (Infrastructure mode / Ad hoc mode (connect up to 16 consoles))
Bluetooth(R)2.0 (EDR)
Supplied AC adaptor accessories USB cable
CD-ROM (Media Go)
Hardware and file formats supports:
Supported coded (in Memory Stick Micro (M2) / Internal memory)
Video & Memory Stick Video Format:
MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile
(AAC), MPEG-4, MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main
Profile (CABAC) (AAC), Baseline Profile (AAC), AVI, Motion JPEG
(Linear PCM), Motion JPEG (u-Law)
Music & Memory Stick Audio Format:
ATRAC3(TM)*8, ATRAC3plus(TM)*8, MP3, MP3 (MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer3), MP4
(MPEG-4 AAC), WAVE (Linear PCM), WMA (Windows Media(R) Audio 9 Standard
only)*9
Photo Format:
JPEG (DCF2.0/Exif2.21 compliant), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG
PSP GO! is set to be released on October 1st, 2009. The set price will be the same as when first PSP lanuched $249. Grans Turismo PSP will be released at the same time.
Posted at 04:14AM Jun 04, 2009 by jovbon1 in General | Comments[17]
Sony PSP Go to take on iPod Touch
Sony yesterday released its answer to the iPod touch, the much-anticipated PSP Go. It differs from the original PSP because it has a slide out controller and instead of needing cartridges, you can now download content and games over the Internet. While the "content+games over the Internet" isn't such a new thing, they do have some impressive titles and it looks like the video hardware has been amped up a bit. We'll likely see the future of the iPod/iPhone platform next week. It appears that Apple is focusing on apps for this years WWDC.
via http://www.9to5mac.com/sony-psp-go-ipod-touch
Posted at 02:51AM Jun 04, 2009 by jovbon1 in General | Comments[16]
6 Ways To Sync Music To Your iPhone Without iTunes
By default, iTunes is the only media player that you can use to sync your iPhone and iPod Touch with your computer. However, iTunes is only supported in Mac and Windows, which means Linux users with iPhones will have to find an alternative way to sync their iPhones, or at least get their music into the mobile device. In addition, there may be a large group of Windows users who are using other media players (such as Winamp) to manage their music library and loathe the idea of migrating the whole library to iTunes just because they bought an iPhone. [Read More]
Posted at 04:32AM Jun 01, 2009 by jovbon1 in General | Comments[8]
