Apple has allegedly established a system to minimize licensing costs for 3G components patented by Qualcomm, according to Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi. While most 3G OEMs are paying Qualcomm roughly 4 percent on the wholesale price of their phones, Apple reportedly dodges most of the fees and pays an estimated 1.6 percent of its iPhone revenue to the chip maker.
Qualcomm chief Paul Jacobs in an interview today said his company has been talking with Apple about providing chips for the iPhone. He didn't provide specifics but tried to downplay the significance for Bloomberg, explaining that Qualcomm's size means it talks to "everybody." He also pointed out that company "haven't made [a deal] yet" with Apple and didn't say what progress if any had been achieved.
Qualcomm today updated its MDM family of cellular chipsets with some of the first anywhere to support dual, advanced 3G and 4G formats. The MSM7630 supports GSM, HSPA and HSPA+ standards but will also work on CDMA phone networks and support up to EVDO Revision B for 3G on those services. The addition would let a phone work on a CDMA carrier like Sprint or Verizon but still work with AT&T or T-Mobile and roam at speeds of up to 21Mbps on networks from Rogers, other international carriers, and eventually T-Mobile USA.
CSR's GPS division SiRF today introduced SiRFstar IV, a new generation of GPS chipsets ultimately intended for smartphones and other particularly low-power handhelds. It improves on the longstanding SiRFstar III used in many dedicated navigators by supporting a new very low-power state. Rather than have to shut off completely when not in use to save battery life, it can enter a near-sleep state that can acquire a position fix much faster than it would from a cold start.
Apple's newest iPhone actually costs slightly more to make than the older version in spite of the more modest update, iSuppli says. The iPhone 3GS' total bill of materials amounts to $178.96 for a 16GB model, or slightly more than the previous $174.33 of the 8GB iPhone 3G. Some of the cost difference is attributed to recent rises in the prices of NAND flash memory; although 16GB costs less to make than it did a year earlier, a small rebound due to economy-driven supply cutbacks means Apple has had to absorb some costs to double its storage.
A teardown of the just-launched iPhone 3G S by RapidRepair this morning has revealed that Apple is using a processor capable of HD video and otherwise more than what Apple has enabled. The disassembly confirms the existence of a 600MHz ARM processor, Samsung's S5PC100, based on the much more advanced Cortex A8 platform. However, official specifications (PDF) show that the chip could run at 833MHz and that, while Apple officially limits video recording to 640x480, the full-speed component could not only play but capture 720p.
Toshiba and NEC together said today that they would extend their agreement with IBM to produce 28 nanometer chip technology. The deal sees the members of the larger alliance continuing to work on the smaller, more efficient technology with the intention of using it for home user products. They now also say they expected 28nm to be particularly useful for "mobile communication devices" such as smartphones.
AT&T today explained some of the key details behind a planned upgrade for its 3G network, including improvements to the infrastructure underneath. Having initially run a trial, the carrier now says it plans to start upgrading its network to 7.2Mbps HSPA this year and should have the faster service in place on all its connections by 2011. While actual speeds are likely to be lower, the peak is twice as fast as for the existing 3.6Mbps network.
Taiwan-area integrated circuit maker WPG is said today to be shipping power management chips for Apple's next-generation iPhone. The United Daily News says the part production will ramp up to where WPG will be producing "several million" chips per month. While not necessarily connected to the supposed contract, the firm is expected to boost its revenue between 5 and 10 percent in the spring and may be helped by such a deal.
IBM announced on Thursday that it, along with partners Chartered Semiconductor, GlobalFoundries, Infineon, Samsung and STMicroelectronics, are jointly developing a 28-nanometer low-power, high-k metal gate (HKMG) bulk complementary metal oxide (CMOS) semiconductor for use in future processors. The technology would be used in mobile and consumer electronics devices such as Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), where it would extend battery life. The 28nm chips would reportedly provide a 40 percent performance gain and more than a 20 percent power decrease compared to 45nm technology in a chip that's about half the size.
Apple's next iPhone should have improved Internet access, SAI claims. A "plugged-in" tipster in the cellular business has told the publication that a "significantly faster" connection will be part of the update without mentioning other details. It's not known whether the unnamed insider is alluding to the cellular access or to Wi-Fi, either of which is potentially upgradeable with the update.
Epson and Infineon today published first details of a new chip they hope will make GPS more commonplace in phones. The XPOSYS is one of the smallest single-chip GPS processors ever and measures just 26mm square (0.04in square) thanks to being built on a 65 nanometer manufacturing process. Shrinking the design not only lets GPS fit into smaller devices but cuts power use by about half versus earlier mobile GPS chips and thus prevents the heavy battery drain common to most cellphone-level GPS.
German RAM producer Qimonda has filed for bankruptcy on Friday in a Munich court, according to a report. The move follows an unsuccessful search for funding of the equivalent of about $384 million which was in addition to an earlier approved deal that would see it get the equivalent of about $415 million. As the original sum still has not been received by Qimonda despite being approved last month, it is believed the company is only days away from insolvency.
Infineon yesterday quietly introduced a new transceiver chip that may dictate the future of the iPhone and other handsets. The SMARTi LU is touted as the first single-chip radio to include the new Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard for 4G Internet access and does so through a smaller, 65 nanometer assembly process that keeps the design small. It also includes the advanced HSPA+ standard for 3G as well as legacy support for 2G-era EDGE data and GSM calling.
Apple may be turning to Broadcom for the cellular hardware in future iPhone models, say Taiwan-area manufacturers allegedly aware of the changes. Although the company currently uses Infineon chips for the phone's core functions, the insiders claim to have seen circuit boards for either revised or future iPhones with unnamed Broadcom parts for the cellular baseband and RF functions. The swap could suggest a partial or complete replacement of Infineon for the next wave of Apple's devices.
AT&T confirmed on Thursday that it has started testing some of it next-wave 3G services through a trial in Chicago. The upgrade follows previously revealed plans and gives users of supporting devices a theoretical peak 7.2Mbps download speed versus the 3.6Mbps of the current network. Upload speeds aren't mentioned but may not change depending on whether the service continues to use the older, download-focused HSDPA spec or the full HSPA format, which supports 2.9Mbps.
In addition to filing a lawsuit against graphics hardware maker NVIDIA back in July, technology licensing company Rambus has filed a formal complaint against the company on Thursday with the US International Trade Commission. Rambus has requested an investigation of NVIDIA products that it hopes would lead to the barring of importation, sale for importation and sale after importation of the latter's products that Rambus believes infringe on nine of its patents.
Problems with reception on the iPhone 3G may have been acknowledged by Apple's CEO, a new report claims. In a response to a customer complaint, an e-mail has allegedly been sent by Steve Jobs, saying: "We are working on some bugs which affect around 2% of the iPhones shipped, and hope to have a software update soon." The message is believed to be legitimate because of Jobs' occasional willingness to reply to general mail, and his typical terseness.
Unusual reception problems with the iPhone 3G are indeed attributable to Infineon's 3G chip, say two anonymous sources. Described as "well-placed," the individuals claim that approximately 2 to 3 percent of iPhone traffic is suffering from connection troubles, which may also include continual shifting between 3G and 2.5G networks. By comparison, the normal rate of dropped calls for AT&T is about 1 percent.
Issues with the 3G reception on the iPhone -- currently the subject of a second major thread on Apple's support forums -- may be traceable back to the manufacturer of the chip, an analyst suggests. Richard Windsor of Nomura Securities argues that "these issues are typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack," and that the blame may lie with Infineon, makers of the 3G chipset. While Infineon is experienced, problems may in theory exist either with quality control or with adapting to the unique requirements of the iPhone.
Infineon on Friday introduced a 3G chipset that should provide much faster Internet performance with the iPhone next year. A combination of the XMM 6180 app processor and an X-GOLD 618 baseband for the connection itself, the chipset is one of the first from Infineon to support the full HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) spec for 3G cellular data. In peak conditions, the chipset can not only download at up to 7.2Mbps but upload much more quickly than older HSDPA hardware -- up to 2.9Mbps, Infineon claims.
Chipmaker Infineon today fueled speculation when it said it will take deeper than expected losses for its ongoing quarter based on low orders for an anonymous project. The company explains that a deal to supply wireless chipsets to Nokia has been delayed but has drawn attention by refusing to name another company which has ordered fewer HSDPA-based 3G chipsets than anticipated. Analysts at JPMorgan and UBS believe Infineon's client may be Apple and suggest that the company may have dropped its build rates for a future 3G-capable iPhone.
The next-generation iPhone will allegedly support a 42-megabit advanced 3G connection when it becomes available in Australia, a senior official at Telstra claims. Having also claimed to have seen the device itself, the anonymous official tells ChannelNews that the phone will "by Xmas" support a planned upgrade to the advanced HSPA+ wireless standard on Telstra's 3G network. This will help drive sales, as the connection will actually be faster than many fixed-line broadband services and potentially the fastest iPhone data service anywhere, the executive asserts.
A 3G-capable iPhone is coming soon and may bring pricing changes along with it in at least one area, says a report by Austrian paper Der Standard. T-Mobile Austria has allegedly confirmed the existence of a phone that would support faster data over the local UMTS-based 3G data network and says it will be a "testing ground" for the device as one of the first to carry the hardware. However, the company declines to say when it will unveil the iPhone for customers and has not provided any technical details beyond the faster wireless speeds.
Two top smartphones may finally be available on an official basis in Canada before the summer, according to separate reports. The Toronto Star cites industry contacts who tell the newspaper that the country's lone major GSM cell provider, Rogers, aims to launch the iPhone in time for it to be included in a campaign promoting touchscreen phones at the company, which will include the upcoming LG Vu and likely earlier devices such as the HTC Touch. The marketing effort will begin sometime between May and July and is allegedly supported by evidence that Apple and Rogers were nearing a finalized deal earlier this year for the latter to carry the iPhone.
The Taiwan-area Economic Daily News paper today appeared to confirm claims of a specific 3G chipset being used for the iPhone by naming the company assigned to manufacture it. Factories for United Microelectronics Corporation have reportedly been contracted to produce the PMB8878 Infineon chipset (incorrectly labeled as PMB878 in the article) at one of the former's more advanced, 65 nanometer process facilities. The move is described as a switch from Taiwan Semiconductor, which is known to manufacture an Infineon chip for the current model, according to the report.
The next iteration of the iPhone is likely to use the Infineon S-Gold3H processor in its 3G incarnation, an examination of the latest SDK beta suggests. According to ZiPhone.org, code in the SDK beta implies that the next generation iPhone will see "3.5G" HSDPA functionality, with a connection speed of 7.2 Megabits per second, as well as several other advanced features. No official word has been given on the status of a "3.5G" iPhone.
The 3G iPhone is coming in the middle of 2008 with technology supplied by Infineon, says an analyst with the investment bank UBS. Nicolas Gaudois claims his statement is based on various checks, and particularly an HSDPA design win by Infineon set to ramp up during the second quarter of the year. This might not be of concern except that Infineon is said to also be ramping down EDGE chip production for the current 2.5G iPhone, with the intention of clearing out inventory.
IBM began its week with news that it has developed a new 32-nanometer processor manufacturing technology that it says will not just improve performance but also make it more accessible. The process uses a variant on the same high-k/metal gate technique that replaces some of the silicon in transistors with more efficient, cooler materials to pack more components into a single chip and increase performance. An enhancement, known as "high-k/gate-first," not only includes a further shrink from the 45 nanometers of technology about to reach the market to 32 nanometers but is also easier to produce. By focusing on the most advanced components first, it lets partner companies design smaller, faster processors without having to increase the chip complexity from the outset.
