That’s the word from Bloomberg anyway, which is basing its iPad 3 release prediction based on information obtained from “three people familiar with the product.” According to Bloomberg and its sources, Apple’s manufacturing partners in Asia have ramped up production in recent weeks and will have their assembly lines working at full tilt by February.

Since we can reasonably surmise the iPad 3 is nearing release, much more interesting is what kind of hardware it will bring to the tablet show, especially as the competition is much more fierce than it was a year ago. Bloomberg says the iPad 3 will rock a quad-core processor of some sort, an upgrade that should help with multitasking and game performance. There’s also been talk of a high definition screen, and it might even sport a 4G LTE radio.

In terms of market share, Apple’s iPad line leads the way, but we’re starting to see more compelling Android devices, such as the high end Transformer Prime by Asus, along with affordable tablets like the Kindle Fire ($199) from Amazon and Nook Tablet ($249) from Barnes & Noble.

Another interesting side story is the evolution of the iPad tablet without Steve Jobs offering his input. The iPad 3 will be the first major product launch from Apple following the untimely death of Jobs, and the second product launch with Tim Cook in charge (the iPhone 4S was the first).

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Apple announced today that their longtime leader, Steve Jobs, age 56, has passed away.  He is survived by by his wife Laurene and his four children. His remarkable life story, along with his innovation of groundbreaking tech like the Apple iPod & iPhone, is sure to survive as a testament to his vision and leadership throughout the annals of time. God Rest, Godspeed on your next journey Mr. Jobs.

More of his story at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/steve-jobs-of-apple-dies-at-56.html

Although it’s been several weeks since CES, I have a amazing product I picked up there that I want to share a review about. It is called a MI SUNY iPower3 and it is a solar battery charger/case for the iPhone 3G in iPhone 3GS. I actually saw several battery extenders or and charger bases for the iPhone at CES, but this was the most impressive mainly because it’s ease-of-use and the fact that it has the added capability of recharging via solar panel.

The MI SUNY is very easy to use. It’s essentially a formed case that you slide your iPhone into. The iPhone is held securely by the sides of the case and the OEM style connector. It comes with a retractable USB cable that you can plug-in to your laptop computer or a transformer. This gives you several ways to recharge the case’s battery  and at the same time the phone if it’s in the case. I found this to be great for traveling as I don’t have to carry an additional transformer just for recharging my phone. And in fact when I drive I can just set the case up on the dashboard or somewhere where the sun or other strong light source can get to it.  In a reasonable amount of time the battery is recharged enough to be ready for use.

The MI SUNY iPower3 is designed in England, and made in China. Its 2400 mAh Lithium Polymer battery is designed to hold two full charges for the iPhone 3. The input charge is 5 VDC and 1 amp, the output is 5 VDC and 50 milliamps. It takes about three hours to fully charge from complete discharge using a USB cable. A full charge of the battery will give you over 5 hours of talk time. Two hours of direct sunlight will provide 30 minutes of talk time. There is a handy set of blue LED lights on the back of the case just under the solar charging panel that shows the amount of charge left in the battery case. The case is designed to allow the camera lens to be exposed for for taking pictures while still in the case. The front face of the case allows the entire iPhone face to be exposed so that you can use any of your apps or make phone calls easily. The presentation quality box that the MI SUNY comes in has a nice magnetic latch for easy opening, secure closure. The operating instructions and warranty information is secured to the inside of the lid. The cases themselves come in many colors. They even have a case to fit the iPhone 4. This makes it very appropriate to give as a gift.

Having tested this for several weeks now, I can assure you that the product does exactly what it says it will do. It will even allow you to update through iTunes while the phone is plugged into the case. One slight drawback is that it’s bulkier than many of the other cases, but it also protects the back of the iPhone, and has a good grip surface making it easier to hold on to your phone. One can access all controls on the iPhone. There is even accommodation for a lanyard to be attached to the battery case. The only potential drawback I’ve come across is that if the phone is not fully secured on the connector at the bottom, the phone will tend to slip out if you hold it in a upside down position while moving or lift it rapidly as in answering a call. The phone is not locked into the case mechanically, it’s just a friction fit, so you should take care not to be too rough with it or the phone will slip out. I originally thought that the exposed solar panel in the back may be a problem because of scratches or delamination, but that has not happened, there has been no apparent reduction in effectiveness so far.

Overall I have to say that the MI SUNY iPhone3 is one of the best iPhone product I’ve been given for review so far. It’s effectiveness is top notch, it’s well constructed, and very handy. Which makes it an essential tool that I now carry with me on all my travels. For more information clever bit of technology, go to www.MISUNY.com.

DIY repair website iFixIt has a serious fetish with tearing into electronics just for the fun of it, and this week they’ve carved into Verizon’s iPhone 4. Externally, iFixIt notes there’s isn’t a huge difference between Verizon’s CDMA model and AT&T’s GSM iPhone 4, though Verizon’s does sport a different antenna design. The SIM slot is gone, and no doubt at the insistence of Apple, Verizon’s branding isn’t plastered on the iPhone 4. And of course this one comes with those annoying Pentalobe screws designed to keep you from mucking about.

Once inside, iFixIt says Verizon’s model looks very similar to AT&T’s, but they’re not identical. There’s no counterweighted vibrator motor in the corner of Verizon’s model, and instead there’s a different vibrator design positioned near the battery connector. Also visible is a slightly altered antenna notch.

While getting inside the iPhone 4 can be tricky, removing the battery is not. Speaking of which, Verizon’s iPhone sports a smaller, lighter battery with the same 5.25W/hour capacity rating as AT&T’s.

You can view the full teardown here.

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As is the tradition these days, the new Verizon iPhone has been torn down by interested parties to see what makes it tick. There are a few minor differences. For instance, the vibration mechanism is different, the speaker housing has been tweaked, and it has a dual-mode GSM/CDMA radio. Wait, what? Indeed, the new iPhone has a Qualcomm Gobi MDM6600 chip capable of both CDMA2000 and HSPA+ data. It’s certainly a sign of things to come, but it might not be of use to customers using the iPhone 4.

While this chip is capable of receiving and transmitting over GSM frequencies, there is no SIM card slot. That means there is no way for a carrier to identify the device on its network. However, this chip does seem to indicate that Apple will be going with a single world phone model for the next iteration of the hardware. 

Also interesting is the fact that this is an HSPA+ radio. That will work with the new enhancement of AT&T’s network that the carrier is insisting on calling 4G. Will we see some sort of 4G branding on the next AT&T iPhone?

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Think Verizon Wireless customers aren’t jonesing for a “middle aged” iPhone 4 device, as Consumer Reports calls it? Think again. Despite the lack of any upgraded features — and arguably a few CDMA-based downgrades — it didn’t even take a full day for Verizon to run out of pre-order stock. There will still be one more chance to avoid the in-store rush.

According to Verizon’s website, it will open up online ordering starting February 9, 2011 at exactly 3:01 AM EST. Following that, you can march into your local Verizon store and grab an iPhone 4 on February 10, 2011 at 7:00 AM local time.

Whether or not stores will be crowded remains to be seen, but assuming Verizon and Apple set aside a good number of iPhone 4 devices for pre-order, the early sell-out is a good sign for both parties. It’s also an encouraging one for Verizon, which promised to at least temporarily hold onto its unlimited data plan for iPhone subscribers, but just yesterday announced plans to throttle data speeds for the top 5 percent of its data users.

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Apple’s been pimping its Xserver enterprise equipment for more than 9 years, and for the past 2 years, the platform’s been running on Intel hardware. Not anymore. As of Tuesday, Apple officially retired its server line, a decision that has been met with mixed reactions.

“I understand the decision. The truth is, I don’t think Apple ever sold a lot of Xservers,” said John Welch of The Zimmerman Agency. “I don’t have to like it. I don’t have to agree with it. I understand it. I just think it sucks.”

His reaction isn’t necessarily indicative of the majority. Citing a survey of 1,200 Xserve IT professionals, The Register says Apple’s move has been met with a resounding ‘meh’ by mainstream users. “People are going to keep their Xserves for a long time,” Reid Lewis, president of the Enterprise Desktop Alliance told The Register.

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If it felt like Apple as lightening up on their App Store approval guidelines, think again. According to The New York Times, a recent scuffle with Sony has spurred Apple to clarify that their App Store rules on in0app purchases are going to be more strictly followed. The whole issue came up when Sony’s Reader app was rejected from the App Store a few days ago. Apple objected to the Reader having its own eBook store, and no option for Apple’s own in-app purchases. This, says Apple, is a violation of their terms of service. 

This brings up an uncomfortable dilemma for other apps, like Amazon’s Kindle for instance. Both the Kindle app and the Sony app bring up an imbedded web browser to make content purchases, but Apple is now saying that developers must provide that same content for in-app purchases using Apple’s system. Not coincidentally, that means Apple would get their 30% cut. “It’s the opposite of what we wanted to bring to the market,” Sony’s Steve Haber said. “We always wanted to bring the content to as many devices as possible, not one device to one store.”

This does not mean that any content purchased the old way won’t be available. Indeed, you can keep doing that. Apple is just asserting their authority to require that users are presented with in-app purchases too. A cunning way to get people more invested in the Apple ecosystem. How does this sit with you?

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Sanho just introduced its second run of HyperDrive hard drives for the iPad, this time upping the storage ante to 1TB. The HyperDrives hook up to any iPad using the Apple Camera Connection Kit and then acts just like any normal USB hard drive would.

“HyperDrive iPad Hard Drive lets you carry your entire HD movie and photo library with your iPad,” says Daniel Chin, President of Sanho Corporation. “HyerDrive is as compact as your portable USB hard drive and yet at capacities up to 1TB, can hold more data than your laptop. “The iPad is the perfect media player but its capacities are limited and it requires a computer and iTunes to transfer media to the iPad, HyerDrive releases the iPad from this restriction and truly turns it into a media consuming device.”

The HyperDrive line isn’t cheap, however. You’ll have to fork over $400 for the 1TB model. Other capacities include 320GB ($200), 500GB ($250), 640GB ($300), and 750GB ($350). Sanho also sells just the case alone for $100.

Image Credit: Sanho

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Good news for early Verizon iPhone 4 adopters. The wireless carrier isn’t planning to axe its $30 unlimited data plan, at least not yet, Verizon’s chief operating officer Lowell McAdam told investors.

In speaking with The Wall Street Journal, McAdam said, “I’m not going to shoot myself in the foot.” Without a $30 unlimited plan, McAdam fears there would be a barrier for AT&T customers who want to switch over to Verizon. Even though new AT&T subscribers must choose from a tiered plan, there are still millions of customers grandfathered into unlimited plans, which could be a deciding factor if Verizon were to nix its own $30 data buffet.

Like all good things, though, this one won’t last. McAdams said the unlimited offer is only temporary and that Verizon will ultimately switch to usage-based billing. Those who jump on the unlimited plan will get to keep it until they switch devices.

“For example, a customer purchases an iPhone 4 or Droid X along with the $29.99 data plan,” a representative explained. “This person’s contract expires February 10, 2013, but they love their device so much they never come in and purchase another device. They continue to pay us monthly and we continue to bill them for the exact same services. We don’t change their plan. Now let’s say in 2014, they want a new phone and they come in and purchase a new phone, then they subscribe to whatever service is offered at that time and pay that price.”

By comparison, AT&T subscribers grandfathered into an unlimited plan are able to keep it even after upgrading their smartphone.

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