Apple has released a 1.1.5 firmware upgrade for the iPod Touch. Touch users using the 1.1.4 firmware can upgrade for free if the device has not already been upgraded with software version 2.0.
iPod touch applications are unlike anything you’ve ever seen on a mobile device. The world’s best developers are creating applications to leverage the groundbreaking technology in iPod touch, such as the Multi-Touch interface, the accelerometer, real-time 3D graphics, and 3D positional audio. It’s all part of the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch.*
*Access to the App Store requires the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch, sold separately. Some applications are not available in all areas. Application availability and pricing are subject to change.
iPhone 3G Build Price; Apple Gets it Done for $174.33
For the launch of Apple’s iPhone 3G, iFixit flew to New Zealand so they could teardown the phone first. Furthering the “what the hell is in that thing” community, iSuppli has managed to disassemble the photos themselves and pinpoint Apple’s build price at $174.33. Within cents of the $173 guesstimate they made a while back.
The new iPhone 3G sports an evolutionary design that favors cost reduction instead of cutting-edge features, supporting Apple Inc.’s goal of expanding its market share and achieving a worldwide presence for the product, according to a physical teardown analysis conducted this weekend by iSuppli Corp.
At $174.33, the BOM and manufacturing cost of the new iPhone is markedly less than the $227 that iSuppli estimated for the first-generation, 8Gbyte 2G iPhone in June 2007. While using a new design, the iPhone 3G really represents a refinement of the original iPhone 2G, according to iSuppli.
“The addition of 3G wireless capability represents an evolutionary design step for the iPhone, not a revolutionary one,” said Andrew Rassweiler, teardown services manager and principal analyst at iSuppli. “iSuppli believes Apple aimed for a more cost-effective design for the 3G iPhone compared to the 2G, in order to lower the retail price—which will allow the company to seed adoption and to capture maximum market share now—while the company still has buzz and a perceived differentiation relative to its competitors.”
The redesigned internals of the iPhone 3G include only one large Printed Circuit Board (PCB), instead of the two nested PCBs found in the 2G version. The iPhone 3G uses a 10-layer board, compared to the less-expensive six-layer PCBs commonly employed in mobile handsets.
The battery is not soldered into the iPhone 3G as it is done in the 2G, making it more serviceable.
Some chips have the Apple logo or are unmarked. Although iSuppli has been able to identify many of these parts and their true manufacturers by de-capping the chips and examining their dies, some devices remain unidentifiable at this time.
Beyond the $174.33 BOM and manufacturing cost of the iPhone 3G, Apple is spending an estimated $50 on IP royalties per unit shipped. With the 8Gbyte version retail-priced at $199, and the estimated $300 subsidy paid by AT&T to Apple for each unit, Apple is selling the product at a price of $499, and spending $224.33 to produce each one. This gives Apple a BOM, manufacturing and royalty margin of 55 percent for each 8Gbyte iPhone 3G unit sold.
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iPhone Software 2.0 Has a New URL Trick When Holding Down the “.com” Button
“When you type in your address, hold down the “.com” button to get a selection of 3 other domain name endings: “.net,” “.edu,” and “.org.” When you tap on any of the endings, it will be automatically inserted in the address bar,” Tuaw posted today. Now if Apple would only go on record rationalizing how this is more important than “copy-and-paste,” we’ll be set.
