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Danish professor Gert Frølund Pedersen who originally predicted the controversy surrounding the iPhone 4′s antenna issues has come forward once again.

9 to 5 Mac reports that the expert now says that Apple may be infringing on Samsung’s patents.

As we’ve reported before, iPhone 4S includes significant upgrades to its antenna system. The ability to switch between two antennas dynamically for both sending and receiving means that the dead grip issues observed with iPhone 4′s antenna system should be practically non-existent for users.

Professor Pedersen states, simply:

The idea is good enough, but the question is whether they are allowed to use it.

He and others at the Danish university of Aalborg speculate that Apple will run into some legal problems. Samsung has two patents (one | two) that cover technology on intelligently switching between different antennas.

One particular method of changing antennas in these patents does so by checking if the device is in portrait or landscape mode. Pedersen thinks that this feature may be included in the new iPhone 4S’s antenna technology. Since we don’t have much concrete information on the device as yet, the professor goes on to say:

I can not say that they are directly breaking the patent, but there are not many ways they can choose the right antenna, without coming to break many patents.

This is hot on the heels of Samsung’s recent move to ban the iPhone 4S in Italy and France and it looks like Samsung has not yet used these patents in its litigation with Apple.

So this could potentially add more fuel to the fire in the patent war between Apple and Samsung.

[via 9 to 5 Mac]

Source: iPhone 4S’s Antenna System Infringing On Samsung Patents?

MacRumors is reporting that the iPhone 4S has a significant upgrade to the antenna. The new system will be able to dynamically switch between antennas to resolve signal issues.

Apple has come a long way since the AntennaGate fiasco that surrounded the original iPhone 4, and Spencer Webb of AntennaSys says the new design may have huge implications for the industry.

The iPhone 4′s design was based around having the various antennas located around the steel band that surround’s the device’s sides. The top part housed the Wi-Fi and GPS antennas and the bottom was home to the cellular antenna. Many users reported signal issues with the design, something that may or may not have been mitigated in the CDMA version of the device.

Webb theorized that the CDMA version changed the design. The Wi-Fi and GPS antenna were moved to the back of the phone’s body and a second cellular antenna was added to the top of the steel band. This “spatial diversity” helped improve signal issues, but was limited in the way it sent and received data. Namely, it’s believed that only the bottom antenna could transmit data.

The iPhone 4S’s design is similar, but Apple says that it will have “send and receive diversity” for both CDMA and GSM. This means that the phone will be able to dynamically change which antenna is transmitting or receiving data, something that can provide a huge improvement in cellular performance.

Webb also stated:

The iPhone 4S may indeed be the first phone to have diversity on both the send and receive sides, and that is a decently big deal. They still have the antenna around the rim, though, so it’s evolutionary, not revolutionary.

As we noted in our Live Coverage, the new iPhone 4S will have support for 14.4 Mbps HSPA. How much of a difference do you think this improved antenna system will make? Will it set a new bar for the industry?

[via MacRumors]

Source: iPhone 4S Reportedly Also Comes With Significant Antenna Upgrades

AppleInsider reports that according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that there is no evidence of a redesigned iPhone 5 in the supply chain. According to his sources, iPhone 5 will look like iPhone 4 and will come with 512 MB RAM and front and back gorilla glass panels.

Kuo also claims that iPhone 5 will come with an improved antenna system, which will likely address the antenna issues that plagued iPhone 4. The camera module height will be almost the same height as iPhone 4, which indicates that iPhone 5 won’t be thinner than iPhone 4.

AppleInsider reports:

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told AppleInsider on Monday that Apple’s anticipated fifth-generation iPhone will sport the same 512MB of DRAM as the iPhone 4. In addition, the hardware will feature a glass front and back, just like the current iPhone.

The so-called “iPhone 5″ is also expected to have an improved antenna design, potentially addressing concerns that arose last year when it was discovered that covering the bottom left corner of the iPhone 4 could reduce reception. Though the antenna will be improved, Kuo indicated there will be little change to its shape, and users will not see a discernable difference in its appearance.

Dubbed “N94,” the new iPhone model will reportedly also use the same Gorilla glass for its back panel. Kuo also said it will be available in both black and white models at launch, and 60 percent of units assembled so far have been of the black variety.

Kuo also claims that Apple is planning to build 30 million iPhone 5s by the end of 2011, of which Foxconn will manufacture 85 percent of the iPhone 5s, while Pegatron will manufacture the other 15 percent.

So far we’ve heard conflicting reports about next generation iPhone’s form factor. According to some reports, next generation iPhone will be completely redesigned and will look more like iPod Touch 4G rather than iPhone 4. While, some reports claim that fifth generation iPhone will come with improved specifications such as faster processor, 8-megapixel camera etc. just like iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, but won’t feature an all-new design and will look like iPhone 4.

In fact, according to some reports, one of the new iPhone model that will look like iPhone 4 will be the cheaper 8GB entry-level iPhone model, that will be called iPhone 4S, which will be introduced along with the redesigned iPhone 5.

We are hoping to see a redesigned iPhone 5, so the lack of any evidence of such a model in the supply chain is worrying. Let’s hope Apple has figured out a way to keep their next generation iPhone models from leaking even from the supply chain.

According to a report over the weekend, iPhone 5 may come in only 16GB and 32GB storage capacities like iPhone 4.

We wonder if an iPhone 5 with few enhancements such as faster processor, improved 8-megapixel camera etc. will convince users to buy or upgrade to it, especially from an iPhone 4. What do you think?

[via AppleInsider]

Source: Analyst Claims No Evidence Of Redesigned iPhone 5; Will Come With 512MB RAM & Improved Antenna System

Last week, photos of the purported iPhone 4S casing suggested that the rumored iPhone 4S will come with some minor changes to the antenna system, but it was only partially visible.

MacRumors reports that they’ve received photos from some of their readers (via Ideal-Case.com), which appears to be the casing of rumored iPhone 4S, which give a better view of iPhone 4S antenna band. iPhone 4S is widely speculated to be a cheaper version of iPhone 4 that Apple will launch alongside iPhone 5.

Please note that in the photos below, the GSM iPhone 4 antenna band is at the top that is labeled “4G”, the iPhone 4S antenna band is in the middle, which is labeled “5G or 4GS”, and the CDMA iPhone 4 is at the bottom, which is labeled “CDMA”.

Here are some observations from the photos:

• The purported iPhone 4S casing has a micro-SIM slot, so if it is legitimate, it is more likely to be the GSM iPhone 4S rather than a CDMA iPhone 4S or it could support both GSM and CDMA.
• It has a similar stainless steel band as iPhone 4, which serves as the antenna system, which had resulted in the Antennagate controversy after iPhone 4 was launched due to complaints of reception issues.
• The breakpoints in the frame are same as the CDMA iPhone 4.
• The change in position of the break point has also resulted in the slight adjustment in the position of the mute switch just like CDMA iPhone 4.

As Slivka points out this is not the first time we’ve seen this casing. We had seen a similar iPhone casing back in January. At that time, we were not sure if it was for the CDMA iPhone 4 or the next generation iPhone.

All of this is still speculative, it still remains to be seen if this iPhone casing is for iPhone 4S or its for iPhone 5, which would mean that the next iPhone will only be a minor upgrade and it can also be fake.

[via MacRumors]

Source: Purported iPhone 4S Casing Compared With GSM And CDMA iPhone 4

We’ve heard rumors that Apple is planning to introduce a cheaper 8GB iPhone 4 for $99 as the new entry level model, along with the iPhone 5. There’re some suggestions that it may be called iPhone 4S (to avoid confusing it with iPhone 4), which will not only come with lower 8GB storage, but could also be made of different components to lower the manufacturing costs.

MacRumors has published images, which they claim are iPhone 4S casing. The images indicate that the so-called iPhone 4S will look like iPhone 4 but come with some minor changes to the antenna system.

MacRumors reports:

The mid-frame images above show that this so-called iPhone 4S will have two antenna breaks at the bottom of the casing. This differs from both the AT&T (GSM) iPhone 4 and Verizon (CDMA) iPhone 4. In AT&T’s iPhone, the antenna breaks are in two spots, along the lower left side and top left sides. On the Verizon’s model they are both at the top sides of the casing.

The antenna breaks are in different position to accomodate different frequencies of GSM and CDMA networks. Apple had received quite a bit of criticism for iPhone 4′s antenna system and it is possible that these changes have been made to reduce the antenna attenuation.

The volume and mute switch are on the same side of the casing like iPhone 4. The other interesting bit is that the bottom frame of this so-called iPhone 4S does not have a defined Home button area, like iPhone 4 or previous generation iPhones. MacRumors says that it is a little hard to conclude for it, but points out that there have been some speculations that Apple maybe changing the home button. According to some rumors, Apple could replace it with a capacitive home button.

So far there has some confusion if the next generation iPhone will be called iPhone 4S or iPhone 5, but as we’re getting more details ahead of the imminent launch, it looks like Apple will introduce the cheaper iPhone 4 and call it iPhone 4S and launch a completely redesigned iPhone, which will be called iPhone 5.

As we’ve mentioned before, though we still love iPhone 4′s form factor and design and believe Apple will still sell tons of 8GB iPhone 4S’ at the $99 price point, we wouldn’t mind a completely redesigned iPhone 5.

[via MacRumors]

Source: Photos Of iPhone “4S” Casing Reveal Changes To Antenna System