Two iPhones coming this Fall

I know you are tired of all these rumors preceding the next iPhone release. Yet today some new information came up and it’s just too juicy and coming from too reputable source to be ignored.

According to a proprietary JP Morgan research, Apple will release not one but two smartphones this Fall, showing a China-oriented iPhone 4+ alongside the iPhone 5. Also, the next generation iPhone 5 with might not use the A5 chipset that’s powering the iPad 2, but the newly developed A6 SoC. A

The report says that the new iPhone 5 will either pack the iPad 2′s A5 processor or its A6 successor and 1GB RAM. To be honest, the A6 bit seems highly unlikely with the new chipset still far from ready for mass production.

The iPhone 5 should be thinner, lighter and capable to work on both GSM and CDMA networks (those we have heard before and they seem rather plausible).

What’s more interesting is the rumor that Apple will be releasing an iPhone 4+, which is a slightly improved version of the iPhone 4, alongside its new top dog. JP Morgan suggests that the iPhone 4+ or 4S will be designed with the Chinese market in mind. Availability of the 4+ won’t be limited to the Asian country, though.

Finally, the report suggests that the Phone 4 will continue to manufacture and sell as well, making it three iPhones on the market at the same time for the first time ever. It will take the 3GS place as the lowest-end Apple offering on the smartphone market.

There are certainly some bold claims in this report, but we are not sure many of them will come out true. We’ll find out at the Apple event in a few weeks’ time.

Apple - iPhone 4+ and iPhone 5 with improved battery life

Mark Moskowitz of J.P. Morgan fame issued a research note to his clients that Apple is indeed on the verge of announcing not one, but two new iPhones this year. 

One of them he calls iPhone 4+, which is likely to have marginally better specs than the current generation, with largely the same looks - maybe something like the white plastic one that leaked previously. This one is said to be mainly heading to Chinese carriers, whose large subscriber base makes it worth designing a separate mid-ranger to enhance market penetration. Mr Moskowitz, however, sees additional sales for the iPhone 4+, not only China, as it could cover the mid-range in other markets as well.

The other one, referred to as iPhone 5, will supposedly be thinner, lighter, with a larger Retina Display and 1GB of RAM, sporting a dual-mode GSM/CDMA baseband radio for worldwide connectivity. Nothing we haven't heard so far, but the new tidbit is "increased battery life due to advancement in battery technologies, the printed circuit board (PCB), the touch screen, and LCD power consumption metrics." 

We know that you can basically take two approaches when designing a new ARM-based chipset generation - to gun for performance increase with the same power consumption and footprint, or aim for improved battery life and a smaller footprint. Apple might have optimized the iPhone A5 chipset for the latter, but still it's not only the silicon that draws power, that's why we are also interested what type of screen has gone into the next iPhone, that will eventually help in prolonging battery life. If Cupertino manages to pull off a significant enough increase in battery endurance, that would be quite a differentiating factor given that the rest of the rumored specs aren't something we don't already have on high-end Android handsets.

Samsung S8600 Wave 3 coming up in October

Good news, Bada fans. The new flagship of the Samsung's proprietary platform is just around the corner, with Samsung representatives confirming that the Wave 3 will be released in October. Previously all we knew is that the smartphone is coming in Q4 of this year, so October is the best we could have hoped for.

The announcement came at the Bada developer day in India, but it will be Europe that will be getting the Samsung S8600 Wave 3 first, according to the source. India itself will be receiving it in November, while US availability is still remaining a mystery.

So those of you that would love to get a taste of Bada 2.0 on 4 inches of Super AMOLED gorgeousness might want to start saving now. If you are among the fence-sitters you would do well to check out ourpreview - it should be able to answer most of your Wave 3-related questions.

LG Optimus LU2300 Q2 Android QWERTY smartphone

LG has announced another Android based Optimus smartphone. The Optimus LU2300 Q2, as it is called, has a full QWERTY sliding keypad below the display. This is the same phone we wrote about a couple of weeks ago but back then it was known as the Optimus Note. We are guessing LG had to drop 'Note' as a name for their phone because Samsung managed to reserve it before them.

Other features include a 4-inch WVGA IPS display with 700 nits of brightness, a dual-core 1.2GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, a 5 megapixel camera on the back and a VGA camera on the front. The phone will be just 12.3mm thick and weigh 147g.

The Optimus LU2300 Q2 will be launching in South Korea next week in black and white color options. No word on the availability and pricing for other markets, though

LG Optimus Q2 gets unveiled in its homeland, Tegra 2 chip meets physical QWERTY keyboard

The LG Optimus Q2, the successor to the original Optimus Q, has been officially unveiled over the weekend by the Korean manufacturer. Just like its predecessor, the smartphone is equipped with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but its processing punch is now provided by a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset. What's more is that the chip's clock speed has been bumped to 1.2GHz, which theoretically means that the Q2 should outperform the LG Optimus 2X when it comes to raw power.

What glows on the Optimus Q2's front is a 4-inch IPS LCD display capable of delivering 700 nits of brightness, which matches the output of the NOVA display found on the LG Optimus Black. Shooting photos with the handset is possible thanks to its 5-megapixel camera, and a VGA  front-facing shooter is there to handle video chats. In terms of software, Android 2.3 Gingerbread is in command.

Now, if you are wondering why you've never heard of the LG Optimus Q before, that is because the smartphone was marketed in its homeland of South Korea. However, the LG Optimus Q2 is expected to set foot on European soil as early as next week. There is even a slight chance of it coming to Sprint, if that rumored LG Q smartphone turns out to be a U.S. version of the Optimus Q2, but you shouldn't get your hopes up high just yet as this is nothing but a speculation.

The LG Optimus Q2

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

With all the fuss around the pre-IFA announcements today we almost forgot to introduce you to a dear guests we had at our office. The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Android smartphone came by and while it refused to stick around for a preview, it at least posed for a bunch of live shots.

Not that a preview of the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman is so vital. The hour or so we spent with it almost entirely convinced us that this is simply a Sony Ericsson Xperia mini with a slightly larger screen and a Walkman button.

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

But that comment should in no way be understood as a critique to Sony Ericsson. We loved the Xperia mini and we are pretty sure that this one will be equally good. So the users get to pick between two great handsets with different screen sizes instead of only getting one option.

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman