WSJ: Next iPhone features a 4″ display

The Wall Street Journal reports Apple has ordered displays from Asian suppliers that measure at least 4-inches diagonally with production beginning in June.

Production is set to begin next month for the screens, which measure at least 4 inches diagonally compared with 3.5 inches on the iPhone 4S, the latest phone from Apple, the people said.

Seeing competition from other smartphone manufacturers whose phones feature much larger displays than the current iPhone, Apple has been expected to debut a device with a larger screen. The report is unclear that on the exact dimensions or resolution of the newly ordered display but it is expected to be an Apple set Retina Display.

While the report says that production for the phone will begin next month it does not give a clear launch date with the usual "later this year."

Report: Google developing Chrome Web Browser for iOS

According to a report from Business Insider (based on a research note from Macquarie analyst Ben Schacter), Google is currently developing a Chrome Web Browser app for use on iOS devices. In fact, the app may already be submitted to Apple for review and could debut in the App Store as soon as the end of this quarter. No specific details about the app were given, however.

While third-party web browsers already exist on the App Store (an example include Opera), a majority of iOS users still use Safari because of the amount of system-level integration the app brings.

Report: Apple to drop Google Maps for in-house service in iOS 6

According to a report from AllThingsD, Apple will be dropping the Google Maps app that comes built-in on iOS devices in favor of its own in-house mapping software solution. Google Maps has been powering the Maps app on iOS since day one, but recent tension between the two companies has likely caused the change. In addition, Apple has recently purchased three mapping companies: Placebase, Poly9, and C3 Technologies.

We’ve independently confirmed that this is indeed the case. Sources describe the new Maps app as a forthcoming tent-pole feature of iOS that will, in the words of one, “blow your head off.” I’m not quite sure what that means, and the source in question declined to elaborate, but it’s likely a reference to the photorealistic 3-D mapping tech Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies.

Report: Apple television set to include support for FaceTime, similar design to Thunderbolt Display

Cult of Mac reports that it has received information regarding Apple's long-rumored television set from a "well-placed" source, who claims that the TV will look similar to the company's current Thunderbolt Display, just larger in size. In addition, the source says that the TV will be coming with an iSight camera that is Siri-enabled and can be used for making FaceTime calls. The camera will also include face tracking technology that will follow users around the room and automatically zoom when needed.

The Apple HDTV makes FaceTime calls using the built-in iSight camera. The camera is sophisticated, with facial recognition and the ability to zoom into the user’s face and follow them as they walk around the room. This allows users to make video calls from the couch across the room, rather than having to stand smack in front of the TV.

In addition, calls are initiated by Siri, the iPhone 4S’s virtual assistant. “[Apple] used Siri to make a FaceTime call,” the source said.

Report: Apple planning to introduce cheaper $799 MacBook Air in Q3 2012

According to a report from DigiTimes, Apple is planning to introduce a cheaper $799 MacBook Air sometime in the third quarter of this year. Currently, the entry-level MacBook Air comes in at $999, and the new price is likely to compete with recent introductions of "ultrabooks" from competitors.

Although Acer has recently reduced its ultrabook shipment target, Intel continues to aggressively push ultrabooks and is aiming to have the devices priced at US$699 in the second half of the year. However, if Intel is unable to bring down ASPs to its goal, the price gap between ultrabooks and the US$799 MacBook Air may further postpone the time ultrabooks become standardized, the sources noted.

Report: Next-generation iPhone to be taller with 4-inch display

According to a report from iLounge, Apple's next-generation iPhone, being dubbed the "iPhone 5" by the press, will indeed sport a long-awaited 4-inch display. The size difference, however, will be achieved by making the device taller and thus, thinner as well. The phone is rumored to be up to 20% thinner than the current-generation iPhone 4S.

What we’ve learned: the new iPhone will indeed be longer and thinner than the iPhone 4 and 4S. Approximate measurements are 125mm by 58.5mm by 7.4mm—a 10mm jump in height, nearly 2mm reduction in thickness, and virtually identical width. According to our source, Apple will make one major change to the rear casing, adding a metal panel to the central back of the new iPhone. This panel will be flat, not curved, and metal, not ceramic. Our artist’s rendition provides a rough idea of what this change will look like; it echoes the current-generation iMac design, to be sure.

In addition, the report claims that the next iPhone will receive a smaller dock connector port on the bottom. It's expected that Apple will provide some sort of adapter to connect the new port to the current 30-pin dock connector because of the amount of accessories already on the market.

Twitter was considering Camera+ acquisition after Facebook bought Instagram

According to a report from Bloomberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey met with the development company behind popular iOS app "Camera+" shortly after Facebook announced it would be acquiring Instagram to discuss a possible acquisition. Instagram allows users to place filters on their photos and share them on social networks. While Camera+ is similar in that sense, it is also a full-on photo editing app for iOS.

A deal fell apart between Twitter and developer Tap Tap Tap because the company didn't want to relocate to San Francisco.

Twitter executives held several meetings with Camera+ developer Tap Tap Tap, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The talks broke down before Twitter could make an offer because the startup’s far-flung workforce was reluctant to relocate to San Francisco, they said. While 10 employees are already based there, Tap Tap Tap has 20 others in Austria, New Zealand, Spain and elsewhere.

Report: Facebook IPO coming May 18

According to The Wall Street Journal, Facebook will be launching its initial public offering on May 18, 2012, just about three (3) months after the world's largest social network filed for the IPO. If rumors over the past few months prove to be true, Facebook's IPO will be the largest in technology history, raising $10 billion with a $100 billion valuation.

Late last month, a report came out that claimed the company's IPO would be delayed until June because CEO Mark Zuckerberg was focusing his efforts on acquisitions of other companies (most notably Instagram for $1 billion).

Google Drive interface leaked in presentation by Google employee; to replace Google Docs?

The past several days have been filled with rumors regarding "Google Drive," a long-awaited and heavily rumored cloud service from Google that would essentially allow users to place their files onto the cloud, and access them from any Internet connected device. Recent rumors claim that the service could be launching as soon as next week, and offer users with 5 GB of free storage space.

Today, Mashable posted a picture it obtained from a person in Brazil who was present at a keynote being given by a Google employee. The report says that the employee accessed his presentation from Google Drive, as seen by the highlighted "Drive" text in the Google toolbar. The Drive text resides in between "Calendar" and "Sites" on the Google Bar, and it should be noted that this is in the same area where the current "Documents" link is. This has led to speculation that Google will be removing Docs as a separate service and integrating it into Drive, but it should be noted that the URL seen in the picture taken still points to a docs.google.com address.

“Some friends and I were watching a seminar with a Google employee called João Itaqui (Google Enterprise director in Brazil) here at Universidade Feevale (Feevale University) in Novo Hamburgo, RS — Brazil when we noticed he had an option called “Drive” in his Google toolbar.” says Moschetta. “I think he, as a senior employee, has early access to Google Drive before public announcement or release.”

We'll keep you posted with any further developments.

Report: Facebook IPO coming May 17

According to a report from TechCrunch, Facebook is aiming for its initial public offering (IPO) to become official on May 17, 2012, pending final approvals from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Facebook initially filed for its long-awaited IPO back in February, and since then, reports have been pointing to a May offering date.

If previous reports hold true, Facebook could be preparing for a $100 billion valuation when it goes public, raising $10 billion. The company has apparently chosen the NASDAQ exchange and the ticker "FB" for its stock.

Report: Instagram CEO wanted $2 billion from Facebook acquisition

Earlier this month, Facebook announced that it acquired popular photo upload and filter service Instagram for a price tag of $1 billion. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Instagram chief executive officer (CEO) Kevin Systrom initially wanted to receive upwards of $2 billion for his company from Facebook, but Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg apparently convinced Systrom to lower the price tag. In addition, Zuckerberg agreed to allow Instagram to operate as a separate company if it accepted the $1 billion offer.

The report goes on to claim that Zuckerberg held all discussions about acquiring Instagram by himself and that one day before the announcement came, he informed Facebook's board of directors that the company would be buying Instagram. Overall, the deal was negotiated in three days, according to the article.

Report: Google Drive set to launch sometime next week

According to several reports over the past 24 hours, Google's long-awaited cloud storage service will be launching sometime in the middle of next week. The service, dubbed "Google Drive," will give users 5 GB of free storage space in the cloud, and presumably offer more space for a fee. Drive will certainly be a direct competitor to Dropbox, which only offers 2 GB of free space to users.

It's unclear at this time, however, how Google Drive will integrate into Mac OS X and Windows. It is expected to be in the form of "desktop folders," which is easier to integrate on Windows than on OS X.

Google Drive is expected to launch on Tuesday of next week at http://drive.google.com.

Apple planning to sell mini iPad sometime later this year

According to a report from NetEase (translated by Kotaku), Apple is planning to begin building six (6) million smaller iPads that will be on sale sometime in the third quarter of this year. The miniature tablet is expected to cost around $249-299, and should sport a display somewhere around 7.86 inches (as oppose to the current 9.7-inch display iPad).

This isn't the first time a rumor about a smaller iPad has made rounds across the Internet. In the months leading up to the introduction of "the new iPad" earlier this year, reports suggested that Apple would be introducing a smaller version of the iPad as a competitor to the Amazon Kindle Fire, but such as tablet has yet to come to fruition.

Twitter was interested in acquiring Instagram before Facebook?

According to a report from The New York Times, Twitter was interested in acquiring popular photo upload and filter service Instagram before the company was bought by Facebook earlier this month for $1 billion. The fact that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey hasn't uploaded any pictures to Instagram since the announcement further supports this rumor. Dorsey had apparently been trying to secure a deal months before Facebook, but ultimately failed to do so.

Mr. Systrom may have lost one connection in the deal: Mr. Dorsey of Twitter. His company, according to several people briefed on the matter, had expressed interest in buying Instagram in recent months. Mr. Dorsey once used Instagram daily to send photos to Twitter, but he has not been back since the deal was announced, perhaps a sign that he is not happy to see it in the hands of a competitor. A Twitter spokeswoman declined to comment.

French designer claims he has been working with Apple on a “revolutionary” product

According to Mac4Ever, French designer Philippe Starck said on a radio talk show yesterday that he has been working with Apple on a "revolutionary" new product that is set to debut to the public sometime in the next eight (8) months. It's not clear exactly what that product may be, but initial speculation obviously led to Apple's long-rumored television that could be released sometime later this year.

Apple was quick to release a statement to AllThingsD, denying that it is working with Starck on any project:

Reached for comment, an Apple spokeswoman said the company is not working on a new product or project with Starck. And while she declined to speculate about what the designer might have been referring to when he told France Info Radio that he and Apple “have a big project together that will be out in eight months,” there’s a good explanation for the remark.

Report: Microsoft considering to sell Bing to Facebook in exchange for stock

According to a report from Barrons, Microsoft may be considering to sell off its Bing search engine to Facebook in exchange for stock and partial ownership of the world's largest social network. A report came out last month that Facebook is developing an improved search engine for the social network, but any selling of Bing would occur after the company goes public later this year.

Microsoft currently owns a 1.6% stake in Facebook. The Redmond-based company would presumably continue to earn at least some revenue from Bing if it is sold to Facebook.

“If we asked ourselves why is Microsoft in the search business to begin with, it’s because they want to keep Google from having such monopoly power [in search] that they can use the resultant profit to making forays into Microsoft’s domain,” including things such as Google’s “Chrome” operating system and Android smartphone software.

Google’s upcoming Nexus Tablet leaked in image?

PocketNow has posted an image of what it claims to be promotional materials for the long-rumored and long-expected Google-branded Nexus Tablet. The image lines up with previous rumors about the tablet: a 7-inch display, microSD card slot, SD card slot, and micro HDMI port. The photo, however, seems to have been rendered before Google's massive rebranding of the Android Market to Google Play.

In addition, the tablet pictured above is running Android OS 4.0 (a.k.a. "Ice Cream Sandwich") with a relatively base user interface. This further supports that this is indeed a Google-branded tablet.

An announcement could be coming from the web giant as soon as late June.

Leaked Google Drive document shows 5 GB of free storage space

As we move closer to the rumored launch of Google's online file storage system, leaks and further information are beginning to pop up daily. The service, which will be dubbed "Google Drive" according to reports, will give users 5 GB of free storage space in the cloud, according to a document obtained by TalkAndroid. It was previously rumored that Google would be giving customers only 1 GB of space.

In addition, the image confirms previous rumors that stated the service will be accessible from a variety of Internet-connected devices, including computers, smartphones, and tablets.

At this time, the service is expected to be announced sometime in the next three weeks.

Facebook developing improved search engine?

According to a report from Bloomberg, nearly two dozen Facebook employees have recently been working on an improved search engine for the social network that focuses on utilizing the massive amount of content that users generate each day. The project, which is led by former Google engineer Lars Rasmussen, is designed to make finding content on the world's largest social network easier for users.

Searching the social network could get a lot better in the near future. About two dozen Facebook engineers, led by a former Google engineer named Lars Rasmussen, are working on an improved search engine, say two people familiar with the project who did not want to be named because the company is in a quiet period ahead of its IPO. The goal, they say, is to help users better sift through the volume of content that members create on the site, such as status updates, and the articles, videos, and other information across the Web that people “like” using Facebook’s omnipresent thumbs-up button.

Facebook declined to comment on the rumor.

Facebook plans to stop trading shares in secondary markets early next month

Mark Zuckerberg's desk at Facebook HQ

According to a report from Bloomberg, Facebook is planning to stop trading shares in secondary markets sometime in the beginning of April. This news comes just two months after Facebook filed a $5 billion initial public offering (IPO) to begin trading shares. The world's largest social network, however, never gave a timeframe of the timing of the IPO. It's been rumored to be sometime in May of this year, but with this news, it could come even earlier.