Apple prepping 5.7-inch iPhone Galaxy Note rival!

 

The times, they are a-changing. Apple founder Steve Jobs once dismissed phones with large screens out of hand, but just days after the launch of Apple’s redesigned – and beautiful – iOS 7, a new report says the company is looking at a giant phablet iPhone running the software. Is this a Galaxy Note contender?

According to Reuters, Apple will be launching new iPhone models with bigger screens and different colours within the next year according to no fewer than four sources. Two screen sizes are currently being floated for release next year – a 4.7-inch iPhone with a screen roughly the same size as HTC’s One and Samsung’s Galaxy S4, and a massive 5.7-inch model that could dwarf even the epic Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

Apple famously stuck with a 3.5-inch screen on the iPhone for years, even while its rivals ramped theirs up, making them better for watching video, browsing the web and even writing with a stylus, and only bumped the iPhone 5 display up to a modest four-inches diagonally late last year.

But this report suggests that Apple under CEO Tim Cook is having a change of heart after seeing Samsung’s gigantic Galaxy Note phones sell tens of millions, and rival efforts from Asus and Huawei follow in its wake. Clearly, there are enough shoppers out there who want a portable tablet that can act as a phone in worst case scenarios, even if it makes them look like a Dom Joly sketch in the process – and Apple want in.

Would you buy an iPhone phablet? Too much like an iPad mini? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

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Steve Jobs Resigns: 5 things Apple Needs to do to survive!

 

After 15 amazing years at the top of one of tech’s most innovative companies, Steve Jobs has taken the decision to step down. We wish Steve good health and hope he enjoys his well-earned retirement.

Meanwhile, business continues at Apple with Steve’s favoured successor Tim Cook picking up the reins while Apple’s share price takes a small hit. Tim will need to make an impact to stop things sliding further so here are our take on 5 things we would like the new guy to tackle.

Launch the iPhone 5
Get it out, get it done. The chants of “Why are we waiting?” may have subsided out of respect for Steve Jobs’ departure but many iPhone fans felt they missed out when Apple didn’t launch a new handset at this year’s WWDC so strike while the iron is hot and give us that lovely new iPhone we know Steve will have been playing with before he packed up his desk.

Go budget
While we are talking iPhones, maybe now is the ideal opportunity to win a whole new set of loyal subjects by launching a budget iPhone. The idea of a low-end iPhone has been touted for years but industry rumours suggest it may be closer than ever.

We don’t think the iPhone can remain an exclusive club forever, so why not open it up to those who can’t afford a shiny new iPhone 5 or don’t need the latest bleeding-edge features?

Launch the iPad 3
Never mind messing about with the rumoured enhanced version of the iPad 2, cut to the chase and give us the next-generation iPad 3 instead. We will even wait a few months. We are goo like that.

We want a retina display that is powerful enough to sear our actual retina and if something can’t be done about the weedy built-in speakers of iPads 1 & 2 then we will know there are real problems over at 1, Infinite Loop.

Get a proper TV service
Apple TV is a great idea but the current generation just isn’t up to Apple’s usual high standards. The service is next to useless in the UK, but the whole device seems a bit hamstrung compared to more full-featured PVRs and streaming media boxes like Boxee.

Apple should go for broke and produce something truly innovative. Combine the power and flexibility of iOS by finding a good way to run iOS apps and Games without a touchscreen (Kinect-style gesture controls? Just a thought) and add in the legendary ease of use and user interface chops that Apple is renowned for and we think it could be amazing.

Which leads us to..

Launch a games console
The iPhone has completely changed the games market. Mobile gaming wasn’t so much given a shot in the arm by the advent of widely available, powerful touchscreen computer as it was given a whole new, mutant arm with amazing powers. We would like to see Apple ‘think different’ about console gaming too. With the right combination of innovation and design we think the Xbox 360 and PS3 might have real pause for thought.

That’s what we’ve been thinking about while Steve Jobs has been moving desks at Apple, but what do you think, what do you want to see Apple release to?