It seems that the battle between iPhone and the Android smartphones is all set to intensify. As per rumors, the new iPhone is touted to arrive this year, sometime this fall and if reports are to be believed, it is all set to have a thinner surface.
Reportedly, three Asian companies – Japan based Sharp corp., South Korea’s LCD Display Co. and Japan Display Inc. are mass producing panels for the next iPhone device using “in-cell technology” which is said to be the main technology behind making the upcoming iPhone thinner than its predecessors.
What is In-Cell Technology?
In-cell technology is used to integrate touch sensors in the LCD screen itself. Therefore, devices like iPhone, which will use this technology, can do away with a separate layer for touch screen. Since the touch screen layer is about half an mm thick, removing it will make the device screen thinner and improve the display quality significantly.
The news seems to be authentic, since Taiwan’s Wintek Corp. and TPK Holding Co., which used to supply the touch-layer of the iPhone 4S screen, haven’t received any orders for the next iPhone till date. This means Apple does have something up its sleeves, and that something, in all probability, is the doing away with the touch layer altogether.
How Can Apple Benefit From This Innovation?
Apple will derive multiple benefits from this new technology; it will help the company cut down costs and simplify its supply chain, as there will be no need to buy touch panels and LCD panels from different suppliers.
Moreover, this will be a big technological advancement for Apple since Samsung has already introduced a 4.8 inch OLED screen (which is thinner than LCD screens) in its Galaxy S III device, making it sleeker and thinner than iPhone 4S.
If at all the rumors come true, then the next iPhone will be a lean mean device and Apple could use up the remaining space for other features – A larger battery anyone?
Other Speculated Features of the New iPhone
The new iPhone which will definitely be powered by the iOS 6, might come with the 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and NFC (Near Field Communication), which are already there on the Galaxy S III. And it might also have 8 or more megapixel camera and an enhanced resolution akin to the new iPad device, which was launched in March.
Also, the air is rife with the speculation that the next iPhone device will have a Liquidmetal body. Liquidmetal is an alloy of tough metals such as zirconium, titanium, nickel and copper. It is being said that Apple would be replacing the glass back panel of its current 4S device with a cast metal design using Liquidmetal alloy, which will give its outer surface, a smooth liquid like appearance.
To conclude, it seems that Apple is fully geared up to roll out the next iPhone device this fall. It even won the domain iPhone5.com recently, after filing a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over it. Although there may be a different reason behind it altogether, it shows that the company is seriously considering bringing out another iPhone device soon.
Desperately waiting for this fall to come along with iPhone 5