What’s inside the $35 Chromecast

You can get 7 McDonald’s Happy Meal for about 35 bucks and you’ll know exactly what you’ll be getting once you open the box.  For roughly that same amount, you can also grab a Chromecast TV stick, but chances are it is unlikely that you’ll want to pry the TV stick open and see what you’re paying for.

If and when you receive your Chromecast and have the urge to open more than just the packaging, don’t, because these are the things that are inside:

• Marvell DE3005-A1 SoC
• 4GB flash storage
• 512MB DDR3 RAM
• AzureWave 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth and FM receiver
• HDMI connector
• microUSB power port
• Aluminum heatsink

What can you do with all these goodies?  Well, not much, except pop the plastic shell back on and reattach it to your display.  Eventually, there will be some sort of useful OS ports for Google’s latest TV dongle, but for now it’ll just be an essentially UI-less browser that you can interact with via your smart devices.

Image: ifixit

New confirmed details on AMD’s 2014 APU lineup

Sources in Taipei shed light on AMD’s HSA APU efforts and reveal that Kaveri is delayed until 2014.

Industry sources in Taipei have provided VR-Zone with internal AMD documents that detail the company’s HSA APU efforts and show that Kaveri has a target launch date in 2014.

While we can’t post the original documents, we can say that they confirm rumours posted elsewhere naming Carizo as the successor to Kaveri, and that Kaveri would be delayed until 2014.

Here’s a breakdown of what we now know.

AMD will launch a new APU at its “essential” price point called “Beema”. It will have a Puma+ CPU core, a  “next generation” AMD Radeon GPU, connected standby,  integrated SOC FCH and full support of the HSA programming model. It will be produced for the FT3 BGA socket.

After “Beema” comes “Nolan” on the essential pricepoint. AMD hasn’t yet named the CPU core it will have, but it lists there being four of them. AMD hasn’t named the GPU it will have either, only stating it will be “next generation”. It will also have connected standby and fully support the HSA programming model. AMD is planning on having this chip on the FT4 BGA socket.

On the mainstream side of things, AMD will launch the “Carrizo” APU in 2015. It will be based on the “Excavator” CPU core and Bolton-D4 A88X chipset. AMD hasn’t named the GPU yet, only stating it will have an unnamed “next generation” GPU. AMD lists its TDP at 65W, but says it is “scoping” 45W. AMD also says that Carrizo will be scoping DDR4, meaning that they haven’t confirmed support but are planning on having it. It will also support third-generation PCI express, and, of course, the HSA programming model.

Kaveri in 2014

These documents also show that AMD’s upcoming Kaveri APU has been delayed. AMD first showed off Kaveri, its first APU to support its heterogeneous, unified memory architecture at Computex, and said it was scheduled for a “late 2013” release date.

According to this revised schedule we obtained, engineering samples of Kaveri won’t be ready until August, production candidate samples will go out in October and initial production will begin in December. The target launch into channel is now mid-February 2014.

More details are expected in the coming months.

Moto X in black and white shows up in possible press images

source: @evleaks

Apple looking to add proprietary features to Siri

A small team of experts in voice recognition technology is being put together by Apple to help the tech titan improve Siri. Apple has posted online job listings seeking more members for the team. Current members of the group all came from VoiceSignal Technologies, which was purchased by Nuance in 2007. It is an unusual situation for Apple which usually keeps its engineering teams close to its Cupertino headquarters.

News of Apple's speech recognition team might not have gone down so well at Massachusetts based Nuance, which has provided the speechrecognition technology inside Siri. Considering that Nuance licenses its advancements to companies like Google and Microsoft, Apple could be looking to add some proprietary features to its voice recognition capabilities.  

Examples of some of the new features coming to Siri in iOS 7

Apple has had an office in Boston since the beginning of the year, in Kendall Square, for purposes that have been unknown. The manufacturer will have to compete with rivals for local talent in the area. Amazon happens to have job postings in Cambridge, also seeking to hire experts in speech technology. Amazon's job listing discusses a "mission is to push the envelope in automatic speech recognition (ASR), natural language understanding (NLU), and audio signal processing."

The upcoming iOS 7 is bringing some improvements to Siri, including the ability for users to change the voice associated with the service to a male one. The service will also learn how to better pronounce certain names and will now comb through services like Wikipedia and Twitter. After the update to iOS 7, Siri will be able to control some of the settings on a user's iPhone.

source: Xconomy via AppleInsider

Apple iPhone Lite will be a modified Apple iPhone 5; new phones to be introduced September 18th

A published report on Friday says that the next iteration of the Apple iPhone, and a refreshed version of the current Apple iPhone 5, will both be introduced by Apple during a special event on September 18th. The version of the phone thought to be the Apple iPhone Lite, will actually be an iPhone 5 with cheaper, colorful shells, and a lower build cost thanks to the use of plastic in a few key areas. The price of the phone will be $99 on contract.

The new lineup for Apple will start with the Apple iPhone 4S replacing theApple iPhone 4 as the lowest cost option. The refreshed iPhone 5 is next followed by the new Apple iPhone 5S or iPhone 6. The plan is for Apple to take on low-priced, attractive handsets made by its rivals. By using what is basically an iPhone 5 for this model, Apple will be keeping the specs high enough to compete, and using plastic in key areas will allow it to keep the unsubsidized price lower. This report dovetails perfectly with comments made by analyst Peter Misek of Jefferies, who says that the new low cost Apple iPhone will be priced at $300 to $400 and thus will be more like a mid-range model.

According to the report, while the new phones will be introduced on September 18th, they will actually launch on September 27th.

The Apple iPhone Lite, fully assembled

Thanks, Anonymous Tipster!

source: CurrentEditorials via Techkiddy

MediaTek teases first true octa-core mobile processor, but Samsung might steal its thunder

Rating the new Google Nexus 7 tablet a "7" out of 10 for repairability, iFixit took apart the tablet with a little difficulty. Thinner, taller and narrower than the OG Google Nexus 7, the new slate has a back cover that is no longer textured and it did crack a bit using a plastic tool to pry it apart. There is light glue applied to most of the tablet, certainly nothing that made matters difficult.

The battery was the first "part" noticed and the inductive charging coil was seen as it should have been, considering the slate's support for wireless charging. A Texas Instrument BQ51013B inductive charging controller was one of the components that was spotted inside the tablet While stronger glue held the battery in place, the mother and daughterboards were easy to remove and parts pulled out by iFixit included the Elpida J4216EFBG SDRAM, and NAND Flash produced by SK Hynix.

Overall, iFixit says the slab is easy to open and repair, good to know if you have a propensity for breaking your mobile devices. One problem area that iFixit found was the LCD glass, which required a heat gun to remove.

Just remember that DIY is a four letter word to manufacturers and any attempt to open the case will result in the voiding of your warranty. Things like repairs are best left to the pros to handle.

Begin ▶

Nexus 7 2nd Generation Teardown

We took this tablet apart on 7/26/13.

source: iFixit

Will Packing In More Sensors Help iPhone’s Battery Life? Apple Seems to Think So.

The problem with innovation, a lot of the times, is that new technologies take a toll on battery life, which is a valuable commodity in the smartphone space. Take for instance the debut of 4G LTE a few years ago. When new handsets–like Verizon’s HTC Thunderbolt–debuted, battery life was the tradeoff at the expense of faster speeds. Then came high resolution qHD, 720p HD, and now 1080p HD displays. Phones that push these “Retina Display”-like screens sacrifice some battery power to achieve resolution greatness. So how does an innovative smartphone manufacturer pack in as much technology as possible whileslimming down designs achieve noteworthy battery life? Apple seems to think the answer will be in packing in more sensors and adding context to the information it collects.

Described in a patent application as “power management for electronic devices,” it appears that Apple may be looking at automated profiles based on a number of different things, including prior usage behavior, location, time of day, and other factors.

It’s actually similar to what Google-owned Motorola Mobility has been toying with in that company’s already released Motorola Smart Actions app, which turns on or off radios and functions of the phone based on geo-location data, time, and usage.

Apple’s patent goes a little deeper and adds contextual information to the equation. It’s similar to driving a plug-in electric car. In this case, “range anxiety” is still a big problem where users may not know when they may run out power on their smartphones, which could not only disrupt their use of GPS, photo taking, and social network sharing, but could also pose a problem if they’re not able to call for help in an emergency.

In the patent filing that was posted by Apple Insider, Apple describes one such implementation of its smarter profiles by integrating sensors and context:

For example, using a GPS sensor the mobile electronic device may determine, based on its current location, that it may be at least eight hours before the mobile electronic device will be recharged or otherwise connected to an external power source. In this case, the mobile electronic device may modify the power management scheme by adjusting one or more characteristics or settings. In some examples, the mobile electronic device may reduce a data fetching rate (e.g., for email or other data), decrease a display brightness, turn off select applications or prevent those applications from running, and so on.

The difference here in what Apple is trying to do, versus existing solutions like third-party profile manager Tasker and Motorola Smart Actions, is that Apple recognizes usage, knows how long it will be before the phone gets plugged in, and adjusts power management settings based on contextual data. Motorola’s solution may just adjust power based solely on time and location–if you’re at home at night and in bed, it won’t fetch email for example to conserve juice unless the phone is plugged in–which may not still solve smartphone-based “range anxiety” issues.

Calculating in specific usage patterns will also make the smartphone experience even more personal, and you’ll have a smartphone with the longest battery life adjusted for how you use your device. This may help users be able to use all the features on their phones without concern for battery life. In the past, some solutions to maintaining longer times in between recharges was to turn off things–like 4G LTE and switch to 3G, or switch off Bluetooth and NFC–but now, users can have all those things on and have settings and radios dynamically adjusted based on expected battery life and how long the phone estimates it will be away from a power source.

It’s unclear if and when Apple intends on implementing this battery life solution in future iPhone models, but battery life has been a hot topic given Motorola’s recent marketing of the Droid Maxx for Verizon boasting 48-hour of battery time.

3 Navigation Features That Google Maps Should Borrow From Nokia’s Here Drive+

With all the leading smartphone platforms coming with their own voice-guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation app for free, Google Maps is still the leading free navigation platform given the market share that Android has picked up. Yet, despite Google Maps being a common tool online and Google Maps with Navigation being a much sought after experience on Android and now on iOS as a third-party client, there’s still room for improvement. Here are three ideas that Nokia had implemented on itsHere Drive+ app, which is available as a free solution for the company’s range of Lumia and Asha devices, and as a paid option for Windows Phone 8 devices from other manufacturers.

1. Speed Warning

Drivers with a lead foot on the acceleration would appreciate speed warnings and speed limit notifications. Google Maps with Navigation on Android has neither. On Nokia’s Here Drive+ platform, you’ll see on the map screen the speed limit for the street you’re traveling on, as well as your own actual speed. If you go over the speed limit, Here Drive+’s backseat driving kicks in with audible and visual alerts, notifying you that you’re in danger of getting a speeding ticket.

It’s a nice feature, and you can toggle various settings so that it only nags you when you’re cruising over a set speed over the limit, and you can even disable this option if you choose.

2. Personalized Commute Traffic at a Glance

Given the large user base of Android and iOS users of Google’s mapping service, Google has a lot ofdata for traffic, and that information comes in useful. Sure, whenever you type in an address, Google’s mapping information gives you an estimated time of arrival with traffic considerations, but Here Drive+ does it a bit more elegantly. Thanks to a new feature called My Commute, Here Drive+ allows you to save your commute information. I saved San Francisco’s Moscone Conference Center, for example, as a work address, and Here Drive+ asks me for my normal commute–which I’ve listed as 8 AM to 3 PM.

Now, instead of having to type in the work address and get route guidance to show traffic, Here Drive+ will automatically display traffic for my commute to and from work, to and from my grandparents’ home, and to and from my parents’ home when I go into the My Commute menu. It saves a few screen taps and I can glance at that information before I even decide to hit the road so I know not to leave the office if traffic is particularly congested.

3. Better On-Board Map Storage

Through iterative revisions and updates to Google Maps and Google Maps with Navigation, users can save portions of the map to use offline when they either don’t want to use their data plans or go into an area without cellular coverage. However, that requires planning–you’ll have to know to start to download the maps while in a WiFi area, for example, or else you’ll find yourself eating into your data plan. With Here Drive+, you can just pre-download maps for either your state or your country and never have to worry about maps, reception, or connectivity again.

Maps are stored locally on your phone, and the maps you download will work with both Here Drive+, which is the equivalent of Android’s Google Maps with Navigation feature, as well as with Here Maps, which is similar to Google Maps for searching and exploring.

Your Living Room Could Be The Next Boardroom With Google Hangouts Web Conference Set-Top Box

With the success of Google’s latestChromeCast dongle, the living foray is just beginning. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google may have broader plans for your living room’s HDTV as it tries to better integrate existing Google services on the larger screen. Another potential for the living room, besides being able to display videos and potentially Google Docs documents in the future onto the large screen, is the ability to transform your living space into a boardroom. The Journal reported that earlier this year former Android head Andy Rubin had demoed a set-top box that included a camera for video-conferencing. That box would hook up with apps and services, like Pandora, and the webcam can be used with Google Hangouts.

Additionally, there would also be a motion sensor as well, which could indicate a new gesture-based method that Google may be exploring for controlling the living room experience. Android partner Samsung had already launched an HDTV that can be commanded with voice, a standard remote control, or with gestures as well.

Given Rubin’s departure from the Android team, it’s unclear if such a system is currently being in development still. It was rumored that the new set-top box would be shown off at Google I/O, but given the developer conference had passed, the fate of a Google Hangouts–either for personal or professional purposes–over an HDTV is unclear.

Additionally, earlier in the week, it was reported that Google had already begun trialing Hangouts for commercial purposes to extend its utility. One such example could be a person setting up an educational class with Hangouts, and subscribers can pay a fee to take the lessons, which would be handled through Google Wallet. This solution could be great with a larger HDTV-based Hangouts set-top box.

Nokia Already Has An Update to Pro Camera App for Lumia 1020

Late Thursday ahead of the Friday official availability of the PureView flagship Lumia 1020 smartphone, Nokia had already issued a software update for its Pro Camera app, which allows finer creative controls in the photography process. The much lauded Pro Camera app brings DSLR-style controls to the 41-megapixel point-and-shoot smartphone camera, and it does a good job at giving users more flexibility with various exposure settings, including ISO, shutter speed, exposure compensation, white balance, and even manual focus. The only thing missing from the app is adjustments for variable apertures.

The update is now available through the Windows Phone Store that’s preloaded on the device, and new users who are picking up their phones today could update the app. It’s unclear what changes Nokia has made to the app as I couldn’t find a change log detailing any improvements.

One of the things that I had noticed when I got my review unit earlier this week is that the camera app froze on me several times during my twenty-four hours of testing. So far, with the update installed, it seems that the freezing issue has been rectified. Another issue is that when toggling through to enable/disable the flash and/or autofocus light, sometimes the textual description just fell off the screen and was not readable. This too had been remedied. As these problems have seemingly been rectified on my review unit, I would advise new owners to download the app.

Other than these minor bug fixes, I am not trained enough to perceive any noticeable changes to the algorithms to any changes on how the Lumia 1020 renders images. We’ll have to wait and hear from Nokia what changes have been made.

The Lumia 1020 is an unrivaled camera phone whose only challenger on the market so far is the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, which hasn’t arrived yet in the U.S. market. The Galaxy S4 Zoom offers 10X optical zoom with a point-and-shoot sensor and a 16-megapixel imaging resolution. The Nokia Lumia 1020 uses digital zoom, but the larger sensor coupled with 41-megapixels of resolving power means that you can have lossless zoom for up to 3X. The benefit is the Lumia 1020 is more compact and easier to handle whereas the Galaxy S4 Zoom looks and feels more like a point-and-shoot and may not be as ergonomic when used as a phone.

The Pro Cam app is expected to also trickle down to other Lumia devices once those phones receive the proper software update to be able to use the app.

Craziest iPhone 5S Rumor Yet Is Tough to Believe

iOS 7 Beta 4 Release Could Be Weeks Off

While Apple is not publicly offering any timeline for the Developer Center re-launch and the IOS 7 beta 4 release, top iOS developers speculate that we could be in for a long wait.

The recent Apple hack took the iOS developer center offline delaying the iOS 7 beta program while Apple re-launches a more secure developer center.

Apple already launched a status page andoutlined what parts of the Developer Center they plan to work on first. While the iOS 7 beta is important, Apple’s first goal is to bring the functions developers need to make and sell apps to iPhone and iPad users running iOS 6.

Developers speculate the iOS 7 beta 4 release could be weeks off.

Over a week after the hack, the Developer Center remains offline to developers and iOS 7 beta testers, and Apple’s status page shows no new services online since it launched earlier this week.

Many expected an iOS 7 beta 4 release on Monday, timing up with the two-week release cycle the first iOS 7 betas arrived on, but without the Developer Center online to deliver the needed applications and files developers are still waiting for a new iOS 7 beta.

Two popular iOS 7 developers speculate that the iOS 7 beta 4 release could be weeks away, sharing their assessment of the situation on Twitter. These are not Apple employees or leaks from Apple, but commentary from experienced Apple developers.

Paul Haddad of Tapbots is behind the wildly successful TweetBot iPhone and iPad application which delivers a better Twitter experience on the iPhone and iPad. Haddad tweeted his thoughts on when we may see a new iOS 7 beta.

Marco Arment, best known as the man behind iOS app InstaPaper, shares his thoughts on the Developer Center outage, hoping for a speedy recovery.

The iOS 7 beta 3 expiration date is August 29th, nearly a month away. This should in theory give Apple plenty of time to bring the iOS Developer Center online.

To be clear, neither individual claims insider knowledge, but the opinions of longtime, well-known developers could hint at Apple’s situation.

Apple released an OS X Mavericks Developer Preview during the outage, which is good news, but users will likely need to wait for the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles part of the system to come online before Apple starts to share the new iOS 7 beta.

While there is no iOS 7 beta 4 to bring bug fixes and new features to developers now, it is possible and likely that Apple is still working on new versions of the iOS 7 beta inside the company. Previous leaks suggest Apple employees are testing a different build, one that supports offline dictation.

Apple publicly stated it plans an iOS 7 release this fall, but no specific date was given.

Neil Gaiman’s First Video Game Coming Later This Year

Neil Gaiman, famed author of many novels, and graphics novels, will venture into the world of video games for the first time later this year with his game Wayward Manor.

The new game follows the story of a ghost who occupies a large New England mansion where he just wants peace and quiet. Players will use their ingenuity and wit to help the ghost scare away those who try to take up residence in the manor.

As players learn more about the occupants of the manor, they will find out more about the ghost that haunts the place. While the first game takes place in 1920s New England, the protagonist died some 40 years earlier in the 1880s. Someone murdered the ghost, and they had a reason to do so.

In an interview with Mashable, Gaiman revealed that his original idea would show the story of a man and the house over the course of 200 years. Possible subsequent installments of Wayward Manor would continue the story from the 1920s onward into the future as the ghost learns more about himself and the house.

Movies such as Arsenic And Old Land and The Man Who Came To Dinner inspired Gaiman to create the story, and the game sounds like an appropriate mixture of slapstick and light-hearted humor.

Wayward Manor is currently in development by The Odd Gentlemen, the studio behind The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, a PC and Xbox 360 game with a unique time travel mechanic. That game showed the studio is capable of the sort of tone Gaiman wants from Wayward Manor, which is promising.

Wayward Manor won’t come out until sometime this fall, but interested gamers can pre-order the game now along with some perks. The perks include high-resolution wallpapers, the game soundtrack, an invitation to the launch party and even a dinner with Neil Gaiman for those who have $10,000 just lying around. The perks are similar to a Kickstarter project, but without the risks of Kickstarter.

The game will come out on tablets, Mac and PC later this year.

Hipstamatic Oggl Brings More Instagram Support to Windows Phone

Windows Phone might not have an official Instagram application, but the platform has at least scored another high-profile application that supports uploading to Instagram.

Starting today, all Windows Phone users can download the Hipstmatic OGGL application in two slightly different versions.

The first version of the application is available to all Windows Phone users for free. It includes the ability to capture photos, and then apply different lens and filters to them for an added artistic effect. Users can then upload these photos to Hipstamatic’s online community, or Instagram.

Hipstamatic Oggl for Windows Phone 8

That last bit is key since Windows Phone users still don’t have access to a full Instagram client. To the platform’s credit, third-party applications like Instance have managed to fill the gap by providing rudimentary access to Instagram, however these apps still pale in comparison to the Instagram clients on Android and iOS.

The second version of Hipstamtic Oggl, called Hipstamatic Oggl Pro, is actually an exclusive for users who purchased the Nokia Lumia 1020. This version of the application is designed to allow users to take advantage of the 41 megapixel PureView camera sensor built into that device.

Hipstamatic Oggl Pro gives users access to more granular settings for taking photographs, like custom ISO settings and scenery auto settings. Users can reframe pictures they’ve already taken using the lossless zoom feature only found on the Lumia 1020. The app is free to Lumia 1020 users, although they’ll still need to download it from the Windows Phone Store.

The Nokia Lumia 1020 also debuted today in the United States as an exclusive to AT&T. Its custom software layer allows applications to communicate with its camera in ways that other Windows Phones simply can’t, as shown by Hipstimatic Oggl Pro.

There is still no word on when a true Instagram client might hit Windows Phone. Since launching its 2instaWithLove campaign earlier this year, speculation of a native Windows Phone client has swirled, however nothing has materialized yet.

Neither of these two applications will allow users to browse their Instagram feed.

Sony Lending PlayStation 4 Development Consoles To Indie Developers

Sony is doing everything it can to help foster independent developers who want to bring games to the PlayStation 4, including lending development consoles, according to a Polygonreport.

In order to test a new game on a console, developers have to test their games on special development consoles to make sure they work correctly. To get those consoles developers typically have to pay the manufacturer a lot more than the cost of a retail console, though Sony will waive those fees for indie developers.

Sony will lend PlayStation 4 development consoles to small developers for the course of one year, saving those developers about $2,500, the average cost of such a device. One developer claims that Sony is “handing them out like candy” to any interested developers, focusing on loaning consoles instead of charging for them.

Creating a game with a small team often takes longer than one year, but developers don’t need the development kits at the start of their project. Many will work in emulation throughout most of the development time and get a developer console closer to release to test a near-final version of the game, further cutting costs to the studio.

Once indie developers release their games on the PlayStation 4, Sony will help keep costs low by waiving fees required to patch the games. It also supports a number of payment options so developers can release their games whoever they want on the console.

In addition to cutting costs for developers by lending dev kits, Sony is doing everything it can to help bring attention to indie games. The company brought eight indie developers on stage at its E3 press conference to show off their games, and at GDC this year it hosted Indie Arcade to talk directly to small developers.

While Sony will lend its dev kits to developers for a year, Microsoft recently announced that developers can turn any retail Xbox One into a dev kit. There is an alleged fee associated with the switch, but it seems that both Sony and Microsoft want to make it easier for indie developers to create games for their new consoles.

iPhone 5S Launch Rumored to Steal Galaxy Note 3’s Thunder

The iPhone 5S launch date has been pegged for September numerous times and a new report now claims that the device, and a cheaper iPhone model, could launch September 6th, the day that the IFA conference kicks off in Berlin, Germany with the Galaxy Note 3 expected to be the star of the show.

For months, rumors have suggested that Apple will be announcing not one, but two new iPhone models in 2013. The first, a cheaper plastic iPhone that may challenge the cheaper Android devices that have flooded the market. The second, an iPhone 5 successor, dubbed iPhone 5S, that will take the design of the iPhone 5 and pair it with some new features including a souped up camera and improved processor.

The iPhone 5S launch date is rumored for September 6th.

Rumors have suggested that the iPhone 5S will be coming out sometime in September with respected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo noting that he believes it will be released in late September. Recently, we reported that Apple itself seemed to tip off a an iPhone 5S release before September 28th thanks to its Q4 earnings guidance.

While Apple isn’t saying when it will announce new products, iFun believes that the company will announce two new iPhone models on September 6th, which just so happens to be the day IFA kicks off in Berlin, Germany. IFA is believed to be the possible launching ground for the new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the 6-inch HTC One Max.

Launch dates for Apple products tend to surface about a month ahead of their announcement and so it’s also possible that this information is accurate. With the iPhone 5, we saw its launch date emerge within that window. Apple though doesn’t typically sent out invites until much closer to the event itself. iFun has been accurate with information in the past though with any Apple launch date, it’s best to remain extremely skeptical.

The iPhone 5S is expected to retain the iPhone 5′s design.

Apple’s new iPhone 5S is said to incorporate the iPhone 5′s aluminum design while also adding an improved camera, processor and possibly, a fingerprint reader. The company though is rumored to be having trouble with production of the fingerprint scanner and it’s unclear if that will impact the iPhone that Apple will surely release later this year.

The company is also expected to debut new iPad models this fall though the report makes no mention of any iPads appearing alongside the iPhones on September 6th.

Update: The well-sourced Jim Dalrymple issued a classic “Nope” in regards to the September 6th date which essentially rules it out. However, an early September launch around the time of the Galaxy Note 3 launch is still very possible.