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Apple's iPhone, iPad 'engine' made in U.S., says Cook

Foxconn may assemble the iPhone and iPad in China, but key components are made in the good ol' USA, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking today at the D10 conference.

"This is not well known...but the engine for the iPhone and the iPad are built in the U.S. in Austin, Texas," Cook said.

Cook is almost certainly referring to Samsung's Austin chip plant, where the A5 -- and presumably the newer A5X -- chips are made.

Foxconn may assemble the iPhone and iPad in China, but key components are made in the good ol' USA, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking today at the D10 conference.

"This is not well known...but the engine for the iPhone and the iPad are built in the U.S. in Austin, Texas," Cook said.

Cook is almost certainly referring to Samsung's Austin chip plant, where the A5 -- and presumably the newer A5X -- chips are made.

"The glass is made in a plant in Kentucky," he added, referring to the Corning's Gorilla Glass facility.

 

These are points worth making as Apple has been primarily identified with Asia-based Foxconn in the production of the iPhone and  iPad.

And that has been a sticky issue for Apple as the U.S. grapples with high unemployment, which is partially the result of U.S. companies outsourcing more and more production to China.

Cook also talked about how manufacturing in the U.S. was a challenge because of the lack of tool-and-die manufacturing expertise, according to Reuters.

"On the assembly piece, could that be done in the U.S.? I hope so, again, one day," he said.

 

Facebook Introduces New Camera App

One of the features of the app is to display photos from your Facebook friends list, giving you the option to enlarge individual photos or see more from a given album. The ability to edit photos is also included, an interesting move considering Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram for $1billion just a few weeks ago.

Since then, the purchase has stalled as the American Federal Trade Commission looks into whether the partnership is anti-competitive or not.

With 15 filters which can be applied to photos, in an interface which is very similar to Instagram, it seems clear that Facebook is chasing the same market as its new tool. If the Instagram deal gets the green light, it is thought that all of Instagram’s functionalities, will be integrated into the Facebook app

Nokia 808 PureView goes up for pre-order at Rs. 32,000

Nokia's much-hyped 41MP camera phone, 808 PureView, is now available for pre-order in India via online retailer 'buytheprice' at Rs. 32,000. The Nokia 808 PureView is scheduled to hit the Indian market later this month. The retailer buytheprice is displaying the original price of the device at Rs. 33,999.

Recently, there were multiple reports on the web claiming the 808 PureView will be priced at Rs. 29,999, after price of the device was spotted in the “source code” of Nokia 808 PureView page. Nokia, however, rejected the reports, saying the original price of the device will be revealed at the official launch.

To refresh your memory, the Nokia 808 PureView was first unveiled at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year. The Nokia 808 PureView gained global media attention for its massive 41MP sensor, which comes with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics and new pixel oversampling technology. The device runs on Nokia Belle operating system.

Other specifications of the Nokia 808 PureView include single-core 1.3GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 16GB built-in storage, USB-on-the-Go, Bluetooth 3.0, HSDPA 14.4Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps, Wi-Fi N with DLNA, GPS and A-GPS, stereo FM radio, and NFC connectivity.

Samsung officially announces Galaxy S III India launch for May 31st

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy S III will be launched in India on May 31st.You’ll have to wait until then however, for pricing details, and information on the exact retail availability.

 India is expected to get the Galaxy S III at roughly Rs. 38,000, for the smallest 16GB variant.

The S III’s early benchmarks also indicate the Korean giant’s latest flagship will outperform most of the competition, at least until other major manufacturer’s quad-core smartphones make their way to the market.

Facebook phone rumoured to be in development, due in 2013

A New York Times report indicates that Facebook is hoping to release a mobile phone in 2013, citing Facebook employees and people close to the organization.

The news is not especially new, and rumours of the company partnering with HTC (and other manufacturers) to make a Facebook phone have been around for nearly two years – however, the latest report comes in the light of Facebook hiring several Apple engineers, who’ve had experience developing the iPhone and iPad.

Also very relevant, is that Facebook’s biggest competitor, Google, which already has its fingers in the smartphone pie, just recently completed itsacquisition of Motorola Mobility. Google could very well come out with its own mobile and tablet devices by the end of the year.

Industry analysts are sceptical about Facebook’s ability to develop a successful mobile device, with many software and hardware giants finding the mobile market an extremely difficult one to enter – such as Dell and HP.

Some pundits recommend that Facebook acquires a mobile manufacturer, such as RIM orHTC, instead of trying to develop a device itself.

A software company, Facebook reportedly also has a smartphone OS ready for use already, with the development of an actual mobile device the biggest obstacle remaining.  A forked version of the Android OS, like that on the Kindle Fire, could also be a possibility.

When asked about these latest reports, Facebook did not confirm its plans – it instead gave an ambiguous statement, a repeat of its previous stance: “We’re working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers.”

Of course, companies like INQ and HTC have already developed their own Facebook phones(such as the INQ Cloud Touch, INQ Cloud Q, HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa), with native Facebook integration, and dedicated access buttons.

Google Gets Licence For Self-driving Car In US

Driver-less cars will soon be a reality on the roads of Nevada after the state approved America’s first self-driven vehicle license.

The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles has issued the first license plates that will allow Google’s autonomous cars onto public highways. The first to hit the highway will be a Toyota Prius modified by search firm Google, which is leading the way in driver-less car technology.

Nevada is the first state to devise licensing procedures for autonomous vehicles, and Google is the one of the leaders in that field, having hired some of the top talent that took part in the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges. Google‘s fleet will have red Nevada license plates with a Greek infinity symbol, intended to alert other drivers that a computer has control of the vehicle.

The car uses video cameras mounted on the roof, radar sensors and a laser range finder to “see” other traffic. Engineers at Google have previously tested the car on the streets of California, including crossing San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge.  For those tests, the car remained manned at all times by a trained driver ready to take control if the software failed. According to software engineer Sebastian Thrun, the car has covered 140,000 miles with no accidents, other than a bump at traffic lights from a car behind.

Bruce Breslow, director of Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles, says he believes driver-less vehicles are the “cars of the future“. Nevada changed its laws to allow self-driven cars in March. The long-term plan is to license members of the public to drive such cars. Google’s car has been issued with a red licence plate to make it recognisable. The plate features an infinity sign next to the number 001. Other states, including California, are planning similar changes.

“The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error,” said California state Senator Alex Padilla, when he introduced the legislation.

“Through the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle is capable of analyzing the driving environment more quickly and operating the vehicle more safely.”