iLounge

Speaking with Cnet, Keith Lampron, associate director of device marketing with Verizon, has said that the company will require LTE on all new smartphones and tablet devices launched on the network in the future. Calling LTE a “hard requirement”, Lampron said the only exception will be for phones on Verizon’s push-to-talk network, which will be 3G-only until further notice. Apple has yet to announce any LTE-compatible devices, but the statement by Verizon strongly suggests that any future iPhone and iPad devices with cellular data capabilities will be able to connect to the 4G network.

Apple’s planned Chinese iPhone 4S launch was marred by an unexpected delay, leading to angry crowds and vandalism. Bloomberg reports that a crowd of shoppers outside Apple’s main store in Beijing began pelting the store with eggs after a man announced that the phone would not go on sale today. The announcement came roughly 15 minutes after the store was scheduled to open, giving the crowd—which was waiting in sub-20 degree temperatures, and began chanting “Open the door!” and “Liars!”—no explanation for the delay. The delay was not country-wide, however, as Apple’s store in Shanghai opened an hour earlier than scheduled to begin selling the device.

Update: Apple has since released a statement on the matter. “The demand for iPhone 4S has been incredible and our stores in China have already sold out,” an Apple spokeswoman told Reuters. “Unfortunately, we were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd. And to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees, iPhones will not be available in our retails stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being.”

An iPhone 4S model compatible with China Telecom’s network has been approved by regulators. The Wall Street Journal reports that an Apple device, model number A1387 — the same number as current iPhone 4S models — was approved by the national telecom regulator’s China Radio Management agency, and is listed as being compatible with CDMA-2000, the same 3G network technology used by China Telecom. As noted in the report, the device must receive other certifications, including a network access license, before it can be sold in the country, but the approval does signal that the handset should be available on China Telecom in the near future. Currently, China Unicom is the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in China; it will launch the iPhone 4S this coming Friday.

Apple this morning seeded its registered iOS developers with the third beta version of iOS 5.1. According to Apple’s sparse release notes state simply that the release contains “bug fixes and improvements”. The update is currently available as an OTA Software Update for devices already running iOS 5.1 beta 2, and will likely be available shortly to registered iOS developers from the iOS Dev Center.

Corning has, as promised, announced details of its new Gorilla Glass 2 material, the second-generation of the damage-resistant cover glass used in iOS devices. According to the company, Gorilla Glass 2 enables up to a 20 percent reduction in glass thickness, while retaining the same damage- and scratch-resistance as the original. Corning claims that the new material will allow for slimmer devices, brighter images, and greater touch sensitivity. While Gorilla Glass 2 will debut on Windows-based PCs, the company claims that a number of its global customers are expected to unveil new devices using it in the coming months.

New code found within iOS 5.1 suggests that Apple is currently working on iOS devices with quad-core chips. According to 9to5Mac, iOS 5.1 includes updated processing-core management software that makes references to an option of “/cores/cores.3”, which according to people with knowledge of iOS’ inner workings, refers to a four-core chip, as “cores.0” refers to a single-core device, and “cores.1” to a dual-core chip. As noted in the report, the presence of this reference in iOS 5.1 suggests that the next-generation iPad, which is likely being tested using the software, will feature a quad-core processor. iLounge’s Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Horwitz, citing a reported yesterday that the device is likely to be launched around the same time as the iPad 2 was a year ago; the iPad 2 was launched on March 11.

Samsung failed to win a ban on sales of the iPhone 4S in Italy yesterday, according to a Bloomberg report. A court in Milan rejected Samsung’s request for an injunction against the handset, a company spokesperson said. “We will review the ruling and consider all available measures to further protect our intellectual property rights and stop this free riding on our technology,” the company said in a statement. Apple and Samsung are currently in a well-publicized court battle, with multiple suits filed against one another in various countries across the globe.

Corning has announced that it will showcase the next generation of its Gorilla Glass material at next week’s 2012 International CES. Although the company states that product details will be announced on Monday, January 9, it did release the following statement from James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager of Corning Specialty Markets: “Corning Gorilla Glass has been a tremendous success for Corning, enjoying excellent market acceptance across mobile device industries. Handset and tablet device manufacturers are clearly driving toward higher functionality from thinner designs. Corning’s latest innovation in Gorilla Glass technology is very well positioned to meet these challenges and enable broader touch technology penetration.” According to his official biography, late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was instrumental in getting Corning to produce Gorilla Glass for use in the iPhone; the material has been used in all subsequent iOS devices.

Speaking at the Citi Global Entertainment Media & Communications Conference, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo revealed that his company sold 4.2 million iPhones in the final three months of 2011. According to StreetInsider, Shammo said the company sees a 500 to 600 basis point drop on the iPhone moving forward, although no specific timeframe was provided. The number is more than twice the company’s iPhone sales figure for Q3; Apple sold over 17 million iPhones worldwide during that period. Apple will announce its holiday earnings and sales figures on January 24.

Apple today announced that it will officially launch the iPhone 4S in China on January 13. “Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever.” In addition to China, the company will also launch the handset in 21 additional countries, including Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.

GameStop has announced that the company’s trade-in program for the iPod, iPhone, and iPad has seen “strong consumer enthusiasm” in the months it has been available. “The velocity of this trade program has exceeded our expectations,” stated GameStop president Tony Bartel. “We expect to see strong post-holiday traffic as customers trade in older models that were replaced by gifts.” Through the program, customers receive up to $180 in store credit for an iPod touch, up to $300 for an iPhone, and up to $400 for an iPad. Thanks to the success of the program, the company expects to continue to expand the availability of GameStop refurbished devices. [via Joystiq]

iLounge Senior Editor Charles Starrett has released his first iOS application, Scribe. An advanced text editor for the iPhone and iPad, Scribe is designed for users who write content for the web, with easy HTML markup features accessible directly from the iOS context menus. The application provides a clutter-free user interface with an iPhone/iPad-optimized version of the font Anonymous Pro; users can save files locally, or take advantage of iCloud and Dropbox support for syncing files between multiple iOS devices. Scribe also offers full Markdown support for users who prefer that syntax to HTML, while providing the same menu options as HTML markup. Additional features include integrated support for TextExpander, AirPrint, sending of documents via e-mail, and word/character/line counts. Scribe is a universal app requiring iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $3.

Apple is set to launch a completely redesigned iPhone model in the fall of next year, according to a new report. Citing a “close source”, BGR reports that the new phone will feature a rubber or plastic material—similar to the company’s Bumper cases—built into the handset itself, most likely as a bezel. The piece will join the phone’s glass face to its rear aluminum plate, and will also cover a redesigned antenna system, according to the report.

Google has released an update to its native Google Voice app for the iPhone adding support for multi-recipient texting and integration for Sprint iPhone users. The latest update now allows users to send text messages to multiple recipients via the Google Voice service along with autocompletion when entering contact names. For Sprint iPhone users who have integrated their Sprint service with Google Voice the app also now sends all calls through to the native iOS dialer allowing calls to be more quickly and easily completed. The update also adds a multi-line text entry field with character count and one-touch copy and paste on the dial pad screen. Google Voice is available from the App Store as a free download.

Amazon has released an update to its Kindle app for iOS devices adding magazine support for iPad users and document support for all iOS devices. Kindle 2.9 on the iPad now introduces a new interface for reading magazines on the device, providing iPad users with access to Amazon’s catalog of over 400 magazines and newspapers for the Kindle Fire, displayed in full colour pages. Users can purchase single issues or subscribe to magazines and newspapers and have them wirelessly delivered to the Kindle app on the iPad. The iPad version also provides a new layout for reading print replica textbooks that preserves the original formatting of the actual print editions along with support for notes and highlights, zoom and pan and a linked table of contents.

The latest Kindle app update also now allows all iOS devices to receive e-mailed documents in the same manner as the Kindle devices and introduces the ability to open PDFs from Mail, Safari and other supported iOS apps or sync PDF documents to and from the Kindle app over USB via iTunes File Sharing. The integrated Kindle PDF reader provides the PDF table of contents and thumbnail navigation to allow users to quickly navigate through PDF documents. Kindle 2.9 is a universal app and is available from the App Store as a free download.

Apple is now offering free next-day shipping on many online orders in the United States. According to Apple’s holiday shipping page, non-engraved iPads and iPods, the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, non-customized and popular iMac configurations, and the Apple TV can all be ordered today for arrival by December 24, thanks to the free next day shipping offer. For all other products, customers are advised to check their cart for expected delivery dates.

Apple has started to air its latest TV advertisement for the iPhone 4S. Entitled “Santa”, the 30-second spot shows Santa Claus interacting with Siri to get directions, find out the weather, find emails, read text messages, and keep track of his 3.7 billion appointments. The ad is available for viewing on Apple’s website or in embedded form below.

Facebook has released an update to its iOS application adding support for its new timeline feature on the iPhone and iPod touch. With Facebook 4.1 users can now see the mobile-optimized timeline view of user profiles that have switched to the new Timeline format. The latest update also adds access to friend lists, subscribers and subscriptions and improves photo viewing, uploading and commenting. The Mobile Timeline feature has not yet been added to the iPad interface, the release notes indicate that another update for iPad support is coming soon. Facebook 4.1 is available from the App Store as a free download.

Apple has launched the iPhone 4S in over 20 new countries. According to Mac Rumors, the handset made its debut in Bahrain, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. Apple’s previously stated goal was to have the iPhone 4S available on 100 carriers in 70 countries by the end of the year, a goal it appears that it will reach, as the handset is now available in over 65 countries.

Samsung is now manufacturing A5 processors—which are included in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2—in a Texas facility. Citing people familiar with the operation, Reuters reports that the facility, located in Austin, is roughly 1.6 million square feet in size, and began supplying A5 chips to Apple earlier this year, hitting full production in December. According to the report, the A5 is built in a newly constructed $3.6 billion non-memory chip production line; Samsung also produces NAND flash chips in the facility.