iPhone 5 A6 chip may perform better than expected due to manual layout – yes, logic blocks laid by hand, not software

Benchmark tests of the iPhone 5 against powerhouse devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S3, are showing that the A6 chip is indeed a very capable processor. During a teardown of the chip, it was discovered that the ARM core blocks appear to have been laid out manually – as in, by hand. Laying out…

The iPhone 5 quickly sold 5 million devices over the first weekend on sale, about 25% more than the iPhone 4S sold in its first few days. For a device marketed as a “new generation” device rather than a minor upgrade, it likely should have sold much more. However, the device is now sold out.…

In a perfect example of “what goes around comes around”, SBB is upset that Apple used the clock face in their application without permission and noted that they hold the copyright and trademark of the design.

Apple’s “form over function” mentality was blatantly evident with their switch from Google’s mapping service to Apple Maps in iOS 6 and Apple users are irate over the change. Apple Maps in beta was horrible but hey, it was a beta. Then iOS 6 rolled out with the final Apple Maps product installed and guess…

Western Digital is working to deliver a new helium filled harddrive to be introduced to the market in 2013. Current day harddrives use open enclosures, with holes in the drive enclosure to vent air through the drive. Western Digital’s new drives will be sealed and filled with helium gas which is much less dense than…

Wheelchairs be damned. With Tankchair you can reach places you never thought you could traverse at speeds that’ll blow your hair back. TC Mobility (High Performance Mobility Products) began from one Phoenix man’s frustration watching his children go on hikes while their disabled mother was stuck at camp.

The future of shopping has arrived. Shoppers at the Casino Les Belles Feuilles supermarket in France, one of France’s largest supermarket chains, will soon be able to use NFC (near field communication) in their shopping endeavors.

Apple has posted a PDF schematic of the iPhone 5 for case makers. It’s not a technical schematic of course, but is pretty cool in that it lists all measurements, camera cone angles, and areas of the device that should be given special consideration.

If history is any indication, we can expect Apple to use the iPhone 5 processor in their devices for at least a couple of years. Apple of course has not released any details on their new processor other than the claim that it provides twice the processor performance and twice the graphics performance of the…

The gloves come off. Samsung has released a scorching advertisement that transparently compares Apple’s new iPhone 5 feature set (and limitations) to the Samsung Galaxy S III in an advertisement titled “It doesn’t take a genius”.