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In the Case of the Missing iPhone, No Word on NFC
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While Apple has retrieved the prototype of its fourth-generation iPhone that a careless engineer apparently left on a bar stool in the Silicon Valley hamlet of Redwood City last month, there are no reports yet of how the company is going to prevent similar screwups.
Might Apple in the future require employees working on iPhone prototypes to tap the handsets on RFID touch points positioned at strategic spots in their homes and in restaurants and bars popular with the Cupertino crowd? For example, the employees could be made to tap every 15 minutes or 20 minutes during waking hours–just to make sure they still have the phones in their possession. If not tapped for, say, two straight hours, the devices could self-destruct, though not in a way that creates a fire hazard.
Okay, kidding aside, it wouldn’t surprise me if super-secretive Apple resorted to some even more draconian measures than usual to prevent more features of the next iPhone from leaking out before its public unveiling, expected around late June. But don’t expect to see the RFID touch points in public places. That would definitely give away that the next version of Apple’s popular smartphone supports NFC, to wit, by reading RFID tags.
Despite taking the prototype apart, the editors at tech-news site Gizmodo did not mention finding any NFC chip or antenna in the “borrowed” iPhone, which they procured for $5,000 from the person who stumbled upon the phone in the Redwood City, California, bar. Debates continue about whether it was all a publicity stunt staged by Apple. And some still doubt the authenticity of the phone, though Apple did officially ask for it back Monday, (and later the home of the tech editor that reported on the phone was raided by police, probably at Apple's urging) which indicates it probably isn’t a fake.
But Gizmodo’s editors didn’t seem to do a very thorough dissection of the iPhone’s innards before publishing their analysis Monday. They noted finding a larger battery and smaller SIM, or micro-SIM as they called it, along with other internal components labeled “Apple.” But they didn’t even note the identity of the main processor chip or any specifics on features. Of course, Apple had already killed the phone’s software remotely, so Gizmodo couldn’t see the phone in action.
The article on their findings mainly focused on design changes indicated for the next iPhone version, such as a flat shiny plastic back, squared edges and a chat video camera in front. A small NFC chip and antenna could have easily escaped Gizmodo’s notice, especially if it wasn’t looking for the components.
NFC industry observers are keenly watching the launch of the next iPhone for what they hope will be a game-changing event for the industry. Adoption by Apple of NFC would not only increase visibility of the technology considerably, it would open up the app store to lots of new NFC services and, perhaps most importantly, encourage other handset makers to embrace NFC.
Observers point to a flurry of patent applications filed by Apple and published earlier this month. The patent requests give NFC a prominent role in synching of content and other types of sharing among Apple devices, as well as detailed proposals for using NFC for event and transit ticketing and peer-to-peer and retail payment.
And as NFC Times was the first to report, Apple apparently sees a business model in NFC that goes beyond selling more phones. At least one patent application on payment suggests Apple could charge fees to enable retailers and product manufactures to send advertising, coupons and other data to the iPhones when consumers are at the point of sale. Apple also could ask for money from banks in exchange for making their payment applications the default payment options on their customers' devices.
NFC Times has also learned that Apple has ordered or bought test tools for NFC. And, of course, there are the inevitable rumors of NFC chip orders by Apple.
But despite this and the apparent early peek at the fourth-generation iPhone prototype by Gizmodo, we probably won’t know for sure what’s really inside the device until Apple unveils it within a few months.
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technology always develop forward with customer's demands, the same with the updated generation of Apple, look at the following article:
Mobile Devices continues as strongest segment
source：PCB Partner data: 2010-04-26
Business developments and performance
Mobile Devices represents a high proportion of AT&S’s total sales, so that the Group’s business is naturally subject to seasonal variations. Typically, the 1Q and 4Q of the financial year are periods of low capacity utilisation, with excellent utilisation in the 2Q and 3Q.
The current financial year is also affected by the strained global economic situation. As a result, sales in the first quarter of the financial year 2009/10 were down by €32.0m (27.7%) compared with the same period last year, and even in comparison with the already very weak 4Q of 2008/09 there was a reduction of €15.3m (15.5%). In the 2Q, though, sales were already 6% higher than in the first quarter despite the difficult market environment, and in the 3Q they rose by a further 15%.
The bulk of sales - €160 million, or 59% - continued to be generated by Mobile Devices. In spite of the gains in market share at the high technology end of the spectrum, the overall share contributed by Mobile Devices has fallen compared with last year. However, the 3Q compared with the preceding quarters showed a considerable increase again. Industrial business, with a nearly 30% share of sales in the first three quarters, continued to gain in importance, and was even somewhat higher than in the like period last year. Compared with the same period last year, Automotive sales in the first half of the financial year clearly reflected the crisis experienced by automobile manufacturers.
In the 2Q, however, a 17% rise in sales compared with the preceding quarter signalled an upward trend. In the 3Q there was a further improvement of 15%. Services business (design, assembly and trading) has declined sharply due to the discontinuation of various activities in the segment.
In the Group’s target markets, the long-term trend is still for the industry to move to Asia. However, changes in the customer base in the current financial year have meant a significant increase in the importance of sales revenues from producers in Canada and the USA. The proportion of sales in this market in the third quarter was 22%, while the share contributed by Asia fell back to 32%. Despite the economic crisis, sales to European customers remained stable as compared with last year as a result of gains in market share.
Outlook
The successful implementation of the restructuring plans should for the time being conclude the process of necessary strategic adjustment and ensure that AT&S is well positioned for the future. The three Austrian facilities are now focused exclusively on the European market, the plant in India will support the European business with medium-sized batches of printed circuit boards produced at competitive prices, and the Korean facility will round out the product portfolio with its flexible and rigid-flexible circuit boards. And in Shanghai, the biggest HDI plant in China will continue to provide large volume production for the global market.
The improvement in sales in the course of the first three quarters of the financial year 2009/10 signals an upwards trend, and on the basis of existing orders and information about future requirements sales in the fourth quarter are expected to be relatively robust, although for seasonal reasons lower than in the third quarter. Sales for the whole of the current financial year are expected to amount to roughly EUR 360m.
The cost savings from adjusting production capacities were already reflected in the positive results achieved in the second quarter, and were even more marked in the third quarter. They will also contribute to improved results in the fourth quarter. On the basis of the results achieved to date and the budgets for the fourth quarter, operating results for the whole financial year not including non-recurring items are expected to be clearly positive.
Investments in new technologies are expected to bring a slight increase in investing activities in the final quarter; these will continue to be financed out of operating cash flow, so that there should be no increase in net debt as at the end of the current financial year.