Skip to main content

WSJ: New smaller iPhone real, MobileMe may become free, iTunes music streaming coming soon

tiny iphoneThe rumors of a new, less expensive iPhone are true, reports the Wall Street Journal. The device — which is codenamed “N97” — will be roughly half the size of the iPhone 4, weigh “significantly” less, and sport an “edge-to-edge” screen. The smaller iPhone will also include voice-based navigation, a virtual keyboard and cost roughly half the price of the current iPhone.

Apple currently sells the iPhone to carriers for an average of $625 per phone. With carrier subsidies, customers can get the iPhone 4 for as little as $199. Because of the low cost of the smaller iPhone, says the WSJ, the carrier subsidies would allow users to get the phone for very little, or possibly for free.

A free, or at least less-expensive, iPhone would allow Apple to compete with the swarm of “mass-market” (i.e. Android) handsets that have come to dominate the smartphone industry. In fact, it’s curious — and not at all surprising — that this news of a new, more competitively-priced iPhone arrived just after Samsung’s Sunday announcement of the Android-based Galaxy S II smartphone at Mobile World Congress 2011.

It makes perfect sense for Apple to be making moves against Android. In 2010, use of Google’s Android operating system grew by 888 percent globally. That places Android second only to Symbian in terms of market share percentages. (And Symbian, we now know, will not be with us much longer.) Plus, more Android-based devices shipped in 2010 than phones running any other OS. Sources say Apple realized its need to grab a piece from the lower market; and thus, the smaller iPhone.

Last week, Bloomberg made similar claims about a smaller, cheaper iPhone being in the works. But in that version, the phone was $200 without a contract, and measured one-third smaller than the size of an iPhone 4, not half.

Apple is also allegedly “exploring a major revamp of its MobileMe online storage service.” MobileMe, Apple’s cloud computing and device synchronization service that launched in 2008, currently carries an annual $99 subscription fee. But Apple may soon offer the service for free, the sources say.

In addition, an updated MobileMe could become the “focal point” of a new “online music service that Apple has been developing for more than a year,” and may give users access to their iTunes library from their iPhone or iPad. This may essentially confirm that Apple has been preparing iTunes to include music streaming capabilities — a rumor that’s been percolating since Apple bought, and then promptly shutdown, streaming site Lala.com last spring.

With both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal — respected publications that investors read — saying Apple has a new phone in the works to help the company make money where it’s currently not, we can say with near certainty that the rumored smaller iPhone is true, in one form or another. Neither Steve Jobs nor an official Apple spokesperson would confirm or deny any of these rumors, however, so it’s impossible to say how much of these details will be true come launch day.

Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
The Galaxy S24 just got a big camera update. Here’s what’s new
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in Titanium Orange and in Titanium Silver.

Samsung Galaxy S24 owners just received some great news. Samsung recently released an April software update that addresses various camera issues. Unfortunately, this update is only available in South Korea, but according to information posted on the Samsung Korea forum, it is expected to be released in other regions soon.

Firmware version S928NKSU1AXCA is almost 800MB in size. It includes improvements for lowlight images and image colors in Samsung's Expert RAW app, improved text clarity when zooming in photo mode, and support for 480 x 480 resolution when recording Instant Slow-Mo videos. The Galaxy S24 update for April builds on the improvements from the previous February release, which included enhanced zoom, portrait mode, night mode, and rear camera video capture capabilities.

Read more
Apple just announced the dates for WWDC 2024
WWDC 2024 banner.

Apple has just announced the dates for its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024. WWDC will take place from June 10 through June 14, 2024. A special event will be held at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on June 10, and we expect to see the reveal of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, macOS 15, and visionOS 2.

WWDC will be free for all developers online. Developers will be able to access a variety of online sessions and labs that will showcase the latest advancements in software across all of Apple’s hardware.

Read more
Does the Moto G Stylus have NFC?
Moto G Stylus 5G 2023 leaning

The Motorola Moto G Stylus is a line of midrange Android smartphones, each of which comes packing a stylus — as the name ,akes clear. The two latest models are the Moto G Stylus (2023) and the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023). Although these models are similar, they have some noticeable differences, including their support for near-field communication (NFC) technology. This article will examine which Moto G Stylus models come with NFC and which do not.
What is NFC?

Near-field communication (NFC) is a technology that lets two gadgets communicate with each other when they are within a few centimeters of each other. It is useful for touch payments, e-tickets, data sharing, and effortlessly linking devices via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Read more