“It remains to be seen whether the next Apple iPhone set for introduction in September will support 4G LTE,” said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for IHS. “However, if it does, two things are clear. First, the iPhone’s minuscule printed circuit board (PCB) will have to grow in size in order to support the first-generation LTE baseband processor as well as all the supporting chipset. Second, the next iPhone’s BOM value certainly will increase substantially compared to the iPhone 4 if LTE is implemented in the same manner as in the HTC Thunderbolt.”

The code division multiple access (CDMA) version of the iPhone 4, currently offered by Verizon, carried a bill of materials of $171.35, based on the IHS teardown from February. If Apple used the same first-generation LTE chips and baseband design as HTC did in the ThunderBolt, BOM of the CDMA iPhone 4 will  rise to $211.10, a 23.2 percent increase that does include any other changes to the design that could further raise the materials cost.

However, recent comments from Apple indicate the company will not take the same design approach as HTC did. “The first generation of LTE chipsets forced a lot of design compromises with the handset, and some of those we are just not willing to make,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple chief operating officer, speaking at the company’s April 2011 earnings call.

A more efficient solution for implementing LTE would be Qualcomm SnapDragon MSM8960, a successor to the MSM8655 used in the ThunderBolt. The chip combines LTE, EVDO and HSPA into a single design. This new device not only eliminates the multiple baseband chipset approach employed by the ThunderBolt, but also would reduce the size and cost of making an LTE-enabled iPhone 5.

However, even the new MSM8960 will require the addition of more components, including power amplifiers, radio frequency components and switches. Qualcomm’s next-generation LTE solution is set to be introduced in 2012, which would allow Apple to produce an LTE-enabled iPhone at lower costs.

"Our design suites have helped publishers set the standard for what readers and advertisers should expect from publications, in print and now, in interactive form on tablet devices," said David Wadhwani, senior vice president and general manager, Creative and Interactive Solutions, Adobe.

A number of features in InDesign have been enhanced to improve reading experiences on e-book devices, such as Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony Reader and Apple iPad. Designers can now add refined typography, images that resize automatically to fit virtually any screen, and video and audio for e-book reader applications. New capabilities in Flash Professional CS5.5 let designers and developers build mobile applications that run on iPhone, iPad, Android devices and BlackBerry Playbook.

Targeting designers that have project-based needs, Adobe also announced subscription-based pricing for Creative Suite 5.5 Design Premium ($95 per month) and Creative Suite 5.5 Design Standard ($65 per month). Adobe Photoshop is now available for $35 per month, and the Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection will cost $129 per month. Estimated street prices for the suites are expected to be $2,599 for the CS5.5 Master Collection, $1,899 for CS5.5 Design Premium, $1,799 for CS5.5 Web Premium, $1,699 for CS5.5 Production Premium, and $1,299 for the CS5.5 Design Standard edition, Adobe says.

“Creative Suite 5.5 will drive the development of new digital experiences across devices, including all major smartphones and tablets,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer, Adobe. “As publishers, media companies, advertisers and enterprises transform the way they develop and distribute their content, Adobe will be there to support them with technology innovations in content creation, management, measurement and distribution.”

Adobe plans to have milestone Creative Suite product introductions at 24-month intervals from now on.

Apple introduced the first iPhone two years ago on January 9, 2009. Currently, there are 4 generations of the Smartphone. While the operating system iOS has changed, several features including the liquid crystal display with scratch-resistant glass and the button placement have remained the same. The 3G network capabilities and A-GPS were added to the 3G model, the 3GS iPhone featured a faster processor, a high resolution camera with video capabilities, and a compass. The latest iPhone 4, released on June 24, 2010, offers an upgraded screen and two cameras. The original iPhone with 8GB of memory sold for $599 at the time of its release.

The 3GS misses out on some refinements offered only by the iPhone 4, but it runs Apple’s iOS 4.2.1 and comes with a black or white back plate. AT&T is the second-largest U.S. mobile-phone carrier and requires a two-year contract to take advantage of the new $49 price.

"We are constantly working at improving the Kindle magazine and newspaper experience for both customers and publishers," said Peter Larsen, director of Kindle Periodicals. "Building on the recent introduction of Wi-Fi-enabled Kindles and the upcoming availability of newspapers and magazines on Kindle Apps, we're pleased to add an increased revenue share and a great new tool for making Kindle better and easier than ever for publishers."

To qualify for 70 percent revenue share, publishers must make all of their content for each edition or issue available in XML format for all geographic regions for which the publisher has rights. The content must be readable on all supported devices including the Kindle, Apple’s iPhone, and other smartphones or PC’s. Furthermore, each edition must be delivered three hours before the print edition becomes available.

Amazon also announced the Beta release of the Kindle Publishing for Periodicals tool that allows content providers to more easily add their newspaper or magazine to the Kindle Store. Publishers interested in the new offer can apply here.

The new terms do not apply to blog publishers "because existing terms are generally more advantageous for them," Amazon said in a statement.

To better compete with Apple’s iPad and e-readers from other vendors such as Sony and Barnes & Noble, Amazon already cut prices for the Kindle in July 2010. The company does not disclose how much revenue the sale of periodicals generates.

Starting December 1, 2010, Amazon plans to pay publishers of newspapers and magazines 70 percent of the revenue generated. Photo: Amazon

"The most obvious change is that you get to the right content much faster than before because you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press search," Google says on its blog. "Another shift is that seeing results as you type helps you formulate a better search term by providing instant feedback. You can now adapt your search on the fly until the results match exactly what you want."

Google Instant for mobile devices is currently only available in beta. Users have to navigate to google.com in their browser and turn the feature on. Predictions will appear automatically, and tapping on recommendations will display the search results associated with the query. Pressing the enter key or the search button will skip the predictions and display results for the phrase typed.

"With Google Instant on mobile, we're pushing the limits of mobile browsers and wireless networks," says Steve Kanefsky, a Google software engineer in a blog post. "You will probably notice a big improvement in speed when you search thanks to a new AJAX and HTML5 implementation for mobile that dynamically updates the page with new results and eliminates the need to load a new page for each query."

Google says that Instant for mobile works best on 3G and Wi-Fi networks. Since the quality of wireless connections fluctuates, users can switch the feature on and off without leaving the search page. However, the limited real estate on mobile screens may also limit the functionality of the service. Users typically see the top result on the screen since auto suggestions take up much of the space available.