Ben Reid·

LTE iPhone 5 And iPad 3 Reportedly In The Works, Slated For 2012 Release [REPORT]

Apple is reportedly preparing to release a 4G-capable iPad 3 in the summer, with the iPhone 5 following in Fall also boasting the connection technology of tomorrow. Additionally, both devices will be released on NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s foremost mobile carrier.

The timings would give the iPhone 4S, which released just last month, and the iPad 2, which dropped earlier this year, a decent spell as the top device.

NTT DoCoMo’s president Kiyoyuki Tsujimura and vice president Takashi Yamada are reported to have met Tim Cook earlier this month to smooth out the deal, and “agreed in principle” with Apple’s head honcho to sell both the next-generation iPhone and iPad. The verbal agreement also entailed a commitment to order, so although nothing’s been cast in stone, it does seem a strong possibility that the two companies will be doing a lot of business over the next 12 months.

There has been much talk during the course of the last year or so as to whether the fruit company would move towards 4G (or LTE, as it is referred to in Cupertino), but as yet, nothing has materialized. Apple has always maintained that the technology is not ready for mass adoption, since the current bunch of 4G LTE chips command too much power in order to run. With smartphone batteries about as useful as chocolate fire blankets just now, you’d have to say it’s been a wise move.

In addition, Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer noted the LTE chipsets would beset design compromises which the Apple was not willing to make, at least not for the time being.

Up until recently, talks between Apple and perspective carrier partners throughout Asia had been hitting a brick wall due to Apple’s lack of room for negotiation on its principle beliefs. For example, Apple wanted carriers to commit to large volumes, something which – despite the popularity of the iPhone – those carriers were not always willing to make. Furthermore, NTT DoCoMo is reported to have wanted some form of influence on what software goes on consumers’ devices, and as you would expect, Apple was having none of it.

(source Nikkei Business via 9to5mac)

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