As Japanese blog Macotakara reports, Chinese manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron are currently in full flow as they strive to meet the order demands set upon them by Apple. Foxconn is dealing with the vast majority at 85%, whilst Pegatron, which rather ironically sounds like a robot, is taking care of the remaining 15%.
The report also makes note of the fact that the packaging for the device is currently being held up as the Cupertino company has yet to apply the finishing touches to the final release of iOS 5. Despite several beta releases to date, Apple is still as yet not completely satisfied. Considering the announced 200+ changes to be implemented, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that it is a tad behind schedule.
iOS 4 was in itself a major improvement on iPhone OS 3, bringing folders, multitasking, as well being significantly faster than its predecessor. This time around, it does seem that Apple will outdo itself and make iOS 5 the most significant update thus far.
The key improvements will be the Notification Center, taking the place of unsightly badges and inconvenient pop-ups here, there and everywhere. In addition, there will be Apple’s in-house IM effort entitled iMessage, which is bound to be a hit when taken into consideration that it will work on the iPad and iPod Touch as well as the iPhone. One of the key selling points of RIM’s BlackBerry devices (back when they used to actually sell), was the ease in which one could keep in contact with friends and associates by using BlackBerry Messenger.
Apple could well throw in one or two treats into the mixer. Proper folders, which allow for folders inside of folders and more than 12 icons would certainly not go amiss. FolderEnhancer does a pretty good job of that now, but as great as jailbreak apps are, it’s always better to just have the feature as stock rather having to pay for the privilege. It’s not asking too much, is it?
To finish up, it seems as though the Asian market will have to wait several weeks after the US launch for the device to retail. It seems ironic that it is indeed Chinese companies manufacturing the millions of devices yet will not be able to buy one from a native store until the needs of the Americans, British, Germans etc. have been satisfied. With all the KIRF‘s already knocking about, it seems as though many more will wind up getting the bootleg version – even inadvertently so. With a real one on the market, the knocker-offers could have a field day.
You can follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook fanpage to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google and Apple.
