Chinese vendors accepting online pre-orders for iPhone 6

Talk about jumping the gun. According to the Wall Street Journal, some Chinese vendors on the Alibaba marketplace have already began accepting pre-orders for the oft-rumored iPhone 6. Apple is widely expected to announce the next-generation smartphone in just a few months, alongside the public release of iOS 8.
The report claims that unverified sellers have been encouraging customers to place pre-orders for the rumored smartphone, with one going as far as offering an “exclusive introduction to the iPhone 6″ in English. Many of the sellers are using promotional materials similar to those found on Apple’s website to tease the upcoming device.
These unofficial iPhone 6 pre-orders don’t come cheap: customers have to fork over a deposit ranging from 500 yuan ($80 USD)  to 7,999 yuan ($1288 USD) to sellers in the Alibaba Taobao marketplace that promise to help purchase the smartphone from the United States and Hong Kong.
As smartphone penetration continues to rise in the United States, Apple has increasingly shifted its focus to China as one of its most important regions for growth. Apple CEO Tim Cook has a lengthy relationship with China, dating back to his tenure as COO under Steve Jobs, and new retail chief Angela Ahrendts has aggressive plans for the emerging market.
Apple began selling the iPhone on China Mobile in January, which at over 770 million subscribers is the world’s largest carrier. The Cupertino-based company was the fifth-largest smartphone maker in China during Q1 2014, trailing behind Samsung, Lenovo, Xiaomi and Coolpad.

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New Lithium cells could double your iPhone’s battery life

If you’re complaining about how short your iPhone’s battery lasts, you’ll want to read this piece of news. Stanford researchers have developed a new kind of lithium battery that can boast of an improvement of 2-3x in battery life.
The Lithium batteries these researchers have developed boast of a much higher energy density than the current crop of Lithium icon batteries, which means that batteries occupying the same space can deliver up to twice or thrice the energy.
Engadget reports:

 The technique [discovered by the researchers] allows for denser, more efficient lithium in the battery’s anode (which discharges electrons) by using a nanoscopic carbon shield that keeps the unstable chemical in check — uncontrolled, it can quickly shorten the device’s lifespan.
The result is a power pack that lasts considerably longer on charge, won’t decay quickly and remains relatively safe.

The researchers claim that smartphones with these advanced lithium cells could increase battery life by 2 to 3 times. This would be great, as devices won’t have to get thicker to offer increased battery life. The researchers’ technique doesn’t just have applications in the smartphone industry, but even in electric cars, that could offer an increased driving range without requiring a charge.
The technique is of course still in research, and it’ll likely take years for this to become mass market, but it is still good to know that iPhone users won’t have to carry battery packs for extending their device’s battery life in the future.

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iPhone 6 release date, news and rumors

The new iPhone could be one of the most pivotal devices in the Cupertino brand's history - with the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C simple updates to previous models, there's a lot of pressure heaped on the iPhone 6.
As per usual, the internet is awash with rumor, speculation and downright lies over this next-generation handset, which is why we spend our time trawling through each nugget of info, debating its merits and curating it into this easy-to-read hub for all things iPhone 6.
According to a survey of 4109 US consumers the iPhone 6 is the most anticipated Apple smartphone ever, with interest easily outstripping that of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5.
We've already been given a small sneak peak at what Apple may have in store for us on the iPhone 6 thanks to the announcement of iOS 8 at WWDC - from a bigger screen and camera to health monitoring and more storage.

• What iOS 8 tells us about the iPhone 6

Some of you might have been expecting the iPhone 6 to have debuted in 2013, but given the iPhone's history - from the 3G onwards, there's always been a half-step S model before the next numbered iPhone - we were never going to get the 6 until 2014.
In fact, it will technically be the iPhone 8 when it finally launches... but hey, who's counting these days? It's unlikey to arrive alongside the new iPad, which is expected a few weeks later in October.
One thing is for sure, with the Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3, Sony Xperia Z2 and HTC One M8 now out in wild, Apple needs to be on its game with the new iPhone - and many believe a bigger screen is simply a must.

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