Apple asks FCC to keep iPhone 4 details under wraps
Just three days before Apple officially unveiled iPhone 4, the company requested that the Federal Communications Commission keep photos and information of the handset secret for 45 days.
The letter obtained and published by Patently Apple, was addressed to the FCC and signed by Robert Steinfeld, EMC and wireless compliance manager with Apple. It cites a desire to keep information about the inner workings of the iPhone secret, despite the fact that the phone was set to be publicly unveiled, and prototypes were disassembled well before that.
"Although Apple has begun to market the device publicly, these documents reveal technical and design information that has not yet been publicly disclosed in such marketing and that is protected by Apple as confidential and proprietary secrets," the letter reads.
It requests a 45-day short-term confidentiality agreement for photographs related to test setup, external, and internal views of the hardware, as well as the user manual. Apple has also asked for permanent confidentiality related to a number of specifics, including schematics and bills of material for the cellular radio, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality.
It is standard practice for Apple to request confidentiality from the FCC. But the request has been viewed as curious by some, considering that prototypes of the near-final iPhone 4 design were publicly disassembled, revealing many of the new device's secrets.
One secret that Apple managed to keep under wraps until last week was the amount of RAM within its latest iPhone. While reports had suggested the A4 had 256MB of embedded RAM -- the same amount found inside the iPad -- Apple reportedly disclosed to developers during last week's Worldwide Developers Conference that the handset actually features 512MB of RAM, doubling that of last year's iPhone 3GS.
Other technical details and features that Apple might want to keep secret could include secrets such as:
The design and features of its A4 SoC, which is significantly different from other SoCs sharing its same Cortex A8 CPU core.
Details related to the performance of iPhone 4's new stainless steel frame antenna.
Likely new cellular radio support for pentaband UMTS I,II,V,VI,VIII (850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz) 3G bands, enabling improved reception for markets like Japan and New Zealand that use the UMTS 800MHz band VI. Current iPhones (and other smartphones) typically offer quadband UMTS. Apple is currently advertising quadband support, but FCC filings indicate that iPhone 4 is actually a pentaband phone.
Possible cellular radio support for the AWS UMTS IV band (advanced wireless spectrum), enabling compatibility with the 3G UMTS service T-Mobile operates in the US.
Possible cellular radio support for CDMA/EVDO, enabling the rumored hybrid operation on Verizon and Sprint.
The letter obtained and published by Patently Apple, was addressed to the FCC and signed by Robert Steinfeld, EMC and wireless compliance manager with Apple. It cites a desire to keep information about the inner workings of the iPhone secret, despite the fact that the phone was set to be publicly unveiled, and prototypes were disassembled well before that.
"Although Apple has begun to market the device publicly, these documents reveal technical and design information that has not yet been publicly disclosed in such marketing and that is protected by Apple as confidential and proprietary secrets," the letter reads.
It requests a 45-day short-term confidentiality agreement for photographs related to test setup, external, and internal views of the hardware, as well as the user manual. Apple has also asked for permanent confidentiality related to a number of specifics, including schematics and bills of material for the cellular radio, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality.
It is standard practice for Apple to request confidentiality from the FCC. But the request has been viewed as curious by some, considering that prototypes of the near-final iPhone 4 design were publicly disassembled, revealing many of the new device's secrets.
One secret that Apple managed to keep under wraps until last week was the amount of RAM within its latest iPhone. While reports had suggested the A4 had 256MB of embedded RAM -- the same amount found inside the iPad -- Apple reportedly disclosed to developers during last week's Worldwide Developers Conference that the handset actually features 512MB of RAM, doubling that of last year's iPhone 3GS.
Other technical details and features that Apple might want to keep secret could include secrets such as:
The design and features of its A4 SoC, which is significantly different from other SoCs sharing its same Cortex A8 CPU core.
Details related to the performance of iPhone 4's new stainless steel frame antenna.
Likely new cellular radio support for pentaband UMTS I,II,V,VI,VIII (850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz) 3G bands, enabling improved reception for markets like Japan and New Zealand that use the UMTS 800MHz band VI. Current iPhones (and other smartphones) typically offer quadband UMTS. Apple is currently advertising quadband support, but FCC filings indicate that iPhone 4 is actually a pentaband phone.
Possible cellular radio support for the AWS UMTS IV band (advanced wireless spectrum), enabling compatibility with the 3G UMTS service T-Mobile operates in the US.
Possible cellular radio support for CDMA/EVDO, enabling the rumored hybrid operation on Verizon and Sprint.
Comments
REQUEST DENIED + kiss n make up with Gizmodo LOL
They are trying to be consistent with their claim against gizmodo. Plus there could be other Data like antenna strength etc.
Or maybe tests showing alternative radios like CDMA ... but i'm just wishful thinking
I would have to assume that Apple had certification in hand when Steve announced the announced iPhone 4 and a ship-date. The announcement was June 7. Sending a letter on June 4 means that it almost certainly would have been after FCC had certified the new phone (note that withholding of information is requested for 45 days after certification is granted). So this must be for a device that has not yet received certification -- so not the phone that Steve showed.
Steve isn't going to stick his neck out on stage and give a ship date that isn't golden. Ain't gonna happen. So maybe this is for a different variant.
Verizon, anyone??
Why do you all assume that this is for the iPhone that was announced??
I would have to assume that Apple had certification in hand when Steve announced the announced iPhone 4 and a ship-date. The announcement was June 7. Sending a letter on June 4 means that it almost certainly would have been after FCC had certified the new phone (note that withholding of information is requested for 45 days after certification is granted). So this must be for a device that has not yet received certification -- so not the phone that Steve showed.
Steve isn't going to stick his neck out on stage and give a ship date that isn't golden. Ain't gonna happen. So maybe this is for a different variant.
Verizon, anyone??
Just three days before Apple officially unveiled iPhone 4, the company requested that the Federal Communications Commission keep photos and information of the handset secret for 45 days.
The letter addressed to the FCC was signed by Robert Steinfeld, EMC and wireless compliance manager with Apple. It cites a desire to keep information about the inner workings of the iPhone secret, despite the fact that the phone was set to be publicly unveiled, and prototypes were disassembled well before that.
"Although Apple has begun to market the device publicly, these documents reveal technical and design information that has not yet been publicly disclosed in such marketing and that is protected by Apple as confidential and proprietary secrets," the letter reads.
Not to point out the obvious or anything.
Apple wants to wait 45 days to tell you the complete information about the phone.
Seems unfair.
AT&T has a 30 day return period on phone.
Apple wants to wait 45 days to tell you the complete information about the phone.
Seems unfair.
OK, so don't buy it the first day..
If you pre-order now it won't matter anyway.
This is standard practice. Nothing new here.
It's really not. Most companies just ask for a few areas to be kept under wraps for a while, if that.
If i were the FCC
REQUEST DENIED + kiss n make up with Gizmodo LOL
Or being a clown here
I'm so tired of hearing about the mythical Verizon iPhone, if you want an iPhone go to an ATT or Apple store and buy one, but please stop with the constant Verizon iPhone garbage. Apple will probably not release a Verizon iPhone until Verizon rolls out it's version of "4G" UTMS/HSDPA service. Apple would not want to fragment production like that.
What if Apple has included radios for both GSM (with more bands) and CDMA? This would allow them to market a single handset to most carriers, worldwide, without fragmentation and with economy of scale!
The big CDMA carrier is China Telecom with 65.94 million subscribers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...work_operators
and, this:
CDMA is used by 279 operators in more than 100 countries that reach a combined 455 million 3G CDMA users,
http://moconews.net/article/419-appl...rators-if-the/
And, pickup Verizon when the ATT contract ends.
That's Apple Style!
.
What if Apple has included radios for both GSM (with more bands) and CDMA? This would allow them to market a single handset to most carriers, worldwide, without fragmentation and with economy of scale!
The big CDMA carrier is China Telecom with 65.94 million subscribers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...work_operators
and, this:
CDMA is used by 279 operators in more than 100 countries that reach a combined 455 million 3G CDMA users,
http://moconews.net/article/419-appl...rators-if-the/
And, pickup Verizon when the ATT contract ends.
That's Apple Style!
.
Compare that with 538 million users of CHina Mobile using GSM .. just one company.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ce...technology.svg
Or maybe tests showing alternative radios like CDMA ... but i'm just wishful thinking
Actually you're not! Looks like a Verizon iPhone is definitely in the works to be released around the holidays. Follow the link:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10786...e-soaring.html
If i were the FCC
REQUEST DENIED + kiss n make up with Gizmodo LOL
LOL
Fuck Gizmodo, chequebook journalism should be outlawed. hope that prick ends up with some hard-time taking the shaft from some big pipe wieldin dudes.
ATT are only a tiny fraction of the available users worldwide. Apparently they don't care about how bad their network is or their would be zero subscribers.