Installing multiple or demanding applications can make netbooks and entry-level notebooks sluggish. Portable applications open up avenues to get much more out of your basic machine.
Why should you use them?
Let’s say that you want to use particular software on your netbook and at the same time you’re a bit tight on the money front. No problem, there are loads of free substitutes available which can serve your purpose. You can download portable applications (on CHIP DVD) and use them on your netbook and/or notebook for free. They save space, spare you the registry issues, and they don’t clutter your Desktop with icons or your Start Menu with shortcuts.
Depending on your needs, there’s a plethora of applications designed for specific purposes. For instance, there’s OpenOffice Portable, which is free and portable. A similar example is of the GnuCash Portable which is a financial management application. Then there’s KompoZer Portable that helps in developing a basic static website from start to finish in no time. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there’s a lot more for you to explore. But in the mean time, let’s look at some of the applications in detail.
Here’s a quick question, what software do basic office computers need? Lets say an office suite, image editor, webpage editor, PDF reader, instant messenger and a few entertainment applications. Here are some portable applications that you can use to replace installble software.
Office applications
OpenOffice Portable (239 MB)
A portable version of the OpenOffice suite, this comprehensive suite comprises of office applications which are similar to that of Microsoft Office. On execution, the main interface lets you choose which document you wish to create, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and so on. For people who prefer to use them seperately can do so by executing the individual files. Free of charge and miniscule in size, all applications collectively suffice for almost all tasks that are expected from an office suite.
The Writer closely resembles Microsoft Word in looks as well as in features. It’s good at almost all tasks that are expected from a decent word processor. It also features some utilities that many word processors don’t. For instance, it has a built-in media player and a save-as-PDF option. You can also type a letter and export that document as an attachment to your default email client.
Then there is OpenOffice Draw, which lets you do everything that Paintbrush in Windows can do. In addition, Draw lets you add effects to your work such as gradients, transparencies, 3D shapes and work with layers. Overall, it’s a good option for basic clipart work.
Another useful application is the Excel look-alike, the OpenOffice Calc. Even though it resembles Microsoft Excel, its features and layout are not as intimidating; however it is as effective as Excel. Nonetheless, the Calc will suffice for advanced calculations, formulae and macros. Some functions may require a Java environment for OpenOffice to work. Some built-in features such as the media player and save-as-PDF are common to this application too. Overall, it’s a good option for regular office work.
There’s something for presentations too, it’s the OpenOffice Impress. It does impress us with its easy to use interface and quick and intuitive steps. It’s a good substitute for Microsoft Powerpoint. The predefined master pages can give you a good head start for making super quick presentations. The various layout templates and table designs give you an array of options to choose from. Also you can add various effects to your presentation such as slide transitions and numerous customizable animations. In the unlikely event that you run out of design options, you can choose colorful patterns from the gallery.
Up next is a portable database, called Base, which lets you create tables, queries, forms and reports. Creating databases and tables, using wizards and so on, require a Java environment when using OpenOffice. You can acquire it from a Sun Java 1.5 or higher installation and place it into the ‘CommonFiles’ folder. If your work involves multitasking, this database is a very good option.
GIMP portable (20.2 MB)
The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is a powerful image editing application which delivers professional results. It closely resembles Adobe Photoshop in more than one way. The initial screen displays three disconnected windows, a canvas area, the toolbox and the third window is for channels, layers, brushes and such. GIMP is feature rich and it lets you work with layers, filters, various innovative brushes and much more. Similar to Photoshop, GIMP also has different tools for selection, applying perspective effects, dodging, cloning (stamping) and more. Although the interface is not the most user-friendly one, its features make it a powerful image editing program. Considering the fact that it is as light as 20MB, and to top that off it is free, this one’s a great option for a portable image editor.
Eraser portable (1.40 MB)
This decent looking and user-friendly application is primarily intended for secure deletion of specific files, folders and for wiping unused disk space. You can opt to use the Gutmann method (see tips) for the process. It even offers to deliver reports for all scenarios. While being a portable application it doesn’t modify or create new entries in the local machine, but can be added to the context menus for convenience and quick operation. Finally, the Eraser Portable features a scheduler, which allows automation at users’ convenience. So all in all, it’s a fairly useful application. If someone needs your help to securely delete data from his hard drive, just plug your flash drive in and put the Eraser Portable to the task.
GnuCash Portable (100 MB)
Now, this is an application which unlike most portable applications is packed with features. Although the initial launch takes a few seconds, the application offers a series of choices which help configure your account settings that are specific to your needs. For instance, it offers choices for the currency of the account and the types of accounts to be maintained such as a simple check book, business account, car loans, child care expense, common accounts, fixed assets and a few more. Each account type has subcategories. For instance, the common account has entries that include Books, Education and Laundry etc. And the most elaborate ones such as a Business account involves categories such as Assets, Equity, Liabilities and each category forms a tree structure to further elaborate that specific account. To top it all, there’s a feature of online banking within the application. So it’s safe to say that the program’s size on disk is largely owed to the numerous features it offers. So overall, the GnuCash Portable with its elaborate feature set is certainly worth a shot.
AbiWord Portable (9.84 MB)
Other than a few features, AbiWord Portable mimics the Microsoft Word beautifully. Even the interface, the layout and the look of the application isn’t very different. If you’re looking at basic word processing, such as typing documents, formatting, tables, headers and footers, date and time, page breaks and so on, this is a good standalone option. This application does all of this and more and it is also compatible to the Microsoft Word file format. So we’d say it’s a good application for a simple word processing scenario.
SumatraPDF Portable (1.51 MB)
This one is your average PDF document reader which offers all the standard features such as various page viewing styles, printing, zooming in and out, rotating and book marking pages and so on. However, one feature that deserves attention is the various language interfaces, two of which include Indian languages too.
Portable WordWeb (13.6 MB)
A portable version of the WordWeb, this is a fairly comprehensive program which is intended for Microsoft Windows. It can be used to find the meaning of words from any program in a single click. The default settings let you right-click on a particular word to display its definition, pronunciation, synonyms and related words. So if you need a one-click portable dictionary and thesaurus, using WordWeb on your portable flash drive is an excellent option.
Audacity Portable 1.2.6 (4.33 MB)
Audacity is a basic audio editing program which lets you work with almost all standard audio formats such as WAV, MP3, AUP, AIF and so on. It allows recording at various sample rates in mono or stereo mode. In addition to these features, the program lets you add audio effects to a track such as amplification, bass boost, changing the pitch, speed and tempo, and do a lot more with a track. So, at a modest 4.33 MB, it’s quite utilitarian.
MPlayer Portable (7.41 MB)
The MPlayer Portable looks and works like any other standard media player. However, it plays a variety of media files for which many other players either need plug-ins or they can’t play them at all. For instance, the MPlayer is compatible with DivX (AVI), MP3, FLV, music CDs and DVDs. You can also set the aspect ratios automatically or manually.
aMSN Portable (23 MB)
This application has almost everything that the installable version of MSN messenger features. The default skin looks quite plain but you can get some more skins by going to Account | Select Skin. Not bad at all.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Monocomplex Design’s Tack
Monocomplex Design’s Tack range is beach furniture with a clever twist. Instead of desperately trying not to sink into the sand, the Tack chair and bench are big spikes which slide into the soft surface like golf tees and sit there, solid.
The lightweight plastic chairs also have handles for easy removal. They probably aren’t made to be bought by your or me. Instead, they could be rented out to beachgoers for a few [insert local currency here] per day.
I can see these going down very well in my abandoned country of origin, England. There, on the two days of Summer enjoyed each year, the locals will load up their cars, sit in a traffic jam in sweltering 70ºF heat for several hours and then set up camp on the crowded beaches.
Tack Beach Furniture Screws Into Sand
Like Robert Falcon Scott on his Antarctic voyage, the English come prepared: They will have fold out chairs, and perhaps a table. They will bring wind-breaks which they will hammer into the sand around them to turn their small patch of beach into a walled-off outdoor home. They will have thermos flasks full of hot tea, and cold-chests full of sandwiches and beer. There will be kids’ toys, inflatables, dinghies, lilos and cheap, plastic footballs.
The two things that you will never see are beach umbrellas and sunscreen. There’s nothing the English like more (apart from smashing up public toilets) than to spend their two days of summer lying unprotected under the sun, crisping their pale, sallow skin to a frazzled lobster-red, whilst sweating out enough salty perspiration to fill a paddling pool.
Yes, extra beach furniture would go down a storm in England. Or perhaps it is still a little too exotic. Maybe if Monocomplex came up with an easy to carry TV set and sofa that could be quickly unpacked on the beach, then they’d have the English market sewn up.
The lightweight plastic chairs also have handles for easy removal. They probably aren’t made to be bought by your or me. Instead, they could be rented out to beachgoers for a few [insert local currency here] per day.
I can see these going down very well in my abandoned country of origin, England. There, on the two days of Summer enjoyed each year, the locals will load up their cars, sit in a traffic jam in sweltering 70ºF heat for several hours and then set up camp on the crowded beaches.
Tack Beach Furniture Screws Into Sand
Like Robert Falcon Scott on his Antarctic voyage, the English come prepared: They will have fold out chairs, and perhaps a table. They will bring wind-breaks which they will hammer into the sand around them to turn their small patch of beach into a walled-off outdoor home. They will have thermos flasks full of hot tea, and cold-chests full of sandwiches and beer. There will be kids’ toys, inflatables, dinghies, lilos and cheap, plastic footballs.
The two things that you will never see are beach umbrellas and sunscreen. There’s nothing the English like more (apart from smashing up public toilets) than to spend their two days of summer lying unprotected under the sun, crisping their pale, sallow skin to a frazzled lobster-red, whilst sweating out enough salty perspiration to fill a paddling pool.
Yes, extra beach furniture would go down a storm in England. Or perhaps it is still a little too exotic. Maybe if Monocomplex came up with an easy to carry TV set and sofa that could be quickly unpacked on the beach, then they’d have the English market sewn up.
Microsoft Kinect Hacked to play World of Warcraft
Living Rooms all around the world are shaking with fear of users actually taking swords and attacking their big screens thanks to a new hack for the Microsoft Kinect that allows gamers to play World of Warcraft without a keyboard.
It’s no secret that the Kinect is rapidly becoming the most hacked device since the Hackintosh, but students at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies have takent he next step in developing a software hack which enables gamers to use the motion device to immerse themselves even deeper into the online Mid-evil world.
The hack is called the “Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit, (FAAST) and it uses full-body motion control. Gamer can not only wield a sword or axe to take out a feisty orc, but they can also cast spells, making it nirvana for those who secretly love to dress up to play their favorite game. And it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out a way to use their light saber collection to battle someone online.
But with everyone creating bold new uses for the Kinect and porting it over to the PC, the sky is truly the limit for what can be done with this game changing device. And it makes the world of Minority Report that much closer, but in a bold and exciting way. Imagine editing video’s just with a snip of your fingers and a wave of your hand? Designing in CAD programs Tony Stark style. And getting rid of the keyboard forever?
It’s not just for games anymore and that’s a cool thing.
It’s no secret that the Kinect is rapidly becoming the most hacked device since the Hackintosh, but students at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies have takent he next step in developing a software hack which enables gamers to use the motion device to immerse themselves even deeper into the online Mid-evil world.
The hack is called the “Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit, (FAAST) and it uses full-body motion control. Gamer can not only wield a sword or axe to take out a feisty orc, but they can also cast spells, making it nirvana for those who secretly love to dress up to play their favorite game. And it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out a way to use their light saber collection to battle someone online.
But with everyone creating bold new uses for the Kinect and porting it over to the PC, the sky is truly the limit for what can be done with this game changing device. And it makes the world of Minority Report that much closer, but in a bold and exciting way. Imagine editing video’s just with a snip of your fingers and a wave of your hand? Designing in CAD programs Tony Stark style. And getting rid of the keyboard forever?
It’s not just for games anymore and that’s a cool thing.
PlayBook Shows Challenges of Bringing Flash to Tablets
Here’s a telling sign of how hard Research in Motion and Adobe are working on Flash: Just a week before the release of RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook, both companies were still working out the kinks with the tablet’s Flash support and operating system stability.
“There’s a pretty complex hardware and software stack here,” explained Danny Winokur, vice president of Adobe’s Flash runtime software division. “It starts with the silicon and goes all the way down to drivers and the OS. Issues at any layer in that stack can be exposed when any piece of content comes into play and affect the stability that users are having.”
In other words, for Adobe and hardware partners like RIM, implementing Flash on the new crop of mobile tablets isn’t smooth as jelly.
Last week, Wired.com speculated that Flash was one of the factors contributing to a delayed launch of the PlayBook, which was originally scheduled for a first-quarter launch.
“RIM is on track to launch the BlackBerry PlayBook on April 19th, which is within three weeks of the original timing estimate provided in the fall,” RIM said in a prepared response to that article. “We don’t know where the rumor started, but any suggestion that Flash support has caused a delay is simply false.”
The PlayBook hits stores in only six days, on April 19. (Check out our full review of the PlayBook.)
It’s not unheard of for companies to be fixing bugs with their products until the last minute. Indeed, software updates to the PlayBook improved (but didn’t eliminate) Flash instability during the time we were testing it.
But it’s a sign of just how challenging it is to make Flash work right on mobile devices.
(Disclosure: Wired.com is owned by Conde Nast, which has been working closely with Adobe to bring digital versions of magazines, including Wired, to tablet devices.)
John Cooney, head of game development at Armor Games (which produces Flash-based games), seconded Adobe’s claim that the mobile environment is technologically complex.
“Mobile devices run differently and have different requirements in both hardware and software,” said Cooney. “They’re going to want to deliver a really good experience and any finagling they can do to get a device running 100 percent will be their bread and butter.”
In our testing over several days, some YouTube videos played choppily, every Flash game we accessed through Facebook crashed the PlayBook browser and some games at AddictingGames.com also crashed.
The problems are cropping up despite the fact that Flash has been supported on QNX, the operating system underlying the PlayBook OS, since 2009. Even though Adobe touts the plug-in as a “write once, run anywhere” runtime environment, the story right now is more precisely, “write once, work sometimes, on some devices.”
“There’s a pretty complex hardware and software stack here,” explained Danny Winokur, vice president of Adobe’s Flash runtime software division. “It starts with the silicon and goes all the way down to drivers and the OS. Issues at any layer in that stack can be exposed when any piece of content comes into play and affect the stability that users are having.”
In other words, for Adobe and hardware partners like RIM, implementing Flash on the new crop of mobile tablets isn’t smooth as jelly.
Last week, Wired.com speculated that Flash was one of the factors contributing to a delayed launch of the PlayBook, which was originally scheduled for a first-quarter launch.
“RIM is on track to launch the BlackBerry PlayBook on April 19th, which is within three weeks of the original timing estimate provided in the fall,” RIM said in a prepared response to that article. “We don’t know where the rumor started, but any suggestion that Flash support has caused a delay is simply false.”
The PlayBook hits stores in only six days, on April 19. (Check out our full review of the PlayBook.)
It’s not unheard of for companies to be fixing bugs with their products until the last minute. Indeed, software updates to the PlayBook improved (but didn’t eliminate) Flash instability during the time we were testing it.
But it’s a sign of just how challenging it is to make Flash work right on mobile devices.
(Disclosure: Wired.com is owned by Conde Nast, which has been working closely with Adobe to bring digital versions of magazines, including Wired, to tablet devices.)
John Cooney, head of game development at Armor Games (which produces Flash-based games), seconded Adobe’s claim that the mobile environment is technologically complex.
“Mobile devices run differently and have different requirements in both hardware and software,” said Cooney. “They’re going to want to deliver a really good experience and any finagling they can do to get a device running 100 percent will be their bread and butter.”
In our testing over several days, some YouTube videos played choppily, every Flash game we accessed through Facebook crashed the PlayBook browser and some games at AddictingGames.com also crashed.
The problems are cropping up despite the fact that Flash has been supported on QNX, the operating system underlying the PlayBook OS, since 2009. Even though Adobe touts the plug-in as a “write once, run anywhere” runtime environment, the story right now is more precisely, “write once, work sometimes, on some devices.”
Federal Reserve
Like the other central banks, the Federal Reserve of the USA affects the foreign exchange markets in three general areas:
• the discount rate;
• the money market instruments;
• foreign exchange operations.
For the foreign exchange operations most significant are repurchase agreements to sell the same security back at the same price at a predetermined date in the future (usually within 15 days), and at a specific rate of interest. This arrangement amounts to a temporary injection of reserves into the banking system. The impact on the foreign exchange market is that the dollar should weaken. The repurchase agreements may be either customer repos or system repos. Matched sale-purchase agreements are just the opposite of repurchase agreements.
When executing a matched sale-purchase agreement, the Fed sells a security for immediate delivery to a dealer or a foreign central bank, with the agreement to buy back the same security at the same price at a predetermined time in the future (generally within 7 days). This arrangement amounts to a temporary drain of reserves. The impact on the foreign exchange market is that the dollar should strengthen. The major central banks are involved in foreign exchange operations in more ways than intervening in the open market. Their operations include payments among central banks or to international agencies. In addition, the Federal Reserve has entered a series of currency swap arrangements with other central banks since 1962. For instance, to help the allied war effort against Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990-1991, payments were executed by the Bundesbank and Bank of Japan to the Federal Reserve. Also, payments to the World bank or the United Nations are executed through central banks.
Intervention in the United States foreign exchange markets by the U.S.
Treasury and the Federal Reserve is geared toward restoring orderly conditions in the market or influencing the exchange rates. It is not geared toward affecting the reserves. There are two types of foreign exchange interventions: naked intervention and sterilized intervention.
Naked intervention, or unsterilized intervention, refers to the sole foreign exchange activity. All that takes place is the intervention itself, in which the Federal Reserve either buys or sells U.S. dollars against a foreign currency. In addition to the impact on the foreign exchange market, there is also a monetary effect on the money supply. If the money supply is impacted, then consequent adjustments must be made in interest rates, in prices, and at all levels of the economy.
Therefore, a naked foreign exchange intervention has a long-term effect. Sterilized intervention neutralizes its impact on the money supply. As there are rather few central banks that want the impact of their intervention in the foreign exchange markets to affect all corners of their economy, sterilized interventions have been the tool of choice. This holds true for the Federal Reserve as well. The sterilized intervention involves an additional step to the original currency transaction.
• the discount rate;
• the money market instruments;
• foreign exchange operations.
For the foreign exchange operations most significant are repurchase agreements to sell the same security back at the same price at a predetermined date in the future (usually within 15 days), and at a specific rate of interest. This arrangement amounts to a temporary injection of reserves into the banking system. The impact on the foreign exchange market is that the dollar should weaken. The repurchase agreements may be either customer repos or system repos. Matched sale-purchase agreements are just the opposite of repurchase agreements.
When executing a matched sale-purchase agreement, the Fed sells a security for immediate delivery to a dealer or a foreign central bank, with the agreement to buy back the same security at the same price at a predetermined time in the future (generally within 7 days). This arrangement amounts to a temporary drain of reserves. The impact on the foreign exchange market is that the dollar should strengthen. The major central banks are involved in foreign exchange operations in more ways than intervening in the open market. Their operations include payments among central banks or to international agencies. In addition, the Federal Reserve has entered a series of currency swap arrangements with other central banks since 1962. For instance, to help the allied war effort against Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990-1991, payments were executed by the Bundesbank and Bank of Japan to the Federal Reserve. Also, payments to the World bank or the United Nations are executed through central banks.
Intervention in the United States foreign exchange markets by the U.S.
Treasury and the Federal Reserve is geared toward restoring orderly conditions in the market or influencing the exchange rates. It is not geared toward affecting the reserves. There are two types of foreign exchange interventions: naked intervention and sterilized intervention.
Naked intervention, or unsterilized intervention, refers to the sole foreign exchange activity. All that takes place is the intervention itself, in which the Federal Reserve either buys or sells U.S. dollars against a foreign currency. In addition to the impact on the foreign exchange market, there is also a monetary effect on the money supply. If the money supply is impacted, then consequent adjustments must be made in interest rates, in prices, and at all levels of the economy.
Therefore, a naked foreign exchange intervention has a long-term effect. Sterilized intervention neutralizes its impact on the money supply. As there are rather few central banks that want the impact of their intervention in the foreign exchange markets to affect all corners of their economy, sterilized interventions have been the tool of choice. This holds true for the Federal Reserve as well. The sterilized intervention involves an additional step to the original currency transaction.
The iPhone 5 Takes Shape
Hope you have collected all the speculation on the iPhone 5. While we seemed to have a solid picture back then, a new batch of rumors has muddled things up. Here's what we know: if Apple's pattern holds, the iPhone 5 will pack a dual-core A5 processor. We can expect a Verizon and AT&T version to launch. June will be the release month.
Everything else we have is wild speculation. And here it is:
-NFC. Or Not. We've had duelling rumors on this one. The iPhone 5 may just show up with a new Qualcomm chip that includes NFC functionality. This would give the new iPhone one capability over the current iPad. But the "electronic credit card" function NFC seems focused towards is much more convenient on a handset.
Apple is believed to be instituting a major NFC push among American small businesses. If Apple is willing to subsidize NFC readers for small retailers, they definitely have their eyes set on the technology. Google's Nexus S beats them from being "first", but Apple still has the market power to actually push adoption on a major scale.
No T-Mobile Support. This one is pretty much a given, after the revelation that AT&T is purchasing their old rival. On the plus side? Those of you who are current T-Mo customers will have a shot at the iPhone 5. So, in a very stupid way, T-Mobile did get the iPhone.
-The Glass is here to stay. Ever since the iPhone 4 launched, folks have complained about the dual glass design. It has been the cause of most iPhone repairs, and many speculated that Apple would change the form factor up with the five. Early leaked cases from Alibaba, however, hint that the dual-glass design will be hanging around for another iteration.
-There will be a white iPhone 5 at launch. A marketer for Apple tweeted as much a few days ago. While that isn't much evidence, prior rumors support the white iPhone 5. The iPad 2 comes in both colors- but it also has a wildly different design. Apple's had trouble getting white models of the iPhone 4 to come out well.
-The four inch display seems very likely at this point. A 64 GB model also seems possible. A 64 GB iPhone 4 prototype stumbled out onto the world stage recently. Could it be a sign of things to come?
Everything else we have is wild speculation. And here it is:
-NFC. Or Not. We've had duelling rumors on this one. The iPhone 5 may just show up with a new Qualcomm chip that includes NFC functionality. This would give the new iPhone one capability over the current iPad. But the "electronic credit card" function NFC seems focused towards is much more convenient on a handset.
Apple is believed to be instituting a major NFC push among American small businesses. If Apple is willing to subsidize NFC readers for small retailers, they definitely have their eyes set on the technology. Google's Nexus S beats them from being "first", but Apple still has the market power to actually push adoption on a major scale.
No T-Mobile Support. This one is pretty much a given, after the revelation that AT&T is purchasing their old rival. On the plus side? Those of you who are current T-Mo customers will have a shot at the iPhone 5. So, in a very stupid way, T-Mobile did get the iPhone.
-The Glass is here to stay. Ever since the iPhone 4 launched, folks have complained about the dual glass design. It has been the cause of most iPhone repairs, and many speculated that Apple would change the form factor up with the five. Early leaked cases from Alibaba, however, hint that the dual-glass design will be hanging around for another iteration.
-There will be a white iPhone 5 at launch. A marketer for Apple tweeted as much a few days ago. While that isn't much evidence, prior rumors support the white iPhone 5. The iPad 2 comes in both colors- but it also has a wildly different design. Apple's had trouble getting white models of the iPhone 4 to come out well.
-The four inch display seems very likely at this point. A 64 GB model also seems possible. A 64 GB iPhone 4 prototype stumbled out onto the world stage recently. Could it be a sign of things to come?
White iPhone 4 to Land in Stores End of April
Apple is finally releasing the white model of the iPhone 4, almost a year behind schedule, according to a report.
Multiple sources told Bloomberg that Apple was preparing to release the white iPhone 4 by the end of April for both the Verizon and AT&T networks, 10 months after the black model debuted.
Apple said earlier this year that the white iPhone 4 was delayed until this spring because of manufacturing problems, but never specified the issue. One source tells Bloomberg that one problem was the white paint peeling under heat.
The different color option could provide a possible alternative to buyers eagerly awaiting the fifth-generation iPhone, which may not be released this summer. Sources told Apple blogger Jim Dalrymple that an iPhone 5 would not be introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, even though iPhone upgrades have traditionally been launched at this annual event.
For Apple, releasing an iPhone 5 later would make sense, because it would give the white iPhone, as well as the two-month-old Verizon iPhone 4, more shelf life.
Multiple sources told Bloomberg that Apple was preparing to release the white iPhone 4 by the end of April for both the Verizon and AT&T networks, 10 months after the black model debuted.
Apple said earlier this year that the white iPhone 4 was delayed until this spring because of manufacturing problems, but never specified the issue. One source tells Bloomberg that one problem was the white paint peeling under heat.
The different color option could provide a possible alternative to buyers eagerly awaiting the fifth-generation iPhone, which may not be released this summer. Sources told Apple blogger Jim Dalrymple that an iPhone 5 would not be introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, even though iPhone upgrades have traditionally been launched at this annual event.
For Apple, releasing an iPhone 5 later would make sense, because it would give the white iPhone, as well as the two-month-old Verizon iPhone 4, more shelf life.
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