The world's most luxurious iPhone collection launched by Swiss company Golden Dreams

Golden Dreams, a company based in Geneva, Switzerland, has announced "the world's most luxurious iPhone collection," which includes luxury iPhones dressed in leather, gold, or diamonds. These will certainly give Amosu, Gresso, GoldStriker and the others a run for their money. The new Golden Dreams collection includes three iPhone models: Desert Edition (using "carefully selected alligator leather"), Gold Edition (with "with 24ct-gold plating or with 120 grams of 18ct gold"), and Diamond Edition (which can contain up to 4,057 diamonds). Prices for the Desert Edition iPhones start at 1,990 Swiss francs (about $2,172). Gold Edition iPhones cost at least 2,150 Swiss francs ($2,346). As for the Diamond Edition ones, prices are only available on request, and we can only imagine they're exorbitant.

The Tale Of An iPhone Fanboy Who Fell In Love With The Galaxy Note

You may remember a short time ago we gave you our thorough and incredibly comprehensive review on the Samsung Galaxy Note. Well, I was cruising by our sister site, iSource today, and an article caught my eye. Apparently, one of the writers on iSource decided to do the unthinkable and review the Samsung Galaxy Note. “I know exactly how this is going to turn out,” I thought to myself. “This guy is going to talk about how awful the Note is, and how it didn't even hold a candle to the iPhone,” but boy was I wrong. Turns out the writer, Brandon, really gave the Galaxy Note a fair shot, living with the device for a full week. To his credit, he not only provided valid points on the Note's shortcomings, but also gave it praise when it was due. Mainly, the Note's S Pen and size, the device's killer features. Towards the end of his review, he actually talks about how he went back to the AT&T store to return the Note after a defect, and back to his beloved iPhone. No surprise there. It's been often said that iPhone fanboys are blinded by their love for all things Apple. But, in a stunning twist of events, after returning to his iPhone, Brandon discovered that the teeny, tiny little phone just didn't cut it anymore. The Galaxy Note spoiled him with it's huge 5.3-inch display (an entire iPhone — case and all — couldn't even match it's size) and handy stylus. He went back to the store once again, and switched back to the Galaxy Note. Bet you didn't see that one coming, huh? Now, I guess you could say Brandon isn't a true “Android convert.” He simply fell in love with the Note's hardware and will most likely be returning to iOS if/when they can slap a bigger screen on it. But after reading his review, I'm starting to wonder if maybe iOS fans don't really “hate” Android at all. It seems, for the most part, they merely prefer iOS and some of its polish over Android. Something I've noticed lately is that when it comes to Android fans, more than often we're the ones defined by our hatred of all things Apple/iOS and not necessarily our love of Android. Maybe, just maybe, if we put down the pitch forks and stop insulting iPhone users, simply encouraging them to give Android a try… Who knows. Maybe then we'd have more people who are actually willing to give Android a shot?

Panasonic KX-TG7740 and KX-TG7730 cordless phones feature Link2Cell, iPhone ringtone integration

Sure, you may have long ditched the landline, but you could still be in the market for a cordless phone. Two such rigs from Panasonic let you tap your mob for a voice connection, with Link2Cell. The KX-TG7740 and KX-TG7730 can both sync up with Bluetooth-enabled phones, letting you make calls through your smartphone as it charges in another room. You can also transfer up to 3,050 address book entries to the household system, while this year's models add an extra layer of iPhone integration, enabling ringtone matching and transfer - you'll now be able to hear that iOS jingle through any connected handset. Both models also include the standard gamut of features, including talking caller ID, call block for pre-programed numbers and a handset locator. The 7730 series ships with three handsets for $100 (TG-7733S), two handsets for $80 (7732S) or a single handset for $60 (7731S). Likewise, the 7740 adds a dial pad to the base, and is available with five handsets for $150 (7745S), three for $110 (7743S), two for $90 (7742S) or one for $70 (7741S).

Is the iPhone fragmented? iOS adoption measured against Android

The iPhone's unprecedented success stems from the combination of multiple factors, not the least of which are Apple's industry-leading design prowess and its ability to make software that appeals to enthusiasts and mass-market users alike. The culture and hype surrounding Apple products doesn't hurt either, of course. Where the overall experience is concerned, Apple wisely created a scenario that gives it control of both hardware and software, removing carriers from the equation to an extent and ensuring the end user enjoys the experience Apple envisions without any substantial impediments. Despite this ideal scenario, some industry watchers maintain that fragmentation is unavoidable to some degree, and this issue exists in the iOS ecosystem just as it does with Android. In the case of Google's mobile operating system, a number of factors cause fragmentation. For one thing, Android is open source and key partners such as Samsung, HTC and LG modify the OS in a number of ways. While proprietary OS enhancements do not necessarily have a direct impact where fragmentation is concerned, they do slow the development process at the vendor level, thus increasing the amount of time users must wait to receive updates. Industrial and graphic designer Chris Sauve recently published an in-depth analysis of Android fragmentation, and he determined that while Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was unveiled in late 2011 and Android 5.0 Jelly Bean is coming later this year, 2012 is actually the year of Gingerbread, which was unveiled 15 months ago in late 2010. Conversations surrounding whether or not iOS is fragmented date back several years and persist to this day, and Sauve revisited the issue of fragmentation in March. This time, however, he looked at the issue as it may or may not apply to Apple's mobile platform. Using data points obtained from 50 different mobile software developers, Sauve analyzed iOS version adoption over the past 21 months since iOS 3.0 was introduced. He also looked at iOS adoption relative to each version's launch to see how quickly each build was adopted by end users. Finally, this data was plotted against Sauve's earlier Android adoption data. Complaints of fragmentation in Apple's mobile ecosystem were most prominent in 2010, and iOS 3.0′s adoption rate shows us why. Since then, however, the adoption rate of Apple's major new OS builds has been remarkable. “iOS 5 captured approximately 75% of all iOS users in the same amount of time it took Gingerbread to get 4% of all Android users,” Sauve wrote in his analysis on pxldot. “Even more astounding is that 15 weeks after launch iOS 4 was at 70% and iOS 5 was at 60% while Ice Cream Sandwich got to just 1% share at the same age. If there were any question as to whether iOS had a less fragmented ecosystem than Android, the past two charts provide a fairly definitive answer.” Sauve continued, “iOS devices have, on average, reached 10% version share 300 times faster than Android versions, 30% share 19 times faster, and 50% share 7 times faster.” The adoption rate of future major iOS builds will likely be even more impressive thanks to the introduction of an over-the-air update mechanism Apple added in iOS 5. With iCloud backing up data, on-device notifications when updates become available, and the requirement of connecting to a PC to update no longer a factor, the major barriers standing between mass-market users and software updates have been eliminated. This ensures that users have access to the most current iOS features as quickly as possible, and it also means developers don't need to worry about old iOS versions as much while they shift focus to new builds.

iPhone arrives at nTelos and Alaska Communications on April 20, $50 cheaper than at the big carriers

No, the iPhone still isn't on T-Mobile. Also, current-gen models probably won't ever be, thanks to the simple fact that they wouldn't work with TMo's HSPA network (bands are to blame). That, however, didn't stop Apple's latest mobile darlings from making it all the way to nTelos and Alaska Communications. These are two regional carriers (the former operating in Virginia and the surrounding states) that you probably haven't heard of until now. Well, even they get to carry the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, following in the footsteps of small(ish) carrier C Spire. Neither nTelos nor Alaska Communications have anywhere near 1 million customers, but they're clearly trying to attract some attention with this iPhone play. Good for them. At this point, it really seems like T-Mobile is the only carrier in the entire US that doesn't have iPhones on offer, so that's a problem for the magenta network. Anyway, both nTelos and Alaska Communications have the same pricing listed for the iPhones (save for a one penny difference which we'll ignore). The iPhone 4S can be yours starting at $150 for the 16 GB model. Each bump in capacity is $100 more expensive, just as you'd expect. The iPhone 4 8 GB will be available for $50. The full details are available here for nTelos and here for Alaska Communications, in case you're interested.

iPhone app tells if building is safe as a tsunami shelter

Is your building tall enough to offer adequate shelter in a tsunami? That is a question that is worth asking, especially when you live in a country like Japan, where earthquakes are normal occurrences, and there is always a danger of a tsunami should the next big one hit. Nabla-Zero, a Japanese IT company that specializes in disaster prevention, has decided to do something about the situation by conjuring a free application for the iPhone which is capable of measuring whether a building is tall enough to deliver the right kind of shelter from a tsunami. Known as the "AR TSUNAMI-CAMERA", it will rely on the iPhone's camera as well as the power of augmented reality to transpose a virtual image of a wave up to 25-meters against the actual scenery. Majority of the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake stood anywhere from 3 to 10 meters in height. This app was developed after local governing bodies approached Nabla-Zero, and will see action in disaster prevention education programs in public schools. There are plans to roll out an Android-powered version. BlackBerry who?

iPhone 5 Coming In June, Rogers Offers HTC One X for Pre-Order & White Samsung Galaxy Note Heading to Bell

iPhone 5 Coming In June, Says Foxconn Employee According to a Foxconn recruiter, we'll see a new iPhone in June of this year. The recruiter suggested the iPhone would be headed our way this summer in an interview with TV Tokyo's "World Business Satellite" broadcast Monday. In the interview, a reporter asked the recruiter how many people the company was looking to hire, and he answered "We're looking for 18,000 employees ... for the fifth-generation phone." Mashable Rogers Offers HTC One X for Pre-Order in Canada, $170 on Contract Through April 30th You never thought that Canada would let the UK steal all of that gorgeous HTC One X limelight, did you? While Rogers can't compete with the phone's April 5th arrival at T-Mobile and Orange in the land of tea and crumpets, the Canadian carrier is currently offering HTC's flagship device for pre-order. Now through April 30th, customers may pick up the dual-core Snapdragon S4, LTE version of the handset for $170 on a three-year plan. Engadget White Samsung Galaxy Note Heading to Bell on April 10th "The Samsung Galaxy Note (4G LTE), the do-it-all superphone that gives clients the freedom to capture, create and share like never before is now available in white." The prices will stay the same - $199.99 on a 3-year and $729.99 outright - but the launch date seems to be a few days later. Bell has this scheduled to launch on April 10th. MobileSyrup European Regulators Probe Motorola Following Microsoft, Apple Complaints European regulators are investigating Motorola Mobility for allegedly overcharging Microsoft and Apple for use of its industry standard patents in their products, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Both companies filed complaints with the European Commission, which is now conducting the investigation that will look to determine whether Motorola failed to honor its "irrevocable commitments" made to standard-setting organizations. BGR

J.P. Morgan increases Q1 iPhone and iPad estimates

J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz has made “significant increases” to both his iPhone and iPad sales projections for the first quarter of 2012, raising his price target on Apple stock from $625 to $715, Apple Insider reported on Tuesday. The analyst previously estimated that Apple would ship 28.1 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2012, however he now believes shipments will reach 31.1 million units. Full-year iPhone shipments for 2012 are now expected to total 138.2 million units. Moskowitz thinks Apple's next-generation smartphone will launch in the second half of 2012 and include a “thinner body and LTE capability.” He projects iPad shipments to reach 13.8 million in the first quarter, up from his earlier estimate of 10.1 million units, and his full-year shipment estimate was raised to 69.6 million tablets, up from 59.8 million. Apple will also “refresh its MacBook portfolio, including the Air, in the next three months,” Moskowitz wrote in his note to investors. He continued by saying that the company needs to improve its specifications and features while introducing lower price points to stay ahead of the “Ultrabook crowd.”

Wealthy smartphone users more likely to own an iPhone, study finds

Wealthy smartphone users are more likely to own an Apple iPhone and less likely to play games or post on Twitter than average users. According to research from The Luxury Institute, 62% of U.S. consumers earning at least $150,000 per year own a smartphone. 45% of people falling to that category own an iPhone, 35% use an Android-powered device and 25% have a BlackBerry. More than 80% of wealthy smartphone owners download mobile apps, with the most popular categories being weather (63%), news (51%), travel (42%), business/finance (39%) and sports (34%). Facebook, Angry Birds and Words With Friends are the most popular apps, however higher-income consumers use far less entertainment apps than the average smartphone user. “As you get older and have family and significant others, aging parents, and a lot more assets and investments, you're going to need apps for far more relevant things than playing games and chatting with your peers,” The Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza noted.

iPhone 4S remains best-selling U.S. smartphone in March, Samsung gains share

Apple's wildly popular iPhone 4S retained its position atop the smartphone ranks in the United States last month according to new data analyst data. Checks performed by Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley and his team found that Apple's latest iPhone was the best-selling smartphone at Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint in March, continuing a trend that began when the device first launched last October. “Our March channel checks indicated stronger sell-through trends versus February levels with sales rebounding after a slow start to 2012,” Walkley wrote in his report. “During March, our checks indicated the iPhone 4S remained the top smartphone in the U.S. market and Samsung gained share as smartphone penetration grows in U.S. prepaid channels.” Samsung's Galaxy S II smartphone was ranked No.2 at AT&T and Sprint once again, and the device was the best-selling smartphone at T-Mobile, which still doesn't offer Apple's popular phone. Motorola's DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX took the No.2 spot at Verizon, and the HTC Amaze was No.2 at T-Mobile. A table outlining Canaccord's numbers follows below.