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iPhone 4 owners are beginning to receive $15 checks as their part of the settlement in a class action lawsuit against Apple, notes 9to5Mac. The payouts mark the end of the dispute, which merged 18 different cases involving the iPhone 4's alleged "death grip" issue. Holding the phone in the wrong way without a case would effectively kill its cellular reception.
Apple has lowered the prices of unlocked models of the iPhone 4 and 4S in Brazil, reports observe. The 8GB iPhone 4 has dropped from R$ 1499 ($741 US) to R$ 1099 ($544 US), while the 16 GB iPhone 4S has moved from R$ 1999 ($989 US) to R$ 1699 ($840 US). While buying either device in Brazil normally involves 12 monthly payments, paying in full over the phone can reduce prices by another 10 percent, to R$ 989 ($489 US) and R$ 1529 ($756 US), respectively.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has posted an open letter to Chinese customers, announcing changes to the company's warranty policies in the country. He explains that in the past couple of weeks the company has received a number of complaints, particularly in relation to the iPhone 4 and 4S. The people charged that while customers elsewhere were getting full replacements for faulty hardware, Chinese customers were only getting repairs using replacement parts.
A new lockscreen bypass has been discovered in iOS 6.1.3, notes iPhoneinCanada. Unlike the tricks discovered in iOS 6.1, the new one appears to affect only the iPhone 4. It also, unusually, involves popping out an iPhone's SIM card while using Voice Control to dial an emergency number.
Speaking at the Deutsche Bank 2013 Media, Internet, and Telecom Conference, Verizon Communications Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said that the company has no interest in offering additional commissions for sales staff to sell low-end phones over the free iPhone 4 with contract on the carrier. The CFO also addressed the impact of the FiOS network on the company's bottom line, as well as the impact of tablet sales on the company.
Walmart will add the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4 to no-contract Straight Talk unlimited plans, with no carrier subsidy, starting on January 11, the company says. More than 2,000 Walmart stores and the online corporate site will sell the iPhone 5 for $649 (16GB model only) and the iPhone 4 for $449 (8GB model only). Qualified buyers will be able to get a Walmart Credit Card that allows for the phone cost to be billed in $25 monthly increments.
Accessory maker Mophie has launched the OutRide, a new camera case for the iPhone 4 and 4S. The gear creates a polycarbonate housing for an iPhone with a 170-degree wide-angle lens, effectively turning an iPhone into a first-person sports camera similar to a GoPro. An included waterproof add-on lets users submerse an iPhone as far as 5 meters.
Best Buy has rolled out its latest holiday promotion, slashing $50 off iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 pricing. New or upgrade-eligible subscribers can now pick up a 16GB iPhone 5 for $150 with a two-year contract, while the iPhone 4S currently starts at $50. The discounts include both white and black variants connected to Verizon, Sprint and AT&T.
Apple has won the rights to several important design patents from the US Patent and Trademark Office. These include the look of the iPhone 4, which is credited in part to lead designer Jonathan Ive, as well as the company's co-founder, Steve Jobs. Ive is also cited in all the other new patents, such as one for the iPhone 4 "Bumper" case.
Although the iPhone 5 sales have been "very strong" at US carriers AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint, the two older iPhone models -- the iPhone 4 and 4S -- are also doing well, says Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley. The claims are based on channel checks, and moreover indicate that the iPhone 4 is actually selling out at some stores. In the US, the 4 is typically free if a person locks into a two-year carrier contract.
How many times do you run out of the house in the morning while talking on the iPhone, and then get to Starbucks only to find out that you forgot your wallet and thought to yourself "wouldn't it be great if my phone was a wallet." Well fortunately CM4 already has a solution for that, the Q Card Case for iPhone 4/4S and 5 MacNN has teamed up with CM4 to give away one of their cases to our readers. Read on to find out more about this case, and how you can enter to win.
This week in the MacNN forums one Fresh-Faced Recruit was looking for a way to move photos from a camera roll to photo stream on iPhone 4S, join in here. "So I've been curious about Fusion Drive…" is how the thread titled "Fusion Drive" by Waragainstsleep began earlier this week, read more here.
Today in the MacNN forums, one Mac Elite is looking for some advice on how to replace the back glass on an iPhone 4 after an unfortunate incident over the weekend caused the glass on theirs to break. "Are system restore discs necessary?" asks one Senior User yesterday, join in here.
A recent version of the iOS 6 firmware may hint at a new iPhone 4 model, reports say. The firmware is listed for an "iPhone3,2" and actually started appearing as a download option on September 19th, but still hasn't been pushed to developers. The GSM version of the iPhone 4 is the iPhone3,1, while the CDMA model is the iPhone3,3.
The US Patent Office has granted Patent No. 8,270,914 to Apple, covering "Bezel gap antennas." The antenna design described in the patent is the same one that led to Apple's much publicized "antennagate" saga in 2010 with the iPhone 4. The design gives Apple the freedom to make their smartphones smaller, but initially it served as a rare distraction in Apple's marketing efforts for the iPhone 4.
Sprint is planning to halt its sales of the iPhone 4 come the launch of the iPhone 5 on Friday, a leaked document reveals. "iPhone 4 will be removed from Planogram on 9/21/12," the document indicates. The decision makes Sprint an exception in terms of iPhone sales, since a number of carriers will be offering the iPhone 4 for free on contract, much as they did the now-defunct iPhone 3GS.
In the wake of the announcement of the iPhone 5, the iPhone 4 and the 4S have dropped in price. The iPhone 4S is now $99 on a two-year contract, while the iPhone 4 is free under the same terms. Only a 16GB 4S is available however, and iPhone 4 buyers are limited to an 8GB model.
A US District Judge, Edward Davila, has thrown out a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of iPhone 4 owners. Initially launched by Californian Betsalel Williamson, the suit complained that Apple misrepresented the strength of the glass in the device. Williamson says that after knocking a new iPhone 4 off the arm of a chair, the device broke, "resulting in spider cracks across the back glass panel" which forced him to get a replacement.
Apple is planning to axe the iPhone 3GS, and make the iPhone 4 the company's entry-level smartphone, retail sources tell The Telegraph. It's expected that the phone will probably be given away free on contract. The sources add that an 8GB version of the iPhone 4S could be launched, and that the iPhone 5 will come in three different storage capacities like its predecessor, shipping on the week of September 21st.
Apple has made a rare update to its line of iPhone accessories, adding a new (PRODUCT) RED version of its Bumper case for the iPhone 4 and 4S. The case costs $29, like any other Bumper, but a small portion of the RED model's proceeds go toward fighting HIV and AIDS in Africa. Apple has been a (PRODUCT) RED supporter for some time, although lately it has produced few devices or accessories for the program.
Two major third-party US retailers, Best Buy and Target, have instituted new price cuts for the iPhone, notes AllThingsD. Target is now selling 16GB AT&T and Verizon models of the iPhone 4S for $179 on contract. Best Buy, meanwhile, has cut the price for the 8GB iPhone 4 for both carriers to just $50.
Best Buy has dropped the price of the iPhone 4 at its US online store to $50 with a two-year contract. The change applies to models for all three major iPhone carriers, namely AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. It also appears to be a more permanent discount, unlike the sales some vendors have held during the past few months.
Radio Shack is now offering "refreshed" and "remanufactured" iPhone 4 and 4S models at a steep discount. Customers can get the two Apple smartphones when signing up for an AT&T or Verizon contract. With a two-year contract, the iPhone 4 is available for free, and the iPhone 4S is available for $100.
The iOS Maps app with 3D Flyover featured as a centerpiece of Apple’s iOS 6 presentation at WWDC has been hacked on to the iPhone 4 by Anton Titkov. For reasons not made entirely clear, Apple controversially opted not to support the capability in its iOS 6 update in the slightly older iPhone with critics debating whether it was due to a hardware limitation. While the performance (of the still beta) appears acceptable, it does not load quite as quickly or smoothly as it does on the iPhone 4S as the embedded video shows.
Mophie announced its largest battery case compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S -- the Juice Pack Pro. The case has been tested against military specification MIL-STD 810G, and boasts a 2,500 mAh capacity lithium-ion polymer battery. The polycarbonate and silicone case increases the dimensions of the iPhone to 5.26 inches long, 2.78 inches wide, and 1.02 inches thick -- more than three times as thick as a stock iPhone 4. All models of iPhone 4 and 4S on any carrier are compatible with the case.
Boost Mobile will start carrying prepaid iPhones in early September, a TechnoBuffalo source claims. Both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S are expected to be available, but it's unknown if the carrier will apply its $50 unlimited plan to the devices. This not only offers unlimited voice, texting, and data, but also the possibility of a reduction in the monthly bill in $5 increments, down to $35.
Cricket Wireless will start carrying the iPhone on June 22nd, the carrier has announced. The move will make it the first mainland US carrier to offer the iPhone as a prepaid device instead of on contract. An 8GB iPhone 4 will cost $400, while a 16GB iPhone 4S will be $500. A $55 monthly fee will get people "unlimited" voice, texting, and data, though data is throttled after reaching 2.3GB.
Accessory maker OtterBox has announced a new case for the iPhone 4 and 4S, the Armor. Unlike most iPhone cases, the Armor is claimed to be not only drop-proof but dust-, water-, and crush-proof. Few other details are being made public, but the case is set to go on sale June 24th.
Continuing with a string of recent arrivals on US regional carriers, the iPhone has arrived to two news that cover northwest Oklahoma and Puerto Rico, respectively. Open Mobile, the Puerto Rico carrier, may be the first exclusively no-contract carrier in the US to offer iPhones. Oklahoma-based Pioneer Cellular is carrying only the iPhone 4S, while Open Mobile has both the 4 and 4S at various capacities.
FreedomPop is now taking pre-orders for its embedded WiMax and LTE iPhone 4/4S case, which first appeared in March. The company is the latest brainchild of Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom and aims to offer users ‘free wireless broadband’ using a freemium service model. Users who put down $99 for a case will get up to 500MB of free data per month in an iPhone accessory that offers users the ability to access 4G speeds, FaceTime video calls, as well as the ability to act as an external battery charger.
Yesterday, RadioShack's Twitter feed carried word of a new discount on the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S. The retailer will, for a limited time, let customers save $50 instantly on the two most recent models of iPhone. The discount follows a similar move by Target. Earlier this week, Target announced it would discount the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S by $50 with a two-year contract.
Three more regional US carriers will begin carrying the iPhone on May 18th, according to separate announcements. These include Kentucky's Bluegrass Cellular, California's Golden State Cellular, and finally Kansas' Nex-Tech Wireless. Following in the footsteps of other regionals, the companies will be offering iPhones at discounted prices; this includes $149, $249, and $349 tiers for the 16, 32, and 64GB iPhone 4S, and a $49 pricetag for the 8GB iPhone 4.
Target, which just recently announced it would expand its Apple Store-Within-A-Store (SWAS) program, is now discounting new iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S unite by $50 with a two-year contract, reports 9to5Mac. The new prices in-store offer the iPhone 4 8GB at $50 and the 4S 16GB at $150 with either AT&T or Verizon.
The Genius Bars at Apple Stores are now in some cases replacing black iPhone 4 models with equivalent iPhone 4S models, 9to5Mac claims. Recently it was said that Geniuses were replacing broken white, GSM 16GB iPhone 4 units with 4S models instead, owing to shortages of the former. As of earlier this week though, Apple is said to have "almost" caught up with demand for white 16GB iPhone 4 units, but developed new constraints involving black 16 and 32GB iPhone 4 models.
(Updated with Walmart statement) The reported Walmart discounts on iPhones aren't in effect across the entire Walmart chain, reports observe. The Verge notes that it managed to find a Walmart in Austin with the same bargain, but four other US outlets had regular prices. 9to5Mac says it called 17 Walmarts around the US, none of which were offering discounts. Separate of these, though, one out of two Austin Walmarts was offering the deal, as well as one out of two stores in Edmond, though the Frontage Road location said the iPhone 4S was "$114 this morning, for a little while."
At least one Walmart store has slashed prices on its AT&T iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S prices without prior associate notice. The 8GB iPhone 4 now sells for $34 with a two-year contract, down from Walmart's already-discounted $88 price. The 16GB iPhone 4S, in either white or black, is now offered with the same contract for $114, down from the $188 original store price. The Verizon iPhone models are not affected by the price cut, reports Cult of Mac, and its not yet clear if the sale is fully nationwide.
Following up on a report from earlier this week, iOS hacker pod2g announced on Twitter late yesterday that he had succeeded in getting his iPhone 4 running under iOS 5.1 with an untethered jailbreak. While no tool for other users has yet been announced, the breakthrough means that those wanting to run the latest version of iOS and unofficial apps should be able to do so in the near future. There is no word yet on whether the exploit is limited to A5 devices like the iPhone 4 or not.
Apple's iPhone 4 class action settlement has now gone live on its official page. Americans who do or have owned an iPhone 4 before February 17 of this year, and who turned down a free bumper case from Apple, can make a claim for $15. The site helps speed up the process by letting owners scan a completed claim form and upload it directly along with the claim number.
Yesterday in the MacNN forums dedicated MacNNer ClaraT started a thread asking if there was any downside to updating to iOS 5.1 on an iPhone 4S, click here to read more. Today the conversation continues in the thread titled "two sleeping questions" where members discuss the sleep function in OS X Lion.
More details have emerged about Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom’s latest project FreedomPop. It’s stated goal has been to bring ‘free wireless broadband’ to consumers by using a WiMax-based freemium service. While details had been sketchy, a ‘high-level’ source has revealed that the service will be offered integrated as a Wi-Fi hotspot in an iPhone 4/4S case.
Just how large Sprint's "bet the company" move in agreeing to carry the iPhone at a high subsidy cost has been revealed in the company's 2011 10-K filing with the FTC. The carrier agreed to a minimum order of $15.5 billion in iPhones over the course of four years, and is projecting a deficit in 2012 in part due to the high subsidy it offers on each new model, up to $450 off the $850 full cost of a 64GB iPhone 4S.
Apple has begun selling Brazilian-made 8GB iPhone 4s in that country, reports say. Previously all iPhone 4 models were made in China, but units are now rolling off of Foxconn's Brazilian assembly lines. The switchover is actually believed to have happened several weeks ago, but gone largely unnoticed. At Apple's regional online store, the Brazilian-made black and white models are listed as MD128BR/A and MD198BR/A, respectively. Earlier Chinese-made equivalents for the area bore MD128BZ/A and MD198BZ/A identifiers.
In North America, iOS' share of mobile ad impressions grew a full 12.1 points between October and January, according to mobile advertiser InMobi. Traffic from iOS devices hit 35.3 percent in January, as compared to 32.7 percent for Android, and 11.6 percent for BlackBerry. Android in fact slipped 3.2 points between October and January, allowing iOS to seize leadership.
Apple finished the week by agreeing to a settlement (active in the next few weeks) over the iPhone 4's antenna issues. US customers who were unhappy with the antenna performance of the smartphone will have the option of getting either a free bumper case or $15. Owners will have up to 120 days to make a claim, starting from April 30, and will be both e-mailed in advance as well as given notices in Macworld and USA Today to make sure they can take advantage of the compensation.
Today's deals from DealNN include price breaks on iPhones, HDTVs, and more. Cowboom.com has recently lowered the cost of the refurbished 16GB iPhone 4, complete with HD video recording and editing capabilities, multitasking support, and a 5MP camera with LED flash. Currently featured at DealNN, this iPhone has now dropped to only $259.99 in price and offers savings of up to $340.
Some RadioShack outlets may still be stocking the 16GB version of the iPhone 4, a new training document suggests. The document states that both 8 and 16GB models are available for $100 with a two year contract, and that the offer is "good for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon." No 16GB iPhone was ever built for Sprint however; only the 8GB option is available with that carrier.
Accessory makers Cirago and CaseInity have separately unveiled several new accessories for iOS devices. Cirago has produced three, chief among these being the Aluminum Bluetooth Keyboard Case for the iPad 2. Brushed aluminum is combined with padding at the corners to cushion an iPad; to use the keyboard, a person must pull the tablet from the case and sit it in a built-in stand either vertically or horizontally. The case costs $90.
Today in the MacNN forums Grizzled Veteran sdilley14 started a thread looking for possible scratch removal products for the iPhone 4. Today Mac Enthusiast mkral was looking for a way to move notes from iPhone to iCloud, a solution has yet to be found.
Apple is suing Samsung over cases for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 as well as an assortment of cellphones, Bloomberg reports. At a court hearing in Sydney, Australia, Apple said it has issued a notice of infringement to Samsung, and will file a statement of claim. Samsung is accused of violating patents and registered designs; a lawyer for the company, Katrina Howard, elaborated that the cases are accused of infringing at least 10 patents.
In what might be seen as a portent of worldwide sales, figures from a British research firm obtained by the Financial Times indicates that the iPhone 4S is dominating the market for smartphones in the UK, making up 25 percent of all smartphone sales in the four weeks leading up to December 9th. Combined with the other iPhone models, Apple's phones made up 37 percent of all smartphone sales.
