The Internets are all abuzz with some undercover, special spycam shots of Apple’s research labs, where engineers are currently “working their butts off” and dreaming of the iPhone 4 during office slumber parties. These sneaky shots, currently making the rounds on tech blogs, are actually just from an ABC newscast last week. [More]
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Free iPhone 4 Cases Available Now
By 7.23.10
Looks like Apple’s Tim Cook meant it when he told shareholders that most programs submitted to the company’s App Store are approved within a week. Just seven days after CEO Steve Jobs promised to put together a program to allow iPhone 4 customers to get a free case, the iPhone 4 Case Program app is now available for download. (Yeah, Apple probably could have come up with a better name for the app, but what do you want for free?)
Want A White iPhone 4? You'll Have To Wait A While
By 7.23.10
For anyone who is just sick of their typical black iPhone 4 already and was hoping to get a snazzy white one, Apple has some bad news for you. Apparently, making the paler version of the smartphone is harder than they’d thought, meaning you won’t get your until later this year. [More]
Thief Steals iPhone While Victim Is Participating In GPS Tracking Demo
By 7.22.10
On Monday, a man in San Francisco rode his bike up to a woman holding an iPhone and snatched it out of her hand, then took off. What he didn’t know was that the woman had just walked out of her company’s office to test a new GPS program that provides real time tracking. She went back inside, gave the police location updates over the phone, and man was arrested a half-mile away, reports the San Francisco Chronicle’s Crime Scene blog. [More]
App Store: No Porn Allowed, But Tethering Tool Slips In
By 7.21.10
If you were trolling around the App Store last night, you might have come across a new 99-cent flashlight app called Handy Light. And if you were willing to pay for it, you would have found a bonus: the program contained a hidden tethering app that would allow your computer to connect to the Internet over your phone, a privilege that normally requires a $20 monthly payment to AT&T. While the app somehow made it through the inspectors at Apple, once word got out, it was gone. [More]
Apple Engineers Sleeping At Work To Fix Antenna Problem
By 7.17.10
When Steve Jobs says Apple, Inc. is going to “work our butts off” to solve the antenna problems on the iPhone 4, what he really means is… engineer slumber party! Bloomberg reports that Apple has moved cots into the engineering department, and cars have been in the parking lot overnight as the employees work on a fix. [More]
Steve Jobs: All Smartphones Have The Same Problem, But Here’s A Free Case
By 7.16.10
Mr. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, has announced his solution to the iPhone 4 duct-tape-antenna-situation. Free case! Or a refund! [More]
How Would You Get Around iPhone 4's Death Grip Problem?
By 7.13.10
Yesterday, our more studious siblings at Consumer Reports made some headlines when they said they couldn’t recommend the iPhone 4 after lab tests confirmed reports that the device could lose its signal merely by being touched in one specific spot. As a quick-fix remedy, CR threw out the idea of using non-conductive tape like duct or electrical tape to cover the contact point. But we think there are some more creative ideas. [More]
Apple Deleting Any Mention Of Consumer Reports Findings From Support Forum Threads?
By 7.13.10
It would appear that Apple is unhappy with yesterday’s bad news from Consumer Reports over the iPhone 4. Hmm, or maybe it just looks that way due to a goofy software glitch. At any rate, CNET is reporting that the company’s forum moderators are deleting any mention of Consumer Reports’ findings that the antenna issue is an inherent design flaw, and not just a software issue. But maybe that’s for CR’s own benefit as well, since CNET says many of the posts were from iPhone 4 fans who were “vehemently” defending the phone. [More]
Consumer Reports Won't Recommend iPhone 4 Until Apple Fixes "Death Grip" Design Flaw
By 7.12.10
As we wrote last weekend, the tech types over at Consumer Reports had done some preliminary tests demonstrating that the reception on the new iPhone 4 dropped significantly when touched on a certain part of the device. Now, after more rigorous inspection, CR has announced that — in spite of the iPhone 4’s many positives — they just can’t recommend it right now. [More]
Apple Offering Free Repair Or Replacement On Some Time Capsules
By 7.12.10
If you were one of the early adopters for the Apple Time Capsule back in 2008 and yours won’t power up, you might be able to get it repaired or replaced for free, or get a refund for repairs you already paid for, reports TUAW. To see if you’ve got a recalled model, look for a serial number between XX807XXXXXX and XX814XXXXXX. [More]
Judge Gives Go-Ahead For Apple/AT&T/iPhone Class Action Suit
By 7.12.10
Three years after the first lawsuits were filed against Apple and AT&T alleging the two companies of antitrust violation, a judge in California has given the green light to consolidate several of the cases into a single class action suit. [More]
Apple Store Touches Down In Shanghai
By 7.11.10
Good news for fans of Apple in China, as the company has added a huge flagship store in Shanghai to the one they opened in Beijing in 2008. And this second variation on the Apple retail theme is apparently a store of an entirely different color. And by color, we mean, it sounds super crazy cool. [More]
iPhone 4 Catches Fire, Burns Hand
By 7.9.10
An AT&T insider sent Boy Genius Report these pictures of an iPhone 4 that burst into flames after a customer tried to hook it up to his computer. [More]
Consumer Reports Finds iPhone Signal Loss In "Informal Tests"
By 7.4.10
In “informal tests” this weekend, Consumer Reports has been able to “reproduce the signal loss that’s at the heart of the controversy” over the iPhone 4. And, no, it wasn’t just an inaccurate bar display, as Apple recently claimed. “The drop had a significant effect on both call success and quality,” according to CR. [More]
Use Your Obsolete Computer To Grate Cheese
By 7.3.10
While Vince “ShamWow” Shlomi might think slicing cheese with an Eminem CD is the ultimate in repurposed tech, MacForce has one-upped him big time. The tech consulting company is out with a video demonstrating how the Apple PowerMac G5, launched in 2003 as a $2,000 workhorse computer, is now better suited to working as a humble cheese grater. [More]
Apple Says iPhone 4 Signal Problem Is Really Just About Bars
By 7.2.10
The iPhone 4 seems to have a problem with bars. First, the prototype for the Apple smartphone got left in one by a careless engineer, and now the new iPhone apparently has trouble displaying an appropriate number of bars to accurately depict its signal strength. Maybe the phone and the engineers need to find other places to hang out. [More]
Help Wanted: iPhone Antenna Engineer
By 7.2.10
Those “death grip” antenna problems in the new iPhone? There’s an app for that. As in job application. Apple has posted some ads on the company web site for “Antenna Engineer(s) – iPad/iPhone.” Candidates will be expected to “create test plans, execute them, publish test reports, provide feedback to the other design engineers, and lead some of the manufacturing of antenna.” Does this mean nobody was doing this before? Or that Steve executed his own death grip on the previous holder of this position?
