Apple’s pride is still likely stinging just a bit from the Great Map Debacle Of 2012, but nevertheless, a new version of Google Maps is now available as an app for iPhone users on iOS 6. Google announced yesterday that the revised map had finally been approved by Apple and will now be listed in the company’s app store. [More]
iphone
iPhone 5 Case Does The Opposite Of What A Smartphone Case Is Supposed To Do
By 12.10.12
Ilya just got a new iPhone 5, and a $35 case from Incase to go along with it. The problem is that the case sort of did the opposite of what protective phone cases are supposed to do: it damaged his phone, instead of protecting it from damage. [More]
Aussie Police Warn Against Using Apple Maps Lest You End Up Lost In The Wilderness
By 12.10.12
Apple hit a few bumps in the road a few months ago with its map application on the newest iteration of iOS, enough so that it suggested iPhone 5 owners use competing apps while the company worked out the kinks. Australian police are totally on board with people not using iOS maps either, after several people followed the app’s instructions and reportedly had to be rescued from the wilderness as a result. [More]
Apple-Loving T-Mobile Customers Rejoice: Your iPhones Are Arriving In 2013
By 12.6.12
As I say when I’ve missed two buses and three trains only to arrive for the last five minutes of the open bar, better late than never, eh? And so it goes for T-Mobile customers who have been greedily eyeing Apple’s iPhone for the last four years while not being able to buy one compatible with their wireless carrier’s service. It might be late, but it’s not never — the iPhone is officially coming to T-Mobile in 2013 [cue “The Final Countdown” by Europe]. [More]
Is The iPhone Finally Coming To T-Mobile?
By 11.29.12
It’s been about a year since T-Mobile customers’ hopes of getting access to the iPhone were dashed when the company’s merger with AT&T fell apart. Now come reports that they might finally be able to have the Apple device as early as next week. But some say that just won’t happen. [More]
Sprint Stores Still Forcing Accessories On iPhone 5 Buyers
By 11.5.12
The world’s initial bout of iPhone 5 fever has passed, so retailers have stopped playing tricks to take advantage of customers’ insatiable gadget lust, right? Well… no. Not Sprint. Like other readers and even our parent company’s own mystery shoppers, Daniel was told at a corporate-run Sprint store that if he wanted to go home with an iPhone 5, he also had to buy an accessories package. If he didn’t like it, he could go to Best Buy or a different store. [More]
With A Data-Slorping AT&T iPhone And a Data-Sipping Sprint iPhone, I Can’t Win
By 10.26.12
Aaron has a terrifying story of two mobile cell phone companies, 4G LTE networks, and a data-slorping renegade iPhone. He had an unlimited AT&T plan, but got throttled when he ran through five gigabytes in just three days. They couldn’t find the data leak. He switched to Sprint for true “unlimited” access. He didn’t run up any overages, largely because Sprint’s connections are too slow for him to do so. [More]
AT&T iPhone 5 Customers Just Keep Gobbling Data
By 10.25.12
Last week, we asked whether anyone out there in Consumerland had experienced their new iPhones downloading huge amounts of data when the phone wasn’t supposed to be using any data at all. Yes, having a mobile device that uses the faster LTE network means you can use more data faster, but that’s not supposed to happen while you’re connected to wifi. Or driving. Or asleep. [More]
Apparently Stealing Smartphones Is A Thing We Need To Worry About Again
By 10.22.12
Although you can never be too careful, there was a time where it felt like it was okay to be a bit relaxed about someone stealing your phone. After all, basically anyone has access to some kind of relatively smart phone if they really want one, even if it’s not the one with the latest bells and whistles. But in some U.S. cities, smartphone robberies are on the rise again. [More]
iPhone 5 Data-Gobbling Bug Affects AT&T Customers, Too
By 10.19.12
Josh doesn’t think that he’s using any more data with his new iPhone 5 than with his previous iPhone 4. In fact, he should be using less, because he isn’t streaming music anymore. Only that’s not the case. His phone gobbled 5 GB of data in only 22 days. He has an unlimited plan, but getting through 5 GB means he would be throttled for the rest of the month. Just like Verizon’s customer service, AT&T tried to convince Josh that he was using more data because he was using it faster on the LTE network. While that might be the case for some less savvy customers, Josh is an experienced smartphone owner and knows how to manage data. [More]
Verizon’s iPhone 5 Math: Using The Same Amount Of Data Faster Counts As More Data
By 10.17.12
We keep hearing about a wi-fi bug that leads to iPhone 5 owners racking up huge data bills when they thought they weren’t on the mobile data network. When Matt contacted Verizon about it, the ever-helpful customer service representative told him that it was just because the iPhone 5 is a 4G LTE device. This is probably the cause of many data complaints that new smartphone users have, but isn’t the case for Matt. He says that he hasn’t changed his browsing habits: using the same amount of data in a shorter amount of time doesn’t mean that he uses more data. At least, not according to the math that everyone except Verizon uses. [More]
Survey: iPhone Users Should Stop Bringing Their Devices Into Dangerous Places Like The Kitchen
By 10.16.12
Last week I was feeling lazy and so I dropped my laundry off to have it cleaned. When pulling out the clean clothes from the bag and putting them away, an iPhone tumbled out — it had clearly been washed and was now totally useless, unable to give me even a tiny clue as to its ownership. It somehow landed in its owner’s dirty laundry pile and thus, ended up in my clean clothes (ick). Just goes to show, as do recent survey results, that your iPhone is danger of the most damage in your very own home. [More]
For Hours Of Frustration And Weeks Without iPhone 5 Mobile Data, Sprint Offers $10
By 10.11.12
Who gets to buy an iPhone 5? You may remember reader Luke, who wrote in to back up our Consumer Reports colleagues’ account that Sprint stores were requiring customers to buy an accessory bundle if they wanted to get their hands on the shiny new gadget. After a mixup in activating the two phones he eventually bought (from the Apple Store, with no unwanted bundles, thank you very much) Luke’s data connection wouldn’t work. Sprint’s apology for two data-less weeks? A $10 credit on his bill. [More]
Waiting In A Long Line For A Popular Product Might Be Annoying But It Could Boost Your Ego
By 10.9.12
After yet another study showed that maybe those Black Friday sales that generate such humongous lines aren’t necessarily the best deals, and the simple fact that ordering a coveted item online can often allow shoppers to skip those eternal queues, why would anyone stand around waiting ever again? Well, maybe because it makes you feel kinda good, say experts. [More]
Lose Your iPhone 5 Charger And You’ll Be Stuck With Expensive, Pretty Brick
By 10.9.12
We mentioned months ago when it was first rumored that the iPhone 5 would replace the iPhone’s now-familiar 30-pin connector with a smaller, but still proprietary connector, that this could cause problems for people whose accessories were all of the old 30-pin type. And here we have the story of Consumerist reader Nick, who lost the charger for his iPhone 5 and is now staring at a very pretty device that he has no way of charging. [More]
Still No Google Maps App For iOS 6, But You Can Now Access Street View
By 10.4.12
As many people with an iOS device noticed when they upgraded to iOS 6, their Google Maps app had vanished into the ether, replaced with a map app that even Apple admits maybe isn’t that great right now. For people who still wanted to use Google Maps, they could still view them via a web browser, and now Google has turned on Street View. [More]
I Don’t Want To See A Zagg Ad Every Time I Look At My iPhone
By 10.2.12
Many of our regular readers would argue that this was all Matt’s own fault for going to Best Buy. They had a great promotion for iPhone screen protectors and cases, though, and how could they possibly screw up selling an iPhone case? By only selling Zagg InvisibleSHIELD screen protectors. We’ve heard great things about these products, but Matt was horrified to notice that the company puts its name, in black letters, on the screen protector itself. The effect is subtle if you have a black smartphone, but could be irritating if you have one of any other color. [More]
Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Would Love To Have iTunes On His Android Devices
By 10.2.12
Although Steve Wozniak helped Steve Jobs found Apple back in the day, he’s a man of many technologies and uses Android devices in his daily life. But he thinks Google and Apple should be able to get along, because Apple and Windows managed to do so so it can’t be totallyimpossible. He expressed his desire to get iTunes on his Android devices yesterday during a tech-new site Q&A. [More]
