White iPhone 4 spotted in the wild, production delays explained
Tech blog Pocket-lint spotted a white iPhone 4 at a press event last week in New York City. After taking a few pictures of the device in use, Pocket-lint spoke to the device’s owner and got some info about the white iPhone 4’s production delays.
According to the owner, who asked to remain anonymous, Apple has had problems matching the color of the white iPhone 4’s home button with the face of the device. Since these two parts are made by different suppliers, Apple has had a tough time getting both of these suppliers to produce the same white color.
While that’s a pretty boring explanation, it’s one that has been tossed around for a few weeks now. Still, there’s no indication when the white iPhone 4 will finally make an appearance on store shelves.
Source: Pocket-lint
iPhone Dev Team releases ultrasn0w unlocking tool for the Apple iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 was jailbroken just a few days ago, and today the good folks at the iPhone Dev Team released an ultrasn0w unlocking tool for the device. The tool works with iPhone 4 baseband version 01.59, as well as 3G/3G S basebands 04.26.08, 05.11.07, 05.12.01 and 05.13.04.
In order to install ultrasn0w, you’ll first need to jailbreak your iPhone 4 by going to http://www.jailbreakme.com . Next just search for ultrasn0w (you may have to add the repo repo666.ultrasn0w.com first), and install. It’s that easy.
Apple iPhone 4 jailbreak now available with just four steps
Last week we learned that jailbreaking your iPhone is a-ok with the U.S. Copyright Office, and today a jailbreak tool for the iPhone 4 was finally released. All you need to do to jailbreak your iPhone 4 is go to http://www.jailbreakme.com to download the JailbreakMe 2.0 tool and follow the on-screen instructions. The jailbreaking process does take a few minutes, and earlier today the servers for jailbreakme.com were down due to high traffic, but there are many reports of users who have successfully jailbroken their iPhone 4.
The process does require a bit of patience, and be sure to backup your iPhone 4 before jailbreaking. It also appears that FaceTime and MMS may be broken with the jailbreak.
In addition to iPhone 4s, JailbreakMe 2.0 will also jailbreak the iPhone 3G, 3G S and iPad.
You can take a look at the FAQs for JailbreakMe 2.0, and donate to the developers here.
The real, fake Steve Jobs – Apple confirms email conversation between Jobs and iPhone 4 user is a hoax
Steve Jobs has developed a reputation for providing terse response to users that e-mail the Apple CEO with questions. So, it wasn’t a complete surprise when BGR revealed a conversation between Steve Jobs and someone claiming to be “an Apple engineer” in which Jobs responded to the iPhone 4’s reception problems with, “No, you are getting all worked up over a few days of rumors. Calm down,” and “You are most likely in an area with very low signal strength.”
While these comments do seem typical of Jobs, Apple’s PR team has confirmed that this email exchange is indeed a fake. BGR vouched for the authenticity of these emails based on email header information. However, this data can be easily falsified, which seems to be the case here.
Following BGR’s report, AppleInsider reported they were contacted two days ago by Jason Burford, of Burford Advertising (above), and asked if they would be interested in purchasing the email chain. Needless to say, AppleInsider passed on the offer. Which makes us wonder if BGR actually purchased this email exchange, and if so, for how much.
Problems like this do seem likely to arise when the CEO of the world’s largest tech company replies personally to random emailers. It’s also unfortunate that this story wasn’t more thoroughly vetted before it went to print.
Lawsuit filed over Apple iPhone 4 reception issues
On Wednesday, Ward & Ward and Charles A. Gilman LLC filed a class action lawsuit against Apple and AT&T over highly publicized reception and antenna issues with the Apple iPhone 4. The lawsuit accuses Apple and AT&T of general negligence, breach of implied warranty for merchantability, deceptive trade practices, intentional misrepresentation and fraud by concealment, among other claims.
The lawsuit is filed on behalf of two plaintiffs, Kevin McCraffrey and Linda Winn, although Ward & Ward and Charles A. Gilman LLC says there are several other unnamed customers represented. Ward & Ward and Charles A. Gilman LLC is seeking class action status for the case.
Interestingly, the lawsuit quotes e-mails that Steve Jobs sent in reply to two iPhone 4 users asking for help with their reception issues. Jobs’ replies include, “Just avoid holding it in that way,” “it’s not a big issue,” and “You are in a marginal cell area. It has nothing to do with the phone.”
The lawsuit also cites a BGR article that revealed internal guidelines for Apple representatives dealing with antenna questions. Among other things, these guidelines instruct Apple representatives to avoid promising free bumpers to iPhone 4 users with reception issues.
On Tuesday, we reported that a Sacramento law firm called Kershaw, Cutter and Ratinoff LLP was soliciting iPhone 4 buyers with reception issues. However, Kershaw, Cutter and Ratinoff LLP has yet to file a lawsuit against Apple or AT&T.
We’re guessing that Ward & Ward and Charles A. Gilman LLC’s lawsuit is just the tip of the iceberg. Generally, class action lawsuits can be very profitable for the filing law firms, since settlements often include payments for lawyer’s fees in addition to the lawyer’s cut off of damages paid.
Verizon iPhone rumors are bad news for the Motorola Droid X
Yesterday, Bloomberg reporter Amy Thomson reported that Verizon Wireless will start to sell the Apple iPhone in January 2011. It has long been rumored that AT&T’s exclusivity deal with Apple will be ending soon, and Thomson’s unnamed sources confirm that this will be the case come 2011. According to Thomson’s report, Verizon plans to release the iPhone as it rolls out its 4th generation LTE network in the United States.
While rumors of a Verizon iPhone have not panned out in the past, the Bloomberg report does appear to be much more credible than previous rumors. Thomson appears to have solid sources that have provided specific details, and Bloomberg’s backing of the story does lend credibility.
The Bloomberg report also comes just a couple of weeks before Verizon releases its strongest iPhone competitor yet, the Motorola Droid X. The Droid X features a large 4.3” screen, 1GHz processor and the Android OS, a solid feature set that will attract smartphone early adopters.
We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple leaked the news of a Verizon iPhone prior to the Droid X release. This would likely encourage at least some prospective Droid X buyers to take a wait-and-see approach rather than signing up for a new two year contract with the purchase of a Droid X.
All of this is speculation, of course, but it does seem like a strong play on Apple’s part, especially considering that Verizon’s $350 early termination fee will make it tough for Verizon customers with existing contracts to move to a new device before their contract expires.
