Wondering what the differences between the Verizon iPhone 4 and the AT&T version are? Well maybe we can clarify a few things for you. For starters, let’s talk appearance. The volume and ringer mute buttons have been moved, to accommodate the new antenna design (see extra notch above mute button). Current bumpers and cases with just a hole for the side controls will not fit the Verizon iPhone 4 model.
Now as far as the internals go, the 2 models are almost identical, save for the obvious fact that the new Verizon model will have CDMA chipsets and AT&T models use GSM technology. For those not so tech savvy that means that you will be unable to use an AT&T version of the iPhone on the Verizon network. And in case you haven’t heard the bad news, CDMA also means that you are unable to be on the phone and use data at the same time…
And finally the software. The Verizon iPhone 4 will launch with iOS version 4.2.5 and of course the popular mobile hotspot feature. AT&T model phones are expected to receive the update to incorporate that feature but a release date is not known yet.
It’ll be interesting to see what these differences will mean to AT&T customers interested in rolling over to the Big Red network. Will the cost of new phones and accessories or the loss of the ability to talk and browse the web at the same time keep many AT&T users who were sick of the network issues from switching? Will it keep you guys from switching?
written by stu2402
\\ tags: accessories, antenna-design, browse-the-web, differences, heard-the-bad, Iphone, mobile-hotspot, verizon
Now that the Verizon iPhone 4 has been officially unveiled, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to replicate the infamous “death grip” which causes signal degradation to the point of dropped calls. Those issues stemmed from the way the iPhone 4′s antenna was designed, which resulted in attenuation issues when holding the device a certain way.
After a few flat out denials and a misguided PR campaign, the situation was dubbed antennagate, after the famous Watergate political scandal of the 70′s. Now that Apple has released a revised version of the iPhone 4 in order to meet the compatibility standards of Verizon’s CDMA network, were they able to address the antenna issues along the way?
The folks over at Slash Gear sure seem to think so, because they were able to go hands-on with the updated iPhone 4, directly after Verizon’s media event on Tuesday.
What they found wasn’t shocking by any means; it appears that Apple has fixed the antenna issues that plagued its initial design. It’s unsurprising considering Apple has had months to tweak the hardware in order to eliminate the antenna problems.
Not only that, but the spy shots that were unveiled last week clearly show changes to the metal band that wraps around the iPhone’s exterior. This band serves as part of the iPhone’s antennas.
True enough, their test wasn’t the most scientific method, but it’s certainly a positive sign to witness.
Do you think Apple finally solved the antenna issues?
written by mjmeser
\\ tags: along-the-way, antenna, Apple, finally-solved, from-the-way, Iphone, iphone 4, iphone news, serves-as-part, situation, slash-gear, verizon
One of the things that concerns me about the release of the Verizon iPhone 4, is how this anomaly in the iPhone release schedule will change Apple’s strategy. Will it change it at all? Will it be business as usual come June 2011? The main group of people that are potentially impacted from this change are current iPhone owners, AT&T customers.
Are we still likely to see the next iteration of the iPhone released this summer, or does this bring significant change to what we’ve all grown accustomed to over the years?
Although I once asserted the idea that Apple would likely be skipping over any incremental upgrades this summer, the situation just got a bit more complex with Verizon thrown into the mix.
On one hand you’ve got millions of potential customers that are eager to take the plunge this February with Verizon’s iPhone 4. On the other hand you have millions of current iPhone 4 owners with AT&T who are waiting to see what Apple has in store for them next. What does Apple do?
One option would be for them to stay their course and release the iPhone 5 this summer on AT&T. That would surely satisfy AT&T and its many customers, but would likely alienate the folks who just signed 2-year deals in February with Verizon.
Another option would be to forgo ”normal”, and push back the release of the iPhone 5 until both AT&T’s and Verizon’s LTE offerings are deployed and mature (though AT&T still has some catching up to do). That way, Apple could essentially release the same phone for both networks, and mosey its way back to a unified release schedule.
The more I ponder this, the more likely it seems that Apple will follow the latter course. Hence, it seems more and more evident that this summer’s release could be an incremental upgrade of some sort; think iPhone 3GS. Perhaps a few bumped up specs, a fixed antenna, and better battery life.
Once summer passes, Apple could wait it out the full year, and release LTE capable devices in the summer of 2012, meaning Verizon owners would have to wait about a year and a half for a refresh. Or, they could bump up the release date to spring 2012, and drop the summer release schedule altogether, at least for 2012.
There are so many options for Apple to consider. I know they’d hate to give up the summer release date due to the success they’ve had over the years, but these are the sorts of tough decisions that the big wigs in Cupertino are dealing with.
If you were on Apple’s board, what would you encourage them to do?
written by najinya
\\ tags: Apple, capable-devices, drop-the-summer, Iphone, iphone 4, iphone news, over-the-years, release, situation, summer, unified-release, verizon, years
Yesterday, the Verizon iPhone was announced. Not much is different; there is a new CDMA antenna and mobile hotspot feature coined as “Personal Hotspot.” This new (currently) Verizon-specific iPhone feature mimics popular jailbreak utilities like MyWi.
Personal Hotspot will be a new, pre-installed software feature for the Verizon brand of iOS. This mobile hotspot feature has been available on most Android phones for quite some time. Some more details have surfaced about Personal Hotspot…
Personal Hotspot will be a new option in the Settings app for the Verizon iPhone. The feature will operate like the native tethering functionality already built into iOS. Boy Genius reported on Personal Hotspot directly after the Verizon announcement,
“The mobile hotspot implementation on the CDMA iPhone is, like all things Apple, pretty simple and takes little effort to get up and running. There’s a blue notification bar that appears on the top of the device’s screen that shows you how many clients are connected and a simple interface to toggle the hotspot on and off and set the password. Mobile hotspot functionality will be available on the Verizon iPhone at launch for an extra monthly fee.”
That “extra monthly fee” will be $20 for a 2GB allowance, which isn’t that great. What makes it even less appealing is that Verizon’s CDMA network makes it impossible to use the internet and make a call at the same time.
BGR has also confirmed that Personal Hotspot will be a feature on all iPhones (AT&T too) in iOS 4.3. BGR says,
“According to our source, the personal hotspot feature that debuted on the Verizon iPhone yesterday will, in fact, be making its way to all iPhones in iOS 4.3. We’re sure there will need to be carrier support for this feature, and for AT&T users it is entirely possible we might not see this right away.”
When it comes to AT&T, Personal Hotspot could be a feature that doesn’t actually have network support for quite some time. When Apple originally implemented tethering capabilities into iOS, it took AT&T over a year to actually enable the feature on their network. Who knows if Personal Hotspot will ever see the light of day on AT&T.
MyWi is a jailbreak app, developed by Intelliborn, that has been offering the functionality of Personal Hotspot for a long time. TUAW interviewed Intelliborn’s founder, Mario Ciabarra, about how he thinks the announcement of Personal Hotspot will effect MyWi,
“I think that it’s great to see Apple opening the door to using the full functionality of the phone,” he told TUAW. “As we’ve seen in the past there are a lot of limitations and restrictions that Apple imposes on application publishers.”
Ciabarra responded positively about the Verizon phone. “We don’t see it as a negative,” he told TUAW. “MyWi will continue to compete in this arena–even without seeing the specific features that are being offered on Verizon’s app. MyWi offers additional functionality like battery saving, controlling the signal strength for your tethering, seeing who is connected to phone in real time, and more, that users will continue to enjoy.”
MyWi is a much more robust (and affordable) solution to carrier-supported hotspot features like Personal Hotspot. With MyWi, you can set a channel and adjust transmit power. The app also allows you to tweak the DHCP settings and display detailed battery information, along with what users are currently using your created network.
What do you think about Personal Hotspot? Will you be paying $2o a month for it? MyWi is a one-time Cydia purchase at a rather affordable price. Is MyWi a better solution for you?
[Images via TechCrunch and Engadget]
written by Debra
\\ tags: antenna, Apple, cydia-store, feature, hotspot, internet, jailbreak, light, mobile, personal, source, utilities, verizon
A day after tales of the new iOS 4.3 came out touting the merits of the new Personal Hotspot feature, mostly due to the release of the Verizon iPhone, Apple started seeding iOS 4.3 beta to developers.
This pre-release version of iOS 4.3 is for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as for the Apple TV. Hopefully this new iOS will have a few surprises for us. More to come soon…
[9 to 5 Mac]
written by ahmed
\\ tags: Apple, came-out, come-soon, few-surprises, hotspot, ios 4.3, iphone news, merits, mostly-due, release, started-seeding, the-new, the-release, verizon
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