Hasta La Gadget!

Although you’d think AT&T would be all over the Verizon iPhone‘s new personal hotspot feature if only just to keep feature parity with its biggest competitor, the carrier is taking a more measured approach — an AT&T spokesperson just told us that they’re “evaluating the feature, but have no plans to announce at this time.” Given that the iOS 4.3 beta just brought hotspot support to the GSM iPhone, we’re guessing that the holdup is more tactical than technical — Verizon still hasn’t announced its iPhone data plan pricing or hotspot tax, and we’re assuming AT&T’s just waiting for some numbers before announcing support sometime around, say, February 10th. We’ll see.

P.S.- We’re also thinking it would be sweet it AT&T supported WiFi hotspot with 3G iPad and its contract-free data plans, but we’re just wishing one wish at a time here.

AT&T ‘evaluating’ support for iOS Personal Hotspot, no plans yet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While we weren’t busy kicking up dust on the CES floors, we sat down with Taiwan-based Yantouch to have a fiddle with its latest product, the Black Diamond. When not in use, it really is just a gorgeous spherical black diamond, or at least its faceted front half is; but slip in an iPhone 4 with the Black Diamond app enabled, and you get a funky sound sensitive mood lamp. On top of that, the dock also charges up your iPhone while it shows off its colors, and somewhere at the bottom there’s some black magic that channels out amplified audio from the phone, although actual speakers would be even nicer.

Ultimately, Yantouch sees the Black Diamond as a developing platform for potential applications like an outdoor temperature indicator, or some sort of caller ID color tagging tool for seeing from afar who’s calling. If all goes well, Yantouch will even consider making an Android version, but we’re not sure if the $79 price tag will immediately catch on. Anyhow, check out our hands-on video after the break.

Continue reading Yantouch Black Diamond 3D ambience iPhone dock hands-on

Yantouch Black Diamond 3D ambience iPhone dock hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just got a look at the Verizon version of the iPhone 4. Guess what? It’s just like an iPhone 4! There’s no custom pre-loaded Verizon software (like VCAST or some such bloatware), just that mobile hotspot tweak in the settings menu. There’s also no Verizon branding on the phone, though that’s hardly a surprise given Apple’s hatred of all logos that aren’t its own. The only real physical difference we can find are those tweaked CDMA-compatible antennas running around the edge — four in all, placed symmetrically and bumping down the volume / mute buttons. Interestingly, the phone is running iOS version 4.2.5, so perhaps that mobile hotspot functionality will make its way over to other iPhones when they sync up on iOS updates. We did try a speed test, clearing the cache and loading various sites simultaneously on the Verizon phone and our AT&T device, and while there were variations in the load times, there were too many external factors to really make a judgment call just yet.

Continue reading Verizon iPhone first hands-on! (update: video)

Verizon iPhone first hands-on! (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The leaks suggested that the Verizon iPhone would have slightly relocated buttons, and it’s true — as you can see in the photo above, the newly revised CDMA antenna notch has pushed the volume and mute controls down a hair from GSM version. That means a lot of cases — Apple’s current bumpers included — won’t fit properly on the Verizon version, although many third-party cases feature an open slot for the buttons that might still work. Either way, we’d bet Apple and third-party manufacturers are scrambling to have compatible cases in stores before the February 10th launch date — just make sure to check yours first if you’re switching from AT&T.

Verizon iPhone has relocated buttons, might require new cases originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would you look at that, Verizon’s iPhone 4 has four notches punctuating its external antenna array — one more than you may find on AT&T’s version, with the top notch migrating to the side. Before you all jump on conspiracy theories about fixes and such, Tim Cook has just confirmed on stage that changes had to be made to work on the CDMA network, meaning that for users this is pretty much an aesthetic alteration. Otherwise, you’re looking at an almost identical device to what AT&T users have been enjoying since June of last year — savvy nerds will just be able to tell the CDMA version apart at one glance.

Verizon’s iPhone 4 has a CDMA-specific antenna, no other changes made originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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