Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s all aglow with its fiscal triumphs, but that’s nothing new. Here’s something else that follows the Cupertino company like night follows the day: Verizon iPhone rumors. Boy Genius Report claims it’s heard from one of its “solid Apple sources” that iPhone 3,2 (seen previously in iOS code) has hit “AP testing phase,” which reportedly means final hardware and near-final software. Said source also claims it has a SIM card slot, which would be fine except for BGR’s assertion that 3,2 is the oft-rumored CDMA iPhone — you know, the one that Wall Street Journal is all but certain is coming next year. So how might these two apparently contradictory elements form some tangible paradox machine? One possibility the publication is suggesting is a CDMA / GSM dual-mode “global” phone that’d work on virtually all major carriers. Then again, it could just be a GSM iPhone 4 with some design finagling (antenna revision?). If any of this pans out, that is, but at least you can say you witnessed the Verizon iPhone rumor merging with existing iPhone 4 to form a mythical “carrier Voltron” device. Or something like that.

iPhone 3,2 rumored to be in near-final testing phase, cue the CDMA speculation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been to this rodeo before (a few times, actually), but the smoke that leads to fire is getting far harder to ignore. Following a Bloomberg report in June that a Verizon iPhone was on track for a January 2011 release as well as independent confirmation from John Gruber, Yukari Iwatani Kane from The Wall Street Journal is now sounding mighty confident that the aforementioned plans are true. According to various people “briefed by Apple,” Jobs and Company will begin “mass producing a new iPhone by the end of 2010 that would allow Verizon Wireless to sell the smartphone early next year.” It’ll rely on a key Qualcomm chip as well as a CDMA radio, but curiously enough, there’s nary of a mention of LTE in this report. In closely related news, it’s bruited that Apple is also developing a separate iPhone model, though it’s unclear how soon VZW will be able to grab the fifth generation edition. ‘Course, it’s not exactly the shocker of the year to hear that Apple’s toiling on a new iPhone without a dubious antenna design, but the real question is this: will the Verizon iPhone beat AT&T’s elusive white iPhone 4 to market? Inquiring minds would love to know.

Update: The WSJ udated the story to be more clear, “Apple Inc. is making a version of its iPhone that Verizon Wireless will sell early next year.” So it’s not just a generic CDMA iPhone that may or may not end up on Verizon Wireless. The WSJ also added that the CDMA iPhone 4 variant will be built by Pegatron and would only work on a CDMA network (i.e., it’s not a dual-mode GSM/CDMA device). Also, according to one source, VZW has been working with Apple to test its network and adding additional capacity to avoid being overwhelmed a la AT&T.

WSJ: Verizon to sell iPhone in 2011, fifth generation iPhone is in the works (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Last week’s Switched On looked at some of the reasons that a Verizon iPhone might not bring seismic shifts to the cell phone market or the balance of power between the two largest carriers in the U.S., focusing more on the AT&T incentive. This column discusses the carrier’s current CDMA network and its multi-year transition to LTE, which could lower some obstacles to a Verizon iPhone.

While reports have asserted that a Verizon iPhone may ship as early as January and that a CDMA version of the phone will go into production in September, there are reasons to doubt that Apple will create a CDMA iPhone for Verizon Wireless. Verizon Wireless is a large carrier, but it’s subscriber base is relatively small compared to the one that is served by having a single GSM device that Apple can sell around the globe. That massive audience creates certain scale advantages for Apple.

Continue reading Switched On: Getting real about a phone that’s not (part 2)

Switched On: Getting real about a phone that’s not (part 2) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And this, folks, is a lesson of what not to do if you’re a major carrier with a majorly perturbed user base. In a way, this sort of feels like the Instinct update debacle all over again, with users claiming that a promised software update was being held beyond the 30 day return window in order to keep contracts alive. 24 hours after a Sprint forum administrator proudly proclaimed that a long-awaited Epic 4G software update was rolling out over the next few days, another admin has chimed in with a nearly-audible “sike!” Rather than letting users cheer its hard work over the weekend, Epic 4G owners are now being told that “administrative issues” are to blame for a new delay — a delay that’ll stretch on for an undetermined amount of time, to boot. Oh, and back on the topic of what not to do, the operator’s forum admin has also thrown a jab at all of you out there that would even think of accusing Sprint of pushing this update beyond the 30 day return window. Look, we all know it’s a baseless conspiracy theory, but there’s really no need to get feisty, is there? Full announcement is after the break.

Update: Looks as if the update is out there if you’re brave enough to do it yourself. But honestly, is it worth it? Probably.

[Thanks, Edward]

Continue reading Sprint Epic 4G update delayed by ‘administrative issues,’ consumer rage released on schedule

Sprint Epic 4G update delayed by ‘administrative issues,’ consumer rage released on schedule originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint said it was coming, and lo and behold, the carrier has proven to be true to its word. Here on the final day of September, the year 2010, Sprint has issued a highly anticipated firmware update for the Epic 4G. We’re told that it’ll be pushed automatically to phones, bringing along four major fixes: WiFi standby battery drain, Amazon MP3 cannot download in 4G, large emails lag in upload speeds and increased 3G upload speeds. The new version is S:D700.0.5S.DI18, should take seven or eight minutes to download and will be beamed across The Now Network over the course of the next few days. Is that a congregation celebrating off in the middle distance? Sure is.

Sprint Epic 4G update now rolling out, promises ‘increased 3G upload speeds’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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