Hasta La Gadget!

Confession: I don’t have an iPhone. I don’t even have a smartphone. What I have is some piece-of-crap Samsung “feature” Phone. It’s called the Behave, or the Beyoncé, or something like that (I’d check the name, but then I’d have to touch it). I hate it. But I hated it even more when I got it, and here’s why:

This phone, and pretty much any other phone I have bought since phones started to get cameras in them, have plastic or rubber flaps stuffing up the charging holes, and often other ports, too. These need to be popped out, or dug out with a fingernail, every time you need to charge the phone. Then you need to somehow hold the thing open with one finger while you wrestle the (proprietary) charging plug into place.

The answer is, of course, to rip the cover off like the crusted scab it is, and toss it in the trash. One I did this I experienced the delight of of removing one tiny annoyance from the library of UI errors that make up the Samsung Beyoncé’s design.

“Wait,” you say. “Now your phone will get stuffed with fluff, like the belly-button of a flannel shirt fanatic.” To you I say “No!” I just peered into Beyoncé’s charging slot and it is fluff-free. It’s a little dusty, but so what? The charger slides in just fine. And to be clear, I keep this thing in lint-filled pockets and bags alongside keys and coins. The screen is scratched to hell and the back-plate is chipped back to the bare metal but the power-hole is completely clear.

But that’s just, like, my (vehemently held) opinion, man. There are many who would like to spend $10 on a tiny rubber bung to stuff-up their iPhone’s dock-connector port, and perhaps even the headphone jack (and why not. If you’re going to annoy yourself, why not do it properly?). For you, there is the iCorkz Combo Pack, an accessory that can bring frustration and anxiety of accidental loss to your everyday phone dealings. You’re welcome.

iCorkz Combo Pack product page [iCorkz via Oh Gizmo]

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• Tat

We knew The Daily was to be just the first drop what’s destined to be a flood of titles with in-app purchases for the iTunes store, but we weren’t quite sure how hard Apple would be twisting the faucet — until now, that is. According to The Wall Street Journal, Cupertino will reject any newspaper or magazine app that doesn’t take subscription payments through the iTunes store. It doesn’t have to be solely Apple’s store — developers can still sell through websites in addition to the mandated in-app option. (If you recall, this is the same issue that Sony Reader for iOS just faced.) There are a few big questions lingering out there: will the 70 / 30 revenue sharing apply? Does the “rejection” apply to apps already in the store like Amazon’s Kindle? You bet your (virtual) bottom dollar we’ll be finding out soon enough.

Apple to require in-app subscriptions for periodicals by March 31st, fine print still a bit fuzzy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The most popular phone in the United States is finally landing on Verizon, and the moment of truth has come: Will it handle the iPhone better than AT&T? Wired.com’s initial batch of testing suggests the iPhone is a better phone on Verizon, but not a superior media-consumption device in terms of bandwidth speed.

(Read Wired.com’s review of the Verizon iPhone 4 for our complete verdict on the device.)

We ran a series of bandwidth and phone tests on both the Verizon iPhone 4 and AT&T iPhone 4 in 16 locations throughout San Francisco, where 3G bandwidth is known to be as diverse as the residential population.

The results found that Verizon overall has better coverage, but AT&T download rates are 62 percent faster than Verizon, and AT&T upload rates are 38 percent faster than Verizon.

For phone calls, Verizon passed every test, whereas AT&T failed two. The AT&T iPhone also occasionally switched to the slower EDGE in some locations while trying to place a call, but the Verizon iPhone was able to pull a 3G signal to place a call at every location — even in “dead spots” where it seems impossible to get an AT&T signal.

The difference in bandwidth is substantial, and it corroborates earlier independent tests that found AT&T does indeed have a faster network, but Verizon has more coverage.

To perform the speed test, we ran a bandwidth test three times on both devices at each location with the third-party iPhone app Speed Test. (If an iPhone scored “0″ for any of the speed tests, it failed that test.) Then we took the average of the three download speed results and the three upload speed results. Finally, we averaged all these results to determine the general performance of the Verizon iPhone and the AT&T iPhone in San Francisco.

For phone tests, at each location we placed three phone calls. If the iPhone was able to successfully place at least two phone calls, it passed the test. If it could not place at least two phone calls, it failed.

To make this all easier to digest, we plotted the results in the interactive ZeeMap above.

The Verizon iPhone 4 is an interesting product for Engadget to review. Firstly, it’s not exactly a new device (not in any outwardly noticeable way). From design, down to its CPU, RAM, and even cost, this iPhone is the same as the AT&T model… save for that one small but really important thing: it’s got a CDMA radio inside. The device is also somewhat tricky to review based on its software, since we’ve all been using (and even took a deep look at) iOS 4.2 for quite some time. So for us the task is to make clear the differences between these two devices and their networks. Now that’s a little easier, because we’re sure you have the same questions as us. What are calls like? How are the data rates? Is service notably improved or different than AT&T’s? Most importantly, if you’re currently a frustrated iPhone 4 owner, does it make sense to make the switch? We’re going to answer all those queries (and more), so read on for a full review of the Verizon iPhone 4!

Continue reading Verizon iPhone review

Verizon iPhone review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired of carrying two items down to the store? Sometimes hold you wallet to your ear when the phone rings? We’ve all been there (no we haven’t), but now relief is in sight. No, not the expected NFC-equipped iPhone 5, but a dongle for your existing iPhone that ties into Visa’s payment network.

The dream of NFC (near filed communication) payments is that they will be as easy as cash, only without the cash. You touch or wave your phone near an in-store terminal or even vending machine and the payment is made. No PINs, no signatures, (and apparently not much security if your phone is stolen).

Visa is partnering with iCarte to bring contact-less payments to Europe. You need the dongle from your bank (iCarte makes models for the iPhones 3G through 4) and grab the Visa app from the App Store. And that’s it. Once activated, you can make payments at any supporting store.

The scheme is already underway in Turkey and the UK, and will be spreading across Italy, France, Poland, Spain and Switzerland. Apparently, 57% of iPhone users told Visa that they would use the service. This was above the 41% reported by users of phones in general.

NFC payments aren’t new in the rest of the world. The Japanese have been paying for things with their cellphones for years. But the U.S seems to be the perfect place for it. In a land where people use plastic to pay for a single cup of coffee, the convenience of waving a phone at the clerk seems perfect.

Visa begins iPhone ‘iWallet’ payment tests in Europe [Computerworld]

See Also:

• Apple Adding NFC Contact-Less Payment to iPhone 5, Consultants …
• Will the iPhone Become Your iWallet?
• NFC
• What You Need to Know About Android 2.3 Gingerbread