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A Find My iPhone Success Story

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Internet,

Find my iPhoneI’m glad I’ve never experienced the displeasure of losing a wallet or mobile device, but I know it’s something that happens all too often. tried to make it a little easier to recover a stolen iPhone, with the service Find My iPhone. In a nutshell, Find My iPhone shows you where your iPhone is physically located on a Google Map, and let’s you ping the phone with messages, even if it is in silent mode, in the hopes that someone will see the message and act on it. Of course, sometimes they will ignore it, thinking they’ve just scored themselves a free iPhone. That’s what happened to Kevin, who actually used Find My iPhone to chase down the thief who had his mobile device, in attempts to get it back on his own, without the help of law enforcement. It’s a fun read, because he could have been killed, depending on who the thief was!

Read More | The Intermittent Kevin

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iPhone 3GS Compass Interference?

Anyone with an experiencing compass interference errors? It seems that the issue has only come up for me once or twice, but we are hearing reports from others that the compass interference messages seems to be pretty much all they see when they launch the compass app. What say you?


iPhone 3GS full review

iPhone 3GS review

Since announced the at , the buzz has been non-stop. There are obviously those Apple fanboys that are hyping this as the Third Coming, as well as those who are a bit more skeptical as to if the speed boost is truly real, and truly worth it. Oh, and of course, the lead-up to the iPhone 3GS launch hasn’t been without controversy, but AT&T stepped up in a big way to make it easier on iPhone 3G owners who want to upgrade without breaking the bank. So the question remains - is it worth it?


iPhone 3GS: The ‘S’ is for ‘Speed’
Okay, so many of us were speculating that this phone would be called the iPhone video. After all, when video came to the iPod, it was called the iPod video, and video would certainly be the big feature if it was included in the third iPhone, right? Wrong. Video takes a back seat to speed when it comes to the iPhone 3GS. I know, that sounds all sorts of silly, but allow me to explain. Apple has been focused on optimizing and refining OS X, as evidenced by what we are seeing with . Remember, the iPhone is based on OS X at it’s core, and Apple wouldn’t neglect bringing those refinements to their flagship mobile device.

That said, believe the hype. This phone is very noticeably faster than the iPhone and iPhone 3G—even if you have an iPhone 3G that is already running the faster iPhone 3.0 update. You are able to launch and quit the core apps in a snap. Internet speeds are faster. Launching those games that take a while to load is nowhere near as frustrating. And best of all, despite this being a “little thing,” the little nagging stalls and overall lack of responsiveness are just gone.

Click to continue reading iPhone 3GS full review


Video: iPhone 3GS Safari vs. Mac Firefox speed test

So, if you are wondering just how fast that really is, we’ve got something you may want to take a look at. In this video, we compare the speed of the iPhone 3GS at pulling up Gear Live in Mobile Safari, to that of an iMac doing the same in the latest version of Firefox. Forget about comparing iPhone 3GS browser speeds to the older iPhone 3G, this really shows off the power inside of the latest Apple smartphone.


iPhone 3GS Getting Prepared At AT&T Distribution Center

It’s the zero hour, and those units need to hurry up and get to their final AT&T Store destinations. Wonder how a launch of this size gets managed? Check out the video above, which shows workers at an distribution center getting the iPhone 3GS scanned, boxed, and ready to ship for tomorrow’s launch.


Apple begins credit notifications for iPhone 3GS pre-orders

iPhone 3GS refund

Earlier today we told you how AT&T impressed us by offering “best pricing” upgrades for iPhone 3G users to iPhone 3GS. Some wondered what would happen if they had already ordered the iPhone, especially if they bought it through the Apple Store. Turns out, is already on top of it. I just got an email from the Apple Store Online team, letting me know that, within the next 5 days, I will get getting a $200 refund. You can see the entire text of the email after the break.

Click to continue reading Apple begins credit notifications for iPhone 3GS pre-orders


AT&T listens to customers, grants best upgrade pricing to many iPhone 3G owners

We have got to hand it to , as they’ve continued to impress us during this pre-launch period. Remember when we told you that iPhone 3G owners would pay a premium for iPhone 3G S at launch? Well there was a backlash on Twitter, Facebook, and just about every other social network you can think of, with iPhone 3G owners demanding that AT&T rethink their upgrade policy for these early adopters. It meant a difference of $200.

Of course, we figured that AT&T would ignore all of this, as iPhone 3G owners are under a contract that they agreed to, and AT&T wasn’t doing anything but making them live up to those contract terms. However, AT&T has pretty much done the unthinkable, and is allowing iPhone 3G customer who are eligible for an early upgrade in July, August, or September to get the best pricing on the iPhone 3G S. In other words, if you bought an iPhone 3G last July, August, or September, you can pick up an iPhone 3G S for the $199/299 pricing model, rather than the $399/499 price that you are supposed to be paying.

Kudos, AT&T.

Read More | AT&T

Apple delays iPhone 3.0 by a day?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Software,

iPhone 3.0 delay

We’re not sure what the deal is, but we’ve been getting reports from a bunch of users that it seems that may have delayed the release of iPhone OS 3.0 by a day. Originally expected on June 17th, the Apple iPhone OS 3.0 feature page is now showing a date of June 18th for some users. I tested the page on my , and the date displayed at the top right of the page was June 18th. I then loaded it on my MacBook Pro, and the date was June 17th. Quite odd. What does the page say when you visit it?

EDIT: Looks like the page floating around with the June 18th date actually goes to Apple’s Singapore page. False alarm, June 17th is still on!

Read More | iPhone Software Update

Video: AT&T on iPhone 3GS pricing and availability

If you’re an AT&T customer wanting to get the low-down on the launch plans, Seth Bloom of AT&T has put up the video above to help you out. Seth goes into pricing (although he doesn’t explain some of the gross iPhone 3GS pricing discrepancies), and how the $199/299 price points are only for “new and qualifying” customers. He also says that on launch day, June 19, two lines will form at AT&T Stores. One for those who have pre-ordered the device, and another for those who need to make a purchase. Pre-orders get picked up at 7 AM, which regular purchasers will need to wait until the store opens at normal business hours. Last, the current iPhone 3G is now available for $99 for the 8GB model, and the 16GB model is now selling for $149, while supplies last.


ATT iPhone 3G customers pay more for iPhone 3GS

iPhone 3GS upgrade pricing

Amidst all the hype, there is some bad news today as well for owners of the current iPhone 3G who may want to upgrade. As it turns out, those $199/299 prices being thrown around aren’t for you. Those are for new customers, and those who are at the end of their contract. If you are a current iPhone 3G owner on AT&T, you’ll have to shell out $399 for a 16GB iPhone 3GS, or $499 for a 32GB model. Ever have your iPhone 3G replaced because it was faulty? You may be in for an even bigger shock. As you can see in the image above, there are two iPhones that AT&T is giving the upgrade status on. The thing is, both phones were purchased on the same day, and are on the same plan (I should know, as it is my account up there.) See how the upgrade dates are different? Straight up ridiculous.

Oh, and if you are just completely not eligible for an upgrade, or want to buy an iPhone 3GS with no contract commitments? The 16GB model will cost you $599, and the 32GB iPhone 3GS will run you a cool $699. I know, it hurts.


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