Most importantly, the Verizon iPhone allows users to use the iPhone as a mobile hotspot, something that AT&T users have been complaining about for years. This allows you to share your internet connection with up to five users. This is a very useful feature while out with friends or colleagues that may need an internet connection where you are.

Unfortunately, the Verizon iPhone 4 is on the CDMA network and not on the new 4G LTW network which means that you can’t use voice and data at the same time due to CDMA’s limitations. When asked why Verizon didn’t put the iPhone 4 on the new 4G LTW network, Apple COO Tim Cook replied, “Two reasons: the first gen LTW chipsets force design changes we wouldn’t make, and Verizon customers told us they want the iPhone now. I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve been asked ‘when will it work on Verizon.’” This will mean that if you’re on the phone and want to look something up or check your mail while on the CDMA network, you can’t. You should be able to if you’re on a wifi network. You can see some minor modifications to the antenna gaps on the Verizon iPhone 4 which were mentioned as being necessary for the CDMA network.

Another shocker was that the Verizon page has the white iPhone listed on their web site. Apple said that manufacturing problems kept the white iPhone from being released, but it now looks like the white iPhone was kept until this announcement.

The Verizon iPhone 4 on CDMA is non-exclusive which means that it’s possible for other carriers that use CDMA such as Sprint to get an iPhone 4 in the future. Data pricing has not been released yet, but it would be in Verizon’s favor to compete with AT&T by having an unlimited data plan to woo people that are still in AT&T’s unlimited data plan. Also, there’s no mention of how using the iPhone as a hotspot will modify data pricing.

Preorders are available on February 3, 2011 and the Verizon iPhone 4 will be released on February 10, 2011. Pricing is $199 for the 16 GB version with a two year contract.

Apple’s site: apple.com

Verizon Wireless: verizonwireless.com

© June Sixth Productions for Geekistry: It's all geek to us, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 4g LTW, at&t, hotspot, iPhone, iphone 4, mifi, verizon

If you’re an owner of the first generation iPhone, you’re out of luck. iOS 4 won’t run on it. iPhone 3G, 3GS, and iPhone 4 users will be able to upgrade.

Click here to see what steps to take before upgrading to iOS 4.

Multitasking. Despite the fact that multitasking on the iPhone isn’t true multitasking as us developers know it, it still works pretty well. When I tested the Palm Pre last summer, it was nice having some apps run in the background, but even having it, I never really used it very much. When I did need it, it was because I was writing something with one app, and had to switch to another for reference. On the iPhone, not everything will give you that luxury.

For multitasking to work on the iPhone, the application needs to be built with the iOS 4 SDK. That means your current version of Pandora won’t work in the background yet. Note that multitasking will only work on the iPhone 4 and 3GS. What will work are the following:

• Background Audio
• Voice over IP
• Background Location
• Push Notifications
• Local Notifications
• Task Finishing
• Fast app Switching

To switch to another application, double tap the home key to bring up a list of apps.

Folders. If you have 12 pages of apps, it would be nice to organize them into folders. iOS 4 allows you to do that. Press and hold an icon until they start to jiggle. Once they jiggle, drag one icon on top of another you’d like to make a folder with. Once you drop it, iOS 4 will create a folder for you in that location that you can rename. Very handy.

Unified Mailbox. One of my biggest gripes with the older iPhone OS was the need to dive three levels deep into each of my mailboxes to read messages, then go out three levels to get to my account list, and then dive three levels in again. It was a chore, and now iOS 4 gives you the ability to have a unified mailbox where all your mail comes into one big list. You still have the ability to look at mail inside individual mailboxes, but seeing it come into one list is great for people like me that have many mailboxes to read every day.

Bluetooth keyboard support. I have to admit, I hate writing long passages on my iPhone. Eventually, the need to shift, shift, shift gets on my nerves and I wish I had a keyboard to do what I wanted. With iOS 4, you can now connect a Bluetooth keyboard to your iPhone and type away. Even arrow keys and volume controls work with it. This ability also exists on the iPad.

Background wallpaper. I never liked the plain black background. Now everyone has the ability to use whatever wallpaper they want on their home screen.

You can see the rest of the iOS 4 features on Apple’s iOS 4 web site.

© June Sixth Productions for Geekistry: It's all geek to us, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apple, bluetooth, folders, ios 4, iPhone, iphone 3g, iphone 3gs, iphone 4, mail, mailbox, multitasking, unified mailbox, Wallpaper

Before you begin: note that iOS 4 will not run on a first generation iPhone.

Upgrade iTunes to 9.2. Without upgrading to iTunes 9.2, you won’t be able to upgrade to iOS 4. If you connect your phone and haven’t upgraded iTunes, you’ll get the following dialog:

NOTE: As I wrote this, the Mac I was using with iTunes 9.1.1 died and I can’t get the screenshot off the hard drive until later.

Essentially, it says “Starman’s iPhone can’t be used with this Mac. Please upgrade to iTunes 9.2″

Backup your iPhone. This can be crucial in case of a failure while upgrading. When you connect your iPhone to iTunes 9.2, it will mount as a device. Right click on the iPhone’s icon and select “Backup”. It will take a while, but when it’s done, everything will be backed up. If something goes wrong, you can restore your phone using this backup and you won’t lose anything.

Sync your important information. I use an app called PhoneView to back up my notes. iTunes will back up your contacts, music, movies, and pictures. Still, I like to run the apps and make sure the information’s there before doing something like wiping my phone for an OS upgrade. This step may seem redundant if you already backed up your phone, but I’m not one to take chances. You can skip this step if you wish, but I’d suggest doing it.

Once you’re confident that all your information is backed up, connect your phone, and click on “Check for Update” which you’ll find when you highlight your phone’s icon in the devices list. iTunes will warn you that you’re about to lose all the information on your iPhone. Since you backed it all up, you should be good to go. Tell iTunes to upgrade your OS and let it run. My upgrade took about 15-20 minutes since it had to do the iOS 4 install, reboot, restore my backup, and another reboot before I was able to use it again.

© June Sixth Productions for Geekistry: It's all geek to us, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apple, ios 4, iPhone, iphone 4, iTunes, upgrade