Tag: 4G »

4G, up to now, is the mythical double rainbow that AT&T just can't seem to find. While other carriers are moving to a 4G standard, AT&T hasn't quite grasped the new technology, meaning that your Apple devices will be stuck in 3G land if you are stuck with AT&T.

There is a solution though, and it comes in a cute little, Magic Mouse-like package. The iSpot, from Clearwire, is a 4G hotspot that connects up to 8 Apple devices (the device is configured to filter based on MAC address, so only Apple devices are allowed) to the 4G network via WiFi. You do have to be in a Clearwire area for it to work well, but if you are, you'll get blinding 4G speeds that only space men have witnessed.

Unfortunately, unlike the PC version of the same product, the iSpot is unable to fall back to the 3G network if you aren't in 4G range. So if you happen to live in the Phoenix, AZ metro area like myself, you are out of luck, but next time you go to Amarillo, TX, you're golden. Needless to say, the coverage is spotty.

Check out the Clearwire website for pricing details, and that wonderful coverage map.

[Source: ZDnet]

Update: Just for clarification, the iSpot's (incredibly cheap) service plan is $25 and can only be used with iOS devices. Ars Technica reports that "the iSpot can't be used to share a connection with a laptop or another non-iOS device unless a Clear rep unlocks it and bumps the service fee to the standard $40 monthly CLEAR Spot 4G plan."

We got an email this afternoon from Soonleader, a Chinese accessory maker that they've already started producing some cases for the next generation iPhone. You know, the one that hasn't even been officially announced yet. In their note, they mention that they have taken a molding of the next generation iPhone. We can only assume that molding is from the one of many that have seemingly escaped the usual Apple tight security.

Here are a couple pictures of the new cases. They seem to have all of the ports in the right places for the pictures we've seen so far. Check the Soonleader site for more pictures.

While we already know a lot about the next iPhone. I'm pretty sure there are some things we do not know yet. Those things will likely be revealed next Monday at the WWDC Keynote. And immediately after I'm sure we will be deluged with case designs and accessories from other manufacturers.

[gallery]

Something is going horribly wrong with Apple’s legendary veil of secrecy. Following the highly documented iPhone prototype leaks already this year, it now appears that a prototype iPod touch has escaped into the wild as well. The same Vietnamese website that, to the best of our knowledge, still has an iPhone 4G prototype is now posting images of a prototype iPod touch with a built-in 2 megapixel camera. As before, Tinhte.vn has also posted a video of the device in action that appears to be running some kind of diagnostic tool with some very un-Apple graphics, but it does show the camera working. Last time we posted about Tinhte.vn we mentioned the dramas Jason Chen of Gizmodo encountered when showing off video of an Apple prototype and urged a little caution. The guys in Vietnam obviously missed that post or simply don’t care, this time they even include footage of them walking into their office!

While this is clearly a prototype model, it may not be that new. Apple is alleged to have scrapped an iPod touch with a camera shortly before its iPod event in September 2009 where it instead launched the iPod nano with video. Images circulating on the web around that time also looked very similar to these. Mac Rumors claims that the codename N18 on the sticker one of the images makes this model a third-generation iPod touch prototype, manufactured in June 2009. Whether or not Apple is planning to return to the iPod touch with camera remains to be seen but these pictures at least prove that they have tried it.

And meanwhile, across the South China Sea, more iPhone prototype information is being spilled. Taiwanese website Apple.pro has posted what appear to be shots of the next generation iPhone’s front fascia. This isn’t exciting in itself, given that we’ve seen what we expect to be the finished product already, but what is interesting is one of these front panels is white. Apple already sells the iPhone with a black or a white back panel and, if these images are true, now plans to sell a completely white version as well. We’re not sure we like the idea of an all-white iPhone, especially if the aluminum seen on the black prototype is included on this white version. We may well think differently when we see the final product, however, with Apple being a company synonymous with beautiful products. Then again, Apple used to be a company synonymous with pre-launch security...

[ via Tinhte.vn ]

[ via Apple.pro ]

After the media circus surrounding Gizmodo and its potentially lost/stolen iPhone 4G prototype last month, it seems there's another iPhone 4G in the wild. Possibly not a prototype this time.

Mac Rumors has been provided with a link to a Vietnamese forum, Taoviet.vn, where more pictures of the new iPhone have been posted. According to a Mac Rumors' source, the device was purchased in the USA along with an iPad. The device is shown from a number of new angles and a teardown of the product is also shown.

A video of the device has been posted to YouTube (see below).

Little new information has been provided by these pictures, however the iPhone's casing shows that it's a 16GB model, whereas Gizmodo's featured XXXGB on the back.

The casing appears more polished on this version with no screws found near the dock connector, suggesting that this is a near finished product. However, in the photos and video, the phone appears to be running some kind of diagnostic firmware and doesn't look like it responds to presses on the home button. In the teardown images, what looks like a processor with Apple branding can also bee seen.

This new information is set against the sad backdrop of yet another suicide at Hon Hai Group in China where Apple's iPhones are manufactured. This is the sixth death at Hon Hai this year and follows Hon Hai's suspension of a member of its security team after a worker killed himself when an iPhone prototype was lost.

After Jason Chen, Gizmodo's editor, had his home raided by police and his computers and other items taken as part of an ongoing investigation, this Vietnamese poster is playing a risky game. It also brings into question whether or not the "found it in a bar" story from Gizmodo (and its mystery iPhone seller) is likely to hold up now that two iPhone 4G models have surfaced.

Either people are being extremely careless with these valuable prototypes and two have been "lost" by Apple employees in the US or a more serious crime has been committed. This might also explain the shock and awe of the raid on Jason Chen's house should the police have reason to believe that the Gizmodo iPhone was part of a wider theft.

Either way, our advice to the Vietnamese man in the video above - don't include your face in footage of you holding a potentially stolen product, it never ends well.

[ via Mac Rumors ]