IphoneReception
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Live from Apple's iPhone 4 press conference
The event is set to start at the times below -- so get ready! 07:00AM - Hawaii 10:00AM - Pacific 11:00AM - Mountain 12:00PM - Central 01:00PM - Eastern 06:00PM - London 07:00PM - Paris 09:00PM - Moscow 02:00AM - Tokyo (July 17th)
iOS 4.0.1 hitting iPhones right this second (update: 3.2.1 for iPads, too)
Well it's not the full 4.1 we were expecting... but here's a little tidbit from Apple. One of the main features? The update "improves the formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display." Interesting. We're updating some devices right now, and will report back with what we find. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: It looks like iOS 3.2.1 for iPad is coming down the tube, as well. We'll let you know what changes we're seeing! Update 2: Here's a quick before-and-after shot of the signal meter. Clearly, Apple wasn't yanking any chains about changing the sizes of those leftmost bars.
First day thoughts on iPhone 4
The day has finally come. After 2 1/2 hours in the reserved line, I was able to walk out with the iPhone 4 up and running, albeit without contacts, music, videos or my app collection. Getting it home and synced was uneventful. iTunes detected the new phone and dutifully restored everything. A couple of reminders, however: First, some passwords won't survive the sync. I had to sign on to Pandora again, enter my email passwords once more, and tell my Navigon app that I did indeed purchase traffic and panorama view maps. Tapping their icons re-loaded them, but the panorama maps don't display properly just yet, while the regular 2D and 3D maps work just fine. Hopefully this will be part of a Navigon update that includes multitasking. Oh, and your Bluetooth devices will have to be re-paired as well. Speed increases are pretty obvious and very welcome. I could easily discern the extra speed in bringing up web pages, long playlists and even the address book.
iPhone reception issues plague O2... too (updated with AT&T's response)
It would appear that AT&T isn't the only carrier in the world suffering from a horrible and nagging case of the iPhones. In an interview with the Financial Times, O2 head Ronan Dunne apologized to customers for the poor performance the network has been experiencing since the introduction of the iPhone 3GS to its airwaves this summer. Just as US customers (particularly those in dense, urban areas) have learned to struggle through dropped calls, the inability to make or receive calls, or weak data connections, our brethren on the other side of the pond have felt a similar sting. Says Dunne, "Where we haven't met our own high standards then there's no question, we apologise to customers for that fact," adding that the carrier had fixes at the ready and that the issues would be "more than addressed" shortly. Unlike the widespread problems here, the O2 mess seems to be relegated largely to London, though it's curious to know that AT&T isn't alone in being hamstrung by a network clearly not prepared for the onslaught of data being pushed up and down its virtual pipes. Also unlike the AT&T situation is the fact that O2 has solutions in mind (including the installation of 200 additional mobile base stations in London), and they're clearly taking ownership of the situation. Ahem, Ralph. Update: AT&T responded and let us know they had fixes underway too. Here's an outline of forthcoming changes the carrier says it's making. We are nearly doubling the wireless spectrum serving 3G customers in hundreds of markets across the country, using high-quality 850 MHz spectrum. This additional spectrum expands overall network capacity and improves in-building reception. We are adding about 2,000 new cell sites, expanding service to new cities and improving coverage in other areas. We're adding about 100,000 new backhaul connections, which add critical capacity between cell sites and the global IP backbone network. We're enabling widespread access to our Wi-Fi network – the largest in the country with more than 20,000 hotspots in all 50 states – allowing them to take advantage of the best available AT&T mobile broadband connection. We're rolling out even faster 3G speeds with deployment of HSPA 7.2 technology, with initial availability in six markets planned by the end of the year.
