• apple,  sprint

    iPhone 5S Status Update – I Got Mine!

    It has been a beautiful fall day here in Connecticut, especially since I was lucky enough to pick up a 32GB Space Grey iPhone 5S this afternoon at the New Haven Apple Store.

    According to the staff, all of the Verizon and AT&T iPhone 5S models were sold out.  I also got the impression that the 16GB iPhone 5S units for Sprint and T-Mobile were running close to empty also.  But, as it turns out, they still had “a few” 32GB Sprint units left, to which I happily forked over my $299, plus tax.  I also picked up a Product (RED) Apple leather case of my new iPhone 5S.

    The Apple Store was “super busy” this morning, but when I arrived at around 2:00pm today, the store was full of people, but it wasn’t a mob scene.

    While I was lucky to have gotten my iPhone, and rather late in the day I might add, not all of Apple’s fans where able to get their hands on the new white and ultra-rare gold iPhone 5S were difficult or damn near impossible to find.

    I took a few minutes to look at the new gold color iPhone 5S.  If you are looking to buy a gold iPhone, this photo might be as close as you can get for weeks yet.

    Regardless of what you plans were for iPhone 5S day, I hope it was a good one for you.

  • apple,  att,  ios 7,  iphone 5s,  sprint,  tmobile,  verizon

    Apple iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S Go On Sale Today

    Starting at 3:00am, 12:00am Pacific, this morning, Apple started online sales of the new iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S.  Apple Stores around the country open in just over 90 minutes to begin selling what I’m sure will be a blockbuster success for Apple.

    2013 will be remembered as the first year that Apple released two iPhones simultaneously.  The iPhone 5C is a redesigned iPhone 5 that includes a new polycarbonate colored shell similar to the iPod touch.  The iPhone 5S, sporting it’s new Touch ID sensor, M7 motion co-processor, and all new, 64-bit A7 processor is a mobile power house sporting the same processing power as the Macintosh.

    If you are looking for an iPhone 5C today, there is a good chance you will be able to find one in the color and capacity that you want.  The yellow iPhone 5C, however, might be a little more difficult to find as it appears to already be quantity constrained when ordered online.

    People looking for the new flagship iPhone 5S should start today off by planning on being disappointed today.  If the media is anywhere near accurate, we should be prepared for SKU stock outs very quickly today.  Demand for new iPhones is up this year, however, the new Touch ID sensor has been widely reported as bedeviling Apple’s manufacturing partners and the yield rate on iPhone 5S models is much lower then Apple would have liked.  Reports around the Internet are also stating that the white and gold iPhone 5S models are being produced in a 3:1 ratio to the black/space grey model, meaning that white iPhones 5S will be harder to find, and reports from around the world where iPhone 5S is already on sale are stating that the gold iPhone 5S is virtually impossible to find.

    So, what are we Apple fans suppose to do?  I’m preparing for not being able to get a new iPhone 5S today.  I’m going to attempt to go to a local Apple Store this afternoon when I get out of work.  Sure I’ll be taking a half day, but after being on sale for 5+ hours by the time I get there, I’m expecting stock outs on the 32GB space grey model.

    If you can’t stand not getting a new iPhone as soon as possible, or can’t get to an Apple Store this morning, you might want to just order the unit online at Apple.com.  Shipping times for 32GB units are still showing as 1-3 days.

    The iPhone 5S pricing starts at $199 for a 16GB model and goes up $100 successively for the 32GB and 64GB models.   The iPhone 5C pricing starts at $99 for the 16GB model and $199 for the 32GB model.  Apple is also keeping the iPhone 4S around in an 8GB model for free when you sign a 2-year contract with your wireless carrier.  Starting today, all four major US wireless carriers, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile will begin selling the new iPhones.

    The iPhone 5 models released last year have entered retirement today, and have been replaced by the iPhone 5C in Apple’s three tier features model.

    All three iPhone models will run Apple’s iOS 7.

    Whatever you end up doing, I hope you are able to find the iPhone you are looking for today, if not very soon.

    Happy iPhone Day!

  • blackberry,  blackberry q10,  rim,  sprint

    BlackBerry Q10 Arrives on Sprint Aug 30 for $199

    The BlackBerry Q10 keyboarded smartphone will be arriving on Sprint this weekend for $199 with a new two-year service agreement.

    OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), August 26, 2013 – The first 4G LTE BlackBerry® 10 smartphone from Sprint, the BlackBerry® Q10 smartphone, will be available Friday, Aug. 30, in direct ship sales channels, including Sprint Stores, Business Sales, Web Sales and Telesales at 1-800-SPRINT1, for $199.99 (excludes taxes and surcharges) with a new line or eligible upgrade and two-year service agreement. 

    “Our customers have anxiously awaited the arrival of the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone,” said David Owens, vice president-Product Development, Sprint. “Its best-in-class physical keyboard, productivity features, enhanced security capabilities and apps make it easy to be productive at work and connected to friends and family after hours. With the Sprint Unlimited, My Way and My All-in rate plans, our customers will be able to use the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone as it was intended, without worrying about silly data caps or overages.”

    If you are still rocking an old school BlackBerry running BlackBerry OS 7 or earlier this is the upgrade you have been waiting for.
    For more details, see the Sprint website.
  • apple,  att,  blackberry,  sms,  sprint,  texting,  tmobile,  verizon

    The Use of Carrier SMS Texting Is In Decline

    I generally don’t read USAToday, except while traveling, but a pair of articles on texting caught my attention.

    The first, “Sore thumbs? Text messaging declines” (link) talks about the decline of SMS messaging by consumers.  People aren’t texting less, they are sending more messages then ever.  According to the article, Americans sent an estimated 2.2 trillion messages in 2012.  What is in decline is how many of those 2.2 trillion messages are sent and delivered by Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and other wireless carriers.

    It place of SMS messaging is the rise in popularity of Internet-based short message service (SMS) applications such as Apple’s iMessage, Snap Chat, BlackBerry Messenger, and all the rest.  Unlike the SMS service you sign up for when you buy a new cell phone, these new texting apps use your phone’s Internet connection rather than the voice network on your cell phone.

    So what does this mean?  Well, for one thing, it means that many of us can probably save some money on our monthly cell phone bills.  The days of thousands of dollar monthly bills due to uncontrolled text messaging is probably coming to an end.  My entire family has either an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and we all text each other with iMessages.  The number of pure SMS messages charged against my cell phone’s texting service plan in a month are virtually non-existant.

    I once read an article online that spoke about text messaging fees from the big four wireless providers here in the U.S.  I didn’t save a copy of that article, but it essentially said that text messages are sent of the voice portion of the cell phone and that it only costs the phone company a few pennies to send a message.  We, the consumer, are paying anywhere from $0.10 – $0.25 for each message we send and receive.  To illustrate, if I send a text message to a friend on the same wireless service as me, the phone company will make $0.40 – $1.00 on what is really just to messages.  They make money when I send the original message twice (they charge me to send and my friend to receive) and when my friend replies.  Talk about price gouging.

    The second article, “Fewer drivers nabbed by texting bans” (link) has to do with texting while driving, a very stupid thing to do, and the efforts of law enforcement to reduce the habit.  That piece, I think will be a different rant altogether.

  • cellular,  dish network,  satellite,  sprint,  wireless

    Dish Network Submits a $25.5B Bid for Sprint Nextel

    In this morning’s First Look digest, ComputerWorld reports that Dish Network has submitted a $25.5B bid to acquire Sprint Nextel.  Dish’s bid represents a $5.5B premium over Japan’s SoftBank which is looking to spend $20B for a 70% stake of the struggling carrier’s business.

    Dish said its proposal is a superior alternative to the pending SoftBank proposal.

    “Sprint shareholders will benefit from a higher price with more cash while also creating the opportunity to participate more meaningfully in a combined Dish/Sprint with a significantly enhanced strategic position and substantial synergies that are not attainable through the pending SoftBank proposal.” said Charlie Ergen, chairman of Dish.

    [Via ComputerWorld.com…]

  • android,  google,  htc one,  sprint

    Sprint Begins HTC One Pre-Orders

    Sprint has begun taking pre-orders for the black HTC One smartphone.

    HTC’s latest premium Android-powered smartphone will begin shipping for Sprint customers this coming Friday, April 19.  The best part?  If you pre-order online, the black HTC One will be a cool $99 when you sign a two-year service agreement.

    “BLACK HTC ONE COMING SOON 

    For a limited time, save $100 on this phone when you bring your number to Sprint on a new line of service. 

    Pre-order: Order online today, we’ll charge your card for your phone and we’ll do our best to get it to you before others get a glimpse on Friday, April 19. Ordering more than just this phone? Please complete your pre-order package checkout and come back to order additional items.”

    The One has all of the things you would expect form a modern Android phone:

    Google Android 4.1 OS
    2300 mAh battery supporting 19 hours of talk time
    4.7″ (1920 x 1080) display
    1.7GHz quad core processor
    2GB RAM, with 32GB of flash storage
    Dimensions: 5.4″ x 2.7″ x .37″
    Weight: 5.0oz

    The HTC One comes in two colors, black and silver.  From the Sprint website, it sounds like the black version is the one that is going on sale first with a lead in like “Black HTC One coming soon.”

    Personally, I like the silver model better, but the black one looks nice too.

    I recently had an opportunity to play with the silver HTC One at a recent press event that Sprint attended and it has an amazingly crisp and bright display.  For the few minutes that I was able to play with it, the touch screen seemed responsive and there was no hesitation from Android when scrolling or changing apps.

    This is the first Google Android-powered smartphone that made me think about switching from the Apple iPhone 4S.

    For more details about the HTC One, visit the Sprint website.

  • apple,  att,  ios,  iphone,  sprint,  verizon

    Apple Releases iOS 6.1.1 for iPhone 4S

    Surprise!  Earlier today, Apple released iOS 6.1.1 specifically targeted at the iPhone 4S.

    Over the weekend and as late as this afternoon, I was blogging about the first developer release of iOS 6.1.1 with regard to improving Apple’s Maps app, addressing an Exchange Server bug bedeviling corporate customers, and poor battery performance.

    This evening, Apple rolled out a very narrowly targeted version of iOS 6.1.1 specifically to address that last problem – poor battery performance with the iPhone 4S.

    “This update fixes an issue that could impact cellular performance and reliability for the iPhone 4S.”

    The 23MB over-the-air (OTA) update was available on my Sprint and Verizon iPhone 4S handsets.

    There is no word on whether or not Apple will release an iOS 6.1.1 for all other current model iDevices or if Apple will just move on to the next version number such as 6.1.2 or 6.2.  We also don’t know when we might expect a fix to the bug in Microsoft’s Exchange Server messaging platform that causes devices running iOS 6.1 to get stuck in a loop when trying to accept an invitation to recurring meetings.

    There was no word on when an update to Apple’s Maps application would be made available either.

    The iOS 6.1.1 OTA update took about 15-20 minutes start to finish on my iPhone 4S units.  The update is also available as a wired update via iTunes for Mac OS X and Windows PCs.

  • apple,  ios,  iphone,  sprint,  troubleshooting,  upgrade

    iOS 6.1 Upgrade on my iPhone 4S Has Just Gone BOOM! [Updated]

    Earlier today, Apple released iOS 6.1 as an 85MB OTA update for my Sprint iPhone 4S.  Sweet!  That is until I run the upgrade and my iPhone ended up in “Recovery Mode”.

    I’ll post periodic updates as I work through this issue.  The iPhone 4S is my first iPhone, I was a Palm Pre user before getting my iPhone in October 2011.  There have been a few OTA iOS updates since then, and they have all gone smoothly.  I’m not sure why this upgrade failed.  Naturally, I’m holding off upgrading my iPad 3 until I figure out what’s going on.

    If you have found yourself in the same situation, or want to learn more about Recovery Mode, check out Apple’s support page on the subject.

    Update 5 – 5:45am:

    The OTA iOS 6.1 upgrade for my iPad 3 installed without any issues.

    Update 4 – 9:00pm:

    The iOS 6.1 recovery install from iTunes 11 running on my MacBook completed successfully.  Everything is back to normal and my iPhone 4S is ready to get back to work. Crisis averted.

    Update 3 – 8:30pm:

    The iTunes 11 download for iOS 6.1 is *finally* complete and I’m about to plug my iPhone 4S into my Mac – hopefully getting this update show back on the road and my iPhone back into working condition.  It sucks as a paperweight.

    Update 2 – 7:30pm:

    Well, we’ve got about 60% of iOS 6.1 downloaded and about another 45 minutes to go.  I haven’t found any posts online yet to indicate that this is a wide spread issue.  I may just be ‘lucky’ tonight.

    Update 1 – 6:50pm:

    I’m downloading the iOS 6.1 update so I can install it on my iPhone and get it working again.  According to iTunes 11, the 920MB download will take about 85 minutes to complete the download.  Looks like it’s going to be a long night.

  • apple,  apple store,  att,  iphone,  sprint,  verizon

    iPhone 5 First Weekend Sales Top Five Million

    Not bad for three days of sales.

    CUPERTINO, California—September 24, 2012—Apple® today announced it has sold over five million of its new iPhone® 5, just three days after its launch on September 21, and more than 100 million iOS devices have been updated with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. iPhone 5 is available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK, and will be available in 22 more countries on September 28 and more than 100 countries by the end of the year. Demand for iPhone 5 exceeded the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders have been shipped to customers, many are scheduled to be shipped in October.

    “Demand for iPhone 5 has been incredible and we are working hard to get an iPhone 5 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly and customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough iPhone 5s for everyone.”

    iPhone 5 is the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, completely redesigned to feature a stunning new 4-inch Retina™ display; an Apple-designed A6 chip for blazing fast performance; and ultrafast wireless technology*—all while delivering even better battery life.**

    * LTE is available through select carriers. Network speeds are dependent on carrier networks, check with your carrier for details.
    ** Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

    [Via Apple PR…]

  • apple,  att,  fcc,  ios,  sprint,  verizon

    FCC Complaint To Be Filed Against AT&T’s FaceTime Rules

     With Apple’s new iOS 6 operating system being released to current model iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners, customers are eager to get the new update on their devices.  But wireless carrier AT&T will be raining on some customer’s parades tomorrow.

    iOS 6 is the software that allows the iPhone and iPad do all the amazing things we do with them.  One of the new tent pole features of the software is FaceTime video calling over 3G and 4G cellular networks.  Up until now, it has only been possible to make a FaceTime call over a Wi-Fi connection and iOS 6 aims to change that.

    However, AT&T has stated that they will only allow customers who sign up for their new Mobile Share plans will be allowed to place FaceTime calls on their cellular networks.  While customers have been crying foul, AT&T has been trying to limit the congestion on their 3G and 4G LTE networks that caused so much bad press for them with earlier iPhone models, most notably, the 2010 iPhone 4.

    When you look at the Mobile Share plans, AT&T tells you that you can have up to 10 devices included on a single share plan.  Then you look at the pricing structure and the sticker shock sets in.

    For unlimited, traditional voice calling and text messaging plus 1GB of shared data, you will have to spend $40/mo for the service plus and additional $45/mo for each smartphone participating in the plan.  For 4GB of data, the price jumps up to $70/mo plus $40/mo for each smartphone. AT&T is also offering shared data packages in 6GB, 10GB, 15GB, and a 20GB pool.  The larger the pool of shared data, the larger the base monthly fee is, but the monthly cost per smartphone drops.

    As you can see, the monthly totals can add up quickly if you are trying to share a pool of data amongst family members.

    And that’s why Free Press, Public Knowledge, and the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute have banned together to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.  The trio feel that it is unfair for customers to have to buy into a shared data plan like AT&T’s Mobile Share plans just to be able to make a FaceTime call over a cellular network.  While they did provide AT&T with notice of the impending filing, at least publicly, no date has been given as to when the filing will be made.

    Customers looking to sign a new service agreement with AT&T do have other options.  Sprint, for example, will be allowing customers who have signed up for their Simply Everything plans ranging from $79.99 – $109.99/month to make FaceTime calls on their network.  Verizon Wireless’ Simplify with Share Everything 4GB share package offers similar features to that of Sprint’s, but will run you about $150/mo when sharing data across two smartphones.

    [Via GigoOm.com…]