Verizon iPhone 4 Registers Below Par Sales?

All the hoopla surrounding the Verizon iPhone 4 is indeed receding rapidly. The pre-order commotion, Apple having to shut down the sale of Verizon iPhone 4 on the online store prior to the release date, 700,000 pre-orders in-queue, all said and done, insiders’ reports are that the sales of the Verizon iPhone 4 have not met the expectations of either Apple or Verizon Wireless. Insiders who got a look at the sales reports are also claiming that the sales of the iPhone after the first five days has definitely not exceeded that of AT&T. The rumored sales reports are from five stores across the US. Another interesting fact is that the total number of handsets pre-ordered on Verizon has only totaled to 550,000 and not 700,000 which was the estimate of the initial reports.

As a matter of fact, most users who switched to iPhone 4 were previously using either Android or the Blackberry devices and only a meagre percentage switched from AT&T.

Apple Documents The Differences Between GSM and CDMA iPhone 4

For long now, Apple has been doing only GSM versions of the iPhone. But, the release of Verizon iPhone 4 has seen the advent of the CDMA iPhone 4. In order clear user’s confusions about the differences between GSM and CDMA devices, Apple has now come up with a document detailing the differences in the functionalities of the two devices.

The first and foremost difference between the two devices is with regards to call forwarding, caller ID and call waiting. On the GSM handsets, these features can be turned on or off by going to the Settings panel, while on the CDMA handsets, this has to be done by dialling in a number combination. Another difference is with regards to conference call. On the GSM sets, up to 5 people can connect via conference at once, while the CDMA set allows the numbers of only two users. Pausing a call is possible on the GSM handsets and there is no such option on the CDMA handsets.

Magic Wand To Couple Apple Keyboard and Trackpad

How would you like it if your keyboard and trackpad were to be adjoined to each other? The idea sounds great, does it not? Apparently you can use Magic Wand to do the same. Well! It is not something that you would be waving, in fact it is a mini mount that would help attach the trackpad to Apple‘s keyboard. This non-electrical mini mount is being made available by Twelve South which would enable one club the two wireless devices to be used without the need of a separate table for the two. Also, another unique and lovable feature of the Magic Wand is that it’s ambidextrous, meaning that the trackpad can be fitted either to the left or right of the keyboard making it convenient for both left and right arm users.

The mount costs only 30$ along with a free delivery option.

iPhone 4 Wins The Best Mobile Device Award

So, what if Apple did not take part in this year’s Mobile World Congress at Barcelona, it still hogged the limelight. Apple’ iPhone 4 has won the Best Mobile Device Award for the year 2011. This award was announced earlier today at the Mobile World Congress by the Global Mobile Awards. Apple made its presence felt despite being absent from this year’s show beating several other competitors whose smartphones were also considered for the Award.
The judges after awarding Apple the coveted Award commented that the iPhone 4 had a “Great screen, sharp design, fantastic materials, and phenomenal ecosystem for app developers. In a tight race, the iPhone 4 built on the success of its predecessors to set the pace for smart phones.”

Ironically, rumors are now spreading like wild fire that Steve Jobs looks extremely pale and may not be surviving the next weeks.

Google Competing With Apple on Digital Publishing

Well! At the moment, no one is backing off. Each one is taking the competition one step ahead and the next one is immediately coming back to stay at an even keel. Only a few days ago, Apple launched its digital subscription services for magazines, now its Google’s turn to churn out the same for publishers who want to go digital and cash in on the tablet craze. The new service, called Google One Pass allows the publishers to take 90 percent price for for any digital publication that users subscribe to. The publication can be through an app or be directly done on the web and the user would only have to pay for the content while using it without the need of maintaining an individual account.

Apple said that it would be taking a 30 percent share of such paid digital subscriptions from the publishers which was abruptly scorned by the media.

Does Steve Jobs Have Not Long Left?

According to a tabloid published in National Enquirer, Steve Jobs would not survive for more than six weeks apparently. Well for now, this is only a rumor, but National Enquirer has also published pictures of Steve Jobs outside the Stanford cancer Center. Looking at the pictures, one can definitely say that Jobs looks awfully thin and frail. Jobs is suffering from pancreatic cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy for the same now. The tabloid has also reported that Jobs dropped around 45 pounds of weight after he has started his treatment for cancer in the past 6 weeks. Also, his hair is thinning which would only suggest that the treatment is intense and so is his disease.

Steve Jobs took an indefinite leave from office citing medical conditions (his third in the last 9 months). Steve Jobs is due to meet President Barack Obama today in California at the US hitech-gurus meet.

Can’t afford to lose you Steve. Hope the news is a rumor.

New Pwnage iOS 4.2.1 Tool To Fix The iBooks Issue

It was only yesterday that Apple started blocking the iBooks app from reading DMR content on jailbroken devices that Pwnage has come with a new iOS 4.2.1 tool that would fix the iBooks issue apart from allowing users to jailbreak all the old versions of the iPhone Verizon iPhone 4, iPad and the iPod Touch devices and the Apple TV 2. This iOS 4.2.1 tool is an untethered tool that helps users unlock their devices as well.

This new tool also comes in the wake of Apple blocking jailbroken devices from opening purchased ebooks. With the help of the Pwnage tool this issue can be fixed. Also fixed can be the issues with Wi-Fi on the Apple TV 2. So, all the people who jailbroke their devices yesterday and were unhappy about Apple’s move, here is your chance to fix it.

Will Apple Want To Incorporate 3G Into Its MacBooks?

We know Apple and Steve Jobs do not believe in customer surveys much. But, Apple had a customer survey on its MacBook Air. The survey apparently had several questions related to 3G connectivity and if it is to be believed, Apple may want to heed the results of the survey this time around. Most customers have suggested that they would want to see Apple build their next MacBook with a built-in 3G motion along with the Wi-Fi. It is believed that Apple may want to go ahead with this new suggestion, but there is nothing clear about this enhancement.

The survery asked user’s questions about how often they connected to the internet using 3G and what type of devices were they using to connect to 3G networks. We know that the New MacBook Pros are due in a couple of weeks, but will they have the 3G option?

New MacBook Pros Due In A Couple Of Weeks

According to believable sources, Apple is planning to bring the new MacBook Pros into the market in a couple of weeks from now, which will mean the second generation MacBook will be out in the first week of March. Apple has already put the units into production and the shipments are getting ready for the first week of March. Apple had initially thought of launching the new MacBooks in the second week of February, but a delay from Intel’s side with regards to the delivery of Sandy Bridge processors eventually delayed Apple’s production and release date too.

Now that the flaw in the processors has been rectified and the production started, one can expect that Apple would want to launch the new McBook Pro on the 1st of march which would be a Wednesday. As we know, Apple likes launching their products on Wednesdays.

Apple Introduces Jailbreaking Detection Back

If you were just happy that you jailbroke your iPhone using the GreenpoisOn hack iOS 4.2.1 successfully, hang on. There’s a twist in the tale. Apple has apparently introduced a jailbreak detecting API on iOS 4.2.1 which is blocking jailbroken devices from opening ebooks. This inherent API which was supposedly dropped by Apple in iOS 4.0 has found its way back and is blocking the iBooks 1.2.1 app from reading purchased protected DRM content.

The following message is being showed on iOS 4.2.1 devices when trying to open protected DRM content -

“There is a problem with the configuration of your iPhone . Please restore with iTunes and reinstall iBooks.”

The hacker dev community is quite upset with this move from Apple and has criticised saying that it is beginning to attract many to dislike them. Jailbreaking has been deemed legal, so now we have to wait and see if Apple is going to be sued for not allowing purchased content on a jailbroken device.