digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/CDMA_iPhone_in_engineering_tests_may_arrive_in_January'; It's not as cut-and-dry as last night's declaration that a new Retina Display-equipped iPod Touch is due in the next few weeks, but our man John Gruber just put up a lengthy post on the long-rumored CDMA iPhone for Verizon in which he says the mythical handset is codenamed "N92" and has reached "engineering verification test" (EVT) status. According to Gruber, that's just one step below "design verification test," which is what that stolen iPhone 4 prototype was -- meaning the CDMA iPhone is apparently just two hops away from production. Mix in persistent rumors of large CDMA chipset orders these past few weeks and a dash of AT&T hinting that exclusivity might be over, and it's sounding like ol' N92 could well arrive in January as first reported by Bloomberg -- perhaps at Verizon's CES press conference. In Gruber's words, "the CDMA iPhone is no longer a cold storage, keep-it-alive-just-in-case-we-need-it project."

Now, Gruber is very careful to say that none of this is a sure thing, and that Apple's CDMA work could have nothing to do with Verizon specifically; it could be for Sprint, or for various international CDMA carriers. What's more, we definitely have our doubts about a CES announcement -- we're expecting to hear a lot about Verizon's LTE plans at the keynote, and it would certainly be an odd capstone to launch an incredibly high-profile CDMA device at the same time. (Not to mention Apple's historic aversion to sharing the spotlight with others at CES.) Even still, we've definitely been hearing noise about a CDMA Verizon iPhone from all manner of sources for months now -- if this is ever going to happen, we'd say this is the last time it's going to make any sense before both Verizon and AT&T start to get serious about 4G.

CDMA iPhone in engineering tests, may arrive in January, says John Gruber originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bad news, jailbreakers: as promised, Apple's just released iOS 4.0.2 for the iPhone and 3.2.2 for the iPad, both of which close the PDF exploit used by JailbreakMe. That appears to be the only change -- it's definitely good news for anyone concerned about iOS security, although we're guessing the Dev Team is hard at work finding a new way to crack iOS open once again. We'll let you know if we find anything else -- won't you do the same?

Apple releases iOS 4.0.2 for iPhone and 3.2.2 for iPad, fixes PDF vulnerability originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There's been a bit of a furor in the past couple days over Apple using third-party app screenshots in several patent applications that were just made public -- the most talked-about example is a screenshot of an app called Where To? that appears in a travel-related patent, but other apps like a Ralph Lauren app appear in a shopping-related patent as well. And, since it's Apple, there's been the usual blind panic of hysterical reactions, with some claiming that Cupertino's trying to patent third-party app ideas and pull the rug out from under its own developers. At this point, we hope you know better -- let's take a look at what's really going on.

First of all, all of the patent applications in question are just that -- applications. None of them have been granted, and since all of them are still so new, it's a virtual certainty they'll be narrowed in scope as Apple's attorneys and the Patent Office continue through the patent prosecution process -- a process that typically takes years.

Second, the only operative parts of a patent are the claims -- not the drawings, and not the description, which are technically known as the "specification." (We've now repeated this basic axiom of patent interpretation so many times we're considering making T-shirts.) The only reason the drawings and description are there is to explain the claimed invention in sufficient detail so that someone else can make it. Remember, patents are a trade: in order to get protection, you have to give up the full details of how your invention works. (The other option is to keep your invention a trade secret, but then you can't prevent anyone else from figuring it out and using it if it gets out.) Bottom line? If it's not in the claims, it's not in the patent. So... let's look at the claims, shall we?

Continue reading Apple uses third-party app screenshots in patent applications, world erupts in hysteria

Apple uses third-party app screenshots in patent applications, world erupts in hysteria originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We'd actually already hacked up a 3G FaceTime video call using an iPhone 4 and a MiFi, but now that Apple's latest handset has been jailbroken, you can toss the extra hardware -- you just need a little Cydia app called My3G, which lets you run WiFi apps over 3G. FaceTime video quality appears to be unaffected, but from what we've seen the framerates suffer depending on your connection -- pretty much what you'd expect to get when running a video stream optimized for high-bandwidth connections on a smaller pipe. Still, it's instantly the best reason to jailbreak your phone -- check a video after the break.

P.S.- If you're averse to jailbreaking, remember that Fring lets you make video calls over 3G without any shenanigans -- and unlike FaceTime, you can also video call non-iPhone users. Just sayin'!

Continue reading iPhone 4 jailbreak enables FaceTime video calling over 3G

iPhone 4 jailbreak enables FaceTime video calling over 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple just posted up its third quarter earnings -- its first full quarter selling the iPad -- and, well, it's raining cash in Cupertino. The company posted a record profit of $3.25b on record revenues of $15.7b, which is up from $1.83b and $9.73b from a year ago. The big stat? Apple sold 3.27 million iPads, nearly matching the 3.47 million Macs sold -- and Mac sales were up 33 percent from a year ago to set a new quarterly record. Yeah, damn. iPhone sales -- including the first few weeks of the iPhone 4 -- were up 61 percent from a year ago to 8.4 million, and the iPod continued its slow decline, down eight percent to 9.41 million units sold. Over half of the Apple's sales -- 52 percent -- were international, and Jobs is quoted saying "we have amazing new products still to come this year." Not a bad way to head into back-to-school and the holidays, we suppose -- we've got a feeling those iPad numbers are just going to go up. The conference call to discuss all this is at 5pm ET, we'll be covering it live right here.

Update: The call is all done -- the full liveblog is after the break. We didn't learn too much apart from the fact that Apple's selling every iPhone and iPad it can make (Tim Cook repeated this over and over), and that Apple's setting aside $175 million in revenue to cover the free iPhone 4 cases. Of course, given that Apple added an additional $4.1 billion in cash to its warchest this quarter for a total of $45.8 billion, that's pretty much pocket change, but there's the number.

Continue reading Apple posts record $3.25b profit in first full quarter of iPad sales, says more 'amazing products' coming this year

Apple posts record $3.25b profit in first full quarter of iPad sales, says more 'amazing products' coming this year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We've been assuming that the next iPod touch will get in on Apple's FaceTime video-calling action, but the open question has been how calls will actually be initiated without phone numbers, and BGR's saying it has the scoop: it's going to be based on email addresses. Registering an email address with the touch and FaceTime will let people videocall you using that address, but apparently calling an iPhone user will still involve knowing their phone number, which is a little odd -- but BGR believes the email-based system will extended to the phone eventually as well. It all sounds plausible enough, but we'll wait and see -- we've been burned waiting for Apple to add a camera to the touch before, after all.

iPod touch FaceTime calling to be based on email addresses? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Yes_the_iPhone_4_is_broken_No_the_iPhone_4_is_not_broken'; The controversy over the iPhone 4's antenna issues continues to grow, particularly after Consumer Reports confirmed yesterday that every iPhone 4 suffers from signal attenuation when the phone is held with the lower left corner covered -- a report that we confirmed with results from our own custom signal metering app. At this point, there's no longer any question in our minds that the iPhone 4's antenna can be made to lose signal by holding it "wrong" -- and we definitely think it's more than a little silly that simply holding the phone in your left hand has been nicknamed the "death grip."

That said, however, it's not at all clear what the real-world effects of the antenna issue actually are for most people -- as we've repeatedly said, several iPhone 4s owned by the Engadget staff (including our review unit) have never experienced so much as a single dropped call, while others suffer from signal issues that results in lost calls and unresponsive data in a dramatic way. What's more, at this point Apple's sold well over two million iPhone 4s, and we simply haven't heard the sort of outcry from users that we'd normally hear if a product this high-profile and this popular had a showstopping defect. Honestly, it's puzzling -- we know that the phone has an antenna-related problem, but we're simply not able to say what that issue actually means for everyday users.

So we're doing what we can do: we've collected reports from every member of the Engadget staff who's using the phone, as well as reached out to a variety of tech industry colleagues for their experiences. As you'll see, it seems like most of our peers seem to be doing perfectly fine with their iPhone 4s, but the people who are having problems are having maddening issues in an inconsistent way. We'd say it all comes down to the network -- particularly in New York City, where AT&T just completed a major upgrade -- but even that isn't a consistent factor in predicting experience. Ultimately, we just won't know what's really going on until Apple comes clean and addresses this issue (and the growing PR nightmare it's become), but for now we can say with some certainty that not everyone is affected, and those that are seem to be in the minority. Read on for the full report.

Continue reading Yes, the iPhone 4 is broken / No, the iPhone 4 is not broken

Yes, the iPhone 4 is broken / No, the iPhone 4 is not broken originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Consumer_Reports_confirms_iPhone_4_antenna_problems'; Although there's never been any question that there's something going on with the iPhone 4's fancy new antenna system, we really haven't seen any rigorous testing confirming that the issue is real, severe, and affects every phone. That just changed: Consumer Reports tested three iPhone 4s and several other AT&T phones in their RF isolation chamber that simulates varying levels of signal from every carrier, and found that the iPhone 4 was the only handset to suffer signal-loss issues. What's more, CR directly says that its findings call Apple's explanation of a miscalculated signal meter into question since the tests "indicate that AT&T's network might not be the primary suspect." CR found that simply putting duct tape over the bottom-left corner is enough to alleviate the issue -- we're guessing that's Jony Ive's worst nightmare -- and says that while the iPhone 4 has the "sharpest display and best video camera" of any phone its tested, it simply can't recommend the device until Apple comes up with a permanent and free fix to the antenna problem. Ouch.

Of course, we couldn't sit around waiting for someone else to test the iPhone 4 in a more controlled way, so we actually asked our good friend Erica Sadun from TUAW to write us a bespoke signal strength app for iOS 4. Obviously we couldn't submit it to the App Store, but we've been running it on all of our phones here at Engadget and we can independently confirm Consumer Reports' finding that there's a serious signal attenuation issue with the iPhone 4's antenna -- every phone we've tested displays dropped signal when held with the bottom left corner covered. Now, what we don't know is whether that signal attenuation consistently affects call quality and data rates, which we suspect is more directly related to the network in the area; some of our iPhone 4s drop calls and experience low data rates with alarming frequency, while others -- like our review unit -- have almost never dropped a call and have had no data problems. However, now that we've confirmed and clarified that the antenna issue affects every iPhone 4, we can take on the next step, which is sorting out exactly when and where the issue is most severe. Either that, or Apple can do something to actually fix the issue -- we'll just have to wait and see. For now, check our app in action after the break.

Continue reading Consumer Reports confirms iPhone 4 antenna problems -- and so do we

Consumer Reports confirms iPhone 4 antenna problems -- and so do we originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, remember that iPhone class-action lawsuit we poked around in a couple months ago and discovered Apple's lawyers confirming the original five year AT&T exclusivity agreement? Well, get ready to hear about it a lot more in the months to come, as the judge in the case has officially certified the case as a class action, meaning it now officially includes anyone who's ever bought an iPhone on AT&T. If you'll recall, the argument is that iPhone customers signed up for a two-year contract without being told that AT&T had an exclusive for five years -- thus in reality being held to the carrier for an additional three years without recourse. Sure, that sounds a little silly, but if you bought the first-gen iPhone and wanted to stick with the platform it's the truth -- discounting the fact, of course, that no one's required to buy another Phone after two years, and even then you have to sign a new contract. While we're definitely curious to see if the plaintiffs can get past that little logical hurdle and win something more than a token settlement, we're far more interested to see if they can get any more documentation from Apple nailing down its actual agreement with AT&T. Should be juicy -- we'll keep you in the loop.

iPhone AT&T exclusivity lawsuit granted class-action certification, every AT&T iPhone customer included originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steve Jobs might have thought he was lightly playing down reports that the Apple / Google rivalry had dramatically changed when he said "they decided to compete with us -- we didn't go into the search business" at D8, but it appears that his phrasing didn't sit so well with Larry Page, who told Reuters yesterday that Jobs was doing a "little bit of rewriting history," and that the "characterization of us entering [the phone market] after is not really reasonable." Page, who was being interviewed alongside Eric Schmidt, also said that Google had been working on Android for "a very long time" and that the goal was always to develop phones with solid browsers to fill a market void.

That's true, of course -- Google purchased Andy Rubin's Android, Inc. in 2005 -- but it's also an equally slight distortion: when Android was officially announced in November of 2007, it looked nothing like the OS we know and love today, and the SDK emulator used an image of an HTC-built prototype that had much more in common with the traditional BlackBerry than the iPhone. (Fun fact: that device eventually became the Palm Treo Pro running Windows Mobile.) It wasn't until the G1 shipped almost a year later that Android started to look more like what it is today, and we'd even argue that it wasn't until Android 2.0 hit on the OG Motorola Droid along with Verizon's Droid Does marketing campaign that the platform grew into its own unique and successful identity -- an identity that is now powerfully differentiated against the iPhone and driving accelerating device sales every quarter.

So, does any of this really matter? To the tech historians, perhaps -- and Apple and Google clearly see what they're doing as historically significant. Apart from that, it's a pretty meaningless distinction; Eric Schmidt followed up Page's comment by saying that the market was big enough for the iPhone and Android to coexist, and we seriously doubt anyone's phone purchasing decision will ever turn on what platform was released first. But it's also clear that the competition between these two companies is at fever pitch, which is great news for the rest of us -- let's just hope everyone involved remembers that Jobs closed his D8 remarks by saying "just because we're competing with somebody doesn't mean we have to be rude."

Google's Larry Page: Steve Jobs is 'rewriting history' by saying Android came after the iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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