by daniel on February 24, 2011
I, for one, welcome our new tablet overlords:
Apple Inc is hosting a media event next week to show off the next-generation of the iPad, as it prepares to take on new rivals in the fast-growing tablet market. Apple, which sent an invitation to reporters on Wednesday via email, will host the March 2 gathering at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the same venue where Apple unveiled the original iPad in January 2010. The characteristically succinct invitation featured an image of a calendar page with a giant “2″ emblazoned in the center, peeled back just slightly to reveal the familiar form of an iPad. The invite teased, “Come see what 2011 will be the year of.”
2011 is sor far the year of people rioting in the streets, so hopefully the iPad 2 can make it the year of something a little better. And if, as promised, it includes a front (and possibly rear) camera, Apple’s new Retina Display and a beefier OS and chip, it will definitely brighten some people’s days. I mean, who needs unions or freedom or any of that stuff when you’ve got Angry Birds on a Retina Display?
If you have an iPhone, you might have noticed over the years that “full bars,” which is universal cell phone code for full signal strength, often means anything but. Years of dropped calls and spotty reception later, Apple has finally admitted that it’s system for determining signal strength on the iPhone was “totally wrong”:
The company said it will fix the formula to one recommended by AT&T Inc. through a free software update within a few weeks for the most recent iPhone models, 3G, 3GS and 4. However, the “wrong” formula goes back as far as the original iPhone, launched in 2007. AT&T, the iPhone’s exclusive carrier in the U.S., has borne much of the users’ blame for dropped calls and poor wireless performance. In saying that the phones have been showing too many bars, Apple is putting the spotlight on the network’s performance. AT&T declined comment Friday. If the phones haven’t been giving a good indication of signal strength, users may have been missing clues that they should go to a location with a better signal to place a call, or that they’re holding the phone wrong. Apple apologized to customers “for any anxiety we may have caused.” ”We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see,” the company said in the statement.
January can’t come soon enough… Also, thanks to Zak Miller, whoever you are, for putting your call-failed-with-full-bars screen cap online.
DO WANT:
Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone company, will start selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone next year, ending AT&T Inc.’s exclusive hold on the smartphone in the U.S., two people familiar with the plans said.The device will be available to customers in January, according to the people, who declined to be named because the information isn’t public. Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, and Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman, declined to comment.The iPhone, which has been the sole domain of rival AT&T in the U.S. since June 2007, will give Verizon a boost in its competition for smartphone customers, UBS AG analyst John Hodulik said in an interview. Verizon customers, who numbered 92.8 million at the end of the first quarter, may buy 3 million iPhones a quarter, he estimates.
As a loyal AT&T iPhone customer for the past two-and-a-half years, all I can say is: the day I can have an iPhone on ANY mobile carrier other than AT&T, will be a happy, happy day indeed. iPhones on Verizon, legal weed in California; what will 2011 think of next?
Last night Apple began accepting pre-orders for the new iPhone 4, which you, know is gonna change to world of personal mobile computing and blah blah blah. Only problem is, no one can actually order one because the internet, or at least Apple and AT&T’s little corner of it, isn’t up to the task of accepting people’s money:
The main problem — from what we’ve been able to gather after phone calls to various AT&T and Apple customer service agents — seems to be on AT&T’s end. Quite simply, the servers that check for customer eligibility are being hit from all directions. If you’re at an AT&T store, good luck getting a pre-order to go through reliably. Online, the situation is similar, with error messages appearing after you enter in your mobile phone number and account password.
Kind of bodes ill for the whole cutting-edge technology thing, when the people making it can’t even get their store to work. Here at TruckerDeluxe, however, our online store is working just fine, so feel free to take that $299 you were gonna drop on a 32gb iPhone and buy some new shorts for the summer. They’ll work just fine, promise!
