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!
Starbucks finally figured out that no one wants to pay to use the damn internet in their coffeshops. Starting next month they company will offer totally free, one-click no-registration WiFi in all United States Starbucks locations:
Starbucks said on Monday that as of July 1, its stores in the United States would offer free Wi-Fi, via AT&T, that anyone can reach with a single click. In case customers run out of distractions on the Web, Starbucks is giving them even more reason to sit and browse, by offering a variety of digital content through a partnership with Yahoo.
Howard D. Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, who made the announcement at a conference in New York, described it as a way to bridge the online world and real-world coffee outlets.
Yeah “bridging” the online world aka doing what every other respectable coffee shop has done for the last 5 years. But hey, better late than never. Maybe someday we can just have Wifi, for free, everywhere and we can all vibrate to the next level of consciouness via unlimited ROFLing and LOLing regardless of geographic, or socio-economic boundaries. 2012 bro! Watch out.
