With pre-orders for the Verizon iPhone having begun only about nine hours ago, it appears that orders have already begun shipping.
MacRumors reader Brooks Serigne has passed along this screenshot of his order status screen on Verizon's website showing that his order has been shipped. No carrier/tracking information or delivery estimate has yet been provided.
In its Verizon iPhone FAQ, the carrier notes only that pre-orders will arrive "on or before February 10, 2011", but it appears that Verizon already has units packed up and ready to go and is moving them on their way to customers.
Just as pre-orders for the Verizon iPhone begin for the carrier's existing customers, BGR points to a PDF document on Verizon's website revealing a new policy that will see the carrier possibly throttling data speeds for the top 5% of its customers when it comes to data usage. The policy takes effect for customers subscribing to data services beginning today. From the document:
Verizon Wireless strives to provide customers the best experience when using our network, a shared resource among tens of millions of customers. To help achieve this, if you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5% of Verizon Wireless data users we may reduce your data throughput speeds periodically for the remainder of your then current and immediately following billing cycle to ensure high quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand. Our proactive management of the Verizon Wireless network is designed to ensure that the remaining 95% of data customers aren't negatively affected by the inordinate data consumption of just a few users.
Verizon is also announcing data "optimization" efforts in which it seeks to increase the efficiency of its network by compressing text, images, and video, perhaps most notably "sizing the video more appropriately for the device". The carrier notes that while most effects of the optimization will be indiscernible, it may "minimally impact the appearance" of content on users' devices. The document links to a page on Verizon's website discussing the optimization techniques, although the page is currently unavailable.
Update: The page on Verizon's site explaining optimization is now live.
A series of reports and rumors are suggesting that Apple is preparing to release iOS 4.3 and its personal hotspot functionality to the public, possibly by February 13th. At the same time, Apple may be taking the opportunity to also offer a preview of the second-generation iPad ahead of a potential early April release.
In his review of the Verizon iPhone, Daring Fireball's John Gruber lays out his argument that iOS 4.3 will appear within the next two weeks to provide support for in-app subscription payments for The Daily before the free two-week trial runs out.
The Daily requires a subscription - either $1 per week, or $40 per year. They're using a new in-app subscription payment system from Apple for this - but these in-app subscription APIs aren't in iOS 4.2. So The Daily launched today, free for a limited time. They announced at the event that this initial free two-week period was brought to us by: Verizon.
Gruber surmises that Apple and Verizon worked out a deal in which Verizon gets a very brief exclusivity period (perhaps in publicity only, given that the Verizon iPhone doesn't launch until February 10th) for the personal hotspot feature while also agreeing to sponsor the free two-week access for The Daily to carry users through until Apple announces and releases iOS 4.3 with in-app subscription and personal hotspot support for existing iPhones.
Lining up with that suggestion, a number of observers have noted that David Pogue's Verizon iPhone review initially included a statement claiming that AT&T's iPhone would receive personal hotspot functionality (via iOS 4.3) on February 13th, the same day that AT&T has announced for increasing data caps on its tethering plans and rolling out hotspot functionality for the HTC Inspire 4G. From Pogue's initial review:
The single new feature in Verizon's iPhone is Personal Hotspot, where the iPhone becomes a Wi-Fi base station. Up to five laptops, iPod Touches or other gadgets can get online, using the phone as a glorified Internet antenna.
That's incredibly convenient. Many other app phones have it - AT&T's iPhone gets it on Feb. 13 - but Apple's execution is especially nice.
The review has since been edited to replace the mention of February 13th with "AT&T says its iPhone will get it soon".
Finally, MacNotes.de reports that it has heard that Apple is planning an event for next week where the second-generation iPad will be shown off. The report speculates that Apple will announce a special iOS 4.3 media event to introduce in-app subscriptions, an announcement Apple vice president Eddy Cue revealed would be coming soon during yesterday's introduction of The Daily. A preview of the second-generation iPad could come as a "one more thing" surprise at the end of that media event.
MacNotes.de had previously reported that Apple is shooting for an iPad release in the United States on the first or second Saturday in April.
Verizon has opened its website for iPhone pre-orders about 10 minutes early. Existing Verizon customers can begin pre-ordering their iPhone 4. Apple's own website is now also accepting preorders.
Early reviews for the Verizon iPhone were released late last night. The general conclusions were that Verizon did provide better reception and voice coverage, but data speeds (when there was coverage) were slower than AT&T. The Verizon iPhone also allows customers to set up a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot to share their phone's internet connection to their laptop or iPad. This does require an additional $20/month fee.
Orders for new Verizon customers will begin on February 10th. Verizon expects there to be high demand and is asking employees to hold of on ordering an iPhone until the initial demand slows down.
On the evening before the launch of the Verizon iPhone, the embargo for early review units has been lifted. This early set of reviews provides a look at the early verdict on the Verizon iPhone. Reviews and some highlights are listed here.
Macworld - "With a few minor variations, it looks, feels, and works just like the AT&T iPhone 4" - iOS 4.2.6 - Good distance on mobile Hotspot - "if you're using the Internet and your phone rings, your Internet connection immediately drops"
TechCrunch - "This Verizon version of the iPhone 4 seems to have none of the same antenna issues [as the AT&T model] - Much better with signal / lack of dropped calls than the AT&T model (in San Francisco) - "the iPhone 4 can give you a solid 4 hours of hotspot/tethering time"
All Things D - "the Verizon model did much, much better with voice calls" - "AT&T's network averaged 46% faster at download speeds and 24% faster at upload speeds."
Engadget - "Calls were consistently connected and uninterrupted, far more often than our AT&T calls in the same time period in similar locations." - "data rates on the Verizon iPhone 4 we tested were dramatically slower than those on its AT&T counterpart."
Overall, there seem to be few surprises. Lack of simultaneous voice and data has been known and those in weak AT&T are having much better luck with Verizon, but data speeds are better on AT&T.
Reuters reports that a prototype model of an unreleased iPad was spotted at today's launch of The Daily.
A Reuters eyewitness saw what appeared to be a working model of the next iPad with a front-facing camera at the top edge of the glass screen at a press conference to mark the debut of News Corp's Daily online paper in New York on Wednesday.
The new iPad was identified by the front-facing camera that is widely expected in the next version of the iPad. According to a separate Reuters source, the device's existence was said to be "confirmed" though the final release model could have other features.
The iPad 2 has filled the rumormill over the past few months. It is expected to ship in the first quarter of this year.
AT&T today announced forthcoming changes to its smartphone tethering data plans, increasing the monthly data limit to 4 GB from the current 2 GB cap. The change, set to take effect on February 13th, comes as AT&T rolls out mobile hotspot functionality for the new HTC Inspire 4G handset, although the company has not addressed whether it will support the similar hotspot functionality for the iPhone once iOS 4.3 is released to the public.
In addition, also on February 13th, to bring AT&T's smartphone tethering plan in line with the AT&T Mobile Hotspot offer, AT&T will automatically add the additional 2GB of monthly data usage to smartphone customers already on a tethering plan - at no extra charge. Customers will incur the same $20 monthly fee they're accustomed to paying, only now they'll receive an extra 2GB of data each month.
AT&T currently offers two monthly data plans for iPhone customers: DataPlus with 200 MB of data for $15 and DataPro with 2 GB of data for $25. Tethering is available to DataPro customers for an additional charge of $20 per month, but until now has not offered any additional data capacity, with tethering data coming out of the same 2 GB cap allotted to regular smartphone use. The changes announced today essentially mean that the extra $20 tethering fee will also bring customers an additional 2 GB of data per month to be used between their phone and tethered devices.
Electronics retail chain Best Buy today announced that it will in fact be carrying the Verizon iPhone beginning February 10th, the same day the device launches for general availability at Apple and Verizon stores.
"The iPhone 4 is an important device for Best Buy and we are excited to help Apple and Verizon Wireless bring it to even more consumers," said Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile. "Our customers have come to expect Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores to carry the best selection of mobile phones anywhere, and offering the iPhone 4 on Verizons network is our latest effort to deliver on that promise."
The original press release announcing the Verizon iPhone last month only specifically named Apple and Verizon as retailers carrying the device at launch, although Apple did note that authorized resellers would also be carrying the device.
Apple itself announced its sales schedule only just this morning, following Verizon's lead in allowing existing Verizon customers to begin pre-ordering tomorrow, with general orders and reservations being accepted beginning February 9th for availability on February 10th.
With the conclusion of today's media event to introduce the new iPad news publication The Daily, the application has now gone live in the App Store.
Introducing The Daily - the first digital news publication with original content created every day exclusively for the iPad. Built from scratch by a team of top journalists and designers, The Daily covers the world: breaking news, sports, pop culture, entertainment, apps, games, technology, opinion, celebrity gossip and more.
The Daily has the depth and quality of a magazine but is delivered daily like a newspaper and updated in real-time like the web.
Great stories, photos, video, audio and graphics come alive the more you touch, swipe, tap and explore. The customized sports section allows you to follow your favorite teams' scores, pictures, headlines - and even players' tweets.
Those looking to download The Daily are being met with updated iTunes Store terms and conditions reflecting the addition of "In-App Subscriptions" as debuting in The Daily. After a free two-week period, subscriptions to The Daily will be available at $0.99 per week or $39.99 per year, automatically billed to users' iTunes Store accounts.
News Corp. today is holding a media event to launch its tablet-focused news publication, The Daily, which will initially be made available for the iPad. The event is scheduled to kick off at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City at 11:00 AM Eastern Time, or just about 30 minutes from now.
The Daily is offering a live video stream of the introduction on its website, where it has also announced that the application will go live in the App Store at noon Eastern Time, following the event.
Watch at 11 a.m. Eastern Time today as News Corporation unveils The Daily, featuring special guest Eddy Cue, vice president of Internet Services from Apple. Check back later today for our full web site. The Daily will be available on the App Store starting at 12 p.m. EST.
Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services, will be presenting at the event, presumably to discuss Apple's behind-the-scenes work to develop support for recurring billing to users' iTunes Store accounts. The Daily has been reported to be priced at $0.99 per week, which would be automatically billed directly to users' iTunes Store accounts rather than using separate payment methods.
In addition to The Daily's video stream, we will be updating this article with coverage as the media event unfolds.
Event Updates
- Those present at the event note that the audience is relatively small, possibly due to weather issues in New York City. - Gizmodo has published purported details on The Daily, confirming many of the rumored details including pricing of $0.99 per week or $39.99 per year.
- Event underway. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch on stage. Thanking Steve Jobs for changing industries and developing the iPad. Welcomes Eddy Cue...we'll hear from him in a few minutes. - "The iPad demands that we completely re-imagine our craft." - There is a substantial market of people who do not read traditional newspapers but do consume media and expect it at their fingertips. We're going to bring the magic of newspapers to The Daily, and we must make the business of news gathering and editing viable again. - The opportunity is enormous, and in the tablet era, there is room for a fresh and new voice. - We can offer The Daily for only 14 cents per day, bringing a polished news magazine to our readers. The Daily's success will be determined by its utility and originality, and we will work tirelessly toward those goals. - Congratulations and thank you to our friends at Apple and those involved with putting this project together. - Introducing The Daily's executive team (Jon Miller, Greg Clayman, Jesse Angelo) to show off the publication.
- Discussing how the iPad allows different methods of telling stories...immersive 360-degree photos, audio, video clips. Showing off a live demo while discussing. - Navigation utilizes "The Carousel"...tiles represent each story, swipe through like Cover Flow. Various options for auto-play, shuffle stories. Video anchors highlighting top stories, some stories available read aloud. Articles can be shared via Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. - The Daily can pull in HTML5 content from the web and also link out to external sites. Built-in Twitter feeds can pull in content. - Apps and games section, sports sections. Showing off Super Bowl feature, options for customizing favorite teams to follow. - Publishes to iPad each morning, and can update throughout the day with breaking news. - First two weeks are free courtesy of Verizon. - Introducing Apple's Eddy Cue.
- "Thrilled to be here". In the last year, the iPad has defined a whole new category of device. Over 15 million iPads sold. Over 9,000 news apps available for iOS devices. Over 200 million news apps have been downloaded so far. - Rupert has built an amazing team of reporters, editors, and designers, and leveraged News Corp.'s resources to develop something new. - It's amazing that something of this production value can be done every single day. - iPad customers can download The Daily today. One-click billing...your choice of $0.99 per week of $39.99 per year. - We think iPad customers are really going to embrace it. - Turning it back to Jon Miller for a photo op, and then Q&A.
Q&AQ: How is back content handled? Large filesizes? A: Angelo: Everything is on the web through our sharing functions. We're working on search and archiving.
Q: When will recurring billing be available to other magazines? A: Cue: Available today on the iPad, and we have a great relationship with other publishers. There will be an announcement soon.
Q: Advertising? A: Miller: We're working on some really innovative ways to show off their brands.
Q: Metrics for success? A: Murdoch: When we're selling millions. Ambitions are very big, but costs are low. So financially, the metric is quite low, but we're looking much bigger than that. We've invested $30 million that will be written off in our latest results. But we'll be running at less than $500,000 a week without subscription and advertising income.
Q: Can you talk about the recent developments regarding shifting content purchases to in app purchases? A: Cue: You'll here from us soon, but we want customers to be able to get content either from us or from others' sites.
Q: Breaking news element? How do you break in real-time, and how do you decide what's worth breaking in for? A: Angelo: We have a lot of different ways to handle it. We have tickers, can integrate Twitter feeds, can drop in a new front page whenever we want. But as a consumer I don't like pages that change every five minutes. So there will be a balance.
Q: Political tone of The Daily? A: Angelo: We believe this a new era, and we want a new brand and a new voice. In terms of our editorial page, we're patriotic. We believe in free ideas, and free people. In terms of specific issues, read our editorial pages. You'll be surprised.
Q: Why focusing on The Daily rather than using an existing brand? A: Murdoch: The Wall Street Journal was one of the first paid apps to be on the iPad, and it made me excited to pursue this project.
Q: How long do you anticipate exclusive distribution for the iPad? Does this marry News Corp and Apple? A: Murdoch: As other tablets get established, we will develop the technology to get on them. We expect to be on all the major tablets. This year, and maybe next year, belong to Apple, but that's just a market judgment.
Q: Has Steve Jobs said anything to you in the last few days about the project? A: Murdoch: He did call me last week and said that he believed the app was really terrific.
Q: Discoverability? Apps aren't indexed on the web, so how will people discover it? A: Cue: People have downloaded 10 billion apps, so they're not having a hard time discovering these things. Miller: We wanted to make a really great experience
Q: Will stories be available on the Web? A: Miller: It will be mirrored on the Web, but we expect the main consumption to be through the app. Angelo: You can't do everything you do in the app on the Web. So we'll do what we can on the Web, and we do want to be there.
Q: Will Web content be free? A: Angelo: No, we don't expect that. If you share a link with someone, they'll be able to see that free of charge, but you won't be able to go to thedaily.com and just browse.
Q: Demographics? A: Angelo: Our demographic is everybody.
Wrapping up. iPads preloaded with the demo available for attendees to view.
Apple today announced that it will be joining Verizon in offering pre-orders of the new Verizon iPhone to existing Verizon customers as of tomorrow.
Apple today announced an exclusive opportunity for Verizon Wireless' 94 million customers to pre-order iPhone 4 online beginning on Thursday, February 3 through the Apple Store (www.apple.com) and at www.verizon.com/iphone. Due to high demand, customer orders will be fulfilled on a first come, first served basis.
The company also announced that all other customers can begin ordering the Verizon iPhone for delivery or in-store pickup beginning next Wednesday, February 9th, although handsets won't be available for pickup until the following day.
Apple's retail stores will open at 7:00 AM on Thursday, February 10th to allow customers to purchase the Verizon iPhone, with Verizon's 2,000 retail stores also offering availability. A day-by-day timeline of the launch process is posted on Apple's site.
MacRumors has received word that Apple has seeded a new version of Mac OS X 10.6.7, termed Build 10J850, to developers for testing. The update comes about a week after the previous build was pushed to developers.
According to those familiar with the new build, Apple is continuing to request that developers focus their testing on Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers. No known issues are listed in the documentation.
An estimated target date for the public release of Mac OS X 10.6.7 is unknown, as Apple's development cycles can be very unpredictable. This new build marks the third version seeded to developers since January 20th.
iFixYouri and 9to5Mac have posted photos of what is said to be the new iPad 2 screen.
At this point, we cannot tell if the resolution is higher (or "Retina") but it is definitely higher quality in terms of its build. The iPad 2's display is also lighter, and over a mm thinner than the current iPad's display with a smaller surrounding frame.
No other details (such as resolution) have been revealed, but the slightly thinner screen agrees with previous analyst reports that claim that the iPad 2's screen will be 30-35% thinner as well as offering an anti-reflective coating for better outdoor usage.
Apple is widely expected to release a new iPad in the first quarter of this year.
Update: One commenter at 9 to 5 Mac has deciphered the new screen's model number of LP097X02-SLN1 as indicating a 9.7-inch H-IPS display from LG with the same 1024 x 768 resolution as the current iPad.
As noted by Macworld, Verizon has released a new version of its VZAccess Manager software, offering Mac OS X support for the carrier's Pantech UML290 4G LTE modem. While Verizon launched its LTE service for mobile broadband device in a number of markets back in December, Verizon's two LTE-capable USB modems did not initially offer support for Mac OS X devices.
With today's release, the Pantech modem can now be used with Mac OS X machines, while the LG modem is still awaiting software support to enable connectivity.
Verizon is now offering a version of its VZAccess Manager for Mac that brings compatibility with one of the network's two 4G USB modems, the Pantech UML290. The newly released version 7.2.4 (2534b) of the VZAccess Manager software allows Mac users to plug in the UML290 and, along with a compatible data plan, get access to Verizon's high-speed LTE network in 38 markets around the U.S.
Verizon is offering the Pantech UML290 for $100 when purchased with a two-year data contract. Monthly pricing for the data packages comes in at $50 for 5 GB or $80 for 10 GB.
Verizon is set to launch the iPhone 4 to its existing customers in just a few days, with general availability opening up next week. The Verizon iPhone is not, however, a 4G LTE device, and no LTE phones are expected to be available for Verizon's network until later this year.
As previously rumored, Apple today issued a third beta version of iOS 4.3 to developers. The release comes nearly two weeks after the previous seed.
Today's seed carries the rumored build number of 8F5166b, compared to the previous 8F5153d build. As with the previous builds, versions are available for the iPad, iPhone 4 and 3GS, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch, with a separate version for the second-generation Apple TV also available.
While we've yet to hear details on changes from the previous build, earlier builds have included such new features as personal Wi-Fi hotspot functionality, enhanced support for AirPlay video streaming, and a software toggle to set the functionality of the iPad's side switch.
Apple has also been rumored to be building support for recurring subscription billing for App Store content into iOS 4.3, although we've yet to see signs of it in the developer builds. The recurring subscription billing is expected to play a key role in distribution of The Daily, an iPad-focused news publication set for introduction at a media event tomorrow.
Update: Earlier today, App Advice noted that iOS 4.3 betas now allow users to cancel downloading apps and delete them mid-download. The feature would prove useful for users who accidentally begin downloading a large application and wish to cancel the process.
The feature is quite simple to use. All you have to do is enter the icon arrangement mode ("Wiggle mode") as you normally do to delete an app. This time however, you'll notice the "x" appear over the currently downloading app as well. Just hit it, confirm, and iOS will proceed to interrupt the download and delete the app.
The feature is present in earlier iOS 4.3 betas than the one released today, but was first brought to our attention this morning.
Following up on last night's story revealing that Apple had rejected a Sony Reader iOS application for eBooks, All Things Digital has received an official statement from Apple clarifying the company's position. According to the company, Apple has not changed its terms, but is simply enforcing existing ones that require applications offering content for purchase outside of the application to also offer the content via Apple's in-app purchasing mechanisms.
Apple's made no change to its App Store Guidlines, it's simply enforcing a rule that's been in them all along: apps that offer purchases elsewhere must support in-app purchases as well. We have not changed our developer terms or guidelines," company spokesperson Trudy Miller told me. "We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase."
While short of the originally-feared banning of all external content purchasing methods, the new enforcement does raise additional questions about how such popular eBook applications as Kindle will deal with the requirement. Notably, will in-app purchases be required to be priced at the same level as external purchases, and if so, how will content providers respond to Apple taking its 30% cut of revenue from the in-app purchasing method that is more convenient for consumers than the external purchasing method that sends all revenue to the provider?
Courthouse News Service reports that AT&T has been hit with a new class action lawsuit alleging that the carrier is overbilling its customers for data transferred through its networks to iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad. According to the suit, AT&T is overstating the amount of data used for each transaction, leading some users to exceed their data plan limits and incur extra charges.
This one claims that "AT&T's bills systematically overstate the amount of data used on each data transaction involving an iPhone or iPad account," and bills customers for data transactions even if they disable their phones and leave them untouched - as the plaintiff's experts did.
The class says AT&T's billing system "is like a rigged gas tank that charges pump that charges for a full gallon when it pumps only nine-tenths of a gallon into your car's tank."
The filing describes how a consulting firm hired by the plaintiff's attorneys conducted a two-month study that found AT&T overstating data usage by 7-14%, with some transactions coming in at as much 300% above the actual amount of data transferred.
The complaint goes on to detail data transactions being recorded even when no data usage is being initiated by the customer, as determined by the company purchasing an iPhone and letting it sit with push notifications and location services disabled and with no applications open or other data-transferrring tasks enabled.
This was discovered by the same independent consulting firm, which purchased an iPhone from an AT&T store, immediately disabled all push notifications and location services, confirmed that no email account was configured on the phone, closed all applications, and let the phone sit untouched for 10 days. During this 10-day period, AT&T billed the test account for 35 data transactions totaling 2,292 KB of usage. This is like the rigged gas pump charging you when you never even pulled your car into the station."
PC World notes that the greater-than-expected data usage may in some cases be related to Apple's multitasking features deployed in iOS 4 that allow certain processes of applications to continue running in the background even after the applications themselves have been suspended by the user switching to a different application.
Many of those apps may be actively communicating and downloading data in the background. So, perhaps the data issues that users are seeing, and that AT&T is being accused of systematically overcharging for, are--at least in part--a function of the "virtues" of adding multitasking to iOS. I can tell you this: once we realized all of these apps were running and started manually shutting down all of the multitasking apps, my data usage issues went away.
While it is true that certain applications running in the background can utilize data, that explanation does not appear to account for the circumstances cited in the lawsuit, which involve alleged overstatement of data used in individual transactions and phantom data usage by devices configured not to use data services.
BGR claims that it has learned that Apple will be seeding a third beta version of iOS 4.3 to developers sometime today. The new beta, said to be build 8F5166b, would come nearly two weeks after the previous seed.
One of our Apple sources has just let us know that the company's iOS 4.3 rampage isn't slowing down. We have been told there will be yet another beta build posted for developers, wearing the build number 8F5166b, at some point today.
The interval between the first and second betas of iOS 4.3 was only one week, with Apple surprising some observers by failing to seed another build last week. Apple's seeding intervals are not always consistent, however, and the reasons for the longer interval this time around are unknown.
