While the iPhone has had multitasking and iOS 4 for quite some time, iPad users unfortunately are still stuck with iOS 3. Never the less Apple aren’t going to be releasing this firmware (.ipsw) until November. Ironic time of release possibly as this could be when the other smart tablets are going to be released.

What’s in store for the iPad in iOS 4.2? Well a lot of things have made the transition from the iPhone version, including multitasking, but we didn’t get too many juicy details unfortunately.

-For more information go to the original article source here at Zath

Do you currently have an iPhone but find that with the release of 4.0-4.0.1 its running slower than ever and the battery is being consumed too quick?-  If your answer was yes, you were in the same situation as me a few weeks ago when Apple released their iPhone 3G unhappy firmware which absolutely killed my poor 3G.

I found that not only the battery life was going faster than ever, but the actual phone was freezing at the sight of applications like TomTom, Games, Searches and texting – definitely what it is not meant to do on the tin.

1. Disabling Spot-light Search

Disabling Spotlight search will remove the search function from scrolling left on your home screen. This is useful if you want to search through archived information in your iPhone but not helpful if you have a 3G which needs as much processing power as possible.

If you want to disable this feature-

Settings > General > Home Button > Spotlight Search – ‘and just simply uncheck all of the options’

2.      Disabling Location Services

Location Services is a useful option if you are running applications like Co-Pilot, TomTom or using Google Maps for your GPS as it helps determine where you are.

If you were to disable Location Services, you are just disabling the GPS function within the phone. Now, as much of an annoyance it may be having to go back through your main menu to re-enable Location Services, a quick short-cut would be to open Google Maps – it will simply display it’s been disabled and give you an option onscreen to re-enable it.

If you want to disable this feature–

Settings > General > Location Services > Off

3.      Disabling 3G

This is really an optional extra if you want to disable 3G – it will mean that your internet browsing will be a bit slower than what it normally is.

3G definitely comes in use for faster web browsing but every little bit of battery helps especially with a 3G/3GS iPhone. You must also remember that you get a more consistent network type if you are on 2G compared to 3G. Data, Voice and Text services will still run like clockwork on a 2G reception and won’t be affected.

If you want to disable this feature –

Settings > General > Networking > Enable 3G – Set as ‘Off’

4.      Disabling auto-rotation (applicable for iPhone 3GS/ 4)

Disabling auto-rotation in itself is a good feature to have as an enable/ disable feature giving the user more ways to customize their iPhone. Having an option for any iPhone to free up more processing power and keeping the response there – the autorotation disable feature is worthwhile. 

The unfortunate thing is Apple have only enabled this feature with the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4 leaving the 3G to its own accordance which is rather unfair as the iPhone 3G is the phone which struggles the most with processing power and always lagging.

If you want to disable auto-rotation –

‘Double Tap Home Button’ > ‘allow multi-tasking function to open’ > ‘scroll to the left to iPod controls > select the locked padlock and circle around it’

5.      Clearing any Cache, Internet History and Cookies

All of the three above are created from applications such as Safari where it stores login details from pages e.g. Facebook. As nice as it is to have all the information stored in Safari for this, you can download specific apps for Social Networking through the App Store.

In essence, the more temporary files are created, the large these get then the slower your phone gets.

You can download an application which does all of this for you called ‘Memory Sweep’ and you can download it here

Or if you feel ambitious, you can do it manually here –

Settings > Safari > Clear History/ Clear Cookies/ Clear Cache

6.       Select other Domain Name endings .co.uk/.com etc

This is a really good top-tip whilst you’re in Safari and it enables you to easily put the extinction of a URL into the address bar. If you now hold down the ‘.com’ button, it will now display a whole load of new endings e.g. .com/.co.uk/.org and more

7.      Disabling Wi-Fi

This is good practice to keep your Wi-Fi as disabled as it will preserve your battery for longer. If you decide to keep it enabled, your iPhone will look for new networks whenever it wants to and simply alert you when a new hotspot is available. When you want to stream anything like BBC iPlayer or Catch-up TV on Demand (www.iphone.tvcatchup.com), I would recommend re-enabling your Wi-Fi to save the data on your data plan.

To disable you’re Wi-Fi –

Settings > Wi-Fi > Off

8.   Most important of them all –  Backing up your iPhone

One of the first thing anyone should do when they get an iPhone and maintain doing it once or twice a week for best practice would be backing up your iPhone.

In iTunes, where your iPhone name appears on the left hand side, right click on the iPhone name and select ‘Backup’ and ‘Transfer all purchases’. This will create an image of backup storing all contacts, images and settings onto your computer as well as put all your applications into your iTunes library ready for re-sync.

This comes in use if you need to send your phone away for repair or if you have to claim through an insurance policy for a new iPhone. With restoring the image, when you get your new iPhone and you come to the configuration screen, it will automatically prompt you with a previous backup option of restoring it.

What is it about Apple that means they have such a loyal customer base, it’s something every business desires, it’s hard to get and can’t be bought so how do they do it?

I’m not afraid to admit I’m a bit of a fan of Apple’s products so I’m not completely impartial but I’ll do my best!

Apple Aren’t perfect

Steve Jobs said it himself in the recent press conference called to discuss the flaws in the latest iPhone design. Yes, flaws in an Apple product! The signal problems with the iPhone 4 have been covered extensively in the media recently; here Apple is a victim of its own success. There have been plenty of other phones in the past with signal issues and calls dropping but Apple just can’t get away with it, they are too popular to slip under the radar and people expect more from Apple, when you buy an Apple product isn’t it meant to be perfect?

Apple aren’t doing great in other areas, they are behind in cloud computing, still charging £59 a year for their ‘MobileMe’ service whilst Google offers similar services on a much larger scale for free! There are rumours that Apple will make the service free later this year and perhaps enhance it at the same time but why has it taken so long?

Then there is the other bad press Apple have been getting lately about the number of suicides that have taken place at Foxconn, one of companies Apple uses to manufacturer its products. Is Apple encouraging cheap labour and poor working conditions?

So what are they doing right?

Products and design

Whenever Apple releases a product they tend to be one step ahead of the market, not just with killer features but in the design and right down to the packaging.

When you purchase an Apple product the first thing you notice is the packaging and whilst it might also go right in the bin it’s important to realise this is all part of the Apple experience, you don’t spend a small fortune on a laptop and expect to get it in a cheap paper bag, this ‘unboxing’ experience has an effect on your perception of Apple products even if you don’t realise it.

The importance of the design of Apples products cannot be under-estimated, they have to look, feel and be great, to the extent that it can result in form over function in some cases (iPhone 4 aerial). Apple were the first to turn away from the boring beige PC box which used to live under your desk with the iMac in 1997, this was a evolution in PC design which has evolved to become the frankly stunning iMac which is available today! They were the first to release unibody laptops, again a brilliant piece of design and most recently the iPad.

Customer support

If you’ve ever called Apple’s support line or sought support in one of their iconic Apple shops you’ll know they’ve got this nailed. Apple’s support often comes out top in support reviews. So when you buy an Apple product you have the assurance of after sales service and this is good for repeat business.

Apple even insist on owning the support of their iPhones, most other manufactures (Nokia, Motorola etc) hand off the fault management of their products to the network operator as they don’t see them as their customers. However Apple consider an iPhone owner as one of their customers and will provide the support leaving the network provider to do just the network providing.

Brand perception

Product placement is pretty important and Apple seem to be masters at it, Apple products have featured in many great films and TV shows, including ‘Independence Day’, ‘Fight Club’ and more recently big TV series like ‘24’ and the latest big files like ‘Toy Story 3’ and ‘The Book of Eli’. Apple get their products in the right places and often used by the right people.

Apple don’t just open shops on the high street, they build premises which can be recognised, they are normally bold iconic designs that stand out from the stores around them. Few companies do so much to build an image for themselves, this requires serious investment and as is often the case with brand development and marketing it’s difficult to quantify any return from the original investment.

Apple are notoriously secretive, they like to keep their next big thing under their hats until they decide it’s ready, this results in more hype when a new product launch is due. There are loads of rumour sites dedicated to reporting every rumour and tip off they get about Apples next product launch and even some of the media giants can’t resist reporting on rumours in the days preceding a big launch.

Paying through the nose

It’s true to say Apple products are perceived as costing more, this is partly because some of them do but when a company invests in new product technology and design they have to re-coup that money from somewhere. So when they are first to market with products like the iPad or the Unibody laptop these products will inevitable cost more.

Another reason Apple is perceived to be expensive is because they don’t do ‘budget’ products, even their cheapest laptop or desktop features great design and reasonable performance.

Some of Apples products maybe over priced, the iPhone is very expensive but people buy them so have Apple earned the right to charge more?

Summary

Apple have a loyal following because they have invested in their image, their brand and their products. They have been clever with their marketing and constantly innovate. They put design and quality at the centre of every product (yes, including the iPhone 4) and look after their customers after they buy.

Investing the amount they must have in things which they cannot quantify the return is a brave move which has paid off for Apple; you could argue that Apple have bought peoples’ loyalty contrary to what I said at the start!

Just got your iPhone 4 and wanting your new bumper case but found it hard to find in the app-store? I certainly know I have.

All you have to do is do the following -

1. Download the iPhone 4 Case Program app from the App Store.
2. Launch the app on your iPhone 4 and sign in using your iTunes Store account or Apple ID.
3. Select your Bumper or case.

Note: For iPhone 4 purchases made before July 23, 2010, you must apply no later than August 22, 2010; otherwise, you must apply within 30 days of your iPhone 4 purchase. To qualify for this program, you must purchase your iPhone 4 by September 30, 2010.

You can apply for a bumper (the only available color is black) or any other qualified case, all of which are free if you’re eligible. It’s a 3-5 week wait for delivery, because nothing in life is quite as easy as it should be.

After finally getting hold of an iPhone 4 two weeks after being released on the 24^th June, I’m defiantly one to say that I have been waiting for this to come around for a while thanks to the rumours, leaks and teasing information Gizmodo have published. Not only have Apple increased certain areas within the phone with a new A4 1Ghz processor, but the resolution of the screen through to the design of the outside and the robust rugged stainless steel band is one of a few new features the iPhone holds to make it that little bit more desirable and stylish opposed to its competitors such as the Nexus One and numerous HTC phones.

With an all new Retina Display, the Apple have now crammed a 960X640 backlit LCD display which has a 326pixel per inch making it one of the highest resolution phones on the market. However, to compensate for the energy hungry screen which is very good for watching films on, Apple have also increased the battery life to 300hrs stand-by and 14hrs talktime (2G) lithium-ion polymer battery opposed to the 3GS’s lithium-ion 300hr stand-by and 12hr talktime (2G).

The design to the iPhone is certainly different with its two ‘aluminosilicate glass’ front and back cover with Stainless Steel band outside which is made from Apples ‘own alloy’ which is ‘five times stronger than steel’ .  Just to make it all fancier, Aluminosilicate Glass is used in helicopter windshields and high-speed trains. The iPhone’s central processor has been upped from the 3GS’s 600MHz processor to a staggering 1 GHz A4 processor which is best suited for multi-tasking, quick execution of programs and a faster response from the phone.

We’ve seen no change in the multi-touch iPhones capacitive touch screen as virtually all smartphones now incorporate this feature as it’s more reliable and precise to pressure driven touch screen on handsets like the Nokia 5800. Capacitive Touch screens work by relying on the electrical properties of the human body to detect when and where on the display the user is touching. Because of this, capacitive touch screens don’t work with styluses or a gloved hand; with this type of screen, it also means that the handset can support multi-tap for those quick texters.

With capacity available in either 16 or 32GB storage, there’s always enough room to sync your music, films and apps to the phone. We still have applications like the Compass which is very precise in pointing where you are longitudinal and latitudinal values which means that within Google Maps, you have enable an auto-rotation feature for the maps meaning when you turn, the maps turn; this is good if you are walking around but with no voice turn-by-turn feature, you have to refer back to a sat-nav or purchase either TomTom or Co-Pilot.

For the entertainment factor, we’ve got features such as the ‘App Store’ which allows users to purchase and download applications over the air to keep them amused and entertained; applications range from Social Networking right through to Utilities. Where previous users of iPhone before the release of 4.0 firmware, iPhone users would have had numerous amounts of pages cluttered with applications but since the release of 4.0, Apple have now allowed Folders from a main screen. This means you can have your Twitter, Tweetdeck and Facebook in a Social Networking folder and then have Sky Sports, BBC News apps in a News folder making your interface nice and clean.

With all of the new features Apple have managed to cram into the their handset, compatibility with exchange 2010, an improved 5megapixel camera with LED flash, video calling, front facing camera and new firmware have all been worthwhile updates for Apple to stay competitive within the market and keep all of their current and new customers eager to get hold of one of these new wave of technology handsets and for the public to show their devotion to the Apple brand, queues ranged anywhere between 4hrs-over 24hrs dependent on how much you wanted it and where your position was in the queue.

However, if you are getting ready to upgrade and thinking about going for the iPhone 4, unless you are wanting the higher megapixel camera, sharper density within the screen, faster execution and more speed whilst multi-tasking, there’s not a lot of difference between the two. The mobile phone industry is changing rapidly and rumors have of Qualcomm who design CPU’s for mobile phones are working on 1.3GHz processors for Windows Mobile 7 phones; this means that again, within the fourth quarter another load of phones will come out through LG, HTC and competing manufactures.

For a phone which was discovered in a bar in Redwood City, USA as someone had lost it and from Gizmodo getting hold of it and then leaking it onto the internet, Apple got the media engaged as well as their customers straight away and kept everyone eager to get hold of one, when the iPhone was released Apple managed to sell over 1.7million phones in just three days.

Increasingly complex but mobile devices like the iPad and smartphones are stretching battery life to its limits. Money is being poured into battery research to find ways to make them last longer and charge quicker; short of carrying a generator or making sure you’re near a plug socket every couple of hours what else can be done to make sure you stay juiced on the move?

On some devices the battery isn’t removable so just carrying a spare isn’t an option; it’s not always the best solution anyway as it doesn’t offer any flexibility if you’ve got several power hungry devices. So what else is out there?

A whole new market has sprung up from nowhere to deal with this issue, every few days over the past couple of weeks I’ve seen a new solution to solve my power problems.

One of the most popular solutions available seems to be a small portable lithium battery which you can charge using a USB socket or a normal plug socket. Most come with a few adaptors so you can charge various devices whilst some have only one phone in mind.

Mophie have just released some mobile batteries with a built in iPhone dock connector, some of them even double as a case! The ‘primocube’ by Primo has just been announced and this will charge anything that has a Micro-USB or Mini-USB connection (Android, BlackBerry etc.). JustMobile have a solution which will allow you to charge any phone which can be connected via USB (pretty much every smartphone, GPS or MP3 player).

There are plenty of other mobile batteries out there; personally I plumped for the JustMobile battery which will charge my iPhone 3 times over. When choosing the right battery for you it’s worth taking note of the mAh rating, the higher the better as this means you’ll get more power from your battery.

Free mobile power?

If your life is so hectic that you won’t even have the chance to charge your spare battery you could try a solar powered charger, there are plenty of options out there which will draw power from the sun. They do have the downside of being slow to charge and you need the sun (not always a common sight in the UK!)

There are some other innovative and enviormentally friendly solutions you could try like the ‘HYmini Personal Wind Turbine’, the ‘Wind-up multi charger’ or Nokia’s bicycle dynamo charger!

Whatever solution to your power problems you choose you can be sure your battery will still die on you at the most inconvenient of times!

I found myself actually getting excited in the lead up to the iPhone OS4 announcement last week, what would it include? Would all the features work on my 3GS? and mostly – when can I get it?

Well Apple didn’t disappoint, announcing over 100 new user features would be available in OS4, like Apple I’m not going to talk through all 100 here; just those that I think will be most useful to me…

Multitasking

Apple have finally got round to adding multitasking to the iPhone, meaning I can have multiple Apps running and quickly switch between them! No longer will I have to quit ‘DoodleJump’ to check my latest emails or stop listening to Radio 1 on ‘TuneIn Radio’ to read the latest news.

Apple of course claim to have multitasking nailed, they say it won’t affect performance or battery life. I don’t doubt they will have made it work great, just a shame it took so long.

Folders

Okay, so this is pretty basic functionality but it’s going to make life a lot easier on my iPhone. I currently have about 100 Apps on my iPhone, spread across 7 pages; three of the pages are just full of games!  I’ll soon be able to put all these games in one folder cunningly called ‘games’; instantly taking me down to 4 pages of Apps!

Instead of six swipes of my thumb to launch another frustrating game of ‘Impossible’ I can have the Games folder on my first page of Apps. Folders also means I can now have over 2,000 Apps visible instead of the paltry 180 in OS3.

Game Centre

This could be massive – basically Xbox Live for the iPhone! Games will be able to plug-in to the game centre for Leader boards and Achievements. You’ll be able to see what your friends are playing and challenge them to a game. With over 50,000 games and 50 million users this could be good.

One Inbox

At last, this has always been a bug bare for many; having to come right out of one email account to check another. Now all my emails can appear nicely in one list, who knows why we had to wait for OS4 for this one!

Exchange Server 2010 support

OS4 will support more than one exchange email account and Exchange Server 2010. SpiderGroup will soon be moving our own servers to Exchange 2010 so this is good news for all our customers using iPhones. Apple have also beefed up security in OS4, something they have previously taken flak for.

1500 new APIs

This doesn’t mean much at the moment to those of us who aren’t developers but later this year we can expect to see a host of new and updated Apps which use these APIs to deliver some great new features. The new APIs will give developers a great deal more flexibility and functionality to play – watch this space!

Roll on the summer

Apple have yet to announce if they’ll be releasing another generation iPhone in the summer, I’m betting they will and if the rumours are accurate we can expect a better camera with a flash, a forward facing camera and Apple’s new processor technology used in the iPad for a speed boost.  I don’t imagine the physical design will change much, but Apple could go crazy and release some more colours!

It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that Apple have released their 3rd generation of the ever popular iPhone along with an update of the OS for all iPhone users.

The new phone itself isn’t much different from the older 3G version, boasting a very similar look and feel, but packing a few extras under the hood:

• Quicker processor
• Double the memory (256MB)
• Updated camera that can do video recording
• Electronic compass
• Nike+

It is quite good that Apple haven’t updated the fundamental design as it means all the accessories and add-ons that were available for the earlier version work with the new one.

The interesting thing about this phone is that most people with the iPhone 3G will not be able to upgrade immediately, tied in as they are to an 18 month contract with O2. That said, sales of the new 3G S seem to have been pretty strong with many original version iPhone users upgrading (my wife upgraded on the day it was released) and a whole bunch of new customers drawn in by Apple’s impeccable marketing.

Of interest to all iPhone users is the update to version 3.0 of the iPhone software which brings with it a whole host of useful additions.

A few highlights are:

• Ability to use rotated keyboard in any app (that supports it) particularly useful in email app.
• MMS
• Copy and Paste
• Enhancements to activesync (main one is to allow push to other folders than the inbox)
• Global Search
• Enhanced bluetooth
• Tethering (ability to use your phone like a USB 3G dongle)
• Push notifications

There are a lot more, I have only highlighted the particularly newsworthy ones and the ones that I personally have found benefit from. The keyboard update and the general user interface enhancement have made the whole experience more aesthetically pleasing and more practical. This is quite impressive considering the quality of the previous version, but Apple have done a good job with the incremental improvements.

Of all the updates I would expect the push notifications to have the biggest long term impact as it will allow developers to build applications that appear to stay open on the device when they have actually closed, this is going to be extremely important for instant messaging and social networking type apps.

Overall the latest updates are a good addition to the iPhone series; I wonder what they have up their sleeves for next year….

Since the worldwide success of the Apple iPhone, smart phone manufacturers have been desperately trying to take back some of its market share.

With devices recently released from big names such as Sony Eriksson, Samsung and HTC the latest addition to the market is the BlackBerry Storm.

Already widely being compared to the iPhone it is RIM’s first real attempt at a touch screen device.

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As you probably know Apple recently released the latest version of their smart phone, the iPhone 3G. Having been one of the people who queued up early in the morning to receive their new shiny toy I have had one for over a month now and thought it was time I shared my experiences.

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