Some early adopters of Apple’s second-generation iPhone have witnessed thin cracks appear at the edges of the device that damage the phone’s look and threaten to pose a larger threat down the road. Those tracking the issue in an Apple support discussion thread and elsewhere say the hairline fractures most often appear on the plastic shell near the corners of the device, particularly near the headphone jack, ringer switch, and volume controls. The flaws appear regardless of how gently the user takes care of the phone and can increase in number, according to multiple claims, although there are no known reports of existing cracks growing in size. At least a few users, however, report cracks deep enough to create a visible opening, particularly at the headphone jack. Most of those noticing the issue are owners of the white model. Nonetheless, some owners of black editions also report the issue and suggest that it’s not a matter of the material used for the color but a more general problem. The black shell simply hides the cracks better, these users suggest. Apple’s own response to the problem has been mixed. The company doesn’t yet list the problem as common and has largely left exchanges to its in-store technicians. While some affected owners claim to have received little trouble and a quick replacement, others describe being rejected due to the cosmetic nature of the cracks, which to date haven’t resulted in an outright device failure. Those contacting their carriers aren’t necessarily so fortunate: in one case, an Ottawa, Canada resident has been turned back at retail and on the phone by Canadian iPhone provider Rogers Wireless, which said it would have to technically rule the flaws “customer abuse” and charge the full replacement cost of the phone. In all circumstances, though, these customers express frustration at a device that in a short space of time is already appearing to break down, even if the faults are purely superficial. “I don’t think it is such a big deal but then again, I just got this phone and paid a fortune for it,” says one detailed report. “There should not be any problems with it in week one.”

Posted by Marketnews - Christine Persaud in Marketnews.ca

Most people think that once an electronic device gets wet, that’s it. Chuck it into the garbage, because it’ll never work again (unless, of course, it’s water-proof or resistant). But this weekend, I was amazed to see a mobile phone come back to life after having been rained on for a full 8-hour night. Here’s what happened.

My friend accidentally left her phone out in the rain all night on a patio table. Although it was partially covered by an overhead umbrella, the phone was still considerably drenched when it was retrieved. We removed the battery and SIM and proceeded to sick my blow dryer on the device. At the same time, I did what any sane tech-savvy person does in an emergency like this one: “Google” the situation for some tips. I surfed a few sites, some confirmed to be reputable and others blogs from people around the world who had similar situations (or just knew what to do). Here’s what I came up with on what to do in such a situation:

1) Always, always, always remove the SIM (if it’s a GSM phone) and the battery

2) NEVER use a blow dryer. Because this simply blows air into the device, it could cause water to seep into hard-to-reach spots, eventually damaging the insides of the phone. It’s better to use a vacuum of some sort that will suck the water out.

3) Stick the device in a bag of rice for a few hours. Yes, rice. Apparently it will help to remove moisture. If you want to help keep rice particles out of the insides, you can also add a few bags of silica (that stuff that comes in a jacket or purse pocket when you first buy it).

4) Try the phone first by plugging it into the wall socket without the battery, then with the battery. It might just be the battery that’s gone kaput.

Despite the fact that we did initially use a blowdryer in a panic, the phone came back to life by the end of the day, and has been working ever since. Although there’s no telling how long it will continue to function, I was amazed that it was even able to power back up after being exposed to a full night of pouring rain.

Nevertheless, if these tips help to save just one device, then I’ve done my part.
Posted by Marketnews - Christine Persaud marketnews.ca

iPhone Mania Hits Northern New Jersey
By Evan Koblentz
WirelessWeek - July 11, 2008

ROCKAWAY, N.J.—By 9:45 a.m., about 100 customers already were lined up near the Apple Store at the Townsquare Mall here, all hoping to purchase a new iPhone 3G which goes on sale today for $199. The line blocked several other stores and wrapped around a nearby perfume kiosk.
Many customers who already own an Apple iPhone enthusiastically wait in line for the new model. The buying process takes at least 15-20 minutes per phone and there’s plenty of inventory on hand, said David Steinruck, store manager. Then the line grew longer by another few dozen when stock ran out at an AT&T store upstairs. Most customers in queue were 30 to 50 years old and several were using their current iPhone s and laptops to stay in touch with their jobs through various Wi-Fi networks in the mall.
Approaching the long line, and talking on her first-generation iPhone , customer Raquel Hodge said she expected to wait and did not mind. Last year, her family paid $400 in termination fees to escape their old contracts using Motorola IPHONE s. “My husband and I had to have it,” she said. “We don’t care because it’s for the convenience.”
Another customer, Stephen Stetler, already downloaded the new iPhone firmware but still wanted the new hardware for its high-speed networking. He said waiting in line with fellow Apple enthusiasts is fun. “As long as it takes. I can come here tomorrow and probably walk in and walk out. But it’s the experience,” he said.
“It’s not to me a godsend of a product,” said Rod Gammon, who stood in front of Stetler in the ever-growing line. Gammon’s view of the iPhone 3G is more pragmatic. Its features save him 30 minutes each day because he can work while commuting to Manhattan. To get all of the iPhone ’s features on other phones would probably cost more, he said.

Trish Clark
http://northcentralcommunications.ca/
trish@northcentralcommunications.ca

Software problems bug Apple’s launch of new iPhone (AP)
NEW YORK - Apple Inc.’s new iPhone went on sale Friday to eager buyers worldwide, but there were problems getting the phones to work.
Kenny Pichardo, 24, was the first to buy an iPhone 3G at an AT&T store in the New York borough of Queens, but he said it took the store half an hour to get the phone activated.
That boded badly for the approximately 70 people after him in line. Pichardo had camped out overnight to be first.
A spokesman for AT&T Inc., the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S., said there was a global problem with Apple Inc.’s iTunes servers that prevented the phones from being fully activated in-store, as had been planned.
Instead, employees are telling buyers to go home and perform the last step by connecting their phones to their own computers, spokesman Michael Coe said.
At Apple’s flagship store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, customers were waiting at the counter for at least 20 minutes to get their new phones activated.
When the first iPhone went on sale a year ago, customers performed the whole activation procedure at home, freeing store employees to focus on sales. But the new model is subsidized by carriers, as is standard in the wireless industry, and Apple and AT&T therefore planned to activate all phones in-store to get customers on a contract.
The problem extended to owners of the previous iPhone model. A software update released for that phone on Friday morning required the phone to be reactivated through iTunes.
“It’s a mess,” said freelance photographer Giovanni Cipriano, who updated his first-generation iPhone only to find it unusable.
On Thursday, Apple had problems with the launch of a new data service, MobileMe. The service is designed to synchronize a users personal data across devices, including the iPhone , but many users were denied access to their accounts.
Enthusiasm was high ahead of the 8 a.m. launch of the new phone, and a line of hundreds at the Fifth Avenue store encircled the block. Many of them were already owners of the first iPhone , suggesting that Apple is preaching to the choir with the new model, which updates the one launched a year ago by speeding up Internet access and adding a navigation chip.
Thanks to subsidies by the carrier, the price has also been cut substantially to $199 for the cheapest model in the United States.
Alex Cavallo, 24, lined up at the Fifth Avenue store, just as he had been a year ago for the original iPhone . He sold that one recently on eBay in anticipation of the new one. In the meantime, he has been using another phone, which felt “uncomfortable.”
“The iPhone is just a superior user experience,” he said. The phone also proved a decent investment for him: He bought the old model for $599 and sold it for $570.
Nick Epperson, a 24-year-old grad student, spent the night outside an AT&T store in Atlanta, keeping his cheer up with bags of Doritos, three games of Scrabble and two packs of cigarettes. Asked why he was waiting in line, he responded simply “Chicks dig the iPhone .”
The new phone went on sale Friday in 21 countries, with one more, France, following next week. In most of them it was the first time any iPhone was officially sold there, though several countries have seen a brisk grey-market trade in phones imported from the U.S.
iPhone fever was strong even in Japan, where consumers are used to tech-heavy that do restaurant searches, e-mail, music downloads, reading digital novels and electronic shopping. More than 1,000 people lined up at the Softbank Corp. store in Tokyo and the phone quickly sold out.
“Just look at this obviously innovative design,” Yuki Kurita, 23, said as he emerged from buying his iPhone , carrying bags of clothing and a skateboard he had used as a chair during his wait outside the Tokyo store. “I am so thrilled just thinking about how I get to touch this.”
The phone went on sale first in New Zealand, where hundreds of people lined up outside stores in New Zealand’s main cities to snap it up right at midnight — 8 a.m. Thursday in New York.
“Steve Jobs knows what people want,” Web developer Lucinda McCullough told the Christchurch Press newspaper, referring to Apple’s chief executive. “And I need a new phone.”
In Germany, sales were brisk at local carrier T-Mobile’s stores, particularly in Munich, Hamburg and Cologne, said spokeswoman Marion Kessing.
___
AP Business Writers George Frey in Frankfurt, Germany, Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo and Greg Bluestein in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Trish Clark
http://northcentralcommunications.ca/
trish@northcentralcommunications.ca