With over a million iPhone 4S units pre-ordered and countless more sold through retail stores today, it's no wonder that carriers' activation systems are crippled. If you've been having problems activating your new iPhone, you're not alone.
We've actually been having quite a few issues ourselves today, and have been searching for workarounds to get our new handsets active. After a lot of digging, I've come up with two pretty good alternatives to the typical activation methods...
Why Apple has limited its new Siri personal assistant feature to the iPhone 4S is anyone's guess. At first it was believed that a lot of the backend of Siri took place on the handset, so it needed the A5's extra power. But that didn't prove to be the case.
It was also thought that the service required 1GB of RAM. But it was later revealed that Apple's new smartphone only contains 512MB, so that can't be it, either. So then why in the world is Siri limited to the iPhone 4S? Well, maybe it's not...
If you're one of the millions of people that pre-ordered an iPhone 4S, or were able to snag one from a retail store, chances are you've been busy today. You've moved your contacts over, synced it with iTunes, and customized its settings to your liking.
Well the folks over at iFixYouri have a different ritual they go through after receiving a new handset. They've pulled out the mini-screwdriver, and have completely disassembled Apple's new smartphone. Find out how easy it is in this surprisingly short video clip...
AT&T has not one, but two worthy competitors ready to battle it out for iPhone 4S supremacy, and this time the playing field is far more level than it's ever been.
No longer is Verizon relegated to playing catchup, and did you hear? There's a new kid in town named Sprint.
How does the iPhone 4S match up on America's three biggest mobile providers in terms of sheer network speed? We'd thought you'd never ask. Tune in as we go head to head...to head.
Yep, we've got three iPhone 4S', running on three different networks, exposed on video...
The stand-out iPhone 4S feature has to be Siri, Apple's take on the virtual assistant. There's something to be said for asking your iPhone questions or issuing commands, and having it go off and do the work.
Unfortunately, it appears that not everyone can experience the full magic of Siri, with some aspects of the digital AI not available for those of us outside the United States...
I've always thought that Siri looked good, just not as great as Apple would want you to believe. I was a skeptic. I was a skeptic until about an hour ago when I first tried Siri for myself.
It's not perfect, but it's definitely better than any other voice recognition/control/A.I. you've ever used. It integrates commendably with the iPhone 4S, and best of all, it just works...most of the time.
Siri will, without a doubt, change the way we communicate with our devices going forward; it's like the missing link that we've needed all along.
Check inside and see what it's like to have small talk with Siri...
There has been some confusion as of late over just how both Sprint and Verizon are handling the unlocking of the SIM card slots inside their iPhone 4S handsets. Initial reports, beginning with Macworld, stated that Sprint's hardware would come pre-unlocked, and Verizon's could be unlocked by the carrier assuming the customer's account is in good standing, and at least 60 days old.
From there, things all got a bit murky, at least on the Sprint front. While Macworld apparently had it spot on with regards to Verizon, it seems their guy at Sprint wasn't telling the full story. Yes, the SIM slot on the iPhone 4S can be unlocked, but it wouldn't actually be unlocked from minute one. Or, rather, it would, but then won't.
Yep, it makes perfect sense...
One of the biggest reasons to upgrade to the iPhone 4S from the iPhone 4, is for the upgraded camera.
While the iPhone 4 had a good camera, the iPhone 4S has a great camera. In fact, you might consider it so good that you decide to permanently ditch your dedicated point and shoot.
Regarding the camera, Apple has improved snapshooting, but they've also highly improved the phone's video capturing capabilities as well.
Check inside for my first test with the iPhone 4S' 1080p video capture...
After an agonizing week of waiting, my iPhone 4S finally arrived on my doorstep this morning.
I greeted the friendly UPS driver, and rushed to my office to get this puppy opened.
Join me inside as we unbox the iPhone 4S...
The iPhone 4S hasn't even been available for more than a day, and a drop test has already made its way around the internet.
Like the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4S sports a beautiful glass and metal design. When dropped on its screen, the iPhone 4S proves its mortality...
Just picked up your iPhone 4S? Excited? You should be.
But that excitement may be quickly quelled when you try to activate your new device.
Apparently, AT&T's servers are getting hammered, and it's causing activation to fail over, and over, and over...
Apple's new voice technology, dubbed "Siri," is really smart. It's also got an attitude.
While Siri has been receiving tons of praise from journalists and consumers alike, Apple's new AI system has one serious flaw: it doesn't understand thick accents.