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Pre-Paid iPhone Coming to US Carriers Starting in June

Wireless carrier Cricket has announced it will be offering two iPhone models pre-paid with no contract starting on June 22. The iPhone 4 or the iPhone 4S will be available subsidized for $400 and $500 respectively. This pricing is $150 cheaper than buying a no-commitment iPhone 4S from Apple.

Cricket iPhone pre-paid

Besides no contract, Cricket offers the advantage of an unlimited talk, text and data plan for only $55 per month. This undercuts all of the major carriers, although Cricket will throttle data speeds when customers exceed 2.3 GB during the billing period.

Apple's Nano-SIM Design Standard Approved

The SIM card in your iPhone is about to get smaller. The nano-SIM standard was just approved by the European Telecommunications Institute (ETSI), shaving 40 percent off the size of current micro-SIM cards. The new standard will increase the amount of space available in mobile devices for other components.

nano SIM card

Apple's proposed nano-SIM card is pictured above from The Verge, inside the outline of a standard SIM card. The nano-SIM that was approved has the same dimensions as Apple's proposed card, coming in at just 12.3 x 8.8 x 0.67mm. The function of the SIM card will remain unchanged, and the new design can be packaged for backwards compatibility in older devices.

iPhone 5 Plans Verify Larger Screen Size

More evidence has surfaced pointing to an increased display size on the next generation Apple iPhone. After the recent appearance of iPhone 5 chassis parts revealing a taller profile and metal back, the leaked plans below appear to verify the new design.

iPhone 5 leaked plans

9to5Mac observes that the FaceTime camera has been moved to a location above the earpiece. The opening for the display is just slightly larger than four inches diagonally, making the area correctly sized for a 4-inch diagonal display with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

New iPhone iOS 6 Maps Will Have 3D Option

Now that iOS 6 has appeared in developer logs Apple is gearing up to show off its latest mobile operating system at WWDC next month. Rumors of iOS ditching Google Maps for an Apple-developed replacement have been around for some time. Now screenshots of impressive 3D map renderings have surfaced.

iOS 6 3D maps revealed

A new silver interface surrounds the maps app, with the location button in the lower left corner next to a 3D mode toggle. Apple's in-house mapping group is also said to be working on an improved version of traffic, and possibly even native turn-by-turn navigation for iOS 6. The upcoming sixth generation hardware is widely expected to have a larger screen, which would only improve the new maps experience.

Have a Continuous Conversation With Siri Thanks to PersistentAssistant

One of my biggest gripes with Siri has been fixed thanks to a new jailbreak tweak called PersistentAssistant. The new jailbreak tool allows Siri to keep listening after you ask her a question. This eliminates the need to keep tapping the button every time you want to use Siri, allowing you to have a continuous conversation with the voice assistant.

Siri Tweak

This is the perfect tweak for impatient people who are always turning Siri on and off before she has time to do her job. It's also great for those drunk nights when you're trying to show her off to your friends because it makes her much easier to use. You can tap Siri a second time or let her automatically shutdown if you only have one question.

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