News

It's been a long time since we've been able to run a story on the white iPhone 4 without a question mark in the title. Now Bloomberg reports the long-awaited white iPhone 4 will be available by the end of this month. Previous reports have also pointed to an April release, however nobody is counting their chickens before they hatch.

Best Buy leaks pointing to a February 27 white iPhone release have already turned out to be false. Apple continues to stick by its spring 2011 launch schedule although the season officially began on March 20. After a 10-month wait since the iPhone 4 keynote what's a few more weeks?

Apple has released the latest firmware files for iOS devices containing bug fixes and security updates. Verizon iPhone 4 owners were not left out of the fun this time, getting their own iOS 4.2.7 updates specifically for the CDMA device. Those experiencing blank or frozen FaceTime video issues should find that the firmware update fixes these problems.

Both iPhone 4 and iPad 2 owners reported the FaceTime issue was affecting Apple devices running iOS 4.3. Another issue that was widely reported in the news was a connectivity problem causing issues with the iPad connecting to 3G networks.

Several new remote unlocking services from websites such as Cut Your Sim and Negri Electronics have appeared in the past few weeks, promising a permanent iPhone unlock without jailbreaking. These services claim the unlock will remain in place regardless of firmware or baseband version forever, with a 100 percent money back guarantee if the unlock fails.

Does this sound too good to be true? Many have already signed up for the services hoping to preserve their Apple warranty, even though the cost is a one-time fee of $170 or more. Negri Electronics has even temporarily discontinued the service due to overwhelming demand while the current list of devices is processed for unlocking. Once the current list of submissions is processed they plan to re-introduce the service.

BGR already has its hands on a copy of the upcoming iOS 4.3.2 firmware update for iPhone and iPad. According to their sources the update will be released before the end of April, possibly even next week. Several fixes and changes are expected in this minor update.

For one, the 4.3.2 update should address the strange FaceTime issues that iPhone 4 and iPad 2 users have been experiencing lately. These include video freezing, having to restart the iPad, and the iPhone 4 leaving behind random photos of users on the screen. iOS 4.3.2 will not presumably be available on the Verizon iPhone 4, which is still running 4.2.6 firmware.

Gadget blogs have exploded today with what seems like countless articles chastising Amazon.com for baiting customers with their Google ads that read "iPhone 5 at Amazon.com". If the ads are still running, and you'd like to see for yourself, simply search for "iphone 5" in Google or even "iphone five". Up will pop a Google Adwords advertisement similar to the one seen below, proclaiming the availability of the iPhone 5 at Amazon.com. Of course, clicking on the ad will take you to a search page on Amazon.com that simply shows results for a variety of iPhone related accessories that may or may not also have the word "five" somewhere in their descriptions. This type of crack investigation has led many to scold Amazon for stooping to such underhanded bait and switch advertising. Closer inspection suggests these ads likely aren't the doing of Amazon itself.

One might ask themselves why multi-billion dollar retailer Amazon.com would risk offending multi-billion dollar manufacturer Apple in order to hopefully grab a few $12 accessory sales on the sly by baiting customers to their site. The likely, and seemingly valid, answer is that they wouldn't.