You are here: Home / Archives for iphone 4

iPhone 4 vs Droid X – Best Smartphone Showdown

September 8, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

In this video we compare two of the best smartphones on the market right now, the Motorola Droid X and the Apple iPhone 4.  See how they stack up to one another.

Display

The iPhone 4 has a much smaller screen at just 3.5 inches, but has a much higher resolution.  The iPhone 4 screen really does look tiny when sitting next to a Droid X with its 4.3 inch screen but the “retina display” on the iPhone 4 looks a lot better and is brighter.

Processor

Both phones have blazing fast 1GHZ processors though the iPhone 4 uses Apple’s own A4 processor while the Droid X uses a Texas Instruments OMAP processor.   It’s tough to say which is truly faster, but both pack plenty of power for running all your favorite apps.

Storage / Memory

Both phones have 512 MB of RAM.  The Droid X comes with 24GB of storage space and is expandable to 40GB.  The iPhone 4 comes in two versions, a 16GB and 32GB version, though neither is user upgradeable.

Battery

Battery life on both phones is excellent.  I’ll admit I was surprised that the Droid X does as well as it does considering the monsterous 4.3″ screen, but it actually outperforms the iPhone 4 though both should last you through the day and you shouldn’t need to keep your charger in your pocket unless you’re using the GPS navigation or watching movies all day long.

Camera

From a specs comparison, the Droid X has the better camera with its 8MP dual LED flash camera, but in real world testing, the iPhone 4 with its 5MP single LED flash camera performs better though both are very close.  The iPhone 4 also features a front facing camera for using video chat via Facetime while the Droid X has no such functionality.

Operating System

The iPhone 4 runs Apple’s own iOS (formerly iPhone  OS) while the Droid X runs Google Android 2.2

Network

The Droid X is a Verizon exclusive while the iPhone 4 is an AT&T exclusive.

Price

Droid X $200 w/ 2 yr contract
iPhone 4 16GB Verision $200 w/ 2 yr contract ($300 for 32GB version)

Other

Both phones have a few extra features you simply can’t find on the other.  For example, the Droid X has HDMI out, can function as a mobile hotspot for up to 5 devices and supports Flash 10.1 for playing videos and multi-media websites.

The iPhone 4 has a built in gyroscope making it a vastly superior device if you like to play games on your phone and the seamless integration with iTunes is great for music buffs.

Overall Winner

I’m not going to declare a winner as both phones have their strong points so pick the one you like the best.  Go to both the AT&T store and Verizon store before making your decision and play around with one -- that should help you make the decision.

Filed Under: Android, iPhone Tagged With: Android, apple, at&t, droid x vs iphone 4, ios, iphone 4, motorola droid x, Smartphone, verizon, video

When Will Verizon Get The iPhone 4?

August 9, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

It seems like every couple of months there is a rumor saying that Verizon will be getting the iPhone soon.   Then it turns out to be hogwash.

However, lately it seems like more and more evidence is mounting that Verizon will indeed be getting the iPhone in the early parts of 2011.

As far as evidence goes, the first comes from a report from Bloomberg saying that Verizon would be releasing and iPhone in January of 2011.  Most of the time reports come from bloggers, not credible news sources.

Now it’s looking like there’s some physical evidence that these devices could become a reality with a recent report saying Apple has ordered millions of CDMA chips from Qualcomm.   CDMA is the technology used by Verizon Wireless (and Sprint) while the current iPhone 4 and all models before it have relied on GSM technology which is the technology used by AT&T (and T-Mobile and the rest of the world).

It’s far from a sure thing and I wouldn’t hold my breath or start waiting in line at your Verizon store for the iPhone 4 to make an appearance but it sure seems like there a little more to this story than just a rumor.

If I learn any new evidence, I’ll be sure to post it here for you.

Update August 16th:  Here’s a new report that seems to hint that the iPhone 4 may be ready for field testing on Verizon.

The iPhone 4 Coming To Verizon Soon???

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: apple, cdma, Iphone, iphone 4, qualcomm, verizon

The Easy Way To Jailbreak the Iphone 4 (safe too)

August 2, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

I think one of the things that in the past has stopped a lot of people from jailbreaking their iPhones is that it was a somewhat complicated process.

Now there’s a safe and easy way to jailbreak the iPhone 4.

Just go to JailbreakMe.com and follow the instructions – it’s really that simple.  Keep in mind that you can restore your iPhone 4 to it’s original settings by using iTunes so there really is very little danger here but as always the disclaimer is that jailbreaking your iPhone does void the warranty.

So why would you want to jailbreak your pretty iPhone?

Well, you can get an app ($4, but free to try) called My3G that allows you to use Facetime over 3G so you’re no longer limited to using Facetime only when you have a WiFi connection.

And if you’d like to create a wifi hotspot with the iPhone 4, just get MyWi 4.0 ($19.99) and you’ll be off and running.

Just check out Cydia to see all the apps that become available to you should you decide to free your iPhone.

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: 3g, cydia, facetime, iphone 4, jailbreakme, my3g, mywi 4.0, wifi hotspot

How To Get Your Free iPhone 4 Case

July 16, 2010 By NotLost 1 Comment

In response to complaints about the iPhone 4 having antenna issues when you hold it a certain way, Steve Jobs has announced that anybody who buys an iPhone 4 until September 30th will get a free iPhone 4 bumper case to go along with it.    For those who purchased a case from Apple already, they’ll get a refund automatically.

That should fix most peoples’ antenna issues.

If you already purchased the bumper case from Apple, they’re automatically giving refunds and you should see the credit post soon.

If you don’t already have a case, here’s how you get one:

Visit the official iPhone 4 Bumper case program page from Apple or download the iPhone 4 Case Program App from the App store.  Then just follow the on screen instructions and your case will be sent to you free or charge.

Note:   For those who already purchased an iPhone 4 case from a third party or on eBay, you unfortunately don’t qualify for a refund from Apple.

What do you think -- is this a satisfying solution for you or should Apple be doing more?

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: antenna, bumper, dropped calls, free case, iphone 4, reception, steve jobs

How To Jailbreak The iPhone 4 – Guide – Tutorial

July 13, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

The latest iteration of Apple’s iPhone 4 has proven to be the most difficult of the iPhones to jailbreak yet.

However, that hasn’t stopped people from trying, and persistence has paid off.  The iPhone 4 has been jailbroken.

I’m just going to give you the links on how to do it here since I don’t want to take credit for someone else’s work:

Advantages of jailbreaking the iPhone 4

If you’re not sure if jailbreaking is a good decision, here are some of the advantages (and the main disadvantage) to jailbreaking your phone.

Jailbreaking the iPhone 4 (elusive white iPhone 4 shown)

The big advantage to unlocking the phone is that you no longer are at the mercy of Apple’s App Store telling you what you can and can’t install on your phone.  In the past this has included tethering, multi-tasking, and being able to easily change settings.  The new iOS 4 has fixed some of these issues, but there are still plenty of apps out there that you won’t find in the App Store that you can install on a jailbroken iPhone, like wi-fi synching.

The main disadvantage of jailbreaking is that it voids the warranty of your phone and there is a real risk of “bricking” the phone – i.e. permanently disabling the device.   This can happen on any phone you try to unlock, not just the iPhone.

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: guide, ios 4 jailbreak, iphone 4, jailbreak, root, tutorial, unlock iphone 4

How To Fix Your iPhone 4 Antenna Issues – Simple To Elaborate Solutions

July 1, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

As you’re probably well aware, the much ballyhooed iPhone 4 isn’t without it’s share of issues.  It shatters far too easily for a cell phone, scratches, and hates left handed people.

Keep in mind the antenna issue doesn’t seem to be present on all phones, but it certainly does appear on a lot of them.  I was using my friend’s iPhone 4 last night and despite my finest efforts of deliberately trying to put my fingers in the correct places to get the reception to drop, I got nothin’… not even a measily 1 bar drop.

However, if you are expereiencing these problems, here are some solutions you could try.

Scotch Tape

This is the simplest and  cheapest of the solutions and many have said it works so if you don’t mind putting a little bit of clear Scotch Tape on your phone, this could fix you up for less than a penny.   Just put a small strip of tape over the little black strip on the bottom left hand corner of the phone.  The theory is that it will stop your skin from shorting out the antenna.

Get A Bumper

The standard Apple response has been to either get an iPhone case (the $30 bumper) or that there is no problem.  While

Vapor4

The Vapor4 is an aluminum case that can solve not only the antenna issue, but will also make it a lot tougher to shatter your phone if you opt for the carbon fiber back plate ($100).

Magellan Toughcase

If you want to make your iPhone 4 nie invulnerable and waterproof to boot, then Magellan has the solution for you – the Magellan Toughcase.  Though it costs as much as the phone ($199), and is targeted towards those who want to use their iPhone like they would a rugged outdoor GPS unit, it will certainly fix those pesky little screen shattering and antenna issues.   It also improves GPS accuracy and gives you even more battery life (has a built in 1840mAh battery built in) so you do get quite a bit for all that cash.

If none of these solutions satisfy you, you could join the class action lawsuit, or take advantage of the 30 day return policy offered by Apple and AT&T and return the damn phone.

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: apple, class action lawsuit, Gps, iphone 4, iphone 4 antenna, iphone 4 recall petition, iphone bumper, issues, magellan toughcase, scotch tape, steve jobs, vapor4

iPhone 4 vs Droid X – Best Smartphone Showdown

June 28, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

Droid X vs iPhone 4

When the original Motorola Droid was launched in 2009, it was really the only worthy competitor the iPhone had.  These days there are plenty of smartphones on the market many of them quite good but the title of best smartphone really comes down to three phones – the Droid X, iPhone 4, and EVO 4G.

I’ve already done an iPhone 4 vs HTC EVO 4G post so I won’t rehash that here, instead we’ll do a rundown of how the Droid X and iPhone 4 stack up against each other.

iPhone 4 vs Droid X

Processor

Both phones are fast… really fast!  The Droid X features a Texas Instruments OMAP 1GHZ processor while the iPhone 4 features an Apple A4 1GHZ chip.

Display

One of the most obvious differences in the two phones is right here.  Apple’s iPhone 4 has a 3.5” screen (small by current smartphone standards) but it uses their new “retina display” technology at 960×640 resolution which results in a gorgeous display.  The Droid X, on the other hand, with its 4.3” screen makes the iPhone 4 look puny and while the display is good looking and sharp, it does run at a mere 854×480 resolution.

Memory

The iPhone 4 comes with either 16GB of memory ($199 with 2/yr contract) or 32GB of memory ($299 with 2/yr contract).  The Droid X comes with 24GB of memory, but it can be upgraded by the user to 40GB of memory.

RAM

Both the iPhone 4 and Droid X have 512 MB of RAM.

Camera

I’ll say this now before we compare specs – in real world testing, pictures look to be of nearly equal quality.  That being said, the Droid X has an 8MP camera with a dual LED flash while the iPhone 4 has a 5MP camera with single LED flash.

OS / Apps

The iPhone 4 runs IOS 4 while the Droid X will initially ship with Android 2.1 (will be updated to 2.2 shortly thereafter).

Which OS you choose is really up to you.  You are granted a lot more freedom to do what you want with Android while the user experience is better with IOS 4.

As far as apps go, the Apple App store has over 225,000 apps while the Android Market has about 75,000 apps.  For all intents and purposes, even though there is a large app discrepancy, at this point it’s a wash as to which is better – both have a ton of apps and if you want to do something with your phone, you probably can find an app for that on either marketplace.

One thing which isn’t in question here is gaming – gaming is vastly superior on the iPhone – there are more and better games available for the iPhone.

Carrier

For many, this will be the deciding factor. One is exclusive to the carrier many consider to be the best in America (Droid X – Verizon Wireless) and the other is on the carrier many consider to be the worst (iPhone 4 – AT&T).   This is really up to you – some people don’t have problems with AT&T, some do.  Where I currently live AT&T was hopelessly bad – Verizon has awesome coverage – in my hometown, neither is very good.  Both companies have an evil streak, but Verizon does consistently score better than AT&T in just about every category.

One thing to keep in mind, both networks will let you test their network for 30 days before you are locked into two years with them.  You can return your phone if you’re unhappy within 30 days with no penalty.  My recommendation is to test it out and make sure it works to your liking before you’re stuck for 2 years.

Other

Each has a bunch of features you won’t find on the other.

The iPhone 4 has Facetime and a front facing camera for video chat.  The Droid X has no such application and no front facing camera.  It also has a gyroscope, which as best I can tell has no practical purpose other than to make playing games even more awesome on the iPhone.

The Droid X has true multi-tasking (the iPhone has quasi-multi-tasking), HDMI outputs, wi-fi tethering and soon will be able to display Adobe Flash.

Conclusion

Declaring a winner is really not easy here and really it comes down to preference.  Plus I don’t feel like starting a flame war here on this blog.  Anything involving Apple products seems to bring out people who feel like any slight on Apple is akin to saying Hitler tried to do us all a favor or that Jesus had it coming.  Yeah, it’s that bad and I’m not falling into that trip.

Here’s the bottom line – they’re both spectacular phones.  Get the one you like better – go play with each of them at the store before you buy.

iphone 4 vs droid x

Motorola Droid X Vs Apple iPhone 4

Filed Under: Android, iPhone Tagged With: Android, android 2.2, android market, app store, apple, at&t, best smartphone, droid x, droid x vs iphone 4, ios, ios 4, iphone 4, iphone 4 vs droid x, memory, processors, ram, screen size, verizon

iPhone 4 – Will It Blend?

June 26, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

If watching a piece of precision engineering being ground into pieces isn’t your idea of a good time, then you don’t want to watch Blendtec’s latest episode of Will It Blend… with the iPhone 4.   (though you can go to their site and enter their iPhone 4 contest to win a free iPhone 4 plus 2 yr contract with AT&T -- all paid by Blendtec… they’ll even blend your old phone for you.)

By the way, those blenders are awesome at blending things you should actually blend, like smoothies!

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: blendtec, iphone 4, will it blend

iPhone 4 User Reviews – First Takes – Unboxing – Official Reviews

June 23, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

Now that people actually have the iPhone 4 in their hands, there are no shortage of official reviews, user reviews, unboxing videos and first takes on the device available.

I already wrote my iPhone 4 review so this post is to hook you up with everyone else’s.

Here is the bottom line so far.  It raises the bar for what a smartphone should be, finally has a camera that takes good pictures, Facetime is cool, the retina display is gorgeous, the design has a high end look, folders is kinda cool,   but (and this shouldn’t surprise anyone) isn’t a great phone… it tends to drop calls just like other iPhones.

Unboxing Videos

User Reviews

Notebooks

Switched

Official Reviews

USA Today
Engadget
New York Times
CNET
Wall Street Journal

The iPhone 4

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: first take, iphone 4, official review, unboxing, unboxing video, user review

10 Must Have Apps For The iPhone 4

June 22, 2010 By NotLost Leave a Comment

One of my friends is getting his iPhone 4 delivered tomorrow and last night he kept asking me which apps he had to get and how to use his new phone.  He’s had a Motorola Razr for nie on forever and this will be his first smartphone.

He spent a good part of last night playing around with my phone (a Droid, not an iPhone) trying to learn how about everything these phones can do.

So since I know I’ll be getting asked about which iPhone apps are the best, here is a list of 10 must have apps for the iPhone 4 for everyone to see (but no games, you can find people more qualified to give you game advice than me – I don’t do games).

Pandora (free)

With iOS 4, Pandora can finally run in the background so you can listen to music on your phone and do other things, like jot down notes, play games, send texts,  read the New York Time, and so on and so forth.  Pandora is a great way to discover new artists that you might not know you like so if you’re sick of the same old 40 songs being played on the radio, this free apps should be one of the first you download from the App Store

The Weather Channel (free)

There is no shortage of weather apps available for the iPhone but this one is largely regarded as the best.    My favorite part – the ability to view and animate the radar so you can track the path of a storm.

Find My iPhone (free – MobileMe Membership Required $99/yr)

Coming to the realization that you lost your iPhone really does give a person a sinking feeling in their heart.  Find my iPhone, developed by Apple allows you to remotely track down you iPhone if you lost it or if you think it might be stolen.  It also allows you to remotely wipe the phone to protect your personal information.   The best part is that even if you don’t have the app installed before you lose your phone, you can still use this program – all other lost iPhone apps need you to be prepared and have these programs installed before your iPhone is lost or stolen.

Car Locator ($1.99)

For those who can’t remember where they parked (like me), this app is for you.  Just fire up this app when you park and tag your location.  When you’re ready to find your car later, just tell the app and it’ll guide you right back to it.  I use a similar app on my phone frequently when I park downtown as I often don’t remember exactly where the heck my car is – saves me a lot of time wondering around lookin’ like a fool.

Shazam

One of the greatest apps ever created.  If you’ve ever wanted to know what song is playing on the radio, this app will tell you.  You’d be amazed how often you find yourself using this app.

Evernote

This is a great app for jotting down notes, ideas, voice recordings, pictures, and videos.  And the great part is that it will instantly sync to your computer so you have all the info is there for you when you’re ready to act on it.

OpenTable

With this restaurant you can find a restaurant with open tables and make a reservation all from your phone without making a single phone call – just push a couple buttons and you have a reservation… it’s that simple.

Taxi Magic

While this one probably isn’t applicable to people in all parts of the country, this app allows you to hail a cab from your iPhone and if you’re in a supported city, it’s extremely useful.

Remember The Milk

This is an online to do list and task manager and a sweet one at that.

AroundMe

Need directions to the nearest airport, police station, or coffee shop?  Then you need AroundMe as that’s exactly what this app does.

Looking for even more great iPhone apps?   Here are some more lists:

The Apple iPhone 4 - Now With Multitasking!

Filed Under: iPhone Tagged With: app store, apps, aroundme, best iphone apps, evernote, find my iphone, Iphone, iphone 4, must have iphone apps, pandora, shazam
« Older Posts