According to a report from Telecoms.com, Apple is testing LTE network quality on carrier’s that sell the iPhone. Apple is doing this to ensure that its customers are given the data speeds that they are promised when they buy an iPhone with LTE connectivity. Carriers that pass Apple’s quality test, will have the feature enabled on the iPhone 5 for that specific network. This means that, users may have to wait quite some time in certain areas as their carriers are tested or if their carrier does not pass the quality test and does not get LTE enabled right away.

Swisscom launched its LTE network this week although the iPhone 5 was not available as an LTE device at launch. “Apple will provide a software update in due course,” the firm said in a press release.

Carriers normally run tests to make sure that the device would operate on theri network, however, phone manufacturers typically don’t conduct such tests. This shows Apple’s control over the carrier’s and their dedication to making sure customers are satisfied. Due to this quality test, unlocked iPhone 5’s will not operate on networks that are not approved by Apple.

Users with unlocked iPhone 4/4S’ are able to connect to other networks that do not sell the iPhone such as T-Mobile. However, with this new test, Apple has gained complete control over which carriers will be allowed LTE access on the iPhone 5.

{Via iMore}

Japanese mobile carrier Softbank is reportedly in talks to buy Sprint Nextel Corp. On Thursday, a report from Bloomberg noted that Softbank was looking to purchase two-thirds of the Sprint Nextel company which would give them control of the company. The transaction will cost Softbank a hefty $19 billion, or 1.5 trillion yen and will allow them to enter the U.S market and pick up more customers.

With Sprint under the wing of Softbank, the Japanese carrier will be able to enter the US as the third major carrier and compete with the other big carriers such as Verizon and AT&T. Both Sprint and Softbank use Ericsson AB equipment from Sweden for their wireless, allowing for easy compatibility for the two companies. Under the new ownership, Sprint will gain some breathing room, after investing nearly $20 billion in iPhones from Apple.

The company also launched the first 4G smartphone but on WiMax technology, as opposed to 4G LTE which is the new standard now. Sprint has since begun to build its 4G LTE network and under Softbank would be able to sucessfully transition and free up some of the pressue of betting on Apple’s iPhone to essentially carry the company. Softbank has yet to comment on when they are planning to take over Sprint and how they will make the transition.

{Via AppleInsider}

On Monday, Apple released a carrier update specifically for Verizon iPhone 5s to address an issue that caused the smartphone to still consume cellular data even while on WiFi, an issue that can be serious with Verizon’s tiered data plans.

This carrier settings update resolves an issue in which, under certain circumstances, iPhone 5 may use Verizon cellular data while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network. Follow these instructions to install the update.

1. Tap Settings > General > About.
2. Wait for the following alert to appear: (top right)
3. Tap OK to install the update.
4. Hold the Sleep/Wake button down until you see “slide to power off”.
5. Slide to power off.
6. After the device powers off, hold the Sleep/Wake button to turn your phone back on.

Note: To finish the installation of the update, your iPhone 5 must be turned off and then on again. After your iPhone restarts, tap Settings > General > About, then scroll down to Carrier and verify that “Verizon 13.1″ is displayed.

The update is different from other iOS updates, particularly because it applies to only one of the many carriers the iPhone 5 is carried on. It is delivered in the iPhone’s settings as an Over-the-Air (OTA) update and is marked as important by Apple, likely because the issue is sporadic and may or may not affect a user. It is unclear if this cellular data issue has appeared on other networks such as Sprint or AT&T but there is no word on that at the moment, and appears to be only Verizon at this point.

{Via MacRumors}

On Friday, a report from 9to5Mac noted that Apple is bringing the iPhone 4S to 5 new regional carriers Alaska Communications, CellCom, MTA Solutions, GCI, and Appalachian Wireless. Regional Carriers such as these allow rural users the option to use the iPhone on a network that is most reliable in their area and is perfect for users who don’t normally travel outside of their cities and towns.

Regional carriers also allow users to get a major discount on their bill, over $50 less than some of the major carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon who can charge anywhere from $70 to $80. The new 5 carriers will also sell the iPhone 4 for $99, and will round out availability of the iPhone on 9 networks, including C-Spire and the 3 majors. Some of the plans on the new networks are available below:

Alaska Communications:

GCL:

According to an internal AppleCare document, Apple is now investigating reports of WiFi issues on the new iPad 3. Since its introduction and release only a few weeks ago, many users have been complaining about WiFi issues from connection drops, slow download and upload speeds to the iPad being unable to pick up local WiFi networks. A recent thread in Apple’s online forum has received over 650 replies and continues to grow with users complaining and discussing the issue.

Currently, the WiFi models are the only versions of the iPad affected. According to a report from 9t05Mac, the black rubber cutout for 4G connectivity allows extra network power to come though, deterring any dropped or slow signals. Apple is reportedly having data collected from users sent back to engineering team which is currently looking into the issue and will likely address it in a future software update.

The Cupertino company is offering replacements to any users who have WiFi related issues, as they do with any defective or malfunctioning devices. At this point, it is unclear exactly how many users have been affected and how many devices have this issue, but it will likely get addressed very soon.

Are you having issues with your new iPad? Have you gotten a replacement? Let us know in the comments below.

{via Business Insider}

In a report from think broadband, it was revealed on Wednesday that a privacy flaw in UK carrier O2’s handling of web traffic on mobile devices released phone numbers of their customers to websites. Any customer who used a 2G or 3G network from O2 to browse the internet had their phone numbers sent to the websites, embedded among the website’s coding.

If you’re reading this news article using your O2 mobile phone, you’ll be pleased to know that O2 have already sent us your mobile phone number within the HTTP headers which normally contain information about how content can be displayed on your device. These headers are not normally seen by users, and usually not logged by most websites, but the flaw allows malicious sites to get more personal information about you than you may be willing to share.

For example, if you open an e-mail which includes references to external images, the mere action of opening the e-mail would divulge your phone number. This could be used by anyone undertaking a phishing attack or other scam to get more information from you. The opportunity to abuse this is potentially endless.

The flaw was discovered by Twitter user @lewispeckover who set up a website to see what information users were releasing while visiting the website. He noted after a few hours, perhaps after O2 fixed the glitch, that the mobile number stopped appearing on the website while accessing from his O2 device.

This issue is not exclusive to the iPhone and may affect all smart phones on the network, which is the second-largest carrier in the UK. O2 was the exclusive carrier of the iPhone back in 2007 during its initial launch.

The carrier appears to have fixed the issue, however, privacy issues continue to be a concern. Although mobile phone numbers are not necessarily private to the carrier, it is a matter of concern when there is a chance it may be released to websites and to the actual public. O2 has not released any statements on the privacy issue to the press or to its customers.

{via MacRumors}

For those that want to abuse it, we can knock them off,” [Sprint CEO Dan] Hesse said at an investor conference Thursday. He said Sprint pares back data use for about 1% of users, a practice known as throttling.

[…]

“You’d be shocked how much data you use in a month,” Sprint asks in a recent television advertisement. “What happens if you go over? With Sprint, you don’t have to worry; only Sprint offers truly unlimited data.

In a Sprint ad, with AT&T and T-Mobile, Sprint points out that T-Mobile throttles its users, not carrying out what they promised. It seems now that Sprint has come to the realization that they must cut back in order to prevent a meltdown of their networks.

Hesse later clarified his statement, pointing out that users who roam on partner networks, such as Verizon with their Sprint iPhone and use more than 300 MB will be throttled.

However, it is interesting to note that most buildings and offices in major cities such as New York City and Los Angeles, often prevent the Sprint network from operating on the iPhone properly. In that case, many users are limited to partner networks and will have used well over 300MB on their iPhone over the course of a billing period.

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