Update: We’ll be updating this post very soon to reflect 5.0.1.

Apple’s position was always that “jailbreaking” – the process by which users can get core control over their iPhone and install unapproved apps and services – is an illegal act that shouldn’t be allowed. Then the chief officer of the Library of Congress chimed in and state that it was purely legal and that users can do whatever they want with an iPhone once they buy it. So Apple begrudgingly accepted that decision and merely said that jailbreaking your phone “could” void your warranty. And understand this. If you choose to embark on this fun little hacking of your iPhone, you need to realize that we do not warranty, endorse or indemnify you against any calamity that may befall you. Like Apple, if you jailbreak your phone, you are on your own with the consequences. Understood? So now that the legal issues are out of the way, the question comes how, and if, one should jailbreak their phone? Here’s a few tips:

“It is also important to note that unauthorized modification of the iOS is a violation of the iPhone end-user license agreement and because of this, Apple may deny service for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that has installed any unauthorized software.”

 

1. Should you?

The first step in jailbreaking your phone is to ask yourself if you should? The only real reason to jailbreak is to install an app that isn’t available on the iTunes App Store. But recently, someone has accomplished porting SIRI to a jailbroken iPhone 4, and 3S. With Apple having no immediately plans to offer SIRI onto older generation phones, there may be a good reason other than Apps to jailbreak the phone. There used to be that tethering was a good reason, but now most carriers offer tethering at a price. So, unless you’re trying to avoid a monthly charge – which could end up on your bill if you jailbreak anyway, the real question is, it it worth it?

2. Consider the Risk

While most of the danger in jailbreaking your phone has largely been eliminated, there is still a chance that attempting a jailbreak will end up rendering your phone non-operational (bricking it). And Apple has stated that jailbreaking your phone does void the warranty. So you’re on your own should something go wrong. But even if the worst case scenario happens and your phone does get into a bricked state, there are ways to bring it back to operational function.

Mostly, though, many have reported that their worst case scenario was some apps don’t really work right after the jailbreak, and you will certainly not be able to update your phone with new software from Apple while it is in jailbroken condition. However, with a simple hard reset, your phone is back into it’s sand-boxed condition, and then you will be able to upgrade it with any software updates. Just don’t try and update it without resetting and wiping out the jailbreak.

3. Back up your phone

Before you do anything. BACKUP. Not only to iTunes, but also to the cloud. That way should anything back happen, your data, songs, and apps are safely backed up. Also, back up to iCloud. This is fairly simple by going to Settings>iCloud>Storage and Backup>Backup now.

4. Choose your poison

There are several ways to jailbreak an iPhone. Perhaps the easiest is to go to jailbreakme.com from your mobile Safari browser. Jailbreak Me is the simplest way to jailbreak an iPhone with just a simple step. Tap on the Free button under Cydia and then tap on the Install button, this should jailbreak your iOS device and install Cydia (as seen in the screenshot below) just like installing an iOS app from the App Store. It is as easy as that.

Another option is to go with an app called Redsn0w and follow these simple steps:

1.  This jailbreak will require you to connect your iPhone to your PC and then install RedSnow to your PC.
2.Then you run Redsn0w on your PC and click on “patch.” This will patch your iPhone to accept the Cydia Store app. You can also add multi gesture functionality and a few other features.
3. Then you will follow the direction to go into DFU reset mode (top button for 3 seconds, then home button) and reboot your phone.
4. RedSnow will then use a utility called LimeRain to jailbreak your phone and install Cydia. Do not touch it at this time.
5. Once done, you need to exit and turn off your device.
6. Then, in the RedSnow desktop utility, select “just boot” and turn on your device by entering into DFU mode again according to instructions. Once that’s done, the iPhone is jailbroken and will reboot.

There are others including BlackRain, GreenPoisOn, PwnageTool and SnowBreeze and each has it’s own directions on how to jailbreak. The best thing to do is to spend some time over at the iPhone Development Team Blog for more information on each.

UPDATE:  The iPhone Development Team has recently released a new version of Redsn0w, vs. 0.9.9b8, that can not only jailbreak iOS 5.0.1, but also has some of the Pwnage tool functionality built right into it.  For more information, check out this blog post for update 16, which contains updated versions of the software for each platform, Mac and Windows.  But one thing to keep in mind … this jailbreak is still tethered, with IDT working on an untethered option.  Those who choose to jailbreak now, will not be able to downgrade to iOS5.0 to try the untethered option once it’s out, meaning once tethered, it may be the end of the line for you.

5. Understand your limitations

As I mentioned previously, with a jailbroken iPhone, you cannot just update your phone anytime Apple release and update. To do that, you have to reformat and reset your iPhone back to it’s factory condition. But the iPhone is also more open to exploits and attacks when jailbroken. Granted, it’s largely theoretical, but it can happen. You can guard against this somewhat by changing the root iPhone password. Root Click on the Password How-To button in Cydia to learn how. But if you forget the new password, you’re stuck.

Also, you’re battery life could suffer from unapproved apps that aren’t well tested and can leach power from unclosed services. Additionally, those apps may be unstable which could cause your iPhone/iPad/iPod to reboot or crash.

And depending on what phone/OS you have, a jailbreak may not be possible, at least in the short term. But time is on your side and sooner or later, even the most recent update gets Jailbroken. And then you have to go through the process all over again.

6. Wrapping up

So, after all that you have to ask yourself the first question again … is it worth it? Frankly, I don’t think so. Unless you have a very limited need to jailbreak, there really isn’t anything that Apple has addressed with an update or a new app (and there are over a half million now). In the end, jailbreaking may be a fun exercise, but one that will largely give you a pyrrhic victory over Cupertino.

The iPhone 4S is a series of seemingly minor upgrades, but those upgrades work together to create something new, something that is very much an improvement over the nearly two year old iPhone 4. A number of these improvements are available to older phones via iOS 5, the latest iteration of Apple’s mobile operating system. The stand out features are limited to the iPhone 4S, however, including Apple’s new “personal assistant”, Siri.

Hardware

I received a white model, and it looks great. When placed next to a white iPad 2, they look right at home together. The glass back that so many people have complained about (mostly because it cracks like…well, glass) is still there. Many people have expressed a dislike for it because it is so easy to break, but I think that it feels better than a cheap plastic back or an easily scratchable metal back. As someone who is extremely careful with their phone, I’ve never had a problem with the glass. In my opinion, whatever fragility is gained because of the glass back is worth it. The device feels so much better than the plastic-and leather-backed competition.

Body

From all outward appearances, there are no discernible differences between  the iPhone 4S and last year’s model. That’s because the iPhone 4S has the same body as the CMDA iPhone 4. If you’ve been using an AT&T iPhone 4, you probably won’t even notice the minor difference in button placement between the two models. I didn’t notice until after a few hours and it was only because I had the two devices sitting next to one another on a table.

This lack of outward change isn’t a bad thing, since the iPhone 4 was (and still is) the best feeling smartphone in the market. I’ve used a plethora of devices since the release of the iPhone 4, and none of them feel as solid or as well built as the iPhone 4/4S.

The Guts

Just because the outside of the iPhone 4S remains unchanged, that doesn’t mean the internal components stayed the same. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Inside of the iPhone 4S is the same A5 processor that powers the iPad 2. Many reviewers have remarked that the iPhone 4 was already fast enough that the upgraded processor in the iPhone 4S won’t make much of a difference. People said the same thing about the iPad and the iPad 2 when it was first released. But there is a noticeable boost to performance when using the iPad 2. The same can be said about the iPhone 4S. The performance boost is generally about the same as the difference between the iPad and iPad 2.

Not everybody was invited to the upgrade party though; there are some components that didn’t get an upgrade. The amount of RAM has stayed the same, but 512 MB is more than enough for most smartphones. Only extremely taxing apps like Infinity Blade other graphically intense games come close to using that much memory. Games like that lean a lot more on the graphics processor than they do on the system RAM, so it isn’t too much of a concern.

Camera

During the announcement of the iPhone 4S, Scott Forstall mentioned that the  camera in the iPhone 4S is probably the best camera that most people will own. He is probably right and this is one area where the iPhone 4S really outshines the iPhone 4.

The iPhone 4S camera has a more detailed eight megapixel sensor. For comparison, the iPhone 4 has a five megapixel sensor and the 3GS has a three megapixel sensor. Resolution isn’t everything, though. If the higher pixel count was the only thing they changed on the camera, the result would simply be more detailed poorly lit shots. To help with low light settings, the iPhone 4S camera has a much larger aperture than the previous generations. The larger aperture means that more light can reach the lens and pictures taken with less light look much better than they would with the iPhone 4 camera. The iPhone 4 took decent pictures if you were in a place with a good amount of light but not in darker settings, but didn’t take good pictures in low light situations. The iPhone 4S handles these low light situations much better than previous models.

The other big change is the lens speed. The iPhone 4S camera is ready to shoot in just over a second, compared to almost three seconds on the iPhone 4. Every iPhone owner has missed at least one or two perfect shots simply because they were waiting for the camera app to open up. While there is still a bit of a delay, it is mostly gone now.

Take a look at the pictures below. Each of these photos was taken with the iPhone 4S and they haven’t been touched up in any way. Click to enlarge.

Call/Data Quality and Battery Life

It does make phone calls, after all…The model I tested works with AT&T’s network and the call quality was average. There really wasn’t anything remarkable about it. There are none of the reception issues that plagued the iPhone 4 when it was first released. If you have a solid signal, the data speeds on AT&T are good. During my testing, I didn’t have a single dropped call, including the time I spent in downtown Atlanta (which is notorious for its bad reception).

Battery life is about the same as an iPhone 4, which means that you can easily get through a whole day without having to worry about your phone dying. I am a heavy iPhone user and I had no problems. If I’m waiting in line, I’ll pull it out and start browsing the web. My iPhone is my primary music device and I’ll use it to watch YouTube or Hulu videos on a regular basis. Even with that, I still made it through the day without any problems.

Overall Performance

In judging the performance of the iPhone 4S, I think that comparing it to the iPhone 4 is a bit misleading. When most people buy a new phone, they do so at a discount by signing a two year contract. Most cell phone carriers don’t allow people to get a new phone at a discount until their current contract is almost over. Most people eligible for upgrades are people with iPhone 3GS models.

Siri

Siri is the new voice controlled assistant that is available only on the iPhone 4S. Previous iPhones have had limited voice control, but all it could do was dial numbers and play music from the iPod app. Siri has a much larger scope. It can look up information for you, create alarms and calendar appointments and remind you to do something when you arrive at a specific location. It also lets you dictate text into any program.

Once you learn how to use Siri, it’s incredibly useful. Actually, I should be a bit more specific– once you learn what Siri can do, it’s incredibly useful. Siri can understand what you mean, but it doesn’t always know what to do with the information. I think that as Apple adds more information providers for Siri, it will become more and more useful. Right now, it only works with Yelp and Wolfram Alpha, the upshot of which is that if either of these two providers don’t have information what you are looking for, you’re out of luck. If Siri doesn’t have any information or doesn’t understand your question, it will simply kick you out to a Google search, which usually contains the correct answer.

Learning Siri’s limits can be a bit of a pain, however. For example, if you ask Siri to look up movie theaters near your house it will pull up a list of movie theaters, sorted by proximity. If you ask it to look up show times for a specific movie, it will give you the same result: a list of nearby theaters, sorted by proximity.

It does give you some rather specific information though, if it knows it. I was watching an episode of an old TV show called “Car 54, Where Are You?” and I asked Siri when the show was on the air. I did so without even pausing the show and  surprisingly, it responded by telling me that it was on the air from September 17, 1961 until April 14, 1963.

Siri’s biggest advantage is that it can understand natural language. The “natural” part is key. You can speak to Siri just as if you were conversing with a friend. If you ask Siri “Where is the closest gas station?”, it will have no problem understanding you. With the VoiceOver system that Siri replaced, you had to speak clearly and slowly for it to understand you. You don’t even have to clearly enunciate. If you use the word “umm” a few times, Siri will simply ignore it.

It can also learn, to a certain degree. If I tell Siri to send a text message to my sister, it will ask who my sister is and then remember it from that point on. You can also say something a bit more complex, like “Send a text to my sister saying that I will be twenty minutes late.” and Siri will understand what you mean and send a text message to your sister. This is extremely useful if you are driving or in another situation where you can’t actually look at your phone’s screen.

The only major drawback to Siri is that you have to have an Internet connection in order for it to work. Since it works with Apple’s servers to process your input, it needs to communicate with them. This can be a problem, as several times over the weekend, Apple’s servers were overloaded and Siri kept saying it could not connect to them. Siri is completely useless without a network connection. That would be understandable if you could at least use the old VoiceOver system as a fallback, but you can’t.

Safari

The browser is one area where iOS is lightyears ahead of the competition. When compared to Android’s built-in browser (simply called Browser), Mobile Safari is in a different class. Sure, Android’s Browser can run Flash, but it’s a battery hog and slows down the overall performance. Even if you turn off Flash, Android’s browser is still slower than Mobile Safari and it often renders pages incorrectly. I’ve only encountered incorrectly formatted pages once or twice in the three years I’ve been using iOS, but it seems like a regular occurrence whenever I pick up an Android phone.

Mobile Safari was fast on the iPhone 4, but it’s near instantaneous on the iPhone 4S. If you have a strong 3G signal or are on WiFi, there is a noticeable difference in page load speeds. Even after updating my iPhone 4 to iOS 5, there was still a noticeable difference in page load times. Even complex pages like BBC News and Fast Co. Design loaded within one or two seconds. Other than the boost in speed, there is no difference between Mobile Safari on the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S.

iOS 5

Some of the most significant updates to the iPhone 4S come from iOS 5, the latest version of the iPhone’s operating system. Anyone who owns an iPhone 4 or 3GS will get most of the new features that come with iOS 5. The fifth revision of the iPhone’s operating system is a major upgrade, so even those people who are still using older models will still be happy. It might even be the most significant update since the addition of the App Store in iOS 2.

Notification System

The best new feature is the new notifications system. In previous versions of iOS, if you got a notification (be it a text message, calendar alert or a new voicemail), an alert would pop up and take over the screen. If you were in the middle of playing a game, it would interrupt the gameplay until you dismiss the popup. While it was a minor annoyance, it was made worse by the fact that after you dismissed a popup, it was gone forever. The same thing would happen if a new notification came in– it would replace the previous notification on screen, thus making it disappear forever.

The revamped notifications system in iOS 5 rectifies this problem, since there is now a centralized place to access all of your notifications. By swiping down from the top of the screen, you bring up a list of all of your past notifications. At the top of the screen are two widgets, one which shows you stock prices and another that shows you the weather for your current location. If you think these take up too much space and just want to see notifications, the weather and stocks widgets can easily be turned off.

By default notifications are ordered by app, but the order of these notifications can be changed via the Settings app. For example, you can set notifications from the messaging app to always show up at the top of the list. You can also disable apps that will clog up your notifications list (this is especially useful if you get a large number of emails).

In the new system, a small notification appears at the top of the screen when a new message appears. It’s hard to explain, but it “flips” the top of the screen over and reveals the notification. After a few seconds, it flips back. This new notification style does not interfere with the app you are using.

For those of you who liked the modal popup from previous versions of iOS, you can very easily go back to that on a per app basis or just change back to it wholesale.

Twitter Integration

Twitter has exploded in popularity over the past year, with even the most un-techno-savvy of people joining. With over 100 million users, it’s safe to say that a large percentage of iPhone users also have Twitter accounts.

Apple has recognized this, and there are pretty deep ties between iOS and the Twitter service. From almost any built-in app, you can easily post a piece of data to Twitter. For example, if you are browsing the web in Safari and want to share the page you are reading via Twitter, simply tap on a button in the toolbar and a nice little message box will pop up with the URL already entered and allow you to customize your post.

There were rumors that Facebook would be integrated into iOS 4, but that never materialized, likely because Facebook wanted to share the data it gained about users with advertisers, something that Apple was opposed to. While Facebook integration might have been nice, Twitter seems like a much better fit. And if you really want Facebook integration, you can set up Twitter so that it will automatically post your status updates to Twitter to your Facebook account.

The integration is nice, but it could be better. In typical Apple fashion, there is no way to customize which URL shortener or photo sharing service you use. As someone who doesn’t use the default Twitter photo service, I find this a bit annoying. It means that I either need to start using Twitter’s built-in photo sharing service on my other Twitter clients, or I’ll have my photos split between two different services.

I’ve been using the iOS 5 beta for almost 4 months and I’ve only used the Twitter integration a handful of times. That said, it is a really easy way to share things via Twitter.

iMessage

While a lot of talk about iOS 5 has been about Twitter, iMessage is probably going to be the most important new feature of iOS 5 (aside from Siri, but that’s more of an iPhone 4S feature).

For those readers who don’t know, iMessage is a new service from Apple that aims to replace text and instant messaging. It allows you to send messages, videos and pictures from one iOS device to another. It’s essentially a suped up version of text messaging that includes the ability to see when the other person has read your message and when they are typing a reply. Oh, and most importantly, it works with iPads and iPod Touches.

If you’ve used a BlackBerry, you are undoubtedly familiar with BlackBerry Messenger; iMessage is Apple’s version of BBS. On the iPhone, iMessage is integrated right into the Messages app. That’s right– the same app that is used to send text messages. What’s more, if you enable iMessage Apple will automatically check the recipient of your message against a list of known iOS 5 users and send your message via their infrastructure instead of as a text message. All of this is transparent to the user and happens completely in the background.

The fact that you can send messages to your friends using iPod Touches and iPads is also a nice touch. In order to contact them, you simply message them via their email address– just like FaceTime calls to non-iPhone devices.

Wi-Fi Synchronization

It’s a feature that has been long overdue and something that people have wanted ever since the first iPhone was released. It’s finally here: wireless syncing. It’s as simple as it sounds: iOS 5 allows you to wirelessly sync your phone to your computer. This is especially nice if you are constantly adding music to your library or you listen to a large number of frequently updated podcasts.

If you have your iPhone plugged in and iTunes is open on your computer, it will sync and backup in the background. Syncing doesn’t render the phone unusable anymore. It simply occurs in the background, so you can use your phone normally as it syncs in the background. The biggest drawback to this is that it only works if your computer is on. That means that if you want to sync your iPhone overnight, you have to leave your computer on as well.

These features are nice, but again it’s something that Microsoft had on all of their Zune products, going back to the original model that was released in 2006. Still, it’s nice that wireless sync is finally here.

Is It Worth Upgrading?

If you own an iPhone 3GS and you are looking for a new phone, then the iPhone 4S is the best you are going to get. As someone who jumped from an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 4, I can tell you that it is worth the upgrade for the screen alone. The boost in speed and the extra RAM is also quite enticing.

For those people with an iPhone 4, the waters are a bit more murky. The hardest part about upgrading is not whether or not the current phone is better than what you have now, since the latest and greatest will always be faster than the previous generation of devices; the hardest part is whether or not you will regret it in a year months. Since you have to sign a two year contract when you buy a new phone (or pay a ridiculous sum for an off-contract phone), you won’t be able to upgrade until your contract expires. This means that buying an iPhone 4S will likely exclude you from whatever Apple announces next year (iPhone 5?). As a result, I would say that unless you have to have the latest and greatest, I would suggest that iPhone 4 owners hold off on the iPhone 4S and wait for the iPhone 5.

Editors’s Rating:

4.5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

The bottom line: The iPhone 4S shows that Apple is able to stay competitive without engaging in the kind of specs race that Android handsets seem to be locked in. The Samsung Galaxy SII might have a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor while the iPhone 4S only has an 800 MHz processor, but that doesn’t matter. The software/hardware integration that Apple is so good at makes the iPhone 4S the most compelling smartphone on the market.

Pros:

• Fast as hell
• Great camera
• Best designed phone on the market
• Incredible screen

Cons:

• Glass back breaks easily
• Higher capacity models are expensive
• Carrier-locked GSM models can’t roam internationally; you have to use the AT&T SIM card.

You can get the iPhone 4S from Apple for $199 with a 2-year contract.

4 out of 5 stars

Originally designed and engineered to work with an Apple iPhone 3Gs , the Tiffen Steadicam Smoothee has filled the need for stabilizing video shot with mobile smartphones and pocket cameras. The Smoothee’s design is based on the same Steadicam technology used regularly in Hollywood and with handheld video cameras stabilizers like the Steadicam Merlin.

Selling for about $180, the Smoothee helps smartphone and pocket camcorder users improve their results by smoothing out any camera shake where movement takes place while capturing the moment. The Smoothee can be used with the Apple iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (and now, iPhone 4S), the iPod Touch, and the Flip Mino pocket video cameras. Tiffen has also hinted at additional model compatibility planned which will make it advantageous for users of such cameras like the GoPro HD and Android users who would like to have a mobile stabilizer to help smooth out their video clips.

But while Tiffen claims that the Smoothee can be used right out of the box with great results , it requires some set up which may cause new users to feel frustrated with the learning curve. Here’s a few thoughts we have on the Smoothee and how well it works…

Setup

Tiffen says the Smoothee can easily be used to get perfect results “right out of the box and on the go.” But the Smoothee must be balanced and leveled once an iPhone or Flip camera is installed. Thankfully, that’s what the trim knobs on the side and back are for.  They perform this function well and there isn’t a shifting of weights to accomplish this balancing act. And every time you switch out cameras for a different model, you will have to re-trim the device.

Practice Technique

Additionally, the Smoothee does need some practice to refine the technique needed to control it and to prevent the camera from drifting on the gimble.   There are at least 3 different ways that you can control the Smoothee – one handed, one handed with the gimble resting between finger and thumb, and two handed.  Your mileage may vary as to which will work best, but once you have your technique down, with practice the drift is sure to be a thing of the past. It’s a very good idea to read the manual completely, watch some of the online videos, and then go out and do plenty of practicing before taking the Smoothee on vacation or for a family gathering.

Additional thoughts

A few thoughts on the custom Smoothee cradles …. it’s obvious that iPhones don’t come with a tripod mount natively, requiring some sort of cradle option to mount it on the Smoothee.  And the Smoothee’s cradle works really well. But the custom cradle for the Mino and other compact cameras (which sell for about $25 a piece) strike me as simply an attempt to make users buy more accessories. Cameras that already have a tripod mount could easily benefit from a universal, quick release mount, which is the accepted standard on tripods everywhere. And since today’s point and shoot cameras are rivaling camcorders with quality 1080p video, Tiffen is shortchanging customers by not having a point and shoot option.  That’s too bad.

The Steadicam Smoothee is a great mobile device, but it isn’t foldable, making it a challenge to pack when traveling. The ergonomic gimble handle can be stowed into travel position, but that doesn’t make the Smoothee any smaller in the suitcase.  And users hoping to push the envelope, and opt for a camcorder or DSLR, will need to spend a bit more and invest in the Steadicam Merlin as the Smoothee simply isn’t designed or balanced for anything outside the mobile arena.

Even with its quirks the Steadicam Smoothee can help video fans take better video by removing any camera shake when trying to capture a moment on the go. And with patient practice, it’s likely that even by pulling it out of the case, a user will be able to get a balanced, steady image, with a quick turn of a knob. But if you’re expecting to get instant results out of the box, you may be in for a frustrating beginning.

Pros:

• robust design
• balancing trim knobs
• works as advertised

Cons:

• Proprietary cradles, no universal camera mount
• learning curve
• a bit pricey ($189)

Final rating:  Even though it has some drawbacks, they aren’t deal breakers by any means, so we give the Smoothee a rating of 4/5 stars.

You can buy the Steadicam Smoothee at Amazon for $179.95.

You’d be surprised how often it happens. You’re checking your email or updating your Facebook page on your iPhone and nature calls. You walk in, lift the lid and kerplunk! The iPhone is sitting at the bottom of the toilet laughing at you. It’s almost as if there’s a micro black hole that can tug on anything electronic and pull it into the bowl. Don’t panic, you can save it. Just grab it and do the following:

1. Turn it off … IMMEDIATELY

First, turn it off. The longer your iPhone is on, the more likely the moisture that has seeped into it will short circuit and cause permanent damage. Turning it off stops any electrical activity humming around the circuitry.

2. Remove the battery, if you can (applies to non iPhones)

If you have a phone that has a removable battery, you’ll want to take it out now and completely dry it off. Use a blow dryer set on low just to be sure. This will ensure that your battery doesn’t corrode later over time.  If you don’t, well, there’s really not much you can do but move on to step 2.

3. Bury your phone in uncooked rice

Rice?  Yes, I know it sounds strange, but the next thing you’ll want to do is fill a quart or gallon size Ziploc with a cup or two of uncooked rice and bury your phone in it. If it takes more, then fine. But completely cover it and seal it.Over a few days, the  rice will act as a desiccant to draw out any excess moisture from within the phone.  If you are in the habit of keeping those silica packets that come in electronics and shoe boxes, those will work, as well.  But you’ll need a lot of them.

4.  Time will tell

Now is not the time to be impatient. That phone is going to have to sit in the rice for a few days to get completely moisture free. So if you have an old backup phone, and your smartphone is a GSM phone, then you may want to remove the SIM and use that backup for a few days. Yeah, you won’t have your apps or music player, but you can live without it for a few days, right? Your patience will be rewarded.

5. Blow dry the finishing touches

While the rice will draw out most of the moisture, there may be a little bit left and it may show on your LCD screen in the form of a black area when you turn it on. Don’t panic. Just turn the phone back off and either place it back in the rice or, use a blow dryer on low for about 15-20 minutes to drive off the rest of the moisture. I had this happen to my iPhone 3GS and there was a small black corner on the LCD. So I just blow dried it in the rice until the corner came back. It didn’t come back completely, but over time, it gradually did. But don’t think that if you can do it on low for 20 minutes, you can do it on high for 10, or save yourself two days in a rice bath. The higher the heat, the more likely you could damage the interior or cause any glue used to secure parts to melt and loosen them. Again, your patience will be rewarded.

6. Living with it

While your phone will come back, it may not be perfect right away.  And there may be some minor annoyances over the long term. First, understand that depending on your smartphone, your mileage (results) may vary.  What will work well for an iPhone may not be the complete solution for your Android or Blackberry phone.  But it’s a good place to start.  Also, understand that there is a small dot in every smartphone that changes color to reflect water exposure. So if you have any problems with the phone – that is the first thing the technician will check. If they see that there has been water damage, the warranty will be voided and you’ll be out of luck. Some corrosion may also occur over time in areas like the on/off button.

Conclusion

But in the end, it should be manageable.  I dropped my iPhone 3GS in water about 2 years ago. Dried it out and it’s been working ever since. So don’t panic! Just remember RICE and TIME.  Patience is your friend.

For sometime now you’ve been able to buy an iPhone 3Gs on the cheap, provided of course you’re willing to deal with a refurbished model.  Well, no more.  AT&T, in another attempt to sway consumers away from signing onto Big Red, is now offering a brand new iPhone 3Gs with 8GB of storage for $49 on contract.  It ships to you within 24 hours, so supply seems to be a non-issue, at least for now.

Okay, so it’s not the mini-iPhone we heard about yesterday, but we can’t but think this might be related since it is significantly cheaper.

Read

Medicine takes another step towards virtualisation with this smart add-on that turns your iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPhone 4 into the ultimate mole hunter. Yes, the moles that grow on skin.

The handyscope is a case which fits your iPhone, aligning its camera with a lens system. Next, the contraption is placed against the skin, while a LED illuminated the microscopic landscape of your pores. There’s zoom and auto-focus, in case skin defects decide to make a run for it and need to be followed sports-action photo style.

“We developed the handyscope for all doctors who want to have the possibility to take pictures of the skin and work with them later. It is an alternative for those who miss the ‛capture-and-save-function’ when using conventional handheld dermatoscopes,” explains Andreas Mayer, chief executive officer of FotoFinder.

So if you’re a doctor, there, that’s for you. And if you have a skin fetish that requires vast amounts of zoom, there, that’s for you too. Because I don’t see any macro photographers shelling out US$1,590 to use their iPhone in insect photography.

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1.5 out of 5 stars

Pros:

• Adds a physical keyboard to your iPhone
• Mini USB for charging built-in battery
• Large keys are shaped to avoid missteps

Cons:

• Poor battery life
• Bluetooth has trouble staying paired with the iPhone
• On/Off switch is barey reachable unless you’ve got sticks for fingers
• Awkward key layout

At the time, ditching your dumbphone for the iPhone probably seemed like a good idea, that is until you went toe-to-toe with Apple’s virtual keyboard. Some have no problem acclimating to the onscreen keyboard while others suffer through the process and eventually give up on the handset. But if you’re willing to undergo some extra bulk and an added cost you can once again relish in the haptic feedback of a QWERTY keyboard thanks to the fine folks at Thinkgeek.

ThinkGeek’s Bluetooth keyboard is just one of many products the company – which has long sold caffeinated products and other uber geek products – has been built in-house.

The TK-421 doubles the iPhone 3Gs’ thickness

The design of the keyboard leaves little to the imagination and actually begs the question if the person who designed the behemoth of a product had much of one. Let’s not mince words; Thinkgeek’s Bluetooth keyboard is so bulky it more than doubles the thickness of the iPhone and results in a rather large protrusion in your pants that will have your friends making sophomoric jokes that will transport you back to middle school.

The iPhone slips into a cheap plastic case that comes apart in two pieces and contains all the necessary ports to keep your camera, vibrate and volume switches exposed. Directly beneath it is a full QWERTY keyboard that swivels 180 degrees and lines up with the iPhone’s longest side, though it sits about 1.5cm below it; it’s not flush. An on/off switch allows you to save on battery life, but as I quickly learned it’s barely accessible since it’s placed so close to the hinge of the device, on the back, that you’ll need a pen or some sort of tipped item to reach it. On the front of the keyboard, on the top right side, there is a Bluetooth pairing button that requires a fingernail push and sits adjacent to a blue LED light that emits when pairing mode is engaged.

The on/off switch almost inaccessible thanks to the hinge

At this point in the game it’s difficult for me to go back to a QWERTY keyboard, especially after using a virtual one since the iPhone’s launch, which if memory is correct is going on 3+ year’s now. And unfortunately this keyboard doesn’t make it easy to become adjusted to using one. The delete key is unorthodoxly placed adjacent to the space bar key, which it too, is awkwardly small. To submit an apostrophe you’ll need to hold down the shift key and all of Apple’s keyboard shortcuts, such as auto caps at the beginning of a sentence and auto period at the end of the sentence have by default been turned off. The keyboard is not backlit, so as you can imagine it’s rather useless for after hours communication.  Adding to the visibility issues in low light, the secondary functions, such as apostrophes and quotes are marked in red, though the main functions are denoted in white.  However, the keys themselves are large, well spaced, responsive and are shaped accordingly to avoid a mispress of an adjacent key.

Despite its shortcomings, the TK-421′s keys are well spaced, though notice the delete key’s strange placement

Unfortunately, my experience with ThinkGeek’s Bluetooth keyboard was cut short since it was unable, from what I could gather, to hold a charge longer than 30 minutes and struggled to stay paired with my iPhone for more than 10 minutes; this resulted in my having to constantly pair the keyboard with my iPhone.

While I applaud Thinkgeek’s fervor into product development, their Bluetooth Keyboard for the iPhone is riddled with problems, sports an unsightly and bulky design and will hopefully be forgotten just as fast as it was conceived.

You can buy the Thinkgeek iPhone Bluetooth keyboard from Thinkgeek for $39.99.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Pros

• Little to no sound distortion or interference
• One-size-fits-all for current iPods and iPhones; plus an AUX-in
• Crisp, clear audio presence at medium volumes

Cons

• Isn’t actually “portable” with a 15-volt requirement
• Bass is present, but not impressive
• For $40 more, doesn’t improve much on PDX-30

With just a handful of rivals, Apple’s i-products permeate nearly every facet of consumer culture. From workout companion to digital black book, their ubiquity is matched only by the various appliances and accessories created to enhance, protect and customize them. Housing compressed audio files, iPods and their cousins can’t replace the aural fidelity of physical formats; nonetheless, docking station-speaker hybrids, like Yamaha’s PDX-31, embrace that user-friendly, portable mindset to create easily accessible amplifiers that are perfect for passive listening areas.

Available in a set of color schemes, Yamaha’s PDX-31 docking station is the company’s iterative successor to their prior desktop audio solutions. Not much has changed since their release of the PDX-30. Still built as a box-within-a-box construct, the flattop device houses twin 3 1/4-inch cone woofers inside of a 13 3/4-inch by 4 1/4-inch by 4 7/8-inch plastic shell. To match the all-black, all-white, or burgundy-with-black-trim choices, similarly colored fabric mesh cover the forward-facing speakers, altogether making for a casual, unobtrusive design.

Weighing in at 3.7 pounds, the PDX-31 is a featherweight of stereo options. It’s light weight, along with the limited-albeit-universal color palate makes for a product that’s easy to transport and rearrange anywhere in a house or office. Don’t expect to stray too far from an outlet, though, since the only way to juice your music is by way of a 15-volt plug-in.

Made for convenience, a textured top side gives you back any counter space the system takes up, allowing you put all of your out-the-door essentials in one place. Yet no matter it’s location, as a “Made for iPod/iPhone” device, Yamaha’s dock welcomes and charges all current generation Apple devices (in some cases even while encased in protective outerwear), including: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano and 5th generation iPods.

Looking at the feature set, few major difference separate the PDX-31 from the previous PDX-30 aside from inclusion of an auxiliary audio-in port. Needed cables aren’t included in the packaging, but a quick trip to an electronics store lets the speakers play more than just mobile i-devices. This also avails users limited mixing options as audio from both the 30-pin connector and mini stereo jack can play on top of each other. (For presentations, perhaps?)

Tested with an iPhone 3GS and 5th generation iPod nano, the PDX-31 produced rich audio at a comfortable 50 percent volume level. Varied tones from Hans Zimmer’s “Discombobulate” (Sherlock Holmes) spilled into a larger living room setting where quick violin attacks supplementing the playful hammered dulcimer and accordion melodies were clean and enjoyable. Less impressive were punchy, boxy bass tones from the cellos and brass of the same soundtrack, as well as the deeper beats of the Blue Scholars’ catalog. This is understandable given the size and purpose of the product, and it doesn’t detract from the minimal-to-no distortion heard even when streaming music from Pandora. Still, if you’re running full-tilt boogie on your indoor treadmill and are looking for that added adrenaline boost via thumping rhythm, you’re going to need a better solution.

Overall, the PDX-31 is a fairly simple-to-use product. An included card-type remote gives users a 9-button setup that makes for intuitively easy access to iPod menus. The hardware itself is fairly bareboned with only volume controls adorning the speaker’s top-front precipice. This means all of the equalizer controls are handled natively on your iPhone or iPod for varying depths of sound and amplification, but you’re just as likely to stick with the default settings while cooking or cleaning.

Designed as a portable speaker system, Yamaha’s PDX-31 is a subtly stylish, easy-to-operate gadget. Thanks to some smart volume monitoring (another newer feature), you’ll never blow out your ears setting your go-to Apple device in the charging cradle since it will automatically tune down or up to the previously used setting; the unit will power off when not in use; and incoming calls won’t rattle your listening session as music fades out and your ringer fades in. Bass production won’t knock your socks off, but crisp sound quality and presence make it an acceptable addition to any space you’d like a simple mobile music hookup.

That said, unless you’re in need of having more than just your iPod rocking out at any given time, the system’s predecessor, the PDX-30, is a near identical solution that can be found for $40 cheaper than the PDX-31′s $169.95 asking.

When I saw I Make My Case at CES I was more than impressed, I was flabbergasted.  I know, who cares about an iPhone case that much?  Well, that’s exactly it.  Usually I hate all aftermarket cases since it defeats my purist attitude to the iPhone, plus most cases are an attempt to make you an individual but since they’re prefabricated it negates that.  So you see, the chance to adhere my own design to a case, and one that is super slim and svelte feeling, well, I had to jump at the opportunity.  Disclaimer: So I reached out to Case-mate and they hooked me up with a coupon code for one free case, which usually costs $40.  Yeah, it’s not cheap, but that’s the price you pay for individualism.

Due to copyright issues, and God knows what else Case-mate could get sued for, they’ve chosen to go the route of artist palettes only.  Basically that means they’ve commissioned artists to make some prefabricated cases – some cool designs I might add – as well as a set of palettes (think Photoshop custom shape tool) that let’s you make an almost 100% custom case.

The site is built entirely on Flash, so be patient and as with Flash expect it to be a big processor suck. My last gen 15-inch Macbook Pro non-unibody Mac would turn on its fan anytime I visited the site to build or modify my custom cases.  From a UI standpoint it’s all rather intuitive.  Just pick the artist that most represents your style, choose customize (Design your case with ‘artist name’) and you’re in.

There are three options: Backgrounds (the color of the case), Elements (shapes, paint splatters, etc) and Tools (mirror effect, Colorist effect, Kaleidoscope).  Designing your case is as simple as picking one or all of these options.  The real customization is in what you do with the Elements since these have the most variability in how they behave on the case and the largest palette of any of the three options.  Some, not all of the Elements allow you to increase/decrease size as well as rotate them 360 degrees.  Others, however behave like a spray paint can (numerous instances with one click) or appear just once.  I didn’t care for the spray paint can like Elements since they were difficult to control and tended to remove the custom feeling.

When it comes to designs, I prefer two colors max – just a personal preference.  But more often than not the Elements I wanted to use were available in more than two colors and left my case looking like a leprechaun had puked all over it.  To get around this I used the Colorizer tool to change my entire design to red.  The only downside to using this tool is that the more you use it the darker the colors become; kind of like layering coats of paint onto a white wall.  So I suggest you use this effect at the end of your design if you’re trying to achieve a uniform color.  Of note the Mirror and Kaleidoscope effects were useful, especially if you would like to have some sense of uniformity to your design.  In the end I didn’t use these tool, but still appreciated their abilities.

Once you’ve completed your design, which you can share on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to get feedback, you just need to purchase the case.  I ordered my 7 days ago and today it showed up on my doorstep.  The boxing mimics the Apple iPhone, except it’s white and included is a screen protector, a cleaning cloth and an additional rubber case that has now alluded my presence (Jeff stole it from me).  I’m rather surprised they’d send an additional case with the package, but even if they hadn’t I’m very impressed with the quality and packaging.  If I had to complain about anything it’s the excessive amount of business sized cards contained inside the box, but a moot issue nonetheless.

As far as my custom case goes, I love it.  As you can see from the pics, though, the colors that are depicted online are much brighter than the actual case.  Also, you can see some printing defects on the top left and bottom right corners.  The volume opening looks a bit chewed up, almost melted, but nothing you could see from afar, which is really what this case is all about, right?  I did notice that there is some space between the back of the iPhone 3GS and the case, which allows the case to shift around ever so slightly if some force is applied.  I’d prefer a flusher fit, but nothing I’d return the case for.

So the final result: the I Make My Case is worth every penny. Even though I didn’t pay for it this time around, I’m tempted to order some of my other designs and have a case for every other day of the week.  The processing time is efficient, the printing, though a bit off in color is fantastic and the individualism is more than omnipresent.  It would be nice if I could upload my own logo, and lowering the price would no doubt attract a larger audience.

Update:  In the light of day we noticed that the case doesn’t fit 100% flush on the iPhone’s body. As a result I’ve lowered my score to 3.5 from 4.5 stars.

Update 2: Case-mate read the review and sent me a new one with the same design.  This iteration lacks the faded corners but still isn’t a complete snug fit.  With that said I’ve now given the case 4 stars.

Pros:

• Custom case that looks prefab quality
• Easy to use website and UI
• Wide selection of artist palettes and growing

Cons:

• Website colors don’t accurately represent print colors
• Flash based website is a processor hog
• Custom print fades at the corners
• Case doesn’t completely fit flush

Start your Case-mate custom case today at I Make My Case for $40!

Talk about useless crap.  I mean, whoa I totally need this.  I suppose if you were doing a short film about this gadget or the wonders of iPhone video, then it would maybe be cool?  The whole point of shooting video on your phone is to not need something like this.

Priced at $300 I would have trouble holding back malicious laughter if I saw some dude toting this thing around pretending to be professional.  I beg to be proven otherwise as I am continuously amazed at consumerism.

[via BoingBoing]

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You’ve already read about the Hero HTC phone here back in June, but what you don’t know is we’re not the only ones interested in the phone that uses Google technology was just elected Gadget of the Year by the 2009 Stuff Gadget Awards.

The Hero, which uses the Android operating system and features a five megapixel camera and 3.2 inch screen, can make calls, take pictures, and thanks to Android, check your email.  One of the judges at the annual Gadget festival declared that the HTC Hero is “as clever and as sexy as the iPhone”, which is actually pretty awesome unless you take him literally, then it just sounds like he’s hitting on it.

Further highlights of the Stuff Gadget Awards were the iPhone 3GS snagging Phone of the Year and Readers’ Gadget of the Year, Spotify for Audio Gadget, and the Sony KDL-40WE5 as Eco Gadget of the Year.

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At this point every iPhone owner should be aware of the rechargeable battery pack.  Several companies have their own take on the product thus giving the consumer a bevy of choices.  GadgetReview has reviewed the last two incarnations of the Mophie Juice Pack and today we’ll take a look at the Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

Fully charged out of the box the Mophie Juice Pack Air combined with a completely charged iPhone lasted me a whole 5 days with out charging.  That’s awesome, especially if you are traveling and don’t have access to wall outlets.  The whole big thing with the Juice Pack Air is the super flush aesthetic that is supposed to look and feel like a case rather than a charger.  Does it succeed?  I will go ahead and say for the most part it does.

The Juice Pack Air has a really nice feel to it and uses a glossy heavier duty feeling plastic than the actual back of the iPhone 3G.  Adding considerable weight to the phone, you will notice it a bit more drag in your pocket but nothing that’s overly cumbersome.  The Juice Pack Air fits on your phone using two pieces.  The bulk battery pack on the bottom and a smaller one for the top of the phone.   When both pieces fit together they are about 90% flush with a little dangly bit exposed.  Again nothing glaring, just an observation.

At the bottom of the Juice Pack Air is an on/off switch that activates charge and works great with the slide of a thumbnail.  I never had any problems with the button switching itself on or off.  When switched on, the Juice Pack Air will begin charging your phone.  Bright blue LED’s after an adjacent button press will denote current charge remaining on the battery pack.  You can also see what charge level your phone has attained by a press of the home button.  From a wall outlet the Juice Pack Air took 3-4 hours to fully charge itself.

Gripe time!  What I disliked most about the previous iteration of the 3G Juice Pack was the fact that it ditched the Apple connector in favor of a “mini” USB input.  You couldn’t dock it like you could the 2G iPhone edition and you then had to carry around another cord in the form of a mini USB.  Lame.  Making it worse is the Juice Pack Air in that it now uses a “Micro” USB that only works with it and none of your other normal mini USB devices like a digital camera. Not yet atleast.  So you have to keep track of this ultra special micro USB cord in order to charge your Juice Pack Air.  Confusing huh?  Why would Mophie do this?  In Europe, the micro USB has recently been announced as the new standard for all cell phones.  While not confirmed as of yet for the Unted States, Mophie decided to future proof their cable for the Juice Pack Air by incorporating micro USB.  Time will tell.

My second gripe is that once you switch your ringer off the shape of the plastic around that button makes it extremely difficult to turn the ringer back on.  You either have to have a really ripe coke nail or some tool on hand to get the slide button back to the ringer on setting.  Also very lame.

While this version of the Juice Pack is definitely the best, it also boasts the most problems in my mind.  If you don’t mind adding an extra special cord into your gadget inventory and you have long fingernails then this will be the perfect battery case for you.  All gripes aside though, the Mophie Juice Pack Air performs well and will surely give you the fuel you need till you get back home.

Pros:

• Slick feel and ergonomically kosher
• Great battery response
• Provides adequate protection

Cons:

• Uses worthless proprietary micro USB cord for charging
• Ringer button gets stuck all day long
• Might be a bit heavy for some

Buy it now in multiple colors for $80!

In fun rumor gargle, EuroGamer Spain believes to have stumbled on some rather staggering PSP2 specifications.  Claiming that the PSP2 is still in the works, it will use a quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP chip from Imagine Technologies.  That chip is supposedly similar to the one in the new iPhone 3gs, but with a couple extra cores thrown in for good measure.  As rumors are merely speculation at any given time, this information (if you can call it that), can morph into something entirely different without notice.  With that said, take this nugget of discharge lightly as a true PSP2 is still ways away.

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If you’re anything like me you’re not willing to Jailbreak your iPhone for the opportunity to tether the device to your computer for go any where Internet surfing.  Additionally, the folks at iPhone-Dev have yet to figure out how to Jailbreak the iPhone 3GS, although word on the street is that it’s coming any day now.

Well, fortunately there is a work around that requires no Jailbreaking or messy hacking to Tether it up.  Just follow the below instructions and you’ll be tethering with your iPhone 3GS or 3G running iPhone 3.0 software in no time flat.

1. Point your iPhone’s browser to help.benm.at
2. Scroll down to the blue button that says “Mobileconfigs’ and click it
3. Next select your country
4. Then choose your carrier
5. You’ll then be prompted with a profile install which you should do
6. Once that is complete click the iPhone’s Home button>Settings>General>Network>Internet Tethering>On
7. Select USB or Bluetooth (I choose USB)
8. Then plug your iPhone into your computer
9. Those on Macs, your Network settings screen should automatically pop up under system preferences
10. Select the iPhone (called Ethernet Adapter (en2) ) and the system will configure the DHCP info accordingly (this will probably happen after you click apply) and click Apply
11. Surf the net!

Note, we still don’t know what kind of action AT&T will take against those who perform heavy Internet surfing on a tethered iPhone, or any tethered iPhone as it’s completely unsanctioned and may either break the contractual terms or cost you some serious dough.

Update: Many people seem to be having trouble getting this to work.  If you’d like some help please email info [at] gadgetreview.com.

Update 2: A German iPhone user on T-Mobile just wrote in and said this is what he/she had to do to get it working: “you have to install the mobile config, restart, delete the config, install the config, restart and then you can use it!”.  Interesting that you should have to install it twice, but who knows and if it works so be it!

Update 3: This hack no longer works if you’ve updated your iPhone’s OS in the last 6-8 months.

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Still skeptical as to whether or not the iPhone 3Gs is really faster?  Sure, you could read up on all the benchmarks (‘read’ link) but who has time to do that.  The maker of AirCoaster 3D, a roller coaster simulation application put together a video showing off the latest iPhone’s new processing power.  As you can see, the 3Gs runs a whole lot smoother.

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The iPhone Dev Team has released the necessary tools to unlock your iPhone running OS 3.0.  But, and this is a big but, if you’re looking to jailbreak and use a carrier other than AT&T stop.  Contrary to them saying they’d release Ultrasnow today, the tool necessary to unlock your phone running 3.0, they haven’t and they haven’t stated a release date, but it should be very soon.  A few other things to consider when Jailbreaking your iPhone:

• It won’t work with the latest iPhone, 3GS.
• If you bought an unlocked iPhone 3G than  you can use the latest PWNage tool since it doesn’t depend on baseband updates
• If you have a gen 1 iPhone (like me) then this will work, although they allude to this and don’t outright state that Yellowsnow will continue to work with the Gen 1 iPhone running OS 3.0
• A Windows version is coming soon

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I just scored my iPhone 3GS (yes, it arrived on time) and decided a little unboxing video was in order. I know, I know, it’s far from exciting but seemed like a ‘must do’ considering all the notoriety the iPhone has received since it launched two years ago.  Hate or love it, the iPhone 3GS is here and I’m digging its video capabilities and auto focus.  Expect a short review in the coming weeks.

PS I’ll chose a winner for the contest soon.  Feel free to drop a comment below if you haven’t received your iPhone 3GS yet or if you’re shipping info says it won’t arrive today.

Will my iPhone 3GS arrive by Friday, June 19th?  Based on UPS tracking – it’s currently in Alaska – I’m saying ‘yes’, but Apple’s initial email notification said that it would arrive by June 22nd, well behind the official launch date.  What do you think?  Take a guess to when my iPhone will arrive and I’ll send one lucky commenter a gadget of some sort (yes, you’ll have to wait to see what I send you).

Update: Checkout Joe’s last comment.  He says that he ‘just got off the phone with UPS International Services and she said that they are trying to work with apple to have the packages released cause they dont have alot of room to hold them but she said Guaranteed friday 19th and the end of business day’.  Thanks for the update Joe.

Checkout Belkin’s new line of iPhone cases for the 3GS.  I’m particularly fond of the Grip Ergo since it comes in a chili pepper red that remind me of J-Lo’s costume in The Cell.  Also available in Caviar and Indigo, the Grip Ergo case is out now for $29.95.

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Well we haven’t seen this yet.  While the older LG decoy had the Bluetooth module embedded into the phone, this iPhone version might end up being better received by consumers.  With an ultra thin BlueTooth Piece at only 5mm, it is stored and charged on the back of the iPhone.  That’s cool.  With that lack of girth it should not impede too much on the overall weight and thickness of the iPhone 3G (see video).  While the case is not a battery itself, you can charge the phone and the BlueTooth piece through the micro USB port.  So essentially you cannot charge the BlueTooth piece wirelessley.  The headset is rumored to last an approximate of 4 hours of talk time and a week on standby.  Rumblings suggest that we might see this product in limited quantities sometime in July will a full scale Apple and AT&T store launch in the fall.  Price is suggested at $99.  This could be good news given the discontinued Apple BlueTooth Module.

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