Verizon iPhone won't fit many existing iPhone 4 cases

Although the iPhone offerings from AT&T and Verizon may look the same, they're just different enough that you'll need to be careful when buying a case or similar accessories.

The big news of the day, of course, is that Verizon Wireless customers will soon—finally—be able to get the iPhone on their carrier of choice. And during Verizon's big media event announcing the arrival of the iPhone, both Verizon and Apple emphasized that this was the same iPhone we've all come to know so intimately—thanks, in part, to controversies over the iPhone 4's antenna design and back surface.

But it turns out there are a couple minor physical differences, and those differences are just enough to affect the Verizon iPhone's compatibility with some of the thousands of iPhone 4 cases out there.

It appears the Verizon iPhone uses a slightly different antenna design that repositions the gaps between the phone's multiple external antennas (found in the metal ring around the phone's outer edge). Along with this change, the phone's Ring/Silent switch has been moved ever-so-slightly closer to the bottom of the phone, as you can see in the image below, used with permission from our friends over at Slashgear.

While the difference between the switch positions may seem small, it's enough that a protective iPhone case made for the original iPhone 4—the version sold by AT&T here in the U.S.—may not work with the Verizon iPhone 4. Specifically, if a case covers the edges of the phone, providing separate precision openings for the Ring/Silent switch and the volume buttons, there's a good chance that the switch opening will be in the wrong location—in other words, the case will block access to the Ring/Silent switch.

(Image courtesy Slashgear.com)

(On the other hand, if a case provides a single, larger opening for accessing the Ring/Silent switch and the volume buttons, the Ring/Silent switch on the Verizon iPhone should remain accessible.)

Indeed, Verizon's iPhone 4 Frequently Asked Questions page explicitly notes possible incompatibilities:

If I have an iPhone 4 on another wireless carrier and switch to an iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless, will all of my accessories be compatible?

Most accessories should work, however you may find that cases and covers could be different depending on the product manufacturer.

It's likely this change will also affect other accessories that cover the iPhone, such as battery packs and stands that wrap around the phone's edges, as well as iPhone skins and protective films.

For many iPhone-accessory vendors, this means retooling some—or even all—of their existing cases for compatibility with the Verizon iPhone. As a Case-Mate representative told Macworld, "We’re aware of the difference and have had to adjust our molds to accommodate the small change. The nine new cases we will have available in the next few weeks will all work specifically with the Verizon iPhone."

For consumers, this means that when shopping for a case for the iPhone 4, you'll need to be sure a particular case is compatible with your version of the iPhone: original or Verizon (which in the U.S. means AT&T or Verizon). And although we don't expect to see a large number of U.S. users with an AT&T iPhone switch to a Verizon model, due to early-termination fees, those that do probably won't be able to use their existing case with their new phone.

Updated 1/11/2011, 11:05am to clarify that cases with a single opening for all the left-hand-side controls should be compatible with the Verizon iPhone.

How Useful Are Tablets For Business?

Last week's CES brought forward a huge number of tablets. It doesn't take a genius to realize we're entering the era of tablet computing. Either that or there will soon be a lot of red-faced manufacturers. (Don't laugh; it happens regularly in the world of IT.)

Assuming tablets are here to say, when it comes to corporate take-up there's an interesting question: What exactly are we supposed to use tablets for?

Tablets make a whole lot of sense in the home, where we can lounge around and browse our favorite Websites or watch movies. But that's not the kind of thing people should be doing in the corporate world, unless it's a pyjama-based, work-at-home day.

In short, what compelling reason can a business have for splashing out on tablet hardware, other than looking good in the airport departure lounge?

Luckily, some answers came at the end of last year with the results of a ChangeWave survey. It asked 1641 business IT buyers if they were planning to get tablets and, if they already had them, what they used them for.

Seven percent of respondents said their company provides employees with tablets. If the results are projected out to the entire corporate IT market, then tens of millions of tablets could be in use in the business world. Fourteen percent of respondents said they planned to get tablets in the first quarter of this year--a rapid rate of growth.

However, 78 percent of respondents said they intended to invest in Apple iPads, in spite of solid tablet offerings from corporate favorites such as HP and Dell. Of those who already had tablets, 82 percent already had iPads. Dell and HP trailed far behind with 7 and 11 percent owning their tablets, respectively.

ChangeWave went on to ask what exactly workers do with their iPads, and that's where it gets interesting.

Perhaps surprisingly, the primary uses mirror the home environment. Seventy-three percent of respondents use tablets to access the Internet and 69 percent to check e-mail. However, rather more interesting are the 46 percent of people who use iPads to provide "sales support," and the 45 percent who use them for "customer presentations."

However, it's isn't made clear what "sales support" means. Could this be accessing cloud-based customer relationship management software, such as Salesforce.com? Or is it merely demonstrating a spreadsheet of figures to a potential client? Or perhaps it means just looking flashy and professional by whipping an iPad out in public in front of those who have never seen one before?

It's worth remembering that the iPad can't run Windows software or even Mac stuff. Businesses have little more than what's built-in, in the form of cut-down versions of Apple Keynote, Pages, and Numbers.There are some intriguing add-ons available under the Business tab of the iPad App Store but there are no big names, such as Microsoft.

The 45 percent of workers who use the iPad to make presentations raises interesting questions. Unless they make presentations on a PC and import them into their iPad--which gives less than satisfactory results--we have to assume that presentations are being created directly on the iPad. Although Keynote on the iPad is easy to use, creating anything other than a one or two-slide presentation must be a labor of love. I'd hate to do it and, if I had to I'd set aside at least a day, because I know it would be time-consuming and fiddly work. Is that progress?

More than one-third of respondents said their iPad is a laptop replacement--an astonishing figure, bearing in mind that the employee is sacrificing a keyboard, full-sized screen, proper Web browsing, and full Microsoft Office compatibility. However, we have to ask if these figures are skewed by cost-conscious IT departments that offer workers either a tablet or a laptop. After all, offering both would effectively double the cost of IT, and we're not exactly in a financial climate that allows that.

What's incredible is that this research shows that business takeup of tablets is happening despite the lack of a killer application. There's not yet a piece of software that relies on the unique utility of a tablet to provide business functionality that can't be found elsewhere.

Some have argued that the tablet form factor is itself a killer application, but the truth is simpler: Today's IT universe is both more established and complex than that which allowed the killer apps of the 80s and 90s to shine, such as VisiCalc or Lotus 1-2-3.

Nowadays we know what we want to do. The question is how well tablets let us do it, and it appears to be that people are getting by just fine.

iPhone 4 Coming to Verizon Wireless Early Next Month

After years of rumor and speculation, the iPhone 4 is coming to Verizon Wireless on February 10. Existing Verizon customers will get exclusive pre-order access starting February 3.

Verizon has announced that the iPhone 4 will run on Verizon's CDMA network and not its new 4G LTE network as some have speculated. It will, allow for global roaming, with voice and text in more than 40 countries and data in more than 20 countries.

A splash page on Verizon's Website lists the iPhone 4's starting price as $199.99 for a 16 GB model with a two-year contract. A 32 GB model will cost $299.99, same as with AT&T. The 8 GB iPhone 3GS, which now costs $49 with AT&T, will not be available on Verizon's network.

Although the phone will be mostly the same as AT&T's iPhone 4, Verizon's version can also be used as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five connections through a pre-installed app. AT&T's iPhone can only tether to computers through USB. On the downside, Verizon iPhone users will not be able to talk and use data at the same time.

As for carrier bloatware, none will come pre-installed on the device, but a FAQ on Verizon's Websitesays it will make "other popular apps available in the market such as VZ Navigator, and V CAST Media Manager."

Some basic specs, unchanged from AT&T's version: The iPhone 4 has a 960-by-640 resolution screen, a 5-megapixel camera with Flash, a front-facing camera for video chat and gyroscope sensors for gaming.

Verizon and Apple won't say whether an iPhone 5 will launch this summer, as has been the custom with previous AT&T iPhones.

According to Technologizer's live blog, Apple has a multi-year, non-exclusive arrangement with Verizon. So there's a chance that the iPhone could come to Sprint and T-Mobile as well.

HTC 7 Pro hits O2 Germany next week, costs €570

The QWERTY-packing HTC 7 Pro is just about to hit the shelves. If you have delayed the purchase of a Windows Phone 7 handset until the side-slider hits the shelves, now is the time to whip out the plastic.

The O2 press attache Albert Fetsch just tweeted that the HTC 7 Pro will be available for purchase next week. The unlocked price of the handset is €570. Alternatively you can make use of the O2 My Handy program and get it for €29 upfront plus 24 monthly installments of €22.50.

The handset couldn't come at a better time as we are expecting an update for WP7 smartphones later this month that should deal with most of the platform's silly initial limitations. Rumor has it that the list of newly added features will be pretty long, putting WP7 on par with iOS and Android.

Microsoft has so far confirmed copy-and-paste functionality, custom ringtones and voice-guided navigation, but guys lucky enough to have tried it in person claim there's much more to it. We'll see if all the fuss is worth it in a couple of weeks time.

51.8% of all droids now run Froyo, Gingerbread barely in the picture

One of every two Android smartphones out there now runs the version 2.2 of the operating system. And while Froyo already accounts for 51.8% of all droids, 2.3 Gingerbread has the miniscule market share of 0.4%.

Of course, we should have in mind that the statistics are based on data collected in the two weeks ending on 4 January. At that time there was only one handset running Gingerbread available (the Nexus S) and it has only been selling for a few weeks in just a couple of countries. We are expecting this percentage to increase rapidly as the reach of Android 2.3 extends over the coming weeks.

The 8.4% percent of market share that Froyo gained over the past month are mostly at the expense of Android 2.1 Eclair, which slipped 4.4% compared to last month and now runs on 35.2% of all droids.

Android 1.5 Cupcake and 1.6 Donut took another step towards oblivion as their respective market shares dropped to 4.7% (from 6.3% in November) and 7.9% (10.6% in November). At that rate those two will be practically extinct by the end of March.

Sony Ericsson comes out clean with the latest XPERIA Arc

The Sony Ericsson Product Blog have a very interesting post showing off the XPERIA Arc on video and also some very important clarifications dispelling some rumors. Here's what you need to know about the new super thin droid by Sony Ericsson.

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc brings some important changes to the software side of things. First off, the Mediascape UI is gone now - a "media pane" widget (you can see it in the video) takes its place. Timescape is still here though (both the app and the widget). Also, the music player has grown an equalizer, which is a common complaint in some droids.

The pinch-to-overview move is one of the more impressive tricks that the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc has to offer. It makes finding a specific widget much easier than, say, the Leap View on HTC Sense UI.

While the Sony Ericsson Product Blog makes no official promises, they hint that from now on Android OS version upgrades will come in a "timely manner" as allegedly they've changed how they work with Android OS. This is important since most fans are still fuming over the situation with the current crop of XPERIA droids.

Also you might be disappointed to learn that the Android 2.4 that was spotted running on a Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc was nothing more than v2.3 incorrectly reported as v2.4, which (as it turns out) doesn't exist.

There are some important clarifications about the hardware too - there is no video-call camera but there is a second mic for active noise cancellation. Also, the XPERIA Arc display supports multi-touch and can track up to four points.

Two more things - the chipset powering the Arc is the 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon with the latest Adreno 205 graphics and there is Wi-Fi 802.11n support.

Hopefully, this will clear up any misunderstandings about the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc, which started from unconfirmed rumors. Our preview of phone will be out shortly with even more in-depth info, so stay tuned!

Better images of XPERIA X10 mini pro successor break loose

Sony Ericsson has a serious problem in keeping secrets lately. After the early leaks of XPERIA Arc and Play, here are some new shots of their XPERIA X10 mini pro successor - the XPERIA Duo, as it's rumored.

This is not the first time we meet this QWERTY fella. Two weeks ago we wrote about the impressive benchmarks of an X10 mini pro successor and reported it probably packs a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. The latest rumor gives us a slightly different story though, but it’s coming from the same source.

  
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Duo

The XPERIA Duo should be based on the 800Mhz Qualcomm MSM7230 Snapdragon chipset. The rest of the rumored specs include 384MB RAM, 3-inch capacitive HVGA display, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and HD video recording plus a front-facing one. The typical connectivity options should be also present.

The XPERIA Duo is expected to run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. We guess it will be announced at the MWC 2011 in February.