Everything iPhone

Though such a procedure is sure to void your warranty, you can (fairly) easily remove the iPhone 3G’s screen, gaining access to internal components and allowing possible resolution of certain longstanding manufacturing issues as well as repair of hardware damage. A post to the Hackintosh forums offers steps for doing so with a standard suction cup, such as the one used by some windsheild-mounted devices. The poster, flash31, describes using the procedure to resolve the “light leak” issue that has affected some units:

1. “Pull the suction cup toward you and the screen should come out (bottom first)
2. You will see 3 cables running from the top right corner of the screen to the main board of the phone. 3 cables are numbered 1, 2, and 3. Remove the cables in that order. (Note: in the picture, my number 1 cable has already been detached, number 3 is underneath number 2)
3. Once the three cables are detached, the entire LCD unit is now separate from the main board. I found two youtube videos that might aid.
4. Look on the left side of your iPhone LCD unit; you will notice that Apple has already applied a small strip of electrical tape to the metal casing. Unfortunately, this strip is sometimes misaligned, causing light leakage. Simply add more electrical tape to anywhere you experience light leak. Note: the tape does NOT have to cover the black rubber gasket (the part that meets the bezel when assembled). Simply apply electrical tape to anywhere on the metal frame supporting the LCD unit. Apply tape to all the places you experience light leak.
5. Reassemble the phone, reconnecting cables 1, 2, and 3, and then re-screw the two screws holding the LCD unit in place.”

We certainly don’t recommend performing this procedure in-house, though it does reveal the iPhone 3G’s internals as significantly more accessible than those of its predecessor.

AT&T announced Tuesday it’s expanding its iPhone international data plans, in a move designed to cut consumers’ reliance on pay-per-use data services. Under the expansion, which is slated to begin Wednesday, iPhone users can add one of two international plans to their existing service. The 100MB iPhone plan will cost an additional monthly fee of $119.99, while the 200MB plan will run an additional $199.99 a month. Both plans can be added or dropped from users’ existing plans at any time, without penalty. On a pay-per-use data basis, users could pay as much as 0.0195 cents per kilobyte, which translates into nearly $40 for 2MB of data, according to AT&T. “AT&T has worked diligently to provide affordable options for international roaming because the feature-rich mobile experience of iPhone is indispensable to users,” Bill Hague, AT&T wireless operations international executive vice president, said in a statement. “With these new international data plans, iPhone users can access more data in more countries for less cost.” Although AT&T’s two expanded data plans offer the discounted data roaming package in 67 countries, such as China, India, Israel, and the United Kingdom, the rate outside of these areas is higher. A 1 cent per KB rate is charged for areas outside the 67 countries, but a higher rate of nearly 2 cents, or 0.0195, per KB applies in 20 countries such as Bolivia, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia,Turkey, and Venezuela. AT&T also advises iPhone users to save data costs by taking several steps, such as using Wi-Fi whenever possible, turning off automatic e-mail checks, and keeping data roaming in the preset off position. [Posted by Dawn Kawamoto to our sister site, News.com]

A number of users have reported an issue in which movies previously playable movies are suddenly unplayable after an iPhone sofware update. One user writes:

“I had the same issue with some of my Videos that were converted using Visual Hub. Once I upgraded my iPod Touch to 2.0 they stopped working. I eas confused at first as all of the the ones that still worked were in 4:3 aspect ratio. Anyway after trying many different solutions and settings. I found that if I used ffmpegX instead of Visual Hub to encode I had no problems with any of the resulting my videos-both 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio and different frame sizes.”

Per the above user’s commentary, re-encoding movies may be the most viable fix for this issue. Try using an alternative video encoder or a lower resolution/bitrate.

Reports out of France indicate that Orange, the iPhone’s officially sanctioned carrier there, may be artificially bridling the device’s network throughput, forcing it to use slower 3G data rates where significantly faster 3G+ data rates are available. iPhone users in France have reported download speeds between 350 and 450 kbps typical of 3G, but slower than generally offered by 3G+/HSDPA. The iPhone’s hardware expressly sports full HSDPA capabilities, and Orange’s network is advertised as HSDPA compatible, meaning that users should experience speeds that are between three and six times higher. The iPhone 3G is capable of attaining these higher speeds when linked to networks other than Orange, such as SFR in France and various other European providers. Most interesting, an iPhone Atlas reader purports that some users have achieved the higher data rates with Orange thanks to a software-based change enacted by customer service representatives. Thomas Burgel writes:

“A very few lucky iPhone users could get their Orange subscription unlocked by Orange technicians: much higher downloading speeds are, technically, possible on Orange’s network.”

Burgel also shares the anecdote of an Orange customer who allegedly received some spurious information followed by an odd denial from company representatives:

“An Orange representative unofficially got in touch with one of forum members. He first acknowledged a technical problem on Orange side, and said they were working on it. Unsatisfied with this response, the forum went on speculating. Now, the most interesting part of this story : the same rep got in touch again with the same forum member, and changed his version of the facts, clearly blaming Apple for these downloading speeds. Yes, Orange can settle the problem on his side, but this would require a modification on the device side that Apple wouldn’t accept.”

Meanwhile, screnshots showing the discrpancy between a throttled and allegedly full-speed iPhone 3G on Orange’s network have surfaced: Throttled: Full-speed:

We are happy to announce that we now offer a newsletter delivering the latest info on iPhone applications. The iPhone Newsletter joins our other updates for Mac, Windows, and Palm applications, and is available daily or as a weekly digest. Structured as a no-nonsense listing of the latest titles for iPhone, each link points to the corresponding product page on VersionTracker.com, where you can see ratings, read peer reviews, and download directly from the iTunes App Store. Subscriptions are free, and you can subscribe now by logging in and navigating to the "Email Settings" link in the "My Account" section of VersionTracker.com. Not yet a VersionTracker member? Register today! As always, membership is free.

We previously covered an issue apparently caused by iPhone OS 2.0.2 in which some third-party applications crash or do not launch, for many users. We’ve now received reports indicating that the problem is almost universally eliminated by reducing the number of applications installed on the iPhone. Reader David Sternlight writes:

“After reviewing this further and discussing it with Apple support, it appears the quit on launch after splash screen problem with iPhone 3rd party apps is caused by a bug triggered by having ‘too many’ such apps on the iPhone. Reducing the number from 6 pages worth to a bit under 3 pages worth seems to provide a temporary fix. Apple is aware of the problem; it is high on their priority list.”

A less-than-desirable fix to be sure. Meanwhile, the following laborious process may also provide relief:

• On the iPhone go to Settings, General, Reset, and Erase All Content and Settings.
• On the host computer, in iTunes, navigate to Applications on left-hand bar.
• Click on any application, select all (command-A),and delete them (command-click on any one). When the options window comes up, select move to trash. Empty the trash.
• In iTunes, Sync the iPhone without any music or video selected.
• In iTunes, reinstall all desired apps.
• In iTunes, sync again.
• Add back desired music, video, etc via another sync

See our previous coverage for more fixes.

While Apple officials now claim that iPhone OS 2.0.2 delivers “improved communication with 3G networks” in an attempt to fix widespread reception/connectivity issues, users are mixed on the subject; some report slightly enhanced 3G reception, a minority report worse 3G reception, and most report no change. iPhone Atlas reader Reader Chasulme is in the mild-improvement camp:

“The upgrade to 2.0.2 has made my iPhone 3G go from a completely inoperable 3G mode (had to be kept off or disabled), to be pleasingly functional (all things considered). In testing since the upgrade, I find that flat out “No Service” at my home has now shifted to 1-2 bars 3G.”

And this reader is in the worse-off camp:

“I use to get 1-3 bars of 3g service in my house and now I cant make a call… I have to switch off the 3G to get any bars Things are going the wrong way!”

Reader John G is in the no-improvement camp:

“I took AT&T coverage maps showing five locations that should have full signal strength and have virtually no signal. They mentioned the new update released today (2.0.02) but wouldn’t disclose what it was designed to fix. They also replaced my phone and loaded the latest update. I’ve been back to two of the five locations (home and office) and there is absolutely no improvement in my 3G connection. I’ll be calling Apple and asking for Steve Jobs cell number or a refund and release from my contract.”

It does appear that, even if reception hasn’t been enhanced for most users, Apple has made improvement in one significant area. The iPhone 3G automatically switches between 3G and 2G networks for voice and data connections. In theory, the phone should hop off 3G when signal strength is too low or non-existent, and hop back on when the signal gets better. Previously, the iPhone 3G wasn’t aggressive enough regarding the switch from 3G to 2G. In other words, the phone stayed connected to the 3G network when the signal strength is too low to allow incoming or outgoing calls. The iPhone OS 2.0.2 update appears to improve the switching mechanism. As described by one iPhone Atlas reader:

“I find switchover (3G to EDGE) to now work reasonably, where it was useless before.”