iPhone in the News

From market share to battery problems to being being banned in Syria, the iPhone is being talked about all over the world. Here are just a few of the most notable stories.

• If you use a Juice Pack Air for the iPod touch (4th generation) or a Rocketfish external battery for the iPhone 3G/3GS, then they might be subject to recall. Turns out they all have a chance of overheating, so even if yours hasn’t shown a problem yet, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
• The iPhone 4S is incredibly popular, so popular that it’s hard to find them in stores, and they even have a 1-2 week delay in the Apple Store. If you want to surprise a loved one with an iPhone 4S under the Christmas tree, you had best get your order in sooner rather than later.
• On December 16th, the iPhone 4S is going to launch in Russia, as well as Malaysia and probably Brazil.
• If you want to turn off Carrier IQ on your iPhone, an article at Computerworld shows you how.
• The iPhone was so popular in 2011 that it became the #1 search term according to Yahoo. The iPhone was more popular than Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry and Jennifer Lopez, who placed in the top five.
• RehabCare Group, a physical therapy provider with more than 9,000 employees, switched to Apple mobile devices internally and saw a 92% reduction in broken devices. CIO Dick Escue said “all staffers are taking far better care of their devices because they have personal content such as family photos saved on them.”
• If you want to get an iPhone 4S but aren’t sure which carrier to use, maybe this article at Computerworld will help you make up your mind.
• ChangeWave Research recently conducted a study of iPhone 4S users and discovered that most of the owners are more satisfied than the iPhone 4 users were over a year ago. This is primarily due to Siri, ease of use, and the improved camera.
• iPass, a commercial provider of Wi-Fi, surveyed 2,000 employees from more than 1,000 companies and found out that over 50% prefer Apple products and only 33% prefer BlackBerry. Apple has made an effort to get into the enterprise market by releasing an AppStore for business products and hiring employees from RIM, maker of BlackBerry.
• Syria has banned the use of the iPhone in order to prevent activists from exposing government violence against pro-democracy protesters. The statement reads, in part “The authorities warn anyone against using the iphone in Syria.”
• Samsung took their mockery of the iPhone to Facebook and is comparing the iPhone to a tin can and a gigantic old-style mobile phone. This tactic might please those who use Android and want to mock iPhone users, but it’s unknown how many new customers Samsung will get as a result.