Some things never change. Other things never stay the same. Take the iPhone and Android. The iPhone is an iPhone is an iPhone. Android? It went from being the ugly stepsister to the belle of the ball.
No, seriously. Once upon a time, Android was the young scrappy upstart that stayed invisible for nearly a year. It was trailing Blackberry (ew) and Windows Mobile (double ew)! Hah! But looking back on those early days, it’s easy to see why. Android was fugly. It’s completely different now because every ‘Nexus’ phone and every OS update have brought dramatic changes: Android 1.x was awkwardly well-intentioned, Android 2.0/2.1 was something worth using, Android 2.3 found its polish, Android 3.0 launched tablets and the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is the futuristic realization of it all (no buttons, honeycomb-esque lines etc.). Change, of course, is even apparent outside the Nexus line; there are a million and one different form factors that fill in every nook and cranny of the smartphone space. Android is change.

In comparison, the iPhone is the same app-launching slate of a phone it was back in 2007. For better or worse, Apple has resisted overhauling the system, only choosing to add features at a steady pace. That first iPhone was barely a smartphone but the big-picture growth of the iPhone always sort of seemed to make sense: introduce it with 1.0, App Store with 2.0, fill out features with 3.0, multitasking with 4.0 and notifications with 5.0. Like it was all following a plan. Like Apple knew what was coming tomorrow, four years ago. Each iPhone is different, but the same.

The thing is, I don’t know which method is better. Is it Apple? Steely focused and steadfast about their plan, consistently cool yet coolly boring. Or is it Google? Always willing to try anything new, unafraid to overhaul their very core but and fortunate in its lack of direction. Cutely clueless. I don’t want to oversimplify Android and the iPhone (though I sorta am); I’m just glad both exist. Apple might’ve nailed what everyone wanted in the beginning, but Android is figuring out what everyone else wanted along the way.
[GM]

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As you’ve probably heard by now, Apple has finally decided to launch the iPhone via Sprint, too (both the 4S and 4 versions).

The third largest US carrier has thus joined Verizon, which is offering Apple’s smartphone since February this year, and AT&T, which is selling the iPhone since the very first day it was launched (back in 2007). This, of course, leaves T-Mobile as the only major US carrier that doesn’t have the iPhone in its line-up.

Not long before Tim Cook unveiled the new iPhone 4S in Cupertino last week, Cole Brodman, Chief Marketing Officer at T-Mobile USA, posted an article over at the carrier’s official blog, titled “About the iPhone.” In the article, the CMO stated:

“We think the iPhone is a great device and Apple knows that we’d like to add it to our line-up. Today, there are over a million T-Mobile customers using unlocked iPhones on our network. “

Naturally, this gave hopes that T-Mobile would carry the iPhone starting later this year. But it obviously won’t happen. So, one may think that T-Mo is going to lose a fairly important part of its customers because of this. Well, maybe. But I don’t see why this will matter in the long run. Not with AT&T ready to buy T-Mobile. Even though many (including Sprint) are opposing the merger, I’m pretty sure the deal will take place, and it should be closed sometime next year – when current T-Mobile customers will finally be able to buy subsidized iPhones.

This (the AT&T acquisition) was likely one of the main reasons why Apple didn’t want to complicate things now with an iPhone for T-Mobile USA. Another possible reason is that T-Mo’s HSPA network uses the 1700MHz AWS spectrum band (unlike AT&T’s) – so Apple would’ve needed to put a different 3G radio in the iPhone 4S than the one featured now for it to work on T-Mo’s 3G. Apple may have thought this would be too much of a hassle (especially since the new iPhone also has a CDMA / EV-DO radio inside), and it probably considered T-Mobile (with its 33 million customers) is too small for all the trouble.

Anyway, until the AT&T – T-Mobile merger is completed, does T-Mo have smartphones that can stand next to the new iPhone 4S? Well, yes, it does: the Samsung Galaxy S II ($229 on contract) and the HTC Amaze 4G ($259 on contract), which are both available for order as of today, coming with Android Gingerbread, dual-core processors, 8MP cameras, and quite awesome displays (4.3 inch WVGA Super AMOLED Plus on the S II, and 4.3 inch qHD on the Amaze 4G).

And let’s not forget about the HTC Sensation 4G (launched not long ago for $199), which also features Gingerbread, a qHD screen, dual-core processor, and 8MP camera. There’s also the HTC Radar 4G, but that’s an option only if you’re into Windows Phone (Mango), since it can’t really compete with the iPhone 4S specs-wise.

So, T-Mo (which, by the way, has just announced two new Android tablets) certainly has iPhone 4S alternatives. Sure enough, this won’t keep some customers from leaving the carrier to get the new iPhone 4S. But as long as they’re going to AT&T, in a way they’ll come back to T-Mobile after the former completes the acquisition of the latter.
[UWV]

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Bad news for folks planning to purchase an iPhone on Sprint’s network. According to a recently leaked internal memo – it looks like the carrier won’t be offering its Total Equipment Protection for the iPhone (for both the 4 and 4S). If consumers are concerned about the safety of their iPhones, they will have to fork out an extra $99 for AppleCare+. As usual, AppleCare+ can only be added at the time of purchase, so think hard and long before you decide to skip it or not.

But like with any insurance plan – you can go for years without using it, or you could run into trouble the very minute you step out of the store when you decide not to buy it. Sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry, but if you know you can really take care of your phone you might not want to spend any money on it. The choice will be up to you.
[UG]

AppleCare+

Apple has also today announced a new AppleCare plan for iPhones called AppleCare+. The AppleCare+ will costs $99 and extends repair coverage and technical support to two years from the original purchase date of your iPhone and adds coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage due to handling.

The AppleCare+ covers:

• Your iPhone
• Battery (battery depletion of 50 percent or more from original specification)
• Included earphones and accessories
• Coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage from handling

AppleCare+ also comes with software support. The AppleCare+ will be available starting October 14th, same day as iPhone 4S.[9to5mac]

Good News for the owner of iPhone, you can upgrade your Facebook app to the latest version of the Facebook application which is now at version 3.5.
The new features of Facebook 3.5 for the iPhone will make life much easier for all the users, it comes with sharing options directly on the “compose screen” so you can set the privacy controls before hand, and there are also new designs for the Profile and for Group Walls.

This fresh version of Facebook also lets users tag friends and places when writing a post, but one of the best improvements can be found on the “compose screen” that now features buttons to add specific friends from a list, upload a photo, or tag a place. Another good detail that many people will certainly like are the chat bugs that have disappeared, as well as a fix on the notifications bar.

The iPhone version of Facebook 3.5 is already available for update, and the iPad version will be the next to follow in the upcoming days.

BMW’s Ultimate Drive app for the iPhone and Android-powered smartphones is a prime example of how mobile technology can meld with driver engagement. The app – a free download from the Apple App Store or Android Marketplace – provides users with the best driving roads in their vicinity and the ability to add routes to the database for all to enjoy.

There’s a brief tutorial when you open the app to explain the UI elements, how to find and add routes, along with a BMW-curated news feed and the ability to be alerted of new drives added in your area. You can also send your favorite routes through email or Facebook, and you can port the maps to another GPS device or app for turn-by-turn directions – one better than the Aston Martin Experience app we tested earlier this year. [autoguide]

The FCC started talking about its intention to allow for 911 texting (and even photos and videos) last year, and now Chairman Julius Genachowski is out with a detailed plan for a “next generation” 911 service. The standout feature of it is just that — the ability to send a text, photo or video in the event of an emergency — but that also brings with it a complete overhaul of the backend of the service, and a switch to an IP-based architecture from the current circuit-switched system.

That, the FCC says, should provide more flexibility and resiliency, and the agency has a number of other improvements in mind as well, including increased accessibility for people with disabilities, and new measures to improve the accuracy of location gathering (including new rules for wireless carriers). Of course, it all still is just a plan at the moment, but the FCC says it will consider a move to accelerate adoption of the plan next month. [engadget]

If you see yourself being an illegal tetherer on the iPhone over AT&T’s network as a good thing, that, my friend, is going to have its curtain drawn down as well. Ma Bell will be removing unlimited plans for users who jailbreak their iPhones in order to tether off AT&T’s unlimited data plans. Check out what an AT&T spokesperson has to say about the situation after the jump.

Earlier this year, we began sending letters, emails, and text messages to a small number of smartphone customers who use their devices for tethering but aren’t on our required tethering plan. Our goal here is fairness for all of our customers. (This impacts a only small percentage of our smartphone customer base.)

The letters outline three choices:

1) Stop tethering and keep their current plan (including grandfathered unlimited plan)
2) Proactively call AT&T or visit our stores and move to the required tethering plan
3) Do nothing and we’ll go ahead and add the tethering plan on their behalf — after the dated noted in their customer notification

AT&T has confirmed the above to be true, so just enjoy whatever time you have left – AT&T did not give a hard cutoff date, but since it can be anytime, this is where the adage “every second counts” comes into play.

Ever since iOS’ original release with the original iPhone Apple has been quite good at releasing new updates for the mobile platform giving us more features than ever before. Some of the features that have been added with software updates include copy & paste, the App Store and much more. However, if you’ve been paying attention you’ll probably know that there are still some user gripes with the platform such as the notification system which Apple will be updating with the release of iOS 5 at some point in the not so distant future.

If, however, you are urning for an udpate you’re in luck as it was just made known today that iOS 4.3.5 is now available for download. Of course, this update won’t be bringing with it many ground breaking features at all as the only update included within the update seems to be fix for a certificate validation vulnerability.

While the average user will definitely want to grab the update those of you who are partial to jailbreaking may way to stray away as no information has been released on an untethered iOS 4.3.5 jailbreak just yet. We’ll keep you posted.

“Today we’re releasing the latest version of Twitter for Android. It includes some of the most commonly requested features from our users,” said Twitter in a blog post about the new update.

This app is already available to download via the Android Market, will now automatically notify you when you get a mention or a message through the service regardless of how often you’ve asked the app to check twitter. It’s a feature that iPhone users have enjoyed for some time and one of the major bug bears of the Android app. Other features added include the ability to now manage more than one account within the app, something again that has been possible for iPhone users for some time, but not for Android Twitterers.