talks

Apple surprised users this week by delivering its battery-life-fixing update to iOS 5 sooner than expected. But complaints about the problem continued.

The update arrived a little more than a week after Apple first acknowledged that some users were, in fact, running into problems with battery life after upgrading to the newer version of iOS. Apple then promised to deliver a software update to fix the issue, which the company said would be here "in a few weeks."

Instead, the update came just eight days later, on both iTunes and as the first over-the-air update on devices--a feature … Read more

TracFone's Straight Talk service has added its second Android smartphone today, putting the LG Optimus Q on sale for $179.99.

The no-commitment price gives consumers an Android 2.3 Gingerbread handset with a 3.2-inch display and sliding QWERTY keyboard. Specifications are definitely on the low-end, however they are a slight step up from those of the Samsung Galaxy Precedent announced in August.

Additional details for the Optimus Q include a 3-megapixel camera, a 4GB MicroSD card, and support for Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and 3G connectivity. Like the Galaxy Precedent, the LG smartphone can be paired only with Straight Talk's $45 monthly plan, which includes unlimited talk, text, data, e-mail, and Web.

I'm a big fan of no-commitment Android offerings, even if the hardware typically skews towards entry-level devices. Hopefully we'll get more midrange and high-end products in 2012 as players like Boost Mobile and MetroPCS continue to grow their Android rosters. … Read more

This week brought good news for those affected with lackluster iPhone battery life after upgrading to iOS 5. Help is on the way.

Apple copped to the quick drainage problem and said it was working on a fix in the form of a software update that will arrive to users in the "next few weeks."

In the meantime, the company pushed out two uncharacteristically quick, nearly back to back betas of iOS 5.0.1 to developers, the software that includes the fix, along with patches to other bugs that were in the initial release of the iOS … Read more

This week brought the arrival of author Walter Isaacson's biography "Steve Jobs," notable for the fact that it's the first biography to have Jobs' cooperation, and the first to come after his death.

The book covers Jobs' life from beginning to end, as well as a history of the companies he was involved with, from the beginnings of Apple, to NeXT, Pixar, and his return to Apple, which he helped turn into a massive consumer and business success it is today.

CNET's got end to end coverage on that, including a rundown of some of… Read more

Immediately after I posted the iPhone 4S review last week, I sent the phone to CNET Labs for talk time battery tests.

Battery life is terribly important, as any smartphone owner knows, and we wanted to make sure Apple's promises weren't just that. And now, the results are in, courtesy of Senior Editor Eric Franklin.

When used with Sprint's 3G EV-DO Rev. A network, we beat Apple's promised talk time of 8 hours by an additional hour and 18 minutes. That's our strongest iPhone battery test to date, surpassing each of the previous three iPhones … Read more

This week was perhaps the busiest one of the year for Apple, with the release of a new iPhone, a new version of iOS, a handful of new iOS apps, iCloud, and updates to its Mac OS X and iLife software.

While we're still waiting for official numbers, from the looks of it the iPhone 4S is off to what's expected to be the strongest start for any iPhone yet. Buyers lined up overnight around the world to get their hands on Apple's latest phone, which went on sale yesterday. Carriers like AT&T and Sprint … Read more

After a lengthier than usual wait, tomorrow we get the next iPhone.

The burning question, of course, is how much of an update it will be. The iPhone 4 was a big step up from its predecessor, the 3GS, which itself was basically the iPhone 3G with a better camera and speedier insides. The iPhone 4 did the camera and speed tricks again, while changing up the outside and adding a considerably sharper screen.

Will the iPhone 5 represent a tuning of an already tried-and-true device? Or will the longer wait result in something that's noticeably new? Those questions … Read more

Next week the rumors, the speculation, and the curiosity come to an end. Or at least that's the hope.

Apple on Tuesday is holding an event at its campus with the tag line "Let's talk iPhone." It's been more than a year since the last iPhone came out, and the event is expected to bring a full unveiling of its successor.

Along with the iPhone, next week's event should give us full details, if not the formal release, of iOS 5 as well as iCloud, the latter being the company's backup and synchronization … Read more

People are downright salivating for a new iPhone, and it looks like the wait is very nearly over.

A buzzy report from All Things Digital this week pointed to October 4 --which is now less than a week and a half away--as the day Apple plans to take the wraps off the next version of the device, with a release to follow a few weeks later.

There's one hiccup with that plan, however, which is that both the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Moscone Center (which are Apple's usual places for product launches outside of … Read more