Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told AppleInsider that Apple is getting ready to ship the mysterious white iPhone 4 to AT&T customers starting no later than April. Apple finally solved manufacturing problems plaguing the device and with the help of a Japanese company has developed a new paint material.

Problems with paint thickness and the white iPhone 4 not meeting quality standards resulted in many defective units, although some iPhone users have acquired the white version. Customization kits and modifications that violate the Apple warranty have also appeared on the market to simulate the white iPhone 4 look with replacement parts.

Previous reports have indicated the iPhone 5 will be completely redesigned by Apple. Now Economic Daily News, a Taiwanese publication, cites sources who say the next generation iPhone will have an aluminum back. This would bring the iPhone 5 in line with recent iPod touch and iPad 2 designs and highlight one of Apple's favorite materials.

A move back to aluminum would also reduce durability problems experienced by users of the iPhone 4 and its glass back. The conceptual rendering above by Taiyo-Fujii is unrelated to statements by Chinese manufacturing insiders, however it clearly receives its cues from the iPad 2. The original iPhone featured an aluminum back along with a plastic bottom to help alleviate reception issues with the internal antenna.

Need a ringtone on the fly? If you don't mind spending money for a 30-second ringtone, Apple has you covered in iTunes. The latest iOS 4.3 release is the gold master and this firmware brings ringtone purchasing to the foreground. The update will be available to AT&T iPhone users starting on March 11, 2011.

Currently if you're interested in buying a ringtone from Apple, you have to find the ringtone collection within the iTunes app. To navigate there now and preview ringtones you must open the iTunes app, select More from the bottom menu and choose Ringtones. Not difficult, however many iPhone users forget the feature is even an option.

Things are not looking good for the mysteriously absent white iPhone 4. With the Verizon iPhone launch six months after the iPhone 4 first became available and an iPhone 5 announcement looming, will Apple even bother? Since the first white iPhone 4 pre-orders were cancelled, the release date for the white iPhone 4 has been moved forward several times.

The latest we heard from Apple was the white iPhone 4 was coming in Spring. The season officially starts in just two weeks and Apple has been silent on the issue. Another white device has dominated the news, with Apple announcing the iPad 2 will ship in white and black next week.

AT&T will charge $20 per month for iPhone 4 users to take advantage of the iOS 4.3 Personal Hotspot feature. The carrier has confirmed that full support for the Personal Hotspot will debut when Apple released iOS 4.3 firmware on March 11, 2011.

The native Wi-Fi hotspot has been available on Verizon iPhone 4 models since launch in early February. The feature allows up to three devices to simultaneously connect to the iPhone's cellular data connection via Wi-Fi. Additional devices can use the connection via Bluetooth and USB for a total of five at once.