Apple

With well over 4 million iPhone 4S units sold over the first week of release, some owners are reporting that battery life is inexplicably short with normal usage. Even compared to the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, for some reason the new design is sometimes experiencing power drain for no apparent reason. According to the Guardian, Apple engineers have begun to respond to iPhone 4S owner complaints and many have installed diagnostic software to help track down the issue.

One of the unannounced iPhone 4S surprises was a shortening of the standby time on the device to 200 hours down from the iPhone 4 spec of 300 hours. There was no wave of concern over this number, until the iPhone 4S started losing battery power at a much faster clip in some cases. Initial reports of shorter than expected battery life have evolved over time into serious battery drain problems in some cases.

There's word that Sprint plans to deploy its own 4G LTE network next year to compete with Verizon and AT&T, but right now everyone is talking about 3G speed problems on the iPhone 4S. Unfortunately for Sprint the carrier seems to be experiencing the same woes that plagued AT&T after its record iPhone launches of days past. Support forums are full of people asking questions and wondering why their iPhone 4S is so slow compared to other devices on the same network.

Now reports indicate Apple has stepped in and the problem could be a software issue affecting Sprint iPhone customers nationwide. CNET reports that an internal memo was leaked explaining just that, and a fix for the problem is in the works. Apple made no official statement regarding the issue.

The Steve Jobs biography written by Walter Isaacson is officially available for download from Amazon's Kindle store starting today. If you prefer to do your reading on paper, the 656-page book is also available in hardcover.

The authorized biography of Steve Jobs is based on hundreds of interviews conducted with family, friends, colleagues, adversaries and the Apple CEO himself. Although Jobs cooperated with Isaacson on the book, he did not exert any control over its direction, and did not request to read it before publication.

As savvy customers have learned that replacing a lost, stolen or broken iPhone at unsubsidized prices can run as high as $749, many customers choose to protect their investment with an iPhone insurance policy or extended warranty. In the past, we've warned our readers many times about buying overpriced iPhone insurance and extended warranty coverage from their wireless provider. The options offered by AT&T (AT&T Mobile Protect) and Verizon (Verizon Total Equipment Coverage), which are provided by a third party company named Asurion, were traditionally overpriced and offered poor value compared to independent iPhone insurance and warranty providers.

As the iPhone 4S arrives in customers hands today, we thought it was time for an update. For one thing, the information we provided previously is out of date. As independent providers such as Worth Avenue Group and SquareTrade have grown rapidly over the past few years, and as these companies have continued to receive excellent approval ratings from customers and consumer advocacy agencies such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the major providers have taken notice and made their coverage options more competitive. Apple has even gotten in on the game with their new AppleCare+, which adds accidental damage protection to existing AppleCare coverage.

Apple watchers have long known that the company integrated social networking service Twitter into its next generation mobile operating system iOS 5. What remains to be seen is whether or not Facebook will join Twitter and enjoy its own iOS 5 integration on iPhones and iPads. The screenshots below are from MacRumors however the site couldn't vouch for their authenticity.

For one thing, the word addresses is spelled wrong which points to these being a simple mockup or someone's independent dream. On the other hand, with Twitter hitting iOS 5 full force it's hard to imagine that Facebook doesn't want a piece of this attention from Apple users. Not only this, but Facebook is strangely said to be planning an iPad app announcement on the same day that Tim Cook is scheduled to announce the next generation iPhone.