iPhone 4

AT&T beat its previous iPhone sales record by activating 5.2 million iPhone units during the third quarter of 2010. A whopping 3.2 million iPhone were activated in the previous quarter with the launch of the iPhone 4. A full quarter of iPhone buyers this time around were new customers to AT&T.

Overall, the company activated 8 million smartphones including the iPhone. AT&T now has 92.8 million subscribers in the US, but still lags behind leader Verizon Wireless. Over 57 percent of AT&T customers carry a smartphone or other device with a full integrated keyboard.

Sources at Apple have told the Boy Genius Report that a revised iPhone 4 model is currently in the final phases of field testing before release. This model revision is known as "iPhone3,2" and may be launched ahead of Apple's typical summer iPhone refresh cycle. Speculation is rampant over exactly what revisions are coming to the iPhone 4.

The leading contender is a CDMA-compatible version of the iPhone 4, which could be offered by either Sprint or Verizon Wireless in the US. Although this would make sense given the impending end of AT&T exclusivity, BGR also reports that the new iPhone 4 retains a SIM card slot. SIM cards are used on GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile.

China Unicom was forced to stop taking iPhone 4 pre-orders after launch day saw 60,000 units sold and over 200,000 pre-orders. iPhone 4 inventory was wiped out shortly after Apple made the iPhone 4 available on September 25 through exclusive Chinese wireless carrier China Unicom and the Apple Store.

Shanghai and Beijing saw the opening of two new Apple retail stores on the same day. Over 1,000 people lined up outside the Beijing store up to two days in advance hoping to get their hands on an iPhone 4 before anyone else. The Chinese iPhone 4 launch came just three months after the device was launched in the US.

Some unlucky iPhone users got the short end of the battery life after updating to iOS 4.1. Users have reported battery life issues among other problems with prior firmware updates (remember iPhone OS 3.1?) but now some running iOS 4.1 are seeing their battery percentage drop to zero within hours.

Online discussion forums are hopping with activity from iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS users complaining of shortened battery life and warm phones running iOS 4.1. Some reports have suggested that errant processes are running in the background constantly and draining the battery power. Bugs in the modem firmware, tethering software, and Game Center have all been cited as possible causes of the issue.

Chinese news source Caixin reports that China Unicom will indeed offer the iPhone 4 for sale on September 16. This is Apple's second iPhone release in China in under a year. October of 2009 saw the launch of a special iPhone 3GS model that shipped without Wi-Fi functionality due to Chinese regulations. The iPhone 4 slated for China Unicom's network this fall is said to have Wi-Fi.

Grey market iPhones are popular in China, with millions of units in operation. China Unicom allows users with any iPhone that supports its network to purchase data plans. The lack of Wi-Fi and high prices may have kept iPhone 3GS sales lower than expected. iPhones imported from other countries can sell for half the price.