News

With the launch of the iPhone 4 tomorrow, prospective buyers and those who have successfully pre-ordered their devices may be looking for protection. Several options exist, and they each come with their own price tag and caveats. AT&T Wireless made news earlier this month when they announced that MobileProtect insurance from Asurion would finally be available for the iPhone.

Unfortunately, the pricing and features of the AT&T iPhone insurance plan just don't compare to alternatives. First of all, MobileProtect costs $11.99 per month and your iPhone must be enrolled within the first 30 days after activation. This puts the insurance total for a two-year contract at a whopping $288. Furthermore, those needing an iPhone 4 replacement will pay a $199 deductible, the same price as a subsidized 16 GB iPhone 4 with a two-year contract.

iPhone 3GS and 3G owners are expecting the iPhone OS 4 release from Apple today. Renamed iOS 4, the new firmware adds 100 new features including multitasking, folders and more. Apple watchers are predicting that the company will make the update available on its servers by 10 am Pacific time (1 pm EDT).

Demand is sure to be high as millions of devices, including the iPod Touch, are eligible to receive the operating system upgrade for free. Users will certainly flood Apple's servers with requests, much like the iPhone 4 pre-order swamped AT&T and Apple. iOS 4 requires iTunes 9.2.

Some lucky customers have received notification from Apple that their iPhone 4 pre-orders have shipped and will arrive on time. Launch day is June 24, and some of the notifications have listed the "Delivers By" date as June 23, a full day ahead of schedule.

As has happened before, it's likely that shipping companies will hold the package to insure that everyone receives the iPhone 4 on June 24. The iPhone 4 pre-order process has been fraught with difficulties for many customers, including some receiving notification that their pre-order was cancelled, not shipped.

Confirmed: the iPhone 4 will not be available in white on launch day. In fact, customers who had pre-ordered the white version of Apple's latest creation were notified by Best Buy that the device will not ship due to manufacturing delays. Other customers have received notification from Apple or AT&T that their pre-orders have been cancelled due to overwhelming demand and website processing errors.

The white iPhone 4 specifically has been a source of rampant speculation ever since the device was demoed at WWDC after Steve Jobs' keynote speech. Apple initially announced that both the white and black models would be available on launch day June 24.