Both Verizon Wireless iPhone and next generation iPad about to hit field testing?

By on Aug 16, 2010 at 12:02 PM
Exclusive August 16, 2010

One of our Apple sources has just informed us of something very interesting. Way down deep within iOS 4 is a pretty intriguing block of code. Our source says that the code queries the device, and if the device is either a CDMA iPhone or iPad 2, the device will auto-activate, thus bypassing the need for iTunes. We’re told this block of code has appeared every year consecutively before a major iPhone / device release, removed right before launch. This allows the products to be field tested by carriers (or partners) without having to activate the handsets or devices. Whether Apple has done this to make sure AT&T or other carriers looking at activation logs don’t find anything, or just for the sake of simplicity isn’t clear.

Lastly, we’ve been told from a separate source that the platform code of the CDMA iPhone is N92AP (Daring Fireball’s John Gruber has said it was N92), and the platform code for the next-gen iPod touch is N81AP.

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  • Ronlap

    And how do we know that this is a CDMA phone? Maybe it’s just a new antenna, bigger/smaller form factor, etc.

  • blue123

    aha, I love Verizon and I love iPhone 4’s = One Big Love for this marriage to happy. Love, love, love, love.
    Yup, iPhone is the only smartphone that is as powerful as a Mac and as easy to use as an iPod. Period. I like iPhone 4, it’s so fatastic and got top 4 tempting features, HD Video Recording and lovely pictures, what’s more, the Retina display, and the remarkable 960×640 resolution screen make my movie watching experience unbelievably sharp and crisp in the help of iFunia iPhone video converter.

    • JMuRda

      And Droid X won’t do it for you? iPhone BARELY has better screen res. Droid X also has 720p HD Video capture, but on top of that, instead of watching the vids on your tiny iPhone screen, you can either A: watch them on a way bigger Droid X screen that is just as crisp and clear to the human eye, or B: watch them on your big screen HD TV using the HDMI output that the Droid X has and iPhone doesn’t…

      • GTodd

        I have the Droid X and as all other droids I’ve tried…it’s no iPhone. While the large screen and Wifi is cool, the phone gets laggy when you load too many apps. It’s not as user friendly as the iPhone, nor do the apps have the same quality. The Droid is great to all thos that never owned an iPhone, but for someone that has used both, it falls short. A lot of cool bells a whistles that are poorly executed. The only reason it can compete is the network. So bring on the Verizon iPhone and there’s no competition.

      • jonathan

        I have to agree with this.
        I’ve been down the same road. And returned the Droid X for iPhone 4 for the same reasons you mention.
        I can’t agree with Verizon being the best, however. But that’s cuz they stuck me with extra fees when canceling.

      • http://www.id44.com Forrest

        The Droid is clumsy and feels cheap! The resolution looks like crap, and it has a ton of problems. It’s like comparing a Chevy with a Benz.

        With that being said, I am still not a blind, loyal, Apple fan. I have some gripes!

        The iphone is cool ( I have one) but I do not like Apples grip on it. Apple may find itself being forgot about if it doesn’t open its software up.

        Forrest

        Also, I have a Iphone 3G. I did the 4.0 update and now my Iphone runs like crap! Slow, crashes ETC. I can’t believe there issnt a bigger story on this. The antennae problem with the Iphone is nothing compare to this! Oh yeah, I did the reinstall and all the fixes too..and it still runs like crap! Thanks Apple!

  • wildspin

    What’s the download speed a CDMA iphone 4 could reach?

  • http://nosite.net/ tonza

    This is crap. You cannot use a Windows IDE to view the code shown in the so-called article with such precision and clarity, since Windows IDEs won’t know how to read Xcode (GCC) assembler text to make the code sensing work as above. And all code for an iOS project must be done (at this time) in Xcode on a Macintosh.

    “Nice try, Lao Ché!”—Indiana Jones.

    • The Other Steve

      “This is crap. You cannot use a Windows IDE to view the code shown in the so-called article with such precision and clarity, since Windows IDEs won’t know how to read Xcode (GCC) assembler text to make the code sensing work as above. And all code for an iOS project must be done (at this time) in Xcode on a Macintosh.”

      Further to the previous response, iOS code is ARM assembly wrapped in an ELF binary format, into which it is compiled by GCC, the compiler that underlies the XCode IDE.

      The above screenie shows an IDA disassembly listing featuring ARM instructions. IDA is fully capable of reading ELF binaries, disassembling ARM instructions and indeed has a library especially for working with the output of GCC.

      While this does not prove the veracity of the information, it certainly makes it plausible. A little clue goes a long way.

  • Oliver Z. Kelly

    tonza:

    The screenshot here isn’t a “Windows IDE”, but IDA Pro, which is pretty much the gold standard in cross platform disassembly / reverse engineering tools.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_Disassembler

  • http://the-reviewer.com TheReviewer

    I hope someone on the dev team reads that code and decides to do something interesting with it. :D

    • Carmen

      Why don’t you just do it then?

  • Ron-Mexic0

    I just can’t help but think if the iPhone were actually coming to VZW next year that we’d see far more concrete rumors by now (i.e., rumors carefully orchestrated flowing out of Cupertino.)

    While Apple obviously wouldn’t want to hurt their own current and potential sales in the interim I don’t think their products would be as vulnerable to these rumors as would their competition’s. And with Android surging and WP7 about to launch as we head into the start of the holiday shopping season next quarter now would be the ideal time to step up those rumors . . . if they were actually true.

  • tinsko

    CDMA does NOT only mean Verizon. Sprint also uses CDMA and is much more likely to be controlled by Apple than is Verizon.

    • tracey

      but verizon has 93 million vs sprints 48….people are less likely to leave verizon and run to sprint. thayre worse than att.

  • Paul Gallegos

    I also find it interesting that Verizon recently placed a cell tower on Apple’s campus, right next to the AT&T tower that has been there.

  • http://www.ipodmactransfer.com bryant

    The new iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad will launch one by one this fall and early next year.

  • rp2009

    Once a 7″ Ipad is released for Verizon, i will ditch a smartphone and use the smaller ipad for on-the-go email and web browsing. I find the small screens on phones torturous and hell if I’m going to pay two data plans if they do not offer tethering.
    I guarantee that the 7″ ipad is going to cannibalize smart phone sales.

  • Mobile man

    In case you forgot the ATT exclusivity runs through 2012. I’m just saying

    • tracey

      noone forgets, and whos to say it will be an “iphone” persay? they have rights to the iphone 4, 3, iphone, and iphone 3Gs. So why not apple make a CDMA iphone twin, thats npot the iphone 3g, or iphone 4. so good luch with your logic.

  • Tom

    A device like the iPad takes a long time to run from hardware design to sitting in the hands of a consumer. Apple has been working on the iPad 2 since at least a year before the iPad 1 shipped.
    Here is what has likely happened: The iPad 1 development slipped, as many new projects do, but the iPad 2 would likely not slip as much, and so now the iPad 2 is biting at its heels – and is now only months behind the iPad 1.
    For instance the iPad 1 only has 256 MB or RAM, while the iPhone 4 has 512 MB, with all the iPad hardware fit into the much smaller space. This makes the iPad 1 look pretty old.

  • http://www.id44.com Forrest

    The Droid is clumsy and feels cheap! The resolution looks like crap, and it has a ton of problems. It’s like comparing a Chevy with a Benz.

    With that being said, I am still not a blind, loyal, Apple fan. I have some gripes!

    The iphone is cool ( I have one) but I do not like Apples grip on it. Apple may find itself being forgot about if it doesn’t open its software up.

    Also, I have a Iphone 3G. I did the 4.0 update and now my Iphone runs like crap! Slow, crashes ETC. I can’t believe there issnt a bigger story on this. The antennae problem with the Iphone is nothing compare to this! Oh yeah, I did the reinstall and all the fixes too..and it still runs like crap! Thanks Apple!

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