iOS 5 updates expected to be carried over-the-air, at least for the Verizon iPhone

 

Having spent a good part of our day yesterday negotiating with iTunes and downloading a whopping 666.2MB file to update our iPhone to version 4.3.3 — a version, we might add, whose sole claim to fame is the removal of things — we know well the pains of updating Apple’s mobile software. Those aches, however, may soon be coming to an end. 9to5Mac has multiple sources informing it that Apple and Verizon are scheming to start delivering iOS updates over the air from this fall, or just as soon as iOS 5 is made available. Untethered OS updates are a familiar feature to users of other smartphone operating systems and even the iOS-infused Apple TV, but getting Apple’s mobile devices up to date has so far always required going through the company’s own cable and software.



There’s no reason to believe this wireless update feature will be limited to Verizon, mind you — that’s just where the informants are coming from in this instance — though Apple will almost certainly have to alter the file sizes of its updates. We can’t think of many carriers who’ll be happy to push more than half a gigabyte of data per user per update. Additionally, since iTunes currently acts as the major backup hub, 9to5Mac speculates Cupertino must be working on a cloud backup service as well, which would seem a very sensible idea. Of course, that doesn’t paint a very happy or busy future for iTunes, but so what?

Verizon Wireless posts strong Q1; churn down, data revenues up, 2.2M iPhones activated [Updated]

The first-quarter financial figures for Verizon Wireless were not all that surprising. The nation’s largest wireless carrier was widely expected to post strong quarterly results, and it did. Verizon Wireless saw its churn rate fall year-over-year to 1.01 for postpaid customers and 1.33 overall. The company’s data revenues were up 22.3% from the same period last year, fueled by 1.8 million net additions, 2.2 million new iPhone activations, 260,000 HTC ThunderBolt activations, and 32% of retail postpaid customers using smartphones. Verizon Wireless now has 104 million total connections on its network, which represents a 6.1% increase year-over-year. If you are interested in reading the entire Verizon Communications release, it is waiting for you after the break.



Update: Although not included in the Q1 press release, the company’s conference call presentation indicates that 2.2 million iPhone 4s were activated during the three month period. Title updated to reflect this new information.



Via http://www.bgr.com/2011/04/21/verizon-wireless-posts-strong-q1-churn-down-data-revenues-up-iphone-sales-figures-absent/