iPhone 4 gets disassembled for you to see

As you might recall, the Apple iPhone 4's construction was touted as a great technological achievement, and the manufacturer didn't miss to recap that in its promo video.

Now, the guys and gals at iFixit have taken their time to tear the hot device down, and see for themselves if it's build is really that great. The article they've put together is quite extensive and focuses on a lot of details, but some particular aspects managed to grab our attention. Here they are:

• The iPhone 4 is indeed a great piece of engineering! Hey, don't look at us - they say it!

• As in the iPhone 2G, the LCD panel is glued to the digitizer and glass, so if you break the glass, you'll have to replace all three components. Let's hope that glass will turn out durable enough (although there are some reports that it isn't quite there).

• On the other hand, the battery is no longer soldered to the logic board (Apple's way to say motherboard), but still, we would recommend that you do not attempt to replace it.

Other stuff that can be seen inside the iPhone 4 is what one would expect actually - the almighty A4 chip, 512MB RAM (double that of the iPad and iPhone 3GS), a giant 1420mAh Li-Polymer battery, etc.

Power button failing on some Nexus One units

Some owners of the Nexus One have been complaining about an unresponsive power button. When pressing down on the button, the phone does not give you the option to power off the phone. And whatever you do, removing the battery is a No-No that can lead to a major problem. Whatever the fault is with the power tab, taking the battery out results in the permanent death of the phone because the power button will not respond to a restart. Thus, trying a battery pull could result in your Nexus One becoming a door stop or a paperweight. Complaints started being recorded just a month after the launch of the handset back in January. The Nexus One forum had posts referring to this issue as soon as February, and HTC has been replacing phones for those with this issue. Surprisingly, those who have installed the Froyo update say that it has improved the function of their N-One's power button. If this problem is making life difficult for you, you can call HTC's Returns and Repairs division at 1-888-216-4736. After all, having a Nexus One that you can't turn on is like not having the phone at all.

Wall Street abuzz with more Verizon iPhone talk

Two more pencil pushing, calculator button pressing, pocket protector wearing Wall Street analysts are telling clients to expect a Verizon branded iPhone soon. Both expect that such an occurrence would lead to an additional 8-9 million iPhones sold next year. First up is Ben Reitzes of Barclays Capital who says that a iPhone for Big Red could come in Q1 of 2011. His "checks" show that production of a CDMA variant of Apple's touchscreen device would start in the fourth quarter of this year and he expects Verizon to sell 9 million units in 2011. Reitzes also says that the CDMA iPhone will see action in Asia as well. Scott Craig of Bank of America/Merrill Lynch notes that Apple has had positive results from its move to non-exclusivity for the iPhone in the U.K., Canada, Singapore and Ireland. Craig see Apple selling 43.5 million units in 2011 during Fiscal year 2011, with another 8 million to be added if Verizon gets the handset. The analyst sees Apple's success with multiple carriers overseas as motivation for bringing Verizon to the table with the Cupertino based firm.

This is a story that just refuses to die because it seems to make so much sense. Wall Street analysts look at the bottom line and they see how much financial sense it would be for Apple to widen distribution of the iPhone in the U.S. The manufacturer stands to benefit the most from such a plan, while Verizon would also benefit by selling the device-albeit to a lesser degree than Apple. Both analysts use this line of thinking as a way to maintain "Buy" ratings on Apple stock.

Apple files suit against HTC again, this time over recently added Sense UI features

Almost like a back and forth tennis match, Apple and HTC have been taking turns going at each other. Instead of a tennis court, this action is being taken out in another court-the court of law. Back in March, as we reported, Apple sued HTC, claiming that the Taiwan based firm had infringed on 20 of its patents relating to the iPhone's UI, hardware and architecture. Steve Jobs said, "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it, we think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours." Some of the battle had to do with HTC's inclusion of multi-touch support in some of it's newer phones at the time-like the Hero. If you recall, Palm had been able to include it in the Pre and that gave HTC the confidence to include things like "Pinch-to-Zoom" on its models of the time. HTC fired back with a suit of its own, claiming that Apple had infringed on 5 of its patents. Now, the Cupertino based firm is back, claiming that HTC has violated 1 more of Apple's patents. The latter says that one of the new features on HTC's Sense UI called Leap, sounds like a patent Apple owns for a “system for real-time adaptation to changes in display configuration”. The patent was granted 8/28/01 and a continuation of the patent was awarded to the tech giant on 5/27/08. The Leap system allows owners of certain HTC phones to pinch their screen to see small thumbnail representations of the handset's other home screens and allows for a quick tap to change the homescreen that is front and center on the phone. Apple's patent sounds broad enough to cover almost anything that can take place with the lay out of a phone's settings. Before any lawyers step into a courtroom, both parties usually sit down at the negotiating table to try and avert a highly visible legal battle. Until then, the ball is in HTC's court and we shall see how the company decides to play the return volley.

White iPhone 4 should be ready for shipment in second half of July

The white version of the Apple iPhone 4 has been missing in action since pre-orders started to be accepted on June 15th. While no one knew the reason why, Apple has announced today that the white version is simply harder to manufacture and should be ready during the second half of July. Did anyone out there hold out on ordering the iPhone 4, waiting for the availability of the ivory model? Did anyone order the black model even though they really wanted white? With Apple saying that the manufacturing process is harder for the latter model, we wonder if there will be a continuous shortage of this color iPhone 4. Apple's complete statement on the matter reads, "White models of Apple’s new iPhone® 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected."

Motorola DROID X unveiling event - DROID does neXt

Did someone say that the DROID does neXt? Well apparently it's looking to do more than that as the Motorola DROID X was officially unveiled today in New York City where we were fortunate enough in checking it out – just a day before Apple launches the iPhone 4. The atmosphere surrounding the event was similar to what we witnessed with the Motorola DROID back in the fall as it managed to bring Android into the mainstream. Naturally there is a lot that the DROID X has to live up to after the original DROID managed to jump start things for Google, Motorola, and Verizon. All the head honchos from Verizon, Motorola, Google, and Adobe were present as they brought the Motorola DROID X center stage for the entire world to see. During the hour long presentation, big names like Andy Rubin of Google and Sanjay Jha of Motorola, were on stage with others as they presented their vision and ideas that ultimately came together in the creation of the Motorola DROID X.

Android's summer fun might've been kick started by the HTC EVO 4G which brought on that larger than life presence that the platform was looking for. However, Motorola wasn't going to let them have all of the fun as they showed of all of the things what DROID can do – plus we were lucky enough to catch up with all of the action. Taking a look at the Motorola DROID X for the first time, we may not have been as overly impressed by its size now that the HTC EVO 4G has taken flight, but it's still nonetheless captivating as we can clearly see how they've retain some of the key design elements that made the original DROID such a huge success. For a while there, it was suspected to pack on a 4.4” display, but in fact, it tallies in at the same size used by the EVO 4G. After meticulously looking at the display, we noticed the DROID X's to be a bit longer and narrower – while the HTC EVO 4G's display was shorter and wider. We had no complaints in viewing the most detailed of text or images thanks to its healthy 854 x 480 resolution. We were especially taken back by how thin the device is versus the HTC EVO 4G, except for the noticeable hump near the top where the camera internals are stored, but it's construction feels solid – just like how the DROID was built like a tank. Material wise, we were content with their choice of utilizing that soft touch feeling material that doesn't dirty the handset after some use, while at the same time, it provides for an easy grip. After lugging around the HTC EVO 4G, we were also happy to notice how light weight and evenly balanced the unit is. Overall, the Motorola DROID X happily improves upon some of the design flaws that customers found evident with the original, but it will also enable consumers to take pleasure in its contemporary look.

Neither Verizon or Motorola were calling the interface seen on the device as “Ninja Blur” or “MOTOBLUR,” instead, they were simply referring to it as the Motorola DROID X interface running on top of Android 2.1. Upon turning on the device for the very first time, we were presented with the all too knowing animated DROID eye that's prominently displayed on all of the home screen panels. Unlike MOTOBLUR's in your face presentation of aggregating your social networking accounts, the interface on the DROID X is a bit more barren with the default layout out of the box with very few widgets cluttering the available 7 panels at your disposal. Thanks to the 1GHZ processor on board, moving around the new interface is seamless and quick – much faster and smoother than what we experienced on the HTC EVO 4G. It's strength in speed is further justified as we used the responsive, and we mean responsive, on-screen QWERTY to type something in – it's by far the most enjoyable Android handset for inputting text. Naturally, Swype is also on board to provide you an alternative method of inputting text if the default one doesn't meet your needs. Additionally, there are some other applications at your disposal to make the experience gratifying – such as the Blockbuster and NFL Mobile app. The smartphone will have the option to act as a Mobile Hotspot to accommodate up to 5 devices – which is optional and priced at $20 per month. We were also given a demonstration on its HDMI/DLNA capabilities as the handset was able to display a recorded video taken by the DROID X onto a plasma television in full fidelity.

Set to go on sale through Verizon Wireless and a handful of indirect dealers starting on July 15th, the Motorola DROID X is priced accordingly at $199.99 on-contract after $100 rebate. Verizon is looking to attract even more people to side with the power house Android phone by enabling any customer who is eligible for upgrade in 2010 to purchase the handset at the subsidized cost. So if you're upgrade eligibility isn't available until this coming October, you'll be able to upgrade to the handset come launch day and still receive the subsidized cost – so no need to wait until October to do that. Finally, the Mobile Hotspot is optional and will cost you an additional $20 per month if it's something you'll need, but it'll be interesting to see what happens when an Froyo is released later in the summer. We've been given a decent dose of what DROID does, but expect to see our in-depth review soon!