I received my second replacement iPhone 4 yesterday. Considering the issues my first two iPhone 4 units had, I wanted to make absolutely certain, in as little time as possible, that this replacement unit didn't have anything wrong with it. Before I even picked it up from the store, I started putting together a list of items I needed to test as well as how I would go about doing it.

What I came up with is a series of hardware checks that anyone can perform right after taking an iPhone 4 out of the box and syncing it for the first time. This is by no means the only way to test an iPhone 4's hardware for defects, and there are probably more comprehensive methods out there, but the following procedure is basic enough for almost any user to follow. Plus, it should catch any glaring hardware defects in an iPhone 4 right away. Click "Read More" for the checklist.

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It seemed like such a great idea. Adobe was releasing a free photo editing tool for the iPhone and the iPad. Well, Photoshop Express is out, and it's a big, honking dog.

It has just about the worst ratings I've ever seen on an app from a big time developer, and those ratings are well deserved. On my iPad it launches, crashes, and then picks another app on my iPad to run. In my case it launches Photogene, another photo editing program. Huh?

For those lucky anough to get Photoshop Express running it crashes over and over. And over. Did anybody at Adobe test this thing? I'm sure it will be replaced by a working app at some time, but don't grab this thing unless you are really a masochist. It may be working fine for a few, but for most users the app is a steaming pile of frustration.

You've been warned.

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Engadget's tasty scoop on Wednesday suggests that the long-rumoured but still-mythical Apple TV hardware refresh would lack 1080p output. As is fairly routine now, weblogs, forums, and Twitter exploded with "ZOMG APPLE #FAIL" and similar thoughtful criticism. But assuming it's true, is this really that surprising? Everyone automatically assumes 1080p is the natural choice but I'm not sure it's that simple.

Notwithstanding (slightly dubious) recent rumours of a new video codec capable of pushing out 4096x2160, iTunes today can only offer high definition video in 720p. To move that to 1080p would require 2.25 times more disk space on the iTunes servers and the same increase in data bandwidth between those servers and the paying customers. Those are not cheap investments.

In turn, consumers would see a similar increase in streaming requirements. Xbox Live can stream 1080p video, but it requires 8-10meg broadband, which leaves an awful lot of people out in the cold. It has the option of downloading instead, but if you're out in the sticks on a 2meg stream you're looking at more than eight hours to download your film at 1080p. You'd best plan your Friday night viewing before leaving for work on Friday morning.

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It's Friday, and that must mean Verizon-on-the-iPhone rumor time. This one comes from the SyFy Network's DVICE blog of all places and is all about the hardware. They're claiming that an "inside source" has provided some specs on a new Verizon handset.

According to DVICE's source, the iPhone will feature a larger screen than what the iPhone 4 has, as well as an internal antenna (we imagine that's a bit of a sore spot with Apple these days). They also report that Verizon "insisted" on an internal antenna.

As for the display, expect something like 3.7 inches. Finally, DVICE suggests that a zippy 1.2GHz chip will run the whole thing. It's all speculation, folks, so keep that in mind. Do you buy it?

This week, copywriting firm Cooper Murphy Webb has confirmed what's been true in my house for weeks: the iPad is beating out television as a preferred leisure device.

In a survey of 1,034 iPad owners in the UK, Cooper Murphy Webb found that 24% of respondents reported using their iPads as their primary entertainment device. The television came in at 19%, while 22% reported using their mobile phones for entertainment and 2% listed the ever popular "other."

Mathematicians among us will notice that those numbers don't add up to 100%. That's because the computer still tops the list at 33%. These numbers are similar to what happens in my household. My wife and I typically go for the iPad first during our evening leisure time, the computer next and the TV last.

[Via Macsimum News]

We don't want to burst your bubble, but here's a hard fact: Apple doesn't manufacture the batteries that come with its recharger. In fact, they don't manufacture iPhones, iPads, iPods...you get the picture.

That's why we're not surprised to learn that the AA batteries that ship with the charger come from a 3rd party. The folks at the website SuperApple have gone through the trouble (translation) of tearing them down. This is certainly the first AA battery teardown we've ever seen. What they found was that they're a near perfect match, both in construction and performance, to the Sanyo Eneloop HR-3UTG.

That's good news, as Engadget recently raved over those little buggers, claiming that they retained 70% of a charge after 3 years in a drawer. While it isn't news that Apple is using batteries not manufactured by their employee's hands, it's good to know that said batteries are of high quality.

[Via Engadget]

The UK's oldest commercial television network, ITV, is supposedly livid over the rumor that Apple will rebrand the Apple TV as "iTV" in the near future. According to Mirror.co.uk, the network is already taking legal steps to "...stop the move." They're looking to prevent Apple from using the name "iTV" in any way. Mirror.co.uk quoted a source as saying, "We all take our ITV brand very seriously and we'll do everything in our power to protect it."

Easy, folks. It's just a rumor. iTV may be what's coming as a new name, or it might not. Besides, Apple and Cisco were able to work things out when Apple renamed the iPhone OS "iOS."

Can't we all just get along?

[Via AppleInsider]

This might be the wackiest patent that I've ever seen Apple apply for. The company has recently put in a patent to describe the process of making a digital comic book out of a video game playthrough. The idea here is that you'd play through a segment of a video game (Mass Effect is the one used in the example), and then Apple would collect information about your character and the way that you played the game. It would then use that information to turn the experience into an e-book, which could either be sold digitally or printed.

Say what? I guess that's cool, but this just seems like Apple is laying down a quick patent on a pretty harebrained idea; it doesn't seem like a preview of an actual service that we'll eventually see implemented on the Mac. Then again, Apple has worked pretty closely with Comic Life in the past, and it has connected the popular comic creation app to both iPhoto and MobileMe. Maybe it's looking at extending that service further.

Another (presumably more practical) patent has Apple examining improved equalizers on iTunes and in the iDevices. This one I can get behind. The EQ that's there right now works, but the patent involves more dynamic adjustments and some user-free audio enhancement. Again, Apple patents ideas, not actual products, but there's still a possibility that we'll see either or both of these ideas implemented in the future.