How to Fix iPhone 4S Short Battery Life or Battery Drain Issue

Published on October 29, 2011 by Richard Ker

If you’ve got an iPhone 4S and noticed a very short battery life, you’re not alone. It has been widely discussed on online forums and popular tech blogs.

Many people reported that it has something to do with the backup file you’re restoring into your new iPhone 4S. There’s a corruption somewhere but no one knows for sure. An extreme example is that a user was seeing 10% battery life dropped per hour even in standby mode.

Here’s a possible fix that you can try [Warning: This procedure may cause loss of data so be very careful or proceed only at own risks].

Step 1: Transfer your purchased content

Transfer all content purchased or downloaded from iTunes, the App Store, and the iBookstore from the device to your computer before you restore. If you have movie rentals on the device, see iTunes Store movie rental usage rights in the United States before restoring. Purchased content is transfered while syncing, but you can also choose to transfer purchases by following the steps below or going to iTunes Store: Transfering purchases from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to a computer.

  • Launch iTunes
  • Connect iPhone
  • Right-click the device from the source list
  • Choose Transfer Purchases

Step 2: Back up your device and preserve the backup

The restore process creates a backup of the device you are restoring. When you select Set Up As New, a sync occurs that writes over your previous backup. To prevent unwanted data loss, you should take steps to preserve the backup created by iTunes.

  • In iTunes, check Preferences > Devices to check the date and time of your latest backup
  • If you do not have a recent backup, create one by right-clicking the device in the source list and choosing Back Up

Step 3: Restore your device

Restoring your device will delete all the data from your device, including songs, videos, contacts, photos, calendar information, and any other data. All device settings are restored to their factory condition. iTunes may need to connect to the Internet to verify or download a restore image for your device.

Step 4: Set up your device as new

To set up as a new device in its factory configuration, choose “Set up as new” Be sure you have backed up the appropriate directory or backup files before choosing to set up as new.

Step 5: Finishing touches

Right-click the device in the source list and choose Restore from Backup and choose the desired backup from the list provided.

Note: Restoring device creates another backup, be sure to choose the correct backup from the list [the one before factory restore], it will prompt telling you there is a newer restore point. Ignore and click USE OLDER RESTORE POINT.

Last but not least… A Simple Workaround…

If you’re not using iCloud, removing it from your iPhone 4S seems to work:

Simply go to Settings > iCloud > “Delete Account”

I hope the above would work for you. Since the battery used is standard in all iPhone 4S, I’m pretty sure this issue is caused by software corruption as there are also many iPhone 4S users who did not encounter this issue at all.

Share with other fellow readers if it works for you or not.

Adapted from this tutorial on Apple’s website.

Saying “Edit My Contacts” to Siri on iPhone 4S Will Crash Siri / Springboard

Published on October 28, 2011 by Richard Ker

Let’s admit it. Siri is amazing. However, there’s one little bug that probably wasn’t squashed during the development of Siri. She couldn’t process “Edit My Contact” command which causes Siri to crash.

Don’t believe me? Go ahead and try it for yourself. I know it’s still in Beta stage but this is really a basic command that Siri should be able to process.

Siri is able to respond to almost anything and she has a great sense of humor! However, every time you say “Edit My Contacts” will make your iPhone 4S hang.

Well, I didn’t find this by accident. It’s already been widely discussed and proven on this forum.

So if you have an iPhone 4S, go ahead and test this and prove me wrong. :)

Possible Method to Unlock iPhone 4 MC319LL Baseband 4.11.08 for T-Mobile USA Users

Published on October 26, 2011 by Richard Ker

There is a huge possibility that a security flaw in iOS 5 allows US-based T-Mobile users to unlock their AT&T-locked iPhone 4 on baseband 4.11.08. Read the basic instructions below.

UPDATE: You can now officially unlock any AT&T iPhone. Click here to learn more.

If you do a quick search on YouTube for Unlock 4.11.08, you will find one video by user “g35mik” with a video titled “unlock iPhone 4 baseband 4.11.08″

Everything looked legit:

  1. It’s an MC319LL model locked to AT&T
  2. iOS 5 with baseband 4.11.08
  3. No signs of jailbreak
  4. No Turbo SIM etc.

He also claimed that:

Without any modification.
subscribe to see how soon.
no jail braking required.
baseband 4:11:08
Check the other video for more
i will be releasing a tool soon.
this is not an unlocked phone

See the video below (Blocked in China, China-based readers please activate your VPN)

In his YouTube page, he gave out these hints:

“For those you with a prepaid T-Mobile Sim card.

Prior to activating 5.0. Do any of you get any bars or edge symbol?

Make sure your phone is not connected to Wi-Fi. When going through the activation process make sure you use connect via cellular network

Once you get to activate your iPhone it will fail. At this point you will enter your AT&T MicroSim. To activate your phone

Once the phone is activated turn off automatic carrier by entering the T-Mobile Sim card”

Based on his updated video, he performed the unlocking on an iPhone 4S with baseband 1.0.11. Here’s what I understand:

  1. Insert original carrier AT&T SIM card
  2. Dial 611 for AT&T customer service hotline and drop the call
  3. Turn on Airplane Mode
  4. Take out AT&T SIM card
  5. Insert T-Mobile SIM card
  6. Make sure WiFi is off (he also tapped on ‘Forget this Network” to make sure it doesn’t connect automatically later)
  7. Switch off Airplane Mode and iPhone will search for network. This is followed by the Apple splash screen appearing.
  8. Activation Required will be displayed on the screen
  9. EDGE network will activate automatically – notice the ‘E’ on the top left corner of the screen
  10. Wait for about 20-30 seconds and turn off the phone
  11. Turn on iPhone and the same Activation Required screen will be displayed
  12. When you see one signal bar, tap on Use Cellular Connection
  13. Eject SIM card
  14. Activation Required screen will be displayed the second time
  15. Insert SIM card
  16. Unlocked!

T-Mobile USA readers – if you see this, why don’t you try this and let us know!

iPhone 4S is the First Mobile Phone using Low Power Bluetooth 4.0 a.k.a. Bluetooth Smart

Published on October 25, 2011 by Richard Ker

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced two new brand extensions to its globally recognized Bluetooth logo today in an effort to create consumer awareness around compatibility for new devices implementing Bluetooth v4.0 – the Bluetooth Smart Ready trademark and the Bluetooth Smart trademark; and the iPhone 4S is the first phone to implement such technology.

The press release also mentioned that:

“Bluetooth Smart Ready devices are phones, tablets, PCs and TVs that sit at the center of a consumer’s connected world and implement a Bluetooth v4.0 dual mode radio.

Bluetooth Smart devices are sensor-type devices like heart-rate monitors or pedometers that run on button-cell batteries and were built to collect a specific piece of information. Bluetooth Smart devices include only a single-mode low energy Bluetooth v4.0 radio.”

The chip uses very little power that it can go into devices that are powered only by a standard “button cell” battery common in watches. The battery can last for many years.

More fully featured devices such as the iPhone 4S that can communicate with them and with other, standard Bluetooth devices will be labeled “Bluetooth Smart Ready.”

Casio of Japan has said it will introduce a watch by the end of 2011 that’s Bluetooth Smart. It will be able to link to a smartphone and notify user of incoming emails and text messages by beeping and vibrating. Cool huh?

Meanwhile, Nordic Semiconductor mentioned that one of its Bluetooth Smart chips will go into a belt that measures its wearer’s heart rate sends the information to the user’s mobile phone.

I guess It’s just a matter of time before everything we wear will integrate with our mobile phones.

Photo credit: TechRepublic

This Chinese Undergraduate Student Offered Sex for iPhone 4S

Published on October 24, 2011 by Richard Ker

What would you do to get your hands on the brand new iPhone 4S? Go to the nearest Apple Store? Well, this “naive” Chinese girl is apparently willing to provide sexual favors, just to get this latest gadget from Apple.

A China-based online news portal shows a screen capture of a QQ chat (China’s chat program) between the girl, a year two undergraduate in Nanjing, and a man.

The girl whose nickname is “lovemelo”, first offered to trade oral sex for the new iPhone 4S, which costs around 6,000 yuan (16GB) in China.

The girl was saying, “As long as you wash it clean, it’s really nothing.”

When she thought the man was not interested, she even offered to have sex with him for five consecutive nights.

She also said “You can do anything you want. Or I can even spend months with you.

“I can do anything that you want. Just as long as you get me the Apple.”

When the chat was posted online, the Chinese media managed to track her, and that forced her to change her nick three times.

She later wrote in a post: “What’s wrong with my proposal? Others trade sex for branded luxury too.

“Why pick on me?”

Well, it’s unfortunate for her that someone had the intention to post this story online. It’s either she was joking or plain naive (or stupid?) about the whole thing.