But you can still boost your odds of getting a presentable photo if you remember to hold the phone with both hands.
The cameras in some current smartphones - Apple's iPhone 4S in particular, but also some Android competitors like HTC's One X series- no longer require an automatic apology for the quality of their output. Tip: Phone cameras work better with both hands That's a huge convenience to some users - including, as I observed elsewhere two weeks ago - tech journalists who already own one smartphone but could use another for overseas use and occasional tests.
The carrier will, however, keep its iPhone locked against use with other carriers in the U.S. (Sprint makes you wait until you've had 90 days in good standing on a contract, while AT&T will only unlock an iPhone after you're out of contract).īut with Cricket, publicist Greg Lund confirmed, you could buy an iPhone, pay for a month of service to activate it on Cricket's network, then take the device on the plane and pop in a prepaid SIM when you arrive overseas. Virgin, by contrast, will keep its iPhone locked, spokeswoman Jayne Wallace said, while Sprint, Verizon and AT&T impose varying restrictions on subscribers hoping to get an iPhone unlocked. Cricket says it will keep the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card slot on its iPhone 4S unlocked for international use. In its AWS (Advanced Wireless Service) territory, a Cricket iPhone will still work but customers can't buy one.īut for one group of customers, a Cricket iPhone could be enormously helpful: Those who travel overseas.
Although Cricket relies on the same Sprint network to fill in gaps in its own network, it will only sell the iPhone in markets where it provides service on PCS (Personal Communications Service) frequencies. Virgin also offers a wider usable network. Its $30 plan would save $300 a year over Cricket, but even its $40 plan - with far more calling minutes included than the average American uses- saves enough over a year to offset Cricket's cheaper upfront price.
But you're still getting a "real" iPhone, with the same Apple software as any other and the same iOS 6 upgrade this fall.īy the numbers alone, Virgin offers the greatest potential savings. You could buy an iPhone from Cricket or Virgin, use it for a month, then operate it only on Wi-Fi until you care to pay for a new month of service. Beginning June 29, you can pay $50 a month for unlimited talk and text and 2.5 GB of full-speed access (after which speeds drop to under 256 kbps) a $40 option "only" covers 1,200 minutes, while a $30 plan includes 300 minutes. Virgin Mobile USA, a division of Sprint, followed with a different pitch: $649 for the 16 GB iPhone 4S and $549 for the 8 GB iPhone 4, representing no discount from Apple, but a cheaper selection of plans.
It will offer one price plan, a $55/month bundle of unlimited texting and talking, plus 2.3 gigabytes of 3G broadband (after which your download speeds can be cut to under 100 kilobits per second). That's about $150 less than what Apple charges for unlocked versions of those models. Cricket hopped into the market first, announcing May 31 that on June 22, it would start selling the 16-gigabyte iPhone 4S and the 8 GB version of the iPhone 4 for $499.99 and $399.99.