A Superior Court judge in Morristown, New Jersey is considering whether or not a woman who knowingly texted her boyfriend, while he was driving, and who ultimately crashed into a couple on a motorcycle, can be held responsible in civil court.

According to the report, the 18 year old driver was "glancing" at texts from his girlfriend when he crossed traffic and hit two motorcyclists. The driver plead guilty to using his cellphone while driving, was fined $775, and has to make speeches about the dangers of texting and driving, which is illegal in the state of New Jersey.

The motorcyclists are suing the driver, but are also seeking to have his girlfriend added to the suit as well. Their attorney told The New York Post:

“If you know somebody is operating a motor vehicle, if you know it is illegal to text and drive because it violates the law, if you know it’s dangerous, if you know all this and knowingly send a text, then a jury should decide.”

The girlfriend's attorney told The Daily Record that it's not fair or reasonable, and that the girlfriend has no way to control when her boyfriend is going to read her messages.

A decision is expected May 25.

Now, I'm not an attorney, I do not play one on this blog, and I know next to nothing about contributory negligence, but there does not appear to be any precedence to this case the way there is to drinking and driving cases, for example.

The laws surrounded distracted driving are also patchwork. They often target specific items, like phones, instead of general principles. Putting on makeup. Reading newspapers. Drinking and eating. Changing radio stations. Focusing on GPS. Looking at expensive cars. Staring at scantily clad humans.

Conversely, new technologies are emerging that allow for different ways to interact with mobile devices. Chief among them, Siri. With Siri, instead of staring and typing, you can do more listening and talking. You can hear SMS and dictate responses. When it works.

All of this raises a lot of questions. Should there be specific laws against texting, or should there be more general laws against distracted driving? If there are always against texting, should new interfaces like Siri be exempt? Is having a conversation on the phone, or with Siri, different than having a conversation with a passenger who could, theoretically serve as a second set of eyes on the road?

And if something like texting while driving is illegal, and someone knows you're driving and keeps texting you, should they bear some of the responsibility if an accident occurs?

Source: The New York Post

If you're a Vonage user and you have an iPhone, great news -- Vonage has launched a new mobile app that allows you to send text messages and make calls with other Vonage users around the world. For free. The Vonage app pulls in your iPhone's native address book for quick access to initiating calls. Outgoing calls are recognized as originating from your usual phone number, so Caller ID on your friends' phones should still work fine. Needing others to be on Vonage is a pretty big caveat, but even for calling regular land lines, they're claiming rates are 30% lower than Skype. To sweeten the deal, Vonage is throwing in 3000 minutes/month of free mobile and landline calls to the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico for a limited time.

I'm not as impressed with the new Vonage app as Dell Voice, which lets you make outgoing calls to regular ol' landlines and cell phones within Canada for free for the foreseeable future (not just a limited time). Of course, there's no SMS text messaging included with Dell Voice, but I use instant messaging way more often anyway. Besides, if you've got to harass friends to sign up for a new service to get free calling anyway, wouldn't you have better luck with pushing a more widely-recognized brand like Skype? At the very least, Vonage Mobile's offer for free calling to land lines and mobile is pretty nice, even if it's only for a limited time.

Head on over to Vonage for more info on the app, which is also available for Android (if you're into that kind of thing). If you're ready to roll, go ahead and download directly from the App Store.

Scammers never miss an opportunity to scam, and while Twitter, forums, and email have long been subject to disgusting "test & keep new iPhone/iPad/whatever" spam, it looks like the iPhone 5 version has taken to SMS. That's right, not only are they content to waste your time and attention, they're now also wasting your text message totals.

A couple of our Twitter followers received identical scam spam today:

Apple is looking for iPhone 5 testers! The first 1000 users that go to [scam web address] and enter [scam code] will get to test & keep a new iPhone 5.

Needless to say, no they won't. If you get the text message, let us know in the comments, report it to your carrier, and by no means do anything it requests.

Source: @AKMolin, @MDSaunders

The amazingly functional and customizable BiteSMS takes on the deeply integrated and easy to use Messages+ in a battle of the jailbreak messaging apps

Are you jailbroken on iOS 5 and wondering whether you should purchase BiteSMS or Messages+? Both applications add quick reply functionality and make messaging more functional. But which is a better choice for you?

BiteSMS for iOS 5

BiteSMS has been a long time favorite when it comes to messaging enhancement applications. Many competitors have come and gone while BiteSMS seemingly manages to stay at the top of its game.

One thing that sets BiteSMS apart is its ability to customize almost every aspect of your experience. You can choose what buttons you'd like to show up on your quick reply windows such as send, open, close, mark for later, Skype, FaceTime, templates, and more. The quick compose feature provides the option of auto-populating contacts. You can choose for it to auto show favorites, the last person you messaged, and more.

If you send a lot of international text messages, Bite allows you to buy credits to use on their own network. I don't necessarily recommend it as a way not to have traditional text messaging as the rates aren't cheaper than most carriers domestic rates. They are, however, cheaper than most carrier international texting rates. AT&T, for example, charges $10/month for 100 international messages. After that, it's $0.20 per message. You can set up per contact rules for sending messages as well. So if you have certain contacts in a different country, only then will Bite utilize your credits. Bite's prices are as follows -

• $6 for 50 SMS credits
• $12 for 105 SMS credits (includes 5 free credits)
• $24 for 215 SMS credits (includes 15 free credits)
• $60 for 550 SMS credits (includes 50 free credits)
• $120 for 1200 SMS credits (includes 200 free credits)

While BiteSMS has a sleek user interface in its own right, you can definitely tell it isn't something made by Apple. People who choose to theme and don't like the stock look of iOS may actually prefer this. Those of you who like to stick with the stock look may have an issue with it. It's also worth noting that BiteSMS is compatible with both LockInfo and IntelliscreenX.

Messages+ for iOS 5

Messages+ is an update of the messaging enhancement app TLert. The update not only brought a more streamline experience but deep integration into iOS 5. It literally looks like something Apple would release.

While BiteSMS aims to bring you an array of different customizations and user controls, Messages+ aims to be an easy to use add-on that just works. There's next to nothing to configure. You just enable Messages+ and set up a quick compose gesture and you're on your way. Messages+ also comes built-in to IntelliscreenX.

If your main reason for wanting a messaging enhancement app is to not have to stop what you're doing to compose a message, Messages+ will provide this functionality without any added icons. It simply adds a quick reply and quick compose function to the default iOS messaging app.

While Messages+ ties in nicely with IntelliscreenX, it is not currently supported by LockInfo. If you're a LockInfo user, BiteSMS is going to be your best option. We don't know if LockInfo will add support for Messages+ in the future.

BiteSMS vs Messages+ - which is better?

There's no arguing that BiteSMS still has plenty more features and controls than Messages+. It will really come down to what you personally need from a messaging enhancement application.

I personally prefer Messages+ over BiteSMS as I don't send that many international texts and just desire quick reply and quick compose functionality. I also like the stock feel of iOS and Messages+ gives me that. There are no added icons or tons of settings to configure before you start using it. Enable it, set a quick gesture for composing, and you're done.

There are no doubt users out there who care more about control and functionality than interface and ease of use. For those of you that think heavily of these things, BiteSMS is probably going to serve you much better over the long run. Let us know what you decide on and why. Make sure to check out our other resources below for tons of jailbreak apps, themes, tips, and more!

• Messages+ vs BiteSMS forum thread - See what our readers are choosing
• Jailbreak guides, how to's, and news
• Jailbreak apps, hacks, and themes forum
• General jailbreak discussion forum
• iMore downloads section
• List of Cydia repositories

Ever wondered whether or not you can text message multiple photos at once? The answer is yes. Sending them individually is annoying and time consuming. And why when your iPhone easily allows you to send multiple photos at once? This will not only work for text messaging but for e-mailing photos as well.

Although you can send multiple images at once there is still a few caveats that we've found. The first being that you can only send a certain number at once. In most instances, this seems to be five. It also may depend on the size of the photos you're trying to send. You can also only send one video message at a time (for now anyways).

To text multiple images at once, follow these easy steps -

1. Open your Photos app and hit the arrow in the upper right hand corner.
2. Now you should see a few new options along the bottom - Share, Copy, Add To (only in iOS 5), and Delete
3. Tap on the photos you would like to SMS and then click Share. If you're tapping on too many, the Share option will be greyed out.

4. Once you've tapped Share you'll be presented with a few options. Tap Message to send them via text.

5. Your message app will automatically open. Just type in the name of the person you want to send them to and click Send.

That's it! All your photos will be sent to the recipient. They will receive them as separate messages but this method seems to be a lot easier than tapping each photo individually.

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

SuperSwitcher is a new jailbreak mod in Cydia that offers extended functionality and settings access to the Fast App Switcher on your iPhone.

Don't you just hate searching for your favorite app icon in between so many Springboard pages? Wish you could just "bookmark" your favorite apps in the multitasking bar? Now you can with SuperSwitcher!

With SuperSwitcher you can bookmark your 9 favorite apps in the menu above the multitasking bar, and the apps can be set through Settings. But that's not all! You can also change the system settings right from the menu above the multitasking bar!

• Toggle Bluetooth
• Toggle WiFi
• Change volume and brightness settings
• Respring
• Reboot
• Safe Mode
• Tweet, SMS, Mail or Call anyone on the fly

SuperSwitcher takes your multitasking bar to the next level!

This is a really great mod that adds a lot of value to the Fast App Switcher. You can customize your favorite apps for instant access, control brightness and other settings on-the-fly and then some.

If you run into any trouble you can always jump into our Jailbreak and Unlock forums or post it in the comments!

• $.99 -- Cydia Store Link

TechCrunch is helping shed light on an iMessage bug that's causing problems for iOS users trying to send SMS messages to ex-iPhone users who have switched to another platform, such as Android.

What happens is, the iPhone attempts to send the SMS to the ex-iPhone user as an iMessage -- just like it always did before the recipient switched devices. But since Android doesn't support iMessage, the text ultimately fails.

Simple, if naive solution:

1. Don't let your friends switch away from iPhones.

Complicated, if realistic solution:

1. Tell them to go to: https://supportprofile.apple.com/MySupportProfile.do
2. Log in with their Apple ID.
3. Click on “edit products”
4. Click on the “x” to the right of the product.
5. Click “unregister”

According to a tipster in Apple's support forums, this should resolve the issue entirely. Unfortunately, this is just one of several iMessage related bugs we've been tracking lately. New service or not, Apple needs to get on top of this so users don't have to go through steps they ought not have to go through.

Source: Apple Support Communities via TechCrunch

BiteSMS, one of the best jailbreak apps available for the iPhone and iPod touch, has recently been pushed out of beta to version 6.0 with full support for iOS 5. The update brings along a number of new features as well -- here's the full change log:

Version 6.0

16 December 2011

• iOS 5 compatibility, works on iPhone and iPod devices. Fully integrated with all iOS 5 features including iMessaging and Notification Center.
• NEW Look Quick Compose and Quick Reply.
• NEW Passcode lock feature inside Quick Reply.
• NEW Ability to use the native Messages icon instead of the biteSMS one.

Note: For iOS 4 users, in effect you are installing Release 5.5 of biteSMS and don't get any new features.

The update is now in the BigBoss repo, which means there's no longer a need to add a custom Cydia repository in order to get in on the action. Give it a try and let us know how it's working for you on iOS 5!

As always, If you need more help or run into any problems getting things setup, check out our TiPb jailbreak forums!

• $9.99 - Cydia Link

Source: BiteSMS

As we head on into Thanksgiving for those of us in the U.S. we'd just like to say we're thankful for all you TiPb readers out there. Before you head off for time with the family make sure you check out the TiPb Forums for the best darn discussion in iPhone and iPad today!

• iPhone 4 Forum: Vibration for SMS alerts, can it be customized?
• iPhone 4S Forum: Using GPS coordinates as Address in Contacts
• TV, Movies, and Videos Forum : Top 5 all time favorite TV shows?
• iCloud Forum No delete button in Photo Stream, will there ever be one?

If you're not already a member of the TiPb Forums, register now!

Taken a bunch of great photos with your brand new iPhone -- or photos with your new iPad or iPod touch -- and wondering how to share them with the people you know? There are several ways, including Mail and Twitter, but you can easily use Apple's new iMessages service for free, or old style MMS if your friend or family member doesn't yet have an iOS 5 device of their very own.

If you already know how to do this, just save the link for family and friends who might not! (We'll do the helping so you don't have to!)

Sharing photos via Messages from Photos app

Sharing a single photo

1. Open the Photos app
2. Tap the photo you with to share
3. Tap the arrow in the bottom left corner (If the menu bar has disappeared, tap the photo once to bring it back)
4. Tap Message.
5. This will open a blank message with the photo inserted. Fill in the To: field. If you wish, add text below the photo.
6. Tap Send.
7. The Message box with now disappear and send in the background.

Sharing more than one photo

1. Open the Photos app and select the folder that contains the photos you want to share
2. Tap the arrow in the top right corner
3. Tap up to 9 photos that you wish to share (note you can choose only one if you wish)
4. Tap Share in the bottom left corner
5. Tap Message
6. This will open a blank message with the photos inserted. Fill in the To: field. If you wish, add text below the photos.
7. Tap Send

Sharing photos via Messages from Messages app

1. Open Messages app
2. Open a new message or tap on existing conversation with person you wish to share photo with
3. Tap on the photo icon in the bottom left
4. If you want to take a new photo, tap Take Photo or Video. If you want to upload a photo from your Photo Library, tap Choose Existing.
5. If you chose Take Photo or Video, the camera will launch. Take your photo, then tap Use.
6. If you chose Choose Exisitng, browse to and select the photo you wish to share.
7. Both choices will result with the photo being inserted into a new chat bubble.
8. To add more photos, tap the photo icon again.
9. Add any desired text
10. Tap Send

There you go! Now you're all set to start sharing messages via iMessage or MMS!

Let us know how this tip worked out for you, and if you have any questions, ask them in the comments below!

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

SMS+ was just made available in Cydia for jailbroken devices and adds a whole lot of functionality to the stock Messages app. A lot of people may argue that apps like BiteSMS already do all that SMS+ does. If you're someone who prefers the stock messages app, this may be a better choice for you. The price tag is also a bit more manageable as it's priced at only $1.99.

Once installed, you can pop into settings and customize what options you'd like to add. There's no new icon like there is with Bite. This app integrates tightly with the default Messages app.

SMS+ includes the following features and then some -

• Quick reply (Activator gestures can also be configured)
• Text to speech
• Read later
• Status bar notifications
• Timestamps for every message
• Mark all as read
• Delete all
• Pull to sort (sort by date or by sender)

It's currently available in Cydia for $1.99.

[$1.99 - Cydia Search Link]

AT&T has confirmed to Engadget that, as of August 21, they'll be removing all but the unlimited SMS/Text messaging plans:

"We regularly evaluate our offers and are making some adjustments to our messaging lineup.

Starting August 21, we're streamlining our text messaging plans for new customers and will offer an unlimited plan for individuals for $20 per month and an unlimited plan for families of up to five lines for $30 per month. The vast majority of our messaging customers prefer unlimited plans and with text messaging growth stronger than ever, that number continues to climb among new customers. Existing customers don't have to change any messaging plan they have today, even when changing handsets."

With iOS 5 and iMessage likely set for an early October launch, AT&T was facing a world where Apple provided an easy, integrated way to seamlessly exchange free instant messages inside the same Messages app that hosts costly, carrier-based SMS/text messages. Arguably, a subscriber who's friends and family were also mostly on iPhones could have downgraded to a lower plan to save some money.

Now that can't happen. It's unlimited or nothing. And as MG Siegler points out on Paris Lemon, it's quite a coincidence.

SMS is huge money for carriers considering the data used is next to nothing and the price is stratospheric, and iMessage was a threat to that traditional, exorbitant revenue stream.

Now we're just left to wonder which other carriers will follow suit.

[Engadget, ParisLemon]

iOS 5 brings the much heralded iMessage service to the Messages app, beta 2 has added a small but long-requested feature all its own -- the ability to swipe away the keyboard. In current versions of iOS, one you tap into the text entry box it's a bit of a chore to get rid of it again, which is annoying if you want to see the full screen view of your messages.

Now, with iOS 5 beta 2, you simply touch above the keyboard and swipe downwards, and the keyboard goes away. Simple. Sweet.

Again, a minor feature to be sure, but one that will no doubt be appreciated by many.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We're getting tons and tons of questions about iOS 5's new iMessage, how it works, where it sends to, and how to avoid sending to the wrong person or device. Apple hasn't given out a lot of details about it yet, but based on what they showed on the keynote and how they've previously handled user and device ID, we can make some guesses. Now if it looks a little complex... well, it is. But we'll do our best to lay it all out for you, after the break!

So here's how iMessage works, as best as we can figure out at the moment.

How do you enable iMessage?

You can enable iMessage in Settings on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It's similar to how FaceTime is setup.

1. Launch Settings
2. Tap on Messages
3. Tap on Use Your Apple ID for iMessage
4. Sign In with an Apple ID (MobileMe, iTunes, etc.) or Create New Account
5. Enter the email address you want to use for iMessage
6. Apple will verify the address, if it's not already registered, you'll get an email asking you to verify it.
7. You can Add Another Email address, or several, if you want.

If you're on an iPhone, once you're logged into iMessage your iPhone phone number will also be registered with iMessage and anything sent to it from another iOS 5 device will prioritize iMessage over SMS.

Does iMessage count as text or data?

1. Messages SMS still count against your total number of SMS/MMS in your package (if you have a limit)
2. iMessages are sent over data, not SMS/MMS so they count against your data cap (if you have one).

How does Message decide between sending SMS and iMessages?

When you enter a contact into Messages, you'll see all the available phone number and email accounts for that contact.

1. If they have an iMessage-registered email address, you'll see a little blue word bubble to the right of the address.
2. If they have an iMessage-registered iPhone phone number (their iPhone is logged into iMessage), you'll see a little blue word bubble to the right of the address.
3. If they have a non-iMessage phone number (for example, they're logged out or they're using a BlackBerry), you won't see any bubble.

When you pick a contact, it starts off gray and Messages will process it for a second.

1. If it determines it can send via iMessage, the contact turns blue and the text entry box says "iMessage".
2. If it determines it can send via SMS/MMS, the contact turns green and the text entry box says "Text Message".
3. If it determine it can't send via either iMessage or SMS/MMS, the contact turns red and shows an exclamation mark.

So which device sends what type of message then?

1. If you're on an iPhone and all you have is the other person's mobile number, Messages will send via SMS
2. If you're on an iPad or iPod touch and all you have is the other person's mobile number, Messages will not be able to send (you'll get a red exclamation mark in the contact name), because iPod touch and iPad can't do SMS.
3. If you're on an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and all you have the other person's iMessages ID, Messages will send via iMessage

What if I have an iPod touch or iPad, but my phone is non-Apple? (Feature, BlackBerry, Android, etc.) Will my iOS device intercept my SMS?

No. Remember, when you enter in a contact, you can see all their associated numbers and email addresses.

1. If the person sends to your iMessage email address, it will show up on your iPod touch or iPad.
2. If the person sends to your mobile phone number, it will show up on your mobile phone.

If we share the same iTunes account, how do I make sure my husband/wife/kids don't get my iMessages

Luckily, Apple's fragmented ID system works in your favor. Just like FaceTime, iMessage email addresses are separate and independent from iTunes logins.

1. Choose the same address for multiple devices if they're all yours and you want to get your iMessages on all of them.
2. Choose different addresses for multiple devices if they belong to different members of the family and you want them each to get their own iMessages.

You can use any email account you validate with Apple (we even know some people using @crackberry.com accounts. Shh. No names.)

How do I see/change the address associated with iMessage?

1. Launch Settings
2. Tap Messages
3. Scroll down and tap on Receive At
4. Tap Add Another Email to add an addition email account
5. Tap an existing email account, the tap Remove This Email to remove an account

Just go through each of your devices and assign them the same email, or different emails, as suits your individual or family needs.

Update: Thanks reader x for the screen shots!

Any other questions?

Again, we won't know for sure until iOS 5 ships this fall and Apple officially explains how iMessage works, but this is our best guesses based on available information. If you have any corrections, or other questions, let us know!

BBM is one of the most compelling aspects of the BlackBerry experience -- could Apple be set to bring their own instant messaging service to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad... via Twitter? MG Siegler said yesterday that Apple was going to be including Twitter image posting in iOS 5 and John Gruber added that the integration could be much broader, and at the system level. Then Siegler fired back:

While Anil Dash wonders if Apple could make their own Twitter, I just think it would be great if Apple would create (or buy) any type of messaging services that bypasses SMS. It’s such a colossal rip off. And out of date. And it continues to empower the carriers.

There’s a reason why BBM took off. Apple could make it work device-to-device as well. I’m thinking we need a FaceTime without the “Face”.

The big problem with BBM is that, so far, it's locked to the BlackBerry platform. Twitter is cross platform. Sure, it's still proprietary, like Whatsapp, Kik, and other BBM alternatives, but the user base is huge. Dieter and I spoke about this, and there are still a lot of questions, of course. Twitter has had problems with scaling and being the BBM of iOS would be a lot of scale. Could Apple's Data Center help with that? Also, Twitter doesn't currently have group messages. Would they need them? Would partnering with Apple help Twitter bring those features to market faster? Would it then roll out across other platforms, paving the way for a real, universal communications protocol?

So yeah, there are a lot of questions, but as Siegler points out, Twitter is free, while SMS isn't. That makes for a rather elegant end run around carriers and their obscene SMS prices.

Apple has relied on Google for Maps, YouTube, and search in the past. Could they rely on Twitter for text communications in the future? Would you want them to?

[Paris Lemon]

If you have a burning desire to make phone calls or send SMS messages on your iPad 3G, you'll be happy to know that a group by the name of iPhoneIslam has demonstrated a jailbreak application that enables calls, SMS and FaceTime via phone number on an iPad 3G.

The hack will be called PhoneItiPad and should be available in the Cydia app store before WWDC. The hack requires no additional hardware but you obviously need a jailbroken iPad 3G. This means no iPad 2 support until there is a jailbreak released for that.

Once installed you get an iPhone dialler screen which unfortunately is just the iPhone version blown up 2x. It does look a little ropey; they are working on a full resolution version for this. SMS messages do work perfectly in full screen mode on the iPad. The demo video shows how it all works and it does look like a handy feature to have.

Take a look at the demo video after the break. Then pop back here and let us know if you would welcome the ability to use your iPad 3G as a phone?

[iClarified]

Visiting the TiPb forums is a great way to spend some of your time leading up to Apple's iPad 2 event that is coming up in a few short hours. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven’t already, head on over and register now!

• Today's event will more than likely be the debut of the iPad 2 but what else, if anything do you think Apple has in store for us?

• Speaking of the iPad 2 why not check out our forum dedicated to the iPad?

• New to the iPhone world? Check out this thread filled with neat tips and tricks for your new device!

• Want a chance to win a Steve Jobs action figure? Check out the details right here!

• One of the most popular questions we get asked is can I use custom SMS tones on my iPhone? Well you can but you will need to jailbreak. For the full rundown of how to get your custom SMS tones visit this thread here.

See you in the forums!

A rather interesting bug has been discovered: emoji sent over SMS between Verizon iPhone and AT&T iPhones is not recognized both ways - Verizon can receive from AT&T, but not vice versa.

When a Verizon iPhone texts emoji to an AT&T iPhone, all that is received is a bunch of random characters. However, a Verizon iPhone will recognize emoji sent from an AT&T iPhone with no problem. This inability to interpret emoji is only an issue with the messages app, however. An AT&T iPhone can recognize emoji elsewhere, like email and twitter, just fine - even if the emoji was sent from a Verizon iPhone.

Anyone else run into this problem?

Note: We've posted a new version of this article, updated to include iPhone 4S and Sprint.

While many have been waiting a long time for the Verizon iPhone, the same CDMA network that gives Verizon its terrific coverage and reliability brings with it a host of other problems, including the famous lack of simultaneous voice and data and limited international roaming, but also some lesser known issues such as split SMS messages and greatly reduced conference calling options.

None of these are new to the Verizon iPhone but they are new to iPhone now that it's on Verizon, and new to users who haven't experienced CDMA before. We'll take a look at them after the break.

No simultaneous voice and data

Verizon runs on CDMA2000 using EVDO Rev. A for 3G data (see our wireless networking guide for more on what those terms mean). EVDO Rev. A does not support simultaneous voice and data the way AT&T (and other GSM carriers) HSPA networks do. That means if a call comes in while you're using 3G data -- surfing the web, Skyping, sharing your connection via personal hotspot -- you can either ignore the call and continue using 3G data, or answer the call and effectively put your 3G data connection on "pause". If you're on a call you won't receive email or push notifications and if you try to surf the web or download an app you'll be informed you're not connected to the 3G network. Once the call ends, 3G data reconnects and you can start using the internet again.

If you're on Wi-Fi as opposed to 3G data you can make calls and use data without a problem. It's only 3G that cuts out during calls.

Verizon has chosen not to roll out EVDO Rev. B, which does support simultaneous data in favor of more quickly deploying a 4G LTE network (currently a hybrid CDMA-voice with LTE-data network, in the future a Voice over LTE network). They are rolling out Voice over Rev A (VoRA) aka SVDO which will allow for simultaneous voice and data on future CDMA/EVDO phones, but not the Verizon iPhone. (See The Cell Phone Junky for more on the technology.)

Limited international roaming

GSM/HSPA, the standard used by AT&T and T-Mobile in the US, is far closer to being an international standard than the CDMA/EVDO technology used by Verizon. While there are a few other CDMA/EVDO networks in North America and Asia, GSM/HSPA is supported throughout most of the rest of the world, including Europe. If you use a Verizon iPhone there are a limited number of countries where you'll be able to roam. Verizon does offer loaner GSM phones for international travelers but that's not as seamless a solution as GSM iPhones that can intrinsically roam around most of the world.

SMS/Text splitting

SMS/Text messages are limited to 160 characters. On AT&T and other GSM iPhones, if a message exceeds 160 characters it will still be shown as a single message to both the sender and receiver. On Verizon once an SMS hits 160 characters, any additional text is split off into a second message, after 320, a third message, etc. The same content is still delivered, it's just not presented as nicely. (In some cases the message parts might even appear out of order which is even more annoying.)

Limited conference calling

Verizon's CDMA network only supports "3 way calling" so you can only enter into a conference call with up to 2 other people (3 including yourself) at the same time. It doesn't matter if iPhone can handle more, Verizon's network and hence the Verizon iPhone is limited to 3-way calling.

Likewise, 9to5Mac points out that handling conference calls is also more challenging on the Verizon iPhone since you can't take one party "private" or hang up on one caller while keeping the other active. (It hangs up on all callers.)

Apple provides the following diagram in their knowledge base:

That network

So yes, overall there are a lot of limitations to the way CDMA handles voice. However, if Verizon has great coverage in your area, you're on Wi-Fi when you want to talk and surf, you rarely if ever travel internationally, split SMS/Text messages don't bother you, and agile conference calling isn't a must-have business feature for your iPhone, you may not care.

Otherwise it's a compromise. Decide what's most important to you and which carrier best provides it. If anything is a deal-breaker, then that makes your choice much simpler.

For more information and help check out our Verizon iPhone Forum.

Curious how to delete individual SMS Texts (or sexts, we're not here to judge!) MMS from a conversation in your iPhone Messages app? It's not obvious but it is simple, and we'll show you how after the break!

Whether you're a young celebrity trying to avoid the tabloids or just a regular user trying to stay out of trouble, it's useful to know how to delete just certain SMS or even MMS messages without losing your entire conversation.

1. Launch the SMS application
2. Open the conversation you have messages you would like to delete
3. Select Edit in the top right on the screen
4. Select which messages you would like to delete by selecting them individually or all of them at once if you have multiple messages to delete
5. Select delete on the bottom left

It is that simple and you will have gotten rid of whatever you didn't want visible and you will still have the rest of the conversation saved.

Bonus tip: If you decide you do want to nuke the entire conversation, go back to the conversation list in the Messages app and swipe your finger left to right. A red Delete button will appear. Tap it and the conversation will disappear entirely.

If you want to learn how to delete even more incriminating evidence personal information from your iPhone, check out our longer guide.

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

I don't know about you but I have this love/hate relationship with my iPhone's auto correct. I can't spell (don't tell Rene!) so I can't really live without it, but that means I end up having auto correct change my words, sometimes into something horrific. If you think that's funny head on over to Damnyouautocorrect.com, a site dedicated entirely to just this type of humor.

One more, potentially NSFW, after the break.

Has this ever happened to you? Leave a comment, share your misfortune, and give me a laugh at the same time!

[Damnyouautocorrect]

Wondering how to protect your privacy and stop iPhone SMS popups from revealing the contents of your text message? It's not set that way by default, which is pretty annoying, but it can be changed. We'll show you how, after the break!

Special thanks to Freiteez from the forums for this tip!

Here's how to make your iPhone text messages more discreet:

• From the home screen, tap on the Settings app
• Tap on Messages
• Find where it says "show preview"
• Switch to off.

Now when you get a text message, instead of showing the actual contents of the message, it will only say "text message". (Note: the name of the sender will still be displayed.)

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Apple has applied for yet another patent; this one is for filtering text messages. Why would one want to filter text messages, you ask? To prevent sexting of course!

Sexting -- SMS text messages containing sexual content -- restrictions could allows the user (or parent of the user) to block the exchange of text-based messages containing any type of content, or to have the offending content removed before the transmission is complete.

Systems, devices, and methods are provided for enabling a user to control the content of text-based messages sent to or received from an administered device. In some embodiments, a message will be blocked (incoming or outgoing) if the message includes forbidden content. In other embodiments, the objectionable content is removed from the message prior to transmission or as part of the receiving process. The content of such a message is controlled by filtering the message based on defined criteria.

The patent is not only about stopping material, however. It also talks about requiring certain text to be included in the messages.

The criteria may be defined according to a parental control application. These techniques also may be used, in accordance with instructional embodiments, to require the administered devices to include certain text in messages. These embodiments might, for example, require that a certain number of Spanish words per day be included in e-mails for a child learning Spanish.

If Apple adds this type of control to the iPhone, it will be very appealing to parents who want to make sure their teens aren't engaging in activity they do not approve of. Teens, however, will likely not welcome this feature with open arms. On the flip side, the more control a parent has over an electronic device, the more likely they will purchase it for their child.

As a new mom to a baby girl, you better believe I hope this type of control is available when I'm ready to give her her first iPhone.

Any parents out there hoping to see this feature hit iPhones in the near future? Any teens hoping this feature does not hit the scene until you're out of the control of your parents?

[9To5Mac]

iOS 4.2 for iPhone seems poised to finally provide yet another hugely requested feature -- set individual text message tones.

Nice to see Apple knocking things off the nagging omissions list. Do I even have to ask if you're going to be using this?

UPDATE: Yes, individual, not custom.

[9to5mac]

iOS 4 will now put an exclamation badge on the Messages app as a way to inform you when an SMS text or MMS multimedia message fails to send.

Previously, the exclamation badge was only present inside the Messages app itself, beside the message that failed to send. Unless you were there and checking, you might not see it, especially not right away.

Now, if and when there's been a failure to send, as long as you pass by the Messages icon on your home screen, there's a good chance you'll see it.

For more on Apple's latest software, see our complete iOS 4 feature walkthrough.

[Thanks Alex!]

QuickReply for SMS functions basically as an expanded plug-in to the built-in SMS app.  There is no icon for QuickReply and it just interacts with built-in functionality.  QuickReply attempts to solve a lot of the problems that the native SMS app still has.  The major one being when you get a text, you have two options, either close the text or view it to respond.  If you're in the middle of doing something on your phone, it'll close you out of it in order to take you to the text app.

QuickReply solves this problem by adding another button.  In addition to the traditional close and view buttons, you'll see a reply button to the right.  When you click reply, it'll simply bring up a keyboard and you can reply to the text without interrupting the app you are currently running.  When you're done, tap send and you're done!  The keyboard disappears and your text sends in the background. In settings, you have the option of changing the traditional keyboard to a transparent type keyboard if you'd like as well.  You'll also see an option to replace the view button with a call button.

With the latest update to QuickReply, contact pictures were added. I thought this was a really neat addition. If you have a picture set for a person in your address book, it'll pop up in the right hand top corner of the text on the homescreen. Speaking of the homescreen, QuickReply also allows you to reply directly from the homescreen. Enabling the lockscreen option in settings will allow you to double-tap a text off the homescreen and bring up a keyboard to respond without even having to unlock your phone.

QuickReply is definitely one of those apps I'd sorely miss on a stock iPhone. For anyone who's jailbroken, it's definitely worth the $2.99. And if you'd like to try it out, they have a trial period available.

[$2.99 - Cydia Link]

Pros

• No extra icon cluttering your homescreen
• Ease of use
• Reasonably priced

Cons

• Available to jailbreakers only

Pinger sent us word that their Textfree [$5.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone and iPod touch, which lets US users send and reply to SMS, has hit 1 billion messages delivered in just 10 months.

Now, we don't usually run metrics announcements here at TiPb, but I don't usually come back from CES with $45 in SMS charges either (billed at $0.80 each since I was roaming). Would that they would internationalize it!

If you've used Textfree or another SMS-alternative, how did it work for you?

Engadget has been getting tips from deep code divers who are exploring Apple's latest iPhone 3.2 SDK for the iPad and what they're finding includes code/hooks for iChat-style video Calling, file downloads from Mobile Safari, support for telephony like SMS and calls, and some prototype support for a "handwriting keyboard". The video conferencing news is especially intriguing:

We're told that there are hooks to accept and decline a video conference, flip a video feed (which suggests a front-facing camera) and -- most importantly -- run the video call in either full screen mode or in just a portion of the screen. That means you'll be able to chat and do other things at the same time, which could mean there's at least some type of multitasking going on here.

Could this be another example of the iPad being "unfinished", or of Apple removing a camera at the last minute -- like the iPod touch G3 -- because they couldn't get an implementation that was good enough in time for the big reveal?

Looks like there's some good news (or good speculation at least) for iPhone owners as well, since the devices all share the same OS code base:

chpwn also tells us [...] both the new landscape orientation for the homescreen and keyboard support appear to be destined for the iPhone itself when 3.2 comes out.

UPDATE: Gizmodo received a statement from Apple regarding the 3.0.1 software update:

We appreciate the information provided to us about SMS vulnerabilities which affect several mobile phone platforms. This morning, less than 24 hours after a demonstration of this exploit, we've issued a free software update that eliminates the vulnerability from the iPhone. Contrary to what's been reported, no one has been able to take control of the iPhone to gain access to personal information using this exploit.

ORIGINAL: Apple just went ahead and dropped the iPhone OS 3.0.1 software update for all users to grab directly from iTunes. Still no mention on Apple's site of what exactly this update includes besides the patching of the recently discovered SMS vulnerability - just don't expect much of anything else except for the possibility of some potential bug fixes.

Updated yet? Notice anything new? Not going to update? Let us know in the comments below!

As with any update from Apple, if you are currently running the 3.0 software jailbroken, do not update if you wish to keep your device in it's current state. Updating will break your jailbreak.

Technologizer is reporting on the developing story on SMS attacks coming out of today's Black Hat Conference sessions. Seems like while the iPhone is grabbing a lot of attention, almost all GSM phones are said to be vulnerable. Basically, they get around the anti-spoofing security and send data designed to get access and take control of the phone.

On the iPhone specific side, however:

In a final coup for the conference, Lackey and Miras demonstrated an iPhone app they call TAFT which can, at the click of a few buttons, transmit various types of attacks against specific, vulnerable phone models, including iPhones, and phones running the Windows Mobile 5 and pre-”cupcake” Android operating systems.

Vendors, including Apple are working on patching the exploit, though there is still no word which specific models or firmware versions are vulnerable.

More as the story continues to develop.

UPDATE: Some folks are telling is that this is an iPhone 2.2.1 exploit already patched in 3.0. We'll wait for an update from Black Hat before we exhale, however...

Almost a month ago we linked to an Engadget report on Charlie Miller and his SMS exploit for the iPhone. Well, today is the day he intends to show it off at the Black Hat conference.

Thanks to some last minute media attention, however, the general iPhone user base seems to be getting a tad nervous. And rightly so. We've said it before and we'll say it again, in an ideal world, NSA expert come iHacker Charlie, who's claim to current fame is using Mac exploits to win Pwn2own contests and free laptops, would work with companies like Apple and Microsoft (yes, it looks like Windows Mobile has an exploit as well), and those companies would patch the exploits as immediately as possible, before any "research" was publicly disclosed and any bad guys decided to use them as attack vectors.

TiPb will update post-Miller's Black Hack disclosure, and hopefully Apple will roll the security fix into a quick 3.0.2 firmware release, or hurry 3.1 out of the gate.

In an ideal world, Mac and iPhone hacker Charlie Miller would discover vulnerabilities, inform Apple, and Apple would then patch them before they had any chance of being exploited "in the wild".

Miller, however, prefers to keep them to himself so he can win MacBooks and detail them at Black Hat conferences. The good of the hacker obviously outweighs the good of the users, every one. So be it.

Miller's latest iPhone-related find was disclosed at SyScan in Signapore:

a hole that would let attackers "run software code on the phone that is sent by SMS over a mobile operator's network in order to monitor the location of the phone using GPS, turn on the phone's microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, or make the phone join a distributed denial of service attack or a botnet."

Apple, for their part, is hoping to have this patched before Miller's upcoming Black Hat gig.

We hope so too.

[via Engadget. Thanks Travis for the tip!]

Michael on Facebook sent us link to this announcement on innerfence, which says Google is shutting down the Infinite SMS App.

According to the developers:

Google has claimed no grievance with Infinite SMS other than its success. Their given reason for the block isn’t abuse or wrongdoing; it’s that we brought too many users (and thus too much cost) to an experimental service.

Google’s official statement reads:

Infinite SMS is a third party app that has been using Google technology to provide free SMS for users, while we were paying for the cost of the text messages. While Google is supportive of third party apps, we've decided we can't support this particular usage of our system at this time. SMS chat is still just an experiment in the early testing stages in Gmail Labs. We're blocking all external XMPP clients from sending SMS; we're not singling out Inner Fence.

SMS, of course, uses the carrier channel to inexpensively send short 160 byte text messages which the Telco's then exorbitantly price gouge users $0.20 per message (do the math, thats thousands for megs) or offer bundled in large or unlimited numbers. They've even priced them so high for businesses that companies like Twitter -- and apparently more so Google -- can't or don't want to pay for them, especially for international users.

Are you an Infinite SMS user? If so, what are your thoughts on Innerfence, Google, experimental services, and SMS charges?

Now this is not something new here, but AT&T and American Idol are at it again. The past few days AT&T has been sending out text messages advertising one of Fox's TV shows. How do I know? I got one of them... Of course this message does not cost the recipient anything and they could easily opt out by responding to the spam with a simple "stop". Even so, it still has the ability to be bothersome to AT&T customers.

Like I mentioned above this is not something new, I remember getting a similar text message last year when American Idol started. It would become a nuisance if it started to get out of control but a single text, I can live with that. Now imagine this -- all TV shows start advertising this way, then add movies, random products, etc... Sounds like this has the possibility to become very annoying sometime in the future.

If what I just mentioned turned out to be the case, would you be able to opt out all together? Would you have to opt out on individual advertisements as they are received? We want to know what is your, our readers, take on all of this?

Sound off in the comments!

In case you haven't read it already, our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn, has an outstanding article up at sibling-site WMExperts highlighting his top 5 reasons Twitter is better than SMS (and vice versa).

There's a lot of intertube fuss about SMS lately, as a recent New York Times article once again shone the spotlight on the disgustingly dirty price gouging (and potential fixing) that goes on when it comes to SMS rates in North America. Basically, SMS (at 160 bytes/characters) is ridiculously cheap for the carriers to transmit, no matter what the scale, and yet the prices have doubled from $0.10 to $0.20 on many networks over the last few years. Voice, by contrast, involves much more data and is much more "expensive" in terms of infrastructure costs. North Americans will pay ludicrous sums of money for "cheap" SMS but not for "expensive" voice, so the carriers take advantage.

Dieter points out that the cost, community, compatibility, control, and context of Twitter give it a clear advantage of SMS, even as the discoverability, dilution of quality, dropping 20 characters, downtime, and potential delays in notification (outside the US) make it still far from perfect.

Flaws and all, Dieter is moving towards Twitter (@backlon) and away from SMS. Am I going to do the same? I already have (@reneritchie) and without really considering it. But here's the thing -- I have considered that not only should I not have to consider it, I don't think any iPhone user should. (Or any @theiphoneblog follower either!)

I mentioned in my return to the iPhone 3G Round Robin final review that one of the things I'd like to see for the iPhone is a Mobile iChat app, but really taken to the next level. BlackBerry PIN messenger is what puts the "crack" in CrackBerry.com and an always on, multi-tasking Mobile iChat client would go a long way to putting some in the iPhone as well. Beyond that, however, Apple is famous for being the one company that really understands something truly significant for consumer end users:

The interface is the application.

There's already an SMS client on the iPhone, and guess what? It already kind of looks like iChat. If Apple stuck a Mobile iChat client on as well, it could look functionally identical. So why, then, would Apple need to add that client? Some Twitter clients looks functionally very similar to iChat already as well. Why, then, would we need separate Twitter clients?

From a user-perspective, abstracting an application away from the pipes that feed it is a huge win. Take Mobile Mail for example, you can setup a Gmail, Exchange, MobileMe, or other email account, yet the app itself looks and functions the same regardless. Add one account, take another away, and the user experience doesn't change. This means that, behind the scenes, you can pretty much muck around with the pipes, improve them, swap an old one out for a new one, drop a troublesome one for a reliable one, all with very low impact on the front end -- maybe even no impact at all. It's transparent to the end user.

Now imagine there was a presence client on the iPhone -- I'll stick with calling it Mobile iChat to keep it simple. You set up your SMS account, your Twitter, your AIM, MobileMe, Jabber, Google Chat... whatever and then you have one consistent UI that elegantly handles and presents your conversations to you. If one pipe disappears, like Pownce, you just delete that account or foward to another. If a new pipe shows up, like BlackBerry announces PIN-like messenger for the iPhone (breathe Kevin, breathe!) you just add it in.

There are, of course, a bunch of reasons why this isn't likely to happen, and lots of people who prefer to keep their cookies all in separate jars anyway. My personal belief remains, however, that this is the future, and the iPhone is the device that's going to bring us the closest and the fastest to that future.

Of course, there will always be a place for "better" dedicated client apps that provide unique, rich features focused on a single protocol, but who knows, with push email, maybe all inter-personal text communications could eventually fold into a single unified, consistent, experience. It would, at the very least, be nice to have as a hyper-productivity meets connectivity option. wouldn't it?

Reader Karl writes in to let us know his twelve year old son discovered a glitch in SMS security:

Being security conscious he turned on the passcode lock and disabled SMS Preview. [...] If a message is received during the passcode entry or while the screen is locked, a generic message of “New Text Message” appears, to prevent viewing of messages without unlocking the phone. [...] If however the phone is placed in emergency call mode, any incoming SMS messages are previewed instead of presented as the generic messages.

Next comes two issues concerning the implementation choices Apple made in the iPhone Mobile Mail client. According to Ars Technica, as disclosed by Aviv Raff, the first involves the way Mail truncates URLs for display on the iPhone. If a malicious URL is properly crafted by an attacker, the truncation can cause a fake URL to be non-obvious to the users, and thus more likely to result in phishing.

The second results from the lack of an option to display images in the full HTML Mobile Mail client. Since images are automatically displayed, spammers can gain confirmation that the email account that received it is active and ripe for spam attack.

As always, malicious attacks evolve and propagate at an alarming rate, and while we hope Apple fixes these immediately if not sooner, the onus is ultimately and always on we end users to pay attention and do everything we can to avoid them.

When I picked up my shiny black iPhone 3G last Friday, I knew I was going to have to pay the inevitable rate increase for data (another $10 smackers a month).  I also knew I would (hissing a curse under my breath) lose my built-in 200 text messages per month.  AT&T's SMS packages offer a laughable range of offerings:  $5 a month for 200 messages, then an Olympian leap to $15 for 1500 messages and $20 for unlimited.  What, no room for $10 a month for, say, 750 or 1000 messages?  But I digress.

The basic idea goes thusly: AIM (and thus your AIM app on your iPhone) is able to send free text messages by sending them to +13522225555 (or whatever the phone number is).  There's a bit more to it, of course, so be sure to click on through and read Carlson's walkthrough.

(Post updated since publication by request)

We already told you that 1.1.3 hasn't been all it's cracked up to be, but one of the issues with the ROM slipped by us. Namely: some people have been experiencing SMS messages getting listed out of order. Threaded text is the best thing since, well, SMS, but it doesn't do much good if your texts are all out of order.

The problem arises when you don't have your iPhone's clock set to update automatically from the network time and your iPhone thinks it's one time, the carrier another. So presumably the SMS app lists incoming texts by their carrier-based timestamp and yours by the internal timestamp -- a mismatch means out of order texts.

The fix - turn on automatic updating and deal with whatever hassles that might bring you if you travel between time zones a lot.

(via Engadget Mobile)