Audio echo bug plagues iPhone 4S owners during voice calls

Following widespread complaints of excessive battery drain thought to be related to a time zone bug, iPhone 4S owners are now beginning to draw attention to a new iPhone bug. According to multiple threads on Apple’s support forum, hundreds of iPhone 4S users are experiencing an audio echo during voice calls when using a wired headset. Users across multiple wireless carriers with various iPhone 4S models report that audio quality on voice calls often depletes after a period of time, and the voice of the caller on the other end of the line begins to echo. BGR was able to independently confirm the echo bug on one of our iPhone 4S handsets. Read on for more.

“When using the Apple hands free headset with the phone during a call, I get an echo problem,” one iPhone 4S owner wrote in a thread on Apple’s support forum. “It does not occur immediately. It can vary from 30 seconds into a call and as far up to 9 mins in before it begins the annoying echo. If I unplug the headset it goes away but will return when I plug the headset back in.”


Multiple readers have contacted BGR via email complaining of the issue as well, which we then tested and confirmed. During our independent testing, we typically found that an echo developed between one and four minutes after starting a call, though some users report that voice calls remain echo-free for up to 12 minutes. We also found that the bug occurs while using Apple-branded wired headsets and third-party headsets alike.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Multiple iPhone owners across a number of forum threads have determined that a simple interim fix for the bug is to enable the handset’s speakerphone during a call once the audio begins to echo, and then to disable it. This effectively restarts the cycle, and call quality will return to normal for a period of time before the echo returns. Via

New trouble for Sony

New trouble for Sony

New trouble for Sony. It looks like the problems still aren't over for Sony, which finally began bringing its Playstation Network back online over the weekend following a massive hack that exposed the information of millions of subscribers and left the company's online gaming network offline for almost a full month. News broke this morning that the email and password reset, aimed to help get players back online, has been compromised.

Nyleveia reported this morning that "A new hack is currently doing the rounds in dark corners of the internet that allows the attacker the ability to change your password using only your account's email and date of birth." Sony responded by yanking the new online password recovery system it had put in place to help verify users' identities. With this system offline, many users who've yet to reset their information since the security breach will still be unable to get back online.

The Sony Playstation Network and the Qriocity service are online, and this exploit won't be a problem for console gamers. But it was an issue for Website users, and it's yet another black eye for an already very bruised Sony. The company claimed that it was putting better security features in place when it announced on Saturday that it was bringing the services back online.

The company has also announced a "customer appreciation" package to compensate customers for the lengthy PSN outage, including 60 days of free subscription and a couple of new Playstation games. At this stage, however, Playstation gamers might just want pick up their toys and find a new playground.

Explosion at iPad plant in China

Explosion at iPad plant in China

Explosion at iPad plant in China. Apple Inc is investigating an explosion that killed two people and injured 16 at a Foxconn factory said to produce the popular iPad 2.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported a large explosion rocked the Hongfujin Precision Electronics plant in a high-tech industrial zone west of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, on Friday evening.

Local officials are also looking into the cause of the blast. Apple shares closed down 1.56 percent at $335.22 on the Nasdaq, which saw a broad sell-off on euro-zone debt worries.

The explosion in a key factory owned by Foxconn International Holdings Ltd -- Apple's main manufacturing partner -- could affect the supply of iPads and investors were watching closely. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said the company was assessing the situation.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at the Foxconn plant in Chengdu and our hearts go out to the victims and their families," he said. "We are working closely with Foxconn to understand what caused this terrible event."

Foxconn representatives did not immediately respond.

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said Foxconn's Chengdu factory makes a lot of iPads because some production had been shifted to that facility from factories in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Apple's iPad 2 commands 80 percent of the burgeoning tablet market in which Motorola Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd also compete.

Apple sold 4.69 million iPads last quarter and is scrambling to meet staggering demand for the mobile device, but is heavily backlogged. Executives had expected production to ramp up during the present quarter to meet demand.

The plant explosion is the latest setback for Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer and an affiliate of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Ind Co Ltd.

The Taiwanese company made headlines last year after reports emerged about poor working conditions at factories in southern China, which critics say may have helped drive several employees to suicide.

The company pledged to improve employee welfare.

Facing higher wages in the southern China manufacturing belt, the scene of labor disputes last year, some Taiwanese manufacturers have opted to shift some operations to the country's interior, where costs are lower.

Foxconn also has plants in North America and Mexico, as well as in European countries, including Slovakia and Poland.