How to Setup VPN for iPhone

If you looking for affordable VPN for iPhone, click here to visit HMA VPN. It costs $7/month only with unlimited usage.

Setting up VPN for iPhone is very easy. Apple iPhone come with VPN support that you can connect VPN in iPhone without any difficulties. Here list the simple steps to make the connection:

1. Sign up an account with VPN provider. I am using HMA VPN at $7/month and the account can be shared with my iPad, Mac and Apple TV.
2. HMA should give you login information like IP address, user and password. Make sure the account is L2TP, PPTP or IPSec. OpenVPN is not supported in iPhone
3. On your iPhone, touch the Settings app, select General > Network > VPN > Add VPN Configuration
4. Enter the information you got from HMA

Now the basic configuration is done. Now you have the option to turn on/off VPN when needed. Make sure you see the VPN on top if you are surfing secured information in public environment.

What to do with VPN for iPhone?

• You may watch Netflix on iPhone outside US when you connect to VPN server in United States

• You may make secured but cheap overseas call with Skype over VPN
• You may unblock access to Facebook and Twitter if you are physically located in China.
• You may even listen to Last.fm or Pandora when you are travelling aboard

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Apple’s iPhone Continues To Show Strong Growth In The U.S., Samsung And Android Adoption Slow

Apple’s trajectory in the U.S. smartphone market over the past little while has been an upwards one, with the company gaining more and more iPhone subscribers every month. During the three-month period covering November 2012 to February 2013, Apple added 8.9 million new iPhone subscribers according to comScore, while Android as a platform in total added only 2.9 million. That means Apple’s share of the total smartphone subscriber base in the U.S. grew to 38.9 percent from 35 percent, while Android’s dropped from 53.7 to 51.7 percent.

ComScore’s figures also show that in terms of smartphone manufacturers, Apple also continues to lead the pack. Its share among OEMs rose 3.9 percentage points during the three month period, while Samsung gained only 1 percent percentage point, rising from 20.3 percent of the U.S. market to 21.3 percent. That means Apple and the iPhone continue to enjoy almost double the smartphone manufacturer share of its next closest rival.

The loser in this case wasn’t either Apple or Samsung, however, both of whom gained subscribers and share, but BlackBerry, which as a platform shed 1.7 million subscribers in the U.S. between November and February. These numbers predate the launch of BB10, however, so we’ll have to watch to see if that helps BlackBerry stem the tide of users leaving.

Of course, both Google and Samsung stand to reap the benefits of upcoming device launches, which could help swing the pendulum back in their favor over the coming months. Samsung is on the verge of debuting its next-generation flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, with pre-orders beginning in just a couple of weeks. The HTC One is also coming to the U.S. market in mid-April, which could give Android as a platform additional firepower in terms of competing with iOS and the iPhone.

Apple’s success to date has been based on the strong performance of the iPhone 5 since launch, and that device seems to continue to be an attractive choice for U.S. subscribers. There still doesn’t appear to be much in the way of a true race for a third platform, however, with Microsoft and BlackBerry either actively losing share or seeing only insignificant gains. The market is now at a crucial juncture in terms of product releases, but the fight looks likely to continue to remain a two-party affair for the foreseeable future.

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T-Mobile Announces $0 Down iPhone Trade-in Offer For Switchers

T-Mobile USA is going all out to get customers from its rival. With just over two days to go for the iPhone launch on its network, T-Mobile has announced a trade-in program to make it extremely attractive for existing iPhone users to switch from another network.

Normally, customers have to pay $99 up front to buy iPhone 5 on T-Mobile’s network and an additional $20 a month for two years, on top of the phone and data plan.

With the new trade-in offer, customers who have an iPhone 4S or iPhone 4 don’t have to pay $99 up front and they also get additional credit of up to $120, which would reduce the monthly installment to just $15 per month for two years.

T-Mobile’s chief marketing officer had this to say:

“Our message to iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 customers is simple: bring in your device and trade up to iPhone 5 on T-Mobile. We’re making it incredibly attractive to buy an iPhone 5 by pairing an un-beatable upfront price and trade-in offer with Simple Choice, the most hassle-free and affordable rate plan in wireless.”

It was already cheaper to buy iPhone 5 from T-Mobile (it worked out to just $579 instead of $649 for an unlocked iPhone 5), now with the trade-in offer, iPhone 5 will cost a customer switching from another network just $360.

The trade-in offer is valid until June 16. The credit of up to $120 can be used toward monthly payments, an existing T-Mobile bill, or the purchase of accessories or another device.

I still think that if you’ve an iPhone 4S or iPhone in good condition, you will get a better deal if you sell it on sites like Gazelle, NextWorth, eBay, Amazon etc.

What do you think of T-Mobile’s trade-in offer? Do you plan to switch?

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Intel Clover Trail+, Advancing Atom In Mobile

When we covered Intel’s first significant foray into the smartphone arena, early in January 2012, there was little doubt in our minds that the company had set its sights on the mobile market with a plan and roadmap for execution.  Though Medfield and Lexington, now known as the Atom Z2460 SoC, and its lower cost sibling Atom Z2420, looked solid enough on paper, we expected Intel would have an uphill battle versus already well-established players like Qualcomm, Samsung, NVIDIA and the like.  As it turned out, Medfield and Lexington Atom SoCs never really made it to smartphones marketed in the US, but they did gain some traction in about 10 design wins for Intel, primarily in emerging markets, Latin America, APAC and the UK.  Regardless, market penetration on a more global scale just wasn’t what we assume Intel had hoped for.

Today, however, Intel is keeping on track for execution of their roadmap plan in the mobile space, with the release of their follow-on to Medfield, code-named Clover Trail+.  Clover Trail, as you’ll remember, is powering many a Windows 8 tablet these days.  Intel's latest Atom-based SoC is a more natural fit here, with the intrinsic advantages of being able to run full X86 compatible software on a tablet or convertible device, while still offering strong battery life and performance.  That said, Clover Trail+, Intel’s new performance and feature-optimized version of Clover Trail for the smartphone and tablet market, has that same long row to hoe versus incumbents, at least in the highly competitive handset arena.

What’s more than interesting this time around is that Clover Trail+ seems to really have the chops (at least on paper) to keep pace with, and even exceed, certain performance characteristics of current, best-of-class ARM-based architectures that have been so dominant in smartphone designs thus far.  And on the power consumption front, Intel is claiming their long-beloved “HUGI” (Hurry-Up and Get Idle) approach to clock gating will afford them a platform power advantage like no other smartphone architecture on the market currently.  A tall order.  Big claims.  Is Intel just getting warmed up?  Let’s take a look.

Intel Clover Trail+ Specifications & Features

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Intel's Smartphone Reference Design

Clover Trail+ is another 32nm design for Intel, though their next generation Bay Trail architecture will migrate to 22nm.  Bay Trail will be the first quad-core Atom design, offering twice the compute performance as Clover Trail and should arrive in time for the 2013 holiday shopping season, so we are told.  Intel is already claiming good traction with major OEM partners for Bay Trail tablet designs as well.  But I digress, what is immediately obvious with the Clover Trail+ platform reference design specification, versus Intel's previous generation Medfield architecture, is that Intel has beefed up almost every major functional block.  Let's dive in a little deeper...

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