White iPhone camera problems confirmed, Steve Wozniak loves Android

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White iPhone camera problems confirmed, Steve Wozniak loves Android

Apple had announced at its launch that the iPhone 4 would come in black and white models, then kept delaying the release of the white iPhone 4, a rare misfire in its recent history of smooth product rollouts.

ANP/MARCEL ANTONISSE/File

Steve Wozniak, founder of Apple, speaks at the Congress Meet the Future, Science & Technology Summit 2010 at the World Forum in The Hague.

By Devindra Hardawar Venture Beat

Jan. 31, 2011, 9:38 a.m. ET

Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak confirmed today that early white iPhone 4 parts caused issues with its camera, which led to multiple delays and its near-mythical status among gadget hounds. He also praised Google鈥檚 Android smartphone operating system.

Both observations are interesting in that they show rare cracks in Apple鈥檚 seamless public fa莽ade. The gadget company had announced at its launch that the iPhone 4 would come in black and white models, then kept delaying the release of the white iPhone 4, a rare misfire in its recent history of smooth product rollouts. And Wozniak, who regularly notes that he鈥檚 still on the Apple payroll, has issued praise for Android before.

In a conversation with Joshua Topolsky, editor of the AOL-owned tech blog Engadget, on today, Wozniak said that he ordered the white iPhone parts from a teenager online who somehow received them from Foxconn, who manufacturers the iPhone. When he tried to take a picture with the device鈥檚 flash, he said the photo looked as if it was taken through cellophane, confirming earlier rumors that when the flash was used.

Additionally, Wozniak said that his white iPhone 4 parts caused issues with its proximity sensor (although I think he鈥檚 actually referring to its ambient light sensor, which could see similar light leakage issues to the camera). He then confirmed that Apple has resolved the problems with the white iPhone 4, and that we鈥檒l be seeing them soon. We recently reported that the fabled device has .

Woz also spent quite a bit of time praising Android, something that put him in hot water months ago (he later said he was misquoted). He said that Android contained many great features that the iPhone is lacking. In particular, Wozniak emphasized how much he loved Android鈥檚 ability to accept voice commands, as well as available on Android, Symbian and other platforms. He definitely preferred both of those methods to hunting and pecking letters on a touch screen 鈥� which is the only method of text input on the iPhone so far.

Wozniak also revealed that he鈥檒l be picking up two Verizon iPhones 鈥� in black and white 鈥� to accompany his current trio of AT&T iPhones.