iOS8 Reported To Be Piggish For Some Users, Battery Hog, Dog Slow WiFi

As iOS 8 rolls out across Apple's devices, the bug reports -- the inevitable, sometimes hilarious, and sometimes maddening bug reports -- have begun to surface as well. iPhoneand iPad users are complaining of slow keyboards, iMessage problems, glitches, app crashes, content management issues, missing content, sticky notifications, and a host of other problems. 

The good news, I suppose, is that no one has uncovered any truly game-ending bugs yet. That's not to say people haven't suffered crashes; any time you update a device to a new operating system someone somewhere is going to have a failure -- but there are no widespread reports of people bricking devices or destroying them wholesale. 

That said, a transparent keyboard or missing keys may not technically make the device useless, but it's going to require a whole lot of episodes in creative spelling to make things right. Other problems, like slow WiFi, could be infuriating to fix since the solution will almost certainly involve downloading an online patch.

Since we at Hot Hardware like nothing more than helping people with technology, we've put together a short list of tips for anyone upgrading a device to a new version of anything, pretty much ever. 

Tip #1: Upgrade Only In Emergencies:

Do you own a properly functioning device right now? Don't upgrade the current OS version. Chances are, some random app, third party permission setting, or installed profile oddity will interact poorly with the official installer. When you press "Upgrade now," you are not engaging in a minor update process -- you are taking the stability of your device into your hands and playing tennis with it. 

What if your current device isn't functioning properly? Don't upgrade the iOS version. The fastest way to destabilize a system further is typically to install a new OS flavor over an old one. If you want to minimize bugs, upgrade as little as possible and from the freshest, most basic image possible. 

Tip #2: Stop Expecting Performance Improvements:

Once upon a time, an Apple operating system delivered a substantial performance improvement over the version that had come before it. This was back in the IOS 4 days, when multi-threading and multi-tasking were still hot new items, and it mostly only worked as advertised with the iPhone 3GS, not the older 3G. Other OS releases have either been neutral on performance or have worsened it. Now, before anyone leaps up to beat me with a bust of Steve Jobs, I'll acknowledge that the browser is a marked exception to this trend. Each iOS variant has typically improved browser performance by at least some metrics, even on some old devices. But by and large, iOS updates haven't delivered better application experiences for years. 

Tip #3: Do Expect Bugs:

In the beginning, when mobile OSes were lightweight and extremely simple, it was reasonable to expect an OS update to be reasonably bug free. That's long in the past now -- Both Android and iOS have become increasingly complex at every single launch with more official apps, integrated services, and additional capabilities.

When the only thing you could send via the Apple Text Message app was text, it was easy to test the program. Now that it can send time-limited photos, regular photos, audio, and use multiple keyboards it's much more difficult to just test the application -- and that's before you throw iMessage on top of it. Now multiply that times every other application and all of their features. Remember that the QA team didn't have 12 months with device -- it had a fraction that long. Now remember that the OS version has to be tested across far more products than the original iPhone or iPad did. 

Put it all together, you've got a recipe for a buggy release. 

Not Just Apple Problems: 

While this article is written to address the problems some iOS adopters are having, don't be fooled -- the upgrade bug occasionally bites everyone on every operating system or platform. No firm has mastered the art of delivering massive content updates at the OS level. 

Nevertheless, expecting updates to actually deliver better performance to an existing platform isn't very realistic. Apple isn't in the business of providing you with better performance on an existing platform, it's in the hardware business of selling you another iPhone. If you aren't upgrading every time your contract expires, you're not earning the company very much profit. That doesn't mean Apple can get away with obviating its own devices every year, but it's no surprise that the low-end experience continues to degrade. If Apple wanted the low-end to actually be usable, it would create lighter requirements or give users the option to shut more features off. 

It doesn't.That doesn't make Apple evil, but it does mean that the company (like every other company) is more interested in your dollars than the purity of its device experience. 

Apple is working on a new patch (iOS 8.0.1) with an unknown delivery time.

iOS 8 slows iPhone 4S, incurring Apple forum fury

Apple's support forums are awash with users complaining the iPhone 4S suffers from poor performance when upgraded to iOS 8, with many users warning that the software slowed their devices when compared with iOS 7.

Other problems noted with the upgrade included software instability, battery drain and increased handset temperature.

Forum user The Fersh warned iPhone 4S owners to avoid iOS 8: "Don't upgrade to iOS 8 if you have an iPhone 4S, it's unstable on this model, drains your battery and the temperature inside goes up!"

Fellow poster Rsohailr went on to detail more problems encountered with the 4S: "Could not open Safari, phone hangs up. Have to reboot again and again."

These comments extended beyond the forums and onto Twitter, where frustrated owners of the older iPhone vented their frustration.

Such problems are perhaps not surprising given that the iPhone 4S is more than three years old. While the iPhone 5S and new iPhone 6 models feature 64-bit architecture in their processors, the iPhone 4S has to make do with an older, slower dual-core processor.

However, some posts on Apple forums also highlighted problems with more recent iPhones when upgrading to the new iOS version.

This issues range from temperamental Bluetooth and wireless connections, to crashing cameras, mangled music and scrambled syncing on iPhone 5 models and above.

V3 noted that problems, questions and complaints about iOS 8 were cropping up on forums every few minutes, highlighting that the OS might not be as polished as expected.

We contacted Apple for further comment, but the company has yet to respond.

Sales of the new iPhone models have not been dented by concerns of bugs in iOS 8. More than 10 million new iPhone 6 and iPhone Plus handsets were sold in the opening weekend, making the iPhone 6 models the biggest-selling iPhones of all time.

Verizon VoLTE Now Available On iPhone 6, 6 Plus, Here’s How To Enable It

Here's a PSA from your favorite tech website (HotHardware, of course!): Verizon Wirelessis now offering Advanced Calling 1.0 across its nationwide network on select smartphones. Advanced Calling is more commonly known as Voice over LTE, or VoLTE, with Verizon's offering a first-generation service suite available on just a handful of devices so far, including iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, LG G2, and Samsung Galaxy S5.

One of the neat things about VoLTE is that it allows for simultaneous voice and data. That means you can chat with Aunt Mabel about what to buy Uncle Lou for his 85th birthday while at the same time browsing online sites to price compare her suggestions.

VoLTE also allows for High-Definition (HD) voice calls when both ends of the line are on its 4G LTE network. According to Verizon, these sound more natural than typical calls over cell phone networks. This is an emerging technology that Verizon says will work best with scale.

"Video Calling is simplified when using VoLTE technology. The contact list in the phone clearly shows, with a video camera icon next to the name, who can receive a Video Call, and a tap or two on the phone starts the call so you can speak to friends and family face-to-face," Verizon explains. "Customers control Video Calls, easily switching to a voice-only call from a Video Call and back with a tap on the phone. The audio portion of a Video Call is delivered in HD Voice."

To enable VoLTE on your iPhone, you first need to visit Verizon's website and add the feature to your account. Once you do that, make sure that the "Voice & Data" option is enabled on your iPhone (and the same goes for the recipient). You'll find this option under Settings > Cellular > Enable LTE > Voice & Data.

Hell-Bent On Killing The Open Internet, US Senate Still Doesn’t Get Net Neutrality

This past Wednesday, several Republican senators argued before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the topic of Net Neutrality and the Federal Communications Commission. While a large amount of companies are asking that the FCC classify the internet as a utility, Republicans are arguing such a move would give the FCC too much power which would stifle innovation and have said that the FCC shouldn’t get involved at all.

To that end, Senator Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas) said, “The FCC's latest adventure in net neutrality in my view would only serve to stifle innovation and would potentially subject the internet to nanny state regulation from Washington.”

Cruz then said that net neutrality is like “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and went on to say, “The FCC shouldn't be endangering future investments. A five member government panel should not be dictating how internet servicesshould be delivered."

Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah) voiced similar concerns adding that Net Neutrality would only amount to the FCC taking “control” of the internet and added, “Without government regulation the Internet is growing. So what’s the problem? What is broken? What is it that needs to be fixed?”

Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr

The FCC stopped accepting public comments on the proposed “fast lanes” regulations on September 15. Since then, it has been reported that around 3.7 million comments were sent to the FCC voicing concern over the proposed regulations that would allow ISP providers to charge additional rates for “fast lanes.” A move that could stifle any form of competition and give a lot of power to ISP providers such as Comcast, which is what these companies want and will be able to do if left unchecked.

But rather than classify the internet as a utility, the FCC, ISP providers, and Republican Senators seem to be rejecting the idea.

8 Ways to Slash Your Cellphone Bill

A high cellphone bill has become a staple of modern life for most people, alongside rising gas costs and the dreaded home cable bill. The average wireless subscriber pays $61.15 per month for service, up $5.35 from just three years ago, according to a study by New Street Research. Despite an endless stream of new offers and promotions from competing cellular carriers, that number will most likely continue to rise. If your monthly cellphone bill is starting to feel like a burden on your wallet — or if it already is — there are plenty of ways to cut the costs.

1. A shared service/family plan

If you’re the only person on your mobile service plan, you’re going to pay a lot more on your monthly bill. Every major carrier offers its own version of a shared service plan, which typically includes unlimited talk and text, as well as a pool of shared data to be split among multiple users. Depending on your needs, switching to a shared plan can have a huge impact on your bill.

A user signing up for a T-Mobile plan can expect to pay $60 per month for unlimited talk and text, and 3GB of data. But if you get a T-Mobile Family Plan with three friends, with each person getting their own 2.5GB data allotment, the total is only $100 per month. Split evenly, that’s only $25 per person — or $35 less than going it alone with a 3GB individual plan.

Sprint offers an even more aggressive promotion with its revamped family plan, providing 20GB to share among four people for just $100 per month.

MORE: Best Family Plans

2. Voice call alternatives

Most new smartphone plans offer unlimited nationwide calling, but it might be time to look at some calling alternatives if you’re still using a plan that charges by the minute. The Skypemobile app — available for Android, iOS and Windows Phone — offers unlimited voice and video calling to other Skype users without eating up your minutes.

Similarly, Apple’s FaceTime is a great way to make voice calls with all your iOS-using friends without touching your plan’s minutes. FaceTime was initially introduced as a video-callingapp, but iOS 7 introduced audio-only FaceTime calling for when you don’t feel like appearing on camera.

Skype, FaceTime and other call apps circumvent mobile minutes by using data instead. If you’re thinking of making the switch to a phone call alternative, make sure your plan has the data to match your call volume.

3. Educational and business discounts

You may be eligible for a big discount on your cellular plan and not even know it. Many schools and businesses have made deals with major carriers, offering steep discounts for all students or employees.

These deals are usually outlined in the employee handbook or university guide, but each cellular website has a way to check eligibility using some basic information:

AT&T: https://www.wireless.att.com/business/enrollment

Verizon: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/employee/eleuLanding.jsp

Sprint: http://now.sprint.com/save

T-Mobile: https://validate.t-mobile.com/employee-discount

The deals provided to partner companies are usually much better than advertised rates and sales available to the public, so it’s a good idea to take advantage of the savings if you’re eligible.

4. Always connect to Wi-Fi

Most smartphone plans are no longer billed by the number of minutes you use, but by the amount of data you consume. But mobile data usage only counts toward your monthly allotment when you’re using your network’s cellular network. When you’re connected to a Wi-Finetwork, you can use as much data as you want.

Try connecting to the Wi-Fi network in your office or when you stop by the local coffee shop. Take a moment to check if there’s an available network if you’re about to send a large file or stream media — there’s a chance that your favorite park or train station now offers free Internet access.

Constantly connecting to Wi-Fi can have a huge impact on your monthly data usage. Check your usage details on your cellular bill once you’re in the habit of constantly connecting to available networks; you may be able to knock your plan down a tier while still consuming the same amount of content.

5. Use texting alternatives

There may be an opportunity to cut costs by sending fewer text messages, unless you’re already on a shared plan that automatically includes unlimited text messaging. There are numerous free alternatives to SMS messaging that can completely replace your need for traditional texting.

Facebook is currently the king of texting alternatives, as it owns the popular messaging appWhatsApp alongside its own Facebook Messenger app. Both of these applications let users send messages and pictures to anyone, anywhere in the world, using data rather than SMS credits.

Likewise, Apple’s iMessage and Google Hangouts provide a way to send messages to other users of the same service. Apple’s iMessage is automatically built into iOS’ default texting application, and sends iMessages whenever possible and texts as an alternative. Texting works the same way with Android 4.0 and later, with all messages sent and received through Hangouts only dipping into the SMS allotment when necessary.

There’s a good chance that most of your family and friends are already using a texting alternative app, and switching your use over full-time can save real money on your monthly bill.

MORE: 8 Biggest Tech Rip-Offs and How To Avoid Them

6. Turn off Facebook autoplay

According to a recent report by financial website MoneySavingExpert.com, Facebook users are complaining of mushrooming cellphone bills due to the autoplay feature in the app. Essentially, if there are videos in your newsfeed, they will start to play automatically by default. However, you can turn this data-hogging feature off in settings. On iOS, for example, you select Settings > Facebook > Settings. Then tap Autoplay only on Wi-Fi, or Off.

7. Get a local SIM card while traveling abroad

Most major carriers offer temporary international calling packages for the global traveler, allowing you to use your smartphone abroad without racking up costly roaming fees. Although these packages are certainly cheaper than paying roaming fees, you’ll be able to save a lot more by purchasing a local prepaid SIM card in the countries you visit.

It’s important to note that your smartphone needs to be unlocked if you want to use it with a foreign SIM card. Carriers will have no problem unlocking your phone once your contract is complete, and many will even complete the unlocking process early if you get the right customer service agent and ask nicely.

Find a local cellular store once you arrive in your destination country. Choose a prepaid SIM card that fits your needs, plug it into your phone, and forget about costly roaming charges or international rates for the rest of your trip. You can also order a mobile hotspot rental from companies such as XCom Global for as little as $14.95. You can then use that to access mobile broadband through your phone.

8. Negotiate a lower rate

You may be able to get a better rate on your monthly cellular bill simply by asking. This works because the cost of losing you as a subscriber is significantly higher than giving you a discount on your monthly bill. Carriers are constantly running new promotions and deals to try to keep customers happy, but you’d never know about them unless you call and ask.

The customer-service representative will most likely try to modify your plan in order to lower your rate, but you may be able to keep the same service while still paying a lower price. If the first person you speak with isn’t able to offer you any discounts, ask to speak to the retention department and let them know you’re considering a switch to another carrier. Retention specialists are authorized to provide even deeper discounts, which can knock a substantial chunk off your monthly bill.

Windows Server 2012 R2 Deduplication

In this article, you will learn about how to manage the deduplication feature in Windows Server 2012 R2.

Introduction

Even as the cost per GB of storage continues to drop as vendors release hard drives of massive size, customers still seek to find ways to maximize their investment in what remain expensive storage solutions. One of the most common methods by which organizations drive down the cost of their storage is by implementing deduplication in their storage environments. In this article, you will learn about how to manage this cost-saving feature in Windows Server 2012 R2.
If you pick just one feature on your Windows Server 2012 R2 server to turn on, you’ll probably want it to be the new deduplication option. Primary storage deduplication is typically left to the hardware layer and may require expensive shared storage (SAN or NAS) with that capability. Now, with Windows Server 2012 R2 you can implement this space, and money saving feature using the native controls at the filesystem.
The feature was unveiled with Windows Server 2012 originally, but in the R2 iteration there were some extra features added including the ability to extend deduplication into CSV (Clustered Shared Volumes), VHD (Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk), plus the addition of the Expand-DataDedupFile PowerShell Cmdlet in case you need to inflate your previously deduplicated volume.

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Installing and Configuring your Windows Server 2012 R2 Deduplication

The steps to deploy are very simple as you can see here. First, we enable the feature through the Add Roles and Features wizard which you will find under File and Storage Services | File and iSCSI Services | Data Deduplication:

Figure 1
Once the installation wizard completes (no reboot required), you will be able to open the File and Storage Services section in Server Manager, then right-click your volume and select Configure Data Deduplication:

Figure 2
The Deduplication Settings page has a simple checkbox to enable, and you have the option to select the file age for deduplication (default is 5 days) plus you can add folders to be excluded in the case where you have workloads that will not be compatible with deduplicated data.

Figure 3
If you click the Set Deduplication Schedule button, you also have the option to throttle the deduplication task priority during specific times to allow for other tasks such as backups, or day-to-day production usage during business hours to take priority over the deduplication tasks.

Figure 4
Now that you have enabled your deduplication at the volume, you can kick off the task manually to get things started. This is easily done using the PowerShell one-liner Start-DedupJob –Type Optimization –Volume D:

Figure 5
Now our deduplication job is running in the background, and you can easily monitor the progress using the Get-DedupStatus and Get-DedupJob Cmdlets:

Figure 6
Depending on the size of your volume, the process may take quite a while. Once the task has been completed, the schedule will re-run the deduplication job to check your volume against the threshold of file age every day.

Performance Concerns

One of the top concerns by Systems Administrators is the concern about server performance during deduplication, and with application performance when using data that is on a deduplicated volume.
On the sample volume for the images above, you can see that the CPU and Memory overhead is nominal, but there will be higher than normal utilization at the disk and disk controller as the first pass runs:

Figure 7
Beyond the server performance, you will have to evaluate whether any issues are occurring where applications are accessing data that is on a deduplicated volume. In those cases, you can simply add the folder exclusion to your volume deduplication settings as we saw in the earlier screenshot during the initial setup.

After Deduplication

In the example volume that was used, there was a final savings of 740 GB after the deduplication job completed. The final status screen shows us how many files were optimized and which are considered to be “in policy”, meaning that they meet the criteria of being over the file age to be evaluated for deduplication.

Figure 8
As you can see from this example, there was a significant savings in disk usage which will definitely turn into better efficiency with our storage footprint.

Conflicts and Challenges with Deduplication

One particular issue with deduplication on Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 is the use of FSRM (File Server Resource Manager) quotas. Unfortunately, hard quotas are not supported on a volume that is running data deduplication.
This is an issue because the quota is based on actual used space in the volume which will not be represented correctly. This will result in incorrect measurement of the used space as you can imagine, so we have to rely on soft quotas only on deduplicated volumes.
Another service which cannot co-exist with data deduplication is the SIS (Single Instance Store) option which was a predecessor available on Windows Storage Server. The migration to Windows Server 2012 will take some care and feeding if you had this feature in place in the past.
One other thing to think about is your backup processes. During the process of deduplication, the archive bit is set on files which are optimized which will trigger the file to be included in incremental or differential backups. In the example of my sample volume, the incremental backup for that night included the large number of files which were affected during the deduplication process. Results may vary on how this affects your backup software depending on whether it uses the archive bit, or file checksum to mark the file for change.

Realized Savings with Deduplication

The level of space savings will vary depending on a number of factors such as file type, file age, and frequency of change. Even in cases with large binary files, there will be a space savings using this feature. Given the low impact of running the service and limited risk with other Windows services, there really is no reason why you wouldn’t want to run data deduplication at least to see what the potential win could be.
It is important to note that deduplication is not to be used to overcommit storage on a volume. This is a common issue where operational efficiency is misinterpreted as a way to save money on hardware growth. This feature is meant to reduce the utilization, but you do have to be wary of letting deduplicated volumes run at extremely high usage levels in the case that file usage. There is a chance that sudden usage and change on the filesystem could trigger inflation of the real utilized space and risk hitting the actual storage limit on the disks.

What about my Storage Hardware Deduplication?

This is a great question that comes up when we approach the idea of using OS based storage optimization. Luckily, there are no known conflicts between the Windows Server 2012 deduplication features and any of the widely available hardware level deduplication features on shared storage environments. The obvious win will be for customers who do not have the hardware based capability in their data center, and this is a particularly exciting feature for ROBO (Remote Office / Branch Office) deployments.
All in all, Microsoft has delivered a strong product with Windows Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2 deduplication and we look forward to watching more features as them come out with future releases.

Six reasons why you should not immediately upgrade to iOS 8

Summary: If you're sticking with an older iPhone or iPad, or working in a business setting, upgrading to iOS 8 may be premature. Here are six good reasons not to upgrade just yet.

2014 -- 18:03 GMT (11:03 PDT)

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(Image: CNET/CBS Interactive)

Ahead of Wednesday’s release of Apple’s latest mobile operating system, a good number of users should steer clear of iOS 8 — at least, for now.

Read this

Hands on with Apple's iOS 8 (pictures)

• Read more

The new software includes dozens of new features, including a number of productivity tweaks, continuity between iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and a bevy of business-ready features designed to entice prosumers and enterprise users alike.

But not everyone will want to — or necessarily should — install the latest version on their Apple smartphones and tablets.

Before you download the software, which will be rolling out across the globe from Wednesday morning in your locale and throughout the day, you should think before jumping the gun.

Here are six important considerations:

1. Most apps will work, but the full experience won't land just yet

The vast majority of iPhone and iPad app developers will have used iOS 8 long before it was widely released on Wednesday. That gives them enough time to ensure their apps and services run with the latest software, with the benefits of the new features and developer hooks.

But some apps will fall behind the curve and not work — or fail to appear in the update list — because of an incompatibility issue.

In some cases, apps that were previously available may not be downloadable, in part because Apple approves each app before it can be uploaded to the App Store. Some apps can be stuck in this queue for weeks.

2. Upgrading will kill your jailbreak. A new one could take a while

Many users "jailbreak" the software — opening it up to unapproved apps, system tweaks, and other features that Apple buries deep down in the system, typically out of sight. 

Some iOS 7 users already have a jailbroken device. In doing so, it voids the warranty, but opens up the device to extreme customization. Upgrading will all but certainly kill that jailbreak. And another one may not land for weeks, possibly months — it depends on how strong and secure Apple makes the software.

It’s been quiet on the iOS 8 jailbreak front, with very few iPhone and iPad hackers offering a firm timeline for offering their jailbreak wares. There’s almost no doubt many security experts and hackers will be working tirelessly on it from the moment they land their hands on the new software. But don’t expect anything immediate, even if some versions of the software have been cracked in less than a day.

3. Early adopters may experience a few bugs, quirks, and hiccups

There’s little doubt that, with Apple’s user base reaching into the hundreds of millions of users worldwide, iOS 8 will be of an exceptionally high quality. But even up to the last minute, the technology giant will be working out flaws, bugs, and quirks in the mobile software. In some cases, Apple will even call it expected behavior — even if it doesn’t seem like it. 

More Apple Coverage

• First look at new iPhones
• Better specs, new features, larger screen sizes
• iPhone 6, Apple Watch rollout: Winners and losers
• If Apple can't stream an iPhone 6 event, is there really an enterprise story?
• Why there is no sapphire glass
• Apple to developers: Your apps will scale

Up until now, the testing pool has been limited to select beta testers and developers. As it widens out to the general public, expect a few bugs and flaws that haven't yet been ironed out. 

Those who upgrade on the first day may over time experience some issues or flaws, which are typically addressed in minor iterative updates over the coming weeks and months. It could lead some users frustrated by the slow update process. 

4. Using a work phone? Your IT department might not be ready

Apple has included a number of enterprise-focused features, including strong passcodes, VIP message threads, roaming policies, and the latest government-grade encryption standards. 

But some corporate users may not be allowed to upgrade to the latest software until an IT administrator or chief information officer approves the software.

Some sideloaded or internally developed apps, or mobile device management (MDM) solutions, may not yet be compatible with iOS 8. Some IT departments avoid new versions until all the bugs are ironed out, or until a better, more stable version of the software is released.

If you upgrade without permission from work, you could even find your device barred from use on the corporate network.

5. Older devices aren't fully equipped, may experience slowness

iOS 8 is compatible with iPhone 4s and later, iPad 2 and later, and iPad mini and later, along with iPod touch (fifth generation). Although compatible, older devices may not run the software with the glitz and the glamor of newer devices, which have better processors, more memory, and greater storage.

Users should be aware that older devices may be slow or sluggish at times, particularly if the device is low on storage or when running multiple apps at the same time.

If you are on an iPhone 4s and iOS 7 and you’re already having troubles, an upgrade to iOS 8 may not help you much.

6. Downgrading can be tricky, if not impossible

Can't wait?

How to get iOS 8 before your friends and coworkers

• Read more

Once you install iOS 8, you’re stuck with it. That is, unless, you save "blobs" and other files, which the very vast majority of users won’t do, let alone know about. 

As with other recent major iterations of iOS, it has become increasingly difficult (if not impossible) to downgrade to earlier major versions of iOS.

Even with some files saved, it often requires third-party non-Apple apps, and this process is not officially supported.

(Screenshot: Apple Inc.)

While there are several reasons why you might want to wait, I want to take advantages of some of the new features of iOS 8 – likeQuickType, iCloud Drive and Continuity – right away. Here's how to step in front of the line and grab Apple's newest bits before Cupertino voluntarily pushes it to your device. 

Read more on iOS 8

• Six reasons why you should not immediately upgrade to iOS 8
• How to get iOS 8 before your friends and coworkers
• Updating is painful and clumsy
• iOS 8: Here's how to get it
• Seven privacy settings you should change immediately
• A parade of third-party gesture keyboards arrives for iOS 8

iOS 8 will be available as an over-the-air (OTA) update for the iPhone 4s and later, iPad 2 and later, iPad mini, and the fifth-generation iPod Touch starting at around 10:00 a.m. PT (1:00 p.m. ET) on Wednesday, September 17, 2014, but that doesn't mean you'll see it in your Software Update panel right way.

Apple releases major, whole-number iOS updates as "rolling" releases (sometimes referred to as pulsing) to ease the congestion on its network and to ensure that most users will have a positive experience downloading and installing its latest release. It's like those traffic lights at some onramps that artificially slow the flow of cars onto the freeway during rush hour.

Rolling releases are common sense. If Apple pushed iOS 8 onto everyone's device at exactly 12:01 am PT, it's servers would melt down and cause a lot of grumbling on blogs and in the media. Besides, not everyone wants to download iOS 8 today – and hey, it's not the new U2 album – so why melt the global fiber optic lines and tax Apple's brand-spankin-new Content Delivery Network (CDN) unnecessarily? It's not good business. 

If you want to get iOS 8 first, here are a some tips. 

1. Backup all your target iOS devices right now. Don't wait for iOS 8 to land only to remember that you didn't make a backup. Do it now, so that you're ready to go as soon as iOS 8 hits your Settings app. This document explains how to backup your iPhone or iPad to iCloud (usually my preference) but iCloud is going to start slowing down under the traffic soon, so you might want to backup via USB to iTunes for greater speed.
   
2. Clear out the cruft. If your an app hoarder or have a lower capacity iOS device, take a trip to Settings > General > Usage and ensure that you have at least 2.5GB of available storage. iOS 8 is a large download and it won't install if you don't have enough free space.
   
3. If you're a registered developer (and impatient), you can download the "iOS 8 GM Seed" (short for "Golden Master") version of the code right now. It's labeled "build 12A365" and was posted to Apple's Developer Center on September 9. While the final release can sometime vary from the GM, this doesn't happen often. Beware: the full restore .ipsw file is a weighty 2.0GB (iPhone 5s) and 2.2GB (iPad mini) so prepare to wait even on a fast connection.
   
4. One of its dirty little secrets is that Apple doesn't push software updates automatically to your Settings app. Sometimes you'll see the red software-update-is-waiting badge on your Settings app, but most times you won't. In order to get the iOS 8 update as soon as possible, you need to manually touch Settings > General > Software Update and force it to check.
   
5. Lastly, if you're tired and need to get some sleep before the big day, make sure that your iPhone or iPad is connected to Wi-Fi and power before you go to bed and it will continue to check for the iOS 8 update overnight. If you're lucky, it'll be waiting for you when you wake up in the morning. (If you don't see the push notification or Settings badge in the morning, touch Settings > General > Software Update to force another update.)
   
6. Pro Tip: Update all of your iOS apps now (easily done with "Update All") ahead of the iOS 8 release. There's a crush of updates coming out day-and-date with iOS 8 and Apple's CDN may buckle under the load of the increased traffic (remember the horrible video stream from Apple's live event?).