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iPhone Is here! (Page 3)
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drainyoo
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Jan 10, 2007, 02:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by Veltliner View Post
Fantastic design!

But: no way I go cingular.

I wonder why Apple did not cooperate with Verizon?

This carrier has the best marks for service quality nationwide, and, as a quality carrier, would have been a good fit for a quality company like Apple.
Cause Verizon is crap. Ive had Cingular for years now and I have never had a single problem. I even get reception where people with Verizon dont.

To not switch to this revolutionary phone simply because of a carrier then thats ridiculous in my opinion.
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yoyoman
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Jan 10, 2007, 02:47 PM
 
Can you recoard video with it or just take still shots?
I too have verizon and like my service much.
The iPhone does not have 3g?!!? What a bummer.
Also I was hoping for larger fd's. 16 and 32 gig flash drives.
     
yoyoman
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Jan 10, 2007, 02:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by drainyoo View Post
Cause Verizon is crap.
How are they crap when they have one if the largest networks in the US even after Cingular and ATT merged. Only bumped Verizon down to number 2.
     
clebin
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Jan 10, 2007, 02:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by drainyoo View Post
At $499 the iPhone is a steal for what it does. It blows all these phones out of the water.

How many smartphones have 4GB of storage? NONE!
Depends if your phone supports memory cards, doesn't it?

How many have Visual Voicemail? NONE!
A nice feature, but not the most exciting thing

How man have a wide mutli touch screen? NONE!
Other phones have big touch-screens. The multi-touch thing is very nice.

How many have an iPOD built in? NONE!
Other phones have music players though.

How many are running a UNIX OS? NONE!
Unix doesn't matter to most users on a desktop, much else on mobile.

The only reason that I pick on these points, is that you're saying it does lots of things that other phones can't, which is not really true. More likely it just does all these things much better than anything else - just like the Mac.

That's a big difference though. It's hard enough convincing people to spend a few quid more on a Mac, as beautiful as it is next to the piece of crap they eventually get. My mates always chicken out and look all guilty when they tell me they went for the cheap HP after all. I really don't know what's going to happen with this new phone...

EDIT: contract-only means it's competing with mobiles and looks very expensive. Contract-free would mean it's competing with music players, which makes it less expensive. Contract-only might actually kill this phone (and Visual Voicemail is definitely not reason enough)...

Chris
     
rach
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Jan 10, 2007, 02:56 PM
 
This phone has got a good design and it does have even greater potential but the features are not exactly out of this world.

For me though I am not really a fan of touch screen i prefer to use real buttons.

Wifi on a phone -I used this feature at first on a Nokia N91 then never used it again. In fact i often ended up turning this feature of completely as it was a bit of a drain on battery life. I also did not really like browsing the internet on it after a while.

That N91 had a 4GB hard drive and it took any form of music content. The new N91 will be coming with a 8GB hard drive. Nearly every phone i have bought can sync up with a Mac.

I also need a 3G phone, I know that the iPhone will be getting it in the future maybe probably when it comes to Europe. I only buy phones now that come with 3G and that are unlocked and not on any contract. Without 3G i think that what they are asking for it now is a bit much.

A 2 megapixel camera is not exactly cutting edge either. My Nokia 7390 even has a 3 megapixel camera and 3G as standard. The Nokia N95 when it is released will be coming with a 5 megapixel camera.

Battery life for this phone is not great either.

I can see a market for it though, like i said it does have a good design it maybe a bit on the masculine side for some females. The specs are ok for a phone. I doubt that i would be interested when it is released in the UK unless it was unlocked, sim free and on PAYG.
     
ehwang114
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Jan 10, 2007, 03:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by cbrfanatic View Post
compared to the ppc-6700 from sprint, the Q, treo700 and crackberries, the price is right on par.
the blackberry pearl is only 199. and i dont think any of those phones cost 499 with a 2 year contract.
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drainyoo
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Jan 10, 2007, 03:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by yoyoman View Post
How are they crap when they have one if the largest networks in the US even after Cingular and ATT merged. Only bumped Verizon down to number 2.
I was being sarcastic. I just find it funny that people refuse to move to certain carriers. They are all pretty much the same, you can make a quality call from all of them. They all suck in certain areas and they all are great in other areas. Its not like Cingular is absolutely horrendous that its unusable. I use Cingular in NYC and its absolutly perfect. Never get a dropped call and reception is always great even on a Treo.
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drainyoo
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Jan 10, 2007, 03:05 PM
 
Originally Posted by clebin View Post
Depends if your phone supports memory cards, doesn't it?



A nice feature, but not the most exciting thing



Other phones have big touch-screens. The multi-touch thing is very nice.



Other phones have music players though.



Unix doesn't matter to most users on a desktop, much else on mobile.

The only reason that I pick on these points, is that you're saying it does lots of things that other phones can't, which is not really true. More likely it just does all these things much better than anything else - just like the Mac.

That's a big difference though. It's hard enough convincing people to spend a few quid more on a Mac, as beautiful as it is next to the piece of crap they eventually get. My mates always chicken out and look all guilty when they tell me they went for the cheap HP after all. I really don't know what's going to happen with this new phone...

EDIT: contract-only means it's competing with mobiles and looks very expensive. Contract-free would mean it's competing with music players, which makes it less expensive. Contract-only might actually kill this phone (and Visual Voicemail is definitely not reason enough)...

Chris
Sorry but I think you are just nitpicking are trying to make features seem less valuable than they are. Visual VM is on another level. Voice mails have never been presented this way before. Its an entirely new experience.

Anyways to each his own.
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DigitalEl
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Jan 10, 2007, 03:14 PM
 
This thing blew away my expectations. I love it when Steve introduces something that's even cooler than all the speculation. Here he's done it again! That aside, my main worry is that it's not smart enough as a smartphone and is too entertainment-centric. Sure, it's an iPod... But will the iCal integration be as good as the scheduling sync on a BlackBerry or Treo?

Can I add events to the iPhone when I'm out & about, then have them flawlessly sync back to my desktop at home? There's no reason to think that can't be done, but I was a little worried when it wasn't spelled out. I don't need to watch The Office while at the office... But it would be nice to add a doctor's appointment or a change in my work schedule to my calendar... And have it both on the device and on my desktop - flawlessly.
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ehwang114
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Jan 10, 2007, 03:37 PM
 
i think what will be iphone's biggest accomplishment is that it will force other phone companies to be more innovative. i know that apples goals are very attainable for the short term but looking further down the line i cannot see the iphone dominate the cell phone market. i see it more as a device for gadget gurus and having a market share closer to the macs than the ipod. the iphone has a very innovative design in terms of its touch screen but beyond that it doesnt do anything other phones cant do. the pricing is a little bit expensive and will price out the casual users. there have been studies done where americans generally want to use their cell phones for just calling, the figure is high like 65% but dont quote me on that. the beauty of the ipod was that it was easy to use and it entered a very young market and it had itunes. thats how it was able to completely dominate the market. the cell phone market is quite the opposite. you have industry giants like nokia, motorola, sony ericsson, samsung, and lg, not to mention palm and rim. the question for consumers will be do i want to tie myself down with a 2 year contract and pay 499-599 to replace my ipod and/or cell? treo is 299 with 2 year, pearl is 199 with 2 year, q is 199 with 2 year, will iphones ui and music features be enough? like i said before, it will be a very good device and force others to step up their game but i do not think it will dominate the cell market and ultimately just become ANOTHER high end cell/smart phone unlike a market LEADER that the ipod is.
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ibr80
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Jan 10, 2007, 04:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by DigitalEl View Post
This thing blew away my expectations. I love it when Steve introduces something that's even cooler than all the speculation. Here he's done it again! That aside, my main worry is that it's not smart enough as a smartphone and is too entertainment-centric. Sure, it's an iPod... But will the iCal integration be as good as the scheduling sync on a BlackBerry or Treo?

Can I add events to the iPhone when I'm out & about, then have them flawlessly sync back to my desktop at home? There's no reason to think that can't be done, but I was a little worried when it wasn't spelled out. I don't need to watch The Office while at the office... But it would be nice to add a doctor's appointment or a change in my work schedule to my calendar... And have it both on the device and on my desktop - flawlessly.
You know better than this Of course it will run flawlesly with iCal, it already does it perfectly with phones from other company via iSync. I dont think anybody there was interested in that part of the phone because were mac owners are already pretty familiar it. Im sure there were several other great feature that didnt make the cut. Rest assure your appointments will be on your iPhone.
     
k2director
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Jan 10, 2007, 04:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by mac128k-1984 View Post
The more I think about it, the more I wonder how successful this will be. The crucial piece of the puzzle is the cost. People seem to go through phones every 2 years. Spending 600 dollars on a phone with that mentality is ridiculous. Now what's not mentioned is the question whether cingular will discount the phones when you sign up for a 1 or 2 year contract. Every phone has this discount will apple follow?

While its great and has everything I'd ever want in a phone (or iPod) I'm not about to spend 600 dollars on it.

You have to stop thinking of this as *just* a phone. It really is, as Steve said, a digital lifestyle device. Would I pay $500/$600 for just a phone? No way, but the iPhone is in a whole different category. It's one device that I can carry around to do just about everything I could want. Entertainment, communications, information gathering, etc. That's easily worth $500-$600 to me.

The iPhone, like the original iPod, is going to appeal to a small subset of people initially. They'll dig the idea of having so much more than a phone in a single device, while other people will say "that's cool, but too expensive." But over the next couple of years, the price will go down, and the capabilities will go up, and more and more people will start to consider it in a new light.

It happened with the iPod, and I think it's going to happen with the iPhone too....
     
olePigeon
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Jan 10, 2007, 04:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by yoyoman View Post
How are they crap when they have one if the largest networks in the US even after Cingular and ATT merged. Only bumped Verizon down to number 2.
Because they're useless outside the U.S.
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icruise
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Jan 10, 2007, 04:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by ibr80 View Post
You know better than this Of course it will run flawlesly with iCal, it already does it perfectly with phones from other company via iSync. I dont think anybody there was interested in that part of the phone because were mac owners are already pretty familiar it. Im sure there were several other great feature that didnt make the cut. Rest assure your appointments will be on your iPhone.
Of course it will sync with iCal in the same way as the iPod and other phones do -- through a direct connection with your computer. But I don't think that's what he was asking. He wants to know if the phone can sync wirelessly over the Internet while you're away from your computer. Since there was no mention of this potentially cool feature, my guess would be no, at least not right away. Although I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to do this in conjunction with .Mac, at least.
     
TAZ
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Jan 10, 2007, 05:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by Veltliner View Post
Fantastic design!

But: no way I go cingular.

I wonder why Apple did not cooperate with Verizon?

This carrier has the best marks for service quality nationwide, and, as a quality carrier, would have been a good fit for a quality company like Apple.
The biggest reason to go with Cingular is because Apple's goals are not US centric, but rather GLOBAL. CDMA does not have the global penetration that GSM has. The biggest growth in cell phone users is NOT the USA so to market a phone using CDMA technology through a landlocked US based carrier would be counterproductive. With GSM the logical choice, Cingular pretty much becomes the logical carrier simply due to their size.
     
Masters2010
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Jan 10, 2007, 06:16 PM
 
Am I the only one who was waiting for a new ipod and got this instead? No matter how anyone looks at it, it's not an ipod. It has 8 GB for music and video. That's practically nothing. I really hope the 6G comes out soon and I'm not stuck with the 5G video.
     
icruise
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Jan 10, 2007, 06:24 PM
 
I would definitely like to see a hard drive-based iPod in the iPhone form factor, although I wouldn't expect it very soon. My hunch is that they are going to keep the widescreen/touchscreen as an incentive to buy the iPhone for a while, and since it doesn't even come out until June we may not see them until the end of the year. Of course, I could be wrong.
     
JKT
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Jan 10, 2007, 06:57 PM
 
Originally Posted by mac128k-1984 View Post
The more I think about it, the more I wonder how successful this will be. The crucial piece of the puzzle is the cost. People seem to go through phones every 2 years. Spending 600 dollars on a phone with that mentality is ridiculous. Now what's not mentioned is the question whether cingular will discount the phones when you sign up for a 1 or 2 year contract. Every phone has this discount will apple follow?

While its great and has everything I'd ever want in a phone (or iPod) I'm not about to spend 600 dollars on it.
The main reason for people updating every 2 years is because service providers actively encourage it to keep people on their tariffs and discourage them from switching to another provider, not because people truly need to do so.

Also, what if the OS and software on the iPhone is upgradeable simply through a sync in its Dock. You might upgrade your phone every 2 years at the moment but that is only because the OS and apps on them, and therefore the functionality of the phone, is completely outdated by that time, but if you can update to OS X "10.6" for your phone in 2 years time through a paid-for download...
     
icruise
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Jan 10, 2007, 07:28 PM
 
Well frankly, Apple doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to upgradeability in its non-computer products. They'll upgrade things when it's in their interest (such as to enable the 5.0 video ipod to play games -- that's a revenue stream for Apple) but in general to get relatively minor features you often have to buy a whole new iPod.
     
icruise
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Jan 10, 2007, 08:14 PM
 
By the way, there's a long thread about the iPhone in the MacNN lounge. Ideally this kind of discussion would take place in the iPod forum, but it always seems to gravitate to the lounge. Just so people know, here it is:

http://forums.macnn.com/89/macnn-lou...61/the-iphone/
     
yoyoman
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Jan 10, 2007, 11:10 PM
 
can you recoard video?
     
hldan
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Jan 10, 2007, 11:57 PM
 
Originally Posted by Veltliner View Post
Fantastic design!

But: no way I go cingular.

I wonder why Apple did not cooperate with Verizon?

This carrier has the best marks for service quality nationwide, and, as a quality carrier, would have been a good fit for a quality company like Apple.
Because Verizon caters more to the business user (and before you say that business users are the market for Smartphones), unfortunately the business user is not the majority. The people spending money on cell phones are age 18-30 no matter the price. Most kids are texting on T-mobile's sidekick, sporting an iPod, surfing the web constantly on phones or at home, snapping pictures from the cell phone but the one carrier kids stay away from is Verizon. The plans are not good and they cater more to the business user as said earlier. You find the majority on Cingular.
     
Helmling
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Jan 11, 2007, 12:14 AM
 
Originally Posted by drainyoo View Post
Cause Verizon is crap. Ive had Cingular for years now and I have never had a single problem. I even get reception where people with Verizon dont.

To not switch to this revolutionary phone simply because of a carrier then thats ridiculous in my opinion.
Oh, it's not ridiculous...give me a break. People can have all sorts of reasons for not wanting to switch. Considering how important cell phones have become to people's way of life, it's not surprising that the iPhone being only available through one carrier could turn a lot of people off.

That said, the second my contract with Verizon is up, you can bet your last dollar that I'm switching. That thing if f---ing incredible and I will have one.
     
larrinski
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Jan 11, 2007, 12:22 AM
 
Much like Movies and TV in Canada, it will be years away for me... Good thing I don't need a new cell phone right now, or I would be VERY envious!
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ebrunn
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Jan 11, 2007, 01:06 AM
 
Verizon was prolly all like, " We want the iPhone, but we want to screw the users by turning off the Bluetooth, Wifi, and all the other features people want." lol
     
MikeD
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Jan 11, 2007, 01:16 AM
 
I personally can't wait... Things I'd like confirmed over the comming months:
Cingular monthly pricing (Data etc)

.mac (on the road) or wireless syncing (at home)if possible for contacts/calendars/notes etc.

Upgrades regarding contracts... if this is a 2 year contract, if a new model came out before xmas, does that mean I added 4 years of contracts within 6 months? - I hope you can purchase w/o contract!

Tethering capability - I tether all the time with my K790a w/no issues... I hope this works.

iCal very similar to desktop version - This would be great if I can add to and have it sync to .mac automatically over cingular or wifi. My shared calendar would be with me always!!

And of course, possibility of getting faster than EDGE. I mean, all the latest phones now (hi tech that is) are UMTS or HSDPA. See the latest HTC phones. The HTC TYTN was king of the crop and that's getting to be an 'old' phone now!

Pairing of my thinkoutside bluetooth folding keyboard would be great!!!

Mobile versions of keynote etc would be GREAT!! Could I leave the laptop at home?!?!?! I could see connecting this thing to a projector and just running a lecture off of it!

But of course, I'm not expecting all of that.. I still will probably get it since I use my cell phone for everything - I'm even thinking of not getting phone service at my new house when we move over the summer just because I never use the land line phone...

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SierraDragon
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Jan 11, 2007, 03:03 AM
 
Originally Posted by mac128k-1984 View Post
Looks impressive but why the wait. I mean he unveiled it in January and now we will have to wait until June?
They are filing the govt paperwork now for June release. Since the filing would make the phone public anyway, they announced it now.

Photos do not do the iPhone justice. They had one on a pedestal under glass at Mac Expo and it was gorgeous. I do not normally care that much about that kind of thing, but visually the iPhone rocks. The 12 to 30 age group (and older) will eat the iPhone up.

This will be a killer product. I intend to preorder as soon as I can because it (elegantly) does eveything I now use my Sprint Treo 700P for, and Sprint service sucks lately.

The reason Apple selected Singular initially probably has something to do with the fact that it is the biggest/strongest US network.

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Amorya
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Jan 11, 2007, 07:32 AM
 
Originally Posted by drainyoo View Post
Then you obviously aren't understanding what this phone is capable of.

Compare it to other smart phones and their prices.

With a 2 year contract at Cingular:

[snip]
Alas, the pricing structure in the UK is different. These are all on 18 month contracts:
  • Nokia E61, free.
  • Nokia N91(which does have 4GB storage), £70
  • O2 XDA Mini S, free
  • O2 XDA Executive, free
  • Blackberry 8700, free
  • Blackberry Pearl 8100, free
  • Sony Ericsson P990i, £80

So as you can see, in the UK we're unused to paying for handsets. And why should we? The network gets enough money from our contracts, so they can afford to subsidise them!

The worry is that Apple will try and translate the American pricing structure into the UK market.

At $499 the iPhone is a steal for what it does. It blows all these phones out of the water. How many smartphones have 4GB of storage? NONE! How many have Visual Voicemail? NONE! How man have a wide mutli touch screen? NONE! How many have an iPOD built in? NONE! How many are running a UNIX OS? NONE!
I already mentioned the Nokia N91 having 4GB. There are phones with music players and decent syncing. There are linux smartphones (close enough to a UNIX OS). There are wide touch screens, albeit not multitouch.

I agree Apple's phone is better than most, but it's still a phone like any other and will be judged as such. (At least I hope it will -- we shouldn't let Apple get away with incompatible pricing here. The ipod is priced competitively.)

For the record, if the rumours are true that you cannot load your own apps onto the iPhone, then it is not a smartphone by at least some definitions. Also, whatever the technical definition, consumers associate smartphone with 3G in this country... if it's billed as a smartphone but only 2G then there'll be many surprised customers!

I do like the iPhone, but some of the fanboy attitude about it is a bit extreme!

Originally Posted by k2director View Post
You have to stop thinking of this as *just* a phone. It really is, as Steve said, a digital lifestyle device. Would I pay $500/$600 for just a phone? No way, but the iPhone is in a whole different category. It's one device that I can carry around to do just about everything I could want. Entertainment, communications, information gathering, etc. That's easily worth $500-$600 to me.
But it's not a new category! The lifestyle device category already exists; I've been buying phones from it for ages! Music, camera and internet access are all features of phones today. IPhone may do them better (especially the latter) but it's not doing anything new, just in a more innovative way.



Things I'm anxious about:
  • Third party apps. I want to develop for the phone, and use apps others produce! Such as...
  • Salling Clicker. This is pretty crucial, as I use it all the time for lectures &c.
  • Games. Saw no mention of them. If third party apps are allowed we can get things like gameboy emulators, but if not then we're stuck.
  • A file manager. Can't see one. This might be ok if the built in apps are decent enough (which includes being able to send unprotected songs over bluetooth).
  • MSN Messenger. That's not going to come from Apple, but needs to be on there somehow. It's one of the student offers on the 3 network over here (free MSN).
  • Office. My current phone has a compatible suite, including a PDF viewer as well as Microsoft compatible apps.
  • The ability to send MMS messages (which are like SMS with pictures or attachments). Again, it's something I use quite often and would miss if it was absent.
  • An SSH client, for server emergencies.

Amorya
What the nerd community most often fail to realize is that all features aren't equal. A well implemented and well integrated feature in a convenient interface is worth way more than the same feature implemented crappy, or accessed through a annoying interface.
     
davesmall
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Jan 11, 2007, 09:31 AM
 
Originally Posted by ehwang114 View Post
there have been studies done where americans generally want to use their cell phones for just calling, the figure is high like 65% but dont quote me on that. .
That's because functions like email and web browsing are so tortuous to use on a regular cell phone. The screen is so tiny and entering text is a real pain. Even cell phone text messaging is user unfriendly on most cell phones.
     
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Jan 11, 2007, 10:18 AM
 
One thing no one has mentioned is this...The first couple of months of proud ownership will be a shock to many. I am sure that all the fun stuff it does uses air time that I'm sure Cingular is giddy with excitement to charge customers for. I bet there will be many people stunned when their first phone bill is double the cost of the iPhone itself. But hey, am willing to pay for usage when I am at home drooling over my new iPhone while sitting next to my core 2 duo laptop. I picture myself spending hours on the iPhone looking at all the bookmarked places I have in Safari on my iPhone while my laptop in in sleep mode while all the time chewing up cell minutes. Oh, of course, I have to make a bunch of little changes in iCal and watch it sync via my .mac account, delete the changes, watch it sync, make another and go get my wife and hope she will share my giddyness, which she never does, and again all the while chewing upcell time, and I will get a $1,200 cell bill in August. D'oh! But on the brite side, I bet it will be snappy!
     
icruise
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Jan 11, 2007, 10:31 AM
 
Cingular's iPhone plans will almost certainly all include unlimited data usage.
     
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Jan 11, 2007, 11:01 AM
 
  • What format, resolution of video does it shoot?
  • When you hold it sideways, do you get a landscape keyboard?
  • Where's the GPS?
  • Where's the Skype or other VoIP?
  • Corporate Email?
  • When you lay it on a table, does it assume speakerphone? When you hold it to your ear does it switch from speakerphone to normal?
  • Will it run any standard Widget as an app?
  • How about SSH?
  • I assume photos or videos shot sync to iPhoto automatically?

So far it looks pretty meh, especially for $500. The first gen iPod (of which I own a 10gb) had a huge win for me in firewire syncing, since my 64mb Nomad only had usb, and the difference in speed was considerable. By the time the world caught up with USB2 iPod was established and starting to become price-competitive. This phone has a bunch of neat features, it's pretty good, but it's not insanely great. GPS, quality video (640x480@30fps) shooting, open app architecture would make it insanely great, even at $600.
     
davesmall
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Jan 11, 2007, 11:18 AM
 
Just love the user interface, multitouch, and the ability to switch from portrait to landscape by simply rotating the phone. This really does look like a breakthrough device.

But the devil is in the details and I'm wondering ...........

Will full unlimited internet access require an expensive unlimited contract with Cingular? Could we be talking $60, 70, or $80 per month for that? If so then whoa! Maybe I'm not so anxious to get one of these after all.

And if I'm going to have to sign up for a whopper monthly payment to get unlimited Internet access will I then be able to connect my MacBook Pro to the internet via iPhone using Bluetooth (or via the iPhone's dock)? That's a very important question.

I was hoping that the iPhone would help me to reduce the number of $$$ going to cell phone service providers rather than increasing the dollar drain. I hate 'minutes' and I hate '2 year plans.'

That could happen by enabling WiFi phone capabilities via Skype or similar and only using the cellular network when out of WiFi range. Then I could go with a cheaper plan, or even better, prepaid minutes. One of my most hoped-for iPhone functions was 'least cost call routing -- automatically choosing the best and cheapest available service be it Skype, Jajah, or the cellular network when placing a call.

Though Apple has stated that iPhone will have WiFi connectivity I haven't heard a word about VOIP. What's up with that? Did they have to 'sell out' to Cingular to make the deal? Once again, Let me say it again. I was hoping the iPhone would pay for itself by reducing monthly cell phone charges, not increasing them.

I'm looking at a full-scale picture of iPhone's virtual keyboard on my screen. I can't fit my fingers onto those keys. They're just too small and too close together. It doesn't look to me like it's going to be possible to type at 30, 40, or 50 words per minute. Instead it looks like I'll have to do hunt and peck, one finger at a time typing. If I'm correct about that then my next questions is: What about a Bluetooth external keyboard?

FYI - I'm a light cell phone user and an extremely heavy email and web user. I usually leave my cell phone in the car and turned off. I carry it when traveling. I use it for outgoing calls or turn it on when I'm expecting a call. I don't use any of the web or messaging functions (too user unfriendly). My interest in the iPhone is being able to check email or look up a web page while in a restaurant or out of wifi range. My iPod gets pretty heavy use but I don't even know if I still have the earbuds that came with it. They've never been used. I leave it in my car and use it as a commercial free music source through my car radio. Don't think I'd be inclined to use the iPod functions in iPhone. I may be able to find some use for the video and picture capabilities but haven't figured out what that might be as yet. Think I might like another version of iPhone that's bigger -- maybe 3 or 4 times as big -- more of a tablet format. I'd like a bigger screen, a much bigger multi-touch keyboard, a big hard disk, but still small enough to take along most anywhere. I'd like it to be about 70 to 80 percent computer and 20 to 30 percent phone.
     
biscuit
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Jan 11, 2007, 11:31 AM
 
This has probably all been said but I just wanted to add my voice.

iPhone looks fantastic but if it isn't 3G when it hits Europe I'm afraid it'll be laughed off the continent. I had to look up what EDGE is because we've never heard of it in the UK; turns out it's the pretty rubbish stop-gap before 3G that the networks were embarrassed to shout about. The "breakthrough internet device" bit won't be very breakthrough on 56k modem speeds.

Europe is a huge cell phone market and it's also probably the one market that Apple won't get away with selling a US-centric device.

I still want one though

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davesmall
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Jan 11, 2007, 12:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by biscuit View Post
This has probably all been said but I just wanted to add my voice.

iPhone looks fantastic but if it isn't 3G when it hits Europe I'm afraid it'll be laughed off the continent. I had to look up what EDGE is because we've never heard of it in the UK; turns out it's the pretty rubbish stop-gap before 3G that the networks were embarrassed to shout about. The "breakthrough internet device" bit won't be very breakthrough on 56k modem speeds. Europe is a huge cell phone market and it's also probably the one market that Apple won't get away with selling a US-centric device. I still want one though biscuit
The more I think about it the more convinced I become that the iPhone is going to the the boat and Cingular is going to be the boat anchor.

You're undoubtedly correct about 3G. Cingular is offering low performance and high prices.

Wireless operator 3 in the UK is a 3G mobile network carrier which has opened up its fast network at relatively low prices. For 5 pounds ($9.69) per month, a subscriber gets unlimited Skype calls, as well as unlimited Internet access, Podcasts and Windows Live Messenger.

Greedy operators like Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon have the wrong pricing model. When a wireless operator like 3 does pop up in the USA they'll not only take over the market, they'll enable new mobile technologies like the iPhone together with Skype.

I doubt we'll see that from the current crop of wireless service providers though. It may take the emergence of WiMax for us to see it here.
     
yoyoman
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Jan 11, 2007, 12:53 PM
 
     
x user
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Jan 11, 2007, 12:57 PM
 
I have a krzr and an iPod (Well I did), and I'd buy one in a second if I wasn't tied to a two year plan with Verizon. This thing has enough PDA functions to do everything I want (Calender, e-mail, etc). I do agree that I wish they had been able to go with an Unlocked phone, but to support features like Visual Voicemail, i think they had to tie in with somebody. And someone would always complain, I like Verizon, but 1/2 the people out there hate um...
     
trevc
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Jan 11, 2007, 01:07 PM
 
Keyboard Layout?

Sometimes Apple's UI just isn't there. With a blank slate for keyboard interface I thought they'd allow you to customize the keyboard. I mean being able to change a keyboard design for "left or right handed thumb dialers", etc. would be the ultimate.

I know they've patented changing interface depending on the application, but maybe I should patent multiple keyboard layouts for the same interface? ;-)

Also ... they really should have a process where developers can submit their apps for Apple's approval and then be purchased through iTunes (do I hear a name change coming here too?) much like the games by Electronic Arts, etc.
     
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Jan 11, 2007, 01:22 PM
 
Gizmodo has an article where the writer met with Phil Schiller and the chief software guy for the iPhone and spent a few minutes using it. One thing Phil said is the iPhone is closed to 3rd party software development.
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drainyoo
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Jan 11, 2007, 03:38 PM
 
Originally Posted by PBG4 User View Post
Gizmodo has an article where the writer met with Phil Schiller and the chief software guy for the iPhone and spent a few minutes using it. One thing Phil said is the iPhone is closed to 3rd party software development.
Yup I just read that. Pretty unfortunate but I think Apple has a good reason for this. They wouldn't closed it for no reason. Maybe developers have to go through Apple? Not sure. I will still buy this thing when it first comes out.
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parsec_kadets
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Jan 11, 2007, 09:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by drainyoo View Post
I was being sarcastic. I just find it funny that people refuse to move to certain carriers. They are all pretty much the same, you can make a quality call from all of them. They all suck in certain areas and they all are great in other areas. Its not like Cingular is absolutely horrendous that its unusable. I use Cingular in NYC and its absolutly perfect. Never get a dropped call and reception is always great even on a Treo.
Here's why switching to Cingular will be a difficult decision for me. I've been on T-Mobile for three years now, and my contract is up in October. I currently get a loyalty plan that's 800 minutes and unlimited nights/weekends for $39.99. For the same price on Cingular you get half the minutes, and 5000 night/weekend (a lot, but not unlimed). Not to mention that unlimited data (with some port restrictions) on T-Mobile is $5.99. It'll cost you $19.99 on Cingular.

Another thing nobody has mentioned is that T-Mobile has been testing functionality where you can use your WiFi enabled phone as a VOIP phone when you have access, and seamlessly switch to the cell network when you lose it. No mention of any kind of deal like that with Cingular and the iPhone. I'm pretty sure T-Mobile customers will try to get their hands on an unlocked one for that reason alone.
     
jbelkin
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Jan 12, 2007, 05:57 PM
 
     
yoyoman
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Jan 12, 2007, 06:19 PM
 
Do I have to use any carrier at all? The way I see it, even without a mobile carrier, this is a cool video iPod with WiFi internet capabilities. I’ll pay $600 for that.
     
SplijinX
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Jan 12, 2007, 08:41 PM
 
Originally Posted by yoyoman View Post
Do I have to use any carrier at all? The way I see it, even without a mobile carrier, this is a cool video iPod with WiFi internet capabilities. I’ll pay $600 for that.
Unfortunately it's $600 with 2 years activation through Cingular...and usually they prices on phones without contracts are quite a bit higher. I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone sells for $800+ standalone.
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yaro
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Jan 12, 2007, 10:39 PM
 
Is the iphone a real entity? Did somebody actually touched it and then pinched themselves to find out if it all had been a dream? I still cannot fathom it, this is a completely new paradigm.

( Last edited by yaro; Jan 12, 2007 at 11:09 PM. )
     
hldan
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Jan 12, 2007, 10:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by OtisWild View Post
  • What format, resolution of video does it shoot?
  • When you hold it sideways, do you get a landscape keyboard?
  • Where's the GPS?
  • Where's the Skype or other VoIP?
  • Corporate Email?
  • When you lay it on a table, does it assume speakerphone? When you hold it to your ear does it switch from speakerphone to normal?
  • Will it run any standard Widget as an app?
  • How about SSH?
  • I assume photos or videos shot sync to iPhoto automatically?

So far it looks pretty meh, especially for $500. The first gen iPod (of which I own a 10gb) had a huge win for me in firewire syncing, since my 64mb Nomad only had usb, and the difference in speed was considerable. By the time the world caught up with USB2 iPod was established and starting to become price-competitive. This phone has a bunch of neat features, it's pretty good, but it's not insanely great. GPS, quality video (640x480@30fps) shooting, open app architecture would make it insanely great, even at $600.

Damn dude! Did you ant the phone to be $499 or $999.00 All the included features of the iPhone plus all of your crazy extras would make the price sing to $999.00. Now, personally I don't see it as part of my digital lifestyle because I don't want to pay for a data plan and smartphones generally require that. But I am not gonna trash the most full featured phone with revolutionary features. I was at Macworld this week and I can tell you that nobody complained about missing features, it was only pure lust.
     
icruise
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Jan 12, 2007, 11:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by OtisWild View Post
[*]What format, resolution of video does it shoot?
We don't know that it shoots video at all yet.
[*]When you hold it sideways, do you get a landscape keyboard?
Why wouldn't you?
[*]Where's the GPS?
Not here.
[*]Where's the Skype or other VoIP?
Not here. Do you really think Cingular would let you get away with calling for free?
[*]Corporate Email?
Not here.
[*]When you lay it on a table, does it assume speakerphone? When you hold it to your ear does it switch from speakerphone to normal?
I don't think it can tell if it's been laid on a table. I think it's a good guess that it would switch automatically from speakerphone when put to your ear, but nobody knows at this point.
[*]Will it run any standard Widget as an app?[*]How about SSH?
Won't do any of that.
[*]I assume photos or videos shot sync to iPhoto automatically?
I would assume so.

So far it looks pretty meh, especially for $500. The first gen iPod (of which I own a 10gb) had a huge win for me in firewire syncing, since my 64mb Nomad only had usb, and the difference in speed was considerable.
Technically the first-gen iPod only came in 5GB.

By the time the world caught up with USB2 iPod was established and starting to become price-competitive. This phone has a bunch of neat features, it's pretty good, but it's not insanely great. GPS, quality video (640x480@30fps) shooting, open app architecture would make it insanely great, even at $600.
I think you're falling into the same trap that all phone makers (and incidentally, all MP3 player makers) fall into -- thinking that it's all about the number of features or the tech specs. While the iPhone does have some compelling features, it's really about how they are implemented, how easy they are to use, and how well they work together with one another.
     
drainyoo
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Jan 13, 2007, 12:49 AM
 
Here is more info on why there won't be any3rd party apps. Straight from Jobs himself. Makes perfect sense to me.

Mac Rumors: Apple iPhone Apps Coming, but Limited

“We define everything that is on the phone. You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.”
i hate project managers.
     
awcopus
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Jan 13, 2007, 01:05 AM
 
Regarding the keyboard layout, I'm hopeful that when you turn the phone sideways, the keyboard layout will swith to landscape, making it significantly easier to type with. Surely this is possible and simply a software update.

The phone is gorgeous. Jobs sold it brilliantly, of course, and I'm probably a buyer early in 2008, when my current contract expires and switching will make sense. By then, I'm sure Apple will have refined it even further.
Liberty lover since birth. Mac devotee since 1986.
     
skyman
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Jan 13, 2007, 11:31 AM
 
Originally Posted by jbelkin View Post
That's is the most idiotic poll I have ever seen!
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