[scottiB]

Originally Posted by BRussell 

I read this today:

It sounds like it's just wishful thinking on the part of the Chinook guy, but who knows? It'll give us a chance to wait for iPhone v2. Or maybe v3.

Saw this on MacNN's page:

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/06/...pand.coverage/

Perhaps at&t will purchase Chinook in the near future.

[MacTheKnife]

I got one at the Apple Store in San Francisco. Was not bad at all, line moved incredibly fast. I think they sold 500 within the first hour. I'm going to install iTunes right now. I'm on a new Sony TZ!

[voodoo]

AT&T coverage looks pretty decent and covers all states.. are they lying?

AT&T Coverage Viewer



V

[MacTheKnife]

Originally Posted by voodoo 

AT&T coverage looks pretty decent and covers all states.. are they lying?

No, they're not lying, but you must test the service in your area. There are blind spots as with any network. The reason Apple chose AT&T is because they're the largest GSM network in America. Makes the iPhone work in most other countries.

I think the decision was a prudent one. I'm switching from T-Mobile, so the the coverage will be about the same. The network is going HSDPA soon too, although that will not happen all over the country for a while.

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by MacTheKnife 

No, they're not lying, but you must test the service in your area. There are blind spots as with any network. The reason Apple chose AT&T is because they're the largest GSM network in America. Makes the iPhone work in most other countries.

I think the decision was a prudent one. I'm switching from T-Mobile, so the the coverage will be about the same. The network is going HSDPA soon too, although that will not happen all over the country for a while.

OK, it's just that some members were complaining that AT&T had no coverage in their state.. it looks like they have some coverage in all states on that map.

Oh well, I don't pretend to understand. Coverage will be very weird in Europe if Apple goes with one or two carriers only.

V

[BRussell]

It's not just blind spots. If you look at the US map at the lowest level of detail, like in voodoo's link, everything looks great. But drill down a bit and you see that all of that orange includes everything from 3G in the cities to just roaming coverage. Look at Montana, the state that davesimon and I are in, and it says "partner." That's not AT&T coverage, it's just roaming coverage. Right now, we can't buy the iPhone, as far as I know. They probably have 80%+ of the population covered, but there are huge areas with smaller populations (like Montana, the size of Germany but with 1% of Germany's population) that are not covered. God knows when they'll have 3G GSM here.

[Brian Live]

I got an 8GB. Fantastic so far!

[Rumor Addict]

I got one too posting from it now

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by BRussell 

It's not just blind spots. If you look at the US map at the lowest level of detail, like in voodoo's link, everything looks great. But drill down a bit and you see that all of that orange includes everything from 3G in the cities to just roaming coverage. Look at Montana, the state that davesimon and I are in, and it says "partner." That's not AT&T coverage, it's just roaming coverage. Right now, we can't buy the iPhone, as far as I know. They probably have 80%+ of the population covered, but there are huge areas with smaller populations (like Montana, the size of Germany but with 1% of Germany's population) that are not covered. God knows when they'll have 3G GSM here.

Ah I understand now. Wow.. being a GSM user in Montana sure sucks. Damn.

V

[Kerrigan]

I tjink livcing in montana would suck.,.,

Btw im typinh this on my iphone n the keyboard is horrrndous.

edit- just messing with you guys, I don't have an iPhone

[icruise]

I don't understand why the iPhone wouldn't correct something like "typinh"

[::maroma::]

I'm actually finding the keyboard to be quite easy to type on. I'm not on it now, but I was messing around with it for a while. The only real trouble I have so far is accidentally hitting a key as I move my finger over to another letter. I'm keeping my finger just a tiny bit too close to the screen when I move it over. Other than that I make few errors, and it auto-corrects really well. I guess it should be noted that I have pretty slim fingers. I'm hearing people with wider fingers are having problems.

So far I'm absolutely in love with this thing. It feels so solid in my hands. The industrial design is just amazing (of course). And the navigation is a no brainer (of course). I can't wait to get it out and use it in my daily life. Going on a vacation next week so I'll be putting it through some good tests.

[MOTHERWELL]

I am also typing this from my phone and the keyboard works as advertised

I am very happy with this thing. By the way: the Apple store in Dallas had lots of phones. My brother walked right in and bought 2

[Nodnarb]

Wow. Crazy experience with the activation: Verizon "froze" my number and didn't allow AT&T to take it, so I've spent the past 6 hours on the phone with AT&T/Apple/Verizon and have now finally got a phone working (albeit with a "temporary" number that they promised will be my old number again once it's ported over).

Anyways the phone is incredible. Typing is better than I thought it'd be, and EDGE really isn't too slow? Tried EDGE in the car because I have WiFi in my house, where the iPhone flys through web pages. This thing is amazing.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by voodoo 

AT&T coverage looks pretty decent and covers all states.. are they lying?

Yep. That map includes roaming coverage, some of which is really (really, really, really) spotty, due to being made up of GSM transmitters put up by CDMA carriers that don't actually use their GSM network for their own customers, but rather just put it there to make a few extra bucks on roaming, and thus don't really have any reason to need the coverage to be good.

Once again, here's the real map: http://www.wireless.att.com/support_...payasyougo.gif

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Yep. That map includes roaming coverage, some of which is really (really, really, really) spotty, due to being made up of GSM transmitters put up by CDMA carriers that don't actually use their GSM network for their own customers, but rather just put it there to make a few extra bucks on roaming, and thus don't really have any reason to need the coverage to be good.

Once again, here's the real map: http://www.wireless.att.com/support_...payasyougo.gif

Seems to me the best areas to live in are the old Spain

V

[CharlesS]

Just wait. Apple will probably launch the iPhone in Europe exclusively with some provider that you can't get in Salamanca.

[DigitalEl]

My brief "I GOT ONE" story:

I had a meeting at work at 0800 today. I rode by the neighborhood AT&T store before the meeting. There were about 5 people in line. I rode by again after my meeting at 0900. The same 5 people were there.

I went home, ate, changed and arrived at the AT&T store with my cheesy portable chair at around 1030. I was the 10th person in line.

I live in suburban Phoenix. It was 109 today. It... Was... Brutal. People left the line for refreshment and restroom breaks at will. I went to lunch with my family around 1400-1500. There was an entire family in line. Dad, mom and spoiled (my guess) 10-year-old all getting iPhones. They left their sweet Acura MDX running the whole 8 hours I was there, with an extension cord powering a power strip. They had a tiny Sony Vaio, a couple of fans and a portable DVD player. I didn't know a car could power that much stuff, but I'm not a car nut, so... Anyway, at least they were comfortable. They were a pretty obnoxious trio, but I guess every group has a few.

The only major annoyance was an inconsiderate smoker about 3 places behind me in line. It was a jovial group otherwise. A lot of nerds. Maybe 2 or 3 hot chicks. All in the 18-34 age range, except for the couple with the kid. They were in their mid-40s probably. There was your typical suburban 21-year-old BMW driver with the sunglasses that cost more than the iPhone he was buying... There was your typical college kid who begged, borrowed and stole to come up with enough for a 4 gig model... You get the picture.

They opened the doors at 1800. They were letting people into the store in groups of 7, b/c that's how many registers they had. I was out of there with my iPhone at 1810. There were only 40 or 50 people in line in all. I don't know how the back of the line fared, b/c I was outta there. In another 30 minutes, I'd have suffered heat stroke.

I came home and took a shower and laid under the ceiling fan on high 'til color returned to my face (and I'm Black). I didn't open my iPhone box 'til about 3 1/2 hours later. I was that miserable. Glad I did it though. What a day!

[cliffom]

New proud owner of a 4GB iPhone!

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Just wait. Apple will probably launch the iPhone in Europe exclusively with some provider that you can't get in Salamanca.

That will happen only if Apple chooses some other provider than one of the three largest in Europe, Orange, Telefónica (O2) or Vodafone.

But hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

V

[analogika]

You know, for all the joking, you appear remarkably thin-skinned.


Anyway, I thought Apple cannot possibly stick with a single provider in Europe due to cartel laws?

[matty-uk]

Has anyone tried making their own mp3 as a ringtone??

I would be very surprised if they do stick with one carrier, I just hope the supposed announcement on Monday is true and it is a joint deal, especially with T-Mobile, I've been with Vodafone, O2, Orange and T-Mobile. I have to say signal coverage and network performance has been the best with them.

However if they want to choose a carrier to make the most money, Orange and Vodafone are the 2 to go with, they charge for their data usage per MB, where as with T-Mobile they have the web n' walk.

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by analogika 

You know, for all the joking, you appear remarkably thin-skinned.

Originally Posted by analogika 

Anyway, I thought Apple cannot possibly stick with a single provider in Europe due to cartel laws?

True, also there is no single provider that can cover Europe. I think the best would be to talk to the big 3 and cut a deal with them. That would at least cover 90+% of the continent.

V

[analogika]

The problem with T-Mobile in Germany is that they are the former state-monopoly telcom.

I switched away from their landline division (T-Com) five years ago, and their Department of Bureaucratic Nightmare, which every single incident of customer interaction must run through (including phone support hotlines), insisted on sending me monthly bills for another six months.

Also once hung up after a record TWENTY-THREE minutes on their PAY-per-minute phone hotline, trying to get them to replace a defective WLAN router at a client's office. Astounding.

All telcoms are of the devil in a fundamental way - it's apparently industry-inherent - but T-Com and its derivatives, at least in Germany, have reserved for them a very special place in hell.

[NateEssex]

I got one. "Visually stunning" is the first impression. It's truly a multi-media device. The only thing I need is a secure password program. The navigation is fluid. I didn't have to configure one thing with the email. It auto-imported ALL of my email accounts, seven of them with no problems.

As far as quickly calling someone, you do it from the "FAVORITES" button and you can have pictures and specific ringtones for your favorties. I don't know if there is a limit to them. I haven't gotten to one yet.

I'm off to find out how to get "my" videos optimized for the iPhone screen.

Oh, with a decent number of playlists, 1 TV show, 1 photo album, and my iCal/contacts, I'm just under 1 Gig of used HD.

Let's see what today is like when I take it out in public.

[jasonsRX7]

I like mine so far. I made a video of me typing on it after only having it for 30 minutes or so. It's really easy to type on if you're already used to a Treo, Blackberry, or something.

YouTube - iPhone typing

[Cadaver]

Originally Posted by jasonsRX7 

I like mine so far. I made a video of me typing on it after only having it for 30 minutes or so. It's really easy to type on if you're already used to a Treo, Blackberry, or something.

YouTube - iPhone typing

Exactly. After a total of 10 minutes of use I'm essentially just as accurate and maybe 10% slower than I was with my Moto Q using two thumbs. Maybe I don't have fat fingers, but typing on the iPhone is a non-issue. No problems.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by voodoo 

That will happen only if Apple chooses some other provider than one of the three largest in Europe, Orange, Telefónica (O2) or Vodafone.

Well, I don't know much about the providers in Europe, but remember, AT&T is not the best provider in the US in terms of coverage, but they still went with them anyway.

I'm just a bit pissed at Apple lately. And at the US cell phone industry in general. The European way of doing things seems a lot more sane - just get whatever phone you want, and use it with whatever provider you want. I hate these phones you can only get with some carrier or other, and I hate these mandatory 2-year contracts. How would people react if carriers started deciding that you could only use certain land phones with certain land line providers? They wouldn't put up for it, but for some reason they're perfectly fine with having cell phones, which get much more expensive, be something you just throw away if you switch providers. It's insane IMO.

Oh well, I'm not getting an iPhone anyway as it is. I probably wouldn't be able to type on the thing anyway - my fingers and hands are huge. I'm just really disappointed because I was hoping Apple would be better than the rest of the industry, and that they would just sell all their phones unlocked in an Apple store, and that they would be the one company with enough clout to actually change the way things work around here. But instead, the iPhone is even more locked down than previous US phones.

[CharlesS]

By the way, this is to starman, who started the thread - I thought you once said that lack of support for Salling Clicker in a phone was a deal-breaker for you? The iPhone doesn't support third-party apps at all, only AJAX web pages, so it's pretty safe to say that it's not ever going to support Salling Clicker.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by matty-uk 

Has anyone tried making their own mp3 as a ringtone??

Maybe this'll work on the iPhone, it works on T Mobile phones: try renaming the mp3 as an mp4. A shallow trick, but maybe...

[dawho9]

Thought I would add I got an 8GB model and must agree that typing is not a problem at all. I feel really fast on it. Only did text messaging on my old phone and I'm light speed faster than before. Its great!

dw9

[msuper69]

Originally Posted by icruise 

I don't understand why the iPhone wouldn't correct something like "typinh"

You don't have to accept the suggested spelling.

[Geobunny]

Originally Posted by mdc 

I'm sitting in Tampa airport right now waiting for my flight to New York. The reason I didn't wait in line for one at the Tampa Apple Store is because I would have missed my flight. I get to the airport and my flight is almost 3 hours delayed.

Were you not nervous on that flight, knowing that the pilot was up in the flight-deck playing with his new iPhone instead of flying the plane?!

[Geobunny]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

By the way, this is to starman, who started the thread - I thought you once said that lack of support for Salling Clicker in a phone was a deal-breaker for you? The iPhone doesn't support third-party apps at all, only AJAX web pages, so it's pretty safe to say that it's not ever going to support Salling Clicker.

CharlesS, I don't see why Salling Clicker couldn't be updated to work with the iPhone. The thing works with WiFi, so all you would need is a wireless home network, apache (which OS X comes pre-installed with) and a firewall to limit which iPhone can control your computer. Admittedly not ideal and would require a web front-end to Salling Clicker, but I don't see why it couldn't be done.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Geobunny 

CharlesS, I don't see why Salling Clicker couldn't be updated to work with the iPhone. The thing works with WiFi, so all you would need is a wireless home network, apache (which OS X comes pre-installed with) and a firewall to limit which iPhone can control your computer. Admittedly not ideal and would require a web front-end to Salling Clicker, but I don't see why it couldn't be done.

Gah, that would be absolutely horrible. Having to open port 80 on one's computer is not worth the functionality of making your phone into a Front Row remote.

Anyway, I just found it ironic that starman was the one that started the thread, since a couple of years back we had a discussion about the original RAZR V3, where he kept saying it had "broken Bluetooth." His reason for saying that was that Salling Clicker didn't support it. As it turned out, the RAZR's Bluetooth implementation was fine, but it lacked an API for third-party applications to access the Bluetooth feature. The iPhone, of course, doesn't have any APIs at all for third-party applications beyond what you can do with a web page, so I wonder why starman isn't blasting it for having "broken Bluetooth."

[SeSawaya]

I got two 8 gigs from the ATT store in mIchigan city. We were #14 & 15 in line and bought the last two 8 gigs they had. PRETTY SAD!!!

So I'm assuming the other 50 people behind us either got a 4 or the "rain check" they where offering...

Love the phone!!!

[starman]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Gah, that would be absolutely horrible. Having to open port 80 on one's computer is not worth the functionality of making your phone into a Front Row remote.

Anyway, I just found it ironic that starman was the one that started the thread, since a couple of years back we had a discussion about the original RAZR V3, where he kept saying it had "broken Bluetooth." His reason for saying that was that Salling Clicker didn't support it. As it turned out, the RAZR's Bluetooth implementation was fine, but it lacked an API for third-party applications to access the Bluetooth feature. The iPhone, of course, doesn't have any APIs at all for third-party applications beyond what you can do with a web page, so I wonder why starman isn't blasting it for having "broken Bluetooth."

I already did. Ha!

[Geobunny]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Gah, that would be absolutely horrible. Having to open port 80 on one's computer is not worth the functionality of making your phone into a Front Row remote.

It doesn't have to be port 80, it could be absolutely any free port on your machine. I'm not by any means promoting security by obscurity, but I'm sure someone could find a way to restrict it to being accessed by only one particular device.

[The Evener]

Has anyone had any real trouble with the keyboard? Just curious since a lot of people were apprehensive about the touch-screen version versus a a dedicated button keyboard.

[msuper69]

CharlesS,

Since Apple wants the best user experience possible from the iPhone, if the iPhone were to be sold unlocked, then every single carrier would have to implement VVM (Visual Voice Mail) and any other yet-to-be revealed unique features. Only AT&T accepted Apple's terms so they go the contract.

[davesimondotcom]

Originally Posted by BRussell 

I read this today:

It sounds like it's just wishful thinking on the part of the Chinook guy, but who knows? It'll give us a chance to wait for iPhone v2. Or maybe v3.

Originally Posted by voodoo 

Ah I understand now. Wow.. being a GSM user in Montana sure sucks. Damn.

V

I wouldn't know since I'm stuck on Verizon...

[kman42]

Typing is really easy. I wish my kechain was sync'd as I don't remember any of my forum passwords making it hard to post.

[icruise]

Originally Posted by msuper69 

You don't have to accept the suggested spelling.

Yes, but why wouldn't you?

[mdc]

Standing in the 5th Avenue Apple Store (New York). It is so busy here right now. There are so many people in here.

I played with the iPhone last night when I arrived in New York. It is very cool. My wife and I signed our apartment lease and came here and I am the proud owner of a new 8g iPhone. Going to go back to our friends apartment and sync it soon.

[Star-Fire]

This was the line where I was (I was #12, got there about 1:30PM).

There were about 4-5 AT&T stores and 2 Apple stores in a 20 Mile radius of this area too.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by starman 

I already did. Ha!

Not according to the search feature.

Originally Posted by Geobunny 

It doesn't have to be port 80, it could be absolutely any free port on your machine. I'm not by any means promoting security by obscurity, but I'm sure someone could find a way to restrict it to being accessed by only one particular device.

How? Any malware author could just figure out what the iPhone is doing to identify itself as an iPhone and then spoof that.

Originally Posted by msuper69 

CharlesS,

Since Apple wants the best user experience possible from the iPhone, if the iPhone were to be sold unlocked, then every single carrier would have to implement VVM (Visual Voice Mail) and any other yet-to-be revealed unique features. Only AT&T accepted Apple's terms so they go the contract.

I think most people would be fine with using all the rest of the iPhone's features on, say, T-Mobile, and just using the regular voice mail.

And of course, you could give them little incentives, such as letting them carry the phone in their stores if they implement the visual voicemail, and if they didn't, then their users would have to go to an Apple store and buy an unlocked one. I think this would be a lot more flexible than what they're doing.

[dpicardi]

Originally Posted by Kerrigan 

I tjink livcing in montana would suck.,.,

Btw im typinh this on my iphone n the keyboard is horrrndous.

edit- just messing with you guys, I don't have an iPhone

Awesome post!

I really want one...but not sure I can justify it to the wife given I just bought a new MBP which is the fnest machine I have ever owned...period!

[dpicardi]

Originally Posted by jasonsRX7 

I like mine so far. I made a video of me typing on it after only having it for 30 minutes or so. It's really easy to type on if you're already used to a Treo, Blackberry, or something.

YouTube - iPhone typing

First, that's awesome to know.

Second, how's the "phone" part of the iphone. no one has talked about the phone quality and etc.

I have a blackberry and it rocks as a emailer...but as a phone it is just ok. A lot of people tell me that can't hear/understand me if I'm driving in my car.

How's the iPhone?

[Eyenovation]

Interesting feedback from some people over here:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1190824

1. Bluetooth is ONLY good for connecting a headset. That's it.

2. There is no file browser on the device at all. Data must be organized (if at all) in the appropriate application.

3. The camera is a simple application that has ONE button: the shutter. Pictures come out okay on the device, but nothing too fancy on a monitor, especially if it was an attempt at a macro shot.

4. SIM card is damn near impossible to open, if at all. I didn't look into it extensively.

5. Web browser is slow, even over WiFI. Even the simple OneList web app that was created takes around 20 seconds to load over WLAN. You can not highlight, cut, copy, or paste and text from a website, and you can not save any images you find from a website either.

6. The keyboard sucks. It's difficult to type on.

7. You can only send one picture at a time in an email.

8. No custom ringtones (yet, as we were being told) and the alert tones can not be changed whatsoever.

9. The default ringtones are incredibly lame.

10. The only form of customization outside of a lame default ringtone is the wallpaper, which you'll only see when you need to unlock the device or when you get a phone call.

11. "Picture pinching" or using two fingers to zoom on any content is certainly fun to play with, but not practical whatsoever. This operation depends solely on using the device with two hands.

12. No document editor or native viewer. You can not store documents on the device to be viewed, they can only be viewed as attachments when they're sent to your in an email.

13. Visual voicemail is laggy and reacts about the same way as pushing the fast forward and rewind buttons on traditional voicemail systems. The only advantage is for those that get that many voicemail messages a day that they need to sort them according to priority.

14. NO games. None.

15. No voice dialing.

16. No speed dialing (which can be made up by the "quick list", but getting to that quick list isn't as fast as holding a single key on a real keypad).

17. No video.

18. No Multimedia Text Messaging

19. It's still <4GB for $500 and <8GB for $600

20. It only takes around 2 hours to explore every menu without any options for expandability except to scrounge around for new web apps that will load slowly and nowhere near as smoothly as the native apps.

[UnixMac]

Hey, can I post in here, or do I need to start an "official I GOT TWO" thread?

Wife and I absolutely love them.. there is no going back to a regular cell phone ever again.