tOfficial iPhone news and discussion thread

[Fighting With A Vim]

Originally Posted by richwig

You meant to say "I couldn't care less if..."

I'm not talking about the UP. I'm talking about San Francisco, LA, Atlanta, DC, NYC, Chicago, and Interstate highways nearby.

If you read objective reviews, Verizon is among the best in the US in terms of coverage.

From David Pogue, tech columnist for The New York Times, on the iPhone on the AT&T network:

The bigger problem is the AT&T network. In a Consumer Reports study, AT&T’s signal ranked either last or second to last in 19 out of 20 major cities. My tests in five states bear this out. If Verizon’s slogan is, “Can you hear me now?” AT&T’s should be, “I’m losing you.”

It is a matter of documented fact, Trevor: the Cingular / AT&T network sucks. Steve Jobs made a deal with the devil.

This isn't objective, but from my own experience... Verizon isn't that great.

I have a 25% success rate of placing calls at 8 AM, Noon, and 5 PM.
I lose mobile web entirely when I am not near a city.

So what if Cingular drops calls- with Verizon I can't even make calls (maybe it's just an EL thing).

[Trevor Barnes]

Originally Posted by richwig

I'm not talking about the UP. I'm talking about San Francisco, LA, Atlanta, DC, NYC, Chicago, and Interstate highways nearby.

If you read objective reviews, Verizon is among the best in the US in terms of coverage.

From David Pogue, tech columnist for The New York Times, on the iPhone on the AT&T network:

The bigger problem is the AT&T network. In a Consumer Reports study, AT&T’s signal ranked either last or second to last in 19 out of 20 major cities. My tests in five states bear this out. If Verizon’s slogan is, “Can you hear me now?” AT&T’s should be, “I’m losing you.”

And yet, if Verizon is reliable in "San Francisco, LA, Atlanta, DC, NYC, Chicago, and Interstate highways nearby" but still not reliable in my home area, that doesn't do me much good. Just last week I stood next to a coworker trying to make several calls on Verizon in EL but lines were all busy. In the middle of the afternoon on a weekday?!

Let's be honest, Verizon is the one company we should all be thankful about not getting the iPhone. They would have neutered the hell out of it. Redial would have been it's "coolest" feature.

Also, it looks like AT&T just spent $2.8 billion to aquire Dobson Communications which owns Cellular One. That should help a bit.

AT&T to Acquire Dobson Communications, Expand Wireless Coverage

[Trevor Barnes]

This is pretty damn impressive. PC World (not exactly Apple fans) did stress testing on the iPhone and literally couldn't scratch the screen. It also survived drops on the carpet, hard floor, and then concrete several times.

PC World - iPhone Stress Tests

[izzo75]

I heard one guy on the west side of lansing ran out of gas on the way home from the ATT store and his new iPhone ran to the gas station and filled up its tank for him. While it was out it also called ahead for pizza and had exotic dancers stop by to entertain him while he waited for the iPhone to get back with the gas. This phone can do it all!!

[izzo75]

here are some of reviews so far from actual users:

Apple iPhone (4GB) Ratings. Smart phones User Opinions.

it sounds like it is getting very mixed reviews

[Trevor Barnes]

Originally Posted by izzo75

I heard one guy on the west side of lansing ran out of gas on the way home from the ATT store and his new iPhone ran to the gas station and filled up its tank for him. While it was out it also called ahead for pizza and had exotic dancers stop by to entertain him while he waited for the iPhone to get back with the gas. This phone can do it all!!

Truth.

[Trevor Barnes]

Originally Posted by izzo75

here are some of reviews so far from actual users:

Apple iPhone (4GB) Ratings. Smart phones User Opinions.

it sounds like it is getting very mixed reviews

1) Why would anyone get the 4 GB version?

2) 95% of those user reviews were before the product was even released.

[Fighting With A Vim]

Originally Posted by izzo75

here are some of reviews so far from actual users:

Apple iPhone (4GB) Ratings. Smart phones User Opinions.

it sounds like it is getting very mixed reviews

I don't trust those reviews, for two reasons...

(1) Most of those reviews are from before the iPhone was even released

(2) It would be way too easy for Verizon/Sprint/etc to pay people for negative iPhone reviews

[PortlandSpartan]

Originally Posted by izzo75

here are some of reviews so far from actual users:

Apple iPhone (4GB) Ratings. Smart phones User Opinions.

it sounds like it is getting very mixed reviews

I bet 10% at best of those reviews were done by people who have actually used the phone.

[bighc2000]

At the mall, peeps were freaking out in delight using the thing. I am sure many were Apple fans but many were also mall shoppers checking it out. For sure it will be the in thing amongst the high school set. Many of those kids were loving the YouTube. I loved the Google maps but I am a map freak.

Cannot wait for the Apple community to "hack" away at it like they have been doing with the AppleTV.

[bulldogg]

Originally Posted by richwig

Stuff and nonsense. Claiming a nihilist position re evaluating cell coverage just means blind belief in anecdotes. You can look at coverage maps, you can read news articles, and you can take in consumer surveys. The Cingular / AT&T network pales compared to competitors. Look at the full page ads and TV spots Sprint is running to show how poor the Cingular data plan is.

While I haven't personally visited most major markets with my phone, I can tell you that I have found that AT&T is better than Nextel and far better than Verizon in the West Michigan area. Our company cannot easily get Sprint phones in - so I have no comment there.

Not sure which coverage maps you are looking at, but they can be very misleading. Some show roaming coverage, some don't. Some show data coverage, some don't. Some show highspeed coverage, some don't. Etc, etc. etc.

I've also used mine with no problems in NYC, Greenville(SC), and Monterrey(MX). To tell you the truth, I have only had a few dropped calls, and they are just south of Burnips, MI. - basically the definition of BFE.

Say what you want, read whatever article you want (they can slant articles any way they want). Use both, then tell me what you think.

[TurboSpartan]

Originally Posted by Trevor Barnes

I've had both Cingular and Verizon in the Lansing area and had far more problems with Verizon, regardless of what Consumers Reports or the NY Times tell me I should be getting.

Trevor, this is contrary to what I've heard from just about everyone I know who's had Verizon and Cingular - granted most of those people are from outside the Lansing area.

[bighc2000]

BMW is quick. First with OEM iPod integration and first with iPhone integration.

Wasting no time at all, BMW announced iPhone compatibility for its passenger cars yesterday. Apple's latest supertoy will work in Bimmers equipped with BMW Assist and Bluetooth connectivity. Furthermore, the iPhone's iPod feature gets full radio / iDrive screen integration in the following vehicles that have the iPod/USB interface installed:
3 Series built March 2007 and later
5 Series built March 2007 and later
X5 built April 2007 and later
6 Series built September 2007 and later
It's all detailed on BMW NA's Owner's site.

E90post.com member PAMidge has the first review of the iPhone/Bimmer implementation up on the web (as pictured above). The car used was the poster's 1-week-old 2007 328xi. The verdict: "Fully functional." Read the whole thing.

[Sources: BMW, E90Post]

[bulldogg]

Originally Posted by TurboSpartan

Trevor, this is contrary to what I've heard from just about everyone I know who's had Verizon and Cingular - granted most of those people are from outside the Lansing area.

As I stateed previously, I have had much better luck recently with AT&T/Cingular. One thing to keep in mind when comparing is when these people had one phone or another. Things change a lot in a relatively short period of time. For example, you may ask someone that has Verizon, but had Cingular 3 years ago. Well, Cingular has changed A LOT over 3 years (not just the name). They bought the old AT&T wireless and were still integrating the two networks together then and going through major upgrades to do it.

You will find someone that has had a bad experience with every provider. The thing is - you have to find out what works for YOU. As Trevor said, who cares if one provider or another has coverage in the UP if you never go to the UP.

[hexydes]

I took that picture in the Cingular store in Dearborn last night, around 6:25pm.

Ok, so my thoughts are, the phone is really nice. The touch sensitivity is really surprising, it works quite well. Even typing on the on-screen keyboard works a lot better than I even expect it to as I am typing (there were times I was pretty sure I pressed two letters, but the iPhone grabbed the right one). Unfortunately, Cingular's employees are incompetent, and they did not have the wi-fi set up, so I couldn't really try the Internet functions (I was that interested any, to be honest; I more care about how the phone works).

The special input methods (flick-scrolling and snapping to zoom) work just as everyone says, that is, very well. Pretty impressive. Like most Apple products, the input and interface were very consistent across the entire product, and resembled using other Apple software (iTunes using CoverFlow in particular).

I was very impressed by this phone. That said, it costs too much to ever be used by a majority of phone users. I care more about my phone that probably 99% of all users (I love tech for the sake of tech), and I honestly couldn't see myself paying more than $249 out the door for the 4GB model, on launch day. Within a year, I would expect to pay $199, or $149 subsidized. I think that if Apple does not lower their prices, they will get their 1-2% of the market and that is it. If the goal of the iPhone is simply to get their name out there, their brand in peoples' hands, and credibility as a high-quality consumer electronics manufacturer, I think they will accomplish that. On the other hand, if they honestly are trying to make a significant grab at the cell market (I'm thinking 10-20%), they'll simply need to cut their prices in half within six months, because by that time, people will have copied them, and the devices will be 95% as good (and for half as much or less, this is close enough).

So there you go, my un-biased review (I seriously don't care either way what happens, other than I like to see the bar moved forward, which I think Apple has done). While the iPhone delivers in just about every area they promised, at the end of the day, I still feel the same way as I did before the iPhone was released: great product, costs too much.

[ErnieMcCracken]

I like your thought process and I would hope its true but the price of this phone will never significantly come down. Doing so would cannibalize the sales of the high end Ipod so there has to be a price differential between the two.

[hexydes]

Originally Posted by ErnieMcCracken

I like your thought process and I would hope its true but the price of this phone will never significantly come down. Doing so would cannibalize the sales of the high end Ipod so there has to be a price differential between the two.

At some point, I could easily see Apple making the iPhone THE iPod, and just having the cell function be an option. That would make their lineup look something like this:

- 4/16/64GB iPod (with iPhone capability) @ $299.99, $349.99, and $399.99
Replaces the just-released iPhone lineup.

- 16/32/64GB iPod (media only version) @ $249.99, $299.99, and $349.99
Replaces the current iPod Video lineup; form-factor would be the same as the iPhone, sans phone and web functions.

- 8/16GB iPod (music/photo-only version) @ $149.99, and $199.99
Replaces the current iPod Nano lineup.

- 1/2/4/8GB iPod (music-only version, limited display/controls) @ $59.99, $79.99, $99.99, and $129.99
Replaces the current iPod Shuffle lineup.

Granted...I don't think Apple will do this, because it sounds like they want to keep the iPhone a high-profit / low-volume item in their inventory. Who knows though...

EDIT: I should also note that for each device listed, all storage would be flash-based, as opposed to a micro HDD, hence the less-than-impressive storage sizes for the devices (basically the same size, or in the high-end smaller sizes for each device). Obviously for the high-end devices, the slightly smaller size would be traded-off with much longer playback times (it's very obvious this is where Apple and the industry is headed at this point, and I doubt we'll see micro-HDDs in the portable industry for any longer than two more years, probably less).

[ErnieMcCracken]

I like what you say and from a consumers point of view that should happen. I see the next generation Iphone already in developement with features intentionally not put in the current one just to make a significant sales job for the next phone. Support for 3G, java, and flash will be incorporated along with numerous speed improvements. Apple is at the cutting edge of techonlogy but within that they also intentionally hold back on some levels to create a broad product line and future pipeline. If they truly wanted OSX to be the standard, then open it up for other users. Apple now uses the same hardware so get it out of that business of building computers and sell the software. If people want to buy a dell, give them the option of Vista or OS. Its a risky move but I know what choice I would make.

[hexydes]

Right, I've said for a long time that Apple should stop selling "Mac" computers, and just sign an exclusive deal with Dell (at first, and then re-negotiate, or just open it up to HP, Acer, Toshiba, Sony, etc) wherein Dell has to stick to X, Y, and Z configurations, and they can pre-load OS X onto the computer. Then, Apple would simply sell OS X to Dell for $X a copy. While Apple wouldn't make the hefty overhead they currently enjoy on each computer sale, I can only imagine that the volume of sales would go through the roof rather quickly. This would more than easily make up for the difference (and because there are more MacOS-based systems out there, they will sell more and more copies of their software, which is where the real money is (the only thing better is a web-app, which takes your distribution costs (all that is involved in software development aside from R and D) down to nothing at all)).

Clearly, Dell would be interested in doing this, since they have recently begun to offer computers with Ubuntu Linux installed. All this would do is a) bring attention to Dell, and b) give Dell leverage against Microsoft, while c) getting OS X onto more desktops.