IPhone 3G

[mav256]

So I stood in-line for 11 hours yesterday and got a 8 Gig IPhone 3G (the 16 Gig sold out very fast, no one who got there after 9PM got one, I was there at 2:30am). ITunes was down until about 4pm, but after that I was able to register and unbrick it. Rogers computers were very slow. Anyone wanting to upgrade had to wait between 1 and 2 hours, but new account activations (which I did) only took about 20 minutes.

I went with the $30/6 Gig/month data plan and the $45 450 Minute/2500 Text voice plan, and added the $15 Visual Voice mail and call display, so the total bill will be just over $100 ($7 system access fee and $1 911, plus tax). You have to take a 3 year plan, and the voice plan must be at least $35 (previously they said at least $30 but changed their minds). I heard you can skip the data plan (but that seems like a really dumb choice for the IPhone).

Previously I had an ITouch, so I was experienced with the Photo/Video/Web functions (which I really enjoy, if you haven't tried the finger pan/zoom/rotate/flip on pictures you really should try it, very cool). ITunes video quality is amazing (I frequently play those mp4 on my 40" high def TV and the quality is good).

In addition to those I find:

- email is a breeze, I was able to setup all 3 of my email accounts for push very easily (2 home, 1 work), all synced very fast over 3G
- setting up alternative wifi was fast (I use wifi and home and work)
- web browsing on 3G is a little slower than Wifi, but not much, much more usable than Hydro or any of those other downtown Wifi
- I really like the GPS and Map, it points out your location very accurately and very fast, and traced several routes to points inside Toronto in a few seconds
- the camera is quite nice, takes pretty good quality pictures (though no flash)
- the flash took about 2 hours to sync my 1000 photos, 1000 songs and 100 music vidoes (however I kept interrupting it to play with the IPhone), not sure but seems slower than on my ITouch
- text messaging is a breeze, and very easy to read
- the weather is easy to setup and quick to update, easy to read
- I like the zoom typing (hold your finger over text and it zooms), very easy to place the cursor with your finger (which has very hard on the ITouch)
- my old phone didn't have Blue Tooth, so I had to manually enter my Phone numbers, but it went pretty fast for about 40 numbers, maybe 10 minutes
- AppStore was very fast to download an application (I tried Mobile News, which has the latest news stories from around the world, but no local Toronto content). It downloaded in about 1 minute and using 3G was very fast to view news stories, very fast on pictures, and a bit slower, but acceptable, for news video). There's about 700 or so apps in the store, many free, most a few dollars.
- Youtube was pretty fast over 3G. Searching takes a few seconds and the video plays quickly, I was able to fast forward/rewind quickly.
- ITunes only works over Wifi.

I'm glad I took the 6 Gig plan, so far I've used about 15 Meg in 56 minutes of usage.

 

[Gyaos]

Wait 'til the 32Gig comes out at half the price of the 16Gig, before you can enjoy the 8Gig fully. It's Moore's Law and the masses have been suckered again by Steve Jobs.

Gyaos Baltar.

 

[mav256]

I tried the GPS map while driving to the airport. It found my location in a few seconds and updated about once per second. It easily kept up at 60kph.

I also sent email while driving on the 427 at 120kph (no I wasn't driving . It was a little slow to send, mabye 20s for a rich HTML email. I also watched YouTube, it was as fast as on Wifi (about 10s to start, played in real time).

Overall I find the 3G faster than expected. Of course the usage is probably low right now.

 

[shmeis007]

Bunch of arseholes who made that thing. No way to tether it, no cut and paste(hell no clipboard at all), no doc. extensions No apps that dont require you to be online to use them, so this is basically just an ipod with a crappy few radios in it. Too bad.

I am guessing they made this thing for the high school crowd. Not someone that would use a pda.

 

[mav256]

I am guessing they made this thing for the high school crowd. Not someone that would use a pda.

Hahaha...PDA, holy 80s batman.

 

[fix0r]

Aside from the fact that "Robbers" is pretty much the worst in terms of plans, the iPhone itself is a POS as far as I'm concerned. Maddox agrees:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

Priceless Quote:

"On an iPhone, you have to press an additional button that opens up an alternate keypad that will allow you to type numbers and punctuation. So typing something as simple as elipses (...) requires you to tap your finger 9 times. Enjoy your phone, losers! People like me who have shit to do will stick to a keyboard that doesn't have its lips wrapped firmly to the user-interface equivalent of a throbbing dong"

 

[Gyaos]

Hahaha...PDA, holy 80s batman.

I think he got it from episode 1 of "La Femme Nikita".

Gyaos.

 

[canucklehead]

aahhh people bashing what they don't have ....

 

[bennyboy68]

aahhh people bashing what they don't have ....

nope...it's a nice mp3/photo/video player...
but it's not a business tool

i have an itouch mp3 player because i liked it's functionality and slick interface...even fun to browse on it when i'm on the shitter...

but it's a million miles from replacing my crackberry for day-to-day work

hope you all enjoy your toy

 

[ig-88]

I'll wait until the cost goes down, the user interface improves, and the web access speeds up.

Which may or may not happen with an Apple product.

 

[shmeis007]

Hahaha.. .PDA, holy 80s batman.

pda in the 80's. smartphone now. same shit. new decade. big floppy waste of a nice shell with this iphone.

 

[shmeis007]

I think he got it from episode 1 of "La Femme Nikita".

Gyaos.

Nope. It was King Kong. you know the one that was supposed to lose all that money acoording to you but ended up making lots.

 

[ig-88]

Hahaha...PDA, holy 80s batman.

The first pda was, arguably, the Apple Newton which was released in 1993.

http://www.nzeldes.com/HOC/Newton.htm

Functionally, imo, if all you need to do is store names and numbers, an electronic organizer has been around since the 80s, probably earlier, and you can get one at Wal-Mart for less than $20. Or you can simply store numbers in your cell.

I'd be willing to bet that the majority of people who buy iPhone and other expensive gadgets really don't need one. And I also wonder how much businesses really "need" such a device, as opposed to padding expense accounts and coming up with "business" expenses for tax purposes.

 

[Fred Zed]

Wait 'til the 32Gig comes out at half the price of the 16Gig, before you can enjoy the 8Gig fully. It's Moore's Law and the masses have been suckered again by Steve Jobs.

Gyaos Baltar.

then you simply upgrade your plan to the new phone.
Personally I am very pleased with my iphone : more productivity
plus I am paying very little extra compared to my old plan with Motorola
RaZr. The difference between RazR and iphone is like day and night !

 

[shmeis007]

I'd be willing to bet that the majority of people who buy iPhone and other expensive gadgets really don't need one. And I also wonder how much businesses really "need" such a device, as opposed to padding expense accounts and coming up with "business" expenses for tax purposes.

I will say that if apple made this as adaptable as a windows mobile phone then it would have been the device that all business did need. sadly with all that was left out it is worse then an old blackberry unless you want it for an ipod.
as for your bet....I know I like not having to carry a laptop with me when I do need my computer I can use my phone as a remote terminal for my laptop. not on iphone though. and too much else they left out as well.

if you use the old 2g iphone and want to surf on the edge network it isn't even worth surfing on. its waaaaay to slow.

 

[Crixus]

This incarnation of the iPhone doesn't seem to be a solid, portable, business aimed, mobile computing platform that many people in business need, or at least want.

After doing some research, I'd much rather get two devices - an iPod Touch for media playback (movies, audio, photos - all of which it rocks at, blowing anything else I've seen out of the water, including the standard iPod), and go for something like the HTC P4000 or it's successor for portable computing applications, email, instant messaging etc. Blackberry is just a little pricey and doesn't have the display that the HTC PDA/Smartphone does.

That said the iPhone is a quantum leap in bringing computing functions to the average user - and for people who aren't in business or IT development, the iPhone is "good enough" for functionality, appears to be very good at what it does do, and is very easy to use.

Maybe in a couple of generations it will become a full fledged portable computing platform, it which case, I'll probably get one.

 

[jerbear]

Still can't sync to itunes.

 

[ig-88]

There are several schools here.

IMO, a phone is a phone. A PC is a separate device.

A phone that is also a PC becomes, imo, too cumbersome as a phone.

And a PC that becomes a phone, loses its capabilities and user interface.

For phone, a plain old flip cell is my favourite itnerface.

For PC, a full-sized keyboard and mouse is my favourite interface. For mobility, I would like to see more development into micro PCs, possibly using projection technology for a larger screen and full-sized keyboard/mouse.

And imo, a phone is an essential, emergency device. A PC is not.

 

[Crixus]

There are several schools here.

IMO, a phone is a phone. A PC is a separate device.

A phone that is also a PC becomes, imo, too cumbersome as a phone.

And a PC that becomes a phone, loses its capabilities and user interface.

For phone, a plain old flip cell is my favourite itnerface.

For PC, a full-sized keyboard and mouse is my favourite interface. For mobility, I would like to see more development into micro PCs, possibly using projection technology for a larger screen and full-sized keyboard/mouse.

And imo, a phone is an essential, emergency device. A PC is not.

Convergence and Synergy, my friend.

The combination of phones, computers, and GPS devices has applications and uses we haven't even started to tap yet. For example, imagine being downtown, pulling out your phone, tapping in "sushi restaurants", fixing a price range, a distance range (as your phone knows where you are), tying in your favorite review site/service, and getting 5 options, each with a website & an option/link to make a reservation on the spot. You choose one, your phone spits out your confirmation information to your email queue, along with a link to take you navigation instructions (as you might change locations between making the reservation and leaving for lunch, the directions are - of course - calculated in real time).

That's a fairly simple and off-the-cuff idea. Ubiquitous access to the internet in real time, in your pocket, is going to make things very interesting in the next decade or so.

The iPhone is a good step towards that.

 

[MixedNuts]

Convergence and Synergy, my friend.


That's a fairly simple and off-the-cuff idea. Ubiquitous access to the internet in real time, in your pocket, is going to make things very interesting in the next decade or so.

The iPhone is a good step towards that.

And you all are going to pay a hefty premium for that with Rogers...


I love this new toy, but the monthly fees are ridiculous.