A few iPhone questions...

[Steven Jackson]

I'm looking forward to the iPhone, and will buy one as soon as they're released in the UK. I have a few questions I can't find an answer to, however.

In no particular order.

1) What if there's no WiFi or Edge available (at my hick backwater village school, for instance)? Is all the webby stuff (Safari, Weather, Stocks, YouTube, etc) simply unavailable?

2) Can I find a video on YouTube and save it, meaning I can show it to friends when there's no WiFi/Edge coverage.

3) Does the iPhone sync bookmarks from Safari? If so, how does it handle stuff in the bookmark bar and bookmark menu? Are bookmarks made on the iPhone synced back to Safari on my Mac? If so, how are web-apps handled?

3) Can I subscribe to RSS feeds on the iPhone? I would like some system whereby the RSS is marked as read, whether I read it on my Mac or on my iPhone. Any way to do this? Leopard's Mail.app has support for RSS -- if I used this as my default RSS reader would it sync with the iPhone?

4) From what I've read, Notes don't sync, though they might under Leopard (hopefully). For now, though, how can I get them to my computer? Can you e-mail them? If so, how do they appear on the destination computer?

5) As I will be buying a plan (45 quid a month), does the phone have some sort of counter to let my know how many minutes I've used and how many texts I've sent?

6) I've never had a contract phone before. Are the bundled minutes equivalent to actual minutes or do some numbers use more minutes than others? In other words, is there any difference between calling say landlines, mobile numbers, and premium numbers?

Thanks for any responses. I'm sure I'll add more questions if I get answers to these!

Steve.

 

[chr1s60]

I'm looking forward to the iPhone, and will buy one as soon as they're released in the UK. I have a few questions I can't find an answer to, however.

In no particular order.

1) What if there's no WiFi or Edge available (at my hick backwater village school, for instance)? Is all the webby stuff (Safari, Weather, Stocks, YouTube, etc) simply unavailable?

2) Can I find a video on YouTube and save it, meaning I can show it to friends when there's no WiFi/Edge coverage.

3) Does the iPhone sync bookmarks from Safari? If so, how does it handle stuff in the bookmark bar and bookmark menu? Are bookmarks made on the iPhone synced back to Safari on my Mac? If so, how are web-apps handled?

3) Can I subscribe to RSS feeds on the iPhone? I would like some system whereby the RSS is marked as read, whether I read it on my Mac or on my iPhone. Any way to do this? Leopard's Mail.app has support for RSS -- if I used this as my default RSS reader would it sync with the iPhone?

4) From what I've read, Notes don't sync, though they might under Leopard (hopefully). For now, though, how can I get them to my computer? Can you e-mail them? If so, how do they appear on the destination computer?

5) As I will be buying a plan (45 quid a month), does the phone have some sort of counter to let my know how many minutes I've used and how many texts I've sent?

6) I've never had a contract phone before. Are the bundled minutes equivalent to actual minutes or do some numbers use more minutes than others? In other words, is there any difference between calling say landlines, mobile numbers, and premium numbers?

Thanks for any responses. I'm sure I'll add more questions if I get answers to these!

Steve.

Ok, here are the answers I have.

#1. When no internet is available you simply won't be able to do anything that requires internet. You can still open the application, but it will simply display something saying you have no connection.

#2. No, you cannot save a youtube video to iPhone. You can bookmark it though. You will still need internet connection to watch the bookmarked video, but having it bookmarked makes it easier to find.

#3. Yes, iPhone syncs bookmarks from Safari or IE. On my phone it simply gives me an option titles "bookmarks bar" and when I go there it shows me all my Safari bookmarks. As long as you have it checked in iTunes the bookmarks you make on iPhone will sync back to Safari. I have only done this once or twice, but it does sync from iPhone to Safari.

#4. You can't sync notes, but like you said hopefully Leopard will fix that. You are able to email any notes you make though. From my experience they show up exactly as they do in the notes application minus the yellow background and lines. It looks like a normal email.

#5. The iPhone can tell you the current call times for the life of the phone and for any given period in which you can reset. It also tells you how much data you have sent and received over EDGE. As far as texts go, there is nothing on iPhone that can help you count other than not clearing any messages during the given month for the plan. AT&T allows US users to check on their website so maybe something similar is available over ther.

#6. As far as I know, minutes are minutes. They are used no matter who you call. AT&T has mobile to mobile minutes which mean that when you are calling another cell phone on the same carrier, minutes are not used. Again, I do not know if this is offered at all in the UK.

Hope those help you out some.

 

[liketom]

Steve , i bought your Airport Express off you a while back and i also have a iPhone 1.02 that was upgraded to 1.1.1 and then downgraded to 1.02 with the unlock on, so i get every thing on it - i would be more then happy to show you it in person so you can make your mind up !

you will be happy with it !

Let me know

 

[Steven Jackson]

Steve , i bought your Airport Express off you a while back and i also have a iPhone 1.02 that was upgraded to 1.1.1 and then downgraded to 1.02 with the unlock on, so i get every thing on it - i would be more then happy to show you it in person so you can make your mind up !

you will be happy with it !

Let me know

Thanks for the offer. Sorry it has taken me son long to reply (I've been having a few problems with my iMac...)

No need to see one, really. I got permission from my wife a few days ago (the biggest hurdle), sold my current iPod to release some cash (second biggest hurdle), and read today's news about 3rd party apps (not something I cared too much about, but nice nonetheless). Anyway, decision made. An iPhone will be mine on Nov. 9th...

The big question now is: go to Meadowhall and queue or trust that O2 or CPW in Lincoln come up with the goods.

Steve.