Andy Ihnatko: Hands on with iPhone

[crazytom]

Nice review...

but, is it me, or does this phone not work? I mean, everything has been reviewed about it except its ability AS A PHONE...or is that aspect of the iPhone not important enough to consider?

I'd like to know things like: can it be dropped? how's the speaker/microphone quality? how good is the antenna? how does it perform in windy/noisy environments?

 

[Stella]

No other phone will be running OSX , that is what will make the real difference in the long run,no matter how much alike they will look, IMHO .

Pfff...

The O/S doesn't matter, its the flexibility and functionality that is the key.

Again, tell me how the LG is a knock off since it was *announced* before the iPhone? Time travel?

Give me micrsoft phone if it offers me more functionality and breathe. :-O

But... I'll stick with my flexible Symbian phone with plenty of 3rd party software. I'm hoping Nokia or any other Symbian Licensee will release a similar sort of phone since it won't be crippled by Apple's over zealous control.

Luckily for you ignorance isn't seriously painful.

ROTFL. your funny.

 

[suneohair]

but, is it me, or does this phone not work? I mean, everything has been reviewed about it except its ability AS A PHONE...or is that aspect of the iPhone not important enough to consider?

I'd like to know things like: can it be dropped? how's the speaker/microphone quality? how good is the antenna? how does it perform in windy/noisy environments?

Well no one has had extended use of the phone. I am sure people were limited iin talking considering it isn't FCC approved yet.

Pogue used the phone portion. Said it was good.

“How was call quality? Was this not available for testing?” –Yes, it was working fine. I called home with it. Sounded loud and clear, although this means nothing at this point. Apple doesn’t even have FCC approval yet, and have many months of fine-tuning and fiddling left to do. Also, of course, your call quality will depend on how far you are from the cell tower.

He also said the speakerphone was good as well.

The other things we don't really know yet. It is a quad-band phone so I am guessing the antenna will be good.

Windy/noisy? Won't know til someone can test it outside. At this point those who have used it have done so indoors and under the watch of Apple.

This article and others like it are no more than a hands on preview. Once it hits, the real reviews will come.

 

[Hunabku]

The worst feature of the iPhone, IMO, is the internal battery. If the battery craps out, you are out of luck. A spare replaceable battery is a must feature of all other cell phones, particularly when recharging isn't an option.

Yeh that has been mentioned as a real concern in the threads. For me it wouldn't be that big of a deal if I could very solidly connect a spare battery to the ipod port. Problem is i haven't seen a mobile peripheral solidly attatched to that port. My belkin tunetalk is a loose as a goose connected to an 80 gig ipod.

 

[Uragon]

The worst feature of the iPhone, IMO, is the internal battery. If the battery craps out, you are out of luck. A spare replaceable battery is a must feature of all other cell phones, particularly when recharging isn't an option.

I agree with you here, replaceable battery that you can carry anytime and anywhere as a spare.

Now, if I buy an iPod with a phone functions non-replaceable is just fine. But If am buying it as a mobile phone with an iPod functions, spare battery is a must..

 

[Squozen]

Your only valid point is that the dictionary is only localized in English. Regarding Widgets, I have no idea what you're talking about. Most of the western world uses a left to right, up to down orientation for writing. OSX reflects this. Chinese, which is not oriented this way is still supported on every default install of OSX.

He/she means that OS X Widgets are aimed towards the American market, not the English language. Examples:

* the yellow pages and white pages widgets are only available for companies and residents in America.
* the flight tracker only works for American flights.
* the stock tracker only lists American companies.

All of this information is easily available online in other countries, yet Apple does not provide widgets to access it. It's left up to third parties (who often don't provide the same level of polish or charge for their widget).

 

[applefanEUPB]

Wow

Some european thoughts about the iPhone.

1. No 3G - means useless especially for a PB user.
2. without 3G and iChat like video conferrencing you can not talk about REINVENTING - sorry.
3. For the last 10 years a was whith one cellular provider but I do not wont to be forced to do so.

All in all. Very beautiful UI but Bad Carma.

I need an open device like all the phones frome the competitors.

Good luck. Steve.
Till now. I will stay with Nokia.

 

[Romanesq]

battery upgrade available

I am going to have to disagree here.

I have a Treo. I don't carry around an extra battery. Even though I can. Most people I know don't carry extra cellphone batteries around.

If my phone dies, it dies. Thats just the way it is. However. The charging options are pretty good with the iPhone considering it is an iPod connecter. I imagine it would work with the charging brick for the iPod. Any car chargers and obviously a USB port.

The opinion on this will vary by individual of course. I wouldnt say it is a bad feature. Consider a similar device, the Treo 680 which has a removable battery (user removable).

Lack of removable in this case reduces greatly.

It is pretty close to cutting it in half.

.8 for the 680
.46 for the iPhone

~43% reduction.

Also note the 680 has:
1. No Wifi
2. No 4 or 8GB of flash
3. No bluetooth 2.0
4. .3 MP camera, iPhone has a 2.0MP
5. No 3.5in display
6. 4hr battery life, iPhone 5hr
7. .7 ounces heavier, 680 5.5 ounces, iPhone 4.8 ounces.

Been told again by an industry person who has a working iphone that it doe in fact have a replaceable battery and it's upgradeable.

 

[50548]

I wonder if the hardcore detractors are reading these forums. Although I have my doubts, I have faith that Apple will provide a very wicked device. With rumor floating about that the price will be discounted with the service plan, it may do even better than the optimists project. People keep badmouthing the tie-in with Cingular, but if this was Verizon sewers would belch all the curses of every language while the earth implodes, cuz Verizon sucks.

Anyway, people have paid pretty big premiums for phones that do even less than the iPhone. My sister's sidekick III is proof of this.

That's exactly it. I am not in the US, but I know Cingular is the largest single provider in that country. MR forums are always like that...you see half a dozen detractors and you tend to think that they represent the truth or the majority...not by a long shot.

These are the same detractors that said the iPod would be a flop EXACTLY for the same reasons stated for the iPhone...a normal user couldn't care LESS about "3rd party apps", "replaceable batteries" and so on. The success of Apple derives from its perfect integration hard/software...nothing less, nothing more.

Apple prices? They have never been so low, yet people pay Apple premiums because they know Macs, iPods and the iPhone will give them a great experience.

Apple quality? No discussion about it, as millions of reports have shown.

UI? No comments as well...the iPhone is miles away from any crappy Treo or Nokia...their interfaces are awfully scary.

Furthermore, Apple is using the 6-month gap just to identify what is REALLY needed, including controlled support for 3rd party developers...just wait and see. As for me, the iPhone is bought the moment it comes to Switzerland (in case my provider supports it)...no questions asked.

 

[Xyl]

These are the same detractors that said the iPod would be a flop EXACTLY for the same reasons stated for the iPhone...a normal user couldn't care LESS about "3rd party apps", "replaceable batteries" and so on. The success of Apple derives from its perfect integration hard/software...nothing less, nothing more.

Exactly! If the iPhone is targeted at a consumer market (which I STRONGLY believe it is), they don't care about 3rd part apps, contrary to what everyone believes here. A friend of mine, which doesn't follow Apple products at all, heard about the iPhone. She said that some people don't like it because there is no 3rd party application support. She then went on to ask me "Why would you need to install applications on your phone? What extra applications do you need? Give me an example" - in other words, she was absolutely clueless on the necessity of additional applications on the iPhone. And this is coming from your average consumer, not some power business user.

 

[SPUY767]

I love the iPhone, but I seriously doubt that a qwerty keyboard can ever be as quick as predictive texting on a keypad. A keypad with predictive text will always take less strokes than a qwerty one. I'm dog slow on a blackberry, or any keyboard that requires me to look at the keys. I can type between 80wpm when I'm touch typing though.

I just wish Apple would give a second option of being able to use some form of predictive text that didnt use a qwerty keyboard.

jay

I'm not entirely sure you understand just how fast 80 WPM is, but that would be damn near a world record. The world record holder took 57 sdeconds and change to type a 26 word pair of sentences on a keypad. And the world's fastest typist on a QWERTY Keyboard, Barbara Blackburn can type 138 WPM on a qwerty. I'd say that about 90-95% of people who have clerical jobs, typing all day, can barely sustain 80 WPM for any length of time.