Apple Announces iPhone 3G

[Edgarbug]

What A Huge Disappointment! Waiting all this time, all the hype and this is the best they can do? This is what LACKING!

These are just a few omissions we could think of. The iPhone 3G did not meet my expectations, I would need a few more features.

• NO Flash for the camera
• NO Turn by turn voice GPS
• NO Being able to swoop out my own dead battery
• NO higher mega pixel for the camera

The probability of me getting the New 3G iPhone is 98% sure I won't be buying into the hype. Every one has their own need on cell phone. However for me major security concern not being able to change your own cell battery is important. I don't trust people to do the right thing when handing over a problem non working iPhone for a replacement. With today identity Theft problem on an up raise each and every day. I'm suppose to hand over an iPhone with my PERSONAL information to God know who, maybe a disgruntle employee. Trust that they will erase my personal information for me, with out taking a peek and maybe writing it down for his or her personal gain. Like we never seen this done before. It's only been done almost EVERY day in any given work environment.

• NO Multimedia messaging - Almost every other cell phone in the market has the ability to send images to other cell phones via multimedia messaging, or MMS. Yes you can still e-mail those photos, but MMS is such a basic feature that it should've been in the iPhone from the start.,

• NO Copy and paste - Again, this is such a basic feature. Having copy and paste makes it easier to type out text messages and e-mails.,
• Video recording - In the world of mobile video, Qik, and YouTube, it's a shame the iPhone doesn't have video-recording capabilities. Yes the quality wouldn't be that great, but it should be an option anyway.,

• NO Voice command - For a touch-screen phone, we think voice command and voice dialing would've been a great feature add-on for the iPhone. Perhaps this will be added via a third-party app, but we would really prefer this to be a native setting., I use voice dialing all the time while driving, for obvious safety reason of cause. Plus in NYC it's the LAW to do so. So for this basic function to not be available in the iPhone is a bummer for me. Cause all the el cheapo free phone have this basic function, so not the iPhone?

• NO Bluetooth flexibility - Right now, all you can use Bluetooth on the iPhone for are headset voice calls, and that's it. This is sufficient for most people, sure, but we would like for Apple and AT&T to open up the Bluetooth profiles for the iPhone. This means we would like stereo Bluetooth and A2DP for streaming music wirelessly, Bluetooth tethering so we can use the iPhone as a modem, and finally we would like to have Bluetooth file-transfer protocol so we can transfer files to and fro the iPhone.

I couldn't agree with you more. For me the absence of voice activated dialing means that I can not use it legally on the roads. The rest are all standard features to be found on the most basic 3g 'phone from any producer. My Nokia has built in GPS with voice commands - for free.

But I've been thinking about my attituded to the iPhone - my problem is that I want it to be a truly excellent 'phone. Which it isn't. But it is a truly excellent iPod/ device for surfing the internet.

Perhaps if we think of it as an ultra portable internet tool, with iPod and ancillary telephone functions, it looks better.

 

[BongoBanger]

For the last time: More megapixels never, ever, ever means a better camera. a higher megapixel sensor just means larger picture files with more grainy noise.

Unless it has a better sensor and processor which most of the new phones do.

Not a good argument I'm afraid.

 

[PCMacUser]

But I've been thinking about my attituded to the iPhone - my problem is that I want it to be a truly excellent 'phone. Which it isn't. But it is a truly excellent iPod/ device for surfing the internet.

Now you're getting it.

There are too many people out there who want Apple's phone product to be the greatest thing on the planet. It isn't, and never will be. The world of mobile phones moves far too quickly for Apple's product cycles to keep up. If they can keep the technology fairly up-to-date, which they have attempted to do with 3G, GPS and a medium quality camera, and the price super cheap, then I'm happy.

I spent weeks and weeks researching mobile phones before finally buying an unlocked Nokia 5310 in London for £99 this year. What I realised was that the phones with all the high-end features were chunky and ugly. The fashion phones looked awesome, but had 3G and a 2MP-3MP camera at best.

I'd like to think of the new iPhone as fitting into the 'fashion smartphone' category.

What I'd like to know is how much radiation this puppy puts out.

 

[Spanna]

Still a first gen iphone

The 3g iphone is really just a slightly different version of the first iphone. It has the same processor, same camera and same form factor with just a different radio which was put in to make it to make it usable internationally.

Apple used the first iphone as a beta iphone to test the waters and make back the money they invested through a high selling price and revenue sharing. The 3g iphone is the real 'first gen' iphone made to sell world wide at a price point to appeal to the masses.

Any way the main advancement announced was the iphone software 2.0 which really is cutting edge and blows the competition out of the water.

 

[LiveForever]

I stayed up to watch it on macrumors and then I watched it the next day.

The apps demos were pretty boring (especially the ebay and medicals ones)but they got the point across I suppose.

Jobs definetly had more charisma than the other blokes.

Overall the iphone bit was too short. He didn't sell GPS-A very well as its big plus is you still get a fix indoors. But Its everything I want. July 11th I'll have one, finally.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Unless it has a better sensor and processor which most of the new phones do.

Not a good argument I'm afraid.

Wrong wrong wrong. You need a larger sensor or there will be barely any improvement (and a higher megapixel sensor of the same size is NOT going to take a better picture than the one that's in the camera already.)

 

[Moonlight]

If it had a 4+mp camera I would have bought it... that all I wanted

 

[Moonlight]

The 3g iphone is really just a slightly different version of the first iphone. It has the same processor, same camera and same form factor with just a different radio which was put in to make it to make it usable internationally.

Apple used the first iphone as a beta iphone to test the waters and make back the money they invested through a high selling price and revenue sharing. The 3g iphone is the real 'first gen' iphone made to sell world wide at a price point to appeal to the masses.

Any way the main advancement announced was the iphone software 2.0 which really is cutting edge and blows the competition out of the water.

which is the same thing they did for the iPod... The first iPod was a "beta" that was way too expensive and not usable by everyone... Then the 2nd was cheaper and could be used by windows (usb)..then they started adding new things, like color, video, mini/nano version, higher capacity...

 

[PCMacUser]

If it had a 4+mp camera I would have bought it... that all I wanted

It's still really hard for me to get my head around that. You want a phone purely for its camera. Hmm... don't want the phone... just the camera. Let me help you find a decent compact camera instead.

 

[nomad01]

which is the same thing they did for the iPod... The first iPod was a "beta" that was way too expensive and not usable by everyone... Then the 2nd was cheaper and could be used by windows (usb)..then they started adding new things, like color, video, mini/nano version, higher capacity...

Didn't USB only come in with the third gen iPod? I remember having to install a firewire card in my PC just to get the 2nd gen iPod working! Those were the days! :-s

 

[BongoBanger]

Wrong wrong wrong. You need a larger sensor or there will be barely any improvement (and a higher megapixel sensor of the same size is NOT going to take a better picture than the one that's in the camera already.)

Yes, that would be covered under 'better sensor'.

 

[christof69]

Camera side of things

HI all. Well, PCMacUser and others, wherever you may be, I appreciate all your comments, but feel there's a big difference in philosophy between inside the USA and outside, in what should be on the phone. As far as I'm aware and what I've read, the relatively "old" technology of MMS, ie Picture/Video Messaging, is ubiquitous outside the USA for sending pix between phones, and, also outside the USA, has been quite common along with SMS for some time now. The iPhone however centres clearly on email by phone to message and send pix, though of course allows SMS.

So the iPhone, whose camera is below average for a phone these days (2MP, no flash, no focusing) is more smartphone territory and less what the majority of people want from a phone these days. This is a huge shame. Surely it would have been super easy, and quite cheap, to include say a decent 3.2 MP camera like zillions of phones (my Sony Ericsson's camera is really rather good, and there's one front facing too, plus video and full MMS function of course), and then everyone would have been happy. Anyone criticising posters for saying "You only want the phone for the camera" might as well be criticised for saying "you only want the phone for the browsing/games/apps".

I've always been a Mac person with several macs and a mac based music studio plus iPods etc, but I've gotta say, as brilliant as the iPhone is, I just don't think it's hitting the right spot yet. At least in my case, it isn't.

 

[Quillz]

I guess this is gonna be like the iPod story all those years ago.

Whilst there were better, more able, MP3 players about, the 1st gen ipod was no great shakes, 2nd Gen was better, 3rd, 4th and 5th just polished the product at a rate tat other MP3 players didnt compete with.

The iPhone might continue the same way I hope...

First Gen, testing the water, 2nd gen GPS and 3G, 3rd Gen, Ichat and digital imaging, 4th Gen, maybe 4G streaming and suchlike....we'll have to wait and see I guess

I doubt this. When the iPod was released in 2001, there was no dominant music player and none were all that easy to use. But the mobile market in 2008 is far different. Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, etc. continue to dominate the market. The iPhone is cool, but many people still do not care for multi-touch and will stick with more traditional models. Or they will go into specialized models like the Nokia Nseries or the Sony Ericsson C models, which feature Cyber-shot cameras of 5+ MP.

The iPhone is a good phone, but I don't expect it to ever take a serious chunk of the market. It will simply share it with all the others.

 

[BongoBanger]

I doubt this. When the iPod was released in 2001, there was no dominant music player and none were all that easy to use. But the mobile market in 2008 is far different.

Kind of agree here. Got to bear in mind that, at least at present, the phone market has different segments and the iPhone is only competing in the top slice at the moment where there is a lot of extrmely strong competition.

The iPhone is a good phone, but I don't expect it to ever take a serious chunk of the market. It will simply share it with all the others.

Well, yes, but I do expect it to take a substantial chunk of the market segment it competes in.

 

[needthephone]

Iv'e paid my $100 deposit to optus and they guarantee I';ll get one on the 11th.

I'm not a gadget freek and have never had to have the latest mobile phone (mine is a few years old) but this iphone is different.

If people want a camera don't repeat don't get a mobile phone. 2Mp or 5Mp I bet you'd be hard pressed seeing the difference.

I have a camera on my Nokia 6280 and used it a few times at first then didn't use it after that.

I'm looking forward to the GPS and I'm sure Tom Tow will put out their software (I'm sure they'll get over the agreement and apple will ensure it's known that if you get lost its Tom Toms fault not apples or Googles), The App Store, Push Email, The Gorgeous interface, the design.

I first went on to Macrumours about 18mnths before the iphone was announced, so Iv'e been hanging on for this for some time.

 

[Edgarbug]

I'd like to think of the new iPhone as fitting into the 'fashion smartphone' category.

And it probably is. Actually, dominates that category.

Shame, though.

I take your point about the product cycles. It's just that all the features missing from the iPhone have been on other 3g phones for a year or so.

I wonder if part of the problem is that 3g is relatively new to the US, while the UK has had it (and well "stocked" handsets) for a while. Limeys may have higher expectations.

 

[Quillz]

And it probably is. Actually, dominates that category.

Shame, though.

I take your point about the product cycles. It's just that all the features missing from the iPhone have been on other 3g phones for a year or so.

I wonder if part of the problem is that 3g is relatively new to the US, while the UK has had it (and well "stocked" handsets) for a while. Limeys may have higher expectations.

It's not that 3G is new to the USA, it's been around for 5-6 years now. It's that the USA is a vastly larger country than the UK and thus it's much harder to get nationwide coverage. That's why it's still largely limited to urban areas and large cities.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Yes, that would be covered under 'better sensor'.

well if you had a larger sensor you would need a larger lens and more space between the lens and sensor making the iPhone even thicker.

oh and

 

[Edgarbug]

HI all. Well, PCMacUser and others, wherever you may be, I appreciate all your comments, but feel there's a big difference in philosophy between inside the USA and outside, in what should be on the phone. As far as I'm aware and what I've read, the relatively "old" technology of MMS, ie Picture/Video Messaging, is ubiquitous outside the USA for sending pix between phones, and, also outside the USA, has been quite common along with SMS for some time now. The iPhone however centres clearly on email by phone to message and send pix, though of course allows SMS.

So the iPhone, whose camera is below average for a phone these days (2MP, no flash, no focusing) is more smartphone territory and less what the majority of people want from a phone these days. This is a huge shame. Surely it would have been super easy, and quite cheap, to include say a decent 3.2 MP camera like zillions of phones (my Sony Ericsson's camera is really rather good, and there's one front facing too, plus video and full MMS function of course), and then everyone would have been happy. Anyone criticising posters for saying "You only want the phone for the camera" might as well be criticised for saying "you only want the phone for the browsing/games/apps".

I've always been a Mac person with several macs and a mac based music studio plus iPods etc, but I've gotta say, as brilliant as the iPhone is, I just don't think it's hitting the right spot yet. At least in my case, it isn't.

I think this raises interesting issues (touched upon above) about the different expectations of users in US/ Europe (or at least the UK). A (very unscientific) survey of comments suggests that US users are more likely to be happy and UK users more likely to be disappointed.

Perhaps the iPhone will dominate the US market, but not do so well in UK/ Europe.