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Best Buy iPhone Shortages and More iPhone Production Rumors

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

bedifferent said:
profets said:
of all the upgrades coming to the new iPhone i really hope a higher resolution screen is one of them. 480x720 would be a nice upgrade from 320x480
Click to expand...

An LED or OLED screen would be great for battery life, but highly unlikely. Of all the rumors, a front facing camera for self-portrait photographs (and possible video conferencing) would be fantastic.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see LED lit screen. I'm with you on the fact that I doubt that it is coming. Maybe they will surprise us.
 
LagunaSol said:
This is a monster of our own creation. We, the buying public, demand low pricing above all. Electronics retailers are thus staffed with low-paid teens who are there mostly to help you locate what you're trying to find, not help you make an informed buying decision. That's what the Internet is for. :D
Click to expand...

I think I may live near the only decent Best Buy in the country. Many of the managers are in their 40's (as opposed to the 20-year-old assistant managers I often see at other places) and I've never run into the typical "clueless teenager." :p The other day when I was lurking in the computer section, I decided to test the knowledge of the 16-year-old working in that area. I showed him a Core i7 Gateway system and asked how many cores it had (I knew, but it didn't say on the shelf tag). He quickly replied, "Eight. That system has two Core i7s with four cores each. That's definitely the one I'm going to pick up when I get paid again." And later, with a different employee in the Apple section, "What kind of RAM do the new MacBook Pros use?" This guy also was maybe 16 or 17, but he also knew the correct answer. "DDR3. We don't carry any DDR3 kits in store yet, it's pretty new and really really expensive. I think a 8 GB kit is around $700-$800 now."

I guess this particular Best Buy must actually put their employees in the positions that they apply for, rather than just sticking them somewhere. It always helps to be doing something you're actually interested in. ;)
 
Quocy said:
I don't think battery life will be a problem, they will most probably use the light from the screen instead of fitting an extra lighting source to power the logo. Like on the Macbook's they use the lighting from the screen.
Click to expand...

The only problem with that is that there are parts between the screen and the logo unlike the Macbook where the back of the screen is next to the top of the unit. It's not an empty space between the screen and the logo on the back.
 
This talk about glowing Apple logos is all fine and dandy, but how about the real question that begs an answer: how $&*%&# long will we have to wait for a real turn-by-turn driving navigation app to show up???

:confused:

I'm hoping something will be ready at 3.0 launch...
 
auburnfan24 said:
hey guys...best buy associates do not get paid commission....and in most cases pay well above minimum wage.

you are going to find people that think they know everything about every product at any store, not just best buy. so stop putting down a cool electronics store like best buy just because YOU think you know so much about a product :D

p.s. can't wait for the new iphone! woot!
Click to expand...

Best Buy is not a cool electronics store, at least not in my opinion. Why? Let me rehash:
  • Telling someone to buy a guitar hero extended warranty because the strings on the guitar (that has no strings mind you) have been known to break. Heck, the person there even witnessed it themselves. Which baffles me being as, once again, there are NO strings
  • Telling me the iPhone case can stain the phone black if left on for too long (the iPhone is black already..., not to mention that is total BS)
  • Telling me the iPod Touch case I purchased can also stain my iPod black. BS once again.
  • Telling me 1GB of RAM is not enough to run linux. Then asking me what linux is AFTER telling me I will need more RAM
  • They have friends who own every product and can personally vouch for how "sweet" or "cool" their friends think the products are
  • Telling me to buy the extended XBOX 360 Warranty from Best Buy because they "break all the time", and the Microsoft Warranty Service is "almost impossible to deal with." Not true, while my 360 did break, all it took was a 5 minute phone call to get a free fix on my 360. FREE, not $80 like Best Buy wanted

I could go on and on. Most of that was within the last year or so also. Horrible service.
 
Darth.Titan said:
You're missing the point. On the Macbook there is not a circuit board between the screen and the back, therefore the display lighting illuminates it.

The iPhone does have components between the screen and the back, therefore the screen lighting wouldn't show.

Can we move past this now? A lit Apple logo would be obscured by your hand during 90% of use in any case. Not sure what difference it would make. A bit obnoxious on a phone also...
Click to expand...

I agree. I don't want mine to glow. It would be okay as a flash though.
 
uberamd said:
Telling someone to buy a guitar hero extended warranty because the strings on the guitar (that has no strings mind you) have been known to break. Heck, the person there even witnessed it themselves. Which baffles me being as, once again, there are NO strings
Click to expand...

One would assume she meant "buttons" as the buttons on the guitar serve as virtual strings.

That said, an informed buyer shouldn't walk into any store these days and expect to know less about the product than the person trying to sell it to you. It's been this way for years. Try going to a car dealership and listening to the load of BS the salesperson will throw your way. I often had to tell the salesperson which options came with which package. I finally started buying vehicles by faxing my exact desired model directly to the sales manager, offering my best price, and arranging a pickup time.

How did we ever survive without the Internet?
 
LagunaSol said:
One would assume she meant "buttons" as the buttons on the guitar serve as virtual strings.
Click to expand...

I would love to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I can't. The guy said no the first time, then its like she reached into her you know what and pulled out this false story to try and convince him he needs this service plan. I really think she saw the guitar, and thought "oh, guitars have strings, strings can break, $$$$".

I should go back and ask her to clarify.
 
kornyboy said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)



I'd like to see LED lit screen. I'm with you on the fact that I doubt that it is coming. Maybe they will surprise us.
Click to expand...

I guess you are in luck as the current iPhone is LED...

...just not OLED.
 
Apple does its best to predict EOL dates with channel time to death to expected ship dates of new stuff so there is sufficient day one interest to cause an initial short-term shortage. It is part of the mystique of Apple and so far they do that trade off pretty well without annoying any segment of that chain very much.

Apple could simply put a hole in the circuit board so light from the display could leak through the board and weakly illuminate the logo. The whole problem with a lighted logo is some people would want to turn it off!

The number of units Apple plans to deliver, this, the third product cycle year or season is about double last year. Or more! This poses a special inventory control problem.

Apple is only marginally good at servicing demand-pull. They mainly specialize in supply-push.

Rocketman

Give me the Pad/ATNN
 
LagunaSol said:
This talk about glowing Apple logos is all fine and dandy, but how about the real question that begs an answer: how $&*%&# long will we have to wait for a real turn-by-turn driving navigation app to show up???

:confused:

I'm hoping something will be ready at 3.0 launch...
Click to expand...

I'm betting not long after 3.0 comes out. There were rumors a while back that Tom Tom had something running on the iPhone but it wasnt allowed at the time. I would bet on them getting something to the App Store quickly.
 
What's with all the best buy bashing? I used to work there (during highschool and freshman year of college) and I've also had bad experiences shopping there. So I'm pretty unbiased.

Employees are NOT on commission. They are encouraged to sell replacement/service plans. Subscriptions, etc. They are not encouraged to do this in an underhanded way. Many employees choose to, but telling a blatant lie to sell a product is frowned upon. I realize this is store management specific and some stores will be better than others. I worked in MN stores (close to corporate) so things tend to be run according to corporate policy rather than at the whim of the store manager. Some of these plans they sell aren't a very good value, and some are. I know which ones are and aren't from working at customer service for a year and a half, but I'll spare everyone the details.

Also, as far as salesperson knowledge goes..there are plenty of people at best buy who have a passion for what they are selling and DO know what they are talking about. There are also a lot of people who don't but THINK they do. This happens in everyday life though, just think about it. How many people do you know that think they know about computers, phones, etc. but all their answers seem to be wrong? You get employees at best buy like this too and I encountered many of them.

When a salesperson says they or their friends have a product, they probably do. By 'friend' they probably mean another employee. Best Buy has a very generous employee discount and it's also hard not to spend your money on cool gadgets when you are around them all day long.

Best Buy does not deliberately screw people over. I worked there and I know this. We followed policy which is fair, especially since it's posted on the wall for customers to see. More often than not we would bend the rules for a customer who is polite and explains their concerns coherently. I never did once bend the rules for someone who was rude or condescending to me - they can go F*** themselves, but I never screwed anyone over. There is no excuse to show disrespect to someone, even if they are a lowly Best Buy employee.

Yes, geek squad sucks horribly and is a waste of money. Just thought I'd throw that in there.
 
I wonder if iPhone 3G may be capable of more than what Apple is letting on to? Not saying that it's capable of updating itself to 256MB of RAM, but perhaps Apple has found a way to squeeze more out of the CPU. I am only saying this because there aren't the widespread shortages that there were last year. I think it started in mid-March that supply started running low. I am just wondering why we aren't experiencing these same issues this time around when it's almost certain that 6/8 a new phone will be announced with a mid-July launch.

Really, though, I walked into an ATT store less than a month ago and walked out with a shiny new 8GB iPhone. I was thinking about waiting, but I had my reasons. In the end, I will still want a new one, but I wouldn't trade not having one for 3+ months while I waited. It was totally worth it.
 
jdechko said:
I wonder if iPhone 3G may be capable of more than what Apple is letting on to? Not saying that it's capable of updating itself to 256MB of RAM, but perhaps Apple has found a way to squeeze more out of the CPU. I am only saying this because there aren't the widespread shortages that there were last year. I think it started in mid-March that supply started running low. I am just wondering why we aren't experiencing these same issues this time around when it's almost certain that 6/8 a new phone will be announced with a mid-July launch.

Really, though, I walked into an ATT store less than a month ago and walked out with a shiny new 8GB iPhone. I was thinking about waiting, but I had my reasons. In the end, I will still want a new one, but I wouldn't trade not having one for 3+ months while I waited. It was totally worth it.
Click to expand...

That's a tough call I think. Certainly Apple may have found ways to optimize code in OS 3.0 to make it run faster, but at the same time with all the added functionality it may end up just being a wash between optimization and the increased load additional features put on the processor.
 
jdechko said:
Really, though, I walked into an ATT store less than a month ago and walked out with a shiny new 8GB iPhone. I was thinking about waiting, but I had my reasons. In the end, I will still want a new one, but I wouldn't trade not having one for 3+ months while I waited. It was totally worth it.
Click to expand...

And the other shoe drops . . . .

This is why there will not be shortages of Gen 2 G3 iPhones this month. Returns in anticipation and arrival of Gen 3.

Rocketman
 
mattster16 said:
That's a tough call I think. Certainly Apple may have found ways to optimize code in OS 3.0 to make it run faster, but at the same time with all the added functionality it may end up just being a wash between optimization and the increased load additional features put on the processor.
Click to expand...

On the other hand, perhaps Apple had only contracted for a certain number of first-gen iPhones due to the fact that it was an entrance into a brand-new market for them. When the contract ran out Apple decided that it was wiser to shift all of the manufacturers to the 3G.
 
SE Satio versus iPhone Next Gen

Has anyone looked at the new Satio from SE (was the project name Idou). I'm looking at this versus the upcoming 32GB iPhone. This looks like a real competitor for my $'s.

True 16:9, 3.5 inch widescreen
12.1 megapixel camera, intuitive touch focus, Xenon flash and face and smile detection
Symbian Foundation operating system – thousands of applications available online
Music player – Wireless Stereo Headphones HBH-IS800
Optional - Video Viewing Stand IM920.

Satio supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 850/900/2100. Satio will be available in selected markets from early Q4 in the colours; Black, Silver and Bordeaux.

The Sony Ericsson Satio at a glance:

Satio Camera:

12.1 megapixel camera
Up to 16x digital zoom
Auto focus
BestPic™
Face detection
Geo tagging of photos
Image stabilizer
Photo feeds
Photo fix
Send to web
Red-eye reduction
Smile detection
Touch focus
Video light
Video recording
Xenon flash

Satio Music:

Album art
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Media player
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™
TrackID™

Satio Web:

WebKit web browser
Bookmarks
Web feeds

Satio Communication:

Call list
Speakerphone
Vibrating alert
Video calling
Messaging

Satio Conversations:
Email
Exchange ActiveSync™
Handwriting recognition
Instant messaging
On-screen QWERTY keyboard
Picture messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)

Satio Design:

Auto rotate
Gesture control
Media
Picture wallpaper
S60 5th edition Symbian™ OS
Touchscreen
Wallpaper animation

Satio Entertainment:

HD and 3D games
Facebook™ application
FM radio with RDS
Java
Video streaming
Video viewing
YouTube™

Satio Connectivity:

Bluetooth™ technology
Modem
PictBridge
Synchronisation
TV out
USB mass storage
USB support
In-built WiFi™

Satio Organizer:

Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Contacts
Document readers
Document editors
Flight mode
Notes
Tasks

Satio Location-based services:

A-GPS
Google Maps™
Turn-by-turn navigation

Satio Accessories

In-Box:

Satio
Battery
Battery Charger
8GB Memory card
USB cable
Media manager
Colour-matched stereo portable handsfree
User guide

Optional:

Video Viewing Stand IM920
Facts and Figures

Size: 112 x 55 x 13.3 mm
Weight: 126 grams
Colours: Black, Silver and Bordeaux
Main screen: 16,777,216 colour nHD TFT
16:9 widescreen
Resolution: 640 x 360 pixels
Size: 3.5 inches
Phone memory: 128 MB
Memory Card Support: SanDisk microSD™

Availability and versions:

Networks:

Satio
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS HSDPA 2100

Satio(a)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100
 
ahoover said:
Has anyone looked at the new Satio from SE (was the project name Idou). I'm looking at this versus the upcoming 32GB iPhone. This looks like a real competitor for my $'s.

True 16:9, 3.5 inch widescreen
12.1 megapixel camera, intuitive touch focus, Xenon flash and face and smile detection
Symbian Foundation operating system – thousands of applications available online
Music player – Wireless Stereo Headphones HBH-IS800
Optional - Video Viewing Stand IM920.

Satio supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 850/900/2100. Satio will be available in selected markets from early Q4 in the colours; Black, Silver and Bordeaux.

The Sony Ericsson Satio at a glance:

Satio Camera:

12.1 megapixel camera
Up to 16x digital zoom
Auto focus
BestPic™
Face detection
Geo tagging of photos
Image stabilizer
Photo feeds
Photo fix
Send to web
Red-eye reduction
Smile detection
Touch focus
Video light
Video recording
Xenon flash

Satio Music:

Album art
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Media player
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™
TrackID™

Satio Web:

WebKit web browser
Bookmarks
Web feeds

Satio Communication:

Call list
Speakerphone
Vibrating alert
Video calling
Messaging

Satio Conversations:
Email
Exchange ActiveSync™
Handwriting recognition
Instant messaging
On-screen QWERTY keyboard
Picture messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)

Satio Design:

Auto rotate
Gesture control
Media
Picture wallpaper
S60 5th edition Symbian™ OS
Touchscreen
Wallpaper animation

Satio Entertainment:

HD and 3D games
Facebook™ application
FM radio with RDS
Java
Video streaming
Video viewing
YouTube™

Satio Connectivity:

Bluetooth™ technology
Modem
PictBridge
Synchronisation
TV out
USB mass storage
USB support
In-built WiFi™

Satio Organizer:

Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Contacts
Document readers
Document editors
Flight mode
Notes
Tasks

Satio Location-based services:

A-GPS
Google Maps™
Turn-by-turn navigation

Satio Accessories

In-Box:

Satio
Battery
Battery Charger
8GB Memory card
USB cable
Media manager
Colour-matched stereo portable handsfree
User guide

Optional:

Video Viewing Stand IM920
Facts and Figures

Size: 112 x 55 x 13.3 mm
Weight: 126 grams
Colours: Black, Silver and Bordeaux
Main screen: 16,777,216 colour nHD TFT
16:9 widescreen
Resolution: 640 x 360 pixels
Size: 3.5 inches
Phone memory: 128 MB
Memory Card Support: SanDisk microSD™

Availability and versions:

Networks:

Satio
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS HSDPA 2100

Satio(a)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100
Click to expand...

that's fine and dandy, but does the calculator turn scientific when you rotate it to landscape? if not, i'm not buying.

see, apple thinks of the IMPORTANT things people want!
 
ahoover said:
Has anyone looked at the new Satio from SE (was the project name Idou). I'm looking at this versus the upcoming 32GB iPhone. This looks like a real competitor for my $'s.
Click to expand...

As lots of would-be iphone killers/competitors have shown, specs really mean a whole lot of nothing if the implementation is bad. It's all about the user experience. I haven't seen anything about the Satio, so I can't comment on its user-friendliness, but just rattling off a long list of impressive-ish specs tells you precisely zero about how the phone would actually be to own and use on a daily basis.
 
jdechko said:
I wonder if iPhone 3G may be capable of more than what Apple is letting on to? Not saying that it's capable of updating itself to 256MB of RAM, but perhaps Apple has found a way to squeeze more out of the CPU. I am only saying this because there aren't the widespread shortages that there were last year. I think it started in mid-March that supply started running low. I am just wondering why we aren't experiencing these same issues this time around when it's almost certain that 6/8 a new phone will be announced with a mid-July launch.

Really, though, I walked into an ATT store less than a month ago and walked out with a shiny new 8GB iPhone. I was thinking about waiting, but I had my reasons. In the end, I will still want a new one, but I wouldn't trade not having one for 3+ months while I waited. It was totally worth it.
Click to expand...

Well this is an honestly reply finally. I would never pay what you are going to for the new iphone, but it is nice to see someone post who is ready to pay the price and not whine about it.
 
Diode said:
The iphone LCD screen has been LED lit from the beginning. In fact most small LCD screens are LED lit.
Click to expand...

I believe even the very first iPod had an LED backlit screen, as well as all the following revisions.
 
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