iPhone Competitor Talking Points Revealed

[nagromme]

I haven't really used it this yet, but came across it this morning, but wouldn't something like www.meebo.com work for IM'ing on the iPhone? It's a web-based app, so I would think it would.

I'm sure lots of IMing can be done with Safari on the iPhone. I'd probably rather use AIM.com's AIM Express (since at least AOL already has my AIM password).

However, a real built-in app would not only be more consistent and easier to use, it could also (potentially) notify you of new messages on the home screen.

Web-based IM is a workaround, but not ideal.

 

[Peace]

How long does it take to activate my new iPhone?
Activation times can vary, but if you’re setting up a new line, it may take as little as a few minutes. If you’re porting a number from another carrier, it could take longer. While you’re waiting, you can make calls but not receive them.

Do this mean you can make emergency calls with the iPhone while you don't have a sim card in it?

Or are they talking about making calls with your old service provider while waiting to get transfered to AT&T?

I didn't quite understand what they meant?

When you transfer a cell phone number to a different carrier you can use your new phone to make calls but anyone that calls your current cell # it will take a few hours for the number to propagate through the system so your old cell phone will ring.

You can call any number with the iPhone while waiting.However if a call comes in it will ring on your old cell phone.This operation could take up to 6 hours.

Make sense ?

 

[Digital Skunk]

I am going to stay out of this before I get beheaded by the iPhone kings and queens of fanaticism. Not too much room for use poor old revolutionaries that know that the evil iPhone empire isn't all that it is cracked up to be. Granted that the info Sprint and Verizon has is way the hell off, but they do make very good points... the first one being that the Sprint network is worlds faster than what EDGE and Cingular can offer.

The iPhone is nice... other competitor's phones suck... but the iPhone is lacking in some serious functionality and basic phone features.

 

[avah12]

Keyboard users might have wished for voice command, but mouse users know that voice doesn't save them any time. Who here actually uses OS X's voice commands? They're cool, but most people can point to something faster than the words are out of their mouth. The iPhone touchscreen is like the mouse for phones. It leapfrogs voice dialing in many situations.

I agree, as I hardly ever use it on my current cell. But if you're driving and need to make a call, you can't easily use the iPhone blindly. With my current phone I can keep my eyes on the road while using my fingers to find the right shortcut key for calling a stored contact. So even though OS X voice commands are cool and we never use them, to a blind person they are a necessity.
(In the end I'm sure this all won't matter too much, but I'm desperately trying to talk myself out of getting the iPhone. But it's so damn pretty!)

 

[Yankees 4 Life]

When you transfer a cell phone number to a different carrier you can use your new phone to make calls but anyone that calls your current cell # it will take a few hours for the number to propagate through the system so your old cell phone will ring.

You can call any number with the iPhone while waiting.However if a call comes in it will ring on your old cell phone.This operation could take up to 6 hours.

Make sense ?

makes perfect sense to me man, nice explanation

 

[Lepton]

Best point - no voice dialing

Their best talking point would be that the iPhone has no voice dialing or even speed dial. "This will be very dangerous trying to make a call while driving a car!" I'm surprised they don't pound on this one.

 

[DocStone]

I think people need to realize that this phone was not made for everyone. Not everybody is the target audience. Sure, apple would love everyone to get one, but kids are going to be disappointed because it does not have kid applications on it. (although YouTube is up for discussion) Anyhow, if you want the kiddie applications, then go with the Ocean phone from Heilo. That was made for kids.

Sorry children, you must be this tall to have this phone.

For me, this phone suits what I need. I don't picture message now my with V3 Razr.(maybe 2 or three over the last few years) If you do, great, don't get this phone. But don't beat up on it because it does not suit your needs. Just move along and get the phone that you want. There are some of us out here that this phone works just fine for.

BTW, it would seem to me that picture messages is a software problem. I would not be surprised to see apple add this in the upcoming months.

Just my 3 cents.

-Doc

 

[w00master]

Different songs playing when someone calls you.

It's a really lame feature that I hate anyway.

Being at a restaurant and hearing some girl's phone play 14 different songs in the course of an hour when different people call her is unbearable. Especially at the bad quality that Verizon songs download at.

No, this is incorrect. SongID is a function where say you're listening to a radio, and you like a particular song. You can place the phone up to the speaker, and the phone will identify the song that is playing. You can then decide the purchase and download the song to your cellphone.

What you are talking about are standard Ringtones.

w00master

 

[dummptyhummpty]

What is the "song id" feature they mention?

I believe you can also call a number (1-866-411-SONG - not sure if that's correct) and have it ID a song. My friend had the song id program on his Cingular phone and it was cool for like 5 mins until it started telling him he needed to pay for it. It also didn't seem to work, but then again we had no service.

Also every one is saying how you can use the iPhone on Wifi, that's nice and all, but i'm usually in places with no Wifi and if I am I usually have my laptop (eg: school). From my past experince with Cingular and T-mobile and now my friend's current experinece with ATT I would never switch back from Sprint (currently through Helio).

 

[DocStone]

I believe you can also call a number (1-866-411-SONG - not sure if that's correct) and have it ID a song. My friend had the song id program on his Cingular phone and it was cool for like 5 mins until it started telling him he needed to pay for it. It also didn't seem to work, but then again we had no service.

Also every one is saying how you can use the iPhone on Wifi, that's nice and all, but i'm usually in places with no Wifi and if I am I usually have my laptop (eg: school). From my past experince with Cingular and T-mobile and now my friend's current experinece with ATT I would never switch back from Sprint (currently through Helio).

So what is your impression of the Helio service?

 

[pgwalsh]

http://www.meebo.com/

That's an interesting solution, but I wont be leaving my browser open all day to a website for IM. I'd probably take it in widget form if possible, but most likely wait until they implement an application on the device. It's only a matter of time because it's something a lot of people are already requesting. My fear is that they'll just implement iChat and that doesn't support Yahoo. But yahoo is a partner, so who know what will happen.

 

[someninjamaster]

I have a motorola bluetooth car kit, I wonder if it will work with the iphone?

 

[ITASOR]

Their best talking point would be that the iPhone has no voice dialing or even speed dial. "This will be very dangerous trying to make a call while driving a car!" I'm surprised they don't pound on this one.

Yeah, the lack of this feature surprised me ever since they first announced the iPhone. You would think with all the Voice Over and such in Mac OS X that they would have implemented SOME way to make quick calls in the car.


What's the point of their bluetooth headset if you have to take the phone out anyway to actually make the call?

Maybe the BT Headset will come with a voice dialing upgrade feature to install on the phone! :-\

 

[odemadrid]

The three main issues I have with it are:

-No video recording capabilities
-No built-in GPS system
-No IM application

I will play with it on friday and will wait for reactions over the weekend before making up my mind.

 

[plumbingandtech]

Originally Posted by Peace
When you transfer a cell phone number to a different carrier you can use your new phone to make calls but anyone that ca

Thank you Peace. I was wondering the same as I am switching from TMobile....

 

[Digital Skunk]

What is with the "This phone wasn't made for you" argument that is popping up here and there.

I understand that the phone will have some features that many will find useful and others that some will find a nuisance but to give that argument is about as weightless as Sprint and Verizon's arguments. No product caters to everyone, except water however. So of course the iPhone isn't for everyone... but that is no excuse for its limitations.

 

[motulist]

EDGE being slow is a non-issue

I'll tell you why EDGE being slow is a non-issue, because ALL the US cell service companies have sucky service in one respect or another.

I have Sprint, and it is really lame. Even here in New York their service coverage area is limited, but worse than that, the signal strength is really weak. If I'm getting full bars out on the street, if I just walk into some building lobbies I get 0 bars and lose all service. And even when I'm in a coverage area with a good strength signal, it's not infrequent that when I try to make a call I get a "network too busy" error and can't get a call to go through for like 5 minutes because they don't have enough bandwidth to service all the users they've taken on. The only reason why I stick with them is because I have an unusual and ancient service plan that gives me tons of minutes for like $10/month.

So sure, at&t's EDGE data service may suck, but every US cell carrier sucks in it's own way. So it's 6 of one or a half dozen of the other.

 

[mi5moav]

Of course Sprint can't say anything about integrated batteries since their own favorite UPSTAGE music phone also does not have a user replacebable battery.

 

[zedLondon]

Personally, the only points that I'd find disappointing about the iPhone are

1. No MMS
2. The phone only has a 2MP camera with no flash. That just doesn't cut it for a high end phone. My K800i which came free with my contract has a 3.x MP camera with a pretty good flash

Now I know the camera doesn't matter to some, but I've kind of got used to having it over the years and it can be pretty useful. And I find that times I tend to use it most, really benefit from having a flash.

IM would have been nice, but it's not a deal breaker for me. Similarly the lack of 3G support is a disapointment but I don't know how widespread 3G is in the US.

Other than that most of the points seem fairly spurious. Mind, I do hope that they have MMS and 3G and a better camera by the time it comes to Europe.

 

[Yankees 4 Life]

Of course Sprint can't say anything about integrated batteries since their own favorite UPSTAGE music phone also does not have a user replacebable battery.

touche! very very good point, i totally forgot about that obsurd fone. speaking of which, how much of a dumbass will you look like talking into a phone with an mp3 player on the back. many on the streets will try to slap you, telling you that you are talking on the wrong side of the phone... haha stupid sprint.

 

[macnews]

Verizon should shut the hell up when it comes to talking about music or phone features. Music on Verizon only works well and easily if you buy it from verizon and the same phone can have a ton of different features and abilities on another carrier but is locked so tight it isn't funny. Yes, I know you can hack in to the phone and unlock these features but this is not easy for even the above average consumer and hosts a ton of problems if you screw things up.

 

[iKarl]

Who the heck actually uses IM on their phone. Actually who the heck still uses AIM anyway? Don't know how many 14 year olds will be buying this phone....

And the music software for most phones outside sony branded ones blows, and can't be used with iTunes (which is now the third largest music retailer). Even IF you add a 4gb card to the phone, the screens are so small comparably to watch a movie on. In the reviews that are out, everyone says the screen quality alone blows other phones out of the water in terms of watching a video.

My only gripe with the phone is lack of 3G. Serious flaw in my opinion.

 

[pgwalsh]

What is with the "This phone wasn't made for you" argument that is popping up here and there.

I understand that the phone will have some features that many will find useful and others that some will find a nuisance but to give that argument is about as weightless as Sprint and Verizon's arguments. No product caters to everyone, except water however. So of course the iPhone isn't for everyone... but that is no excuse for its limitations.

Well I have some issues, but I still love the phone. If I don't let my issues know, then they wont fix them. So complain about features you'd like to see and perhaps we'll see them with an update. It's a good discussion. I can't wait to see the device and play with it.

 

[odemadrid]

Who the heck actually uses IM on their phone. Actually who the heck still uses AIM anyway? Don't know how many 14 year olds will be buying this phone....

And the music software for most phones outside sony branded ones blows, and can't be used with iTunes (which is now the third largest music retailer). Even IF you add a 4gb card to the phone, the screens are so small comparably to watch a movie on. In the reviews that are out, everyone says the screen quality alone blows other phones out of the water in terms of watching a video.

My only gripe with the phone is lack of 3G. Serious flaw in my opinion.

Come on people! Don't be so lame! I am a 24-year-old engineer, and I use IM to communicate with my friends while at work. Different people have different needs; if you dont use a feature, it doesnt mean other people wont. Stop being stop so close-minded!!!!!!!!!

 

[motulist]

Personally I like sprint. There service might not be the strongest in some areas but the don't cripple their devices and they have great prices.

Sprint does cripple many of its phones. For many phones they block the ObEx that is needed for most data to be transferred or synced between phone and computer directly, and instead force you to use their over the air network. Or at least that's what they did on the vast majority of their phones last time I checked a few months ago. Plus their signal strength sucks, and their customer service is terrible.