iPhone Questions for Early Adopters

[CaptainHaddock]

I'm curious about input on such a small keyboard. Do existing phones in Japan have hardware or software keyboards for input that are that small (like thumb keyboards)?

Actually, Japanese works beautifully for small cell phone number pads provided the layout is logical and the software works well. Japanese phonetic characters are very logical, so you can have a-i-u-e-o on 1, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko on 2, etc. The software predicts what word or even entire phrase you're typing, based on previously typed words, and you can usually select it after entering only one or two characters.

It even suggests emoticons if I type a suitable exclamation. Japanese people *love* using emoticons and little graphical icons in their messages.

Anyway, in practice, Japanese is much faster than English to type with the number pad (and Japanese is my second language). Apple will have a killer Japanese iPhone if they have a good phonetic input layout, good prediction (which Japanese's grammar lends itself well to), and easy access to emoticons. However, their American engineers will never get those things right on their own, so I hope they take it seriously and get some Japanese UI specialists to help.

 

[jrlcopy]

Meebo.com - You can load the page, login, but due to the fact that there is no Send button in the instant messaging field, you can't send a message.

MacRumors.com - Looks great
Google Spreadsheet - You can view your docs but you cannot touch to edit.
Google Docs - You can view your docs but you cannot touch to edit.

General Feel/Use

Stable? any crashes? Very stable, have yet to have it freeze, crash, lock up.
Startup time?

Screen seem scratchable? Seems very rugged, and as the pcworld test showed, not scratchable.

Speaker quality? Load, mostly clear, as you get to higher volume it starts to have its peeks.

+Here is an interesting thing, if you are on a call, and open up the ipod and start playing a song, both you and the caller on the other end of the phone can hear the song.+

How is using the virtual keyboard? - Just learn to trust the autocorrect feature, 9/10 it seems to know what you meant. As long as you trust it everything moves fast.

How was the installation experience with importing all the stuff
How easy is it to set up mail, contacts etc. - So easy, I use a mac, so it automaticly moved everything over and I didn't have to worry about a thing. EXCEPT, on one of my pop3 mail clients, it requires a password to send outgoing mail, the iphone keeps clearing the password setting on it, preventing me from sending outgoing mail on it. I try reentering it but it doesn't work.


Do you have any scratches or smudges yet? - Screen stays pretty clean so far, the screen is so bright that when you use it you can't see a single mark that you have made, but when you turn it off and hold it at an angle you see smudges. No scratches yet.

How's the screen in the sun? Probably the best cell phone ever, I have never seen a cell phone that you could still read clearly in direct sunlight.

How good is the multitouch? It has the occasional quirk, but I love it, smooth, responsive, knows not to accept a touch that you didn't mean.

Can the keyboard switch between qwerty and alpha numeric when typing? like on the wii? Not that I have seen.

Network

EDGE bearable? Benchmarks? - Bearable, 150kb/s usually.

Exchange support? 🙁
Can you save websites for later view? 🙁

Form Factor

How does it feel in your hands, slippery, easily droppable? It is comfortable, I always have a death grip on it just to prevent anything from happening to my little 500$ device. It has a nice weight to it.

Can you input text in landscape mode? Only in safari so far.

Comparisons

If you had service higher in oomph than EDGE (like 3g), can you say how slow it is in comparison? Jump off a building level, or tolerable?
It is tolerable, ,maybe jumping off of a 2nd floor building, but tolerable. Google maps is surprisingly quick no matter if you are on edge or wifi.

 

[mkrishnan]

I haven't seen this asked yet, so forgive me if it has been:

Does the iPhone easily permit different SMTP servers for different connection types?

E.G. there are some US ISPs (and Universities, etc) that force you to use their SMTP server and block ports 25, 587, etc, for all others, and then only allow you to use their server while you're actually on their network. Has anyone dealt with this on iPhone yet? Is it possible to have different SMTP servers tied to EDGE and different WiFi networks? Or is there another / better workaround that works consistently?

 

[Rojo]

When using the headphones for calls, how's the mic? Can other people hear you well?

 

[pika2000]

We already know that non AT&T SIM card won't work, because it is locked. However, how about other AT&T/Cingular SIM card that is not included with the iPhone? Can I buy the iPhone, pop out the SIM card without activation, and insert my own cingular prepaid SIM card? Can anybody verify if this is doable?

 

[napoleonesq]

Loving it !

There are some little glitches, but I have to tell you...its not like any other phone. I have been using so called smartphone for years, and this is by far th best, innovative device I have seen.

Edge is not fast, but tolerable...i think thats the next step...increasing the speed.

Google Maps is just awesome on it...fast even on edge. You dont even need a GPS really.

Music, videos, and the interface is great!

My only hangup...AT&T. My voicemail doesnt work...and it appears i am not the only one.

 

[Carlos E]

We already know that non AT&T SIM card won't work, because it is locked. However, how about other AT&T/Cingular SIM card that is not included with the iPhone? Can I buy the iPhone, pop out the SIM card without activation, and insert my own cingular prepaid SIM card? Can anybody verify if this is doable?

I tried that. Once it's activated it will not work. The iPhone is bound to that SIM card. I pulled the SIM from my razr and popped it in and I got a message on the screen incorrect SIM, please reactive in iTunes. 🙁

 

[marjen]

well it is scratchable, I somehow have a rather large one, and I have been babying it. It has only been in an empty pocket 🙁

 

[slim31]

One thing I have noticed.........

It seems, at least for me, that when I am on edge and downloading a web page that if anyone calls it goes straight to voice mail, but once the page is loaded the call comes in fine.

It is almost like data takes priority over voice would assume, but have not confirmed, this would also happen while downloading your email.

 

[Diode]

I was able to get 120kbit / sec the other night on edge ... not to bad for a "slow" 2.5G network.

 

[OS X Dude]

Not sure if this has been answered or not, but on the 8GB iPhone, how much space is actually available for my "sick choonz and custom beatz" (as my bro wud say - he may be a chav 😱) after formatting and OS space?



Ta.

 

[Rojo]

It seems, at least for me, that when I am on edge and downloading a web page that if anyone calls it goes straight to voice mail, but once the page is loaded the call comes in fine.

It is almost like data takes priority over voice would assume, but have not confirmed, this would also happen while downloading your email.

I noticed this on my friend's phone too.

He took a picture of me to assign it to his contact info for me, and then asked me to call him. I was getting ready to dial the number when someone else asked him to show him the phone. He was in the middle of loading up a webpage when I finished dialing. I was half-expecting my call to interrupt what he was doing, but it didn't. After he was done showing the webpage, he looked at his phone and said "oh...you called?"

There should really be a way to make phone calls be prioritized, if it's necessary for the user. Or better yet, set it up so just CERTAIN people calling are prioritized, while other calls go directly to voicemail. I wonder how easy/difficult that would be to implement...

 

[appleii2mac]

7.3 GB or something like that I think.

 

[macenforcer]

well it is scratchable, I somehow have a rather large one, and I have been babying it. It has only been in an empty pocket 🙁

What the hell? How in the world did your cotton pocket scratch it but keys, knives and drops have not? Not believing you. Lets see some proof.

 

[MauiBoy]

It seems, at least for me, that when I am on edge and downloading a web page that if anyone calls it goes straight to voice mail, but once the page is loaded the call comes in fine.

It is almost like data takes priority over voice would assume, but have not confirmed, this would also happen while downloading your email.

I know, when I purchased my at&t 8525, the 3G service (HSDPA, specifically) touted simultaneous voice+data as a 3G-only feature. So, I'm impressed Apple has come up with a way to seemingly allow you to "do both". You're seeing the reality, though, that it is indeed not simultaneous but rather queued one after the other. Kudos to Apple for doing the best I've seen with what they've got in EDGE.

 

[malbert75]

Help! Should I or Shouldn't I buy one?

I have been loosing sleep over this very thought since this iPhone came out. I have been reading every little detail, review, positive, negative gripes and all. Hell I have gone down to apple store twice and been totally transfixed by the thing. I do not own or have ever owned a smart phone mainly because I hated the way the worked. The iPhone web browser and all its charm seems like the actual phone I have been waiting for but I just can't pull the trigger. I have the money saved up for the past 7 months burning a hole in my pocket. should I wait till the second Gen comes out or not? Are some or most of the bugs/issues going to be resolved with software updates or is Apple going to screw over all the new iPhone users in a few months? I am leaving work in an hour or so and pass by an apple store. So please anyone can you shed some light here...

 

[isoS]

I have been loosing sleep over this very thought since this iPhone came out. I have been reading every little detail, review, positive, negative gripes and all. Hell I have gone down to apple store twice and been totally transfixed by the thing. I do not own or have ever owned a smart phone mainly because I hated the way the worked. The iPhone web browser and all its charm seems like the actual phone I have been waiting for but I just can't pull the trigger. I have the money saved up for the past 7 months burning a hole in my pocket. should I wait till the second Gen comes out or not? Are some or most of the bugs/issues going to be resolved with software updates or is Apple going to screw over all the new iPhone users in a few months? I am leaving work in an hour or so and pass by an apple store. So please anyone can you shed some light here...

Two things to weigh: the next iPhone probably won't come out for a year -- it might debut in January, but I seriously doubt it will be before then. Can you wait that long? I'm going to try! The other thing, which is what's making me wait: can you live with the idea of having a $600 iPod/phone with 8GB of storage when a larger capacity one comes out next year (assuming you're not going to spend another $600 in 2008 and throw the 1G iPhone away)? What if it's packing 3G? Those are the two things they cannot address with software updates in the current iPhone, but will most likely try to address with v2.0. Having played with the iPhone a bit, I love it to death, but when I buy one it will be for the long haul (for $600 it's got to last me 3-4 years min.), so I'm going to make sure it's got all the storage I need and hopefully the fastest wireless data access available.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

The good, the bad, and the ugly.... Semi-review and answered questions

That's a very mixed review...would you say the iPhone is worth buying now, or should you wait till version 2?

My take is for those that are in need of a new phone, or are wanting to switch to AT&T - the iPhone is a buy. I am coming away from the Treo 650. Never used half of the PIM capabilities of the Treo. I used it mainly for email checking and VERY occasional web browsing - along with syncing with iCal and Address book (only when I was willing to put up with the small screen size and resolution). I am still working my way through the iPhone, but is everything that I needed in a phone and basic PIM so far.

The good: a smart interface, very easy to read screen; call quality is good, have tones of friends/associates on the AT&T networks (so free mobile-to-mobile minutes); EDGE speed seems bearable (look for PDA/WAP sites for faster download times); very nice scrolling (made setting calendar appointments very easy); battery life seems to be decent (used mine today after its second "full charge" and used it only for browsing on the Edge and my own wifi networks and an hour of iTunes listening, it is showing 3 hours of use, with standby of 1 day - concern here is that I have used 1.8mb sent and 22.7mb received data on edge (hope the AT&T "police" don't hit me up with some big fine soon down the road - will have to checkout if there is a setting like in VersaMail on the Treo that can selectively down load attachments in the mail app); good news seems to be that you can change features/plans at any time - I added the nights and weekends starting at 7PM

The bad (some are subjective): had only one small "crash" (happened when connected to my iMac- wasn't doing a sync) and removing the iPhone from my iTunes allowed the iPhone to instantly wake up again; can't rotate the iPhone to landscape to take advantage of the larger keyboard except in the Safari mode (as easy as scrolling is, I would like this option); the screen does smudge - but I wear glasses so I always have a microfiber cloth with me - I prefer the Spudz cloths since they bunch up in a "pouch" and can clip to what ever (http://www.alpineproducts.com/products/Spudz.php) is handy; the camera at 2mp is just passable so far for me compared to other cell phone cameras

The ugly: So far none for me, don't regret the purchase

Somethings I would like: a Camera Connector compatible with the iPhone (on my last two trips I traveled only with P&S cameras, and it was nice to send emails from my PB 12" - now a MB 13" - to friends/associates during my travels); to know where the iPhone Notes app files are stored on my iMac, and how I can create notes on my iMac to send to my iPhone; the ability to have a folder on the iPhone, so that I could readily view Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, and PDF's without sending them to my mailbox and organizing them for later viewing (something I do miss from my Treo); the ability to use my iTunes library as possible ringtones (without an extra charge)

Fantasy (at this point) things I would want: user interchangeable batteries; GPS built in (I have read the Apple response to the issue about battery life - I accept that - hope things will change in that regard with version 2 of the iPhone); the ability to tether the iPhone to my MB on rare occasions that the iPhone won't do without extra surcharge (I know this is more of an AT&T thing than Apple); lacking a Camera Connector having an SD slot would be nice

BTW I tried the MacRumors WAP site today and only got HTML code....

I'm a bit perplexed by this. If the display is locked, and you have the thing in your pocket or a backpack, it seems like it would be easy for the switch to inadvertently get bumped, making the phone ring out loud when you don't intend for it to. Am I right on this, or is the switch locked out if the screen is locked?

Not so far in the Griffen elan SNAP-IN case

I'm most interested in the flash issue? Does safari has it?
Many Web 2.0 depends on Flash 🙁

Tried to use the SpeakEasy website and it said I did not have the right Flash available

Gosh, I really hope they don't fragment the iPhone OS into regional varieties, like those that have plagued Windows forever. When the Japanese-compatible iPhone arrives, there should be a software update that enables it on all iPhones.

Speaking of Japan, proper language support could be a killer feature. There are tons of immigrants needing a phone that handles Korean, Chinese, or Portuguese as well as Japanese, but all the offerings I've seen, including my own phone, are Japanese-only (sometimes with some half-assed English support too). I imagine that in the rest of Southeast Asia, the usefulness of a multilingual smart-phone is even greater.

My guess it will have to wait till the 16/32GB iPhones to come out in a year or two.... perhaps with version 2 with a better processor to handle multiple languages at the same time

This was the answer I was looking for. Thank you.

For some of us, the ability to use the SIM card in another phone is attractive. I am now hoping that a co-worker will want the RZar2, in order get his RZar cheap as a back-up if I have to send in my iPhone for service or a battery replacement...

How easy (or difficult) is it to take self-pics? Not the "stand in the mirror" variety where you see the camera in the picture (always thought that was kind of tacky) -- but the "extend the camera far away and point it back" kind (which at worst gets an arm in the pic, unless you're an expert like me) 😀

If the button to press is on the screen, I'd assume this is rather difficult?

The iPhone lacks the fish-eyed "mirror" that many camera phones have so one can take self-pics. The one thing I will say is that the camera function seems slower on the pic taking than on my Treo 650. It may have to do with the cutesy aperture thing....

 

[OS X Dude]

7.3 GB or something like that I think.

Nice one, thanks mate.

 

[OS X Dude]

Let's say for a moment that I forget my headphones, but really want to play that new Depeche Mode song I syncd last night. Would the speakers be up to the job of playing the song well, and would it distort when I caned it up to max volume?

 

[Yankees 4 Life]

When using the headphones for calls, how's the mic? Can other people hear you well?

sometimes people tell me i sound fuzzy, but most times like 90%> tell me i sound great!

hey i forgot... meebo works just fine now... they fixed it real well 🙂

 

[mongoos150]

Website Compatiblity

Meebo.com - YES! Finally, there is a "go" button on iPhone. Fully compatible.
MacRumors.com - Yup, fairly quick (relatively) on Edge.
Google Spreadsheet - Huh? .XLS views fine (though no saving).
Google Docs - Huh? .DOC & .PDF views fine (though no saving).
How does it (not) handle Flash? - Living in a bat cave? 😉 No flash.
Any other websites? - Everything has worked for me, sans flash content.

General Feel/Use

Other language options? - Most common languages supported, also Asian languages.
Any crashes? - Yes, when multitasking (grrr). Ex: Music + Browsing.
Startup time? - Pretty quick. I'd say 8-10 seconds.
Instalock work? does it easily get triggered? - Never tried...?
Can keychains be synced with your Mac? - NO and I WISH it did this. Update?
Screen seem scratchable? - Not at all! Though getting oil off can be a b*
Speaker quality? - Pretty bad. My old LG Chocolate is much better.
Background noise with headphones/mic? - Great. Phone through headphones is great as well.
How is using the virtual keyboard? - Awesome! After some practice, you'll be flying. I'd say 95% accurate spell check.
How was the installation experience with importing all the stuff? - Fine, though some of my video files had issues playing. I re-encoded, now it's fine.
How easy is it to set up mail, contacts etc.? - Easy, yet it took about a day for SexPhone (my iPhone 😉 ) to begin fluidly syncing with Gmail and Comcast.
Do you have any scratches or smudges yet? - Already addressed.
How's the screen in the sun? - Not as bad as you'd think.
How good is the multitouch? - It's allright. Nothing to report.
Does it support foreign language SMS, email and webpage? - You serious? Yes, yes, yes.
Can the keyboard switch between qwerty and alpha numeric when typing? - You have to manually press a button, but yes.

Network

EDGE bearable? Benchmarks? - Definitely bearable. Big sites are slow though. NY Times in 53 seconds.
Which WIFI Encryption is supported? - The usual suspects. WEP, WPA/2
How well does it find signals? - Wifi is pretty good. GSM is... allright, though hand placement makes or breaks the connection (which drives me nuts).
For the super fast cell phone texters, can the keypad keep up with quick presses of keys, or is there a laggy delay before the input is displayed? - I text around 3K messages a month (though I signed up for the 1500 package to save $$ - we'll see if I can curb my usage a bit). It definitely keeps up IF you keep your thumb tapping light. What do I mean? If I am tapping quickly, and I leave one thumb on the keyboard when the other thumb goes for another key, it won't pick up the second key. Multitouch doesn't really work on the thumb board.
Zoom algorithm in Safari? - Great.
Can you save websites for later view? - Bookmarks, yes.
Left or right hand issues? - Righty. No issues.

Form Factor

How does it feel in your hands, slippery, easily droppable? - Feels perfect.
Interface? - Perfect.
Can you input text in landscape mode? (only in safari) - You answered your own question.

Comparisons

If you had service higher in oomph than EDGE (like 3g), can you say how slow it is in comparison? - EDGE is definitely tolerable. Not as slow as I thought, quicker than dialup.

Battery

How long does it take to charge? - Pretty quick, around 2.5 hours from fully dead.
How is battery life? - Not that hot. For average use (a bit of music, photos, video podcasts, texting and calls) I get about 8 hours. :
How much does it drain battery life if your mail is checking every 5 minutes? - I'vethis turned on, not sure what it'd be like with it off. I need my eMail checked.

Accessories

Does the iPhone offer compatibility with Nike + iPod? - Don't think so.
Handsfree kit work? - Don't know.
Usable under an invisibileShield or other screen protector? - I don't need one, the device is surprisingly rugged (again, you asked this above). Have you seen the PC Mag stress test? It held up superbly.
Voice headset? - Don't know.
Speakers? - 3rd party? Don't know.
Does the iPhone's Bluetooth support A2DP? Not atm.
Dock, Car Adapter? Dock's fine. No car adapter yet.
Bluetooth kb or mouse? None supported yet.

Data / Sync

Can the iPhone data connection settings be modified so that it can be connected to other mobile service provider? - Again, are you serious? No.
Does the iPhone work as a regular wireless modem (just like my current Nokia 6350 does)? - No tethering.
Dial Up Networking? - DUN!? No.
Can you download files? - No.
Sync over internet via .Mac? No.
Bonjour support? No.
Can you access other computers on the wifi network? No.
Sync with Hotmail? Yes (not sure if Hotmail offers POP/IMAP support).
How does Notes sync? Where to? - Don't know.
Can you download/sync voicemail? No.

Documents

What attachments can mail display? - .DOC, .PDF, .XLS, .JPG, (other picture formats?)
Can it read/display PDF documents? - Already answered.

Music

Can you listen to music on speaker? ...Yes. Speaker blows.

Calendar/Alarm

Data Entry?
Can one set repeating alarms? Yes.
- And for weekdays only? Yes.

Financial / Contract

Are you contractually obligated to features or a particular plan, or can they be changed whenever? - You must get an iPhone plan, $20 more than a non-smart plan. Includes unlimited data.
Will Apple Care be available as insurance against damage. If so, how much will it cost? $69. Available soon. Doesn't protect against user-inflicted damage.
Any insurance? See above.
Did you get any discounts like military, student, or employer discounts? No.
Which additional features (text messaging, if not included, data plan if separate and optional, insurance if offered, etc) did you choose? - Did have ulmtd. text, but $94/month (after tax) was too much. I'm going to see if I can curb my texting appetite a bit, I changed my plan to 1500 sms/month for an additional $10. Brings my bill (before tax) to $69.99, after fees around $83.

Tweaking

How much free space is there on 4GB or 8GB? Around 3.5GB and 7.3GB.
Can you turn the accelerometer off? No. <Why would you want to?>
Video out through the headphone jack? No, not yet at least.
Can you use iPhone as bluetooth remote? Not yet.
Can it Print? Not yet.
Terminal? SSH? No and no.
Will it boot without the SIM card? any functionality? 911. That's it.
Can you record phone conversations? No.

 

[mongoos150]

I haven't seen this asked yet, so forgive me if it has been:

Does the iPhone easily permit different SMTP servers for different connection types?

E.G. there are some US ISPs (and Universities, etc) that force you to use their SMTP server and block ports 25, 587, etc, for all others, and then only allow you to use their server while you're actually on their network. Has anyone dealt with this on iPhone yet? Is it possible to have different SMTP servers tied to EDGE and different WiFi networks? Or is there another / better workaround that works consistently?

I can't access my university's dedicated student/faculty wireless network (it requires you to accept certificates, which I can't do. >_<). I can, however, get on the public network, though there's less bandwidth on that network. I was actually unable to get on even the public (read: unencrypted) network until I updated the DNS to what our computing resources office recommended to me, after giving them an angry call.

 

[Mykbibby]

I just bought an iPhone, and I have to say, it is the best money I have ever spent! It is phenomenal! Stop asking questions, go out, and buy one! It will be worth every penny!

 

[ajhill]

I just bought an iPhone, and I have to say, it is the best money I have ever spent! It is phenomenal! Stop asking questions, go out, and buy one! It will be worth every penny!

Yes, I have to agree here. Stop over thinking it. Just go out an buy one and enjoy! I have no regrets. I just finished up Pirates 2 on the iPhone and loved it. Currently have loaded 3 movies, 6 episodes of Lost, and about 250 songs. By the way, iTunes is a great central hub approach to managing the iPhone, no complaints.

Just go out and get one...