Latest iPhone 2.0 Firmware Has 3G On/Off Option

[0098386]

I agree that most people think 3G is 'faster internet' which it is... but the reality is normal 3G is still incredibly slow. Education, education....just teach the people what HSxPA is and the problem is solved

That'll be useful, I'll run down to my nearest city and use HSDPA. The coverage of EDGE is good, the coverage of 3G is also quite good. The coverage of HSDPA is absolutely dire.

 

[sebastianlewis]

You should get a gold star today for actually decoding an acronym!

My only concern is whether AT&T has the bandwidth for peak periods as I can imagine a large number of iPhones coming on to the network in the next couple of months.

GSM= Global System for Mobile communications
GPRS= General Packet Radio Service
EDGE= Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
W-CDMA= Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
FOMA= Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access
UMTS= Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
HSPA= High Speed Packet Access
HSDPA= High Speed Download Packet Access
HSUPA= High Speed Upload Packet Access (noticing a pattern?)
HSPA+= Evolved High Speed Packet Access
HSOPA= High Speed OFDM Packet Access (look, an acronym in an acronym)
OFDM= Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

I'm not going to cover the cdmaOne/CDMA2000 family, it's too much work. Anyway, confused yet?

Sebastian

 

[Project]

Sorry, short and simple has never been my style, I've given it a shot a few times but all my posts just turn out long and boring anyway.

And you're right, a user doesn't need to know, but changing 3G to HSPA takes nothing away but adds a small piece of documentation allowing anybody who is curious to quickly Google HSPA. There would still be that description documenting the exact tradeoff that turning HSPA on will offer without referring to a vague term like 3G.

Sebastian

The H will be in the menu bar when it is active, with documentation provided to explain what that means should the user want to know. Just like the E is now.

I think that is sufficient complexity exposed to the user.

 

[TMay]

Browsing speed is not the only thing that matters. If the iPhone is going to be fully independent of a computer, it also needs decent raw download speeds, and while it can process data faster than most if not all phones right now, HSPA and EVDO phones are still downloading the data faster than the iPhone. This makes it impossible to really tell the difference when just browsing, but when downloading files from say, iTunes, or really any large chunk of data, it becomes obvious. The iPhone's iTunes Store right now is limited to WiFi because of EDGE's speeds and it can't download movies, tv shows, or podcasts at all right now which means you still need to sync with iTunes for those files so the iPhone is still tethered to a computer which is backwards for any mobile device, even if it does create some convenience for the owner as there's always a full backup of the data on the iPhone on the users computer, there are more phones than computers in the world.

Sebastian

"Browsing speed is not the only thing that matters."

Your statement is true, though at the present time, I would argue that a good browsing experience ranks right behind a high quality voice connection for the bulk of users.

I haven't heard much of a hue and cry amongst current users about the inability to download large files though it might be simply a case that expectations will align with the next iPhone's capabilities to drive media downloads. Either way, I expect both html rendering and 3G bandwidth to be at or near competitor's performance with the next iPhone release, so that should please almost everyone.

 

[sebastianlewis]

The H will be in the menu bar when it is active, with documentation provided to explain what that means should the user want to know. Just like the E is now.

I think that is sufficient complexity exposed to the user.

Less convenient than self documentation in the preferences by a simple name change leaving the preferences referring a vague non-technology.

"Browsing speed is not the only thing that matters."

Your statement is true, though at the present time, I would argue that a good browsing experience ranks right behind a high quality voice connection for the bulk of users.

I haven't heard much of a hue and cry amongst current users about the inability to download large files though it might be simply a case that expectations will align with the next iPhone's capabilities to drive media downloads. Either way, I expect both html rendering and 3G bandwidth to be at or near competitor's performance with the next iPhone release, so that should please almost everyone.

That's because most people don't care right now, but I'm thinking long term, within 10 years pocket computers like the iPhone will probably end up replacing a lot of personal computers, the only things that are in the way of that right now is storage, battery life, and connection speeds. That last one should be solved within a few years, battery life, well who knows, it doesn't exactly follow Moore's law, and the first one will probably be solved by the end of next year with prices coming down enough within a couple years after that.

Sebastian

 

[L3X]

right, i guess i know it's a risk. perhaps i am a little too trusting of my friends well-spoken, though; very convincing.

well, friends or not... I'm certainly picking one of these up this summer

You could pick one or two of your close friends if that would help. I wouldn't go higher than 3 total people, though.

 

[TMay]

GSM= Global System for Mobile communications
GPRS= General Packet Radio Service
EDGE= Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
W-CDMA= Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
FOMA= Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access
UMTS= Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
HSPA= High Speed Packet Access
HSDPA= High Speed Download Packet Access
HSUPA= High Speed Upload Packet Access (noticing a pattern?)
HSPA+= Evolved High Speed Packet Access
HSOPA= High Speed OFDM Packet Access (look, an acronym in an acronym)
OFDM= Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

I'm not going to cover the cdmaOne/CDMA2000 family, it's too much work. Anyway, confused yet?

Sebastian

I still remember TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) which was being pushed by Motorola against CDMA. One was more suited to rural areas (larger cells) than the other as I recall. I don't even know what was there before that. I still am peripherally involved in the telecom industry, making amplifier housings (for base stations mostly) for a local RF Engineer, but I remember making various filters for Allen Telecom back in the mid 90's.

 

[Project]

Less convenient than self documentation in the preferences by a simple name change leaving the preferences referring a vague non-technology.



That's because most people don't care right now, but I'm thinking long term, within 10 years pocket computers like the iPhone will probably end up replacing a lot of personal computers, the only things that are in the way of that right now is storage, battery life, and connection speeds. That last one should be solved within a few years, battery life, well who knows, it doesn't exactly follow Moore's law, and the first one will probably be solved by the end of next year with prices coming down enough within a couple years after that.

Sebastian

But this is what already happens in the iPhone.

E/blank square is there for EDGE/GPRS.

But in the Network section in Preferences it says "Data Roaming" as the means to disable it.

 

[Analog Kid]

And you're right, a user doesn't need to know, but changing 3G to HSPA takes nothing away but adds a small piece of documentation allowing anybody who is curious to quickly Google HSPA. There would still be that description documenting the exact tradeoff that turning HSPA on will offer without referring to a vague term like 3G.

Sorry, but gotta say that it does take something away-- accessibility. Best to go with the mass marketing term that people will be familiar with than to expect people to use Google before deciding what state to set an important option to.

You know what 3G means, and you obviously have the initiative to look up what flavor. My mom isn't going to know what HSDPA means and she's not going to Google it, she's going to call me. Then she's going to ask "is that different than 3G?" Then she's going to ask "Why don't they just say that then?" Better to have technically literate and curious Google what type of 3G systems iPhone supports than to have the masses confused by a term they've never encountered.

 

[TMay]

Less convenient than self documentation in the preferences by a simple name change leaving the preferences referring a vague non-technology.



That's because most people don't care right now, but I'm thinking long term, within 10 years pocket computers like the iPhone will probably end up replacing a lot of personal computers, the only things that are in the way of that right now is storage, battery life, and connection speeds. That last one should be solved within a few years, battery life, well who knows, it doesn't exactly follow Moore's law, and the first one will probably be solved by the end of next year with prices coming down enough within a couple years after that.

Sebastian

I could almost live with 3G for my WAN (Wide Area Network), and cut my business line at the same time using VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Like you state, it will happen fairly soon.

 

[sebastianlewis]

I still remember TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) which was being pushed by Motorola against CDMA. One was more suited to rural areas (larger cells) than the other as I recall. I don't even know what was there before that. I still am peripherally involved in the telecom industry, making amplifier housings (for base stations mostly) for a local RF Engineer, but I remember making various filters for Allen Telecom back in the mid 90's.

TDMA is what Nextel used before being bought up by Sprint isn't it?

I'm not a telecommunications expert but my interest in it has been increasing lately, partially due to the iPhone since after people started complaining about the lack of 3G as of January of 2007 I started looking up all these damn acronyms. The only downside is if I were to enter the telecom industry after leaving school it would be mostly institutionally based with large (behemoth) companies instead of small and less room for freedom, although a position at NTT DoCoMo wouldn't be too bad.

But this is what already happens in the iPhone.

E/blank square is there for EDGE/GPRS.

But in the Network section in Preferences it says "Data Roaming" as the means to disable it.

Doesn't make it anymore agreeable that this is the way it's currently done.

Even Data Roaming is less vague than 3G, at least it's describing the service that's being disabled.

Sorry, but gotta say that it does take something away-- accessibility. Best to go with the mass marketing term that people will be familiar with than to expect people to use Google before deciding what state to set an important option to.

You know what 3G means, and you obviously have the initiative to look up what flavor. My mom isn't going to know what HSDPA means and she's not going to Google it, she's going to call me. Then she's going to ask "is that different than 3G?" Then she's going to ask "Why don't they just say that then?" Better to have technically literate and curious Google what type of 3G systems iPhone supports than to have the masses confused by a term they've never encountered.

If you look at the screenshot it already self documents the tradeoff, changing 3G to HSPA would take away nothing but add another small piece of self documentation.

Sebastian

 

[teckman]

"data transfers but decreases"

"Using 3G loads data faster, but decreases battery life."

This would be better written as:

"Turning 3G on allows for faster data transfer but decreases the iPhone's battery life."

I changed parts for clarity and eliminated the comma because the second clause has no new subject.

I think 3G usage decreases the iPhone battery's life--not the faster data.
I think your subject has become data and "but" is a conjunction similar to "and". Whereas, faster data transfer "and" decreases the iPhone's battery life, for example, is what your meaning and it is not about 3G. That is the wrong use of the "and" conjunction because the verb in the secondary clause is meaning negative--just so you don't get anymore wrong ideas. You have used "data" as the subject and use a negative conjunction of the verbs "transfer" and "decreases" to follow the subject.
I'm sure that's not what Apple meant.
I think the main subject is 3G and data the other subject. You can have more than one or a collective subject as "them".
Use a comma when two series clauses in a sentence which the dependant clause is relating to main clause subject.

Grammar police

 

[sebastianlewis]

I could almost live with 3G for my WAN (Wide Area Network), and cut my business line at the same time using VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Like you state, it will happen fairly soon.

When Skype is ported to the iPhone you probably could then. It'll only work on WiFi of course but I assume your business line is a fixed line?

Sebastian

 

[72930]

I could almost live with 3G for my WAN (Wide Area Network), and cut my business line at the same time using VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Like you state, it will happen fairly soon.

If you jailbreak your iPhone now you can use Skype with Fring over WiFi or EDGE.

 

[BongoBanger]

HSDPA is usually referred to as 3.5G to differentiate it from the slower CDMA and FOMA protocols. I suspect Apple will use HSDPA for their next version.

 

[BongoBanger]

Grammer police

It's grammar. With an 'a'.

 

[tallyho]

I think 3G usage decreases the iPhone battery's life--not the faster data.
I think your subject has become data and "but" is a conjunction similar to "and". Whereas, faster data transfer "and" decreases the iPhone's battery life, for example, is what your meaning and it is not about 3G. That is the wrong use of the "and" conjunction because the verb in the secondary clause is meaning negative--just so you don't get anymore wrong ideas. You have used "data" as the subject and use a negative conjunction of the verbs "transfer" and "decreases" to follow the subject.
I sure that's not what Apple meant.
I think the main subject is 3G and data other subject. You can have more than one or a collective subject as "them".
Use a comma when two series clauses in a sentence which the dependant clause is relating to main clause subject.

Grammer police

I don't even know where to start correcting this Is your whole post some sort of joke
Maybe this would help you http://www.ling.udel.edu/idsardi/101/notes/syntax.html

 

[TMay]

When Skype is ported to the iPhone you probably could then. It'll only work on WiFi of course but I assume your business line is a fixed line?

Sebastian

Yes, the business phone line (fixed) carries both voice and dsl so I don't see why it wouldn't work through iPhone over WiFi. Theoretically, I could answer my business phone via the iPhone using Skype which would be a convenience.

Ideally, and maybe I'm asking too much, but I would like to be able to eliminate the landline and dsl altogether for my WAN. I'm under the impression that the 700 Mhz spectrum might be used for this in the near future.

 

[joseph2166]

An amazing number of people are assuming that just 'cos apple put this option in, 3G is therefore a huge battery killer. Maybe Apple were just being nice to those who don't care about 3g, but do want an even longer battery life than they get now!

 

[Santa Rosa]

I think it would also be appropriate if they put a 3G switch here:

That is a truly brilliant mock up

 

[johnpaul191]

Cool - 3G!

nice option to turn it off too - for some reason i didn't realise that the 3G phone could also use edge!

That bums me out. I do not want an EDGE phone because of the audio interference (it's a work issue), and my understanding is that the 3G phones do not destroy everything in their vicinity. I was hoping that AT&T actually made a complete 3G network, and that Apple made the battery life workable. I would even take a slightly thicker phone.
I guess we'll find out in the next month or so and see, but this may keep me from buying one.
Ugh..... i wonder what new phones Verizon has coming.

 

[MrCrowbar]

Now how about an upgrade program where you take your old, outdated and totally obsolete iPhone to Apple and they just add the 3G chip in there for a reasonable fee? I mean, people are stuck with their EDGE iPhones for 2 years, right?

 

[MrCrowbar]

It's grammar. With an 'a'.

Orthography Police!

 

[sebastianlewis]

Yes, the business phone line (fixed) carries both voice and dsl so I don't see why it wouldn't work through iPhone over WiFi. Theoretically, I could answer my business phone via the iPhone using Skype which would be a convenience.

Ideally, and maybe I'm asking too much, but I would like to be able to eliminate the landline and dsl altogether for my WAN. I'm under the impression that the 700 Mhz spectrum might be used for this in the near future.

The 700 MHz spectrum, and in particular the C block that Verizon holds and is under open access rules is just a really good piece of spectrum that can reach quite far and get through walls easily, but it's all a matter of how Verizon and AT&T (who also picked up a decent amount of spectrum, though not the C block) uses it.

They're planning to use it for their 4G Long Term Evolution network, and the technology for that looks like it's going to be OFDM for the downlink and SC-FDMA for the uplink, I haven't done any research on those or EPS (Evolved Packet System), E-UTRAN (Evolved UTRAN), or EPC (Evolved Packet Core) yet though as I just found out about it this morning and haven't even confirmed it yet.

Anyway, HSOPA (a preliminary standard to LTE or whatever the final name ends up being) is capable of 100 Mbps down and 50 Mbps up, though it's still limited by the base connection to the tower so actual user speeds (and throughput) will probably end up being slower.

In other words, it should function as both your primary connection (for your laptop and your mobile phone) and as your business line very very well. Verizon is planning their 4G rollout in 2010, AT&T has barely got 3G out the door but their rollout looks to be faster than I thought so maybe they can start their 4G network as well by around 2011 or 2012.

NTT DoCoMo unfortunately looks to be splitting from the LTE though I hoped whatever they were developing would become the LTE standard, their 4G technology is the first in the world to reach a 5 Gbps outdoor transmission.

Sebastian

 

[tomegun]

Did this many people complain about the ability to turn off wi-fi and bluetooth? Obviously, if you aren't using them it drains battery life. I would think it is a good thing to be given the option to turn something off while not in use that will drain the battery.