Is the iPhone Launch doomed? I think it might be so...

[Mule]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

I've written about this before:

- 3G access
- Voicemail reminder beep
- LOUD ringer

Those are the three reasons why I don't have one now (mainly the bottom two). I need a phone that will work like a phone should work. The iPhone's actual phone part is missing features that are commonplace on other phones (like the Razr, which I don't like, but it's loud, and alerts me when I have mail or a voicemail message).

My wife's iPhone - she never picks it up because she can't hear it - very annoying. She loves it, but I want to run it over with my truck when I call her *all the time* and she never answers the phone. This isn't once and a while either, it's about 80-90% of the time. With her old Razr, she heard it all the time.

-Wayne

Sounds like a great toy. Now, if they could come out with a phone.

[Scooter]

How many other phones out there save your voicemails on the phone instead of on the network? IMHO: This is the single greatest feature of the iPhone. It saves me a ton of time and cell phone minutes.

[12own911]

And I was told that it lets you know who called so you only have to listen to messages that you want to listen to... How cool is that...

[Moses]

Originally Posted by 12own911

And I was told that it lets you know who called so you only have to listen to messages that you want to listen to... How cool is that...

It's fantastic. My favorite feature.

[12own911]

I wish my Crackberry had it... iPhone also lets you get to Weight Watches... my crackberry does not allow that either...

[k9handler]

so looking at the iphones and the hacks to use them on other networks seems great...but I have Verizon and damn it they don't use the chip in the phone! So I looked at some discussions on the Apple site and a quick search of the word "Montana" revealed that bone stock iphones get reception here as well as Nebraska, Wyoming and Idaho.

[rattlsnak]

Well, i bought one yesterday,. Absolutely love it so far..

[kstar]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

Well, i bought one yesterday,. Absolutely love it so far..

You still have a few more things to buy:



J/k.

Enjoy your new pocket Mac.

Best,

Kurt

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

Well, i bought one yesterday,. Absolutely love it so far..

I think you will be very happy with your purchase. I am not easy to please when it comes to electronic devices, but I have been very pleased with the iPhone. Have fun with all the different features.

[island911]

Originally Posted by Scooter

How many other phones out there save your voicemails on the phone instead of on the network? IMHO: This is the single greatest feature of the iPhone. It saves me a ton of time and cell phone minutes.

Yeah, I thought that was a really cool feature too ....until this iPhone guy I know kept on calling me back a while after I had left a message. A few minutes into our conversation he would get a beep, and tell me "oh, I just got a message. .. . oh, it's from you."

So it seems that there is a bandwidth issue. Downloading a message while talking seems to really push-out the "new msg" notification.

Wait, no need to say it ... I'm sure that problem will be fixed with just a simple software update.




...like a MSFT does.

[kstar]

Originally Posted by island911

Yeah, I thought that was a really cool feature too ....until this iPhone guy I know kept on calling me back a while after I had left a message. A few minutes into our conversation he would get a beep, and tell me "oh, I just got a message. .. . oh, it's from you."

So it seems that there is a bandwidth issue. Downloading a message while talking seems to really push-out the "new msg" notification.

Wait, no need to say it ... I'm sure that problem will be fixed with just a simple software update.




...like a MSFT does.

I don't think the voice messages are actually stored on the iPhone, FWIW. I think they work like any other cell phone and are just pulled from the provider over the network. Visual voicemail just lays them out so you can pick which one to listen to in a non-serial order.

I have also had delays from when I get some calls to when I get the voice mail from that call . . . just like I have had with every cell phone I have ever owned.

My guess is that this is network/provider issue; it happens on my Sprint phone as well, FWIW.

When are you getting your iPhone?

Best,

Kurt

[red-beard]

And the winner is........

AT&T!

From the WSJ today:

"AT&T posted a 63% rise in net income as it added a record 2.7 million wireless subscribers. Full article coming shortly."

[Chuck Moreland]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

I guess I was wrong on this. I still think that this first version is severely flawed - my wife has one, and EDGE is useless except for checking things in an emergency. The lack of 3rd party apps is a real downer too, although Apple just announced they were going to fix that. When version #2 comes out with 3G data access, it will be phenomenal. Maybe by then, it will have more than 8GB too. I have a 16GB iPod Touch, and even 16GB is a bit small...

-Wayne

Has there been any announcement (or industry speculation) about a new version with more memory or other features?

[Chuck Moreland]

Someone has to know the poop on this.

Maybe everyone is just tired of reading this thread (14 pages on the iphone!)

I'm ready to pull the trigger on the iphone but think 8G is limiting. And I'd love to see GPS and better internet connectivity options.

[nostatic]

why is 8gig limiting? Do you really need that much music/photos/video? I can't store my whole music or photo library, but an upgrade wouldn't do it either (I'm over 100Gig combined). It just depends on what you really want to use the device for.

The new update has a faux gps...it triangulates cell towers to give you an approximate location. It works fairly well. In the middle of a driving trip traffic necessitated an alternative route. I hit the target button and it redid the directions. And the google maps app has always been cool. It is not *real* GPS though, and EDGE is not 3G. I don't do heavy web browsing on my phone so I really haven't felt hampered by the slower network. I was on 3G with my 8525 and will take the better UI/apps/etc over the network speed any day of the week. ymmv.

No word on when the next iteration will come out. My guess would be at about the 12 month mark so maybe June?

[techweenie]

The rumor mill says both issues will be addressed, Chuck. The plans for 3G technology have been announced by AT&T. The FCC needs something like 6 months to approve a new configuration and the application is public, so we'll have lots of warning.

[Wickd89]

Originally Posted by mikester

I wanted a new phone a while back and got a Razr from T-mobile. Hated it - sent it back about a year ago a week into having it (they have a 2 week trial for these things) and kept the old phone which I still have.

Problem is - work has passed me a Razr now. This one is a newer version and it's a little better but I still hate it. The only phone I ever really liked was my Startac. Small, light - worked well.

I don't have much hope for the iphone - seems way over priced and no SDK means no software will be built for it.

Seems lame but apple has always built on their failures well.

Best option is to get a T-Mobile phone that has "home Wifi" capable that also works on your home wireless router (unlimited calls for $10 + free calls at all Starbuck hotspots). This year they are adding around 10-15 new handsets so you should be able to select one you like.
I use the Curve and love it!!!

Razrs have always been pretty poor phones, except the general public took to it and forced operators to go that direction to be competitive. Not a great phone, and everyone knows it. Pretty thin though....;-)

If you want great coverage, just get a Tmobile @home phone and you will be covered everywhere!! you will be able to get ride of your home line and only increment your bill by 10 bucks.

I am in engineering at TMO, and some of their ideas are ground breaking!!

ONly issue was that the marketing team announced the @home products near the time of the iphone launch, and lets be fair: "no one launches a product better than Apple."

[kstar]

FWIW, web browsing is not that bad on Edge here in San Diego county - YMMV.

I have read that what the iPhone lacks in Edge based network speed it makes up in processing/rendering speed inside the iPhone.

Here is an anecdotal test on iPhone/Edge vs. Nokia/UMTS (UMTS is one 3G technology):



Wired bit: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/12/iphone-edge-vs.html

FWIW.

Best,

Kurt

[tonypeoni]

Ok noob question here. Who really cares if 3g is marginally faster ( real world conditions)? The iphone is Wi-Fi which is so much faster than 3g. Just find a hot spot end of debate...

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3036

[red-beard]

If a phone has good 3G, wifi isn't needed. Wifi is usually cheaper when you can find it.

EDGE is not that much slower than the 3G networks, in the real world. A lot of the issue is rendering the phone/screen. And Wifi doesn't really help with that.