The other thread is too broad and covers too many things. We can discuss the iPhone here.

I was looking at some of the videos today on apples website...i really really like the voicemail idea...how you can see who left you a voicemail and play each voicemail at the touch of a button rather than listening to them all in order. Kind of like receiving emails but with voice.

also i love the txt/sms format. Looks exactly like iChat when you send txt messages back and forth to the same person.

1/10/2007 5:17:09 PM

yeah the voicemail innovation is awesome, i also really like automatically switching to widescreen. some people are critical of not having gps, but for me its something i would rarely use so i would rather not have the added bulk

1/10/2007 5:26:48 PM

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

For those (somehow) in the dark



Shipping June 2007 - Cingular Exclusive
$499 - 4GB w/ 2 year contract
$599 - 8GB w/ 2 year contract


[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 5:32 PM. Reason : ,]

1/10/2007 5:31:31 PM

I wonder how the voicemail feature will work when roaming. Cingular had to make some infrastructure changes to allow the iPhone voicemail feature to work, which is also an issue if you want to unlock it and use it with a different GSM provider.

No support for 3G bands (2100Mhz WCDMA). This is, to my knowledge, the first time ever Apple has introduced
hardware for the US-only market. The demand for a real "international" phone, I believe is great. So great that the web is full of online retailers that cater to this market, most of them grey-market or overseas operations.

Handsets are not really sold in the US, they are given away more or less as part of some kind of contract. Apparently, Apple was unable to get away from this mindset and went with the Cingular partnership. Service in Europe and Asia will follow later, one hopes on the true 3G band.

The real disappointment is that this is SUCH a cool phone that would have sold like an iPod all over the world if it had the right bands and had been launched all over the world today. Instead we are left with the usual carrier-locked deal, US-only for now, etc.

Quote :

"yeah the voicemail innovation is awesome"

The only real innovation there is porting this feature to a cell phone. This type of voicemail access has been available as a function of VoIP for some time now.

1/10/2007 5:33:47 PM

wow! with contract? well considering i just bought a really expensive contractless phone thats only 1/100th of the iPhone...i guess i can see why its so expensive lol. I'll still buy one though

can't wait.

i'm guessing it will have a sim card slot right?

I agree with Jon, GPS is nice and all but its no biggie if it doesn't have it. besdies i'm sure it could be an added software download later on. I've got the GPS in the car and thats all i'd ever use it.

^any rumors on it going global? If so i'd just wait and buy it when that happens like i've been doing with all my past phones. granted i pay more but at least i get a unlocked phone.

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 5:37 PM. Reason : fda]

1/10/2007 5:34:24 PM

i dont understand why people dont like the us model for purchasing cell phones. i mean how often do you want to change providers? even without anykind of contract im not going to be changing providers every month, so im fine with paying less for a phone ans signing something. the only downside i can see is that this means that we often dont get the latest and greatest phones, but you can just buy these online so that doesnt even matter.

^gps could be be added software later, but would also require a bluetooth gps receiver.

Quote :

"with contract?"

yes, those prices are with contract. in fact, cingular will not let you purchase it w/o a contract.

Quote :

"The only real innovation there is porting this feature to a cell phone. This type of voicemail access has been available as a function of VoIP for some time now."

well thank you captain know it all

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 5:40 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2007 5:37:58 PM

For example, with EVDO being better than EDGE, I can't switch until my contract's up. And I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, just don't want apple getting undue worship.

another interesting article:

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1575410,00.html

Apparently, the Apple iPhone is the result of a scrapped tablet PC design.

1/10/2007 5:41:08 PM

^how is that going to work if you don't qualify for a contract renewal or upgrade? Or are you saying you just have to be with cingular in order to purchase the phone but at a different price.?

1/10/2007 5:41:16 PM

regarding the contract

Quote :

"We spoke with Cingular and confirmed that Apple's new iPhone will require a two-year cell phone plan and will not be sold without it."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=12482

Quote :

"For example, with EVDO being better than EDGE, I can't switch until my contract's up. "

but that wasnt a surprise, if you wanted EVDO why did you sign a contract with cingular?

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 5:44 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2007 5:43:31 PM

I like everything about this phone except for the fact that it's contracted with cingular! They don't have the 'best' plans (nowadays they all can be shaddy). Verizon should have got the contract.

1/10/2007 5:44:12 PM

im betting that they didnt want to deal with qualcomm

1/10/2007 5:44:49 PM

^^^ I didn't want either until recently... but the point is that if someone was a cingular customer with years left on a contract and wanted to become a NEW EVDO customer, they're SOL, which is simply one example of the negative aspect of being tied to contracts

1/10/2007 5:46:37 PM

well i guess thats true, i shouldnt assume that consumers are smart enough to do a little research before signing a contract.

1/10/2007 5:47:30 PM

And that's why the contract model sucks. You shouldn't have to sign a contract to use a phone, anymore than you should have to for cable TV. If I decide that satellite suits my needs better, then i can change from one day to the next.

and you clearly don't get that people's needs change, which has nothing to do with doing research.

1/10/2007 5:51:34 PM

I wonder how long this item will "last the test of time". You know when items first hit the market, they're a 'hot commodity' (2 way, 3 way pagers) then they dwindle out.

1/10/2007 5:52:25 PM

Also theres the fact that these companies charge ridiculous prices for shit service. And then you're bound to that shit service for 2 years.

1/10/2007 5:52:39 PM

hopefully the other carriers work out deals with apple to modify their infrastructure to support the iphone as cingular had to do. i'm not a fan of phones being exclusive to a certain company. esp since i don't like cingular.

1/10/2007 5:54:55 PM

I gotta tell you, I live in Japan and 3G is pretty fucking awesome. I wouldn't waste my money on this until it has 3G support, that would just be stupid.

1/10/2007 6:23:46 PM

id rather have seperate devices that do their functions very well than one device that does multi functions half assed

until they can make an all in one that stores ALL my music, functions as a good phone, etc.

fuck this stupid ass contraption

1/10/2007 6:27:44 PM

hey, how about the whole iPhone name? didnt a different company release a product with that same name?

1/10/2007 6:28:38 PM

BobbyDigital did it

1/10/2007 6:29:05 PM

^ALL your music? some peoples music collections are smaller than others

and if you do have that much music...and i'm talking a terabyte here. Then who the hell listens to that much music wihtout ever once having access to a computer to be able to resync?

besides...if they made a 'terabyte' phone/mp3 player and it fit your music...what you going to bitch about once your collection grows to 1.000001 terabytes?

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 6:30 PM. Reason : fda]

1/10/2007 6:29:24 PM

uhhh

my shit is bigger than 4GB/8GB

what the fuck are you talking about a turrrrbyte

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 6:32 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2007 6:31:51 PM

cisco has already sued apple because they own the trademark to "iPhone"

http://online.wsj.com/technology?mod=djemalert

1/10/2007 6:42:40 PM

too big
too expensive
too slow
data plans cost $$$
cingular

no fucking thanks. release something smaller on verizon and I might buy it, but until then no fucking way

1/10/2007 6:56:17 PM

verizon sucks and cingular sucks...

but i'll pick cingular over verizon any day of the year simply because I can still use my phone here in Egypt and when i go to Europe.

(fewest dropped calls my ass)

Quote :

"uhhh my shit is bigger than 4GB/8GB what the fuck are you talking about a turrrrbyte"

i had this funny feeling you'd miss the point. So let me put it in a way you;d understand. Lets say your music collection is 40gb. Great! now you buy the 40gb iPod. What happens when you download another song and it longer fits on the 40gb? you going to bitch about it or you going to troll some more?

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 7:15 PM. Reason : asdf]

1/10/2007 7:14:21 PM

With Cingular-3G in the Raleigh area now.. i'm definitely waiting until they put HSDPA on the phone before considering purchasing this. If we didn't have 3G here, i'd at least consider it, but likely would wait.

Maybe they'll put 3G radios on newer versions in the future, once Cingular's 3G network expands more across the country. Right now they may just be keeping it relatively cheap until they know there's a market for the phone.

1/10/2007 7:22:26 PM

Quote :

"cisco has already sued apple because they own the trademark to "iPhone""

wow. i figured apple would get all that straightened out before letting loose on this thing

1/10/2007 7:26:36 PM

they are buying the rights to the trademark "iPhone" from cisco

1/10/2007 7:31:41 PM

^^^ exactly.

I'll bet they support 3G in the next release... I'll even bet it comes out 6 months after this June release of "version 1"

Cingular /does/ have less dropped calls BTW. It's all about the technology they use versus the CDMA carriers. The thing is, if you are trying to make a call and there are no slots available on the towers, you don't get to MAKE the call in the first place!

I love reading threads on the net about cell phone carriers. This talk is 3rd, only behind religion and politics in the way people are so opinionated about "their" carrier over the others. Awesome. Slashdot threads are doing the same fucking thing.

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 7:34 PM. Reason : ^^]

1/10/2007 7:33:23 PM

^^ link?

1/10/2007 7:38:07 PM

^^I've had cingular for a long time. And yes my phone calls do get dropped every day....1 out of 3 calls I make gets dropped...no lie. And its not because of my phone...I've tried several phones

8125

and

W800i

have both experienced poor sound quality and many many dropped calls.

but i'm still going to stick to cingular because of GSM

1/10/2007 7:41:25 PM

Quote :

"they are buying the rights to the trademark "iPhone" from cisco"

wrong

Quote :

""Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," said Mark Chandler, Cisco's general counsel. "There is no doubt that Apple's new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission.""

from WSJ...they were in talks, but never finished the talks

1/10/2007 7:45:50 PM

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/macworld2007/rumor-3g-iphone-coming-227850.php

1/10/2007 8:00:44 PM

The 3G criticism is overblown. They have already stated they will do different network technologies. It's obvious they picked GSM and EDGE (and cingulair) to get coverage, first. There is little doubt that they will do 3G when it hits the right critical mass and/or it's evident that the iPhone won't be a flop.


This is like those out-of-touch gay nerds knocking the original ipod because it wasn't as big as an archos jukebox. It turned out that what they delivered was more than enough for the vast majority of people because usability was more important than features or stats. They kicked everyone else's ass despite the criticism and eventually satiated their critics when component prices came down.

1/10/2007 8:07:55 PM

Really needs GPS. It's one of those things that you don't think you'll use much, until you have it and end up using it all the time.

1/10/2007 8:33:44 PM

NO GPS? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

1/10/2007 8:45:11 PM

Quote :

"i had this funny feeling you'd miss the point. So let me put it in a way you;d understand. Lets say your music collection is 40gb. Great! now you buy the 40gb iPod. What happens when you download another song and it longer fits on the 40gb? you going to bitch about it or you going to troll some more?"

oh you schooled me retail employee

why limit it to 4 and 8 when the tech is there for much much more very shortly?

the feasibility of walking around with your entire music catalog is much more attractive than going back to your computer and re-upping every time you get tired of what you've got. why the fuck do i want to go back to my computer to change music unless its entirely new to the system?

you're more excited than the time you got herpes from skeettreets about this thing

1/10/2007 9:01:50 PM

^^ and ^^^ are you people seriously that lost all the time?

if i need to figure out where to go i use google maps...and since google maps is on the iphone, problem solved.

i really don't understand why ppl freak out over gps. have you lost all sense of direction?

1/10/2007 9:52:17 PM

its all fun and games until GPS leads you down a closed road and your family sits in a car while you freeze to death

1/10/2007 10:28:34 PM

This is all good except Cingular has the worst phone service known to man.

1/10/2007 10:33:20 PM

Quote :

". You shouldn't have to sign a contract to use a phone, anymore than you should have to for cable TV."

except for this phone you dont have to sign a contract. if you want to pay full price for a phone like the rest of the world you are welcome to do it. what is your beef? that some people would rather save money and stay with a provider? that makes you mad?

Quote :

"data plans cost $$$"

an unlimited data plan is $19.99. what the hell do you want? free data? no one is going to give you that.

1/10/2007 10:33:30 PM

^ they've confirmed that no 2 year plan = no iPhone

at least for now. i think everyone would be wise to chill and wait till fall or next spring and we'll see some major upgrades and lower prices. More storage, iTunes connectivity, 3G network, GPS, smaller models. they're all coming next year

1/10/2007 10:38:06 PM

^um... I posted the link

Quote :

"except for this phone"

1/10/2007 10:46:54 PM

oh, my bad. misread it.
here's rumors on the inevitable 3G version
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/macworld2007/rumor-3g-iphone-coming-227850.php

1/10/2007 10:59:32 PM

Quote :

"why limit it to 4 and 8 when the tech is there for much much more very shortly? "

$$$$$$

People are already bitching about the price. The tech will be here shortly and then it can go into a future phone.

Quote :

"the feasibility of walking around with your entire music catalog is much more attractive than going back to your computer and re-upping every time you get tired of what you've got. why the fuck do i want to go back to my computer to change music unless its entirely new to the system? "

Given that the phone is designed to charge from your computer, this hardly seems like a major inconvenience.

Quote :

"oh, my bad. misread it. here's rumors on the inevitable 3G version"

Why rumors, he said as much during the keynote. Sure he didn't emphisise it, but he said they had plans for a 3G phone.

1/10/2007 11:08:47 PM

Quote :

""the feasibility of walking around with your entire music catalog is much more attractive than going back to your computer and re-upping every time you get tired of what you've got."

yeah, you're right. that's why the Nano and Shuffle, at 8, 4, 2 and 1GBs, are such huge flops.

1/10/2007 11:17:21 PM

what golovko doesnt understand is that my perspective on this comes from opinion, which is perfectly valid when evaluating a product i will use personally

nanos may work for some of you, but for a significant number of people, they dont cut it

i have a video for my entire catalogue, but i also own a nano for use at the gym when i only want a small selection of select music, as well as the benefits of flash memory

his observation that SOME people have smaller catalogues of music doesnt really matter much, because some people aren't me.

and when it comes down to it, and my feelings on the phone, thats all that really matters


^it also appears you dont get what im saying

nowhere did i say this phone wont sell

i said

I wouldn't use it

for the reason i mentioned in my first post

there are actually significant diminishing returns for me in using an all-in-one device that diminishes functionality across the board so that it can do more things



[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 11:22 PM. Reason : .]

1/10/2007 11:20:35 PM

Quote :

"the feasibility of walking around with your entire music catalog is much more attractive than going back to your computer and re-upping every time you get tired of what you've got. why the fuck do i want to go back to my computer to change music unless its entirely new to the system? "

what about the shuffle and nano? they seem to do just fine with no more than 4 or 8GB and all they are are music players. if you're bitching about 8GB not being enough for your music collection, what about the phones that have advertised "music players" with less a few MB of storage? I've never been a fan of the "all-in-one" device either, but it is nice to have something that you can always have on you for the times when you don't have your mp3 player, camera, etc.

Quote :

"^it also appears you dont get what im saying"

well i guess since that got posted before i finished mine i don't get it either, but you didn't simply say you wouldn't use it. you said that apple was half-assing it because it wouldn't store ALL your music. 8GB for a music player is hardly half-assing it, especially when players with much less storage have been extreemely successfull.

Quote :

"there are actually significant diminishing returns for me in using an all-in-one device that diminishes functionality across the board so that it can do more things"

I'm sure apple has several people looking at this thread right now and making note of your personal concerns.

How about you send apple a nice letter with a blank check saying exactly what you want. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help you out.

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 11:39 PM. Reason : blah]

1/10/2007 11:27:10 PM

Cool phone.

I'll consider one when the price isn't retarded expensive.

1/11/2007 3:14:25 AM