Mild update. Since the restore didn't work I just went ahead and took my iPhone into the Apple Store this morning. They just said screwit and gave me a new 3GS (I was surprised they still had the 16gb versions in stock).

The grumpy old man in me misses the days when you could just move your SIM card to a new phone and all your contacts would automagically appear. Having to bring it back to my house to restore from my old phone's backup seems needlessly time consuming. Doesn't much matter though, I'm just glad to have a phone back.

9/20/2010 12:08:34 PM

^switch to gmail contacts?

Ever since I switched over to using gmail push with contacts life has been so much easier. Gmail will sync with your "My contacts" list (not all contacts). So you can keep everything synced between your phone and email account.

I love being able to add a contact via gmail and it automatically syncs to my phone which grabs a photo from facebook then sends it back to gmail via push instantly. Pretty neat.

9/22/2010 1:58:44 PM

I'm sorry, what part of "grumpy old man" was unclear in that?

Y'all whippersnappers with your syncing and your clouds and The Google. In my day we had to put data on chips and discs AND WE LIKED IT!!!!

[Edited on September 22, 2010 at 9:07 PM. Reason : Obligatory Post-Ending ]

9/22/2010 9:05:45 PM

State of where iPhone users are going: was in a meeting the other day with about 10 individuals. One lady was thinking about getting either an android or iphone. There were about 6 iPhone users in the room (including me with an i4). We all told her to buy an Android.

9/23/2010 2:25:11 PM

^Could not put up with an Android. A big portion of people I know who have them want an iPhone and I don't really know anyone who has an iPhone that wants an android. More better apps, better camera, better battery life, overall better experience. I've used a variety of android phones and the default ability to customize doesn't out weight it's sluggishness compared to iOS and i hate apple. heh.

^^It's all about ease of use. I don't want to have to deal with physical cards or consciously transferring contacts. It's much easier when you type in a user name and password and your mail, calendar, and contacts are automatically set up and synced. Hassle-free.

9/23/2010 2:30:40 PM

the only dickhead techynerds I've run into this year that just had to spout off with what phone they have and how cool it is were Android owners. All of the iPhone 4 people were just content and cool with whatever, not having to show it off to every random person.




just sayin........

9/23/2010 3:14:29 PM

Yeah I notice that too. It's typically because they think they're inferior and want to make a point of how cool they think their phone is. Iphone 4 users are just like, meh i don't have to explain it to you.

9/23/2010 3:30:34 PM

I'd wanted to like Android, I really did. I am the guy that ran Linux on the desktops he built through college. It ain't happennin'. I'm pretty happy w/the iPhone 4 now, the GPS accuracy, speed/display +battery life is head and shoulders above other devices I've tried, not to mention how well integrated and smoothly everything works together.

9/23/2010 3:52:42 PM

Same here. I resisted for so long hating on Apple but finally broke down and got an iPhone, now I have the 4 and couldn't be happier. I broke down and bought a MBP too. They make decent laptops but I wasn't concerned with power just battery life and the look and feel. I still hate on Apple to people if I feel it's warranted. My desktop is still my primary computer and runs Windows 7 and Ubuntu.

9/23/2010 4:16:14 PM

Quote :

"Yeah I notice that too. It's typically because they think they're inferior and want to make a point of how cool they think their phone is. Iphone 4 users are just like, meh i don't have to explain it to you."

Uh... with Android phones there's actually something to talk about though. The X has this feature, the Captivate has this other feature, the Evo is this size, etc.

The iPhone is just "the iPhone". It's the same phone in June as it is in October as it is in February. There's something new about it once a year.

9/23/2010 4:22:58 PM

Quote :

"The X has this feature, the Captivate has this other feature, the Evo is this size, etc."

Yeah but no one cares enough to compare android phone specs unless you're in that type of crowd. Sadly I graduated and am not around complete nerds 24/7 anymore. Plus you don't think people are talking about cool apps? Waaaaay more talked about than phone specs.

And truthfully I run into more people wanting to compare the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 3/3gs than I run into people wanting to compare different Android phones. So despite Android having more phones people are still more interested in the iPhone. Plus the camera is so much better and faster. The shutter is instant. I feel impaired whenever I'm trying to use a Droid X or Evo.

9/23/2010 4:30:22 PM

Quote :

"Plus you don't think people are talking about cool apps?"

No, I don't, because people who do this are insufferable.

The same people that gush about apps are the same people you pray never have a phone.

9/23/2010 7:01:37 PM

my cousin just got a samsung epic. It's pretty meh. Nice screen and shit though.

9/23/2010 8:33:12 PM

Quote :

"The iPhone is just "the iPhone". It's the same phone in June as it is in October as it is in February. There's something new about it once a year."

that's not even a correct statement. just like android phones, the iphone sees incremental updates. the main difference is that with the iphone you find out upfront whether you'll get the update or not. honestly one of the things preventing me from getting an android is the uncertainty that new os releases will actually come to the phone i get. my iP3G is somehow still getting updates despite it being old as dirt at this point.

9/23/2010 10:04:29 PM

Quote :

"that's not even a correct statement. just like android phones, the iphone sees incremental updates."

The hardware is refreshed once a year. The iPhone you bought in July is the same as the iPhone your friend buys in December.

The software gets one big refresh a year and then basically patches for over the course of that year with minor functionality additions. That doesn't make them different nor novel to talk about, because if you've got X version of the phone you and everyone else has that same functionality.

Meanwhile, if I had an Android phone and you had one, they could have completely different feature sets, looks, behaviors, etc.

Quote :

"my iP3G is somehow still getting gimped versions of updates despite it being old as dirt at this point."

9/23/2010 11:06:21 PM

That's not entirely true, cue game center for the current update (even though I'd have a hard time caring less as a consumer about gaming on my phone, I know others do). Also, in my opinion the biggest upgrade to come to the software yet, streaming directly from the phone to come during iOS4.2. <3

9/23/2010 11:19:18 PM

So their huge upgrades are the Apple version of OpenFeint annnnnnnnnnnd something the phone can already do via apps?

9/23/2010 11:25:13 PM

^seriously.

It appears that from here on out, each iOS update goes like this:

"Okay fellas, what is the coolest new platform/server on the app store?"

"Got it, lets make that for the next release of iOS and completely destroy our own developer base."

9/24/2010 12:14:16 AM

i don't really see the point of the game center thing. a lot of the games it works with already have friending capabilities. am i missing something?

9/24/2010 7:17:15 AM

i finally upgraded from the 3G and must say the 4 is like a whole new phone to me. I love how much faster everything is.


With multitasking, do you guys close each app after use or just let them all continue to run in the background? I've only had the phone a few days but i've been going into the background and closing each app that i only use once or twice instead of just letting them run. I don't want to bog it down.

9/26/2010 6:10:19 PM

With the 4 you can probably just keep them open as long as you like. I habitually go through and shut down most of them every hour or so but I'm using a 3GS and have noticed a mild slowdown if I leave too many open for too long.

9/26/2010 9:03:52 PM

i have a 3gs and i clean them out about once a day, especially if i've had pocket universe or accuterra open. i've noticed it get sluggish sometimes.

9/26/2010 11:05:03 PM

I used to shot them down, I don't bother anymore, and don't notice a performance difference (iPhone 4).

9/27/2010 1:51:46 AM

There's no reason to "shut down" any program on any version of the iPhone. If you run a new program that needs more memory, iOS is designed to automatically free up the memory that other programs are using. Doing your own memory management doesn't help performance and only ends up driving you crazy (if that's the sort of thing that you let drive you crazy)

9/27/2010 2:26:44 AM

^that may be the intention, but I have DEFINITELY seen improvements after shutting down programs that were running in the background. When I first got the phone, I didn't realize how to close programs completely. After a couple weeks it was really sluggish. I figured out how to close them out and saw a HUGE speed boost.

9/27/2010 2:32:24 AM

wow, i guess is one of those things that i missed the word on due to being deployed. i didn't know that the new iphone OS featured multitasking (heard talk of it before it was released, but hadn't looked at the final product yet).

also didn't know that I could install it on my 3GS.

9/27/2010 5:06:20 AM

is the antenna issue finally resolved for real (not just "here's a free case")?

9/27/2010 5:22:20 AM

Nothing has been changed about the antenna since the iPhone4 release. Not in revised hardware or software.

At the risk of sounding like an Apple apologist, I really think the whole issue was overblown in the first place. I use my iPhone without a case most of the time, and I haven't noticed any more dropped calls or worse signal than with previous versions. Yes, I can make the phone go from 5 bars down to 1 with the gorilla grip, but in real world usage, I just haven't had any actual problems with not being able to use it when I should.

9/27/2010 6:54:04 AM

i also feel like the cases have come along way since the original iphone. i was very impressed with the slim feel of the ones i tried at the store and went with a 2-piece that had felt lining to protect the glass backing. it barely makes a difference and size and still feels smaller than my 3G.

9/27/2010 8:45:09 AM

theDuke866 said:

Quote :

"wow, i guess is one of those things that i missed the word on due to being deployed. i didn't know that the new iphone OS featured multitasking (heard talk of it before it was released, but hadn't looked at the final product yet). also didn't know that I could install it on my 3GS."

So...I don't want to come across like I'm dumping on you for this, okay? And believe me, in my opinion, the average user should never have to worry about shit like this.

That said: How and why did you come to spend a chunk of money on an iPhone without keeping up with its software updates? Or at least without keeping up with what is arguably the greatest software update in its history?

9/27/2010 8:53:26 AM

Quote :

"There's no reason to "shut down" any program on any version of the iPhone. If you run a new program that needs more memory, iOS is designed to automatically free up the memory that other programs are using. Doing your own memory management doesn't help performance and only ends up driving you crazy (if that's the sort of thing that you let drive you crazy)"

I see a vast difference after shutting down programs on my iPhone 4. By the end of the day I'm hovering down below 70 megs of ram left. A variety of programs simply crash when trying to open because there isn't enough available ram. I'm required to close a portion of them to even open some programs. Not to mention overall performance is faster If I have more available ram. It's rather annoying closing things.

There should be a way to turn off all multitasking then selectively turn it back on, on a per program basis. It's stupid that I open a game that takes 150+ megs and have to manually close it or it'll sit there until I use it again. Poorly implemented.

9/27/2010 8:57:30 AM

I guess if you're saying that's your experience, then I can't prove otherwise. But what you're describing goes against everything I've read and everything I've experienced for myself. In theory, it doesn't matter if a program is taking up 150 Megs of RAM if nothing else is going to use it and the OS automatically frees it up if something else requests it. I've seen that happen, so I know that it's not complete BS.

9/27/2010 9:13:03 AM

I partially agree with you and that would work in theory but too many a time I have noticed programs crashing when trying to open because there's just not enough available ram. For example I'll try to start one of the larger games (Epic Citadel, Myst, Civ Rev, etc) or a program that utilizes lots of ram like Accuterra and it'll just crash back to the home screen if there's too many things running. So I have to go back and close things then start it up again. It's like the phone isn't fast enough at freeing up ram and it crashes the program before it frees up ram. Sometimes I'll notice that after the program crashes it has freed up some ram but just not in time to prevent the crash.

I mean it's cool that so many programs have implemented multi-tasking but 75% of the programs I use I don't want to sitting in the ram causing other programs to run slow. I mean my text messaging and email even seems to take a performance hit when the phone is low on ram. I've noticed this on a number of iPhone 4's so it's not just mine.

It's a minor complaint but still noticeable.

9/27/2010 9:27:47 AM

Quote :

"There's no reason to "shut down" any program on any version of the iPhone. If you run a new program that needs more memory, iOS is designed to automatically free up the memory that other programs are using. Doing your own memory management doesn't help performance and only ends up driving you crazy (if that's the sort of thing that you let drive you crazy)"

i definitely see an improvement after closing out background apps also. i've gotten a not-enough-memory error when it was jailbroken (closed a few big apps then it worked fine), and have experienced the crashing when not jailbroken. closing stuff doesn't drive me crazy. i don't do it constantly or anything.

9/27/2010 10:25:34 AM

All I know is that if I don't close Words With Friends after using it, it sucks battery like a robotic whore.

9/27/2010 10:36:24 AM

Quote :

"So...I don't want to come across like I'm dumping on you for this, okay? And believe me, in my opinion, the average user should never have to worry about shit like this. That said: How and why did you come to spend a chunk of money on an iPhone without keeping up with its software updates? Or at least without keeping up with what is arguably the greatest software update in its history?"

I bought my 3gs probably pretty close to 2 years ago...it was not long after it came out. I've been out of the country since early April, though, and not using my phone (other than as a camera and an alarm clock). I'll probably be getting a new phone shortly after I get back to the States, anyway (shortly meaning a few months), so between those 2 considerations, I haven't been as keenly interested in stuff like that lately.

9/27/2010 10:50:31 AM

Quote :

"More better apps, better camera, better battery life, overall better experience. I've used a variety of android phones and the default ability to customize doesn't out weight it's sluggishness compared to iOS and i hate apple."

I think at some point it becomes hard to compare "better battery life." For example, my Droid X battery is a beast even just running standard Froyo. For example yesterday: I streamed Pandora at work for 4 hours, used the GPS to navigate to a park I'd never been to before (~30 minute trip both ways), streamed Pandora for another couple hours at home cleaning the house, made a few calls, sent about 20-30 texts, kept up with my fantasy football team on my phone, playing wordfeud randomly during the day, random internet browsing, downloaded a handful of new apps/games to try etc. The phone was off the charger at 7:30am and wasn't put back on a charger until 11:30pm and I was still rocking 50% battery life. On a regular day for me even with a lot of us, my phone is off a charger about 15 hours and is usually 60% when I am going to bed with Froyo. If it is a day with a lot of meetings etc. where I am not really messing with the phone it has gone back on the charger with 80 or 90% level at night. I suppose maybe in some lab tests the iphone battery outperforms the Droid X, but in real world situations the battery for both phones would be a moot point for 99% of users. I mean, I have a charger at work and a car charger I could use if I need to (though I never need to).

And as far as the camera, I can't tell a difference between pictures on my camera or pictures on any of my friends' iphones. I also have no problems with the shutter speed (in fact it got even faster after Froyo). That's something that I can't really argue over as it's just personal opinion I suppose. Seems like a wash to me though from my comparisons.

And "overall better experience" is a completely subjective statement.

Quote :

"the only dickhead techynerds I've run into this year that just had to spout off with what phone they have and how cool it is were Android owners. All of the iPhone 4 people were just content and cool with whatever, not having to show it off to every random person. "

See, my experience has always been the opposite (not that it affected me at all really in deciding what phone to get and I don't attribute it to the user-base as a whole). I have never had anyone talk about/show off their Android phone around me. I have had multiple people want to compare their phone to my X if they had a Droid, Droid 2, Incredible etc. but no showing off. On the other hand, I've had several people (at least 4-5 since I got my X last month) show their iphone 4s to me and most start their display with "you should have gotten an iphone man!" and proceed to lecture me on why the iphone is better.

I don't care either way; I love my ipod and am not an apple hater by any means. I think what it really boils down to is that most people have a user bias that they can't look past. The Android users see it one way and the Apple users see the opposite.

Both phones are great and, networks aside, everyone is going to find one they like a little bit more than the other.

[Edited on September 27, 2010 at 11:07 AM. Reason : ]

9/27/2010 11:01:15 AM

^I agree with all your points. The battery life is basically a mute point because they've gotten long enough to last through an entire day. I rarely get home with my battery below 30% on a day of heavy use.

Now I can say that after being spoiled with the 960 by 640 display I have trouble looking at any other phone and not seeing blocks. I guess if you haven't used the iPhone 4 then it's not an issue. I am impressed by the camera and it's low light ability compared to other phones. The video is great too. It just comes down to personal preference.

-One of my biggest issues though is I just couldn't live with Verizon. I get close to 7mbit down and 1.5mbit up on AT&T in Charlotte and unlimited tethering. You just can't beat that with Verizon's shitty 1.5mbit down or whatever it is. I know they're rolling out LTE soon which will match AT&T's speeds but it's also CDMA. Being able to buy cheap unlimited data sim cards in Europe and stick them in my iPhone has been a huge help on trips.

If I could have gotten a Droid X on AT&T I might have or at least had both and switched back and forth.

9/27/2010 11:17:30 AM

^yea I can completely understand that, especially the bit about usage in Europe.

9/27/2010 11:24:06 AM

Plus is there still an app size limit on the Android? Or it's able to use storage cards for app storage? I just never see any big name games on android. No Sim City, Myst, Sims, big map apps, etc.

9/27/2010 11:32:11 AM

i need more apps. i feel like i underutilize my phone. especially now that i'm on the 4. But then again, i don't know what app i would need to improve my day to day life that i don't already have.

9/27/2010 11:33:44 AM

he said mute point.

heh.

9/27/2010 11:43:52 AM

MOOT!!! OH CRAP!!!

9/27/2010 11:51:49 AM

So apparently the app that actually runs the UI for the new Apple TV isn't signed to only run on that device. So it looks like you can just copy the app over to an iPad or iPhone4 and use a video out cable and you end up with a makeshift Apple TV.

http://www.macstories.net/news/ios-4-1-for-apple-tv-new-remote-icon-lowtide-app/

9/28/2010 4:07:14 PM

that's interesting

9/28/2010 4:14:49 PM

So both my sister and her husband have iPhones. And my 11 month old nephew takes every opportunity to get his hands on them, but he's at that age where everything has to get thrown on the floor repeatedly.

So when I saw this I knew what I had to get him for his birthday.

9/30/2010 10:38:39 PM

that's the spirit. Get em' started young on cell phones. They'll be hooked by 2! Jeez my parents wouldn't even let me get a gameboy until middle school and I had to beg them for that.

10/1/2010 8:57:18 AM

Has anyone ever replaced an iPhone 3g battery or dock connector? I think the dock connector is shot on my 3g and I am planning on replacing it (windows doesn't even ding when I plug it even, and iPhone resets instantly when connected to usb). I figured I might as well put a new battery in there while I am at it. Planning on buying the 1600mah battery vs the 1250, ebay sells them for about 10 bucks a piece. Any tips or warnings would be appreciated.

10/5/2010 1:38:38 AM

The Google Mobile App just got updated with Google Goggles. I don't see myself using it that much but it seems pretty neat.

10/5/2010 6:27:12 PM

So another rumor from WSJ saying a CDMA version of the iPhone is coming to Verizon.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703735804575536191649347572.html

Coupled with Verizon's announcement of LTE rollout by years end.

I'm just gonna call it.... the next iPhone will be 4G on Verizon. Hey, why not? It'd be a good marketing move!

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 6:44 PM. Reason : .]

10/6/2010 6:15:51 PM