Forums | MacLife
You are not logged in.
#1 2008-07-18 12:21 am
- Bat
- Adult's Play
- Royal Wombat
- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
- Posts: 24317
'Anand Reviews the Apple iPhone 3G'
Round 2; in-depth.
Wait, wait, I know this trick. Steve Jobs gets on stage, announces a new phone, and all of the sudden I’ve got to wait in line for hours to spend money. It’s like World of Warcraft, but less convenient.
[img]
...
It turns out that the cheaper iPhone is nothing more than the iPhone itself, simply subsidized by AT&T. At $499 the iPhone was a must have for any serious smartphone user, at $199 it would seem to be a no-brainer. That is before you take into account increases in the recurring monthly costs that AT&T has snuck into the iPhone 3G launch, but I’ll talk about those later.
There are concerns about size and battery life, users want to know if the new phone is slower, buggier or if the new GPS is actually useful. Then there are the third party applications that launched with the App store, do they enhance the platform or simply make it more amateur? I started this review thinking that it would be short but, much like last year’s iPhone review, the further down the rabbit hole I got, the more I realized there was to talk about.
I’m going to take you through much of the new firmware and the new phone. I’m going to talk about battery life, reception and how the Apple/AT&T relationship has changed.
I’m going to talk a lot, it’s what I do, and the subject this year, just as it was last year around this time, is the iPhone.
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
Offline
#2 2008-07-18 8:13 am
- jeremiah256
- Big Black Kahuna
- From: Honolulu HI, U.S.A.
- Registered: 2001-06-29
- Posts: 776
Re: 'Anand Reviews the Apple iPhone 3G'
Thanks for the link. A very good review. A co-worker brought in his 3G, another co-worker had an original iPhone that had been upgraded to 2.0, my original is still using 1.4. We noticed some of the same items mentioned in the review. The speaker volume was great on the 3G. We went to the same website (image heavy) and there was a difference of about 10 seconds (advantage 3G) at our location. The big difference was when we compared speeds downloading YouTube video. The 3G phone speeds were incredible. The biggest difference (for me) was the GPS. I almost never get a good enough signal inside my office to pin point my location. The 3G did, almost immediately and switching to satellite mode was incredibly fast.
My co-worker with the original phone that's using 2.0 has noticed issues with the phone rebooting and apps sometimes not working so I'll wait to upgrade the software until there is a update. It's also obvious that Apple's next app needs to be a simple one that allows you to toggle WiFi, 3G, Blue Tooth and perhaps Edge on and off.
... Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions - everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses - Juvenal
Offline
#3 2008-07-18 8:52 am
Re: 'Anand Reviews the Apple iPhone 3G'
jeremiah256 wrote:
It's also obvious that Apple's next app needs to be a simple one that allows you to toggle WiFi, 3G, Blue Tooth and perhaps Edge on and off.
QFT.
this is one of those bizarre things that seems so obvious, yet must be nigh impossible for an indy developer to do. if there's one thing my wife complains about regarding her iPhone, its that in order to turn off the bluetooth, she has to dig through the Settings menu until she gets to the on/off switch. she always has it turned on in her car and quite frankly, just forgets about turning it off because it is such a hassle to dig through the menus when she gets to work or gets home from work.
so what is it? has Apple barred developers from building a simple on/off app for things like WiFi/3G/Bluetooth because it would hook too deeply into the iPhone OS? or is it simply that no one's thought of it yet?
suck it, trebek.
Offline
#4 2008-07-18 2:20 pm
- henebry
- Member
- Registered: 2003-04-24
- Posts: 471
Re: 'Anand Reviews the Apple iPhone 3G'
Seems to me that the quality of the pseudo-GPS on the old iPhone improved substantially in my area just recently. Not sure whether this means that Skyhook (the company that does pseudo-GPS for Apple) made a sweep through my neighborhood, collecting more accurate data on the local wireless network signals that the system uses to compliment cell-tower data OR whether the iPhone 2.0 software improved the pseudo-GPS. Either way, I'm a happy user, especially since long lines have kept me from getting a 3G phone.
(Sorry for the long sentence, guys)
"I am flaccid with rage" - Steven Colbert on the iPhone
Offline
