First Reviews of the 3G iPhone!!

On Thu, 10 Jul 2008, David G. Imber posted:
> I get to Japan often, and have purchased phones for others. It
> happens that I've been with Sprint for nine years, which has naturally
> limited my options a good deal.

Rumor states that KDDI au is switching channels to the same ones used
elsewhere in the world, so presumably newer KDDI au phones will roam with
Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, and Telus in North America. The problem is in
getting the subsidy code from KDDI (AFAIK, Verizon is pretty unique in
using a subsidy code of 000000 for all their phones), and then getting
your carrier to activate that ESN (Verizon CSRs will if you ask really,
really, nicely -- I've done it).

>> You have to ask yourself -- what is it that you want besides Japanese
>> capability? If you want a media player, go with iPhone.
> I do not. I dislike MP3. My wife does, and she holds a slight
> edge in the voting, don't ask me how.

I can imagine!

> One feature of the iPhone that does make a very positive
> impression is the Safari mobile browser. I haven't yet seen a RIM or
> Palm device with a useful browser.

Safari on the iPhone/iPod Touch is hyped as being a full browser, but of
course it is not really "full" and is idiosyncratic in its own ways
(albeit not as bad as WAP).

There is a bug in the current 1.1.4 release that requires you to jailbreak
your iToy and change some filesystem ownerships to make Safari work with
some pages that have logins. For example, Hotmail won't work at all
usefully until you do that. I don't know if they fixed it in 2.0 or not.

> I must admit I haven't really
> examined this aspect of the Windows Mobile platform, but I imagine it
> would be strong as well.

It depends. The WM version of IE is a basically a WAP browser. You
need to buy something like Opera Mobile to get a real browser on WM.

The real problem with both WM and iToy is the lack of screen resolution.
The iToy has better resolution than most WM phones, but it pales compared
to the screen on the Nokia N800. It's actually possible to view a page on
the N800/N810 without having to zoom in and out all the time like you do
on the iToy.

Good luck!

-- Mark --

http://panda.com/mrc
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.

Todd Allcock wrote:
> At 09 Jul 2008 15:01:08 -0500 ps56k wrote:
>
>> It will be interesting to see if the draw/demand is there, like with
>> the first one.
>
>
> The new lower pricing will assure that.
>
>> My interest was in the Exchange active sync email (push) support,
>> but I think I read that it does not work when the link is "https"...
>> which is the normal setup.
>
>
> I find it hard to believe it won't handle secure Exchange servers, but
> we'll see, I guess...

yeah - looks ok, as it mentions SSL for the connection,
I should have read the iPhone page....
http://www.apple.com/iphone/enterprise/integration.html

>> Also - with respect to GSM vs CDMA -
>> It looks like Verizon might be heading away from CDMA EVDO data
>> and towards the GSM data world of LTE.
>
> That will allow (future) interoperability with the networks of
> Verizon's foreign masters at Vodaphone. It makes perfect sense that
> carriers would migrate to a uniform voice/data standard eventually,
> via system upades, without having to tear down and replace existing
> infrastructure.
>
> As to the "CDMA vs. GSM" thing, Verizon won't be "switching" from
> CDMA to GSM- LTE will be a 4G data overlay on their current CDMA
> network, much like WCDMA (UMTS, GSM's 3G system) was an overlay on
> the 2G GSM system. Verizon's LTE will let future 4G international
> phone owners with the correct frequency bands roam in the US on
> Verizon's otherwise incompatible network the same way some GSM 3G
> phones with the right bands can roam on the 3G overlay of Japan's
> otherwise incompatible CDMA networks.

Software problems bug Apple's launch of new iPhone
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/apple_...Iu430GjzH6L5A5

iPhone "iPocalypse" as activations fail en masse
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/99178

iPhone 3G gets reviewed and it's just OK
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/hughes/3...d-its-just-ok/

There's more, but you get the idea. Not a great launch party, it
seems.

Max

--
Paul Miner

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:56:24 -0500, M.Gerald <mgred@.invalid> wrote:

>
>iPhone 3G gets reviewed and it's just OK
>http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/hughes/3...d-its-just-ok/
>
>There's more, but you get the idea. Not a great launch party, it
>seems.

Well, yes and no. I work for a Japanese company (though I'm in
NY) and the "party" is a global one. I've already gotten breathless
accounts from some of my colleagues there.

But more to the point, it's interesting to note how personal
attitudes are laying a heavy hand on the reporting. For example, the
"review of reviews" you cite above says this:

"A few things have improved in this model, but all three reviewers
complained about the iPhone's lack of video recording, MMS, AT&T's 3G
coverage, and extra costs associated with AT&T's 3G service contract.
As a matter of fact, their complaints far outweigh any "improvements"
made on this iPhone 3G version. "

The first sentence is TRUE, the second is FALSE, or at least
heavy editorialization. All three reviewers concluded that the phone
is, on the whole, an improved version of the original, which they
liked. They express their caveats in an even-handed way, and none of
them conclude that the complaints "outweigh" the improvements. The
three reviews are more like tempered endorsements, and two are closer
to raves.

This whole affair is fascinating on one hand as a tech story,
and on the other as a look at certain aspects of human nature (spec.
peoples' relationship with their tools, or toys, as some would have
it).

DGI

David G. Imber wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:56:24 -0500, M.Gerald <mgred@.invalid> wrote:
>
<snip>

On a Verizon group no one gives a rip about an iPhone. Extraneous
groups snipped and subject filter set in place again.

--
Civis Romanus Sum

David G. Imber wrote:
>
> But more to the point, it's interesting to note how personal
> attitudes are laying a heavy hand on the reporting. For example, the
> "review of reviews" you cite above says this:
>
> "A few things have improved in this model, but all three reviewers
> complained about the iPhone's lack of video recording, MMS, AT&T's 3G
> coverage, and extra costs associated with AT&T's 3G service contract.
> As a matter of fact, their complaints far outweigh any "improvements"
> made on this iPhone 3G version. "
>
> The first sentence is TRUE, the second is FALSE, or at least
> heavy editorialization. All three reviewers concluded that the phone
> is, on the whole, an improved version of the original, which they
> liked. They express their caveats in an even-handed way, and none of
> them conclude that the complaints "outweigh" the improvements. The
> three reviews are more like tempered endorsements, and two are closer
> to raves.
>
> This whole affair is fascinating on one hand as a tech story,
> and on the other as a look at certain aspects of human nature (spec.
> peoples' relationship with their tools, or toys, as some would have
> it).


So, if I may paraphrase slightly, you perfume pigs for a living and that
is why you choose to characterize these reviews in this manner?

"News" <News@Group.name> wrote in message
news:i7ydnSWacOq4cOrVnZ2dnUVZ_t7inZ2d@speakeasy.ne t...
>
>
> David G. Imber wrote:
>>
>> But more to the point, it's interesting to note how personal
>> attitudes are laying a heavy hand on the reporting. For example, the
>> "review of reviews" you cite above says this:
>>
>> "A few things have improved in this model, but all three reviewers
>> complained about the iPhone's lack of video recording, MMS, AT&T's 3G
>> coverage, and extra costs associated with AT&T's 3G service contract.
>> As a matter of fact, their complaints far outweigh any "improvements"
>> made on this iPhone 3G version. "
>>
>> The first sentence is TRUE, the second is FALSE, or at least
>> heavy editorialization. All three reviewers concluded that the phone
>> is, on the whole, an improved version of the original, which they
>> liked. They express their caveats in an even-handed way, and none of
>> them conclude that the complaints "outweigh" the improvements. The
>> three reviews are more like tempered endorsements, and two are closer
>> to raves.
>>
>> This whole affair is fascinating on one hand as a tech story,
>> and on the other as a look at certain aspects of human nature (spec.
>> peoples' relationship with their tools, or toys, as some would have
>> it).
>
>
> So, if I may paraphrase slightly, you perfume pigs for a living and that
> is why you choose to characterize these reviews in this manner?
>

He wasn't charactering these reviews, he was characterizing the
reviewers. That's the current tactic of choice when the facts are against
you. Note also, "the whole affair" as if it were something other than a
product rollout by a company which claims to have the best products and the
best technical people. Calling it an affair softens the real world aspect
of things and tries to make failure a subjective rather than an quantifiable
term. People who bought a phone and can't activate it are quantifiable
entities, however, so such recasting attempts are pretty lame. This is the
same kind of guy who thinks that if he scratches his nuts while he lies
under oath it's not perjury since sex has entered the equation.

Regards

Jim Higgins <gordian238@hotmail.com> wrote:

> On a Verizon group no one gives a rip about an iPhone. Extraneous
> groups snipped and subject filter set in place again.

oh, but many do. so unless Verizon pulls a rabbit out of it's hat and
can win the Apple contract, you'll see huge waves of verizon users
switching over to the much more advanced iphone device.

we all know, Verizon is screwed unless they can sell an iPhone, it's
just too powerful compared to keeping their users locked into 1990's
devices.

check out the 3G iPhone tour... COOL!

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

David Moyer wrote:
> Jim Higgins <gordian238@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On a Verizon group no one gives a rip about an iPhone. Extraneous
>> groups snipped and subject filter set in place again.
>
> oh, but many do. so unless Verizon pulls a rabbit out of it's hat and
> can win the Apple contract, you'll see huge waves of verizon users
> switching over to the much more advanced iphone device.
>
> we all know, Verizon is screwed unless they can sell an iPhone, it's
> just too powerful compared to keeping their users locked into 1990's
> devices.
>
> check out the 3G iPhone tour... COOL!
>
> http://www.apple.com/iphone/guidedtour/

Nuts!

I have a phone and it works. For what should I spend a whole bunch of
money on an iPhone? It doesn't do a thing that I need or want!

At 11 Jul 2008 20:24:39 -0600 David Moyer wrote:

> > On a Verizon group no one gives a rip about an iPhone. Extraneous
> > groups snipped and subject filter set in place again.
>
> oh, but many do. so unless Verizon pulls a rabbit out of it's hat and
> can win the Apple contract, you'll see huge waves of verizon users
> switching over to the much more advanced iphone device.


Then why didn't it happen last year with iPhone Sr. (as you predicted it
would then?)

> we all know, Verizon is screwed unless they can sell an iPhone, it's
> just too powerful compared to keeping their users locked into 1990's
> devices.


Why? Peddling obsolete, crippled devices for the last decade hasn't hurt
them. Why should now be any different?


You sang this same song last year, Ox, and a year later, Verizon has
matched AT&T activation after activation.

Despite your love affair with your iPhone, a considerable number of
customers choose their carrier first, and hardware second. For some
people, "it's the network..."