Even newer details

bruckwine

Well-known member
Nov 25, 2006
323
0
0
Visit site
Even newer iPhone details

Just to keep you guys drooling (or cursing) at the mouth! Over at engadget.com

linky: http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/23/new-details-about-the-iphone/

iphone-eat-up-martha.jpg


Remember the winning Engadget commercial, "The Long Arm of Steve Jobs"? We posted it after the break, but finding someone who's spent some serious time with a pre-launch iPhone and getting them to talk is basically a lot like that. Still, we managed to smuggle out some freshly leaked details from a very trusted inside source who's been fooling around with a unit. Here's what they had to say:

* The keyboard was simply described as "disappointing". Keyboarding with two thumbs often registers multiple key presses (two or three at a time) resulting in a lot of mistakes. The best way to type is with a single finger (as shown in most of Apple's demos), but two thumbs is supposedly very difficult. After trying it for a number of days our source gave up using their thumbs.
* The text auto-correction only works well for simple words, but doesn't work for proper names. We can only assume this bit will get better with time as Apple fills out its predictive text dictionary.
* "It won't replace a BlackBerry. It's not good for text input. It's just not a business product."
* The touchscreen was said to, in general, require somewhat hard presses to register input, and needs some getting used to.
* In addition to its dock, the iPhone comes packaged with a polishing cloth (the thing's supposedly a fingerprint magnet, no surprise) and the usual smallish power adapter.
* The Bluetooth headset will debut in the $120 range, and will come with its own dock for charging both the phone and the headset. The headset will feature a miniature magnetic charging interface ? la MagSafe.

* The Bluetooth headset has a hidden LED and is supposedly a very small and elegant device. Sound quality is said to be "typical". There is no clip; like many headsets you're expected to just let it hang out of your ear, as previously shown.
* The browser "worked well" but page load speeds on EDGE were just as slow as expected. It sounds like 3G users will have a tough run with this.
* Users must scroll through the address book (or use the alphabet-drag on the side) -- one cannot bring up the keyboard and type in a name, as many of us are used to.
* Shocker: YouTube over EDGE didn't work well at all, and will basically necessitate use of WiFi.

 

surur

Well-known member
Aug 6, 2005
1,412
0
0
Visit site
The level of iHate is pretty high in that thread. I guess not everyone wants the iPhone after all.

I think this is Achie.

Man as an iPhone fan I finally know what it was like for those Christians that the Roman's persecuted. Why all the hate?

Surur
 

Pearl_Diva

Well-known member
Mar 24, 2005
650
0
0
Visit site
The "it's not a Blackberry" statement: I sort of suspected that one. But not good for text input means a no-go for sure, if true.

Lack of 3G for heavy pages=slow, I suspected that too. Cannot watch video over the cool screen unless wifi is on? Battery drain.

Maybe I'll just get the BT headset since it should work with more than just the iPhone, right?

P.S. I just saw the picture of the BT headset, no thanks if that's the final design.
 

braj

Well-known member
Jun 5, 2007
568
0
0
Visit site
I liked this post (in response to: I find it really interesting that people seem so quick to jump on the "the touchscreen keyboard must suck" bandwagon without having tried or gotten used to it. Doesn't this basically fall into the "it's just a matter of opinion" category?)

No, it isn't just a matter of opinion. People have been using handheld devices with on-screen soft keyboards for over a decade now, and with the exception of Apple's new product, every other company has found that when communication is the primary function, a hardware keyboard functions better. That is why even companies like Palm/Handspring, which were really big supporters of touchscreen devices, eventually went with a hardware keyboard. In fact, except for Apple, you will have a hard time finding any dedicated communication device that doesn't have a hardware keyboard. That isn't because no one else thought of using an on-screen keyboard, it is because they just don't work well for heavy input. That isn't in my opinion, that is objectively provable through many years of experimentation by multiple device manufacturers.

This is one of my primary feelings, I just moved from a TX using myKBD which I guarantee is faster then Apple's onscreen input and the physical keys just are more efficient. I also went from a TX paired with a cell for net access, using that nice big TX screen to using the much smaller Treo and I can say definitely I think swapping the screen for the thumboard was a good trade. The Treo just is more efficient because of the hard thumboard.

I'd recommend anyone wanting to know if the iPhone keyboard will work for them try out Mini-Keyboard for Palm OS. If you find that better than a Treo keyboard then maybe the iPhone will work for you.
 

tirk

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2006
104
0
0
Visit site
The "it's not a Blackberry" statement: I sort of suspected that one. But not good for text input means a no-go for sure, if true.

At last some reality. It looks like quite a decent multimedia device, but a smartphone it aint. :mad:

Lack of 3G for heavy pages=slow, I suspected that too.

Ah. Except for that. Oh, and the limited storage. And the price.

Oh well, you've got to suffer for fashion, apparently. :evil:
 

oalvarez

Well-known member
Apr 25, 2004
825
0
0
Visit site
hardly a surprise that it won't be replacing a blackberry or a real business type device.

great info on the keyboard though, pecking with a finger to help your chances of not hitting a letter twice doesn't sound like a feature either.

still going to try one out
 

Malatesta

Well-known member
Jan 19, 2006
450
0
0
Visit site
Off topic..just realised that AT&T will be charging %175 for cancellation even though the iPhone has no subsidies - that's highway robbery that is!

AT&T iWay robbery
Well, a 2 year contract is still a contract. I guess I always expected ETF's to apply, so not too surprising. I'd also like to think they'd launch some awesome data plan with the iPhone but for some reason I bet it'll be still as costly (all those YouTube streams...or at least attempts ;) )
 

mikec#IM

Well-known member
Dec 4, 2002
890
0
0
Visit site
yep

As I have said, it's a PMP with a phone thrown in. Sexy, slick, and limited.

For $2,600, I'll pass on this version.

I'm going contrarian and saying once all the de-hype leaks, they will not sell as many as expected. (or it will be a popular PMP, and people will still have another phone.
 

braj

Well-known member
Jun 5, 2007
568
0
0
Visit site
I'd love to see one with everything but the phone, and give it more memory. To me this just seems like a nice preview into the next iPod.
 

braj

Well-known member
Jun 5, 2007
568
0
0
Visit site
Its amazing how 5% of sales can generate 60% of stories, isnt it?

Surur

I'm not sure I know what you mean by that. This is as much of an iPod than a iMac, moreso even, and Apple is definitely the leader in that market.

Why do you have so much ill-will towards Apple but like Windows so much? Of the two products and two companies I personally would prefer Apple any day, taking away price or necessities for my work. I hate Windows. I thought it might improve with Vista but it's far worse.
 

Malatesta

Well-known member
Jan 19, 2006
450
0
0
Visit site
Just how bad is Vista?
I haven't tried it myself but a friend who's a "Mac Genius" at an Apple store :)rolleyes:) actually had a lot of positive things to say about it, then again it seems MS copied a lot of the "stylings" of Apple, so I can see that. :p

tirk, that link was sooo worth it, lol
 

braj

Well-known member
Jun 5, 2007
568
0
0
Visit site
Just slloooowwww even on what I would consider a fairly fast machine. I'm going to turn off all the bells and whistles very soon, I hope that helps. I just also don't think the same as Windows developers I guess. For a home machine I think Macs are much easier to deal with, and the integration of all the iApps is really nice. Just I let specs convince me Windows was a better value but I should have known better. The HP hardware is nice though.
 

surur

Well-known member
Aug 6, 2005
1,412
0
0
Visit site
I'm not sure I know what you mean by that. This is as much of an iPod than a iMac, moreso even, and Apple is definitely the leader in that market.

Why do you have so much ill-will towards Apple but like Windows so much? Of the two products and two companies I personally would prefer Apple any day, taking away price or necessities for my work. I hate Windows. I thought it might improve with Vista but it's far worse.

It gets tiring hearing about things not relevant to oneself. I listen to the CNET Buzz out loud podcast daily, and every day its some or other news about Apple. If its not a new colour Ipod, its the new mac book or macbook pro, or parallels or boot camp or leopard etc etc etc, and for the last 9 months its the IPhone news. It gets boring real fast, and the fact is that they represent a very small part of the market. And all the technology sites are the same.

Why dont we hear as much about the latest Vaio's, or Samsung's latest 800x480 finger print reading GPS HSDPA phone? Dont they deserve any attention?

Surur
 

braj

Well-known member
Jun 5, 2007
568
0
0
Visit site
I haven't tried it myself but a friend who's a "Mac Genius" at an Apple store :)rolleyes:) actually had a lot of positive things to say about it, then again it seems MS copied a lot of the "stylings" of Apple, so I can see that. :p

tirk, that link was sooo worth it, lol

It's not 'that bad' but I haven't gotten the performance out of this machine that I would expect it to have. 2GB RAM isn't a lot of RAM for Vista. Once you turn off all the stuff you might as well have stuck with XP anyway.
 

HowardH

Active member
Jun 20, 2007
42
0
0
Visit site
It's blatantly obvious that this device is not meant as a serious competitor for the Windows Mobile/Blackberry suite in the Enterprise world. It's a shame that the fact will be missed by the vast majority of critics out there.

I'm waiting for Top Gear to run a review of the Scaglietti and ***** about the lack of practicality for today's large shopping trips at Costco et. al. Because really, that's what much of the criticism of the iPhone is like. Let's grossly misunderstand the target market of the device, then we'll make silly judgement calls about the devices usability and turn that into a critical review.