iPhone questions...

[HolyMacaroni]

Well after all the chat, I have a few questions remaining:

- Will the iPhone accept third party and /or Apple apps that add functionality, espec things like PDF/Exchange/push Email/VOIP functionality?

- Does the Bluetooth 2.0 implimentation drive stereo wireless headphones (A2DP)?

- Will it be rock solid (like my Powerbook)?

- Will the keyboard be fast enough to enable new texting records to be set on it (like the Treo 650 did) (BTW my Treo keyboard is FAR from ideal)

- What about signal strength and call volumes? (major Treo weknesses)

- Can any functionality (extra memory, 3G etc) be added via the main connector?

- Does EDGE exist yet in the UK (no one seems to know)? Will it kickstart EDGE in the UK?

- Having just replaced the battery on my son's iPod mini for ?10, should I be worried by the 'built in' battery?

- Does it have / can I add a FULLY POWERED IR transmitter?

All expert answers/ very informed guesses gratefully received

 

[Trevante]

Sorry I can't yet answer most of your questions (I'll answer what I can when I get back), but I do have to say that unless they figure out how to unlock them, the initial iPhones (the ones that come out in June) will be locked to CIngular, which you won't be able to use in the UK, unless you don't mind paying ridiculous roaming rates :-\

Will the iPhone accept third party and /or Apple apps that add functionality, espec things like PDF/Exchange/push Email/VOIP functionality?

As far as third party apps, right now i seems that's not possible. Even if you could get VOIP though, it would really only work over wifi, or through a bluetooth dialup connection. EDGE isn't fast enough to support VOIP.

It does have Yahoo Push IMAP built in, but it's Yahoo...

Don't know about PDF or Office support.

Does the Bluetooth 2.0 implimentation drive stereo wireless headphones (A2DP)?

Not sure. I hear many people saying it does, but I can't actually find any evidence it does.

Will it be rock solid (like my Powerbook)?

You better hope so. I doubt it'll be the most durable thing out there, especially since it's so thin, but the chrome backing (I'm assuming that's what it is, that's what they use on the iPods) should help. I'm sure there'll be lots of cases available to protect it.

Will the keyboard be fast enough to enable new texting records to be set on it (like the Treo 650 did) (BTW my Treo keyboard is FAR from ideal)

Personally, I don't think a virtual keyboard will ever match up to a hard keyboard, but the speed will probably depend more on the user's typing skills and adaptation to the iPhone's keyboard.

What about signal strength and call volumes? (major Treo weknesses)

No one can say yet, except Steve Jobs.

Can any functionality (extra memory, 3G etc) be added via the main connector?

I'm sure Apple has made room for this. Don't kno about extra memory or 3G (I highly doubt most people would go for the idea of an external cellular radio or a big memory dongle hanging from the iPhone), but I'm sure other things can be done, such as an FM tuner, video out, etc.

Does EDGE exist yet in the UK (no one seems to know)? Will it kickstart EDGE in the UK?

I'm sure EDGE is already in the UK. It's actually quite old compared to what you should be using. From what I've heard, UMTS and HSDPA are available in the UK, both of which are much faster than EDGE.

Having just replaced the battery on my son's iPod mini for ?10, should I be worried by the 'built in' battery?

I think this will eventually become a problem. Like all rechargable batteries (at least from what I know), the iPhone's battery will eventually start losing its charge and will need replacement. I'm sure you should be able to get at least 1.5 to 2 years of usage (well depending on how well you maintain your battery) before something like this should happen, but in any case, if a battery does need replacing, you'll have to send it to Apple in order to get it replaced. Third parties may do it or you may even find out how to do it yourself, but that will probably void the warranty on it.

Does it have / can I add a FULLY POWERED IR transmitter?

Looking at the specs, it doesn't seem to have IR built in. The only way you might be able to add one (that I can think of) is through the Apple connector on the device, but I highly doubt you'll see any addon IR transmitters.

 

[z3bum]

Apple has already said that the IPhone won't be upgradable with third-party apps. What is really strange is that it has wifi and GPRS/Edge but no UMTS or 3G cell phone networking.

In the UK, don't you all have UMTS? Why use Edge then since it is old technology?
Mike

 

[surur]

Most networks (except maybe Orange) dont have Edge in UK.

Surur

 

[HolyMacaroni]

Cheers, guys (& espec Trevante).

One xplanation about the choice of EDGE is that GSM is THE current world standard and that Evolution EDGE has the potential to get the new phone out to as many people as possible world wide (but if this is the case, why are they taking 11 months to launch it over here!)

When Orange rolled out EDGE this year in the UK, well AFTER its 3G launch, the reason was that it was relatively economic to upgrade its existing GSM exchanges in remote, lesser populated areas using EDGE than to go the (V expensive) full 3G. And, as many 750v users are finding according to the TC forum, 3G use is not without its costs and hardships.

Trouble is, if you are a T650 user in London, you are stuck with GPRS speeds. And I have yet to hear of anyone who has got EDGE speeds on a T650 anywhere in the UK.

As a mac user, I'm not going to jump ship to WM5 / the 3G 750v with the iPhone just round the corner!

Re the keyboard: one has to hope the touch screen will be more responsive than that on the T650! Adding a screen protector won't help, either!