3G

tokyoracer wrote:
I really can't be arsed to waste my money or time with mobiles. Why do people rave on about them? They depriciate like a Lexus, they break all the time and everything is so fiddily.
To me a phone is a phone and that's what I use it for.

Ordinarily, I would agree with you.  I bought my PEBL because it was a damned good phone and not much else.  Now, just two years later, it's acting all squirrely and like it's about to die anyway, so now's a good time for me.

In the last two years, I've also found that I'm pretty much carrying both the phone, and the video iPod around everywhere I go (on the bike, in the truck, at work, etc), and with the new job, I need to be able to e-mail from anywhere, so to me, it just makes sense.

Plus, the damned thing's just so cool that for $200, I might as well.  The only thing I wish is that it had more memory, or at least a slot for a mem card for videos/mp3's.

Wayne

[persia]

Yep, they gave in and put gps in it rather than trying to use mobile towers.

[Piru]

So has the real cost of iPhone come down yet? The two year contract sucks behind. Isn't it something like 6-7x the price of the HW itself?

[JKD]

No, indeed the 3G plan is likely to cost $10 (10x24 = $240) more than the 2G plan...although you're paying for 3G speed...and 3G coverage ain't ubiquitousl in the States either.

Another rumor is that you'll no longer get free SMS bundled in the data plan...$5, $10 or $20 a month more...

Me..I can't wait...selling my 2G iPhone, sold my 5th gen iPod...getting ready for a nice shiny 16GB 3G iPhone...been a happy iPhone user for almost a year now ..in fact I'd be happy to fork over $100 more for 32GB

[Piru]

Uh oh. Ok I'll continue to use my 9 eur 3G broadband then ;-)

[LoadWB]

I can't be arsed to drop the money on a locked-out status gadget.  I have my Sony Ericsson K790a, and it's been worth every penny.  It's a couple of years old, but has a 3.2mp camera with flash, 4GB memory card, EDGE networking, fully unlocked Bluetooth, and it runs Java applications.

Sure, EDGE isn't as fast as 3G, but I don't really need the extra speed, and I'm only paying $20/mo for unlimited service.  That comes to an end once I go 3G, then it's $60/mo :-(

The email client checks my IMAP accounts so I can stay on top of customer emails, and it supports SMTP w/AUTH and TLS/SSL.  I use the RSS reader to monitor National Hurricane Center and NOAA feeds.  It has a pretty good browser, and I augment that with Opera Mini.  With the Bluetooth I can connect to a set of headphones, or the receiver connected to my car stereo for musical enjoyment.  I lament lacking a built-in GPS, but I do have a Bluetooth unit that works very well.  I have a good dozen or so useful Java apps installed as well.

I can use Bluetooth or a USB cable to print pictures and other objects directly to a printer.

I can stash music or video in various formats on the 4GB card or the 70MB internal memory.  The calendar and contacts synchronize with my laptop via Bluetooth, which is invaluable for my business.  This is my personal and professional lifestyle manager.

I'm looking forward to the C902: faster processor, more memory options, 5mp camera, 3G, and a GPS.

I see the attractiveness of the iPhone.  I'll say this for Apple, it's genius with UIs.  But I prefer unlocked feature sets.

[da9000]

Nlandas wrote:
    Is that Troll bait? Because I for one won't own a product by Apple if they paid me. Steve Jobs is far worse than Bill Gates.

Jeez! Unless you pull your head back really hard... you won't see the sunshine any time soon...

Back to some positivity:

Ronald Nicholson (http://www.sothius.com/hypertxt/welcome.html?./additional/a1000signatures.html & http://www.nicholson.com/rhn/photo-cv.html) was spotted at this year's WWDC 2008 (http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/), and he's now an iPhone developer!

Glad to see some sensibility around!

OH, and BTW Nlandas:
You'd better thank Steve Jobs, because as recounted by Ronald Nicholson himself, it was something that Steve said about the Macintosh that caused Ronald to leave Apple (*) and join Jay Miner and create the Amiga 1000! (**)

* Ronald designed/worked on some of the chips of the Apple II, Macintosh, most of the chips in the Amiga, and your Nintento 64. He's an unsung hero and a legend, without whom we'd not have our lovely Amigas!

** This story will be told in detail one day.

[Piru]

I'm only paying $20/mo for unlimited service. That comes to an end once I go 3G, then it's $60/mo

Ouchie. How fast is that 3G? I think 2/1mbit would be something like that around here. [EDIT] Ah, no, it's 46 usd/mo. [/EDIT]

[chiark]

I can't be arsed to drop the money on a locked-out status gadget.

Well, unlock it then...  ziphone.org
I'd love to know what percentage of iPhone 1.0s are jailbroken and unlocked...  I would guess it's over 50% given the people I know with one (although I do move in mostly geek circles!)

You're happy with your phone for your reasons.  I'm happy with the iPhone.  I'll be even happier with the iPhone 2 for the simple addition of GPS :-)

[Piru]

unlock it then

Apparently you're forced to sign the 2 year deal at purchase time, so the unlocking does little good.

With me, I have T-mobile which is sometimes spotty service at best.  I pay $39.99 +tax for 1500 nationwide anytime minutes.  I have no texting, no 'net, no extras.  To add the extras, it would be $25.00/month, bringing the total to $64.99 + tax.

For $59.00 +tax (I have the "iPhone plans" booklet in front of me), I get 900 anytime minutes PLUS rollover and all the bells and whistles from AT&T.  I use, normally, around 500 minutes per month on average, meaning each month, my available minutes would increase by 400 or so with the rollover.

Now, do I "need" Internet and all that on my phone?  Hell no, though I do send text messages (at 15 cents each) quite a bit.  What I want however is to combine the things normally found in my pocket into one, single device whenever possible, and $200 (even $300) is a small price to pay for that as far as gadgets go.

Sadly, I have to point out that this is where Amiga should have gone to begin with...

Wayne wrote:
With me, I have T-mobile which is sometimes spotty service at best.

I should also point out that in my area, AT&T is the only company that gets service inside my building at work, which is also a plus.

Wayne

[Piru]

Um, those prices don't include tax? That 46 for 2/1mbit does, so if you want to compare, adjust accordingly.

I think I've never seen "no service" msg. The worst I've seen has been some delay when sending some new year texts.

Piru wrote:
Um, those prices don't include tax?

Which prices? The phone, or the service plans?

Prices are never shown with tax, because tax varies from place to place.  Also, service plans for phones ALWAYS have additional fees, such as FCC fee, 911 (emergency number) fees, etc.  

On average, due to the federal and state government, I end up paying about $6.00 or so per month extra for assorted taxes and federal fees, meaning my $40 plan is more like $45 to $48 per month depending on how many text messages I use, or if I call information looking for a number ($1.00 charge)

[jj]

3G  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

I have had a 3G phone for about 4 or 5 years now

I would get an Iphone, but apart from the niffty touch interface it is still way behind my Nokia N95 on lots of things

I pay £30 a month for 1000 texts, 300 mins to anyone (mobile or landline) £5 free downloads, 50 MMS, 50 video minutes,and unlimited internet.

can the iphone do video calling or video recording yet ?

I was amazed when i tried logging into my companies remote access on my N95 and found outlook webmail worked on it flawless

Suppose its all a matter of choice, but until Apple catches up with UK phones in new technology ( how old is 3G now) and things like near dvd quality video recording, 5m  camera etc etc etc then I really dont see the point for the price.

Im sure nokia will bring out a fully touchscreen phone soon and wipe the floor with apple

[jj]

One of my fave uk sites puts it brilliantly

Linky