Want a 3G iPhone? Rumours now CONFIRMED prices dropping

Marty_J

2.2.1 was released two months ago, so I'm not sure how that qualifies as news, nor why it's only coming to light now that some people are/were experiencing problems with it.

JamesN

Marty J way to kick some !!!! :P just ordered my iphone decided the new one wouldnt offer much more to me. I find it sad how people have to highlight text forwarding and cut and paste. They are both coming in version 3 of the software if im not mistaken? or are already here in the beta.

It's really not that important to me.

Also, you never get the wow factor with a nokia that you get with an apple product. Never heard someone go wow, you have a nokia phone. Whereas i have heard omg you have an iphone, they are so awesome, can i have a go!?

whosforachat

I think we have successfully made the point that the iPhone, whilst appropriate for some, is not necessarily better than any other phone, as it is touted to be.

For me, I need sat nav, a camera with flash, cut and paste, text forwarding and the other things I have mentioned, so the limited functionality of the iPhone would be a problem for me.

lifeisrandom

Marty_J wrote: »

I am not wrong. The iPod Touch does not have GPS. Nor does it have mobile internet. You need to be in range of a wifi network to use the internet. Mobile internet is provided over a mobile phone network.

The Ipod touch is nothing more than the crippled iPhone it run the same OS and as the same iPhone, Apple as just cripple these feature and only release the use of "the phone and SMS app" to those who are prepare to pay a premium to be able to use their ipod touch as a phone.

You will find out that a number of app require Wi-Fi to run Edge and 3G still don't cut it for the amount of data, especially if you need to update more that one app at the same time, itunes store will pop up and prompt you that you need a Wi-Fi access to be able to do so. Because at the end of the day Wi-Fi internet is far more reliable and a lot faster than Edge or 3G and it can be done for free.

Don't get me wrong I do think that the iPhone is a great piece of kit, but the running cost over the contract period is far too high, when the same can be done for a fraction of the price with a SIM only contract from the network of your choice and the iPod touch.

We can agree to disagree on that one, but ultimately this is a money saving forum so you should help each other finding way to save money rather that justify spending over the odd for a piece of kit that is well marketed by Apple

Marty_J

whosforachat wrote: »

I think we have successfully made the point that the iPhone, whilst appropriate for some, is not necessarily better than any other phone, as it is touted to be.

And neither is it a silly gimmicky triumph of marketing over quality. Even Paul Thurrott of the SuperSite for Windows says the "iPhone is absolutely terrific technology and the best smart phone solution out there, by far. There is nothing that touches it....the iPhone's expandability, App Store content, and iPod functionality really put it over the top. Used to its potential, the iPhone is absolutely amazing."

And he's certainly not a brainwashed Apple-geek by any stretch of the imagination.

For me, I need sat nav, a camera with flash, cut and paste, text forwarding and the other things I have mentioned, so the limited functionality of the iPhone would be a problem for me.

Most, if not all, of those features will be in the next iPhone model or software revision. Yes, it currently has some curious feature omissions, but Apple is working to change that.

Marty_J

lifeisrandom wrote: »

The Ipod touch is nothing more than the crippled iPhone it run the same OS and as the same iPhone, Apple as just cripple these feature and only release the use of "the phone and SMS app" to those who are prepare to pay a premium to be able to use their ipod touch as a phone.

You will find out that a number of app require Wi-Fi to run Edge and 3G still don't cut it for the amount of data, especially if you need to update more that one app at the same time, itunes store will pop up and prompt you that you need a Wi-Fi access to be able to do so. Because at the end of the day Wi-Fi internet is far more reliable and a lot faster than Edge or 3G and it can be done for free.

Don't get me wrong I do think that the iPhone is a great piece of kit, but the running cost over the contract period is far too high, when the same can be done for a fraction of the price with a SIM only contract from the network of your choice and the iPod touch.

We can agree to disagree on that one, but ultimately this is a money saving forum so you should help each other finding way to save money rather that justify spending over the odd for a piece of kit that is well marketed by Apple

Well yes, but every mobile phone in the world costs more to run than an iPod Touch. That's hardly something unique to the iPhone.

I have an iPod Touch and it's fantastic, but if I wanted a mobile phone, it would be a rather poor choice, for obvious reasons.

asininity

I love these "discussions". Seems to have desended into a Nokia vs Apple thread.

It always seems to me that apple fans have to defend the price and capability of products while people who dont use apples product have to defend against aesthetics and some good software.

Fact is apple came to the market late and that was an advantage, they looked from the outside in and saw a hole which they filed, and with much hype and good marketing changed the market (smartphone market). Lets not forget that the iphone is just one phone covering a small part of the mobile market, other phone manufacturers cover a wider range of the market and people.

It could be fair to say before the iphone the smartphone market was really for business, now everyone wants a smartphone. Thats why the iphone takes a beating with certain smartphone functionality, I dont know many business types using an iphone. The smartphone market is moving faster because of apple.

I've mentioned before that it only seems other manufacterers are playing catch-up, I personally dont think this is the case. Theres new players to worry about (google) old players that are almost gone (palm) and strong old players still around, ie, nokia who arent standing still on either the harware or software front.

Nokia and Apple nearly have the same "old school" business model, ie, making the hardware and software. Nowadays you're either a software or hardware supplier. Software is a massive factor now and this is roughly where its stands:



I'm sure thrid party apps is where its going as well watch out for those mere (still probably more than anyone needs) 10000 apps to grow substantially when nokia opensource symbian, google andriod to grow as fast (when they get a decent handset, incidentially I'm sure one of those will be a gestures thing), and the iphone gaining more. Now this is just a wild guess but I think M$ might throw a form of windows 7 at the mobile market.

I like my nokia n85, I just couldn't get on with the iphone no matter what the guy in the apple store showed me, I think its too big and I'm not taken by the touch screen (I like a key pad), and obivously everything I needed to do could be done cheaper on ther N85, plus the added bonus of a 5mp camera with flash which is good enough not to need a separate camera. Web browsing is a sinch using either the inbuilt browser or opera mini.

All this is personal preference as is most of this thread we could argue all day and get nowhere.

Marty_J

Great post Asininity. On the point of business customers using iPhones, my fiancee works for a large networking company in the US, and they almost had a riot recently because they decided to stop using AT&T, which meant that everyone had to give up their iPhone. Apple products are used more frequently in business environments in the US than the UK anyway, but I just thought I'd mention it. Apple have a rather impressive chunk of the smart-phone market, especially considering the iPhone has only been around for 2 years.

As for Windows Mobile, Microsoft are said to be releasing Windows Mobile 7 in 2010 (thought it's already been pushed back a year). Whether Microsoft's future mobile OS will offer anything over what you can get from Apple or Nokia today is debatable. And of course, unlike Apple and (I assume) Nokia, if you want to install Microsoft's update, you'll need to get a new phone. You generally can't upgrade the OS on the one you have. Microsoft don't seem to have realised that a smart-phone is just a software platform that can make phone calls, and if you can't update it, it'll get old fast. They have always arrogantly assumed that they can treat their customers whatever way they want and they'll keep coming back for more, but if they don't get their act together, they might be in for a nasty shock.

asininity

Marty_J wrote: »

Great post Asininity. On the point of business customers using iPhones, my fiancee works for a large networking company in the US, and they almost had a riot recently because they decided to stop using AT&T, which meant that everyone had to give up their iPhone. Apple products are used more frequently in business environments in the US than the UK anyway, but I just thought I'd mention it. Apple have a rather impressive chunk of the smart-phone market, especially considering the iPhone has only been around for 2 years.

They do, just goes to show what good marketing and the hype that surrounds apple can do (and I dont mean that in a bad way before anyone jumps on it), not to mention the power that allowing support for third parties has done.

As for Windows Mobile, Microsoft are said to be releasing Windows Mobile 7 in 2010 (thought it's already been pushed back a year). Whether Microsoft's future mobile OS will offer anything over what you can get from Apple or Nokia today is debatable. And of course, unlike Apple and (I assume) Nokia, if you want to install Microsoft's update, you'll need to get a new phone. You generally can't upgrade the OS on the one you have. Microsoft don't seem to have realised that a smart-phone is just a software platform that can make phone calls, and if you can't update it, it'll get old fast. They have always arrogantly assumed that they can treat their customers whatever way they want and they'll keep coming back for more, but if they don't get their act together, they might be in for a nasty shick.

I only mention it because windows 7 is meant to be very scalable unlike certain others of their OSs and because of THIS video on the BBC news site about windows 7s touch capabilities, from what is shown somewhat like the iphones.

[Deleted User]

Marty_J wrote: »

As for Windows Mobile, Microsoft are said to be releasing Windows Mobile 7 in 2010 (thought it's already been pushed back a year). Whether Microsoft's future mobile OS will offer anything over what you can get from Apple or Nokia today is debatable. And of course, unlike Apple and (I assume) Nokia, if you want to install Microsoft's update, you'll need to get a new phone. You generally can't upgrade the OS on the one you have. Microsoft don't seem to have realised that a smart-phone is just a software platform that can make phone calls, and if you can't update it, it'll get old fast. They have always arrogantly assumed that they can treat their customers whatever way they want and they'll keep coming back for more, but if they don't get their act together, they might be in for a nasty shock.

You generally can't upgrade the OS on the one you have

Huh?

You don't need to get a new phone in order to update Windows Mobile. Manufacturers of the devices such as HTC provide updates and so do the network carriers in time. Going back a few years when I used to be with O2, they provided an update from PPC 2003 to Windows Mobile 5, and so forth in coming revisions.

Whether the manufacturers or carriers decide to release the update is another thing. Hardware wise, there are hundreds if not thousands of combinations of Windows Mobile devices and not all of those are adequately specced for an upgrade not to mention networks locking their customers into bespoke branded editions. Networks aren't exactly speedy at reacting to something like that.

It's in Microsoft's best interests to have their latest offering of Windows Mobile available, but unfortunately for the end user, there's a lot of obstacles preventing them getting it legally as part of their agreement with their chosen network.

Personally, I don't like phones that don't have physical keypads which I'm hoping HTC for the foreseeable future remain making devices with both input methods.