Second generation Iphone - who else is planning on getting one?

epz_2

Leopard i did say in my post that it would be worth hacking android onto it, that looks like it will be a lot better and a lot more customizable

random456

I'm getting it as soon as it comes out, selling mine while it still retains some value (argh it hurts when you think of how much you spent the first time round !) then wait until Ziphone announce they have unlocked it, which shouldn't be too long hopefully.
I watched that speech. Odd how Jobs suddenly had the 'brainwave' that people didn't buy the last one 'cos it was a right rip off (oops! I meant, too expensive)
Yeah, I've been sucked in but I've loved my mobiles since 1998 and this one is in use permanently, it does almost everything i want it to.
That said, the lack of videocamera and mms imo is disgusting, they are basic phone functions in this day and age. I have them both as mine's jailbroken but for those shelling out how much a month for a contract I think it's a pi** poor do.
I've had to reunlock mine 4 times in the past 4 days due to certain dodgy 3rd party apps, but the process is SO quick and easy, which is another reason I love this phone, it seems impossible to brick and you can mod it to your hearts content-for me, it is THE ultimate phone, the only niggles are the few basic functions it misses for the people on contract.

Leopard

pumpa wrote: »

That said, the lack of videocamera and mms imo is disgusting, they are basic phone functions in this day and age. I have them both as mine's jailbroken but for those shelling out how much a month for a contract I think it's a pi** poor do.

I've had to reunlock mine 4 times in the past 4 days due to certain dodgy 3rd party apps, but the process is SO quick and easy, which is another reason I love this phone, it seems impossible to brick and you can mod it to your hearts content-for me, it is THE ultimate phone, the only niggles are the few basic functions it misses for the people on contract.

I am delighted and happy for you that you love your iPhone. But even those who are not on contract cannot endow it - by Jailbreaking it - with a camera of greater resolution than 2MP, with a swappable battery nor with a memory expansion slot.

These, for me, remain its fundamental shortcomings and they haven't been addressed in this "3G-plus-GPS" upgrade.

What I welcome most, therefore, is the shift in principle by Apple towards the acceptability of PAYG and away from its resolute (at least officially) hard line that the iPhone must be locked into a monthly contract.

Apple employs some of the brightest people on the planet, it has a formidable legal team and it has a financial gearing and war-chest that is the envy of everyone in business. If Apple had really wanted to enforce the monthly-contract-with-one-of-our-commercial-partners-only rule it had the ability and the resources to do so. But the reality of the situation is that Apple was quietly delighted to see them spreading around the whole world, unlocked and with no expensive commitment by Apple to provide support for them: Apple was trying to break, as a complete newcomer, into a strongly established global market on which a handful of established and entrenched manufacturers held a virtual stranglehold.

Even Apple did not have the resources to provide a global support system and take on the established players such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and the other big players at the same time and with a new product. It wanted to take a big bite but not bite off more than it could chew.

So, Apple went the way it did, in a few countries and with established networks, to break into the market and get its foot firmly in the door. To keep these partners happy, it publicly kept up the appearance of doing what it could to support the principle that they would be the sole beneficiaries in their own countries. But in practice it didn't exactly bust a gut to make that happen.

Now that Apple has established itself, with considerable success and a desirable product, as a major player in the global market, it can afford to relax that policy and expand its operations. Economics being what it is, particularly during a credit crunch, the easiest way to do it is to lower the price and launch a big push for greater market share.

It's important to bear in mind, incidentally, that the iPhone is a single product: Apple doesn't (so far) have all the complications of trying to launch, promote, support and sell a whole range of different models. So, it can push its single product with tremendous force and focus.

All of this gets back to the point that this change in official policy is welcome news for the humble customer such as we. Yes, the iPhone could be Jailbroken but doing so voided the warranty on an expensive item and many people were reluctant to do it. Kids and geeks may have been happy to hack a £350 'phone but their granny wasn't enthusiastic about getting into that.

Now that Apple is happy to let the iPhone become a regular item and be sold on a PAYG basis, those who had been scared off by the price and the extended commitment to monthly payments - which represented a potentially dangerous liability to the prudent in a time of redundancies and financial uncertainty - will feel far more disposed to invest in one.

The whole issue is one of philosophy. People will no longer fear that they are faced with the option of either a daunting financial commitment - £1,000 over 18 months is a lot to pay for a mobile 'phone when you can get a simple one as a giveaway from a friend or relative - or else try to outwit, technically, the smartest computer company in the world.

Nobody should underestimate the huge difference that offering the iPhone on PAYG will make to how people will look at it. It will now be perceived as a safe proposition and something that can be purchased without fear or worrying restrictions.

Which, of course, is exactly what Steve Jobs and Apple wanted to achieve!

richardw

Not sure if you can send mms messages and if the camera zooms or not, my N73 does both.

RJharrow

I'll probably buy when it comes out on 11 July, being a Mac user makes it easier for me to get through the device . . . I hope it's easier to disable edge or 3G when there's wifi around, in that way I will be enjoying the device to its maximum...

richardw

Leopard wrote: »

With the greatest respect, I think you have failed to perceive what this thing actually is.

It's an iPod Touch data device that can use mobile 'phone networks to get online where there's no WiFi.

It's (finally, and long overdue) 3G and it now has GPS navigation. It also happens to have a fairly useless 2MP camera and you can, if you really need to, make and receive telephone calls on it.

The primary appeal of it is to Apple Mac owners, as a self-synchronising, hand-held, data device.

To others, with PCs, it is, as has been pointed out by others in this forum, "a toy"; but it will probably impress a few people if you wave it around in a night club.

(I'll probably buy one myself, eventually, but only because I have Apple Macs and can use one to its full potential.)

Thank you for your reply.

I understand what it is, but lacking features of camera phones is poor and restricts its appeal.

BTW some of us are Mac and PC literate.

simpywimpy

$199 for the basic model in the US, anyone know how difficult it would be to get them sent over if they prove to be double the price here?

Helix

simpywimpy wrote: »

$199 for the basic model in the US, anyone know how difficult it would be to get them sent over if they prove to be double the price here?

Well AT&T have confirmed that you will now have to sign up for a contract in store so you won't be able to get one for $199 without a contract.

Contract prices over here have been confirmed to be £99 so no more than the US but it is looking likely you will have to sign up for a contract in store.

The only way of getting to unlock without a contract is going to be Pay as you Go which is probably going to cost £269. There are a few other countries that are going to have it on Pay as you Go but the prices for these are even more than £269.

angellotz

nope, i'm v happy with my viewty

Leopard

richardw wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.

I understand what it is, but lacking features of camera phones is poor and restricts its appeal.

BTW some of us are Mac and PC literate.

Richard,

Forgive me; I didn't mean to be facetious and I apologise if you took offence.

Part of the problem is the way that Supersalesman Steve pushes these things in his keynote speeches; it's easy for the uninitiated to be dazzled. People then go out and buy it, only to discover (expensively) that it isn't what they actually wanted.

I felt it was better to risk ruffling a few feathers on here if doing so will make people think twice before taking the plunge.

Those who do really understand what it is will buy one (or not) anyway.

To be honest, I don't think Jobs ever wanted it to have a camera at all, but got pressured by the Marketing Division into agreeing to include one.

At his keynote 18 months ago, when he introduced the original iPhone, he waxed lyrical and at considerable length about all the other things it could do; then he turned it around in his hand and said quickly, and with a conspicuous lack of enthusiasm, "And on the back it's got a camera." Just that, nothing more. Then he moved on to talk about other things. I was amazed.

I truly believe it's best just to look at it as an iPod Touch on steroids - and to carry a decent (e.g. 5MP) camera phone as well, for making 'phone calls and taking photographs/movies. You can then beam over the latter by Bluetooth to the iPhone - from which they will make their own way back to your Mac at home by synchronisation.



SuperWimpy & Helix,

From what I have been able to establish (and I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong) in the United States you will have to pay $199 for the iPhone (8GB) AND sign up for a 24 month contract with AT&T in order to get one.

Interestingly, whereas in Britain O2 has lowered the minimum iPhone tariff from £35 a month to £30 a month, in America AT&T has apparently raised the tariff for the 3G version from the previous $59 a month (on 2.5G) to $69 a month. It is also alleged that the docking hub will no longer be free (included) but that Apple will charge $50 for it as an accessory! (See * HERE * under the section on the WWDC.)


Angellot,

A Viewty would complement a 3G iPhone to perfection!