I’ll get one when AT&T gets I’ll get one when AT&T gets realistic about its data+voice rates. I don’t talk on the phone that much and I refuse to pay $70/month to use that shiny toy.
Also, if I had to choose a smartphone now, I’d get T-Mobile G1, which has all the important features of iPhone 3GS (from Google Maps with street view and realtime traffic, to 3 MP camera, to GPS with digital focus) and can be had for $98 with a $55/month data+voice plan.
mwtosd
June 19, 2009 @
7:45 PM
I’d love to get one, but it I’d love to get one, but it is too bad it is on AT&T.
ibjames
June 23, 2009 @
4:53 PM
mwtosd wrote:I’d love to get [quote=mwtosd]I’d love to get one, but it is too bad it is on AT&T.[/quote]
same here
Coronita
June 19, 2009 @
10:16 PM
Eugene wrote:I’ll get one [quote=Eugene]I’ll get one when AT&T gets realistic about its data+voice rates. I don’t talk on the phone that much and I refuse to pay $70/month to use that shiny toy.
Also, if I had to choose a smartphone now, I’d get T-Mobile G1, which has all the important features of iPhone 3GS (from Google Maps with street view and realtime traffic, to 3 MP camera, to GPS with digital focus) and can be had for $98 with a $55/month data+voice plan.
[/quote]
You know, I’m glad to hear that. Because my small investment in the Android platform is/will be paying off 🙂
Doofrat
June 19, 2009 @
11:31 PM
Verizon’s great, and I hate Verizon’s great, and I hate AT&T and former SBC with a passion that is unmatched…. but after seeing my co-worker’s iPhones, I’m switching the day my Verizon contract runs out.
Coronita
June 19, 2009 @
9:03 PM
Allan,
You’ll appreciate this Allan,
You’ll appreciate this blast from the past celebrity…
Heh heh
Steve Jobs is famous for possessing a “reality distortion field” that bends people to his will. But today he’s got nothing on his Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who talked shoppers into letting him jump an iPhone line.
To finagle a spot in line on the day of the new iPhone 3G S’s release would be impressive enough; to do so in the heart of Silicon Valley, where new gadgets are especially coveted, implies Wozniak has grown his skills of persuasion to Jobsian heights. From a shopper in the MacRumors forums:
I arrived at 3:50am and Mr. Woz was chopping it up with the manager at Apple. Then around 4:30am he politely asked everyone in line if he could be the 1st to get his iPhone at the store and everyone said yes.
Of course, while Wozniak was talking people out of the precious spots in line, Jobs was collecting their money. The Apple CEO always manages to come out on top.
3:50am…..Yup, no recession in geekdom here….
I would have at least requested Woz to stick around and autograph my 3gs.
temeculaguy
June 19, 2009 @
9:47 PM
I can’t live without my I can’t live without my iphone 3g, not sure when i’ll upgrade but eventually I will just for the voice controlled ipod music so i can jog and change songs without looking at it or fiddling with it. It is amazing how once you have one, you can’t go back to your blackberry. Eugene, I think you have the costs wrong, each iphone only adds $30 to whatever plan you are already on, that’s the unlimited data/internet fee. I already had att, with a blackberry so it cost me the same, but if it cost more, I’d do it and just save money elsewhere, if I had to choose, my home phone or cable t.v. or hbo or good wine or eating out would all go before my iphone, it might be a toss up with health insurance vs the iphone. I resisted for a year, but once you are infected, once you get into the apps, it’s over, you can’t go back, it’s like going back to dial up. I have it rigged into my car, pop it in and it replaces my old sirius radio with pandora radio for free, monitors traffic, replaces a garmin, it will broadcast you tube over your big screen tv, is a portable dvr, the voicemail features are more like e-mails, no more listening through and pressing some number to skip or delete, I can go on and on, it isn’t a little better, it is on an entirely different level because it is so simple to use, you don;t even need the manual.
I still think that apple should try to buy GM or chrysler and make an icar
Eugene
June 19, 2009 @
10:13 PM
Quote:. Eugene, I think you [quote]. Eugene, I think you have the costs wrong, each iphone only adds $30 to whatever plan you are already on, that’s the unlimited data/internet fee.[/quote]
AT&T voice plans are expensive to begin with. I have prepaid T-Mobile, 10c/minute. If I talk two hours a month, that’s $12/month. The cheapest AT&T voice plan is $40/month. They have pay-as-you-go plans too, but those are a lot more expensive than T-Mobile. Besides, their prepaid plans are not compatible with promotional iPhone pricing. If I want a pay-as-you-go plan with iPhone, I’ll have to pay full price, which is $600 for a 16 GB model.
afx114
June 19, 2009 @
10:16 PM
I will be purchasing a 3Gs as I will be purchasing a 3Gs as soon as my subsidy qualifies me for the $299 price for the 32GB as opposed to $599.
Allan from Fallbrook
June 19, 2009 @
9:50 PM
FLU: The Woz! Yeah, man, FLU: The Woz! Yeah, man, that is a blast from the past. I remember him from my days as a lowly peon at Apple, scrubbing PC boards for the II series (circa 1982).
Back when housing was affordable in Cupertino and Mountain View, the 49ers were just getting good, dinosaurs roamed the earth (mainframe makers like Amdahl) and Cisco, SUN, Google and Yahoo weren’t even little spermatozoa yet.
Ah, the good old days.
Coronita
June 19, 2009 @
10:00 PM
Allan from Fallbrook [quote=Allan from Fallbrook]FLU: The Woz! Yeah, man, that is a blast from the past. I remember him from my days as a lowly peon at Apple, scrubbing PC boards for the II series (circa 1982).
Back when housing was affordable in Cupertino and Mountain View, the 49ers were just getting good, dinosaurs roamed the earth (mainframe makers like Amdahl) and Cisco, SUN, Google and Yahoo weren’t even little spermatozoa yet.
Funny you should mention
Funny you should mention Amdahl…One of my companies I use to run a development group leased out a space from the old Amdahl building. Some network dude found a lot of Amdahl logos behind the some of the walls. I believe though this was post Fujitsu acquired them. Amdahl unfortunately made some bad business decisions. They got picked clean in their demise…By Fujitsu from hardware ,and a few then startup EAI vendors from software.
Oracle buying Sun is the worst thing that can happen for Sun and for the software community.
MicroGravity
June 20, 2009 @
9:52 PM
The Verizon network is so The Verizon network is so much better than AT&T, but my iphone is sweet–even more so with the latest software upgrade.
I guess it’s a little like driving a really nice convertible on a crappy road (network) or driving your Civic on a really nice road.
I’ll take the convertible.
briansd1
June 22, 2009 @
1:42 PM
MicroGravity wrote:The [quote=MicroGravity]The Verizon network is so much better than AT&T, but my iphone is sweet–even more so with the latest software upgrade.
I guess it’s a little like driving a really nice convertible on a crappy road (network) or driving your Civic on a really nice road.
I’ll take the convertible.
[/quote]
I travel on both coasts and Texas; and I never have problems with AT&T. Granted, I hardly go to rural America.
I get dropped calls on top of the hill on the 52 into Santee and sometimes up the I5 past Camp Pendleton to Orange County.
At my friend’s house in Tustin near the mountains, there is no AT&T coverage, only faint Verizon coverage.
At my other friend’s in Alpine, on top of a hill, near the back country, there is only AT&T coverage. (I think that T-mobile has roaming agreement with AT&T when they bought part of old Cingular network).
Where in San Diego did you have problems with AT&T?
an
June 22, 2009 @
1:54 PM
MicroGravity wrote:The [quote=MicroGravity]The Verizon network is so much better than AT&T, but my iphone is sweet–even more so with the latest software upgrade.
I guess it’s a little like driving a really nice convertible on a crappy road (network) or driving your Civic on a really nice road.
I’ll take the convertible.
[/quote]
It’s more like driving a 911 Turbo on the Autobahn vs an Enzo in LA. I’d take a 911 Turbo on the Autobahn.
Sound quality w/ CDMA has always been and will always be better than GSM. AT&T is horrible in western Mira Mesa for the longest time and and is still bad. Verizon on the other hand is great here. I have the original iPhone because work paid for it. It has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s not the Jesus phone by any mean.
briansd1
June 22, 2009 @
2:21 PM
AN wrote:
Sound quality w/ [quote=AN]
Sound quality w/ CDMA has always been and will always be better than GSM. [/quote]
That, I disagree with. Verizon sound tinny to me.
3G, however, is CDMA and not TDMA.
an
June 22, 2009 @
3:02 PM
briansd1 wrote:
That, I [quote=briansd1]
That, I disagree with. Verizon sound tinny to me.
3G, however, is CDMA and not TDMA.
[/quote]
Sound quality/clarity is not the same as volume. With the same volume, the voice clarity on CDMA is better than GSM. 3G is used specifically for data, not voice. AT&T 3G is using WCDMA and Verizon’s 3G is using CDMA2000. They’re similar but not the same. They’re also used for transferring data as I said earlier. TDMA was AT&T’s 1G network. GSM is their 2G and 2.5G network.
[quote=briansd1]
If not the iPhone, which one is the best PDA/phone in your view?
[/quote]
Personally, if I have to spend my own money, then it’ll be what ever is free w/ 2 year contract. But if I must have the latest and greatest right at this moment, I’d pick the phone that best meet my needs on Verizon network. But if you’re specifically talking only about smart phone w/out caring about carriers, then it’s a toss up between 3Gs and Palm Pre. Over 3G network, Pre is faster, over WiFi, 3Gs is faster for surfing the net. So, it depends on Sprint vs ATT signal in your area.
mwtosd
June 22, 2009 @
3:47 PM
I am really hoping that Apple I am really hoping that Apple will allow the iPhone on other networks. I do think they were not very happy with AT&T not being ready for MMS and tethering. In their announcement at the WWDC they mentioned MMS would be coming later this summer/later this year. There was no mention of tethering with AT&T but available immediately in 20 other countries.
Apple also issued a $30 iTunes gift card to users that had problems updating to the new iPhone OS 3.0 because of overwhelming AT&T’s network. I hope these issues will push Apple get rid of the exclusivity with AT&T.
an
June 22, 2009 @
3:54 PM
mwtosd wrote:I am really [quote=mwtosd]I am really hoping that Apple will allow the iPhone on other networks. I do think they were not very happy with AT&T not being ready for MMS and tethering. In their announcement at the WWDC they mentioned MMS would be coming later this summer/later this year. There was no mention of tethering with AT&T but available immediately in 20 other countries.
Apple also issued a $30 iTunes gift card to users that had problems updating to the new iPhone OS 3.0 because of overwhelming AT&T’s network. I hope these issues will push Apple get rid of the exclusivity with AT&T.[/quote]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.
Coronita
June 22, 2009 @
4:18 PM
(deleted by user) (deleted by user)
an
June 22, 2009 @
4:49 PM
flu wrote:
Trust me. Apple [quote=flu]
Trust me. Apple taking control of the app distribution was a good thing. If you ever tried to build an app on a mobile phone you would know first hand about the bureaucracy that some of these mobile carriers throw at you to get certified…It’s probably one of the main reasons why you won’t find too many individual app contributions on any other network except maybe T-mobile with the G-phone(s).
[/quote]
FLU, you won’t get any disagreement from me about this. I was just stating the fact that VZW rejected Apple’s offer and unless they changed their tune, they’ll probably reject again if Apple continue to want to have all of those control. That’s just how VZW work. I’ve been working in the telecom space for many years, so I know what a pain it is for the whole carrier acceptance phase. You don’t have to preach to the choir.
afx114
June 23, 2009 @
12:10 AM
Charlie Rose just asked the Charlie Rose just asked the Verizon CEO about the iPhone coming to Verizon and he said, “it was Apple’s decision” because they decided to scale quickly and globally on GSM. The iPhone has “stimulated the category” and put smart phones on the map. Longer term (aka 4G), Apple will have to make another decision on which networks Apple wants to build their device to work with. He also says that even though manufacturers might start on an exclusive network, they almost all eventually expand to the others.
mwtosd
June 23, 2009 @
11:34 AM
AN wrote:
Apple came to VZW [quote=AN]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.[/quote]
I do think it was excellent idea for Apple to have such control over the software and what programs it runs. The cell phone companies in the past always controlled the software and it was always difficult to use and not practical. With Apple having such control over the software and the phone – look at what it did, it has revolutionized the smart phone market. (Same for building computers and writing the MacOS X – which run to seamlessly and do not have all the compatibility problems from PCs and Windows).
From what I have read, it was true about Verizon but also AT&T was willing to allow Apple a share in the revenue from the monthly cell phone bill and thus agreed to exclusivity for the iPhone.
I do feel in 2010 or 2011 the iPhone will run on 4G and will expand beyond AT&T.
Coronita
June 23, 2009 @
12:07 PM
mwtosd wrote:AN wrote:
Apple [quote=mwtosd][quote=AN]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.[/quote]
I do think it was excellent idea for Apple to have such control over the software and what programs it runs. The cell phone companies in the past always controlled the software and it was always difficult to use and not practical. With Apple having such control over the software and the phone – look at what it did, it has revolutionized the smart phone market. (Same for building computers and writing the MacOS X – which run to seamlessly and do not have all the compatibility problems from PCs and Windows).
From what I have read, it was true about Verizon but also AT&T was willing to allow Apple a share in the revenue from the monthly cell phone bill and thus agreed to exclusivity for the iPhone.
I do feel in 2010 or 2011 the iPhone will run on 4G and will expand beyond AT&T.[/quote]
Still trying to figure out why oh why apple chose Objective-C out of all things for their platform.
Friend: “FLU do you know any foreign languages?”
FLU: “Sure: Java, C++, C, Perl, Tcl/TK, Ruby, PL/SQL, and now Objective C.”
My head is spinning. Damn tech companies. They keep finding more creative ways to keep people employed.
afx114
June 23, 2009 @
12:11 PM
With most computer languages With most computer languages if you know one you know them all. It’s just the vocabulary that changes.
an
June 23, 2009 @
12:47 PM
afx114 wrote:With most [quote=afx114]With most computer languages if you know one you know them all. It’s just the vocabulary that changes.[/quote]
Yes and no. It really depends on what language you know and what you’re trying to learn. It’s easier for a C developer to switch over to Java than a Java developer to switch over to C. It’s even worse if you have to learn assembly. But once you’re talking strictly about object oriented, then I agree with you. Dealing with pointers in C would make most Java developers’ head spin.
Regarding 4G, most carriers are going LTE, so VZW, ATT and T-Mobile will all be using the same tech. The only one that’s not going w/ LTE is Sprint. They’re going w/ WiMax.
Of course the CEO of VZW would say it was Apple’s decision to go w/ ATT. They won’t admit publicly they passed up on a hot product.
regarding Windows/PC vs Mac/OSX, I’ll take a customized easily upgradable PC over a Mac any day.
ibjames
June 23, 2009 @
5:09 PM
AN wrote:mwtosd wrote:I am [quote=AN][quote=mwtosd]I am really hoping that Apple will allow the iPhone on other networks. I do think they were not very happy with AT&T not being ready for MMS and tethering. In their announcement at the WWDC they mentioned MMS would be coming later this summer/later this year. There was no mention of tethering with AT&T but available immediately in 20 other countries.
Apple also issued a $30 iTunes gift card to users that had problems updating to the new iPhone OS 3.0 because of overwhelming AT&T’s network. I hope these issues will push Apple get rid of the exclusivity with AT&T.[/quote]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.[/quote]
verizon would be an idiot if they still turned them down, I’m hoping that apple some day has a QCOM chip in it 😉
an
June 23, 2009 @
5:19 PM
ibjames wrote:
verizon would [quote=ibjames]
verizon would be an idiot if they still turned them down, I’m hoping that apple some day has a QCOM chip in it 😉
[/quote]
Totally agree, but VZW did many stupid things before, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they’ll turn APPL down again if the term stays the same. Example of them making stupid decision would be, even when everyone is bitching about the VZW UI, they still going full steam w/ it. It was and still is one of the worse UI design ever. They also give OEM very little room for interpretation of their UI.
briansd1
July 1, 2009 @
11:40 PM
For those looking for “free” For those looking for “free” applications here is the link.
You will need appsync (from Cydia) on the iPhone to sync to iPhone with iTunes.
I get drop calls all the I get drop calls all the time. It’s worse with the iPhone. Signal with AT&T in MM area has always been spotty.
briansd1
September 3, 2009 @
5:23 PM
AN, I am in Mira Mesa all the AN, I am in Mira Mesa all the time and I don’t have problems.
I heard the same thing with AT&T in Mira Mesa, IN THE PAST. But since AT&T and Cingular merged a few years back, the problem has been solved.
The “orange” and “blue” network merged. Since then, AT&T sold part of the “orange” old Cingular network to T-Mobile as part of the merger agreement with FCC. But roaming agreements are still in effect.
If you still use a Cingular sim card, get it changed out to a new AT&T Sim Card. The store should be happy to provide you one free of charge.
The only problem in MM now is as you travel from Sorrento Valley Blvd into Calle Cristobal, because of Lopez Canyon and Penasquitos Canyon surrounding the area
But other areas of MM should be fine.
You should also use a new phone that can pickup the 850mhz band. I’m can pretty much guarantee that with a new phone and new sim card you will have good coverage in Mira Mesa.
Test it out if you don’t believe me.
If you already have an AT&T account, you can get a new line with no commitment if you provide your own phone. There will be a $26 activation fee. But if you’re not happy with the service, return the SIM card and cancel the service and ask for the activation fee to be refunded.
an
September 3, 2009 @
6:11 PM
briansd1 wrote:AN, I am in [quote=briansd1]AN, I am in Mira Mesa all the time and I don’t have problems.
I heard the same thing with AT&T in Mira Mesa, IN THE PAST. But since AT&T and Cingular merged a few years back, the problem has been solved.
The “orange” and “blue” network merged. Since then, AT&T sold part of the “orange” old Cingular network to T-Mobile as part of the merger agreement with FCC. But roaming agreements are still in effect.
If you still use a Cingular sim card, get it changed out to a new AT&T Sim Card. The store should be happy to provide you one free of charge.
The only problem in MM now is as you travel from Sorrento Valley Blvd into Calle Cristobal, because of Lopez Canyon and Penasquitos Canyon surrounding the area
But other areas of MM should be fine.
You should also use a new phone that can pickup the 850mhz band. I’m can pretty much guarantee that with a new phone and new sim card you will have good coverage in Mira Mesa.
Test it out if you don’t believe me.
If you already have an AT&T account, you can get a new line with no commitment if you provide your own phone. There will be a $26 activation fee. But if you’re not happy with the service, return the SIM card and cancel the service and ask for the activation fee to be refunded.[/quote]
When I start reading your post, I was about to tell you to drive on Calle Cristobal :-). That’s always a sure drop zone. But you seem to know about it too.
Regarding phone, I was using the 2G iPhone for the last 2 year and just got the 3Gs a few days ago. Signal is no better on the 3Gs vs the 2G. Both are worse than my wife’s 3-4 year old BB Pearl. In my house, on the 2nd floor, I get pretty decent signal (2-3 bars). Signal on the 1st floor is horrible and do get drop call there, even when it shows I have 1-2 bars. When I redial, it works fine again. My wife’s BB does not have the same problem of drop call, but signal is still horrible, 1-2 bars on the 1st floor.
equalizer
July 2, 2009 @
12:00 AM
AN wrote:ibjames [quote=AN][quote=ibjames]
verizon would be an idiot if they still turned them down, I’m hoping that apple some day has a QCOM chip in it 😉
[/quote]
Totally agree, but VZW did many stupid things before, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they’ll turn APPL down again if the term stays the same. Example of them making stupid decision would be, even when everyone is bitching about the VZW UI, they still going full steam w/ it. It was and still is one of the worse UI design ever. They also give OEM very little room for interpretation of their UI.[/quote]
VZW policies are bad for customers, but generally good for their bottom line. People believe the best network slogan even with lame phones. They have been grabbing market share for a long time. Verizon Wireless’ retail (non-wholesale) gross customer additions (excluding customers acquired in the Alltel acquisition) were strong, up 32.5 percent over the prior year. On a pro forma basis, retail gross customer additions were up 4.3 percent. Verizon Wireless had 86.6 million customers at the end of the quarter, an increase of 28.8 percent year over year. This includes 13.2 million net total customer additions, after conforming adjustments, from the Alltel acquisition.
Service ARPU decreased 0.3 percent from the similar period a year ago, to US $50.74 . Total data ARPU grew by 20.8 percent to US $14.16 . On a pro forma basis, service ARPU increased 1.1 percent, and total data ARPU increased 25.2 percent.
I will be going from my I will be going from my $30.00 T-mobile plan but it will be worth every penny. My husband has had his i-phone for 6 months and slowly but surely I have realized I can’t live with out one. They are convenient and amazing!
CDMA ENG
July 8, 2009 @
5:03 PM
ibjames wrote:AN wrote:mwtosd [quote=ibjames][quote=AN][quote=mwtosd]I am really hoping that Apple will allow the iPhone on other networks. I do think they were not very happy with AT&T not being ready for MMS and tethering. In their announcement at the WWDC they mentioned MMS would be coming later this summer/later this year. There was no mention of tethering with AT&T but available immediately in 20 other countries.
Apple also issued a $30 iTunes gift card to users that had problems updating to the new iPhone OS 3.0 because of overwhelming AT&T’s network. I hope these issues will push Apple get rid of the exclusivity with AT&T.[/quote]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.[/quote]
verizon would be an idiot if they still turned them down, I’m hoping that apple some day has a QCOM chip in it ;)[/quote]
I dont think VZW made a bad decision or do they. ATT took 3 Billion in write downs subsiding the Phone. That would have killed Sprint or TMob. Plus the fact that ATT publicly admitted that the iPhone is destroying thier bandwidth due to Apps hitting the network far to often. This means billions in capacity adds for them to support a very small segment of thier subscriber base. VZW would have been a great network for the iPhone but Apple wanted to much..
iPhone… Great for the user… Sh#*&y for the network…
CE
CDMA ENG
July 8, 2009 @
4:02 PM
If it is Tinny then it is If it is Tinny then it is probaly the handset you were listening too.
briansd1
June 22, 2009 @
2:22 PM
AN wrote:I have the original [quote=AN]I have the original iPhone because work paid for it. It has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s not the Jesus phone by any mean.[/quote]
If not the iPhone, which one is the best PDA/phone in your view?
afx114
June 22, 2009 @
2:32 PM
I’ve found that AT&T’s 3G is I’ve found that AT&T’s 3G is better in rural areas than it is in urban areas. I live in uptown SD and I’ve never had a problem with coverage, but on a trip to downtown LA my coverage was HORRIBLE. The best signal I’ve ever had was camping in the middle of the desert near Joshua Tree. This is the complete opposite of what you’d expect, but I have a feeling AT&T hasn’t figured out saturation issues. The more people in an area that are using 3G, the less bandwidth there is to share across all of them. It’s similar to the way cable internet works — if all of your neighbors are running bit-torrent and downloading hi-def pr0n, your own connection will suffer.
A buddy of mine who is knowledgeable says the following:
AT&T operates on a 30% load rate meaning their network can only support roughly 30% of their number of customers on a full load.. its the worst in the business, but they are changing that pretty rapidly as they are the fastest growing network hardware wise right now.
briansd1
June 22, 2009 @
1:39 PM
1) Hate to say it but most 1) Hate to say it but most Americans are stupid when it comes to phones. They don’t even know what a SIM card is.
That’s because in USA, the phone carriers want to control content and handsets. Aboard, people just buy any device then put in a SIM card from any carrier.
2) I just upgraded my iPhone 3G to 3.0 software and jailbroke it for Cydia, Installo.us, and tethering (very cool BTW).
I’ll get the 3GS when it can be jailbroken.
The iPhone is best jailbroken and unlocked.
3) I would would never use a service from Verizon or Sprint unless they start using sim cards that allow the user to switch handset.
4) AT&T is cheaper than T-Mobile if you use the phone a lot. The Unity Plan allows unlimited calling to any AT&T line (mobile or land-line).
Rollover minutes allows you to accumulate minutes so that you never have to worry about going over your allocation.
If you ditch the land-line, it’s worthwhile. I don’t have a land-line at all.
5) I like AT&T because they have 3G. Edge on T-Mobile is slooooow.
6) If you have AT&T DSL or wireless, you get free wifi at Starbucks, McDonalds, and at hotels and airports where Wayport is provided.
34f3f3f
October 30, 2009 @
11:08 AM
Briansd1, I know nothing Briansd1, I know nothing about cells phones, but I know enough that what you say is true. The Apple website in Hong Kong sells 3GS unlocked, and unlocking software is rife everywhere, as are unlocked phones on ebay. This really makes sense especially if you travel alot, as AT&T are outrageously costly for their global plans. The unit is still over-priced in my view, but still a great gizmo.
briansd1
October 31, 2009 @
6:38 AM
qwerty007 wrote:Briansd1, I [quote=qwerty007]Briansd1, I know nothing about cells phones, but I know enough that what you say is true. The Apple website in Hong Kong sells 3GS unlocked, and unlocking software is rife everywhere, as are unlocked phones on ebay. This really makes sense especially if you travel alot, as AT&T are outrageously costly for their global plans. The unit is still over-priced in my view, but still a great gizmo.[/quote]
It’s a great deal to get a subsidized iPhone in USA if you know how to unlock/jailbreak it.
As long at your device is subsidized it’s a great deal.
A grey market iPhone goes for about a little under $1,000 overseas, or about $700 in USA.
Doofrat
July 2, 2009 @
9:54 AM
So you’re telling me the So you’re telling me the crappy interface on the Razor is Verizon’s doing?!? And they’re keeping it?!?!?!?!?
Coronita
July 2, 2009 @
10:13 AM
doofrat wrote:So you’re [quote=doofrat]So you’re telling me the crappy interface on the Razor is Verizon’s doing?!? And they’re keeping it?!?!?!?!?
[/quote]
ummm.. yes, verizon has their own spec when it comes to user interfaces. In fact they keep changing it.
an
July 2, 2009 @
10:21 AM
flu wrote:doofrat wrote:So [quote=flu][quote=doofrat]So you’re telling me the crappy interface on the Razor is Verizon’s doing?!? And they’re keeping it?!?!?!?!?
[/quote]
ummm.. yes, verizon has their own spec when it comes to user interfaces. In fact they keep changing it.[/quote]
Yep, and they’re the most hardcore of all carriers. OEM DO NOT have much of any room for interpretation regarding the UI. I have an iPhone right now, but it’s a company phone, so I don’t have much say. If I get a choice, I’d pick the Storm or any other smart phone on VZW network in a heart beat.
briansd1
July 2, 2009 @
10:30 AM
Verizon is the most “evil” Verizon is the most “evil” (if you think of evil in the Microsoft monopoly sense). They try to control content and handsets.
Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
an
July 2, 2009 @
10:57 AM
briansd1 wrote:Never [quote=briansd1]Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
[/quote]
That has nothing to do w/ VZW. It has everything to do w/ CDMA vs GSM. Don’t worry though, they all will be on LTE when 4-G start rolling out, except for Sprint, who will be using WiMax instead.
briansd1
July 2, 2009 @
11:20 AM
AN, we are talking consumer AN, we are talking consumer choice here.
How would you like to be required to buy your computer from your Internet Service Provider and be required to have the ISP activate your computer on their network?
————
Back in 2003/2004:
Another interesting bit. It is a misconception that CDMA phones are not SIM-based. In China, it is mandatory for CDMA phones to be SIM-based and there are around 3.7 million subscribers using SIM-based CDMA phones. http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/cdma/103011204.asp
China Unicom plans to officially launch its dual mode handset on August 5, a senior official with China Unicom”s Comprehensive Department surnamed Tang told Interfax.
According to Tang, China Unicom has already ordered over 400,000 GSM/CDMA handsets from Motorola, Samsung and LG. These handsets, designed for high-end consumers, will be promoted nationwide under the carrier”s new “World Wind” brand. The dual mode mobile service will be marketed as a way to provide GSM subscribers exclusive access to China Unicom”s U-Max CDMA value-added services platform, as well as allowing for global roaming on both GSM and CDMA networks.
AN wrote:briansd1 wrote:Never [quote=AN][quote=briansd1]Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
[/quote]
That has nothing to do w/ VZW. It has everything to do w/ CDMA vs GSM. Don’t worry though, they all will be on LTE when 4-G start rolling out, except for Sprint, who will be using WiMax instead.[/quote]
I thought Sprint killed WiMax.
an
July 2, 2009 @
11:28 AM
flu wrote:AN wrote:briansd1 [quote=flu][quote=AN][quote=briansd1]Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
[/quote]
That has nothing to do w/ VZW. It has everything to do w/ CDMA vs GSM. Don’t worry though, they all will be on LTE when 4-G start rolling out, except for Sprint, who will be using WiMax instead.[/quote]
I thought Sprint killed WiMax.[/quote]
Nope, they already launched in some market.
briansd1
July 6, 2009 @
7:38 PM
They can already jailbreak They can already jailbreak and unlock the iPhone 3GS. I guess the secret will be out soon.
If you are on T-Mobile and want to use the iPhone you can easily purchase a second-hand phone on ebay or Craigslist.
I am an AT&T customer but I like the fact that if I travel overseas, I can use any SIM card I want. Plus I can use alternatives to the Apple App Store.
My suspicion is that Apple wants the secret out. AT&T is subsidizing the iPhone and Apple only cares about sales.
Regardless, the cat and mouse game is kinda fun. It’s a challenge, if anything.
afx114
July 6, 2009 @
7:48 PM
briansd1 wrote:AT&T is [quote=briansd1]AT&T is subsidizing the iPhone and Apple only cares about sales.[/quote]
Not only that, but AT&T is crippling the functionality of Apple’s device (eg, MMS & tethering, two technologies the phone supports but AT&T does not). There were a couple of subtle digs at AT&T at WWDC.
briansd1
July 6, 2009 @
8:08 PM
I don’t use MMS, but I have I don’t use MMS, but I have tethering working on my iPhone. It’s pretty fast on AT&T 3G. Convenient when you’re at the airport without wifi trying to make a last minute hotel reservation.
I have not tested tethering in motion (like on the train) yet.
CDMA ENG
July 8, 2009 @
6:58 PM
flu wrote:AN wrote:briansd1 [quote=flu][quote=AN][quote=briansd1]Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
[/quote]
That has nothing to do w/ VZW. It has everything to do w/ CDMA vs GSM. Don’t worry though, they all will be on LTE when 4-G start rolling out, except for Sprint, who will be using WiMax instead.[/quote]
I thought Sprint killed WiMax.[/quote]
Official Sprint is not WiMax… But it does own 51 percent of Clearwire though no management decisions are made by Sprint. My Guess is that they will go LTE at some point as well.
CE
sdduuuude
July 6, 2009 @
10:09 PM
I had to abstain from voting I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.
sdduuuude
July 6, 2009 @
10:15 PM
P.S. AMPS RULES ! P.S. AMPS RULES !
Eugene
July 7, 2009 @
3:03 AM
Theoretically speaking, if I Theoretically speaking, if I were to get an unlocked iPhone and a non-AT&T internet plan, would that result in lesser functionality than if I paid honest $70/month + tax to AT&T?
Also, is there a really good reason to shoot for 16 GB instead of 8?
afx114
July 7, 2009 @
9:34 AM
Eugene wrote:Also, is there a [quote=Eugene]Also, is there a really good reason to shoot for 16 GB instead of 8?[/quote]
When you have a 120GB library of music in your iTunes like me, even 32GB is a pittance. Get the larger storage if:
– You have a large iTunes library and want to take more of your music with you.
– You travel a lot and would like to watch movies on your device.
– You get the 3GS and foresee yourself taking lots of video.
If none of those are true, the larger storage is probably not worth it.
briansd1
July 7, 2009 @
10:32 AM
Eugene wrote:Theoretically [quote=Eugene]Theoretically speaking, if I were to get an unlocked iPhone and a non-AT&T internet plan, would that result in lesser functionality than if I paid honest $70/month + tax to AT&T?
[/quote]
There are two ways of freeing your iPhone from the grips of AT&T. Unlocking and jailbreaking.
The only alternative to AT&T in USA is T-Mobile for the iPhone.
T-Mobile per minute rate are lowest. But remember that you never use all the allocated minutes (otherwise you’ll go over and be charged a premium).
The downside to T-Mobile Internet service is Edge (not 3G) so it’s much slower (but the monthly subscription is lower too). BTW, T-Mobile does its best to support the iPhone because those techies are good customers.
If you go to Asian/Hispanic/Immigrant owned mobile dealers, they will give you better phones for lesser prices. Some in East San Diego, Orange County and LA will even rebate you $100 to $200 for signing/renewing a contract (kinda like a Realtor rebating you his commission). Ask and you shall receive.
I go to restaurants in ethnic areas and I like to stop and talk to the retailers. If you like to shop at the mall, then you’ll overpay.
I personally like AT&T because of rollover and the unity plan (if you have a land-line and everything is on one bill, you can call all AT&T land lines and wireless for free) which gives me the lowest overall per min rate.
In California (except for some areas) virtually all landlines are with AT&T.
I actually don’t have a land line but my cell phone is billed to my dad’s land line.
AT&T has fast 3G Internet. You also get free wifi at Starbucks.
The advantage of unlocking is what when you go overseas, you can buy a SIM and pop it into you phone for local service. For example, if you go on vacation in Europe, you need local service. Roaming is very expensive and your local friends would never call you because they would have to dial an expensive US number.
Jailbreaking allows you to use applications from alternatives to the Apple AppStore.
An unlocked and jailbroken iPhone is always valuable. You can easily sell it on ebay and more than recoup your money.
briansd1
July 7, 2009 @
11:32 AM
The email push feature on the The email push feature on the iphone is also pretty cool.
It supports yahoo and google mail out of the box without any subscription corporate email crap on the Blackberry (I have not used Blackberry). You can setup unlimited number of mail boxes.
iPhone does not support push (only traditional poll) email for hotmail/msn accounts.
Quote:If you go to [quote]If you go to Asian/Hispanic/Immigrant owned mobile dealers, they will give you better phones for lesser prices. Some in East San Diego, Orange County and LA will even rebate you $100 to $200 for signing/renewing a contract (kinda like a Realtor rebating you his commission). Ask and you shall receive.[/quote]
Are you suggesting that I can get a 8 GB 3G for free (after a 2-year contract) from one of those dealers? Any references?
I’m considering getting one on ebay and going T-Mobile … that would save me perhaps $25/month vs. switching to AT&T. If the choice is between buying from AT&T for $100 and buying on ebay for $300, it pays off after 8 months. If I can get it for free from a dealer, it pays off longer. Maybe in a year AT&T will cut their data rates.
briansd1
July 7, 2009 @
8:14 PM
Eugene wrote:
Are you [quote=Eugene]
Are you suggesting that I can get a 8 GB 3G for free (after a 2-year contract) from one of those dealers? Any references?
I’m considering getting one on ebay and going T-Mobile … that would save me perhaps $25/month vs. switching to AT&T. If the choice is between buying from AT&T for $100 and buying on ebay for $300, it pays off after 8 months. If I can get it for free from a dealer, it pays off longer. Maybe in a year AT&T will cut their data rates.[/quote]
Unfortunately, you cannot get an iPhone from an independent dealer (other than Wal-Mart and Best Buy) without paying a premium. That’s because dealers generally sell for T-Mobile and AT&T at the same time. AT&T doesn’t want dealers to divert iPhones to T-Mobile customers and to the grey market overseas (where the dealers could make more money). Since AT&T subsidizes the iPhones, they would lose out on the revenue.
But for any other phone service I recommend that you go to an independent dealer.
Look at the iPhone purchase independently from the voice service from the wireless carrier.
For example, if you are out of contract with your carrier, you can switch to AT&T with an independent dealer, and likely get a rebate (from the dealer) if you bring your own phone over from T-mobile. The dealer will only give you a sim card.
If you have Asian colleagues, ask them to check the ethnic newspapers for mobile phone ads and call the dealers.
Then go online to get a subsidized iPhone 3G for $99 or $79 (refurbished). 3GS is $199 but currently cannot be unlocked or jailbroken.
I was pissed at AT&T because they charge sales taxes on the full retail price of the iPhone when you shop in store (but not online). It problably has to do with the nexus thing for sales tax purposes. But I don’t want to give a penny more to the State of California than necessary. It’s a principle thing.
Actually AT&T has been raising their data rates. On the 2G, it used to be $20/month for Internet including 200 texts.
On the 3G it’s now $30/month + $5/mo for 200 texts = $35/mo.
AT&T requires a 2-year contract when they sell you a subsidized iPhone.
If you’re always on the go, and if you need tethering, I recommend that you use the iPhone with AT&T because 3G is so much faster.
T-Mobile is fine if you generally have access to WiFi, at home and at work. In this case I recommend that you get an iPhone on Craigslist. T-Mobile used to have t-zones unlimited data plan for $4.99/mo. If you’re one of lucky ones that is still on that plan, then you can just pop your SIM into an iPhone and enjoy it. It’s getting Internet almost for free.
I bought some iPhones on Craiglist for friends and I think it’s cheaper than on ebay, plus go can pickup and make sure it’s the real deal.
briansd1
September 3, 2009 @
5:36 PM
Eugene wrote:
I’m considering [quote=Eugene]
I’m considering getting one on ebay and going T-Mobile … that would save me perhaps $25/month vs. switching to AT&T. If the choice is between buying from AT&T for $100 and buying on ebay for $300, it pays off after 8 months. If I can get it for free from a dealer, it pays off longer. Maybe in a year AT&T will cut their data rates.[/quote]
The price of the 3G (not 3GS)dropped a lot. You can buy one for cheap on ebay or CL and use with T-Mobile.
I have confirmed that you can use any iPhone with T-Mobile’s $9.99/month data plan. They no longer sign up new users with the $4.99 data plan. Of course you’ll be limited to Edge speeds.
———–
If you have not used it yet, try out the Navigon GPS App on the iPhone. Very convenient and no need for a separate GPS device.
sdduuuude wrote:I had to [quote=sdduuuude]I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.[/quote]
I know you’re probably kidding, but why dont you just get a free phone every 2 years from the provider.
Ha hah. You want an AMPS phone, I got an entire bucket full of them (including the ones that look like bricks)…Amps though I think is shut down in U.S….I think that’s why some customers of onstar were pissed, because some of their older cars had onstar running on amps and it no longer works and the manufacterer don’t have a solution to convert them… http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/explore/onstar_basics/helpful_info.jsp?info-view=tech_equip
sdduuuude
July 7, 2009 @
6:32 PM
flu wrote:sdduuuude wrote:I [quote=flu][quote=sdduuuude]I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.[/quote]
I know you’re probably kidding, but why dont you just get a free phone every 2 years from the provider.
Ha hah. You want an AMPS phone … [/quote]
Actually, no. I’m not kidding. I’m at my desk pretty much all day and am not really a customer of all this technology that I support. Kind a wierd, I know. I lose phones, drop them, take them kayaking, etc. So, the $12 replacement plan works for me.
My phone is an LG VX3200. They are $10-$15 (including shipping) on ebay. This is the 4th time I have done this – buying the exact model to replace my old one.
My current phone has a broken LCD screen, so I’m eyeing some of the new ones with GPS capability, but I really am too irresonsible to carry anything worth more than $20.
I used to get insurance, but there is a $50 deductable. That’s > $12. I used to get the free phone from the carrier, but then I would have to buy a new charger, new cigarette lighter adapter, new spare battery, etc. And, back in the day, a new data cable for moving data to the phone. I ended up spending $75 on the “free” phone. That’s > $12, too. In the last 5 years, I have spent less than $100 on phones.
I revel in pulling out my phone during discussions about the latest gadgets. I say boldly “this thing is incredible – it was $12 and it makes or receives phone calls ALL OVER THE COUNTY !”
I seriously love AMPS. Great sound and no delay. Since the first CDMA call I heard, the delay has always bugged me. If I were to build a wireless system on which I was the only user, I would go AMPS for sure !
Wireless is a new industry so it’s hard to be “old school” but I do my best to represent.
Coronita
July 8, 2009 @
4:29 PM
sdduuuude wrote:flu [quote=sdduuuude][quote=flu][quote=sdduuuude]I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.[/quote]
I know you’re probably kidding, but why dont you just get a free phone every 2 years from the provider.
Ha hah. You want an AMPS phone … [/quote]
Actually, no. I’m not kidding. I’m at my desk pretty much all day and am not really a customer of all this technology that I support. Kind a wierd, I know. I lose phones, drop them, take them kayaking, etc. So, the $12 replacement plan works for me.
My phone is an LG VX3200. They are $10-$15 (including shipping) on ebay. This is the 4th time I have done this – buying the exact model to replace my old one.
My current phone has a broken LCD screen, so I’m eyeing some of the new ones with GPS capability, but I really am too irresonsible to carry anything worth more than $20.
I used to get insurance, but there is a $50 deductable. That’s > $12. I used to get the free phone from the carrier, but then I would have to buy a new charger, new cigarette lighter adapter, new spare battery, etc. And, back in the day, a new data cable for moving data to the phone. I ended up spending $75 on the “free” phone. That’s > $12, too. In the last 5 years, I have spent less than $100 on phones.
I revel in pulling out my phone during discussions about the latest gadgets. I say boldly “this thing is incredible – it was $12 and it makes or receives phone calls ALL OVER THE COUNTY !”
I seriously love AMPS. Great sound and no delay. Since the first CDMA call I heard, the delay has always bugged me. If I were to build a wireless system on which I was the only user, I would go AMPS for sure !
Wireless is a new industry so it’s hard to be “old school” but I do my best to represent.[/quote]
Actually, I know where you’re coming from. If it weren’t for the requirement of my co. to have one, I’d stick to my no frills phone.
I started out with Sprint as a Pioneer member. Up until last week my Sprint plan still used my very first phone, the QCP-1900. Remember these bricks?
Finally, after the earpiece died, I had to upgrade to a no-frills new phone, free courtesy of Sprint. Samsung m320…Btw, did I mention sprint sucks? (Yeah yeah, but my plan has no monthly charge, just a minute by minute charge so it’s perfect for an emergency phone for my parents).
Anyway, since then I company stuck on me crackberry running on ATT as an electronic dogleash.. And then I’m doing stuff that requires a virgin mobile, verizon, and t-mobile phone too….So I’m a walking wireless booth. Honestly, I wouldn’t spend my own money on a data plan if my co. wasn’t forking the bill or if I couldn’t write it off as a business expense for R&D.
What i meant though is that if you stick with the same carriers, you usually can get a free phone if you sign a 2 year contract.
briansd1
July 8, 2009 @
5:00 PM
flu wrote:Honestly, I [quote=flu]Honestly, I wouldn’t spend my own money on a data plan if my co. wasn’t forking the bill or if I couldn’t write it off as a business expense for R&D.[/quote]
I have thought about that… but it’s so convenient to have one.
And you don’t want to do stuff on your work equipment anyway. They can track everything.
With your own data plan, you could use your own personal laptop to do personal stuff at work without touching the corporate network.
If you itemize, you can always allocate portion of your wireless and Internet bill to work related expenses anyway (subject to 2% limit)
I could not live without a cell phone as I get so much done on the phone — keep in touch with friends and relatives, work, etc… You can use dead time to be productive.
Coronita
July 8, 2009 @
5:07 PM
briansd1 wrote:flu [quote=briansd1][quote=flu]Honestly, I wouldn’t spend my own money on a data plan if my co. wasn’t forking the bill or if I couldn’t write it off as a business expense for R&D.[/quote]
I have thought about that… but it’s so convenient to have one.
And you don’t want to do stuff on your work equipment anyway. They can track everything.
With your own data plan, you could use your own personal laptop to do personal stuff at work without touching the corporate network.
If you itemize, you can always allocate portion of your wireless and Internet bill to work related expenses anyway (subject to 2% limit)
I could not live without a cell phone as I get so much done on the phone — keep in touch with friends and relatives, work, etc… You can use dead time to be productive.[/quote]
Part of my work is my own business. I suppose I could fire myself for checking my own personal emails though 🙂
CDMA ENG
July 8, 2009 @
7:01 PM
flu wrote:sdduuuude wrote:I [quote=flu][quote=sdduuuude]I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.[/quote]
I know you’re probably kidding, but why dont you just get a free phone every 2 years from the provider.
Ha hah. You want an AMPS phone, I got an entire bucket full of them (including the ones that look like bricks)…Amps though I think is shut down in U.S….I think that’s why some customers of onstar were pissed, because some of their older cars had onstar running on amps and it no longer works and the manufacterer don’t have a solution to convert them… http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/explore/onstar_basics/helpful_info.jsp?info-view=tech_equip%5B/quote%5D
AMPs is dead mainly because VZW is no longer required to support it as part of the MLA agreements with the FCC.
briansd1
July 8, 2009 @
9:10 PM
CDMA ENG, i wonder that the CDMA ENG, i wonder that the Chinese answer to LTE will be.
China being to world’s biggest phone market, there is a good that chance that whatever standard is adopted by China will become the dominant standard.
I foresee some trade disputes in the future.
Coronita
July 8, 2009 @
9:31 PM
briansd1 wrote:CDMA ENG, i [quote=briansd1]CDMA ENG, i wonder that the Chinese answer to LTE will be.
China being to world’s biggest phone market, there is a good that chance that whatever standard is adopted by China will become the dominant standard.
I foresee some trade disputes in the future.[/quote]
China, to my understanding wants to create their own standards.
I’d say Huawei is a company to watch. They pretty much ate Nortel’s, Lucent’s, and Motorola’s lunch on the infrastructure side.
CDMA ENG
July 9, 2009 @
8:42 AM
Right again FLU… But thier Right again FLU… But thier standard failed to get international reconginiton so it is pretty much scrapped. Huawei is the company to watch. Thier infastructure cost 1/3 of thier competitors to deploy but at the same time there is some bad management cost associated with using it. Also, and I kid you not, unless you have Chinese speakers in your company interfacing with Huawei is a mute point.
Huawei is putting all thier eggs in the LTE basket and have a very good chance of picking up a lot of 2nd tier international business.
Also expect to see Chinese phones trying to pop up in the American market in a year or so… I have know idea why… Moto has flogged the horse to death…
Anyone watch The Wire… The part where Stringer Bell goes in to the tirad about his soldiers having two cells phone… And sells off all his phone company stock because of market saturation… About wet myself laughing cause it was so true…
FLU… You get my message?
C.E.
briansd1
July 9, 2009 @
1:16 PM
China was at one point trying China was at one point trying push it’s own 3G standard TD-SCDMA.
If I recall, this was an informal agreement worked out with US and European trade representatives:
BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) – China will let telecom operators select third-generation mobile platforms on their own, with the government officially expressing no preference, Jiang Yaoping, vice minister of Information Industry Ministry, said at a conference. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2006/12/10/afx3243150.html
It will be interesting to watch beyond 3G to LTE.
briansd1
July 10, 2009 @
12:07 AM
Oh Man! The iPhone 3GS can Oh Man! The iPhone 3GS can now be unlocked and jailbroken.
mwtosd, thanks for the link. mwtosd, thanks for the link.
I have an unlocked iPhone 3G. I use Yahoo! mail and AT&T.net mail provided by Yahoo! and my email notification works fine with push.
I don’t know what the Notify Me app is all about. And I don’t use Mobile Me by Apple either. I actually think that M.E. is a useless service for dumb people who don’t know how to sync to Outlook. So they have to pay Apple a subscription fee.
M.E. does have an interesting location feature. Would be good to locate kids and spouses without paying for the AT&T service. My friend at Apple gave me a free ME account but haven’t used it yet. http://www.apple.com/mobileme/whats-new/
Has anyone used the FamilyMap feature from AT&T?
AT&T FamilyMap: Locate up to 2 people $9.99/mo.
With AT&T Family Map you can know where your kids are at any time, so that you can feel more comfortable as they become more independent. AT&T FamilyMap allows you to check where your children are from your PC or your cell phone and request location updates at any time or receive scheduled updates like when they are supposed to be arriving home from school.
mwtosd
July 15, 2009 @
1:28 PM
Mobile Me will allow you to Mobile Me will allow you to locate the phone incase it is lost. It will also allow you to remote erase (wipe all the info off the phone) your phone incase it gets lost or you misplace it. I think two great features. Apple makes it easy to use and allow computer illiterate people to sync everything from their iPhone to their computer, transfer files too large to email, etc.
This link too now, just an FYI.
iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 Disables Unauthorized AT&T Tethering
mwtosd wrote: Apple makes it [quote=mwtosd] Apple makes it easy to use and allow computer illiterate people to sync everything from their iPhone to their computer, transfer files too large to email, etc.
This link too now, just an FYI.
iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 Disables Unauthorized AT&T Tethering
If Pali Research were to pick its favorite wireless carrier, it wouldn’t be AT&T.
The market research firm believes that despite the huge success of Apple Inc’s iPhone, for which AT&T is still the exclusive carrier, its monopoly on the iPhone won’t last forever, and as soon as it expires, the beleaguered telco should prepare for slowed growth and even defections.
Customers will head to faster, more reliable networks, said Pali head researcher Walter Piecyk in a blog post, and that means Verizon.
“A basic premise of our recently initiated buy rating on Verizon and sell rating on AT&T is our belief that as the iPhone exclusivity period rolls off between AT&T Wireless and Apple, a material number of AT&T customers will flock to Verizon’s superior network.”
enron_by_the_sea
September 3, 2009 @
10:58 PM
briansd1 wrote:Interesting [quote=briansd1]Interesting article on the iPhone and Verizon.
I personally won’t be changing to Verizon until they offer a way to change hand-set without calling them every time.
[/quote]
I had VZW a long time ago (do not have it anymore) but as I recall this is not a problem. You can go on their website and enter ESN of the new phone and get it changed without calling CS.
I agree that it is still not as convenient as swapping SIM on your GSM/WCDMA/HSPA phone. But VZW being VZW will be the last carrier to move to SIMs (or eqv) in the US.
However changing SIM is equally painful. Very few phones that I have seen make it any easy for the use to remove/replace the SIM easily. (Usually they are hidden behind the battery of the phone). As a matter of fact, I recall hearing that the SIMs of original i-phone were damn difficult to remove. Not sure if they have made it any easier with 3GS.
an
September 3, 2009 @
11:14 PM
enron_by_the_sea wrote:As a [quote=enron_by_the_sea]As a matter of fact, I recall hearing that the SIMs of original i-phone were damn difficult to remove. Not sure if they have made it any easier with 3GS.[/quote]
Nope, still the exact same design. At least we don’t have to design our own SIM removal tool (bending paper clip) anymore with the 3Gs (it’s included in the box). There is a reason why VZW is still growing subscribers even when they don’t have the iPhone. They’d love to have the iPhone, but probably only on their term. When 4G fully rolled out though, it wouldn’t matter much, since both AT&T and VZW will be on LTE, so it’ll be at least possible to bring device from AT&T to VZW or vice versa.
briansd1
September 11, 2009 @
8:28 PM
enron_by_the_sea [quote=enron_by_the_sea]
However changing SIM is equally painful. Very few phones that I have seen make it any easy for the use to remove/replace the SIM easily. (Usually they are hidden behind the battery of the phone). As a matter of fact, I recall hearing that the SIMs of original i-phone were damn difficult to remove. Not sure if they have made it any easier with 3GS.[/quote]
AN is right, it’s the same design.
If you go to outside America and Korea where people are used to CDMA, you will see that people change handsets almost like they change outfits.
In USA it’s nearly impossible to buy a SIM card (either prepaid or postpaid) without a phone that goes along with it.
When I have an overseas visitor, I just call AT&T and add a line to my family account for $9.99 per month and mail that SIM card to my friend ahead of their visit. No contract need, no activation fee, only a $6 charge for the SIM card. If you go to the store, they will charge you a $26 activation fee but they won’t charge you for the SIM card.
I think it would be better if the mobile carriers sold their services independent of the devices just like ISPs do. They could eliminate most of the technical support departments. Problem is American consumers are used to, and demand all the hand-holding.
briansd1
September 11, 2009 @
8:32 PM
Interesting article the Interesting article the iPhone deal.
I have wifi pretty much everywhere I go, so I haven’t experienced all the connection problems described.
One of the deficiency of the iPhone is battery life. If you leave wifi and 3G on all the time, the battery runs out quickly. But I find that wifi uses less battery than 3G.
iSuppli: Why Apple is sticking with AT&T
Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt
September 10, 2009 2:10 PM
Despite dropped calls, service interruptions, sluggish downloads and thousands of would-be customers who say they’d buy an iPhone in a New York minute if only Verizon (VZ) carried it, Apple (AAPL) is not likely to drop its exclusive service deal with AT&T (T) when the current contract expires in 2010.
Doesn’t look like VZW even want the iPhone with their recent ads.[/quote]
Yup…Funny you should mention that…
$$$$$$$$$$$$ 🙂
briansd1
October 19, 2009 @
11:47 AM
BTW, the iPhone 3.1 software BTW, the iPhone 3.1 software can be cracked now.
I know people who use the iPhone on t-mobile and they are quite happy.
Navigon is a great GPS app. I love it. Never get lost again even when walking around in New York City.
What’s the point of a good 3G network if you don’t have the device to take advantage of it?
an
October 19, 2009 @
2:07 PM
briansd1 wrote:
What’s the [quote=briansd1]
What’s the point of a good 3G network if you don’t have the device to take advantage of it?[/quote]
There’s plenty of great devices that’s coming out in the next 3 months. Devices that will make my 3Gs look slow. Here’s another one: http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/19/motorola-droid-hands-on/
What’s the point of having a great phone but then not able to use it because of crappy 3G signal.
sdcellar
October 19, 2009 @
10:55 PM
AN wrote:briansd1 [quote=AN][quote=briansd1]
What’s the point of a good 3G network if you don’t have the device to take advantage of it?[/quote]
What’s the point of having a great phone but then not able to use it because of crappy 3G signal.[/quote]
What’s the big deal about 3G? Really. My first gen iPhone works spiffy.
and before any of you phone boys goes all 1xrtt on me or something, really, think about it from the typical consumer’s perspective. I’m a pretty heavy data user and slow old EDGE works well enough when I’m not using wi-fi. Sure, when my phone dies, I’ll end up getting a 3g phone anyway, but until then…
The new droid ads suck. Um, maybe show the phone? Do consumers care about “open development?”
The reviews sound good, but it’ll be interesting to see where it goes. They better have a good app store strategy because I think people like the apps. Verizon must too since they’re running their stupid “we’ve got a map for that” campaign.
an
October 19, 2009 @
11:20 PM
sdcellar wrote:
What’s the [quote=sdcellar]
What’s the big deal about 3G? Really. My first gen iPhone works spiffy.
and before any of you phone boys goes all 1xrtt on me or something, really, think about it from the typical consumer’s perspective. I’m a pretty heavy data user and slow old EDGE works well enough when I’m not using wi-fi. Sure, when my phone dies, I’ll end up getting a 3g phone anyway, but until then…
The new droid ads suck. Um, maybe show the phone? Do consumers care about “open development?”
The reviews sound good, but it’ll be interesting to see where it goes. They better have a good app store strategy because I think people like the apps. Verizon must too since they’re running their stupid “we’ve got a map for that” campaign.[/quote]
Based on what you just said, I have to assume you don’t have an iPhone 2G. Either that or you have extreme patients that I do not have. Trying to surf the net, send an email w/ attachments, using any of the iPhone apps that require a lot of data, etc. is painstakingly slow. I barely do those things w/out WiFi when I was using my 2G. That’s my J6pk view on the 2G/EDGE point.
The new droid ads is great. Maybe they didn’t show you they phone because it hasn’t been announced yet. Ever heard of drumming up the hype before a product launch? Consumer don’t care about “open dev” but consumer will now wonder what is a Droid and what is it all about.
Google does have a good app store strategy. It’s only the beginning. It’ll catch up to the iPhone app store eventually. You have to give developers some time to develop for it. When you have a network that’s that much better than your competition, why not advertise that. If you can poke fun at your competition’s star in the same ad, more power to you. I’ve been waiting for VZW to come out w/ great phone before I switch and finally, it’ll look like I’ll be switching in a couple of months.
briansd1
October 20, 2009 @
10:27 AM
Google apps should be good Google apps should be good based on what they’ve done so far. If they give things away for free then people will use it.
I do like the “open” type platforms that allow people do to what they want.
For example, users should be a able to make their own ringtones. Apple forces people to buy the ringtones and the idiots will do that.
Verizon is expensive. I wonder if people will be willing to pay the monthly charges to use the service.
About the Blackberry vs the iPhone, I think that it’s a generational thing.
“Old” professionals like the email features and the keyboard.
Young users like the iPhone better — for the music and the movies that can be loaded onto the iPhone.
Honestly, if I had to pay for all the music, all the ringtones and all the apps through the Apple store, I would not be using the iPhone.
You have to know what you’re doing to get around paying for everything. Like housing, I’m happy to let others subsidize my usage. 🙂
Quote:Honestly, if I had to [quote]Honestly, if I had to pay for all the music, all the ringtones and all the apps through the Apple store, I would not be using the iPhone.[/quote]
AN wrote:The new droid ads is [quote=AN]The new droid ads is great. Maybe they didn’t show you they phone because it hasn’t been announced yet. Ever heard of drumming up the hype before a product launch?[/quote]No explaining taste. I guess that’s why they have focus groups. Funny that they bag on the iPhone, but never did end up showing their product. I heard some people found the droidy half of the commercial creepy. Note to self, don’t hire that advertising firm. Must have been the same guys that did the Pre.
[quote=AN]Google does have a good app store strategy. It’s only the beginning. It’ll catch up to the iPhone app store eventually. You have to give developers some time to develop for it.[/quote]Here, you simply don’t know what you’re talking about. It’d probably help their developer community if they weren’t so frenetic. There are at least three significantly different versions of Android in the market today. Tough for consumers and even tougher for developers.[quote=AN]When you have a network that’s that much better than your competition, why not advertise that.[/quote]Yeah, I suppose if that’s all you’ve got. Have to do something since they’ve been losing market share to AT&T. Could it have something to do with no matter how hard you try, the device in your hand is more important than the network at this stage of the game?
an
November 5, 2009 @
10:47 AM
sdcellar wrote:Yeah, I [quote=sdcellar]Yeah, I suppose if that’s all you’ve got. Have to do something since they’ve been losing market share to AT&T. Could it have something to do with no matter how hard you try, the device in your hand is more important than the network at this stage of the game?[/quote]
Oh really? With that logic, VZW should be #4 carrier by now, since their smart phone offering is pitiful compare to the other 3 carriers. They’re also the most expensive. I wonder why their subscriber base is still growing. Not as fast as AT&T w/ iPhone, though.
[quote=sdcellar]Yeah, that’s what I thought. Websurfing is surprisingly usable w/ Edge, and attachements? Besides the fact that very few people send attachments from their phone, you do know that mail send is an asynchnous operation, right? It could take a half-hour for all I care (not that it does). Don’t tell me you stare at the progress bar. If so, then you’re the one with patience. Maybe you’re too close to the phone biz, because I don’t think you’re really able to see it from Mr. sixpack’s perspective.[/quote]
Haha, wow, you have great patient if you think web surfing is usable on Edge. I have the 2G iPhone for over 2 years and the only I surf the net on it is when I have WiFi. You’re changing the argument by bringing up that it’s asynchronous. Yes, I know it’s async, but what does that have anything to do w/ Edge being slow? You must think dial-up is suitable too then. Sorry but I prefer my 10Mb cable internet.
[quote=sdcellar]Rationalization. I guess speed matters except when it doesn’t? Also, on the big keyboard issue, do you know a lot of people who don’t love the touch screen keyboard once they’ve started using it? Do you really have multiple iPhones and have you really used them?[/quote]
Not rationalizing anything. Just pointing out some weakness on the Droid. It’s definitely not a Jesus phone by any mean. Yes, I have the 2G and 3Gs. I have the 2G for over 2 years now.
[quote=sdcellar][quote=AN]Read my previous post. You understand you’re saying if you can’t come up with one solid product, come out with 50. That’s a winner. It’s been a proven winner for Microsoft so far, yeah?[/quote]
It’s been a proven winner for RIM, yes. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/11/03/canalys_q3_2009_iphone_rim_taking_over_smartphone_market.html Tell me who grew the most in the last year with no killer phone and no killer app.
[quote=sdcellar]This phone exists today. It’s called an iPhone, you should check it out.[/quote]
Haha, funny, do you even have an iPhone. I have 2, and no, the iPhone is not it.
[quote=sdcellar][quote=AN]I hardly consider downtown Chicago to be fly-over country. Good luck trying to get signal there.[/quote]debunked[/quote]
What’s debunked? Me not getting signal in downtown Chicago? or:
[quote=briansd1]
Perhaps Verizon is better in fly-over country but that’s hardly the market for smart phones.[/quote]
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
11:02 AM
AN, maybe you should look up AN, maybe you should look up the word asynchronous? If I don’t have to wait and the data is transferred in a relatively timely fashion (as far as the receiver is concerned), speed doesn’t matter one iota. Bringing asynch up doesn’t change the subject one bit. You said 3G speeds matter because of mail attachments, async says it doesn’t matter one teeny tiny bit.
Regarding Verizon and it’s ranking, it’s already been established that the rest of the phone world is a no-op outside of the iPhone with the exception of the Blackberry. Unless they don’t have Blackberry’s, I see no reason Verizon should be any less compelling device-wise than anybody else.
I ask you if you have an iPhone, so you ask me? You bet I do. Had it since October 2007. 96.1 MB data sent to date, 1.0 GB received (whoa, must have just hit that). Obviously not all over EDGE, but yeah, I use my phone. You? Maybe you can explain how the iPhone isn’t suitable for business use?
I’m surprised that Blackberry’s share grew over iPhones, but as I said, they certainly have a dedicated user base and they were certainly the phone to have prior to introduction of the iPhone. Anectdotally, I do notice that BB users cycle through their phones quicker, because they keep getting a little better/smaller/whatever. On the iPhone side of things, I wasn’t even compelled to buy a new one (for no reason) until they came out with the video capability.
and finally, yeah, you not getting signal somewhere in Chicago certainly isn’t meaningful in any way. To suggest that AT&T has problems in Chicago needs something more substantive than that.
an
November 5, 2009 @
11:40 AM
Are you serious? Being async Are you serious? Being async and being slow are two completely different thing. Just because something is async doesn’t mean it can compensate for being slow. I don’t want it take up my bandwidth while I try to do other things, since it’s not fast enough to send out the data in a timely manner. You’re an engineer, you should know they’re not really related. It’s like saying since the Droid can multitask, it’ll compensate for its slow processor speed, since you don’t have to sit there and wait for certain app to load. I never attempt to send email with attachment on 2G, so I wouldn’t know, but since you’ve done it many times, can you tell me what would happen when you try to send an attachment and you close the email app to go to another app, like Google Map or surf the net on Safari? Does it continue to send your email in the back ground? In the last 2 months since I have my 3Gs, I’ve sent 178MB and received 1.3GB. I don’t have the stats on my 2G, but you can kind of get an idea of my usage based on just 2 months of usage. You received 1GB over 2+ years while I received 1.3GB in 2 months. That might explain why you’re content with 2G speed. I can assure you that number would be higher if I’m on VZW since there are time I would love to be surfing the net, use google map, facebook, email, streaming audio (Last.fm), etc. but can’t due to AT&T.
Regarding Chicago, there’s no signal in certain area, while my friend who were with me on Verizon had perfect signal. So yes, it’s only anecdotal but it’s one data point. That’s a reply to brian saying VZW is probably only better than AT&T in fly over cities.
Here’s a picture of my 3Gs taken w/ the 2G.
[img_assist|nid=12244|title=3Gs|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75]
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
11:44 AM
At least now you come back At least now you come back with something useful, so yeah, if my phone’s sending an email, it’ll impact me when I go off to do something else, assuming that it needs much bandwidth to do so. That said, I do it all the time and as I was saying it works surprisingly well. Certainly well enough to keep me from plunking down money solely for 3G-ness. Now, when I get my next phone and it’s faster, will I mind? Of course not.
As far as your data stats, I have to say I’m fascinated. Based on my usage, I’d say my biggest data consumers are e-mail, web browsing, maps and app downloads. What are you doing? You say you can’t surf the net, google map, email, stream audio on the sucktown AT&T network, but you have certainly moved a lot of phone data in two months, what the heck is it? My guess would have been streaming audio (or something else…)
Oh, and I take it back, the data stats are solely phone network numbers, so I don’t have any numbers for wi-fi, which I certainly use in a heck of a lot of places. As a matter of fact, I mostly use EDGE when I’m driving (so not much, eh?) and standing in line for coffee (oh wait, wi-fi there too). Where the heck are you doing all this cellular network data? Understanding that might help me understand why our needs seem to be so different. Maybe you get a lot of push stuff? I despise push, I’ll get email on my schedule, not someone elses.
an
November 5, 2009 @
11:58 AM
I have all my email on my I have all my email on my phone fetched every 15 minutes. Only push email is yahoo, since work email, gmail and hotmail does not have push on the iPhone. I do a lot of web surfing (everywhere), e-mail (everywhere), maps, facebook, twitter, and streaming music. The two biggest data hog for me is browsing and email. I used Safari at least 100X more often now, when I’m not on WiFi, than when I have my 2G.
Yes, I know those stats are cell network stats only, same w/ mine. Your only argument is that you’re fine with slow 2G speed. I respect you for that, but your data usage show it when compare with mine. Even if 2G doesn’t work “surprisingly well” for you, you really don’t have a choice. So maybe you’ve conditioned yourself to accept it for what it is, SLOW.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
12:08 PM
Hey, don’t get me wrong, I Hey, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind it being faster faster (when I’m not in a wi-fi coverage area), it just works well enough that I can’t justify the expense/waste of getting a new phone before I need to. You may be right about expectations. Heck, before the iPhone, web browsing wasn’t even a worthwhile exercise. Having it usable in any way was a vast improvement upon what came before it.
That said, and even though we’re agreeing with some of what you’re saying, I’m more confused than ever. You say AT&T’s network sucks, but you seem to use the _heck_ out of it. Twenty-plus times what I do. How can you suffer that if it’s as bad as you say it is and you’ve got to get yourself a Droid just to escape the horror of AT&T?
briansd1
November 5, 2009 @
12:23 PM
sdcellar wrote:Hey, don’t get [quote=sdcellar]Hey, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind it being faster faster (when I’m not in a wi-fi coverage area), it just works well enough that I can’t justify the expense/waste of getting a new phone before I need to. [/quote]
Just unlock your 2G iPhone and sell it on eBay/Craigslist and buy yourself another iPhone under contract. Even the 3G (no 3GS) at $99 is better than the 2G.
Why use an old phone when you can get a new one at subsidized rates?
Like I said before, the iPhone is the only phone with significant residual value even after it’s well used.
I’ve used many cell phones over the years. I had the MOT swivel phone, the Razr, Nokia, Samsung, the Blackberry, etc.. The iPhone is the best out there, right now.
But I’ll go check out the MOT Android Phone.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
1:05 PM
briansd wrote:Just unlock [quote=briansd]Just unlock your 2G iPhone and sell it on eBay/Craigslist and buy yourself another iPhone under contract. Even the 3G (no 3GS) at $99 is better than the 2G.
Why use an old phone when you can get a new one at subsidized rates?
Like I said before, the iPhone is the only phone with significant residual value even after it’s well used.
I’ve used many cell phones over the years. I had the MOT swivel phone, the Razr, Nokia, Samsung, the Blackberry, etc.. The iPhone is the best out there, right now.
But I’ll go check out the MOT Android Phone.[/quote]All fair enough, but as I was saying it’s just not a pain point for me. One of two things will have to happen in order for me to upgrade. My phone breaks or my wife’s phone breaks (and before anybody blasts me, she offered and it’d still be a huge step up from the POS Motorola phone she has now).
I suppose the third thing might be whatever might be offered in a future version. As I was saying, the video support nudged me (and is also the reason I would only get a 3GS at this point), but that alone is not enough.
Do I wish I would drop the damn thing and accelerate the process? Sometimes, but the damn thing also refuses to break on me (and it’s had some pretty hefty blows!)
briansd1
November 5, 2009 @
1:16 PM
sdcellar, I always upgrade my sdcellar, I always upgrade my phone as soon as I’m eligible.
Somebody is else is picking-up the tab, so why not?
Like I said, you can sell the old 2G iPhone to help pay for the new subsidized 3GS. Do it while the 2G still has residual value.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
1:29 PM
Piggington aside, I value my Piggington aside, I value my time. Seriously and more importantly (to me at least), I’ve learned to be a bit more patient about having the latest and greatest. I suppose I’ve just been disappointed enough times when things fail to deliver at this point in my life.
Case in point, had I bought a 3G (which I seriously couldn’t have given half a crap about), I’d have been bummed at the lauch of the 3GS.
I get what you’re saying about it costing me virtually nothing and that’s certainly cool (as well as mostly unheard of with all things technology), but I seriously am not even motivated enough to post an ad on craigslist. I keep thinking the battery’ll stop holding a charge or something, but I really have zero desire to get a new one otherwise. I’ll let everybody else help Apple’s share price.
briansd1
November 5, 2009 @
1:59 PM
sdcellar wrote:Seriously and [quote=sdcellar]Seriously and more importantly (to me at least), I’ve learned to be a bit more patient about having the latest and greatest. [/quote]
I have to say that I love gadgets especially the slick cool looking ones.
I’m much more patient with housing. And since I don’t do home improvements and live in a 2-bedroom apartment, the only things I can spend money on is small stuff that don’t take up room or create clutter.
an
November 5, 2009 @
1:30 PM
Brian, Droid can’t tether out Brian, Droid can’t tether out of the box. Google promise to have it implemented by beginning of next year. I know you love Google voice, so I just want to let you know the Droid will have Voice & Latitude built in too. Since it’s the “Google Experience” phone, it’ll be the first to get any update Google releases.
sdcellar, there’s no need to be confused, I will buy the Droid for my wife. The 3Gs and the 2G is a company phone. I won’t turn down a free phone and service. If I had a choice, I would request to be switched to VZW instead, but I don’t. Beggar can’t be chooser. As I’ve said before, I would use it even more than I have if AT&T has better signal. My wife is fed up w/ AT&T too and she’s ecstatic that she’ll be switching to VZW. I’m ecstatic too since I can use her phone when I can’t get signal w/ my 3Gs.
briansd1
November 5, 2009 @
1:39 PM
AN wrote: I know you love [quote=AN] I know you love Google voice, so I just want to let you know the Droid will have Voice & Latitude built in too. Since it’s the “Google Experience” phone, it’ll be the first to get any update Google releases.[/quote]
That’s interesting.
Will the Google Voice phone number be the same as the mobile phone number? That would cool.
I just told a friend about Google Voice. Her parents live in Canada so she signed up on Google Voice for them. She can call them on their Google Voice number for free and they can call anywhere in USA and Canada for free using Google Voice. Very cool.
I wonder if Google has plans to charge for the service later.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
1:41 PM
briansd1 wrote:AN wrote: I [quote=briansd1][quote=AN] I know you love Google voice, so I just want to let you know the Droid will have Voice & Latitude built in too. Since it’s the “Google Experience” phone, it’ll be the first to get any update Google releases.[/quote]
That’s interesting.
Will the Google Voice phone number be the same as the mobile phone number? That would cool.
I just told a friend about Google Voice. Her parents live in Canada so she signed up on Google Voice for them. She can call them on their Google Voice number for free and they can call anywhere in USA and Canada for free using Google Voice. Very cool.
I wonder if Google has plans to charge for the service later.[/quote]Google has plans to move in with you…
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
1:41 PM
AN wrote:Brian, Droid can’t [quote=AN]Brian, Droid can’t tether out of the box. Google promise to have it implemented by beginning of next year. I know you love Google voice, so I just want to let you know the Droid will have Voice & Latitude built in too. Since it’s the “Google Experience” phone, it’ll be the first to get any update Google releases.
sdcellar, there’s no need to be confused, I will buy the Droid for my wife. The 3Gs and the 2G is a company phone. I won’t turn down a free phone and service. If I had a choice, I would request to be switched to VZW instead, but I don’t. Beggar can’t be chooser. As I’ve said before, I would use it even more than I have if AT&T has better signal. My wife is fed up w/ AT&T too and she’s ecstatic that she’ll be switching to VZW. I’m ecstatic too since I can use her phone when I can’t get signal w/ my 3Gs.[/quote]Oh, I thought you were getting one. I’ll bet there are a lot of employees out there that wish they were as persecuted as you. What kind of totalitarian regime do you work for anyway?
I’ve heard of Blackberry’s being foisted upon the captive worker bees, but never someone forced to use an iPhone. I think even the happy go lucky dude from the Apple commercials would be appalled at such tactics!
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
11:54 AM
Just saw the picture taken by Just saw the picture taken by your 2G. How come the resolution is 2048 x 1536?
an
November 5, 2009 @
12:01 PM
sdcellar wrote:Just saw the [quote=sdcellar]Just saw the picture taken by your 2G. How come the resolution is 2048 x 1536?[/quote]
Sorry, that’s my bad. I have horrible memory. That wasn’t taken w/ my 2G. It was taken w/ my 3Gs after I unboxed it.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
12:09 PM
AN wrote:sdcellar wrote:Just [quote=AN][quote=sdcellar]Just saw the picture taken by your 2G. How come the resolution is 2048 x 1536?[/quote]
Sorry, that’s my bad. I have horrible memory. That wasn’t taken w/ my 2G. It was taken w/ my 3Gs after I unboxed it.[/quote]Yes, it was.
briansd1
November 5, 2009 @
12:03 PM
Is it possible to tether the Is it possible to tether the MOT ‘droid phone to a computer so that the computer has Internet access via the mobile device?
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
8:47 AM
AN wrote:Based on what you [quote=AN]Based on what you just said, I have to assume you don’t have an iPhone 2G. Either that or you have extreme patients that I do not have. Trying to surf the net, send an email w/ attachments, using any of the iPhone apps that require a lot of data, etc. is painstakingly slow. I barely do those things w/out WiFi when I was using my 2G. That’s my J6pk view on the 2G/EDGE point.[/quote]Yeah, that’s what I thought. Websurfing is surprisingly usable w/ Edge, and attachements? Besides the fact that very few people send attachments from their phone, you do know that mail send is an asynchnous operation, right? It could take a half-hour for all I care (not that it does). Don’t tell me you stare at the progress bar. If so, then you’re the one with patience. Maybe you’re too close to the phone biz, because I don’t think you’re really able to see it from Mr. sixpack’s perspective.
Coronita
July 13, 2009 @
6:44 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:
FLU… You [quote=CDMA ENG]
FLU… You get my message?
C.E.[/quote]
Sorry, yes. And I responded….Sorry, didn’t notice the message thingy.
La Jolla Renter
July 7, 2009 @
4:17 PM
FYI…
Walked into apple and FYI…
Walked into apple and walked out in 10 min. with the 32g model. Phone rang 2 steps out the door. I hate apple, but props for a quick transfer and upgrade of my old 2g phone.
Then, when I got home, I upgraded my old 2g to 3.0 and unlocked/jailbroke it in 10min with instructions over the internet and sold it on ebay in a day for 200.00
New_Renter
July 7, 2009 @
7:21 PM
On order! Will blow my On order! Will blow my Blackberry Curve away. The internet sucks on Blackberry’s…..
ybitz
July 7, 2009 @
10:00 PM
Any tips on getting an iphone Any tips on getting an iphone 3gs without paying for the pesky upgrade fee? I’m out-of-contract, and have been a ATT customer for 4 years, if that matters.
Is it really true that if you order iphone online on ATT that you don’t have to pay taxes? Tax is significant, since it’s based on pre-subsidized price of the phone.
briansd1
July 7, 2009 @
11:54 PM
Upgrade fee is $18.
I Upgrade fee is $18.
I ordered my phone online from AT&T and paid taxes on the subsidized price, not the full retail price (But at the retail store you pay taxes on the full retail price).
I’ve always been able to get the upgrade fee waived when I called to inquire/complain. There are 5 lines on my account.
AT&T bills the upgrade fee to your monthly bill, but when you order the phone, you need to pay for it with a credit card.
Employees of some corporations get AT&T discounts as do some employees and alums of universities.
Military get discounts if you bring your military ID.
10% to 20% off depending.
It pays to ask.
ybitz
July 8, 2009 @
12:15 AM
Thanks briansd1. I had Thanks briansd1. I had thought ATT collects tax on unsubsidized (~$600) price everywhere in California including online (if you ship it to California). You didn’t have an out-of-state billing or shipping address, did you?
briansd1
July 8, 2009 @
12:37 AM
ybitz, I have a San Diego ybitz, I have a San Diego billing address.
I didn’t save a copy of the actual order webpage, but I recall that you see the tax amount before you submit the order.
My invoice that came in the box with the phone shows tax on the discounted price, not the full retail price. I’m looking at it right now.
ybitz
July 8, 2009 @
4:58 PM
I just ordered it on ATT’s I just ordered it on ATT’s website. The tax was $52.41 on the last page for order confirmation…looks like they are charging tax on unsubsidized prices now 🙁
briansd1
July 8, 2009 @
5:02 PM
ybitz wrote:I just ordered it [quote=ybitz]I just ordered it on ATT’s website. The tax was $52.41 on the last page for order confirmation…looks like they are charging tax on unsubsidized prices now :([/quote]
Sorry to hear that…
I guess the State of California needs to get as much sales tax revenue as possible.
briansd1
July 17, 2009 @
8:32 PM
ybitz wrote:I just ordered it [quote=ybitz]I just ordered it on ATT’s website. The tax was $52.41 on the last page for order confirmation…looks like they are charging tax on unsubsidized prices now :([/quote]
Looks like this is new as of the last few weeks as I never had happen to me before.
Anyway, I ordered a couple more iPhones and I can confirm the above.
So I shipped the phones to my friend’s place in Chicago and it’s only $14.43 tax. I’m going to Chicago anyway but he could ship them back to me and I would still save money. Too bad I don’t have any good friend in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire or Oregon.
Sorry, California, we need to starve the beast so the less money they get from me, the better. 😉
briansd1
July 27, 2009 @
3:08 PM
Here’s an interesting post by Here’s an interesting post by Scott Lewis at VOSD.
Did anyone go to Comic-Con? Did you experience any problem?
I wonder if wifi was available inside the convention center during the event.
You might have heard about some complaints among users of iPhones about the phone and data service they are able to get with their AT&T plans (full disclosure: I am a new iPhone user and I love it). AT&T recently announced plans to bolster its service in Los Angeles and New York to squash — at least temporarily — what was becoming an uproar.
But little old San Diego isn’t as high of a priority. At least not until now. With Comic-Con — the massive nerd fest that last year brought 126,000 visitors to San Diego — is just around the corner, AT&T and others suddenly were worried that this would probably mean a lot of iPhones coming to a very small geographic area.
You don’t want to anger these people.
I called Steven Johnson, the spokesman of the San Diego Convention Center, if it were true that officials were worried about the iPhone convergence.
“True and resolved,” he said after checking. Johnson said that AT&T was rolling in apparatuses known as COWs, or “cell sites on wheels” that will be located actually inside the convention center to provide the needed bandwidth.
There has been much discussion about the needs of Comic-Con. It will supposedly outgrow the San Diego Convention Center and this has pushed local boosters into action hoping to expand the facility.
This is a reminder that there are other infrastructure needs in this town — a place that once tried to market itself as “Bandwidth Bay.”
Coronita
July 8, 2009 @
4:31 PM
ybitz wrote:Any tips on [quote=ybitz]Any tips on getting an iphone 3gs without paying for the pesky upgrade fee? I’m out-of-contract, and have been a ATT customer for 4 years, if that matters.
Is it really true that if you order iphone online on ATT that you don’t have to pay taxes? Tax is significant, since it’s based on pre-subsidized price of the phone.[/quote]
Negotiate, and see if you say you’re going to verizon helps.
When I just upgraded my sprint phone, I asked to have all those bogus upgrade fees waived. They did, even though I’m on a $0/month plan.
briansd1
July 8, 2009 @
4:46 PM
Here is the link for you to Here is the link for you to enter your work or school email to see if you qualify for corporate discount, with and individual responsibility account.
I’m able to get a 15% discount with my alma mater. I had to use my .edu email account.
Of course, this would assume that Apple users actually are smart enough to realize they are paying more for an inferior device……..unlikely!
sd_matt
October 19, 2009 @
2:32 PM
Is Verizon going to adopt the Is Verizon going to adopt the iPhone?
briansd1
October 19, 2009 @
2:34 PM
Downtowner, I’d be the first Downtowner, I’d be the first to jump ship if there were a better product than the iphone.
I’m cheap and I like to get value for the money. But as long as there’s a subsidy from Apple or AT&T, the iPhone is still king.
The iPhone has so far been the cheapest cell phone I’ve used. I’ve purchased and sold iPhones and I’ve made money so far. The iPhone is the only phone that retains resale value.
Geeks love to tinker. And the ability to change handsets is one great feature of GSM phones.
The need to register a phone with Verizon takes all the fun out of it. With CDMA, you can’t pop a buddy’s sim card into your phone to test out things.
Doofrat
October 26, 2009 @
6:46 AM
You can easily create ring You can easily create ring tones for free using itunes and sync them to your iPhone:
Edit: Nov 6 is the date.[/quote]
Looked impressive until Engadget compared web loading for engadget.com (super-intensive home page) for iphone and droid. Droid lost by 10 seconds! Processor too slow, next year new processor should make it near perfect.
But should be big seller now. This phone could revolutionize the market.
Have you written any apps for 2.0 yet Flu?
an
October 30, 2009 @
10:04 AM
I probably won’t get it on I probably won’t get it on Nov. 6 but definitely will get it in the next 2-3 months. equalizer, yes, it is slower than the 3Gs in loading pages on Wi-Fi. But if you use your phone in non WiFi area, there’s 5x more likely you’ll have 3G speed w/ VZW vs AT&T. That and it has built in free NAV. That’s a $60 option for the iPhone. Then there’s Google latitude, Google Voice, qwerty keyboard. I’m very excited about this phone.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
8:50 AM
AN wrote:I probably won’t get [quote=AN]I probably won’t get it on Nov. 6 but definitely will get it in the next 2-3 months. equalizer, yes, it is slower than the 3Gs in loading pages on Wi-Fi. But if you use your phone in non WiFi area, there’s 5x more likely you’ll have 3G speed w/ VZW vs AT&T. That and it has built in free NAV. That’s a $60 option for the iPhone. Then there’s Google latitude, Google Voice, qwerty keyboard. I’m very excited about this phone.[/quote]Rationalization. I guess speed matters except when it doesn’t? Also, on the big keyboard issue, do you know a lot of people who don’t love the touch screen keyboard once they’ve started using it? Do you really have multiple iPhones and have you really used them?
Coronita
October 30, 2009 @
10:17 PM
equalizer wrote:flu [quote=equalizer][quote=flu]Bump… So Nov5 i believe is the launch of Droid.
Anyone gonna get one?
I’ve decided that I’m going to get this, mainly because I need to support the platform when I do my own work, heh heh…
Technical note: this will be the first android phone running on the new 2.0 code base aka eclair.
Edit: Nov 6 is the date.[/quote]
Looked impressive until Engadget compared web loading for engadget.com (super-intensive home page) for iphone and droid. Droid lost by 10 seconds! Processor too slow, next year new processor should make it near perfect.
But should be big seller now. This phone could revolutionize the market.
Have you written any apps for 2.0 yet Flu?[/quote]
Some for fun, but I mainly work on the kernel…This is an good platform. What will be interesting is that this will definitely speed convergence of device makers. It’s just interesting reading about how traditionally non-phone companies want to play in the space now.
There is estimated 50+ android phones that will be hitting the market over the near term…Great news for consumers, even better news for folks that are needed to write the stuff to make it all work.
There’s no point in working on the iphone imho at this point. It’s way too saturated, your chances of coming up with one killer app is very slim. There is no question, android platform is here to stay for awhile. Growth is overseas in asia, where smartphones are more rampant there.
It probably also explains why Nokia is <$13/share.
an
October 30, 2009 @
10:20 PM
flu, that list is very flu, that list is very impressive. I think WinMo 6.5 supposed to have 30 phones released in the near term as well (not sure if it’ll be all US or not). I think that’s how MSFT and GOOG will battle AAPL. They’re not looking for one killer phone, although it would be nice to have, but when you have 30-50 phones competing w/ 1, it shouldn’t be too hard to gain market share. Smart phones today is where feature phones were a few years ago. However, the shelf life will be much longer.
Coronita
October 30, 2009 @
10:31 PM
AN wrote:flu, that list is [quote=AN]flu, that list is very impressive. I think WinMo 6.5 supposed to have 30 phones released in the near term as well (not sure if it’ll be all US or not). I think that’s how MSFT and GOOG will battle AAPL. They’re not looking for one killer phone, although it would be nice to have, but when you have 30-50 phones competing w/ 1, it shouldn’t be too hard to gain market share. Smart phones today is where feature phones were a few years ago. However, the shelf life will be much longer.[/quote]
Yeah, I feel bad for Nokia. I think they’re screwed. Arrogance of going alone with their own platform is gonna kill them. RIMM is probably going to holdout ok because of the heavy business users.
I think the above list highlights another key thing. This industry just like the rest of the tech industry is extremely competitive. Yes, $200 might seem a lot for a phone. But there’s like 50+ phones competing for that same dollar. Funny, considering that with everything else rising in price with inflation, tech is the only thing for which we’re doing more /costing less all the time. If that’s not insanity for working in an industry for which there is always downward pressure, I don’t know what is.
Google is also messing with all the GPS companies. See, companies like Garmin, etc won’t have a choice but to play in this phone space too, especially when google starts pulling disruptive things like offering turn by turn mapping app for free
flu wrote:
Yeah, I feel bad [quote=flu]
Yeah, I feel bad for Nokia. I think they’re screwed. Arrogance of going alone with their own platform is gonna kill them. RIMM is probably going to holdout ok because of the heavy business users.
I think the above list highlights another key thing. This industry just like the rest of the tech industry is extremely competitive. Yes, $200 might seem a lot for a phone. But there’s like 50+ phones competing for that same dollar. Funny, considering that with everything else rising in price with inflation, tech is the only thing for which we’re doing more /costing less all the time. If that’s not insanity for working in an industry for which there is always downward pressure, I don’t know what is.
Google is also messing with all the GPS companies. See, companies like Garmin, etc won’t have a choice but to play in this phone space too, especially when google starts pulling disruptive things like offering turn by turn mapping app for free
http://gizmodo.com/5393935/google-navigator-for-android-review-good-for-free-but-far-from-perfect?skyline=true&s=x%5B/quote%5D
I don’t feel bad for Nokia at all. They dug their own grave. So did MOT, but at least they’re pulling themselves out of this one rather quickly. Only way I can see NOK being able to compete is for them to get on board w/ either WinMo or Android. Symbian might be fine when there’s no competition, but I don’t think it can compete when all of these OEM will be bringing Android and WinMo to compete with them.
RIM might be fine now, but I have a feeling they have a very small opportunity (1-2 years) to get their platform ahead of the pack again, or else, they’ll fall behind, just like Symbian. In term of technological advancement, I think RIM’s OS is on the slowest path. They’re enjoying business user today, but MSFT w/ WinMo 7 (complete rewrite) and Android 2.0 (and beyond) are on a much faster path of improvement. It wouldn’t be long when the line of business and personal phone blur and you’ll end up w/ a do it all phone with an easy to use UI (w/in 2 years).
briansd1
October 31, 2009 @
6:49 AM
AN wrote:
I don’t feel bad [quote=AN]
I don’t feel bad for Nokia at all. They dug their own grave. So did MOT[/quote]
I agree.
It’ll be hard to compete with the iPhones unless the competition is much cheaper.
I agree with FLU that the action for the Droid phones is in Asia where the phones are not so heavily subsidized.
But if you’re an American customer, would your rather pay $200 for an iPhone (which you can always resell for more); or would you rather pay also $200 for a currently inferior competing smart phone?
The choice is pretty simple in my opinion.
an
October 31, 2009 @
9:26 AM
briansd1 wrote:
But if you’re [quote=briansd1]
But if you’re an American customer, would your rather pay $200 for an iPhone (which you can always resell for more); or would you rather pay also $200 for a currently inferior competing smart phone?
The choice is pretty simple in my opinion.[/quote]
Yep, the choice is quite clear to me. That’s why I’ll be switching to VZW soon and get the Droid. So sick and tired of AT&T, finally, there’s a phone that is on par w/ the iPhone and a network that is FAR superior than AT&T.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
8:58 AM
AN wrote:Yep, the choice is [quote=AN]Yep, the choice is quite clear to me. That’s why I’ll be switching to VZW soon and get the Droid. So sick and tired of AT&T, finally, there’s a phone that is on par w/ the iPhone and a network that is FAR superior than AT&T.[/quote]Let me know how you and the other guy who buys one like it.
CDMA ENG
October 31, 2009 @
6:09 PM
briansd1 wrote:AN wrote:
I [quote=briansd1][quote=AN]
I don’t feel bad for Nokia at all. They dug their own grave. So did MOT[/quote]
I agree.
It’ll be hard to compete with the iPhones unless the competition is much cheaper.
I agree with FLU that the action for the Droid phones is in Asia where the phones are not so heavily subsidized.
But if you’re an American customer, would your rather pay $200 for an iPhone (which you can always resell for more); or would you rather pay also $200 for a currently inferior competing smart phone?
The choice is pretty simple in my opinion.[/quote]
That is too simplistic of an idea. While it is your opinion almost every iPhone user I have ran into says the same thing. That they are either leaving once the contract is up OR that if it wasn’t for the iPhone they would have never bought ATT. The iPhone created a paradigm shift in the industry were they bought a phone over a network. That exiperment is running its course and we are beginning to see a movement away from that with the introducion of new phones.
Lastly the iPhone is not considered a business PDA. RIM with the Blackberry leads the way in that and we monitor our capacity with each new launch of this phone. Essentially very few bussines accounts are iPhones.
Still considered a kiddies phone by many.
Just the facts from a industry insider.
CE
briansd1
October 31, 2009 @
7:24 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:
That is too [quote=CDMA ENG]
That is too simplistic of an idea. While it is your opinion almost every iPhone user I have ran into says the same thing. That they are either leaving once the contract is up OR that if it wasn’t for the iPhone they would have never bought ATT. The iPhone created a paradigm shift in the industry were they bought a phone over a network. That exiperment is running its course and we are beginning to see a movement away from that with the introducion of new phones.
[/quote]
I doubt it.
Apple’s obituary has been written many time before. But they proved people wrong.
Honestly, I’ve used the iPhone everywhere in tethered mode and 3G has always been excellent.
I even stream audio on the go in my car without problems.
I know that San Diego is a CDMA town but I doubt Verizon’s network is that much better than AT&T.
Perhaps Verizon is better in fly-over country but that’s hardly the market for smart phones.
Besides, most people download big apps on their PCs or indoors where they use wifi.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Lastly the iPhone is not considered a business PDA. RIM with the Blackberry leads the way in that and we monitor our capacity with each new launch of this phone. Essentially very few bussines accounts are iPhones.
Still considered a kiddies phone by many.
[/quote]
Sure, because the middle age fuddy duddy business men don’t know how to use a computer (which the iPhone is). The youth and fashion market are driving marginal phone sales. In a saturated market, the marginal sale makes all the difference.
I remember back in the days when PCs had to be smuggled into the corporation or bought w/ departmental petty cash because MIS (at the time) would here not of it. But the PCs won because of the flexibility it offers.
The iPhone can access corporate emails just fine. And people now are resorting to forwarding to yahoo and gmail for the push notification features.
The City of LA just outsourced their whole email system to gmail.
When a teenager gets to high school and gets a cell phone, the phone of choice is an iPhone. For the same $200, he’s not going to want a competing smart phone.
Time will tell…
an
October 31, 2009 @
9:12 PM
briansd1 wrote:
I know that [quote=briansd1]
I know that San Diego is a CDMA town but I doubt Verizon’s network is that much better than AT&T.
Perhaps Verizon is better in fly-over country but that’s hardly the market for smart phones.
Besides, most people download big apps on their PCs or indoors where they use wifi. [/quote]
VZW is MUCH better than AT&T in Mira Mesa. Has always been and continue to be.
I hardly consider downtown Chicago to be fly-over country. Good luck trying to get signal there. AT&T signal is HORRIBLE in Palmsprings too. Trying to use Google map to get direction when in Palmsprings is epic fail. But I guess Palmsprings can be considered fly-over country to some.
When your network suck, you would have to depend on WiFi. When you get 3G everywhere, then it’ll be just as fast if not faster than some people’s WiFi.
No one is writing Apple’s obituary. The smart phone market is still growing and there’s plenty of room for more competition. Competition is great for consumers.
temeculaguy
November 1, 2009 @
12:48 AM
I carry both verizon and att I carry both verizon and att (and have for years) because I can never be without a signal, I’ve seen the commercials about verizon’s network but my in my real life usage, it’s a tie. What’s not a tie is the iphone, every competing device is inferior and I am am one of those middle aged dudes. In fact, I think the older you get, the more apple is appealing because of it’s simplicity and support.
I used to hate Joe Montana, hated him for more than a decade because he was better than the rest, he won and he made the teams I loved look bad. Joe Montana is the iphone, just accept it, enjoy second place and realize that god says you will never be as good no matter what. All other phones and phone makers are chasing what seems to come so easily for iphone/Montana. Montana doesn’t sweat, he doesn’t get nervous and he will beat you no matter what you think or feel. It’s taken me almost twenty years to appreciate Montana and to understand why I hated him. Odds are there is an app for that.
Competition may be great for consumers and football fans but there will never be another Joe and there will never be another iphone, the sooner you accept that fact, the sooner the pain will go away.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
9:07 AM
temeculaguy wrote:Everything [quote=temeculaguy]Everything he said[/quote]As usual, temeculaguy’s got it spot on.
briansd1
November 1, 2009 @
6:32 AM
AN wrote:
I hardly consider [quote=AN]
I hardly consider downtown Chicago to be fly-over country. Good luck trying to get signal there. [/quote]
Oh, come on. My good friend lives in Downtown Chicago and he’s has AT&T after having Sprint and Verizon. His job requires constant communication and he doesn’t even have a land-line.
My friend in NJ, outside NY, has Verizon but it doesn’t work well at his new house. He’s having to switch to AT&T.
Like TG said it’s about a tie.
an
November 1, 2009 @
8:54 AM
briansd1 wrote:
Oh, come on. [quote=briansd1]
Oh, come on. My good friend lives in Downtown Chicago and he’s has AT&T after having Sprint and Verizon. His job requires constant communication and he doesn’t even have a land-line.
My friend in NJ, outside NY, has Verizon but it doesn’t work well at his new house. He’s having to switch to AT&T.
Like TG said it’s about a tie.[/quote]
All I know is I had no signal walking around millennium park and several other touristy areas. BTW, not all phones are created equal. My wife’s old BB Pearl gets 1-2 bar in my house while my iPhone, both 2G and 3Gs gets 0-1 bar in the exact same area at the exact same time.
TG, it really depends what you want out of your phone. I have both the iPhone 2G and 3Gs, so I know exactly what iPhone does well compare to the competition. I also know what it doesn’t do well. To use sport analogy, Kobe might be the iPhone but if you want blocks, rebounds, FG%, you’d be looking toward Dwight Howard instead. There can be more than 1 superstar. It really depends on what you need out of your phone. If you want a real qwerty keyboard, it doesn’t matter how well the iPhone virtual keyboard work, it won’t satisfy your wants. If you live in a poor signal area provided by AT&T and VZW has great signal where you live, it doesn’t matter how great the iPhone apps are, it’s not what you need. If you want Facebook integration into your phone, there’s an app for that, but it’s not tightly integrated. I’m loving my 3Gs, but I’m also looking forward to the Droid too. Just like I love to have Kobe on my fantasy team but I love to have Howard too.
briansd1
November 1, 2009 @
12:42 PM
AN wrote: I’m loving my 3Gs, [quote=AN] I’m loving my 3Gs, but I’m also looking forward to the Droid too. Just like I love to have Kobe on my fantasy team but I love to have Howard too.[/quote]
AN i’m not dissing the Droid phones. There’s a market for them for sure.
But at the same price as an iPhone?? I would choose the iPhone.
If you have money to spare and can buy new phones easily, that’s not a big deal. But most consumers do care.
We’ll just have to see in a couple of years….
an
November 1, 2009 @
12:47 PM
My brother was looking My brother was looking forward to upgrade to the iPhone 3Gs until I told him about the Droid. He’ll be upgrading to the Droid soon too. The 2 feature that swayed him is full qwerty and free nav.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
9:06 AM
AN wrote:I hardly consider [quote=AN]I hardly consider downtown Chicago to be fly-over country. Good luck trying to get signal there.[/quote]debunked
CDMA ENG
November 1, 2009 @
11:40 AM
briansd1 wrote:CDMA ENG [quote=briansd1][quote=CDMA ENG]
That is too simplistic of an idea. While it is your opinion almost every iPhone user I have ran into says the same thing. That they are either leaving once the contract is up OR that if it wasn’t for the iPhone they would have never bought ATT. The iPhone created a paradigm shift in the industry were they bought a phone over a network. That exiperment is running its course and we are beginning to see a movement away from that with the introducion of new phones.
[/quote]
I doubt it.
Apple’s obituary has been written many time before. But they proved people wrong.
Honestly, I’ve used the iPhone everywhere in tethered mode and 3G has always been excellent.
I even stream audio on the go in my car without problems.
I know that San Diego is a CDMA town but I doubt Verizon’s network is that much better than AT&T.
Perhaps Verizon is better in fly-over country but that’s hardly the market for smart phones.
Besides, most people download big apps on their PCs or indoors where they use wifi.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Lastly the iPhone is not considered a business PDA. RIM with the Blackberry leads the way in that and we monitor our capacity with each new launch of this phone. Essentially very few bussines accounts are iPhones.
Still considered a kiddies phone by many.
[/quote]
Sure, because the middle age fuddy duddy business men don’t know how to use a computer (which the iPhone is). The youth and fashion market are driving marginal phone sales. In a saturated market, the marginal sale makes all the difference.
I remember back in the days when PCs had to be smuggled into the corporation or bought w/ departmental petty cash because MIS (at the time) would here not of it. But the PCs won because of the flexibility it offers.
The iPhone can access corporate emails just fine. And people now are resorting to forwarding to yahoo and gmail for the push notification features.
The City of LA just outsourced their whole email system to gmail.
When a teenager gets to high school and gets a cell phone, the phone of choice is an iPhone. For the same $200, he’s not going to want a competing smart phone.
Time will tell…[/quote]
Well you are citing opion. I am citing what we have seen in customer surveys.
Also most of the young professionals I know still prefer BB over iPhones. Remember there is also a preception as to the iPhone. BB represent the business class phones represents youth… That is just the way it is…
CDMA ENG
November 1, 2009 @
11:48 AM
Ohh… Lastly… I see the Ohh… Lastly… I see the Nelson/Telephia third party drive test data for San Diego regualry…
You know who is consistently at the bottom?
Its not Sprint, or Verizon…
And Cricket is not even considered in the scoring.
Just suck it up… You picked a bad network…
As far as bars goes… That’s just phooey! The scoring system is different between technologies and is interference dependent. Bars use to indicate signal strength… Now they represent (at least in UMTS and CDMA) signal to noise ratios. Signal to Noise is temporal and depends on the load of the site. Your bars can change vastly before your eyes. In general the more bars the better but really… They are just a feel good for the customer anymore and its just a little more useful than a check engine light.
CE
briansd1
November 1, 2009 @
12:47 PM
CDMA ENG wrote: Your bars [quote=CDMA ENG] Your bars can change vastly before your eyes. In general the more bars the better but really… They are just a feel good for the customer anymore and its just a little more useful than a check engine light.
CE[/quote]
The check engine light is very critical, especially on OBDII cars.
The new cars are now CAN, so a check engine light is definitely something to worry about.
CDMA ENG wrote:That is too [quote=CDMA ENG]That is too simplistic of an idea. While it is your opinion almost every iPhone user I have ran into says the same thing. That they are either leaving once the contract is up OR that if it wasn’t for the iPhone they would have never bought ATT. The iPhone created a paradigm shift in the industry were they bought a phone over a network. That exiperment is running its course and we are beginning to see a movement away from that with the introducion of new phones.
Lastly the iPhone is not considered a business PDA. RIM with the Blackberry leads the way in that and we monitor our capacity with each new launch of this phone. Essentially very few bussines accounts are iPhones.
Still considered a kiddies phone by many.
Just the facts from a industry insider.
CE[/quote]I think you industry insiders are just too close to things. On one hand you say people went to AT&T (a decidely inferior network I guess) just to get an iPhone, but when their contract is up, they’ll be ditching their iPhone? Exactly what survey was that? I’m sure everybody would like their phone to work everywhere (even in Verizon-land), but I don’t see any significant number of people walking from their iPhones.
You are correct about the perceptions of Blackberry users and they’re the toughest converts (even if they’re misguided), but I can tell you I don’t know of a single person who’s gone from iPhone to Blackberry, but plenty the other way. I’m sure there’s at least one guy, but he’s just the exception that proves the rule.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
8:57 AM
AN wrote:It wouldn’t be long [quote=AN]It wouldn’t be long when the line of business and personal phone blur and you’ll end up w/ a do it all phone with an easy to use UI (w/in 2 years).[/quote]This phone exists today. It’s called an iPhone, you should check it out.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
8:55 AM
AN wrote:flu, that list is [quote=AN]flu, that list is very impressive. I think WinMo 6.5 supposed to have 30 phones released in the near term as well (not sure if it’ll be all US or not). I think that’s how MSFT and GOOG will battle AAPL. They’re not looking for one killer phone, although it would be nice to have, but when you have 30-50 phones competing w/ 1, it shouldn’t be too hard to gain market share. Smart phones today is where feature phones were a few years ago. However, the shelf life will be much longer.[/quote]Read my previous post. You understand you’re saying if you can’t come up with one solid product, come out with 50. That’s a winner. It’s been a proven winner for Microsoft so far, yeah?
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
8:54 AM
flu [quote=flu]dell,acer,garmin,asus,huawei. The list keeps growing and growing.
There is estimated 50+ android phones that will be hitting the market over the near term…Great news for consumers, even better news for folks that are needed to write the stuff to make it all work.
1. Acer Liquid – A1 – November
2. Compulab Exeda
3. Dell Ophone mini3i – Benzine
4. Geek Phone One
5. General Mobile DSTL1
.
.
.
48. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 Rachael
49. Sunno S880 – October 15th
50. Tiger G3
There’s no point in working on the iphone imho at this point. It’s way too saturated, your chances of coming up with one killer app is very slim. There is no question, android platform is here to stay for awhile. Growth is overseas in asia, where smartphones are more rampant there.[/quote]This is a bad thing for Android, not good. Platform proliferation is a problem. Basically, they’re competing with WinMo. That’s a big fat who cares (outside of Microsoft and Google factories).
Killer apps are killer apps. If you had one, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be successful on the iPhone.
CDMA ENG
November 2, 2009 @
7:32 AM
I guess in the end I should I guess in the end I should concede this…
iPhone was/is the most brillant phone to date. It was a quantum leap over anything out there…
But it raised the bar and the bar will be reset at some point.
CE
briansd1
November 2, 2009 @
2:33 PM
It will be interesting to It will be interesting to watch the iPhone, not as an AT&T vs. Verizon contest, but as and Apple vs. Android smart phones.
You can buy a subsidized 3G iPhone for $99 now.
Suppose you’re already with with AT&T or some other carrier abroad. Would you get the iPHone or a competing Android for the same price?
I’m not saying that Apple should rest on its laurels. We all know what happened to Palm. And the Apple Newton didn’t make it.
As far the network is concerned, I know that the are tons of iPhones with T-Mobile. They offer the cheapest voice/data plans and the unlocked iPhones work perfectly well with their network.
I have a suspicion that, notwithstanding the exclusive agreement with AT&T, Apple wants people to unlock/jailbreak their iPhones because that drives sales and market share. A little bit of “piracy” is actually good for business.
all
November 5, 2009 @
12:44 PM
I did few internal apps for I did few internal apps for WinMo 5.0 few years ago and I am porting to iPhone right now. Coding against WinMo managed API’s was much easier, the MS tools were more advanced and the device was much easier to work with. Out-of-the-box multithreading support, access to native API’s, managed memory, etc… And that was months before iPhone was announced. About 30% of employees had WinMo devices. I really thought MS is going to kick butts with the platform and it is really painful for me to see how ubiquitous the Apple device is today. But somehow they managed to compose some classic features like multi-touch into a cool UI and bring them to the masses. Most people actually believe that Apple invented multi-touch.
I work in Internet Marketing, where small business with 5-20 employees are dominant and it feels like almost everyone has an iPhone. I just came back from ad:tech NY and the iPhone is so ubiquitous that I notice when someone does not have it. In my company of 18 people only four has a non-iPhone phone.
I find it very limiting if it is not jail-broken, but my wife loves it and that seems to be the common feeling. People are emotional about the device. It’s like Joe Montana meets the one ring to rule them all.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
1:34 PM
Since photographic evidence Since photographic evidence seems to be in order…
sdcellar, I will be buying the Droid, not for me but for my wife (same difference in my eyes). I’m not complaining about the iPhone, I’m complaining about AT&T. If the 3Gs is on VZW right now, I would be less excited about the Droid. Since it’s not, I’m very excited about the Droid. I’m also not really complaining. I like what was given to me. I’m merely pointing out the iPhone is not a Jesus phone and it does have its failures. Here’s my screen cap:
[img_assist|nid=12248|title=usage|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=320|height=480]
Another interesting tidbit is, you made 6 days worth of calls in 2 years and I made 4 days worth of calls in 2 months.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
2:49 PM
That’s 3000 minutes a month. That’s 3000 minutes a month. My ear would fall off.
Again, pretty stunning usage numbers on such a godawful network.
And nobody have said the iPhone was flawless (so let’s lose the tired “Jesus phone” moniker), just that it kicks the ass of every other product out there. The best part is that it came from outside the “industry”.
and yeah, I didn’t care who was buying the droid, just who would be using it. Is your wife excited about it?
an
November 5, 2009 @
2:54 PM
You gotta do what you gotta You gotta do what you gotta do. Can’t tell people to stop calling me.
It did kicks the ass out of every phone. I’m not refuting that it was a game changer. Same with the RAZR, the StarTac, etc. Every few years, there’s a game changer in this industry. iPhone no longer is head and shoulder above everything phone out there, now that there’s the Droid. In a few months, there will be a slew of device running on Snapdragon that will make the 3Gs feel slow. That’s why I love competition. One company come out w/ game changer and w/in 2-3 years, the rest of the players will catch up and another game changer will arise. BTW, Google is outside of the “industry” too.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
3:08 PM
I wouldn’t confuse market I wouldn’t confuse market leaders of the moment with game changers. Both of the Motorola products that you mention could have been so much more than they were, even considering the eras in which they shined.
Not saying another truly gamechanging device won’t come along, but don’t know what it is yet.
Google is indeed outside of the industry as was Microsoft before it. What they should have done was controlled every last bit of it like Apple has done. This, of course, assumes that the droid won’t be taking off like wildfire, which I’m pretty sure you understand is my current position.
an
November 5, 2009 @
3:26 PM
Sorry but I have to disagree, Sorry but I have to disagree, game changer usually lead the market. There are so many thing the iPhone could have done that would make it perfect. A game changer is a device that make the rest of the competition go back to the drawing board and come up w/ a competitor to it. Those 2 MOT phones were just that.
What control are you talking about? Market share or their platform? Apple doesn’t control the smart phone market share. It’s the fastest selling phone, but RIM has more US smart phone market share and Symbian has more global smart phone market share. Google is not expecting the Droid to outsell the iPhone. That’s not their strategy. They expect 50 Android phones to outsell the iPhone.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
3:45 PM
Actually, my point was that Actually, my point was that game changers do lead the market, but it doesn’t always work the other way around (think best of the worst). You might have something with the StarTAC (even with it’s _awful_ UI), but while I suppose some idiots might have been trying to catch up to the RAZR, iPhone settled for true innovation. I mean seriuosly, how is the RAZR not just a prettier version of their own damn obsolete product. Cool keyboard I guess.
Companies can’t control market share, just products, and Apple has done precisely that. I contend that Google should shoot for one phone that outsells the iPhone. Heck, there isn’t even just one “droid” phone. From what I understand, they’ve had a bigger hand in the moto droid, but they should do it all, soup to nuts, like Apple did. As I see it, it kind gives them an out, which is a shame.
an
November 5, 2009 @
4:04 PM
RAZR innovation is in the RAZR innovation is in the hardware, not the software. up until the RAZR, if you want a flip phone, you have to deal w/ thick & bulky phones. The RAZR revolutionized the industry by bringing in thin and sleek.
Google and MSFT do not want to do it all. They can’t do 30-50 phones a year like they’ll be getting in the next year. I don’t like the soup to nuts model and I don’t think they do either. They’re not looking for an out, especially when you see how much $ they dump into it. They just have a different business model than Apple. You don’t see MSFT creating a MSFT PC, do you? BTW, w/ WinMo 7, MSFT does get close to soup to nuts. They just wont be providing the broth or the bowl :-).
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
4:18 PM
Yes, I know what the RAZR Yes, I know what the RAZR was. Bo-ring. They’ve never innovated in software. At least not that you’ve heard from me.
iPhone, innovation across the board. Hardware, software, neat-o.
PCs and phones are apples and oranges. What Microsoft had done in the PC space made complete sense. Again, I wouldn’t point to Microsoft as the paragon of success in the phone space, with that being a good model for Google to emulate. It could change, but again, Microsoft had been in phones for years and Apple came in and kicked their ass. I know MS dumps a lot of money into it; they get a lot back too. The second tier phones need something and it’s certainly a valid way to go.
I acutally like all of these companies (MS, Apple, Google), but if I were Google, I would take Apple straight on. But they’re not and it’s sad (to me, at least).
an
November 5, 2009 @
4:51 PM
The millions who bought the The millions who bought the RAZR and brought MOT back from the brink of bankruptcy didn’t agree with you. So, we’ll just leave it at that.
Yes, the iPhone had innovation across the board, no denying about that. Just like any other game changers, it’s great, but it has plenty of weakness. However, its strength out weight its weakness. Hence its sale numbers.
I personally think Google made the right choice going the PC route vs the Mac route. Why emulate the smaller market share fish when there are bigger fish to emulate (RIM and Symbian). Emulate the leader and do better than the leader and you’ll be the leader. Apple is not the leader in the smart phone arena, even though they have the best selling smart phone. We’ll see next year if their decision is correct or not. The numbers will speak for itself.
sdcellar
November 5, 2009 @
5:25 PM
Guess we’ll just have to Guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree. The industry had been trying to do smart phones for ten years and never got it right. In the same amount of time, Moto made a thinner StarTAC. No doubt it helped them, but to put what they did (even considering the time) in the same league with the iPhone, I just can’t do it.
On the other, agree that the numbers will speak for themselves, so guess we’ll just have to see. We’ll get our first barometer when we hear how long the lines are for the droid.
an
November 5, 2009 @
5:44 PM
Ten years trying to do smart Ten years trying to do smart phones? Really? Are you sure? What do you mean they never got it right?
equalizer
November 5, 2009 @
8:07 PM
AN wrote:Ten years trying to [quote=AN]Ten years trying to do smart phones? Really? Are you sure? What do you mean they never got it right?[/quote]
Qualcomm pdq smartphone designed in 1998 and released in 1999. How was
surfing the net on that monochrome STN?
equalizer wrote:AN wrote:Ten [quote=equalizer][quote=AN]Ten years trying to do smart phones? Really? Are you sure? What do you mean they never got it right?[/quote]
Qualcomm pdq smartphone designed in 1998 and released in 1999. How was
surfing the net on that monochrome STN?
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1150&c=qualcomm_pdq_800%5B/quote%5D
Must be amazing surfing the net using 16MHz processor. That was definitely a game changer for smart phone :-). I can’t believe 1st cell phone came out 25 years ago. I guess it took 25 years and an industry outsider to get it right.
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
9:50 AM
I think you might just I think you might just finally be getting it.
an
November 6, 2009 @
9:58 AM
Yep, then the next game Yep, then the next game changer comes along, I can say that all over again.
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
10:01 AM
????
There’s a reason I said ????
There’s a reason I said “might”.
an
November 6, 2009 @
10:19 AM
Yep, and there’s a reason why Yep, and there’s a reason why you don’t get it.
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
10:28 AM
From the guy who knows so From the guy who knows so much about the industry, but is somehow unaware of nascent smartphone efforts.
The reason I pick on you so much is that you have an uncanny knack for losing debates and when you finally come around, make it sound like you had it right all along.
an
November 6, 2009 @
10:37 AM
You must be smoking something You must be smoking something really good. Wanna share? Must be nice living in your bubble. I win, you lose. You do have a knack for losing debates. Sorry you can’t pick up sarcasm over the internet.
BTW, a quick search on Wiki will tell you the first smart phone was made in 1992, not 1999. That’s way before my time.
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
10:42 AM
Oh, I also forgot to mention Oh, I also forgot to mention you’re also a cliche thief (i.e. bubble living). Things I say must resonate with you because you seem to happily start to re-apply them. It might work better if you used them on someone else.
I pick up every bit of your sarcasm. It’s just weak.
on your re-edit, stoked that you’ve discovered Google. There is a difference between knowing and learning. I know plenty about early smartphones. You, obviously, are just now learning.
an
November 6, 2009 @
10:43 AM
Yes master, please show us Yes master, please show us the way to your wealth of knowledge.
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
10:47 AM
Did you learn something Did you learn something today?
an
November 6, 2009 @
11:05 AM
I think I’ve learned I think I’ve learned something but I’m not sure. My puny brain is trying its best comprehend the vast information you have, but it’s failing. First, you said the industry took 10 years to get the smart phone right, but then the smart phone came out 17 years ago. Please clarify in simple term so us commoner can understand why 17 years become 10 years. Did they get it right 11 years ago and the the information disappeared and they have to start from scratch again? Can you enlighten me as to where will the smart phone market be next year? Will the Droid be dead in the water? I have a thirst for your knowledge, please don’t deprive me.
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
2:08 PM
Did you learn anything today? Did you learn anything today?
an
November 6, 2009 @
2:17 PM
sdcellar wrote:Did you learn [quote=sdcellar]Did you learn anything today?[/quote]
Yes, 17 = 10.
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
2:32 PM
Yes, you seem to have Yes, you seem to have problems with the notion of rough approximation; remember our Piggington tenure debate? You should wikipedia approximation, orders of magnitude or something.
That said, maybe I’m not as far off as you think.
Now that you seem to be a domain expert, what are the two, count ’em two, significant features that Simon didn’t have that keep it from really qualifying as a smartphone (at least in my opinion)? Feel free to google/wikipedia Nokia Communicator, NeoPoint 1000, and the already mentioned Qualcomm pdQ.
Hint: One of the missing features makes _complete_ sense if you consider the year the Simon was introduced. The other will be harder to come by.
Oh, and if you want to force me to consider the Simon the first legitimate smartphone, I’m still not as far off as you think ‘cuz you suck at math, or at least fail to understand factual information.
an
November 6, 2009 @
2:51 PM
I knew it. My guts was I knew it. My guts was telling me 17 is not equal to 10.
Is the answer MMS and multitask?
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
2:58 PM
No and no. Let me know when No and no. Let me know when you want another hint.
an
November 6, 2009 @
3:01 PM
Sorry that went right over Sorry that went right over your head.
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
3:16 PM
Yeah, sorry my bad, I was Yeah, sorry my bad, I was actually starting to believe that you were even less intelligent than I’d given you credit for.
Good one on you then, the MMS “gag” at least fits for the first hint. If you chose it specifically because my beloved iPhone didn’t support it, even better! It also makes me wonder that if you actually are capable of such nuanced thought processes, why I don’t see more evidence of it?
Ready to try and answer for real?
an
November 6, 2009 @
3:18 PM
It might be interesting to It might be interesting to you to reminisce about devices in your earlier years, but I have as much interest in your question as I have learning about Apple IIe’s weaknesses. Both of them are way before my time. I was too busy playing with my toys to care at the time.
sdcellar
November 6, 2009 @
3:31 PM
and now you’re too busy and now you’re too busy playing with yourself.
Learn from history, dude, or be dooomed to repeat it.
What was the other one? Oh yeah, “Don’t come to a battle of wits armed with asianautica’s brain.”
an
November 6, 2009 @
3:37 PM
wits? That is funny. Your wits? That is funny. Your head is bigger than I thought. BTW, very appropriate to make sexual jokes about a minor.
briansd1
November 5, 2009 @
5:26 PM
AN wrote:The millions who [quote=AN]The millions who bought the RAZR and brought MOT back from the brink of bankruptcy didn’t agree with you. So, we’ll just leave it at that.[/quote]
I’m one of those who bought the Razr. Of course, I got all my friends relatives to buy too. The Razr was cool at first but it didn’t do anything but make calls. The software sucks.
an
November 5, 2009 @
3:00 PM
sdcellar wrote:and yeah, I [quote=sdcellar]and yeah, I didn’t care who was buying the droid, just who would be using it. Is your wife excited about it?[/quote]
Yes she is. She has been excited about the fact that she’ll be moving away from AT&T for a few weeks now. She has been using my old 2G for a couple of months and she hates the battery life on that thing. My brother will be getting one too. He’s excited about it too (he was going to get the 3Gs till I told him about the Droid).
Ok…Those reviews that said the browser was gonna be slow. That’s a bunch of hogwash. browser is fast. Turn by turn direction GPS is pretty good.
What is the suck is the camera which is slow, though having a flash is nice.
briansd1
November 11, 2009 @
10:33 PM
AN, I drove the other day on AN, I drove the other day on Sorrento to Calle Cristobal. No dropped call. Could be that AT&T fixed the reception in that area.
FLU, I look at the Droid. Not bad.
I don’t really like the qwerty keyboard. Would you better if they eliminated it and made the phone thinner. Can never be too sleek or too thin.
I’m so used to using iTunes now to download my podcasts that it’ll be hard for me to switch away from the iPhone.
Ok…Those reviews that said the browser was gonna be slow. That’s a bunch of hogwash. browser is fast. Turn by turn direction GPS is pretty good.
What is the suck is the camera which is slow, though having a flash is nice.[/quote]
You know FLU…
They said the same thing about the HTC Hero and everyone who has bought it loves it… How is that Droid? CNET puts it in the top five…
Is VZW charging for the turn by turn… Sprint sells it too… But what is different is that if you just want to download the free google mobile app Sprint would allow google to interface with the GPS chip and report location. VZW didn’t. Did google force the issue with VZW and unlock it?
Just curious…
CE
Coronita
November 11, 2009 @
11:21 PM
It’s pretty cool. I like it. It’s pretty cool. I like it. Honestly though, while the Droid is a good phone, I think it’s only so right now because it’s the first one running 2.0. MOT decided to leave most of the phone with the standard look and feel of the 2.0 codebase. (Most of the apps are almost identical to what comes from the 2.0 codebase). To me that’s seen 2.0 for awhile, I have to admit it was kind of a letdown. I thought MOT would have at least skinned/branded the phone to a distinct MOT way. So there’s room for improvement. The menus work plenty fast, and by default you get the animation that comes with 2.0. Browser works great. Camera, kinda slow, though pictures are decent.
I wish HTC had a phone right now that was running 2.0. HTC, heavily customizes their phones and skins them to a L&F that is an HTC specific way. I personally think HTC has a much slicker UI, and in time I think their phones will be better than the droid. But then again, I’m sure MOT isn’t going to be sitting idle and let that happen.
Google came out with a turn by turn app that is free. It appears that Google/Mot forced VZW to do this. And/or it’s a selling point VZW is pitching versus the iphone.
Lot’s of people complain about the Droid’s keyboard being too small. I guess I have small hands, because I prefer it to the virtual keyboard on the touch screen anyday.
Phone is heavier than a iphone, though I can’t really tell how much. Definitely not as polished as a iphone, though getting closer. I think it would have sold better if verizon didn’t charge $70/month for service.
HTC Hero is a good phone. Note though, there are two versions of it. Asia version is different from the U.S. version.
CDMA ENG
November 11, 2009 @
11:24 PM
What is the 2.0 codebase? What is the 2.0 codebase? Give me a free lesson FLU! 😛
CE
Coronita
November 12, 2009 @
12:23 AM
CDMA ENG wrote:What is the [quote=CDMA ENG]What is the 2.0 codebase? Give me a free lesson FLU! 😛
CE[/quote]
2.0 = Android O/S software version
O/S versions are
2.0 (eclair)
1.6 (donut)
1.5 (cupcake)
Pre 1.5 (who cares 🙂 )
Most things are running on 1.5 (Hero included). Currently, Droid is the only phone running O/S2.0. Aside from aesthetic improvements, 2.0 offers a richer API for app developers, and includes more APIS to hardware resources. Changes from 1.5->1.6 are less so. 2.0 has some significant changes at the kernel and introduces an account manager which touches several of the apps.
2.0 just came out for app developers. One of these days, android will catch up to what other phones already offer, lol.
CDMA ENG
November 12, 2009 @
8:25 AM
Bows to the Bows to the master…
Thanks…
All this time in the industry and never knew anything about that. Of course I am Air-Interface as opposed to actual hand-set.
CE
aldante
November 12, 2009 @
9:22 AM
Does anyone know if the Does anyone know if the I-phone can be jailbroken to use on Sprint?
CDMA ENG
November 12, 2009 @
9:44 AM
No. Different modulation No. Different modulation scheme. UMTS and CDMA while similar are not compatible. It is proably a software defined radio but it would require a entirely new set of code.
CE
briansd1
November 12, 2009 @
12:18 PM
For anyone interested here is For anyone interested here is the easy way to unlock/jailbreak the latest 3.1.2 OS.
If you travel obroad and want to use the iPhone using a foreign SIM (or T-Mobile) you need to unlock your iPhone.
In Cydia, be sure to the install the source: http://cydia.hackulo.us
Then install appsync for 3.1
If you have a password on your iPhone, put it in standby, then turn it back on and enter the password in between installs of Cydia, Rock, etc…
an
November 13, 2009 @
12:44 PM
Speedtest
VZW 3G vs AT&T 3G, [img_assist|nid=12306|title=Speedtest|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75]
VZW 3G vs AT&T 3G, both at full signal, using the same app, running next to each other at the same time. The number speaks for itself.
briansd1
November 13, 2009 @
12:56 PM
To be fair AN, 3G depends on To be fair AN, 3G depends on how far you’re located from the cell tower.
Sometimes, I get great 3G speed, sometimes not, depending on where I am.
Try wifi and see if the results are the same. They should be.
CDMA ENG
November 13, 2009 @
2:06 PM
Actually it has nothing to do Actually it has nothing to do with either of the two above statements.
It depends not only on RF conditions which the two phones roughly have but cannot be guarnteed but other factors.
Usually these are load (which has different meanings depending where you are in the OSI layer) and pipe dependent.
Usually load could mean two things. Condition of signal to noise ratios and scheduling. I am not very sure for UMTS but I believe it use the same TDMA overlay on a spread spectrum signal (CDMA WCDMA). You can have great RF conditions which the phone will show you as bars but if your neighbor is streaming Lady Gaga to his/her phone they can eat all the bandwidth up. In otherwords,if you are scheduled less often(again because of the TDMA nature of it)due to slightly weaker RF condiditons your through-put will be affected. Its simply refered to as Best Server. Best RF conditions get the most scheduling and therefore through-put.
The other thing is, simply, the pipe. So here is the industries dirty little seceret. While the air-interface could support just as much as would would like! For EVDO Rev A I believe it is close to 5 Mbits/s (I don’t have my EVDO book right here with me) and UMTS is similar… It simple doesn’t matter if the company is only bringing in 1 T1 to the site.
SO with 1.544 Mbps the raw bandwitdh of the pipe (T1)… and some of that eaten up for command and control of the Base Station Modem and the encapsulation… your bandwitdh at the application layer (AP layer being what you get as a user) is close to 1.2 Mbps.
That is about all you can get in both technologies given one T1 (which is extremely expensive to the carrier believe it or not).
2 T1s? 2.4 Mbps. and so forth and so on…
Most carrier run (for CDMA at least) 2 Spans per carrier signal in business areas. Your local home area is probably just 1.
So if VZW has 2 T1s and ATT only has 1 T1… Well you guess are smart… You can see the natuaraly conclusion to all of this…
Therefore it is a very tough to make all the variables similiar for testing.
Very hard to make a decesion about the whole network from one location.
Also in very good signal to noise enviroments distance to tower because less of an issue.
CE
briansd1
November 13, 2009 @
2:14 PM
Thanks for the explanation, Thanks for the explanation, CE. Makes sense.
sdcellar
November 13, 2009 @
2:45 PM
yeah, and you tested the yeah, and you tested the iPhone against an SD server and the droid against LA!
…oh wait, I guess the iPhone sucks.
Seriously though, it’d be interesting to have insight into traffic levels at the tower level. Clearly, there are more iPhones consuming available bandwidth than droids, but for a fair comparison, you’d have to factor in what everybody else is consuming as well.
Somebody must have this data, it’d sure be interesting to see.
CDMA ENG
November 13, 2009 @
3:42 PM
sdcellar wrote:yeah, and you [quote=sdcellar]yeah, and you tested the iPhone against an SD server and the droid against LA!
…oh wait, I guess the iPhone sucks.
Seriously though, it’d be interesting to have insight into traffic levels at the tower level. Clearly, there are more iPhones consuming available bandwidth than droids, but for a fair comparison, you’d have to factor in what everybody else is consuming as well.
Somebody must have this data, it’d sure be interesting to see.[/quote]
YES AND YOU’LL NEVER SEE IT! :p
Seriously though that is not something anyone will talk about because it is very sensitive information. Problem is, and ATT has already publically admitted this, they have capacity problems due to open bandwidth standards on thier APPs. This was a costly mistake for ATT. They make less money with every carrier/T1 pairs they have to add to keep up with demands from gaming apps, videos, and streaming music as opposed to a business owner with a blackberry that behaves in a very predictable and low usage manner.
Actually when we are out there running test gear (read drive testing) the tower will report how many simtanuoes users but this give us very little information too. And even if the Layer 3 messaging could report more about what was going on it would be pointless… It changes so quickly the engineer could not follow the changing conditions.
When we test, or a 3rd party does ,they use a FTP session but like I said above the numbers reported could be vastly different from a Friday noon to a Saturday noon in the downtown.
It highly variable! Much harder to trouble shoot and monitor than good ole fashion voice.
CE
an
November 13, 2009 @
3:51 PM
Very good info CDMA ENG. Very good info CDMA ENG. That makes a lot of sense. One other thing I noticed after several tests is that the AT&T network always take about 2-3 seconds to reply to a ping while the VZW network takes between 100-300 MS. This might be a big reason why I’m noticing a big difference in web responsiveness w/ 3G.
Brian, you’re right, under WiFi, they both should be the same, since it’s testing the network and when you run speed test w/ WiFi, you’re testing the WiFi speed.
CDMA ENG
November 13, 2009 @
4:29 PM
I was going to add that we I was going to add that we have large teams of people dedicated to watching these things. Capacity, whether RF Capacity, T1 utilization, switching, or even into the IP cloud, is closely monitored and predicited and what these teams do directly affect your phone bill from one year to the next.
It is the holy grail of what we do… Even more so than drops and blocks because it simply affects the bottom line.
CE
AN… coincendently… The name that we call the DATA part of the Base Station is called the “AN”…
sdcellar
November 13, 2009 @
4:49 PM
Reasonable article on the Reasonable article on the phenomenon.
an
November 13, 2009 @
9:18 PM
Engadget breaking down the Engadget breaking down the back and forth between AT&T and VZW regarding network: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/13/editorial-hey-atandt-drop-lawsuits-not-calls/
I’m excited about LTE. VZW is supposed to release LTE in 30 market next year. That’s at least a couple of years ahead of AT&T. Brian, this should solve your gripe about CDMA and traveling over seas.
an
November 12, 2009 @
9:47 AM
aldante wrote:Does anyone [quote=aldante]Does anyone know if the I-phone can be jailbroken to use on Sprint?[/quote]
No, iPhone is a GSM phone and Sprint is a CDMA network, so they’re not compatible.
flu, the reason why the Droid used the base 2.0 UI is because Google did most of the S/W. MOT did the hardware and integration. If MOT did the S/W, it would most likely have MOTOBLUR on it too, but since MOT didn’t do the S/W, there’s no BLUR.
I also agree about the web browsing. Under WiFi, it feels just as snappy as my 3Gs. Under 3G, it feels more snappy than my 3Gs. Web browsing is actually much more desirable w/ the Droid due to the high resolution screen. I find myself zooming a lot less than on the 3Gs, since I can actually read the text without zooming in.
Call quality is much clearer than the 3Gs as well. I concur with you about the camera though. It’s quite poorly done.[img_assist|nid=12294|title=Droid|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=384|height=512]
June 19, 2009 @ 7:18 PM
I’ll get one when AT&T gets
I’ll get one when AT&T gets realistic about its data+voice rates. I don’t talk on the phone that much and I refuse to pay $70/month to use that shiny toy.
Also, if I had to choose a smartphone now, I’d get T-Mobile G1, which has all the important features of iPhone 3GS (from Google Maps with street view and realtime traffic, to 3 MP camera, to GPS with digital focus) and can be had for $98 with a $55/month data+voice plan.
June 19, 2009 @ 7:45 PM
I’d love to get one, but it
I’d love to get one, but it is too bad it is on AT&T.
June 23, 2009 @ 4:53 PM
mwtosd wrote:I’d love to get
[quote=mwtosd]I’d love to get one, but it is too bad it is on AT&T.[/quote]
same here
June 19, 2009 @ 10:16 PM
Eugene wrote:I’ll get one
[quote=Eugene]I’ll get one when AT&T gets realistic about its data+voice rates. I don’t talk on the phone that much and I refuse to pay $70/month to use that shiny toy.
Also, if I had to choose a smartphone now, I’d get T-Mobile G1, which has all the important features of iPhone 3GS (from Google Maps with street view and realtime traffic, to 3 MP camera, to GPS with digital focus) and can be had for $98 with a $55/month data+voice plan.
[/quote]
You know, I’m glad to hear that. Because my small investment in the Android platform is/will be paying off 🙂
June 19, 2009 @ 11:31 PM
Verizon’s great, and I hate
Verizon’s great, and I hate AT&T and former SBC with a passion that is unmatched…. but after seeing my co-worker’s iPhones, I’m switching the day my Verizon contract runs out.
June 19, 2009 @ 9:03 PM
Allan,
You’ll appreciate this
Allan,
You’ll appreciate this blast from the past celebrity…
Heh heh
http://valleywag.gawker.com/5297277/the-woz-cuts-iphone-line
The Woz Cuts iPhone Line
Steve Jobs is famous for possessing a “reality distortion field” that bends people to his will. But today he’s got nothing on his Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who talked shoppers into letting him jump an iPhone line.
To finagle a spot in line on the day of the new iPhone 3G S’s release would be impressive enough; to do so in the heart of Silicon Valley, where new gadgets are especially coveted, implies Wozniak has grown his skills of persuasion to Jobsian heights. From a shopper in the MacRumors forums:
I arrived at 3:50am and Mr. Woz was chopping it up with the manager at Apple. Then around 4:30am he politely asked everyone in line if he could be the 1st to get his iPhone at the store and everyone said yes.
Of course, while Wozniak was talking people out of the precious spots in line, Jobs was collecting their money. The Apple CEO always manages to come out on top.
3:50am…..Yup, no recession in geekdom here….
I would have at least requested Woz to stick around and autograph my 3gs.
June 19, 2009 @ 9:47 PM
I can’t live without my
I can’t live without my iphone 3g, not sure when i’ll upgrade but eventually I will just for the voice controlled ipod music so i can jog and change songs without looking at it or fiddling with it. It is amazing how once you have one, you can’t go back to your blackberry. Eugene, I think you have the costs wrong, each iphone only adds $30 to whatever plan you are already on, that’s the unlimited data/internet fee. I already had att, with a blackberry so it cost me the same, but if it cost more, I’d do it and just save money elsewhere, if I had to choose, my home phone or cable t.v. or hbo or good wine or eating out would all go before my iphone, it might be a toss up with health insurance vs the iphone. I resisted for a year, but once you are infected, once you get into the apps, it’s over, you can’t go back, it’s like going back to dial up. I have it rigged into my car, pop it in and it replaces my old sirius radio with pandora radio for free, monitors traffic, replaces a garmin, it will broadcast you tube over your big screen tv, is a portable dvr, the voicemail features are more like e-mails, no more listening through and pressing some number to skip or delete, I can go on and on, it isn’t a little better, it is on an entirely different level because it is so simple to use, you don;t even need the manual.
I still think that apple should try to buy GM or chrysler and make an icar
June 19, 2009 @ 10:13 PM
Quote:. Eugene, I think you
[quote]. Eugene, I think you have the costs wrong, each iphone only adds $30 to whatever plan you are already on, that’s the unlimited data/internet fee.[/quote]
AT&T voice plans are expensive to begin with. I have prepaid T-Mobile, 10c/minute. If I talk two hours a month, that’s $12/month. The cheapest AT&T voice plan is $40/month. They have pay-as-you-go plans too, but those are a lot more expensive than T-Mobile. Besides, their prepaid plans are not compatible with promotional iPhone pricing. If I want a pay-as-you-go plan with iPhone, I’ll have to pay full price, which is $600 for a 16 GB model.
June 19, 2009 @ 10:16 PM
I will be purchasing a 3Gs as
I will be purchasing a 3Gs as soon as my subsidy qualifies me for the $299 price for the 32GB as opposed to $599.
June 19, 2009 @ 9:50 PM
FLU: The Woz! Yeah, man,
FLU: The Woz! Yeah, man, that is a blast from the past. I remember him from my days as a lowly peon at Apple, scrubbing PC boards for the II series (circa 1982).
Back when housing was affordable in Cupertino and Mountain View, the 49ers were just getting good, dinosaurs roamed the earth (mainframe makers like Amdahl) and Cisco, SUN, Google and Yahoo weren’t even little spermatozoa yet.
Ah, the good old days.
June 19, 2009 @ 10:00 PM
Allan from Fallbrook
[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]FLU: The Woz! Yeah, man, that is a blast from the past. I remember him from my days as a lowly peon at Apple, scrubbing PC boards for the II series (circa 1982).
Back when housing was affordable in Cupertino and Mountain View, the 49ers were just getting good, dinosaurs roamed the earth (mainframe makers like Amdahl) and Cisco, SUN, Google and Yahoo weren’t even little spermatozoa yet.
Ah, the good old days.[/quote]
you should have seen woz on dancing with stars 🙂
Lol….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2xYbWNz0Xk
…and on the Price is Right…Lol…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/17/woz-on-emprice-is-rightem_n_113372.html
June 19, 2009 @ 10:13 PM
Funny you should mention
Funny you should mention Amdahl…One of my companies I use to run a development group leased out a space from the old Amdahl building. Some network dude found a lot of Amdahl logos behind the some of the walls. I believe though this was post Fujitsu acquired them. Amdahl unfortunately made some bad business decisions. They got picked clean in their demise…By Fujitsu from hardware ,and a few then startup EAI vendors from software.
Oracle buying Sun is the worst thing that can happen for Sun and for the software community.
June 20, 2009 @ 9:52 PM
The Verizon network is so
The Verizon network is so much better than AT&T, but my iphone is sweet–even more so with the latest software upgrade.
I guess it’s a little like driving a really nice convertible on a crappy road (network) or driving your Civic on a really nice road.
I’ll take the convertible.
June 22, 2009 @ 1:42 PM
MicroGravity wrote:The
[quote=MicroGravity]The Verizon network is so much better than AT&T, but my iphone is sweet–even more so with the latest software upgrade.
I guess it’s a little like driving a really nice convertible on a crappy road (network) or driving your Civic on a really nice road.
I’ll take the convertible.
[/quote]
I travel on both coasts and Texas; and I never have problems with AT&T. Granted, I hardly go to rural America.
I get dropped calls on top of the hill on the 52 into Santee and sometimes up the I5 past Camp Pendleton to Orange County.
At my friend’s house in Tustin near the mountains, there is no AT&T coverage, only faint Verizon coverage.
At my other friend’s in Alpine, on top of a hill, near the back country, there is only AT&T coverage. (I think that T-mobile has roaming agreement with AT&T when they bought part of old Cingular network).
Where in San Diego did you have problems with AT&T?
June 22, 2009 @ 1:54 PM
MicroGravity wrote:The
[quote=MicroGravity]The Verizon network is so much better than AT&T, but my iphone is sweet–even more so with the latest software upgrade.
I guess it’s a little like driving a really nice convertible on a crappy road (network) or driving your Civic on a really nice road.
I’ll take the convertible.
[/quote]
It’s more like driving a 911 Turbo on the Autobahn vs an Enzo in LA. I’d take a 911 Turbo on the Autobahn.
Sound quality w/ CDMA has always been and will always be better than GSM. AT&T is horrible in western Mira Mesa for the longest time and and is still bad. Verizon on the other hand is great here. I have the original iPhone because work paid for it. It has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s not the Jesus phone by any mean.
June 22, 2009 @ 2:21 PM
AN wrote:
Sound quality w/
[quote=AN]
Sound quality w/ CDMA has always been and will always be better than GSM. [/quote]
That, I disagree with. Verizon sound tinny to me.
3G, however, is CDMA and not TDMA.
June 22, 2009 @ 3:02 PM
briansd1 wrote:
That, I
[quote=briansd1]
That, I disagree with. Verizon sound tinny to me.
3G, however, is CDMA and not TDMA.
[/quote]
Sound quality/clarity is not the same as volume. With the same volume, the voice clarity on CDMA is better than GSM. 3G is used specifically for data, not voice. AT&T 3G is using WCDMA and Verizon’s 3G is using CDMA2000. They’re similar but not the same. They’re also used for transferring data as I said earlier. TDMA was AT&T’s 1G network. GSM is their 2G and 2.5G network.
[quote=briansd1]
If not the iPhone, which one is the best PDA/phone in your view?
[/quote]
Personally, if I have to spend my own money, then it’ll be what ever is free w/ 2 year contract. But if I must have the latest and greatest right at this moment, I’d pick the phone that best meet my needs on Verizon network. But if you’re specifically talking only about smart phone w/out caring about carriers, then it’s a toss up between 3Gs and Palm Pre. Over 3G network, Pre is faster, over WiFi, 3Gs is faster for surfing the net. So, it depends on Sprint vs ATT signal in your area.
June 22, 2009 @ 3:47 PM
I am really hoping that Apple
I am really hoping that Apple will allow the iPhone on other networks. I do think they were not very happy with AT&T not being ready for MMS and tethering. In their announcement at the WWDC they mentioned MMS would be coming later this summer/later this year. There was no mention of tethering with AT&T but available immediately in 20 other countries.
Apple also issued a $30 iTunes gift card to users that had problems updating to the new iPhone OS 3.0 because of overwhelming AT&T’s network. I hope these issues will push Apple get rid of the exclusivity with AT&T.
June 22, 2009 @ 3:54 PM
mwtosd wrote:I am really
[quote=mwtosd]I am really hoping that Apple will allow the iPhone on other networks. I do think they were not very happy with AT&T not being ready for MMS and tethering. In their announcement at the WWDC they mentioned MMS would be coming later this summer/later this year. There was no mention of tethering with AT&T but available immediately in 20 other countries.
Apple also issued a $30 iTunes gift card to users that had problems updating to the new iPhone OS 3.0 because of overwhelming AT&T’s network. I hope these issues will push Apple get rid of the exclusivity with AT&T.[/quote]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.
June 22, 2009 @ 4:18 PM
(deleted by user)
(deleted by user)
June 22, 2009 @ 4:49 PM
flu wrote:
Trust me. Apple
[quote=flu]
Trust me. Apple taking control of the app distribution was a good thing. If you ever tried to build an app on a mobile phone you would know first hand about the bureaucracy that some of these mobile carriers throw at you to get certified…It’s probably one of the main reasons why you won’t find too many individual app contributions on any other network except maybe T-mobile with the G-phone(s).
[/quote]
FLU, you won’t get any disagreement from me about this. I was just stating the fact that VZW rejected Apple’s offer and unless they changed their tune, they’ll probably reject again if Apple continue to want to have all of those control. That’s just how VZW work. I’ve been working in the telecom space for many years, so I know what a pain it is for the whole carrier acceptance phase. You don’t have to preach to the choir.
June 23, 2009 @ 12:10 AM
Charlie Rose just asked the
Charlie Rose just asked the Verizon CEO about the iPhone coming to Verizon and he said, “it was Apple’s decision” because they decided to scale quickly and globally on GSM. The iPhone has “stimulated the category” and put smart phones on the map. Longer term (aka 4G), Apple will have to make another decision on which networks Apple wants to build their device to work with. He also says that even though manufacturers might start on an exclusive network, they almost all eventually expand to the others.
June 23, 2009 @ 11:34 AM
AN wrote:
Apple came to VZW
[quote=AN]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.[/quote]
I do think it was excellent idea for Apple to have such control over the software and what programs it runs. The cell phone companies in the past always controlled the software and it was always difficult to use and not practical. With Apple having such control over the software and the phone – look at what it did, it has revolutionized the smart phone market. (Same for building computers and writing the MacOS X – which run to seamlessly and do not have all the compatibility problems from PCs and Windows).
From what I have read, it was true about Verizon but also AT&T was willing to allow Apple a share in the revenue from the monthly cell phone bill and thus agreed to exclusivity for the iPhone.
I do feel in 2010 or 2011 the iPhone will run on 4G and will expand beyond AT&T.
June 23, 2009 @ 12:07 PM
mwtosd wrote:AN wrote:
Apple
[quote=mwtosd][quote=AN]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.[/quote]
I do think it was excellent idea for Apple to have such control over the software and what programs it runs. The cell phone companies in the past always controlled the software and it was always difficult to use and not practical. With Apple having such control over the software and the phone – look at what it did, it has revolutionized the smart phone market. (Same for building computers and writing the MacOS X – which run to seamlessly and do not have all the compatibility problems from PCs and Windows).
From what I have read, it was true about Verizon but also AT&T was willing to allow Apple a share in the revenue from the monthly cell phone bill and thus agreed to exclusivity for the iPhone.
I do feel in 2010 or 2011 the iPhone will run on 4G and will expand beyond AT&T.[/quote]
Still trying to figure out why oh why apple chose Objective-C out of all things for their platform.
Friend: “FLU do you know any foreign languages?”
FLU: “Sure: Java, C++, C, Perl, Tcl/TK, Ruby, PL/SQL, and now Objective C.”
My head is spinning. Damn tech companies. They keep finding more creative ways to keep people employed.
June 23, 2009 @ 12:11 PM
With most computer languages
With most computer languages if you know one you know them all. It’s just the vocabulary that changes.
June 23, 2009 @ 12:47 PM
afx114 wrote:With most
[quote=afx114]With most computer languages if you know one you know them all. It’s just the vocabulary that changes.[/quote]
Yes and no. It really depends on what language you know and what you’re trying to learn. It’s easier for a C developer to switch over to Java than a Java developer to switch over to C. It’s even worse if you have to learn assembly. But once you’re talking strictly about object oriented, then I agree with you. Dealing with pointers in C would make most Java developers’ head spin.
Regarding 4G, most carriers are going LTE, so VZW, ATT and T-Mobile will all be using the same tech. The only one that’s not going w/ LTE is Sprint. They’re going w/ WiMax.
Of course the CEO of VZW would say it was Apple’s decision to go w/ ATT. They won’t admit publicly they passed up on a hot product.
regarding Windows/PC vs Mac/OSX, I’ll take a customized easily upgradable PC over a Mac any day.
June 23, 2009 @ 5:09 PM
AN wrote:mwtosd wrote:I am
[quote=AN][quote=mwtosd]I am really hoping that Apple will allow the iPhone on other networks. I do think they were not very happy with AT&T not being ready for MMS and tethering. In their announcement at the WWDC they mentioned MMS would be coming later this summer/later this year. There was no mention of tethering with AT&T but available immediately in 20 other countries.
Apple also issued a $30 iTunes gift card to users that had problems updating to the new iPhone OS 3.0 because of overwhelming AT&T’s network. I hope these issues will push Apple get rid of the exclusivity with AT&T.[/quote]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.[/quote]
verizon would be an idiot if they still turned them down, I’m hoping that apple some day has a QCOM chip in it 😉
June 23, 2009 @ 5:19 PM
ibjames wrote:
verizon would
[quote=ibjames]
verizon would be an idiot if they still turned them down, I’m hoping that apple some day has a QCOM chip in it 😉
[/quote]
Totally agree, but VZW did many stupid things before, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they’ll turn APPL down again if the term stays the same. Example of them making stupid decision would be, even when everyone is bitching about the VZW UI, they still going full steam w/ it. It was and still is one of the worse UI design ever. They also give OEM very little room for interpretation of their UI.
July 1, 2009 @ 11:40 PM
For those looking for “free”
For those looking for “free” applications here is the link.
You will need appsync (from Cydia) on the iPhone to sync to iPhone with iTunes.
http://appulo.us/appdb/
July 28, 2009 @ 12:56 PM
For those looking for “free”
Hey, no wonder I can’t afford a house in San Diego, everyone is pirating my software…
September 3, 2009 @ 3:49 PM
Interesting article in
Interesting article in NYTimes.
Seems like customers are having trouble with network connection.
I never do, probably because I use wifi when at work and at home.
I rarely, if ever, get dropped voice calls.
Airports have free wifi these days so I haven’t been doing much tethering.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/technology/companies/03att.html?hpw
September 3, 2009 @ 3:58 PM
I get drop calls all the
I get drop calls all the time. It’s worse with the iPhone. Signal with AT&T in MM area has always been spotty.
September 3, 2009 @ 5:23 PM
AN, I am in Mira Mesa all the
AN, I am in Mira Mesa all the time and I don’t have problems.
I heard the same thing with AT&T in Mira Mesa, IN THE PAST. But since AT&T and Cingular merged a few years back, the problem has been solved.
The “orange” and “blue” network merged. Since then, AT&T sold part of the “orange” old Cingular network to T-Mobile as part of the merger agreement with FCC. But roaming agreements are still in effect.
If you still use a Cingular sim card, get it changed out to a new AT&T Sim Card. The store should be happy to provide you one free of charge.
The only problem in MM now is as you travel from Sorrento Valley Blvd into Calle Cristobal, because of Lopez Canyon and Penasquitos Canyon surrounding the area
But other areas of MM should be fine.
You should also use a new phone that can pickup the 850mhz band. I’m can pretty much guarantee that with a new phone and new sim card you will have good coverage in Mira Mesa.
Test it out if you don’t believe me.
If you already have an AT&T account, you can get a new line with no commitment if you provide your own phone. There will be a $26 activation fee. But if you’re not happy with the service, return the SIM card and cancel the service and ask for the activation fee to be refunded.
September 3, 2009 @ 6:11 PM
briansd1 wrote:AN, I am in
[quote=briansd1]AN, I am in Mira Mesa all the time and I don’t have problems.
I heard the same thing with AT&T in Mira Mesa, IN THE PAST. But since AT&T and Cingular merged a few years back, the problem has been solved.
The “orange” and “blue” network merged. Since then, AT&T sold part of the “orange” old Cingular network to T-Mobile as part of the merger agreement with FCC. But roaming agreements are still in effect.
If you still use a Cingular sim card, get it changed out to a new AT&T Sim Card. The store should be happy to provide you one free of charge.
The only problem in MM now is as you travel from Sorrento Valley Blvd into Calle Cristobal, because of Lopez Canyon and Penasquitos Canyon surrounding the area
But other areas of MM should be fine.
You should also use a new phone that can pickup the 850mhz band. I’m can pretty much guarantee that with a new phone and new sim card you will have good coverage in Mira Mesa.
Test it out if you don’t believe me.
If you already have an AT&T account, you can get a new line with no commitment if you provide your own phone. There will be a $26 activation fee. But if you’re not happy with the service, return the SIM card and cancel the service and ask for the activation fee to be refunded.[/quote]
When I start reading your post, I was about to tell you to drive on Calle Cristobal :-). That’s always a sure drop zone. But you seem to know about it too.
Regarding phone, I was using the 2G iPhone for the last 2 year and just got the 3Gs a few days ago. Signal is no better on the 3Gs vs the 2G. Both are worse than my wife’s 3-4 year old BB Pearl. In my house, on the 2nd floor, I get pretty decent signal (2-3 bars). Signal on the 1st floor is horrible and do get drop call there, even when it shows I have 1-2 bars. When I redial, it works fine again. My wife’s BB does not have the same problem of drop call, but signal is still horrible, 1-2 bars on the 1st floor.
July 2, 2009 @ 12:00 AM
AN wrote:ibjames
[quote=AN][quote=ibjames]
verizon would be an idiot if they still turned them down, I’m hoping that apple some day has a QCOM chip in it 😉
[/quote]
Totally agree, but VZW did many stupid things before, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they’ll turn APPL down again if the term stays the same. Example of them making stupid decision would be, even when everyone is bitching about the VZW UI, they still going full steam w/ it. It was and still is one of the worse UI design ever. They also give OEM very little room for interpretation of their UI.[/quote]
VZW policies are bad for customers, but generally good for their bottom line. People believe the best network slogan even with lame phones. They have been grabbing market share for a long time. Verizon Wireless’ retail (non-wholesale) gross customer additions (excluding customers acquired in the Alltel acquisition) were strong, up 32.5 percent over the prior year. On a pro forma basis, retail gross customer additions were up 4.3 percent. Verizon Wireless had 86.6 million customers at the end of the quarter, an increase of 28.8 percent year over year. This includes 13.2 million net total customer additions, after conforming adjustments, from the Alltel acquisition.
Service ARPU decreased 0.3 percent from the similar period a year ago, to US $50.74 . Total data ARPU grew by 20.8 percent to US $14.16 . On a pro forma basis, service ARPU increased 1.1 percent, and total data ARPU increased 25.2 percent.
27th April 2009
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/37196.php
July 2, 2009 @ 7:46 AM
I will be going from my
I will be going from my $30.00 T-mobile plan but it will be worth every penny. My husband has had his i-phone for 6 months and slowly but surely I have realized I can’t live with out one. They are convenient and amazing!
July 8, 2009 @ 5:03 PM
ibjames wrote:AN wrote:mwtosd
[quote=ibjames][quote=AN][quote=mwtosd]I am really hoping that Apple will allow the iPhone on other networks. I do think they were not very happy with AT&T not being ready for MMS and tethering. In their announcement at the WWDC they mentioned MMS would be coming later this summer/later this year. There was no mention of tethering with AT&T but available immediately in 20 other countries.
Apple also issued a $30 iTunes gift card to users that had problems updating to the new iPhone OS 3.0 because of overwhelming AT&T’s network. I hope these issues will push Apple get rid of the exclusivity with AT&T.[/quote]
Apple came to VZW first but they turned them down because Apple wanted too much control. That’s why Apple end up being on AT&T. I don’t know if VZW would change their mind now. If VZW still don’t want iPhone w/ all if its baggage, then Apple don’t really have a choice but stick w/ AT&T.[/quote]
verizon would be an idiot if they still turned them down, I’m hoping that apple some day has a QCOM chip in it ;)[/quote]
I dont think VZW made a bad decision or do they. ATT took 3 Billion in write downs subsiding the Phone. That would have killed Sprint or TMob. Plus the fact that ATT publicly admitted that the iPhone is destroying thier bandwidth due to Apps hitting the network far to often. This means billions in capacity adds for them to support a very small segment of thier subscriber base. VZW would have been a great network for the iPhone but Apple wanted to much..
iPhone… Great for the user… Sh#*&y for the network…
CE
July 8, 2009 @ 4:02 PM
If it is Tinny then it is
If it is Tinny then it is probaly the handset you were listening too.
June 22, 2009 @ 2:22 PM
AN wrote:I have the original
[quote=AN]I have the original iPhone because work paid for it. It has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s not the Jesus phone by any mean.[/quote]
If not the iPhone, which one is the best PDA/phone in your view?
June 22, 2009 @ 2:32 PM
I’ve found that AT&T’s 3G is
I’ve found that AT&T’s 3G is better in rural areas than it is in urban areas. I live in uptown SD and I’ve never had a problem with coverage, but on a trip to downtown LA my coverage was HORRIBLE. The best signal I’ve ever had was camping in the middle of the desert near Joshua Tree. This is the complete opposite of what you’d expect, but I have a feeling AT&T hasn’t figured out saturation issues. The more people in an area that are using 3G, the less bandwidth there is to share across all of them. It’s similar to the way cable internet works — if all of your neighbors are running bit-torrent and downloading hi-def pr0n, your own connection will suffer.
A buddy of mine who is knowledgeable says the following:
June 22, 2009 @ 1:39 PM
1) Hate to say it but most
1) Hate to say it but most Americans are stupid when it comes to phones. They don’t even know what a SIM card is.
That’s because in USA, the phone carriers want to control content and handsets. Aboard, people just buy any device then put in a SIM card from any carrier.
2) I just upgraded my iPhone 3G to 3.0 software and jailbroke it for Cydia, Installo.us, and tethering (very cool BTW).
I’ll get the 3GS when it can be jailbroken.
The iPhone is best jailbroken and unlocked.
3) I would would never use a service from Verizon or Sprint unless they start using sim cards that allow the user to switch handset.
4) AT&T is cheaper than T-Mobile if you use the phone a lot. The Unity Plan allows unlimited calling to any AT&T line (mobile or land-line).
Rollover minutes allows you to accumulate minutes so that you never have to worry about going over your allocation.
If you ditch the land-line, it’s worthwhile. I don’t have a land-line at all.
5) I like AT&T because they have 3G. Edge on T-Mobile is slooooow.
6) If you have AT&T DSL or wireless, you get free wifi at Starbucks, McDonalds, and at hotels and airports where Wayport is provided.
October 30, 2009 @ 11:08 AM
Briansd1, I know nothing
Briansd1, I know nothing about cells phones, but I know enough that what you say is true. The Apple website in Hong Kong sells 3GS unlocked, and unlocking software is rife everywhere, as are unlocked phones on ebay. This really makes sense especially if you travel alot, as AT&T are outrageously costly for their global plans. The unit is still over-priced in my view, but still a great gizmo.
October 31, 2009 @ 6:38 AM
qwerty007 wrote:Briansd1, I
[quote=qwerty007]Briansd1, I know nothing about cells phones, but I know enough that what you say is true. The Apple website in Hong Kong sells 3GS unlocked, and unlocking software is rife everywhere, as are unlocked phones on ebay. This really makes sense especially if you travel alot, as AT&T are outrageously costly for their global plans. The unit is still over-priced in my view, but still a great gizmo.[/quote]
It’s a great deal to get a subsidized iPhone in USA if you know how to unlock/jailbreak it.
As long at your device is subsidized it’s a great deal.
A grey market iPhone goes for about a little under $1,000 overseas, or about $700 in USA.
July 2, 2009 @ 9:54 AM
So you’re telling me the
So you’re telling me the crappy interface on the Razor is Verizon’s doing?!? And they’re keeping it?!?!?!?!?
July 2, 2009 @ 10:13 AM
doofrat wrote:So you’re
[quote=doofrat]So you’re telling me the crappy interface on the Razor is Verizon’s doing?!? And they’re keeping it?!?!?!?!?
[/quote]
ummm.. yes, verizon has their own spec when it comes to user interfaces. In fact they keep changing it.
July 2, 2009 @ 10:21 AM
flu wrote:doofrat wrote:So
[quote=flu][quote=doofrat]So you’re telling me the crappy interface on the Razor is Verizon’s doing?!? And they’re keeping it?!?!?!?!?
[/quote]
ummm.. yes, verizon has their own spec when it comes to user interfaces. In fact they keep changing it.[/quote]
Yep, and they’re the most hardcore of all carriers. OEM DO NOT have much of any room for interpretation regarding the UI. I have an iPhone right now, but it’s a company phone, so I don’t have much say. If I get a choice, I’d pick the Storm or any other smart phone on VZW network in a heart beat.
July 2, 2009 @ 10:30 AM
Verizon is the most “evil”
Verizon is the most “evil” (if you think of evil in the Microsoft monopoly sense). They try to control content and handsets.
Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
July 2, 2009 @ 10:57 AM
briansd1 wrote:Never
[quote=briansd1]Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
[/quote]
That has nothing to do w/ VZW. It has everything to do w/ CDMA vs GSM. Don’t worry though, they all will be on LTE when 4-G start rolling out, except for Sprint, who will be using WiMax instead.
July 2, 2009 @ 11:20 AM
AN, we are talking consumer
AN, we are talking consumer choice here.
How would you like to be required to buy your computer from your Internet Service Provider and be required to have the ISP activate your computer on their network?
————
Back in 2003/2004:
Another interesting bit. It is a misconception that CDMA phones are not SIM-based. In China, it is mandatory for CDMA phones to be SIM-based and there are around 3.7 million subscribers using SIM-based CDMA phones.
http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/cdma/103011204.asp
China Unicom plans to officially launch its dual mode handset on August 5, a senior official with China Unicom”s Comprehensive Department surnamed Tang told Interfax.
According to Tang, China Unicom has already ordered over 400,000 GSM/CDMA handsets from Motorola, Samsung and LG. These handsets, designed for high-end consumers, will be promoted nationwide under the carrier”s new “World Wind” brand. The dual mode mobile service will be marketed as a way to provide GSM subscribers exclusive access to China Unicom”s U-Max CDMA value-added services platform, as well as allowing for global roaming on both GSM and CDMA networks.
http://www.cn-c114.net/576/a285462.html
July 2, 2009 @ 11:26 AM
AN wrote:briansd1 wrote:Never
[quote=AN][quote=briansd1]Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
[/quote]
That has nothing to do w/ VZW. It has everything to do w/ CDMA vs GSM. Don’t worry though, they all will be on LTE when 4-G start rolling out, except for Sprint, who will be using WiMax instead.[/quote]
I thought Sprint killed WiMax.
July 2, 2009 @ 11:28 AM
flu wrote:AN wrote:briansd1
[quote=flu][quote=AN][quote=briansd1]Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
[/quote]
That has nothing to do w/ VZW. It has everything to do w/ CDMA vs GSM. Don’t worry though, they all will be on LTE when 4-G start rolling out, except for Sprint, who will be using WiMax instead.[/quote]
I thought Sprint killed WiMax.[/quote]
Nope, they already launched in some market.
July 6, 2009 @ 7:38 PM
They can already jailbreak
They can already jailbreak and unlock the iPhone 3GS. I guess the secret will be out soon.
http://blog.iphone-dev.org/search/3gs+unlock
If you are on T-Mobile and want to use the iPhone you can easily purchase a second-hand phone on ebay or Craigslist.
I am an AT&T customer but I like the fact that if I travel overseas, I can use any SIM card I want. Plus I can use alternatives to the Apple App Store.
http://blog.iphone-dev.org/post/126908912/redsn0w-in-june
My suspicion is that Apple wants the secret out. AT&T is subsidizing the iPhone and Apple only cares about sales.
Regardless, the cat and mouse game is kinda fun. It’s a challenge, if anything.
July 6, 2009 @ 7:48 PM
briansd1 wrote:AT&T is
[quote=briansd1]AT&T is subsidizing the iPhone and Apple only cares about sales.[/quote]
Not only that, but AT&T is crippling the functionality of Apple’s device (eg, MMS & tethering, two technologies the phone supports but AT&T does not). There were a couple of subtle digs at AT&T at WWDC.
July 6, 2009 @ 8:08 PM
I don’t use MMS, but I have
I don’t use MMS, but I have tethering working on my iPhone. It’s pretty fast on AT&T 3G. Convenient when you’re at the airport without wifi trying to make a last minute hotel reservation.
I have not tested tethering in motion (like on the train) yet.
July 8, 2009 @ 6:58 PM
flu wrote:AN wrote:briansd1
[quote=flu][quote=AN][quote=briansd1]Never subscribe to a phone service where you don’t have the option to change handset at will just by moving the SIM card to a new phone.
[/quote]
That has nothing to do w/ VZW. It has everything to do w/ CDMA vs GSM. Don’t worry though, they all will be on LTE when 4-G start rolling out, except for Sprint, who will be using WiMax instead.[/quote]
I thought Sprint killed WiMax.[/quote]
Official Sprint is not WiMax… But it does own 51 percent of Clearwire though no management decisions are made by Sprint. My Guess is that they will go LTE at some point as well.
CE
July 6, 2009 @ 10:09 PM
I had to abstain from voting
I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.
July 6, 2009 @ 10:15 PM
P.S. AMPS RULES !
P.S. AMPS RULES !
July 7, 2009 @ 3:03 AM
Theoretically speaking, if I
Theoretically speaking, if I were to get an unlocked iPhone and a non-AT&T internet plan, would that result in lesser functionality than if I paid honest $70/month + tax to AT&T?
Also, is there a really good reason to shoot for 16 GB instead of 8?
July 7, 2009 @ 9:34 AM
Eugene wrote:Also, is there a
[quote=Eugene]Also, is there a really good reason to shoot for 16 GB instead of 8?[/quote]
When you have a 120GB library of music in your iTunes like me, even 32GB is a pittance. Get the larger storage if:
– You have a large iTunes library and want to take more of your music with you.
– You travel a lot and would like to watch movies on your device.
– You get the 3GS and foresee yourself taking lots of video.
If none of those are true, the larger storage is probably not worth it.
July 7, 2009 @ 10:32 AM
Eugene wrote:Theoretically
[quote=Eugene]Theoretically speaking, if I were to get an unlocked iPhone and a non-AT&T internet plan, would that result in lesser functionality than if I paid honest $70/month + tax to AT&T?
[/quote]
There are two ways of freeing your iPhone from the grips of AT&T. Unlocking and jailbreaking.
The only alternative to AT&T in USA is T-Mobile for the iPhone.
T-Mobile per minute rate are lowest. But remember that you never use all the allocated minutes (otherwise you’ll go over and be charged a premium).
The downside to T-Mobile Internet service is Edge (not 3G) so it’s much slower (but the monthly subscription is lower too). BTW, T-Mobile does its best to support the iPhone because those techies are good customers.
If you go to Asian/Hispanic/Immigrant owned mobile dealers, they will give you better phones for lesser prices. Some in East San Diego, Orange County and LA will even rebate you $100 to $200 for signing/renewing a contract (kinda like a Realtor rebating you his commission). Ask and you shall receive.
I go to restaurants in ethnic areas and I like to stop and talk to the retailers. If you like to shop at the mall, then you’ll overpay.
I personally like AT&T because of rollover and the unity plan (if you have a land-line and everything is on one bill, you can call all AT&T land lines and wireless for free) which gives me the lowest overall per min rate.
In California (except for some areas) virtually all landlines are with AT&T.
I actually don’t have a land line but my cell phone is billed to my dad’s land line.
AT&T has fast 3G Internet. You also get free wifi at Starbucks.
The advantage of unlocking is what when you go overseas, you can buy a SIM and pop it into you phone for local service. For example, if you go on vacation in Europe, you need local service. Roaming is very expensive and your local friends would never call you because they would have to dial an expensive US number.
Jailbreaking allows you to use applications from alternatives to the Apple AppStore.
An unlocked and jailbroken iPhone is always valuable. You can easily sell it on ebay and more than recoup your money.
July 7, 2009 @ 11:32 AM
The email push feature on the
The email push feature on the iphone is also pretty cool.
It supports yahoo and google mail out of the box without any subscription corporate email crap on the Blackberry (I have not used Blackberry). You can setup unlimited number of mail boxes.
iPhone does not support push (only traditional poll) email for hotmail/msn accounts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_email
July 7, 2009 @ 5:11 PM
Quote:If you go to
[quote]If you go to Asian/Hispanic/Immigrant owned mobile dealers, they will give you better phones for lesser prices. Some in East San Diego, Orange County and LA will even rebate you $100 to $200 for signing/renewing a contract (kinda like a Realtor rebating you his commission). Ask and you shall receive.[/quote]
Are you suggesting that I can get a 8 GB 3G for free (after a 2-year contract) from one of those dealers? Any references?
I’m considering getting one on ebay and going T-Mobile … that would save me perhaps $25/month vs. switching to AT&T. If the choice is between buying from AT&T for $100 and buying on ebay for $300, it pays off after 8 months. If I can get it for free from a dealer, it pays off longer. Maybe in a year AT&T will cut their data rates.
July 7, 2009 @ 8:14 PM
Eugene wrote:
Are you
[quote=Eugene]
Are you suggesting that I can get a 8 GB 3G for free (after a 2-year contract) from one of those dealers? Any references?
I’m considering getting one on ebay and going T-Mobile … that would save me perhaps $25/month vs. switching to AT&T. If the choice is between buying from AT&T for $100 and buying on ebay for $300, it pays off after 8 months. If I can get it for free from a dealer, it pays off longer. Maybe in a year AT&T will cut their data rates.[/quote]
Unfortunately, you cannot get an iPhone from an independent dealer (other than Wal-Mart and Best Buy) without paying a premium. That’s because dealers generally sell for T-Mobile and AT&T at the same time. AT&T doesn’t want dealers to divert iPhones to T-Mobile customers and to the grey market overseas (where the dealers could make more money). Since AT&T subsidizes the iPhones, they would lose out on the revenue.
But for any other phone service I recommend that you go to an independent dealer.
Look at the iPhone purchase independently from the voice service from the wireless carrier.
For example, if you are out of contract with your carrier, you can switch to AT&T with an independent dealer, and likely get a rebate (from the dealer) if you bring your own phone over from T-mobile. The dealer will only give you a sim card.
If you have Asian colleagues, ask them to check the ethnic newspapers for mobile phone ads and call the dealers.
Then go online to get a subsidized iPhone 3G for $99 or $79 (refurbished). 3GS is $199 but currently cannot be unlocked or jailbroken.
I was pissed at AT&T because they charge sales taxes on the full retail price of the iPhone when you shop in store (but not online). It problably has to do with the nexus thing for sales tax purposes. But I don’t want to give a penny more to the State of California than necessary. It’s a principle thing.
Actually AT&T has been raising their data rates. On the 2G, it used to be $20/month for Internet including 200 texts.
On the 3G it’s now $30/month + $5/mo for 200 texts = $35/mo.
AT&T requires a 2-year contract when they sell you a subsidized iPhone.
If you’re always on the go, and if you need tethering, I recommend that you use the iPhone with AT&T because 3G is so much faster.
T-Mobile is fine if you generally have access to WiFi, at home and at work. In this case I recommend that you get an iPhone on Craigslist. T-Mobile used to have t-zones unlimited data plan for $4.99/mo. If you’re one of lucky ones that is still on that plan, then you can just pop your SIM into an iPhone and enjoy it. It’s getting Internet almost for free.
I bought some iPhones on Craiglist for friends and I think it’s cheaper than on ebay, plus go can pickup and make sure it’s the real deal.
September 3, 2009 @ 5:36 PM
Eugene wrote:
I’m considering
[quote=Eugene]
I’m considering getting one on ebay and going T-Mobile … that would save me perhaps $25/month vs. switching to AT&T. If the choice is between buying from AT&T for $100 and buying on ebay for $300, it pays off after 8 months. If I can get it for free from a dealer, it pays off longer. Maybe in a year AT&T will cut their data rates.[/quote]
The price of the 3G (not 3GS)dropped a lot. You can buy one for cheap on ebay or CL and use with T-Mobile.
I have confirmed that you can use any iPhone with T-Mobile’s $9.99/month data plan. They no longer sign up new users with the $4.99 data plan. Of course you’ll be limited to Edge speeds.
———–
If you have not used it yet, try out the Navigon GPS App on the iPhone. Very convenient and no need for a separate GPS device.
http://www.navigon.com/site/us/en
July 7, 2009 @ 6:55 AM
sdduuuude wrote:I had to
[quote=sdduuuude]I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.[/quote]
I know you’re probably kidding, but why dont you just get a free phone every 2 years from the provider.
Ha hah. You want an AMPS phone, I got an entire bucket full of them (including the ones that look like bricks)…Amps though I think is shut down in U.S….I think that’s why some customers of onstar were pissed, because some of their older cars had onstar running on amps and it no longer works and the manufacterer don’t have a solution to convert them…
http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/explore/onstar_basics/helpful_info.jsp?info-view=tech_equip
July 7, 2009 @ 6:32 PM
flu wrote:sdduuuude wrote:I
[quote=flu][quote=sdduuuude]I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.[/quote]
I know you’re probably kidding, but why dont you just get a free phone every 2 years from the provider.
Ha hah. You want an AMPS phone … [/quote]
Actually, no. I’m not kidding. I’m at my desk pretty much all day and am not really a customer of all this technology that I support. Kind a wierd, I know. I lose phones, drop them, take them kayaking, etc. So, the $12 replacement plan works for me.
My phone is an LG VX3200. They are $10-$15 (including shipping) on ebay. This is the 4th time I have done this – buying the exact model to replace my old one.
My current phone has a broken LCD screen, so I’m eyeing some of the new ones with GPS capability, but I really am too irresonsible to carry anything worth more than $20.
I used to get insurance, but there is a $50 deductable. That’s > $12. I used to get the free phone from the carrier, but then I would have to buy a new charger, new cigarette lighter adapter, new spare battery, etc. And, back in the day, a new data cable for moving data to the phone. I ended up spending $75 on the “free” phone. That’s > $12, too. In the last 5 years, I have spent less than $100 on phones.
I revel in pulling out my phone during discussions about the latest gadgets. I say boldly “this thing is incredible – it was $12 and it makes or receives phone calls ALL OVER THE COUNTY !”
I seriously love AMPS. Great sound and no delay. Since the first CDMA call I heard, the delay has always bugged me. If I were to build a wireless system on which I was the only user, I would go AMPS for sure !
Wireless is a new industry so it’s hard to be “old school” but I do my best to represent.
July 8, 2009 @ 4:29 PM
sdduuuude wrote:flu
[quote=sdduuuude][quote=flu][quote=sdduuuude]I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.[/quote]
I know you’re probably kidding, but why dont you just get a free phone every 2 years from the provider.
Ha hah. You want an AMPS phone … [/quote]
Actually, no. I’m not kidding. I’m at my desk pretty much all day and am not really a customer of all this technology that I support. Kind a wierd, I know. I lose phones, drop them, take them kayaking, etc. So, the $12 replacement plan works for me.
My phone is an LG VX3200. They are $10-$15 (including shipping) on ebay. This is the 4th time I have done this – buying the exact model to replace my old one.
My current phone has a broken LCD screen, so I’m eyeing some of the new ones with GPS capability, but I really am too irresonsible to carry anything worth more than $20.
I used to get insurance, but there is a $50 deductable. That’s > $12. I used to get the free phone from the carrier, but then I would have to buy a new charger, new cigarette lighter adapter, new spare battery, etc. And, back in the day, a new data cable for moving data to the phone. I ended up spending $75 on the “free” phone. That’s > $12, too. In the last 5 years, I have spent less than $100 on phones.
I revel in pulling out my phone during discussions about the latest gadgets. I say boldly “this thing is incredible – it was $12 and it makes or receives phone calls ALL OVER THE COUNTY !”
I seriously love AMPS. Great sound and no delay. Since the first CDMA call I heard, the delay has always bugged me. If I were to build a wireless system on which I was the only user, I would go AMPS for sure !
Wireless is a new industry so it’s hard to be “old school” but I do my best to represent.[/quote]
Actually, I know where you’re coming from. If it weren’t for the requirement of my co. to have one, I’d stick to my no frills phone.
I started out with Sprint as a Pioneer member. Up until last week my Sprint plan still used my very first phone, the QCP-1900. Remember these bricks?
http://www.streettech.com/archives_gadget/QCP1900CellPhone.html
Finally, after the earpiece died, I had to upgrade to a no-frills new phone, free courtesy of Sprint. Samsung m320…Btw, did I mention sprint sucks? (Yeah yeah, but my plan has no monthly charge, just a minute by minute charge so it’s perfect for an emergency phone for my parents).
Anyway, since then I company stuck on me crackberry running on ATT as an electronic dogleash.. And then I’m doing stuff that requires a virgin mobile, verizon, and t-mobile phone too….So I’m a walking wireless booth. Honestly, I wouldn’t spend my own money on a data plan if my co. wasn’t forking the bill or if I couldn’t write it off as a business expense for R&D.
What i meant though is that if you stick with the same carriers, you usually can get a free phone if you sign a 2 year contract.
July 8, 2009 @ 5:00 PM
flu wrote:Honestly, I
[quote=flu]Honestly, I wouldn’t spend my own money on a data plan if my co. wasn’t forking the bill or if I couldn’t write it off as a business expense for R&D.[/quote]
I have thought about that… but it’s so convenient to have one.
And you don’t want to do stuff on your work equipment anyway. They can track everything.
With your own data plan, you could use your own personal laptop to do personal stuff at work without touching the corporate network.
If you itemize, you can always allocate portion of your wireless and Internet bill to work related expenses anyway (subject to 2% limit)
I could not live without a cell phone as I get so much done on the phone — keep in touch with friends and relatives, work, etc… You can use dead time to be productive.
July 8, 2009 @ 5:07 PM
briansd1 wrote:flu
[quote=briansd1][quote=flu]Honestly, I wouldn’t spend my own money on a data plan if my co. wasn’t forking the bill or if I couldn’t write it off as a business expense for R&D.[/quote]
I have thought about that… but it’s so convenient to have one.
And you don’t want to do stuff on your work equipment anyway. They can track everything.
With your own data plan, you could use your own personal laptop to do personal stuff at work without touching the corporate network.
If you itemize, you can always allocate portion of your wireless and Internet bill to work related expenses anyway (subject to 2% limit)
I could not live without a cell phone as I get so much done on the phone — keep in touch with friends and relatives, work, etc… You can use dead time to be productive.[/quote]
Part of my work is my own business. I suppose I could fire myself for checking my own personal emails though 🙂
July 8, 2009 @ 7:01 PM
flu wrote:sdduuuude wrote:I
[quote=flu][quote=sdduuuude]I had to abstain from voting as the option “buy another $15 phone from ebay” is not on the list.[/quote]
I know you’re probably kidding, but why dont you just get a free phone every 2 years from the provider.
Ha hah. You want an AMPS phone, I got an entire bucket full of them (including the ones that look like bricks)…Amps though I think is shut down in U.S….I think that’s why some customers of onstar were pissed, because some of their older cars had onstar running on amps and it no longer works and the manufacterer don’t have a solution to convert them…
http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/explore/onstar_basics/helpful_info.jsp?info-view=tech_equip%5B/quote%5D
AMPs is dead mainly because VZW is no longer required to support it as part of the MLA agreements with the FCC.
July 8, 2009 @ 9:10 PM
CDMA ENG, i wonder that the
CDMA ENG, i wonder that the Chinese answer to LTE will be.
China being to world’s biggest phone market, there is a good that chance that whatever standard is adopted by China will become the dominant standard.
I foresee some trade disputes in the future.
July 8, 2009 @ 9:31 PM
briansd1 wrote:CDMA ENG, i
[quote=briansd1]CDMA ENG, i wonder that the Chinese answer to LTE will be.
China being to world’s biggest phone market, there is a good that chance that whatever standard is adopted by China will become the dominant standard.
I foresee some trade disputes in the future.[/quote]
China, to my understanding wants to create their own standards.
I’d say Huawei is a company to watch. They pretty much ate Nortel’s, Lucent’s, and Motorola’s lunch on the infrastructure side.
July 9, 2009 @ 8:42 AM
Right again FLU… But thier
Right again FLU… But thier standard failed to get international reconginiton so it is pretty much scrapped. Huawei is the company to watch. Thier infastructure cost 1/3 of thier competitors to deploy but at the same time there is some bad management cost associated with using it. Also, and I kid you not, unless you have Chinese speakers in your company interfacing with Huawei is a mute point.
Huawei is putting all thier eggs in the LTE basket and have a very good chance of picking up a lot of 2nd tier international business.
Also expect to see Chinese phones trying to pop up in the American market in a year or so… I have know idea why… Moto has flogged the horse to death…
Anyone watch The Wire… The part where Stringer Bell goes in to the tirad about his soldiers having two cells phone… And sells off all his phone company stock because of market saturation… About wet myself laughing cause it was so true…
FLU… You get my message?
C.E.
July 9, 2009 @ 1:16 PM
China was at one point trying
China was at one point trying push it’s own 3G standard TD-SCDMA.
If I recall, this was an informal agreement worked out with US and European trade representatives:
BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) – China will let telecom operators select third-generation mobile platforms on their own, with the government officially expressing no preference, Jiang Yaoping, vice minister of Information Industry Ministry, said at a conference.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2006/12/10/afx3243150.html
It will be interesting to watch beyond 3G to LTE.
July 10, 2009 @ 12:07 AM
Oh Man! The iPhone 3GS can
Oh Man! The iPhone 3GS can now be unlocked and jailbroken.
I’m going to have to get it right away!! 🙂
Here’s the link for you techies.
http://blog.iphone-dev.org/search/jailbreak+3gs
July 13, 2009 @ 2:37 PM
briansd1 wrote:Oh Man! The
[quote=briansd1]Oh Man! The iPhone 3GS can now be unlocked and jailbroken.
I’m going to have to get it right away!! 🙂
Here’s the link for you techies.
http://blog.iphone-dev.org/search/jailbreak+3gs%5B/quote%5D
Brian just an FYI
Apple Blocking Push Notifications on Unlocked iPhones?
http://www.macrumors.com/2009/07/13/apple-blocking-push-notifications-on-unlocked-iphones/
July 13, 2009 @ 5:47 PM
mwtosd, thanks for the link.
mwtosd, thanks for the link.
I have an unlocked iPhone 3G. I use Yahoo! mail and AT&T.net mail provided by Yahoo! and my email notification works fine with push.
I don’t know what the Notify Me app is all about. And I don’t use Mobile Me by Apple either. I actually think that M.E. is a useless service for dumb people who don’t know how to sync to Outlook. So they have to pay Apple a subscription fee.
M.E. does have an interesting location feature. Would be good to locate kids and spouses without paying for the AT&T service. My friend at Apple gave me a free ME account but haven’t used it yet.
http://www.apple.com/mobileme/whats-new/
Has anyone used the FamilyMap feature from AT&T?
July 15, 2009 @ 1:28 PM
Mobile Me will allow you to
Mobile Me will allow you to locate the phone incase it is lost. It will also allow you to remote erase (wipe all the info off the phone) your phone incase it gets lost or you misplace it. I think two great features. Apple makes it easy to use and allow computer illiterate people to sync everything from their iPhone to their computer, transfer files too large to email, etc.
This link too now, just an FYI.
iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 Disables Unauthorized AT&T Tethering
http://www.macrumors.com/2009/07/15/iphone-3-1-beta-2-disables-unauthorized-atandt-tethering/
July 15, 2009 @ 2:55 PM
mwtosd wrote: Apple makes it
[quote=mwtosd] Apple makes it easy to use and allow computer illiterate people to sync everything from their iPhone to their computer, transfer files too large to email, etc.
This link too now, just an FYI.
iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 Disables Unauthorized AT&T Tethering
http://www.macrumors.com/2009/07/15/iphone-3-1-beta-2-disables-unauthorized-atandt-tethering/%5B/quote%5D
I think that a lot of money is to be made to help out illiterate people (in computers, real estate or whatever).
Knowledge is power so if you educate yourself, you can do the same things for free. Plus you get the satisfaction of accomplishment.
You can setup a password on the iPhone that will erase all data after 10 failed attempts.
Yeah, don’t upgrade to 3.1 (at least not yet).
Video on Internet tethering:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJp3AVS-_tc
July 15, 2009 @ 3:08 PM
Interesting article on the
Interesting article on the iPhone and Verizon.
I personally won’t be changing to Verizon until they offer a way to change hand-set without calling them every time.
A lot of iPhone fans (especially overseas) like to tinker so being able to change handset is critical.
I wonder if Apple will make a CDMA iPhone. That is likely to cause support issues for them.
————
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/07/analyst-sees-dimming-future-for-att-wireless-if-verizon-gets-iphone.html
Analyst sees dimming future for AT&T wireless if Verizon gets iPhone
If Pali Research were to pick its favorite wireless carrier, it wouldn’t be AT&T.
The market research firm believes that despite the huge success of Apple Inc’s iPhone, for which AT&T is still the exclusive carrier, its monopoly on the iPhone won’t last forever, and as soon as it expires, the beleaguered telco should prepare for slowed growth and even defections.
Customers will head to faster, more reliable networks, said Pali head researcher Walter Piecyk in a blog post, and that means Verizon.
“A basic premise of our recently initiated buy rating on Verizon and sell rating on AT&T is our belief that as the iPhone exclusivity period rolls off between AT&T Wireless and Apple, a material number of AT&T customers will flock to Verizon’s superior network.”
September 3, 2009 @ 10:58 PM
briansd1 wrote:Interesting
[quote=briansd1]Interesting article on the iPhone and Verizon.
I personally won’t be changing to Verizon until they offer a way to change hand-set without calling them every time.
[/quote]
I had VZW a long time ago (do not have it anymore) but as I recall this is not a problem. You can go on their website and enter ESN of the new phone and get it changed without calling CS.
I agree that it is still not as convenient as swapping SIM on your GSM/WCDMA/HSPA phone. But VZW being VZW will be the last carrier to move to SIMs (or eqv) in the US.
However changing SIM is equally painful. Very few phones that I have seen make it any easy for the use to remove/replace the SIM easily. (Usually they are hidden behind the battery of the phone). As a matter of fact, I recall hearing that the SIMs of original i-phone were damn difficult to remove. Not sure if they have made it any easier with 3GS.
September 3, 2009 @ 11:14 PM
enron_by_the_sea wrote:As a
[quote=enron_by_the_sea]As a matter of fact, I recall hearing that the SIMs of original i-phone were damn difficult to remove. Not sure if they have made it any easier with 3GS.[/quote]
Nope, still the exact same design. At least we don’t have to design our own SIM removal tool (bending paper clip) anymore with the 3Gs (it’s included in the box). There is a reason why VZW is still growing subscribers even when they don’t have the iPhone. They’d love to have the iPhone, but probably only on their term. When 4G fully rolled out though, it wouldn’t matter much, since both AT&T and VZW will be on LTE, so it’ll be at least possible to bring device from AT&T to VZW or vice versa.
September 11, 2009 @ 8:28 PM
enron_by_the_sea
[quote=enron_by_the_sea]
However changing SIM is equally painful. Very few phones that I have seen make it any easy for the use to remove/replace the SIM easily. (Usually they are hidden behind the battery of the phone). As a matter of fact, I recall hearing that the SIMs of original i-phone were damn difficult to remove. Not sure if they have made it any easier with 3GS.[/quote]
AN is right, it’s the same design.
If you go to outside America and Korea where people are used to CDMA, you will see that people change handsets almost like they change outfits.
In USA it’s nearly impossible to buy a SIM card (either prepaid or postpaid) without a phone that goes along with it.
When I have an overseas visitor, I just call AT&T and add a line to my family account for $9.99 per month and mail that SIM card to my friend ahead of their visit. No contract need, no activation fee, only a $6 charge for the SIM card. If you go to the store, they will charge you a $26 activation fee but they won’t charge you for the SIM card.
I think it would be better if the mobile carriers sold their services independent of the devices just like ISPs do. They could eliminate most of the technical support departments. Problem is American consumers are used to, and demand all the hand-holding.
September 11, 2009 @ 8:32 PM
Interesting article the
Interesting article the iPhone deal.
I have wifi pretty much everywhere I go, so I haven’t experienced all the connection problems described.
One of the deficiency of the iPhone is battery life. If you leave wifi and 3G on all the time, the battery runs out quickly. But I find that wifi uses less battery than 3G.
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/09/10/isuppli-why-apple-is-sticking-with-att/
iSuppli: Why Apple is sticking with AT&T
Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt
September 10, 2009 2:10 PM
Despite dropped calls, service interruptions, sluggish downloads and thousands of would-be customers who say they’d buy an iPhone in a New York minute if only Verizon (VZ) carried it, Apple (AAPL) is not likely to drop its exclusive service deal with AT&T (T) when the current contract expires in 2010.
October 19, 2009 @ 11:01 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYM-XTqcec&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37NKnDRPFKU
Doesn’t look like VZW even want the iPhone with their recent ads.
October 19, 2009 @ 11:21 AM
AN
[quote=AN]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYM-XTqcec&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37NKnDRPFKU
Doesn’t look like VZW even want the iPhone with their recent ads.[/quote]
Yup…Funny you should mention that…
$$$$$$$$$$$$ 🙂
October 19, 2009 @ 11:47 AM
BTW, the iPhone 3.1 software
BTW, the iPhone 3.1 software can be cracked now.
I know people who use the iPhone on t-mobile and they are quite happy.
Navigon is a great GPS app. I love it. Never get lost again even when walking around in New York City.
What’s the point of a good 3G network if you don’t have the device to take advantage of it?
October 19, 2009 @ 2:07 PM
briansd1 wrote:
What’s the
[quote=briansd1]
What’s the point of a good 3G network if you don’t have the device to take advantage of it?[/quote]
There’s plenty of great devices that’s coming out in the next 3 months. Devices that will make my 3Gs look slow. Here’s another one: http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/19/motorola-droid-hands-on/
What’s the point of having a great phone but then not able to use it because of crappy 3G signal.
October 19, 2009 @ 10:55 PM
AN wrote:briansd1
[quote=AN][quote=briansd1]
What’s the point of a good 3G network if you don’t have the device to take advantage of it?[/quote]
What’s the point of having a great phone but then not able to use it because of crappy 3G signal.[/quote]
What’s the big deal about 3G? Really. My first gen iPhone works spiffy.
and before any of you phone boys goes all 1xrtt on me or something, really, think about it from the typical consumer’s perspective. I’m a pretty heavy data user and slow old EDGE works well enough when I’m not using wi-fi. Sure, when my phone dies, I’ll end up getting a 3g phone anyway, but until then…
The new droid ads suck. Um, maybe show the phone? Do consumers care about “open development?”
The reviews sound good, but it’ll be interesting to see where it goes. They better have a good app store strategy because I think people like the apps. Verizon must too since they’re running their stupid “we’ve got a map for that” campaign.
October 19, 2009 @ 11:20 PM
sdcellar wrote:
What’s the
[quote=sdcellar]
What’s the big deal about 3G? Really. My first gen iPhone works spiffy.
and before any of you phone boys goes all 1xrtt on me or something, really, think about it from the typical consumer’s perspective. I’m a pretty heavy data user and slow old EDGE works well enough when I’m not using wi-fi. Sure, when my phone dies, I’ll end up getting a 3g phone anyway, but until then…
The new droid ads suck. Um, maybe show the phone? Do consumers care about “open development?”
The reviews sound good, but it’ll be interesting to see where it goes. They better have a good app store strategy because I think people like the apps. Verizon must too since they’re running their stupid “we’ve got a map for that” campaign.[/quote]
Based on what you just said, I have to assume you don’t have an iPhone 2G. Either that or you have extreme patients that I do not have. Trying to surf the net, send an email w/ attachments, using any of the iPhone apps that require a lot of data, etc. is painstakingly slow. I barely do those things w/out WiFi when I was using my 2G. That’s my J6pk view on the 2G/EDGE point.
The new droid ads is great. Maybe they didn’t show you they phone because it hasn’t been announced yet. Ever heard of drumming up the hype before a product launch? Consumer don’t care about “open dev” but consumer will now wonder what is a Droid and what is it all about.
Google does have a good app store strategy. It’s only the beginning. It’ll catch up to the iPhone app store eventually. You have to give developers some time to develop for it. When you have a network that’s that much better than your competition, why not advertise that. If you can poke fun at your competition’s star in the same ad, more power to you. I’ve been waiting for VZW to come out w/ great phone before I switch and finally, it’ll look like I’ll be switching in a couple of months.
October 20, 2009 @ 10:27 AM
Google apps should be good
Google apps should be good based on what they’ve done so far. If they give things away for free then people will use it.
I do like the “open” type platforms that allow people do to what they want.
For example, users should be a able to make their own ringtones. Apple forces people to buy the ringtones and the idiots will do that.
Verizon is expensive. I wonder if people will be willing to pay the monthly charges to use the service.
About the Blackberry vs the iPhone, I think that it’s a generational thing.
“Old” professionals like the email features and the keyboard.
Young users like the iPhone better — for the music and the movies that can be loaded onto the iPhone.
Honestly, if I had to pay for all the music, all the ringtones and all the apps through the Apple store, I would not be using the iPhone.
You have to know what you’re doing to get around paying for everything. Like housing, I’m happy to let others subsidize my usage. 🙂
October 20, 2009 @ 10:42 AM
Dubya is getting a
Dubya is getting a Blackberry!
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/comments_blog/2009/10/oneline-george-bush-zingers-still-popular-on-twitter.html
October 25, 2009 @ 9:00 PM
Quote:Honestly, if I had to
[quote]Honestly, if I had to pay for all the music, all the ringtones and all the apps through the Apple store, I would not be using the iPhone.[/quote]
Hurray for all the ‘free’ apps: http://smellslikedonkey.com/wordpress/?page_id=274
November 5, 2009 @ 8:41 AM
AN wrote:The new droid ads is
[quote=AN]The new droid ads is great. Maybe they didn’t show you they phone because it hasn’t been announced yet. Ever heard of drumming up the hype before a product launch?[/quote]No explaining taste. I guess that’s why they have focus groups. Funny that they bag on the iPhone, but never did end up showing their product. I heard some people found the droidy half of the commercial creepy. Note to self, don’t hire that advertising firm. Must have been the same guys that did the Pre.
[quote=AN]Google does have a good app store strategy. It’s only the beginning. It’ll catch up to the iPhone app store eventually. You have to give developers some time to develop for it.[/quote]Here, you simply don’t know what you’re talking about. It’d probably help their developer community if they weren’t so frenetic. There are at least three significantly different versions of Android in the market today. Tough for consumers and even tougher for developers.[quote=AN]When you have a network that’s that much better than your competition, why not advertise that.[/quote]Yeah, I suppose if that’s all you’ve got. Have to do something since they’ve been losing market share to AT&T. Could it have something to do with no matter how hard you try, the device in your hand is more important than the network at this stage of the game?
November 5, 2009 @ 10:47 AM
sdcellar wrote:Yeah, I
[quote=sdcellar]Yeah, I suppose if that’s all you’ve got. Have to do something since they’ve been losing market share to AT&T. Could it have something to do with no matter how hard you try, the device in your hand is more important than the network at this stage of the game?[/quote]
Oh really? With that logic, VZW should be #4 carrier by now, since their smart phone offering is pitiful compare to the other 3 carriers. They’re also the most expensive. I wonder why their subscriber base is still growing. Not as fast as AT&T w/ iPhone, though.
[quote=sdcellar]Yeah, that’s what I thought. Websurfing is surprisingly usable w/ Edge, and attachements? Besides the fact that very few people send attachments from their phone, you do know that mail send is an asynchnous operation, right? It could take a half-hour for all I care (not that it does). Don’t tell me you stare at the progress bar. If so, then you’re the one with patience. Maybe you’re too close to the phone biz, because I don’t think you’re really able to see it from Mr. sixpack’s perspective.[/quote]
Haha, wow, you have great patient if you think web surfing is usable on Edge. I have the 2G iPhone for over 2 years and the only I surf the net on it is when I have WiFi. You’re changing the argument by bringing up that it’s asynchronous. Yes, I know it’s async, but what does that have anything to do w/ Edge being slow? You must think dial-up is suitable too then. Sorry but I prefer my 10Mb cable internet.
[quote=sdcellar]Rationalization. I guess speed matters except when it doesn’t? Also, on the big keyboard issue, do you know a lot of people who don’t love the touch screen keyboard once they’ve started using it? Do you really have multiple iPhones and have you really used them?[/quote]
Not rationalizing anything. Just pointing out some weakness on the Droid. It’s definitely not a Jesus phone by any mean. Yes, I have the 2G and 3Gs. I have the 2G for over 2 years now.
[quote=sdcellar][quote=AN]Read my previous post. You understand you’re saying if you can’t come up with one solid product, come out with 50. That’s a winner. It’s been a proven winner for Microsoft so far, yeah?[/quote]
It’s been a proven winner for RIM, yes. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/11/03/canalys_q3_2009_iphone_rim_taking_over_smartphone_market.html Tell me who grew the most in the last year with no killer phone and no killer app.
[quote=sdcellar]This phone exists today. It’s called an iPhone, you should check it out.[/quote]
Haha, funny, do you even have an iPhone. I have 2, and no, the iPhone is not it.
[quote=sdcellar][quote=AN]I hardly consider downtown Chicago to be fly-over country. Good luck trying to get signal there.[/quote]debunked[/quote]
What’s debunked? Me not getting signal in downtown Chicago? or:
[quote=briansd1]
Perhaps Verizon is better in fly-over country but that’s hardly the market for smart phones.[/quote]
November 5, 2009 @ 11:02 AM
AN, maybe you should look up
AN, maybe you should look up the word asynchronous? If I don’t have to wait and the data is transferred in a relatively timely fashion (as far as the receiver is concerned), speed doesn’t matter one iota. Bringing asynch up doesn’t change the subject one bit. You said 3G speeds matter because of mail attachments, async says it doesn’t matter one teeny tiny bit.
Regarding Verizon and it’s ranking, it’s already been established that the rest of the phone world is a no-op outside of the iPhone with the exception of the Blackberry. Unless they don’t have Blackberry’s, I see no reason Verizon should be any less compelling device-wise than anybody else.
I ask you if you have an iPhone, so you ask me? You bet I do. Had it since October 2007. 96.1 MB data sent to date, 1.0 GB received (whoa, must have just hit that). Obviously not all over EDGE, but yeah, I use my phone. You? Maybe you can explain how the iPhone isn’t suitable for business use?
I’m surprised that Blackberry’s share grew over iPhones, but as I said, they certainly have a dedicated user base and they were certainly the phone to have prior to introduction of the iPhone. Anectdotally, I do notice that BB users cycle through their phones quicker, because they keep getting a little better/smaller/whatever. On the iPhone side of things, I wasn’t even compelled to buy a new one (for no reason) until they came out with the video capability.
and finally, yeah, you not getting signal somewhere in Chicago certainly isn’t meaningful in any way. To suggest that AT&T has problems in Chicago needs something more substantive than that.
November 5, 2009 @ 11:40 AM
Are you serious? Being async
Are you serious? Being async and being slow are two completely different thing. Just because something is async doesn’t mean it can compensate for being slow. I don’t want it take up my bandwidth while I try to do other things, since it’s not fast enough to send out the data in a timely manner. You’re an engineer, you should know they’re not really related. It’s like saying since the Droid can multitask, it’ll compensate for its slow processor speed, since you don’t have to sit there and wait for certain app to load. I never attempt to send email with attachment on 2G, so I wouldn’t know, but since you’ve done it many times, can you tell me what would happen when you try to send an attachment and you close the email app to go to another app, like Google Map or surf the net on Safari? Does it continue to send your email in the back ground? In the last 2 months since I have my 3Gs, I’ve sent 178MB and received 1.3GB. I don’t have the stats on my 2G, but you can kind of get an idea of my usage based on just 2 months of usage. You received 1GB over 2+ years while I received 1.3GB in 2 months. That might explain why you’re content with 2G speed. I can assure you that number would be higher if I’m on VZW since there are time I would love to be surfing the net, use google map, facebook, email, streaming audio (Last.fm), etc. but can’t due to AT&T.
Regarding Chicago, there’s no signal in certain area, while my friend who were with me on Verizon had perfect signal. So yes, it’s only anecdotal but it’s one data point. That’s a reply to brian saying VZW is probably only better than AT&T in fly over cities.
Here’s a picture of my 3Gs taken w/ the 2G.
[img_assist|nid=12244|title=3Gs|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75]
November 5, 2009 @ 11:44 AM
At least now you come back
At least now you come back with something useful, so yeah, if my phone’s sending an email, it’ll impact me when I go off to do something else, assuming that it needs much bandwidth to do so. That said, I do it all the time and as I was saying it works surprisingly well. Certainly well enough to keep me from plunking down money solely for 3G-ness. Now, when I get my next phone and it’s faster, will I mind? Of course not.
As far as your data stats, I have to say I’m fascinated. Based on my usage, I’d say my biggest data consumers are e-mail, web browsing, maps and app downloads. What are you doing? You say you can’t surf the net, google map, email, stream audio on the sucktown AT&T network, but you have certainly moved a lot of phone data in two months, what the heck is it? My guess would have been streaming audio (or something else…)
Oh, and I take it back, the data stats are solely phone network numbers, so I don’t have any numbers for wi-fi, which I certainly use in a heck of a lot of places. As a matter of fact, I mostly use EDGE when I’m driving (so not much, eh?) and standing in line for coffee (oh wait, wi-fi there too). Where the heck are you doing all this cellular network data? Understanding that might help me understand why our needs seem to be so different. Maybe you get a lot of push stuff? I despise push, I’ll get email on my schedule, not someone elses.
November 5, 2009 @ 11:58 AM
I have all my email on my
I have all my email on my phone fetched every 15 minutes. Only push email is yahoo, since work email, gmail and hotmail does not have push on the iPhone. I do a lot of web surfing (everywhere), e-mail (everywhere), maps, facebook, twitter, and streaming music. The two biggest data hog for me is browsing and email. I used Safari at least 100X more often now, when I’m not on WiFi, than when I have my 2G.
Yes, I know those stats are cell network stats only, same w/ mine. Your only argument is that you’re fine with slow 2G speed. I respect you for that, but your data usage show it when compare with mine. Even if 2G doesn’t work “surprisingly well” for you, you really don’t have a choice. So maybe you’ve conditioned yourself to accept it for what it is, SLOW.
November 5, 2009 @ 12:08 PM
Hey, don’t get me wrong, I
Hey, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind it being faster faster (when I’m not in a wi-fi coverage area), it just works well enough that I can’t justify the expense/waste of getting a new phone before I need to. You may be right about expectations. Heck, before the iPhone, web browsing wasn’t even a worthwhile exercise. Having it usable in any way was a vast improvement upon what came before it.
That said, and even though we’re agreeing with some of what you’re saying, I’m more confused than ever. You say AT&T’s network sucks, but you seem to use the _heck_ out of it. Twenty-plus times what I do. How can you suffer that if it’s as bad as you say it is and you’ve got to get yourself a Droid just to escape the horror of AT&T?
November 5, 2009 @ 12:23 PM
sdcellar wrote:Hey, don’t get
[quote=sdcellar]Hey, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind it being faster faster (when I’m not in a wi-fi coverage area), it just works well enough that I can’t justify the expense/waste of getting a new phone before I need to. [/quote]
Just unlock your 2G iPhone and sell it on eBay/Craigslist and buy yourself another iPhone under contract. Even the 3G (no 3GS) at $99 is better than the 2G.
Why use an old phone when you can get a new one at subsidized rates?
Like I said before, the iPhone is the only phone with significant residual value even after it’s well used.
I’ve used many cell phones over the years. I had the MOT swivel phone, the Razr, Nokia, Samsung, the Blackberry, etc.. The iPhone is the best out there, right now.
But I’ll go check out the MOT Android Phone.
November 5, 2009 @ 1:05 PM
briansd wrote:Just unlock
[quote=briansd]Just unlock your 2G iPhone and sell it on eBay/Craigslist and buy yourself another iPhone under contract. Even the 3G (no 3GS) at $99 is better than the 2G.
Why use an old phone when you can get a new one at subsidized rates?
Like I said before, the iPhone is the only phone with significant residual value even after it’s well used.
I’ve used many cell phones over the years. I had the MOT swivel phone, the Razr, Nokia, Samsung, the Blackberry, etc.. The iPhone is the best out there, right now.
But I’ll go check out the MOT Android Phone.[/quote]All fair enough, but as I was saying it’s just not a pain point for me. One of two things will have to happen in order for me to upgrade. My phone breaks or my wife’s phone breaks (and before anybody blasts me, she offered and it’d still be a huge step up from the POS Motorola phone she has now).
I suppose the third thing might be whatever might be offered in a future version. As I was saying, the video support nudged me (and is also the reason I would only get a 3GS at this point), but that alone is not enough.
Do I wish I would drop the damn thing and accelerate the process? Sometimes, but the damn thing also refuses to break on me (and it’s had some pretty hefty blows!)
November 5, 2009 @ 1:16 PM
sdcellar, I always upgrade my
sdcellar, I always upgrade my phone as soon as I’m eligible.
Somebody is else is picking-up the tab, so why not?
Like I said, you can sell the old 2G iPhone to help pay for the new subsidized 3GS. Do it while the 2G still has residual value.
November 5, 2009 @ 1:29 PM
Piggington aside, I value my
Piggington aside, I value my time. Seriously and more importantly (to me at least), I’ve learned to be a bit more patient about having the latest and greatest. I suppose I’ve just been disappointed enough times when things fail to deliver at this point in my life.
Case in point, had I bought a 3G (which I seriously couldn’t have given half a crap about), I’d have been bummed at the lauch of the 3GS.
I get what you’re saying about it costing me virtually nothing and that’s certainly cool (as well as mostly unheard of with all things technology), but I seriously am not even motivated enough to post an ad on craigslist. I keep thinking the battery’ll stop holding a charge or something, but I really have zero desire to get a new one otherwise. I’ll let everybody else help Apple’s share price.
November 5, 2009 @ 1:59 PM
sdcellar wrote:Seriously and
[quote=sdcellar]Seriously and more importantly (to me at least), I’ve learned to be a bit more patient about having the latest and greatest. [/quote]
I have to say that I love gadgets especially the slick cool looking ones.
I’m much more patient with housing. And since I don’t do home improvements and live in a 2-bedroom apartment, the only things I can spend money on is small stuff that don’t take up room or create clutter.
November 5, 2009 @ 1:30 PM
Brian, Droid can’t tether out
Brian, Droid can’t tether out of the box. Google promise to have it implemented by beginning of next year. I know you love Google voice, so I just want to let you know the Droid will have Voice & Latitude built in too. Since it’s the “Google Experience” phone, it’ll be the first to get any update Google releases.
sdcellar, there’s no need to be confused, I will buy the Droid for my wife. The 3Gs and the 2G is a company phone. I won’t turn down a free phone and service. If I had a choice, I would request to be switched to VZW instead, but I don’t. Beggar can’t be chooser. As I’ve said before, I would use it even more than I have if AT&T has better signal. My wife is fed up w/ AT&T too and she’s ecstatic that she’ll be switching to VZW. I’m ecstatic too since I can use her phone when I can’t get signal w/ my 3Gs.
November 5, 2009 @ 1:39 PM
AN wrote: I know you love
[quote=AN] I know you love Google voice, so I just want to let you know the Droid will have Voice & Latitude built in too. Since it’s the “Google Experience” phone, it’ll be the first to get any update Google releases.[/quote]
That’s interesting.
Will the Google Voice phone number be the same as the mobile phone number? That would cool.
I just told a friend about Google Voice. Her parents live in Canada so she signed up on Google Voice for them. She can call them on their Google Voice number for free and they can call anywhere in USA and Canada for free using Google Voice. Very cool.
I wonder if Google has plans to charge for the service later.
November 5, 2009 @ 1:41 PM
briansd1 wrote:AN wrote: I
[quote=briansd1][quote=AN] I know you love Google voice, so I just want to let you know the Droid will have Voice & Latitude built in too. Since it’s the “Google Experience” phone, it’ll be the first to get any update Google releases.[/quote]
That’s interesting.
Will the Google Voice phone number be the same as the mobile phone number? That would cool.
I just told a friend about Google Voice. Her parents live in Canada so she signed up on Google Voice for them. She can call them on their Google Voice number for free and they can call anywhere in USA and Canada for free using Google Voice. Very cool.
I wonder if Google has plans to charge for the service later.[/quote]Google has plans to move in with you…
November 5, 2009 @ 1:41 PM
AN wrote:Brian, Droid can’t
[quote=AN]Brian, Droid can’t tether out of the box. Google promise to have it implemented by beginning of next year. I know you love Google voice, so I just want to let you know the Droid will have Voice & Latitude built in too. Since it’s the “Google Experience” phone, it’ll be the first to get any update Google releases.
sdcellar, there’s no need to be confused, I will buy the Droid for my wife. The 3Gs and the 2G is a company phone. I won’t turn down a free phone and service. If I had a choice, I would request to be switched to VZW instead, but I don’t. Beggar can’t be chooser. As I’ve said before, I would use it even more than I have if AT&T has better signal. My wife is fed up w/ AT&T too and she’s ecstatic that she’ll be switching to VZW. I’m ecstatic too since I can use her phone when I can’t get signal w/ my 3Gs.[/quote]Oh, I thought you were getting one. I’ll bet there are a lot of employees out there that wish they were as persecuted as you. What kind of totalitarian regime do you work for anyway?
I’ve heard of Blackberry’s being foisted upon the captive worker bees, but never someone forced to use an iPhone. I think even the happy go lucky dude from the Apple commercials would be appalled at such tactics!
November 5, 2009 @ 11:54 AM
Just saw the picture taken by
Just saw the picture taken by your 2G. How come the resolution is 2048 x 1536?
November 5, 2009 @ 12:01 PM
sdcellar wrote:Just saw the
[quote=sdcellar]Just saw the picture taken by your 2G. How come the resolution is 2048 x 1536?[/quote]
Sorry, that’s my bad. I have horrible memory. That wasn’t taken w/ my 2G. It was taken w/ my 3Gs after I unboxed it.
November 5, 2009 @ 12:09 PM
AN wrote:sdcellar wrote:Just
[quote=AN][quote=sdcellar]Just saw the picture taken by your 2G. How come the resolution is 2048 x 1536?[/quote]
Sorry, that’s my bad. I have horrible memory. That wasn’t taken w/ my 2G. It was taken w/ my 3Gs after I unboxed it.[/quote]Yes, it was.
November 5, 2009 @ 12:03 PM
Is it possible to tether the
Is it possible to tether the MOT ‘droid phone to a computer so that the computer has Internet access via the mobile device?
November 5, 2009 @ 8:47 AM
AN wrote:Based on what you
[quote=AN]Based on what you just said, I have to assume you don’t have an iPhone 2G. Either that or you have extreme patients that I do not have. Trying to surf the net, send an email w/ attachments, using any of the iPhone apps that require a lot of data, etc. is painstakingly slow. I barely do those things w/out WiFi when I was using my 2G. That’s my J6pk view on the 2G/EDGE point.[/quote]Yeah, that’s what I thought. Websurfing is surprisingly usable w/ Edge, and attachements? Besides the fact that very few people send attachments from their phone, you do know that mail send is an asynchnous operation, right? It could take a half-hour for all I care (not that it does). Don’t tell me you stare at the progress bar. If so, then you’re the one with patience. Maybe you’re too close to the phone biz, because I don’t think you’re really able to see it from Mr. sixpack’s perspective.
July 13, 2009 @ 6:44 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:
FLU… You
[quote=CDMA ENG]
FLU… You get my message?
C.E.[/quote]
Sorry, yes. And I responded….Sorry, didn’t notice the message thingy.
July 7, 2009 @ 4:17 PM
FYI…
Walked into apple and
FYI…
Walked into apple and walked out in 10 min. with the 32g model. Phone rang 2 steps out the door. I hate apple, but props for a quick transfer and upgrade of my old 2g phone.
Then, when I got home, I upgraded my old 2g to 3.0 and unlocked/jailbroke it in 10min with instructions over the internet and sold it on ebay in a day for 200.00
July 7, 2009 @ 7:21 PM
On order! Will blow my
On order! Will blow my Blackberry Curve away. The internet sucks on Blackberry’s…..
July 7, 2009 @ 10:00 PM
Any tips on getting an iphone
Any tips on getting an iphone 3gs without paying for the pesky upgrade fee? I’m out-of-contract, and have been a ATT customer for 4 years, if that matters.
Is it really true that if you order iphone online on ATT that you don’t have to pay taxes? Tax is significant, since it’s based on pre-subsidized price of the phone.
July 7, 2009 @ 11:54 PM
Upgrade fee is $18.
I
Upgrade fee is $18.
I ordered my phone online from AT&T and paid taxes on the subsidized price, not the full retail price (But at the retail store you pay taxes on the full retail price).
I’ve always been able to get the upgrade fee waived when I called to inquire/complain. There are 5 lines on my account.
AT&T bills the upgrade fee to your monthly bill, but when you order the phone, you need to pay for it with a credit card.
Employees of some corporations get AT&T discounts as do some employees and alums of universities.
Military get discounts if you bring your military ID.
10% to 20% off depending.
It pays to ask.
July 8, 2009 @ 12:15 AM
Thanks briansd1. I had
Thanks briansd1. I had thought ATT collects tax on unsubsidized (~$600) price everywhere in California including online (if you ship it to California). You didn’t have an out-of-state billing or shipping address, did you?
July 8, 2009 @ 12:37 AM
ybitz, I have a San Diego
ybitz, I have a San Diego billing address.
I didn’t save a copy of the actual order webpage, but I recall that you see the tax amount before you submit the order.
My invoice that came in the box with the phone shows tax on the discounted price, not the full retail price. I’m looking at it right now.
July 8, 2009 @ 4:58 PM
I just ordered it on ATT’s
I just ordered it on ATT’s website. The tax was $52.41 on the last page for order confirmation…looks like they are charging tax on unsubsidized prices now 🙁
July 8, 2009 @ 5:02 PM
ybitz wrote:I just ordered it
[quote=ybitz]I just ordered it on ATT’s website. The tax was $52.41 on the last page for order confirmation…looks like they are charging tax on unsubsidized prices now :([/quote]
Sorry to hear that…
I guess the State of California needs to get as much sales tax revenue as possible.
July 17, 2009 @ 8:32 PM
ybitz wrote:I just ordered it
[quote=ybitz]I just ordered it on ATT’s website. The tax was $52.41 on the last page for order confirmation…looks like they are charging tax on unsubsidized prices now :([/quote]
Looks like this is new as of the last few weeks as I never had happen to me before.
Anyway, I ordered a couple more iPhones and I can confirm the above.
So I shipped the phones to my friend’s place in Chicago and it’s only $14.43 tax. I’m going to Chicago anyway but he could ship them back to me and I would still save money. Too bad I don’t have any good friend in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire or Oregon.
Sorry, California, we need to starve the beast so the less money they get from me, the better. 😉
July 27, 2009 @ 3:08 PM
Here’s an interesting post by
Here’s an interesting post by Scott Lewis at VOSD.
Did anyone go to Comic-Con? Did you experience any problem?
I wonder if wifi was available inside the convention center during the event.
———–
http://voiceofsandiego.org/opinion/slop/
You might have heard about some complaints among users of iPhones about the phone and data service they are able to get with their AT&T plans (full disclosure: I am a new iPhone user and I love it). AT&T recently announced plans to bolster its service in Los Angeles and New York to squash — at least temporarily — what was becoming an uproar.
But little old San Diego isn’t as high of a priority. At least not until now. With Comic-Con — the massive nerd fest that last year brought 126,000 visitors to San Diego — is just around the corner, AT&T and others suddenly were worried that this would probably mean a lot of iPhones coming to a very small geographic area.
You don’t want to anger these people.
I called Steven Johnson, the spokesman of the San Diego Convention Center, if it were true that officials were worried about the iPhone convergence.
“True and resolved,” he said after checking. Johnson said that AT&T was rolling in apparatuses known as COWs, or “cell sites on wheels” that will be located actually inside the convention center to provide the needed bandwidth.
There has been much discussion about the needs of Comic-Con. It will supposedly outgrow the San Diego Convention Center and this has pushed local boosters into action hoping to expand the facility.
This is a reminder that there are other infrastructure needs in this town — a place that once tried to market itself as “Bandwidth Bay.”
July 8, 2009 @ 4:31 PM
ybitz wrote:Any tips on
[quote=ybitz]Any tips on getting an iphone 3gs without paying for the pesky upgrade fee? I’m out-of-contract, and have been a ATT customer for 4 years, if that matters.
Is it really true that if you order iphone online on ATT that you don’t have to pay taxes? Tax is significant, since it’s based on pre-subsidized price of the phone.[/quote]
Negotiate, and see if you say you’re going to verizon helps.
When I just upgraded my sprint phone, I asked to have all those bogus upgrade fees waived. They did, even though I’m on a $0/month plan.
July 8, 2009 @ 4:46 PM
Here is the link for you to
Here is the link for you to enter your work or school email to see if you qualify for corporate discount, with and individual responsibility account.
I’m able to get a 15% discount with my alma mater. I had to use my .edu email account.
http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/
October 19, 2009 @ 2:13 PM
The age of the iPhone should
The age of the iPhone should be coming to an end:
http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/10/19/droid-commercial-touts-arrival-of-an-apple-killer-but-wheres-the-proof/
Of course, this would assume that Apple users actually are smart enough to realize they are paying more for an inferior device……..unlikely!
October 19, 2009 @ 2:32 PM
Is Verizon going to adopt the
Is Verizon going to adopt the iPhone?
October 19, 2009 @ 2:34 PM
Downtowner, I’d be the first
Downtowner, I’d be the first to jump ship if there were a better product than the iphone.
I’m cheap and I like to get value for the money. But as long as there’s a subsidy from Apple or AT&T, the iPhone is still king.
The iPhone has so far been the cheapest cell phone I’ve used. I’ve purchased and sold iPhones and I’ve made money so far. The iPhone is the only phone that retains resale value.
Geeks love to tinker. And the ability to change handsets is one great feature of GSM phones.
The need to register a phone with Verizon takes all the fun out of it. With CDMA, you can’t pop a buddy’s sim card into your phone to test out things.
October 26, 2009 @ 6:46 AM
You can easily create ring
You can easily create ring tones for free using itunes and sync them to your iPhone:
http://www.cnet.com.au/how-to-make-your-own-iphone-ringtones-339291124.htm
October 29, 2009 @ 9:26 PM
Bump… So Nov5 i believe is
Bump… So Nov5 i believe is the launch of Droid.
Anyone gonna get one?
I’ve decided that I’m going to get this, mainly because I need to support the platform when I do my own work, heh heh…
Technical note: this will be the first android phone running on the new 2.0 code base aka eclair.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6447643/Google-Android-Eclair-launched-to-developers.html
Edit: Nov 6 is the date.
October 29, 2009 @ 10:35 PM
flu wrote:Bump… So Nov5 i
[quote=flu]Bump… So Nov5 i believe is the launch of Droid.
Anyone gonna get one?
I’ve decided that I’m going to get this, mainly because I need to support the platform when I do my own work, heh heh…
Technical note: this will be the first android phone running on the new 2.0 code base aka eclair.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6447643/Google-Android-Eclair-launched-to-developers.html
Edit: Nov 6 is the date.[/quote]
Looked impressive until Engadget compared web loading for engadget.com (super-intensive home page) for iphone and droid. Droid lost by 10 seconds! Processor too slow, next year new processor should make it near perfect.
But should be big seller now. This phone could revolutionize the market.
Have you written any apps for 2.0 yet Flu?
October 30, 2009 @ 10:04 AM
I probably won’t get it on
I probably won’t get it on Nov. 6 but definitely will get it in the next 2-3 months. equalizer, yes, it is slower than the 3Gs in loading pages on Wi-Fi. But if you use your phone in non WiFi area, there’s 5x more likely you’ll have 3G speed w/ VZW vs AT&T. That and it has built in free NAV. That’s a $60 option for the iPhone. Then there’s Google latitude, Google Voice, qwerty keyboard. I’m very excited about this phone.
November 5, 2009 @ 8:50 AM
AN wrote:I probably won’t get
[quote=AN]I probably won’t get it on Nov. 6 but definitely will get it in the next 2-3 months. equalizer, yes, it is slower than the 3Gs in loading pages on Wi-Fi. But if you use your phone in non WiFi area, there’s 5x more likely you’ll have 3G speed w/ VZW vs AT&T. That and it has built in free NAV. That’s a $60 option for the iPhone. Then there’s Google latitude, Google Voice, qwerty keyboard. I’m very excited about this phone.[/quote]Rationalization. I guess speed matters except when it doesn’t? Also, on the big keyboard issue, do you know a lot of people who don’t love the touch screen keyboard once they’ve started using it? Do you really have multiple iPhones and have you really used them?
October 30, 2009 @ 10:17 PM
equalizer wrote:flu
[quote=equalizer][quote=flu]Bump… So Nov5 i believe is the launch of Droid.
Anyone gonna get one?
I’ve decided that I’m going to get this, mainly because I need to support the platform when I do my own work, heh heh…
Technical note: this will be the first android phone running on the new 2.0 code base aka eclair.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/6447643/Google-Android-Eclair-launched-to-developers.html
Edit: Nov 6 is the date.[/quote]
Looked impressive until Engadget compared web loading for engadget.com (super-intensive home page) for iphone and droid. Droid lost by 10 seconds! Processor too slow, next year new processor should make it near perfect.
But should be big seller now. This phone could revolutionize the market.
Have you written any apps for 2.0 yet Flu?[/quote]
Some for fun, but I mainly work on the kernel…This is an good platform. What will be interesting is that this will definitely speed convergence of device makers. It’s just interesting reading about how traditionally non-phone companies want to play in the space now.
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/08/17/dell_mini3i/
http://gizmodo.com/5369210/acer-a1-android-phone-768mhz-cpu-5+megapixel-camera-wi+fi-gps
http://www.slashgear.com/garmin-android-devices-coming-second-half-of-2009-2227361/
http://www.unwiredview.com/2008/10/29/asus-android-handset-planned-for-2009/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/16/huaweis-android-touchphone-is-a-mystery-wrapped-in-an-enigma/
dell,acer,garmin,asus,huawei. The list keeps growing and growing.
Interesting article. http://www.wiseandroid.com/NewsItem.aspx?category=News&path=October&itemid=14
There is estimated 50+ android phones that will be hitting the market over the near term…Great news for consumers, even better news for folks that are needed to write the stuff to make it all work.
1. Acer Liquid – A1 – November
2. Compulab Exeda
3. Dell Ophone mini3i – Benzine
4. Geek Phone One
5. General Mobile DSTL1
6. Haier H7
7. HKC Pearl
8. HighScreen PP5420
9. HTC Click – Fiesta – Tattoo
10. HTC Desire 6200 – October
11. HTC Dragon – Zoom 2
12. HTC Dream – T-Mobile G1
13. HTC Hero G3
14. HTC Lancaster
15. HTC Magic – Sapphire – T-Mobile myTouch 3G – Google Ion – Dopod A6188
16. HTC Passion
17. HTC Predator
18. Huawei U8220 – T-Mobile Pulse
19. Huawei U8230
20. ZTE Android 21. Innocomm Skate
22. Kogan Agora
23. Koolu Freerunner
24. Lenovo O1 Ophone
25. LG Etna
26. LG GW620 Eve – November 2009
27. LG GW880
28. Motorola Calgary
29. Motorola Droid – Sholes – Tao – November 7th
30. Motorola Heron
31. Motorola MB200
32. Motorola MB300
33. Motorola Morrison – Cliq – DEXT – October 21st
34. Motorola Motis – 2010
35. Motorola Sholes Tablet – 2010
36. Motorola Zeppelin – 2010
37. Openmoko GTA02
38. Philips V808
39. Qigi i6
40. Samsung Behold 2 T939 – December
41. Samsung Bigfoot
42. Samsung Galaxy i7500
43. Samsung Galaxy Lite i5700 – Spica – 2010
44. Samsung Houdini
45. Samsung m850 Q
46. Samsung Moment – InstinctQ m900 – November 1st
47. Sciphone N12
48. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 Rachael
49. Sunno S880 – October 15th
50. Tiger G3
There’s no point in working on the iphone imho at this point. It’s way too saturated, your chances of coming up with one killer app is very slim. There is no question, android platform is here to stay for awhile. Growth is overseas in asia, where smartphones are more rampant there.
It probably also explains why Nokia is <$13/share.
October 30, 2009 @ 10:20 PM
flu, that list is very
flu, that list is very impressive. I think WinMo 6.5 supposed to have 30 phones released in the near term as well (not sure if it’ll be all US or not). I think that’s how MSFT and GOOG will battle AAPL. They’re not looking for one killer phone, although it would be nice to have, but when you have 30-50 phones competing w/ 1, it shouldn’t be too hard to gain market share. Smart phones today is where feature phones were a few years ago. However, the shelf life will be much longer.
October 30, 2009 @ 10:31 PM
AN wrote:flu, that list is
[quote=AN]flu, that list is very impressive. I think WinMo 6.5 supposed to have 30 phones released in the near term as well (not sure if it’ll be all US or not). I think that’s how MSFT and GOOG will battle AAPL. They’re not looking for one killer phone, although it would be nice to have, but when you have 30-50 phones competing w/ 1, it shouldn’t be too hard to gain market share. Smart phones today is where feature phones were a few years ago. However, the shelf life will be much longer.[/quote]
Yeah, I feel bad for Nokia. I think they’re screwed. Arrogance of going alone with their own platform is gonna kill them. RIMM is probably going to holdout ok because of the heavy business users.
I think the above list highlights another key thing. This industry just like the rest of the tech industry is extremely competitive. Yes, $200 might seem a lot for a phone. But there’s like 50+ phones competing for that same dollar. Funny, considering that with everything else rising in price with inflation, tech is the only thing for which we’re doing more /costing less all the time. If that’s not insanity for working in an industry for which there is always downward pressure, I don’t know what is.
Google is also messing with all the GPS companies. See, companies like Garmin, etc won’t have a choice but to play in this phone space too, especially when google starts pulling disruptive things like offering turn by turn mapping app for free
http://gizmodo.com/5393935/google-navigator-for-android-review-good-for-free-but-far-from-perfect?skyline=true&s=x
October 30, 2009 @ 10:44 PM
flu wrote:
Yeah, I feel bad
[quote=flu]
Yeah, I feel bad for Nokia. I think they’re screwed. Arrogance of going alone with their own platform is gonna kill them. RIMM is probably going to holdout ok because of the heavy business users.
I think the above list highlights another key thing. This industry just like the rest of the tech industry is extremely competitive. Yes, $200 might seem a lot for a phone. But there’s like 50+ phones competing for that same dollar. Funny, considering that with everything else rising in price with inflation, tech is the only thing for which we’re doing more /costing less all the time. If that’s not insanity for working in an industry for which there is always downward pressure, I don’t know what is.
Google is also messing with all the GPS companies. See, companies like Garmin, etc won’t have a choice but to play in this phone space too, especially when google starts pulling disruptive things like offering turn by turn mapping app for free
http://gizmodo.com/5393935/google-navigator-for-android-review-good-for-free-but-far-from-perfect?skyline=true&s=x%5B/quote%5D
I don’t feel bad for Nokia at all. They dug their own grave. So did MOT, but at least they’re pulling themselves out of this one rather quickly. Only way I can see NOK being able to compete is for them to get on board w/ either WinMo or Android. Symbian might be fine when there’s no competition, but I don’t think it can compete when all of these OEM will be bringing Android and WinMo to compete with them.
RIM might be fine now, but I have a feeling they have a very small opportunity (1-2 years) to get their platform ahead of the pack again, or else, they’ll fall behind, just like Symbian. In term of technological advancement, I think RIM’s OS is on the slowest path. They’re enjoying business user today, but MSFT w/ WinMo 7 (complete rewrite) and Android 2.0 (and beyond) are on a much faster path of improvement. It wouldn’t be long when the line of business and personal phone blur and you’ll end up w/ a do it all phone with an easy to use UI (w/in 2 years).
October 31, 2009 @ 6:49 AM
AN wrote:
I don’t feel bad
[quote=AN]
I don’t feel bad for Nokia at all. They dug their own grave. So did MOT[/quote]
I agree.
It’ll be hard to compete with the iPhones unless the competition is much cheaper.
I agree with FLU that the action for the Droid phones is in Asia where the phones are not so heavily subsidized.
But if you’re an American customer, would your rather pay $200 for an iPhone (which you can always resell for more); or would you rather pay also $200 for a currently inferior competing smart phone?
The choice is pretty simple in my opinion.
October 31, 2009 @ 9:26 AM
briansd1 wrote:
But if you’re
[quote=briansd1]
But if you’re an American customer, would your rather pay $200 for an iPhone (which you can always resell for more); or would you rather pay also $200 for a currently inferior competing smart phone?
The choice is pretty simple in my opinion.[/quote]
Yep, the choice is quite clear to me. That’s why I’ll be switching to VZW soon and get the Droid. So sick and tired of AT&T, finally, there’s a phone that is on par w/ the iPhone and a network that is FAR superior than AT&T.
November 5, 2009 @ 8:58 AM
AN wrote:Yep, the choice is
[quote=AN]Yep, the choice is quite clear to me. That’s why I’ll be switching to VZW soon and get the Droid. So sick and tired of AT&T, finally, there’s a phone that is on par w/ the iPhone and a network that is FAR superior than AT&T.[/quote]Let me know how you and the other guy who buys one like it.
October 31, 2009 @ 6:09 PM
briansd1 wrote:AN wrote:
I
[quote=briansd1][quote=AN]
I don’t feel bad for Nokia at all. They dug their own grave. So did MOT[/quote]
I agree.
It’ll be hard to compete with the iPhones unless the competition is much cheaper.
I agree with FLU that the action for the Droid phones is in Asia where the phones are not so heavily subsidized.
But if you’re an American customer, would your rather pay $200 for an iPhone (which you can always resell for more); or would you rather pay also $200 for a currently inferior competing smart phone?
The choice is pretty simple in my opinion.[/quote]
That is too simplistic of an idea. While it is your opinion almost every iPhone user I have ran into says the same thing. That they are either leaving once the contract is up OR that if it wasn’t for the iPhone they would have never bought ATT. The iPhone created a paradigm shift in the industry were they bought a phone over a network. That exiperment is running its course and we are beginning to see a movement away from that with the introducion of new phones.
Lastly the iPhone is not considered a business PDA. RIM with the Blackberry leads the way in that and we monitor our capacity with each new launch of this phone. Essentially very few bussines accounts are iPhones.
Still considered a kiddies phone by many.
Just the facts from a industry insider.
CE
October 31, 2009 @ 7:24 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:
That is too
[quote=CDMA ENG]
That is too simplistic of an idea. While it is your opinion almost every iPhone user I have ran into says the same thing. That they are either leaving once the contract is up OR that if it wasn’t for the iPhone they would have never bought ATT. The iPhone created a paradigm shift in the industry were they bought a phone over a network. That exiperment is running its course and we are beginning to see a movement away from that with the introducion of new phones.
[/quote]
I doubt it.
Apple’s obituary has been written many time before. But they proved people wrong.
Honestly, I’ve used the iPhone everywhere in tethered mode and 3G has always been excellent.
I even stream audio on the go in my car without problems.
I know that San Diego is a CDMA town but I doubt Verizon’s network is that much better than AT&T.
Perhaps Verizon is better in fly-over country but that’s hardly the market for smart phones.
Besides, most people download big apps on their PCs or indoors where they use wifi.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Lastly the iPhone is not considered a business PDA. RIM with the Blackberry leads the way in that and we monitor our capacity with each new launch of this phone. Essentially very few bussines accounts are iPhones.
Still considered a kiddies phone by many.
[/quote]
Sure, because the middle age fuddy duddy business men don’t know how to use a computer (which the iPhone is). The youth and fashion market are driving marginal phone sales. In a saturated market, the marginal sale makes all the difference.
I remember back in the days when PCs had to be smuggled into the corporation or bought w/ departmental petty cash because MIS (at the time) would here not of it. But the PCs won because of the flexibility it offers.
The iPhone can access corporate emails just fine. And people now are resorting to forwarding to yahoo and gmail for the push notification features.
The City of LA just outsourced their whole email system to gmail.
When a teenager gets to high school and gets a cell phone, the phone of choice is an iPhone. For the same $200, he’s not going to want a competing smart phone.
Time will tell…
October 31, 2009 @ 9:12 PM
briansd1 wrote:
I know that
[quote=briansd1]
I know that San Diego is a CDMA town but I doubt Verizon’s network is that much better than AT&T.
Perhaps Verizon is better in fly-over country but that’s hardly the market for smart phones.
Besides, most people download big apps on their PCs or indoors where they use wifi. [/quote]
VZW is MUCH better than AT&T in Mira Mesa. Has always been and continue to be.
I hardly consider downtown Chicago to be fly-over country. Good luck trying to get signal there. AT&T signal is HORRIBLE in Palmsprings too. Trying to use Google map to get direction when in Palmsprings is epic fail. But I guess Palmsprings can be considered fly-over country to some.
When your network suck, you would have to depend on WiFi. When you get 3G everywhere, then it’ll be just as fast if not faster than some people’s WiFi.
No one is writing Apple’s obituary. The smart phone market is still growing and there’s plenty of room for more competition. Competition is great for consumers.
November 1, 2009 @ 12:48 AM
I carry both verizon and att
I carry both verizon and att (and have for years) because I can never be without a signal, I’ve seen the commercials about verizon’s network but my in my real life usage, it’s a tie. What’s not a tie is the iphone, every competing device is inferior and I am am one of those middle aged dudes. In fact, I think the older you get, the more apple is appealing because of it’s simplicity and support.
I used to hate Joe Montana, hated him for more than a decade because he was better than the rest, he won and he made the teams I loved look bad. Joe Montana is the iphone, just accept it, enjoy second place and realize that god says you will never be as good no matter what. All other phones and phone makers are chasing what seems to come so easily for iphone/Montana. Montana doesn’t sweat, he doesn’t get nervous and he will beat you no matter what you think or feel. It’s taken me almost twenty years to appreciate Montana and to understand why I hated him. Odds are there is an app for that.
Competition may be great for consumers and football fans but there will never be another Joe and there will never be another iphone, the sooner you accept that fact, the sooner the pain will go away.
November 5, 2009 @ 9:07 AM
temeculaguy wrote:Everything
[quote=temeculaguy]Everything he said[/quote]As usual, temeculaguy’s got it spot on.
November 1, 2009 @ 6:32 AM
AN wrote:
I hardly consider
[quote=AN]
I hardly consider downtown Chicago to be fly-over country. Good luck trying to get signal there. [/quote]
Oh, come on. My good friend lives in Downtown Chicago and he’s has AT&T after having Sprint and Verizon. His job requires constant communication and he doesn’t even have a land-line.
My friend in NJ, outside NY, has Verizon but it doesn’t work well at his new house. He’s having to switch to AT&T.
Like TG said it’s about a tie.
November 1, 2009 @ 8:54 AM
briansd1 wrote:
Oh, come on.
[quote=briansd1]
Oh, come on. My good friend lives in Downtown Chicago and he’s has AT&T after having Sprint and Verizon. His job requires constant communication and he doesn’t even have a land-line.
My friend in NJ, outside NY, has Verizon but it doesn’t work well at his new house. He’s having to switch to AT&T.
Like TG said it’s about a tie.[/quote]
All I know is I had no signal walking around millennium park and several other touristy areas. BTW, not all phones are created equal. My wife’s old BB Pearl gets 1-2 bar in my house while my iPhone, both 2G and 3Gs gets 0-1 bar in the exact same area at the exact same time.
TG, it really depends what you want out of your phone. I have both the iPhone 2G and 3Gs, so I know exactly what iPhone does well compare to the competition. I also know what it doesn’t do well. To use sport analogy, Kobe might be the iPhone but if you want blocks, rebounds, FG%, you’d be looking toward Dwight Howard instead. There can be more than 1 superstar. It really depends on what you need out of your phone. If you want a real qwerty keyboard, it doesn’t matter how well the iPhone virtual keyboard work, it won’t satisfy your wants. If you live in a poor signal area provided by AT&T and VZW has great signal where you live, it doesn’t matter how great the iPhone apps are, it’s not what you need. If you want Facebook integration into your phone, there’s an app for that, but it’s not tightly integrated. I’m loving my 3Gs, but I’m also looking forward to the Droid too. Just like I love to have Kobe on my fantasy team but I love to have Howard too.
November 1, 2009 @ 12:42 PM
AN wrote: I’m loving my 3Gs,
[quote=AN] I’m loving my 3Gs, but I’m also looking forward to the Droid too. Just like I love to have Kobe on my fantasy team but I love to have Howard too.[/quote]
AN i’m not dissing the Droid phones. There’s a market for them for sure.
But at the same price as an iPhone?? I would choose the iPhone.
If you have money to spare and can buy new phones easily, that’s not a big deal. But most consumers do care.
We’ll just have to see in a couple of years….
November 1, 2009 @ 12:47 PM
My brother was looking
My brother was looking forward to upgrade to the iPhone 3Gs until I told him about the Droid. He’ll be upgrading to the Droid soon too. The 2 feature that swayed him is full qwerty and free nav.
November 5, 2009 @ 9:06 AM
AN wrote:I hardly consider
[quote=AN]I hardly consider downtown Chicago to be fly-over country. Good luck trying to get signal there.[/quote]debunked
November 1, 2009 @ 11:40 AM
briansd1 wrote:CDMA ENG
[quote=briansd1][quote=CDMA ENG]
That is too simplistic of an idea. While it is your opinion almost every iPhone user I have ran into says the same thing. That they are either leaving once the contract is up OR that if it wasn’t for the iPhone they would have never bought ATT. The iPhone created a paradigm shift in the industry were they bought a phone over a network. That exiperment is running its course and we are beginning to see a movement away from that with the introducion of new phones.
[/quote]
I doubt it.
Apple’s obituary has been written many time before. But they proved people wrong.
Honestly, I’ve used the iPhone everywhere in tethered mode and 3G has always been excellent.
I even stream audio on the go in my car without problems.
I know that San Diego is a CDMA town but I doubt Verizon’s network is that much better than AT&T.
Perhaps Verizon is better in fly-over country but that’s hardly the market for smart phones.
Besides, most people download big apps on their PCs or indoors where they use wifi.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Lastly the iPhone is not considered a business PDA. RIM with the Blackberry leads the way in that and we monitor our capacity with each new launch of this phone. Essentially very few bussines accounts are iPhones.
Still considered a kiddies phone by many.
[/quote]
Sure, because the middle age fuddy duddy business men don’t know how to use a computer (which the iPhone is). The youth and fashion market are driving marginal phone sales. In a saturated market, the marginal sale makes all the difference.
I remember back in the days when PCs had to be smuggled into the corporation or bought w/ departmental petty cash because MIS (at the time) would here not of it. But the PCs won because of the flexibility it offers.
The iPhone can access corporate emails just fine. And people now are resorting to forwarding to yahoo and gmail for the push notification features.
The City of LA just outsourced their whole email system to gmail.
When a teenager gets to high school and gets a cell phone, the phone of choice is an iPhone. For the same $200, he’s not going to want a competing smart phone.
Time will tell…[/quote]
Well you are citing opion. I am citing what we have seen in customer surveys.
Also most of the young professionals I know still prefer BB over iPhones. Remember there is also a preception as to the iPhone. BB represent the business class phones represents youth… That is just the way it is…
November 1, 2009 @ 11:48 AM
Ohh… Lastly… I see the
Ohh… Lastly… I see the Nelson/Telephia third party drive test data for San Diego regualry…
You know who is consistently at the bottom?
Its not Sprint, or Verizon…
And Cricket is not even considered in the scoring.
Just suck it up… You picked a bad network…
As far as bars goes… That’s just phooey! The scoring system is different between technologies and is interference dependent. Bars use to indicate signal strength… Now they represent (at least in UMTS and CDMA) signal to noise ratios. Signal to Noise is temporal and depends on the load of the site. Your bars can change vastly before your eyes. In general the more bars the better but really… They are just a feel good for the customer anymore and its just a little more useful than a check engine light.
CE
November 1, 2009 @ 12:47 PM
CDMA ENG wrote: Your bars
[quote=CDMA ENG] Your bars can change vastly before your eyes. In general the more bars the better but really… They are just a feel good for the customer anymore and its just a little more useful than a check engine light.
CE[/quote]
The check engine light is very critical, especially on OBDII cars.
The new cars are now CAN, so a check engine light is definitely something to worry about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controller_area_network
November 5, 2009 @ 9:04 AM
CDMA ENG wrote:That is too
[quote=CDMA ENG]That is too simplistic of an idea. While it is your opinion almost every iPhone user I have ran into says the same thing. That they are either leaving once the contract is up OR that if it wasn’t for the iPhone they would have never bought ATT. The iPhone created a paradigm shift in the industry were they bought a phone over a network. That exiperment is running its course and we are beginning to see a movement away from that with the introducion of new phones.
Lastly the iPhone is not considered a business PDA. RIM with the Blackberry leads the way in that and we monitor our capacity with each new launch of this phone. Essentially very few bussines accounts are iPhones.
Still considered a kiddies phone by many.
Just the facts from a industry insider.
CE[/quote]I think you industry insiders are just too close to things. On one hand you say people went to AT&T (a decidely inferior network I guess) just to get an iPhone, but when their contract is up, they’ll be ditching their iPhone? Exactly what survey was that? I’m sure everybody would like their phone to work everywhere (even in Verizon-land), but I don’t see any significant number of people walking from their iPhones.
You are correct about the perceptions of Blackberry users and they’re the toughest converts (even if they’re misguided), but I can tell you I don’t know of a single person who’s gone from iPhone to Blackberry, but plenty the other way. I’m sure there’s at least one guy, but he’s just the exception that proves the rule.
November 5, 2009 @ 8:57 AM
AN wrote:It wouldn’t be long
[quote=AN]It wouldn’t be long when the line of business and personal phone blur and you’ll end up w/ a do it all phone with an easy to use UI (w/in 2 years).[/quote]This phone exists today. It’s called an iPhone, you should check it out.
November 5, 2009 @ 8:55 AM
AN wrote:flu, that list is
[quote=AN]flu, that list is very impressive. I think WinMo 6.5 supposed to have 30 phones released in the near term as well (not sure if it’ll be all US or not). I think that’s how MSFT and GOOG will battle AAPL. They’re not looking for one killer phone, although it would be nice to have, but when you have 30-50 phones competing w/ 1, it shouldn’t be too hard to gain market share. Smart phones today is where feature phones were a few years ago. However, the shelf life will be much longer.[/quote]Read my previous post. You understand you’re saying if you can’t come up with one solid product, come out with 50. That’s a winner. It’s been a proven winner for Microsoft so far, yeah?
November 5, 2009 @ 8:54 AM
flu
[quote=flu]dell,acer,garmin,asus,huawei. The list keeps growing and growing.
There is estimated 50+ android phones that will be hitting the market over the near term…Great news for consumers, even better news for folks that are needed to write the stuff to make it all work.
1. Acer Liquid – A1 – November
2. Compulab Exeda
3. Dell Ophone mini3i – Benzine
4. Geek Phone One
5. General Mobile DSTL1
.
.
.
48. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 Rachael
49. Sunno S880 – October 15th
50. Tiger G3
There’s no point in working on the iphone imho at this point. It’s way too saturated, your chances of coming up with one killer app is very slim. There is no question, android platform is here to stay for awhile. Growth is overseas in asia, where smartphones are more rampant there.[/quote]This is a bad thing for Android, not good. Platform proliferation is a problem. Basically, they’re competing with WinMo. That’s a big fat who cares (outside of Microsoft and Google factories).
Killer apps are killer apps. If you had one, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be successful on the iPhone.
November 2, 2009 @ 7:32 AM
I guess in the end I should
I guess in the end I should concede this…
iPhone was/is the most brillant phone to date. It was a quantum leap over anything out there…
But it raised the bar and the bar will be reset at some point.
CE
November 2, 2009 @ 2:33 PM
It will be interesting to
It will be interesting to watch the iPhone, not as an AT&T vs. Verizon contest, but as and Apple vs. Android smart phones.
You can buy a subsidized 3G iPhone for $99 now.
Suppose you’re already with with AT&T or some other carrier abroad. Would you get the iPHone or a competing Android for the same price?
I’m not saying that Apple should rest on its laurels. We all know what happened to Palm. And the Apple Newton didn’t make it.
As far the network is concerned, I know that the are tons of iPhones with T-Mobile. They offer the cheapest voice/data plans and the unlocked iPhones work perfectly well with their network.
I have a suspicion that, notwithstanding the exclusive agreement with AT&T, Apple wants people to unlock/jailbreak their iPhones because that drives sales and market share. A little bit of “piracy” is actually good for business.
November 5, 2009 @ 12:44 PM
I did few internal apps for
I did few internal apps for WinMo 5.0 few years ago and I am porting to iPhone right now. Coding against WinMo managed API’s was much easier, the MS tools were more advanced and the device was much easier to work with. Out-of-the-box multithreading support, access to native API’s, managed memory, etc… And that was months before iPhone was announced. About 30% of employees had WinMo devices. I really thought MS is going to kick butts with the platform and it is really painful for me to see how ubiquitous the Apple device is today. But somehow they managed to compose some classic features like multi-touch into a cool UI and bring them to the masses. Most people actually believe that Apple invented multi-touch.
I work in Internet Marketing, where small business with 5-20 employees are dominant and it feels like almost everyone has an iPhone. I just came back from ad:tech NY and the iPhone is so ubiquitous that I notice when someone does not have it. In my company of 18 people only four has a non-iPhone phone.
I find it very limiting if it is not jail-broken, but my wife loves it and that seems to be the common feeling. People are emotional about the device. It’s like Joe Montana meets the one ring to rule them all.
November 5, 2009 @ 1:34 PM
Since photographic evidence
Since photographic evidence seems to be in order…
[img_assist|nid=12247|title=|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=320|height=480]
…meager usage stats. Cursed EDGE!
November 5, 2009 @ 2:12 PM
Brian, iPhone are not the
Brian, iPhone are not the only phone that have residual value. You can probably find the 3G for around $150 (http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mob/1452621850.html). I’ve seen other phone that ask for around that much as well, such as well (http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mob/1453123748.html). BTW, there’s always a market for unlocked phones, since people break their phones all the time. If you paid $200 for the 3G and selling it for $150, you just lost $50. If you get those dumb phone for free, then sell it for $30, you made $30, instead of losing $50 (http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mob/1452766165.html).
sdcellar, I will be buying the Droid, not for me but for my wife (same difference in my eyes). I’m not complaining about the iPhone, I’m complaining about AT&T. If the 3Gs is on VZW right now, I would be less excited about the Droid. Since it’s not, I’m very excited about the Droid. I’m also not really complaining. I like what was given to me. I’m merely pointing out the iPhone is not a Jesus phone and it does have its failures. Here’s my screen cap:
[img_assist|nid=12248|title=usage|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=320|height=480]
Another interesting tidbit is, you made 6 days worth of calls in 2 years and I made 4 days worth of calls in 2 months.
November 5, 2009 @ 2:49 PM
That’s 3000 minutes a month.
That’s 3000 minutes a month. My ear would fall off.
Again, pretty stunning usage numbers on such a godawful network.
And nobody have said the iPhone was flawless (so let’s lose the tired “Jesus phone” moniker), just that it kicks the ass of every other product out there. The best part is that it came from outside the “industry”.
and yeah, I didn’t care who was buying the droid, just who would be using it. Is your wife excited about it?
November 5, 2009 @ 2:54 PM
You gotta do what you gotta
You gotta do what you gotta do. Can’t tell people to stop calling me.
It did kicks the ass out of every phone. I’m not refuting that it was a game changer. Same with the RAZR, the StarTac, etc. Every few years, there’s a game changer in this industry. iPhone no longer is head and shoulder above everything phone out there, now that there’s the Droid. In a few months, there will be a slew of device running on Snapdragon that will make the 3Gs feel slow. That’s why I love competition. One company come out w/ game changer and w/in 2-3 years, the rest of the players will catch up and another game changer will arise. BTW, Google is outside of the “industry” too.
November 5, 2009 @ 3:08 PM
I wouldn’t confuse market
I wouldn’t confuse market leaders of the moment with game changers. Both of the Motorola products that you mention could have been so much more than they were, even considering the eras in which they shined.
Not saying another truly gamechanging device won’t come along, but don’t know what it is yet.
Google is indeed outside of the industry as was Microsoft before it. What they should have done was controlled every last bit of it like Apple has done. This, of course, assumes that the droid won’t be taking off like wildfire, which I’m pretty sure you understand is my current position.
November 5, 2009 @ 3:26 PM
Sorry but I have to disagree,
Sorry but I have to disagree, game changer usually lead the market. There are so many thing the iPhone could have done that would make it perfect. A game changer is a device that make the rest of the competition go back to the drawing board and come up w/ a competitor to it. Those 2 MOT phones were just that.
What control are you talking about? Market share or their platform? Apple doesn’t control the smart phone market share. It’s the fastest selling phone, but RIM has more US smart phone market share and Symbian has more global smart phone market share. Google is not expecting the Droid to outsell the iPhone. That’s not their strategy. They expect 50 Android phones to outsell the iPhone.
November 5, 2009 @ 3:45 PM
Actually, my point was that
Actually, my point was that game changers do lead the market, but it doesn’t always work the other way around (think best of the worst). You might have something with the StarTAC (even with it’s _awful_ UI), but while I suppose some idiots might have been trying to catch up to the RAZR, iPhone settled for true innovation. I mean seriuosly, how is the RAZR not just a prettier version of their own damn obsolete product. Cool keyboard I guess.
Companies can’t control market share, just products, and Apple has done precisely that. I contend that Google should shoot for one phone that outsells the iPhone. Heck, there isn’t even just one “droid” phone. From what I understand, they’ve had a bigger hand in the moto droid, but they should do it all, soup to nuts, like Apple did. As I see it, it kind gives them an out, which is a shame.
November 5, 2009 @ 4:04 PM
RAZR innovation is in the
RAZR innovation is in the hardware, not the software. up until the RAZR, if you want a flip phone, you have to deal w/ thick & bulky phones. The RAZR revolutionized the industry by bringing in thin and sleek.
Google and MSFT do not want to do it all. They can’t do 30-50 phones a year like they’ll be getting in the next year. I don’t like the soup to nuts model and I don’t think they do either. They’re not looking for an out, especially when you see how much $ they dump into it. They just have a different business model than Apple. You don’t see MSFT creating a MSFT PC, do you? BTW, w/ WinMo 7, MSFT does get close to soup to nuts. They just wont be providing the broth or the bowl :-).
November 5, 2009 @ 4:18 PM
Yes, I know what the RAZR
Yes, I know what the RAZR was. Bo-ring. They’ve never innovated in software. At least not that you’ve heard from me.
iPhone, innovation across the board. Hardware, software, neat-o.
PCs and phones are apples and oranges. What Microsoft had done in the PC space made complete sense. Again, I wouldn’t point to Microsoft as the paragon of success in the phone space, with that being a good model for Google to emulate. It could change, but again, Microsoft had been in phones for years and Apple came in and kicked their ass. I know MS dumps a lot of money into it; they get a lot back too. The second tier phones need something and it’s certainly a valid way to go.
I acutally like all of these companies (MS, Apple, Google), but if I were Google, I would take Apple straight on. But they’re not and it’s sad (to me, at least).
November 5, 2009 @ 4:51 PM
The millions who bought the
The millions who bought the RAZR and brought MOT back from the brink of bankruptcy didn’t agree with you. So, we’ll just leave it at that.
Yes, the iPhone had innovation across the board, no denying about that. Just like any other game changers, it’s great, but it has plenty of weakness. However, its strength out weight its weakness. Hence its sale numbers.
I personally think Google made the right choice going the PC route vs the Mac route. Why emulate the smaller market share fish when there are bigger fish to emulate (RIM and Symbian). Emulate the leader and do better than the leader and you’ll be the leader. Apple is not the leader in the smart phone arena, even though they have the best selling smart phone. We’ll see next year if their decision is correct or not. The numbers will speak for itself.
November 5, 2009 @ 5:25 PM
Guess we’ll just have to
Guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree. The industry had been trying to do smart phones for ten years and never got it right. In the same amount of time, Moto made a thinner StarTAC. No doubt it helped them, but to put what they did (even considering the time) in the same league with the iPhone, I just can’t do it.
On the other, agree that the numbers will speak for themselves, so guess we’ll just have to see. We’ll get our first barometer when we hear how long the lines are for the droid.
November 5, 2009 @ 5:44 PM
Ten years trying to do smart
Ten years trying to do smart phones? Really? Are you sure? What do you mean they never got it right?
November 5, 2009 @ 8:07 PM
AN wrote:Ten years trying to
[quote=AN]Ten years trying to do smart phones? Really? Are you sure? What do you mean they never got it right?[/quote]
Qualcomm pdq smartphone designed in 1998 and released in 1999. How was
surfing the net on that monochrome STN?
http://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/1998/press797.html
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1150&c=qualcomm_pdq_800
November 5, 2009 @ 10:35 PM
Thanks equalizer and, yeah
Thanks equalizer and, yeah AN, I’m sure.
November 5, 2009 @ 11:09 PM
equalizer wrote:AN wrote:Ten
[quote=equalizer][quote=AN]Ten years trying to do smart phones? Really? Are you sure? What do you mean they never got it right?[/quote]
Qualcomm pdq smartphone designed in 1998 and released in 1999. How was
surfing the net on that monochrome STN?
http://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/1998/press797.html
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1150&c=qualcomm_pdq_800%5B/quote%5D
Must be amazing surfing the net using 16MHz processor. That was definitely a game changer for smart phone :-). I can’t believe 1st cell phone came out 25 years ago. I guess it took 25 years and an industry outsider to get it right.
November 6, 2009 @ 9:50 AM
I think you might just
I think you might just finally be getting it.
November 6, 2009 @ 9:58 AM
Yep, then the next game
Yep, then the next game changer comes along, I can say that all over again.
November 6, 2009 @ 10:01 AM
????
There’s a reason I said
????
There’s a reason I said “might”.
November 6, 2009 @ 10:19 AM
Yep, and there’s a reason why
Yep, and there’s a reason why you don’t get it.
November 6, 2009 @ 10:28 AM
From the guy who knows so
From the guy who knows so much about the industry, but is somehow unaware of nascent smartphone efforts.
The reason I pick on you so much is that you have an uncanny knack for losing debates and when you finally come around, make it sound like you had it right all along.
November 6, 2009 @ 10:37 AM
You must be smoking something
You must be smoking something really good. Wanna share? Must be nice living in your bubble. I win, you lose. You do have a knack for losing debates. Sorry you can’t pick up sarcasm over the internet.
BTW, a quick search on Wiki will tell you the first smart phone was made in 1992, not 1999. That’s way before my time.
November 6, 2009 @ 10:42 AM
Oh, I also forgot to mention
Oh, I also forgot to mention you’re also a cliche thief (i.e. bubble living). Things I say must resonate with you because you seem to happily start to re-apply them. It might work better if you used them on someone else.
I pick up every bit of your sarcasm. It’s just weak.
on your re-edit, stoked that you’ve discovered Google. There is a difference between knowing and learning. I know plenty about early smartphones. You, obviously, are just now learning.
November 6, 2009 @ 10:43 AM
Yes master, please show us
Yes master, please show us the way to your wealth of knowledge.
November 6, 2009 @ 10:47 AM
Did you learn something
Did you learn something today?
November 6, 2009 @ 11:05 AM
I think I’ve learned
I think I’ve learned something but I’m not sure. My puny brain is trying its best comprehend the vast information you have, but it’s failing. First, you said the industry took 10 years to get the smart phone right, but then the smart phone came out 17 years ago. Please clarify in simple term so us commoner can understand why 17 years become 10 years. Did they get it right 11 years ago and the the information disappeared and they have to start from scratch again? Can you enlighten me as to where will the smart phone market be next year? Will the Droid be dead in the water? I have a thirst for your knowledge, please don’t deprive me.
November 6, 2009 @ 2:08 PM
Did you learn anything today?
Did you learn anything today?
November 6, 2009 @ 2:17 PM
sdcellar wrote:Did you learn
[quote=sdcellar]Did you learn anything today?[/quote]
Yes, 17 = 10.
November 6, 2009 @ 2:32 PM
Yes, you seem to have
Yes, you seem to have problems with the notion of rough approximation; remember our Piggington tenure debate? You should wikipedia approximation, orders of magnitude or something.
That said, maybe I’m not as far off as you think.
Now that you seem to be a domain expert, what are the two, count ’em two, significant features that Simon didn’t have that keep it from really qualifying as a smartphone (at least in my opinion)? Feel free to google/wikipedia Nokia Communicator, NeoPoint 1000, and the already mentioned Qualcomm pdQ.
Hint: One of the missing features makes _complete_ sense if you consider the year the Simon was introduced. The other will be harder to come by.
Oh, and if you want to force me to consider the Simon the first legitimate smartphone, I’m still not as far off as you think ‘cuz you suck at math, or at least fail to understand factual information.
November 6, 2009 @ 2:51 PM
I knew it. My guts was
I knew it. My guts was telling me 17 is not equal to 10.
Is the answer MMS and multitask?
November 6, 2009 @ 2:58 PM
No and no. Let me know when
No and no. Let me know when you want another hint.
November 6, 2009 @ 3:01 PM
Sorry that went right over
Sorry that went right over your head.
November 6, 2009 @ 3:16 PM
Yeah, sorry my bad, I was
Yeah, sorry my bad, I was actually starting to believe that you were even less intelligent than I’d given you credit for.
Good one on you then, the MMS “gag” at least fits for the first hint. If you chose it specifically because my beloved iPhone didn’t support it, even better! It also makes me wonder that if you actually are capable of such nuanced thought processes, why I don’t see more evidence of it?
Ready to try and answer for real?
November 6, 2009 @ 3:18 PM
It might be interesting to
It might be interesting to you to reminisce about devices in your earlier years, but I have as much interest in your question as I have learning about Apple IIe’s weaknesses. Both of them are way before my time. I was too busy playing with my toys to care at the time.
November 6, 2009 @ 3:31 PM
and now you’re too busy
and now you’re too busy playing with yourself.
Learn from history, dude, or be dooomed to repeat it.
What was the other one? Oh yeah, “Don’t come to a battle of wits armed with asianautica’s brain.”
November 6, 2009 @ 3:37 PM
wits? That is funny. Your
wits? That is funny. Your head is bigger than I thought. BTW, very appropriate to make sexual jokes about a minor.
November 5, 2009 @ 5:26 PM
AN wrote:The millions who
[quote=AN]The millions who bought the RAZR and brought MOT back from the brink of bankruptcy didn’t agree with you. So, we’ll just leave it at that.[/quote]
I’m one of those who bought the Razr. Of course, I got all my friends relatives to buy too. The Razr was cool at first but it didn’t do anything but make calls. The software sucks.
November 5, 2009 @ 3:00 PM
sdcellar wrote:and yeah, I
[quote=sdcellar]and yeah, I didn’t care who was buying the droid, just who would be using it. Is your wife excited about it?[/quote]
Yes she is. She has been excited about the fact that she’ll be moving away from AT&T for a few weeks now. She has been using my old 2G for a couple of months and she hates the battery life on that thing. My brother will be getting one too. He’s excited about it too (he was going to get the 3Gs till I told him about the Droid).
November 11, 2009 @ 9:33 PM
….DROOOOOOOOOOID………..
….DROOOOOOOOOOID…………
[img_assist|nid=12291|title=|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=500|height=500]
🙂
Ok…Those reviews that said the browser was gonna be slow. That’s a bunch of hogwash. browser is fast. Turn by turn direction GPS is pretty good.
What is the suck is the camera which is slow, though having a flash is nice.
November 11, 2009 @ 10:33 PM
AN, I drove the other day on
AN, I drove the other day on Sorrento to Calle Cristobal. No dropped call. Could be that AT&T fixed the reception in that area.
FLU, I look at the Droid. Not bad.
I don’t really like the qwerty keyboard. Would you better if they eliminated it and made the phone thinner. Can never be too sleek or too thin.
I’m so used to using iTunes now to download my podcasts that it’ll be hard for me to switch away from the iPhone.
November 11, 2009 @ 10:34 PM
flu
[quote=flu]….DROOOOOOOOOOID…………
[img_assist|nid=12291|title=|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=500|height=500]
🙂
Ok…Those reviews that said the browser was gonna be slow. That’s a bunch of hogwash. browser is fast. Turn by turn direction GPS is pretty good.
What is the suck is the camera which is slow, though having a flash is nice.[/quote]
You know FLU…
They said the same thing about the HTC Hero and everyone who has bought it loves it… How is that Droid? CNET puts it in the top five…
Is VZW charging for the turn by turn… Sprint sells it too… But what is different is that if you just want to download the free google mobile app Sprint would allow google to interface with the GPS chip and report location. VZW didn’t. Did google force the issue with VZW and unlock it?
Just curious…
CE
November 11, 2009 @ 11:21 PM
It’s pretty cool. I like it.
It’s pretty cool. I like it. Honestly though, while the Droid is a good phone, I think it’s only so right now because it’s the first one running 2.0. MOT decided to leave most of the phone with the standard look and feel of the 2.0 codebase. (Most of the apps are almost identical to what comes from the 2.0 codebase). To me that’s seen 2.0 for awhile, I have to admit it was kind of a letdown. I thought MOT would have at least skinned/branded the phone to a distinct MOT way. So there’s room for improvement. The menus work plenty fast, and by default you get the animation that comes with 2.0. Browser works great. Camera, kinda slow, though pictures are decent.
I wish HTC had a phone right now that was running 2.0. HTC, heavily customizes their phones and skins them to a L&F that is an HTC specific way. I personally think HTC has a much slicker UI, and in time I think their phones will be better than the droid. But then again, I’m sure MOT isn’t going to be sitting idle and let that happen.
Google came out with a turn by turn app that is free. It appears that Google/Mot forced VZW to do this. And/or it’s a selling point VZW is pitching versus the iphone.
Lot’s of people complain about the Droid’s keyboard being too small. I guess I have small hands, because I prefer it to the virtual keyboard on the touch screen anyday.
Phone is heavier than a iphone, though I can’t really tell how much. Definitely not as polished as a iphone, though getting closer. I think it would have sold better if verizon didn’t charge $70/month for service.
HTC Hero is a good phone. Note though, there are two versions of it. Asia version is different from the U.S. version.
November 11, 2009 @ 11:24 PM
What is the 2.0 codebase?
What is the 2.0 codebase? Give me a free lesson FLU! 😛
CE
November 12, 2009 @ 12:23 AM
CDMA ENG wrote:What is the
[quote=CDMA ENG]What is the 2.0 codebase? Give me a free lesson FLU! 😛
CE[/quote]
2.0 = Android O/S software version
O/S versions are
2.0 (eclair)
1.6 (donut)
1.5 (cupcake)
Pre 1.5 (who cares 🙂 )
Most things are running on 1.5 (Hero included). Currently, Droid is the only phone running O/S2.0. Aside from aesthetic improvements, 2.0 offers a richer API for app developers, and includes more APIS to hardware resources. Changes from 1.5->1.6 are less so. 2.0 has some significant changes at the kernel and introduces an account manager which touches several of the apps.
http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-2.0-highlights.html
2.0 just came out for app developers. One of these days, android will catch up to what other phones already offer, lol.
November 12, 2009 @ 8:25 AM
Bows to the
Bows to the master…
Thanks…
All this time in the industry and never knew anything about that. Of course I am Air-Interface as opposed to actual hand-set.
CE
November 12, 2009 @ 9:22 AM
Does anyone know if the
Does anyone know if the I-phone can be jailbroken to use on Sprint?
November 12, 2009 @ 9:44 AM
No. Different modulation
No. Different modulation scheme. UMTS and CDMA while similar are not compatible. It is proably a software defined radio but it would require a entirely new set of code.
CE
November 12, 2009 @ 12:18 PM
For anyone interested here is
For anyone interested here is the easy way to unlock/jailbreak the latest 3.1.2 OS.
If you travel obroad and want to use the iPhone using a foreign SIM (or T-Mobile) you need to unlock your iPhone.
http://iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=5886
In Cydia, be sure to the install the source:
http://cydia.hackulo.us
Then install appsync for 3.1
If you have a password on your iPhone, put it in standby, then turn it back on and enter the password in between installs of Cydia, Rock, etc…
November 13, 2009 @ 12:44 PM
Speedtest
VZW 3G vs AT&T 3G,
[img_assist|nid=12306|title=Speedtest|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75]
VZW 3G vs AT&T 3G, both at full signal, using the same app, running next to each other at the same time. The number speaks for itself.
November 13, 2009 @ 12:56 PM
To be fair AN, 3G depends on
To be fair AN, 3G depends on how far you’re located from the cell tower.
Sometimes, I get great 3G speed, sometimes not, depending on where I am.
Try wifi and see if the results are the same. They should be.
November 13, 2009 @ 2:06 PM
Actually it has nothing to do
Actually it has nothing to do with either of the two above statements.
It depends not only on RF conditions which the two phones roughly have but cannot be guarnteed but other factors.
Usually these are load (which has different meanings depending where you are in the OSI layer) and pipe dependent.
Usually load could mean two things. Condition of signal to noise ratios and scheduling. I am not very sure for UMTS but I believe it use the same TDMA overlay on a spread spectrum signal (CDMA WCDMA). You can have great RF conditions which the phone will show you as bars but if your neighbor is streaming Lady Gaga to his/her phone they can eat all the bandwidth up. In otherwords,if you are scheduled less often(again because of the TDMA nature of it)due to slightly weaker RF condiditons your through-put will be affected. Its simply refered to as Best Server. Best RF conditions get the most scheduling and therefore through-put.
The other thing is, simply, the pipe. So here is the industries dirty little seceret. While the air-interface could support just as much as would would like! For EVDO Rev A I believe it is close to 5 Mbits/s (I don’t have my EVDO book right here with me) and UMTS is similar… It simple doesn’t matter if the company is only bringing in 1 T1 to the site.
SO with 1.544 Mbps the raw bandwitdh of the pipe (T1)… and some of that eaten up for command and control of the Base Station Modem and the encapsulation… your bandwitdh at the application layer (AP layer being what you get as a user) is close to 1.2 Mbps.
That is about all you can get in both technologies given one T1 (which is extremely expensive to the carrier believe it or not).
2 T1s? 2.4 Mbps. and so forth and so on…
Most carrier run (for CDMA at least) 2 Spans per carrier signal in business areas. Your local home area is probably just 1.
So if VZW has 2 T1s and ATT only has 1 T1… Well you guess are smart… You can see the natuaraly conclusion to all of this…
Therefore it is a very tough to make all the variables similiar for testing.
Very hard to make a decesion about the whole network from one location.
Also in very good signal to noise enviroments distance to tower because less of an issue.
CE
November 13, 2009 @ 2:14 PM
Thanks for the explanation,
Thanks for the explanation, CE. Makes sense.
November 13, 2009 @ 2:45 PM
yeah, and you tested the
yeah, and you tested the iPhone against an SD server and the droid against LA!
…oh wait, I guess the iPhone sucks.
Seriously though, it’d be interesting to have insight into traffic levels at the tower level. Clearly, there are more iPhones consuming available bandwidth than droids, but for a fair comparison, you’d have to factor in what everybody else is consuming as well.
Somebody must have this data, it’d sure be interesting to see.
November 13, 2009 @ 3:42 PM
sdcellar wrote:yeah, and you
[quote=sdcellar]yeah, and you tested the iPhone against an SD server and the droid against LA!
…oh wait, I guess the iPhone sucks.
Seriously though, it’d be interesting to have insight into traffic levels at the tower level. Clearly, there are more iPhones consuming available bandwidth than droids, but for a fair comparison, you’d have to factor in what everybody else is consuming as well.
Somebody must have this data, it’d sure be interesting to see.[/quote]
YES AND YOU’LL NEVER SEE IT! :p
Seriously though that is not something anyone will talk about because it is very sensitive information. Problem is, and ATT has already publically admitted this, they have capacity problems due to open bandwidth standards on thier APPs. This was a costly mistake for ATT. They make less money with every carrier/T1 pairs they have to add to keep up with demands from gaming apps, videos, and streaming music as opposed to a business owner with a blackberry that behaves in a very predictable and low usage manner.
Actually when we are out there running test gear (read drive testing) the tower will report how many simtanuoes users but this give us very little information too. And even if the Layer 3 messaging could report more about what was going on it would be pointless… It changes so quickly the engineer could not follow the changing conditions.
When we test, or a 3rd party does ,they use a FTP session but like I said above the numbers reported could be vastly different from a Friday noon to a Saturday noon in the downtown.
It highly variable! Much harder to trouble shoot and monitor than good ole fashion voice.
CE
November 13, 2009 @ 3:51 PM
Very good info CDMA ENG.
Very good info CDMA ENG. That makes a lot of sense. One other thing I noticed after several tests is that the AT&T network always take about 2-3 seconds to reply to a ping while the VZW network takes between 100-300 MS. This might be a big reason why I’m noticing a big difference in web responsiveness w/ 3G.
Brian, you’re right, under WiFi, they both should be the same, since it’s testing the network and when you run speed test w/ WiFi, you’re testing the WiFi speed.
November 13, 2009 @ 4:29 PM
I was going to add that we
I was going to add that we have large teams of people dedicated to watching these things. Capacity, whether RF Capacity, T1 utilization, switching, or even into the IP cloud, is closely monitored and predicited and what these teams do directly affect your phone bill from one year to the next.
It is the holy grail of what we do… Even more so than drops and blocks because it simply affects the bottom line.
CE
AN… coincendently… The name that we call the DATA part of the Base Station is called the “AN”…
November 13, 2009 @ 4:49 PM
Reasonable article on the
Reasonable article on the phenomenon.
November 13, 2009 @ 9:18 PM
Engadget breaking down the
Engadget breaking down the back and forth between AT&T and VZW regarding network: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/13/editorial-hey-atandt-drop-lawsuits-not-calls/
I’m excited about LTE. VZW is supposed to release LTE in 30 market next year. That’s at least a couple of years ahead of AT&T. Brian, this should solve your gripe about CDMA and traveling over seas.
November 12, 2009 @ 9:47 AM
aldante wrote:Does anyone
[quote=aldante]Does anyone know if the I-phone can be jailbroken to use on Sprint?[/quote]
No, iPhone is a GSM phone and Sprint is a CDMA network, so they’re not compatible.
flu, the reason why the Droid used the base 2.0 UI is because Google did most of the S/W. MOT did the hardware and integration. If MOT did the S/W, it would most likely have MOTOBLUR on it too, but since MOT didn’t do the S/W, there’s no BLUR.
I also agree about the web browsing. Under WiFi, it feels just as snappy as my 3Gs. Under 3G, it feels more snappy than my 3Gs. Web browsing is actually much more desirable w/ the Droid due to the high resolution screen. I find myself zooming a lot less than on the 3Gs, since I can actually read the text without zooming in.
Call quality is much clearer than the 3Gs as well. I concur with you about the camera though. It’s quite poorly done.[img_assist|nid=12294|title=Droid|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=384|height=512]