Apple adds 'S' to iPhone 3G Apple unveiled its updated iPhone today, and the only real surprise was its name: the iPhone 3G S. Well, that and a new Voice Control application, plus the fact that the rest of the world will get the new iPhone 3.0's internet tethering and MMS capabilities before US iPhone users. AT&T won't offer MMS until "later this summer …
I've been tethering with AT&T for 5 years now. Each time, the software to tether was included with my phone. First it was with a Nokia, no problem at all. Then with an Ericsson, no problem at all. Right now I have a Blackberry Bold and a non-tethering data plan and yet I can still tether with no issue at all. I have even been able to tether while roaming.
The problem isn't AT&T's network, but people not willing to try. Tethering isn't exactly plug and chug. And that is probably the problem. Just don't tell AT&T you are doing it.
I might have missed it elsewhere, but no word on updates to the Touch? Considering it is basically an iPhone without the phone, I would think it was to be expected. Otherwise, pay $400 for the 32GB Touch when the 32GB iPhone, with better hardware and more features, is available? Sure, you escape the phone expenses with the Touch, but still...
Or are they letting the Touch die, to encourage people to buy the iPhone instead?
O2, unfortunately, will only allow you to upgrade if you buy out the remainder of your contract.
If you bought an iPhone on day 1 in the UK, then upgraded to a 3G, you're going to be waiting until January 2010 before you can get the same benefits as a newcomer.
On top of that, the additional tethering charges (nope, it's not part of your unlimited data) are rather horrific.
Thanks for rewarding us early adopters. We really appreciate it.
yawn..... If it doesn't run Google's Android, I DON'T WANT IT!
Sure is fun watching all those iTards lining up to get their shiny "new" iPhones. I'm sure St. Jobs could create an equally large media circus if they enabled the iPhone to send pictures with text.
Wait. Uhh... never mind.
I'll stick with OS's and companies that listen to their customers.
Its good... But it wont set the world on fire... Its very much at the lower end of what the rumours were suggesting... But I'm still buying one, I've lived with the 2G for too long.
I though the name was very reminicent of the Apple II GS. Graphics and Sound (or Granny Smith).
Good article on latest Apple June 8th WWDCO9 update from Moscone West in California . .
. . . Even with so many bit distracting typos(!) ;-)
I am a fan of iPhone and MacBook. A self confessed diehard fan of el reg.
Its a pity Apple have given up 'live' quicktime streaming of the keynote events - it used to be a lot of fun, and I guess given increasing popularity and rapid take up of iPhone and the halo uplift effect with number of Mac users its understandable. Good that el reg comes to our rescue!
I've felt recently that Apple's many other phone competitors have been pulling ahead on hardware specifications.
For me this is a most welcome update that meets or exceeds my modest expectations and evens up the hardware specs. field with the other handsets.
Apple's WWD09 update iPhone launch appears close to generally accepted industry expectations.
The $99 -- will it be £99 in the UK? (Sigh) new price point, and thereby cutting price of existing 8Gb iPhone in half, is welcome price reduction at the low end and should greatly enhance the market reach.
iPhone call plans liek the 18 and 24 month you get typically with O2 in the UK are at the expensive premium end of the scale for what you get in my experience, and overseas calls and roams are very expensive in practice a kind of 'O2 and Apple premium tax'?
I hate dialling to or from abroad on iPhone with O2 it just always feels a bit of a 'rip-off' compared with other networks and phones I've experienced. Even though the service and coverage is reasonably good. Data works pretty well when travelling. Internet tethering most welcome.
The iPhone 3GS update looks interesting, same format, bit better battery life welcome, X2 speed increase, better camera, video, voice control and recording, graphics, MMS, tapfocus, compass and 16Gb or 32Gb option, and many other incremental improvements -- everything we wanted and more!
Stereo Bluetooth?? ! It all looks to be reasonable in initial acquisition cost - although again, call plans are typically premium end expensive with O2 unfortunately. The typical overall contract costs when released plus the acquisition cost are likely to again be a bit at the premium end of the scale and again in some way may be to subsidise the iPhone and or O2 and Apple profits !
Hopefully iPhone 3.0 software will be fine. Specifications look interesting.
Does anyone else share the frustration that the call button is just a bit too near the other numeric keys and its too easy to hit by accident in mid dial? GGRRrr!
It my personal iPhone bugbear and that its too easy to accidently trip mute and/or loudspeaker in use. Hopefully voice activation will be easy to use and accurate(!) ? Maybe this will help.
Enough of the existing 2G and 3G iPhone benefits work overall well enough and are smoothly integrated and the phone has always been reasonably well integrated with mobile me, google, mail and other external apps and wifi and networks. So I hope the new model will also be smooth.
Its been a great personal cloud appliance for me I have to admit.
The iApps store has revolutionised the iPhone in neatly extending its practical use and it helped make mine very much more useful and adaptable, some of the games are great fun and serious apps are also a real pleasure.
Its astonishing to see the iPhone and iTouch evolution in such a relatively short timescale of around just a couple of years and with over 40million sold. Apple appear to enjoy a real winner with existing IPhone and the new iPhone 3GS at least at launch and on paper looks to help Apple continue to raise the bar in the smart phone category.
It doesn't seem that long ago talk of any Apple phone seemed far fetched and here we are on major third update. Where on earth does it all go from her I wonder?
Tempted and will try and wait a quarter or so to update to 3GS as I did with 3G upgrade.
Maybe will wait longer. These are tough times and I should be a bit careful.
--
Nice update to Mac Book Pro and Mac Air - incremental perhaps rather than revolutionary.
--
Mac OS v10.6 'Snow Leopard' looks a well considered and likely to be faster and looks slicker interface nice to see a lowish proposed upgrade price in these tough times.
--
Safari 4.0 even in Beta and now I've tried 4.0 for real appears to be 'brighter' and maybe just a little bit faster (?) is a pleasure on Mac platforms.
--
Pity no multitouch tablet annoucement, the rumoured 9.7" or 10" job or similar 'netbook' or mini 'Kindle style' Macnetbook would've been interesting, but no matter my wallet is a bit safer now!
--
That Steve Jobs did not appear is understandable and I'm sure we all wish him much better health. That things continue so strong for Apple is a tribute to both him and the Apple teams.
--
Well Done Apple. All in all and given no major hiccups in the roll-out and there are always minor bugbears, it appears to be a fair if not good update day for Apple's existing and potential customers and for Apple themselves.
I applaud Apples move towards better green credentials after the criticisms in this direction over recent years. Shows they are putting a real focus and effort on this and its moving in the right direction.
Roll-on Mac World 2010 - wonder whats in store for then! Meanwhile will enjoy some of the latest as it all comes online, even if its just the software updates.
Big Ask for Apple Please: Hopefully in future Apple can make things run a bit cooler and consider cooling slot positions on Macs a bit better - the Macs just feel to run so very hot!
It's still cheaper than what we pay here in Australia.
The current 8G iPhone 3G was released at $US199 (~$AU250, £124), but at launch here in Australia it cost > $AU1,000. The cheapest you can get it now is $AU799 (~$US630 / £394).
I expect the new 3GS 16Gb will be priced >$AU1000 (~ $US790, £490) when it launches too.
Of course they screw us for all high end phones here in Australia, not just the iPhone.
Nothing is more interesting and stimulating than reading the pithy humour and subtle wit of the iPhone/Apple detractors. Oh, "iTard", how droll and original - you must be the life and soul of the party sir!
Do you guys realise that when people like something, they're not actually criticising you? You don't have to take it personally.
Anti-fanbois are just as bad as the fanbois: You're just the other side of the same coin. Grow up and get a life.
At last, the 3G comes down to a reasonable price. I will admit that the tap-to-focus feature is interesting, as is the "better" camera (for some definition of better). However, the compass feature is bollocks. Who needs it? Geocachers? They want GPS. City dwellers? They don't know which direction the sun rises and careth not. Now if I were herding cattle, driving them to market across the wide empty expanses of Devonshire, I might need it.
Otherwise, I'll take the 3G at the good price.
Please someone, I really don't get this.
Teathering, something I could do with my 2110i in 1995 and with just about every phone since, either via cable, bluetooth or WiFi. Why would I want to pay extra for this? How can they enforce this, or are most people too lazy to swap the SIM to another phone/dongle?
Surely most people just have a seperate dongle or built in HSDPA these days anyway, which would still be much cheaper than O2's £ 15/pm.
3.2 MP camera. So, entry level. Even basic phones like the £ 99 cheapo LGs are 5MP now. I'd expect HD video and editing from a company associated with the media industry like Apple. So not a phone for photos or media creation. I wont mention video calls as nobody uses them.
7.2 Mbps HSDPA, seems ubiquitous these days. I thought that 21 Mbps was where most networks are heading (with 42 Mbps in the next couple of years). Can it support this and HSUPA etc as not a lot of use for teathering (on an 18 month contract) without.
3G, Video and MMS.. umm, welcome to 2003 Apple.
Also, why is everyone quoting the price as sold with an exceptionally long contract (24/18 months). By that reasoning competitors should be quoted with a negative cost due to cashbacks, free games consoles etc. What's the real cost SIM free (if/when available)? I'm still struggling to understand why people would pay over £ 1000 extra over 24 months, rather than just buy a phone outright and go SIM only - or is this still a part of the "credit culture"? :-)
And finally, it's exclusive in the UK to O2, the company with the poorest 3G coverage of the 5 networks (and the only one with no usable 3G anywhere I might need it).
I'm serious, I don't get it. I have an E71 for email and a 2 year old N95 and would love to find something nice to replace them. At the moment this looks like an N97. At a cost of less than £500 SIM free this would save me around £ 1000 over the iPhone+contract over 18 months, yet it appears a much more capable phone. I mean, the iPhone doesn't even have an FM transmitter, something even the N85 has? On a "music phone"? WTF?
Paris, 'cos have you seen the cost of using any phone with data there!
Unfortunately when you go through life comparing things on cost you won't get it. For example why by a Bmw, a Vauxhall also drives and costs less.
Looking at it from that angle you will never get it unfortunately. Just use one for a while and you will figure it out :-) same with osx really. It is those little things and how it all integrates seamlessly that make a big difference.
Looking forward to that one, the current one needed a bit more oomph and tethering will save a lot of ppl having to jailbreak their phones :D
What strikes me is how many ppl rise on every iphone article ... most of them don't have one, but somehow ... they have to say something about it, why bother ? if you don't like the product, nobody forces you to buy it, do they ?
Anyway, I'd like to know why they bothered with mms , surely email is a better protocol to adopt, across al IP capable devices.
Sir Alan Sugar didn't get it either... why pay £13 for a box of chocolates when you can get one for £5 - the £5 chocolates win. Wait - the £5 chocolates taste horrible ! Who cares, they are both edible and offer the same number of calories.... I wonder why Sir Alan doesn't drive around in a Skoda.
Do you wear a Seconda watch, get your clothes from Primark etc.... after all, the products do the same thing and are much cheaper ? Nothing wrong with that of course, it's just that people do pay for "labels" and quality even if it doesn't make economic sense.
I don't own one single Apple product but I can see why others do. I'm considering getting a 3GS once O2 publish their business tariffs.
I was comparing what appears a better product for a lower cost. I've used both previous models of iPhone and found nothing on them to convince me that they're more use (to me) than a £15 Nokia.
The interface is very pretty, but it's all form over function. I'd willingly pay 10 times the price for a well engineered BMW (or Lexus, Jag etc) than a Vauxhall with a pretty paint job.
Unfortunatly, to my eyes, the iPhone is the Vauxhall with cosmetic gloss, but at 10 time the price of the more useful (and to me usable) phone.
BTW I've also used OSX, Windows and may other OSs. I settled on Linux (Ubuntu and CentOS). Cost was not a consideration as it's not normally when I choose a phone.
That's why I don't get it. Of course if a phone is only for show and you never need to send txts to more than one person, take decent pictures or listen to music, then it makes perfect sense.
Paris, 'cos I had the wrong icon last time!
Its only taken Apple 3 years to include MMS, Voice Dialling, Video Recording and a 3 MP Camera! Yes radical features that no one else has thought of. Im sure Nokia and SE are kicking themselves. Still no idea if you can send files via Bluetooth. Might be bearing it in mind for next year?
A bunch of features we've seen before. Even the touch focus thing on some Symbian phones. It *still* doesn't have cut and paste. What happened to the Nano rumours? Are they waiting for Steve Jobs to come back before showing something special.
All this does is annoy existing owners because they've now got the old one and are locked into 18 month contracts without providing anything special enough for those people who've already decided against an iPhone to change their minds.
For those wondering about costs
18month contract pm/purchase
16gb £29.38/£184.98 £34.26/£184.98 £44.05/87.11 £73.41/Free
32gb £29.38/£274.23 £34.26/£274.23 £44.05/175.19 £73.41/96.89
24month contract pm/purchase
16gb £34.26/£87.11 £44.05/Free £73.41/Free
32gb £34.26/175.19 £44.05/96.89 £73.41/Free
So basically it is more expensive than last time round, and o2 want you fro 24 months, and they won't let you upgrade.
@Jonathan Cohen an lg (or any other phone for that matter) could have 3mp or 300mp, it will still take s*** photos compared to a proper camera with proper glass elements or s*** video compared to a decent camcorder, if you want hd video for non youtube purposes, buy a decent camcorder. Infact there is an argument for syaing that mobiles with silly pixel counts like 8mp or higher just take noisier crapper photos.
I've been considering purchasing an iPhone for a while now and have waiting for the new one. I've just done some calculations.
Currently I am on o2 Simplicity paying £20 per month on a 30-day rolling contract. This includes more texts and minutes than I use and unlimited Internet. I will have to buy a new phone in the next 24 months which will probably set me back £100 second hand. Therefore:
£20.00 x 24 = £480 + £100.00 = £580 / 24 = £24.00 per month
Looking at the various new iPhone tariffs the cheapest is as follows:
£34.26 x 24 = £822.24 +£ 87.11 = £909.35 / 24 = £37.89 per month
Therefore the new iPhone 16GB is going to cost me roughly £13.89 per month extra than I would have paid anyway. (The 32GB will cost about £4 per month more but I don't really need the extra). Will I go for it? Definitely!
or the £17.5632GB for Is it worth it?
Damn you O2.
I bought a 16GB iPhone 3G just after launch for £159. Cost now for a 16GB iPhone 3GS has gone *up* to £184.98. If you want the 32GB version you've got to fork out a whopping £274.93. I'm not sure what the 8GB model cost before, but it's £96.89 now, far more than the $99 it costs in the US. Also I'm sure the cheapest tariff used to be £25, and that's been raised to nearly £30.
Tethering also seems very expensive to me, and more costly for consumer customers than business customers.
Additionally, when the iPhone 3G came out O2 let original iPhone customers upgrade straight away. Seems that this time round you have to wait until your contract is up, or buy out your contract.
That's not just lousy, that's very lousy. We're being gouged. :-(
Well I upgraded from the original iPhone to the 3G this time last year thanks to O2's offer of being able to replace the original 18 month contract with a fresh one (which from what I can gather was purely down to the fact the original iPhone wasn't subsidised). I was on (and remained with) the £35 18 month package which offered the iPhone 3G for either £99 (8GB) or £159 (16GB) - which was roughly equivalent to the $199 and $299 price points for the US (with a bit of variation due to taxes and subsidies I imagine).
This time around the 3GS is being offered in the US for $199 and $299 again, this time for 16GB and 32GB models respectively, while the 8GB 3G has dropped to $99. Here in the UK, ignoring the temporary VAT decrease for a moment, the £35 18 month contract will now get you the 3G 8GB for £99 (no reduction), the 3GS 16GB for £189, or the 3GS 32GB for £280!!
While the US gets the 16GB 3GS for what the 8GB 3G cost last year, we get stuffed with it costing even more than last year's 16GB model! And the 32GB model is right up with what the original unsubsidised iPhone cost! What gives? I was under the impression that memory was dirt cheap at the moment, so why on earth is a) the memory jump commanding such a huge premium, and b) the UK prices so insane compared to the US ones? I don't buy that it is just down to the weaker pound as up until yesterday the iPhone 3G was still priced at a sensible level compared to the US. Furthermore the difference in £:$ from summer last year (~2) to now (~1.6) would put the prices closer to £120 for the 16GB 3GS and £190 for the 32GB 3GS.
It's like Apple & O2 haven't noticed there is a recession going on and thinks people have money to burn. They clearly aren't interested in having people upgrade from the iPhone 3G to the 3GS as they are insisting on having people pay up the remainder of their contract before being able to upgrade (and if those people do wait until January 2010 and beyond they will probably be just as likely to either wait till the next iPhone comes out in June/July next year and not bother with the 3GS at all, or just ditch O2 and go somewhere else). At these prices I'm pretty sure they won't exactly be inundated with new customers either. I imagine the only ones they may get will be owners of the original iPhone who for whatever reason didn't upgrade to the 3G last year, assuming they aren't completely put off by the price.
I for one will be sticking with the free 3.0 OS upgrade and then thinking very seriously come January whether I want to stick with O2 or not. It's even making me think of moving away from the iPhone next time I get a new phone too if Apple & O2 continue to think they can get away with trying to rip us off like this...
He wasn't just comparing on cost, he was comparing on capabilities with reference to cost. You smug goit.
So that's 4 (4?) revisions of the iPhone, and it still can't do as much as the phone I bought that came out before it. Like Jon, I would love to upgrade my massive brick mini-laptop phone thingy, but there's just nothing out there that compares with it for sheer capability.
I love the iPhone, have done since day one. I'm not a "fanboi" but i'm a big mac user and been an Apple stalwart for years now. The only thing that has stopped me getting an iPhone has been the o2 exclusivity. I'm a T-Mobile man as they give me the best 3G signal in my area, plus i'm on a brilliant deal with them.
Its a shame, because the network in this case is the deal breaker for me. I'm more than happy to pay the money for the phone, i just cant use o2.
However, the Apple website shows that they have dropped the price of a PAYG iPhone 3G to £342 from £394, so I'm hoping that when the 3GS itself comes out, the 3G drops in price again. If thats the case then i'll be getting one and putting a Turbo-SIM in it. A mate of mine has been using his with a turbo sim for ages and it works perfectly, even on services like the app store.
That solution also lets me keep my number and my current contract benefits.
You would have thought, in the interests of making money all ways, Apple would release the phone to all networks, create revenue streams from all angles.
I'm no Apple fanboi but have you really used both previous versions of the iPhone? I mean more than a casual glance in the O2 shop on a rainy saturday morning?
"if a phone is only for show and you never need to send txts to more than one person"
I regularly send emails to all 3 of my kids (and the wife's 2 kids) at the same time, quite simple really, look up a contact to add and then click the little + icon and look up another contact, click the little + icon and look up another contact................
"take decent pictures"
I have this quite clever device for that, its called a "Camera", its called the iPhone, not the iCamera and as such doesnt really need a top of the range camera built in. By the way, I have taken several "snaps" on the iPhone when I didnt have my camera to hand and they are perfectly acceptable quality for what I want (namley showing the subject of the photo I just took the photo of the photo I just took of them on the tiny little screen)
"listen to music"
I repeat, have you actually used the iPhone. OK the built in "speaker" is a joke and they really shouldnt have bothered but put in a decent pair of headphones and I have all my music at my fingertips
OK, this 3Gs is what the original iPhone should have been but we all know Apple are the masters of selling nice shiny underspecced, overpriced tat (thats why I never had any apple kit before my iPhone)
No, I wont be upgrading, I'll just get the software update. I do have to agree with some of the detractors, there are a LOT of features missing from the iPhone that have been in other phones for a long, long time. There are probably a lot better, cheaper phones out there. I also agree with some of the fanbois, if you have never really used the thing then dont slag it off because of some stuff you read somewhere about how bad it is. The major drawback is the O2 tie in, if it wasnt for the fact my employer is on O2 then I certainly would never have got my iPhone!
I think that you are wrong to say something is unuseable when you clearly haven't used the device other than in a shop. I haven't used an N95, so I can't say, they just look clunky and my personal experience of Nokia handsets has been a bad one. I have had a Blackberry (functional, but bland) and an HTC Touch (painful, just about the worst phone I've ever owned) nothing has come close to iPhone. It's interface isn't just form over function (do you *actually* understand what that means?) it works better than any other phone interface (here's the key bit) IMHO.
It's never been about ticking boxes on a feature list (Nokia) both RIM and Apple want to get the features right and get them working well. The lack of MMS? Personally don't use it, certainly haven't missed it. I'd argue that email is more useful. Does your N95 do that? If it does why do you feel the need to carry a the E71 as you email device? The iPhone is similar to the iPod - which has never had an FM reciever either. Your point? That and the other "missing" features are specific to you. That's fine, don't buy one. 20 million users can't be wrong though. It's the experience that is key, not a list of poorly implimented feature bloat.
18 month contracts are fairly standard across the board now, and have been for a long time. Your £15 Nokia was subsidised by your carrier by the way, although that might go someway to explain why Nokias profits have been tanking. We have been lucky in the UK in terms of mobile contracts. We are one of the few contries where you can get high spec phones for free with a generous and cheap contract. The iPhone contract is actually quite generous. 600 mins, 500 texts, UNLIMITED data over 3G and WiFi. The WiFi coverage in major towns and cities is excellent. The contact is less than £35 a month. No other carrier IME matches that. Yes, the phone cost me £99 up front, it has been worth every penny. The sim free price? £650 on Pixmania. That's only £50 more than the N96. Personally, I've never understood the obsession with Nokia. Ugly, unusable, bloated and cheap bricks IMHO.
@AC 03:01 GMT
Who needs a compass? Are you sitting down? prepare for a shock. There are in the world, another sort of human. They are called 'women'. I have sat in a car with one while she attempted to navigate. She was finding it difficult to read the names on the map because she was holding it upside down so it conformed to our heading . . . Our daughters on asking 'Dad, where is north and me pointing unerringly to it have looked at me as though it were I that were an alien and not them.
I agree that as a male of the species I know which way is up, providing I can clock the sun or some further astronomical cues, but not all are so well endowed.
I'm starting to think the same... I started my 18 month contract on July 11th 2008 and if they aren't offering a discount to existing iphone users then I'll just upgrade to 3.0, then see where we are in January (probably v3.2 by then). Can't understand the huge jump in price for an extra 16Gb memory, its ridiculous.
And 24 month contract? What, so next year, when the next version comes out, you can be dissappointed again at having to pay the remaining contract time to upgrade? Plus they didn't alter the pricing last year, so I'm not expecting them to drop the price later this year.
Disappointed there is no video calling, just because I thought the idea of Steve Jobs appearing by video call at the conference would have been great.
Can't believe they still have no FM transmitter.
Waiting to laugh at how much they will charge for TOMTOM, and wondering how they will cache the maps, or whether you will be able to download the whole UK map.
And disappointed they are charging for tethering.
I was excited at first. But now the novelty is wearing off now I've seen the pricing plans.
All they are going to do with their aggressive pricing plans, is make a bigger blackmarket for jailbreaking. Why don't I just wait and pay £500 for the handset and get free tethering, free TOMTOM, free applications???
I use an HTC Touch Cruise and I love it but I'm seriously considering moving to an iPhone (3GS 32GB). If I look at the basic phone then it is definitely feature deficient vs something like the HTC Touch HD and, now that I've customised my Windows Mobile device (with stuff like Mortbuttons, Wisbar, AgendaOne, etc), I'm not that fussed about the iPhone UI which I've played about with quite a bit on friend's phones and in various Apple stores. Two things are swaying me towards an iPhone though.
Firstly, I want to combine my music player and my phone into a single device and, with 27GB of music, I need 32GB of storage. Once you add the cost of a 32GB micro SDHC card (once they become available) to the price of many other phones that use this for storage (e.g. the HTC range) then the iPhone doesn't look quite such bad value for money.
Secondly, and this is the big one for me; applications! So many of the apps that I use regularly on my HTC (e.g. eReader plus various games and utilities) are updating at a much faster rate on the iPhone and are now functionally much richer than their mostly stagnant Windows Mobile versions. The app store also seems to be driving even very complex applications down to amazingly affordable levels.
I have no love for Apple and I hate the way they so often refuse to introduce features because, in their mind, they are right and their customers are wrong, but for me I think I'm somewhat reluctantly coming to the conclusion that the iPhone is the right choice for my next device.
- Julian
"Waiting to laugh at how much they will charge for TOMTOM, and wondering how they will cache the maps, or whether you will be able to download the whole UK map"
By "they", do you mean TomTom? As much as they think they can sell it for I imagine. Probably not much less than the dedicated systems - it's generally not the hardware you're paying for.
I'm about 6 months in with my 3G i-phone. It's a good phone some nice features that other people dont think of (andmissing some others) but I'm pretty sure it wil be my last i-phone.
The price of the 3G was excessive and I only took it because I got the 30% corporate discount. The new 3Gs is ridiculous, £90 for 16Gb of flash (cost apple £5-£10 max)! £15pm for 3Gb of tethering on O2's crappy network!!!! Anyone who pays that needs their head examined. You can tether for free on pretty much every other phone in the world.
Add that to the 24 month contract. I hate 18 month contracts already, to have to pay for a phone when your giving them nearly £1000 through a contract is robbery!
Think I'l be going back to HTC or moving to Android or Pre when my contracts up. To the apple fanbois it's a failry good phone but it aint God's gift to telecoms.
Why do iPhone users believe they should be able to dump their contract just because of the new iPhone? Before the iPhone, you signed up for a contract term and lived with it or paid it off. If a new handset came out, you had to wait or pay the remaining contract, schimples.
Just because Apple are in the business of marketing products that succeed each other so regularly shoudn't change anything: you enter a contract and live with it. It seems iPhone users are trying to create a culture of crying out of a contract just because their preferred handset is updated so fequently.
BTW, I'm seriously considering moving from Nokia/Symbian to the iPhone because of the 3GS but a 24 month contract is as hard to swallow as the ridiculous costs!
So has anyone popped out their iPhone SIM and popped it into another phone or dongle and tethered to a laptop this way? I've always wondered if it was possible or if O2 somehow can detect this and charge you for the data.
Their pricing for tethering is bl**dy stupid, I can't imagine too many people taking this option.
To their credit Apple have done well to incorporate features that many iPhone users have suggested. Looks like a good update that keeps them ahead of the curve.
Its a shame Apple can't force the network providers to provide higher speed / bandwidth 3g which is frankly painfully slow to use, particularly in dense urban population areas at peak times.
Similarly the continued ommission of Adobe Flash is a real pain, leaving large chunks of the web inaccesible to safari on iPhone browsers.
I worked for a telecom company when SBC (the company that took over AT&T) took us over. One of the projects I was on involved removing old switches from our software. When SBC took over, they were MOVING TO that switch in certain areas.
I still have friends who work there. They say that the technology has not advanced in the ten years that SBC has been in charge.
I must admit i was a bit suprised by O2's pricing but doesn't affect me as my contract doesn't end until next year. Reasonably happy with my iPhone 3G (only complaint is the battery life) and the 3GS doesn't really offer me anything I want (I used to have a Sony Ericsson with an 8Mp camera .. bought a camera with a decent lens instead). I'll live with the speed and next year will see what the market throws up. I certainly think O2's marketing is getting shoddy and I feel no loyalty to them any more (big problems upgrading last time), so maybe it'll be the Goggle Android next year (a year of mobile phone development should make a difference) .. or maybe the iPhone will not be tied to a single supplier.
I've got two 8GB iPhones, 1st generation and 2nd generation (3G). I can upgrade the 1st gen since it's contract is up for renewal, but I'm not going to bother.
The only commitment for me is as an App Store developer, but the pre-3.0 userbase is going to be around for a while yet (if you want a parallel, PS2 games still sell like hotcakes).
So now I'm hoping Android gets it's act together in the next 12-24 months. And I never thought I'd say that out loud. Apple held all the cards in the first two years, but now the carriers are getting greedy again and O2 aren't getting any more of my money.
I recall seeing a Vodafone advert on telly about no roaming charges. I might just wander into one of their stores...
> Sorry? Ahead how? Seems like they are permanently running to play catch-up releasing features that other manufacturers have had for years.
I disagree. While certain capabilities / features certainly existed on other handsets prior to the iPhone putting these together was a huge leap forward in mobile terms - same as the nintendo n64 with its 3d graphics and innovative control (and later the wii) was to earlier generation consoles.
The combination of large touch screen, beautiful UI, Web Browser (that works) Google Maps w/ GPS & directions, app store, iTunes, youtube, facebook etc left every other handset out there looking last century.
iPhone was a revolution in mobile - the first true internet phone that actually worked. This update while certainly not a gamer changer is a logical progression that ensures iPhone remains ahead of the competition.
i'd just like to add that i think apple suck as well, for all the reasons pointed out above, plus itunes and the need to use it.
i have nothing against other people using/liking one, i just think they're idiots, a bit like the religious freaks really.
paris as she's vacuous enough to fall for the shiny lure
1) MMS came to the iPhone late, yes. Why? IT HAS FULL E-MAIL!!!! WTF do you WANT to pay $0.25 to send each message through a snazzy interface when you can send them through email for FUCKING FREE!?!?!
2) Video support: It's a power thing. Yes the original phone could record video, we proved that with hacks. It drains the battery damn quick... and the camera was shoddy at best. Why? Not because apple chose that, but because that was the only non-proprietary camera they could get their hands on at the time that fit in the case. Nokia, Samsung, and others had excusive deals with too many vendors and Apple could not get a decent lense pack during development. Now they can, and 3.2MP btw gets 480P resolution (ie is IS High Def morons. You want a true 720P or higher camcorder be ready to shell out hundreds for a real camera cuz a cheap cell camera at ANY resolution can't cut it. I've seen output from a 5MP phone camera. My 2.1MP point and shoot takes MUCH better pictures... There's only so much noise you can cancel with pizels that tightly packed behind a 1/4" lens.
3) 18-24 month contracts? Your blaming APPLE for this? Buy a blackberry and see if it's any different. The Storm is $499 without a contract, and you only get $100 towards a replacement after 2 full years with Verizon... It's $199 with a 2 year deal, same price as the iPhone ($100 LESS subsidy to you) and the Storm's calling plans with data are $20-30 more per tier and tethering is STILL extra ($40 extra!). 2 year cost of a blackberry Storm is $820 more than the new iPhone with the same plan, and you only get $100 off your next one if you go the whole 2 years, Apple is offering $200 off your next one at 1 year.... This does not include Blackberrie's poor store and over inflated prices on apps. If you don;t want a contract, but the iPhone at $599 if you really went to. Just give up MMS, SMS, 3G, visual voicemail, aGPS, and pretty much everything else that doesn't work over wifi and you can bring it to the network of your choice... feel free!
4) Voice Dial? How about Voice COMMAND. We've had voice dial in the form of FREE apps from 3rd parties for a long time. That's nothing new and something Apple left to the free market. The phone may not include it, BUT IT'S FREE TO ADD! There are a LOT of apps the iPhone does not come with out of the box, but they ARE available, and most are free. There's little at all free on other phones, and most apps START at $5, many are $30! Big deal it wasn't fully integrated, it could still be done, and now there's a complete solution available that comands not only calling, but virtually every feature of the device.
5) 7.2MB HSPDA is the current deployed standard. Yes, 21MB 4G is coming down the pipe, but we can NOT legally distribute chips capable of using frequencies the FCC has not approved... 4G is nearly 2 years from coming online in major cities, still nearly a year until it's running on pilot systems. Do you REALLY want to add $100 in cost to a device you can't use for 2 years???? 7.2 is only yet availablein select locations... Besides, WTF do you plan to dowload to YOUR PHONE on a connection that's likelly FASTER than your home broadband pipe? 7.2 is pleanty fast enough, even tethering, to pull multiple concurrent full HD streams.
6) And whoever said it *still* doesn't have cut and paste: You're *still* an idiot, that was added with 3.0...
> Has anyone noticed that the new iPhone 3GS:
> 1 Can't get me a girlfriend
1. Open Safari : Google : "Babylon Girls London"
2. Select model
3. Call & Make Booking
4. Follow Compass / Google Map directions to hotel
They could probably make an "app for that" but i don't suppose it would be allowed...
Paris, cause girls like that love an expenses paid night in the London Hilton...
Gotta say I expected more than this. I really expected this one to make me regret getting my Touch HD four months ago. But no.
Still a nice device but still can't do enough to tempt me. Genuinely glad to see TomTom is on the way. Hopefully next year's update will be the one that can do all I can now (background GPS for instance) with a screen res boost (HTC-stylee).
Then it'll be worth jumping from WinMo for.
I'd consider an iPhone if AT*T gave existing customers a discount on them but they don't care about existing customers. By the time my 2 year contract is up (renewed in February of this year), there will be some newer iPhone version out there than this one and without MMS and a replaceable battery, I'm still on the fence. My Palm Centro was free and works just fine. I can replace the battery, have MMS, and everything else just works.
Nice to see that O2 are discontinuing the 16Gb 3G. This means that those of us with one of these can sell it on eBay for £300 and then buy the new 16Gb 3GS for £440 SIM-free. Just insert your existing O2 SIM and bob's your uncle. An upgrade under your existing contract for around £150 - possibly less...
And until it gets cheaper than land-line Internet, I ain't having it. I mean really, how much money did c&w spend running cables through every neighbourhood in the country that they want to service? And how does this stack up versus running a single wire to a mobile tower to service an entire neighbourhood? Hell, if you've got LOS between two mobile towers you don't even need the wire.
Also if you are a first time customer for Cable or any kind of landline, it means a team of people and a van coming around to dig your garden up. Mobile Internet? A USB stick in the post. What do you think is cheaper?
Then let's mention the limited "unlimited" connections, that will charge you 10p per megabyte if you exceed the "unlimited" limit. Sure even land-line ISPs have a fair use policy, but you'll usually just get throttled even if there is a per-user policy and not simply a restriction on the whole network at peak periods (the fairest solution, IMNSHO).
There must be a bunch of people raking in the dough and laughing their socks off while we go for the WONDER of mobile broadband, paying inflated prices for extended contracts like it's some kind of bargain.
Wake up, people.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
