<ira.j.schechtman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:807aea9a-e449-43f6-9f51-77081e7f326e@c18g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
iPhone FAQ rev 2.00
Thank you for the incredible response to the first iPhone FAQ. I have
read all the responses, and I have made many additions and corrections
based on the feedback in these newsgroups, and from the e-mails I’ve
received. Special thanks to Mark Crispin, SMS, and Todd Allcock for
their keen insights.
This FAQ addresses the frequently asked questions regarding the Apple
iPhone. If you have any suggestions for new questions and answers,
suggestions on how to make existing answers clearer, or corrections,
please post the corrections to the newsgroup (I read all responses) or
send them to
iraDOTjDOTschechtman@gmail.com (replace DOT with a
period).
This FAQ will be updated and re-posted periodically to
alt.cellular.attws, alt.cellular.t-mobile, alt.cellular.verizon,
alt.cellular.sprintpcs, comp.sys.mac.advocacy,
misc.phone.mobile.iphone, and other relevant groups.
Question List
----------------
-Where can I buy an iPhone in the U.S.?
-How do I change the battery on my iPhone?
-How do I enable voice dialing on my iPhone?
-Why can't I stream music from my iPhone to a Bluetooth stereo
headset?
-What is “unlocking?”
-How do I unlock my iPhone?
-What is “Jail Breaking?”
-Can I purchase or obtain applications for the iPhone from places
other than the Apple applications store?
-What kinds of applications are available on a jail-broken iPhone that
are not available from the Apple apps store?
-Can I go to prison if I get caught “Jail-Breaking” my iPhone?
-How do I connect my notebook computer to the iPhone to use my
carrier's 3G network over Bluetooth or USB or WiFi?
-My friend’s HTC Touch allows him to connect to the internet from his
laptop using Bluetooth for the connection between the laptop and the
phone. Can I do the same thing on my iPhone?
-When I insert a prepaid SIM card when travelling in foreign countries
it doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?
-Can I activate my iPhone on T-Mobile in the U.S.?
-Is there any place that I can purchase an unlocked, carrier-
independent iPhone without having to resort to “Jail-Breaking”?
-Can I install Skype or other VOIP application on my iPhone so I can
make calls over Wi-Fi in areas with no GSM coverage, or just to save
my peak minutes?
-I can’t find a memory card slot on the iPhone. How can I transfer
photos from my digital camera to my iPhone?
-I want to use a Bluetooth keyboard with my iPhone but it doesn’t seem
to connect. What am I doing wrong?
-The camera on my iPhone doesn’t have sufficient wide-angle range. Is
there any after-market device to fix this?
-The camera on my iPhone doesn’t have sufficient telephoto range. Is
there any after-market device to fix this?
-The camera on my iPhone does not have sufficient resolution. Is there
any after-market device to fix this?
-Can I run tasks in the background, such as Internet Radio?
-How do I enable Flash support in the iPhone’s browser?
-I frequently take long international airline flights and the iPhone
battery goes flat during the flight. How can I work around this?
-I want to use my iPhone for work related stuff, but my IT department
doesn’t support it. How can I convince them to add support to the
iPhone for enterprise applications?
-The internal memory on the iPhone is insufficient for storing the
amount of music and videos I would like. I don’t want to carry around
a laptop, but an external hard drive would be okay. Is there any after-
market USB add-on drive to expand the storage to something like the
120GB on the iPod Classic?
-I often have no signal on my iPhone, why is this?
-I would like an iPhone just to use the WiFi and regular phone, but I
don’t want to pay for a data plan. Is this possible?
-I would like to create and edit documents that are compatible with
Microsoft Office. I see that Windows Mobile devices can do this, but
what about the iPhone.
-Is their a way to listen to the radio on the iPhone?
-I’m living in Japan and I want to receive live TV on my iPhone the
way other Japanese smart phones can do. How do I do this?
-Is there a way to record video on the iPhone?
-Will my iPhone work in Japan?
-Is there an iPhone for Sprint or Verizon?
-Where are the best places to buy iPhone accessories?
-Why does Apple make highly desirable, and seemingly easy to implement
features, so difficult?
-You use the word “unfortunately” a lot. What’s the bottom line?
Answers
----------
Q. Where can I buy an iPhone in the U.S.?
A. Apple stores, AT&T stores, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy.
Q. How do I change the battery on my iPhone?
A. Unfortunately, you must send the phone back to Apple's service
depot for battery replacement. The cost is $86.95. See "http://
tinyurl.com"/iphonebatteryreplacement. If you don’t mind voiding your
warranty (or your iPhone is already out of warranty), and you are good
working with small electronics, a number of companies sell replacement
batteries for both the 2G and 3G iPhones at far lower prices. In
Google shopping search for “iPhone 3G Battery Replacement.“ The iPhone
is easy to open, i.e. the 3G model has two Phillips 00 screws on the
bottom that hold the phone together. Note that on the original iPhone
the battery is soldered in, so you’ll need to unsolder the original
battery and solder in the new one. It’s not all that hard to do, but
if you’ve never soldered before you might want to practice on some
wires first. Be careful about using after-market batteries of unknown
orgin as lithium based batteries can be dangerous.
Q. How do I enable voice dialing on my iPhone?
A. Unfortunately (and incredibly), the current iPhone model does not
support voice dialing. There are some after-market voice dialing
applications for the iPhone available in the Apps store, but because
the iPhone lacks a button to press for voice dialing, you still have
to use the screen to start the application which makes the feature
somewhat lame. You can also purchase a Bluetooth device such as the
Parrot Minikit Slim Portable Bluetooth Car Kit for iPhone 3G, iPhone,
which will transfer the phonebook from the iPhone to itself and do
voice dialing externally.The next generation iPhone will likely
support voice dialing natively.
Q. Why can't I stream music from my iPhone to a Bluetooth stereo
headset?
A. Unfortunately, Apple did not include the necessary Bluetooth
profile, called Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) in the
original OS. This profile has been added in OS 3.0. Update your iPhone
when the new OS is available and A2DP will work.
Q. What is “unlocking?”
A. Unlocking allows a GSM phone to use SIM cards from any GSM carrier.
Typically a user that travels to another country will want to buy a
local prepaid SIM card for that country because it avoids the very
high international roaming charges.
Q. How do I unlock my iPhone?
A. Unfortunately, AT&T will not unlock iPhones, even though they will
unlock their other phones. If you want to unlock your iPhone, you
first must jail-break it (see below), then download and execute
unlocking software. The alternative is to buy an iPhone in Hong Kong
as these iPhones are unlocked (but not jail-broken).
Q. What is “Jail Breaking?”
A. Jail-breaking enables you to download applications from sources
other than the Apple applications store. There are hundreds of
extremely useful applications that Apple will not allow into its
applications store for various reasons. Jail-breaking also typically
includes unlocking the phone so that SIM cards from other carriers can
be used. Note that there are non-Jail-Broken iPhones that are able to
use SIM cards from other carriers; unlocked and jail-broken are not
the same thing. There are downsides to jail-breaking because you may
no longer be able to take advantage of OS upgrades. See
http://www.quickpwn.com/
for more details. Be careful.
Q. Can I purchase or obtain applications for the iPhone from places
other than the Apple applications store?
A. Unfortunately, unless you unlock (“jail-break”) your iPhone, you
can only get applications from the Apple applications store.
Q. What kinds of applications are available on a jail-broken iPhone
that are not available from the Apple apps store?
A. Here is a sampling,
http://www.macworld.com/article/1377...rokenapps.html.
Q. Can I go to prison if I get caught “Jail-Breaking” my iPhone?
A. Unfortunately, yes, but only if you do it for “financial gain.”
Otherwise you could be subject to a $2500 fine. Of course this is just
what Apple has argued should be the penalty, and no one has been
prosecuted for jail-breaking their phone. See
http://consumerist.com/5153597/
for more details.
Q. How do I connect my notebook computer to the iPhone to use my
carrier's 3G network over Bluetooth or USB or WiFi?
A. Unfortunately, tethering is not yet supported on the iPhone (jail-
broken iPhones can tether). You will need to sign up for separate 3G
data service from your carrier. Note that when Apple and the carrier
do support tethering it is a virtual certainty that the carrier will
charge extra for it. The good news is that tethering support is built
into OS 3.0 and developers have already had it working, see "http://
tinyurl.com"/iphonetethering. It’s just a matter of time before
tethering will work. The problem with tethering is that AT&T that's
terrified what would happen to their 3G network if a lot of iPhone
owners started tethering. They need to figure a way to charge for
tethering so iPhone owners don't use it too much, yet not charge so
much that it drives customers away to other carriers.
Q. My friend’s HTC Touch allows him to connect to the internet from
his laptop using Bluetooth for the connection between the laptop and
the phone. Can I do the same thing on my iPhone?
A. Unfortunately, no. This is a form of tethering, and the iPhone does
not support tethering. Even if tethering were supported, the iPhone
does not support the necessary Bluetooth profile. The iPhone is quite
primitive in terms of its Bluetooth support.
Q. When I insert a prepaid SIM card when travelling in foreign
countries it doesn't work. What am I doing wrong?
A. Unfortunately, iPhones are subsidy-locked to the carrier. Unless
you have your iPhone unlocked (jail broken) you cannot use a prepaid
SIM card. While AT&T will unlock their other quad band phones, they
will not unlock the iPhone. Be very careful when travelling
internationally because the iPhone can "phone home" running up
enormous roaming chargers. Your best bet is to carry along an unlocked
GSM phone and use a prepaid SIM card in that phone, and use your
iPhone only on Wi-Fi networks (and of course as a music and video
player). If you want a factory-unlocked iPhone then you can purchase
one in Hong Kong, but it’s unsubsidized so the price is very high.
Q. Can I activate my iPhone on T-Mobile in the U.S.?
A. Yes, but unfortunately you’ll have to get your phone “jail-broken”
first. While this is a relatively simple process (check craigslist.org
for services in your area if you don’t want to do it yourself) you
need be careful about downloading operating system updates from Apple
as these updates will, unfortunately, likely re-lock your phone.
Q. Is there any place that I can purchase an unlocked, carrier-
independent iPhone without having to resort to “Jail-Breaking”?
A. Yes. iPhones sold in Hong Kong fit this description, but
unfortunately they are very expensive because they are unsubsidized.
Note that while these phones are unlocked, they are not Jail-Broken.
Q. Can I install Skype or other VOIP application on my iPhone so I can
make calls over Wi-Fi in areas with no GSM coverage, or just to save
my peak minutes?
A. Unfortunately, Apple will not allow Skype be distributed by their
applications store. However check out TruPhone or Fring.
Q. I can’t find a memory card slot on the iPhone. How can I transfer
photos from my digital camera to my iPhone?
A. Unfortunately, the iPhone lacks the Micro-SD or Mini-SD card slot
present on most smart phones. You must use iPhoto (on a Mac) or iTunes
to transfer photos.
Q. I want to use a Bluetooth keyboard with my iPhone but it doesn’t
seem to connect. What am I doing wrong?
A. Unfortunately, the iPhone does not support the proper Bluetooth
profile. You can use a Bluetooth keyboard only on jailbroken iPhones.
Q. The camera on my iPhone doesn’t have sufficient wide-angle range.
Is there any after-market device to fix this?
A. Fortunately, yes. See "http://usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?
products_id=789".
Q. The camera on my iPhone doesn’t have sufficient telephoto range. Is
there any after-market device to fix this?
A. Fortunately, yes. See "http://mobile.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?
prod_id=03534".
Q. The camera on my iPhone does not have sufficient resolution. Is
there any after-market device to fix this?
A. Unfortunately, no. The 2 megapixel camera is a major complaint of
most iPhone owners since most smart phones have much better cameras.
Apple is aware of the user dissatisfaction with the iPhone camera, and
is apparently planning a major improvement in the camera on the next
iPhone model (according to published reports they are buying higher
resolution camera sensors, and the belief is that these are for the
upcoming iPhone refresh). The bottom line is that if you can wait a
few months for the new iPhone models (expected in summer 2009) then
you’ll likely get a better camera.
Q. Can I run tasks in the background, such as Internet Radio?
Unfortunately, Apple does not allow true background tasks, so you
cannot have Internet Radio running and at the same time run any other
task. If you want this capability then you have to purchase a more
advanced smart phone such as one of the Windows Mobile phones, the
Android G1, or the new Palm Pre. One of the reasons Apple does not
permit background tasks is that these tasks greatly affect battery
life, though you’d think that users could decide how to balance
battery life against multi-tasking.
Q. How do I enable Flash support in the iPhone’s browser?
A. Unfortunately, the iPhone’s browser does not support Flash at this
time. For a smart phone that supports Flash, you can purchase a
Windows Mobile handset and use the upcoming revision of the Opera
browser, or a G1 Android and use the upcoming revision of the G1
browser. Apple hasn’t said when and if they’ll offer Flash support for
the iPhone browser.
Q. I frequently take long international airline flights and the iPhone
battery goes flat during the flight. How can I work around this?
A. Since the iPhone battery is, unfortunately, not user-replaceable, a
number of companies have produced work-around products. In Google
shopping search for “iPhone battery external.” Also, look into whether
or not your airline (and the plane used on your particular flight) has
any sort of power jacks at the seat. Some airlines have power jacks
even in coach. Be sure to bring the proper adapters for the type of
system used by your airline (i.e. 120VAC to 5VDC USB adapter, 12VDC to
5VDC USB adapter, or EmPower to 5VDC USB adapter).
Q. I want to use my iPhone for work related stuff, but my IT
department doesn’t support it. How can I convince them to add support
to the iPhone for enterprise applications?
A. Unfortunately, the main problem with the iPhone in terms of
enterprise support is the inablility to push applications to the
iPhone. Enterprises don’t want to have to use iTunes, with the phone
wired to a desktop, to push applications. The other problem with the
iPhone is that enterprises don’t want to be locked to AT&T as a
carrier, though for personally owned iPhones this should not be an
issue. On the plus side, enterprises like the low cost of the iPhone.
Once the exclusivity arrangement with AT&T is over, if there is a
version of the iPhone for Verizon, then IT departments will offer more
support for the iPhone. In the meantime, you’ll have to go with
Blackberry or Windows Mobile if you want full IT support on a smart
phone.
Q. The internal memory on the iPhone is insufficient for storing the
amount of music and videos I would like. I don’t want to carry around
a laptop, but an external hard drive would be okay. Is there any after-
market USB add-on drive to expand the storage to something like the
120GB on the iPod Classic?
A. Unfortunately, there is no way to connect a USB drive to the USB
port of the iPhone. Your best bet is to carry around a netbook, and
transfer music and videos back and forth between the netbook and the
iPhone. It is not clear if the SIMA Hitch will work with the iPhone
(it works with FAT32 formatted iPods). It’s likely that as Apple
expands the iPhone line there will be different models available and
at least one model will have disk based storage (like the iPod
Classic).
Q. I often have no signal on my iPhone, why is this?
A. Unfortunately, while the iPhone is a very advanced device, it’s
only as good as the network that it operates on. Unfortunately, in the
U.S., the smaller AT&T Wireless network significantly lags the larger
Verizon Wireless network in terms of coverage, especially outside of
urban areas. Since Verizon operates a CDMA network, the GSM iPhone
cannot roam onto Verizon.You have several options regarding phone
calls outside of the GSM network coverage area. If you have a laptop,
you can sign up with a VOIP provider such as Skype, and make calls
over the Internet (i.e. at hotels with free wireless)., or use a VOIP
application on your iPhone (but not Skype). You can carry along a
prepaid CDMA phone that works on Verizon. You can use pay phones. Of
course if you never venture out of GSM coverage areas, this is
unnecessary, but most iPhone users in the U.S. often find themselves
in areas without any GSM coverage.
Q. I would like an iPhone just to use the WiFi and regular phone, but
I don’t want to pay for a data plan. Is this possible?
A. Unfortunately, not on AT&T or on most iPhone carriers in the world.
You can buy an iPhone and have it unlocked so you can stick any SIM
card into it, but buying an unsubsidized iPhone is very expensive. You
can buy the iPhone in Hong Kong and it will be already unlocked (but
not jail-broken). The original iPhone (Edge) was sold unsubsidized and
millions of users bought them and used them on networks for which they
were not intended depriving Apple of revenue. By the time you buy an
unsubsidized iPhone you’ve spent enough that you could buy a far more
capable device like the HTC Tytn II unlocked (around $575).
Q. I would like to create and edit documents that are compatible with
Microsoft Office. I see that Windows Mobile devices can do this, but
what about the iPhone.
A. Unfortunately the iPhone does not have such applications available.
Q. Is their a way to listen to the radio on the iPhone?
A. Unfortunately, the Apple iPod Radio Remote is incompatible with the
iPhone. However there is an after-market FM radio available. See
"http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13773".
Q. I’m living in Japan and I want to receive live TV on my iPhone the
way other Japanese smart phones can do. How do I do this?
A. Unfortunately, the iPhone lacks this capability, which as you note
is common in Japanese smart phones. The lack of this capability (as
well as others) is the reason that the iPhone in Japan has sold
poorly, and is regarded as somewhat of a joke. In fact, the carrier in
Japan gives the 8GB iPhone away free with a two year contract.
Amusingly, the work-around to the live TV issue is an external tuner
that sells for an extra $100. See
http://i39.tinypic.com/2vuwvg7.jpg
for a photo of this kluge.
Q. Is there a way to record video on the iPhone?
A. Unfortunately, while there are several video recording applications
for the iPhone, all require a jail-broken iPhone. There is an apps
store application that let’s you stream live video over a WiFi
connection, but that’s about it. In any case, you’d quickly fill up
your flash memory with video, and since the iPhone doesn’t have a
memory card slot, you’d have to connect to a computer to get the video
off the phone in order to keep recording.
Q. Will my iPhone work in Japan?
A. Unfortunately, the original iPhone will not work in Japan. The good
news is that the 3G model will work in Japan. In Japan the iPhone 3G
will work on the UMTS 2100 MHz band for both voice and data. This is
different than in other countries where it operates on GSM for voice,
and UMTS or HSDPA for data.
Q. Is there an iPhone for Sprint or Verizon?
A. Unfortunately, no. Apple first approached Verizon with the iPhone
but Verizon did not like the Apple proposal for monthly revenue
sharing, an unprecedented idea, even though this was offset by the
lack of any handset subsidy by the carrier. Apple traded exclusivity
with AT&T (in the U.S.), and agreed to not require handset subsidies,
in exchange for a cut of service plan revenue. Ironically, AT&T and
Apple soon dropped the revenue sharing arrangement in favor of a
traditional carrier subsidy on the handset, because Apple felt that
the unsubsidized price of the iPhone was too high, and was the cause
of lower than expected sales.
AT&T has an exclusivity clause in their contract with Apple. When this
exclusivity clause expires in 2010 then you’ll likely see an iPhone
for Verizon, provided that the iPhone hasn’t been upstaged by
something even better.
Q. Where are the best places to buy iPhone accessories?
A. Unfortunately, the cost for iPhone accessories purchased from Apple
or AT&T is very high. Check out: "http://www.monoprice.com/products/
search.asp?keyword=iphone" and "http://www.dealextreme.com/search.dx/
search.iphone".
Q. Why does Apple make highly desirable, and seemingly easy to
implement features, so difficult?
A. In some cases the software or drivers necessary to implement these
features has simply not yet been written. The iPhone is a relatively
new platform, and it will take Apple a while to catch up with phones
using other operating systems (Windows Mobile, Palm, RIM, Symbian,
Android). In some cases Apple wants to protect its revenue stream and
does not want to offer any features that would cause users to purchase
fewer applications or content (i.e. that’s why there is no FM radio
built in). In some cases it’s not entirely Apple, it’s also the
carrier. For example, AT&T would rather get a cut of roaming revenue
from foreign carriers than to have an iPhone user stick in a prepaid
SIM card. In some cases, the hardware was not designed to support the
feature. I.e. there’s no button to press for voice dialing because
there are no hard buttons on the phone at all (though Bluetooth
headsets do have the ability to initiate a call).
Unfortunately, the iPhone was designed and marketed as phone/web
browser/media player. Now it’s transitioning into a Smart Phone, and
that transition isn’t going to be without some problems. Be patient.
Future iPhones will likely solve most of the issues, and iPhone users
will someday have many of the same features already enjoyed by
Blackberry Storm and Windows Mobile users. For the next year or so, if
you can't live without some features, you'll have to choose a
different smart phone.
Q. You use the word “unfortunately” a lot. What’s the bottom line?
A. Be careful when making major purchases like this. The iPhone is a
very cool, very compelling device, but features that you may believe
are available, because all other smart phones (and many non-smart
phones) have them, may not be present on the iPhone, and there may not
be applications available that give you those features unless you
resort to jail-breaking.
Many of the issues with the iPhone are inter-related. The inability to
run background tasks is not an inherent limitation of the operating
system, it’s because multi-tasking uses a lot of power, and unlike
PDAs or other smart phones, the iPhone battery can’t be swapped out on
the fly so Apple controls things that would dramatically affect
battery life. The lack of video recording to memory is because the
iPhone lacks a memory card slot which would enable the storage of the
large files that video requires, it’s not because it can’t be done
(jail-broken iPhones can record video), so Apple doesn’t allow video
recording applications that store to internal memory.
Few early adopters knew that Apple had done some of the things that
they had done until it was too late. Don’t get carried away listening
to the Apple fanbois trying to rationalize every issue with the
iPhone. The iPhone lacks many capabilities that are present in the
Blackberry and the Windows Mobile devices, but on the other hand the
iPhone has its own set of strengths.
Choose carefully,
Ira
© 2009 Ira J. Schechtman. Ira J. Schechtman is a technology expert
specializing in smart phones. Contact him at
iraDOTjDOTschechtman@gmail.com (replace DOT with a period).
Another John Navas.
iPhone FAQ 
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