The iPhone's features: What's new, what's not

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-973...?tag=cnetfd.mt

Unless you've cut yourself off from all media access this year, you know
that on Friday, June 29 Apple will release its iPhone with AT&T. Ever since
the device's unveiling last January, the tech world has been running in
circles asking what the iPhone will be like, what it will do, and how it
will do it. But because Apple hasn't been the leakiest of faucets when it
comes to specs, the hype has resulted in a lot of speculation instead. Of
course, that will all change in several days, as you can be sure everyone
lucky enough to get an iPhone in their hands--including us--will flood the
Web with opinions.

So while we can't tell you just yet whether the iPhone will live up to the
hype, and more importantly, whether it will be a good phone, we can tell
you what features the iPhone will offer and whether those features are the
first of their kind. A lot of readers have questioned us as to whether the
iPhone's features really are revolutionary, so we offer the following
comparisons. While a few of its offerings are new to the cell phone world,
the appeal of the iPhone lies more in its promise to do things differently,
and perhaps better. Once we get our review model, we'll be able give you a
thorough assessment. We note that you might know a lot of this already, so
if that's the case, we invite you to read about a melodramatic chipmunk
instead.

The touch screen
A lot has been made of the iPhone's touch screen and its lack of buttons.
Yet the iPhone is not the first cell phone to rely so heavily on a touch
screen. The LG Prada, the Motorola Ming, the HTC Touch, and the Samsung
SGH-i718 all feature prominent touch screens, with this last handset
offering tactile feedback as well. Sure, these other handsets may have the
traditional Talk and End keys, but you won't find a standard dialpad or
keyboard.

But will it be easy to use? Will it allow for fast typing? Though these
questions are completely warranted--there is a learning curve for a touch
screen if you've never used one before--a doomsday scenario doesn't exactly
ring true. If other phones use a touch screen so effectively, the iPhone
might just be able to do the same. Where the iPhone's touch screen really
seems to distinguish itself is in the way you can manipulate things such as
your music playlists and your photos. At MacWorld, the way Apple CEO Steve
Jobs swept his finger across the display to shuffle music and resize photos
was very showy indeed.

Media player
A big attraction of the iPhone is the iPod digital music player and the
iTunes integration, but the iPhone is hardly the first cell phone to play
music. Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones, such as the W810i, are especially
good at playing your tunes, and Nokia's Xpress Music handsets such as the
5300 are quite nifty as well. What's more, the iPhone is not the first cell
to interact with iTunes; it will just do so in a different way. Remember
the dud that was the Motorola Rokr E1? That had an iTunes player. Moto's
Razr V3i and the Slvr L7 had them as well. Yet those phones were crippled
with a ridiculous 100-song limit and a sluggish iTunes interface.
Fortunately, the iPhone boosts its memory to respectable levels--though 8GB
is somewhat small as MP3 players go. We were hoping for stereo Bluetooth as
well but you won't find it onboard. More phones are beginning to offer that
feature including the Nokia 5300.

On the other hand, the iPhone will not be able to download music
wirelessly. Several phones, such as the Samsung Upstage and the LG VX8300,
have such capability--and Sprint and Verizon have their own music stores.

Videos
From what we've seen in the iPhone commercials on Apple's Web site, the
video experience on the iPhone looks quite pretty. A lot of other cell
phones play video, either through 3G services or Sling Box, but the iPhone
will be the first to accept downloads from iTunes. So it goes without
saying that it won't be average streaming video over 3G. On the other hand,
Verizon Wireless has its V Cast Mobile TV service on handsets such as the
LG VX9400 and the Samsung SCH-U620.

Mapping
It doesn't have built-in GPS, but the iPhone is one of the first cell
phones with integrated support for Google Maps. Though the application is
available for other cell phones, the experience isn't always a seamless
one. The Motorola Razr V3xx, for example, is beset with restrictions that
severely limit third-party apps. When testing Google Maps on that phone,
the browser asked us whether we wanted to proceed every time we requested
data--frustrating, indeed.

Safari browser
Though it won't be the first cell phone to support a full HTML Web browser,
the iPhone will be the first cell phone to feature Safari. Also, the
browser will be the integration point for third-party apps, as Jobs
announced two weeks ago at his WWDC keynote.

Visual voice mail
At the iPhone announcement, Jobs was eager to point out its visual voice
mail feature, which will allow you to choose from a list and go directly to
the voice mail you want to hear. The iPhone is the first cell phone we've
seen to come integrated with such an application, but alternatives do
exist. For example, an application called SimulSays does just about the
same thing, but you must download it for use. Also, at the time of this
writing, it's available only for the RIM BlackBerry Pearl and the
BlackBerry 8800.

Camera
The iPhone's 2-megapixel camera is just above average as U.S. camera phones
go. The Samsung SCH-A990 tops the Apple handset with a 3.2-megapixel
resolution, and more powerful cameras are available unlocked. For example,
the Nokia N95 and the recently announced Sony Ericsson K850 both offer
5-megapixel shooters.

Battery life
Yes, the iPhone has a longer rated talk time than many other smart phones,
but in our CNET lab tests, we've had quite a few devices give us that much
juice or more. The Cingular 8525, the I-mate Jaq, and Nokia's N95, E61, and
E62 each had eight hours of talk time battery life; the RIM BlackBerry
Curve and the Sony Ericsson P990i went for 8.5 hours; the T-Mobile Wing
offered 9 hours; and the Nokia N73 lasted 9.5 hours.

Yet the iPhone could surpass all of the above. And if it could do so with
such a large display--high-resolution displays are notorious battery
hogs--then that would be impressive. It's also important to note that few
people use one application constantly. Actual battery life will depend on
how often you switch between applications.

Wi-Fi and 3G
Wi-Fi isn't terribly common on cell phones, so we're glad to see it here.
Current Wi-Fi phones include the Cingular 8525, the T-Mobile Wing, and the
Sprint Mogul And as we all know, the iPhone won't support 3G networks.

Sensors
Thanks to the handset's accelerometer, the display's orientation will
adjust automatically when you flip the iPhone on its side. At the moment,
most cell phones require you to either press a button to make such a
switch, such as on the HTC Touch, or slide the phone's face, as with the
Helio Ocean. So it's true that the iPhone will save you a step. Yet Sony
Ericsson recently announced the W910, which will feature a "shake control."
You'll be able to manipulate the phone's functions by moving the handset
itself. Skip music tracks by flicking the W910 to the right or left,
shuffle your playlists by shaking it back and forth, and move the handset
around to play games.

Also, a proximity sensor will turn off the display automatically when you
lift the iPhone to your ear for a conversation--we don't see that in other
handsets--and an ambient light sensor will adjust the display's brightness
for various lighting situations. That's still rare in cell phones--the Rim
BlackBerry Curve offers it, for example, but the iPhone won't be the only
one.

Herb quoted:
> Unless you've cut yourself off from all media access this year, you know

It's not that I haven't tried, but media is every where.

And even if I succeeded, there's still Usenet.

--
Wes Groleau

After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed
all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him
three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher
said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to
stay with you guys."

On 28 Jun 2007 01:41:58 -0000, herbforyou26@gmail.com (Herb) wrote:

>http://crave.cnet....
>
>Unless you've cut yourself off from all media access this year, you know
>that on Friday, June 29 Apple will release its iPhone with AT&T.

Duh, no shit, Sherlock. Everyone knows that piece of shit is coming
out, and the truly mindless are getting in line now. Hurry before
Michelle gets in line. With her big ass in the way, you'll have to
park a half mile from the store.

H> Battery life
H> Yes, the iPhone has a longer rated talk time than many other smart
H> phones, but in our CNET lab tests, we've had quite a few devices give us
H> that much juice or more. The Cingular 8525, the I-mate Jaq, and Nokia's
H> N95, E61, and E62 each had eight hours of talk time battery life; the
H> RIM BlackBerry Curve and the Sony Ericsson P990i went for 8.5 hours; the
H> T-Mobile Wing offered 9 hours; and the Nokia N73 lasted 9.5 hours.

H> Yet the iPhone could surpass all of the above.

Isn't it remarkable that first there go descriptions of all these whistles -
music, and internet, and video camera, etc., but then battery life is
measured by talk time. How about listening/surfing/shooting time? or they
know that after the brief period of excitment, the whistles are naturally
forgotten and 99.9% of the users are back to talking-only?

Seriously, I wonder, are there many cellphone users who on regular basis use
the phone for anything but talking? I occasionally shoot a photo, once in a
month perhaps, but I don't recall myself using organizer, calculator, voice
memo, and so on. Once you recall it's there, the thought is "cool, I should
be using it more", but somehow it never materializes. Wondering, is others'
usage much different?

regards

bat <bat@bats.com> wrote:

>> Battery life
>> Yes, the iPhone has a longer rated talk time than many other smart
>> phones, but in our CNET lab tests, we've had quite a few devices
>> give us that much juice or more. The Cingular 8525, the I-mate Jaq,
>> and Nokia's N95, E61, and E62 each had eight hours of talk time
>> battery life; the RIM BlackBerry Curve and the Sony Ericsson P990i
>> went for 8.5 hours; the T-Mobile Wing offered 9 hours; and the Nokia
>> N73 lasted 9.5 hours.

>> Yet the iPhone could surpass all of the above.

> Isn't it remarkable that first there go descriptions of all these whistles - music, and internet,
> and video camera, etc., but then battery life is measured by talk time.

Nope, its harder to get those times for those competitive products.

> How about listening/surfing/shooting time?

Someone would have to do a full review and measure those.

And by definition that cant be done with the iphone yet.

> or they know that after the brief period of excitment, the whistles are naturally forgotten and
> 99.9% of the users are back to talking-only?

Nope, and that wont happen with the media player capability particularly
and isnt likely to happen with the web browsing and email either for many
when the iphone is quite an expensive phone and if you just need talking
only, you wont be stupid enough to buy such an expensive phone unless
you plan to do most of your talking using voip with wifi.

> Seriously, I wonder, are there many cellphone users who on regular basis use the phone for
> anything but talking?

Corse there are. Most arent stupid enough to buy the high end
pda phones if they dont plan to do anything more than talk on them.

> I occasionally shoot a photo, once in a month perhaps, but I don't recall myself using organizer,
> calculator, voice memo, and so on.

Yes, there are some like you. I on the other hand actually use
the phone a lot more for other than talking than I do for talking.

> Once you recall it's there, the thought is "cool, I should be using it more", but somehow it never
> materializes.

Doesnt happen like that here.

> Wondering, is others' usage much different?

Yep, mine is completely different, like I said.

"bat" <bat@bats.com> wrote:

> H> Battery life
> H> Yes, the iPhone has a longer rated talk time than many other smart
> H> phones, but in our CNET lab tests, we've had quite a few devices give us
> H> that much juice or more. The Cingular 8525, the I-mate Jaq, and Nokia's
> H> N95, E61, and E62 each had eight hours of talk time battery life; the
> H> RIM BlackBerry Curve and the Sony Ericsson P990i went for 8.5 hours; the
> H> T-Mobile Wing offered 9 hours; and the Nokia N73 lasted 9.5 hours.
>
> H> Yet the iPhone could surpass all of the above.
>
> Isn't it remarkable that first there go descriptions of all these whistles -
> music, and internet, and video camera, etc., but then battery life is
> measured by talk time. How about listening/surfing/shooting time? or they
> know that after the brief period of excitment, the whistles are naturally
> forgotten and 99.9% of the users are back to talking-only?
>
> Seriously, I wonder, are there many cellphone users who on regular basis use
> the phone for anything but talking? I occasionally shoot a photo, once in a
> month perhaps, but I don't recall myself using organizer, calculator, voice
> memo, and so on. Once you recall it's there, the thought is "cool, I should
> be using it more", but somehow it never materializes. Wondering, is others'
> usage much different?

but that's because you are still trying to use a Windows PC. On a Mac
all that stuff is integrated into the OS, so when you sync, everything
syncs. Pretty cool, too bad Windows can't do it... without A LOT of
extra work.

So get a Mac and you'll start doing it.

Will there be anything on that will enable one to upload a text
message and/or a picture to a webpage.

In article <a-A376CD.00383828062007@mpls-nnrp-02.inet.qwest.net>,
none <a@b.com> wrote:
>
> but that's because you are still trying to use a Windows PC. On a Mac
> all that stuff is integrated into the OS, so when you sync, everything
> syncs. Pretty cool, too bad Windows can't do it... without A LOT of
> extra work.
>
> So get a Mac and you'll start doing it.

I agree. I also have a Palm Treo 700p smartphone and I use it for a lot
of things every day besides just talking on its cell phone.

In alt.cellular.verizon bat <bat@bats.com> wrote:

> Seriously, I wonder, are there many cellphone users who on regular basis use
> the phone for anything but talking?

Yes.

I occasionally shoot a photo, once in a
> month perhaps, but I don't recall myself using organizer, calculator, voice
> memo, and so on.

Some people use some of those features several times a day. Those who buy
smartphones choose their phone based largely upon features like that, and
take the phone functions for granted.


Once you recall it's there, the thought is "cool, I should
> be using it more", but somehow it never materializes. Wondering, is others'
> usage much different?

Yes.

On 28 Jun 2007 01:41:58 -0000, herbforyou26@gmail.com (Herb) wrote:

>http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-973...?tag=cnetfd.mt
>
>Unless you've cut yourself off from all media access this year, you know
>that on Friday, June 29 Apple will release its iPhone with AT&T. Ever since
>the device's unveiling last January, the tech world has been running in
>circles asking what the iPhone will be like, what it will do, and how it
>will do it. But because Apple hasn't been the leakiest of faucets when it
>comes to specs, the hype has resulted in a lot of speculation instead. Of
>course, that will all change in several days, as you can be sure everyone
>lucky enough to get an iPhone in their hands--including us--will flood the
>Web with opinions.

Just read here:

http://www.macintouch.com/iphone/faq.html

>
>So while we can't tell you just yet whether the iPhone will live up to the
>hype, and more importantly, whether it will be a good phone, we can tell
>you what features the iPhone will offer and whether those features are the
>first of their kind. A lot of readers have questioned us as to whether the
>iPhone's features really are revolutionary, so we offer the following
>comparisons. While a few of its offerings are new to the cell phone world,
>the appeal of the iPhone lies more in its promise to do things differently,
>and perhaps better. Once we get our review model, we'll be able give you a
>thorough assessment. We note that you might know a lot of this already, so
>if that's the case, we invite you to read about a melodramatic chipmunk
>instead.
>
>The touch screen
>A lot has been made of the iPhone's touch screen and its lack of buttons.
>Yet the iPhone is not the first cell phone to rely so heavily on a touch
>screen. The LG Prada, the Motorola Ming, the HTC Touch, and the Samsung
>SGH-i718 all feature prominent touch screens, with this last handset
>offering tactile feedback as well. Sure, these other handsets may have the
>traditional Talk and End keys, but you won't find a standard dialpad or
>keyboard.

Not with multitouch, and the software smarts Apple has added.


>
>But will it be easy to use? Will it allow for fast typing? Though these
>questions are completely warranted--there is a learning curve for a touch
>screen if you've never used one before--a doomsday scenario doesn't exactly
>ring true. If other phones use a touch screen so effectively, the iPhone
>might just be able to do the same. Where the iPhone's touch screen really
>seems to distinguish itself is in the way you can manipulate things such as
>your music playlists and your photos. At MacWorld, the way Apple CEO Steve
>Jobs swept his finger across the display to shuffle music and resize photos
>was very showy indeed.
>
>Media player
>A big attraction of the iPhone is the iPod digital music player and the
>iTunes integration, but the iPhone is hardly the first cell phone to play
>music. Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones,

I own a Walkman w600i Sony cell phone,
IT IS NO iPOD by any stretch of the immagination.



>such as the W810i, are especially
>good at playing your tunes, and Nokia's Xpress Music handsets such as the
>5300 are quite nifty as well. What's more, the iPhone is not the first cell
>to interact with iTunes; it will just do so in a different way. Remember
>the dud that was the Motorola Rokr E1? That had an iTunes player. Moto's
>Razr V3i and the Slvr L7 had them as well. Yet those phones were crippled
>with a ridiculous 100-song limit and a sluggish iTunes interface.
>Fortunately, the iPhone boosts its memory to respectable levels--though 8GB
>is somewhat small as MP3 players go. We were hoping for stereo Bluetooth as
>well but you won't find it onboard. More phones are beginning to offer that
>feature including the Nokia 5300.
>
>On the other hand, the iPhone will not be able to download music
>wirelessly. Several phones, such as the Samsung Upstage and the LG VX8300,
>have such capability--and Sprint and Verizon have their own music stores.
>
>Videos
>From what we've seen in the iPhone commercials on Apple's Web site, the
>video experience on the iPhone looks quite pretty. A lot of other cell
>phones play video, either through 3G services or Sling Box, but the iPhone
>will be the first to accept downloads from iTunes. So it goes without
>saying that it won't be average streaming video over 3G. On the other hand,
>Verizon Wireless has its V Cast Mobile TV service on handsets such as the
>LG VX9400 and the Samsung SCH-U620.
>

And which of those cell phones has a 3 1/2 inch screen that
automatically switches from Portrait mode to Landscape mode?


>Mapping
>It doesn't have built-in GPS, but the iPhone is one of the first cell
>phones with integrated support for Google Maps. Though the application is
>available for other cell phones, the experience isn't always a seamless
>one. The Motorola Razr V3xx, for example, is beset with restrictions that
>severely limit third-party apps. When testing Google Maps on that phone,
>the browser asked us whether we wanted to proceed every time we requested
>data--frustrating, indeed.
>
>Safari browser
>Though it won't be the first cell phone to support a full HTML Web browser,
>the iPhone will be the first cell phone to feature Safari. Also, the
>browser will be the integration point for third-party apps, as Jobs
>announced two weeks ago at his WWDC keynote.

Installing and getting Opera working on a cell phone is one thing,
having a full html Browser out of the box is another.


>
>Visual voice mail
>At the iPhone announcement, Jobs was eager to point out its visual voice
>mail feature, which will allow you to choose from a list and go directly to
>the voice mail you want to hear. The iPhone is the first cell phone we've
>seen to come integrated with such an application, but alternatives do
>exist. For example, an application called SimulSays does just about the
>same thing, but you must download it for use. Also, at the time of this
>writing, it's available only for the RIM BlackBerry Pearl and the
>BlackBerry 8800.

Again, it's out of the box on the iPhone no lame add-on needed.

>
>Camera
>The iPhone's 2-megapixel camera is just above average as U.S. camera phones
>go. The Samsung SCH-A990 tops the Apple handset with a 3.2-megapixel
>resolution, and more powerful cameras are available unlocked. For example,
>the Nokia N95 and the recently announced Sony Ericsson K850 both offer
>5-megapixel shooters.

Please pick one cell phone to compare the iPhone with, Sure if you
pick the whole
panoply of cell phones any one feature may be better on another, but
then it would be lacking in other areas.

The iPHONE has it all.

>
>Battery life
>Yes, the iPhone has a longer rated talk time than many other smart phones,
>but in our CNET lab tests, we've had quite a few devices give us that much
>juice or more. The Cingular 8525, the I-mate Jaq, and Nokia's N95, E61, and
>E62 each had eight hours of talk time battery life; the RIM BlackBerry
>Curve and the Sony Ericsson P990i went for 8.5 hours; the T-Mobile Wing
>offered 9 hours; and the Nokia N73 lasted 9.5 hours.

Conclusion = The iPhone has a dayum good battery system

>
>Yet the iPhone could surpass all of the above. And if it could do so with
>such a large display--high-resolution displays are notorious battery
>hogs--then that would be impressive. It's also important to note that few
>people use one application constantly. Actual battery life will depend on
>how often you switch between applications.
>
>Wi-Fi and 3G
>Wi-Fi isn't terribly common on cell phones, so we're glad to see it here.
>Current Wi-Fi phones include the Cingular 8525, the T-Mobile Wing, and the
>Sprint Mogul And as we all know, the iPhone won't support 3G networks.

Not only does the iPhone support wifi, but

A) It supports both "b" and "g"
When surfing the web, it will automatically switch to WiFi
C) WiFi is getting more and more common. Schools, Librarys,
restaurants, bookstores, Bars, hotels, motels, etc, etc

>
>Sensors
>Thanks to the handset's accelerometer, the display's orientation will
>adjust automatically when you flip the iPhone on its side. At the moment,
>most cell phones require you to either press a button to make such a
>switch, such as on the HTC Touch, or slide the phone's face, as with the
>Helio Ocean. So it's true that the iPhone will save you a step. Yet Sony
>Ericsson recently announced the W910, which will feature a "shake control."
>You'll be able to manipulate the phone's functions by moving the handset
>itself. Skip music tracks by flicking the W910 to the right or left,
>shuffle your playlists by shaking it back and forth, and move the handset
>around to play games.
>
>Also, a proximity sensor will turn off the display automatically when you
>lift the iPhone to your ear for a conversation--we don't see that in other
>handsets--and an ambient light sensor will adjust the display's brightness
>for various lighting situations. That's still rare in cell phones--the Rim
>BlackBerry Curve offers it, for example, but the iPhone won't be the only
>one.
>
>


Sensors = safe the truly unique features for last.


P.S. Haven't you violated copyright law by posting a complete article
from CNET ??

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:55:35 +0000 (UTC), EskWIRED@spamblock.panix.com
wrote:

>In alt.cellular.verizon bat <bat@bats.com> wrote:
>
>> Seriously, I wonder, are there many cellphone users who on regular basis use
>> the phone for anything but talking?
>
>Yes.
>
> I occasionally shoot a photo, once in a
>> month perhaps, but I don't recall myself using organizer, calculator, voice
>> memo, and so on.
>
>Some people use some of those features several times a day. Those who buy
>smartphones choose their phone based largely upon features like that, and
>take the phone functions for granted.
>
>
> Once you recall it's there, the thought is "cool, I should
>> be using it more", but somehow it never materializes. Wondering, is others'
>> usage much different?
>
>Yes.


I dont use the camera in my cell phone. I always have my ultra small
Sony W100 8-Megapixel camera on me.