iPhone 3.0 software and iPhone 3GS

[Steve]

June 17th for iPhone OS 3.0

Live details of new iphone 3GS http://www.macrumorslive.com/

New iPhone June 19th in UK?

[Rik]

Seb's going to be happy.

[Sebby]

Thanks, heading over there now!

[Steve]

I see Snow Leopard will be out in September for the paltry upgrade sum of $29 US or $49 for the family pack. So that's a whole new OS! Comparing that with MS pricing it knocks a few quid of the initial Apple hardware costs.

[Sebby]

Certainly does.

[Lance]

Woo! I'm happy as over the weekend the speaker on my phone packed up (first fault I've ever had on a Nokia) so for conversations I have to use either my hands free or the load speaker. This means I'll have my new phone at the end of next week!

[Lance]

I see Snow Leopard will be out in September for the paltry upgrade sum of $29 US or $49 for the family pack.

Seems expensive for a service pack!

[Lance]

O2 now have the pricing on their website: http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/paymonth.html

[Steve]

I was waiting for that

PS in the meantime have you tried semaphore or 

[Sebby]

Check out the video... It looks amazing!

http://www.apple.com/iphone/guidedtour/

[Lance]

I prefer smoke signals!

[Lance]

Check out the video... It looks amazing!

http://www.apple.com/iphone/guidedtour/

I wonder how long  you will resist!

I see TomTom is going to be available on the iPhone now too!

[Sebby]

It doesn't look like existing customers in contract can upgrade early, but never mind, we still get the 3.0 OS.

[Sebby]

Also, Safari 4 released today, and updated MacBooks/MacBook Pros. It's nice to see that the Snow Leopard update is going to be cheap as well.

[tomharrison]

It's a shame I took out a new 18 month contract in February when I moved to o2 - I've just worked out that if I wanted to buy out my contract and purchase the 16GB iPhone 3G S and a £35 18 month tariff, it would cost me over £700

Can't complain much about my Nokia 5800 though

[Simon]

I was looking synthe 5800 before I got my BlackBerry.  Would you recommend them for domeome who does a lot of texting and emailing?  I was worried that touch screen typing would be annoying, so I went for the BB as you have to 'click' the screen, and I didn't think it would be so easy to make mistakes.  I was wrong! 

[Simon]

As you can see! 

[tomharrison]

I was looking synthe 5800 before I got my BlackBerry.  Would you recommend them for domeome who does a lot of texting and emailing? 

The 5800's certainly the best handset I've owned to date. The screen does takes a little getting used to, and it's got a different feel to it compared to the iPhone/iPod Touch although I was fine with it after a week or so. The 5800 has a 'harder' press, but I find that makes text input much more accurate as you're less likely to accidentally catch unwanted letters.

The handwriting recognition is another bonus and is remarkably accurate too .

As you can see! 

[Simon]

Thanks, Tom.  I'd heard that a software upgrade has improved the 5800s a lot.  I may keep an eye out for one.  What's the camera like?  The new Sony Ericssons coming out later in the year, will have a 12MP camera on board!

[tomharrison]

Yeah, the latest firmware (V21) certainly has made the phone much quicker and I'm still amazed at the battery life - I average around 6-7 days before a charge, and that's including around 1-2 hours of calls per day, 10-20 texts, regular email access, web browsing, GPS, music and other applications!

The 5800's only got a 3.2mp camera although it can produce some decent images. It used to struggle a bit in low light conditions however the latest firmware has definitely helped things considerably. Not the best phone camera, but far from the worst.

The new Sony Ericssons coming out later in the year, will have a 12MP camera on board!

Crikey! I thought they were pushing it at 10MP

[Simon]

But if they're anything like the recent SEs, the camera may be good, but the phone is rubbish.

[Gary]

Thanks, Tom.  I'd heard that a software upgrade has improved the 5800s a lot.  I may keep an eye out for one.  What's the camera like?  The new Sony Ericssons coming out later in the year, will have a 12MP camera on board!

12mp is no good if the sensor is not up to it, you could find a 5mp phone with better images, I like the SE phones though but they always seem to have issues  to me the iPhone (no offense Lance and Sebby) stands for all things shiny must have, and is such a fashion statement in my eyes, not interested in a phone where someone else calls the shots on what apps i can and cannot have, or am limited to one network. I am now out of contract, on a O2 simplicity tariff and still very happy with my N95 8GB, funny thing is it still does what I need, it is fast, takes great pictures, makes calls (that bits important) holds a good signal, has some great widgets, good calender, multiple alarms, I don't need a phone to store music, I have flash support, and a flash for the camera, and hate touch screen devices god forbid they get scratched. The p910i had great handwriting recognition but if the screen scratched that was it, I don't need an app to help me work out the share of an evening meal with friends and I own a spirit level  my battery life is great and I can change it myself, and its small enough to fit in my pocket. I'll look at the N97 and N86 8MP slider this year, but why should I be stuck in a new contract for god knows how long when I have saved myself £10 a month, still get the same tafiff benefits that cost me £25 and I am happy, guess I am out of the update game because each new phone always fails to impress, I'd rather have the £10 a month and a 30 day rolling contract. and be free of operator restricted firmware phones and keep my one rolling along.

[Sebby]

Gary, as I've said to you in the past, whilst the iPhone (and all Apple products) have a certain fashion statement attached to them, they are a pleasure to use, which is more than can be said for a lot of phones at the moment. Apple think about the whole user experience, rather than just cramming in the latest technology to a phone that has a poorly-designed and sluggish UI, much like Nokias and Sony Ericssons of late. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

[Rik]

It's why I like iPods, tbh, Seb. They are instinctive to use.

[Lance]

Its the usability which has attracted my to the iphone as well. Whilst i could do everything i wanted on my N95 my experience of the iphone is that things are simply quicker and easier.

[Sebby]

Apple WWDC 2009 now available. If you've got the time to watch it, definitely do so - it's really interesting.

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0906paowdnv/event/index.html?internal=ijalrmacu

[Gary]

Gary, as I've said to you in the past, whilst the iPhone (and all Apple products) have a certain fashion statement attached to them, they are a pleasure to use, which is more than can be said for a lot of phones at the moment. Apple think about the whole user experience, rather than just cramming in the latest technology to a phone that has a poorly-designed and sluggish UI, much like Nokias and Sony Ericssons of late. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

When I can run more than one app at a time have a flash for the camera, and flash player then I will certainly have a go, I have used one, but it did nothing for me, its beautiful but limited I think, I was hoping the new 3GS would tempt me, but no. I can have 3 apps running happily I have a 5 megapix camera, record video at vid at 30 fps and above all I can change my own battery when after a year its getting worn out. I enjoyed my play with my mates one though.  Nokia with the new N97 and N86 have a fast and flowing GUI even the 5800 does, and thats basic, Palm with the Pre have a great  touchscreen phone which is fast and offers good features, but to be honest, I like keypads though Sebby, the N86 will probably be what I get when its released, 8mp camera, metal frame, flash lite, skype, msn messenger, turn by turn navigation which I already have a license for.  With its OLED display and scratch resistant mineral glass face its very well designed, also I am one of those rare people that use 3G for vid chats so thats another thing the iPhone can't help me with. I would go for a SE, an Apple or any phone that offers what features I need, right now I can leave msn messenger running download and watch a video and check for wifi hotspots all in one go and send an email or play a game, that's what I like about the Nokia and palms and HTC phones true multi tasking, the screen is great on the iPhone, but its not OLED on the 3GS sadly, OLED screens have much better colour reproduction and use less battery power, if the iphone had these features I would be using one now. Its a great handset, the GUI is superb  l like so many things about it but it does not do what I want and the people that make it into a fashion statement ruin it for me a bit, I have to say. Seeing iPhone fanboys waging war about the lack of serious upgrades to the 3GS and still trying to justify replacing theirs to have the latest and greatest on some forums today was a bit sad.

 Hopefully one day it will fit what I need, but then I guess I will always like keypads,  but as we all know if we liked the same thing it would be a dull world.  

[Sebby]

Clearly we disagree, but, just like I probably probably don't appreciate the point of the N95, I don't think you appreciate the point of the iPhone. It's about so much more than being a fanboy - unfortunately, people say that because Apple make nice-looking products, and so wanting to own products that look nice and function well immediately makes you a fanboy.

[Simon]

I'm a Sony fanboy, and proud of it! 

[Gary]

Clearly we disagree, but, just like I probably probably don't appreciate the point of the N95, I don't think you appreciate the point of the iPhone. It's about so much more than being a fanboy - unfortunately, people say that because Apple make nice-looking products, and so wanting to own products that look nice and function well immediately makes you a fanboy.

I was not saying you were a fanboy Sebby, far from it you have free thought, its just some people do, I don't care what brand I have as long as it does what I need, I guess also being trapped with O2 bugs me  ok I use them, but say you moved, no reception...stuffed, that's not fair you should have choice, but we disagree and thats fair enough, debate is fun and its not meant personally, but no you are not  fanboy Sebby and I was not accusing you of being one, sorry if you thought that, its just some on the net are and are far from subjective in conversation, I would love a different brand mobile, sadly nothing is tempting me really  I would rather plant an Apple tree these days than have one, or look out the window that have to install Windows, I have become.....bored of gadgets and electronics, They don't do anything for me anymore as long as they work who cares. Cold lumps of plastic and metal and they cost more than their worth. Next I'll be burning my manuals 

[Rik]

Plus it's a brand new shiny gadget, eh?

[RogerP]

Hi Everyone

Well what a good discussion, I am a bit biased as I am all Mac. Love the products love the software, I too had a Nokia N95 8gb before the change to iPhone and found the maps etc to expensive and I am only paying £5 a month more for the iPhone and I had it for free from O2.

I remember when the N95 first came out battery life was awful, and it took months for new firmware to come out to rectify the battery issue.

I have found the iPhone maps very useful when in unfamiliar towns or cities when trying to find my way around, especially at night, cannot wait for version.3.0 software next week, at the moment the iPhone suits my needs and I have been with O2 for over 10 years never got a better deal from the others mainly due to poor signal coverage. I live in N Wales and O2 definitely has the edge when it comes to coverage all across N Wales.

Regards


Rogerp
 

[Rik]

My condolences, Roger. Living where you do must be hell, after all, Den is just down the road.

[Steve]

 

[Rik]

 

[Glenn]

I prefer smoke signals!

http://www.bitterwallet.com/iphone-3gs-and-30-update-may-cause-overheating-say-users/14490

[Simon]

 

[Sebby]

I read about this. It's a shame that this wasn't caught during testing (I guess that's Apple's own fault in being so secretive). Still, I'm impressed that the iPhone is clever enough to know when it's too hot - it dims the screen, stops charging, etc.

[Steve]

On the good side it does shutdown when it gets too hot as opposed to frying itself. Interestingly in the last week any similar electrical device left on in the car would have suffered, so with global warning or whatever besides worrying about leaving items in the car because they'll get nicked we'll also have to remove them to stop them frying.

[Gary]

I suppose though come winter you could leave a intensive app running and then it would make a great pocket warmer    bugger though if someone called and it shut down.

[Sebby]

I've just read that the overheating issue is actually most likely to be to do with third-party cases.

[Gary]

I've just read that the overheating issue is actually most likely to be to do with third-party cases.

Im sure with a software update they will sort this out, but whether its third party apps of the device itself manufacturers do try to get out new hardware quickly, and there are always teething issues, I think with Intel coming into the mobile phone market we should see some true CPU innovation without just having to overclock to get it

[Sebby]

No, it's apparently not overheating, it's caused by third-party cases rubbing on the white plastic and causing it to discolour. It disappears when you rub some alcohol on it.

By the way, the screenshot someone posted earlier was from the Apple support article.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2101