879 replies to this topic

[Jimy Hendrix]

Yea is that imagine at all confirmed? Because it really does look incredibly flimsy.

One of my favorite aspects of the iPhone 4 is the solid, squared body that it has.

Neither that image nor any of the RAM specs that have been provoking nerd arguments in this thread are confirmed, I believe.

[Adrian's Dome]

As said many times before here, many call iOS "clunky" because, even though the UI might be "simple," it's still inefficient--compared to Android--to navigate to important information. For example, from my Android homescreen, in ONE click/swype I can

• adjust the brightness
• call a number
• bring up a text message to a contact
• check what apps are using battery ("but you wouldn't need to do this on an iPhone!!!")
• toggle wifi and 3G
• toggle bluetooth
• toggle auto-rotation
• add an event to my calendar

Of course, this list doesn't even reference all the widgets that directly and indirectly provide information on the homescreen. Android fits my preferred user experience; iOS doesn't.

That's great. Not being sarcastic either, it's all well and good.

However, imagine 100 average everyday people are looking at buying a smartphone. How many do you think are really going to care about being able to do all that in a singular swipe that saves a few seconds? Calling and texting on an iPhone is equally simple, and how often do you really need to adjust the brightness or toggle things like bluetooth or auto-rotation? I don't know about you, but I don't do that stuff frequently enough to really make that a plus in favor of Androids. The iPhones are amazingly simple to use and require pretty much zero user maintenance (like killing background apps.) Out of the 100 average people, I'd wager about 90 are going to pick the more polished, smoother, and easier-to-use OS over the more versatile, but also more complicated, one. There's a reason why the iPhones are insanely popular, it's "advanced technology" (think of that what you will) that your grandmother can pick up and use.

Not to mention, it's not as if navigating menus on the iPhone is a chore, it's about as straight-forward and simple as it can get. Settings -> Brightness -> a bar that you move back and forth. Settings -> WiFi -> on/off. I know people who've never picked up a cell phone in their lives before that would have no problem using one. There's no feature that's difficult to navigate to, tweak, or get used to.

[NortheasternPJ]

That's great. Not being sarcastic either, it's all well and good.

However, imagine 100 average everyday people are looking at buying a smartphone. How many do you think are really going to care about being able to do all that in a singular swipe that saves a few seconds? Calling and texting on an iPhone is equally simple, and how often do you really need to adjust the brightness or toggle things like bluetooth or auto-rotation? I don't know about you, but I don't do that stuff frequently enough to really make that a plus in favor of Androids. The iPhones are amazingly simple to use and require pretty much zero user maintenance (like killing background apps.) Out of the 100 average people, I'd wager about 90 are going to pick the more polished, smoother, and easier-to-use OS over the more versatile, but also more complicated, one. There's a reason why the iPhones are insanely popular, it's "advanced technology" (think of that what you will) that your grandmother can pick up and use.

Not to mention, it's not as if navigating menus on the iPhone is a chore, it's about as straight-forward and simple as it can get. Settings -> Brightness -> a bar that you move back and forth. Settings -> WiFi -> on/off. I know people who've never picked up a cell phone in their lives before that would have no problem using one. There's no feature that's difficult to navigate to, tweak, or get used to.

With ios5 you'll have the ability to create custom swipes that do certain tasks so if there's a setting or screen you use frequently create a swipe to go there.

I personally never adjust brightness, care what apps are running, turn off wifi or bluetooth or set auto rotation. Of course as you said this is all personal preference.

[BillMuellerFanClub]

mw8thsw9th, did you see the article on engadget about how the photo you posted is modified? pretty interesting stuff.

[deconstruction]

With ios5 you'll have the ability to create custom swipes that do certain tasks so if there's a setting or screen you use frequently create a swipe to go there.

I personally never adjust brightness, care what apps are running, turn off wifi or bluetooth or set auto rotation. Of course as you said this is all personal preference.

Glad they're finally catching up to Android. Not being sarcastic either.

[czar]

As said many times before here, many call iOS "clunky" because, even though the UI might be "simple," it's still inefficient--compared to Android--to navigate to important information. For example, from my Android homescreen, in ONE click/swype I can

• adjust the brightness
• call a number
• bring up a text message to a contact
• check what apps are using battery ("but you wouldn't need to do this on an iPhone!!!")
• toggle wifi and 3G
• toggle bluetooth
• toggle auto-rotation
• add an event to my calendar

Of course, this list doesn't even reference all the widgets that directly and indirectly provide information on the homescreen. Android fits my preferred user experience; iOS doesn't.

This has and always will be an annoyingly spurious argument. Technologically illiterate people don't care about this. Technologically literate people can just jailbreak their iPhone and add this exact functionality. I don't take people seriously who say "yeah, I could jailbreak, but I'm still not buying an iPhone on principle because it should be part of the stock experience."

My iPhone 3G is on death's door. I had a ton of music on it and my old music hard drive died, so if I wanted to update the OS I'd have lost all the music; much like Spike I can use about 1/4 of the apps on the app store. First I waited last spring when friends told me "it'll totally come out in June", then with the Japan earthquake I got "it'll totally come out by the end of summer", now it's mid- to late-October... I'm getting very close to saying F-it and switching to a Galaxy 2S, is there a reason I shouldn't? Is this thing really coming out soon? Why does that front page picture look so freaking flimsy?

If you really want to upgrade the OS, why don't you just backrip the songs to your PC (I know you can jailbreak/SSH-- but (while I'm not 100% sure) someone should have also created software that fills that niche which is easy to use) and then upgrade?

Edited by czar, 14 September 2011 - 11:02 AM.

[Sprowl]

This has and always will be an annoyingly spurious argument. Technologically illiterate people don't care about this. Technologically literate people can just jailbreak their iPhone and add this exact functionality. I don't take people seriously who say "yeah, I could jailbreak, but I'm still not buying an iPhone on principle because it should be part of the stock experience."

I'm somewhere in the middle: not technologically literate enough to trust myself to jailbreak or even program an iPhone, and I'm a Mac user since 1984 and thus unlikely to change at this point in my life, but I would really like having the ability to create custom shortcuts. My 3G is slow, and multi-tasking will make the bus ride less annoying and more productive.

Technologically semi-literate people do care about iOS copying Android's more accessible features.

[sibpin]

Since the Android vs. iOS debate is raging on I'll add my two cents. I bought an LG Ally because I wanted a phone with a physical keyboard on Verizon and the Droid 2 keyboard sucked. Didn't care too much about performance, mostly just wanted a keyboard phone that could browse the web better than the Verizon Mobile Web app. I've managed to go for 5 months without rooting, but it looks like I will have to this week as my phone has already hit its low internal storage quota, which prevents me from running vital apps like texting, Gmail, and Gchat. I have as many apps on the SD card as possible, but can't update them because downloading the apps from the Android Market requires internal space. Now, this shouldn't be a problem on a high-end phone which might actually have more than 100 MB of internal memory, but it's a good indicator of the typical design flaws that have plagued early Android software and hardware. The ability to use an SD card should be an advantage for Android, but instead it becomes a hindrance.

I'll still keep developing for Android, but I will probably switch my personal phone to an iPhone if someone ever comes out with a nice physical keyboard solution. Tried the Brookstone keyboard for iPad 2 in a store - wish there were an iPhone equivalent. Prefer the fold-over keyboard instead of the slider or flip-under solutions.

[OCD SS]

... wish there were an iPhone equivalent.

There are actually a couple:

This one and that one and maybe others...

I'd love for the iPhone to go with the Torch form-factor, but that would essentially be the Pre. That said I prefer an on-screen keyboard to the landscape orientation (or basically any non-BlackBerry keyboard).

[sox311]

I just hope the next gen iPhone isn't any bigger than the iPhone 4 is.

I carry my personal 3GS and have used four different phones in the past five months for work.

Samsung Focus - 4.3in was a good feeling phone, they did it the best.
HTC Inspire - 4.3in was too bulky
Samsung Infuse - 4.5in monster, wayyyy too big.
LG Thrill 3D - 4.3 not bad, but still a bit bulky.


I just hope they keep the size the same. The 3GS has the best feel in my hand. Those big phones, I just don't enjoy holding and using. Keep it small Apple!

[jayhoz]

I just hope the next gen iPhone isn't any bigger than the iPhone 4 is.

I carry my personal 3GS and have used four different phones in the past five months for work.

Samsung Focus - 4.3in was a good feeling phone, they did it the best.
HTC Inspire - 4.3in was too bulky
Samsung Infuse - 4.5in monster, wayyyy too big.
LG Thrill 3D - 4.3 not bad, but still a bit bulky.


I just hope they keep the size the same. The 3GS has the best feel in my hand. Those big phones, I just don't enjoy holding and using. Keep it small Apple!

Go big or go home. Samsung Galaxy Note

[Section15Box113]

I love my 4, but am really looking forward to upgrading to the 5.

Any ideas about what to do with the old device? Have heard good things about gazelle.com, but have never used them to sell anything. Any experiences?

[crow216]

I love my 4, but am really looking forward to upgrading to the 5.

Any ideas about what to do with the old device? Have heard good things about gazelle.com, but have never used them to sell anything. Any experiences?

100% WITHOUT A DOUBT use eBay. You will get between 300-400 for your iPhone 4. A site like gazelle will rip you off and take too long. I have a lot of experience selling my used iPhones. As recently as 6 months ago, I sold a beat up 3GS for $225, it was scratched and had a crack on the bottom.

[czar]

100% WITHOUT A DOUBT use eBay. You will get between 300-400 for your iPhone 4. A site like gazelle will rip you off and take too long. I have a lot of experience selling my used iPhones. As recently as 6 months ago, I sold a beat up 3GS for $225, it was scratched and had a crack on the bottom.

Be prepared to lose ~20% through Paypal/eBay fees and I always restrict sales to US/Canada customers to prevent fraud, but I'll second that eBay/Craigslist is the way to go.

Honestly, when Verizon was buying old AT&T iPhone 4s for like $200 to get people to switch I almost started standing outside Verizon stores offering $250 cash for them just so I could turn around and flip them for $400+ on eBay. Well not really, but the thought definitely crossed my mind.

[sox311]

They did that Czar? I never heard anything like that.

And wow, that Note is huge, but I think its target is for those looking to take notes on it.

[czar]

They did that Czar? I never heard anything like that.

And wow, that Note is huge, but I think its target is for those looking to take notes on it.

Yes sir.

Although my recollection of the numbers was a bit fuzzy, you still would have turned anywhere between a $100-$300 excess if you sold on eBay vs. the prices Verizon offered.

[Tony C]

Yea is that imagine at all confirmed? Because it really does look incredibly flimsy.

One of my favorite aspects of the iPhone 4 is the solid, squared body that it has.

One of the reasons I'm really glad I bought the IPhone4 when it came out on Verizon -- despite some telling me to wait/wait/wait, IPhone 5 is about the come out! -- is that, one, IPhone 5 wasn't about to come out and, two, I loooooove the "form factor" as they say. Love how it feels in my hand and how it looks (and, no, I'm not all of a sudden talking about my dick). It's a piece of industrial art in my eyes, and I hate that they appear to be going for the slimmer form and that's one of the primary reasons I won't upgrade (beyond the fact that skipping a generation worked fine for me before -- no need to buy the latest thing just to have it.

[Fisks Of Fury]

100% WITHOUT A DOUBT use eBay. You will get between 300-400 for your iPhone 4. A site like gazelle will rip you off and take too long. I have a lot of experience selling my used iPhones. As recently as 6 months ago, I sold a beat up 3GS for $225, it was scratched and had a crack on the bottom.

Absolutely. When the iPhone4 came out, I sold my old 3G (not 3GS) for $50 less (after eBay/PayPal fees) than what I paid for the 4.

[weeba]

100% WITHOUT A DOUBT use eBay. You will get between 300-400 for your iPhone 4. A site like gazelle will rip you off and take too long. I have a lot of experience selling my used iPhones. As recently as 6 months ago, I sold a beat up 3GS for $225, it was scratched and had a crack on the bottom.

3G is still going for 100-150 now.

[Tony C]

why? who wants a 3G...much less for $150?

[derekson]

why? who wants a 3G...much less for $150?

Someone who bought an iPhone 4 and then got pushed into a pool, or dropped it into a toilet, etc. Basically someone who's under contract and doesn't want to pay $600 for an unlocked iPhone 4.

[Blacken]

It bears repeating that in all likelihood the difference between the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 will be much much less than between the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4--the biggest difference, and it's really a major and notable shift, is the high-resolution screen. The rest of the bells and whistles (the faster processor, the presumed more RAM, etc.) won't really affect most people.

Personally, if I can get rid of my iPhone 4 at a reasonable price and get the hell off AT&T--word is that Sprint will have it with unlimited data, and I'm rarely out of Sprint's network--I'll do it, but I'm not hurrying to upgrade.

[god loves the sox]

From my bud,
"In my hands, One of the first iPhone 5 case shows the size about a half inch bigger all the way around but half as thin as the iPhone 4. From talking to a case manufacturer here in Shenzhen where the iPhone is being made by Foxconn they think that the iPhone 5's will be shipped next week by boat to U.S., which takes 3 weeks and than time to distribute. I always heard the U.S. release date was Oct. 7th, but I was told it may only be the announcement. From the city where nearly 100,000 people are building the new iPhone 5's they are very closed lip, but told me they doubt it would be as early as October 7th to be in the hands of American's."

[zenter]

From my bud,
"In my hands, One of the first iPhone 5 case shows the size about a half inch bigger all the way around but half as thin as the iPhone 4. From talking to a case manufacturer here in Shenzhen where the iPhone is being made by Foxconn they think that the iPhone 5's will be shipped next week by boat to U.S., which takes 3 weeks and than time to distribute. I always heard the U.S. release date was Oct. 7th, but I was told it may only be the announcement. From the city where nearly 100,000 people are building the new iPhone 5's they are very closed lip, but told me they doubt it would be as early as October 7th to be in the hands of American's."

Apparently, the case makers are all just speculating, too, going on rumors they hear. The above sounds like dreamland.

Half as thin is extremely doubtful. The iPad (8.6 mm) gets away with being 0.7 mm thinner that iPhone (9.3 mm) because it's so big that it has room for batteries. Going from 9.3 mm to ~5 mm on a pocket-sized form-factor is next to impossible, given all the technology they jam in there, most importantly the battery. Apple never like devices to have less battery life than their predecessors. Adding half an inch to the screen size means adding (if my back-of-the-post-it calculations are right) ~30% more screen real-estate, meaning the device will need a lot more juice to power the screen (unless it's OLED, which nothing has indicated to date). All of this is to say, half as thin has a high likelihood of being false.

[mt8thsw9th]

Maybe the "half as thin" referred to the former CEO. </recycled joke>

[sox311]

I'm getting anxiety about how they'll be able to merge my Mobile Me and iTunes IDs which are different but both hold my info needed for iCloud....

[NortheasternPJ]

I'm getting anxiety about how they'll be able to merge my Mobile Me and iTunes IDs which are different but both hold my info needed for iCloud....

Did you see this from last week?

http://www.appleinsi..._apple_ids.html

[weeba]

Apple announcement Oct 4

http://arstechnica.c...th-tim-cook.ars

[czar]

From my bud,
"In my hands, One of the first iPhone 5 case shows the size about a half inch bigger all the way around but half as thin as the iPhone 4. From talking to a case manufacturer here in Shenzhen where the iPhone is being made by Foxconn they think that the iPhone 5's will be shipped next week by boat to U.S., which takes 3 weeks and than time to distribute. I always heard the U.S. release date was Oct. 7th, but I was told it may only be the announcement. From the city where nearly 100,000 people are building the new iPhone 5's they are very closed lip, but told me they doubt it would be as early as October 7th to be in the hands of American's."

Well, at least I'll get to mock someone.

Wedge Partners + MacRumors analyst say "iPhone 4S only."

[FenwayFrenzy]

Well, at least I'll get to mock someone.

Wedge Partners + MacRumors analyst say "iPhone 4S only."

Just noticed this update from your link:

Update: Apple board member Al Gore has apparently confirmed publicly that Apple plans to release new iPhones in October.


CNN confirms: http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t2

[czar]

Just noticed this update from your link:

Update: Apple board member Al Gore has apparently confirmed publicly that Apple plans to release new iPhones in October.

CNN confirms: http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t2

The best part about the Gore slip was something on my RSS (MR, I think) linked to a story where every comment was like "iPhoneS!? What does the 's' mean!?" which immediately devolved into whether Gore meant multiple specs of iPhones or merely "yeah, Apple's gonna sell a metric f***ton of these things to you saps." This went on for like 800 comments.

[BillMuellerFanClub]

hearing that pre-orders through best buy will start on the 4th or 5th, phone slated for launch the 14 or 16th. ill provide more info later. for a text or call reminder stop into your local Best Buy Mobile to have them add you to the list. pre-orders are first-come, first-serve. to avoid lines, crowds, etc, best buy opens stores early for their sale/activations on the day of launch.

edit: i know some here really hate the idea of warranties anywhere, but if you were to get them on anything this is it. to contrast to verizon's asurion insurance plans, they are swappable 2x a year, have a $200 deductible and are a total pain in the ass to deal with. the out-right 2 year warranty through best buy is 230.xx (or 14.99/mo) and replacements are issued without a deductible, are exchangeable an indefinite amount of times, and are usually taken care of within 3-5 days (shipped) or if the warehouse has none, instantly in-store. i don't give a shit what you do but if i could hear less people bitch about verizon/att/sprints shitty warranties and the idiocy that people think they can buy a new iphone for $200 then i would be a lot fucking happier. carry on.

Edited by BillMuellerFanClub, 23 September 2011 - 06:16 PM.

[IpswichSox]

Is there a difference or advantage pre-ordering with Best Buy vs with a Verizon Wireless retail store?

[BillMuellerFanClub]

the aforementioned warranty and buy back (if you aren't getting this on every new phone, you should reconsider: its free money), the fact that you are scheduled for your activation and swap before the store opens to avoid insane amounts of mongoloids trying to get theirs all at once, and to fuck over verizon. holy hell do they suck.

yes, i am a verizon customer.

[behindthepen]

I believe there are going to be 2, just like there is right now. I think that is what is screwing up a lot of the predictions.

There will be a 5, which is bigger and thinner, and there will be a 4S, which is an upgraded version of the 4, and they'll get sold side-by-side, just like the 3GS and 4 are today.

I think there are only 2 really big questions:
-will the 4S have the A4 or A5 processor (I think the A5, but that's more of a guess)
-will the new carriers (i.e. Sprint) launch with just the 4S, or will they also get the 5? Typically, Apple gives the incumbent carriers some kind of advantage during new launches.

And just because they are shipping some of these on boats doesn't mean there won't be some air freighted for an earlier October launch.

[NortheasternPJ]

I believe there are going to be 2, just like there is right now. I think that is what is screwing up a lot of the predictions.

There will be a 5, which is bigger and thinner, and there will be a 4S, which is an upgraded version of the 4, and they'll get sold side-by-side, just like the 3GS and 4 are today.

I think there are only 2 really big questions:
-will the 4S have the A4 or A5 processor (I think the A5, but that's more of a guess)
-will the new carriers (i.e. Sprint) launch with just the 4S, or will they also get the 5? Typically, Apple gives the incumbent carriers some kind of advantage during new launches.

And just because they are shipping some of these on boats doesn't mean there won't be some air freighted for an earlier October launch.

I agree that I think this is exactly what is going to happen. I think there's enough evidence of the 4S at this point and i have a hard time to believe that Apple isn't coming out with a new iPhone 5 after 15 months. Sprint and TMobile i think have already said they're not getting the iPhone 5, doesn't mean they aren't getting the 4S

[Matthew M.]

9 To 5 Mac with some details on "Assistant," the Siri integrated voice assistance feature in iPhone 5.

http://9to5mac.com/2...the-new-iphone/

Sounds pretty awesome.

[NortheasternPJ]

The assistant thing has been referenced / rumored for months. If that actually works the way they say it will that will be awesome.

[derekson]

That article also says it will have 1 GB of RAM, contradicting the previous source that spurred a discussion about specs after it claimed the new iPhone would only have 512 MB.

The RAM upgrade makes sense if this assistant is going to be able to run in the background while it utilizes other apps for you (e.g. Maps, iMessage, Calendar, etc.).

[Yaz4Ever]

Assistant and Nuance would be great.

Another thing I'd like, and maybe this can be done now with Assistant, is the ability to give the name or address of a place and have the iPhone automatically launch TomTom (or whichever nav app someone is using) and get you there.

Lastly, not likely the right thread for this, but does this exist - something that allows me to dock my iPhone into a base and lets me speak to people through wireless phones? There are times my parents will call and want to talk to the kids. It would be nice for them to be able to pick up a handset and talk without disappearing with my phone. : )

[mt8thsw9th]

There is, but it's not cheap. Why not just use speaker phone?

http://www.phonelabs.com/

[derekson]

Assistant and Nuance would be great.

Another thing I'd like, and maybe this can be done now with Assistant, is the ability to give the name or address of a place and have the iPhone automatically launch TomTom (or whichever nav app someone is using) and get you there.

Lastly, not likely the right thread for this, but does this exist - something that allows me to dock my iPhone into a base and lets me speak to people through wireless phones? There are times my parents will call and want to talk to the kids. It would be nice for them to be able to pick up a handset and talk without disappearing with my phone. : )

I'm pretty sure there are docks that will let you turn your iPhone into a home phone, if that is what you mean.

[derekson]

There is, but it's not cheap. Why not just use speaker phone?

http://www.phonelabs.com/

A bluetooth headset would seem like a simple solution if he's concerned about the kids walking off with his phone.

[weeba]

Event is officially Oct 4:

http://arstechnica.c...talk-iphone.ars

[Fisks Of Fury]

Another thing I'd like, and maybe this can be done now with Assistant, is the ability to give the name or address of a place and have the iPhone automatically launch TomTom (or whichever nav app someone is using) and get you there.

The article implies that this should be part of the Assistant. They give "How do I get to the Staples Center?" as an example query, and say that you'd get back the directions based on your current GPS location. What they don't say is whether or not you can have it point to a specific nav app, which would certainly be ideal, or if it will just go to the basic Google Maps app.

[Yaz4Ever]

The article implies that this should be part of the Assistant. They give "How do I get to the Staples Center?" as an example query, and say that you'd get back the directions based on your current GPS location. What they don't say is whether or not you can have it point to a specific nav app, which would certainly be ideal, or if it will just go to the basic Google Maps app.

Yes, I saw that and assumed that it was just integrated with the Google Maps app. I'd like to have voice control for TomTom, but someone else might prefer Navigon while someone else wants Magellan, etc. I could see how it could potential be too much to do, but I'm not a programmer. Just hoping it's easy enough that they do it.

[FL4WL3SS]

Yes, I saw that and assumed that it was just integrated with the Google Maps app. I'd like to have voice control for TomTom, but someone else might prefer Navigon while someone else wants Magellan, etc. I could see how it could potential be too much to do, but I'm not a programmer. Just hoping it's easy enough that they do it.

It should be pretty simple to either a.) get the coordinates from google maps and then port them over to a different app or b.) use the other navigation app to get the coordinates itself based on text input. From there the phone would just need to open the app and display the map. Whether Apple actually did this sort of thing is another question (I would bet no).

I'm still interested to see if the iPhone will have turn by turn directions.

[Fisks Of Fury]

I'm still interested to see if the iPhone will have turn by turn directions.

This. And if it does, I'd practically guarantee that the Assistant would NOT integrate with any 3rd party navigation apps.

[dirtynine]

On the turn-by-turn directions front, it's been over a year now since Apple bought mapping company Poly9 and locations database vendor PlaceBase. Those acquisitions, combined with the fact that they're trying to pull away from Google tie-ins (but still rely heavily on Google for mapping information), combined with what the Assistant would seem to be good for, combined with the fact that the Maps application hasn't had a meaningful update since StreetView was added, and has never been revised since iOS 1.... leads me to think that the Maps app will be heavily overhauled in the very near future, and integrate turn-by-turn, Find My Friends... certainly Twitter, as that's going to be built in at the OS level... maybe even check-ins a la Foursquare/Facebook. /speculation

[IpswichSox]

On tomorrow's iPhone5 announcement, do you think it will be an incremental advancement or transformational change? Or something in between?