iPhone 4

[Lemur]

My brother just bought not one, but two iPhone 4s. I told him, over and over, to check out the latest Google Phone, but no, he had to bow at the altar of Steve Jobs.

Do I disown him now or later?

[Beskar]

Depends on if he gives you that second phone or not.

[Lemur]

Nah, it's for his wife. I can't reconcile myself to paying over a hundred bucks a month for a full smartphone plan w. data and everything. I battled hard enough to get my cell bill down to $40 a month. Why backslide?

[pevergreen]

Do I disown him now or later?

Definately now.

[Lemur]

This video sums things up nicely, even if it does contain some f-bombs. -edit- Um, just finished listening to it. Funny, but Not Safe For Work. Or your mom. Or the dog. It gets kinda blue. If the local sheriff wants, I'll find a way to obscure the video even further.

[Husar]

People seem to forget that a large part of what makes the iPhone good is the software, you can blame Apple for a lot but the iPhone has changed the smartphone market.
Ever since I heard of fake banking software that stole your account info being in the android market I've been thinking maybe Apple checking all apps before releasing them is not such a bad idea.
The problems with the iPhone 4, like the antenna not working if you hold it a certain way are a bit stupid/annoying, but overall hating an iPhone just because it's an iPhone is just as ridiculous as loving it for the same reason.
I've still got a 3G and I think it's a nice phone, whether I'll get a new iPhone again after it is yet to be decided though.

[TinCow]

Scienter and I both just bought iPhone 4s. We've resisted moving to smart phones for years (we currently still have old flip phones that do nothing else worthwhile) due to the cost. However, we decided several months ago that it was time to finally do it. We wanted the utility that having mobile web and mini-computing offers, having seen them used to great effect by many of our friends for years now. We debated iPhone vs Droid a great deal, and when it was announced that the new iPhone was coming out, we decided to wait and see what it was before making the decision. We went for the iPhone 4 for several reasons:

1) iPhone is cheaper. There wasn't any difference in price for the Droid. The top-of-the-line Droid models are the exact same price as the iPhones, and the Verizon plans that go with them are the exact same price as the AT&T plans... or they were until AT&T stopped the unlimited data plans. We're going with the $15 data plans, since most of our data useage will be via wifi, but even if we have to upgrade to the $25 plan, that's still cheaper than Verizon's data plan which is $30. Unlimited data is useless to us, since we will never use that much data over the phone network, since we're always in wifi areas.

2) We were already on AT&T, so we didn't have to switch carriers.

3) Resolution. iPhone 4 has the highest resolution screen. I likes the pretty.

4) Size. The reduced thickness of the iPhone 4 is a big seller to me. One of the reasons I've avoided smart phones is that I carry my phone in my pocket, and I'm not looking forward to carrying a huge chunk of metal around with me. Since the length and width of the current smartphones are pretty much identical, the only variation that can be taken advantage of is the thickness, which the iPhone 4 wins hands down.

5) Apps. iPhone has a much larger variety of apps available, period. I am sympathetic to the expanding droid market, but it's not there yet.

6) Multitasking. Not really a reason I chose iPhone 4, but a reason why it was an option. Given what I want to use the iPhone for, lack of multitasking was a huge thumbs down for me on the previous models. Had multitasking not been on the iPhone 4, I would not have bought it.

7) Design. I've always had a beef with Apple, but they do know how to make things look good. I prefer the all-touchscreen interface with the single button to the multi-button and/or keyboard combo versions in other smartphones. I find simple, clean design to be elegant and attractive.

Things I don't like about the iPhone 4, but which weren't enough to sway my decision:

1) It's made by Apple, with all that entails about their Nazi-esque control over what I can do with my own device.

2) No flash.

3) No expandable memory.

---------

I'll give my impressions on the phone once we actually receive them. Given the demand, it might be a while before they ship.

[CountArach]

I told him, over and over, to check out the latest Google Phone

"The google phone, that sounds like a German instrument doesn't it?" *Starts miming playing the accordion* "Hanz, bring me zee googlephone!" - Ross Noble

I'll be getting the new iPhone after it is released down here. I've wanted one for quite a while and I need to update my iPod anyway.

[Beskar]

I've always had issues with phones, especially as they list off these specifications, which however fancy they sound, are the same as a brown sticky log. The worst personal experience is Sony Ericisson for doing this, while Nokia's are generally better built.

iPhone looks like a phone which will do the stuff you want it to do.

[drone]

For RF geeks, a detailed look at the iPhone4 antenna problem:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/t...one-4-review/2

[Husar]

Well, I just read that it's more or less a software problem, at least according to Apple:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/02/a...ue-fix-coming/

[Lemur]

So there has been a great deal of hooh-hah about iPhone 4's antenna. Here are two contrary articles, both from respectable sources:

Antenna Expert: Apple is Right, iPhone 4 Signal Woes Overblown

Anandtech: The Real Story on iPhone 4's Antenna

[drone]

Anandtech: The Real Story on iPhone 4's Antenna

Are you off your meds?

[Lemur]

Are you off your meds?

Apologies, my bad. Here, lemme make it up to you:

Android v. iPhone 4 signal strength

[TinCow]

I've had the phone for about a week now. My initial impression is that it is, in short, made of pure awesome. The screen is amazing, I can't see a single pixel and the graphics are fabulous. The interface is very easy to use and intuitive. It is very fast, and multitasking works perfectly. Pretty much everything about it rocks, and rocks hard. I have no problems with reception on AT&T's network, but then again I live in a big city with lots of coverage. Regarding the antenna issue, the signal indicator does indeed drop a good amount when I put my finger on that spot, however I haven't noticed any reception problems from it. I don't doubt that it is reducing my reception, but any reduction isn't making enough of a difference to be concerned with. I'm not even going to buy a 'bumper' for the phone unless I start to notice some reception problems from that issue... at the moment, it's really a non-issue for me so I'm not going to spend more money and make my phone larger. I like it nice and compact as it is.

So, two big thumbs up for me.

[Lemur]

My brother is also in love, and he's a fairly serious geek, so for him to get so hot and lathered about a phone is ... unusual. I will resist the siren song of the iPhone, however.

[Scienter]

My brother is also in love, and he's a fairly serious geek, so for him to get so hot and lathered about a phone is ... unusual. I will resist the siren song of the iPhone, however.

YOU MUST JOIN US. Seriously, I love my iphone so much! I haven't experienced any of the antenna issues, either. TinCow and I have the cheapest data plan, but it's pretty easy to find free wifi, except at work. I love that I can do banking from my phone, I deposited a check by taking pictures of it using my bank's app. It showed up in my checking account within minutes. The screen resolution is so clear! I love that I can listen to music and play games or use the internet at the same time. I'm so glad I bought it. Before, I barely remembered to charge my old flip phone. Now I can't imagine leaving the house w/o the iphone.

[rory_20_uk]

I've gone for the HTC desire. It does everything that the iPhone does (except drop signals when I hold it) and is a fraction of the cost. For me it's £7 a month for a 24 month contract with "unlimited" data and landline calls. It's only got 100 mins and texts though... Or I could have spent what? £35 a month for an iPhone. Tough call...

If not the one I've got I'd have gone for a Samsung Galaxy S or a Sony X10. I like android as it's slick, fast and broadly speaking I can do what I wish with it and there is no Big Brother over my shoulder.

Although I have never owned an iPhone and have no plans to I am eternally grateful that Apple forces other companies to up their game and produce better, cheaper phones to compete.

[Lemur]

YOU MUST JOIN US. Seriously, I love my iphone so much!

Amusing side-note: My favorite author, Charles Stross, has a brand-spanking-new novel out in which a major sub-plot involves a geek slowly, painfully admitting that he wants an iPhone.

[The Spartan (Returns)]

I purchased my Nexus One a few weeks ago. Great phone.

I used to be an Apple dog but when I learned they're are better things are there I quickly left Apple products.
Although it seems people are not willing to learn or try something new/better than Apple and stick with the iPhone.

Android OS is simply the best phone OS out they're right now. Why? Because it's open source. You have an infinite amount of customisablitly on it like a Linux OS. iOS does not have that. Developers and the users don't have access to the full source to the iPhone and therefore you don't have as much as customisablitly on iOS let alone many Apple products.

It's like choosing a Window/Linux or Apple on phones. Although a lot of people like the simplicity and polish of the iOS on phones and I really like it too.

Nevertheless I'm always sticking to Android phones now. A lot of them happen to be HTC phones like my Nexus.

[Lemur]

You have an infinite amount of customisablitly on it like a Linux OS. iOS does not have that. Developers and the users don't have access to the full source to the iPhone and therefore you don't have as much as customisablitly on iOS let alone many Apple products.

In other words ...

It's a toss-up from my perspective. Less techie people should probably go with something iPhone-ish, more locked down and less newbie-hostile. Full-on geeks will get what they like and damn the torpedoes.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Amusing side-note: My favorite author, Charles Stross, has a brand-spanking-new novel out in which a major sub-plot involves a geek slowly, painfully admitting that he wants an iPhone.

Don't go toward the light Lem...

[The Spartan (Returns)]

In other words ...

It's a toss-up from my perspective. Less techie people should probably go with something iPhone-ish, more locked down and less newbie-hostile. Full-on geeks will get what they like and damn the torpedoes.

Agreed and the Android Market is catching up to the App Store very fast.

Also the Android OS always gets great free updates that always include new features (like the new 2.2 Froyo Update and the upcoming 3.0 Gingerbread update); Android just started and it's already better than the iOS. Just how imagine how much better Android is going to be in the future.

[Husar]

I think I'm going to stick with iOS then because I'm an idiot.