Apple iPhone and related items (cont.)

[g force]

I
Personally I think Gizmodo did Apple a favour.

With the release of the Desire and no news of the next iPhone due for months they were going to lose customers to the latest phone/s available.

.

I'm not so sure that's true because so many people are tied to 18-24 month contracts, esp those on the 3G/S that they can't swap phones without paying a hefty price. 1st Gen 2G users maybe but they'd likely be offered a decent upgrade to stick with the iPhone.

And if you've spent a fair whack on apps why would suddenly switch to Android?

 

[stupid dogbot]

Indeed. My 3g is slowly dying a death, but I'm going to hold out for the new one.

 

[Gromit]

I'm not so sure that's true because so many people are tied to 18-24 month contracts, esp those on the 3G/S that they can't swap phones without paying a hefty price. 1st Gen 2G users maybe but they'd likely be offered a decent upgrade to stick with the iPhone.

And if you've spent a fair whack on apps why would suddenly switch to Android?

My 3G contract ran out January. I'm sure plenty of other 3G users are also out of contract. Like me they may be well miffed that they weren't offered a free upgrade to 3GS. We got one when we were 2G users.

I was hoping to hold out till June.

I didn't make it. Impatience and the fact me 3G was starting to show signs of age.

I've had to write off the aps I had. Well they aren't totally lost. I'm using the phone as an iPod touch atm.

 

[Gromit]

I think thats pushing it to be honest. They didnt release a spec and listing what the components are is not copyrighted.

Size, shape, look, screen, front facing cam etc.

Its not a detailed spec but its info competitors will use to when deciding how to compete against future a Apple product where previously they only had pure speculation to go on.

 

[grit]

Size, shape, look, screen, front facing cam etc.

Its not a detailed spec but its info competitors will use to when deciding how to compete against future a Apple product where previously they only had pure speculation to go on.

They couldn't tell fuck all about the screen no resolution was reported, the size and shape are not really relevant as pretty much everything now is around the same form factor.

The device was a brick pretty much the camera was the only give away. That said IP laws are retarded, so its possible

 

[Sunray]

I'm not so sure that's true because so many people are tied to 18-24 month contracts, esp those on the 3G/S that they can't swap phones without paying a hefty price. 1st Gen 2G users maybe but they'd likely be offered a decent upgrade to stick with the iPhone.

And if you've spent a fair whack on apps why would suddenly switch to Android?

I'm well out of contract on my 3G. I see nothing to challenge it for features once v4 comes out tbf.

I'm quite easy on the specs, faster CPU is what I am looking forward to most.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

I'm in an 18 month but been given the option to upgrade early September instead of December. Will take a serious look at the options. Was hoping by then Palm would have a second WebOS device out too...

 

[Crispy]

I wish they had just put a ruler on the thing, powered it up and taken a macro photo to get the pixel count

 

[hendo]

From talking to some of my American mates, the big problem is he paid 5k for it. This turns it from a misdemeanor into a felony.

As a hack I'm fascinated by what's going on in the Gizmodo case.

If the bloke wants to be thought of as a journalist a bit of rat-like cunning would have been a good idea.

He shouldn't have owned up to paying for the thing. The D Tel never did for the MPs expenses CDs although everyone said they did. It was still a stonking good story and so was Gizmodo's.

And they never should have named the hapless Apple bloke who left it in the bar; really that's almost the equivalent of burning a source.

I think Gizmodo should simply have done the exclusive and let everyone else work out how they got it.

The police have acted in a completely OTT manner and obviously this won't end here. The US is massively litigous and everyone seems to have enthusiastic lawyers.

And as for Apple they can stick their ipad if this is the kind of thing they sign off on. It is repressive. The company should disassociate itself or face a PR backlash.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

It's easy to forget it when reading the gadget press but the majority of people aren't that interested in changing phones, let alone platforms, let alone platforms where it means that they'll lose stuff they've paid for. A certain number of neophiles might have been in the position where they were thinking "I'm not waiting to see what apple are doing for June, I'm going android now" but I suspect even in that group it would only be those who had other reasons anyway. People are still using 1st and 2nd gen iPhones, and I expect that I'll have my 3GS quite happily for at least two or three more years, unless I break it or something; by keeping additional hardware features to performance improvements and small features you ensure that the platform remains the primary point of the device. It is not like some Nokia where there's little reason not to get a Sony.

 

[Gromit]

Fridge you are a sensible person and so can't comprehend the 'must have' market who have money to burn and do leap from product to product early purely cause its the very latest ting.

Apple love this market. It's their target audience.

 

[tarannau]

They've got a target market of over 30 million early-adopters for the iphone alone?

It's a tiny proportion of their market to be fair, nor is their simple marketing aimed at true techs. There are other manufacturers who offer more bleeding edge specs and functionality, but very few are as well designed and effective straight out of the box.

 

[Sunray]

That I have a load of apps I'd have to buy again does seriously influence my decision to stay all things Apple.

 

[editor]

Fridge you are a sensible person and so can't comprehend the 'must have' market who have money to burn and do leap from product to product early purely cause its the very latest ting.

Apple love this market. It's their target audience.

I've changed OS four times in the last eighteen months or so: palm OS -> Android -> webOS -> iPhone.

I'll probably change again when I get chance.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Fridge you are a sensible person and so can't comprehend the 'must have' market who have money to burn and do leap from product to product early purely cause its the very latest ting.

Apple love this market. It's their target audience.

The thing is that I think that's the opposite of their target audience.

There are people who will buy every new apple product, but that's brand loyalty, and they have that market sewn up obviously. Apart from that, Apple do three things that make them crap for the compulsive early adopter market:

1. They don't release many products at all;
2. when they do, they don't release them across feature sets and price points, they just release a couple of models if that;
3. If there's any competition in whatever market they are releasing in, their products are arguably underfeatured. Gadget people like feature lists because that's pretty much all you can go on for a new device.

What they are good at though is creating consumer loyalty, through careful ui and general experience work, not locking out old devices, and increasingly now creating a walled but very comfortable for the actual software.

The gadget blogs go mad for new apple stuff because it's shiny gadget porn, but they forget next week because there's more shiny stuff around. The real gadget addicts are the ones in the comments saying "WTF are you doing talking about apple again?"

 

[madamv]

So for my phone upgrade due in anytime but contract is up in July, should I convert to iphone? I dont have an ipod, so I can see its good for that but it has a low pixel camera and no flash? I use my phone for pics alot, but granted it is only snaps and mostly during the day.... Guide me oh phone geeks...

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Well, the new model iPhone should be out in June anyway, so I'd just wait to see what it looks like and what deals you can get if you're thinking about it. That has a flash and better camera and better hardware generally.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

It's easy to forget it when reading the gadget press but the majority of people aren't that interested in changing phones, let alone platforms, let alone platforms where it means that they'll lose stuff they've paid for. A certain number of neophiles might have been in the position where they were thinking "I'm not waiting to see what apple are doing for June, I'm going android now" but I suspect even in that group it would only be those who had other reasons anyway. People are still using 1st and 2nd gen iPhones, and I expect that I'll have my 3GS quite happily for at least two or three more years, unless I break it or something; by keeping additional hardware features to performance improvements and small features you ensure that the platform remains the primary point of the device. It is not like some Nokia where there's little reason not to get a Sony.

Ime people generally don't care about changing phones but are loath to change networks. The amount of people that used to ask when the iPhone is coming out on other networks because they didn't want to change (even though moving your number barely takes more than 48 hours) was crazy.

 

[madamv]

Thanks FM, and I agree Kid Eternity. I am really happy with my provider and moved once and moved back after a year. It was easy enough to change, but I find that the pricing isnt that different for the package I need, the coverage is superior and the staff really good. Also, they give me discount every renewal so its a big incentive to stay...

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Ime people generally don't care about changing phones but are loath to change networks. The amount of people that used to ask when the iPhone is coming out on other networks because they didn't want to change (even though moving your number barely takes more than 48 hours) was crazy.

If you get good coverage with one provider and they reward your loyalty with better tariffs it can be a strong incentive to stay.

The few times I've switched number, I've always ended up paying more for the month I switch, its almost impossible to line up when the old contract ends and the new one starts.

 

[editor]

o2 have got shit coverage and that'll be a major incentive for me to switch networks and/or phones unless they've sorted it out.

 

[Gromit]

o2 have got shit coverage and that'll be a major incentive for me to switch networks and/or phones unless they've sorted it out.

He's right. The O2 network sucks big time. Thats why they were so keen on getting the iPhone exclusively. As a selling point as their service isn't one.

Now they lost exclusively i can see lots of O2 iPhone customers jumping ship to their previous networks.

 

[editor]

Another weird app rejection - this time for a writer for Vanity Fair:

Apple has rejected an app version of this column—which, on a relatively frequent basis goes out of its way to analyze the odd behavior of Steve Jobs.

My last effort at putting Steve on the couch was on Friday, in a column that dealt with Jobs’ recently announced intention to police apps for violations of Apple’s new (and undisclosed) rules against porn. I suggested that Jobs was overreaching—and, maybe too, a little messianic and off his nut. (I did not know then that his cop mentality would soon enough involve actual police action.)

The stated reason for the rejection of my free app is that Apple requires "sufficient amounts of content to appeal to a broad audience." Putting aside the fact that this pretty much makes specialty content ineligible for iPhone or iPad apps, it’s also a pretty fudgy standard. For instance, I get a bigger readership for my online columns than I do for my Vanity Fair columns—so Vanity Fair shouldn’t make the cut?

Some may feel that these constant arbitrary rejections aren't worth discussing, but it's garnering a lot of press now.

Where we are is that Apple is now creating a distribution system for books and periodicals—in a sense, no different from a newsstand or bookstore—which it proposes to regulate as it sees fit, without explanation, recourse, or standards.

http://www.newser.com/off-the-grid/...o-read-this-or-will-break-down-your-door.html

 

[Sunray]

Another weird app rejection - this time for a writer for Vanity Fair:

Some may feel that these constant arbitrary rejections aren't worth discussing, but it's garnering a lot of press now.

I'm fairly sure that it amounts to a 1st amendment violation both freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press_in_the_United_States

Nobody seems to want to take them to court over it.

 

[g force]

Ime people generally don't care about changing phones but are loath to change networks. The amount of people that used to ask when the iPhone is coming out on other networks because they didn't want to change (even though moving your number barely takes more than 48 hours) was crazy.

That and 02 are shite and always will be shite

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I'm fairly sure that it amounts to a 1st amendment violation both freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press_in_the_United_States

Nobody seems to want to take them to court over it.

No it doesn't. Unless Apple has now become the US Congress.

 

[editor]

Is there a decent French phrase book for the iPhone? I've spent ages trawling through the app store and most of them have shockingly bad reviews. How the fuck some of them got approved is anyone's guess.

I don't need audio files - just a simple, easy to use phrasebook. I don't mind paying a couple of quid, but if it's over a fiver I may as well buy a proper book.

Any tried'n'trusted suggestions?

 

[stupid dogbot]

Now, I've had no problems whatsoever with O2, coverage has been fine.

It's rubbish here at my desk (only Edge), but I've got a big old connection here.

Otherwise, it's mostly 3G, and I've never been out of network range once in two years, including in remote rural Devon.

I've not particular attachment to any network, but I see no reason to move. Especially as Vodafone won't match what I'm getting and I'll never be an Orange customer again.

 

[grit]

March saw Android overtake iPhone in Admobs stats, interesting

http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/27/admob-android-passes-iphone-web-traffic-in-u-s/

 

[stupid dogbot]