Apple iPhone

[Melinda]

How are you with letting people have a go on you shiney new phone?

Im talking colleagues and friends here, not randoms on the tube.

How long do you give them before you start getting jittery and wanting your shiney sleek machine back?

 

[fogbat]

Two of my colleagues have them.

The interface is beautiful

 

[editor]

I had a long go on the iPhone's keyboard today. And hated it.

I could barely type a thing on it without making mistakes unless I went really slow.

Seeing as I need to do a lot of typing on my phone, the iPhone's definitely out for me unless they come up with a hardware keyboard version.

 

[Melinda]

I had a long go on the iPhone's keyboard today. And hated it.

I could barely type a thing on it without making mistakes unless I went really slow.

Seeing as I need to do a lot of typing on my phone, the iPhone's definitely out for me unless they come up with a hardware keyboard version.

*points* you have fat fingers!

Sadly I have them too. I took 4 attempts to type Waterloo into the tfl journey planner last week. But Im getting better.

 

[rubbershoes]

I've only seen one iPhone in the wild and that was one being ostentatiously worn around the neck of some utter dick in the West End.

not seen any so far in my sleepy devon village

 

[editor]

*points* you have fat fingers!

Sadly I have them too. I took 4 attempts to type Waterloo into the tfl journey planner last week. But Im getting better.

No - my fingers are rather slender and I usually get on fine with wee keyboards - I've typed out 1,000 word articles on my little Treo without too much bother - but I couldn't get on with the iPhone's at all.

 

[Melinda]

Check you out defending your feminine fingers!

I had the same problem.

 

[paolo]

I had a long go on the iPhone's keyboard today. And hated it.

I could barely type a thing on it without making mistakes unless I went really slow.

Seeing as I need to do a lot of typing on my phone, the iPhone's definitely out for me unless they come up with a hardware keyboard version.

It's better when you type at full speed and ignore whether you've made accurate hits - i.e. trust the autocorrect.

It won't match hard key though - and besides, it doesn't have the PDA features you've got on a Treo or Blackberry.

My prediction: There will never be a hard key version of the iPhone.

They would either have to sacrifice screen size or device size. Using almost the whole face, the screen is just about at the level where you really can browse (I can read Urban forums without zooming). Conversely, the device is big, but just about acceptable.

The only chance of hard key, I can think of, is if they do some kind of PDA device... i.e. aiming at a different market than the iPhone, that might tolerate a bigger package.

 

[editor]

It's better when you type at full speed and ignore whether you've made accurate hits - i.e. trust the autocorrect.

I tried that, but "hello" kept coming out like "jwkki."

I'm sure some will get along with its keyboard just dandy, but it's not for me.

 

[paolo]

No - my fingers are rather slender and I usually get on fine with wee keyboards - I've typed out 1,000 word articles on my little Treo without too much bother - but I couldn't get on with the iPhone's at all.

Hats off to you! I wouldn't attempt 1000 words on the iPhone. It's okay for a hundred or so. Enough to post on these goddam forum sites

 

[paolo]

I just tested myself... I managed 25 wpm, with one uncorrected mistake (a missed space between words).

S'okay I think.

 

[jæd]

Playing with the iPhone keyboard I find practise is handy... Right at the moment, unless Palm do something interesting with the new GSM Palm coming out I might get one come February, and as long as its opened up sufficiently...

Though I'm also very interested in the new Goolgle/Android phones, but they're not until a good portion into 2008...

 

[Kid_Eternity]

I could barely type a thing on it without making mistakes unless I went really slow.

Seriously? I managed it drunk ok with only a few mistakes!

 

[editor]

Seriously? I managed it drunk ok with only a few mistakes!

I like to type fast, and the iPhone was all over the place when I tried to input at Palm-like speed. Even when I slowed right down, it needed far more attention to the screen than I'm used to.

Typing on a glass screen isn't very attractive either - I didn't much like the virtual keyboards on the Sony Clie TH55 or HTC Touch either for the same reasons.

 

[editor]

You can now officially buy an unlocked iPhone in Germany for the truly ludicrous price of €999 euros. That's about £720!!!

LOL! Talk about overpriced! What kind of mug would pay that kind of money?!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071121/tc_nm/tmobile_apple_iphone_dc

 

[jæd]

You can now officially buy an unlocked iPhone in Germany for the truly ludicrous price of €999 euros. That's about £720!!!

How does that compare to unlocked iPhones to France and Denmark...?

 

[editor]

How does that compare to unlocked iPhones to France and Denmark...?

You can't legally get them anywhere else.

 

[jæd]

You can't get them anywhere else.

Oops... For some reason I thought they were already selling Denmark. See from http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/17/orange-to-sell-unlocked-iphone-in-france/ that it will be €999....

 

[Badgers]

I played with one today and was impressed.

Will see what Sony Ericsson come up in reply with as I have a while before I need to upgrade.

 

[paolo]

You can now officially buy an unlocked iPhone in Germany for the truly ludicrous price of €999 euros. That's about £720!!!

LOL! Talk about overpriced! What kind of mug would pay that kind of money?!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071121/tc_nm/tmobile_apple_iphone_dc

For some people in existing contracts with other providers it could work out better than the locked one, overall. It's quite borderline though. One would assume the price is intended to steer people towards the locked one, but still allow for selling in another eu country where (perhaps?) they will be forced to sell unlocked only.

Will people pay twice the price of an N95, in this scenario? Some will I'm sure, but at the moment the kickback/subsidy system is probably generating alot of sales that wouldn't happen if people could see the true price of the phone.

(and I think this actually applies to all phones. People are getting frequent upgrades, not because they need them, but because they are 'free'. This model is wrong for so many reasons... But maybe that's another thread )

 

[rocketman]

Clearly one of the first third party peripherals that should appear could be a fold out keyboard (full size) that connects via the iPhone dock. I can't see third party firms letting that one go past, as for people like Ed who want to write lengthy reports, that would be the way.

 

[Gromit]

Clearly one of the first third party peripherals that should appear could be a fold out keyboard (full size) that connects via the iPhone dock. I can't see third party firms letting that one go past, as for people like Ed who want to write lengthy reports, that would be the way.

It never really happened for the PsP despite Sony writing software to support it.

 

[Gromit]

I played with one today and was impressed.

Will see what Sony Ericsson come up in reply with as I have a while before I need to upgrade.

Touchscreen walkman phone due soon according to one site I've read.

 

[editor]

Clearly one of the first third party peripherals that should appear could be a fold out keyboard (full size) that connects via the iPhone dock. I can't see third party firms letting that one go past, as for people like Ed who want to write lengthy reports, that would be the way.

Kinda defeats the object of a smartphone if you've also got to lug a separate keyboard around.

 

[Crispy]

Kinda defeats the object of a smartphone if you've also got to lug a separate keyboard around.

There's loads of these things for palm and windows mobile, so there's obviously a market.

 

[editor]

There's loads of these things for palm and windows mobile, so there's obviously a market.

Sure there is. But for the price/size, I'd expect the iPhone to be usable for my needs without having to lug a separate keyboard about.

I've actually already got a fold out keyboard that I bought from my touchscreen Clie Palm PDA, but I've found no use for it since I bought the Treo.

I love the slick interface of the iPhone, but the lack of a hardware keyboard (and the hefty price) means that I'm never going to feel the iLove, no matter how wow-wee the eye candy.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Kinda defeats the object of a smartphone if you've also got to lug a separate keyboard around.

I dunno some smart folk thought having a dumbed down laptop was needed for the Treo so why not a small keyboard for the iPhone?

 

[editor]

I dunno some smart folk thought having a dumbed down laptop was needed for the Treo so why not a small keyboard for the iPhone?

*tries to find the relevance.

*fails.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Ed in full of fail shocker!

 

[jæd]

I dunno some smart folk thought having a dumbed down laptop was needed for the Treo so why not a small keyboard for the iPhone?

What...? You reckon Apple should produce some kind of basic laptop thing that communicates via bluetooth with an iPhone to make a cut-price laptop for business travellors...?

Never work...!