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I am hoping the people who have been doing these reviews just have giant hands. Coming from both a Sidekick 3 and an 8125 [yes two providers] it will be tough to not have easy input.
 
The "hard presses" comment makes me discredit this post. From what I understand, it's not actually a pressure sensitive screen, but is capacitance based. Therefore, pressure should be irrelevant. Certainly the demo videos seem to use very light touches. Nothing in this post offers anything new that would suggest that it's actually true

Source : Ishir Bhan - Comment

He's wrong. I've used capacitive screens that seem to need a "hard press".

Part of the problem is that about 5% of the population has some problem with them. Callouses, hand lotions, long fingernails, and just plain human uniqueness all can cause difficulties.

That article has some good responses. One I like best talks about the fact that there's been touch screen keyboards on mobile devices for at least ten years. There's a good reason why the rest of the world has moved to hardware keyboards.
 
who knows who that "source" is, anyone can say anything theyd like but until theres an OFFICIAL review dont take anything too seriously. also did you notice that theres not ONE positive thing they mention about the phone. FUD anyone?
 
That article has some good responses. One I like best talks about the fact that there's been touch screen keyboards on mobile devices for at least ten years. There's a good reason why the rest of the world has moved to hardware keyboards.

The good reason being that the software behind the touch screen keyboards have sucked. OSX has never been used to run one - so who knows.
 
He's wrong. I've used capacitive screens that seem to need a "hard press".

There's a good reason why the rest of the world has moved to hardware keyboards.

Which devices are you referring to that have a capacitive screen?

Hardware keyboards add improved accuracy and speed at the cost of bulk or reduced screen size. There's no perfect system.
 
Maybe I missed it, but where has a price for the BT headset been listed?
 
...Hardware keyboards add improved accuracy and speed at the cost of bulk or reduced screen size. There's no perfect system.

For text-inputting the iPhone screen isn't much if any larger than other smart phones with hardware keyboards. The only real advantage the iPhone has for text input is the changeable button layout for different applications, and I think for text input this will be of limited use.

I still covert the Nokia e90.
 
Which devices are you referring to that have a capacitive screen?

Casino gaming terminals. I programmed a few, that have since been used by millions of people. So I have a little experience on the topic of glass-faced screens :)

The touch screens couldn't be pressure sensitive because of worries about knives and other sharp objects being used. I've got a million stories about them.

Hardware keyboards add improved accuracy and speed at the cost of bulk or reduced screen size. There's no perfect system.

Agreed. According to user wishes, the perfect handheld has a 10" screen and a full keyboard... all the size of a pack of cigarettes and thin as paper. Perhaps with the coming miniature screen projectors built into handhelds, and with that laser-projected keyboard, you'd have it. Or monitors in sunglasses and hand pickle finger keyboards.

Heh. What's funny is, the geeks DID finally triumph. The Revenge of the Nerds is that everyone now carries funny geek devices and wears silly geek headphones. ;)
 
well sure a hard keyboard is obviously much better for letter/number input. But you limited to up/down input.

With this type, you can do a lot of other things.(I guess)

Otherwise it's a joke, right?
 
Don't forget the major point that Steve made in the original keynote. The reason hardware keypads aren't great is because they can't be changed. Once they start getting feedback, it is as easy as a firmware update to alter the size and style of the keypad. It could be changed to work in landscape mode for a larger size or changed completely.
 
attachable BT keyboard anyone? I think we might see something along those lines from Apple in the future after there have been some user complaints because lets face it touch screen keyboard isnt for everyon.
 
It does seem like a bit of a smear job. They basically picked every bad thing about it and went even further.

I call FUD.

That being said, until it hits my shiny little hands, I shall worry not.

Nothing is faster than typing on a full keyboard (like this Macbook Pro) even my Treo 680 is just "ok".

BZ
 
First it's Engadget. They LOVE to hate on Apple.

Just wait to get the iPhone in your own hands. I'm sure there will be some who don't like the keyboard, but there will be just as many who love it. It's not going to be a thing where it will be unusable with 100% of consumers.
 
Really?

Engadget's one of the best technology blogs out th.... oh wait, you must be a fanboy, and they once said something bad about stevie & company. Take off the rose-colored glasses, not everyone marches in lock step with apple.
 
For text-inputting the iPhone screen isn't much if any larger than other smart phones with hardware keyboards. The only real advantage the iPhone has for text input is the changeable button layout for different applications, and I think for text input this will be of limited use..

The point is not that it has a large screen while inputting text, it is that the keyboard space can be used as screen space for web-browsing, viewing emails, browsing music, watching video etc.

That is a huge advantage. Whether that outweighs the lack of a physical keyboard depends on your needs. Heavy texters who have little need for the other features of the iPhone and are fine listening to MP3s on their current devices are not the target market of the iPhone.
 
Don't forget the major point that Steve made in the original keynote. The reason hardware keypads aren't great is because they can't be changed. Once they start getting feedback, it is as easy as a firmware update to alter the size and style of the keypad. It could be changed to work in landscape mode for a larger size or changed completely.

I seriously doubt they are going to change it. What is the point in having a keyboard that can change, if they aren't going to change it?
 
Really?

Engadget's one of the best technology blogs out th.... oh wait, you must be a fanboy, and they once said something bad about stevie & company. Take off the rose-colored glasses, not everyone marches in lock step with apple.

I kind of disagree and agree. For general technology, Engadget is fine. Engadget knows though that Apple stories garner their biggest interest and page views and thus the most money. Couple that with Ryan Blocks general dislike of most Apple products (hey, thats his opinion...not hating on that) and you get a general slant that is negative in my opinion.

I can almost guarantee his iPhone review will focus disproportionately on the smaller, niggly points to taint the article.
 
I kind of disagree and agree. For general technology, Engadget is fine. Engadget knows though that Apple stories garner their biggest interest and page views and thus the most money. Couple that with Ryan Blocks general dislike of most Apple products (hey, thats his opinion...not hating on that) and you get a general slant that is negative in my opinion.

I can almost guarantee his iPhone review will focus disproportionately on the smaller, niggly points to taint the article.

LOL, Ryan Block is far from an Apple hater. Him and Veronica Belmont both own Macbook Pro's.
 
* The touchscreen was said to, in general, require somewhat hard presses to register input, and needs some getting used to.
The "hard presses" comment makes me discredit this post. From what I understand, it's not actually a pressure sensitive screen, but is capacitance based. Therefore, pressure should be irrelevant. Certainly the demo videos seem to use very light touches. Nothing in this post offers anything new that would suggest that it's actually true
Source : Ishir Bhan - Comment
Not that this says anything worth getting riled up about, but I actually had this impression too. Three somewhat suspicious things to note:
  1. Nothing new.
  2. EVERY point is a negative comment.
  3. ALSO, interesting, that given the demonstration of the technology on Apple's website (click here), that anyone would imply this is "resistive" (pressure based) touch screen technology and not "capacitive" (conductive).
In Apple's demo, you can see the sensitivity visualization rising to meet the finger as it taps the surface of the screen. Also, a "hard press" requirement would more than make "flicking" useless. You don't need to look far to understand why someone implying the iPhone needs a "hard press" would appear less than truthful, just read the recent USA Today article...
But most touch-screen phones that shipped last year, including Palm's Treo and Motorola's ROKR E6, used "resistive touch" technology — the most common technology, said Jennifer Colegrove, a senior analyst of display technologies at iSuppli. It has two layers of glass or plastic and calculates the location of touch when pressure is applied with either a stylus or a finger.

A more advanced type of touch screen, featured on the iPhone and LG Prada, uses "projected capacitive" technology. A mesh of metal wires between two layers of glass registers a touch when the electrical field is broken.

That's why light finger brushes will do the trick. But capacitive sensors don't even need actual physical contact: such touch screens already detect the proximity of a finger from 2 millimeters away, Colegrove said.

Useful Reading:
Another area in which the systems differ is in which stimuli will register as a touch event. A resistive system registers a touch as long as the two layers make contact, which means that it doesn't matter if you touch it with your finger or a rubber ball. A capacitive system, on the other hand, must have a conductive input, usually your finger, in order to register a touch.
Think "static electricity", and whether you need to press your finger HARDER to that unsuspecting vicitm, after moving about in your socks, or whether pressure isn't that relevant. Sometimes I hate watching the trouble makers out there. They usually prey on ignorance, with relatively good success.

~ CB
 
there are three things about this post that makes me think it isnt real....

1) its negativity, nothing nice to say about the phone, its got to have something good to talk about
2) the hard pressed for the screen (which was discussed earlier)
3) magsafe power adapter for the bt headset??? that makes no sense, magsafe was made so when someone trips on the cord it doesnt yank the electronic with it.. a bt headset doesnt have enough weight to detach from the adapter.. it makes no sense at all...
 
there are three things about this post that makes me think it isnt real....

1) its negativity, nothing nice to say about the phone, its got to have something good to talk about

Right. When everything is positive it's true.

2) the hard pressed for the screen (which was discussed earlier)

That's not surprising. They said it ignores unintended touches.

3) magsafe power adapter for the bt headset??? that makes no sense, magsafe was made so when someone trips on the cord it doesnt yank the electronic with it.. a bt headset doesnt have enough weight to detach from the adapter.. it makes no sense at all...

Actually it makes perfect sense. It would just snap into place.
 
LOL, Ryan Block is far from an Apple hater. Him and Veronica Belmont both own Macbook Pro's.

Ryan Block owns a lot of products and I would damn well expect the editor of the biggest gadget blog on the net to own a Mac in order to conduct its reviews. That does not take from the fact that he is generally negative towards Apple both in his articles and on the Engadget podcast. He will always poo poo the iPod and the Apple TV for instance, for whatever Archos or Sansa device he is using at that time. Thats fine, and personal opinion, but I feel most of it is wanting to be a balance to a lot of the media love Apple gets. Which is not being objective. I also have to be wary about the large amount of advertising money Microsoft pays to Engadget and take that into consideration.

Secondly, I didn't say he was a hater. Please dont put words in my mouth.

Thirdly, everybody knows Veronica is an Apple fan. What is your point? That couples have to like everything the same?
 
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