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I'm not worried about accuracy, i'm worried about the fact that the SDK prohibited people from developing turn by turn GPS apps:

"Section 3.3.7 of the license agreement tells users that "applications may not be designed or marketed for real time route guidance; automatic or autonomous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other mechanical devices; dispatch or fleet management; or emergency or life-saving purposes.""

Source: http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/06/11/iphone.sdk..gps.nav/

Most GPS devices do not offer this. Only commercial GPS devices can be marketed for those types of applications. The TomTom or Garmin alot of people have sitting in their car cannot used for those applications either. They are only consumer GPS devices.
 
The antenna that's built into my O2 Xda Orbit (rebranded HTC P3300) is plenty good enough for running sat nav software; I have TomTom Navigator installed on it and it works fine. May take a few minutes to lock on but once it does it's fine. I have a hard case adapted and mounted to a standard Kawasaki GPS bracket on my motorbike and it works a charm. I'd be very surprised if a unit of comparable size (slightly bigger, I believe) that's a couple of years newer can't accommodate a GPS antenna that's at least of the same if not better quality.

Thankfully my O2 contract doesn't expire until November anyway and I'm in no hurry to get shot of my Orbit. Windows Mobile is a bit of a pain, and needs a hard reset every now and again, but I have The Missing Sync so it's only ever a few minutes hassle resetting and resyncing.

By November the inevitable iPhone 3G shortage will have subsided and a whole bunch of other goons will have tested it for me and I'll be able to decide whether or not it'll be a viable option or -as is the deal breaker - the GPS really is complete lip service. ;)

If that's the case I'll probably pick up a 1st gen iPhone cheap on ebay and bung a PAYG SIM into the Orbit to keep the GPS functionality :)
 
I believe the GPS software is to blame, not the antenna, for the bad turn by turn locating.

In the SDK, the default seems to be 1 Kilometer before it considers a change in location.

I would imagine programs who sneak past the "No turn by turn software" in the SDK agreement would change that default to something closer.
 
Yeah. This I do not understand. You can have everything pushed and synced to the phone but...you can only have either business OR personal calendars or contacts on it? WTF is the point then?

I have a .Mac/MobileMe account where all my personal contacts are stored and synced with my phone now. But if I also want my business stuff to sync to the phone I can't have my personal stuff too? That is a big, big oversight. Seriously not happy with that. I guess I'll have to just deal with it just syncing my Exchange email and nothing else. That blows.

I have the Exchange functionality now with Synchronica. It costs $60/year and it probably works exactly the way the 2.0 software will. If you combine your work and personal contacts you won't have an issue. I synch with work contacts all the time. Synching with with 2 Outlook setups is the real problem to me. I saw this part and was concerned as well. I think you'll be fine once you merge the contacts into one. If you don't want to do that then you may not like this solution at all. Personally, it works just fine for me. especially when I can take the .pst file home and update contacts at home and not lose a thing. -Just a thought.
 
Most GPS devices do not offer this. Only commercial GPS devices can be marketed for those types of applications. The TomTom or Garmin alot of people have sitting in their car cannot used for those applications either. They are only consumer GPS devices.

I agree that there are some distinct things listed there that are outside of the circle of a consumer product, however "After 100 yards turn left" sounds like real time route guidance to me...
 
So, too, voice dialing, i.e., real voice dialing with voice recognition and access to the Contacts file. Been doing this on old Palm for years. Can't be trying to scroll through a contacts screen with a finger while trying to drive. As simple as pushing a defined button and saying, "Call John Smith mobile."
I had a cheap Sanyo on Sprint many years ago that did a very good job of voice dialing. For something so useful like this that has been around in very good implementations for years, why in the world can't we have it on the iPhone (even the original)? I like my iPhone a lot, but I still think it's a joke that it can't do simple things that even cheap phones can do. We all thought at the time the original was released that "surely it will come in a software update" but it never did. Why, Apple, why?
 
In the SDK, the default seems to be 1 Kilometer before it considers a change in location.

You're kidding right? :eek:

Even triangulation between cell towers is WAY more accurate than that.

Crippling a perfectly good antenna with software restrictions like that make no sense whatsoever.
 
How do you take the black plastic off? If this is what it takes to get louder sound out of my 1st Generation I'm good to go.

Holding out for the 3G version, happy with the new 1st gen. I have just bought from someone on ebay at $270. Dropped it and the sleep/wake button was stuck, went to Apple Friday, they replaced it with a brand new one.

Just google or youtube "taking an iphone apart" like in this video. Only I used a box cutter blade instead of the tool he used. You basically need to shove something sharp between the brushed metal and plastic the and cap will pop off. You are gonna be shocked at how much louder it gets.
 
Oh, and by the time my contract's up, some Google Android devices might have hit the market. Give me a newer version of this Orbit with a stable, Linux based OS and I'll be a happy camper. :cool:
 
Or, to put it more accurately: "No, Apple simply has to try to protect itself in the circumstances where a customer, having come across a problem with a navigation application on their iPhone wants to take
legal action."

Exactly. Apple makes sure no one makes an app that could get a lawsuit sent to them for, through the restrictions in the SDK, and can in the meanwhile have people on NDAs knocking up a decent app that they, not Apple will take the liability for.

I believe the GPS software is to blame, not the antenna, for the bad turn by turn locating.
In the SDK, the default seems to be 1 Kilometer before it considers a change in location.

I would imagine programs who sneak past the "No turn by turn software" in the SDK agreement would change that default to something closer.

Anyone care to say what the default can go down to? Is that overridable? What's the actual setting called? Surely Google Maps is just communicating with the GPS on a continual if only cyclical basis?
 
Copy/paste ... meh

I think most of the people whining about the lack of copy/paste are those who have not used the phone for extended periods. I RARELY find my self thinking "shoot ... I wish I could just copy/paste this ....."

I think some of the other beefs are far more valid: no mms, no syncing of notes, no video (even short clips would be nice.)

No copy and paste. Wow. Unbelievable. This is starting to smell like a repeat of the one-button mouse debacle where it took Apple 20 years to admit they were wrong, except this is much worse because copy and paste even more vital, and has no replacement or substitute. Major bummer, this was probably #1 on my wish list.
 
Not many people have pointed this out, David mentions this:

As a handy bonus, 3G means that you can talk on the iPhone and surf the Internet simultaneously, which you couldn’t do before.
 
When Steve Jobs demoed the new iPhone features, he said that all the corporate requests were included.
How could he have missed copy & paste?

He must have seen the request on numerous message boards while surfing with his iPhone but was unable to copy the text and paste it into an email for his development team. :rolleyes:
 
Not many people have pointed this out, David mentions this:

As a handy bonus, 3G means that you can talk on the iPhone and surf the Internet simultaneously, which you couldn’t do before.

That's great to know. New iPhone owners can offend others around them in a public place by talking loud AND ignore the person on the other end of the conversation by reading Web pages too. It's the perfect double-diss phone.

As of July 1st in California, it is illegal to drive while holding a cellphone to one's ear. However, the law is silent on surfing the Internet while using a Bluetooth hands-free device and driving. :rolleyes:
 
all specs.. no glory. nokia has offered a lot more features, but that camera is a nightmare to use. and if you take pictures a little bit more carefully, the image quality out of the iphone's lesser resolution camera is better. the flash does not work much except for in very dark conditions on the n73.
but, i'm all for apple providing more features, just make them more usable than the n73. or other nokia phones. but the iphone should have video atleast.
What are you smoking? iPhone camera is horrible. It doesn't matter how "carefully" you take the photo, the resulting image is of much lesser quality than MANY other phones are capable of.

Nokia phones are some of the most usable out there - much better interfaces than motorola or others. Not as slick as iPhone though. I will say that despite the hype, I find the Nokia web browser better and more usable than the iPhone web browser.

Plus my factory-unlocked N73 can be used with *any* carrier's service, not just crappy AT&T. On a recent trip to Europe, I stopped in the local Tmobile store and bought a pre-paid SIM card, popped it in, and bingo, I had a working phone. Can't do that with the iToy.

iPhone = meh. no thx.
 
cooomooon why it has to be so slow ??? why we cant get normal camera, normal GPS WHY??? it's not a cheap toy.
I think it's simply economics and a Catch 22 all rolled into one cinnamon conundrum…

• Apple can't offer EVERYTHING we want until it sells more phones…
While we think they're making plenty on the phone, they're still recouping the R&D, advertising, paying manufacturers and getting this whole thing in place in dozens upon dozens of countries. Not to mention what they probably had to pay just to get the "iPhone" name legally in all of those places (especially here). Vast fortunes have been spent to get the phones in our hands. Now they have to spend more money on the 3G innards and GPS chips on top of all the slick multi-touch technology that everyone here is overlooking because it is so 2007 (even though no one else has it) You want an even better camera? They've only sold 6 million phones. These other companies, while offering phones inferior to the iPhone, have sold many more (subsidized too) so they can afford to continue to give the better phone/video experience.

I almost willing to bet that a better phone and video camera will be available in Version 3. Considering their great relations with Google, there should be an option for videos to be remotely uploaded to YouTube accounts straight from the phone, no muss no fuss. This time next year with 30M iPhones sold, Apple will be in a much better place to offer the camera you're talking about.

• Apple can't sell lots and lots of phones unless it offers it at the magic $199 price…
I don't know why $199 is the magic bullet for folks, but that's what the economic folks will tell you. Mass market is about to be seriously, Pamela-Anderson-style penetrated, and but good. Early adopters (me x 2) had to pave the way for this new price to find its way into the stores -- oh yeah, we can't forget AT&T. Of course, we're still spending more over the long haul, but it's much less painless that way. I spent $998 + tax just 4 months ago on two 16GB phones. I'm not regretting it. There's no 3G in my area and I have a TomTom in my 300C so, the directions are covered. I think the old back still slam dunks the new one. I just wish I had the better speaker because I always seem to be a place where I want to listen to music or watch a video and I forgot to bring the earbuds with me.

• Apple can't give us the ultimate phone just 1 year after the initial launch…
Just like the iPod, Apple needs more and more reasons and ways to entice us to continue to upgrade. Think about Apple's first iPod. Really think about it. You're telling me this was the BEST Apple could do for the price in 2001. Hell no. It was good enough. They knew the dollars were in how it worked. "Keep 'em wanting more" -- ain't that the saying? Here it is, seven years later, and we've got basically an iPod that does just about eveything except blow the milkman and people are complaining about the weak camera? It's an iPod that makes phone calls and surfs the web. They call it an iPhone, but it's not. We all know it's a better iPod than we could've ever dreamed up 7 years ago when it's super-ugly cousin walked into town and ask the barkeep for a tall one. Yet we complain. Give it a little more time. I'm still looking for a built-in FM radio solution and you don't hear me making a fuss.
 
I think it's simply economics and a Catch 22 all rolled into one cinnamon conundrum…

• Apple can't offer EVERYTHING we want until it sells more phones…
While we think they're making plenty on the phone, they're still recouping the R&D, advertising, paying manufacturers and getting this whole thing in place in dozens upon dozens of countries. Not to mention what they probably had to pay just to get the "iPhone" name legally in all of those places (especially here). Vast fortunes have been spent to get the phones in our hands. Now they have to spend more money on the 3G innards and GPS chips on top of all the slick multi-touch technology that everyone here is overlooking because it is so 2007 (even though no one else has it) You want an even better camera? They've only sold 6 million phones. These other companies, while offering phones inferior to the iPhone, have sold many more (subsidized too) so they can afford to continue to give the better phone/video experience.

I almost willing to bet that a better phone and video camera will be available in Version 3. Considering their great relations with Google, there should be an option for videos to be remotely uploaded to YouTube accounts straight from the phone, no muss no fuss. This time next year with 30M iPhones sold, Apple will be in a much better place to offer the camera you're talking about.

• Apple can't sell lots and lots of phones unless it offers it at the magic $199 price…
I don't know why $199 is the magic bullet for folks, but that's what the economic folks will tell you. Mass market is about to be seriously, Pamela-Anderson-style penetrated, and but good. Early adopters (me x 2) had to pave the way for this new price to find its way into the stores -- oh yeah, we can't forget AT&T. Of course, we're still spending more over the long haul, but it's much less painless that way. I spent $998 + tax just 4 months ago on two 16GB phones. I'm not regretting it. There's no 3G in my area and I have a TomTom in my 300C so, the directions are covered. I think the old back still slam dunks the new one. I just wish I had the better speaker because I always seem to be a place where I want to listen to music or watch a video and I forgot to bring the earbuds with me.

• Apple can't give us the ultimate phone just 1 year after the initial launch…
Just like the iPod, Apple needs more and more reasons and ways to entice us to continue to upgrade. Think about Apple's first iPod. Really think about it. You're telling me this was the BEST Apple could do for the price in 2001. Hell no. It was good enough. They knew the dollars were in how it worked. "Keep 'em wanting more" -- ain't that the saying? Here it is, seven years later, and we've got basically an iPod that does just about eveything except blow the milkman and people are complaining about the weak camera? It's an iPod that makes phone calls and surfs the web. They call it an iPhone, but it's not. We all know it's a better iPod than we could've ever dreamed up 7 years ago when it's super-ugly cousin walked into town and ask the barkeep for a tall one. Yet we complain. Give it a little more time. I'm still looking for a built-in FM radio solution and you don't hear me making a fuss.
Excellent post. Makes sense all around.
 
I think it's simply economics and a Catch 22 all rolled into one cinnamon conundrum…

• Apple can't offer EVERYTHING we want until it sells more phones…
While we think they're making plenty on the phone, they're still recouping the R&D, advertising, paying manufacturers and getting this whole thing in place in dozens upon dozens of countries. Not to mention what they probably had to pay just to get the "iPhone" name legally in all of those places (especially here). Vast fortunes have been spent to get the phones in our hands. Now they have to spend more money on the 3G innards and GPS chips on top of all the slick multi-touch technology that everyone here is overlooking because it is so 2007 (even though no one else has it) You want an even better camera? They've only sold 6 million phones. These other companies, while offering phones inferior to the iPhone, have sold many more (subsidized too) so they can afford to continue to give the better phone/video experience.

I almost willing to bet that a better phone and video camera will be available in Version 3. Considering their great relations with Google, there should be an option for videos to be remotely uploaded to YouTube accounts straight from the phone, no muss no fuss. This time next year with 30M iPhones sold, Apple will be in a much better place to offer the camera you're talking about.

• Apple can't sell lots and lots of phones unless it offers it at the magic $199 price…
I don't know why $199 is the magic bullet for folks, but that's what the economic folks will tell you. Mass market is about to be seriously, Pamela-Anderson-style penetrated, and but good. Early adopters (me x 2) had to pave the way for this new price to find its way into the stores -- oh yeah, we can't forget AT&T. Of course, we're still spending more over the long haul, but it's much less painless that way. I spent $998 + tax just 4 months ago on two 16GB phones. I'm not regretting it. There's no 3G in my area and I have a TomTom in my 300C so, the directions are covered. I think the old back still slam dunks the new one. I just wish I had the better speaker because I always seem to be a place where I want to listen to music or watch a video and I forgot to bring the earbuds with me.

• Apple can't give us the ultimate phone just 1 year after the initial launch…
Just like the iPod, Apple needs more and more reasons and ways to entice us to continue to upgrade. Think about Apple's first iPod. Really think about it. You're telling me this was the BEST Apple could do for the price in 2001. Hell no. It was good enough. They knew the dollars were in how it worked. "Keep 'em wanting more" -- ain't that the saying? Here it is, seven years later, and we've got basically an iPod that does just about eveything except blow the milkman and people are complaining about the weak camera? It's an iPod that makes phone calls and surfs the web. They call it an iPhone, but it's not. We all know it's a better iPod than we could've ever dreamed up 7 years ago when it's super-ugly cousin walked into town and ask the barkeep for a tall one. Yet we complain. Give it a little more time. I'm still looking for a built-in FM radio solution and you don't hear me making a fuss.

Great Post!!! I can't wait to get my iPhone. Verizon contract is up on the 28th of this month. So I will be in the AT&T store switching on the 28th. Unless anyone knows a way I can get it sooner. :)
 
10-30 seconds to load popular websites on 3G.

I can't remember the last time I waited 10 seconds for a webpage to load. I thought this thing was suppose to be fast.
 
Anyone care to say what the default can go down to? Is that overridable? What's the actual setting called? Surely Google Maps is just communicating with the GPS on a continual if only cyclical basis?


The property is called distanceFilter and its a property of CLLocationManager. Totally overridable but im not sure if it will allow for UNDER 1 km...I dont have the $99 SDK permission to test on my real phone so it always defaults to Apple HQ. *yawn*
 
Too bad the camera is still a piece of sh|t. Really sh|tty optics, no flash, and no zoom.

Meh. No thanks.

Nokia has offered cameras with decent optics, flash, and zoom for years now. My old 3.2MP Nokia N73 from 2006 has these most basic of camera features.

Congratulations?
 
Too bad the camera is still a piece of sh|t. Really sh|tty optics, no flash, and no zoom.

Meh. No thanks.

Nokia has offered cameras with decent optics, flash, and zoom for years now. My old 3.2MP Nokia N73 from 2006 has these most basic of camera features.

Has it occurred to you that the N73 is at least twice as thick as the iPhone? Getting a zoom lens and better optics into a phone as thin as the iPhone is extremely difficult - if not impossible. (BTW, the web page I found on the N73 says nothing about zoom, so I suspect you're mistaken, anyway).

There are tradeoffs in any design choice. Apple chose to make a very thin phone which limits the photo quality. That said, the pictures out of my iPhone are dramatically better than all the other cameras I've used - even 3 MP ones.
 
Anyone catch David Pogue on CNBC this morning? He did a sketch "live at NYC Apple Store" where he interviewed some knucklehead waiting in line at the NYC Apple Store. It was complete comedy and was made as a joke, but it was funny. He "interviewed a guy who said he has been standing in line for a year and he was so excited about getting the new great 3g iphone. Pogue then explained the new features (few) and then explained that existing iphone 2g owners don't need to upgrade. He talked about the new App Store and said their was already software programs ready to download Friday the gives you VoIP capability, video recording capability and picture messaging capability, amongst others. Very interesting........
 
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