iPhone report

[Jeff Wexler]

I did stand in line with about 200 people at the AT&T Store in Santa Monica. I was about number 50, many people bought 2 phones, but I did buy one. About 5 or 6 people behind me, after that, SOLD OUT. Apple Store had many, many more people and lots more phones.

The iPhone: beautiful and very easy to use, wonderful touch screen, very good integration with the Mac. NOT perfect by any means and a few really serious flaws. Operationally, the phone part works great, but the seamless switching from EDGE network (AT&T) to available Wi-Fi networks, is NOT working properly, and so email and any Internet activities are painfully slow until you can get it to get OFF EDGE connection.

Some email configuration problems (not accepting valid passowords which I think relates to Keychain sync being a little screwy) but all other syncing things (like the iPod stuff) worked perfectly.

The biggest inherent problem, which I am not sure what to do about, is the VOICEMAIL feature. I need to talk to AT&T about this. It looks as if the iPhone has reverted to the sort of voicemain we used to have in the very early days of cell phones --- the phone (handset) itself plays your outgoing message, handles the voice recording of messages received, and it works more like an answering machine. The way we are used to voicemail now is that it is handled by the Service Carrier and we make a call to the provider to play messages. It may be possible to have both with the iPhone, and I am not sure that what I have determined is even correct.

I will make a full report as I get more experience with this.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

Jeff,

Congratulations and good luck with your new 'baby'.

I have been reading of activation horror stories like this one:

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9738300-7.html

Regards,

Richard

[Jeff Wexler]

Most of the problems I am having, particularly what I erroneously reported here regarding voicemail, relate to AT&T network problems --- not specifically iPhone problems. I have just spent 2 hours on the phone with AT&T customer service and then tech support, and they are unable to fix certain issues --- they told me to call back sometime Monday and they will let me know what they can do. I hope AT&T doesn't blow it for Apple ... since the release of the iPhone I have only heard BAD stories about AT&T. Maybe I should just turn it all back to them, cancel the service while I still can.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[dfisk]

I knew there were going to be problems with AT&T. I know several people that left AT&T because of poor coverage and bad customer service.

I heard that Apple originally wanted to pair up with Verizon (my service carrier), but for some reason Verizon said no. Does anyone know any more details about that? If Apple was paired up with Verizion, I might consider getting an iPhone...after a year to work out the kinks, and the price drops, and they come out with a better second version...but I don't see people leaving Verizon, who has great coverage, and pseudo average customer support, to sign up with AT&T.

-Dave

[Jeff Wexler]

"I wonder what happens when you drop it?" seems to be a common question (quite justified considering the purchase price). Below, you can read excerpts from some testing that was done:

"Perhaps most interesting is that PCWorld has tried its own stress tests on the iPhone (Video). They put the iPhone through Scratch Tests and Drop Tests.

Scratch Test: When the iPhone emerged with its screen just as pristine as when it went in, we then attempted to gouge the screen with one of the keys. We were very impressed that even this deliberate attempt to scratch the screen completely failed.

Drop Test: The iPhone not only continue to work after each drop test, impressively it still looked good as well. The only obvious damage suffered was a few gouges along its metal edge from the concrete drops. But it came out without a scratch on its glass screen, despite our best efforts to mar it in repeated tests of both types."

-  JW

[greg sextro]

I knew there were going to be problems with AT&T. I know several people that left AT&T because of poor coverage and bad customer service.

I heard that Apple originally wanted to pair up with Verizon (my service carrier), but for some reason Verizon said no. Does anyone know any more details about that? If Apple was paired up with Verizion, I might consider getting an iPhone...after a year to work out the kinks, and the price drops, and they come out with a better second version...but I don't see people leaving Verizon, who has great coverage, and pseudo average customer support, to sign up with AT&T.

-Dave

i had heard that verizon was unhappy with whatever contract they'd have to sign with apple:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-01-28-verizon-iphone_x.htm

i too am a verizon user (ex at&t, who i dropped as soon as my first contract expired), and wonder how long it might take for the iphone to maybe become usable on verizon's network.  i am actually very happy with verizon, so i have no plans to switch, but i also am NOT keeping my hopes up that the iphone will become available for verizon any time soon. 

[FSBELLA]

as a verizon customer. very happy, both with coverage and customer support.  I am sure they will have there i-phone version in the vext year.

[cmgoodin]

I had AT&T when they went to GSM and when they bought Cingular.  I was told the reason I didn't get good service was because of the Sony Tri-Mode phone I had.  So I bought a new Nokia that was supposed to be the best one to work with AT&t.  It Sucked as well.  I would see other people on the set talking on their phones and I had to go Outside to get any signal strong enough to make a call.  I took the Nokia back and canceled my Service and switched to Verizon.  I have not had any problems with coverage or connection with Verizon.  I have been happy with them. but their customer service knows that they have the best service and they make no deals and treat you like dirt because they know you won't leave.

Jeff, I think you have 14 days with AT&T to cancel the service and return the phone without any cancellation Fees.  Keep your iPhone for about a week just to wow your friends,  then when the novelty wears off and everyone is sick of hearing and seeing an iPhone you can take it back and continue to use your Verizon phone to stay in touch and use your iPod for music.

---Courtney

[Marc Wielage]

"I wonder what happens when you drop it?" seems to be a common question (quite justified considering the purchase price).

First thing I'm gonna do tomorrow is to get one of those "tough case" rubberized sleeves for the thing. I'd rather not beat the hell out of it, at least in the first week I own it.

I had AT&T before as a wireless carrier, so sticking with the iPhone isn't a problem for me. I agree that it's not a product for most people; to me, it's a niche product for techies and business people who want a better Blackberry/Treo.

So far, I'm amazed with how bright and sharp the screen is. Can't wait to see a new iPod with the same screen (rumored to be coming in the fall).

[Jeff Wexler]

from PC World (with my comments):

10 things Apple did right in the iPhone

The display, the display, the display. Everything looks good on it.

JW--- the display is fantastic and is totally readable in bright direct sunlight

The menu design: It’s simple and clean, and the home screen icons look like so much eye candy.

Fingertip navigation, zooming and scrolling that's intuitive, effective and fast.

Video playback that’s so good you can tell when you’ve done a sub-par job of ripping your movies.

JW--- video playback is very good (do be expected as the video iPods already do a good job) but the limit of 4gb or 8gb makes the use of large video files something you really have to think about

Visual voicemail lets you get to the calls you care about faster.

Great integrated applications, including Google Maps, YouTube, and a world clock that packs a timer, stopwatch and multiple alarms.

Cover Flow. It’s incredibly fun to choose your music by visually flipping through album art.

JW--- I do love the experience of Cover Flow...  I am not sure it really makes anything easier or faster or whatever but we better get used to it because Leopard is going to use Cover Flow as part of the new Finder

It’s tough: Our initial stress tests suggest that the iPhone is more durable than you might expect for such a sleek handset.

The first Apple music player with a built-in speaker—and it’s not half bad for a phone.

No disconcerting “do not disconnect” messages when syncing with a PC.

10 things they did wrong

We want our AOL Instant Messaging—and Yahoo and MSN IM clients, too. What about MMS support for sending picture mail?

JW--- these things would be nice but I personally don't miss them (maybe added later through software?)

No voice recording—and more importantly, no voice dialing support. How are you supposed to use an iPhone with a hands-free car kit?

JW--- this is a pretty serious omission... automatic vice dialing with recognition is pretty common on other phones

It’s the most locked-down phone we’ve ever seen. Not only can you not swap out the AT&T SIM card for one from another network, you can’t even swap it out for another AT&T SIM card.

AT&T is building out its mobile broadband network, but iPhone users are stuck with older EDGE technology—or battery-consuming Wi-Fi.

JW--- there are already too many problems with Apple's choice of AT&T I won't even discuss it (but I am afraid that one of the reasons Apple has been able to do such good stuff, by controlling the whole show, has now had to partner with another major company, AT&T, and this could spell disaster).

You know those great headphones you already own? They won’t fit the iPhones headset jack, so your first iPhone accessory will be a bulky, ugly $10 adapter.

The software keyboard invites typos—but when you’re entering passwords there’s no way of telling whether you’ve got them right.

JW--- this is partially true but the rather large verification of the letter you have tapped (a big expanded tab with the letter contacted pops up) makes it possible, if you are watching closely, to correct mistakes

It’s great that the iPhone can reorient pages in Safari, CoverFlow, and the photo album, but why not extend that capability to other apps such as e-mail? Some messages could benefit from a widescreen display. And even when it does reorient, it doesn’t always follow through with all features: CoverFlow loses access to the volume slider, for example.

No support for custom ringtones, surprising in a music phone.

JW--- the whole fascination with custom ring tones is not something I ever have had anything to do with --- my phone has to always be on vibrate and on the set I always hope that everyone else's phone will be on vibrate also, or better yet, OFF altogether. Incidentally, the GSM carrier has already gotten into everything near the phone on my desk even as I was setting things up --- bummer.

The camera’s rudimentary, with no audio/video or even zoom capability.

JW--- because the screen is so glorious it makes it seem like the camera is really good...  it's not. Image management, on the phone and integration with iPhoto is, however, very good.

No to-do list support, a basic in most calendar applications.

JW--- I am fairly confident that other apps will become available in the near future

[Jeff Wexler]

Continuing report: AT&T solved the problem I was having with the phone function and voicemail and all is working fine now. I really like the user interface, it is the best I have used of any of the class of smart phones. The only thing I miss, I think, is some sort of "BACK" button --- as it is, really the only way to return to something else is to hit the HOME (hardware) button. Within applications, like mail, there is very easy navigation with back-type function. It is very easy to answer the phone, a simple slide of the finger, and isn't really much different than flipping open a flip-style phone or pushing a button on a non-flip phone. The integration of the address book and the apps that need it on the iPhone is very good and mimics what I like about these features on the Mac. It is also nice that the screen is so good that lots of information, like multiple numbers, is clearly displayed. When I tested the screen for viewing in direct sunlight (in the Coffey Sound parking lot) I realize I had not turned the brightness up --- I don't think it will ever be a problem viewing the screen.

The few little things I do not like about some of the ways certain things are done, I am confident will change with the first software update. I don't think there is anything that will not get better and all the changes I will want can be done through software. What cannot be changed, and this is a biggie, is the reliance on AT&T. Nothing can be done about that. I love Apple... I do not particularly like AT&T.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[Noah Timan]

I knew there were going to be problems with AT&T. I know several people that left AT&T because of poor coverage and bad customer service.

I heard that Apple originally wanted to pair up with Verizon (my service carrier), but for some reason Verizon said no. Does anyone know any more details about that?

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/01/29/verizon-passed-up-apple-iphone-deal/

If Apple was paired up with Verizion, I might consider getting an iPhone...after a year to work out the kinks, and the price drops, and they come out with a better second version...but I don't see people leaving Verizon, who has great coverage, and pseudo average customer support, to sign up with AT&T.

I agree.  I think coverage depends upon where you are, but Verizon has generally been the best and most reliable where I live, and the CDMA network means it doesn't make that annoying GSM RFI sound that we hear so often on set with other PDAs (AT&T certainly included).  I have been other places, though, where Verizon didn't work and AT&T or Sprint did.  I haven't had an AT&T phone myself since 1998, but their service was truly horrible then.  I imagine it's improved since, but the lack of a broadband EVDO network seems glaring for a phone whose main claim to fame is internet browsing.

I think it will eventually have to change.  When "iPhone fever" dies down a bit I suspect Apple will, like other phone manufacturers, have to branch out a bit.  In the meantime, while it's smaller and prettier, I don't see a whole lot that the iPhone can do that my current setup (40 GB MP3 player + Treo) can't.

[studiomprd]

"IPhone owners will be able to replace the batteries in their phones, but it won't be cheap.

Apple is offering to replace the batteries of iPhones that are out of warranty for $85.95, including shipping. The company said the repairs should take three business days. Apple will make "loaner" iPhones available for $29.

The iPhone warranty lasts one year. It does not come with a removable battery. The company has said the battery should last 300 to 400 full charges before it needs to be replaced.

Critics have noted that at a rate of one charge a day, an iPhone owner would exhaust the usable life of the battery in about a year."

(from Mercury news)

[steveharnell]

>We want our AOL Instant Messaging—and Yahoo and MSN IM clients, too. What about MMS support for sending >picture mail?

>JW--- these things would be nice but I personally don't miss them (maybe added later through software?)

Here is AOL for the iPhone.

http://www.publictivity.com/iPhoneChat/

Log in with your AOL IM account. No data is logged, but all of your information does pass through my server. I am not harvesting any information. This app is server intensive, so I'm limiting sessions to 10 minutes for now.

Use your mouse to flick (drag and release) your buddy list up and down like you're supposed to on the iPhone. Click a buddy to start a conversation. You can open multiple conversations... flick left/right to change conversations.

Known Issues:

# No groups.

# No buddy icons (Anyone have full TOC2 documentation?).

# Opening more than 4 conversations gets unruly.

# Works in Firefox and Safari, but not IE.

[dfisk]

...so after a week of testing the cons for me are:

no Flash support

That's right. I never realized that. Even with the internal hard drive, it would be nice to put a flash card, or even mini sd in it for easy transfer of files.

[Brian Maier]

I would agree the lack of cut and paste is a big draw back.

Can't edit or save documents on the iphone.

AT&T...sigh

Mail - needs some tweaks with sync and deleting messages

The Headphone jack being deeply recessed makes it necessary to use an adapter if you would like to use standard headphones.

No video recording, and very basic still camera

Apple has said that they will be adding a flash plug in for the iphone in the first few months.  One of the nice things is that alot of the little problems should be relatively easy to fix in software updates, but software isn't going to fix AT&T.

Something else to consider is that the iphone battery is rated for 300-400 charges before it will need to be replaced, so if you figure 1 charge every 1-2 days potentially with in a year you will need to be replacing the battery.  Apple hasn't made it very easy to replace considering they soldered it in.

[Philip Perkins]

It's interesting how fast the hype about the release dissipated.  A newspaper article I read today claimed that most people who got in line early and bought multiple phones with the idea of selling them at a mark up have not been able to sell their phones for more than they paid, and are returning them.  Also, as expected, lots of whining about ATT....

Philip Perkins

[Brian Maier]

It's interesting how fast the hype about the release dissipated.  A newspaper article I read today claimed that most people who got in line early and bought multiple phones with the idea of selling them at a mark up have not been able to sell their phones for more than they paid, and are returning them.  Also, as expected, lots of whining about ATT....

Philip Perkins

Its kinda funny since ive gotten it the number one question by far that I get from other people is "What don't I like about it?".  As for ATT ive been with them in one form or another(ATT mobile, Cingular, ATT) for the last 8-10 years.  When I lived in Atlanta they were great, Colorado dropped calls like no other, Now in Los Angeles there ok.  But having no practical experience with another provider for so long its hard for me to compare, I only assume someone has something better out there. 

[Marc Wielage]

Scott, many Mac news reports have announced that Flash support will be included with the next iPhone software update.

A couple of other bugs/wishlist features:

1) no custom ringtones (yet)

2) I can't figure out how to get the Bluetooth to sync up with my car system yet. I'm about to throw my hands up and just make the dealer do it. Apparently, this is happening to a lot of other users, so I'm not alone.

--Marc W.

[Jeff Wexler]

1) no custom ringtones (yet)

2) I can't figure out how to get the Bluetooth to sync up with my car system yet. I'm about to throw my hands up and just make the dealer do it. Apparently, this is happening to a lot of other users, so I'm not alone.

--Marc W.

Custom ringtones for me is not an issue --- always have to use vibrate on the set so that's how my phone is set up (and now with the GSM problem I will probably have to have my phone OFF altogether!).

The bluetooth pairing with my handsfree blutooth system in the Prius worked perfectly. I haven't yet tried to bring my whole address book over the car yet...  that may not work. Your problem, Marc, depending on what car you have, may be the same as the problem I had with my old Motorola phone. It relates to whether the PHONE initiates the pairing (phone finds the car) or the CAR initiates the pairing (car finds phone). I never did solve the problem after a firmware update to the phone --- nothing changed with the Acura (which worked with the same Motorola phone prior to the firmware update). I don't know how flexible the iPhone is in this regard, you will just have to play around with it.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[cmgoodin]

Jeff,

Since the iPhone dosen't have voice dialing how do you make calls over the Bluetooth connected iphone in the car?

Does your car put up a keypad on the NAV system/ Radio Screen to make calls? 

---Courtney

[Jeff Wexler]

The NAV system does have a fairly full featured phone function that pairs with almost any cell phone and the majority of the user interaction is through the car system, not the phone. The Prius without modification (hack) has several ways to make calls but is restricted to only one way when the car is in motion. In motion, the NAV screen for the PHONE function presents you with a list of favorites stored in the car system's phone book (not your phone's phone book) and these are a one touch dial button. The phone of course can be answered with buttons on the steering wheel and so forth. When stopped, you have access to the whole phonebook stored in the NAV system (and this may well be the phone's phonebook if that is possible). I believe the NAV system also allows for voice dialing through the overall voice command feature built into the car system.

There is a hack, of course, to allow full use of the NAV/phone system even while the Prius is in motion, but I have not installed that yet.

-  JW

[Jeff Wexler]

Jason O'Grady has collected a lot of info on the efforts of all the hackers working on hacking the iPhone. Attached here you will find a link to his blog.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[Marc Wielage]

Since the iPhone dosen't have voice dialing how do you make calls over the Bluetooth connected iphone in the car? Does your car put up a keypad on the NAV system/ Radio Screen to make calls? 

I can tell you on the Lexus, the in-dash head-unit downloads a half-dozen one-touch phone numbers from the phone, and then lets you dial them when it hand-shakes with any bluetooth phone (including the iPhone). It won't let you manually dial numbers when the car is in motion, however; the transmission has to be in Park before it'll let you do that. But you can do one-touch calls, even at 80MPH (which I do every day, to the risk of life and limb).

This is all with the iPhone still in my pocket, which is amazing to me. I still find new uses for the iPhone every day, so it's definitely one of those things were I'm probably only using 15% of its features. If they could just get the network speed faster, I bet I'd make it to 50%.

--Marc W.

[Guest klingklang]

I read that AT&R prints "Thank you helping us save the eviroment" on the last page of these rediculous bills.