We've got plenty more to explore with the iPhone, but here's a brief feel for what you can expect fooling around (after already having activated). Be sure to check out the HD version!
[MP4] Download in 720p HD (90MB) [MP4] Download in wide VGA (35MB) [AVI] Download in 720p HD (90MB) [AVI] Download in wide VGA (44MB)
I'll stick with my TREO 700w for now. Just looking how the typing works is a pain. I can surf the net on the TREO at 798kbps...can your iPhone do that on their EDGE. I can deal with the typing issue but as long as they only have it on EDGE, I won't switch just yet. Why, oh why, Apple didn't choose Verizon with its EVDO....it will be so sweet only if it is on Verizon's
I don't think it was as much of Apple choosing Cingular, but Verizon didn't bend over for Apple's demands on how to handle support and money related to the phone. Along with that, AT&T had to go through all their Voicemail servers and update their software to be able to support Visual Voicemail.
Verizon does not do GSM... so why would Apple choose Verizon and have to make 2 versions of the phone? They would have to have a duo CDMA chip that does both GSM and CDMA, which would be more expensive, drain more power and take more space.
Much easier for everyone to have one version of the phone worldwide (support, servicing, design, Q & A)... the iPhone will sell more out of US than in the USA anyhow.
I moved from a Verizon 700p to the iPhone. I have to say it makes the 700p look archaic. Even with EDGE instead of EVDO, the iPhone experience is far superior, particularly for web browsing. Half the sites on my Treo look like crap and many are barely usable. The iPhone makes mobile web browsing practical.
the thing i loved about my powerbook G4 in 2003 is that i could update my cell phone by Bluetooth with iSync to update my phone numbers, send and receive videos /photos and other files, can it do any of these things with BT File Transfer
So how is it actually talking on the thing? All these demoes about the features.. but we need to remember its still a phone! Seems like it would be uncomftorable to hold it up after a while...
We all have one!!! You can start doing real tech blogging now!!! Oh, still have 2 paperweights here thanks to AT&T, boy was that a bad choice, maybe you guys should report on what is really going on with a lot of people who bought the iPhone today, you haven't talked about it at all! So get into that investigative mode and get on it, otherwise we will not have our voices heard and AT&T can continue to deliver crappy service.
You can tell he had at least a small degree of difficulty registering taps on the screen. This gives a little credit to the rumor that it needed heaver than usual key presses. I'm definitly going to keep up with what people have to say about the onscreen keyboard (in relation to a physicial keyboard) since the screen is a little tougher to register as earlier reported.
It's certainly not a "press" touch-screen, it's more of a "tap" that you have to give it. It's not a gentle application of pressure, but more of a staccato peck of your finger on the glass. Just takes getting used to.
The "swipe" with your finger to page through things is like butter.
Me likey the keyboard. The predictive expanding of the hot zones is really noticeable, especially since I have big thumbs, and I KNOW I miss my target a bunch. But it seems to predict well.
Now, I could stand the period being moved to the main keyboard for text entry, and I hitting space to accept a word is cool, except when you're at the end of a sentence and you need to backspace and put a period in there. But those are small complaints that could be fixed.
Gotta correct you on what you said when you hit the suggested word. It didn't add it to your dictionary, it dismissed it.
Also, the auto-correct DOES work in the browser when entering text.
Play with it for awhile, making snap judgments seems to be the norm around here, but the keyboard is just something you have to get used to. Just like when the first blackberry came out.
One more thing, you didn't have to go to the Google home page to search since there's a search field right there when you type in a URL, and an option to change your default search engine (from Google) too!
nice vid! i think im gonna wait a few days or weeks to see if any problems come up because virtually every gadget has bugs to work out. i'd like to hear more about the keyboard and how the screen holds up after a while because i wanna know whether i should lay the Q to rest or get one of these. but everyone is gonna say to stay with the Q but ill decide for myself. =D
Hmm. Well, I'm certainly no fan of Apple, and with all this hype I've sort of been saying "fuck the iPhone", but... ugh, I hate to say this, but it looks cool. Not $600 cool though. Like $300 cool. Still cool though, and I think if there were some situation where I acquired one for free, I would swallow my pride and use it. Nice video, looking forward to more.
NO Picture Messaging, NO Video recording, NO 3rd party apps...the list goes on and on. I predict that there will be a blog out there in a few wks time talking about the regrets, returns, and disappointments for iPhoney. I'm not a hater but if I will drop $600 for a phone, it shld be good enough for the one it will replace.
Wow. Years in development and there's no indicator telling you if or when you're in upper or lowercase? That's sad for a $600 phone.
Hopefully, that's another thing they'll correct in a firmware update.
I'm still not diggin' the keyboard, though. I have to have tactile feedback or at the very least, more space between the keys, meaning for me, a landscape keyboard would be better.
I'll tell you what would've been a good idea: Apple should've made a two-way slider mechanism with a secondary screen - that slides in landscape and portrait modes to give users a virtual keyboard that allows them to use it in the way (or orientation) that best suits their typing habits. And since it would be a screen, it could also display controls and so on depending on activity (playing games, watching videos, etc).
***********************
As a side note, it also amuses me how anytime anyone makes mention of something they don't like, others rush to give those remarks "low" rankings. I don't know whether to chuckle at that or shake my head. Some people just can't handle the slightest criticism of the iPhone.
The keyboard was actually fairly easy for me. Typing with two thumbs--and at a pretty quick pace--hasn't been a problem at all. I certainly agree there's some issues (no mms, no video recording, no voice dialing, no true 3rd party apps), but most of those can be fixed with software. While there's certainly no guarantee they *will* be fixed, I find it highly unlikely that they would go ignored given apple's investment in the product.
My biggest complaints so far? The volume is a bit low, even on the highest setting. And the vibrate is rather weak.
Ryan Block, you are such a fanboy it's not even funny. How can someone go to a "trusted" site that isn't supposed to be biased when it's clear that the person that founded the site is trying so hard to show that something is perfect when it clearly isn't? I started with Gizmodo, i went to Engadget, and today i rather go to CNET than watch this garbage. Thanks Ryan!
I went straight to two finger typing out of the box... thumbs that is.
As I read somewhere else, it's like the leap of faith from Indiana Jones... just close your eyes and walk.
I have been using a pearl for the last year and I'm very very impressed with how well I am adapting to the no-tactile-feedback keyboard.
The auto-correct seems to be fairly intelligent as well, most of my blunders were picked up on and a quick tap of the space bar sent the correct word through with speed.
That's it? From the looks of it, the thing is excruciating to use. I'm glad I'm not an Apple fanboy. Best of luck with your $600 piece of overrated junk. lol.
The phone has blue tooth, I predict within days if not weeks, some company is gonna come out with a slick folding keyboard. I hope it is as good as the Sony PEGA KB-100.
One question I have though, does the phone have a note taking 'widget'? Uh, it does, I just checked the user manual. To me it has enough PDA functionality to consider buying.
KWW
One final note: To all the speculating losers who purchased a bunch of phones to auction on ebay: HA HA, seems as if there is no shortage!
The touchscreen is a big pain for typing. Navigating and clicking buttons is easy, but typing is a royal pain in the ass. I bet the new iPhone hand model (the one with bigger hands) is having a hard time today too.
For auto correct u don't tap the word, just hit space bar and it will use the correct word. It does that to be fluid so that you don't have to tap the word. It's opposite the usual spell check that u see in MS Word etc.
I think ill get one around my birthday (July 14, Not that long of a wait) if I get enough money from my relatives or win this somehow. If I dont get enough money, Ill just buy a kick ass halloween costume ($200+) and start using that for costume contest and make enough money for me to buy an iphone or whatever hot new thing is out atm.
I wonder if I have the hooked up to my stereo with the aux jack if it cuts off the headphone port signal so you can just speaker phone the conversation and then when its over, the headphone port turns back on and resume listening in the car without the need to unplug the phone so the user doesnt hear its own voice. Hmm...
Joe got the auto-correct thing right. It works just like the auto-correct in Word: if you type a word that's not in the dictionary, the program corrects it for you; but if you backspace and then type it again, it won't correct it a second time. This allows you to type words that aren't in the dictionary without having them ceaselessly auto-corrected - if you typed it two times in a row, the software assumes you must have wanted the word that it thought was mistyped.
o you know that it's perfectly possible to type using TWO thumbs on the iPhone virtual keyboard? And that's because it has multi-touch screen (unlike your Treo).
It's great that everyone keeps showing how this thing works on their WiFi networks, but it would be very interesting to see how the responsiveness is on the Cellular EDGE network.
Other sites have shown YouTube playing on EDGE, and its surprisingly snappy. I can confirm this. It's modem speed, but perfectly acceptable for most average browsing.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
AdibTowfiq @ Jun 30th 2007 3:16AM
First this is cool!
AdibTowfiq @ Jun 30th 2007 3:17AM
Chhhhhheeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzaaaaaaaaaaa nice job
Sowande @ Jun 30th 2007 3:20AM
Hey man, it's easy to tell what you were impressed with, and what you were not so impressed with and it seemed half and half.
Battlestar Galactica... nice. Let us know how that looks on the screen.
blackax @ Jun 30th 2007 3:23AM
Wow that keypad looks like a pain in the ass. My N800 has a better touch keypad, i can type over 30 wpm on it
greyscale @ Jun 30th 2007 3:25AM
Wall-to-wall coverage all weekend long, SCORE!
humpty @ Jun 30th 2007 3:31AM
Oooooh... that clicking sound is going to get annoying fast, and you need it since there is no haptic feedback.
One finger search and peck typing FTW!
Ryan @ Jun 30th 2007 3:32AM
Dude...! Sweet...! Dude! Sweet! ;)
Really awsome stuff. I still think I'll wait until Rev. B
Aaron @ Jun 30th 2007 4:15AM
Dude! WHAT DOES MINE SAY?!
Sam P @ Jun 30th 2007 3:38AM
I'll stick with my TREO 700w for now. Just looking how the typing works is a pain. I can surf the net on the TREO at 798kbps...can your iPhone do that on their EDGE. I can deal with the typing issue but as long as they only have it on EDGE, I won't switch just yet. Why, oh why, Apple didn't choose Verizon with its EVDO....it will be so sweet only if it is on Verizon's
Kyrra @ Jun 30th 2007 3:52AM
I don't think it was as much of Apple choosing Cingular, but Verizon didn't bend over for Apple's demands on how to handle support and money related to the phone. Along with that, AT&T had to go through all their Voicemail servers and update their software to be able to support Visual Voicemail.
Serge @ Jun 30th 2007 2:48PM
Verizon does not do GSM... so why would Apple choose Verizon and have to make 2 versions of the phone? They would have to have a duo CDMA chip that does both GSM and CDMA, which would be more expensive, drain more power and take more space.
Much easier for everyone to have one version of the phone worldwide (support, servicing, design, Q & A)... the iPhone will sell more out of US than in the USA anyhow.
Ishir Bhan @ Jul 1st 2007 10:39AM
I moved from a Verizon 700p to the iPhone. I have to say it makes the 700p look archaic. Even with EDGE instead of EVDO, the iPhone experience is far superior, particularly for web browsing. Half the sites on my Treo look like crap and many are barely usable. The iPhone makes mobile web browsing practical.
Neptune5 @ Jun 30th 2007 3:40AM
the thing i loved about my powerbook G4 in 2003 is that i could update my cell phone by Bluetooth with iSync to update my phone numbers, send and receive videos /photos and other files, can it do any of these things with BT File Transfer
John Lee @ Jun 30th 2007 3:40AM
So how is it actually talking on the thing? All these demoes about the features.. but we need to remember its still a phone! Seems like it would be uncomftorable to hold it up after a while...
Gabe @ Jun 30th 2007 3:40AM
We all have one!!! You can start doing real tech blogging now!!! Oh, still have 2 paperweights here thanks to AT&T, boy was that a bad choice, maybe you guys should report on what is really going on with a lot of people who bought the iPhone today, you haven't talked about it at all! So get into that investigative mode and get on it, otherwise we will not have our voices heard and AT&T can continue to deliver crappy service.
YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!!!
Camperton @ Jun 30th 2007 3:45AM
HA!
I was just gonna ask if it was shot on HD... cause it looked all HD'y.
alain @ Jun 30th 2007 3:46AM
is it usable with only one hand ? (at least for the major tasks)
Camperton @ Jun 30th 2007 3:49AM
By the way what cam are you using?
Camperton @ Jun 30th 2007 3:52AM
Cool to see that Dungen album in there. You've got good taste in music Block.
Nexus @ Jun 30th 2007 3:52AM
You can tell he had at least a small degree of difficulty registering taps on the screen. This gives a little credit to the rumor that it needed heaver than usual key presses. I'm definitly going to keep up with what people have to say about the onscreen keyboard (in relation to a physicial keyboard) since the screen is a little tougher to register as earlier reported.
The Chickening @ Jun 30th 2007 4:08AM
It's certainly not a "press" touch-screen, it's more of a "tap" that you have to give it. It's not a gentle application of pressure, but more of a staccato peck of your finger on the glass. Just takes getting used to.
The "swipe" with your finger to page through things is like butter.
Me likey the keyboard. The predictive expanding of the hot zones is really noticeable, especially since I have big thumbs, and I KNOW I miss my target a bunch. But it seems to predict well.
Now, I could stand the period being moved to the main keyboard for text entry, and I hitting space to accept a word is cool, except when you're at the end of a sentence and you need to backspace and put a period in there. But those are small complaints that could be fixed.
Joe @ Jun 30th 2007 4:02AM
Gotta correct you on what you said when you hit the suggested word. It didn't add it to your dictionary, it dismissed it.
Also, the auto-correct DOES work in the browser when entering text.
Play with it for awhile, making snap judgments seems to be the norm around here, but the keyboard is just something you have to get used to. Just like when the first blackberry came out.
One more thing, you didn't have to go to the Google home page to search since there's a search field right there when you type in a URL, and an option to change your default search engine (from Google) too!
Josh @ Jun 30th 2007 4:04AM
nice vid! i think im gonna wait a few days or weeks to see if any problems come up because virtually every gadget has bugs to work out. i'd like to hear more about the keyboard and how the screen holds up after a while because i wanna know whether i should lay the Q to rest or get one of these. but everyone is gonna say to stay with the Q but ill decide for myself. =D
Aaron @ Jun 30th 2007 4:13AM
Hmm. Well, I'm certainly no fan of Apple, and with all this hype I've sort of been saying "fuck the iPhone", but... ugh, I hate to say this, but it looks cool. Not $600 cool though. Like $300 cool. Still cool though, and I think if there were some situation where I acquired one for free, I would swallow my pride and use it. Nice video, looking forward to more.
Sam P @ Jun 30th 2007 4:14AM
NO Picture Messaging, NO Video recording, NO 3rd party apps...the list goes on and on. I predict that there will be a blog out there in a few wks time talking about the regrets, returns, and disappointments for iPhoney. I'm not a hater but if I will drop $600 for a phone, it shld be good enough for the one it will replace.
Z @ Jun 30th 2007 4:28AM
Wow. Years in development and there's no indicator telling you if or when you're in upper or lowercase? That's sad for a $600 phone.
Hopefully, that's another thing they'll correct in a firmware update.
I'm still not diggin' the keyboard, though. I have to have tactile feedback or at the very least, more space between the keys, meaning for me, a landscape keyboard would be better.
I'll tell you what would've been a good idea: Apple should've made a two-way slider mechanism with a secondary screen - that slides in landscape and portrait modes to give users a virtual keyboard that allows them to use it in the way (or orientation) that best suits their typing habits. And since it would be a screen, it could also display controls and so on depending on activity (playing games, watching videos, etc).
***********************
As a side note, it also amuses me how anytime anyone makes mention of something they don't like, others rush to give those remarks "low" rankings. I don't know whether to chuckle at that or shake my head. Some people just can't handle the slightest criticism of the iPhone.
AlcoholicZombie @ Jun 30th 2007 7:01AM
Actually, You & many others overlooked that when you hit the up arrow, it stays lit to notify that you are in upper case mode.
Just like to point out the mistake you and the reviewer made.
Thanks!
Brains + Jack D = Crazy Delicious!
Z @ Jun 30th 2007 6:07PM
Well, actually, I didn't make any mistake. I was simply commenting on what Ryan indicated in the video.
But taaaaanks a lot Jack!
burnblue @ Jul 1st 2007 1:33AM
The reviewer did mention the up arrow. The point was that the keys stay in one case the whole time.
Me, I dislike the index finger poking at the screen, which seems to be Apple's recommendation. One hand, one thumb, that's my cup of tea.
Z @ Jul 1st 2007 5:13AM
Ah, well whatdya know; I missed that part, afterall. Whoops!
That being the case, they should've/could've made a much better indicator.
jared @ Jun 30th 2007 5:04AM
The keyboard was actually fairly easy for me. Typing with two thumbs--and at a pretty quick pace--hasn't been a problem at all. I certainly agree there's some issues (no mms, no video recording, no voice dialing, no true 3rd party apps), but most of those can be fixed with software. While there's certainly no guarantee they *will* be fixed, I find it highly unlikely that they would go ignored given apple's investment in the product.
My biggest complaints so far? The volume is a bit low, even on the highest setting. And the vibrate is rather weak.
Crispy @ Jun 30th 2007 5:05AM
That link just made NOD32 shit itself with a trojan warning. FYI
Jay @ Jun 30th 2007 11:48AM
I had the same thing, even on Digg and other sites too. I just told NOD32 to stop showing them after a while for the whole day.
PiTT @ Jun 30th 2007 5:06AM
Ryan Block, you are such a fanboy it's not even funny. How can someone go to a "trusted" site that isn't supposed to be biased when it's clear that the person that founded the site is trying so hard to show that something is perfect when it clearly isn't? I started with Gizmodo, i went to Engadget, and today i rather go to CNET than watch this garbage. Thanks Ryan!
jason carlton @ Jun 30th 2007 5:06AM
I went straight to two finger typing out of the box... thumbs that is.
As I read somewhere else, it's like the leap of faith from Indiana Jones... just close your eyes and walk.
I have been using a pearl for the last year and I'm very very impressed with how well I am adapting to the no-tactile-feedback keyboard.
The auto-correct seems to be fairly intelligent as well, most of my blunders were picked up on and a quick tap of the space bar sent the correct word through with speed.
Constable Odo @ Jun 30th 2007 9:26AM
Close your eyes and use the Force, Luke. Use the Force.
DM @ Jun 30th 2007 5:17AM
That's it? From the looks of it, the thing is excruciating to use. I'm glad I'm not an Apple fanboy. Best of luck with your $600 piece of overrated junk. lol.
John Bootle @ Jun 30th 2007 5:37AM
Should have pressed the space bar to select the suggested word, not the word itself.
Go back and watch all the tips videos! lol
brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 30th 2007 7:41PM
If you look at the word they are suggesting there's an 'x' beside it.. if you press the word you reject it. Spacebar to accept.
keithwwalker @ Jun 30th 2007 5:53AM
The phone has blue tooth, I predict within days if not weeks, some company is gonna come out with a slick folding keyboard. I hope it is as good as the Sony PEGA KB-100.
One question I have though, does the phone have a note taking 'widget'? Uh, it does, I just checked the user manual. To me it has enough PDA functionality to consider buying.
KWW
One final note: To all the speculating losers who purchased a bunch of phones to auction on ebay: HA HA, seems as if there is no shortage!
ChrisGilmore @ Jun 30th 2007 6:10AM
Can you use the landscape keyboard in email mode?
Japalmn @ Jun 30th 2007 6:56AM
The touchscreen is a big pain for typing. Navigating and clicking buttons is easy, but typing is a royal pain in the ass. I bet the new iPhone hand model (the one with bigger hands) is having a hard time today too.
Arsenio @ Jun 30th 2007 8:03AM
###########Ryan############
For auto correct u don't tap the word, just hit space bar and it will use the correct word. It does that to be fluid so that you don't have to tap the word. It's opposite the usual spell check that u see in MS Word etc.
##############################
The Chickening @ Jun 30th 2007 1:30PM
Funny.. the opposite of Microsoft is good!
AlcoholicZombie @ Jun 30th 2007 8:15AM
I think ill get one around my birthday (July 14, Not that long of a wait) if I get enough money from my relatives or win this somehow. If I dont get enough money, Ill just buy a kick ass halloween costume ($200+) and start using that for costume contest and make enough money for me to buy an iphone or whatever hot new thing is out atm.
I wonder if I have the hooked up to my stereo with the aux jack if it cuts off the headphone port signal so you can just speaker phone the conversation and then when its over, the headphone port turns back on and resume listening in the car without the need to unplug the phone so the user doesnt hear its own voice. Hmm...
kopah @ Jun 30th 2007 9:02AM
Joe got the auto-correct thing right. It works just like the auto-correct in Word: if you type a word that's not in the dictionary, the program corrects it for you; but if you backspace and then type it again, it won't correct it a second time. This allows you to type words that aren't in the dictionary without having them ceaselessly auto-corrected - if you typed it two times in a row, the software assumes you must have wanted the word that it thought was mistyped.
Galley @ Jun 30th 2007 9:32AM
I can't believe the keyboard layout doesn't dynamically change when the shift button is pressed. Palm keyboards have been doing this for years
Bertrand Presles @ Jun 30th 2007 10:19AM
Mr Treo700w:
o you know that it's perfectly possible to type using TWO thumbs on the iPhone virtual keyboard? And that's because it has multi-touch screen (unlike your Treo).
Trojan @ Jun 30th 2007 11:10AM
It's great that everyone keeps showing how this thing works on their WiFi networks, but it would be very interesting to see how the responsiveness is on the Cellular EDGE network.
Cleverboy @ Jul 1st 2007 8:05AM
Other sites have shown YouTube playing on EDGE, and its surprisingly snappy. I can confirm this. It's modem speed, but perfectly acceptable for most average browsing.