iPhone roundup: Apple seeds 2.1 with new GPS features, possible copy/paste, also completely out of phones
By Ryan Block 
posted Jul 25th 2008 8:57AM
posted Jul 25th 2008 8:57AM
Another bit which may or may not make it into 2.1 is copy/paste. We're still both hopeful and skeptical, but supposedly in the new version of the WebKit framework exists commands for "plugins," "copy," "paste," "cut," and some others. We can't confirm if these really exist (and if they do, we don't know how they've actually been there, or if they're simply holdovers from the desktop WebKit frameworks), so don't hold your breath. Also supposedly making its first appearance in the 2.1 beta code: Apple's push notification service.
Oh, and by the way, if all this has whet your appetite for the device, sounds like today will be a bad day to try and snag one. Apple's retail site shows absolutely zero iPhone availability in the US, so if you're jonesing then check out eBay or the seedy looking dude on the corner with the overstuffed trenchcoat.
Update: Looks like the stores have been updated in the last hour, many have stock. Game on!
[Thanks to Cameron and everyone who sent these in]
Read - Apple all out of stock
Read - New GPS features seeded?
Read - 2.1 getting background push?
COPY
Paste
Will still be useless without true multi-tasking,
I, as a man, have survived very well up till now.
OMG. If they keep improving this handset, they'll never keep them in stock. I'm getting annoyed at seeing a couple of hundred people standing in line every day. Copy/paste or not, the iPhone is in too high a demand.
My avatar keeps telling me I should use a WinMo handset like he does. He says almost nobody wants them so they always have plenty in stock. I told him that chimps are different from humans. I told him that intelligent primates aren't willing to settle for anything less than an iPhone. He got pissed and nearly tried to pull my arm out of it's socket until I tossed him a few bananas.
@Steffen
Dude, your just a riot. Have you ever considered a career in comedy? You could get up on stage and just stand there and tell the same joke like a thousand times for a couple hours. You wouldn't even have to think up new jokes! Oh, and I got a stage name for ya : Steffen "Beat the Dead Horse Jobs". Anyways, you should definitely quit your job and go for it dude. You'll be great. That's assuming your older than twelve and you have a job. Which is pretty unlikely.
Can anyone tell me why copy and paste is so hard to add to the iphone? I just don't get it? Isn't that a basic function in any user interface?
@OneLove: It's not hard to just add it, it's hard to add it right. If you've used an iPhone, you know the interface is thought from top to bottom and through. It's near impossible to add a new workflow to enter Cut/Paste "mode", select and get out, while being consistent with the rest.
For example, how would you do it in Safari? Mail? Every other Apps in AppStore? In a _consistent_ (read: same for all) manner?
In fact, I'm really intrigued to know how they did implement it. Tap&Hold maybe, or 2-finger-tap...? They already used Tap&Hold for something though...
@hans:
My thoughts are they could have one finger held down for a few seconds to enter a text zoom mode to find the start position in the text then put down a second finger and drag just that finger to the end of the text. If you were to have a rather large thing you want to copy you could probably implement a lock on the first position by tapping twice with the second finger and then double tapping at the end position.
RE: UPDATE
"Select your state and then check the list to see which Apple Retail Stores currently stock iPhone 3G.
Return after 9:00 p.m. to check iPhone 3G availability at your local Apple Retail Store."
And just like that, they were gone :)
"kid_blue @ Jul 25th 2008 1:35PM
setting your system time to 9pm allows you to check the availability of the stock online.
Also... I check my state (which is PA) and two malls still have stock.
I live in the US... and i doubt that they are 100% out of stock.
Fact or fiction? I'm thinking fiction."
DOH!
@hans: Thanks for the reply. I guess I haven't really used the iphone gui extensively.
On my HTC mogul you can select text by moving the pen/finger across the screen (the target gets a shadow to indicate selection) and when you raise your pen/finger, a drop down menu appears with "copy" as an option.
I find it hard to believe apple created the iphone but it cant solve the "cut and paste" conundrum?
copy and paste would be a nice feature... but for heaven's sake... LANDSCAPE TEXTING, pretty please
Hey Apple! Take a look at something...
Down below, I have a sentence in quotes. I'm going to copy and paste that sentence further down in the body of this post. I know by simply reading this post, you won't be able to actually witness me do it, but at least you'll see the results of copying and pasting when someone is equipped with the ability to do so, and I promise you, the sentence was, in fact, copied and pasted, not just merely retyped. Now look closely:
"This sentence has been copied and pasted."
"This sentence has been copied and pasted."
See how cool that is? And what's even cooler about it, is how quickly info and data can be duplicated and placed into other programs, applets, and files, or wherever else, without having to retype it all over again from scratch. You can also do what's called "cutting", not just "copying", prior to "pasting". And what's more, there are so many times where this whole cutting, copying, and pasting business would come in handy that I couldn't POSSIBLY list all of the reasons why.
It's a totally sweet feature that saves time and increases efficiency and I really seriously think you should add it to the iPhone. Yep yep! I really do!
Because Apple, sarcasm aside, waiting on you guys to add this feature is like watching someone stand and stare at a toilet for years, while frowning and rubbing their chin and tilting their head back and forth and hemming and hawing, and never reeeeeally deciding whether they should just go ahead and add that "pesky little toilet paper dispenser" after all. Well, isn't it obvious? Wink, wink... nudge, nudge... DO IT ALREADY! Sheesh.
Oh, and I know I don't speak only for myself when I say, "Thanks!" (Even if it may be presumptive. I have faith.). Smile!
*** In next week's episode (whenever that will be), we'll be addressing other "long overdue" and "obviously needed" features. Stay tuned...
I guess they're back...
http://www.apple.com/retail/iphone/availability.html
Ahaha.
@engadgetluvsapple
"Will still be useless without true multi-tasking"? What the hell are you talking about. First of all, let's remove the copy/paste issue for a second and focus on multi-tasking.
Without even getting into the myriad issues related to multi-tasking and drained resources and poor performance (*Ahem* Windows mobile), Give me a legitimate use of multi-tasking that a simple notification framework can't resolve? When you need to switch apps, they close and save their state. Then you switch back, and they boot up quickly and restore their state.
Applications that would usually need to run in the background to maintain a stateful real-time connection to a server (think Instant messenging) can use the iPhone's notification service to maintain these connections. When data comes in, a notification is created and sent to the app which then can alert you to the new data. For listening to music or accessing the phone features while you are typing email or web browsing, the built-in apps have access to background multi-tasking.
Really the only conflict I can readily think of will occur when you are using a future WiFI VOIP app to chat to a friend and suddenly you need to pull up your address book/contacts/notepad without disconnecting the phone conversation. That does suck, but I think these types of situations where the notification framework won't resolve needed multi-tasking functionality will be incredibly rare..
Numerous Apple stores currently have iPhone stock. At least 8 stores in Florida do. I also know all 3 Manhattan stores have stock of all three versions.
Here in Canada they tell you on the phone they don't have any in stock, but when you go to the store, turns out they do.
When I check it says all the stores are sold out and I live in Florida
This out of stock nonsense was part of the first iPhone.
The plastic iPhone is worth $95 and will still not sell well. That's why shortages are either lies or merely due to the fact the world is in recession and/or the initial order was small.
What made the first version cool was the lack of plastic and the fact only a few people could afford it. Now it's all plastic it looks like a cheap Xmas toy. And the lack of common features is pathetic. Since when should Windows mobile have more features than the iPhone?
Easy to use plastic means you should pay nothing for it with a 2 year contract.
I like my first edition iPhone but will not buy the plastic toy one. Besides A-GPS in NYC is pathetic on all platforms and all providers.
I went down to the San Diego Fashion Valley store last night to pickup some other stuff and there were a good 20+ people in line then. That was at about 7pm. Likely was a line there most of the day as well.
I'd like to get the phone too, but I'm not about to stand in line for awhile just to do it.
The "dude on the corner with the overstuffed trenchcoat" just got picked up by the authorities for showing some old lady what his trenchcoat was stuffed with.
Guess that leaves eBay.
I wouldn't go for ebay if I were you. Minimum price is around 450 quid, which is the biggest rip-off ever.
I wouldn't go for ebay if I were you. Minimum price is around 450 quid, which is the biggest rip-off ever.
i mean, i love my iPhone but all these stories are getting ridiculous.
Maybe they will also look into why the hell the Gmail accounts don't work. I had an employee bring a 3G iPhone to me to see if I could get it to use Gmail in POP or IMAP, manually or through the "New Account" setup for Gmail. Either way failed and the only other person I know that has an iPhone was on vacation and they have a first gen and not sure if they upgraded to 2.0 firmware yet. Tried Wifi and data connection as well. Thankfully my WM6 phone works just fine with Exchange, OWA IMPA4, and Gmail IMAP, never had a problem with a Palm either. So much for just works....
Rogers in canada had a outage that effected GMail users.
Gmail works for me, through the "Gmail" button in mail too. I'm not sure why it wouldn't for you.
The only possible thing I could guess is that you're just entering your username and not the whole "username@gmail.com". Other than that there isn't much room for user error.
Oh, and make sure you actually have IMAP or POP enabled on your account, though I'm guessing you do since you said it works in WM.
Gmail works fine on my 3G.
Gmail works perfectly for me as well.
My g-mail works fine..
What the hell are you messing with POP and IMAP for?
There is a giant g-mail button.. maybe you are just an idiot?
@Fragmit
Well maybe if you read the whole thing, you would have seen that I tried the big fucking gmail button for the automated account setup for Gmail already. The user put in their own password so that is the only point of fail left on the iPhone, however they logged into their own gmail account at my desk and they are able to get their Gmail at home in Outlook just fine.
I have three Gmail accounts (1 regular, 2 Gmail for Domains) that work just fine on the iPhone using IMAP. Never had an issue with them in the nearly 2 weeks I have had this phone.
I got my iPhone 3G on Saturday. The first thing I did was set up my Gmail account by tapping the Gmail button in account setup.
Worked fine first time, and I have been able to access my email all week without any problems. Well, ignoring the junk mail.
Ok, im sorry
*HUGS*
Hey, I don't have a "Gmail" button. Just a mail icon on the bottom dock that accesses my gmail acct (with no problems, I might add). Is there a specific Gmail application for the iPhone? Am I missing something??
@patrick. They are referring to the gMail option that appears on the "Add Account..." page (Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> Add Account...)
Or if Patrick is a Danish guy:
Indstillinger -> E-post, kontakter, kalendere -> Tilføj konto
(just in case)
@Fragmit:
Just wanted to say, today, the internet social just took a leap forward because of you. You guys disagreed and what could've become a stupid Digg style flame war, you just apologized and sent a hug.
I wanted to send my heartfelt thanks for being who you are.
It tells me that my Apple Store likely has it in stock as soon as I click the availability link. It must remember my location from a previous visit, because I didn't have to put one in.
I have a 1st gen iPhone running 2.0 and haven't had any trouble getting it to work with my Gmail account
Yeah, I'm perfectly happy with the new firmware on my 1st-gen iPhone. Although it's nice, I don't really need the 3G.
Think the update will help with battery life?
i mean, i love my iPhone but all these stories are getting ridiculous.
But these guys only post the positive stories, at least some gadget blogs have the balls to post the not so positive stories about apple..
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/07/apple-slammed-f.html
This isn't just small issues with version 2 of another POS for apple, there are serious problems. If this were ms, there would be no end to the bashing.
Engadget has posted about the problems with MobileMe. For what it's worth, MobileMe web email, contacts and calendar are now working really well, for me at least. I haven't tried Gallery.
mobileme is garbage regardless
The thing I most want to see added to the iPhone version of OS X is the keychain, along with Safari and other apps having the ability to access it, just like in the desktop version of OS X. So, for example, Safari could access the keychain to autofill username and password logins on web pages.
I'm more surprised that there are not any iPhone 3G KIRF clones out yet...
'Apple's retail site shows absolutely zero iPhone availability in the US'
Perhaps you should actually look before claiming this as truth. Don't go turning into TUAW. Apple's availability website shows SEVERAL stores with iPhones in stock. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the majority of Apple stores have some type of iPhone available.
Where I live in Western New York, there is a sign in front of the ATT Store where I live saying they still have 3G Iphones
I dont know about the Apple Website - but the Apple Store in Short Pump (Richmond, VA) had PLENTY in stock yesterday, and no lines what so ever.
setting your system time to 9pm allows you to check the availability of the stock online.
Also... I check my state (which is PA) and two malls still have stock.
I live in the US... and i doubt that they are 100% out of stock.
Fact or fiction? I'm thinking fiction.
AHHH nice simple hack-around. Touche'
What happened was that Apple found out people were using a loophole in the online tracker yesterday afternoon where you can get realtime inventory at any time of day. They put in a temporary fix that showed all stores as out of stock until 9pm. It was still like that before 9am this morning, but apparently the original trick works again now.
It is definitely not out of stock. The big Apple stores have been getting replenished almost daily and the lines are still there. (I've been checking hoping for no lines)
The Chicago store has all of the iPhones in. They are adequetly stocked and don't expect to run out today. The line is 3 hours long though right now though. And it's not even 900a yet.
I'll wait for mine...just not in a line.
I still think it's pathetic that we have to be "hopeful" about COPY/PASTE on a phone. WHAT IS THE DEAL
I hope it fixes some of the glaring issues which, for me, make it almost unusable as a business phone. Some background -- I've never been an Apple user. I thought the products were great, but I don't like the closed system. I build my own PCs, ran all sorts of software on my Window Mobile phone, etc. With the slight opening up of the iPhone 3G, I thought I would give it a try. I've had one for about a week and may be taking it back today. There are things it does amazingly well, that WM devices still cannot do or do poorly. The interface is wonderful, the screen is great, it's responsive, etc. I want to love this phone, but there are things it doesn't do that a business phone needs:
- Repeating reminders for missed calls, SMS, appointments, etc. Example -- I have a conference call at 9AM and set a 15 minute reminder. When it goes off on my WM phone, or in Outlook, I snooze it for 10 minutes and it reminds me just before the call. Many people who use Outlook (like most business users) use the Snooze function all the time.
- For people who use SMS for work, having to repeatedly turn the phone on to check for missed messages makes the phone unusable. WM phones (and most other phones) have an LED indicator, letting you know you've missed something, so you don't have to turn the phone on to check, or the phone will vibrate/ring every few minutes as a reminder.
- No Tasks. WTF! How can a business phone not manage tasks, especially when it's set up to sync with Outlook.
There is also a serious calendar syncing bug, which, according to Apple's own forums, Apple isn't owning up to. Whether it's iTunes or the iPhone that's the problem, past appointments disappear from the Day/Week/Month views in Outlook. It has to do with the way repeating appointments are handled, even when an appointment isn't set to repeat. Apparently, the iPhone defaults every appointment to repeating even when repeat has not been set, but with no dates for the repeat, so Outlook doesn't know how to handle it. The workaround is to set every appointment to repeat and then set the repeat to end on the same day as the appointment. This may be the killer for me. I need to have a reliable Outlook calendar. I don't want to have to open the calendar on my phone and compare the two every time I need to check on something.
Yeah...someone please tell me why I can't choose a different ring for email? Who other than someone with a sound amplifier for ears, can hear that stupid beep?!?!?
And for the love of circuits why can't I set it up to buzz or beep until I read something.....
pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease apple!?!?
:(
What are 'myriad bugs'?
Yikes! Maybe the Apple retail page is synced with MobileMe. That could explain the discrepancy :)
Any word on stereo bluetooth??
is that a hardware change for BT stereo?
Frank Furter,
See my post above yours about issues. The only one I list that I would consider a bug is the Outlook calendar syncing, but that is a huge bug for business users, not something minor. I've also had it kick me out of Safari on several occasions. Safari will just close and the home screen will come back up.
If you look in the Webkit framework of the final release of the SDK you'll see they exist there too. Surprised no one had found them before.
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6058/picture1ol5.png
@kal326 you know GMail by default is set to not do POP3 and IMAP; you have to turn them on.. Wasn't mentioned so I thought I would just see.
It seems to me that Copy, Paste and Cut are incredibly important to the iPhone 2.1 update. While many may never use the feature, and the UI may not be completely intuitive for it, this may be the one last real qualm for those who run BlackBerry's still.
Updating the GPS would be cool, but even more cool would be either updating the interface to include standard stand-alone GPS views/features or allowing actual GPS software vendors to add their already working apps to the App Store. (I wonder how much Tom Tom would add their software in at? Hrm...)
No. You know why it seems like copy/paste is the "big thing that Apple has to fix next"? It's because everybody wants to complain about the iPhone because it's popular. All these people bitching about it probably don't even use copy/paste on their current phones. And since the main reasons people complained about the iPhone prior to 2.0 (3G, GPS, apps) have been taken care of, the only thing left to whine about is copy/paste.
So everybody jumps on the copy/paste bandwagon without even thinking about whether they actually need it or not. It's just the popular thing to complain about, so everybody complains about it.
Anybody with some actual common sense will realize that copy/paste does not make or break a PHONE. If it did, ALL PHONES would have it. Not only that, copy/paste would be at the top of the list of important features, instead of things like 3G, battery life, etc. You know, the things that are actually important in a phone.
I can only partially agree with that statement, Zak. I would personally find copy and paste very useful on the iPhone. If I could copy and paste a long URL for example then I could use that in an Twitter app to share it with friends. That's just one example, but I would certainly use it.
That said, I do think it's been blown out of proportion and that battery life is more important. Some people will continue to hate the iPhone for it's popularity and those people will continue to find something to bitch about regardless. Some others will see small but crucial reasons to use another platform.
This is the same thing as the reason I use Safari and not Firefox; bookmarks are (for my uses) broken/non-existant in Firefox and it's always been that way and until that is fixed I can't use it. Very much the same small gripe that some overlook, some don't notice and some switch platforms for.
Zak,
I can't speak for everyone, but for me criticizing the lack of Copy/Paste is not picking on the iPhone because it's popular (isn't Engadget already too much like high school, do we now need to make it even more clique-ish?) For me, it's about Apple's refusal to put a very simple feature that is very useful and important for smart phone users. I say "refusal" because copy/paste was a major complaint from the first gen iPhone that was made by many reviewers. Basically, Apple had to be saying "Sure it could take our programmers about 10 minutes to implement this, but we don't want to."
And while copy/paste may not be a "make or break" feature for the average cell phone user in America (i.e. those who currently have a RAZR or the functional equivalent), or a consumer-only user of a smart phone, but it absolutely is a make or break for the average smartphone user (particularly a business user). I have a Blackberry Curve, and it would be frustratingly inadequate if it did not have copy/paste (think about how often you use copy/paste on a normal computer, and then imaging how annoying it would be if you didn't have it and had to instead memorize a piece of text that you wanted to quote in another document, and then type it out on a smaller keyboard). I've asked several of my friends who use their phones for business, and they have all agreed, lack of copy/paste is a deal breaker for any phone that they will use for work. Most business users recognize the value of function over style... consumers are generally the exact opposite.
For me (again, I can't speak for everyone) it all comes down to this. I'm not going to spend $200 or $300, switch phone carriers, and pay more for a data plan for a phone that is missing an easy-to-program feature that I use every day. And I'm certainly not going to buy a second smartphone just because it has a better-looking OS and web browser If others are willing to make that switch, more power to them.
@Mikey: I know you aimed your response at Zak, and for the best part I agree with you (as I have already said). I do however have to point out that it's not about picking on the iPhone.
Some people simply are that way, and some people will criticise until they are blue in the face; nothing is ever good enough. This is what Zak was originally alluding to I think.
I'd also like to point out that Apple isn't refusing to add a feature. They have never stated that they won't add a feature "so there". The product is theirs to do with what they will in terms of future development and nothing has to be added because someone says it should be. It's not our God given right to make every single product turn the directions that we as individuals think it should.
I am not trying to say that you are implying this, but it's not out of the spin that some people would put on your words.
@ Zac
All phones do have copy and paste and its not usually mentioned as a feature because its something that is just standard in 99% of phones released today and 2 years ago and is not worth mentioning.
...with the exception of the iPhone.
Really needs automatic network switching from 3G to EDGE when 3G signal drops below a certain point (1 bar). Currently, in order for network switch, 3G has to be non existent. When in low 3G coverage (inside home/office) have to manually switch off 3G in order to get full EDGE network coverage to make calls/emails. Of course, email works fine within WiFi zone. I've been reading that this is an issue on Apple discussion boards. 2.0.1 please!
How about something as simple as SMS delivery notifications?!
Not sure what you mean. When you get a text message, the iPhone plays a noise, vibrates and displays a message onscreen.
Actually i mean the notification that a SMS you send has been delivered to the recipient. Common feature here in europe...
Oh I see what you mean. On the iPhone, SMS messages are displayed as an ongoing conversation. If your message doesn't get sent, it won't show up in the conversation.
I know, but "sent" and "delivered" are 2 different things :)
I think you can add the request for a confirmation SMS by adding something like *0# when you start the message.
example message:
*0# Hello there, how are you?
Try it and let me know if it worked for you
source of tip: http://www.iphonestalk.com/tip-how-to-get-sms-delivery-reports-on-an-iphone/
thx for the tip but i already use a code, but still it would be nice if i didn't have to type it in all the time, considering that most of the times i forget to do it...
Apple's reversing their iphone sales policy, as of today. During the inital launch weekend if they received a shipment on saturday, they wouldn't sell phones until sunday - which then allowed them to update the availablity site properly. However, somewhere over the past week, they began selling phones as they arrived at the store - so even if they sold all of that shipment, the website would still show availablity for the next day.
As of today they're going back to the original policy of not sell the current day's shipment until the next day and they will now be issuing vouchers for those who stand in line and are within the inventory limit for that store (i.e. if they have 60 16GB black iphones and your number 60, then you'll get a voucher, if your 61 then you get no voucher and will have to stand in line another day). The voucher will only be good for that day, so don't expect to come in on Sunday with a Saturday voucher.
By the way, the above is all hush-hush don'cha know. The apple rep gave us this low-down today after some major pestering (thanks to the lawyer guy in line), but during their 'official' announcement all we were told was that they had no phones to sell today (beyond the measly 15 phones) and that they will not sell any phones today even if they receive another shipment (which arrived while we were in the store).
If someone walked by me with a box of iphones, and i was told those weren't for sale yet, i might have to choke a bitch. I would ESPECIALLY be mad if i was told that the only reason they would not be sold, was so the #'s on the website had to be updated. "Ahh HELL no!" (Assumes fighting stance)
Here's an idea - add a common "Documents" folder on the iPhone and allow iTunes to sync txt. pdf, doc, xls, etc files the same way it does photos. Then, and only then, will true office-level applications be possible.
I bought a white one this morning in Boston and they had plenty. Website widget was wrong...
When you're adding new mail account, DO NOT change the description before you save it. It will fail. Change the description after you have saved it.
Also a bug in the MS Exchange, when you add exchange with contacts. Make sure you backup your phone. When you decided to delete exchange, it will delete all your phonebook contacts. The only way to recover your phone list is to sync it up again with iTunes. I hope this will get fix on the 2.0.1update.
Think maybe we could get FLASH Support? Please?
Thats my picture !
http://technicality.tumblr.com/post/43240976/cut-paste-tons-more-features-comign-to-future
wow i'm really surprised about the wait times... i guess i'm not really... but i waited in line 15 minutes for mine. showed up right at noon when they brought out the new daily shipment, waited about 6th in line, and was back at work in under an hour. this was in the denver park meadows retail store. it sounds like it's all about getting there at the right time.
Went to the Short Pump Apple store in Richmond after seeing on the non-Apple widget that they got their shipment in around 1130 - 1145 this morning. The widget shows in stock for all 3 models. Was told that they don't have any. They sold the "last" one they had this morning -- I'm thinking it was left over from yesterday (they told me on the phone yesterday they had some). At least here, it looks like that info about Apple changing their sales practices to sell the current day's shipments no sooner than the next day may be holding true. Was all set to get one; now, I'm not sure I can make it to the store at 9AM when they open to wait. I work 2 minutes from the store, I live 30 minutes from it.
The Apple stock page on their website is a joke. In the quest for an iPhone I called around and many stores that reported no availability had plenty of phones, and vice versa.
@ Zac
All phones do have copy and paste and its not usually mentioned as a feature because its something that is just standard in 99% of phones released today and 2 years ago and is not worth mentioning.
...with the exception of the iPhone.
I would gladly let Apple keep copy and paste if I could just have the stable iPhone that was v1 back. I love the apps that I have now, but between the apps crashing and reception problems, I have considered using my Nokia until this is sorted.
MMS? That would be nice too!
I can't believe you cant send multimedia messages on an Iphone. That is pretty crazy to me.
Something basic like multimedia messaging would be nice??
I just checked the "availability" page and of the numerous stores in CA, only three are sold out.
I assume Apple is meting out iPhones in this ridiculous day-by-day approach to sustain a sense of "I want what I can't get" and to drive daily foot-traffic to the retail stores. Maybe it's also designed to allow AT&T to deal with the influx of 3G load on their network.
It seems to me this has backfired because of the number of people I know who've decided their existing (i)phone is good enough now that the hysteria has died down or that they've hesitated because of the reports of software updates, bugs and missing features.
WHERE THE HECK IS HORIZONTAL KEYBOARD FOR EMAIL AND TEXT MESSAGING. WOULDN'T YOU THINK THIS WOULD BE TOP PRIORITY. ALL THE COMPETITORS ARE RELEASING PHONES SHOWING THEIR HORIZONTAL KEYBOARD FUNCTIONS! I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT COPY AND PASTE.