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iPhone Gets Better Battery, Scratch Resistant Glass
Dekortage writes "Prior to its much-hyped launch on June 29, Apple has announced upgrades to its battery life (almost 40% more than originally announced) and scratch resistance (using "optical quality glass" rather than plastics). The announcement also includes a comparison chart pitting the iPhone against smartphones from Nokia, Samsung, Palm, and Blackberry."
Apart from not selecting like for like that's arguably the most horribly biased selection of measurements I've ever seen used in a comparison chart. I know the aim of the chart is to try and make the iPhone look good but when doing these type of charts most companies at least give their competitors some credit so as not to look too desperate. Probably the most obvious is the first - thickness comparison without weight, width and height comparison? It's a shame it doesn't list things like features either because that's where the iPhone really fails miserably, it simply has no killer app like the Nokia N95's built in GPS.
Posted anonymously to avoid the Apple fanboy army that plagues Slashdot and that can't accept that Apple aren't always capable of producing a decent product.
Those are upgrades every user will appreciate. Battery life is obviously good, and remember all the furor over iPod Nano scratches?
Why dont they simply use polycarbonate and use the same coatings used on glasses? There are some anti-scratch coatings for polycarbonate that give you nearly the same durability as glass does with far less weight and problems.
Although I have wondered this cince the Ipod came out. anti scratch coatings are pretty darn impressive.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
How is the actual voice quality since well it's a phone and all?
If 1% of the people getting new phones buy on, Apple's met their goal.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
A little while back, Dvorak (the original, not the popular term for a retard) was claiming the iPhone would have 40 minutes talk-time [the link doesn't go to Dvorak's site].
So, where's the retraction, John - after all, any *responsible* journalist's priority is the truth, not just seeking attention for himself at the expense of others...
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
Yeah. That 1% didn't work too well for the N-Gage.
I'll pay $250 tops. This is the first smart phone that I've seen that I would actually consider using. I just set up my VP's black berry last week and after 5 minutes my thumbs were already sore. But I just can't justify spending more than $250 on a phone. I'd like the extra features, but I can live without them.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Looking at these phones it becomes clear that battery life was a secret feature of the iPhone, probably known to Apple all along. It's clearly one of the intended design features of the phone. By eliminating the keyboards (and sliders), and stylus storage slots, Apple wound up with a phone that not only has almost twice as much space available for the display screen, but also has nearly twice as much room for battery. Sure, they probably put a lot of effort into power management features of OS X, and other optimizations in the hardware design, but the biggest win is undoubtedly the physical design.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
I used to think the NFL was the world's greatest hype machine, with the annual orgy of coverage about the Super Bowl, a game that's usually not as interesting as the commercials.
But Apple has probably gotten something like a billion dollars of free publicity for six months about the iPhone, which almost nobody has actually held in their hands yet. I'm convinced that the business last week with Safari was planned way in advance, as was this bit with the batteries and the screen, so that in the last few weeks before the iPhone came out Apple would be getting more gobs of free press.
Is there anybody who works the press as well as Steve Jobs?
The battery probably didn't even change. The only difference is that the old numbers came from engineering, and the new numbers came from PR :P
(I kid, I kid. I think it's a pretty sweet little device, personally.)
Game... blouses.
Ok, what percent of AT&T users will need to buy this to get it to equal 1% of all new phone sales? I think the lack of choice in carriers has a bigger impact than the price, right off.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Cell phones get dropped fairly regularly. I'm sure the same goes for ipods. Will the iphone be able to withstand a fall from 3 or 4 feet onto carpeting or concrete?
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
..and the new Intel Macs were supposed to be four-to-seven times faster than a 1.7GHz PPC and have 4 hours battery life.
I think I might just wait for the first few 100k sales before I look at the next 'comparison chart' from Apple Corp..
No wonder you were modded troll - the cost isn't $800 - it is $500 or $600 depending on the model.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
Mow the lawn, teach me Spanish? Is it waterproof, shockproof? Can it float fly and sit in an oven? Will it let me run my personal build of BSD? No? Then it's shit and we should shun it and hate it.
How many N95's sell anyway? They cost $800 (list from Dynamism).
Seven hours of video playback from 8 Gigs (max) of RAM? Color me skeptical, too.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Wait, are you serious? NGage is a gaming machine, and had to attract third party developers for any kind of success. 1% of the market simply wouldn't be enough for that. This isn't even apples and oranges, it's apples and bloody watermelons.
Um, because maybe the N800 isn't a phone? You can do VOIP, but it doesn't have cell phone capabilities (I know, I own an N800).
No matter where you go... there you are.
quote "if you're on your cellphone more than 8 hours a day, you might need to re-evaluate your life"
If you're on a business trip for a couple of days without access to a charger then it sure would be nice to have that exteneded talk time. Though it can be considered irrelelvant if it uses a standard mini-USB connection as you can always find a shop that'll sell the cable for less than $10.
Inches for the screen because Americans know what inches are.
MM for the thickness, because the point of the chart isn't the actual thickness, but the relative thickness of the iphone compared to the other phones. It's much easier for most people to compare the MM measurements against each other than it would be to compare 3/4" to 5/16" to 3/8", or whatever the imperial measurements would end up being. I deal with fractional measurements all day at work, and I still have to take a few seconds to think about it when I compare them.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I am also no "fanboy" as everyone seems to like to call people who likes Apple. I just love better products and are willing to pay extra for them.
Also, last time I checked, it was only $600, but if it is now $800, fine... For Apple products, it definitely worth it.
Just as a note: take it from me, you're a fanboi if this is the way you really think.
You're already proclaiming that spending as much as 2-3 times what most smart phones cost is Ok with you because it's an Apple, without even getting the phone into your hands? Actually, even more than Ok but "definitely worth it."
If that's not fanboism what is?
I'm not saying the phone is not worth it. If all the promises are true and if the phone is as reliable as my iPod has been I can understand why people found it desirable. But the fact is that you're pretty much saying it's a done deal. No one on slashdot, or at least very very few, have even had one of these in their hands let alone made a call on one or beat it around for a few months or a year to give us the kind of serious insight into this device that dictates spending big money on it.
To sit there and publicly proclaim a product get's a "thumbs up" simply because of the name etched into it's shell is fanboism. 100%. Every company makes a bad product and Apple has had enough to show us they're no different than anyone else. To deny that is also fanboism.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
How exactly is removing features to extend other features brilliant? Don't forget they removed the battery cover, circuitry for 3G, GPS, etc etc.
Okay, you want marketing material on "sshing to your linux box"? Are you daft? Do you realize that nobody save for a few technical people will know what that means? The point of advertising is to reach the largest number of people with your message. Disqualifying 90% of the audience with severely technical things is stupid. The same people that would complain about that are the same people would complain because the OS isn't free (like beer and freedom). You're obviously too picky.
Saying all that, I too want these features but it's far from what I'd call a deal breaker if I can't ssh from it given all that it CAN do.
I just wasted your mod points! HA!
It's fine to add the service contract to the price of the phone. After all, that will be the true cost. However, just make sure you add the service price to all of the iPhone competitors as well, just to give an accurate comparison.
Boom Shanka
You forgot to read the small print ... * Battery life affected be screen intensity. Video playback assumes LCD display off.
If we can't fix it, we'll fix it so nobody else can!
The iPhone, from this chart, essentially comes with two batteries compared to other devices. That was one complaint...
But even if that were not enough for you, there is a viable solution to extended power I have seen used with Windows Mobile phones - a small external battery pack that can recharge the phone. It's around the same size as a normal phone battery, and gives quite a bit more power.
In fact, it's such a good idea - they are already being made today. That's for the iPod, but since the iPhone uses the same dock connector...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The current scratch resistant coatings are problematic. I want Optically Transparent, Scratch-Resistant, Diamond-Like Carbon Coatings on my iPhone.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
Sorry to rain fact on your little rant, but Screen sizes are quoted in inches in some countries that have been metric since longer than anyone can remember. No, I don't know why.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
The fanboys would also pick up on it too, trying to think of excuses why their list wasn't a list of features that made their chosen product look good compared to the competition, but rather was a list features that mattered. I see nothing has changed in that regard.
If you're on a business trip for a couple of days without access to a charger then it sure would be nice to have that exteneded talk time. Though it can be considered irrelevant if it uses a standard mini-USB connection as you can always find a shop that'll sell the cable for less than $10.
It uses the same dock connector with other iPods, so it's almost as easy to find a charger... or if you are bringing a laptop, just remember the iPod sync cable.
However there are other external battery solutions like this one.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You can't upgrade a product that doesn't yet exist. The original announcement was probably deliberately misleading so they could announce an "improvement" just before the product is made available.
Since AT&T has about 1/3 of the U.S. market, that would mean about 3% of AT&T subscribers would need to switch for the iPhone to capture 1% of the market. This doesn't account for people who will switch carriers.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
If that's not fanboism what is?
Prediction based on past performance?
Apple has shown they can do a good job with UI on a small device, and furthermore have a lot of demonstration videos that convincingly show the utility of this small device. Is it so unthinkable to say, I have liked products from this company before, I'll trust them with a new purchase now?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The problem is not with the bandwidth, it's with the latency. GPRS/EDGE has a latency of 200-300ms to default gw in the best scenarios, and it can be as high as 1000ms. That makes designing interactive apps "challenging" - AJAX or not. In fact - traditional web pages can be more intuitive on slow connections because you don't have to guess if the page is updating part of it or not.
The chart is very clearly focused on a small set of features related to key differentiators of the iPhone. It's designed to attract people, to make them want to learn more about the iPhone. People who are curious will explore the feature set of the relative devices beyond this little chart. A giant chart with every feature of all devices would not attract nor interest anyone.
Your use of the term "fanboy" is unnecessary, as no actual fanboy performing actual fanboy stunts is cited. Attempting to use the propaganda technique of creating a boogeyman, "the evil fanboy" who pollutes your, uh, your advertising world by making excuses for, uh, advertisements, undermines any rational argument you may attempt to make.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
It's expensive. It only works on one provider. And it's closed platform. It is expensive, but I support Apple's efforts to wrest control of the American mobile phone market out of the hands of cell phone carriers. It's an uphill battle, and Cingular was the only company willing to allow Apple to do this; everyone else refused. That's the reason it only works on one provider. Hopefully, if the iPhone proves successful and customers on other networks start demanding it, the other carriers will back down.
I am concerned about the iPhone being a closed platform. AJAX widgets are great, and completely appropriate for a lot of the things I would want a phone to do, but they can't be the only solution. I want an SSH client, for example, and that just can't be done in AJAX. A VNC client that I could tunnel through SSH would be a nice bonus. Hopefully in the future, Apple will begin to support third-party development of real native applications for the iPhone. In the mean time, the iPhone can do just about everything my current phone can do, plus a whole bunch. If it used a SIM card, and had an open API, I'd be a lot more impressed. As someone else already said, it does use a SIM card. As it stands, I'll wait for the Openmoko. Openmoko does sound promising, but maybe by the time that's ready, Apple will have addressed your other concerns in the next version of the iPhone. Don't buy one yet, but understand that your needs are not the same as the needs of a lot of other people, and the iPhone does everything most people want just fine. This is the first release, and the next one will be even better. Don't write it off.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Congratulations, you've caught on to Apple's marketing secret. Now sit back and wait for the men in black turtlenecks to cart you off for re-education.
I think you have that exactly backwards. The iPhone is limited by it's thickness and weight. Any manufacturer can add a bigger battery if they're willing to sacrifice in those areas. With the iPhone, removing a keyboard that consumes no power and replacing it with a double-sized screen leads to more power consumption, not less. Apple has had to contend with a device that uses more power for its size than its competitors. It is also using an OS not specifically written for low power devices. That doesn't mean that the device will be a failure but it sure indicates the unlikeliness of your claim. It's far from clear that battery life is the secret feature; everything suggests the opposite.
/. fashion, the author claims in the title that the iPhone gets a better battery. Not true, of course, as the iPhone gets better battery *life* *ratings*. I'm curious what the new weight *rating* is especially with glass replacing plastic for the screen.
I'll also note that, in true
Like plastics (including poly carbonate) there's optical quality and non-optical quality. It's not a hard concept.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
I've found that most people don't know units at all. Sure, 12 inches in a foot, 10 mm in a cm, stuff like that. But ask people to hold their fingers 1 cm or 1/4 inch apart. For non-integer or fraction sizes, it's worse (3.3 cm for example). Even with technical people, it's hit or miss. If someone comes close, it's because they try to match something known.
... as long as you were consistent. Most people, though not all, can still figure out number A is bigger than number B.
For comparing relative sizes, you could probably get away with a mix of cubits, angstroms, and width of a human hair
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
Hehe. Sounds like *someone* didn't read the *fine* print.
It seems to me, that they are just a little different.
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/4885/untitledma5. jpg
And it's still missing stuff like.. you know GPS :)
For those who are interested:
Apple iPhone
115 x 61 x 11.6mm
135 g
Nokia N95
99 x 53 x 21 mm
120 g
Samsung Blackjack
113 x 59 x 12 mm
106 g
Blackberry Curve 8300
107 x 60 x 15 mm
111 g
Palm Treo 750
111 x 58 x 22 mm
153 g
Reminds of an ancient TV cigarette commercial where their cigarettes were 2.55 inches long compared to industry standard 2.54 inches - "just a silly little millimeter longer": Benson & Hedges 101s.
cargo pants, carpenter pants, and any other pants with random pockets are fucking retarded.
So write me a ticket, Fashion Cop.
buy regular pants.
Then I wouldn't have extra pockets... Duh!
You can fit more than seven hours of video into eight gigabytes of memory. In fact, you can condense an entire feature-length film into a pretty good-quality video at 700MB, enough to fit it into a CDROM - at DVD resolution.
If you're willing to sacrifice resolution and frame rate, you can probably get days of video into 8GB.
And if the joke was something else, it just wasn't funny. Sorry if I can't detect stupid humor.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Sooo... you're saying the 4-8 gigs of something in the iPhone isn't Random Access Memory? What is it?
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Sorry, I just can't let empty statements like yours go unchallenged.
A user interface that does not suck.
Really, all these feature comparisons are meaningless. People aren't going to buy this phone because it has some innovative new feature. It doesn't. It does, however, seem to have an UI that does not drive you insane. Which immediately makes it better than pretty much any other smartphone in a lot of people's minds.
1.) buy 2 shares of apple right now, at $124. 2.) Wait a month or two and sell the shares when they're at $250. 3.) Sell stock and buy iPhone. You know Apple stock is going to explode.