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Apple iPhone Dissected
Conch writes "Only hours after the launch, the Apple iPhone has been dissected. The good folks at AnandTech violated one of the first iPhones to still our curiosity about whats inside the aluminum shell.
'Please note that we're doing this so you are not tempted to on your recent $500/$600 expenditure, while it is quite possible to take apart using easy to find tools we'd recommend against it as it will undoubtedly void your warranty and will most likely mar up the beautiful gadget's exterior.'"
Can they please go back to making computers now?
Monstar L
Q. I was wondering why there haven't been any touch screen phones until now. It seems simple enough, and Apple makes it look like it is the future of phones.
A. YOU CANNOT USE THE IPHONE WITH ONE HAND!!! Because you need to be able to "point" and "move your finger" to send commands to the device, it is much harder to one-hand it than any other phone which pretty much are one hand devices. Many phones have a full keyboard, and they require 2 hands also, but most of them also have a 1 hand mode.
I am more interested in someone hacking the software
:)
Keep an eye out for the Neo1973 later in the year, which will be running OpenMoko and thus be truly hackable (by design). Looks like a better piece of kit than the iPhone (although the screen is a bit small) - I will probably wait until they produce a second generation version with 3G (and hopefully a bigger screen and hard keypad for dialling).
I wouldn't go near the iPhone ATM - it just has too many things wrong with it: Unreplacable battery, can't run 3rd party software, stupidly expensive (around $2000 over 2 years), crap touch-screen (can't be used with a stylus - fat fingers only), doesn't do handwriting recognition, no 3G, no keypad, the list goes on...
I haven't yet worked out whether the iPhone will be a big success or a massive flop. What I do know though is that it will only be bought by people who buy based on hype rather than featureset. So the equation comes down to how many Apple fanboys are there with buckets of cash who will buy something purely because Apple tells them to.
http://blog.nexusuk.org
Sometimes even the same provider would offer locked and unlocked phones at the same time.
I was quite surprised to hear that the Carphone Warehouse sell unlocked phones these days because it's much cheaper for them to not have to stock the same phone branded and locked to each telco.
http://blog.nexusuk.org
Sounds like you want a FIC NEO1973.
I'm planning to buy an OpenMoko phone in the future, but the Neo1973 is missing some important features - 3G (releasing a smartphone without 3G is crazy), a hard keypad (dialling with no tactile feedback isn't great) and the screen is rather small. So I'm holding out for a revision of the Neo in the hope that they add some of these features. Something a similar form-factor to the iPhone but with a keypad (maybe a flip-down thing like the SE P900/P910 or a slide out keypad) would be great.
As for the price tag, the $450 is for the "basic" version - the "advanced" one is going to be $600, although I've not actually been able to find a description of the differences between these versions (but whichever you get, it's still a much better price than the iPhone since it's not on a contract).
http://blog.nexusuk.org
Compared to the iPhone, a stylus is like never being allowed to use your hands, except to operate tongs.
Eh? It's not like any of the devices that support a stylus _force_ you to use it - I prod at the screen on my phone with my bare fingers when that's appropriate, but there are times when a stylus is *very* useful. Also, I find handwriting recognition much faster than an on-screen keyboard (which provides absolutely no tactile feedback). Having a choice is good - normal touchscreens give you that choice, the iPhone takes it away.
http://blog.nexusuk.org