3G iPhone Going Into Production In May

A few folks noted the rumor mill churning over 3G iPhones coming soon. Apparently they might be going into production as early as May, and announced somewhere in the 2nd quarter. Hopefully they manage to stick a GPS and another 16 gigs of memory in this one.

Comments

Re:Will it have a Paris Hilton news blocker?

[Satan Dumpling]

I just want ads blocked on my iphone. I tried editing the hosts file on my iphone, but it didn't work. Any suggestions? I need a solution on the iphone itself that will work anywhere.

Re: GPS

[peragrin]

the locate feature is absolutely useless to me. there aren't enough wi-fi access points to be any good.

Besides i don't want GPS built in. As GPS uses a ton a battery power. I want a Bluetooth, or other dongle that occasionally sends GPS data. Why can't I get a car dock, with a built in GPS receiver? Just plug the iPhone in I can listen to tunes, hook up the bluetooth to my car's bluetooth headset, and have driving map to go by all from one device.

Unfortunately the SDK, and Apple's EULA's prevent exactly that from ever happening.

GPS is incredibly useful

[sjbe]

it [let's find a restaurant!] speaks to what seems to me to be a pretty narrow market/lifestyle segment. Maybe for the itenerant road warrior type. For me, i know every decent restaurant within miles (west surburban chicagoland) or at least enough. ditto in Chicago. You don't sound like someone who travels much. If you never leave the area where you live, no a GPS isn't going to help you much. But most of the population travels at least occasionally and some of us travel quite a lot. I have a Garmin nuvi which I use all the time to find places to eat, hotels, parks, intersections, offices and of course for directions. I travel a fair bit (both work and pleasure) and a GPS is extremely useful when I do. I also just moved to a new city and it made it MUCH easier to learn my way around. If I could get the same features in my phone that would be even more useful. I never need directions anymore, just a destination address. It's great that you live in Chicago where there are wonderful options for dining all over the place. But I can tell you most of the country isn't like that. Even in Chicago it's often hard to find something if you don't know the city. (yes I've been there many times) Can you get by without a GPS? Of course. But just like you can get by without a computer it's still pretty handy if you have one available.

Re:Why does iPhone succeed?

[Pretor]

I'll give you several

1: Ease of use.
2: High quality software - few software bugs
3: Ipod
4: Very good web browser
5: Some very nice third party software (if you jailbrake it)

I've also have a Nokia E90 - so I'm able to compare my iPhone to a more feature full phone. This is a phone that has almost all the features that you could imagine. 3.5G, GPS, SIP client, multi megapixel camera, keyboard and etc. This is similar to other expensive Nokia phones.

The problems with the Nokia phones are:

1. Several different confusing menus - the series 60 is awful to use
2. Lots and lots of bugs, several that freezes the phones
3. Terrible multimedia software
4: Good web browser with bad user interface. Nokia calls it Safari (webkit) based, but the interface is miles away from the iPhone

Yes my Nokia E90 has it bright spots. For example I bring it along on my travels because of it's GPS and its SIP client. Additionally the keyboard makes it nice using ssh to check problems with servers and etc. And it's really nice to have 3.5G Internet access. But since it's awful to use as a day to day phone it's mostly left at home.

BTW: I live in Oslo, the main capital of Norway. An area with very good 3G and 3.5G coverage. So I know what I'm missing with just the EDGE network.

Maps versus GPS

[sjbe]

we're integrateing hundreds of dollars of technology with a multibillion dollar supporting infrastructure to replace a FOLDED PAPER MAP that we might need to use for TWO MINUTES EVERY THREE YEARS. When your folded map can:

• give you street level directions for every road anywhere in ALL of North America and Europe
  
• calculate optimal routes and detours
• find the closest Chinese restaurant in a city you've never been to before and give you its phone number so you can order ahead
• act as a speaker-phone via bluetooth for your cell phone
• play MP3s
• tell you that there is traffic ahead on the highway you are driving on
  

then MAYBE you'll have a decent argument about why maps are superior in every way. Maps are useful to be sure but GPS devices do a lot more than just show where streets are located. I use my GPS almost daily. Bet you I get a lot more value out of my GPS than you do from your map.

3G is what Canada needs...

[sco_robinso]

Perhaps this will be what it takes to bring the phone into Canada? 2 of our 3 major providers are 3G (Telus, Bell), so it the 3G iPhone would make perfect sense as a starting point for a Canadian release.

It's almost cruel how little Apple has said about a Canadian release (nothing). They haven't even hinted, nor have Telus, Bell, or Rogers. Only recently have we gotten a sign a 'something' in that there's a "French - Canadian" language seeting in the new 2.0 software.

Sigh, I'll keep waiting.

Re:Why does iPhone succeed?

[SoulGrind]

That's what sold me (initially). I have to admit, I was a first adopter based on the WOW factor.

My old Motorolla V551 took a hard hit and was knocked out cold. I needed a phone - fast... I walked into the Cingular/AT&T store, asked to see a phone that would do more than just be a phone... So I looked at Palm... Been there, done that, have the t-shirt from Handspring... *yawn* --- I looked at Blackberry... too fruity for me... --- I then took a serious look at the (then) top of the line Windows Mobile device... sleek, sexy styling with turbo handling, all the business needs rolled into a nice, convenient package, NATIVE support for Exchange, Word, Excel, full apps, not just viewers, the quintessential Solitaire and more... and then... the price tag... $500 --- I told the sales punk, "I might as well buy an iPhone." So he showed me the iPhone. He turned it on... Ooooh! Aaaah! Here's my credit card. Wrap it up nice and pretty for me, OK?

Several months later, here I am... frigging iPhone doesn't sport ActiveSync, email is a throw back to the dark ages (I think Pine had more features), friggen OS X without copy/cut/paste - WTF?!?! Edge Wireless? That's all? You're kidding right? No voice dialing? No Bluetooth tethering? The list of gripes goes on... But Oooh... it's so pretty...

I love my iPhone - (under my breath: frigging under-developed piece of...)

Re:Why does iPhone succeed?

[SoulGrind]

I don't think that's the point. I think even v1.0 products should at least set a core level of competency. If the world uses X features on just about every product, why limit or omit feature X?

Take hands-free dialing for example. The State of California issued several press releases about the impending law stating that cell phone use while driving would require hands free, yet, within less than a year of said law taking effect, the iPhone was released without the ability to voice dial, ergo, not being truly hands-free. You think Apple would be up to the task of do-diligence by making sure their user base is able to adhere to local and state legislation. There are alternatives... don't use your phone while driving or only answer calls using a headset. Alternatively, Motorola offers (for about $200) a device that connects to the iPhone and facilitates hands-free voice dialing. The problem is, it's an expensive add-on that should never have been needed in the first place.

Instead of focusing on stock tickers (can be had through the web browser), weather information (can be had through the web browser), and YouTube services (can be had through the web browser), I think the Apple dev team would have spent their time more wisely by addressing real-world issues such as tethering the phone to a BlueTooth laptop for use as a modem, fine tuning the email app so it's not so cludgy (have you ever tried deleted more than 20 emails in a sitting) - I think I have carpal tunnel in my tapping finger... but I digress...

Yes, I understand there will be plenty of items left on a to-do list at the end of a 1.0 release cycle. Many things end up on the cutting room floor. But why cut out common, everyday, key features that just about every modern (cell) phone already supports and leave your customer (and potential fanboy base) high and dry with the "So Sorry" schpeal?

And before you say, "Well, you bought into it anyway" - Yes I did. I know I did. I don't regret that I did. But now that I am here, I am noticing things that could have been done better - just like everyone else who owns an iPhone.

However, I must give Apple props - on a whole, out of the gate, they did quite well. I think Apple was wide to eliminate the 4GB model as well as cut the price of the 8GB model. And the end user experience has been beyond anything I ever found with any other phone...