iPhone

[punky]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

Thats because the network subsidies are much much lower.
$60 so GBP30 gets you 900 minutes to use between 7am and 7pm. Unlimited calling between 7pm and 7am and unlimited calling to other phones on the Cingular network. Unused minutes roll over to the next month. The 2 year contract is if you get a handset subsidy. I have no contract as I am using an unlocked Orange K750i.

This unlimited calling is to any US number consider that the equivilant of having unlimited european roaming and free calls to any EU number land or cell.

The best Cingular benefit is being able to add more handsets to the same contract for $10 a month.

Contracts map differently and certainly the roaming costs in the EU mean that there is no eqivilant plan.

Yup. I do know a lot about the US mobile system. One thing to point out to people here is that unless you have a Nextel (and now Sprint PCS?) Incoming calls use your minutes, so 900 isn't as good as it first sounds.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by downquark1

What does it lack besides a camera?

It's got a 2 Megapixel camera.

Technical Specifications
Screen size 3.5 inches
Screen resolution 320 by 480 at 160 ppi
Input method Multi-touch
Operating system OS X
Storage 4GB or 8GB
GSM Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
Wireless data Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0
Camera 2.0 megapixels
Battery

* Up to 5 hours Talk / Video / Browsing
* Up to 16 hours Audio playback

Dimensions 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
Weight 4.8 ounces / 135 grams

[punky]

Originally Posted by downquark1

What does it lack besides a camera?

See above, like memory card, 3G, and quite possibly platform-independent applications which still hasn't been confirmed. Given Apple's description of a widget, I wouldn't count on running OpenOffice or similar on it, doing spreadsheet stuff on to work. Apparently with widgets, it can tell you the weather though. Not much consolation.

---------- Post added at 00:14 ---------- Previous post was at 00:12 ----------

Originally Posted by Derek S

It's got a 2 Megapixel camera.

I stand corrected on that... But it still doesn't add a massive amount over its competitors.

[bhoywonder1967]

Originally Posted by Gavin

.... Also, there's no 3G/HDSPA which more phones will have next year.

The UK/EU version would probably have full UMTS/HSDPA support by the time it's release in Q4.

I think it's only using GPRS/EDGE so far because the US hasn't really begun their next gen network roll out.

Also, as far as I'm aware only Orange here in the UK support the EDGE platform.

[Marge]

Must be a boy thing cos I just want a phone to ring and I can call people. Don't care about pixels and cameras and two-flange-overmeters or whatever gizmos you end up paying a fortune for

[danielf]

Originally Posted by handyman

What no one ever factors in is style and quality. Something that will always make the likes of aple and sonydearer.

Yeah. Slightly tongue in cheek there. It definitely applies to some of the accessories though. I bought an ipod mains charger a while back. I believe Apple charged £20. I paid £5 for a generic one.

---------- Post added at 00:29 ---------- Previous post was at 00:22 ----------

It must be a bummer when flying though. Can't use your mp3 player/watch videos in-flight as the device is a phone.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by Damien

It hardly just a phone though, I cannot see any device that matchs this. Its a new area almost, a hybrid of Phone, PDA, and iPod. Its got a lot more functionality than a PDA or smartphone.

Originally Posted by Damien

Its more than a phone, ipod or pda like i said.

Really?


Like Gavin said, PDA/phones & smartphones have been around for ages.


My old (2003) Sony-Ericsson P900 (running Symbian UIQ) could do all the normal phone things, plus access the internet, plus do PDA stuff, plus play MP3s & other audio formats, plus play various video formats, plus run a whole load of excellent & cheap/free software. It was then succeeded by the P910i (minor improvements), & then recently the much delayed P990i (same features as before, but faster, more memory, support for larger memory cards, wireless, 3G, etc.).


My O2 XDA Mini S (aka HTC Wizard) runs Windows Mobile 5, Pocket PC Phone Edition. Again, it can do all the normal phone things, plus access the net, plus do all the "PDA stuff", plus plays MP3s & other audio formats, plus plays WMVs & divx & xvid & so on, plus runs a whole load of excellent & cheapish/cheap/free software, plus takes nice big mini SD memory cards, plus has wireless G, plus can connect to a satnav, and so on & so on & so on. It's already been replaced by faster better devices with more features.



Symbian & Windows Mobile are the two main OS for smartphones & PDA/phones AFAIK, and they & the devices they run on keep getting better.



The iPhone does look very nice, which isn't surprising as it's an Apple product, but I don't see how - at the moment - its a "new area almost" or "without match".

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by handyman

What no one ever factors in is style and quality. Something that will always make the likes of aple and sonydearer.

But compare to say the K750i or the K800i SE handsets. SE really has done fabulous stuff, now a 3.2Mp cameraphone that they are happy to brand as a cybershot. A media player that plays MP3 and AAC files. Proper 3g. Decent battery life, sync to Outlook etc and slips in the pocket and bomb proof. Also can take a 1Gb memory card (possibly more in the K800.

---------- Post added at 22:25 ---------- Previous post was at 21:12 ----------

Originally Posted by danielf

It must be a bummer when flying though. Can't use your mp3 player/watch videos in-flight as the device is a phone.

I imagine it has flight mode. Even the new K800 which is more phone than other devices has flight mode.

Some more information coming out. Typing is claimed to be 'difficult' and it cannot sync wirelessly with a computer (not to sure about the truth of that one). Web speed is said to be ok but not fast. And, Punky, its not open to 3rd part development. ('yet')

---------- Post added at 09:14 ---------- Previous post was at 09:11 ----------

The software auto-corrects if needs be for mis-typing and you can zoom in and out on maps, images, webpages by spreding your fingers apart or pinching them in

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...th-the-iphone/

[Stuart]

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

[danielf]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

I imagine it has flight mode. Even the new K800 which is more phone than other devices has flight mode.

Ah, I wasn't aware of that. Cool.

Originally Posted by Damien

I think you need to look at the feature set more

From what I've read mine can do all of that...already.

OK it doesn't have a multi-touch keyboard, but mine does have full slide-out qwerty keyboard...and the screen won't get greasy fingers when I type on that!

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

I imagine it has flight mode. Even the new K800 which is more phone than other devices has flight mode.

I don't know if this applies to other airlines, but Virgin specifically tell you to turn off your phone even if it has a flight mode.

[punky]

Originally Posted by Damien

And, Punky, its not open to 3rd part development. ('yet')

Doesn't suprise me in the least.

Spreadsheet/database/word processing work vs stock quotes and weather reports... Something that can be done with just a browser.

[handyman]

Originally Posted by Debbie B

Must be a boy thing cos I just want a phone to ring and I can call people. Don't care about pixels and cameras and two-flange-overmeters or whatever gizmos you end up paying a fortune for

I'm not surprised , you have more holidays than Judith Chalmers. No room for spending on gadgets.