Guess I'll be getting an iPhone this summer
 

The iPhone

Looks like what I've been waiting for although it is a bit bigger then I would like and it looks like it only works with Cingular which would kind of suck since I'm with T-mobile.

I feel the same way about having to leave Sprint after having them as my cell carrier for 10 years. But that's definitely a compelling reason to switch to Cingular.

Time to look into creating some adult podcasts for that new widescreen mode.

ADDED: It'll be interesting to see how adult websites look on the integrated Safari browser. The example of zooming in to read the NY Times made me think about how nicely some blogs will work on that screen too.

I think the main reason that Apple went with Cingular is that they have the high speed Edge technology and also the features like visual voice mail have to be supported by the carrier and Cingular agreed to work with Apple on this.

I had actually thought of getting the Cingular card for my laptop in order to get high speed internet on the go. I imagine with this phone your laptop will be able to use the phone via Bluetooth for an internet connection.

well Cleo, if you want, buy it, and I'll put my sim card in it and you can see how it works. :) In fact, I'll give it a good home until you switch to Cingular.

Also note that the first version doesn't support 3g, so, even though Cingular has a 3g/edge network, that phone can't support it.

Also, Cingular is a little like AT&T and refuses to turn on certain features on their phones -- even though the phones can support it. My older nokia had an IRDA modem -- my laptop could connect to it, it could dial the number, but, as soon as it realized it was a data call, the phone would immediately disconnect. I was willing to pay for the airtime and it took about 3 weeks for Cingular to finally admit that while the phone was capable, and their network was capable, they turned off that feature and weren't going to enable it.

I've been using this LG slider phone with Bluetooth to do that for the last two years so that's definitely a 'must have' feature as far as I'm concerned. Without that it'd be like being back in 2004.

--
(I meant to use this link since the one above is just a photo)

Not quite the concept phone they had earlier this year but still nice. All my Children are on my family plan with cingular and they have been due an upgrade. We decided to wait until after Christmas to see what's new. I kind of wish I didn't wait. I did buy my lovely wife a Dolce & Gabbana Razr so she should be set for the next year at least.

On a different note. Doesn't verizon suck for not using sim cards? My Daughter's boyfriend uses them and he has to pay $10 to get his phone book transfered over when he gets a new phone. And, he actually has to call to get one activated if he buys it online.

Didn't Cingular and At&T merge their cellphone services a year or so ago? They did something because the day they did, all of a sudden my Cingular phone had reception where it never did before.

From
http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/specs.html
GSM Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
Wireless data Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0

I've been doing a lot of text messaging lately so the QWERTY soft keyboard is something that really sounds great to me.

I just saw that they are going to be priced reasonably as well. $499 for he 4gig version and $599 for 8gigs.

I am due for a phone. The one I had dropped out of it's clip in the middle of a road and I had to kick it across the street so it didn't get run over.

Here is some more info about the phone.
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/01...hone/index.php
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/01/...nveils.iphone/

And some high rez photos of the software and hardware
http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2371
http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2370

Wow! I like!

When they make it with 3G and you can get an Invisible Shield for it since I scratch everything up, I'll get one. It's way sexy looking :)

AT&T Wireless sold their network to Cingular. Cingular had the largest TDMA Network -- AT&T Wireless had a TDMA/GSM Hybrid. At that point Cingular used AT&T's TDMA and Cingular's TDMA and allowed calls to roam across either -- building their network very quickly. Of course, Bellsouth which owns Cingular was just purchased by AT&T, so, Cingular again becomes an AT&T property.

I stand corrected. The first reports I saw of it claimed EDGE not supported in version one. We'll see if Cingular supports it out of the gate -- they have a long history of not supporting the 'cool stuff' until the cool stuff is already implemented by everyone else.

and cingular is supporting Edge out of the gate.

I'll be sticking to my Non laptop Non cellphone world for another year at least.
Beside not having coverage without paying 150.00 a month, I'd probably use it once a month.

Though new gadgets are always cool. As soon as I move from 8 tracks to cassettes, I'll get a laptop :D

Though I thought the i-phone pretty darn cool, I've got to wait for something that runs MS and is on US Cell. They're testing a Motorola unit now and though I've called everyone I know to try and be a tester apparently they only do testing in a little town in Wisconsin and another little town somewhere else. Have to wait to maybe the second quarter or later.

The only thing I'm dubious about the i-phone is the touchpad instead of buttons. These often turn out to be notoriously difficult to use and one is always pressing the wrong screen button or your nails are too long or you can't see the screen contrast enough in some lighting. Have to wait to see one up close.

Smart move though. I wish Apple all the luck in the world as it transforms the company. I honestly never thought they'd be able to pull it off.

As AT&T gobbles up all its old children again... does anybody remember in the old hacking days when they first came out with that new world like logo? Didn't we used to call it the "death star". Seems truer than ever now.

Yeah, I've almost convinced myself to get something with worldwide roaming just for internet access.

Time magazine has some additional info about the phone including some of its drawbacks.
http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...575743,00.html
- Can't download songs directly from iTunes Store
- Can't sync iPhone with a computer wirelessly.
- "Web speed was OK—not great, but OK."
- "Apple went through numerous iterations of the glass surface, trying to find one that’s not too slick or too rough, or that shows grease and fingerprints too much. "
- "It feels amazing in your hand"
- "Typing is difficult"

That phone is shaped weird and would bother me trying to use it.

They need to shape it like a phone not a big calculator.

I know there is bluetooth but I really don't see why that is suppose to be so special. You still have to wear that ear thing.

On another note was the ear thing with the wire so bad?

The phone I have now, Sony Ericsson K750, has Bluetooth and I use it all the time with my Jabra headset. I've been using a Bluetooth headset for years. No more catching the cord on something and ripping the headset out of my ear or worse.

I have been using a thing that clips on my ear for probably 10 years now.

I also have a cellphone with bluetooth and I swear it is no different then the wire piece in quality or preformance.

The phone is right there with you regardless.

I have never ripped the wire out.

Then again I'm not usually playing baseball of dancing while on the phone :)

I remember first hearing about bluetooth I didn't know what it was and thought it was going to be some cool thing. Then I saw it and was disappointed because I've been using similar technology forever now.

The first thing that popped in my head when I first saw bluetooth was "I already have this and the wire is no big deal"

To be honest I hardly ever use the headset/earpiece thing either.

It's usually not a big deal for me to just grab the phone and manually hold it to my ear.

You know like the way our ancestors use to do it. :)

Thats why personally I don't see the big deal with bluetooth. Cord or wireless your phone still has to be right there so whats the big deal?

Kind of like computer mouses I have never had a actual problem with a cord and it makes no difference to me if the mouse has a cord or not.

I guess you don't wear earrings or have long hair.

On a side note I do use a keyboard and mouse with a wire.

Pics from the show floor at MacWorld
 

My pal Joe is at MacWorld and shot some pretty rocking stuff.

Products & Floor at MacWorld It's kind of interesting to see them when they are not in an ad..

You're right I don't :)

I think it's a very big tool, don't know about its functions but at the first sight it's just big..

Lots of questions answered here. Looks like Chris was correct that it does not support 3G at this time.
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/...ked-questions/

I going to buy it. It will be the first apple device I will buy for myself since 1982 :)

Speaking of Cingular...I heard last night that since AT&T acquired BellSouth, they are killing the name, "Cingular" and changing everyone to "AT&T". Slowly but surely, AT&T is buying back all the baby bells that were taken away from them years ago.

I plan on buying it too and switching to Cingular from T-mobile despite some short comings that I see although I may wait for version two of the device depending on a few things like if the phone I have now is still in one piece.

An extra phone is always good to have Cleo. If your main phone takes a shit, you have the spare. With us having 5 phones on the family plan, the spare is always in use.

I have Cingular GSM (and have had Verizon and Sprint in South Florida) and in terms of ability to get a signal, even Cingular's TDMA beats those two hands down.

T-mobile coverage in South Florida is provided by TDMA & GSM (and in many cases they lease Cingular/AT&Ts towers)

Honestly, the only real hitch I think you'll have switching from Tmobile is the fact that Cingular has a totally screwed up package for Instant Message/SMS & Data. TMobile's TDMA coverage was better than Cingular's TDMA in some areas, but, their GSM seems about the same.

Hopefully Cingular will have a deal for data that is a little more attractive for users of the iPhone (or whatever Cisco will allow it to be called)

And Cingular is supporting Edge out of the gate -- but not supporting 3G. EDGE is a bit slower, but, still pretty darn useful for instant messaging and emails that you would want to compose on a phone. 3G would allow video to be streamed to your phone without problem.

Edge in South Florida is 135kb/sec in most areas, but, goes down to 70kb/sec based on distance and 'ruralness' :)

3G in South Florida (if you can get them to sell you 3G) is 400kb/sec - 700kb/sec. Then of course there's CingularConnect which has something like 4000 wifi hotspots nationwide -- many through Wayport (a hotspot provider). Doesn't include McDonalds wifi though... :)

http://www.cingular.com/cell-phone-s...s/signMeUp.jsp
There you are guys...better sign up to get on the list :)

Jeff Han is one of the people credited with helping develop the iPhone.
This is so kewl.
"Standing in front of a 36" by 27" screen tilted towards him, he began demonstrating how he could operate a computer using just his hands. The crowd whooped. "I think this is going to change the way we interact with computers," Han said"

And in other news…
YouTube video of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laughing at it.

Looks like it is going to be available June 29 as seen is this ad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m798MzUjUz8

Apple also posted ads today.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/ads/

Also looks like Google and Apple are in bed together.

So I am ready to get this phone on the 29th or so. But my son asked me last night, "How long to you think the battery lasts?" I looked and couldn't find that unimportant information :)

http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/specs.html
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 hoursTalk / Video / Browsing
Up to 16 hoursAudio playback
Dimensions 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
Weight 4.8 ounces / 135 grams

I still want to know if it has a silent vibration alert.

I just remembered this...
Did you see Bill Gates introduce this on the Today Show a couple of weeks ago? Seems like I saw it someplace before. :)

"Microsoft unveils revolutionary device"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18928656/

Looks kind of like this
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...&q=multi-touch

A few more specs got released today.
System requirements
- Mac or PC
- iTunes 7
- Internet access is required, and a broadband connection is recommended
- Mac: Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later
- PC: Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2)
External Controls
- Volume Up / Down
- Ringer / Silent
- Power / Lock
- Sleep / Wake
- Menu Button
Dimensions
- 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
Weight 4.8 ounces / 125 grams
Input Method - Multi-touch
Operating System - OS X
Screen size - 3.5 inches
Screen resolution - 320 x 480 at 160 ppi
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
- Lithium
- Up to 5 hours - Talk / Video / Browsing
- Up to 16 hours - Audio playback
(Battery life varies by use)
Connectors and other input & output
- 30 pin iPod connector
- 3.5mm jack includes audio and mic support
- SIM tray
- Built-in speaker
- Built-in microphone

looks nice!

A few more leaked details...

It does vibrate and the SIM is removable.

From
http://www.electronista.com/articles...ne.sales.book/

iPhones available at $100 discount
 

As usual, once there are enough units in distribution to make it possible, Apple is now offering some refurbished iPhones for $100 less than the normal list price. These still have 1-year warranty and AppleCare is available to extend the warranty another year.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...aldeals/iphone