So, finally got a deal on a Iphone 3g
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I'll have to take a look at the HTC phone just for 'chit & giggles' because I am in the market for a new phone. My info could be skewed, but I believe the Iphone will launch on Verizon this July. I can't believe Verizon took a pass on exclusivity with Apple as it seems they always offer the worst phones; I love their USA coverage area though.
Have you gone into a Verizon store to play with the Storm yet? I'd be curious to know what you think as a user of both Blackberry and iPhone platforms if Blackberry was successful in iPhoning the Blackberry...
We started to get the Storms at work and I played with one for a few minutes. The only thing that I can say is that the Storm has a much slower interface than the iPhone right now. I did really like the click that the phone made when using the keyboard but I was afraid that I was going to break the screen having to push it down.
My biggest and only real complaint after messing with it was the screen. The coolest thing about the Iphone is its fluid, easy and quiet. The whole screen that moves at one time on top of one button just felt kinda cheap to me compared. I think its a great alternative for crackberry fans, but they went another route with the screen. The more I own the Iphone and get used to typing, the less I miss the blackberry. I downloaded apps yesterday that auto recognize my location and tell me where the closest starbucks is, and the cheapest gas. Then the shazaam thing that listens to songs and gives you a name is sweet too.
Im sure blackberry is gonna go the apps route, but I just think the Iphone screen is better, I mean you can make it click if you want, but I hate noise when I type.
Im sure blackberry is gonna go the apps route, but I just think the Iphone screen is better, I mean you can make it click if you want, but I hate noise when I type.
I think the new SW coming is supposed to speed it up, but thats been a complaint. I always felt the same about the screen. Its just clunky and mechanical, as opposed to the iphone is not.
The clicking of the screen isn't so that it makes a noise it is so you can actually feel it when you press the button (as it actually clicks in). I cannot type fast on the Iphone/Ipod touch, but I can type very very quickly on the Storm. The Iphone still has quite a few more "cool" features than the Storm, but to be able to still get the blackberry experience as I use it for work the Storm was a hands down winner.
Interesting discussion as I am just going through looking for a new phone. I am currently test driving both an iPhone and a Storm. Here are my impressions after 2 weeks+ with each. Of course my impressions reflect my needs and may not reflect your needs.
iPhone (some long time iPhone users may know ways around my objections below)
The iPhone feels really slick, the transistions makes it feel really fluid and smooth. The iTunes App Store is nice in that there are a lot of toys to play with. Makes the iPhone almost a handheld gaming machine. At least in our area, AT&T's EDGE network is fairly fast, almost as fast as Verison's highest speed EVDO. The iPhone has WiFi which is nice for home use. The web browser is really nice.
The bad points of the iPhone is that no removable battery or memory card. You can not transfer ANY data via bluetooth, this means you can not transfer files, pictures or movies to your compter of even your contacts/phonebook to your car radio. You can not do voicedial (at least I couldn't find a way) via bluetooth using your car radio because of this. You are heavily tied to iTunes for transferring music, video, etc.... I personally hate that. I would sometimes do a click by mistake when I wanted to scroll the screen. You can't text with the iPhone on horz. mode which means you can't use the larger keyboard... this is really dumb.
I did jailbreak the iPhone to see it allowed for extra functions. It did but I feel this is a klidge to get some functions that you should normally be able to do unhacked.
Storm (some experanced Storm users may have solutions for objections)
The interface is not quite as slick as the iPhone. Switching from vert. to horz. just changes instead of the transistion the iPhone uses. While slower out of the box, you can speed that up by eliminating some of the icons on the home screen. I created a couple of folders to orginize (such as "Unused Apps") things and this speeded up the the change from vert. to horz.... now it it almost too sensitive it changes format so quickly. The camera is better then the iPhone's.
The bluetooth is fully functional. I can transfer my phonebook to my car radio and do voice dial and handsfree calling. I can transfer any file to my laptop via bluetooth and load in any picture or via file to the Storm. It uses micro memory cards so you can upgrade or change out expanded memory if needed. You can remove and replace the battery.
Some objections I have is there is no WiFi. The click keyboard does take some getting used to. After a week of use I am still getting used to it but it is much better then I first started. I sometimes perfer the vert. version "smart type" keyboard for typing as it really does work well once it learns your style. There are not nearly as many 3rd party apps for the Storm vs the iPhone and many older BB apps will not work on the Storm because of the new touch screen. While the browser is very usable, it is not as good as the iPhone bowser, the smaller screen makes it harder to click links.
Concusion
In the end the restrictions on the bluetooth and file use has me restoring the iPhone back to stock form to return it to AT&T. I use the handfree voicedial and phone a lot in my car which I can't do with the iPhone and not being able to transfer files via bluetooth and being forced to use iTunes for media was just too restrictive. I know some may think why not just use USB for transfers/etc. but once you get bluetooth file transfer setup it is so easy/convenant to use, a couple of clicks and you transfer files you'd never want to to use a USB cord again. Add in not being able to replace memory or battery just sealed the deal.
Of course these are just MHO.
iPhone (some long time iPhone users may know ways around my objections below)
The iPhone feels really slick, the transistions makes it feel really fluid and smooth. The iTunes App Store is nice in that there are a lot of toys to play with. Makes the iPhone almost a handheld gaming machine. At least in our area, AT&T's EDGE network is fairly fast, almost as fast as Verison's highest speed EVDO. The iPhone has WiFi which is nice for home use. The web browser is really nice.
The bad points of the iPhone is that no removable battery or memory card. You can not transfer ANY data via bluetooth, this means you can not transfer files, pictures or movies to your compter of even your contacts/phonebook to your car radio. You can not do voicedial (at least I couldn't find a way) via bluetooth using your car radio because of this. You are heavily tied to iTunes for transferring music, video, etc.... I personally hate that. I would sometimes do a click by mistake when I wanted to scroll the screen. You can't text with the iPhone on horz. mode which means you can't use the larger keyboard... this is really dumb.
I did jailbreak the iPhone to see it allowed for extra functions. It did but I feel this is a klidge to get some functions that you should normally be able to do unhacked.
Storm (some experanced Storm users may have solutions for objections)
The interface is not quite as slick as the iPhone. Switching from vert. to horz. just changes instead of the transistion the iPhone uses. While slower out of the box, you can speed that up by eliminating some of the icons on the home screen. I created a couple of folders to orginize (such as "Unused Apps") things and this speeded up the the change from vert. to horz.... now it it almost too sensitive it changes format so quickly. The camera is better then the iPhone's.
The bluetooth is fully functional. I can transfer my phonebook to my car radio and do voice dial and handsfree calling. I can transfer any file to my laptop via bluetooth and load in any picture or via file to the Storm. It uses micro memory cards so you can upgrade or change out expanded memory if needed. You can remove and replace the battery.
Some objections I have is there is no WiFi. The click keyboard does take some getting used to. After a week of use I am still getting used to it but it is much better then I first started. I sometimes perfer the vert. version "smart type" keyboard for typing as it really does work well once it learns your style. There are not nearly as many 3rd party apps for the Storm vs the iPhone and many older BB apps will not work on the Storm because of the new touch screen. While the browser is very usable, it is not as good as the iPhone bowser, the smaller screen makes it harder to click links.
Concusion
In the end the restrictions on the bluetooth and file use has me restoring the iPhone back to stock form to return it to AT&T. I use the handfree voicedial and phone a lot in my car which I can't do with the iPhone and not being able to transfer files via bluetooth and being forced to use iTunes for media was just too restrictive. I know some may think why not just use USB for transfers/etc. but once you get bluetooth file transfer setup it is so easy/convenant to use, a couple of clicks and you transfer files you'd never want to to use a USB cord again. Add in not being able to replace memory or battery just sealed the deal.
Of course these are just MHO.
I'm hoping VoiceBox or SayWho will get voice dialing up and running, but I haven't fiddled with them yet.
I also am looking for RiverDance on iTunes so I can make it my ringtone.
I also am looking for RiverDance on iTunes so I can make it my ringtone.
OK, I see there is an app for voicedialing. It costs $25 and you have to make a recording and assign it to a contact. On the BB it is built-in, you just say the name you want to call and it finds it in your contact list, no need to make any type of recording. There may be others available but I didn't see them. Considering there are law on the books in some states for handfree cell phone use, shouldn't this be a standard feature on a highend phone?
On a BB you can have any audio file you find, rip, create and make it a ring tone.
I don't even think you can record video on the iPhone can you?
On a BB you can have any audio file you find, rip, create and make it a ring tone.
I don't even think you can record video on the iPhone can you?
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I make my own ring tones for my iPhone all the time. It only takes me about 2 minutes and I am all done.
You can not currently record video with the standard iPhone software. To me this is not a big deal as any video from phones is really crappy anyways.
Are you using Nakko?
I've got them open in another window, trying to make a ringtone, and it's been running a lot longer than 2 minutes- not sure if it's hung up, or my Firefox at 99%-100% (AGAIN!) is causing problems.
OK- stopped and restarted the Nakko ringtone conversion. Went well, just took a few seconds. However, after that it took a (very) few minutes to convert and queue it up for download. After that, I just downloaded it (save) and opened with iTunes and it was loaded under the ringtones tab. Sync via cable, switch default ringtone, and all is well.
I'm not going into get into a iPhone pissing match as any cell phone is no more then a tool for you to use. But first you have convert the file into some proprietary format, load it into iTunes and then sync/upload it to the iPhone? As I said, seems everything has to go through iTunes to get into the iPhone. With the BB any audio file can be a ringtone, just download from the Internet using the BB browser into the ringtones folder and it's available to be a ringtone.... no computer is even needed.
Come on, cell phones have been recording video for years. While most are junk, they do have a purpose. Our local news stations have used many cell phone videos when breaking news is submitted by viewers, we never would have seen closeup video from the UK bombings or (for those so interested) never have seen the Saddam hanging. But at least you agree, the iPhone camera is junk, a shame for a device that purports to be a multimedia device.
Really, I had high hopes for the iPhone or I never would have tried it. But the lack of full bluetooth support, the tight integration with iTunes, the non-removable battery & memory and crappy camera were show stoppers for me. I already knew about the battery and memory and maybe could have lived with that (even though Apple doesn't have very good reputation on dead-battery problem resolution) but the lack of other features that are common on the majority of phones were just too many negatives.
Come on, cell phones have been recording video for years. While most are junk, they do have a purpose. Our local news stations have used many cell phone videos when breaking news is submitted by viewers, we never would have seen closeup video from the UK bombings or (for those so interested) never have seen the Saddam hanging. But at least you agree, the iPhone camera is junk, a shame for a device that purports to be a multimedia device.
Really, I had high hopes for the iPhone or I never would have tried it. But the lack of full bluetooth support, the tight integration with iTunes, the non-removable battery & memory and crappy camera were show stoppers for me. I already knew about the battery and memory and maybe could have lived with that (even though Apple doesn't have very good reputation on dead-battery problem resolution) but the lack of other features that are common on the majority of phones were just too many negatives.
It is nice that you are happy with your choice. Maybe you should just be happy for those that like their iPhone or other mobile device. Every phone is not for everybody out there. Personally I tried a Moto Q and a Blackberry Curve prior to buying the iPhone and both of them don't even compare IMO.
BTW if anybody wants a very slightly used Moto Q9C (Verizon) I have one that I would sell.
BTW if anybody wants a very slightly used Moto Q9C (Verizon) I have one that I would sell.
People were giving opinions and I gave mine. I pointed out good and bad points on each and no one jumped on my opinion of the BB, I wasn't dumping on anyone, little touchy?
I just made my comment based on this quote of yours.
I read it as you were just trying to make your opinions known but others wree trying to do more. If I miss understood your thoughts behind this statement then I am very sorry. I guess I need to stop reading and posting here when I am tired.
Funny how they're selling millions of iPhones and making fortunes for people writing apps for them. Must be doing something right.
