07/09/2008, 12:30am, EDT
Wednesday, July 9thiPhone praise, concerns: WSJ, NYT, USA Today
The iPhone 3G's official launch on June 11th is just over two days away, and several industry heavyweights have already offered their opinions on Apple's next generation device, offering mostly praise, peppered with a few criticisms. Among the acclaimed technologists were Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, David Pogue of the New York Times, and USA Today's Edward Baig. The three writers noted that the different pricing structure and 3G battery life were two small strikes against the new device, but ultimately considered the upgrade to be a boon.
Mossberg felt that the 3G incarnation is "a more capable version of an already excellent device", citing that the 3G browsing speed was between three to five times as fast as the 2.5G iPhone. He also observes that the phone has the same overall appearance, save for its curved, plastic backing, but weighs a tiny bit less. Mossberg notes that, while the phone can be synchronized with either individual computers or Microsoft Exchange networks, but cannot maintain both accounts without wiping out the personal account's information.
In addition, he feels that despite the interface improvements to the OS (multiple email deletion, parental controls, et al), some features are still missing, such as copy-paste, MMS photo support, or instant messaging, among a few others.
Pogue supports many of the same points as Mossberg – both positive and negative – but focuses primarily on the iPhone's upcoming App Store. He claims that hundreds of titles will be available at the store's launch on Friday, "with thousands to follow." Pogue cites the simplicity of the process, with apps sliding directly across the network to the iPhone, rather than only through a computer, with most apps being "free or cheap."
Pogue highlights several apps, such as G-Park, a GPS-reliant car-park navigation tool, and Urbanspoon, allowing users to randomly come up with a restaurant in the city by shaking the iPhone. Also, he indicates that the iPhone will help Apple take off with a solid gaming front, since the device sports a later version of the Sega Dreamcast graphics hardware, which was notorious for its smooth visuals.
Baig raves about the 3G iPhone, saying that it's "not perfect, but really close", adding that, while he believes the device still isn't perfect for every user (quoting his previous review of the 2.5G version), Baig admits his list of reasons is "shrinking fast." Baig also illustrates many of Pogue's and Mossberg's concerns and praises, but took a liking to the Newton/Palm style character input, that works even with Chinese characters.
Filed under: iPhone, industry, Apple
Other story tags: battery life, USA TODAY, Mossberg, David Pogue
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Wafffles
Next you know they'll be complaining that the iPhone doesn't make waffles.
The phone isn't ACTUALLY Jesus guys. It doesn't do eveything and more. Jeez.
The battery life?
Oh wow, the battery life on 3G is a bit rubbish? Noooo, really? Come on you pillocks that's EXACTLY what Steve Jobs said and everyone who currently has a 3G phone has stated so it can't be that much of news... Oh wait, America is only just catching up to the rest of the world that's right. ;)
3G has always been a bit harsh on battery life and while it's getting better it's worse if you are using HSDPA (UMTS). The fact Apple is getting so much out of a battery is phenominal considering my 3G Sony Ericsson is only capable of 2hrs talk time at best, mind you it is old.
Friday?
Are we sure it (I mean the 2.0 upgrade and App store) will be Friday? MobileMe is going to be Thursday (on the American east coast anyway), could it come at the same time?
Availability
Being in the UK, I think I'm going to wait a while before getting a 3g iPhone
http://www.retail-week.com/Technology/2008/07/3giphone_firstgeneration_service.html
Any one else know of availability problems?
Not worth it
Until the phone carriers rate drop significantly, no phone is worth that price tag. You must be a complete IDIOT to pay thousands of dollars and admit to the world that you accept being raped!
What's the big deal
I'm still trying to figure out all the hype over the 'new' iphone. It's the same as the old iphone, with a different back, 3G (which is only available in certain areas of the US) and GPS (which no one knows what you'll be able to do with it, oh, except use it with google maps).
Besides that, the OS update will be available for the 1.0 phone. Why the hype over the new, more expensive, phone? If you're lucky enough to have the original, I can't see any reason to upgrade.
Learn to proof read...
...your articles. It's launching JULY 11, not June 11. :rolleyes:
Still no copy/paste...
is bad news. It shouldn't make or break purchasing the iPhone, but why is this feature so hard for Apple to implement. I know that there are already apps to do MMS photo support, voice-dialing, video recording, etc., but no standard copy/paste is unbelievable. That being said, the iPhone should satisfy 95% of it's users and that's probably far better satisfaction than any other handset on the market.
If this iPhone has newer hardware, then why is it being said it's the same old iPhone. That doesn't make any sense. Say if there was a sportscar that had a V6 in it and the next version replaced it with a V12, the company could easily say it's a new model if nothing else changed. Everything doesn't have to change to make it a new model. Just one or two major things is enough. I believe the 3G chip and GPS chip qualifies as making it a new model.
I see your point somewhat since food products are always being called new and improved because they come in fancier-looking packaging.
notorious?
What does that mean that the Dreamcast was "notorious" for its smooth visuals?