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Abrak
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Daffy,
Having used the iphone for 5 months now I have very mixed feelings about it. Most of the comments I am about to make are negative but they are not really meant that way - in so many respects the iphone is ahead of the competition that it is unjust to go into a list of faults. Still I have reached the stage where I have even considered returning to a Nokia like the Nokia N82.
I have two problems with the iphone itself - it is buggy and it isnt much of a phone. To be fair to iphone much of the bugginess relates to the fact that I am using it with 3rd party programs in a country that it hasnt even been released.
But as a phone its principal problems are...
(1) The ringer is totally inadequate - I may well miss half the calls that are sent to me.
(2) The phone doesnt recognise numbers - despite various software fixes - sms arrive and you have no idea who they are from.
(3) At one stage the Thai alphanumerics were crashing the entire sms program so that it couldnt be used. This needed hard work to sort out.
(4) Unless you are pretty conversant with computers you will get nowhere with an iphone - I am bored of fixing other peoples problems.
(5) 165mb updates that wipe out all your settings etc...
There are plenty of other small bugs but I am not going to go into them.
The other problem I have is with Itunes and their DRM system. If I buy and audiobook from audible.com I can share it with whomever I like - a bit like if I buy a CD in a shop I can give it to who I like. Not so at itunes - purchased songs are restricted to the user.
So when I buy an itouch for my kids or an iphone for my brother it is virtually impossible to transfer purchased music/audible content to them (there are ways round it).
I dont regret purchasing an iphone but I do regret handing my pc over to itunes.
If in six months or a year if I am back using a Nokia I bet it wont have much to do with technology - Apple will still have the better product. But at the end of the day I will be fed up with being told what network I have to join, what programs I can have on my phone and who I can allow to listen to my music.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:25 am on Mar. 4, 2008
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DaffyDuck
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Quote: from Abrak on 6:40 pm on Mar. 4, 2008
Abrak, these are fair criticism, and as you said, the majority of your issues have to do with running an unlocked / hacked iPhone on with third party apps not meant for it.
While it's nice that kids hack their apps to go on the iPhone, and about 1/10th of those apps have some marginal use, I have found that installer.app and many of these apps contribute to immense instability on the iPhone. This isn't because the iPhone OS is badly designed to deal with such apps, but simply because the majority of these apps are buggy, and do not play nice.
For what it's worth - my iPhone had a minimal amount of stability issues, and the last of which (Safari quitting out of the blue), has been addressed with the 1.1.4 upgrade (So far, my Safari quit on me once since the upgrade). This applies as well to my travel iPhone, the one I use in Thailand. Works just fine, as long as you don't stick third party apps on it.
(oh, and ringer and speaker are much louder after the updates as well - plus, my suggestion is to add a custom ringtone that is simply a very loud ringer)
Third party apps, using an official method, should be available after this week, at which point you should get a better idea what's out there.
Also, the iPhone updates do NOT wipe out all of your settings - not sure what you did, but when running an update, the system first backs up your iPhone configuration, yet retains settings if you do an update. If you do a 'restore' it will wipe everything out, but then gives you the option to restore your settings after completion. By the way, Nokia updates *do* wipe out your entire phone, every single time - I have used Nokias for a long time.
Lastly, as for the DRM issue you state - iTunes allows you to playback any purchased music on up to 5 computers (and unlimited iPods). Just copy the songs off, send them to your brother, or your kids, and you are good to go. When they first play any of these songs, the system will ask for you iTunes ID and login, but after that will play them just fine. Yes, it costs you two slots in your allowable iTunes slots, but this would work just fine (and still leaves you with three computers on your end).
Let me know if this works for you - also, if you haven't already, upgrading to firmware 1.1.4 is a cinch, and cracking it takes about 4 minutes with a fully automated program. Let me know, or IM me, if you need any assistance with that (oh, and yes, some version customized hacks, like Thai language, may not work on those newer versions of firmware)
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 9:33 am on Mar. 4, 2008
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Mel Gibson
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Seems like Iphone is struggling to break into Asia,,,
"Though China Mobile took a pass, reportedly because of Apple's steep revenue-sharing terms,
Japan looks the likely hope for the Iphone,, BUT,,,
Even if Japanese carriers are intrigued by the iPhone, Japanese consumers may prove elusive. Japan's cellphone market is full of unique challenges that make it difficult for foreign companies to succeed. What's more, Japanese customers already have a fuller and more intriguing set of cellphone alternatives than consumers in many other countries.
Japan is dominated by three carriers, namely DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank. Compare that to the U.S., which has four major carriers and many regional players. Until 2004, reliance on a proprietary, homegrown technology called PDC effectively closed the Japanese cellphone market to outsiders.
The Japanese carriers are as powerful as American operators. They decide when a new phone comes out and what kinds of phones will be developed, notes Martin Roll, author of Asian Brand Strategy.
Then there are the sophisticated Japanese consumers, who are notoriously picky about product design, usability and quality, notes Roll. To win them over, foreign brands must study the Japanese market and adopt suitable features. That's tricky for global firms like Nokia, Motorola and Samsung, which design and manufacture their phones abroad. It's a recipe that gives domestic brands, such as Sharp, Panasonic and Sony Ericsson an edge. (Sony, which ranks No. 4 in handset sales worldwide, often develops different phones for Japan and the global market.)
The upshot is that the Japanese have a clear vision of the ideal cellphone and it doesn't much resemble the iPhone. Japanese consumers "prefer innovation within an established area that they can imagine," says Roll. Take DoCoMo's 905i series of premium phones. Priced around $460, sleek and packed with multimedia features, they're worthy of being called iPhone killers.
Nicknamed "All-In Global Phones," they offer, as standard features, GPS, motion-sensitive games, mobile TV and high-speed music and video downloads. Many also support videophone, mobile wallet services that turn phones into credit cards and security features, such as identification by voice or fingerprint. Released in late November, the series has already produced four of the five best-selling phones in Japan, according to market researcher GfK Japan.
The 905i lineup reveals what kind of competition the iPhone will face. Eight of the 10 phones sport a clamshell design, in contrast to the iPhone's candy-bar style. Their dimensions all fall within a certain range slightly shorter and narrower than the iPhone that can be held securely in the palm and slipped easily into most pockets.
The real trump card for Japanese handsets may be their screens. Screen quality is so important to Japanese consumers that cellphone manufacturers have begun branding their handsets the same way they do their TVs Viera for Panasonic, Aquos for Sharp and Bravia for Sony. Consumers will often invest in the same brand for their handset and their home TV, say analysts.
Screens are a selling point mostly because the Japanese are big fans of mobile TV. Unlike the US, where TV-on-the-go is a nascent and pricey industry, Japanese consumers enjoy mobile TV free of charge, with plenty of fresh content. Under a system called "One Seg," phones can directly access television broadcast signals. Like larger LCDs, these screens display crisp images in up to 17 million colors.
In Japan, a high-quality screen doesn't necessarily mean a touchscreen. The kind of "multi-touch" navigation that has made the iPhone famous is virtually absent in Japan. DoCoMo doesn't even offer a touchscreen phone. Analysts note that the Japanese prefer handsets they can hold in one hand and operate (Web browsing, e-mailing) with a thumb. That kind of navigation isn't as convenient on the iPhone, with its touchscreen keypad.
Bringing the phone to Japan would also require major upgrades. The current iPhone won't work in Japan. A faster, 3-gigabyte version, expected to be released sometime this year, could. Customising the handset to support the Japanese would incur both hardware and software costs, says Komura.
By the end of the year, the iPhone may have an additional competitor: Google phones. Both DoCoMo and KDDI are founding members of Google's Open Handset Alliance, which plans to release an open operating system for phones by the second half of 2008.
Doesn't look good.
Mel
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:54 am on Mar. 4, 2008
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DaffyDuck
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Quote: from Mel Gibson on 2:09 am on Mar. 5, 2008
Doesn't look good.
You're funny... really.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 1:09 pm on Mar. 4, 2008
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Jojje
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Fun or not fun... but I think that in this world of incredible tech development it is practically impossible for one make or one system alone to be the sole choice or best of them all. Iphone? I dont know but there is not exactly a lack of makers or models out there. And to be honest: Iphone had nice reviews but not overwhelming. Are they dominant in the market of mobiles? Oh no! Will they be? Who knows! I have no clue but the competiton does not sit still and a flood of new and intersting machinery is sure on it΄s way!
Perhaps Iphone could have made a greater impact if it had been available at a reasonable cost in all marets at the same time. This has not been the case and if it is not there..... you dont sell! People choose something else and the momentum is lost -- to the competition!
I am going to buy the Sony Ericsson machine when it is soon out! Looks really great on the details and I am sure it will be a good working tool - because that is all that counts.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 3:13 pm on Mar. 4, 2008
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DaffyDuck
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Good points, Jojje -- the iPhone is certainly not (yet) the end-all of mobile phones. Will it get there at one point? I sure hope, and believe so, though as a platform, not in the present incarnation.
In the meantime, as you pointed out, there are a healthy number of alternative choices out there, and for many people, a different tool will prove to be a better fit.
Personally, I really liked the Nokia phones, until they Symbian system started getting stale, and Nokia was not doing much about it (it seems they are now quickly innovating with Touchscreen interfaces. Who'd have thought?), and the latest offerings from Sony/Ericsson (the Experia phone, right?) certainly looks very promising, when it ever will be made available (and yes, it's a very sexy design) - so, for those needing those features in the here and now, going with these alternatives is a much better choice...
... you can then revisit the mobile phone space in 1-2 years, and compare offerings -- though I think a lot of things are going to drastically change in 2008.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:15 pm on Mar. 4, 2008
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CalEden
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My iphone is updated to the latest, I still miss calls because I cannot hear the phone ring.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:53 pm on Mar. 4, 2008
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DaffyDuck
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Quote: from CalEden on 9:08 am on Mar. 5, 2008
My iphone is updated to the latest
"the latest" = 1.1.4 ?
Either way, I solved the problem a long time ago by creating a ringtone that sounded more like a mobile phone ring, and that had the encoded volume set for the loudness I wanted.
In fact, if you have Garageband installed, just look for a sound called 'cell phone ringing' or something similar, crop it to 30 seconds, and export it as an AAC audio file - double-click on it, and iTunes grabs it, adds it to your 'ringtones' tab, and next time you synch, it'll be moved over.
You can increase volume of specific sound files in iTunes (by doing a 'get info') or using the QuickTime player's cmd-J option (probably ctrl-J undr Windows).
That should fix it for you rather easily.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:28 pm on Mar. 4, 2008
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IBFarang
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Quote: from DaffyDuck on 12:43 pm on Mar. 5, 2008
That should fix it for you rather easily.
And to think with my 1000 baht Nokia all I have to do is turn up the volume. No cropping, no exporting, no problem.
Last time I missed a call it was because I turned the ringer off during a recent ST.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 9:41 pm on Mar. 4, 2008
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expatchuck
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IBF:
You don't have the proper respect.
You should have spent at least 2,000 baht for a handy to be permitted to post on this thread.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 11:21 pm on Mar. 4, 2008
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