[Zythryn]

Originally Posted by Buffy

The IT press has decided:

Ten Reasons Why You Shouldn't Buy an iPhone

Just from the first link, did you notice the number one reason?

1. I'll Get to the Apple Store Ahead of You
If you've read this far then you've finally discovered the *real* reason I wrote this column.

You see, I'm out to dissuade as many people as possible from buying an iPhone so that I have less competition on Friday when I go to get mine.

Now, there are a number of drawbacks to the iPhone such as no games and spotty speed with the EDGE service.

In my case, I bought mine yesterday. I absolutely LOVE it. I have been waiting for this technology since the first Palm Pilot came out. I have never found an interface that worked well for me, be it a stylus, keyboard or some combination.
The virtual keyboard of the iPhone is PERFECT for me. The only drawback that has affected me is that I can't download ringtones yet (which I suspect is a software fix which will be coming in the future).

I love the touchscreen navigation. I have not had an issue, even when purposely trying, of having two buttons trigger with one press. The built in intelligence of the kb is as good as I have seen.
The images are very clear, the music is cool (still don't like the standard ear buds though). I enjoy being able to scroll though songs, albums, emails or other lists with a flick of my finger.
After just a few hours with it, I can type faster on the iPhone than I have been able to type/stylus with any other handheld, phone or PDA.
In my opinion, Apple did exactly what they are so good at. The improved the human machine interface by a magnitudes.

I have heard AT&T stores work on pushing accessories on you. The experience I had at the Apple store was very low key, low pressure. The didn't push anything on me (I walked out with just the iPhone and nothing else).
Activation was all handled through iTunes. It had to wait a few hours for the final activation to be completed as I was keeping my old cell phone number. I have heard from others that if you don't need your old cell number and get a new one activation is typically 5 minutes or less.

Internet speed is good (not great) when hooked up to a wi-fi network (which is very easy to do). I have heard the EDGE service can be very quick, or increadibly slow depending upon where you are (with more slow areas than quick from what I have heard).

Two thumbs up here

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by Zythryn

In my case, I bought mine yesterday. I absolutely LOVE it.

At last! An actual review from someone who actually has an iPhone!

I love the touchscreen navigation. I have not had an issue, even when purposely trying, of having two buttons trigger with one press. The built in intelligence of the kb is as good as I have seen.

From the hype, advanced reviews, and descriptions of the underlying technology – basically, an iPhone screen senses touch by detecting changes in the light reflected between two layers of glass when your finger(s) touch one – I expected this to work great, far better than previous touchscreen technologies – with the limitations I noted above.

(still don't like the standard ear buds though).

Isn’t there out-of-the-box compatability with off-the-shelf Bluetooth wireless headsets? Come to think of it, I’ve not seen that demoed or ballyhooed, so maybe its not the given I thought. If not, I’m surprised – even my current, old-tech Palm TX can play songs through a Bluetooth headset.

After just a few hours with it, I can type faster on the iPhone than I have been able to type/stylus with any other handheld, phone or PDA.

This most interests me.

Zythryn, have you had an opportunity to try any speed trials for data entry? Enough to get a words-per-minute measurement for comparison to your regular keyboard WPM rate?

Much of my dislike for newer, Grafitti2 PalmOS devices is that, even after months of experience, my WPM rate hasn’t reached 75% of what it was on an old, Grafitti1 boxes, and my accuracy is worse. Since my basic requirement of a handheld is that it be able to replace a pencil and pad of paper, this is a serious shortcoming. I wonder, assuming the iPhone has or will get a decent, simple text editor app, if its text input scheme would better match old-fashioned paper and pencil (which, at best under grafitti1, was only about 70% of my paper & pencil speed)

[Zythryn]

Hey Craig,
Bluetooth headsets are supported.
Apple has their own model & states 'most' others should work.
My situation is different from yours. I could get about seven wpm with the grafitii system.
I am still not close to my typing speed (50 wpm), I would guess about 20 wpm now.

There is a notepad, as well as a calander, contact book, weather, news, etc.
I am typing this on the iPhone actually Much quicker on a PC, but not painful like other handhelds have been for me.

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by Zythryn

I could get about seven wpm with the grafitii system.
I am still not close to my typing speed (50 wpm), I would guess about 20 wpm now.

That’s excellent – I’d be happy with 20 WPM on a handheld. My Grafitti2 speed is only about 12-18 WPM, and needs lots of cleanup – “i” and “t” and other awful multi-stroke characters get misread a lot.

I assume you’re one-handing it, but using different fingers – about the way you use a regular keyboard when one of your hands is occupied elsewhere, so getting close to your two-hand typing speed isn’t likely to happen.

Can you type without looking at your fingers on the virtual keyboard? That’s something I like about stylus input like Palm Grafitti – I’m about as good at it blindfolded as looking – something not true for writing on paper.

[Zythryn]

Right now I am quickest with just my right index finger.
I have tried the two thumbs method seen in one of their 'tutorial videos'. For me it doesn't work too well due to a slight tremor I have (it is more pronounced in my left thumb).
I am not sure how easy it would be without looking at the keypad. Some more practice will tell I guess. The keyboard is laid out QWERTY style although the 'extra' keys change depending upon what you are doing. For example, if you are in the URL address bar of the browser, the space bar is gone and replaced with a few keys (. / .com).

It has a built in dictionary and will 'suggest' corrections. If you hit space it plugs in the suggestion, if you type anything else the suggestion goes away. It also increases the size of the activation area for some letters depending upon what you have typed. For example, if you type 'tim' the iPhone will increase the activation area of the letter 'e' as there are no words that use nearby keys such as 'r' 'w' or 'd' after 'tim'. This is done 'behind the scenes' you don't actually see the E button get larger, but it cuts down on the miskeys.

[alexander]

if i had 600 dollars to blow on a phone, i would buy one, but for now, i'm more focused on hacking my phone

i actually found it funny, they pulled the phone apart and found all the chipsets that apple uses (including intel, ti, realtek and others), the chip makers stocks rose due to the phone today, and yet apple, the maker, lost money as their stocks went down.... find that kinda funny....

[Zythryn]

Apple stock has been soaring all year as everyone knew they made the iPhone Minor correction today as some cashed in their gains.
I just wish I had some apple stock

[freeztar]

AFP: Apple unveils new iPhone with faster Web, GPS

This may be the first Apple product that I purchase.

[Grains]

I heard that the new iphone was only going to cost $200.....i have not confirmed if they have included the technology that the blackberry uses that most corporations use so that their employees can receive/send email

[Tormod]

Exchange integration and 3G means it's probably a must-have for me...considering I'm using Mac only these days.