thoughts to blog

So I've had my Apple iPhone 3G for a week now... and so I figured I'd write up my thoughts so far.

When the first iPhone came out, I passed. I passed because with the EDGE network, the speeds were tremendously slow compared to my EVDO on my Motorola Q. And with the lack of MMS messaging, it seemed like something I would wait for a second iteration of. And besides, the iPod Touch was doing the same thing (sans the phone and SMS) and I figured I would grab one of those.

Well... a year later we come to the launch of the iPhone 3G. With the new network and "cheaper" price (read: cheaper up front)... I couldn't resist. A week with the phone and here we are.

Coverage:

With Verizon, I never had a problem in NYC, Minneapolis, and DFW area. Not once did I ever drop a call or not have reception. This is not necessarily the case with AT&T. The voice quality is a lot better on the iPhone than with the Q.

Internet speed:

3G brings a hefty update to speed over EDGE... but still nowhere near EVDO speed. With my Verizon phone, there were times where I could push over 1 mbps... with 3G, I can top out at around 670 kbps. Granted this is still fast enough for phone browsing, it's missing a little snap. BUT... thanks to having Wifi (and let's face it, I work from home so I'm always on Wifi), the speeds will be greatly improved... allowing me to purchase songs and apps from iTunes on my phone.

Interface:

The touch interface is awesome. It tracks both of your fingers perfectly... Everything slides and is smooth. Once apps really start coming together with common UI guidelines, the phone will be soaring with neat interface tricks. Some of my favorite are the games Quordy and Muddle... which tell you to "Shake it" or "Slide it" to start the game and use the vibration to give you tactical feedback. It's really nice.

Applications:

It's new and fresh, there are plenty of buggy apps to choose from, but they are improving. My favorites so far: last.fm, Super Monkey Ball, Aurora Feint, Muddle, Quordy, and the Mobile Safari Home Screen Bookmarks (check out the little things section)... They will get better over time...

Shortcomings:

Some bugs here and there... I've had to hard reset (home + sleep button) a few times in the last week. It would seem that some apps get out of whack and cause the device to go into a "you must reboot " state. For some reason the games that go into OpenGL ES seem to cause this... Super Monkey Ball and Aurora Feint come to mind.

Still no MMS messaging... this will and have to be implemented via software eventually...

No copy&paste, but that has been addressed by Apple by saying it's not high enough on the TODO list.

It's really hard to drive and use the iPod feature, as all of the important buttons are on screen and provide no tactical feedback.

Still no video recording...

Development:

The iPhone SDK is nice, but requires you to accept a Terms of Service that says you can't talk about it online. In fact, it's actually blocking some, I would assume to be, really interesting books from publishing. The videos are nice. Objective-C isn't exactly the most fluid language to work in, but if you already have those skills, they transfer well. The tax to get your app listed will help weed out the very very bad applications... and the time to the App Store is reportedly slow, but those will come (as well as better apps) once the phone has been out for a while.

The little things:

1. Buy one of these films: Glossy or Matte .. I've tried both and I like the glossy look. They are worth it and you can't even tell you have one on.
2. Neat Mobile Safari feature... save a page onto your Home Screen. (Same as adding a bookmark). If the publisher (like Facebook or Bloglines) is up on their iPhone enabled site, a custom icon will appear. Making it a one-click passage into your favorite sites.
3. Home + Sleep (one click) will take a screenshot... BAM
4. Click and hold an icon to turn the home screen into "Shuffle and Delete Apps" mode...
5. Turn the brightness down... trust me... at like 15% for a week, you won't even notice and it'll save tons of battery.

And finally... the camera... here's a pic taken with the camera. Not as bad as some reviews say it is... really... Click it for the higher resolution (including original)....