5 posts tagged “iphone”
Over a million iPhones have been sold. Have you: bought one, considered it, or decided it's not for you?
Wow... I am shocked that Vox even posed this as a "Question of the Day"! I'll go over the 90 day "evaluation" of the state of iPhone related affairs as well as answer the "Question of the Day".
With the 90 day time frame basically upon us, there has been lots of hot-button issues with regard to the iPhone. Things like hackers unlocking the iPhone for free, lawsuits over a "defective battery design" or "diminished resale value of the 4GB model being discontinued", to even the latest one on bans of cash sales of the iPhone... The device has stirred up the market and, dare I say, in an impactful way. You have makers who've basically taken apart their ideas of what a user interface should be and then revamped it to much more promising things. Notable manufacturer on this forefront being HTC with their new TouchFLO interface for the Windows Mobile 6 operating system. But at the same right, there are also manufacturers competing on a beautifully crafted shell. Noteworthy names being LG's Prada phone or Motorola's complete revamp of a mainstream sensation, the RAZR2. There were naysayers saying "No one will ever buy up into the gimmicky touch only bit!" But when you have to note that millions of the iPhone have been purchased, the numbers don't lie... If Apple makes it, people will come.
On the technological side of issues... AT&T has their panties in a wad all from the whole unlocking of the iPhone away from their network due to the minuscule profit margin they earn, unlike the one Apple gains from the sale of the device. AT&T pays Apple $18 per iPhone on their network, so to "recoup" their losses. They profit money from the sign-up of contracts and subscribers locked into their plans. But they do have a right to get their selves in a "tizzy" over it, because they can't subsidize the cost of the iPhone unlike like say... a RAZR V3. Here's an example of subsidizing phones:
Phone: Motorola RAZR V3
AT&T Store's List Price: $250
2 Year Contract Price: $100
After Diccounts and Rebates: FREE!
(AT&T's possible invoice price on the phone $5 - $20)
Zero's Note - I don't know the exact number, my figure of AT&T's invoice is an estimate. Take my number with a grain of salt.
Prices from the AT&T Wireless site
The iPhone, because it is made by Apple does not give AT&T this luxury to slash the price of the device as they please because Apple makes the device at a much higher cost than ordinary cell phones or smart phones. I would estimate that the iPhone's "cost" is about $150 - $180, invoice probably at $250 (AT&T's "buy-in price") while retailing at $400. Talk about getting the short end of the stick for AT&T. It's rather a steep deal and I can see why AT&T is mad as hell. The same right though, people saw it coming... Because Apple fans will stop at damn near nothing to get their hot hands on one of their new devices. The fact of the matter that the iPhone had few exclusive technologies specifically to AT&T had almost made it a target of hackers, unlocking chop-shops, and various retailers... If there were tons of things that required AT&T, I could see it being a better cash cow. But with the news that Orange France will be releasing an unlocked model for the European market... It may just serve to enrage AT&T even further when you have unlocked phone shops importing these unlocked models to the American market place.
As far as the iPhone, It's not for me because I need a robust and powerful device. With the iPhone for my friends, my opinion is more in favor of telling ones who have not jumped on board with it... I would recommend that they wait before buying in. Apple submitted their patents for an iPhone "Nano" to the US Patent Office and some analysts say that it could be about November for a second generation iPhone. Europe's Vodafone has advocated that the iPhone must have 3G or it is useless for their advanced network. So much new possible innovations for the iPhone as a platform, but just time is the factor of all things.
I would like to make a case in point about one of the stupidest lawsuit ever to hit the American court system. Woman sues Apple for causing her an inconvenience from their iPhone price cut (from Computer World). No offense to those who love Apple, but I hope this woman's case gets thrown out and that she must pay all the legal fees due to Apple's lawyers. The case is based on stupidity and greed for an entity out in Cupertino, California just swelling in cash. Here are my reasons and inferred "damages" that the plaintiff claims from analyzing various sources on the web and even from the local news broadcast I saw on TV.
- Woman goes to buy an iPhone hoping to buy the 8GB iPhone...
- But... the 8GB ends up being sold out, so she buys a 4GB
- She also signs up for AT&T service for a 2 year hitch.
- The iPhone would get a price cut and Apple's half-way solution would be to offer a $100 rebate
- Caveat noted by Zero: The rebate is only valid for EARLY adopters, which the plaintiff is one.
- But... With the price cut and rebate, the only model offered by Apple for an iPhone would be an 8GB model
- Result: 4GB is discontinued - Value of 4GB version ends up being unpopular and value depreciates.
- Plaintiff decides to sue for the price change for the following reasons
- Claims that Apple had intentionally forced her to buy the 4GB iPhone
- Claims that Apple had forced her to sign for a 2 year hitch with AT&T which she is now trapped in
- Claims that the rebate does not help her recoup her costs
- Claims that due to the matter of fact that the 4GB model was discontinued, she can no longer sell her 4GB model for FULL PRICE for re-compensation/profit
First off, she's a fool to claim she was forced to buy the phone and sign for service... No one forces you to buy something, ever. This AMERICA for crying out loud, not some communist regime saying "Buy iPhone or DIE!!!" The AT&T contract, that was her own problem. As far as the rebate for compensation... if she paid with a credit card, she could easily call them and ask about price protection. That way she would be able to receive $200 from her credit card company and $100 from Apple (that is if it is valid... feel free to correct me - Zero). The part about the model being discontinued and not being able to recoup the full price for profit, that's just reeks of sheepish stupidity. Electronics evolve so fast that , to hope for selling for profit is just plain stupid. There was NO shortage of iPhones, so to sell for profit is foolish.
The iPhone has just been plagued with headaches and almost "defective by design" as it limits the liberty of the consumer to use the device as they wish. It was (possibly is still) unusable in Linux due to the checksum that must be verified, because the phone CANNOT be used on a system where iTunes has never been released. Then there's the unlocking chaos, like this example on The Consumerist. Don't forget the chaos from the new firmware that is bricking the baseband chip on the iPhone prohibiting it from ever making calls again and limited success on restoring the devices functionality as reported from the iPhone Dev Team. There are people who use the derogatory term "iTrendWhore" because they follow the trends, but in the computer community... we call these people sheep taken hostage by their own stupidity to research the device... Anyone remember the lawsuit about those claiming that they are suing about the battery design prevents them from replacing the battery? I assume the case has been quashed from the sheer stupidity that the plaintiff in that case claimed they were "forced" to buy the iPhone.
FOR THE LAST TIME, PEOPLE... NO ONE FORCED YOU TO BUY THE iPHONE, BECAUSE IN AMERICA YOU ARE FREE TO BUY WHATEVER YOU WANT.
I hope that these stupid lawsuits stop... because I have no doubt that the world is sick of the greedy, sue happy, crybaby Americans crying why certain proprietary devices prohibit their liberties.
For a good while, someone passed a rumor to Ars Technica about the possibility of the newest update (I think it's 10.3, correct me if I am wrong - Zero) will brick unlocked iPhones. Of course, there were skeptics as it was possibly Apple propaganda, but well, it would be confirmed yesterday by Ars Technical here. This is interesting as many proponents of the hacking community even laid claims that Steve Jobs was "one" of "them" from his past and making blue boxes to make illegal free phone calls. If Jobs is "part" of the hacker creed then one would assume he would not lay a hand on the community, right? Well, apparently fame has some part to due to the fact that Ars Technica has confirmed that the new update will brick unlocked iPhones. The official statement from Jobs in the article can be roughly paraphrased as "The corporation is going to undo your work, but have fun fighting back".
There are a few legal critics that have commented that Apple's stand on making expensive paper weights in defense of the corporation (bricking) and even voiding warranties on any third party programs even being installed is possibly against the law as cited by Slashdot. It really has to make you wonder though if the corporations can just buy their way out of any laws. Knowing Apple who's basically in bed with AT&T, they will no doubt fight to protect the phone's proprietary lockdown (in America) and limit its use on T-Mobile USA and other local American based SIM networks. I even dare to ask the legality of them voiding warranties for something as simple as unlocking the phone, as there was a law or legislation that had passed saying that unlocking cellular phones is a protected right for consumers for 5 years (with 2009 being the final year) and then the policy is up for debate for renewal or to challenge it. Rendering of the warranty also applies not only with unlocking your phone, but installing third party applications. Want that Tetris or NES emulator on your iPhone, but later your vibrate module dies... Apple just says "Sorry, you installed games that do not come with the iPhone, so SOL on you." In this case... Software wouldn't kill a vibrating motor and I could definitely see an issue with that logic.
On a personal observation, what will this battle bring to the table? The iPhone itself isn't subsidized like the RAZR2 or Blackberry Curve with discounts, you're paying the whopping $399 (and via Apple's store, the 4GB is no longer for sale). I could understand the reason for the fight to lock down the phone for the full ride of the 2 year contract, but you're not getting $250 off of the purchase price or $500 in rebates for a 2 year hitch. You buy the iPhone for $399, then with a Windows or Mac with iTunes you then unlock your phone to purchase a contract plan with AT&T. Those who wish to use it outside of AT&T have to rely on programs that perform a "jailbreak" on the iPhone and then after that fact, the phone is then exploited to install a third party program to give the iPhone the ability to install programs onto it. From there you're able to load the exploit to unlock the phone for private use with your provider of choice. I mean, in retrospect, you don't see Apple fighting to keep the AppleTV from being able to load a full OS X system on it and other off label uses for it. I will say one thing... I look forward to the ending of this story with Apple killing unlocked iPhones.
Remember how I had made mention that the iPhone's battery replacement policy would soon come under question? Well, check this article out "2 of our 3 iPhones have faulty batteries". I have 2 links below as the main page may not be up on the original site, but the content has been mirrored.
"2 of our 3 iPhones have faulty batteries" at WirelessInfo.com
"2 of our 3 iPhones have faulty batteries" at DiggMirror.com
Apparently, Wireless Info was not the only group to be in this situation, check out this MacRumors forum thread!
MacRumors Forum - iPhone sub-forum - "Battery Issues"
A point that my friend JJNova had brought up to me on our Ubuntu Dallas meeting was, what will Apple do when people buy the AT&T phone insurance and chalk up a defective battery to AT&T? AT&T will dump the phones off to Apple and say something along the lines of "Phone insurance... you all can refurbish these." Now, if Apple happens to refuse AT&T's recognition of phone insurance, that could end up very sour. Another scenario that could be detrimental is telling AT&T to "fine tune" its insurance policy that faulty batteries are not qualified for a reason for phone insurance. How Apple and AT&T handle this situation could mean big things as well as the future reputation of the iPhone itself.
There are even journals, blogs and news bytes just now sifting through the muck that is the AT&T terms and conditions of the iPhone. Check out the brief summary here at this link. The kicker is how the end user is tracked and limited to how much you can use the wi-fi at your personal leisure. I'll quote it out of the summary link:
To ensure that the Wi-Fi Service is not being used fradulently, AT&T limits your usage of the Wi-Fi Service to 150 uses per month.
So... In the case of a very "connected" college student who may have the following example schedule below:
Breakfast + Wi-Fi iPhone to catch up on the news
Go to class
Connect to hotspot at school a few times to check e-mail and the web at lunch time and breaks
More class
Go home, check up on the wi-fi and dock iPhone for charging
(Optional) Hang out with friends at coffee house with a hotspot and check the web.
That could easily be almost 4-5 connections per day, and over a 30 day span, that could easily be 150 or more connections. In the terms of the AT&T contract, that could be grounds for termination, correct? So users could potentially get slapped a $175 termination fee for excessive freedom of being able to connect to hotspot? What next? AT&T planning to expand their unlimited service plans to an extra $20 just so you can connect to hotspots without limitation? They have to be joking! The last I remembered when I owned a custom unlocked T-mobile MDA, I don't remember Cingular tracking my wi-fi usage or sending me a letter saying "cease and desist your use of your personal network at home or we will terminate your contract immediately" so why start now? It's almost immature to even try suggest that now. I don't see Sprint, Verizon, or Alltel saying you can't use their Pocket PC #6700 on personal wi-fi hotspots. You definitely don't hear T-Mobile or AT&T saying you can use wi-fi on a limitless basis on the T-mobile MDA/Cingular 8125, Cingular 8525, Cingular 3125, T-mobile SDA, T-mobile Dash. That brings the question of: Why bother targeting the iPhone? The business devices have enjoyed unlimited connection to hotspots in addition to crisp calls... Why start now? They knew full and well what they were bringing in with the iPhone...
This stupid wi-fi battle was the main reason that Nokia had an issue with releasing their N91i phone over, all because Nokia did not want their wi-fi feature removed, unlike what happened with the Nokia E62 which is simply a Cingular crippled E61 with no wi-fi. If their excuse to targeting the iPhone's market is "because we want them to use our premium services" then that's a failed point, as the iPhone lacks in 3G technology and Cingular's 3G just got boosted around the time of the iPhone's release to lay claims that they have "fast" 3G speeds. Let's briefly examine the speed standards from the Wikipedia article: "Comparison of Wireless Data Standards"
GSM GPRS: Max Downlink speed - 0.080 mb/sec (80 kb/sec), Max Uplink speed - 0.040 mb/sec (40 kb/sec), Average Downlink: 0.014 mb/sec (14 kb/sec) [Zero's note: Think dial-up]
GSM EDGE: Max Downlink speed - 0.474 mb/sec (474 kb/sec), Max Uplink speed - 0.474 mb/sec (474 kb/sec), Average Downlink: 0.034 mb/sec (34 kb/sec) [Zero's note: Comparable to a great cable internet connection]
UMTS W-CDMA HSPDA (aka 3G): Max Downlink speed - 14.4 mb/sec, Max Uplink speed - 0.384 mb/sec (384 kb/sec), Average Downlink: 0.75 mb/sec (750 kb/sec)
CDMA EV-DO Rev. 0: Max Downlink speed - 2.458 mb/sec, Max Uplink speed - 0.153 mb/sec (153 kb/sec), Average Downlink: 0.75 mb/sec (750 kb/sec)
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A: Max Downlink speed - 3.1 mb/sec, Max Uplink speed - 1.8 mb/sec, Average Downlink: Not available at this time [Zero's Note: It's not implemented by Sprint/Nextel yet, but phones like the HTC Mogul will have an upgrade when it's officially rolled out.]
For those who don't know what the standards go to, I'll give a crash course on which belongs to their appropriate owners.
GSM and UMTS are technologies used by popular American providers like AT&T and T-mobile. While CDMA is used by Sprint/Nextel, Alltel Wireless, and Verizon Wireless.
With the average speeds of 14 kb (GPRS) to 34 kb per second, I really don't see what the harm is with this whole restriction mess. I mean the wi-fi 802.11g standard sees average connections of 10 mb/sec and it's not like AT&T is offering that much in terms of service on the iPhone. Something just isn't adding up right and from a consumer standpoint, it just makes me angry. It would be understandable if they added 3G and wi-fi on the iPhone while selling goods (ringtones and images) and services (Answer Tones) then I could sympathize with their concerns.
If AT&T thinks that they are "fast"... They have probably never even heard, much less experienced the WiMAX standard with a max downlink and uplink rated at 70 mb/sec and average downlinks are rated at less than 10 mb/sec. It's still under experimentation, so don't expect it to hit our shores first. Asia will probably get it first...
Lately, the iPhone has become a very big hot-button topic for people. The best comparison would be "It's like Paris Hilton all over again. We're all sick of her ass, but no one will stfu about her!" There are some blogs singing the praises of the phone, claiming that what it does is "revolutionary". There are others who are more skeptical saying that what it does is not revolutionary, rather it is how it does those "revolutionary" functions that is key. I have to agree with that point. I mean, browsing the web isn't "revolutionary" but the iPhone's ability to surf in widescreen is. This argument of revolutionary functions versus revolutionary implementation pretty much dictates most of the features of the iPhone. I'll get into the dissection of features later on, rest assured, there are fair arguments in favor of the iPhone as well as I wish to give everyone my fair view on the device.
The thing that slightly irritates me is that Steve Jobs goes on how the phone is revolutionary when it's not quite so. It is revolutionary as it gives a more "human" interface to telecommunications devices. I will admit that since mobile phones got a large LCD with a "menu" interface... It's not a friendly way to navigate around for your common demographic. Things like activating Bluetooth involve you entering a system menu, then searching for a "Communications" or a "Bluetooth" menu, then switching on the Bluetooth on to finally turn on the system. To your average user... It sounds like complete garbage to them because it's "too many" hoops to jump through just to activate an applet for wireless convenience. Now, let's take a spin on this... If you have a "Bluetooth" button that the white Bluetooth rune glows white when you press it to turn the Bluetooth on, people have no problem with it. This is exactly Apple's idea with the iPhone. Take a look at the interface... The main screen is just covered in touch sensitive buttons to launch functions or applications that the user is looking for. No more complex menus just to find an application. This sort of thing is a HIT with the common masses. Why? It almost makes any user a power-user of a multimedia rich device. Now, if Steve Jobs said something like "This is what will change how users will use their cell phones!" then he would be very correct.
The on-screen keyboard is a slick little piece on the phone. In the WWDC Keynote speech that Steve Jobs debuted the iPhone, he said the reason why phone devices like the Blackberry, Palm Treo, and other keyboard toting competitors aren't popular is because the keyboard kills the beauty of the device. The only problem I have with Jobs' argument is that the demographic of the iPhone is a little more different than say the demographic of the Blackberry, Palm Treo, and such. The iPhone is for a market demographic of 18 - 30 year old technophiles who are up on the latest and greatest (subject to definition). This particular demographic likes to keep music, pictures, and movies with them so they can just have fingertip access to their media. In addition, they like their devices to look stylish and simple, yet robust in functionality. The serious PDA market (Blackberries, Windows Mobile devices, and Palm Treos) is aimed at the corporate individual that must have a device to keep the office linked to them. Things like logging into a VPN, doing business over secure and encrypted channels, or even replying to corporate e-mails are the main priority. The corporate folks aren't all work and no play either, so these devices do have expandable memory and high speed data connections to transfer data at high rates and a method to expand the memory for a relatively cheap price. An iPhone would have to offer very high end features to achieve Steve Jobs' ultimate dream of a mass movement before the corporate sector will be quick to adopt.
On the matter of the corporate bit, Apple will have to really lock up the device from hackers before it can evolve into a corporate device. A couple of blogs have said due to the inclusion of a full copy in a mobile instance of Apple's OS X, the device does have a Unix back end... The device has to have a "root" (superuser or admin for you non-technical folks) password to really get under the skin of the device. The worst part... The root password was hit by a dictionary attack and published for the world to see. So far there's no other way to change the password and the secure side of the community has hopes that Apple will realize this and put out a tool to enable a method to change the password that the user desires. It may be convenient for the Apple service techs for the iPhones to have the same root user password, but this is a security risk for the end user. If someone decides to cash in on this vulnerability, then with the choice of attacking by wi-fi or Bluetooth to get in and cause some damage or even steal important data could be a possibility. Keep in mind that the phone is very internet centric, so in theory, someone could dig for the internet cookies within Safari and try to extract passwords or encrypted information. A very big problem from a security standpoint.
The last bit of the iPhone that bothers me is the mindless sheep, which will be referred to as iTrendWhores for the sake of this article. The iTrendWhore rationale is one where they feel their product is far superior even though some functionality is hindered. The worst part is they talk down every other device as "inferior" because the aesthetics on their devices are far superior. The classic example of this would be... the iPod. The same mentality is already being shown on various web communities with the iPhone. I mean the iPhone is a great device but hardly the end-all. The worst part are these mindless sheeps range from your common person with minimal computer usage experience to self-proclaimed power users. Worst of them all... They try to boast that the device could be used for any application even if there are things that will inhibit the device from gaining a growing audience. Some of these people forget the fact that the phone has a sealed battery, in the case of the battery going defective... Be prepared for the following pricing scheme developed by Apple for battery replacement:
$79 - Battery replacement service
$6.95 - Shipping the phone
$29 - Loaner phone rental
(Data not guaranteed safe on return of the phone)
Oh yes, to add... Battery failure is not covered by warranty. Though Apple claims that their batteries have an estimated lifetime of 2 - 3 years... All in time for a upgrade. But heaven forbid that Apple batteries are not prone to defecting, not. Check out some of the Apple iPod battery lawsuits from yesteryear. Too much pride on "perfect" batteries much?
I will say that Apple has created a device that will soon have a cultist iconification to it. In addition to creating an aesthetically pleasing device, they will change how people think a cellphone interface should look and behave like. The device's mainstream popularity will stay with the masses while the serious PDA's will remain for those who need functions for corporate applications. Time will only tell how things will be when the iPhone's flaws begin to show, but by then, Apple will be building the hype up for the next iPhone. I choose to stay out of that and for the price of $200 for a Palm Treo 680 and then another $80 for an 8GB SDHC card while walking away with the rest of the cash for an iPhone on something else or being able to throw it into savings.
