IPhone 3G

[chesbrojim]

Ordered the iPhone3G yesterday. Not for me but for dear wife who can't live without the new phone. The good news for me is that I will inherit the old iPhone. I can hardly wait to get my hands on her old phone.

I used to be negative about most things Apple marketed but the iPhone puts all other phones a generation behind.

[scowboy]

Originally Posted by Matthew

Any recommendations on cases? I still need to pick something up.

I got a silicon case for mine. I have been using those types of cases now for a couple years. I would describe myself as a bit clumsy so the idea of a little cushion and something that will not easily slip from your hands is good for the scowboy. The one i got is black so my iPhone looks totally black which I sorta like.

[ChipShot]

ok, ok, I am convinced. I ordered my phone today

[Matthew]

Just an update for those that care. I have been very happy with the iPhone. I get great 3G coverage in and around RM. Actually 3G works better in more open areas where it does not need to penetrate buildings. 3G is not as strong in places like downtown Sacramento and downtown San Francisco due to the buildings and the angle of the towers. The Edge network is fine in those areas and is still fast enough. On 3G I am getting 400k – 700K download speeds (faster than my home DSL). On the Edge network I see about 150K.

The battery life is good for what I am expecting the phone to do. With Bluetooth, 3G, and wifi turned on you will reduce your battery life. My normal use will get me about 8 hours of battery. I am a pretty heavy user. I listen to music, surf the web, and email a lot (I get 300+ emails per day) so the average user will see a lot better battery life.

I loaded an SSH client on my phone (if you don’t know what that is you can skip this paragraph) for server access. I was also able to set up a VPN session into my employer’s network. With the VPN session up and the SSH client I can administer my servers from anywhere I have cell phone coverage. The SSH client works well over wifi, 3G, and the Edge networks.

Overall I am very happy with the phone. They are adding new application everyday and many of them are free or a very low cost. BTW I don’t play golf so I did not buy the app, but they have two Sky Caddie type applications. One costs $35 and the other is $9.99. Here is a great review if interested.

Mac Forums - View Single Post - Greenfinder. More GPS options than golfmapz

[akulasquirrel]

Originally Posted by Matthew

Just an update for those that care. I have been very happy with the iPhone. I get great 3G coverage in and around RM. Actually 3G works better in more open areas where it does not need to penetrate buildings. 3G is not as strong in places like downtown Sacramento and downtown San Francisco due to the buildings and the angle of the towers. The Edge network is fine in those areas and is still fast enough. On 3G I am getting 400k – 700K download speeds (faster than my home DSL). On the Edge network I see about 150K.

The likely problem with the download speeds in downtown (or any urban area, really) is intermod interference. Out in less developed areas, this is generally less of a problem. Basically, what happens is that a signal gets sent out from an antenna and gets reflected off of buildings and roads and the like. The end result is that at the other receiver, the receiver "hears" the same signal multiple times. In the case of a digital receiver, that receiver has to determine which signal is the real one and which ones are interference and then decode only that signal. On top of that, the antennas on most portable systems aren't actually all that good, so the receiver has to be made VERY sensitive... which can increase it's vulnerability to this kind of interference.

Data radios (like digital phones for instance) may have to slow down their connection rate to ensure that the correct signal gets processed. There is some newer processing techniques that take advantage of multipath signals to actually keep the data rates up. These techniques also may use multiple antennas to aid in the processing of the signals. Over open terrain, you're going to see some increase in distance over a single antenna system, but the differences really come into their own in far more cluttered areas.

[hautemomma]

Here's an article in today's Sac Biz Journal- apparently Apple is being sued for selling too many iPhones, and not having the network to support all the users.... it could answer part of the speed questions/issues?

Apple, AT&T sued for 'overloading' network with iPhones - Sacramento Business Journal:

[PASSMORE]

I too, am now a part of the iCult.

The Google Earth app is pretty nifty... I also like the BeeJiveIM app which allows IM on all the formats (Yahoo, Google, etc)

[Luke]

Originally Posted by PASSMORE

I too, am now a part of the iCult.

The Google Earth app is pretty nifty... I also like the BeeJiveIM app which allows IM on all the formats (Yahoo, Google, etc)

We need a jealousy icon.