All summer long
It was 1989
My thoughts were short, my hair was long
Caught somewhere between a boy and man
She was seventeen
And she was far from in between
It was summertime in northern Michigan
Splashing through the sandbar
Talking by the campfire
It’s the simple things in life like when and where
We didn’t have no internet
But man I never will forget
The way the moonlight shined upon her hair
And we were trying different things
And we were smoking funny things
Making love down by the lake to our favorite song
Sipping whiskey out the bottle
Not thinking ’bout tomorrow
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Catching walleye from the dock
Watching the waves roll off the rocks
She’ll forever hold a spot inside my soul
We’d blister in the sun
We couldn’t wait for night to come
To hit that sand and play some rock n’ roll
And we were trying different things
And we were smoking funny things
Making love down by the lake to our favorite song
Sipping whiskey out the bottle
Not thinking ’bout tomorrow
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
[Sweet Home Alabama]
Turn it up!
Now nothing seems as strange
As when the leaves begin to change
Or how we thought those days would never end
Sometimes I hear that song
And I start to sing along
And think “Man, I’d love to see that girl again”
[Man I'd like to see that girl again]
And we were trying different things
And we were smoking funny things
Making love down by the lake to our favorite song
Sipping whiskey out the bottle
Not thinking ’bout tomorrow
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
And we were trying different things
And we were smoking funny things
Making love down by the lake to our favorite song
Sipping whiskey out the bottle
Not thinking ’bout tomorrow
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long
iPhone 1,001 Apps and counting
The number of offerings on the App Store— the venue for independently produced programs that helps distinguish Apple’s smartphone from all others — hit 1,001 on Monday night.
That’s roughly double the number that were available when the store opened just over two weeks ago (on July 11, the same day the iPhone 3G went on sale), and includes popular games like Texas Hold’em and Crash Bandicoot, business tools like Bloomberg News and Salesforce Mobile, and social networking programs like Facebook, MySpace and AIM. Roughly 20% of the apps are free; 90% cost $10 or less. Most also work on the iPod touch.
Many consider this flood of software to be a bigger deal than the phone itself. Among smartphones, only the RIM (RIMM) Blackberry has created a comparable platform for so-called third-party programs (see its application store here), but because the Blackberry lacks a touch screen and accelerometer, its apps don’t compare with the iPhone’s in terms of features and ease of use. [Several readers note that Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile and the Palm (PALM) OS also provide rich software platforms. You can view their offerings here and here, respectively.]
How you feel about Apple’s App Store seems to depend on what side of the virtual counter you stand.
MG Siegler, speaking for many App Store customers, declared it “simply sublime” in his Venture Beat column and described it as a new paradigm that would transform Apple as a company. “With each passing day I’m finding myself becoming addicted to it in the same way I was once addicted to the iTunes music store.” (link)
On the developer side, however, tempers are becoming increasingly frayed. The programmers who raced to create applications — hoping to be the first in their particular category — complain that Apple isn’t approving their submissions fast enough and that when their apps do get OK’d, they’re not getting promoted on the store’s New, What’s Hot or Staff Favorites sections or updated quickly enough. New versions sit in the queue at Apple for up to a week, leaving users to wrestle with bugs that have already been fixed. “If an update does make it into the store,” writes David Chartier in an Ars Technica article that summarizes the litany of developer complaints, “iTunes isn’t always listing the correct version. NetNewsWire, for example, is actually at version 1.0.7, but the App Store says only 1.0.1.”
But the programmers’ biggest gripe is the gag order imposed by Apple’s so-called NDA (nondisclosure agreement), which prevents developers from talking to the press, to the public and even among themselves about their programs and the SDK (software developers kit) they use to write them.
This can have real repercussions. Erica Sadun, author of “The iPhone Developers Cookbook,” (Addison-Wesley), has had to delay publication rather than risk running afoul of Apple’s legal team. “[My publisher has] advance orders,” she told Ars Technica, “they have commitments.”
A “very polite petition” asking Apple to lift the NDA had drawn a couple hundred signatures as of Monday night. By then, a Web site called “[expletive deleted] NDA,” which keeps track of every time that phrase is uttered on Twitter, had collected 15,000 hits.
On Sunday, July 13, Apple (AAPL) issued a press release announcing that 10 million apps had been downloaded from the App Store in its first three days; by July 21, that number had risen to 25 million.
“The App Store is a grand slam,” said Steve Jobs. “Developers have created some extraordinary applications, and the App Store can wirelessly deliver them to every iPhone and iPod touch user instantly.”
Apple has not yet marked the 1,000 application milestone — or responded publicly to the developer complaints.
You Might Have to Wait A long Time for A iPhone If you don’t have one
Customers looking for an iPhone 3G may have to wait up to a month for Apple to boost its orders with suppliers and refill the pipeline, a Wall Street analyst said Thursday.
Meanwhile, current inventories continue to be tight at the company’s retail stores, with just over a quarter of them having iPhones to sell Thursday.
“I bet we’ll see these problems for another two to four weeks,” said Gene Munster, analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., referring to his estimate of the lead time necessary for Apple to increase orders from its suppliers and restock the depleted iPhone inventory. “Early demand has been more than they expected [because] they knocked it out of the park on the first weekend.”
The iPhone 3G continues to be in short supply, according to Apple’s own stock-checking tool, which it makes available to customers after 9 p.m. local time each day.
As of 1 a.m. EDT Thursday, 50 of Apple’s 188 retail stores, or 27 percent, showed iPhone 3Gs available for sale. Wednesday, Computerworld checks found 48 stores, or 26 percent of the total in the U.S., claiming in-stock iPhones.
However, 13 stores said they had all three models of the iPhone 3G in stock: the 8GB version in black, and the 16GB version in both white and black. Wednesday, only nine stores had all three for sale.
The hardest-to-find iPhone 3G remained the $299 black 16GB model, which is available Thursday in only 18 stores, or 9.6 percent of the outlets. Supplies of the $199 8GB iPhone 3G plummeted in the last 24 hours, according to Apple’s inventory tool: 24 stores reported it as available Thursday (12.8 percent of the 188 in the U.S.) compared to 42 stores that said it was in stock Wednesday (22.3 percent).
Apple’s $299 white 16GB iPhone 3G is available at more stores—46, or 24.5 percent of the total—than either of the black models.
Munster echoed comments made yesterday by another analyst, Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research, when he said Apple underestimated initial demand. And that’s not how it played out last year. “There were outages last year, but not to this extent,” Munster said, comparing the current situation with the launch last June of the first-generation iPhone. “This is a more sustained outage, and the demand seems to be sustained.”
Last year, Munster said, there was an initial spike, but then demand tapered off, allowing Apple to replenish its inventory.
Also different this year, was the multiple market rollout of the iPhone 3G. Apple and its network operator partners started selling the second-generation phone in 21 countries Friday, and it goes on sale in France Thursday. In 2007, the iPhone was initially available only in the U.S.
“Sales internationally have taken inventory away from the U.S.,” Munster noted.
AT&T’s 1,200 retail stores are also nearly out of the iPhone, the U.S. carrier said Wednesday. “As we’re able to start restocking our stores, we will do so as fast as we can,” company spokesman Wes Warnock said Tuesday.
Getting A LOT more out of you new iPhone 3G
If you’re the lucky owner of a new iPhone 3G, there’s a good chance that you won’t have read the manual that came with it. I know I didn’t. The temptation to jump right in, to touch this and pinch that, is way too strong. But there are some tips and tricks that make using the iPhone much easier.
Master the double-tap
One of the ‘impress your friends’ features of the iPhone is your ability to ‘pinch’ the screen to zoom in and out. In the long run, however, this isn’t the most effective way to read a web page or magnify a Google Map. Instead, you need to master the double-tap.
On a typical website, double-tap a column of text to zoom right into it – the iPhone will zoom the view to fit the width of the screen. Double-tap the screen again to zoom back out.
Similarly, double-tapping a picture will automatically focus in to show a close-up. Again, this auto-zoom will fit the width of the iPhone’s screen.
The double-tap can also zoom in/out on photos in the iPhone’s Photo app and toggle between full screen and letterbox mode during video playback. A double-tap is also the easiest way to incrementally zoom into a section of a Google Map.
Tapping two fingers on the screen (I.e. first and index finger) will zoom back out the same way.
Save power
There’s been a lot of talk about the iPhone’s battery life. Unsurprisingly, using the 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and iPod functions will use up a lot of juice. You can minimise the drain in several ways.
For starters, you can actually turn off 3G (in Settings – General – Network) and force the iPhone to regress to its 2G/2.5G origins. Similarly, Wi-Fi can be disabled until you really need it (via Settings – Wi-Fi). You should only need Bluetooth active if you’re using a wireless headset.
You can also manually select the screen brightness (overriding the auto-brightness setting). You’ll find that option in Settings – Brightness.
How to reset your iPhone
If your iPhone should freeze for any reason and doesn’t respond to screen taps or button presses, it probably indicates that the application you’re running has crashed.
There are two fixes. First, hold down the Home button for 5-6 seconds to force quit a crashed application. If that doesn’t work, you can force a full shut down of your iPhone by holding down the Home and Sleep/Wake button.
Rearrange your applications
The iPhone doesn’t just have one home screen – it can be configured to have a number of virtual pages, that you can flick through like the pages of a book. The ability to rearrange the iPhone’s applications was introduced in a previous firmware upgrade.
To move an application icon, simply hold your finger down on an icon. The icons will then enter a ‘wiggle mode’, I.e. they’ll start to wiggle. You can then drag them around or move them to another home screen page.
Set up favourite contacts
You can set up a quick-dial list of favourite contacts easily by opening a contact (in Phone – Contacts) and choosing the ‘Add to Favorites’ (sic) option.
For quick access to this list, you can typically double-click the Home button. If this doesn’t work, configure the Home button settings in Settings – General – Home Button.
Use other applications while on a call
Did you know that you can access the iPhone’s main screen (and all of its applications) while you are on a call? Press the Home button during a phone call to minimise the call screen.
You can then access your email, Notes, Contacts and browse web (only if connected by Wi-Fi). Tap the green bar at the top of the Home screen to return to the call.
Divert a call to voicemail
Easy. Press the Sleep/Wake button on the top-edge of your iPhone.
Handy keyboard shortcuts
The iPhone’s keyboard takes some getting used to. You might start off as a slow, one-fingered typist, but ultimately you’ll be able to knock out notes, emails and texts with surprising speed and accuracy.
Your greatest ally in this regard is the iPhone’s auto-complete function and integrated dictionary. The iPhone monitors what you type and will suggest potential words as you type them. To discard a suggestion, tap the suggested word.
There are other handy keyboard shortcuts worth noting. For example, holding your finger over an area of text will activate the keyboard’s magnifying glass, enabling you to easily position the cursor within a word.
Also, if you hold your finger down on a letter key, the virtual keyboard will show a pop-up of alternative letters – I.e. press your finger on ‘E’ to see a pop-up containing ‘È’, ‘É’, ‘Ê’, ‘Ë’ and ‘Ȩ’.
Finally, you can also double-tap the SHIFT key to enable a CAPS LOCK mode (it turns blue). This isn’t enabled by default, however. You’ll find the option in Settings – General – Keyboard.
Change iPod playback options
You can change the playback options in the iPhone’s iPod mode by tapping on the track being played – this will allow you to switch between normal play, repeat all and repeat current track.
Skip tracks while listening via headphones
I missed this functionality when I first had my iPhone. You probably know that the microphone capsule on the iPhone’s headphones can be clicked to start/stop music playback. But if you quickly double-click the capsule, you can skip through a playlist without having to get your iPhone out of your pocket.
Better Web browsing in Safari
There a number of things that you can do to speed up web browsing on the iPhone. For example, if you press your finger on a web link, a grey bubble will pop up showing the link URL.
Applications on the iPhone are also beautifully interlinked – tap on a phone number on a web page to call it, tap on an email address to jump to the mail program, tap on an address to find it on Google Maps.
Did you also know that you can tap the status bar (showing the time, battery indicator, etc.) at the top of the screen to scroll back to the top of a page?
Or that you can type a .com address without typing .com? Or the www? For example, just type ‘techradar’ into the browser’s URL field to go to TechRadar.com.
Finally, you might also find it useful to set up RSS subscriptions/bookmarks to sites that display full articles their feeds. RSS loads quickly, reducing the load on your 3G connection and speeding up web access if you’re out of coverage and using EDGE or GPRS.
Delete emails with a swipe
It’s a little known fact that you can quickly delete a message by swiping your across it from left to right.
Turn off data roaming
If you’re a regular traveller, don’t forget to turn off data roaming when travelling abroad. O2’s iPhone tariffs only include unlimited data access in the UK. You’ll find it in Settings – General – Network.
The secret screen capture mode
Hold down the Home button with one hand and then press the Sleep/Wake button with the other. With any luck, this will snap a picture of the screen and save it in your Camera Roll (Photos – Camera Roll).
From Techradar
Badfish
When you grab a hold of me
You tell me that I’ll never be set free
I’m a parasite,
creep and crawl I step into the night.
Two pints of booze
Tell me are you a badfish too? Are you a badfish too?
Ain’t got no money to spend
I know the night will never end
Lord knows I’m weak
Won’t somebody get me off of this reef
Baby your a big blue whale
Grab the reef when all duck diving fails
I swim but wish I never learned
The water’s too polluted with germs
I dive deep when it’s ten feet overhead
Grab the reef underneath my bed
Ain’t got no quarrels with god Ain’t got no time to grow old
Lord knows I’m weak
Won’t somebody get me off of this reef
Ain’t got no quarrels with God Ain’t got no time to grow old
Lord knows I’m weak
Won’t somebody get me off of this reef
So…..yeah
People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind. Think big anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack if you help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you’ve got anyway
Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special. Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless. Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life. Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying. Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us to each other. Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave. Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give love. The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings. Don’t dismiss your dreams. To be without dreams is to be without hope; to be without hope is to be without purpose. Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you’re going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.
iPhone Disappointments, but is it really going to stop you from getting it.
I don’t care about these minor disadvantages it’s still on my top buy list. I mean there’s a lot more advantages then disadvantages.
Apple’s new iPhone promises to be 4.7 ounces of awesome.
It will do everything the iPhone does well–surfing the Web, serving up music and movies, and letting you flick through your voicemail messages with a fingertip–only faster and cheaper.
Yet imperfections still lurk, in spite of Chairman Steve Jobs‘ maniacal attention to detail. Even before its release, there are some niggling issues–some minor, others major–that make the iPhone a mere gadget, just like any other. Just ask those pesky bloggers:
The Cost
Those crafty phone companies! Yes, at $199, the new iPhone is cheaper up-front than the original, which first went on sale starting at $499 last year. It is not, however, less expensive to own. Do the math you find out and the iPhone will cost $160 more over two years than the original iPhone because AT&T (nyse: T -news - people ) put together a pricier data plan for the phone to help it subsidize the up-front cost of the handset. The gadget fiends at Gizmodo called that “a small price to play,” but Bits, the technology blog at The New York Times, called it “a step backwards for consumers.”
No Flash
The iPhone is a surprisingly capable Web browser. Its wide, high-resolution screen and the ability to bop around the Web by tapping links with a fingertip has turned mobile Web surfing from a chore into a pleasure. The biggest hitch: the iPhone still doesn’t support Adobe’s (nasdaq:ADBE - news - people ) Flash technology, which means many multimedia-rich sites remain off limits. While Adobe is working hard to make its technology iPhone-friendly, don’t hold your breath.
No Replaceable Batteries
Hardcore road warriors don’t have time to stop and recharge their phones. Instead they carry their batteries with them, clicking them into their BlackBerrys in the backs of cabs, or, if they’re lucky, in a coffee shop. By contrast, there’s no easy way to crack open the new iPhone’s sleek case to pop in a battery, disappointing bloggers. And while kits are available for do-it-yourselfers, we wouldn’t recommend trying it in between bites of your bagel.
Video Recording
Apple’s (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) computers come preloaded with iMovie, a slick little application that makes video editing easy and fun. Apple’s iPods, with the exception of the Shuffle, have evolved into snappy little video viewing machines. But if you want to record video, you’d better talk to Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ). Despite its built-in two-megapixel camera, Apple isn’t building the ability to take video into its new phone, a feature even many low-end so-called “feature phones” include.
No Cut-And-Paste
The inability to copy a chunk of text and paste it into another application has baffled geeks since the iPhone’s introduction last year. It’s a simple tool that would make blogging and zapping bits of text to friends via e-mail a breeze. And, yes, it can be done without screwing up the phone’s interface.
No Multimedia Messaging Service
This might be the most interesting example of what makes the iPhone quirky: There are some things dirt-cheap phones cranked out by the tens of millions can do that the vaunted iPhone cannot. Forbes.com’s David Ewalt sees the lack of support for Multimedia Messaging Service as one of the most maddening. Want to open an image sent to you via MMS by a friend from her (dirt-cheap) mobile phone? No dice.
Bonus: No Voice Dialing
No blogger we’ve seen has complained about this yet. Maybe that’s because all the geeks who might whine about how tough it is to dial the iPhone died in fiery auto wrecks first, seeing as the iPhone doesn’t have the voice-recognition smarts to let users dial verbally–the one feature makes the BlackBerry, with its nubby little plastic keyboard, usable on the road.
What will new apps will be on the iPhone AND activation
APPS
Wondering what’s coming when the AppStore launches in early July? So are we, and here’s what’s been announced in the past few days:
- Webstate is buildingiSharephone. It’s Sharepoint on your iPhone. It will connect your phone toMicrosoft Sharepoint portal servers.
- Want to create music on your iPhone? Intua is developing it’s BeatMakerproduct, which will let you beatbox, loop and sequence your way to musical joy.
- Ambrosia SW has announced Mobile Mahjong for iPhone. It’s built around Core Animation and promises a “Cover Flow interface for level selection.”
- EasyTask Manager is a simple task manager that’s getting ported to the iPhone. Here are a couple of early product screen shots.
- Rusty Red Wagon is porting Solitaire to the iPhone, with three variations: Klondike, Freecell and Spider.
- Synthesis is working on a SyncML data sync product. For now, it’s planned as a free contacts-only version but they’re hoping to expand it to provide calendar support, which their developers say is not currently available in the SDK.
AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel confirmed for Macworld that activation must be done at the time of purchase, in-store. Siegel also said that customers could keep their current iPhone or AT&T phone numbers and move to the iPhone 3G when it’s released.
According to the speculation around the Internet, you would be able to purchase a subsidized iPhone 3G and not activate it immediately. After 30 days, AT&T would bring up your account and charge your credit card for the subsidized amount of the phone.
In theory that sounds fine, but it does nothing to solve the problem of having hacked iPhones out in the market. That’s not to say that this measure will stop hacked phones, but the companies are trying to cut down a peg or two.
The fact that the iPhone will be legally available in so many countries now will also likely cut back on the demand for hacked iPhones.
Got this from:
apps~ tuaw.com
activation~ Macworld
AT&T and the new iPhone 3G
So basically not everyone gets it for $199/$299?
AT&T just gave us new details on how their upgrading plans will work for the iPhone 3G. The company is treating the iPhone 3G pretty much just like any other phone in that people who are ineligible for upgrades have to pay the full, unsubsidized price for the phone. People who qualify for upgrade status and people who have an original iPhone are free to upgrade at the $199/$299 price set by Apple. AT&T hasn’t specified what the unsubsidized price is, so we’ll update when we know more. Here’s how you know if you’re eligible.
AT&T Cell Phone Upgrade
Am I Eligible for an AT&T Cell Phone Upgrade?
Not all Cingular/AT&T customers may qualify for a cell phone upgrade. At this time, AT&T Mobility allows these customers to upgrade with no upgrade fee when they commit to a new 2-year contract:
AT&T customers who have had 24 months of cell phone service since activation of their cell phone or since their last phone upgrade.
Certain AT&T customers may be eligible for a cell phone upgrade even if they have been in their current plan for less than two years (24 months), if they commit to a new 2-year contract and meet these eligibility requirements:
Customer has had a standard calling plan plus data services costing at least $68.99 a month but no more than $98.99 a month, and who has been in contract (and not had a phone upgrade) for 21 months or more,
or
Customer has had a standard calling plan plus data services costing $99 a month or more, and who has been in contract (and not upgraded) in the last 12 months.
A customer with a calling plan and data services of less than $69 who is 21 to 23 months into contract may upgrade for a fee and a commitment of an additional two-year service contract extension. No upgrade fee is assessed for any customers who are on a month-to-month agreement.
Note that AT&T upgrade eligibility may be further limited based on customer’s usage history, payment record, previous phone replacement, etc. Upgrade eligibility is solely determined by AT&T Mobility at its discretion.
3G iPhone Facts
I know a lot of people have been wondering so I figured I’ll tell you
Gizmodo Gives us all the facts on the new iPhone
Steve Jobs may have launched the iPhone 3G on Monday, and we may have gotten a hands on with it already, but in typical Apple fashion, there’s still a lot of stuff left unsaid. How does activation work? How will first-gen iPhone users bring an iPhone 3G onto their plan? Does the GPS work for driving? How much will games cost on the App Store? We’ve got answers. Lots of them.
The Phone
How much will an iPhone 3G cost? $199 for the 8GB version, which comes only in black, and $299 for the 16GB version which comes in black and white.
What’s changed between the first generation and the iPhone 3G?Honestly? Not all that much. The iPhone 3G has all the features of the first one, plus faster 3G data downloads, GPS, and a better battery life. Externally, the phone’s casing is slightly changed, with a thinner edge and thicker middle, but a flush headphone jack and solid-colored back make up the only other major differences visually. Everything else from the screen to the number of buttons and switches on the outside are the same.
How much will it really cost me over 2 years?. That depends on how many minutes you use and how many text messages you want to sign up for, but at AT&T’s lowest plan price of $39 a month for 450 minutes, plus a mandatory $30 data charge and $5 for 200 text messages, you’re looking at $1975 over the course of two years. Before tax and other fees. Here’s how it stacks up against the old iPhone and against other 3G smartphones on Verizon and Sprint.
When can I buy it? If you’re in one of the first countries to get the phone, which includes the US, Canada, the UK, Spain, Japan and Mexico, it’s July 11. Otherwise, it’s still unknown. Come July 11, there’s going to be a gigantic line of people wanting that phone. You’ll have to wait not only for people in front of you to buy a phone, but activate it too—which is now mandatory and takes about 10-15 minutes. If you can wait, we’d recommend going after July 11.
Where can I buy it? In either an Apple store or an AT&T store. There won’t be any online orders for this one.
How fast is the 3G over 2G (EDGE)? During the WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs showed a demo that compared the iPhone 3G vs. the old iPhone when downloading a large web page with lots of images. Apple’s site lists the result of that matchup as 20 seconds vs. 48 seconds, which is 2.4x faster. We’ve got aexplainer about the details of 3G as well, if you’re interested.
How does the GPS work? We’ve got a great tutorial on how the iPhone’s GPS works. Long story short, it’s A-GPS, or assisted GPS, which means most of the time it uses the cell towers and Wi-Fi to help triangulate (but doesn’t necessarilyneed help). If you’re looking to use the iPhone 3G as a GPS in your car for navigation, there’s a catch. There’s a restriction in the SDK that prohibits developers from using the phone for “real time route guidance”. You can still use Google Maps to help guide you if you’re lost, but it’s not as smooth a system as a real GPS. TomTom may have an iPhone 3G guidance suite already in the works, despite the SDk restrictions.
Will the added 3G and GPS hurt my battery life? Apple’s improved the battery life compared to the old version, which ups the talk time on 2G (same as the first iPhone) from 8 hours to 10 hours. On 3G, you get half that. So yes, your battery life will be significantly degraded when you’re using 3G instead of 2G. Apple still hasn’t provided numbers on how much GPS use will degrade your talk time.
What about that rumor that the iPhone 3G has a front camera? Yeah, not so much. Apple didn’t say anything about that during their keynote, and there’s been no evidence of it yet. There’s a weird anomaly on the demo iPhonethat Apple’s Phil Schiller was using on stage during the event, but it’s probably just a weird fingerprint.
What comes inside the iPhone 3G box? Not a whole lot. There’s no dock, but there is a smaller charger that’s great for children.
Does the iPhone 3G finally have MMS/picture messaging?Unfortunately not. Not officially, anyway. There are third-party apps already available that give your iPhone a sort of MMS functionality, but it’s not great.
Can I tether the iPhone 3G to my laptop to get on-the-go internet?Not out of the box, no. The old iPhone was able to be hacked into doing this, but EDGE speeds meant that people only really used it in emergencies. With 3G, it’ll be much more useful. We’ll keep an eye on this one.
How durable is it compared to the first-gen? Our hands-on will tell you more about that, but from what we heard, the new backing is a lot more fingerprint-smudgy than the first.
