Bottom line on the iPhone: No.
iPhone calls look great, they just don't SOUND good!
(Credit: Apple, Inc.)OK, bottom line on the iPhone: The PHONE part of it sucks! I have about eight cell phones and four BlackBerrys here - and the iPhone ranks lowest in clarity. Major negative. That alone would keep me from buying one if I were you (but of course we know *I* have a cellular obsession).
Other notes: The locking feature is great. Easy, smooth. Clock and Weather are fine. Its iPod is an iPod (my, time does make us blas?!). The PDA function rocks! Neat and clean. (CNET has a video on just about every feature of the iPhone for those interested.)
So it truly is an 8 overall - not a 10. The poor phone quality, disappointing battery in my real-world use, clumsy mail deletion and most of all the two-year commitment are enough to lean me to a "no".
But I can't want for the next iPhone -- when I assume all this will get fixed.
Ronn Owens is the host of a popular morning talk show on KGO-AM in Northern California. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. 
one. Activation took all of 5 minutes. As compaired to my Treo and my Razor
phones I fnd the rception to be superior to either of these two phones. Also I
find that the sound quality is better than either of them, particully the Treo. You
rated the phone an 8 and then proceeded to say no to a buy. IMHO an 8 rates a
buy any day.
one. Activation took all of 5 minutes. As compaired to my Treo and my Razor
phones I fnd the rception to be superior to either of these two phones. Also I
find that the sound quality is better than either of them, particully the Treo. You
rated the phone an 8 and then proceeded to say no to a buy. IMHO an 8 rates a
buy any day.
And don't give me that "Who needs 3G when it has Wi-Fi!" bullocks. There are so few free hotspots in this country, even in major cities, that just about the only Wi-Fi access point most people will have access to is their own home, in which case they will just use their PC to go online instead of the iPhone. (Steve Jobs was just plain stupid using Starbuck's as an example of how Wi-Fi is everywhere; Starbuck's charges a subscription fee to use their hotspots.)
Service provider aside, no Java or Flash support will make the browser pretty much useless at many major websites. That is just about as big a deal-breaker for me as AT&T is.
If the next iPhone doesn't have 3G, Java, and Flash support, and a better carrier than AT&T (preferably Sprint over Verizon, since Sprint's data service for smartphones is cheaper and less-restrictive than Verizon's), then the iPhone is going to bomb.
It's a shame, too, since the iPhone could have been the next RAZR, if only Apple/Jobs had been smarter with the choice of carriers and technical specs.
And don't give me that "Who needs 3G when it has Wi-Fi!" bullocks. There are so few free hotspots in this country, even in major cities, that just about the only Wi-Fi access point most people will have access to is their own home, in which case they will just use their PC to go online instead of the iPhone. (Steve Jobs was just plain stupid using Starbuck's as an example of how Wi-Fi is everywhere; Starbuck's charges a subscription fee to use their hotspots.)
Service provider aside, no Java or Flash support will make the browser pretty much useless at many major websites. That is just about as big a deal-breaker for me as AT&T is.
If the next iPhone doesn't have 3G, Java, and Flash support, and a better carrier than AT&T (preferably Sprint over Verizon, since Sprint's data service for smartphones is cheaper and less-restrictive than Verizon's), then the iPhone is going to bomb.
It's a shame, too, since the iPhone could have been the next RAZR, if only Apple/Jobs had been smarter with the choice of carriers and technical specs.
Call Clarity??! Uh... stop trying to make calls in the elevator. It don't work. You can fault acoustics, but "call clairty"? That is a function of so many variables, it's not even worth evaluating.
You are right, however.. and ipod is an ipod is an ipod... which means it's not a Zune, a Sony-Wannabee or any of the other 10% that make up the MP3 players sold in recent memory.
What you DIDN'T mention was the INTEGRATION between all of these tools. Of course, that would be too obvious by someone writing a *technology review*.
*sheesh* some people wouldn't recognize innovation if it fell out of the sky, sat on their face, and wiggled.
Call Clarity??! Uh... stop trying to make calls in the elevator. It don't work. You can fault acoustics, but "call clairty"? That is a function of so many variables, it's not even worth evaluating.
You are right, however.. and ipod is an ipod is an ipod... which means it's not a Zune, a Sony-Wannabee or any of the other 10% that make up the MP3 players sold in recent memory.
What you DIDN'T mention was the INTEGRATION between all of these tools. Of course, that would be too obvious by someone writing a *technology review*.
*sheesh* some people wouldn't recognize innovation if it fell out of the sky, sat on their face, and wiggled.
- iPhone call quality is horrible...
- by idoublel2thac July 31, 2007 9:21 AM PDT
- The iPhone shouldn't really be called the iPhone. It should be called the iCanDoJustAboutEverythingOk... Its a true jack of all trades yet master of none. For those of you who swear blind that the call quality is good must know Steve Jobs yourselves and do him favors as well... Because I had 5 iPhones in a one month timespan (Jun 30th-July 30th) and I had nothing but problems with the device. Granted, it is a very pretty and attractive device, that doesn't mean that it justifies it's high price tag and 2 yr commitment. I believe that most of the errors in this 1st Gen iPhone will be fixed in the 2nd Gen iPhone. Hopefully, they correct the biggest flaw, the PHONE! Make sure that the thing can make and receive calls with excellent clarity. I switched to T-Mobile after I had my iPhone (which i had to switch constantly...) and I got a T-Mobile Wing. Yes its a WM device but guess what? It works... Yes it has a slower processor but guess what? It works... I believe that if T-Mobile had 3G they would easily be at least 2nd if not 1st amongst the US carriers. I don't believe people can talk about phones when they have never owned them so thats why I had to purchase the iPhone and see how it really worked and if it met the hype. And the simple answer is NO. So please anyone who loves gadgets like I do (especially cellphones) don't buy this device before you know what your getting into. And thats a phone function that actually is the worst that I've ever used and everything else that looks nice but doesn't work all that great aside from the iPod. That is pretty nice... lol
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