iPhone 3G: What we didn't get
Did the iPhone 3G meet your expectations?
(Credit: Apple)Our long national nightmare is over. Finally Steve Jobs saw it fit to announce to the world the existence of the iPhone 3G, and it does indeed have quite a few improvements over the current iteration--3G is huge, of course, GPS is a welcome addition, and third-party applications are nothing to be sneezed at. Not to mention it's slightly thicker at 4.5 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.48 inch, has a black plastic back, a flush headphone jack, and just got a huge price cut (the 8GB will retail for $199 while the 16GB will retail for $299).
But we were expecting a lot more than what Jobs announced. Here's a short list of what we wanted from the second-gen iPhone, but just didn't get.
- Multimedia messaging - Almost every other cell phone in the market has the ability to send images to other cell phones via multimedia messaging, or MMS. Yes you can still e-mail those photos, but MMS is such a basic feature that it should've been in the iPhone from the start.
- Copy and paste - Again, this is such a basic feature. Having copy and paste makes it easier to type out text messages and e-mails.
- Video recording - In the world of mobile video, Qik, and YouTube, it's a shame the iPhone doesn't have video-recording capabilities. Yes the quality wouldn't be that great, but it should be an option anyway.
- Voice command - For a touch-screen phone, we think voice command and voice dialing would've been a great feature add-on for the iPhone. Perhaps this will be added via a third-party app, but we would really prefer this to be a native setting.
- Bluetooth flexibility - Right now, all you can use Bluetooth on the iPhone for are headset voice calls, and that's it. This is sufficient for most people, sure, but we would like for Apple and AT&T to open up the Bluetooth profiles for the iPhone. This means we would like stereo Bluetooth and A2DP for streaming music wirelessly, Bluetooth tethering so we can use the iPhone as a modem, and finally we would like to have Bluetooth file-transfer protocol so we can transfer files to and fro the iPhone.
These are just a few omissions we could think of. Did the iPhone 3G meet your expectations, or would you rather it have a few more features? Let us know in the comments!
Nicole Lee is an associate editor for CNET, covering cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, and all things mobile. She's also pretty geeky--she likes World of Warcraft, comic books, and shiny gadgets. E-mail Nicole. 
There are so many flaws with the Windows Mobile software...too many to list really. iPhone OS is so much better in every way.
Also think of this: Imagine all of the features on the "wish list" would have been included, then we would not have anything to wish for in the next version (ok ok... we always have things to wish for....)
"90 percent of the time you will have to BUY a new phone, as compared to the iPhone, which is solely software driven"
So you don't BUY the new I-phone?
NEW:
Height: 4.5 inches (115.5 mm)
Width: 2.4 inches (62.1 mm)
Depth: 0.48 inch (12.3 mm) - NEW Thickness
Weight: 4.7 ounces (133 grams)
OLD:
Height: 4.5 inches (115 mm)
Width: 2.4 inches (61 mm)
Depth: 0.46 inch (11.6 mm) - OLD Thickness
Weight: 4.8 ounces (135 grams)
today, we use MMS because, well, every other pre-iphone does it. it's not ideal but it's used because it's "there". perhaps MMS is an aging format like floppy disk that we think is the ideal way to share images, but there we haven't realize a better way yet.
GREED GREED GREED
Steve in EUG
So, the new iPhones are more expensive if you calculate the extra $10 or $15 per month that you will pay for the 2 years of your contract!
And all phones have had it for years.
- by iforeigner June 9, 2008 2:15 PM PDT
- Have you noticed that your whishing list can be fully satisfied (with tons of bits and pieces to spare) with the HTC Touch Diamond! Apple has always been a con and now finally more and more people are seeing it clearly. The price tag was a last resource to try and keep as many costumers as possible. The iPhone still is a mediocre mobile phone and was very lucky to get away with all the spinning from Mr. Jobs HQ. Get real and get real value for your money by taking it elsewhere.
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- by wantzep June 10, 2008 4:24 AM PDT
- Please give me a break. HTC Touch is just vaporware.
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- by coisman June 10, 2008 10:14 PM PDT
- I've been disappointed for HTC recently. They've got some powerful hardware acceleration chips but are too damn lazy to make the appropriate software drivers for it, rendering their new line of phones sluggish.
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- by patrick_i June 15, 2008 3:16 PM PDT
- Oh, come on now. If it was just a matter of features any number of phones could be deemed better then the iPhone or your precious HTC. The point of the iPhone is not just what it can do, but how easily and well it does what it does. And if you saw the demo's (at WWDC) of some software, there is no other DEVICE that can do what it does. No cell phone, no computer, nothing. Call me a fanboy but at least I'm not being blindly ignorant. P.S. the problem with the American consumer is they have the "Burger King" syndrome.... I HAVE TO HAVE IT MY WAY!!
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Showing 1 of 11 pages (321 Comments)Also, Windows Mobile blows.