The iPhone, Misguided?
Ok, so Apple, Inc released their much anticipated “iPhone” today, and it’s an awesome package to behold . . .
The Good:
- Great Interface . . . one that only Apple could envision and execute!
- Well Rounded Feature Set!
- Marvelous Design!
- It’s Gorgeous!
But I’ve got a few issues that will need to be resolved before I will buy one:
- EDGE?!?!? Apple, are you serious? Have you tried an EDGE data connection on Cingular? Calling it painful is generous . . . at best! A couple of facts about EDGE:
- It’s inadequate for video streaming and/or near real time media downloads. Less than 80k of throughput . . . in real world use, much less!
- Cingular is in the process of deploying UTMS/HSDPA 3G networking, and there should be a fair amount of coverage in metro areas within the year.
- There are many phones on the market with combined GPRS/EDGE/UTMS data support, why limit the iPhone?
- This handset has to be usable for at least as long as the carrier commitment (2 years minimum for this deal). Launching a “revolutionary” phone with yesterdays data access is inexcusable.
- The cellular ecosystem does not allow for the same upgrade cycle that Apple has enjoyed previously with the iPod. The cost of upgrading hardware mid-contract is prohibitively expensive. Who here has experienced the sticker shock of replacing a lost or damaged handset? What’s the price of this phone without a “carrier subsidy”? Enough said.
- I really hope the hardware is capable of 3G/UTMS/HSDPA out of the box . . . just waiting for a code to activate, like the recent stealth roll out of the Pre-N WiFi cards in recent Apple hardware?
- 4/8Gb Storage? Not enough to use it for a video media player
- I hope the slot below the camera lens (on the left side of the phone) is a removable media bay (CompactFlash I Hope, but I’ll settle for SD).
- WiFi Access:
- Where is the seamless VoIP integration that can roam between the Cingular and WiFi network?
- Open WiFi is not ubiquitous in the US, and most public access is fee based.
- Cingular, your signal sucks in my house but I have great WiFi coverage.
- And now no user installable applications . . . according to The Unofficial Apple Weblog.
January 12th, 2007 at 2:03 am
fwiw, I am already streaming video from a Slingbox over an EDGE connection. In low coverage areas, it is prone to stuttering and still frames, but with a decent connection, it streams pretty well.
January 12th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Interesting . . . what device are you using to stream to? Any idea of the bitrate you were using? I would be interested in seeing just how much bandwidth is required to stream that content from the Slingbox.
My experience with a Treo650 as well as various Motorola and Nokia phones showed that EDGE had poor data performance in the San Francisco area on the Cingular network for simple things like web browsing and large email attachments.
I still question the ability of EDGE to support a wide-screen video at a high enough bitrate to provide 30fps, but at this point it seems a moot point given the limited initial specs of the iPhone which indicate a fairly closed handset . . .
Only time will tell what features the phone will actually ship with in “June”. . . and what features the phone will have in hardware, but not activate upon shipping, like say, maybe UTMS/HSDPA support . . . here’s to keeping ones fingers crossed.