iPhone 4

[Westsider]

Wow... I thought someone would have mentioned the new iPhone was announced early this morning!



http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/ ... ameras.ars

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/ ... hone-4.ars

Should be available here mid-July. Between $850-$970. I'll be getting one!

[Wedgie]

Very cool, only thing that stops it from being perfect now is bloody Itunes!
I'll stick with my 32gb 3gs for the time being but want one!
Might give mine to my daughter and get a new one! He he

[Psyber]

I just bought a nice Nokia slide phone for $150 as the phone I bought for $300 in 2004 is about to die - I can't get a new battery for it any more.
Then I don't use them for anything but the occasional phone call...

[Dutchy]

Why are they so cheap in the US compared to here?

[Wedgie]

Why are they so cheap in the US compared to here?

Don't know that they are, they say US$200 and US$300 with a contract.
Last one I bought for my missus was AU$240 (payable over 2 years) with a contract.

[Westsider]

The pricing announced is with a 24 months contract with AT&T.

In the US you can only get the iPhone from AT&T, and all iPhones are locked to AT&T.

This is why Jailbreaking is so big over there.

I'm hearing a July 16 release date for Australia. Pre-orders July 9. (RUMOUR ONLY)

[Dutchy]

Ah OK, thought that was an outright price.

My contract expires in August so may look at one then.

My wife has one on the Vodaphone network and we arent really happy with the coverage, I know Telstra is the best (but expensive) - is any other carrier better than vodaphone?

[Wedgie]

I've been with Vodaphone, Telstra, Optus and Three. I doubt Ill ever move from Three, best value by far IMHO.
And they used to share Telstras coverage in the country, probably still do but I hardly go country these days.

[Westsider]

3 will be using Vodafone for roaming in the next 6 months as Vodafone bought them out (or something like that)

iPhone's currently on the optus network are crap as they can only use the 2100Mhz band. But iPhone 4 is quad band and will be able to utilise both the 2100mhz and 900mhz.

Three is great if you are always in the three zone. But outside that you have to pay for data on roaming.

[Q.]

3 will be using Vodafone for roaming in the next 6 months as Vodafone bought them out (or something like that)

Other way around - 3Mobile bought out Vodafone.

[Westsider]

3 will be using Vodafone for roaming in the next 6 months as Vodafone bought them out (or something like that)

Other way around - 3Mobile bought out Vodafone.

Actually no, they merged. 50/50 each in a new company called VHA (Vodafone Hutchinson Australia).

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/telecomm ... esses.html

The merger, announced this morning, will see each company hold 50% in the new enterprise but will operate under the Vodafone brand. VHA will also hold the exclusive rights to the 3 brand.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/02/vodaf ... australia/

[Q.]

iPhone 4 Loses Reception When You Hold It By The Antenna Band?

[Westsider]

Funny how the old iphone had the exact same problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN6265QQwhU

Yet people didn't complain about the 3G or 3GS did they? It people just apple bashing for the sake of apple bashing.

Hell if I hold my nokia n95 a certain way my signal drops to nothing, and thats less than 100m from a tower.

[Psyber]

If you cover the antenna of anything it doesn't help it work, but it is easier not to if you can see where it is.

[Westsider]

True.

I think the main issue is if you hold it over where the two antenna's are split.

[Q.]

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/iphone/battered-apple-stops-dodging-iphone-4-issues-20100715-10c5e.html

Apple often refuses to acknowledge failings in its products and the iPhone 4 is no exception. Its chief executive, Steve Jobs, initially said iPhone 4 owners who were experiencing problems were simply holding the phone wrongly.

Apple later blamed the issue on a software bug, saying it was "stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong".

But tech pundits weren't buying that explanation and independent testing by Consumer Reports revealed that the reception problems were the result of a hardware design flaw. It said it wouldn't recommend the device until the signal problem was fixed.

[Westsider]

LOL that article is flawed!

Read the articles on Anandtech. Very indepth and interesting.

The new iOS update now truely shows signal strength. Previously iOS 4.0 showed full 5 bars of coverage when you really had only 3-4 bars.



Any phone which you hold in your hand will suffer signal loss.

[Westsider]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3821/ipho ... signal-fix

You have to remember the majority of the issues are coming out of the US. ALL iPhone 4's are on AT&T. AT&T's network compared to ours is shite! Peoples bestcoverage over there is 2-3 bars, not the 4 or 5 we get here. Also the test's done by anandtech show you can have a call and have full data with only 1 bar of 3G coverage.

The phone itself delivers better battery life than anything else in its class, has good performance and a wonderful screen. Whether or not the antenna design manifests itself as an issue really depends on AT&T’s coverage where you’re using the phone. As a result, AT&T can also share in the blame here.

The above article is indepth, but here is part of the summary. With a bumper the phone behaves as good, if not better, that the old iPhone!

Criticism that isn't constructive is rarely useful, and as we’ve just shown there are things that Apple can do to address the issue today. Using a bumper the iPhone 4 behaves no differently than the 3GS. Hold the phone as tightly as you want with a bumper and it’ll lose as much signal as a 3GS or Nexus One. Put some sort of insulating coating on the stainless steel band and you’ll significantly reduce, but not eliminate the issue.

Why wouldn't you have a case or bumper to protect a $1000 phone like the iphone?