Letters to the Editor
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I don't think its a good phone...or revolutionary
Ok, lets look at this
WiFi on cellphone.
Nokia and other handset manufacturers have this in some phones. Is it revolutionary? Actually yes…if they were able to integrate it into the rest of the phone to provide VoIP (free or cheap “internet calls”). They could integrate it. But they don’t because the carriers would really not be happy if the phones they sell with service contracts allow users to make free internet calls on open networks. Hence, Wifi on cell-phones – including the iPhone – is there just for web-browsing. In fact, the iPhone is even more limited than other WiFi phones because it does not allow 3rd party apps that can take advantage of this feature. Make no mistake though… sooner or later one of the Chinese cell-phone manufacturers will finally get smart and integrate WiFi with VoIP function (in China, telco carriers are not that strong because most phones are not sold with a service contract).
(BTW, check out this link: http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/06/27/t-mobile-goes-national-with-hotspot-home-wifi-calling/ TMobile is getting in the action with WiFi hybrid service. Don’t think its completely integrated yet, but they are starting down that path. I wonder if this will force AT&T to go this route, or will they keep it closed?)
iPod iPhone / music phone
Fine. Except now a lot of devices come out with A2DP Bluetooth profile on the phone, but iPhone does not have this. Which means you can use wireless headsets. This is a feature I like in my current phone (Moto Krzr) because I can listen to music, answer a call, AND I don’t get tangled up in wires. Furthermore, you can’t customize your ringtones with MP3 (or at least, that’s what I heard). Now, I can imagine that A2DP support might be added later in a patch. But why leave out the customize ringtones? That’s a standard function already two years old. I believe the reason might be to let AT&T sell ringtones. And that, to me, is a big deal-breaker in terms of the ethics of the company. They are intentionally limiting their product in order to milk the consumer later on with features that are free to other phone users.
Business Usage
Cannot cut and paste. Keypad (in current form) is unwieldy. This would be OK if they allowed third-party applications to cut and paste and have land-scape keyboard. We will see how it develops in the future, but on launch, this thing cannot replace even mid-range cell-phones in business functionality.
Other:
No video recording. No Adobe Flash support. No 3G. The first two may be patched later. Otherwise many websites will not display and the the multi-media capabilities of the device are less than mid-range non-smart phones. No 3G means that for internet to be available and usable, it has to be in a WiFi spot. See WiFi above.
All of the defects of this phone may be changed later with incremental improvements. But right now, in all but visual design, this device is inferior to other smart phones (and some non-smart phones), heavily proprietary (no 3rd party programs, no VoIP), and very expensive. And definitely not revolutionary.