Thoughts On The iPhone 4 ...

Here's a review I wrote on eBay for the iPhone 4 on launch day:

The iPhone 4 is the ultimate upgrade to the iPhone line.

What else could they possibly add in an upgrade?

I've owned each iPhone from day 1 of their launch dates.

I've owned a cellphone since 1992. I've always had a "top of the line phone"

(I've always had AT&T = formerly Cingular = formerly BellSouth Mobility)

In 17 years having cellphones, I've had over 100 (Yes 100+) different models & makes.

I've also had a few days each with the Palm Pre and Motorola Droid - neither compare to the iPhone 4.

The screen on the new iPhone 4 (also known as the iPhone HD) has to be seen to be believed. One thing that not many people are saying about the iPhone is that the screen seems to be a part of the glass, not slightly recessed behind a piece of glass.

Besides the screen that's been compared to a high end laser printer for text, the new iPhone has a new button arrangement that is easier to press and understand their functionality.

The iPhone 4 also has a new antenna that delivers almost twice the performance for cell signal, bluetooth, and wifi. The casing IS the antenna!

The wifi signal has been boosted from 802.11g to 802.11n - greatly extending the range, security, and bandwidth of the signal.

The new camera on the iPhone 4 (5 megapixel) bumps up from the 2 megapixel on the original iPhone and bumps up from the 3.2 megapixel on the iPhone 3Gs. (Original and 3G shared the same camera & processor)

I had an original Apple Quicktake camera and it was amazing even though it was below a megapixel - when Apple discontinued cameras in 1998 I longed for the day when they would again create a camera using their expertise. With the iPhone that happened - with the iPhone 4 the perfect camera now exists! A camera that can instantly share a picture or video on the internet, thru email, or save for later. A camera that has ON device editing - even through Photoshop using the Adobe Photoshop app.

The iPhone 4 also adds a front facing camera which allows you to video conference with other iPhone 4 users.

The iPhone 4 also brings a new operating system (to all iPhones) and multiple application use (multitasking) to the 3GS and iPad, and iPhone 4.

The iPhone 4 uses GSM - an international standard technology for cellphones.

Verizon & Sprint use CDMA (& variants) - this technology is found in very few places widespread outside the USA & Europe.

While the iPhone 4 also has better GPS functionality - the Google maps app is decent but not the best - but the best app for GPS certainly got better with the better antenna and the new accelerometer/gyroscope in the iPhone 4 - try Navigon - it ROCKS!

Because an iPhone uses standard iPod sync & charge cables, accessories are easy to find.

Battery life is very good & improved from the previous generations of iPhones; even when utilizing power draining features like Wifi & Bluetooth.

I can actually use the calculator on an iPhone, unlike on other cell phones where you have to figure out corresponding keys.

I have a lot of music nearly 2000 songs and a GPS app that takes up almost a gigabyte, plus nearly 1000 pictures on my iPhone and the 16GB model is perfect for me - leaving me with 4 gigs of space left.

I now have zero complaints about the iPhone 4. My complaints are relegated to AT&T!

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Nokia: ‘We Prioritize Antenna Performance Over Physical Design if They Are Ever in Conflict’

John Gruber of the tech blog Daring Fireball ...

Judging by how their phones look, must be a lot of conflicts.

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My take on the iPhone 4 and the issues of signal loss when "holding the iPhone wrong" ...

1) All iPhones have had this problem - one of my Nokias (that I still use as a back up) has this issue

2) This is a rather common problem with cellphones ... "where you hold it" ... but the iPhone has a particular spot that is "made worse" by the touch of your skin. The solution is simple - put it in a case - in my opinion you're an idiot if you don't have a $500 value "thing you own" protected - at least in some manner.

3) Methinks Verizon (and possibly Nokia) has stepped into the role of Creative (an old Apple iPod rival) ... at ANY chance they are PLANTING FUD into the media - even going as far as making things up like "what anonymous Apple engineers have said".

4) A case (mine is made by a company called Rocketfish) did help my signal "issues" greatly as did the update to the iPhone OS (OS4.0.1)

Provided below is a link to the Steve Jobs (and crew @ Apple) talk on the iPhone 4 signal issue ... It also explains the process to get a free bumper.

You can see the press conference here:

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/100716iab73asc/event/index.html