Cool stuff

The New Apple iPhone '3G'

Yes, it's hard to believe that the iPhone has already been out for over a year.

Now the newest version is out there for sale and I hear that it's a HUGE hit!

It fixes most of the earlier gripes about the original phone which boiled down to speed, speed and speed. People evidently had an issue with having to wait for their internet connections and getting email and widget updates. Well, now the complaining is over, almost.

I cant get one, yet. When I bought my Treo I signed a contract and the new pricing on the 3G iPhone requires a 'new' contract to get the best pricing. Oh, sure, I could buy a new iPhone but the cost goes from $299 to $499 for folks like me. We are so lucky that we get to pay an extra $200 to get the darn thing quicker than waiting for the 'equipment upgrade' part of our contract to kick in. Well, in today's economy, who knows if I'll be able to get one at that time. Don't these policies make so little sense? Penalize me for wanting to extend my contract by 2 years over my current balance and make me pay $200 to do it? Where is the sense in that?

I will soon be able to upgrade and am looking forward to it. Meanwhile, the rest of my family already have the little jems and I have to support them and not ruin them by the drooling... The screen is better, the speaker phone is better, the headphoes are supposed to be better (who uses non-BlueTooth devices anymore?). Also the new iPhone has GPS capability! How cool is that? I even have my case already. (I was never able to wait for Christmas either...) If I get one, I'll have other comments. I did get one though from the family unit who spent some time in Chicago recently. They lugged their notebook (Mac Book Pro, what else) and didn't end up opening it at all. Cool. They checked and responded to emails and of course the instant messages with ease. The flights were short enough to not need to watch a DVD in the cheap seats so it sat un-used. That would be a strange feeling. The sagging shoulder and not even use it? BAH!

The (original) Apple iPhone

(Incase you haven't heard about Apple's newest toy)

I missed out on the iPhone by about a week. My contract was up with that 'V' carrier and I had to get a phone so I got a 'C' carrier Palm Treo. It's Windows Mobile based but I needed a phone. It turns out that I could have returned the Treo for an iPhone. For various reasons I kept the Treo. I guess that 'bleeding edge' looked a little to sharp in the days before the iPhone was released

So far, there have been sporadic issues with the iPhone but nothing that would cause huge issues for even an eighth of the current users. Quite a large act to pull off considering the complexity of the iPhone and the number of them that have been sold.

I tried the demo unit at the local at&t store and was surprised at how well the thing worked and how easy it was to get it to function. It's almost too easy! Really!

There is one thing that keeps me from running down to the at&t store and buying one (besides money): It's locked to the current carrier in America: at&t. What does that mean? Case in point: I traveled to England ealier this year. I got my Treo 'unlocked'. I got to England and one of the first things that I bought was a new 'SIMM' card for my phone. I installed the SIMM card and away I went. Instead of the outragious $1.65+ that I would be charged to call back home, I was paying $.05 per minute! Hah! Not a bad discount on using the phone 'over there'.

As soon as Apple unlocks the iPhone, I'll be hard pressed to not get one, although due to an EU lawsuit, Apple in Germany apparently has to offer the iPhone without a contract so that EU residents can use their carrier of choice. The cost of the 'unlocked' iPhone in Germany? Nearly $1,500US. Given that you would spend OVER that amount on the chosen carrier if you bought the locked iPhone, it opens the door for other carriers to offer iPhone plans for less.

Competition is a good thing after all...