Life After My iPhone Comments

I am an iphone 3GS (and former 3G and touch 1G) owner. Suffice to say, i love the iphoneOS devices, and haven't yet found another device with an interface to match. Having said that, i agree with many of your criticisms regarding the iphone (codec support, proper video output, open source etc etc), but i have solved most of these by jailbreaking all of my (and all of my friend's) devices. I recommend doing the same if you are getting bored of your vanilla iphone.

However, your itunes problem; you could have skipped the app updates, backups etc etc by simply clicking the small x in the now playing window bar thing. It would then move on to copying music, having cancelled all of the other rubbish. Well, that's how it worked for me on the mac version of itunes 8 (haven't tried it on windows, or itunes 9).

I too eagerly await a proper competitor to the iphone, because as was shown when the pre launched in america, it shoves a stick up apple's ar*e, and the consumer wins overall :)

I have actually recently given up on the iTunes/iPhone combo after having had both the original iPhone and the 3G since near the original launch. as great as all the things that the phone offers are it is still plagued by things that are just silly considering the software has been out for so long.

not to start any flame wars but the current and upcoming landscape seem to make me think that maybe its time to go elsewhere (and I wont go into the usual things like why it needed to take so long for MMS & forwarding texts to be available)

but why are there still no options for choosing which day your week starts on in the calendar? (to change to say, a Sunday you are required to reset your entire regional preferences to USA for example - where as iCal on the desktop can do this without issue)

why can you not turn the handset sideways and see a quick view of your week? (for a device that was so heavily marketed towards business users when they launched OS 2.0 & landscape use in 3.0 - again iCal on the desktop has Week View)

why can you not create new calendars on the phone itself?

why are there no options for shared inboxes in mail? (Mail on the desktop supports this)

and I am not going to get into the exchange support fiasco with 3.1 as its effects vary from user to user

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not wanting to attack the phone as it has been relatively good to me after all the time I have spent with it as part of my daily life - however for all its great features, familiarity breeds contempt and I have seen much that is lacking that shouldn't be there in software that is in its third official revision.

and as JellyUK stated you really do need to jailbreak to get the most from the device. It makes it go from being a toy for adults (that happens to also make phone calls) into something significant in portable computing.

what to go to next is the question though, it will be tough to decide.

an N900 for its focus on active multitasking and open OS?
a Pre for more open development than the apple app store and their willingness to turn a blind eye to jailbreak apps?
Android for a wider range of devices and form factors?
one of the newer blackberries when they eventually come out in UK?
a HTC Leo if winmo is your thing?

Who knows.... what you get is up to you, but all I know is that I will be something with better battery life for a start...

T28.

Surprise, surprise, yet another retarded, anti-apple article by TrustedReviews!
Fact of the matter is that no device is perfect. Yes, the iPhone has some minor faults and features that could do with improvement but the benefits it has brought far out weigh those niggles. With the iPhone, Apple gave the industry a kick up the arse and made other manufacturers rethink about their crappy products and come up with better devices. This is of course all good for consumers and should also keep Apple on their toes to keep innovating.
The fact that you left it 30 minutes to sync before leaving, knowing that you had new songs, out of date apps etc, is a silly on your own part. Like already mentioned you could have cut down the time to sync by clicking the 'x', for backups etc and the fact that you didn't know that makes me question your tech knowledge. Drag and drop for music wouldn't have helped much either, as the music files still need to be transferred over USB from your computer to the device, so the principle it's similar to syncing. Your experience would have been the same with any other similar device so going out of your way to criticise the iPhone and sync process when it was your own fault for not keeping your device up to date and syncing so late, is very misleading for your readers.

Great article Andy. The iPhone is an awesome bit of kit and it's taken a long time but I think others are fnally starting to catch up, if not quite supass it. It still might be the best choice for you (and many others) but there's definitely other products worth having a look at.

strange article you start saying your contract runs out soon then decide on an mp3 player,shouldnt this be about phones?.as for 1080p out who would use that? you need a 15-25gb film on the device itself,as for iphones video codec you can now transcode 700mb in about 6 minutes.best thing is get an iphone 3gs and learn how to use itunes properly.

An excellent article I think. I'm a big Apple fan, but have great reservations about their approach at times. Lack of codec support being one example.

In general I think TR is neither pro or anti Apple/Microsoft/Google, but no doubt others will always disagree, it never ceases to amaze me how emotional people get about technology. Kepe up the great work TR!

Sync your iPhone every day, get a 3GS, and stop whining =D

My 215TW's backlight has just started dying after 3 years of noble service. It was still a faithful servant.

I agree: the backup can be annoying. You can bypass on Windows Vista by clicking the little "x" in the progress window. I have done several times. It is particularly annoying if you buy in-app downloads, with map tiles, like from LonelyPlanet.

The updates for apps is entirely avoidable. You can ignore them. Regular update is a double edged sword, particularly with navigation apps, which can be around 1.5GB and require empty space to install.

The updates for firmware are entirely avoidable too: just say no.

Another solution for adding music is to use Spotify and leave it download an offline playlist. It feels pretty quick, but I haven't timed to compare to iTunes USB sync.

So much new stuff is coming i'd have no idea - all i know is the xperia sucks with video playback so i bought myself a cheap ipod touch because other zen devices screens are too small

Hmm, I actually agree with betelgeus on this one in that you're talking about swapping a phone for a media player which seems a bit odd. It seems to me that you're really commenting on a potential future device which isn't yet on the market or, for that matter, really announced from anyone.

Looking at the market as it is right now I'd say that Apple don't make the best media player... but then again I'd have said that for the last few years really. But as a platform, as something to by your primary internet, social networking and portable app device, it's without peer at the moment and I really don't see that gap closing any time soon. Handset manufacturers have had two years plus now to get it right but they're still following the iPhone template. That's great and all but by the time someone gets it right Apple will launch a new model and move away again. The software isn't there either - Android is nice but still fairly clunky in a lot of ways and it just feels like a geek toy rather than an everyday device somehow. Palm OS is in desperate need of more handsets, wider availabiltiy and a real compeling reason to own it (as well as more apps). Symbian is... umm, well it's currently dribbling in a corner somewhere but it's served well for many years so let's just put it in the rest home for antiquaited OS's and let it die quietly. And then there's Windows Mobile which is going to be fantastic when version 7 comes out. Sadly that's going to be about two years too late though and the rest of the industry has moved on.

The killer for Apple is going to be the Apps store. They've got a single platform that's cheap and simple to develop for with a huge install base who WILL spend money on Apps. I just don't see how others are going to compete with that, especially in the case of Android where the install base is splintered across a range of hardware and who do seem to be largely tech geeks (I count myself as one btw, no insult intended) and that segment do seem to be... reluctant to pay for stuff if they can get it free via Jailbreak etc.

All that being said, I hope someone does step up and really deliver something that beats the iPhone and moves the game on. Competition is always good after all and it's always better to have multiple companies innovating rather than one that's being copied by everyone else.

Ok this has been bugging me about TR articles for a good while now.
Accepted. Excepted. Please, please, learn the difference.

In my opinion, humble or otherwise, the iPhone in all of it's guises, has some pretty fundamental shortcomings, low resolution camera, no flash, apps restricted to what is available on iTunes to name but a few.

However, I currently have a 32Gb 3GS and would not change it in the slighest. It's by far the best all round phone I have ever owned ( LG Renoir, Nokia N95, Sony K750 & T610 ).

poor TR..... where technology meets rabid brand loyalty there really is no way to win....

Some people's minor flaws are other's major faults (the subjective nature of lcd ghosting is a great example) and vice versa.

Oh, and i'm really looking forward to seeing how the Zii pans out.

also most of the complaints have been solved with apps,touch copy uses it as a thumb drive.

Did anyone every find out if the Zii is going to be able to accept a cellular communication module in one of it's expansion slots?

A Zii-phone would be mighty sweet as long as creative/seller sort out the sync software to behave as user requires, not creative/seller demands..

Does there always have to be crusty old farts posting useless comments about TR "fanboyism"?? Sheesh!

ok shush now drdread bedtime....creative were a major name at one time,a name to trust i think they have to do a palm and forget this zii and make a one must have item,or put the processing into somtehing that dosen't look 5 years old.or go really cheap.

problem is there is hardware in them to make them far more desirable like FM radio and a transmitter, full bluetooth (why not give us it), being capable of full 1080p and in the case of the new touch wifi N, some of you will complain that they're not enabled to preserve battery life but surely they shoud give us the choice as to how we want to use the device and allow them to be turned off.

also the reason it's good to have 1080p video is to be able to output it to a tv (maybe at a friends house far easier to carry your phone or mp3 player than a blu ray and a player if they dont have one) and not to just watch them on the device cause the amount of space HD movies take up is very sizable but acceptable just for an evening or so.

sure you could jailbreak it but why should you have to void your warranty and run the risk of bricking your device just to enable a few functions that should be present by default, take a hyperthetical bluetooth situation in a rushed lunch meeting "here's three contacts you'll need, have you got bump!?" "no and the networks rubbish here so I can't download and install it either you'll have to hang on while I have to type them out manually" heaven forbid you have a buisness contact that doesnt have an iphone.

Good article, Andy. Despite one video-nastied XPS M1330, my current model has done stirling work for the last year and I still think it's rather wonderful. I actually bought a Zune HD in the USA a week ago but pretty much immediately decided I'd sell it. There is much in its favour: the design and the UI in particular, but the final deciders where the unexpandable storage and the sound quality, which to my ears (with Klipsch X10 phones) was inferior to the similarly recently-released Sansa Clip+, which I bought at the same time for a mere 48 USD. I was also unimpressed by the Zune HD's limited EQ options and really hated the fact that outputting HD video required the purchase of a separate dock. At the end of the day, I simply want the best music player without too many bells and whistles, and I have to admit to being generally underwhelmed by the infatuation with touchscreen technology. The yet-to-be-released, non-touchscreen Sony NW-A847 (62Gb, yes!) is likely to be my next purchase, but the Creative Egg Zii (or whatever it finally appears as) also looks pretty enticing despite some concerns about build quality. Interesting times, for sure.

I personally have no issues with iTunes, I just sync fairly regularly and sometimes include or exclude certain things from the sync procedure and have nop problems with the software.

All Creative products look enticing at first glance. But their inability to commit resources to any one product after launch is their downfall. They assume their products are perfect at launch (their not), and getting help or upgrades is like pulling teeth. Then it's quickly swept under the carpet as all the feature you expected/wanted appear in the next new product, and the whole cycle begins again. This could be argued for many manufacturers, but Creative seem to excel at poor after sales support. Just dip your toe into their support forums one day...

But hey - it looks like an iPhone, can't receive phone calls, and it's capabilities as a PDA are still something of a mystery (but it's open like Android, and we all know how successful that has been(!)). I can see why you'd ditch your iPhone for it.

Oh wait, no I can't.

I will never buy this piece of crap (I say this because Apple is now the new M$ not because of the products). Protectionist, closed and a monopoly. Apple will sell their overpriced goods to style conscience, status seeking people who like to play one upmanship with other people. Quite frankly no device is worth that much and also deserves so much media hype as Apple products. As the author said that there is a great device Creative Zii Egg out there and the media would like to knock it down (or ignore) even though it sounds an excellent product. I have been following the progress of this tech and despite its great credentials it's given neither coverage nor chance. I think people who blindly support everything Apple (Nvidia, M$ or whom ever) need to take their heads out off their buttcheeks and look around a little.

I was very disappointed with this article as I too am thinking about what get when my current iPhone contract expires and was hoping for a discussion of replacements like the hero etc. I really like my iPhone but after having the fantastic N95 it felt like a serious downgrade. There were a lot of moments that I missed because the camera on the iPhone is rubbish and had no video.

Good God people. I assumed these pages were read by techie types, not ordinary humans. I can understand ordinary humans loving the simplicity of the iPhone and falling for its charming appearance and comparitive wealth of abilities compared to a non-smartphone, but why, oh why, do so many techies punish themselves with it horrible limitations???

I have just swapped from an 3G to a Samsung i8910 and the hardware improvement is vast - the iPhone is just a pig with a great stylist, and a really big toy box.

It's a good point Gordon makes - the iPhone is still one of the best (and the best in a lot of people's minds) due to a shocking lack of awareness from the likes of Nokia, HTC Samsung and others.

That said, although progress has been slow it's now being made - HTC's decision to use 3.5mm jacks and Sense UI show a committment to the market, Nokia's improving S60v5 range (the N97 aside - too big hence the N97 Mini) and N900 with Maemo and Samsung's forays into Android show that at least there will be competition at the top.

The other thing about the iPhone is it's getting, well, a bit old. It kind of reminds me of the N95 when everyone had one and everyone wanted to move to something else because of that.

@Nicholas - Are you putting yourself under the umbrella of 'Techie types'? Everything that people list as a "horrible limitation" of the iPhone is incredibly well documented on the internet, people don't keep the fact that apps can only be purchased through Apple's <sarcasm>draconian</sarcasm> App Store to themselves. You went out and either; purchased the iPhone knowing full well what the limitations are yet purchased the shiny-shiny anyway because it's the latest gadget and ZOMG-I-Gotta-Have-It, or, you purchased it blindly having done no research and are, therefore, not what you're calling a 'techie type'...

No?

And I say that to everyone who whinges "I brought an iPhone and the camera's crap" or some similar tripe; you may well have a point, frankly, the camera is crap, but we *knew* what the spec was when we brought the device.

What have Apple hidden from us that enrages you so?

@Cub

Ouch, that was a bit uncalled for. Did my comment really come across as enraged?

I read these pages, ergo, by my own logic, I must be a bit of a techie type.

I tried an iPhone because everyone said it was great, in the full knowledge of many of the limitations; I have no regrets because it made sense at the time. I suppose I chose form over function at a time when the functionality differential between the iPhone and comparables was less pronounced. But now, to my mind and for my desires, the hardware advantage of the competition outweighs the slickness of the iPhone.

Its all subjective, and why do you care about my choices? I didn't ask for criticism. I suppose I'm just surprised that people who are clearly interested in the latest tech choose to stick with this particular line.

I like the fact that TR embraces, in its pages, the views of fans, sceptics and level-headed observers alike.

@Nicholas: I think Cub does have a valid point, you admitted in you post that you just swapped your 3G, and that was after you claimed everyone on here who has a Iphone can't be a techie if they have one. Can you see how you post doesn't add up?, did you really have a 3G?, if so by your reckoning your not a techie :)

Gosh, lol!

Thanks Andy, enjoyed this article and comments alike. As I am in the same position with a contract that expires come January, I'd be keen to hear what you upgrade to and the reasons for doing so. Keep up the good work!

@ Keith

"you claimed everyone on here who has a Iphone can't be a techie if they have one"???

No I didn't, that would be ridiculous - I said quite the opposite. My post questioned why techies own iPhones, didn't it? I owned one for a while, until I realised that I didn't like it enough. Anyway, I'm not very techie, just a bit.

By the way, I too enjoyed your apples, oranges and pears post.

@nicholas - I certainly didn't mean for that to come over as bitchy at all, lunch time rush and not re-reading my comments before posting... Bad idea. So apologies for that. I stand by my points though, just not how they came across to you.

If you were lead to believe something by Apple, and they didn't deliver upon that, then you have a fair point to argue, shout, and complain about. But that doesn't seem to be the case here, or in most other places I visit for that matter. If somebody buys a product such as a phone without at least reading the basic specs and details about it, then they really shouldn't be complaining about what it doesn't come do.

As has been pointed out many times on this site, if you've researched, and it's not for you, don't buy it. But by all means sing the praises of what you do choose... Just expect the fanbois to flame you down... ;-)

I thought the iphone could sync wirelessly, it's got wifi hasn't it. Can it at least download and update podcasts directly? If it's can't do that then there's no hope.

@Gordon Okay. Good. That's what I'd mainly use it for. Podcasts constantly need updating, it's a pain with my nano.