A fanboy reacts to Monday's Apple event

Will Voice Control be available on the iPhone 3G with the iPhone 3.0 OS upgrade or is it a hardware-dependant feature only available on the new iPhone 3G S?

It has everything I was hoping for! I have an original iPhone that I love but, I can't resist the improved speed and the addition of video. I'm pre-ordering.

I'm all excited about ALMOST all of this news too.
What I'm awfully depressed about is the fact that as a loyal AT&T customer, I have to pay twice the price for the new phone.
No thanks, I can use that $600 elsewhere. 🙁

Like paying my mortgage.

Thanks Apple, for being pretty inaccessible to people who don't want to go into debt for your phone or don't have a six figure job–and for punishing those who are already with a mediocre cell phone provider. Since you keep such tight control on your phone pricing, I know this isn't only AT&T's schtick.
I just can't justify that cost, even if I did have the disposable income available.
🙁 🙁 🙁

OS 3.0 upgrades are nice... but the "new" phone?

It is "faster" – specs not released.
It has a 3 MP camera up from 2 – Yawn
You can record video (and edit) – Editing is pretty cool, but recording?, why didn't the original support this basic function?
Voice control – Yawn
A compass – uh... k? How many emails did Columbus send in for this feature?

Apple has caught up with many Windows mobile phones from a few years ago... Yawn.

that will never be corrected: Made by Apple

I hope the "Find My Phone" feature is secure. Security always seems to take a backseat at Apple. Imagine having your own personal stalker follow you around because Apple made it possible for your phone to be located.

I too want to give Apple my money. I truly crave the iPhone but never with ATT. Come on people of the world, let's unite and put some pressure on Verizon to get a decent phone.

Maybe it's because I'm an avid WinMo user but none of this excites me...

meh... enjoy your cut and paste... nice of you to finally join the rest of the smartphones basic features.

Verizon, YOU BLEW IT. You could have made tons of money with the iPhone. I almost wept, reading about the cool new features and realizing I will not be able to enjoy the euphoria of staring at my own iPhone.

I like how the prices everyone quotes always assumes that you dont have an iPhone to begin with ... slap an extra $400.00 if you already are in contract with At&t... better off with a netbook

Still waiting on Blu Ray in Macbook Pro

Know your tech, fanboy.

It's HSDPA(High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) not HSPDA. And it's 7.2 megabit per second not 7.2mhz.

Thanks.

Yay Apple! I've already ordered the new phone from the website. Like the writer, I want mine NOW!!!! I do hope though that AT&T gets their act together.

[1]. "FASTER" w/o specs is speculative. It all depends on the
coverage, media type, parralel apps and battrey life.

[2]. 3 MP camera – whatever! Who cares.

[3]. Video capability? And Video edit capability? My "free" kiosk dumb
phone has advanced video editing features like white balance,
exposure, color type, etc. And it's 3 years old. Am I missing
something?

[4]. Voice Control – This exists in 75% of the phones today. Almost
100% of the SmartPhones.

I have never been a fan of legacy crap. All device manufacturers except Apple survives this legacy monopolism because of fan-boyism! There is no real meat behind a lot of their products. They are pretty, user friendly in ways – but there is a reason why the iPhone will not be a business tool or a device for the 'rational' public.

I just saw a comment stating the guy would pay 2x the price to upgrade to this. Now I want to sell to this guy. He would buy anything.

Disappointing! Apple – welcome to 2005.

As a3G owner, – YAY! The 3.0 software looks like it will finally add in everything people have been complaining about since day 1. My biggest frustrations are with AT&T here...

AT&T always used to give you the subsidized pricing if you were in the 2nd year of your contract if you wanted a new phone, provided you agreed to another 2 years (from now). They're out of their mind if they think I'm giving them $400 to replace a 1 year old phone!

And what's with this MMS support if AT&T can do it, and why the HECK aren't they supporting Tethering??? EVERY OTHER PHONE AT&T sells can be tethered and there's a tethering plan for every one of their smartphones EXCEPT the iPhone! This is a big deal to me and REALLY annoys me that they treat the iphone differently!!!

Apple + iPhone, 3.0 + 3GS = A+
AT&T – C-

Also VERY happy to see the $29 price tag on Snow Leopard. Compared to MS's Windows 7 price tag of somewhere in the $200 range??? No contest there!

Sounds like you need some human companionship. I am telling you if you can have these feelings engendered by copper wires and solder I guarentee that you would find humans postively interesting and exciting.

@Randy. As a Verizon user, I'm looking forward to the Pre in six months. With a full QWERTY KB, the excellent Palm sync, and a phone that can actually multitask, I think I'd much rather have the Pre on Verizon any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Everything Apple announced today was yawn-worthy, and hardly surprising. They simply addressed all the shortcomings of the prior version–hardly an innovation. (I'm not an Apple hater, but I find the over-enthusiasm from the OP to be a bit extreme to be believed.)

Sounds great- but side note- this is writing worthy of the front page of CNN? Really?

13.3" Unibody Macbooks never had an Express card slot FYI

Cool features? you mean features which have been available on smartphones for the past 3 years?? Come on Apple do something to revolution the smartphone industry not your current batch of i-geeks. BTW, theres no reason to get an iphone if you have to deal with AT&T...blackberry it is

Today’s announcement from Apple was purely a disappointment – in terms of value add over the existing Iphone 3g, the “s” model offers a slightly higher resolution camera with video recording capabilities. Big deal. In today’s market, the Palm Pre offers more value-add, and the rest of us, fanboys excluded, will wait to see what next years Iphone offers, hopefully they will have caught up with the PalmPre by then, which offers the best bang for the buck now in terms of net new features.

Much ado about nothing.

I tell you what, that iphone sure is something, it does have some crazy high-tech stuff, to tell you the truth, I don't have none. I'm pretty much a loner when it comes to mobile phones, friends make fun of me and say my computer is my phone, LOL!! I would say over here, iphone is the future and Blackberry is secondary and personally, I would prefer a Blackberry, they rock, is just right for me. The iphone feels like it can do my bets or something, LOL!!

But overall, iphone is pretty much the way to go over here, I just take my friends and go crazy on it.

Kudos to Apple for stringing along all these fanboys year after year which is perfect business sense.

I'll never understand why people nearly reach orgasm over an iPhone or any gadget for that matter.

The technology evolves too fast for my tastes and budget. I'll wait a few years (yes, years) before I buy an iPhone. Maybe then they'll be more reasonable in price, truly have features I care about, and aren't updated every year in June like clockwork.

It's nice to see that the iPhone is finally starting to catch up to the Blackberry Storm.

I got my Palm Pre, and i am happy. Works for me.

I have a first gen Iphone and was just waiting for this release to get my hands on the new one. The only problem is that Apple is charging a $200 extra for existing users. So the new 32Gb is $499 !!!! And a new 2 yr plan is required... I do understand Apple's strategy of reducing prices to convince new users but even higher prices for their supporters since the first edition?

Once again... Apple makes the most attractive devices but their price point and monopolistic tactics will keep me far away. For grownups who need mobile computing power on the road, my BlackBerry does just fine.

Sorry butall iPhones have been crippled by the virus know as ATT.
Perhaps when they switch to another network. So for now im left waiting on any news of a new/upgraded iPod touch.
PS...To all the people drooling over the features on the new iPhone. You wont be able to use any feature that uses MMS as ATT DOES NOT SUPPORT IT.
Neat trick huh? give it features, set it up with a provider, make sure provider doesnt support said features.

Better camera, video and voice control. Doesnt seem like much of an upgrade. Plus i never use any of those features. 99% of people never use any of those apps anyways. Stupid fashion statement item. In a few years it will be out of style.

and i need 3g 16gb two

You get the royal screw job if you're a current 3G customer. Phones are $299/$399/$499 for the 8/16/32GB versions respectively.

truth is apple just played all it's customer like the fools they are. Go ahead and shell out more money for a phone to finally do my pos blackjack(3 years old at least can do already). And the iphones you have now are just $99 making you feel fools for rushing to adopt early

Basically the "new" iphone is finally comming out with the features the $700 first gen phone should of had originally. The "new" features mms, video recorder, better camera, were already available on free phones, besides the oh so useful compass. And the feautres that actaully have some use you have to sign up for $99 mobile me. Iphoney is so lame.

Current iPhone/ATT customers can upgrade for TWICE the price of non-existing customers?? That has to be the most ridiculous customer-relations idea I've ever heard of.

I wasn't a big fan of Sprint's coverage in my area, but at least they were always solid with phone upgrades. They got the idea that current customers should probably get discounts when they're eligible for upgrades. Not get bent over.

So basically the iphone now does what almost all Blackberry, Palm, and other Smartphones have done for at least 2 years?
Copy & Paste – duh
Voice Controls – Wait...You mean "Call Mom" finally made it to Apple
3 MP camera – New Blackberry and Palm are sportin 3.2 or higher already
Remote find & delete – Palm & Blackberry have done this for years.
Still No Keyboard – pity
Still No Truly Custom Business Usable Apps.
Still No mass IT Configuration Tools
Still No Memory Card. I just upped my blackberry to 16Gb by changing out the memory card. Cost $40, not $100 and as capacity increases so can I without buying a new phone.

The Verizon comment. The contract between Apple & AT&T isn't up yet. Wait for the nationwide 4G network to come out by Verizon early next year, then we'll see where Apple goes.

It's not that special people. I like "you can sync your business email" with your new iphone with an additional fee.

Wow, perhaps we should give you 15 minutes alone with your iPhone and some lotion.
Geesh...

As I see it, AT&T's the real loser in this. Yea they have a awesome phone that id love to have, but oh...MMS isnt ready yet.... and Oh! wait no...tethering, its not ready either.

They just had to do two things for this, and their both just computer based. They havent even figured out the tethering plans yet! and the official reason that its taking them so long to turn on MMS: they have to manually enable each account. Umm, congrats? hire some extra people for 3 weeks, and make them be robots to change them over. Its dull work, but someones gonna want to do it in todays economy. Or, perhaps maybe you coulda started switchin' em over a little earlier? Planning ahead? nahh....

What a let down AT&T... Its not like you had to build the thing.

You can feel the love with the comments.

Fact is, Apple has the highest customer satisfaction year after year. If the devices are as bad as you haters claim, they wouldn't have sold 40+ Million iPhone/Touch devices.

Think about it, they can buy other phones with way more features they either will never use, or features poorly implemented or just use a phone that works well. Millions of users prefer the iPhone and it just kills you inside.

We'll keep drinking the kool aid but ease up off the haterade.

So apparently the vast majority of iPhone owners have NEVER signed up with a cell phone company before... Your phone was subsidized. You are still paying it off. Stop complaining about the upgrade cost, every phone carrier (if you get a subsidized phone) does the EXACT same thing.

I was hoping to hear about more integration of the new .TEL TLD. So much has been tied into Iphone like apps, I'm sort of surprised there was not more of a push to make apple the .TEL device....

Welcome to the world of smart phones apple! Too bad I won't be switching over to ATT for the Iphone. It's just not worth the headache. I need a phone to work without dropping calls before I need to download music and movies from Itunes.

Why is the voice dialing/commands feature not offered in the 3.0 OS for iPhone 3G (it doesn't. I'm a registered developer and have downloaded and installed it on my phone)?! I've had this on my Windows Mobile phones for many years now. I find it hard to believe that it cannot be offered.

Dammit, what about Flash?

this is a phone, not a candy store!

theres nothing exciting about this, especially since my phone already has all these new features.

I dont "like" a specific mobile OS but symbian has all these, and even more. its not exciting news

Why do people that hate Apple and Apple products post their drivel on a pro Mac blog? What a waste of time and effort.

the problem with apple's iPhone is that it locks users into AT&T which doesn't have the coverage in many areas, especially rural. I don't know why apple can't make an iphone that lets you CHOOSE carriers. It's like them making a laptop that ONLY works if you subscribe with Time Warner internet. Until the company makes a phone that can be used with any wireless provider, I'm not biting.

Enjoy the worst 3G service of the big three carriers.
Enjoy paying $1200 more over two years than the Palm Pre that Sprint has.
Enjoy thousands and thousands of useless apps available now!
Enjoy using Apple forums that Apple censors or deletes when complaints are made of their products.

I love the iPhone 3G that I have, I just think AT&T sucks. My wife wants to go back to Verizon as soon as my 2 years are up. That said, how embarrassing that in Apple's own country that the selected carrier cannot even provide MMS and Tethering from day one. Apple really need to make a CDMA versions and allow Verizon/Sprint as well as T-Mobile sell them and allow competition to flourish.

again, they are still behind WiMo on PPCs devices, we always have had SMS/MMS from day one. GPS with phone tracking? Please, go get Google Latitude for free. Voice Command. M$ has had this on the PPCs for years now.

Dont get me wrong, I had the first iPhone when it came out and left my xv6700 for it. But for all the basic things it lacked (that my PPC had) I sold it on ebay and went back to the xv6700 and later moved up to the 6800.

Would I go back to an iPhone. No. Why would I wanna pay more monet to get less of a device that is STILL playing catch-up JUST to look cool and really look retarded. Now if you dont have a PPC and are going to an iPhone then I guess youre ok. But if you really want power in your hand, get a PPC with a M$ platform with a registry that you can tweak and overclock the phone.

The fact that there is a sucker born every munite is never lost on Apple

So existing Iphone 3G users will have to pay $599 for the newest version of the phone? 1. Tough luck 2. Who cares? 3. Most of you will shell it out anyway! And the kicker is, do you really NEED the newer "generation" phone? Does your current phone more than serve its purpose? I'm certain it does. This generation of tech-addicted PEOPLE is what needs a memory upgrade. Remember when cell phones were a convenience, and not a blinged-out pacifier?

Truly – I get it – I get why people go with iPhone – it's the apps...
That being said – I have 1 very real complaint – there's no technical reason that I should not be able to tether with my iPhone and connect up my laptop thru it – an app was available and quickly removed because of Apple & AT&T contractual clauses as near as I can tell.
As a dev platform – I'm a fan – the level of interest that people have in iPhone apps is unparalleled. I'm not boggled by the new features though because they aren't particularly striking.
Flash would be nice – well and a "flash" to go with the recording and photography. I'm not happy with the – Must pay more for phone if I want to update my AT&T contract – can't justify it for the nonvaluable features that I'm going to get for free when I update my OS to 3.0.

I am however very happy with my current iPhone 3G – I get what I want from it and more.

A lot of "fanboys" are complaining about the cost of the new phone, if they have an existing iphone, ATT wants $$$ to upgrade to this new one.

Early adopters are in a hard place right now...

Pretty exciting, yeah sure except Apple does nothing to reward loyal customers. I had the original iPhone, and upgraded to the G3 about 2 months ago...now there is a new phone and if I want it I have to pay a crazy amount. Not fair at all. Apple is really starting to piss me off, new phones every year. This is insane!

I will never understand you Apple IPhone fans. It's over-rated and over-priced.

I am personally waiting on the OmniaHD to get picked up by a carrier,till then my Omnia (Verizon-real smartphones) still outperforms the IPhone on every level.

3 mp camera..lol..my Omnia has 5mp and Samsungs latest phone has a 12mp cam.

Video copy and edit...this has been around for several years now. I just finishing watching X-Men Origins on AVI format..flawless.

I am toting aroung 24gigs of memory on my Omnia (16gb card 8gb internal).

Most Windows Mobile apps are free as well.....so tell me again why the excitement about a phone with specs that have been out-dated for 4 years?

I read a great deal of the posts for this and I wonder why everyone seems to be ripping at&t a new one. Do all of you, out there in cyber land, truly believe that at&t is treating the iphone different as far as upgrades and additional capabilities because the company finds it cost effective? lets look at this rationally, you, the customer are willing to pay MORE for an additional service... any company would jump on the oppertunity to take more of our hard earned money. Has anyone thought about what contracts Apple could potentially have with at&t? maybe it's a ploy for apple to get more bang out of every piece of gadgetry that leaves their factories. Has anyone even looked at the price difference that Apple has put on their products vs what other companies have came out with? at&t has it's downsides, but I'm about sick to death of everyone glorifying Apple, lets hold them accountable for their outrageous prices and slow upgrades to their products.

Dear Jobs,

Thank you for inventing the most wonderful gadget in history. I bought one of your toys last year but it wasn't cheap.

Now you throw us a new one, which I need to pay $400 for it. Even though this doesn't make any sense at all. I am willing to trade my wife and kids for it.

I hope we can reach an agreement, as dealing with AT&T is like talking to Jim Carrey before going to the Yes convention.

My wife cooks and cleans she also knows a lot about computers, she is definitely worth the value of the phone. You can also take my kids to the movies. They are fun.

I hope your health is fine and keep taking one-a-day. I don't want to start loosing money on my apple stock.

Cordially,

One of your 1 million Iphone fans freak

I'll never have an I-phone or any other "Smart" phone. Why? I've certainly spent vast amounts of money on dumber things, but what I want in a computer (even a small one) and what I want from a cell phone are exact opposites. For a phone, all other things being equal I want the smallest cell phone I can get (I carry my phone in my pocket) and that means a small screen, and I want REAL keys/buttons, not this slow awkward touch screen crap. In a computer I want the biggest screen I can get, a full-size keyboard and mouse, and all the other features you can put on a real computer. At home I can be at a computer in 10 seconds or less – same at work. That leaves my car in third place in the order of where I spend the most time and the last thing I need to be doing is messing around with ANYTHING other than driving during my daily commute.

Maybe the next feature the I-Phone should have is the ability to lock out all user input other than answering a call when the built-in GPS detects that you're moving at over 10 MPH. If not a complete lock-out, then at least a "nag screen" that warns people they shouldn't be distracted from driving by their phone, kind of like my Garmin has when it first boots up. In fact, every phone should have this. I can't believe people are STUPID enough to text while driving, much less use any of the gazillion other aps available for the I-Phone.

People, DISCONNECT every once in awhile and interact with a human being! My favorite line from Jurassic Park also works for the I-Phone (paraphrasing): "They were so busy figuring out whether they COULD that they didn't stop to ponder whether they SHOULD."

I'm an iPhone owner from the beginning and I truly love my iPhone. I love the apps, I love the slickness, I love the touch screen and the interface in general. While I like the features that will be available on the iPhone 3G S, I'm not excited by them. The iPhone IS falling being other phones in terms of basic smartphone functionality.

Additionally, I am fed up with AT&T and their pricing plans. I will be waiting for my contract to run out in October. If Apple doesn't allow other carriers by then, I'll sign up with a new provider and use my iPhone as a Touch – similar capabilities, just won't be able to make phone calls.

This information can be found on Apple website's footnote: "For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB). "
http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy/

How crazy is that?

Enough already.....

The Palm Pre was designed by former apple executives. So think of it as another apple inspired product.

All of you Microsoft Mobile OS people that brag about all of the features that you "already" have...Guess what? Nobody cares.

You go ahead and enjoy your features that are so poorly implemented that nobody can easily use them. However the rest of us can acknowledge that the iPhone has revolutionized the smartphone and made it more intuitive to use than was ever possible before.

So if you like the pre better or you like the storm better please buy them and just shut up.

Some of us just want to be excited about the cool new iPhone without dealing with drivel from bill gates fanboys.

Hi,

I LOVE my iPhone. I gave up a Verizon contract and phone to move to the iPhone and AT&T last summer. I guess my loyalty means nothing in that I have to wait an entire year before I can upgrade my phone at a reasonable cost. To say that I have to shell out $700 for a new phone is absurd. I just got a letter from Time Magazine telling me I can extend my subscription for one year for $75. I've been a subscriber for 30 years or more. I cancelled my subscription, went on the Internet to Amazon.com and subscribed under a new name for $20. So much for loyalty.

John

the iPhone: now doing everything every other smartphone could do for the past two years, but with an even more expensive price tag.

🙂

All the tech toys may thrill some people, but I find that those are genuinely impacting on the behavior of people, in a rather negative way.

People have gotten even less courteous than before, they use their toys, everywhere, including in the toilet. (Just how much do people enjoy hearing toilets flush (or worse), while talking to someone?)

People are paying zero attention to their driving, they become blithering idiots behind the wheel, and they share their personal conversations with dozens of perfect strangers, constantly.

Thanks, but the techie toys are just that.......toys.......for those who are unable to exercise any personal judgment or values in their lives.

Wow the iPhone is finally catching up to my HTC TyTn II, Apple I am still not impressed. Maybe if you warranty department treated customers with a little more respect you would sell more product.

Everyone whining about the existing user pricing is missing the point. You are in a contract for two years and you can upgrade phones without a penalty a few months before that, meaning you will probably be able to pick up the 3GS cheaply in only a few months. The reason they let people upgrade in the middle of thier contract last year was becuase the move to 3G and other functionality was a HUGE improvement over the original iPhone.

The 3GS is primarily a feature set upgrade. Video, a better camera, voice control, faster processer and more storeage are all cool, but not enough to spend a ton of money on right away. I've held off upgrading my current phone to get the 3GS, but my wife (who is tech savvy BTW) is fine with her 3G for another year with a 3.0 OS upgrade.

My biggest gripe with AT&T is not being able to use the 3GS's tethering function with my Dell netbook, but that is not a surprise really. MMS is availalbe on the AT&T network (my Sony Ericsson does it), but just not for iPhone until late summer since Apple didn't offer that functionality until now, and 3.0 gold only shipped to developers (and I'm guessing AT&T) yesterday.

I really hope someday the iPhone is worth my money. The OS is awesome.

Until the iphone has expandable memory and a removable battery like every other phone in its class it is an inferior product. So drink up theres plenty of inferior cool aid for all you apple fan boys.

To me, Im excited about the new iPhone hardware and OS update. I have been waiting to see what was going to be released before I went and got one and now that I have seen it, Im a go! I agree that a lot of the 'updates' that they are bringing out now should have been on the original iPhone but this is a way that Apple can get more money out of the market. One of the biggest things that sets the iPhone apart from anything else is the apps. Lots of companies and people develop for it. And its all about being able to do lots of different things right from your cell phone. Im just waiting on the 19th so that I can get mine! I know there are lots of talk about price. But I think you get what you pay for. I know the iPhone can be pricey in certain situations. But I have seen enough from my friends that have them for me to think that I would get siome benefit from it.

When will the iphone have multitasking capabilities?

is there a way around not paying the exrtra $200 bucks they are charging existing "valued At&t" customers ? how about you pay the $125 termination fee and just starting all over ? could they make you re-activate the old phone you cut off ? i was told by an At&t rep that this would happen if i did this., is that true ?

Still cannot believe that people will pay $100+ to own the iPhone. That's $1200 a year every year. HUGE RIPOFF. Give ATT credit for lowsy service while keeping the prices high. Guess ATT is not as foolish as people think.

I-Phone equals AOL

Internet service that was designed for dummies.

Smartphone that was designed for dummies.

Love how I-Phone owners complain how hard it is to use Windows Mobile and running apps on the OS. It's really not that hard as I have changed my OS four times in the past two months and I am currently using Windows 6.5.

If a real smartphone is truly that hard to use then get a LG Voyager or another basic phone...oh I forget you already have an I-Phone..can't get any simpler than that.