Rabid Richard

Well,

After using the iPhone for a week so far, I just wanted to update you of my findings.

Battery

I was a little worried about the battery to start with - but so far, its all good, my battery has lasted for 26 hours at most, and thats with around 1 hour talk time, and 24-25 hours standby. Overall, I am quite impressed with the battery life of the new iPhone. I thought the battery would last around 5-6 hours tops, but 26 hours total, is quite good, but still, no where near my 72 hour Nokia, but you kind of expect a change in hours when your going from small screen to touch screen. Eh?

iPod

Owning an iPod Touch, I know what touch is like on the iPhone 3G - But I managed to pick up iTrip yesterday, and was using it in my car on the way to and from work, and I have to admit - Its amazing, as in the iPod. The loud speaker on the iPod is a great addition, missed from the iPod Touch, but the sound is no totally great on that.

SMS

I’ve only had the iphone for a week, and the ONLY major thing I’ve had problems with, is the SMS - and not being able to forward messages, sheesh, its a nightmare - I really hope apple support it soon, or I can see them pissing a lot of people off.

3G

I have now come to realize, that o2’s 3G network stinks. Totally, I have traveled all around Kent the last few days, and have rarely managed to pick up a 3G signal that’s above 2 bars - but most of the time, when turning on 3G - I get a “No Signal” message and then it switches back to edge.

I have another phone contact with “Three”, and where-ever I go, I am able to pickup a perfect 3G network - but no such luck with O2 - Its absolutely horrible.

If you live in an area away from major cities, O2’s 3G network is not for you at the moment, and don’t consider buying the iPhone 3G for its 3G speeds, as In Kent, you very rarely get a 3G signal. In fact - The only time I actually get a good 3G signal is driving down the M2, and even that, was only 3 bars of 5.

I have to admit - I’ve not really surfed the net away from a Wifi hotspot, so its not been a great problem, I have my emails downloaded every 30 minutes, and it alerts me to new ones, which is working fine, so no complaints on that yet, but I’m sure more will follow when I actually need to use the Internet out and about.

I woke up this morning, expecting my iPhone to be fully active, after the o2 support line said stores would be working on activating the iPhone over night.

What I actually found, was that my iPhone was still showing “No Service”, restarting the iPhone and even resetting it did nothing to help the problem.

I made my way to the o2 shop that I brought the iPhone from - And guess what I was told? It could take up to 5 days to activate all iPhones, but most should be activated within the next 48 hours - Come back next week if yours has still not been activated.

WHAT THE FUCK * 2?

NEXT WEEK? I’m fucking paying for this iPhone from Yesterday, and they are just acting like this is “normal”, well, I can say for sure, its fucking not normal, and if my iPhone is not activated within the next 48 hours, I will expect a free month.

UPDATES:

12th July 2008

2:15pm - Still “No Service”, upon phoning o2 again, they told me it should be activated by the end of today.

3:16pm - Still “No Service”… I’ve had the iPhone for 30 hours now.. How long does it take?

4:27pm - Still waiting… I’ve got to go to work now, so wont be checking it until the early hours of the 13th - 48 hours after I brought the phone… It better be activated.

6:03pm - Finally! After restarting my iPhone, while in a car driving down the M25, my phone activated, and I got 3 text messages from o2, letting me know my account information. PS: I should just say, I was not the person driving the car

6:07pm - “No Service” again, guess they are still having problems.

6:15pm - Active again - Cuts on and off every now and again. But at least I know my number now

6:25pm - Stable iPhone, its not cuttoff since last time at 6:14pm

11:27pm - The iPhone has been stable, and 3G has been fast, I downloaded some song lyrics and downloaded a few more free app’s using 3G. Getting good 3G signal in general.

Review to come tomorrow I’ve been using it all night, and will let you know the details of what I found out.

Well,

I thought I would just update you all on how my search for an iPhone 3G is going. After learning that the apple shops will actually be stocking the iPhone tomorrow morning at 8:03am, I have decided that I am going to visit my local apple shop today to see how many they have in stock, the problem being, my local apple shop is in Bluewater. Apple shops initially said they would not be stocking the new iPhone, but have now decided that they will. They will only be able to take on new clients, existing iPhone owners wont be able to upgrade at an apple shop.

I have also decided to check out the towns of: Gillingham, Canterbury and Maidstone for stock levels of the new iPhone, as I might find a store than has more than 20 and I can get there early to pick one up.

After I am back from my visits, of which I am leaving with a friend at about 11am (1 hours 30 minutes away) I will update everyone with another blog entry on my, hopefully, luck in finding a store with lots of stock.

Until a few hours

Okay.

What the fuck?

I went down to my local CarPhoneWarehouse today, and guess what, they let me in on the news that they are now opening at 9am, not 7am like they said, and the fact that they only have single figures of iPhones in stock and do not expect anymore before Friday.

WHAT THE FUCK?

Monday, I was told they would have a minimum of 30! And that they would be opening at 7am. Now, they wont even say how many they have in, so even if I’m 5th in queue, I may not be able to pick one up. Single Figures to me, means 9 or less, comments?

This means I’m going to have to go into my nearest large town, and go to the O2 or CarPhoneWarehouse there - Which will both be opening at 8:03am exactly, but the problem with that, is it means bigger queues and I would have to leave even earlier than before. Think about 5am :S

I am actually considering sleeping overnight, or at least staying overnight at the o2/CarPhoneWarehouse store, I could do that in both my local town, or the bigger town. But I’m not sure if I could be bothered :S Well, I guess we will see tomorrow, as that’s when I’m going to have to decide by.

With only 34 hours to go… I’m getting a little worried I’m not going to get my hands on one for weeks, or maybe months.

Hello,

Thanks for reading the first set of questions, and answers about the new Apple iPhone. I just want to let people know again, that most of these answers apply for UK customers only. Answers to these questions many vary for other area’s like the states, or Canada.

Lets go;

Can I buy an iPhone at the Apple store on release date?

A very good question, the answer is in fact, no. You cannot - Apple are not supplying the iPhone from its UK based shops for the release, but may do so later on. We are not sure why this is, as they are from their US based shops. I’m sure they have a good reason.

PLEASE say they updated the camera? 2MP is too low!

Sorry to say it, but it does not look like they have. The iPhone 3G has been said to carry the same 2MP camera as in the older versions. I was hoping for an upgrade of this part, but so far, it does not seem like its going to happen. I guess on Friday, we will find out.

Whats going to be in my iPhone 3G box?

Well, we are not totally 100% sure, but at the moment, the following is said to be included:

• The iPhone 3G
• iPhone Instruction Manual
• iPhone USB lead
• 3 Pin iPhone charging plug

There is no plans for a “dock” to be included like the old iPhones and iPod touch’s, but that could all change on the day. As with a lot of these questions, only time will tell. We will find out Friday Morning.

More coming when I get more questions. So please keep them coming!

Hello,

Well, the second day of my blog is heating up Here are some answers to the most common questions I have been asked about the new iPhone 3G;

Can I buy an iPhone 3G for a relation, like I could with the older iPhone?

No, o2 are making it so the phone has to be registered in-store on pickup, so you cannot buy this iPhone as a gift for anyone else

Okay, how about if I get 2 iPhones in my name, and give one to a relation?

Sorry, but that’s another no. o2 are expecting the demand to be so high for the iPhone, that they are limiting the sale of iPhones to one per customer.

Hmm, so I can’t buy one, and then wait for someone to “hack” it?

Nope, to buy an iPhone this time, you need to sign up for the 18 month contract, starting from £30/month. Apple and o2 have hinted that a no-commitment iPhone 3G will be out soon, but that is expected to cost around £299 for the 8GB.

I have an old iPhone and want to upgrade, does this mean I will lose everything on my new iPhone?

Not at all, a new update in iTunes was released awhile ago to handle this very problem. Steve Jobs told us in one of his videos that to transfer all your data to the new iPhone, all you need to do, is to sync the old iPhone with iTunes, and then Sync the new one.

What about my voice mails? Will they be synced to?

Unfortunately not - you will need to make sure you are listened to all your voice mails before switching to the new iPhone.

I don’t know if o2 have good 3G coverage in my area, how can I find out?

Well, the truth is, you can’t. There is a map on o2’s website, but it is so out of date, there is no point looking. The only way you will really know, is to ask someone who has an o2 3G phone in your area.

But - If I don’t have 3G in my area, I wont be able to surf the net?

Not at all! ALL iPhone 3G’s can use the old EDGE network (2.5G). So it will be slightly slower if you cannot get 3G, but still, worth it. You can also turn off the 3G chip, as revealed on another blog, that way, you can save power when you are in an area you know does not have 3G.

Some people are saying the new iPhone does not have GPS?

That is absolute twaddle. As released on the apple website, the new iPhone 3G will have a GPS chip.

So if it does have GPS, does that mean we can use it for SatNav?

Well, this is a good question, the answer is, we don’t know. Apple have released a condition that their SDK (Software development Kit) that it cannot be used to make real time navigation software (AKA: SatNav) but TomTom have already started developing a SatNav program for the iPhone. Only time will tell. But do not expect to have SatNav on your iPhone on Friday when you pick it up.

Oh - So no SatNav, whats the GPS actually for then?

First of all, I never said no SatNav - But at the moment, Apple have not made up their minds, for all we know, they will be releasing their own version of a SatNav system. For the time time being, we just don’t know, and cannot hope to know before Friday at the very earliest.

But. If no SatNav, the GPS chip can be used for locating yourself, and nearby restaurants, or hotels, etc. It can also be used by developers for parents to track the movements of their children, or owners to track the movements of their iPhone. The possibilities are endless. But I for one am hoping there is some form of SatNav system for the iPhone shortly.

Well, that’s it for now. More to come shorty.