The New iPhone 3G

[Banshee16]

I've not tried it, but 2Mp? That's nearly useless. Does it have a decent flash, at least?

I'm not sure if 2 MP is useless...depends on the sensitivity of the sensors, really. I read an article about the pictures coming back from some of the Mars landers, and some of them were coming from really sensitive 1.3 MP cameras, and the images were supposedly pretty good.

I know with my SLR, the image is actually more sensitive than some higher megapixel cameras with lower-end sensors...so I can pick up detail, like tissues in the leaf of a flower, and stuff like that.

Of course, I doubt the camera coming in a smartphone will be of that quality....but who knows? They're getting better all the time.

Banshee

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

We've got about 6Gb of music and setting up the playlists took about 10 minutes in iTunes - it was ridiculously quick to do. I suppose if you are frequently adding new music it might be a little more annoying, but not too much.

Cheers

How do you handle podcasts and audiobooks?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Edit (if edit were working for me, that is): D'oh -- I forgot that the podcast synch menu is item specific. Disregard. So how do you handle audiobooks?

 

[Plane Sailing]

Edit (if edit were working for me, that is): D'oh -- I forgot that the podcast synch menu is item specific. Disregard. So how do you handle audiobooks?

You've answered the podcast question for yourself, we've not dabbled in audiobooks at all so I'm afraid I don't know the answer there.

I've not tried it, but 2Mp? That's nearly useless. Does it have a decent flash, at least?

Doesn't have a flash at all IIRC.

2Mp itself doesn't make it useless - my Olympus CZ2100 only has a 2Mp sensor but takes beautiful pictures which I can print at up to A4 size - but that largely comes down to the excellent optics in the camera.

I imagine that the iPhone has a rubbish little lens that struggles to let in enough light for a decent picture. Probably best for snaps to attach photographs to contacts rather than "proper" holiday photographs, say.

Cheers

 

[Morrus]

I spent a while trying to decide which phone to get; it was the i{hone 3G or the HTC TyTn II. I went with the TyTn in the end - a windows mobile phone.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I just retired my Treo 650 (rendered unusable as a phone by my one-year old getting hold of it and drooling cracker crumbs into the microphone) in favor of this phone.

Now that the price point is right, the apps store is available (and vastly better than the myriad of competing poorly run stores for the Treo) and it's got upgraded hardware, it's a no brainer. For the first time in four years, I'm carrying just one item around. (I also retired my iPod Touch.)

The built-in keyboard isn't as good as the physical keyboard on the Treo, but yeah, the built-in dictionary is surprisingly smart. Now that I (mostly) trust it, my typing speed has picked up considerably, although I doubt it'll ever be as fast as I was with the Treo (I've owned Treos for years now).

It's also worth noting that, while Blackberries and Treos do a lot of the same stuff (and iPhone 3G does indeed have secure e-mail like a Blackberry), the software is vastly better designed on the iPhone. Long chains of e-mail conversations on my Treo were just painful; the other night I was e-mailing back and forth to a friend in Chicago for an hour while watching the kid and it was a pleasant experience. Texting is closer to how the Treo did it, but the Treo was quite good at it all along.

I haven't used the camera yet, because I've got a young kid, and my wife is never without a dedicated (and very nice) camera that outstrips any camera available on any US cell phone.

The Apps Store also can't be understated: It's the best in breed, by far. There are great games (and better ones coming -- a version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be on the iPhone in September and iD is apparently prepping a port of something), solid applications for business, communication and more. You can even stream Pandora or AOL Radio through your iPhone while driving around town, which is awesome.

I didn't understand the question about podcasts or audiobooks, but I use both on iPods and now the iPhone, and I can clarify if there's still an outstanding question there.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Double post, weird.