The all things iOS thread (except Games)

[ahmad]

Well I'm going to be getting an iPhone 3G soon so now's as good a time as any to discuss "all things iPhone and iPod Touch except for games".

Games discussion is this way: http://buttonmasher.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=2898

While here we can discuss hardware/OS/anything not game related.

So I'm looking forward to finally having a GPS. It wasn't a compelling feature for me to jump last year, but I'm more than happy to have it now.

Does anyone "Geocache" and how good is the iPhone 3G GPS for that? Of course it has no compass like the 3Gs but I don't know how important that is.

And if you are curious as to why I upgraded from my 2G phone now, it's basically because I'm tired of Vodafone arrogance and would like a phone that gives me options on XT if I choose to leave Vodafone.

[BorDAr]

so ur getting 3G and not 3GS?

[ahmad]

Originally Posted by BorDAr

so ur getting 3G and not 3GS?

Yeah I can't justify the 3GS cost. If buying new then definitely worth getting the 3GS for the faster processor (check youtube vids for comparisons), but I'm going 2nd hand for financial reasons.

[WaxerNZ]

I have considered one 2nd hand to tie me over till christmas. People want to much for them though. Considering the price drops other phones have over time.
I have been looking into geocaching as well. Looks like alot of fun and there are heaps in my area. Iphone 3g in theory should be fine as you just get given co-ordinates for a cache. Anyone with half a brain should then be able to figure out which direction to walk. You also get a description of the caches hiding place(sometimes anyway) Coordinates alone are not enough. It is a treasure hunt after all.
I would like to make one with a travel bug. Kinda neat to track your bug around the world.
Are there any good geocaching apps? Should throw a nice central cache down that various buttonmashers might discover if passing through. I hope to put one on top of mount camel/houhora at some stage.
Caching seems like a nice excuse to go for hikes/walks in my spare time.

[Vivasanti]

Not sure how the iphone goes on XT mobile but after seeing my Father in the weekend his whole buisness has changed to the XT network and hes had nothing but problems, he operates a large heating/cooling company installing industrial air con and refridgeration so he wanted a "better signal" because hes on his mobile underground and up high on buildings, many many people say they cant hear him and hes all crackly and he ever said it was better on the other network.

[WaxerNZ]

It also depends on what handsets he has changed to of course. But still one would hope he gets at least as good a signal as his previous handsets/provider assuming similar price.

[Vivasanti]

yea not sure it was a Nokia thats all i know

[ahmad]

The iPhone is anecdotally plagued with problems on Vodafone's 3G network, which is ironic given they are currently the sole suppliers in NZ (but they are not EXCLUSIVE suppliers, which is an important point to note - it's just that Telecom haven't negotiated a firm deal as yet).

Vivasanti, anecdotal reports from Geekzone users are that the iPhone 3G/3Gs is kicking ass for speeds on XT. Some say that the iPhone and XT network are a "perfect fit" but I don't know what this is based on at a technical level.

Having said this, you can get faster speeds on VF using a different device standing in the same spot as if you tried using that same SIM in an iPhone (ie. same place, same network, slower on iPhone).

XT is currently significantly faster than VF for mobile data in most places as far as I've been able to ascertain from what I read. However VF have plans to upgrade the network.

Also VF have 500,000 mobile data users vs. about 100,000 on XT so capacity could be one of the factors.

At the end of the day I want to go with who is cheaper, and XT prepay seems excellent. I can get the equivalent of "iPhone 40" for much cheaper than $40.

$18/month for 240Mb data (or $12/month for 120Mb)
$6/month for 150 TXTs to any network

That's $24/month, and if I top up $60 at a time, I get a bonus $20 each time (ie. 25% discount).

So for data and TXTs I would be paying only $18/month, with calls being charged at 67c/min (with per second charging after 1st minute).

I don't make many calls so this is far cheaper, and it's prepaid with no contract.

[Leggetron]

Someone was trying to explain to me the other day that the iPhone doesn't support Vodafone's "extended" 3G signal, so outside of major centres it defaults to Vodafone's GPRS service. But, you know, second-hand info and all that.

Telecom is upgrading its network to HSPA+ before the end of the year, where Vodafone will be trialling its upgrade to the same standard around December (so it won't go live until next year). HSPA+ offers a theoretical top speed of 24Mb/s, but the average "experienced" download speed will be more like 4Mb/s.

Ahmad, something else to consider (if you're going the prepaid route) is prepaid broadband data. Vodafone offers this ($1 for 10Mb to be used within the day), but I don't believe Telecom has any prepaid data options.

[ahmad]

Hey Leggetron.

If you re-read my post, you'll see that on XT I can get 120Mb/month for $12 (effectively $9) or 240Mb/month for $18 (effectively $13.50).

Cheaper and faster than Vodafone, and per second billing on calls.

They also do $1/day if so chosen.

Speeds will "max out" on the iPhone 3G. The "s" has a faster possible data speed.

[Leggetron]

Oops, my bad. I must have been thinking about their mobile data for laptops etc.

[WaxerNZ]

Why the hell are people paying 700-800 for used 3g iphones. I would rather pay the 950 for a new one. Damn for 850 you could get an xperia x1. Shame about the software side of things though.

[ahmad]

Originally Posted by WaxerNZ

Why the hell are people paying 700-800 for used 3g iphones. I would rather pay the 950 for a new one. Damn for 850 you could get an xperia x1. Shame about the software side of things though.

They are $979 new aren't they?

If you are spending $979, then you should be spending $1179 for a 3Gs.

I guess that's the thing isn't it:

700-800 for used 3G ("good")

979 for brand new 3G ("better")

1179 for brand new 3Gs ("best")

From 700-800 up to 1179 is quite a jump though.

To answer your question "why are people paying?", Apple products have always had an insane resale value. So many Apple adoptees upgrade with every iteration, and because of the huge resale value they don't actually spend a lot in the process and are always using the latest devices.

[WaxerNZ]

If i could get one 2nd hand for 500 or less I would. A year or 2 ago I would have said differently no doubt but for now with limited funds I have that tricky decision if I want to wait for a phone that does just about everything I want(by christmas hopefully) and maybe get something as a stop gap.
Where is a friend with a $300 3g when you need one :P

Back closer to topic. What features do people most use + apps to improve, make possible etc.
I assume txt and talk are both very well catered for as are games in other thread.
Twitter, facebook. Im only just starting a facebook but I assume that having a phone with basic xt prepay package would make it very useful and probably quite often used.

I guess a list of apps that are most commonly used is what Im trying to get at. Everyday sort of stuff. And will/what it will cost me.

[loose_unit]

Don't get a 3G.

unless you get it second hand, the 3gs will hold it's value much better and it's a shitload faster.