Posted on by Terry White

My thoughts on iPhone 4 and iOS 4

I've been busy with my day job and really couldn't spend a lot of time ogling the iPhone announcements the other day. However, I did catch up on my reading of all the new things and watched a few of the videos and of course people expect me to weigh in on what I like or don't like about new tech gadgets So here goes:

 

iPhone 4 – What I'm excited about

From a new hardware perspective, I'm excited about the new smaller, thinner form factor and since I have yet to see the actual (retina) display I can't weigh in on it one way or the other. I'm sure it's great. I also welcome the faster speeds of the A4, longer battery life of the bigger battery and potential better call quality based on the new antenna layout/case design. I definitely welcome the new 5MP camera and LED flash as well as having both a front facing and rear facing camera. This was long over due! FaceTime looks cool, but I wonder how useful it will be since both people have to have iPhone 4s and be on WiFi. Still, it will be fun to try. The 720p video is definitely welcome! It may mean that I can actually give up my Kodak Zi8, which I love. What I love even more is carrying less devices.

 

iPhone 4 – What I'm a little disappointed about

Although I get the space constraint issues, I'm still disappointed that there's not a 64GB version. Maybe I won't care as much now that I have an iPad, but my 32GB iPhone 3GS is always within 1-5GBs of space remaining. So I was looking forward to not only a faster iPhone, but bigger storage too. Also I kinda wish that they didn't go to a MicroSIM as it means switching the SIM card between phones is going to be a little more challenging. I'll be testing an Android phone in the not too distant future and it would have been nice to be able to "easily" go between the two with the same SIM Card. This solution looks promising though.

 

iOS 4 – What I'm excited about

If you asked me to name the top 3 features I can't wait for they would be (in order): Folders! – I have TONS of Apps and believe it or not, I can't wait to get them under control from an organization standpoint with folders. I have all 11 screens full right now on my 3GS and I have to pick and choose which apps to delete when I want to add more because I refuse to let them slide into that black hole that is page 12. The second thing I have been dying for is the integrated inbox in Mail. I've been complaining about that since 2007. So 3 years later, I'm glad that someone at Apple realized that people have more than one email account and don't want to have to constantly go back back back to view a different inbox. The third thing that I'm excited about is mult-tiasking. Although it remains to be seen what really happens when an app is in the background, I still welcome the fact that it will at least return me to the app where I left off now with 3rd party apps.

 

iOS 4- What I'm disappointed about

We already know about that one missing multimedia technology that I'm disappointed in not being there, so we won't go there again 😉

 

The Bottom Line

There were no real shockers in the S Jobs keynote (other than there are that many people that play Farmville (sad), but these are good improvements that will continue to drive competition in the mobile space so that we all win in the end. Download and watch the Keynote here.

 

 

My thoughts on Farmville 🙂

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odBDAcOEKuI

22 Replies to “My thoughts on iPhone 4 and iOS 4”

  1. Steve Jobs claims that Apple went to Adobe to ask for a mobile version of Flash to work on the iPhone some time ago, but it never came about. Is the current situation that surprising? It sounds like Adobe was presented with an opportunity and chose not to take it.

      1. Doesn’t really matter whose fault. What matters is that Flash is so bloated and bugged, so it makes almost no difference whether it’s there or not, because I would be turning it off as I do on all my desktop machines.

        Though, an option to turn it on would be still nicer than not having any option at all.
        But again, it’s just a product produced by a company. It’s not like the government forces us to buy iPhones. I mean, if I don’t like a car lacking four-wheel drive, I simply don’t buy it — I don’t go on the internet forming a cult of 2-Wheel Drive Haters. Yet a lot of people somehow feel obligated to form the Apple Haters cults just because they made a non-100%-perfect product.

  3. LOL That Farmville video was Hilarious!!!! I don’t get that game either. Truth be told I did get suckered into playing it last year and then quickly realized the massive waste of time that it is. Its impossible to be removed from it. I simply quit playing.

    I’m due for an upgrade from my Gen 1 phone so I’m totally psyched about the iPhone 4.

  4. Terry, what are your thoughts about whether the new iPhone will improve on the connectivity probelms associated with previous models. I live in New York City, and the problem of dropped calls and loss of service with my iPhone 3G is horrible. Do you think I’ll see any improvement if I upgrade to iPhone 4?

    1. Like I said above, the new antenna design certainly can’t hurt and hopefully will improve things. We’ll have to wait and see in a couple of weeks when people actually get their hands on them to see if there is an improvement or not.

  5. I hope with that folder option it also gives up the ability to organize photos or video.

  6. FaceTime — one word…grandkids. Getting the parents of our 4yr-old grandson to use a webcam or the Handycam we gave them is like pulling teeth. 720p @ 30fps brings that other coast much closer… Yeah, JetBlue for relaunching service to San Jose.

    Fortunately I am in one of the enhanced 3G areas that doesn’t suffer like some metropolitan areas (For AT&T that may qualify as an oxymoron). Maybe I am just blissfully unaware.

    Now, rethinking an iPad purchase. Do I just get the smallest wifi model now and wait for the next gen iPad to go all out?

  7. As a writer, I’m disappointed that, although iBooks can now read PDFs, there’s no word from Apple as to whether the iBookstore will sell properly sized, PDF-formatted books for the iPad My books have layouts that are just too complex to translate into ePub and most school textbooks are in that same category.

    The low number of the current version of ePub, 1.05, is a good indication of how limited it is, it’s like HTML 1.0. For the next few years, digital books need PDF-formatting to bridge the formatting gap between what ePub can do and what many books need.

  8. I’m really disappointed that there is no Verizon service available to the iPhone. I’m one of the 3% who does not have AT&T wireless available (this may be a blessing in disguise). Looking forward to the Android review. Perhaps I should just surrender and forget the iPhone (and iPad).

    1. Well… depending upon what is available, say VzW or Sprint — get one of their combo WiFi / 3G options (like VzW MiFI) then use the iPad to connect to Mifi (or Sprint equivalent). And since you are likely to have another cell phone option today, getting the iPad is still an option. I know someone that uses his iPod Touch with Mifi for email, surfing, etc.

  9. I’m with Stan: No AT&T signal where I live and work (that doesn’t keep them from constantly advertising it to me, including stuffing my land-line bill), so an iPhone is a non-starter (CDMA signal is strong, crystal clear, and ultra-reliable). I sure wish you could get an iPhone or and Android based phone WITHOUT a data contract and just use WiFi when I wanted to get online. Sigh.

  10. I know this is about the iPhone but do you think the iPod Touch will follow suit and have a longer battery life?

  11. Also, the new Garmin 3790T looks identical to the new iPhone. I wonder who ripped off who as far as the design.

  12. @Rob – More likely Garmin. Apple’s iPhone aesthetics have been established for a few years now. iPhone 4 squares up the sides for functional reasons but it’s still very much in the same family as the older models.

  13. Hi Terry
    I hope this answer the question on the 64GB iPhone 4. The iPhone has one space for memory do to it compact nature. Not like the iPod touches which has 2 slots which both have 32GB chip. A single 64GB chips is very expensive so 32GB will be the max until the price comes down on the 64GB chip. Personal i’d pay another $200.00 for 64Gb iPhone 4.

  14. Already installed iOS4 on my iPhone and I love it. Everything is so much faster even though it’s on the old hardware (iPhone 3G). Will definitely buy iPhone 4 for the multitasking, awesome camera and 720p video recording and much more awesome look (I’m glad I waited and didn’t buy 3GS). The only thing that bugs me a little tiny bit is that folders are limited to 12 applications per folder. Implementing pagination inside folders is easy and I believe Apple will make it in future OS updates.

  15. And as for FaceTime being limited to iPhone 4 and Wi-Fi, Apple said it’s a temporary limitation. Which doesn’t really matter, since there is Skype.

  17. Farmville is one of the reasons I switched to Facebook lite, I got annoyed by my buddies activity feeds getting filled by Farmville messages, and I’m thinking about leaving Facebook altogether, all these facebook games are a pain in the butt, I hope there was an option to disable updates from certain apps (and if there is I’d like to know where I can change it).

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