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[Brofist]

I finally managed to play around with the iPhone 3GS at the Shibuya Apple Store, and I was marginally impressed. I turned off Wi-Fi and played around with the web browser, and it does load pages faster than the 3G, but from what I could gather, this is tied to the browser's ability to load super-quickly rather than the network itself (since I don't think Softbank improved their network for the 3GS).

Otherwise, for sites that required loading, it seemed about the same as the 3G, or not considerably faster. But I liked the lighter weight of the phone and the snappiness of all the apps. Feels like a bigger jump from the previous generation than the 3G was. Still, for the moment, my 3G works perfectly and has also gotten considerably faster with the 3.0 update.

I can't wait to see what updates Apple brings about next year. Unless I lose or break my 3G, I'm probably going to skip the 3GS. I can already taste that 64GB next-gen iPhone.

I thought the 3GS was actually heavier than the 3G, or I could be wrong.

 

[Brofist]

When you actually do it, its not a long process.

Yeah I know, I was actually agreeing with him

 

[joshlee]

The 3G S is heavier than the 3G

 

[cvxfreak]

Excuse me, the 3G is actually lighter than the 3GS. For some reason I had thought it was the opposite and interpreted the weight difference as such. That said, I did like how the thing felt when holding it, and I liked the feel of the original iPhone over the 3G as well.

I actually didn't hold them at the same time because Apple Store Shibuya was giving away free iTunes cards worth one song for sitting through a 10 minute demonstration of the 3GS "for first time iPhone users." Didn't wanna risk losing the card by showing my iPhone. (I bought an MJ song with it btw )

 

[jonnybryce]

Thanks. Out of curiosity, what was your reasoning behind not getting one for the iPhone? I was thinking I need one more for the back as I plan to get a white one and wanted to protect the back moreso than the front.

As TurtleSnatcher said, I have a case. I first used the iSkin solo which is pretty good but then switched over to the Speck Candy Shell, which I love for the hard plastic back, soft rubber inside and front and what I think is a cool design.

My friends and family have had iPhones since the original and none of them have gotten screen scratches, even though they don't use screen protectors. So like you, my main concern also was the back getting all those hairline scratches that plastic gets and protecting it from drops, which my Speck Candy Shell helps out with.

So at the end of the day my case and the iPhone's natural screen have me ruling out Zagg, even though I think it's a great product.

 

[xsarien]

The 3GS chews through battery power like a dog in a steakhouse, but at least it seems to charge reasonably fast.

I've also ordered the Switcheasy Rebel case. It looks like an iPod full-body condom (save the screen), and given how much walking around the city I do, coupled with lots of air travel, it WILL be bounced around a lot.

 

[Sandman7]

not sure..http://www.bodyguardz.com/

Decided on the Bodyguardz skin because the internet seems to have some issues with the Zagg Invisible Shield developing an orange tinge after a while. As I want to put it on a white iPhone, that rules out Zagg.

For anyone here that has a white iPhone - what do you do/use to keep it white?

 

[xsarien]

For anyone here that has a white iPhone - what do you do/use to keep it white?

Lots of Kenny G and Michael Bolton.

 

[Corwood Rep]

Lots of Kenny G and Michael Bolton.

haha

 

[Lord Error]

The 3G S is heavier than the 3G

By two grams, yes.

 

[jts]

I had an invisibleshield on the iPod Touch and I thought it was awesome - no orange peel effect whatsoever.

But for the 3GS I order one from bestshieldsever. It's the cheapest and people say it has the best cut on the corners.

Now I just need a good armband. I hope the Belkin dualfit doesn't take too long to come out.

 

[VanMardigan]

My wife picked up one of those clear shields, and the front tends to stick to the screen and create sort of a smear pattern. $30....are these things even tested?

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

Don't know if this is news to gaf, but you can enable MMS on 2G iPhones now as long as your phone is jailbroken.

http://www.modmyi.com/forums/4611661-post303.html

Got mines working with Cincinnati Bell on 2g

 

[Meier]

So my phone is coming tomorrow... what should I do when I get it? Does it come partially charged? Should I run it all the way down on my first usage until it dies and then fully charge it first?

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

So my phone is coming tomorrow... what should I do when I get it? Does it come partially charged? Should I run it all the way down on my first usage until it dies and then fully charge it first?

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

what should you do? put some porn on it and beat off. thats what i did

 

[Blackhead]

So my phone is coming tomorrow... what should I do when I get it? Does it come partially charged? Should I run it all the way down on my first usage until it dies and then fully charge it first?

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

Get a case. This one will be perfect for you.

Spoiler

Batteries are still unfathomable mysteries.

 

[Dizzan]

Iphone tomorrow. Question time!!!

1. Must have apps?
2. How do contacts work? Does it use sim contacts?
3. Can I use my gmail contacts to make calls etc?
4. Can I syncs via bluetooth or do I have to use a cable?
5. Does it come with headphones?

Thanks in advance!

 

[web01]

Whats going on with these overheating rumours should I hold out buying a 3GS now?

 

[Lord Error]

Whats going on with these overheating rumours should I hold out buying a 3GS now?

It gets warm while you're using more intensive games, maybe just a bit more than my 1st gen Touch did. It however gets even more warm if you charge it while playing those games, so I think I'm gonna avoid doing that. I've heard that there's some bug in 3.0 OS that drains battery and warms up the device unnecessarily if the data push is enabled, and that by disabling it, both problems will be alleviated. I disabled push (don't need it anyways as Gmail doesn't support it), and it does seem to warm up less now actually.

 

[xsarien]

Iphone tomorrow. Question time!!!

1. Must have apps?
2. How do contacts work? Does it use sim contacts?
3. Can I use my gmail contacts to make calls etc?
4. Can I syncs via bluetooth or do I have to use a cable?
5. Does it come with headphones?

Thanks in advance!

Maybe you should wait for these to be answered before you run out and buy one.

 

[jonnybryce]

Iphone tomorrow. Question time!!!

1. Must have apps?
2. How do contacts work? Does it use sim contacts?
3. Can I use my gmail contacts to make calls etc?
4. Can I syncs via bluetooth or do I have to use a cable?
5. Does it come with headphones?

Thanks in advance!

1. Shazam, Facebook, Aim, NeoGaf web app, iProcrastinate, UrbanSpoon, Slydial, Pandora, Snaptell, Yelp, Pandora Box
App Recommendation thread
2.You can sync contacts using Outlook or Address Book [on Mac]. There are also apps and processes out there to sync with other things like Gmail.
3.Yeah, if you sync them to the phone. You can sync them to your program, like Address Book, first or Google Sync directly on iPhone.
4. Cable.
5. Yes. They're white, decent, and have some control buttons on them.

 

[VanMardigan]

What the heck, does Sprint WANT to continue losing customers to AT&T? A friend of mine and his wife have been customers for years. Their contract is up in November, less than six months from now, yet Sprint won't let them upgrade to the Pre. They did the whole "threaten to leave" routine, and nothing.

Sprint's best offer? Upgrade your plan by $60 a month and we'll let you upgrade to the Pre after three months. :lol

So yeah, he told me they'll wait until November........and switch to AT&T. They visited the local store and he says they were super impressed with the new iPhones at the demo kiosk. I have another friend who ordered his 3GS last week, even before cancelling his Sprint contract. He's willing to pay $200 to cancel his Sprint account. It's crazy.

 

[kaching]

Does Picasa use it? I know on the Picasa web albums they have maps built in.

Yes, Picasa definitely uses the geodata from iPhone pictures.

 

[ElyrionX]

So when the iPhone is connected to a power source via USB or the power cable and when it is performing an intensive task such as taking a call or tethering, does it draw its power directly from the source or does it draw it from the battery which would then be instantly recharged by the source?

If it's the latter, wouldn't this shorten the battery life significantly in the long run since lithium-ion batteries have a limited number of charge cycles?

 

[jonnybryce]

What the heck, does Sprint WANT to continue losing customers to AT&T?

Seems like it. Sprint lost me to AT&T. The Pre was a let down and I just left without waiting for my contract to end. There are people that did the threaten to leave routine that just needed a 2 or 3 month early upgrade and they also say no. Idiots.

So when the iPhone is connected to a power source via USB or the power cable and when it is performing an intensive task such as taking a call or tethering, does it draw its power directly from the source or does it draw it from the battery which would then be instantly recharged by the source?

If it's the latter, wouldn't this shorten the battery life significantly in the long run since lithium-ion batteries have a limited number of charge cycles?

I'll preface my post by saying I don't have the actual answer, but that I'd be shocked if it wasn't coming from the iPhone, which is then recharged.

Anyway, lithium ion batteries are kinda weird. The last I checked, lithium ion batteries are good for 300-500 cycles. Lithium ion batteries should be topped off, as in at 60% put it to charge, versus letting it drop to 10% or 0% and raised back every time. It's only recommended to let the battery drop far down deliberately every 30 days to calibrate the gauge for accurate battery data.

So, since it's recommended you charge more often by topping off [which is what tetherring would be doing], and since Apple will cover you for a year (or year+ if you have Apple care) if your battery sucks, I wouldn't worry about this.

 

[Lord Error]

Seems like it. Sprint lost me to AT&T. The Pre was a let down and I just left without waiting for my contract to end.

Out of curiosity, what didn't you like about Pre?

 

[ElyrionX]

I'll preface my post by saying I don't have the actual answer, but that I'd be shocked if it wasn't coming from the iPhone, which is then recharged.

Anyway, lithium ion batteries are kinda weird. The last I checked, lithium ion batteries are good for 300-500 cycles. Lithium ion batteries should be topped off, as in at 60% put it to charge, versus letting it drop to 10% or 0% and raised back every time. It's only recommended to let the battery drop far down deliberately every 30 days to calibrate the gauge for accurate battery data.

So, since it's recommended you charge more often by topping off [which is what tetherring would be doing], and since Apple will cover you for a year (or year+ if you have Apple care) if your battery sucks, I wouldn't worry about this.

Even with heavy usage, I doubt the battery will die in a year of usage.

As far as I know, you're right about the "top off" thing. But even so, every time you're tethering, the iPhone at full charge lasts around three to four hours. Say, I'm tethering for 12 hours, that's easily three full cycles shaved off the iPhone battery's life.

Ideally, if hooked up to a power source, the iPhone should charge the battery to 100% and then disconnect itself electrically from the battery and draw all of its power from the source. I'm no engineer so I'm not even sure if this is technically possible or not. I'm not even sure whether laptops can do it or not.

 

[VanMardigan]

Seems like it. Sprint lost me to AT&T. The Pre was a let down and I just left without waiting for my contract to end. There are people that did the threaten to leave routine that just needed a 2 or 3 month early upgrade and they also say no. Idiots.

If you don't mind me asking, how much time did you have left on your contract and how much did you have to pay to cancel your contract? That info could be useful to my friends.

 

[Meier]

Seems like it. Sprint lost me to AT&T. The Pre was a let down and I just left without waiting for my contract to end. There are people that did the threaten to leave routine that just needed a 2 or 3 month early upgrade and they also say no. Idiots.

I'd had SERO for nearly 2 years but they wouldn't give me any sort of pot sweetener to stick around and upgrade to the Pre so I decided to take off. I could have stayed month to month and bought a newer Sprint phone on ebay or something but I finally caved. You'd think they'd be groveling but they don't seem to care about losing customers. I sold my stock in it.

I have 1 month left, just going to pay the extra $37.40 or whatever. They wouldn't let me cancel it without paying $200 which obviously made 0 sense at this point.

 

[jonnybryce]

Out of curiosity, what didn't you like about Pre?

I'll try to make this as short as possible but I know it'll end up a little long, sorry, but I want to be clear and explain. I wanted to love the Pre, reading about it everyday until release and getting excited over the littlest things like it's ringtone being leaked. I had it for two days. My issues with the Pre are that it's slow, apps take a while to open and other functions weren't smooth (often pinch to zoom would be laggy). It was a little buggy, which didn't bother me too much since it was at launch but it didn't make it any less annoying, for example it would tell me I have too many cards open and to close some before opening a new app even when I closed them all, calling for a restart. There were other annoyances, like the ever so awesome Synergy, which would allow my friend's pictures, email addresses and phone numbers to update on their own, having to sync with ALL of my friends on Facebook or ALL of my contacts on gmail. It's not a huge deal, since I have the keyboard to type in people's names, but there are times when I'm bored and look through my contacts for someone to call or text. The Pre forced me to have hundreds of people I'm not on a text or call level with to use the Syngery feature, which is what the Pre hyped itself on. That was disappointing. So it was a lot of little things, plus the following big thing I couldn't get passed.

My biggest issue was build quality. The slider is rock solid...when slid up. When slid down, the top layer would give and wiggle. Doing the back gesture, where you swipe right to left under the screen, caused the top layer of the slider to also move right to left a little. The top half of the screen, the part not attached to anything since it slides up to reveal the mirror and Sprint logo, would click and push in even if I didn't touch it with too much pressure. My brother joked and said he didn't know the Pre had Blackberry's SurePress screen because it was noticeable and annoying.

I didn't mind the keyboard and the OS is beautiful. But I had to make a decision, and it was Pre, which could get awesome if I looked passed the build quality, or iPhone, which was already awesome.

If you don't mind me asking, how much time did you have left on your contract and how much did you have to pay to cancel your contract? That info could be useful to my friends.

I'll update you on this, because when I had my number ported, my whole account was wiped on Sprint.com so I have no idea how much I'll need to pay. I plan on calling them today or tomorrow, based on how busy I am at work. I was 11 months into contract.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

Can someone recommend some good iPhone earbuds? I'm sick of the official apple ones crapping out on me. I just need something with the same mic and play/pause/skip track feature as the iPhone buds.

Thanks

 

[Costanza]

Update on 3GS jailbreak from the dev-team:

Summary:

We can jailbreak the 3GS right now. But making our jailbreak public at this point in time would benefit relatively few people. It would in fact be detrimental to many more people than it would help. So we feel it’s best to keep our version of the jailbreak out of Apple’s sights for the time being.

Details:

If you already have a 3GS phone and have already done a full USB dump or captured your img3’s signed with your ECID, then you’re in great shape. You will always be able to jailbreak. But many people who plan on getting a 3GS do not yet have one. For instance, many people are waiting for their existing contracts to mature to the point where they get a price break on the 3GS. Many people are trying to sell their 3G before they can buy the 3GS. There are parts of the globe where you can’t even buy a 3GS yet! The reasons are varied, but they are many.

The nature of the 3GS hardware allows Apple to stop IPSWs from being usable unless you’ve already gotten the signed chunks they send to you based on your ECID (a unique chip ID). You cannot get these signed chunks without knowing your ECID, and you don’t know your ECID until you’ve bought your 3GS.

The jailbreak requires at least one signed iBoot-family img3 for your device. And that iBoot needs to have an exploitable bug. It’s an all-or-nothing deal…you either have your signed exploitable iBoot ready to use, for now and forever — always jailbreakable — or you have nothing.

Here’s the critical point, the reason why we’re delaying our version of the jailbreak: Once the jailbreak is out, Apple will fix the iBoot-family bug we use to accomplish it. They will simply stop signing the old iBoots and only sign the fixed ones. If you bought your phone after Apple has done this, there’s nothing you can do…the jailbreak isn’t going to work for you.

It is possible that Apple will find the bug we use without our handing it to them on a silver platter (via a public jailbreak). In that case, we will have delayed our jailbreak for “nothing”. But we’d rather be safe than sorry!

Apple is surely coming out with a 3.0.1 firmware release shortly. They need to fix ultrasn0w. They need to fix some UI issues. 3.0 is buggy and 3.0.1 is coming. We’re going to wait and see what 3.0.1 brings before figuring out the release date for our version of the jailbreak.

In the meantime, we have some remaining 3.0 jailbreak issues to investigate, including push notification. Thanks for being patient with us while we took a 3GS “timeout”!

 

[mrkgoo]

I did a test of my iPhone 3G on 3.0 battery life last night.

Around 10pm, fully charged.

Played a game of scrabble, listened to a couple songs. Put it to sleep.

8am, I wake it up and it's giving the 20% warning. So it must've used at least 80% power over night with the actual usage coming in at about 15 minutes. Of course, the phone reports around 4 hours use - I've heard push notifications cause it to page using the GSM antenna all the time, and possibly the cause of the battery life drop. This makes sense - even though I have no data plan, push MUST be paging often to check. OR trying to connect. I know when I finally connect to wifi, a bunch of apple push servers show up on my router.

I've charged it close to full again, and am turning off push notifications for the day and see how I go.

 

[Lord Error]

Can someone recommend some good iPhone earbuds? I'm sick of the official apple ones crapping out on me. I just need something with the same mic and play/pause/skip track feature as the iPhone buds.

Thanks

Apple's own new in-ear buds are pretty good.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001N9YIJG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

They have remote with mic, and they have rather nice sound quality, very faithful to the original recording, without much coloring of the sound. They use dual driver armature in each earbud, which is unusual for phones that cost just $75 like they do.

They are what I'd call failproof phones, good for evaluating the quality of recording, if not exactly for rocking out to bass heavy tunes. They really never muddle anything I've tried listening with them, sound separation is great, but on the other hand they have rather weak bass compared to Denon C751 that I also have.

Your other option are V-Moda Vibe Duo, depending on color, they sell for between $55 and $80, which also have remote/mic, and apparently stronger bass - but they have a single driver which probably means some sound muddling in complex sounding sequences..
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_e...ctronics&field-keywords=Vibe+Moda+Duo&x=0&y=0

Yu can rest assured btw, that both of these will sound an order of magnitude better than the garbage buds that come with Iphone and Ipods - as long as you make sure to insert them in your ears properly so they they form a hermetic seal with your ear.

I'm also eying Klipsch Image X5, which despite not having any remote or mic, apparently have really good sound quality all across the range (and strong bass too), although these go for about $165. I'm thinking of maybe returning Apple's in-ears back and putting that money towards X5 if I can get confirmation somewhere that they actually do sound better. X5 have again one driver, and I think dual driver structure of apple's in-ears really gives them a kind of clarity I've never heard before, not from single driver earbuds anyways.

 

[cvxfreak]

I noticed one bug involving Japanese keyboards. The ten-key keyboard keeps turning itself back on even though I shut it off. I don't know what's causing it to reactivate myself, but it comes back and I always have to turn it off again. Hope it's fixed in the next update.

 

[OverHeat]

As soon as my local rogers wireless store get more 3G S I will upgrade my 3G for a little 200$

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Your other option are V-Moda Vibe Duo, depending on color, they apparently sell for between $55 and $80, which also have remote/mic, and apparently stronger bass - but they have a single driver which probably means some sound muddling in complex sounding sequences..

Stay away from these. They fail in a matter of months. Been through a few pairs already.

 

[Lord Error]

Stay away from these. They fail in a matter of months. Been through a few pairs already.

How did you like the sound quality on them?

I've heard many stories of Apple In-ear also falling apart rather quickly to be honest. especially the little remote piece. If I keep them I'll try to be very careful with them - but other than Vibe Duos and these Apple In-ears I don't know of any other earbuds that have remote/mic compatible with Iphones.

 

[hEist]

just a simple question. Finally ive purchased a mobileme accout.
Push Notifications should be on the "Home" Screen or am i wrong?
In the beginning it worked, but today there wasnt any push message on the home screen. Only the vibra + "1" on mail.app.

What the **** happenend?

 

[bionic77]

just a simple question. Finally ive purchased a mobileme accout.
Push Notifications should be on the "Home" Screen or am i wrong?
In the beginning it worked, but today there wasnt any push message on the home screen. Only the vibra + "1" on mail.app.

What the **** happenend?

I think you need an app that uses Push notification for it the option to appear in settings. The option only appeared for me after I downloaded AIM and Beejive, both of which support push notification.

 

[hEist]

I think you need an app that uses Push notification for it the option to appear in settings. The option only appeared for me after I downloaded AIM and Beejive, both of which support push notification.

got that also... still no freaking push @mobileme email.

 

[bionic77]

got that also... still no freaking push @mobileme email.

I don't have mobileme so I can't help you out with that.

Though if it is a email account shouldn't the push settings be under mail, contacts, calenders?

 

[hEist]

I don't have mobileme so I can't help you out with that.

Though if it is a email account shouldn't the push settings be under mail, contacts, calenders?

yeah they are there also, and also on "on"...

 

[SuperPac]

just a simple question. Finally ive purchased a mobileme accout.
Push Notifications should be on the "Home" Screen or am i wrong?
In the beginning it worked, but today there wasnt any push message on the home screen. Only the vibra + "1" on mail.app.

What the **** happenend?

Yep, that's how push works for email. It vibrates (and makes a noise if you have that set or your phone's not on silent), and the Mail icon has the +1 (whatever) number badge on it. You do not actually get a notification as you do with text messages for email.

 

[johnFkennedy]

Did anone else notice the three red dots next to the earpiece? Has this been talked about?

 

[Lord Error]

Did anone else notice the three red dots next to the earpiece? Has this been talked about?

I thought those were light sensors for auto brightness, and to detect when your face is close to the phone to switch the screen off when you're talking on the phone

 

[SnakeXs]

How did you like the sound quality on them?

I've heard many stories of Apple In-ear also falling apart rather quickly to be honest. especially the little remote piece. If I keep them I'll try to be very careful with them - but other than Vibe Duos and these Apple In-ears I don't know of any other earbuds that have remote/mic compatible with Iphones.

I have a pair of Shures with a breakaway cable, so the headphone cable is really short. You can replace the long cable with a remote cable that Shure sells and bam, best of both worlds.

 

[mrkgoo]

Two are ambient light sensors (the original iPhone only had one - the iPhone 3G added a second to increase sensitivity), the third is a proximity sensor to detect your face up against it.

On this note, I SWEAR that the Google Voice search app uses not only the proximity sensor, but also the motion in the accelerometer to detect when you put it up against your ear - because if you do it slowly, it doesn't work. Clever.

 

[Dizzan]

1. Shazam, Facebook, Aim, NeoGaf web app, iProcrastinate, UrbanSpoon, Slydial, Pandora, Snaptell, Yelp, Pandora Box
App Recommendation thread
2.You can sync contacts using Outlook or Address Book [on Mac]. There are also apps and processes out there to sync with other things like Gmail.
3.Yeah, if you sync them to the phone. You can sync them to your program, like Address Book, first or Google Sync directly on iPhone.
4. Cable.
5. Yes. They're white, decent, and have some control buttons on them.

Thanks for the response mate. Appreciate it.

 

[Blackhead]

How did you like the sound quality on them?

I've heard many stories of Apple In-ear also falling apart rather quickly to be honest. especially the little remote piece. If I keep them I'll try to be very careful with them - but other than Vibe Duos and these Apple In-ears I don't know of any other earbuds that have remote/mic compatible with Iphones.

I forgot mine in a pair of jeans and it went through the washer and dryer. Still works perfectly well

Thanks for the response mate. Appreciate it.

Also you can import SIM Contacts, but yeah nothing else to add to that great reply