I think that the current iPhone is too limited. While the iPhone have a full Internet browser, the device can only be used over an EDGE cellular network.
According to a review of the New York Times the iPhone takes 1-2 minutes to load a page over EDGE . There are much faster mobile telephony protocols and networks out there such as UMTS or even HSDPA/HSUPA.
Gizmo
Wizard
Registered: 01/10/00
Posts: 5134
Loc: Portland, OR, USA
'eh it may officially just be an AT&T phone, but like any phone all you have to do is unlock it to use it on another carrier; in fact I've heard of them being used (minimally) on tmobile.
Registered: 11/28/00
Posts: 3224
Loc: NYC | 100% Hockey
For me, my BlackBerry (8100) used EDGE anyway, so I'm not losing anything on speed, plus it has WiFi, so it is much faster where I can get a signal.
I had put off buying a new iPod for a long time (my Shuffle doesn't count), since my 15 gig 2G died (some parts are still alive as they were used to help revive a co-worker's iPod).
The only thing I will miss if sync with my Outlook, although if I get a promotion at the end of the year they might give me another BlackBerry anyway (although this time they will pay for it)
Registered: 11/28/00
Posts: 3224
Loc: NYC | 100% Hockey
Originally Posted By: Gizmo
'eh it may officially just be an AT&T phone, but like any phone all you have to do is unlock it to use it on another carrier; in fact I've heard of them being used (minimally) on tmobile.
It's too much of a cat & mouse game to hack it. By the time they get it all figured out, Apple will release an OS update that will fix the hacks, while adding useful new functionaility.
Gizmo
Wizard
Registered: 01/10/00
Posts: 5134
Loc: Portland, OR, USA
Lol I'd kill for a blackberry...
And yeh, unlocking phones can be a pain, I doubt they'd "patch" how to unlock/lock it as that's how providers do their updates to the phones as well ...
Gizmo
Wizard
Registered: 01/10/00
Posts: 5134
Loc: Portland, OR, USA
Most simcards are genaric, I doubt they'll take that huge of a step to stop users from using it on other services; they just want them out the door ...
Besides, if the blackberry has shown us nothing else, it's that providers could give half a crap about choosing to allow you to download provideable updates/upgrades (WPA2 support on some older devices for example)
Registered: 11/28/00
Posts: 3224
Loc: NYC | 100% Hockey
Right now, the iPhone can only be used with the cards they come with. Another AT&T card won't even work.
Most other phones have a limited exclusivity on them - usually 3 months or so before you start seeing variants show up with the other carriers. Kind of how the BlackBerry Pearl was exlusive to T-Mobile for a little while and the Curve is now exclusive to AT&T. Rumors are that the iPhone exclusivity is 3 YEARS and that Apple gets revenue sharing from the monthly service (varies based on whether the subscriber is a new AT&T customer or an existing one that upgraded).
There are financial incentives for both Apple and AT&T to keep it locked down.