Hype or no, Apple's iPhone is an elegant, highly functional, soon to be very influential communications and entertainment device.

Except for the very poor cam specs, it looks like a real piece of art... and I hate iStuff.  Will be great once apple incorporates activesync on there.  I know for the business I'm with, that *IS* a must for mobile devices.

"and to the amazing five bar signal inside my office. My Blackberry Pearl on the same network usually gets around three bars. Hooray for whatever Apple did to maximize the signal"
  I thought the people writing this stuff knew what they were talking about but this made me think twice.  
  So that's an indication of a phone with good network reception ? That is as 5 lines showing in the signal area... All I can say is lol. I can make a phone that will always show you that the signal is maxed out then drop to half when you can still barely make calls and then to nothing just like that. So what ? That doesn't prove anything.  
  One manufacturer can decide this is the max. signal for that phone and show you a 5/5 signal and another can decide there's still room for more and show a 3/5 signal.
  If you want to test reception go to an area with bad reception and almost no signal at all and see which phone allows you to make a call. That's a real test.  
  iPhone is pretty nice but from what I heard it's not that much of a phone one of the problems being just that , signal reception.
 Thank you

Synch works find on when docked with my MacPro.  Is this a Microsoft limitation?
 
What amazed me is that it found a picture of a friend on my MacPro and used that picture when that person called my iPhone.
 
Number transfer from Verizon to my iPhone took about 6 minutes and I was activated and receiving calls.  It hooked up to my home wireless without a hickup - very easy.
 
Surfing on EDGE is slow, but seems to vary based on how fast I'm traveling
 
The actual iPhone interface is extremely well thought out -- really is designed for humans by humans (take note Microsoft).  I love the ability to zoom/shrink images, web sites, etc. by just squishing my fingers together (zoom in) or separating them about (zoom out).  And moving the page around with my finger really makes surfing viable.
 
Video and audio is better than my current iPod when using the same headphones.
 
Since everything synchs to my MacPro, I already has all my Email contacts and the like setup.
 
When moving the phone to my ear it turns the display off, when moving it back down the display comes on with big red End Call button.
 
The actual signal was very clear, in areas where I used to get dropped calls on Verizon's network, I didn't on my iPhone.  So yes, it does appear that the iPhone has managed to improve signal quality and I find you 5 bar debate pretty weak -- like someone desparately trying to find a problem just because they hate all things Apple.  Keep your mind open, it really is the best way to approach life.
 
I only had to stand in line for 10 minutes Friday night (9pm PT) but apparently over 500,000 we sold over the weekend and have since been sold out.  Think one sold for $12,500 on eBay -- no that is crazy.
 
All in all -- Apple hit the mark.  With OS X get ready for a host of games to run on iPhone.
 
Oh did I mention it's fast, VERY fast, no noticeable delays at all (at least on the 8GB version).
 
500,000 unit is 24 hrs x $550 per unit (on average) = $275,000,000 -- not a bad haul for 24 hours.

Unfortunatly the one big miss on the iPhone imo is such a huge one that even if I was in the market for a new phone I wouldn't get it, no 3G, sure the iPhone users will be able to browse web pages on their nice big screens, but while they are waiting for weather.com to load i've already watched a streaming video weather report on my $50 V3xx RAZR and i'm good to go, yeah it has Wi-fi, but 3G coverage is so much larger than free Wi-fi access points, if they add 3G I may very well get one next time I upgrade (even with the fact that I don't like Apple), but honestly no 3G is a deal killer.

For the weather, there is a special button that gives 6 day forecast, and it takes exactly 1 sec to refresh it (it does it automatically) on EDGE.

I agree, AT&T EDGE is slow, but I believe a speed bump is due out before year end.  But even with 3G it's nothing compared to jumping on a wireless access point.
 
Fortunately I rarely have to use EDGE as it's so very easy to jump on one of many unresticted wireless points that popup just about everywhere.
 
Keep in mind, this is Apple's first dive into this market, but if the iPhone continues on it's sales records you can be assured Apple's pockets will be very deep soon and will have more muscle in this market.
 
What I found disappointing, was AT&T's support -- pretty much hasn't changed -- still aweful!  Fortunately my need to use AT&T support was actually my own error (I had just typed in the wrong phone number to transfer -- off by a digit) but AT&T support said that they didn't have an agreement to transfer from Verison -- which was completely false.
 
Going with AT&T is definitely not optimal for many potential customers -- I too wish there was more option in this area -- not saying 3G is the way to go either, but having more choices would be nice.

I am going to be very critical here based on Barry's info, not because I don't like the iphone, but because I have had a lot of real (and sometimes tough) experience with pocket pc phones.
 
Nobody has yet to mention anything about instant messaging on the iphone, but I guess with the touchscreen keyboard that would not be a fun thing after 2 minutes.
 
I notice there is no support for wma and wmv files.
 
The 8GB memory capacity is cool, but is that all you get? There is no mention of a card slot on the device for adding more memory.
 
Also, does the iphone have any backup software apps so you can save all that 8GB somewhere in case your data goes south? 8O  
 
It seems the iphone does nothing new that ppc phones have been doing in the last few years, the only difference is a more modern design, a $600 price tag and better GUI.
 
I know a lot of people will love the iphone, but here's a list of everything I can do right now with my pocket pc phone:
 
-Instant Messaging
-Email
-SMS/MMS
-Internet
-Word/Excel/PDF/Powerpoint
-Wifi/Edge/Bluetooth
-Mappoint with GPS
-Windows Media audio/video playback (with stereo speakers) 8)  
-Photo slideshow
-Calculator
-Calendar/Schedule
-Notes
-Pocket MSN
-Digital Camera
-Digital Video Recorder  
-Voice recorder
-Alarm function
-Contacts list
-Task scheduler
-Scrabble/Monopoly/Yahtzee/Battleship
 
The list goes on, but as other ppc users over the last three years have found out, there are many ways to really get your money's worth.
 
But by far my favorite is being able to encode movies onto WMV and store them on my device. It's great being able to just take it out anywhere and start watching the latest full-length widescreen Hollywood flick; and then see envious looks from other people with the white earbuds...  
 
Oh, did I mention this was a phone as well? 8)  
 
I am impartial to the removable memory card, simply because I can store infinite data. Right now I have a single 2GB card with about a dozen full-length movies on there, 4-5 complete CD's worth of music, all my GPS maps, about a dozen 1.3MP photos, my last 5 full backup sets and the above game suite installed.
 
Were I to carry an army of those tiny MicroSD cards with me, and I could bring my entire movie and music collection along for the ride, so much for needing that expensive Archos AV player!
 
I also find the backup utility a critical necessity, simply because any hard-reset of the device will wipe everything out, or a malfunction/dip-in-the-pool will leave you with nothing left when you power back on.
 
I have heard that there is no insurance offered on the iphone, whereas most ppc phones can be insured when purchased.
 
Finally, I had purchased my first ppc phone, and HP iPAQ h6315, back in 2004 for $400. My current device, an MDA (i-mate k-jam) was $200. I pay just $29.95 a month for voice only with T-Mobile, and I get free (yes, free) data over their edge network.
 
Some people don't mind throwing out $600 for a phone and $60 every month - these are the kinds of people I would like to take their money from and put it to better use.
 
I prefer to make the sensible/educated choice, do all my research first and avoid the crazy hype. So instead of getting something "just because everybody else is getting it" I get something that does what I need it to do, that does what I want, for a great price, makes other people stare and at the end of the day leaves me feeling happy.

 
Just a comment on the business readiness of the device... any device that assumes a business is using Exchange is not ready for business. There is still a significant percentage (our 30,000 soon to be 60,000 employees included) who are running Lotus Notes or even another mail application. This is where the BES wins above all else as it provides a layer of abstraction that does not require the device interacting with the mail system directly.
 
Throw in the lack of security features on an iPhone (we do lots of government work) as I'm sure there is no way to centerally manage the device and enforce security policies on it.

You have SMS Text or you have online services via Safari.  Touchscreen keyboard is actually very easy to use and far better experience than anything else I've used to date with the exception of a full sized keyboard.
 
No card slots, just a USB slot and/or docking bay.
 
OS X is the operating system so it's unlikely you'll see much wma or wmv support -- however, you can find wmv to quicktime converters that you could load.
 
8GB for now, but G2 rumors are 120GB version using Samsungs component.
 
Backup - yes, via iTunes and synch.
 
Well, you can the same about autos -- but I'd still rather have a newer auto.
 
You can do what you have on your list (with the exception of GPS) but what memory specs are your running with your PocketPC -- last I checked a PocketPC can't share/access 8GB of memory.  2nd PocketPC's are horribly slow (in terms of interface).  3rd, the video output of WMV format made to fit a PocketPC screen is aweful!  H.264 is light years better than anything WMV based.
 
Like I said, you have a USB port on the iPhone, go to town and do everything you do on your current PocketPC.  I've owned several PocketPC devices and I'm not aware of any 8GB cards I can use with it?  Also, toss in the price of those cards to your original purchase price and redo your $$$ justification math.
 
Seems to me your not making any type of choice and pretty much trying to justify your current setup -- which begs the question, why are you trying to justify it?
 
Hang on to what you have for as long as you like if it meets your needs, but maybe you should go to an Apple store and take a look at demo iPhone units.  Play around with the phone and the interface -- then decide if you wanna spend the money.  
 
Does you pocketPC detect when it is close to your ear and automatically turn off the display and turn the display back on when you pull it away?

Errr, yeah, I wouldn't recommend the iPhone for business unless your business is primarily sales and/or related to the entertainment industry.
 
The private (consumers) market is massive compared to the business market -- in fact, the iPhone is putting a real computer into the hands of many that have NEVER touched or used a computer before (this is 75% of the population BTW).
 
But, are you really being serious about the Government security??  Let me see over the past few years the Government has lost more laptops with confident data than they care to admit.  The US department of defense are the ones that started the good old Internet along with it's huge security flaws.  I find it pretty funny that someone is suggesting the government is a leader of wanting secure devices.  And Windows based OS is secure??  So I guess those 100,000+ viruses and other malware didn't really exist?  Maybe you need to go watch that movie "Breach" if you want to see just how laughable our government is when it comes to security.

I. The coolest thing about the iPhone is the screen. no other provider, too the best of my knowledge has a cell phone screen that size.
 
II. It is Apples first try. Even with it's flaws, it is an incredibly cool phone. The next version will be far better. Most of the flaws in this phone will be fixed by the next.
 
To be honest, I am quite surprised that the iPhone does not have more flaws than it does. I am quite sure that a few more flaws will turn up, but it will still be an excellent product.
 
I will get my iPhone when the second generation hits the market.

 
I rarely ever find unrestricted wireless access points though with my UMPC (coffee shops is about it), I am however always in 3G service so i'm always tethering my phone to it for internet access.

3G definitely has a good base, 79 Million and growing I believe.

 
Actually, that is most likely because Verizon uses CDMA technology and ATT uses GSM technology and they use different towers.  I recently switched from Verizon to T-mobile for this reason.  T-mobile had a tower closer to my house and thus I got killer reception.  I use a Dash and am happy with it although I have to say the iPhone looks cool -- but IMO i wouldn't spend that much money on a phone...  
 

 
Actually, if that were correct then all the reviews that say you MUST activate through a computer and sync with iTunes must be way off.  I highly doubt anyone w/o a computer would be able to use this --- from the reviews i've read
 
Anyway, V8VENOM I'm not trying to dogg your comments just through in my 2 cents.  I'm glad you like it and I might give it at try if it comes from different carriers and has 3G (2nd or 3rd gen) and if it comes in for around $300 bucks...
 
cheers

 
If you are referring to the 8GB SDHC cards, you are correct. But the majority of newer ppc devices use either the miniSD or microSD format, for which 2GB and 4GB cards are compatible.
 
I agree H.264 is better quality than WMV, but you can still get very good WMV output on a 3.5" screen. The key is using the correct bitrate when encoding your video.
 
Also, keep in mind a slew of newer ppc devices are just around the corner that will be running Pocket PC 6.0. From the specs I have seen, some of these units have CPU's running at 530MHz - a far cry from the 195MHz model I'm watching my movies on now - and allow direct video output, so they are indeed very capable and not at all slow.
 
You didn't mention what ppc devices you have tried. I know there are some not-so-great devices out there. HTC and i-mate have fairly decent units, I like the HTC TyTN, but the newer i-mate models coming soon are even better.
 
As for the price of those SD cards, you can currently find 2GB miniSD cards on sale for $23-$29, but if you look around and hunt for rebates like I did, you can pick up a 2GB card for $19.95. SD card prices have been falling for quite a while, what used to cost $80 in March 2006 now sells for $20!!!
 
Factor that price in, as you say, and for $400 I can get the ppc itself for $200 and another $200 will stock me up with 20GB of removable storage. I am sorry but your argument doesn't hold.
 

You're not seriously comparing cell phones to cars now are you?
 

Nope. But I didn't need a PC to activate it either nor do I need a PC to back it up.
 

Am I justifying my purchase? Perhaps. To my knowledge I was merely pointing out the advantages today's ppc devices have over the features mentioned in the article. But if you can justify why I should spend $60/month for a plan that gives me the same access I am now getting for $30/month, please be my guest.
 
I am happy that you enjoy the iphone and hope that it does serve you and every other iphone user well. For my money, I won't be spending $600 on a device that by the end of the 2-year contract will be a museum piece, and end a similar fate as the first generation ipod.

 
Do you mean 75% of the global population (that would be a silly stat - I can't imagine many impoverished Africans using it for example) or do you mean 75% of the USA/Canada? Where did you get that stat from?
 
I wouldn't call the iphone a real computer either, with limited expansion and peripheral options, small storage, restrictive cpu power and limited applications, its no more a real computer than any other high end pda/smartphone.
 
One of the biggest mistakes I see Apple made with the Iphone is no replaceable battery. Surely in a device like this it would be a critical feature, not just from the point of view that the thing will die out after a year or so (or suffer significantly degraded battery performance).
 
Looks like style over substance, the gui looks nice but i wouldnt like to type a letter on that keyboard and being locked/coersed into using itunes/quicktime for your media makes me shudder. Quicktime on the pc, with its dodgy looking skin and flaky operation, no thanks makes me think of when I bought a Sony pda and got locked into all their horrible proprietary memory stick and software...
 
BUT, it does look pretty so will no doubt be ignorantely proclaimed as the best thing since that other flawed icon apple made (ipod)...
 
... I want them to market a toilet next - its perfect for apple, simple flowing lines, in white, they can add a non refillable cistern and call it the ishit