Since the iPhone was launched on Friday in the UK I have heard from a number of you on your experiences and I thought that it might be fun if you shared those experiences in purchasing, activating and posing with your new ‘best friend’.
So if you feel so inclined leave a comment below with your experiences and initial impressions…….
WiFi seems very stable and it actually comes adaptive meaning if you have several Access Points the iPhone will choose the one nearest at that particular time if you have configured your networks on the iPhone.
At work we’ve got several Access Points and I’ve walked round the entire building and totally seemless transitions between each point.
EDGE seems scarily quick as well.
I’m going to have to go back on my edge comment it is really quick I didn’t realize that everything works without edge now that is slow. Edge is blazing I’m assuming as iPhone owners are the only people ok it! The transition between trusted wifi points and edge is seemless.
@Danny,
I noticed a few months ago on my Blackberry Curve that I was able to access EDGE network services but strangely now it works in Cramlington (Where I work) and last week it didn’t. Strange or just the fact that the iPhone is now available so the network is opened up more freely for iPhone support.
Cheers,
Mark
Will be intertesting to see what the options are in Spain – haven’t ever looked into it to be honest, but if I carry on travelling I may be tempted, as tomorrow I get to go Almeria>Barcelona>Heathrow>Dubai.
I’ve never had the opportunity to use edge to be honest the only time I’ve ever had an edge connection is when I was in the car passing through places. I don’t get it at home but that doesn’t make a difference since I have wifi. The connection without edge is very slow though.
update!!!
1.1.1 wont work on o2, baeband / modem will frag if you try this. Also it seems that when a Jailbreak solution comes out for 1.1.2 it will still require a downgrade to 1.1.1 so we (the o2 customers) are SOL (Sh*t outta luck) right for now.
There is a rather crude method but I for one will NOT be hacking / jailbreaking until a PURE 1.1.2 system exists to free-the-iphone!
I’m reliably informed this is the most popular thread ever.
Great stuff – long may it continue.
Strangely I’ve not even got an iPhone yet I’m still contributing.
I have seen one though! Bumped into a dodgy geezer in an Indian restaurant who was waving it about! 😉
Yep, most popular ever. You can see the All Time Popular Top 5 in the footer.
I saw that guy as well – Danny I think his name was, at least he went and got his own now though!
I hope you guys stick around for more threads!
Yeah I was there the perv took photos of me and stuck them on his flickr! :p
@darren rolfe
I sure hope that you mean he was waving this shiny slim iPhone at you and not some other phallic object? : )
UK Forum is coming VERY soon. And when I say very, by the end of this week!
Careful, we now have female readers!
I know I almost fell off my chair when I saw the name :p
may they come in their millions!
Would be interesting to know how they feel in the geek community. Outnumbered or at home.
@Danny – is that one of your chat-up lines?
Would be interesting to know how they feel in the geek community. Outnumbered or at home.[/quote]
Err… Good luck with that!
And in one sentance Danny shows us all how it is (not) done!!!!!!
Any takers to try downgrading to 1.1.1 on o2?
Adam has confirmed my theory on the 1.1.1 firmware. Baseband on 1.1.1 is NOT working for O2 network. Therefore it is stringly advised to NOT play with any hacks until we know better.
Right ok…..I was able to downgrade my phone to the 1.1.1 firmware and then jailbreak it using jailbreakme.com. After installing installer.app and the using oktoprep I installed 1.1.2 again to get my o2 service back see if i could get the jailbreak back. Unfortunately using the Conceited software gui unlock released today I haven’t successfully jailbroke again however the phone is back in working order and connected to o2.
Wow, this thread has taken off!
1 Day in – 7,000 students having come and looked at “sir’s iPhone’ and still loving it.
Some random notes from today:
Wireless:
Hopping onto wireless network at school a breeze. Getting my own password in for my home network a nightmare as I have used a 63 digit random one – the inability to view password when entering means I keep making mistakes and not picking them up. This would be a valuable update to the software to let me see what I am entering.
Contacts:
Didn’t realise there was not a dedicated contacts button so took a while to figure the swiftest way to get at contacts for adding on the go. However, love the ease of adding photo data to contacts and love the way the image becomes the background when you are in a call to that person.
Mail:
Working seamlessly, all imap accounts updating as I would expect. Love the interface.
Keyboard:
So used to 2 thumb approach of Treo/Blackberry keep trying it and not good – much better to hold in one hand and type with 1 finger.
Delays:
While listening to a podcast tried to stop iTunes playing it and found the system seemed to hange for a few seconds – enough time to think about pressing something else – power, apps button etc to make the iPhone respond. Will shut down and restart iPhone to see if this cures.
Calendar:
Beautiful – all my data sync’d 1st time and it’s a joy to use.
To do list:
Want one now!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha! – Unfortunately comments never get across the tone of a statement! For the record that was lighthearted 😉
First proper iPhone day and it has performed really well, only one complaint, battery life. It got back with 15% to spare, and thats not a lot and charging every day will certainly kill the battery sooner than other phones. Granted this was an above-average use day (showing off to everyone and everyone).
Also there is hardly any Edge or wifi at college so, although I didnt realise it, half the time I was browsing over GPRS (I think thats how its done, please correct me if its wrong) and thats what was really slow, although usable for email.
Oh and IMAP ROCKS – got back and all my accounts are beautifully synced. Once I got over the fact that I could “delete” the mails without any worry and that gmail simply tags them differently and doesnt remove them from the server, it was incredible.
To Do list is a must. Battery is crap.
I think we need to start compiling some information on the iPhone for the UK market? What do you guys and gals think?
Cheers,
Mark
iPhoneDEV – COMING SOON : )
I am finding battery ok sufficient at present as my current workflow with a mobile/pda is not too taxing.
I use the my mobile infrequently Monday to friday – random checks of email through the day, adding contacts and mainly calendar dates (and to do’s when that arrives on the iPhone). I have always left my phone/pda connected to the laptop over night which has charged it since the advent of USB cables.
On the commute to work (beautiful frost over the New Forest this morning!) I have the option of the incar charger so no worries there.
On another topic: In my over-excitement I left the O2 store without a case!!! Ooooops. Any suggestions from those already with one would be good. Always preferred rubber/plastic to leather (ooh er missus) 😉
Well I got this by email earlier to my dilemma about upgrading from 1.0.2:
So that will be me on 1.0.2 then 🙂
@Dunks – sorry haven’t even looked at cases yet, but I have a load on their way over to be reviewed!
@dunks – I got a cheap “in house” branded leather case form the carphone warehouse, does the job ok although i think it covers the light sensor so whenever I have it in the case the backlight is really low. But it has a plastic screen protector and it looks ok. Its even usable in the case but I try to avoid it.
Hey guys, don’t mind this just doing a quick test for Chris.
Darren – I feel completely at home in the geek community thank you very much. I lead a double life and no one knows about my Apple obsession – I guess this is like a gay person ‘coming out’ and discovering theyre not alone!!
Another interesting thing today was the perception of the iPhone amongst other staff at the school. There has obviously been a less than complimentary item on the news and people kept referring to the ‘true cost’ of the iphone and how it was so expensive at £900.
When I explored this with them, I began to realise the news item was obviously ‘spinning’ the facts slightly for a more eye-catching headline.
Yes the phone costs £269.
Yes thats more than most people pay for any phone on a contract – in fact most phones on contract are free!
But, the only way I can see the cost being £900 is to add the cost of the phone to 18 months @ the basic tariff.
18 x £35 = £630 + £269 = £899
Yes that sounds a lot but wait a minute – I am actually saving money buying this phone.
My old contract was at £54 per month for an unlimited data plan with the Blackberry on an 24 month contract.
18 x £54 = £972
Therefore, by spending £269 and getting the cheaper monthly tariff – by the end of the 18 month period, I will have saved £73.
Or is my maths out?
I paid £269 for my iPod Touch but now I have iPhone I have the same thing for the same price but with phone included ( albeit a disappointing 8GB for my music ) The way I see it is that I have got a free phone!! The contract is something most people have anyway so shouldnt come into the equation. Im bored with people whinging about it to be honest. I love mine and thats all there is to it.
[quote comment=”18605″] The contract is something most people have anyway so shouldnt come into the equation.[/quote]
Absolutely – we all pay contracts of some sort. Even if a phone comes free on a £20 a month contract – it’s still costing someone £360 over 18 months.
My answer to those people who questioned why I was willing to pay a premium by buying such an expensive phone was simple.
How many of the ‘free’ phones have a) such seamless sync capabilities, b) a true video iPod built in, c) such a good, intuitive UI.
It was also interesting to turn the question back on people by asking what MP3 player they owned and why. Of all 5 or so people I did that to, all owned an iPod – the reason ‘its the best one out there’. “did you consider a cheaper option?’ – answer ‘No!’. Enough said!
Dunks has pretty much nailed it: with any other phone do you get this kind of ease of use and functionality right off the shelf!? AND future flexibility in the form of an SDK.
I paid a tonne of cash for this phone (being a broke student [although a millionaire according to some ;)]) and £35 is more than I would like to spend in a month.
But do you know what? Its 100% worth it.
Today, for the first time, I had my digital life with me on the go. The experience was close to flawless, and that is worth the money.
@Maggie – exactly, well said
@All – thanks for all your contributions. I am off to Dubai tomorrow so will be interesting to see what they make of the iPhone.
This iPhone has basically set the platform and now it’s time to open the fold and see where mobile technology can really go!
Proud to be an owner of one of these devices. It’s early days and I am sure soon we will be able to do a lot of things with it. SDK as said is coming in 2008 so that will hopefully bring to an end the senseless need to Firmware modify or Jailbreak the device (Done at your own risk!)
Something worth a read here:
http://rdgaccess.com/iphone-elite/viewtopic.php?t=207&start=15
Wow, gotta re–think that forum idea with threads like this!
The idea of a forum is to pool all the information together for UK users and also provide some kind of platform for devs to release new apps and stuff.
@Mark – Sorry, should have clarified! Chris used to have a forum connected to his web site when it was still MyAppleStuff, but then he took it down due to inactivity. (I think?) Anyway, that’s why I was saying to maybe re-think the position and bring back the forums. 🙂
http://jailbreakme.com/1.1.2/
http://conceitedsoftware.com/iphone/site/112jb.html
FIRMWARE NEWS
================
A friend of mine at work just purchased his iPhone from an O2 store in Newcastle, same store as myself and Adam.
His firmware version shows as: 1.1.2 (3B48b) where as my Out of the Box (OTB) iPhone has: 1.1.2 (3B48a)
Does anyone know the specific differences in the ‘a’ and ‘b’ firmwares?
I’d be keen to see other peoples thoughts on this subject.
Interesting…….
I haven’t got a lcue what the differences between the two versions are but I am keen to hear any suggestions froms anyone. Specifically has anyone got links to the respective firmware versions both ‘a’ and ‘b’ I’m running ‘b’ at the moment since I attempted to jailbreak using the methods explained on the web(and failed :P).
Adam
Adam,
have you tried the latest Jailbreak solution from my post earlier today?
Yeh that was the original method I used.
see notes below, this post got messed up :S
JAILBREAK 1.1.2 UPDATE NOTES 13/11/2007
===========================================
1. Yes the jailbreak method released for 1.1.2 works BUT…
2. After getting back to 1.1.2 (jailbroken) the following things are not working:
– EDGE
– Visual Voicemail does NOT work
3. Another issue is (which I find odd) when the phone is Jailbroken the network menu shows EDGE options but when not jailbroken the EDGE option is not there. Very weird!
Summary
———————
DO NOT UPDATE TO THIS LATEST JAILBREAK I’VE DID THE TESTING AND CRYING FOR YOU 🙂 Stick with the stock 1.1.2 for now. ‘a’ firmware is factory based and ‘b’ is what they are now pushing on iTunes.
‘a’ is also not in the Apple Firmware repository for the iPhone so that rules any chance of getting the ‘a’ firmware out!
Cheers,
Mark
If you follow all the latest Jailbreak techniques from my previous post and find yourself without EDGE and Visual Voicemail then you need to do the steps at this site:
http://code.google.com/p/iphone-elite/wiki/o2ukJailbreak
I’ve done this on my iPhone (1.1.2 O2 UK) and I can confirm after doing those steps and rebooting the EDGE / Visual Voicemail are now back and functional.
If anyone has any trouble hacking this let me know ad I will help you as much as I can.
Cheers,
Mark
RE: Cases etc.
For info, today purchases an ‘incase’ rubber surround style case for grip purposes and a ‘power support crystal screen protector’ (one of the films you lay over the screen).
I am happy with this for my pocket in the knowledge I won’t carry anything else in the pocket eg: keys etc.
When I need to put the phone in my rucsac or a bag I have a ‘Lowe alpine’ mini camera case – zip up, padded style – which I will use to protect it against knocks.
Warning: Not sure if Mark has had an issue with this but having transferred from O2 business to iPhone account, today received a bill for forthcoming months line rental and data plan for the old business plan. 5 different phone numbers later sat here on hold while they investigate. Luckily I have a copy of the emails sent & received to the iphonebusiness@O2.com email address, however I only received a ‘your transfer has been initiated’ type email and assumed once my old number started to work on the iPhone all was ok.
Oh no it wasn’t!! They haven’t disconnected the ‘billing’ aspect of my old account (???) so I am being charged. There is no-one I can phone, I have to email to sort problem.
Ouch that hurts, but somehow not surprised!
Update:
Ok, so I’ve discovered what the problem is. O2’s left foot has lost all communication and understanding of what it’s right foot is doing. Furthermore it believes there may be a middle foot but is not certain of that foots intentions. However, if I ring/email/fire an arrow with a message attached/resort to good old carrier pigeons someone else at O2 there are sure they will be able to help and be fully aware of the correct procedue, honest guv, swear on my mothers life.
By which I mean I have to do the following.
Email a set of technical instructions concerning ‘smeDISE transfer to iPhoneDEPT’ and request backdating to a certain date when ‘client acivation’ occurred.
Does anyone else think this is something they should be doing, on my behalf as a valued customer or am I being a bit ‘precious’!