Apple's iPhone: The Future is Here
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 2, 2007 6:13 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Privacy Concerns
Update: It looks like Apple has thoughtfully included a way to disable SMS notifications on the iPhone, it's tucked away in the Passcode Lock settings page (Settings > General > Passcode Lock). First supply a passcode, then under the Passcode Lock settings you can disable SMS notifications thus solving part of the embarrassing problem illustrated below. For sake of continued hilarity, we'll leave the hypothetical below as it should serve as a reminder to keep SMS notifications in mind when you start customizing your new iPhone.
The original unedited page remains as follows:
Do not, under any circumstances, allow someone to use your iPhone without your careful supervision. Let me paint a picture:
You're using your iPhone, your boss walks by and asks to see it. While playing with it, you get a text message from one of your friends who just wants to make you laugh at work. Here's how the iPhone would display the aforementioned message:
Hello embarassing! There's no way to prevent this from happening to you, other than to get new friends (Update: It turns out that you can disable this from happening, the setting is under the Passcode Lock menu)
Note that it pops up on screen, giving you a preview of the message, regardless of what application you're in. Even if the phone is locked, the message will sit there on the screen until you choose to ignore it or view it.
Now if you're the only person using the phone, then there's no problem; in fact, the iPhone handles interrupting you with phone calls and text messages quite gracefully. But you can't predict what sort of message you'll get and when, and there's no way to turn off iPhone's SMS preview notifications so be very careful before you hand your iPhone over to your mother.
Then there's the other big issue to worry about when letting someone use your iPhone: if setup properly, it has all of your emails, and pictures, stored on it. Think about that one carefully before ever letting the iPhone out of the safety of your hands.
Obviously these issues only crop up when you willingly let someone far too curious use your iPhone; preventing unwanted use of your iPhone is easy to ensure, simply provide a passcode to lock the phone and you'll be greeted with the following screen anytime you try unlocking it:
Entering in your passcode is super easy thanks to the large touch screen and 10 digit keypad. The iPhone will auto-lock itself after a user selectable time period.
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zsdersw - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
As a long-time Star Trek fan and someone who regards The Next Generation as the best of the series, I have to say I'm not at all interested in the iPhone.Two primary reasons:
- Price. For $500 and a 2yr contract, what it brings to the table above and beyond its competitors is less than compelling, IMO.
- AT&T only. Screw that. I'm never buying a phone with which only one carrier is available.
tuteja1986 - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
alot of features are missing :!Bluetooth is crippled
Virtual keyboard onlys works good with Web browser since its horizontal. keyboard sucks
Does not have 3G
battery life is 4hrs talk time.. unable to change battery. black berry 8800 can do 10hrs+
Digital camera is very basic compared to high quality camera used in phone like Nokia N95.
No support for 3rd party application
Its has edge connection which sucks
no support for HDSPA
No GPS
No IM program
No widget support
Not able to abstract the image anywhere.. sending image through email reduces it low res which sucks :(
The only awesome thing about iphone i think its interface , the screen and the ipod video/music feature which works. The phone is certinaly not worth $600 and can be sold for $350 and apple can still make a decent profit.
plinden - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Where is 4 hour talk time mentioned. Anand didn't mention talk time, did he? He did get 6-7 hours with wifi.
Just about every other reviewer got 7 hours or more talk time, close to what Apple claims.
tuteja1986 - Wednesday, July 4, 2007 - link
Comfired by latest TWIT episode :! TWIT networks has the biggest apple fanboys ever :)http://www.twit.tv/TWiT">http://www.twit.tv/TWiT
but I sorry to burst you bubble but read the review by mobile phone professionals.
http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/Apple-iPhone-C...">http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/App...one-Cell...
Also ain't a anti apple but people buying it for so many reason as its calling the revolutionary phone which is not in tech wise , features but is revolution in only in UI design.
sviola - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
YEah, the Nokia N95 is an excelent phone, here are some of it's features.In-built GPS and Navigation Program (over 100+ countries maps)
5 MP Camera with Zeiss Lens and Optical Zoom, and Video Recording
Symbian OS
Plays MP3, video, etc
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, TV out
Quadriband GSM/WCDMA (3G)
MicroSD Card Reader
I would like to see an anand review on it and a comparative against the iPhone.
vectersmith - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I have enjoyed the iPhone thoroughly and agree that while it is not perfect, for what it does do it does better far and above anything else.Edge speed is slow, but bearable (barely). Wi-Fi is must better, although I still have sites that just hang and I have to hit the X button and reload.
The UI is breathtaking, earth shattering, and will revolutionize the smartphone industry. It has too, once you use the iPhone everything else seems like fruitcake for Christmas (no offense intended to those that enjoy fruitcake on Christmas). I find myself just taking it out of my pocket to slide the unlock and see if anything is new :)
Also I will agree with Anand about the SMS, you really have to watch out what you are doing as having a conversation is just painless which causes those SMS message count the fly up :)
kilkennycat - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
....how long did you take to compose the review and how much sleep did you get in the process? Did you work from a pre-written plan?Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Thanks :)I wrote the whole thing in about 24 hours, but the testing took a lot longer obviously. As with all my articles I have a very high level outline, but what ended up being written was significantly larger than even I expected it to be. My initial outline had something around 10 - 15 pages long, then by 3AM Monday morning I estimated it would be around 20 pages and by the time it published I realized it was going to be just shy of 30.
I had to cut out a lot of additional material from the review just in the interest of time, and I took another 6 or 7 hours working on it to try and make sure I was keeping the attention of the reader throughout the piece (hopefully it worked :)...). There's enough extra content that I didn't use for at least two more articles, but I'm not sure what the demand will be for that so who knows if it'll ever get used.
As far as sleep goes, I don't sleep much in general when I'm working but the iPhone weekend was ridiculous. I went to bed Saturday night, woke up Sunday and didn't get to bed again until 4AM Tuesday morning. Needless to say, sleeping last night was the most amazing thing ever.
Take care,
Anand
oopyseohs - Thursday, July 5, 2007 - link
This is definitely the best article I have ever read on AnandTech or on anything technology related in general. Also, it is nice to see that someone else exhibits the same behavior I do when writing major articles!DerekWilson - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I'm sure Anand is finally getting some sleep after a grueling weekend with the iPhone, taking only the occasional nap so as not to die.And a pre-written plan? naah, Anand's just that good :-)