iPhone news, reviews and how-to's since 2007
[Update: This article was written when the original iPhone was first released. See my new post: 25 things STILL wrong with the iPhone.]
I love my iPhone, but it does lack some important features and functionality. That’s why I’ve put together this list of 25 fixes Apple should make to the iPhone.
Apple, if you read this, please consider these suggestions the next time you issue an iPhone update.
It took me a while to get this iPhone review up, since I was busy driving back to the Apple Store and exchanging my new, slightly-defective iPhone for another.
Although I was super eager to explore my new gadget and write up an iPhone review, the iPhone I originally purchased had something loose in the USB port that brought it out of charge mode with even the slightest movement of the USB cable, so I was forced to return it.
I was the first person to go back to the store to report an iPhone-related problem, they told me, so the issue is most likely a rare one.
I’m not going to lie, though: the hassle of going back to the Apple Store was almost worth the thrill of unboxing two shiny new iPhones yesterday.
Steve Jobs announced yesterday at the Worldwide Developers Conference that software developers will be able to create web applications that run on the iPhone’s Safari browser.
In other words, the only third-party “applications” you’ll be able to run on your iPhone are web sites. For now, the iPhone will not support third-party standalone applications or widgets.
A source who tested the Apple iPhone supposedly told MacScoop “as a sole negative point, that the material used on the device’s case makes it feel even more slippery than the iPod and will probably require the purchase of a protective skin or case so as to avoid unintentionally dropping it.”
That’s one point about the iPhone that never crossed my mind. More of a reason to buy yourself a nice iPhone case, like maybe the Proporta iPhone case I like a lot.
Research firm iSuppli’s checks with iPhone component makers suggest that the iPhone may be experiencing software problems, as evidenced by Apple’s redistribution of resources last week from the now-delayed Leopard OS to the iPhone.
“We’re hearing it’s mostly an issue with the complexity of the device,” said iSuppli analyst Jagdish Rebello. Rebello said Apple is dealing with problems discovered late in the testing phase.
“The iPhone will be prevented from directly downloading music or video itself, even though it is a wireless broadband-capable device,” according to Fortune’s Brent Schlender.
This really puts a damper on iPhone’s irresistibility element. If you’re paying $500-$600 up-front for the iPhone plus a monthly cell phone service fee, you should be permitted to download whatever the hell you want, I think.
“To get songs or shows into the iPhone, you still have to tether it, via a docking cradle, to a Mac or a PC, even though it easily should be able to handle this task all by itself,” said Schlender.
Schlender thinks Steve Jobs’ pro-consumer, anti-DRM rant might have been just “a gambit to force Apple’s content suppliers to renegotiate their deals and make it possible to download music and video directly onto the iPhone.”
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