Author: Dexter

Apple’s iphone/ipod Touch review

When Apple supposedly leaked info on Iphone it sent ripples across the web world.Even news channels caught the frenzy. On launch day Steve Job’s now so famous dragging of pictures with a touch and playing with the phone caught the imagination of entire world.

Apple’s designs are always unmistakeable and breathtaking but to say iphone is a multimedia computer or next gen mobile is a huge overstatement. Except the touch feature iphone brought nothing new to the mobile world. Integrated media player and a basic camera,or huge screens are not new. Apple removed the keyboard and gave the touchscreen. How many users liked texting in iphone is a different question. But it can be used as a good ipod , a fine browser and a decent phone.

Safari browser is not the top notch, after using the nokia’s browser (Symbian series 60 3rd version )with mini map and pointer, you will never say safari is exceptional. Even the free opera mini 3rd version on a big screened phone is better.But again many people who used iphones never knew of all these. Probably the typical US mobile user would have never tasted(or tested) a good phone, after going though the huge(or stupid) list of phones on offer from AT&T and TMobile. In US the network operators decide what phone you use, and usually phones come free on contract, as with most offers free phones are the skum of the line up. It will either be a Moto Razr,Nokia 2600/1600 or at best some flip phone. Then there are high end (???) Blackberry smart(mailing devices) which dont even stand up to even basic  European smartphones.

Then lets come back to our iphone, does it have application support? No.. Apple uncle says you should use whatever was given to you and if you happen to install it, your phone will become a brick. Even more the phone should only be used on AT&T and cant be used with any other operator (even within US).. what are these?. When people are shouting that Microsoft is preinstalling IE and WM Player and it should remove them? what happened those advocates? In these same websites they are chanting apple mantra.

Lets come to economy or the opposite of it. You buy a phone for 399$ (8GB version 1.1.2) thts the easy part, but you should take a AT&T connection worth $60 for 2 years contract. I finally ended up writing this article with even  more vengence(not that much 🙂 ) after seeing the phone plan. I have taken a T-mobile plan with 600 mins,weekend and nights free and  unlimited data plan all for $46 (its not wap its web plan) before tax.  But the same plan with iphone costs me a whopping 80$ before tax 🙁 . So a 34$ extra for 24 months and still you cant unlock your phone officially ever.(YOU CAN NEVER EVER UNLOCK IPHONE  from AT&T, thts what i learnt from AT&T ). 24*34=$ 816. So for the iphone you end up paying $1200 .

As far as technology everyone accepts iphone’s reception is poor,(ok this is not a big deal when our intention of buying this phone itself is different).Even then it doesnt have 3G support, iphone only has EDGE and GPRS. If it is targeted as a web device why miss 3G??

The spoilsport is played by the operators in US, most successful and popular phones in UK and India are not available in US. US operators have a skew towards Motorola and Blackberry and the models of which are failures in other countries. This is pure brute force capitalism and monopoly of operators, in this country mobile customers have few options.

Nokia,Sony ericsson and samsung pretty much dominate UK and Indian markets despite Motorola and Blackberry being present there, thts the story for you !!

And as far as iphone, 3rd party application support  and unbundling of device from operator will determine my  future purchases on new versions of it.Till then sorry uncle I dont want to be ur slave..