Omair Haneef asked:


The Apple iPhone first took launch during the month of June in the year 2007. The iPhone is a remarkable device with many capabilities. The iPhone is a camera phone, a media player, and an internet device. There are currently two generations of iPhones. The original being the first generation, and the new version (iPhone 3G) is the second generation. The second generation adds 3G data capability that allows for faster 3G data speeds and also assisted gps. Yes, GPS is supported in the iPhone!

Each generation of iPhones comes in two models: 8GB and 16GB. The only difference between the two models is the amount of memory supported. The cost of the iPhone depends on the generation and also the model (either 8GB or 16GB). The newest iPhones are of course the 3G versions.

So now the main question is how much does an iphone cost? To answer that question one must consider if they are looking to purchase a locked or unlocked iPhone 3G. Locked iPhones are ones that are locked to cell phone carriers (e.g. Cingular) and can only be used with that specific carrier. For example, if you buy an iPhone that is locked to Cingular Wireless then you can only use that iPhone with Cingular and not with say another carrier such as AT&T.

Locked iPhone 3G 8GB and 16GB can cost around $600-$700 CAD. On the other hand, if you are looking to purchase an unlocked iPhone the prices are noticeably different. Unlocked iPhones can be used with any gsm carrier. You must be aware that there are three different versions of unlocked iPhone 3Gs. There are software unlocked, turbo sim and officially unlocked (never locked) versions direct from apple. Software unlocked iPhones are ones that are taken out of their packaging and are manually unlocked by use of some unlocking software.

Turbo sim unlocked iPhones are ones that are also removed out of their packaging but instead of software they are unlocked by a device called a turbo sim. The problem with iPhones that are software or turbo sim unlocked is that they have problems when it comes to upgrading the iPhones firmware. For instance, after upgrading these iPhones would go back to locked mode, meaning they would be locked back to a carrier.

Officially unlocked iPhone 3Gs or also known as the “never locked versions” are iPhones direct from apple that are unlocked (never locked). These legally unlocked versions do not experience any problems at all when it comes to upgrading firmware. The cost for an officially unlocked iPhone 3G 8GB is a little over $900 CAD and the 16GB is a little over $1000 CAD. The cost is higher because these versions are rare and are not easily obtained.

Sure, the cost is higher but it is worth it because these versions are directly unlocked by apple and will not experience any upgrade problems. In the end it all comes down to personal choice, which do you prefer?

poohwinn asked:


The runaway success of iPhone across the world has indeed revolutionalised the next generation of phones. Before the debut of iPhone, touch phones were at best a good to have feature. For example, resisitive screens have always been available on Windows Mobile phones, but it was not THE thing. We would always prefer a physical keyboard and a stylus. Apple changed the game when it launched its first generation of iPhone 2G/Edge . We are awed by the convenience of touch and the ease of zooming in and out of internet pages by panning and pinching with our fingers. The capacitive screen brought the touch phones to a new level. (see here for more details on how capactitive screen works: electronics.howstuffworks.com/iphone2.htm )

Since then, we have seen a slew of phones that aim to provide the similar touch and accelerometer capabilities as the iPhone. I said similar and not same because to date, I have yet to test a phone that offers the same level of finess in its touch and accelerometer capabilities (see my other posts on the recent phone models). Storm and G1 are close competitors to iPhone in this aspect – they make it up with many other features that are missing in iPhone today – such as expandable slot, MMS, copy and paste function, just to mention a few). If you may remember, Samsung Omnia had some good success, particularly in countries where iPhone 3G was / would be launched later than Omnia. Now almost all major phone manufacturers from Nokia to Sony Ericsson to HTC have their touch phones series. I won’t belabour too much on each of these phones since this is not the intent of this post. I thought this is healthy for the market. Now, we have more choices. Apple has indeed caused a disruptive change in the competitive landscape in just 2 short years. It has even overtaken RIM’s second position in smartphone sales. Of course, now with Verizon launching Storm, we have yet to see how this will pan out.

iPhone is not simply about the Phone itself. In fact, iPhone brings with it an ecosystem – the iTunes. If you are a Blackberry user especially if you are a Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) corporate user, you have very applications that you would buy and load into your Blackberry. Reasons are two-fold. Firstly, the range of applications is limited and certain corporate policies may prohibit installation of third party apps. Secondly, the applications are relatively expensive, say about $10 or $20 or more. Thirdly, traditional Blackberry phone is really meant for one core functionality – messaging. The same goes for Windows Mobile phone or Symbian Phones. To be fair, I must say that there are many third party Windows Mobile applications that are availabie. There is no lack of applications. Then one might wonder, why didn’t the “appstore” concept take the central stage in the past so many years since the availability of Windows Mobile phones. Let’s look back in history. Windows Mobile was an attempt by Microsoft to take away market share from RIM by extending its dominant reach in the PC market and desktop Windows / Microsoft Outlook base to the mobile world. The whole “wow” factor of having a Windows Mobile phone was that you were able to finally synchronise your emails, calendar appointments and contacts over the air. The big “PUSH EMAIL” capabilitiy was why people wanted to buy a Windows Mobile phone. Plus, the early Blackberry gadgets limited phone functions as its primary purpose was for messaging. Even then, it was a real pain to read attachments on Blackberry. Windows Mobile made up for the shortcomings in Blackberry. Not only do I not need an activation pin/password that is required for my Blackberry (which is different from your Outlook user name / password and domain), I can easily set up my email outlook account on my Windows Mobile phone anytime. Reading attachments was much better on Windows Mobile phone. I could also buy third party applications like Documents To Go. In the case of Blackberry, while similar third party apps for reading attachments are available, they are usually on a subscription model (if you are recall, you could not download and save attachments from a Blackberry back then. You could only open them).

Fast forward to today. What has Apple done? When Apple launched iPhone 2G, Apple was not targeting at enterprise users. It avoided direct head-on competition with either Windows Mobile or RIM. Instead, it aim straight at consumers. Apple leveraged on its core competence – designed a phone that had the form factor which would wow people as an iMAC or MACBOOK did and positioned the phone as a all-in-one for voice, videos, photos, and music. This is what a Apple is good at. By then iTunes was already widely used by both Mac and Windows users and people were used to buying music and synchronising it into iPod. No doubt there would be some cannibalisation on the iPods, but the upside was far bigger. iPhone would allow Apple to make inroads into the mobile world and take a slice of the mobile market which would tip 1.8 billion by end 2007 (estimate from Yankee Group report). 

Apple upped its ante in 2008 with the launch of iPhone 3G and this time, Apple aimed squarely at the enterprise market by annoucing the capability of provide Exchange push mail. This will expand its addressable market to some “prosumers” who are at two minds about using iPhone because of the lack of Exchange push mail. Most importantly, the linchpin of Apple’s iPhone strategy again lies in its iTunes contents and ecosystem. This time, it announced the availablity of appstore on iTunes. Free applications would be available. Paid applications would start as low as $0.99. This lowered the entry barrier for consumers to try out many types of applications. I would not mind paying just under $5 for any application. Most of the applications were largely games and utilities tools initially but as more and more corporations adopt iPhone, we see that more and more software developers are now incorporating mobile applications on iPhone into their roadmaps. I’m sure Apple would realise that as user loads more and more applications onto the iPhone, he is less reluctant to switch to a different phone and loses all the applications that he has been using or has bought. This is very strong customer stickiness. RIM must have realised this and thus it’s luanching its first Application Centre to support Blackberry OS 4.7 (which is what Storm’s OS is). If you take a leaf from Apple’s iPod strategy, Apple is not going to rest on its laurels and cede the market share. Apple will push out new upgrades on iPhone firmwares (Just look at the time interval between major firmware upgrades 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 – it’s getting shorter). Let’s see over the next few months how the competition will heat up. In the meantime, sit back and hold tight to the coming mobile war.

While social networking such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter became popular way before iPhone took the market by storm (let’s see if Blackberry Storm will replicate this success), iPhone has popularised this even more. Now, I can easily access do my ‘twittering’ or update my flickr or facebook easily with one button on the iPhone. The types of iPhone social networking apps, particularly for Twitter, reflects the underlying trend. Now even Sony Ericsson X1 has a new panel for Facebook. Storm will also come with pre-installed application for Flickr and Facebook. Given the increasing *********** of social networking tools, I’m wondering why carriers (telco operators) are not leveraging on this for their marketing or customer support. I think there is a lot of opportunity in the social media marketing that the carriers are missing out. I have yet to come across a carrier that is proactively using blogs or twitter to do product releases or news updates or to use social networking tools to make product or event annoucements. Going forward, phones will become more powerful and applications running on the phones become the key factor to creating customer stickiness. Carriers should exploit this opportunity to work closely with the handset manufactureres or the independent software developers to pre-install certain applications unique to them. Carriers should also be aware that customer support has to go beyond just supporting the phone hardware itself if carriers really want to be the first touch point to customers. It’s no longer good enough to just set up retail stores to sell the phones. Carriers need to understand the needs of the customers and provide the right type of phone to customer. That’s true customer service.

Daniel Millions asked:


With the release of the Apple iPhone, multimedia communications has evolved to an amazing level. The Apple iPhone has all the features you would expect from a modern cell phone; you can make calls, conference, merge and hold.

You can text message and add custom made ringtones to individualize the call alert for all your friends and family. But that is only the beginning of the useful and entertaining functions this state of the art communications device can perform.

The iPhone originally held a four-gigabyte memory card. That has subsequently been discontinued in favor of eight gigabytes and soon the iPhone will be available with a huge sixteen gigabytes of onboard memory. One must pick the size they need when they purchase their iPhone as there are no add-on memory card expansion slots. Software updates and security patches for the operating system are delivered through the iTunes interface.

The Apple iPhone can hold an entire library of music and as an improvement over the old iPods, can be cataloged alphabetically by title, artist, genre, playlists and more. With an iTunes account you can create your own custom ringtones from the songs you have purchased through iTunes.

Like iTunes, the iPhone allows scrolling through a cover art gallery of songs in your library as well. If you get a phone call while listening to your tunes, the iPhone will automatically fade the song out and fade it back into play on the completion of your call without missing a beat.

Using an adapted Safari web browser, the iPhone will allow internet access through a local WiFi connection. Web pages can be displayed in either portrait or landscape orientation and you can switch between the two by merely rotating the iPhone in the direction you wish to have your web page shown.

The iPhone does not support Flash or Java but a specially created program will allow the viewing of YouTube video on the iPhone. The Apple iPhone will accept streaming video and you can watch television show feeds through your iPhone. The iPhone can access Google Maps for ease in finding directions and locations from wherever you may be.

There are only a few physical buttons on the iPhone. Most of the command input takes place on the skin sensitive touchscreen display. The technology that runs this touchscreen allows multi-speed scrolling, hover, magnification and menu command entry all through various finger commands.

Being electrically sensitive, you can not use a stylus or a gloved hand to utilize the touchscreen of the iPhone but only bare skin or special gloves that are electrically conductive. The touchscreen is a three and a half inch liquid crystal 160 pixel per inch HVGA screen.

The headphones for the Apple iPhone also have a built-in microphone and has a multi-function button that allows you to play, pause and skip your music tracks as well as answer and hang up the phone without having to touch the iPhone itself. The onboard speaker can be used for phone calls and media files but it does not include voice recording. Wireless “Bluetooth” earpieces can be obtained for the iPhone but must be purchased separately.

There is a built-in two megapixel still photo camera included in the iPhone package and the ability to insert the pictures into the email function. With the variety of features that are included in the iPhone one will hardly miss that there is not a video camera built-in. Apple routinely creates new features and functions for the iPhone and these widgets and web applications can be found on their website through the Safari browser links.

Stig Kristoffersen asked:


AppStore has over 30.000 applications on offer to you at the moment. Apple AppStore is a success with almost 1 billion downloads up till now.

However, there is a flip side to this story. Lot of developers’ makes applications for the Apple products IPhone and IPodTouch but their products never makes it to the AppStore.

 

Applications that utilize certain functionalities in the iPhone like cut and paste, video recording, streaming, MMS, filesharing through Bluetooth and batch processes does not make it to the AppStore.

Apple also reserves them to prohibit applications that do not fit into the vision of Apple iPhone usage, like podcasting, direct access to the GPS and competing email and web browser clients.

iPhone 3.0 firmware will make it possible to utilize some of these functionalities, but not all. Therefore there is a development of jail breaking of the iPhones. These hacked versions of iPhones can utilize the capabilities that Apple do not want users to use, even in the new firmware 3.0.

Some developers complain about the discrimination of applications launched on AppStore as they seem to be of competition reasons mostly, to the disadvantage of Apple.

This question the AppStore as a sole provider of applications to the iPhone, and will maybe force the upcoming of competing AppStore’s in the near future.

Apple has not taken any special efforts in fighting the distribution of applications made for the hacked versions of the iPhone as it may have a positive effect on the iPhone concept, as it creates a positive buzz and creative development around the product.

There are 10 applications that Apple does not promote on the AppStore, and they are;

Clippy that make it possible to cut and paste text between applications. This is a functionality iPhone users have asked for since the launch of the iPhone. You can copy a text message and paste it into an email. Clippy does not work with Mobile Safari though. This functionality is promised to be in the 3.0 firmware version of the iPhone.

Cyntact makes it possible to get pop-ups of the pictures of your contacts when you browse through your contacts list and not only when they call you as you do in the original iPhone software.. This enables you to quick get information you have on a person, either using names or pictures.

Voicemail Forwarder can forward sound messages to anyone with an email address. As iPhone solution acts as a receiver portal for sound messages only. The purpose of being able to do this is to either archive or forward funny messages to others.

Cycorder: enables you to take both pictures and videos with your iPhone, which is not possible on the standard edition of your iPhone today. The software makes it possible to record a video with up to 15 captures pr second in a resolution of 384 x 288 pixles.

MxTube: makes it possible for you to see Youtube videos on your iPhone if you do not have access to internet. MxTube enables you to watch your favourite Youube videos offline.

MiVTones: software makes it possible to play any video as a ring tone when someone is calling you. So its an advanced ring tone, instead of the standard audio version you can do on your standard iPhone. You can select between various videos for the various contacts you have in your contacts list, and share videos with others that use this application.

Adblock: is a add-on to Mobile Safari, as it filters out most of the advertisments on the websites you surfe. Then you do not have to suffer from slow downloads of web pages filled with ads in them.

FindMyi: makes it possible to find your phone at any time, anywhere through FindMy’s web page. The application makes it possible to track your phone with the help of the built in GPS functionality of your phone. FindMyi runs in batch mode all the time and does not conflict with other operations on the phone.,So if you fear your phone is stolen or lost, you can salvage data and lock the phone through this software and their web page.

 

Nathan Rossiter asked:


Unlocking the Apple iPhone and the iPhone 3G used to be a tedious task, with Apple constantly releasing new firmware updates that would re-lock your iPhone or iPhone 3G, leaving you having to unlock it again, and again. The unlocking process was never quick or easy either, it was stressful, so many problems that could occur and nowhere to get support if you needed it. Now though, thanks to Unlock iPhone HQ this is no longer a problem.

Unlock iPhone HQ are an iPhone Unlocking company who provide software unlocking solutions, with premium support for the iPhone and the iPhone 3G. There solutions are not free, but as good as, and well worth every penny. You can get your iPhone unlocked from as little as £7.99 for what they call the iUnlock pack.

iUnlock is a complete pack file that includes Unlock iPhone HQs software, step by step guide and all other required files to completely unlock your iPhone. There is nothing missing, it is a complete solution. Guaranteed. Everything you need to unlock your iPhone or iPhone 3G is available in the iUnlock package.

There is an option to upgrade your iUnlock package for £4.99 to include a lifetime of software, firmware, unlocking updates to ensure that your iPhone always remains unlocked, and up to date with the latest firmware version thanks to Unlock iPhone HQ. A small price to pay for the satisfaction of always being able to keep your iPhone unlocked and up to date.

Unlock iPhone HQ have recently released a new iUnlock solution called iUnlock 3G. This is the same kind of product as iUnlock – iPhone Unlocking Solution, but this one is specifically for the iPhone 3G. As with the iUnlock pack it contains a step by step guide and everything required to completely activate, jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 3G. iUnlock 3G is available with iUpdates too, making it not only the most complete iPhone 3G unlocking solution but also one of the cheapest.

iUnlock and iUnlock 3G currently work with any iPhone or iPhone 3G worldwide, running any firmware version from the first right up to the current latest 2.2 firmware version. Unlock iPhone HQ guarantee their iPhone Unlocking Solutions and back this guarantee with a 30 day, no quibble money back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied. So why not give them a try, for less than £15 you can have your iPhone unlocked to any network provider of your choice around the world, and know that your iPhone or iPhone 3G is always going to be unlocked and running the latest firmware thanks to Unlock iPhone HQs iUpdates.

With iUpdates you are added to a special members mailing list, and you receive e-mails containing information about future firmware updates, whether it is safe to upgrade or not, information about upcoming iUnlock updates and direct download links to the new iUnlock and iUnlock 3G packages as they become available.

In conclusion, if you have an iPhone or an iPhone 3G that you would like to jailbreak, or unlock. Then there is no place to do so other than Unlock iPhone HQ, check them out today at unlockiphonehq.com

Adam Caitlin asked:


The Apple iPhone packs the Safari web browser, giving full xHTML rendering and JavaScript through a WiFi or EDGE connection. Google Maps is also available for mapping and directions, and a ‘widget’ system gives you instant access to the information that matters to you. The Heat is a gleaming slider phone with an electrostatic touchpad, but has all the right geeky qualities.

The touchpad is set so you can customize its sensitivity (super, high, medium, low) for navigation through a simple finger tap, which means no more pushing extra hard while trying to navigate through applications.

Through Apple’s collaboration with Cingular Wireless, the company has been able to include some interesting carrier services, such as random access voice mail. Random access voicemail is a first that allows you to see a list of all your voicemail messages, showing the caller and the time and date of the call, so that you can jump right to the voicemail you need rather than have to listen to each and every one in turn.

The iPhone v1.0.1 Update also covers a separate cross-site scripting flaw in Safari as well as a memory corruption flaw in WebKit that creates a mechanism for hackers to inject hostile code onto the device. The patch also covers an address spoofing bug in WebKit, the application framework engine for Mac OS X, and a cross-site scripting flaw in WebCore, the HTML layout engine for Mac OS X.

I think all of these programs would be fantastic for the iPhone platform. When it comes down to it, implementation is key when working on such a unique platform/user environment. I think Josh’s mock-ups are great and are how I would like to see these programs designed for the iPhone if they were developed! Out of the 5 though, I think the E-reader idea is the best.

apple iphone

Cory Threlfall asked:


Buying your first iPhone is a long process, longer than you could have initially expected. It does not only involve the actual purchase of the iPhone, you have to acquire various iPhone accessories, to be able to become the really trendy owner of your new gadget, and in some cases, to protect it, or to maximize its capabilities. Iphone accessories are simply things from which you will always seek more of.

Here are some of the basic ones…

iPhone Cases

Have you ever wondered why you are actually purchased your third iPhone case in half a year? Even these iphone cases, the simplest iPhone accessories are always becoming better, until you see something new. You can have reddened and hard cases, leather cases, metal cases, red, yellow, pink and black cases, cases that actually protect your iPhone and the ones that just look good on it or that go with your new dress. Well, it is just natural that Apple as a leading force and its partners, should substance a wide variety of iPhone accessories, and it is just natural that you will eventually own more of these cases, to meet the occasion or your mood, or just to protect you iPhone from nearby children.

iPhone Headset and Travel Charger

Your next purchase after an iphone case should perhaps be an iPhone Bluetooth Headset, to be able to answer your calls wirelessly, easily and elegantly and you will also need to get a travel/car charger, to be able to charge your phone when you are on the move. When you get bored with these basic iPhone accessories, having purchased earphones and perhaps some speakers as well, you might be interested in what they have on substance outside the realm of customary accessories for iPhones.

Well, as could be expected, the list is literally endless. You can purchase for example mini screen wipers for your iPhone, to clear the smudges on your screen. Or to prevent even these smudges, you can acquire a arrange of phone fingers in different sizes, that you can just fit on your fingers patch using the touch screen and it will stay totally clear. You might also want to try the iPhone travel pillow, with built in speakers, this way, you will have a pillow for your flight, and your ears won’t be hurting from the earphones.

Any iPhone accessory could basically come handy once, though it’s quite manifest that a unify of mini screen wipers for your screen is slightly less essential than a decent case, so try to grab this latter first. However, purchasing an iPhone will generally just introduce you to the magical world of iPhone accessories.

Have fun with your iPhone, for this is only the beginning.

Apple has a lot more in store for its knight in shinning armor, and am sure they have some pretty cool new iphone accessories in the works for you hard core iphone users.

It still amazes me to this day how they can pack so much into something so little.

David asked:


It is really important to do your research before you ever update your iPhone 3g, well that is especially if you are unlocking your iPhone 3g or ever just jail breaking it.

Now you may be scratching your head and asking why? It very simple let’s take the last few apple iphone 3g updates for example.

1)2.1 -2.2 now I am sure you all know about the iPhone 3g 2.2 update … this is the one where your turbo sim stopped unlocking your iPhone … we all loved that didn’t we … *(I Sure didn’t) that is when I had to put my iPhone 3g aside for almost a month, and all my friends were asking me David where is the iPhone you spent $700 on eBay? … Dude it doesn’t work for now ,,, and I had to explain all about the iPhone 3g updates and jail breaking and unlocking the iPhone 3g and all… as I am sure you can imagine it was no fun. Then in new years the dev team came out with the soft Yellow Sn0w unlock the … witch at the end everyone had to update there iPhone 3g to the 2.2 with the Modem firmware 02.28.00 to every make the soft unlock work.

2)2.2 -2.2.1 Not long ago apple came out with the 2.2.1 iPhone 3g update with the Modem firmware 02.30.03 , Now history repeats its self. If you didn’t read all the warning online then you made the update to 2.2.1 with 02.30.03 firmware witch cants be unlocked with a soft unlock but only with a turbo sim.

Now on top of that you may say, “David what happens when i update my iPhone 3g to 2.3 or v 2.2.2 ?” Well get a programmable turbo sim for your iphone 2.2.1 update then when a new update comes out for your iphone then all you have to do is pop the turbo sim in the USB programmer and wala your turbo sim is ready for the iphone 3g 2.3 update : )

I am an iPhone 3G owner myself and I hope this helps you in the future.