So, after the announcements today, I'm pretty sure I'm going to pick up the new iphone once my pre-paid minutes are used up. Just curious what other peoples' thoughts were.

Also, Chops, you pick up your Pre yet?

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Quote by skeezer65134

So, after the announcements today, I'm pretty sure I'm going to pick up the new iphone

I hadn't seen the announcements (wasn't really watching for them). Any highlights that you found particularly appealing?

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Also, Chops, you pick up your Pre yet?

Neg, I wasn't willing to sacrifice sleep just to get the phone, so they were all sold out by the time I got there. I'm on a list at a nearby Sprint store and should be getting it in the next day or two. It's time, too, as my Treo is starting to be really finicky, even crashing (which lead to me being late for my volleyball this morning).

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Do it for the Lobster

Just curious how your cell phone was related to getting to volleyball?

I'm not a heavy cell phone user, so I'm fine with waiting. Depending what comes out with Android this Fall and Christmas, I'd like to switch Sarah and I to Verizon with some Android phones. Will Verizon even get Android phones this year? Maybe not. But I'm not really interested in switching from USCellular to any other network except Verizon.

Quote by skeezer65134

So, after the announcements today, I'm pretty sure I'm going to pick up the new iphone once my pre-paid minutes are used up.

We did you start liking the iphone? I thought you were all about those fancy Nokias.

Are you planning to develop for it?

I am all about those fancy Nokias, their phones are badass. There are 2 things that kind of hooked me though. One, the interface is SO easy to use and navigate, and two, support for the iphone is unmatched. That is, the vast majority of mobile software being developed is being developed either specifically for the iphone or in combination with other phones. We were also talking about doing some iphone development at work, so it would be handy to have if that ever pans out. The bottom line is, if you want a phone that will have a ton of support for a long time to come, there's no other choice at the moment. Android might change that, even the Pre might, but both seem a little unlikely to do that soon.

It's kind of like the Nintendo DS and the PSP. The PSP is vastly superior in both hardware stats and general functionality, but all the games are being made for the DS. So, if you're going to buy in to the handheld gaming market, what's more important, specs or games? Same with cell phones; what's more important, specs or support? Damn near everything is iphone, and the momentum is growing instead of slowing. Any phone I go with is going to cost me a boatload of money, I might as well get something that I know I can put to use as much as possible.

Anyway, that's why I'm looking at getting an iphone instead of a Nokia phone or an Android phone or the Pre. I'm hopeful for both the Pre and Android and I really like the new interface HTC put on Android too. But, I still think it'll be a while before they have the licks to take on the iphone, and I need to upgrade (if I decide to upgrade, that is) when my pre-paid minutes run out, which will happen in 2-3 months.

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Just curious how your cell phone was related to getting to volleyball?

I'm taking a summer beach volleyball "Class" at UWM (just a bunch of chumps, including myself, playing volleyball at bradford beach, it rocks socks), but it's at 11am, which is right on the threshold of when I wake up.

My phone's calendar is my alarm. The phone sleeps next to my head on the floor and the alert sound is loud enough and sufficiently annoying to wake me up.

But the phone crashed, and never notified me to get up. This is the first time that's happened with this phone.

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Do it for the Lobster

Quote by Chops

My phone's calendar is my alarm.

That was my guess. I was hoping for a more ridiculous story.

Quote by skeezer65134

The bottom line is, if you want a phone that will have a ton of support for a long time to come, there's no other choice at the moment.

Totally agree. Even with its faults, it is the king of mobile phones right now. Just the size and richness of the app store will make it very hard to compete with. (which is why they should be treating the app developers better, they are by far the biggest asset of the phone)

Quote by stevo

Just the size and richness of the app store will make it very hard to compete with. (which is why they should be treating the app developers better, they are by far the biggest asset of the phone)

Yeah, I never understood why people were so quick to develop iphone apps and potentially get shit on for it. But, there are a ton of people who apparently don't care much and are willing to take the risk. There are, after all, a freakin' boatload of iphone and itouch owners out there.

Earlier today, I was able to browse apps on apple's site, but it seems they've removed that. Very strange, considering just seeing some of the apps made me want to buy an iphone today! (I'm not installing itunes just to look, itunes sucks!)

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Quote by skeezer65134

I'm not installing itunes just to look, itunes sucks!

Muwhahaha, get used to it!

Yeah, I broke down and installed it in my virtual machine (which is also likely how I'll use the phone too). Downloaded a bunch of apps already; all free, and all waiting for a phone to be put on.

So, I'm curious, why Verizon? And what is it that you like about US Cellular? Their national plans seemed pretty terrible. It sounds like the big V will at least get some webOS phone this year, and I think it's pretty likely they'll get an Android phone too.... although I don't know if any of the makers they use are even planning an Android phone that isn't GSM.

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So, I'm curious, why Verizon? And what is it that you like about US Cellular?

My Guess (as a former US Cellular customer, and a current VZW customer):

Verizon has a stellar network (I get pretty rock solid connections everywhere I've ever been, even in the Dominican Republic I had a decent broadband connection while tethering).

US Cellular has very good reception in Wisconsin, and decent prices in my experience. When I was transferring from Cingular (because I couldn't keep a connection in my parents' basement), I tried T-Mobile, whose connectivity managed to be worse than Cingular's (and just look at T-Mobile's national coverage map). Then I tried US Cellular, and the connection in the basement was solid.

Up north, US Cellular has a very solid connection, at least compared with Cingular, in my experience.

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Do it for the Lobster

While no one really loves any phone company, every article I read says V has the best network. Like Chops said, USC is cheaper, and their coverage is great in *most* of WI. You have to pay extra for nationwide plan. If I'm going to get an awesome phone, I don't want to have to fuck around with roaming up north, or in New York, or where ever else I go this year. ATT has huge dead spots in south-western WI, which is where all my in-laws are and we travel there pretty regularly. Sprint is also really bad in WI (they barely cover Madison), T-mob is a joke.

V is huge, they're probably in a better position to get the latest phones and tech with the best network. Of course, they don't have a phone I want now, but I think thats more about the standoffs between the new players (Apple and Google), eventually something is gonna have to give because Apple is raking in so much cash with these apps that the rest of the bonehead phone cos are gonna want to make a deal soon.

In the meantime, I've been grandfathered in for many years on my original USC plan, $62 for Sarah and me, I'm not in a contract, I like the small moto flip phones we have, and I get great coverage everywhere I go in WI (except when I got fucked for roaming at Goelz's place, USC doesn't go north of green bay). So I'll wait until something I really want comes along.

Ah, you're on a regional plan. That kinda blows...

I've been through all the carriers. Sprint's coverage is weak at best. T-mobile is a joke (although, their coverage in Phoenix is REALLY good). ATT I've found to be only slightly behind Verizon when I had them, but there's no doubt that Verizon has the best network out there. It's a real shame that all of their phones suck so hard.

ATT won't let go of the iphone if they can help it. VZW has no doubt tried to get in on the fun, but they apparently aren't willing to put up the money. Plus, their being a non-GSM network really hurts them. CDMA is Sprint and Verizon ONLY, so any phones made for their networks will not work overseas. For international travelers, that's a huge no-go. So, for phone manu's, it doesn't make much sense to make a phone that only works for that limited market that Verizon and Sprint have. Even the Pre will be coming out with a GSM version for world-wide sale, and once that happens, expect to see it hacked and re-sold in the US for use with ATT or T-mobile.

I think Verizon is stubborn. They know their network is amazing and they are probably unwilling to make a deal for a phone because of it. That's starting to change though since every other provider now has a killer phone. VZW will continue to leak customers if they don't get on the ball, and I think that's why they are working so hard to get the Pre (or at least *some* webOS phone). They should also be getting at least a couple Android phones by the end of the year from what I've read, so that'll help them considerably. Let's just hope they don't force the phone manu's hands and make them use that god-awful red Verizon theme that all their phones have now. So annoying!

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Good points, I wasn't aware of who was GSM and CDMA. Maybe my holdout for V is futile then.

I'd probably be happy with ATT if they would improve their coverage west of Madison. Right now most of what I'd need is "partner" which is probably sufficient. They do have excellent up north coverage, and Door County is OK. Maybe iphone is in my future this fall? I'd **love** to have it for my NYC trip in sept.

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews of Sprint's coverage. From some friends I play games with, coverage in Louisiana around Baton Rouge is terrible with Sprint, so there's that.

But online I read many people who say that Sprint has a great network, so it's completely mixed.

Conveniently, I'm getting to test the Pre and Sprint out in a pretty good nationwide test before the 30-day thinger runs out (Next friday I'm flying down to Florida, and then driving home with my sister that day).

I'll likely also drive up north for a weekend just to test out my coverage there.

Doesn't Sprint roam on V's network?

As for CDMA vs GSM, if necessary, I'll just rent a GSM phone for those few times I'll be overseas.

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Do it for the Lobster

Yeah, you can always do pre-paid phones overseas. For consumer needs, it doesn't matter much. It's more of a business thing. But, business = money and simply by making a non-GSM phone, you are limiting your profits dramatically.

Sprint wasn't as bad as tmo, but it was still pretty bad. That was a number of years ago though, so maybe it's better. Thing was, any time I was inside a building, coverage was spotty at best. I never had that problem with att or Verizon. And I doubt that sprint roams on vzw, but depending on the agreements of the smaller companies they bought up, it COULD happen. I know I've roamed on att before with me pre-paid t-mo phone.

Stevo, do you know people with ATT that visit the family with you? If so, what phones are they using? Not all phones are created equal you know. The iphone is also said not to have the *greatest* of coverage, but it's supposed to be pretty decent. There are pleny of nyc transit apps for the iphone, and even just having mobile internet would be helpful.

By Sept. though, there's a decent chance vzw will have at least an Android phone, if not some flavor of palm's webOS. There seems to be a lot of things happening in the mobile market right now; new Pre, new iphone, handful of new Android phones, the new N900 internet tablet from nokia (rumored to be going on t-mo's network), the HP Mini on vzw and all kinds of talk of another webOS phone (likely on att). Not to mention the rumors of the Pre on vzw.... but those might not mean anything; there have been rumors of the iphone on vzw since release too. Bottom line, after July/August, it should be pretty clear which phone makes the most sense. I'm personally pretty sold on the new iphone *right now*, but I have a couple months to ponder yet, so anything could happen.

Chops, make sure you make your posts frequent about the Pre. I'm really curious how it stacks up!

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Quote by skeezer65134

Stevo, do you know people with ATT that visit the family with you? If so, what phones are they using?

The family in that area all have USC. We have a family reunion in Dubuque, IA in a couple weeks, so I'll ask around.

Yeah, it's one of the reason I like the moto phone I got now, I'm in buildings and basements everywhere and get a good signal. My parents (on USC) with their older phones used to not get a signal in their own basement, some of my co-workers can't get a steady signal in our building (diff networks, but I'm sure they all cover Waukesha). I've never had those types of problems with my phone, and I never have to pull out the antenna.

It's one of the reasons I hesitate to jump to a new phone and new network, I rarely use my phone at all and I've been happy with how it works. Logically it seems insane for me to double my phone bill. I should probably goto a pre-paid phone and save a ton of money. But if I could develop for the phone, I'd expense half (or more) the bill to the business, and maybe make some money off it. Then I could justify it.

Yeah, I used to be in the same boat. I rarely used my phone so pre-paid made a ton of sense because it saved me a bunch of cash.

Lately though, I've been using my phone to the tune of about $30 a month on the pre-paid plan. And that's using my VoIP phone when possible. At that point, I figured might as well pay the $45/mo and just use the phone any time I damn well please. From there, I figured and extra $15-20/mo for the ability to have internet access anywhere I am (and have signal) and to upload pictures and whatnot was justifiable. Using Twitter kinda pushed me over the edge too. Plus, the ability to get into the app game is tempting.

I like ATT's plans; those roll-over minutes add up very quickly. I still hate that I have to pay for txt, but I'm hoping I can curb that a bit by having full-on email access. I doubt it'll work though since most of my friends still have dumbphones. $5/mo for 200 txt's is a bit hard to swallow, but I have a feeling I'd end up having to spend more than $5/mo if I did my txt ala carte anyway, so I'm better off paying for and using it.

For me, it was ATT or Verizon. T-mo and Sprint can both eat a bag of hell. Since Verizon has shit for phones and the iphone has kinda won me over, ATT is a double-win. Still trying choking a bit at the thought of dropping $65/mo for the phone, data and txt plan though...

Of course, looking at ATT's site, they list the data plan as being $30/mo, not $20/mo. Honesty, if the iphone doesn't have the $20/mo data plan anymore, that's a real deal-breaker and I'll either be buying an N85 or scrapping the smartphone idea. That's $240 more for the phone that I rather not spend.

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Man, this is a wrench in the work. The G1, iphone and Pre will all run me 65, 70 and 70 per month, and that's without any txt plan. I can't believe how ridiculous cell plans are! Perhaps I'm sticking with the pre-paid plan and my refurb'd RAZR and waiting patiently for WiMax to catch on...

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