The Mobile Phone Thread

[Solitaire]

A. With regard to what was lacking with the previous iPhone iterations, does the 3GS set right the following disadvantages?:

 

1. Multitasking apps

2. File transfer over Bluetooth

3. SMS forwarding, forward contacts as vcard or sms??

4. Haptic feedback - I mean the light vibration that you get on touching the screen and hitting some key

5. Video calling with a front mounted cam

6. Support for Flash

7. Tethering as a modem

8. Can I install JAVA apps *using the plain jar files or jad files* ?

9. How's the battery life on it?

10. Attaching a file to email - any file not just photo

11. A file manager

12. Any PC side app that lets me back up SMSes and calendar and stuff? -like PhoneExplorer for SE, or Nokia PC Suite or Ovi Suite?

13. Free offline voice-guided/non-voice GPS navigation? Anything like MGMaps or Nokia Maps? And how accurate is the GPS?

 

And I mean all this without having to pay and buy some app from the store and without fiddling around with jailbreaking or whatever.

 

B. And is it true that iPod touch users need to pay for software or FW updates??

 

C. What all does jailbreaking an iPhone enable? And will it void your warranty? Risk damage to your phone?

C. i. Will it help with solving things listed under A. ??

 

D. Will unlocking void your warranty and can you unlock all FW versions? Do you still keep getting software updates?

 

 

 

Don't kill me but I think this will need an essay answer.

Edited March 21, 2010 by Gaurav - Solitaire

[Superfrag]

With regard to what was lacking with the previous iPhone iterations, does the 3GS set right the following disadvantages?:

 

1. Multitasking apps

2. File transfer over Bluetooth

3. SMS forwarding, forward contacts as vcard or sms??

4. Haptic feedback

5. Video calling with a front mounted cam

6. Support for Flash

7. Tethering as a modem

8. Can I install JAVA apps?

9. How's the battery life on it?

10. Attaching a file to email

11. A file manager

12. Any PC side app that lets me back up SMSes and calendar and stuff?

 

And I mean all this without having to pay and buy some app from the store.

 

And is it true that iPod touch users need to pay for software or FW updates??

 

Without jailbreaking etc, your barely utilizing the power of the iPhone. Same for Android. Both need to be tweaked to really bring the best out of them. Having said that :

 

1 - Nope. Actually not sure.. I'm pretty sure apps like Backgrounder(which is the best multi tasking apps AFAIK) needs a jailbreak.

2 - No, the reason is piracy, they do not want people to share music etc when its available for download on iTunes.

3 - Yes, AFAIK.

4 - AFAIK, iPhone is the best in this department, with Android closing the gap very fast.

5 - No.

6 - BB, Android and iPhone OS do not have support for flash. Although flash support is supposed to come soon to Android and BB.

7 - Again, the device needs to be unlocked or jailbreaked. Only factory unlocked devices can be used for teathering without jailbreak(not sure on this).

8 - You can only install apps from the appstore or cydia etc if you jailbreak. Also, appstore currently has the most apps with regard to competition. Android will take some time.

9 - On 2G it is pretty good. On 3G depending on usage, should last the day. The battery life of iPhone and respective Android devices are more or less same. The BB however(Bold 9700) has insane battery life.

10 - I think so.

11 - No, unless you jailbreak.

12 - Not sure about this.

 

About the iPod touch users having to pay for firmware updates, only for the major jumps, from 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0 etc. Yeah, this sucks. (unless they jailbreak).\

 

I can be wrong since I've never owned an iPhone, however quite a few friends of mine have them so I speak from using their phone etc.

Edited March 21, 2010 by Superfrag

[Solitaire]

Major modifications to my post on iPhone queries. Do take a look.

 

@Superfrag.

 

Thanks but major additions to my questions.

As far as Bluetooth file transfers not being enabled to prevent music sharing that's just bull. What if I have to transfer a photo i just took to another person's phone or laptop? A pdf file from my PC to the phone or from another phone? Am I being a pirate even then? I use BT for all this much more often than for music sharing which I've hardly ever done.

 

 

 

And please keep the answers coming, I'm looking for as many detailed answers as I can get. Have had all these questions in my head for a long time but never asked anyone except the occasion google search.

Edited March 21, 2010 by Gaurav - Solitaire

[techstylist]

A. With regard to what was lacking with the previous iPhone iterations, does the 3GS set right the following disadvantages?:

 

1. Multitasking apps

2. File transfer over Bluetooth

3. SMS forwarding, forward contacts as vcard or sms??

4. Haptic feedback

5. Video calling with a front mounted cam

6. Support for Flash

7. Tethering as a modem

8. Can I install JAVA apps?

9. How's the battery life on it?

10. Attaching a file to email

11. A file manager

12. Any PC side app that lets me back up SMSes and calendar and stuff? -like PhoneExplorer for SE, or Nokia PC Suite or Ovi Suite?

13. Free offline voice-guided/non-voice GPS navigation? Anything like MGMaps or Nokia Maps? And how accurate is the GPS?

 

And I mean all this without having to pay and buy some app from the store and without fiddling around with jailbreaking or whatever.

 

B. And is it true that iPod touch users need to pay for software or FW updates??

 

C. What all does jailbreaking an iPhone enable? And will it void your warranty? Risk damage to your phone?

C. i. Will it help with solving things listed under A. ??

 

D. Will unlocking void your warranty and can you unlock all FW versions? Do you still keep getting software updates?

Don't kill me but I think this will need an essay answer.

 

1. Multitasking apps -- wait for it probably in OS 4.0

2. File transfer over Bluetooth -- NO

3. SMS forwarding, forward contacts as vcard or sms?? -- YES

4. Haptic feedback -- If you jailbreak, but it's really not needed on an iphone it has the best capacitive screen

5. Video calling with a front mounted cam -- No, wait for new hardware @ WWDC in June.

6. Support for Flash -- Not as of now and apple plans to go HTML 5 way but if adobe announces lite version of flash for mobiles Apple may reconsider i guess.

7. Tethering as a modem -- Yes, if yo have a locked iPhone (AT&T) than you will obviously have jailbroken it and from there you just have to install an app, FOr factory Unlocked phones it's at your beck and call at a push of a button.

8. Can I install JAVA apps? -- No and java apps are last gen now, apps have developed a lot now and have evolved since java. As superfag said Cydia, AppStore, Rock.

9. How's the battery life on it? -- Good on 2g will last you quite a bit depending on your usage. On 3g i really don't know but when I have it on with wifi all the time lasts me just about the whole day.

10. Attaching a file to email -- Depends what kind of file ?! Pictures, MS Office Document, Contact Card are all possible.

11. A file manager - Not officially and again why do you need one ?!

12. Any PC side app that lets me back up SMSes and calendar and stuff? -like PhoneExplorer for SE, or Nokia PC Suite or Ovi Suite? -- iTunes will back up each and everything you want it to. Notes, Calendar, Contacts, eMail, etc.

13. Free offline voice-guided/non-voice GPS navigation? Anything like MGMaps or Nokia Maps? And how accurate is the GPS? -- There are a few free voice guided offline maps but they are not really good. However if you consider buying the maps officially from App Store than you will get good apps and it will be accurate. Personally I Would suggest you to activate edge and just use Google Maps with iphone's GPS and its pretty much spot on most of the time. Ovi Maps is headed to iPhone soon.

 

 

For iPod Software updates it is true you have to pay but not for all. Like say Apple announces OS 4.0 you will have to pay for 4.0 update but not 4.1, 4.1.2, 4.3, etc. Then directly OS 5.0 ..

Edited March 21, 2010 by techstylist

[Superfrag]

Unlocking and Jailbreaking do not void your warranty.

However, if the process is not done right, you might brick your phone. But I've yet to see a bricked iPhone... I have 4 close friends who use a iPhone, and none of them have ever bricked it.

 

Jailbreaking will allow you to get many apps which are not there in appstore and modify the looks and functioning of your phone(the latter to an extent).

 

Also, through jailbreaking you can pirate apps and get some of them for free.

 

Unlocking is simply the process of using a phone locked to a certain carrier(AT & T in the US, O2 in UK etc) with other carriers.

 

Also, there are apps for BT file transfer. I know this cause around 1 year back on my friends 3G, we could transfer files between our phones(mine was N70). It sometimes worked, sometimes did not. I suspect it would be much better by now. But, again I don't think it works that well.

 

About the BT Transfer BS, well, it is a valid point. You may not be doing it, but tons of people use BT(or used to use) for music sharing. So, the iPhone does not support BT transfer.

 

Also, only certain FW versions can be unlocked, since with some updates, the baseband is changed, thus the people need to find a new exploit etc. Jailbreaking is much easier to do(from what I know), thus almost all FW updates can be jailbroken.

 

As for C, Except for number 2,5,6 and 8, it helps with everything else.

[MarketTantrik]

A. With regard to what was lacking with the previous iPhone iterations, does the 3GS set right the following disadvantages?:

 

1. Multitasking apps - Some scenarios, yes. For true multitasking, you need to jailbreak

2. File transfer over Bluetooth - Nope

3. SMS forwarding, forward contacts as vcard or sms?? - Nope. Email forwarding only

4. Haptic feedback - I mean the light vibration that you get on touching the screen and hitting some key - Nope

5. Video calling with a front mounted cam - Nope. No front facing camera.

6. Support for Flash - Nope

7. Tethering as a modem - Available on factory unlocked phones. Jailbreak required on other phones

8. Can I install JAVA apps *using the plain jar files or jad files* ? - Nope

9. How's the battery life on it? - Under regular use (music, video, web browsing, calls, about 8 hours in my estimate

10. Attaching a file to email - any file not just photo - Nope

11. A file manager - Nope

12. Any PC side app that lets me back up SMSes and calendar and stuff? -like PhoneExplorer for SE, or Nokia PC Suite or Ovi Suite? - Yes. Paid apps available separately

13. Free offline voice-guided/non-voice GPS navigation? Anything like MGMaps or Nokia Maps? And how accurate is the GPS? - No free voice nav app. Google Maps built into the OS for free

 

And I mean all this without having to pay and buy some app from the store and without fiddling around with jailbreaking or whatever.

 

B. And is it true that iPod touch users need to pay for software or FW updates?? - Yes. For major revisions like ver 2 to ver 3, but not for ver. 3.1 to ver. 3.2

 

C. What all does jailbreaking an iPhone enable? And will it void your warranty? Risk damage to your phone? - Will void your warranty. Risk of bricking your phone

C. i. Will it help with solving things listed under A. ?? - Not all of them

 

D. Will unlocking void your warranty and can you unlock all FW versions? Do you still keep getting software updates? - You cant unlock all. There is a time lag between a firmware release and its unlockability. If you update your firmware, you willl have to jailbreak it again.

 

Don't kill me but I think this will need an essay answer. - The reason for you posting these questions is easily deciphered. No sweat.

[Superfrag]

Jailbreaking and Unlocking voids the warranty? You sure? One of my friend managed to replace his iPhone at the vodafone store, and it was jailbroken.

[MarketTantrik]

Jailbreaking and Unlocking voids the warranty? You sure? One of my friend managed to replace his iPhone at the vodafone store, and it was jailbroken.

Yup it does. You can claim your warranty by restoring the original Apple firmware and hoping that the clerk handling your warranty claim isnt savvy enough to notice.

[techstylist]

Jailbreaking and Unlocking voids the warranty? You sure? One of my friend managed to replace his iPhone at the vodafone store, and it was jailbroken.

It will only void it if somehow you manage to corrupt the firmware in auch a way that the iPhone won't boot, etc. In which case you cannot restore the iPhone Only then it voids warranty.

[Superfrag]

Ah.. didn't know that.

[techstylist]

Yup it does. You can claim your warranty by restoring the original Apple firmware and hoping that the clerk handling your warranty claim isnt savvy enough to notice.

This could be possible too.. But all the technicians at airtel are duds so should not be a problem ... gotten my 3g replaced twice ..

[Somebody]

A. With regard to what was lacking with the previous iPhone iterations, does the 3GS set right the following disadvantages?:

 

2. File transfer over Bluetooth

Mostly you can't but you can share photos with another iPhone user using some free apps.

 

3. SMS forwarding, forward contacts as vcard or sms??

Yes you can. You can forward messages and you can share contacts via email or mms.

 

4. Haptic feedback - I mean the light vibration that you get on touching the screen and hitting some key

You get no vibration. The only feedback you get is the clicking sound.

 

9. How's the battery life on it?

The battery life is pretty good. It shud easily last thru the day even with a little heavy usage. With regular usage, it lasts 2 days for me sometimes. good enough

 

10. Attaching a file to email - any file not just photo

nope. Only photos. what do wanna send via email other than photos anyway ? you can't browse the phone for files using a file manager and send the files via email if that's what you're asking

 

12. Any PC side app that lets me back up SMSes and calendar and stuff? -like PhoneExplorer for SE, or Nokia PC Suite or Ovi Suite?

iTunes lets you sync your calendar, notes, bookmarks, contacts and mail accounts. I don't think there's anything for backing up messages.

 

13. Free offline voice-guided/non-voice GPS navigation? Anything like MGMaps or Nokia Maps? And how accurate is the GPS?

There's a nice GPS application for 1$ which has awesome reviews and is supposed to be very good. I don't remember the name. If you're looking for somethign free, the google maps is useful. The GPS tracks you pretty accurately and the built-in-compass helps for orientation. But these do drag a bit of extra battery. It had trouble tracking my car while travelling at high speeds on the interstates here but it does an amazing job for me while travelling in buses and in a car in the city.

 

B. And is it true that iPod touch users need to pay for software or FW updates??

I know that ppl had to pay for the FW 3.0 but I don't know abt it. YOu might wanna google it or ask someone who has an iPod

 

 

C. What all does jailbreaking an iPhone enable? And will it void your warranty? Risk damage to your phone?

Read this . that shud answer your question. I am not sure abt the warranty. I need some clarity abt that too. I'm sure there will be no damage just because you jailbreak the phone.

 

C. i. Will it help with solving things listed under A. ??

It does solve quite a few of them

 

D. Will unlocking void your warranty and can you unlock all FW versions? Do you still keep getting software updates?

anytime you need to upgrade your firmware you need to do the jailbreak/unlock all over again.

rest of the questions were answered by superfrag

[Solitaire]

Thanks.

 

11. A file manager - Not officially and again why do you need one ?!

12. Any PC side app that lets me back up SMSes and calendar and stuff? -like PhoneExplorer for SE, or Nokia PC Suite or Ovi Suite? -- iTunes will back up each and everything you want it to. Notes, Calendar, Contacts, eMail, etc.

13. Free offline voice-guided/non-voice GPS navigation? Anything like MGMaps or Nokia Maps? And how accurate is the GPS? -- There are a few free voice guided offline maps but they are not really good. However if you consider buying the maps officially from App Store than you will get good apps and it will be accurate. Personally I Would suggest you to activate edge and just use Google Maps with iphone's GPS and its pretty much spot on most of the time. Ovi Maps is headed to iPhone soon.

 

For iPod Software updates it is true you have to pay but not for all. Like say Apple announces OS 4.0 you will have to pay for 4.0 update but not 4.1, 4.1.2, 4.3, etc. Then directly OS 5.0 ..

 

11. I'd rather be able to delete stuff directly from my phone when I put it in a particular directory after connecting it to my PC. Or is it that I can't even put a file in a particular directory on the phone using my PC??

 

12. Even SMSes that I send and receive??

 

13. But that isn't offline. And using gprs or 3g costs a lot. I meant offline. Ovi Maps to the iPhone?

 

 

 

Unlocking is simply the process of using a phone locked to a certain carrier(AT & T in the US, O2 in UK etc) with other carriers.

 

About the BT Transfer BS, well, it is a valid point. You may not be doing it, but tons of people use BT(or used to use) for music sharing. So, the iPhone does not support BT transfer.

 

Also, only certain FW versions can be unlocked, since with some updates, the baseband is changed, thus the people need to find a new exploit etc. Jailbreaking is much easier to do(from what I know), thus almost all FW updates can be jailbroken.

 

What if I bought an iPhone 3GS from Airtel in India once it releases, and then unlocked it and used it with Vodafone. Who provides service then?

 

That's like saying I'd block the internet cos some people might send porn or a song over email.

 

 

E. And what happens if Cydia gets blocked by Apple in a future update?

 

F. Battery replacement possible without sending it to Apple? And till how many years from purchase can the battery be replaced after purchase date?

[Solitaire]

Thank you for all the answers. Kinda makes me think anyone purchasing should wait till iPhone 4.0 (not just software, new hardware right?)

 

In addition to E. and F. included in the previous post of mine, do you HAVE to update the phone when a FW update is released? Can't you just not update and continue using the jailbreak till a new jailbreak for the firmware appears?

 

Is it possible to "turn off" a jailbreak before giving it for service?

 

@MT: I know, kinda wanna reassure myself for not having an iPhone now (partly cos 30k+ for a phone and locking to a particular network is a bit unacceptable what with me not being an earning member of the family), but I was seriously thinking of an iPhone or Android based model for 1.5 years later when I'd get an offer from Dad to change my phone. I guess things would have changed a lot by then.

 

 

 

This of course is assuming he doesn't dump his X6 on me after he gets fed up with it

 

Edited March 21, 2010 by Gaurav - Solitaire

[techstylist]

Thanks.

11. I'd rather be able to delete stuff directly from my phone when I put it in a particular directory after connecting it to my PC. Or is it that I can't even put a file in a particular directory on the phone using my PC??

No iTunes follows a default set of files where it places the music, etc. It's a part of the 16/32gb which is encrypted. But say you don't like some music and you delete it from iTunes and you aslo delete some video's on iTunes. Next time you connect your iPhone to the computer and to iTunes it will automatically delete what you deleted on itunes from the phone provided that file is there on the phone . Trust me using iTunes sync is way better than managing it manually and messing everything up.

12. Even SMSes that I send and receive??

Yes all of them..

13. But that isn't offline. And using gprs or 3g costs a lot. I meant offline. Ovi Maps to the iPhone?

Dude get a unlimited plan for your iPhone. You can get Edge on Airtel Unlimited for 299/p.m which is quite good if you do a lot of browsing and map surfing . Ovi Maps is being expanded by Nokia and is going to be ported to many Mobile OS's Android, iPhone, etc..

What if I bought an iPhone 3GS from Airtel in India once it releases, and then unlocked it and used it with Vodafone. Who provides service then?

--Airtel that is if you ask airtel officially unlocks it for you.

E. And what happens if Cydia gets blocked by Apple in a future update?

-- There are hackers they will get around it

F. Battery replacement possible without sending it to Apple? And till how many years from purchase can the battery be replaced after purchase date?

-- It is possible but you would void the warranty if you do it yourself. If i am not mistaken one year from purchase.

Edited March 21, 2010 by techstylist

[Somebody]

Thank you for all the answers. Kinda makes me think anyone purchasing should wait till iPhone 4.0 (not just software, new hardware right?)

 

In addition to E. and F. included in the previous post of mine, do you HAVE to update the phone when a FW update is released? Can't you just not update and continue using the jailbreak till a new jailbreak for the firmware appears?

 

Is it possible to "turn off" a jailbreak before giving it for service?

you are not forced to update your firmware. and if you wanna 'turn' off' the jailbreak, you just restore it with iTunes.

[Somebody]

What if I bought an iPhone 3GS from Airtel in India once it releases, and then unlocked it and used it with Vodafone. Who provides service then?

--Airtel that is if you ask airtel officially unlocks it for you.

really ? I thot airtel doesn't unlock the phones until like an year after purchase

[techstylist]

really ? I thot airtel doesn't unlock the phones until like an year after purchase

They do. Like i bought my iPhone 3g on launch day which was August 16th, so after 3-4 months months I went to an Airtel Gallery and found out after purchasing any phone from Airtel after 3-4 months they will officially Unlock it for you if asked to.

Edited March 21, 2010 by techstylist

[Solitaire]

@Techstylist, I don't have an iPhone, I'm just asking.

 

300 per month... *does quick calculation* = 3600 a year just for phone browsing.. oh my!!

I guess that's acceptable when you're earning your pay

 

 

 

Modified my last post on the previous page btw.

 

Anyway, @Somebody, thank you for taking a look at my blog. Not getting time these days to write a lot of articles. Will do that after my exams in May probably, or after June/July (depending on when i write the GRE)

Edited March 21, 2010 by Gaurav - Solitaire

[Somebody]

@techie: nice nice... so you'll be able to officially download firmwares and all from iTunes itself.

 

guys, It's still not clear to me, sorry, will they know if I unlock my phone. ( if possible, I'll just unlock, i don't need jailbreak ) and restore it before giving it to apple ?

Edited March 21, 2010 by Somebody