iPhone Gets Better Battery, Scratch Resistant Glass 527
Dekortage writes "Prior to its much-hyped launch on June 29, Apple has announced upgrades to its battery life (almost 40% more than originally announced) and scratch resistance (using "optical quality glass" rather than plastics). The announcement also includes a comparison chart pitting the iPhone against smartphones from Nokia, Samsung, Palm, and Blackberry."
Glass why? (Score:3, Interesting)
Although I have wondered this cince the Ipod came out. anti scratch coatings are pretty darn impressive.
Re:Worst comparison chart EVER (Score:3, Interesting)
Finally, slimness is what consumers care about. If you want to make l x w x h comparisons, all that data is readily available.
Fails miserably on features? Plays TV shows, movies, music, Google Maps with traffic and directions, syncs with iTunes, iPhoto, iCal, Office/Outlook, supports third-party development, on a huge 3.7" screen. How is that failing on features?
Re:How about.... Price? (Score:4, Interesting)
-Rick
Look at the phones. Battery life was a secret. (Score:5, Interesting)
Does Anyone Do Hype Better? (Score:5, Interesting)
I used to think the NFL was the world's greatest hype machine, with the annual orgy of coverage about the Super Bowl, a game that's usually not as interesting as the commercials.
But Apple has probably gotten something like a billion dollars of free publicity for six months about the iPhone, which almost nobody has actually held in their hands yet. I'm convinced that the business last week with Safari was planned way in advance, as was this bit with the batteries and the screen, so that in the last few weeks before the iPhone came out Apple would be getting more gobs of free press.
Is there anybody who works the press as well as Steve Jobs?
Re:How about.... Price? (Score:3, Interesting)
Will it Survive a Fall? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Glass why? (Score:4, Interesting)
Probably for QC/QA reasons. I have a spare pair of glasses at home w/ Polycarbonate lenses, where the left lens has a lot of crazing and surface imperfections due to the anti-scratch coatings wearing off/out prematurely. A previous pair of lenses on the same frame did the same thing on the right lens. It could be the metal used in the frame (though it's not exactly kryptonite or anything), or it could've been in reaction to the environment I'd worn them in... dunno.
Even if only one of 100,000 who experienced this problem (a reasonable figure, I think - the optometrist in my case said it happened occasionally on glasses), it would still be a fairly large headache for Apple to keep ahead of.
Re:Will it Survive a Fall? (Score:4, Interesting)
The Newton had a glass screen and I recall seeing a lot of them fall and none ever broke the screen from the fall. One time someone dropped a newton onto the screen of another newton and the screen did break, but the one she dropped was OK.
So, who knows? It is possible that it might survive a fall but it is hard to say until it actually ships.
See you in line on the 29th!
Re:How about.... Price? (Score:5, Interesting)
Also, last time I checked, it was only $600, but if it is now $800, fine... For Apple products, it definitely worth it.
Just as a note: take it from me, you're a fanboi if this is the way you really think.
You're already proclaiming that spending as much as 2-3 times what most smart phones cost is Ok with you because it's an Apple, without even getting the phone into your hands? Actually, even more than Ok but "definitely worth it."
If that's not fanboism what is?
I'm not saying the phone is not worth it. If all the promises are true and if the phone is as reliable as my iPod has been I can understand why people found it desirable. But the fact is that you're pretty much saying it's a done deal. No one on slashdot, or at least very very few, have even had one of these in their hands let alone made a call on one or beat it around for a few months or a year to give us the kind of serious insight into this device that dictates spending big money on it.
To sit there and publicly proclaim a product get's a "thumbs up" simply because of the name etched into it's shell is fanboism. 100%. Every company makes a bad product and Apple has had enough to show us they're no different than anyone else. To deny that is also fanboism.
Re:Look at the phones. Battery life was a secret. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Will it Survive a Fall? (Score:5, Interesting)
So basically it comes with two batteries (Score:3, Interesting)
But even if that were not enough for you, there is a viable solution to extended power I have seen used with Windows Mobile phones - a small external battery pack that can recharge the phone. It's around the same size as a normal phone battery, and gives quite a bit more power.
In fact, it's such a good idea - they are already being made today [engadget.com]. That's for the iPod, but since the iPhone uses the same dock connector...
Re:Worst comparison chart EVER (Score:1, Interesting)
But hey, way to spin it, fanboy.
Re:Worst comparison chart EVER (Score:3, Interesting)
fishthegeek was likely refering to the fact that a dedicated GPS navigation device, such as TomTom* is going to be a better performer for any serious navigation devices than the system stuck in a multirole system such as a phone. It's getting to the point it might eventually not be much of a hit, but the dedicated device is still likely to be far easier to work with in it's intended role.
*I hate that name.
Re:Worst comparison chart EVER (Score:1, Interesting)
What are we meant to be COMPARING it against?! Man, I was actually hoping to see something intelligent on there. That chart alone just put a bullet in apple's foot.
Re:Worst comparison chart EVER (Score:0, Interesting)
(I'm trying to paraphrase what my fanboy friend explained to me when I brought up some of the concerns I read in previous slashdot threads)... It's hilarious to me now that Apple is pulling out such a comparison chart, I'd ask if it was a joke, but I can believe they're serious. I'm not buying one. If it ends up surviving to a gen2 or gen3 and turns out to be cool then maybe...
straw man (Score:1, Interesting)
Furthermore, by assuming that I've made a straw man argument, and then asserting without any other evidence that I've done so, you have also provided a nice example of begging the question (aka "petitio principii") [wikipedia.org].
Thank you for providing a two-fer example for logical fallacies with such brevity.