Proximity Sensor Presents Latest iPhone 4 Issue 446
tekgoblin sends news of the latest iPhone 4 glitch being reported in user forums and elsewhere: the phone's proximity sensor seems not to be detecting nearby faces, as it is designed to do, in order to deactivate the screen during a call. The result is often unintended input. "On the iPhone 3GS, the proximity sensor was located to the left of the earpiece speaker. But that space on iPhone 4 is now occupied by the front-facing camera, and the proximity sensor is above the earpiece. What's not clear is whether the iPhone 4 screen's misbehavior is due to the new location of the sensor, or it's because Apple tweaked the sensor's responses in [some] way."
Next please! (Score:5, Insightful)
Add this latest story to the antenna issue, and it's looking like Apple shipped a rotten one. You can't have a big win every time without some risk of losing once in a while. Be glad if you're holding on to an iPhone 3G(s) from last year... you got most of the good features from the new operating system while the new hardware doesn't seem ready for prime time. Give them a year to fix the problems, and we'll wait for the iPhone 4G...
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Re:Next please! (Score:5, Insightful)
Does Honda tell you you shouldn't hold the steering wheel at 10 and 2 because it doesn't run well that way?
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Actually yes. Vehicles fitted with an SRS airbag should be held at 9 and 3.
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Re:Next please! (Score:5, Insightful)
Who cares? It's his product! I wanted an espresso machine mounted in my dashboard, but nooooo, Honda had to have it their way, and only give me options they wanted me to have.
There is a slight difference. Honda won't stop you mounting an espresso machine in your dashboard after you buy the car. Apple refuses to allow 3rd party addons that it hasn't approved.
Re:Next please! (Score:5, Insightful)
and users are totally capable of installing something and seeing if it works themselves
The number of people who end up with a shit ton of trojans all over their computers because they wanted some smilies is good evidence that you're talking bollocks.
Re:Next please! (Score:4, Insightful)
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An espresso machine on the dash may void any promises Honda made on their airbags, but it might not void any on Honda's engines.
Re:Next please! (Score:4, Informative)
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It's apple. You never buy the first generation of new or redesigned products. I like the new Mac Mini's. But I'll wait for the next update to replace mine. Same with the iPhone 4. My contract is up in December. I'll wait until then to update because they'll have these issues resolved.
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Neither have I, because I value my freedom to buy and, you know.. own stuff almost as much as I value my hard-earned cash. I will never own an iPhone of any kind. I've used my fathers iPhone 3G a bit though to see what the big fuzz was about and my (subjective, I guess) conclusion is that my HTC Desire far outperforms the iPhone in every possible way relevant to my use (application availability (SNES/NES/GB emulators), connectivity, menu navigation, display quality, touch responsiveness, etc.).
Also.. why on
Re:Next please! (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm sorry, wait a year?
If I get a defective product, it means one of two things:
1) I return it
2) If there is no way to return it within reasonable time and/or they refuse to repair the defects (significant, if advertised features don't work at all), I file as part of a class action suit
In what world does a person not do one of the above when spending hundreds of dollars (or more) on a product - particularly a luxury product?
A year is a significant period of time, particularly in technology. They don't get a year to fix functionality issues (and make them available to the user): they get months of first public outcry. That timeframe is less, if it makes the device close to useless.
As for "win big every time without some risk of losing once in a while"... what do you think Apple is doing, playing the lottery? No, they're offering the (supposedly) 4th revision to their popular product line. A popular product line does not get "rebuilt" or "redesigned", it gets gradually upgraded. There is no excuse for this - and it was no doubt caused by some idiotic designer. (So much for the misnomer "Apple designs good hardware." Say what? Then why is the hardware made by everyone else, at the same price range and often lower, designed significantly better?)
I'm not sure what a person is supposed to get when being an Apple customer these days that they can't get elsewhere, better. In the 1990s, it was pretty clear. Now, their desktops are the same architecture, based on the most common non-Windows OS (many variants of which are free), with inflated prices. Their other offerings are supposedly superior in many ways, but only because they're shackled to their worst fault - the Apple App Store.
How in the world Apple released such a half-baked platform with a supposedly superior OS is beyond me. The superior OS makes sense - the inferior hardware does not. Just confounding. Pretty much everywhere else, the situation is the reverse: good/better hardware, with not-so-great software. Hell, even the various WinMo/Android/etc. makers manage to do that without much issue.
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Then why is the hardware made by everyone else, at the same price range and often lower, designed significantly better?
I've owned many phones over the years, including an iPhone, and this is simply not the case. The iPhone's release raised the bar of phone design and sent everybody scrambling to compete.
Now, their desktops are the same architecture, based on the most common non-Windows OS (many variants of which are free)...
I'm starting to wonder if you have any actual experience with any Apple products. If you've used OS X and, say, Ubuntu, you'd know you're comparing apples and oranges. For day-to-day desktop use, they are light-
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I'm starting to wonder if you have any actual experience with any Apple products. If you've used OS X and, say, Ubuntu, you'd know you're comparing apples and oranges. For day-to-day desktop use, they are light-years apart.
indeed. Ubuntu is a distribution, not an OS. But if you mean a Linux distro featuring one of the major WMs vs. OSX I will still say you are right. Working with pretty much any halfway sane distro (including my current one which is Arch Linux using Awesome WM) is a pleasure. Working with OSX, for me, was a "why-the-fuck-can't-I-do-that?" horror trip.
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Actually, Ubuntu is an operating system and a Linux distribution too. Linux is a kernel, not an operating system.
The operating system is composed of the kernel and all the applications necessary to run and use the system. (and sometimes -always these days- more additional applications)
You'll notice Ubuntu is referenced as operating system for that reason (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(operating_system) [wikipedia.org] )
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2) I suppose i could have formulated that better, inflexible isn't the same as incapable, try defining your own theme for instance, that changes not just the background, but also the fonts & colors used in the UI, unless things have changed with 10.6, your options are very limited, compared to other systems, or heaven forbid, try actually replacing Finder with something else!
Granted, this won't be an issue for ever
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Class action suit? How naive. Someone should do a study on how well it generally works out for the consumer, the company, and the lawyers.
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Sez you.
Sony Ericson p800, p900.
"cache"? "cachet" maybe. Do you really think having a particular brand of mobile phone gives you "cachet". How sad.
You've got a buzzing ecosystem? Call rentokil.
Re:Next please! (Score:5, Insightful)
Cross out 3g from that. My 3g with the measly 128MB of RAM (compared to 256 and 512 on 3GS and iPhone 4 respectively) runs extremely slow after update to iOS4. When noted this on the Apple forums I was told that technology doesn't wait for my old phone and I should upgrade and pay good money if I expect a nice phone. My 3g is less than two years old. In return for this slowdown, the only useful features that I have got are folders and multiple exchange accounts. Nothing else. Apple didn't just fail at design of the new iPhone, but also abandoned previous generations with the iOS upgrade.
Re:Next please! (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm in the same situation. iOS 4 has noticeably slowed down my 3G. My contract won't be up until early 2011, so I don't even have the option of buying an iPhone 4 for less than full retail price ($600 or $700) so I am stuck with a 3G until then. I try to look on the bright side, that when I get the chance to upgrade again I will get the next version after the iPhone 4, which will probably fix all the problems people are having. Until then, I'll suffer through the plain black background and no multitasking.
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I have tried the jailbreak route. Even enabling the features through activating Apple's own implementations (the .plist edit to enable multitasking and wallpaper) left my phone running unacceptably slow, compared to just acceptably slow with non-jailbroken iOS 4. It also killed my battery life, and the funny thing was it wasn't even the multitasking doing it. I tried just enabling the wallpaper and I had a good 30-40% reduction in battery life while using the phone. Standby time seemed to be unaffected.
Re:Next please! (Score:5, Insightful)
The funny is that the policies of a company leaves you with a crippled and slow device and you decides to wait for another version of the product and not switch to a competitor.
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The competitors (Android would be the closest equivalent) have their own sets of problems, and hardware becoming quickly obsolete is something that you will never be able to get away from as long as you are using hardware.
Re:Next please! (Score:4, Insightful)
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Unfortunately, the competitors are not up to par. My AT&T contract is set to expire in August and I am seriously considering switching away from Apple's Iphone. My choices as of right now are very few: Moto Droid X, which is not yet available, and is an unknown entity, HTC Evo 4G, with a crippled battery life and crippled network (Sprint); Nexus One, which is nice but 7 months old already and starting to show its age, plus you can only get it with a contract on T-mobile and finally Nokia N900 which is a
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There are more options. Have you seen the Samsung Galaxy S? Also, what is crippled about Sprint's network? My coworkers all use iPhones (except one other Android user), and I have an Android phone. I find Android to be snappier, have more functionality (real multitasking, ability to download non-marketplace apps), and doesn't lock me down to ATT.
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iPhone 4
Nexus One
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Same here. I've also noticed lots of glitching on audio playback, where it is not only dropping out, but also playing at 1.5X normal speed.
The frustration of it is that I kept the 3.1.3 image around but it will not reinstall. The restoration has failed every time.
Not exactly nothing else... (Score:2)
Cross out 3g from that. My 3g with the measly 128MB of RAM (compared to 256 and 512 on 3GS and iPhone 4 respectively) runs extremely slow after update to iOS4.
I've seen that and it is slower.
But you do get something more than just folders, you also get all of the frameworks for iOS4. That gives developers a ton more control over things like audio and video and the camera, which you'll benefit from somewhat (though with the 3G camera not having autofocus, only marginally). iOS4 is I think a release Apple
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There is lesson in this: (Score:2)
Re:Next please! (Score:4, Insightful)
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My 3G (old, I know) is now slower than ever and applications crash constantly. The iBook application takes about a minute to open and load. They crippled the GPS data that safari provides through their own geolocation API, using only AGPS, which of course provides really bad accuracy and doesn't update often.
So the question here is. If they had a working product, why would they change for worse.
This episod
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Re:Next please! (Score:5, Interesting)
Unfortunately many 3G and 3GS phones have trouble upgrading to iOS 4. They upgrade just fine, but then can no longer connect to the cellular data network and lose visual voicemail and MMS (phone calls and text still work). I'm surprised this story has slipped under the radar so far, since it's impacted a lot more people than the iPhone 4. There's still no official fix other than resetting your phone to factory and not applying previous backups to it ever again, but there are several community fixes of greater or lesser value (some only fix cellular data while leaving MMS and VVM broken, but the correct fix is to delete a specific file from your backup that contains the corrupted APN, reset to factory, and then reapply your modified backup and ignore the error when iTunes complains about not completing the backup).
Apple really seems to have fucked up this time around.
R&D (Score:2, Insightful)
You know, it sounds like most of these problems would have been figured out if people had tested them in the field for a few weeks before sending them to the factory. But Apple's causing people to commit suicide for losing a prototype, aggressive legal action, etc., suggests that they depend on heavy marketing and legal scare tactics rather than good engineering practices to sell a product.
Soon it will be "Wait until they release the first service pack before you use it," or "Wait until they revise the hard
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...sounds like most of these problems would have been figured out if people had tested them in the field for a few weeks before sending them to the factory
They tried to test them in the field but that guy forgot his in a bar and, well, you know the rest of the story.
Re:R&D (Score:5, Insightful)
...suggests that they depend on heavy marketing and legal scare tactics rather than good engineering practices to sell a product.
Yes, the iPhone, and indeed Apple's entire product line, clearly demonstrates that their engineering is far behind the competition's.
/. as of late.
Let me guess, you don't regularly use an iPhone or an Apple computer or OS X? But you don't want to be left out of the fervent Apple backlash that's taken over
I had the original iPhone, and it was an exceptional work of engineering. I recently upgraded to the iPhone 4, and it again seems like an excellent work of engineering. I'm only speaking from personal experience, but I haven't had a problem with the antenna or a single dropped call to date. The huge success of the iPhone has placed it under an intense spotlight, and as it's the current "king of the hill," everyone's out to expose its blemishes and blow them out of proportion. As such, these critiques need to be taken with a grain of salt, and given time to see if they represent real issues among users, or anti-Apple fud.
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I've experienced this... very annoying. (Score:5, Informative)
My bet is that this can be fixed with a simple software update, but I really don't see how Apple could possibly not have found this issue in their testing. Some reports I've seen suggest that the problem goes away if you put it in a case of some sort, so maybe Apple only tested it with those silly cases that made it look like a 3G when they sent it out in the wild for testing, and the case kept it from having the problem.
And it seems to me that they could combine the proximity sensor input with the accelerometer and gyroscope inputs. When you hold the phone within a certain range of angles AND the proximity sensor reads X, then turn off the touchscreen.
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Maybe all of their testers were left-handed?
But seriously, that would explain why they didn't notice the "holding the phone with the left hand" antenna issue, and given what's said above that means the proximity sensor would be at the bottom of the ear instead of the top when held against the head.
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Re:I've experienced this... very annoying. (Score:5, Funny)
My other workaround is just pressing the home key and opening Notes or some other simple, quiet app; that way it doesn't really matter if any keys are pressed.
And people say Linux isn't ready for mass-consumption.
So much for Apple's 'flawless' execution (Score:4, Insightful)
I think I have had enough of Apple at this point. I can guarantee that I will jump ship to HTC's EVO phone by December this year.
Now let's wait for the Apple fanboys who will see no wrong on Apple's part.
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Now let's wait for the Apple fanboys who will see no wrong on Apple's part.
I don't see anyone saying that. On the contrary, just about every Apple story seems to be full of a ton of anger and vitriol, regardless of what the story is about. Maybe I don't see enough modded-down comments? Regardless, I'm sure that for every emotional fanboy there is at least one irrational hater and 50 million others who could hardly care less.
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Regardless, I'm sure that for every emotional fanboy there is at least one irrational hater and 50 million others who could hardly care less.
And then there's that one guy with a WinMo phone who's too busy sobbing in the corner quietly... ~
Users have got it wrong... (Score:5, Funny)
...and here's why: -
When it come to the iPhone, folks at Apple haven't told us how not to hold it wrong...so let's wait for Steve's instructions.
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iPhone: Giving AT&T more bars in more places.
And mass unjustified mass hysteria spreads... (Score:4, Informative)
I now have an iPhone 4. Before that, I was a 3GS user. Before that, Palm Centro, Treo 680, and Treo 650.
All I can say is that I have absolutely no complaints. Phone gives better audio quality and apparently better signal strength than my 3GS, which also rarely dropped calls and generally had little trouble accessing the 'net even though I live in NYC and supposedly ought not to have even been able to place a call, period.
I haven't had any issues with the proximity sensor, any issues with signal loss/degredation, etc. No yellow spots, beautiful screen. The device works better than just about any other electronics device (save the 3GS) that I've bought in the last few years. It seems to me that people hold Apple to impossibly high standards compared to other electronics vendors. Few devices or even major computer items (printers, laptops, monitors) I've bought over the last few years have been defect free. Every single one of them has had issues. Many I've exchanged several times trying to get a "good one" (for example, Kensington Expert Mouse with misaligned laser so that motion isn't properly detected, or AOC LCD monitor with control panel buttons that don't register presses).
People only get into "OMIGODSCANDAL" mode when it's Apple for some reason.
I'm happy to say that the two Apple devices I've bought (iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4) have satisfied me enough that I'm seriously thinking of getting an iPad (despite previously thinking I wouldn't) and making my next computer a Mac rather than a Thinkpad.
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People only get into "OMIGODSCANDAL" mode when it's Apple for some reason.
Apple's defining characteristic has long been their hardware/software design and usability.
When they manage to fail at both of those missions in one item, it's a scandal.
Re:And mass unjustified mass hysteria spreads... (Score:4, Insightful)
People only get into "OMIGODSCANDAL" mode when it's Apple for some reason.
Because its only Apple who seems to think that their products are flawless. Its only Apple who takes design over practicality. Only Apple would have designed the Apple III the way it was, and it was probably only Apple (well, cheap Chinese counterfeits aside...) who would design a product like the iPhone 4 and then say to your customers you are holding it wrong.
Its only Apple who thinks that one product can be perfect for everyone, from the serious developer and power user to Joe Six-Pack. Other companies diversify to give each niche their own product at cheap price points.
Yes, occasionally Apple just -gets- something right, a lot of the ideas from the iPhone were great, the implementation wasn't as good, but the idea of a great browser, captive touch-screen, and multi-touch gestures were a great idea and truly helped make the smartphones of today what they are today. But other times their implementation is just dead wrong and Apple has to "backtrack" from earlier statements to get ahead you know things like there will be no SDK for the iPhone, no copy/paste, no multi-tasking, etc.
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only Apple ... who would design a product like the iPhone 4 and then say to your customers you are holding it wrong.
I dunno, I remember an old Samsung cellphone I had that came with an insert that instructed you on the proper way to hold the phone: two fingers and one thumb, keeping your palm as far away from the phone as possible. Otherwise, you'd block the internal antenna.
Dunno how much of an issue that actually was, but the phone definitely came with instructions on the "proper" way to hold it. And this phone predates the iPhone entirely.
Re:And mass unjustified mass hysteria spreads... (Score:4, Insightful)
Its only Apple who takes design over practicality.
There was a day when the word 'design' MEANT 'building things that solve practical problems in efficient ways'. You 'designed an engine' or 'designed a computer'. When you said 'design' it meant 'how a thing works'.
Now it seems to be code for 'putting a thin layer of pretty looks on the top of someone else's actual engineering'. As in 'we need to update our phone's design - red with curved corners is so 2009, don't you think?' With the result that 'design' now seems to be the OPPOSITE of actual design: it doesn't think deeply about the purpose or materials of anything or its place in the world, it doesn't solve practical problems, at the very most it builds user interfaces - but more likely it doesn't even do that, just picks the shade of pixels on the .jpg on the skin on the theme pack.
Can we please stop torturing the English language and get designers who know how to design things (and not just looks) again?
Re:And mass unjustified mass hysteria spreads... (Score:5, Insightful)
Its only Apple who thinks that one product can be perfect for everyone, from the serious developer and power user to Joe Six-Pack.
See, I always read this on Slashdot, and then I read "I love my iPhone" everywhere else. I don't think Apple ever said they were to be all things to all people. They try to be the important things to most people. And that's how they succeed. They find out what people want to do, focus on those features and make them basically perfect and intuitive, and then disable anything that doesn't work right enough of the time or which gets in the way of the important things. I was sick of buying phones with feature lists the length of my arm--none of which worked reliably enough for me to ever really mess with them. With the iPhone, I actually use those things. I use them because they work. Every time.
Finally, just to put this out there again: I live in Japan; I have had none of the signal/net-speed issues I hear about all over the internet. None. None. Never once a dropped call. It's not the phone; it's the network.
Who said flawless? (Score:2)
Because its only Apple who seems to think that their products are flawless.
All products have some flaws, Apple knows that and users of Apple products know that.
But by and large Apple does products with fewer annoying flaws. In practical use, on the new phone the signal drop thing I've only seen happen once - when I was trying to make it happen. And I've had exactly one dropped call.
It's only Apple Haters it seems, who think that Apple users are arrogant about the products they own. Apple users simply li
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Its only Apple who thinks that one product can be perfect for everyone, from the serious developer and power user to Joe Six-Pack. Other companies diversify to give each niche their own product at cheap price points.
To be fair, I don't think that Apple thinks that the iPhone is perfect for everyone. It's perfect for them--the people who make it--and they think it's perfect for enough people that it's a worthwhile product to make.
There are a lot of complaints about every company, including Apple, that I can understand. but their decision to focus on a limited product line is hardly a reason to get on them, any more than we should berate Samsung for making a mind-boggling 147 models [samsung.com].
The folks at Apple make what t
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FWIW re: the iPad...
I'm a Mac laptop user and have an iPhone 3GS. I had absolutely zero interest in the iPad...but then we got one for work. I've been using it for about 2 weeks now, at home and at work (and at a conference). I love it...I was really surprised but I do.
I DON'T think it works as a Kindle replacement, and reading ebooks in low light tires my eyes pretty quickly. It also really desperately needs iOS4 / multitasking...but even now I use it at home all the time.
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Again I have to ask, how is different from/better than ? When it comes to phones, I have had the questionable pleasure of using a Nokia N97 for a couple of months. I have also tried an iPhone 3G and a couple of HTC phones. My current phone is the HTC Desire and I must admit, I haven't loved a tech gadget this much since my SNES (hell, I can even play SNES games on it!). The closedness, lack of features and general asshattery of Apple just makes the HTC (with Android) a much more tempting choice, not to mention the immense amount of available apps and the powerful hardware.
Different from? Well, just try the different phones. They're not the same. You may prefer one, you may prefer another one, I have minimal usage of Android and haven't made a single comparison between the two. Whichever one you like better is the one I would say is better... "lack of features" is pretty much a red herring, iphone too has "immense" (more?) apps, and the general asshattery of Apple in your view a philosophical statement which I don't agree with. If you like the HTC, no problems! Go for it! You
Re:And mass unjustified mass hysteria spreads... (Score:5, Insightful)
So come on, what are the advantages? What is the reason people get so territorial whenever Apple is brought up?
Why so territorial? If that's true I think it's probably because people who use Apple products tend to really like them. I really like my Macbook Pro laptop! When's the last time you heard someone gush about a Dell laptop? Obviously Apple is a favorite target of people who hate Apple (on eg Slashdot) and so it's not surprising that when people make statements like "The closedness, lack of features and general asshattery of Apple" when it's clear they know virtually nothing about Apple, that Apple users defend products they like.
Read the power connector frontpage article on slashdot right now. How many people do you see saying "I LOVE my Dell power connector!" or "I would love to see laptop power connectors standardized on my Acer connector, it's great!" None. You see a crap load of people talking about how great Magsafe is though (and it is, it's great!). I think that sums up the situation really well...Apple designs things REALLY well. Apple software and hardware is full of little touches like that. OSX is a nice operating system that also happens to be based on a unix/bsd core, with full commandline, singleuser mode, etc. It's also got a really polished gui. The iPhone is a really polished phone that most people really seem to like.
Really? You can't run OS X on any hardware, or at least any hardware that can run Windows? I didn't know this and if it's true, it's a huge weakness imposed by Apple to keep people who like OS X buying their hardware. If a Mac can run OS X, Win and Linux, then (barring artificial limitations) a computer containing the exact same hardware can surely do the same.
Right, Apple limits OSX to only running on Apple hardware. Like I said, there IS a Hackintosh movement which while technically against licensing rules by Apple also seems to be utterly ignored by Apple. I've run 10.4 and 10.5 on generic PC hardware and it works very well. Since the base of OSX is open source, I even recompiled one of my ATA drivers to add support for an unsupported chipset. Not bad.
The bottomline--Apple designs solid products. Apple designs products that people like. As I said before, you've got the time to spend researching parts and building computers--that's great, and it's fun, but I don't have that time anymore. OSX is -- and of course IMHO -- a far more polished operating system than Windows, the Linuxes, etc. That's why I'm reduced to buying Dell desktops at work and why I choose to use an Apple laptop as my main computer. I think most people who, for instance, try an OSX laptop for a month, understand this.
I would never go so far as to claim that Apple products are for everybody though...I personally think it's great that there is competition.
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you used the term "polished" three times. this, and other ambiguous terms like "user experience" seem common in posts extolling the virtues of the Apple. what does "polished" mean? what is the value of such a thing?
can you provide any specific example of how, for instance, the polish allows you to do X on an Apple product faster/easier/better/? than on an Android phone or Windows desktop?
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Between iPhone / Android, no I can't provide any meaningful experience as I've already stated, and I have no strong opinions either way. I can tell you from other comments on slashdot that people say that iPhone is more responsive and smoother scrolling than Android, but I can't vouch for that.
Between OSX and Windows I can definitely provide some examples.
In 6 years of using a Mac laptop I have had to download and install *one* driver (for a generic brand USB->Serial dongle). I can't say the same even fo
Works fine for me... (Score:2)
but then, I'm a lefty. Maybe we southpaws take a hit on reception, but get a bonus on the proximity issue.
First gen Apple products (Score:4, Insightful)
Mark me as redundant, but haven't people learned already that first-gen Apple products are suspect to major flaws? (Even though iteration-wise, this is the 4th iteration of the iPhone, of course, realistically this is a Apple product with brand new hardware and design, akin to going from the PPC Powerbooks to the Intel Macbooks).
Fanboy moderation at its best. (Score:2)
Does this have anything to do with dropped calls? (Score:3, Interesting)
I can't help but to think that this bug has more to do with dropped calls than the antenna- Screen doesn't go off, so your face hits "End" ... I can see how people would see that as a drop.
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I personally think that problem has more to do with the front-facing camera. The phone probably sees these people and decides they're not good looking enough to call anyone. I mean, have you seen some of the antenna complainers?
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I cannot reproduce the signal-loss issue. I am plagued by the proximity sensor issue. And just an FYI- after the phone hangs up, it takes you back to your contacts; if the call is dropped, it tells you "call failed" and gives you a redial button.
I hear "It's not the sensor it's ATT, lolz!!1" all the time from people who don't use iphones but feel the need to comment on them.
So let's be clear about this: I can tell the difference between a dropped call and a call that has been ended inadvertently.
Don't take
More? (Score:2)
Re:More? (Score:5, Interesting)
If Apple offered multiple products, they could escape scrutiny because there would be other products to fall back to if one product ended up being terrible and Apple would suffer minimal losses, but since they have a unified phone program, the flaws are much more pronounced.
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Apple seems to think that their one phone is the phone for everyone and when it is not, people are going to attack them.
That's not really true... Well, they do have one line of phones obviously (iPhone -> iPhone 3g -> iPhone 3gs -> iPhone4) however even today AT&T sells iPhone 3g, 3gs and 4.
Not just the iPhone (Score:4, Interesting)
I've got an HTC Desire and it too has a problem with your ear pressing on-screen buttons during calls.
The screen can also be too sensitive to skin touches. So, for example, when the phone is in my jeans pocket, it responds to the skin of my thigh through the pocket lining. I've had to resort to the "drag your finger in a certain pattern" unlock mode to prevent the phone from making calls while it's in my pocket.
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I expect to see this as a front-page slashdot story..... any day now...
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Power button gets pressed just by the phone being bumped around.
Make an app, Apple (Score:2)
Caveat: I have just switched to a MacBook Pro after years of windows and linux. I love it.
My impression is that this is the most advanced, subtle device on the market and they just dropped it into the hands of a million people. Can you imagine this sort of thing not happening? On the other hand there seems to be a major difference from past iPhone versions.
It sounds like an interesting issue that could combine subtle aspects of different sensor device, position, electromagnetic environment, head geometry, h
whoa, call the geek squad (Score:2)
Problem with restore from backup? (Score:4, Interesting)
Am I just lucky? (Score:2)
I got my iPhone 4 last Thursday. I am left-handed and have had no dropped calls or reduction in signal strength. I have no case or bumper (the case is due to arrive in the mail this week). Quite the contrary, this iPhone gets much better reception than my previous iPhones. I haven't had any problems with the proximity sensor. Everything works as advertised, and I'm extremely happy with it. Being an iPhone owner since Day 1 of the first model, this is the first time I can say I am completely, 100% sati
mini-ipad (Score:2)
Its sounding more and more like the new iphone is a mini ipad, not a phone at all. I've never figured it out myself. I'm old school I guess, I use my phone to make phone calls, and its all I do with it. I want it small, lightweight, good battery life and good reception. I kept my nokia for 5 years and going on 4 years with my moto. Both satisfied the reqmt. Meanwhile a friend of mine has an iphone and she hits mute somehow almost every conversation. Really I don't know how she stands it, but I guess being
just reset from settings/general (Score:5, Informative)
this seems to be an issue with ios4 (happens on 3gs also) to do with importing from old phone sensor settings on restore...
after some searching found that
the fix was to go into settings/general/reset all/ then it recalibrated the sensor....
have had zero issues since
This is an iOS 4 problem, not an iPhone 4 problem (Score:3, Interesting)
I have an iPhone 3G. I updated my iPhone to iOS 4. Now I have the same proximity sensor issue; I was on a conference call the other day and kept hearing a beep before I realized that my face was pressing the "3" on the keypad. I had to hold the phone like Steve does in order to make it stop ;-).
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Do you really think there's a live Slashdot editor at all times? More like this was discovered a week ago and put in the SlowNewsDay(TM) file.
The USA is still in a holiday weekend period right now, try again tomorrow morning.
Re:iPhone 5 ... (Score:5, Funny)
Will Apple offer a free
lol good one
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This was another case where the industrial designers beat the engineers. The engineers wanted a proximity sensor that responded to faces. The industrial designers wanted a proximity detector that responded to beautiful, serene, or uncharacteristically creative faces... No problems were encountered during testing.
What the f is an "industrial designer"? and how is that different from any other kind of product designer?
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Google is your friend:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_design [wikipedia.org]
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What the f is an "industrial designer"? and how is that different from any other kind of product designer?
What the f with the snarky response? The guy is trying to make a contribution (albeit in the form of a cheap laugh). You're contributing nothing.
But here, try educating yourself [wikipedia.org]. And consider buying a black turtleneck, so you can get the jokes and keep up.
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Another post says the old proximity sensor was in the location of the new camera, adjacent to your ear during the call. So maybe they should use the camera as the proximity sensor: if all the camera can see is ear, disable the buttons.
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What if you don't have ears [wikipedia.org]? You insensitive clod!
On the other hand, restaurants just need to paint giant ears on their roofs and all iphones will cease to function!
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Thats a good point. I had better not upset Chopper. I sometimes go to the Collingwood swap meet to buy computer bits and I wouldn't want to lose some bits in the process.
Totaly wrong (Score:2)
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