Mossberg: New iPhone Keeps Apple Top of Class
online.wsj.com
online.wsj.com
We're not going to beat around the bush -- in our approximation, the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market right now. The combination of gorgeous new hardware, that amazing display, upgraded cameras, and major improvements to the operating system make this an extremely formidable package.
Pogue (New York Times) doesn’t even seem to try: “Apple releases only one new model a year, so the new iPhone had better be pretty amazing to compete. — It is.” [2]
Any other reviews out yet? (Better collect them here so the front page doesn’t get clogged.)
[1] http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2010-06-22...
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/technology/personaltech/23...
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/22/apple-iphone-4-hands.ht...
If they are only releasing one phone per year it certainly needs to be. I'm guessing it still will be by the time people can actually buy them but for how much longer after that?
I think the 3G was a worthy contender when it was in this position last year. I'm not so sure how it would turn out now.
In prior years the entrant has been held as head and shoulders above the competition (really what could seriously be considered competition for the 3GS? The Hero? Not really. How about the 3G? The G1? Somehow the competition hung on when their entrants really were trash comparable). This year it is dramatically more tempered and disclaimed, and the truth is that on a purely objective basis individual consumers may prefer a Evo or a Samsung Galaxy S or a Droid X or Droid 2...and that's just the start of the 4's cycle year.
Where do they go? Bigger screens? I am sure that appeals to some people. More megapixels in the camera? Sure, but at reduced quality, on an already bad part.
It seems the one area the competition isn't focusing on is higher quality, and better battery life (except for Blackberries, which have great battery life). This is where Apple is going.
You are right though, they iPhone 4 doesn't have a 5 inch screen, 12 megapixel camera, 2ghz processor, slide-out keyboard, which the next Android phone will no doubt have.
Personally, I would be happy if at some stage, they produced an android phone that focused more on quality and battery life. They don't need to keep getting bigger each time.
Actually SE is taking the opposite approach. They are actively pushing their X10 mini as the smallest high end smart phone on the market and using the smaller screen as a major selling point. If a huge screen appeals to you get the X10, if a really small phone appeals to you get the X10 mini.
I would be happy if at some stage, they produced an android phone that focused more on quality and battery life.
The HTC Legend is probably the phone you are talking about. High quality metal case, focus on design over specs and the best battery life of the current generation of Android phones. Hopefully HTC will continue this two pronged approach with the Desire++ being for people who need top specs at any cost and the Legend++ for people who care more about design and battery life, but still want a top quality smart phone.
That's the thing about the Android platform. No matter what your priorities, someone will probably make a phone to fulfil them.
Some are big, some small, some have keyboards, some don't, some are high-spec'ed, some basic, some expensive, some cheap.
You may have been mislead by reading gadget blogs that only focus on the male, techy, expensive, American end of the Android spectrum which might be a bit samey, but there's a whole ecosystem building out there.
They go every direction. I think you're just amazingly confused about this.
>More megapixels in the camera? Sure, but at reduced quality, on an already bad part.
Yes, of course. Until the iPhone does it any competitors must be somehow worse, right?
Remember back in those olden days when the 3GS had almost comically bad resolution? Remember how that was no big deal? Funny how big of a deal resolution is when the iPhone gets it.
>You are right though, they iPhone 4 doesn't have a 5 inch screen, 12 megapixel camera, 2ghz processor, slide-out keyboard, which the next Android phone will no doubt have.
Yes, and of course those are all negatives for the Android device, right. Amazing how that spin can occur no matter how deficient the iPhone might be in a certain area.
Groan. Seriously, guys, this is bloody pathetic.
There is a gadget blog, however, that's (not-so) curiously absent from the list...
Possibly Apple is trying to move these as quickly as possible, since it seems this will be the biggest seller yet. There is already talk of delaying the international releases for next month.
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/first-iphone-...
I can understand that some on HN have an Apple preference but Apple almost gets free advertising by the way some talk over here.
Why vote up a comment because someone says they're going Apple?
AT&T, you still suck.
I carry both an iPhone 3gs and a Blackberry around most of the time (I'm currently justin.tv's iPhone developer). I find the iPhone pretty much useless around San Francisco because of AT&T's abysmal network coverage - I tend to just not bother and use the Blackberry instead, even though it has a worse web browsing experience (at least it always works! I haven't found a place yet that doesn't have good Sprint coverage).
Having said that, we have three generations of iPhones in our family, and when we go to remote regions everybody has to use my Motorola. I think that if Apple switched to Verizon, everybody would realize it's the phone and not the network.
Having said that, every iPhone has gotten closer and I'm hoping the 4th is a ringer, 'cuz I'd like to get one.
I've always been impressed with RIM's phones, though; they have impressive transceivers (I say that anecdotally; I don't know any specs).
I don't think a change to the antenna would affect how it behaves in the same room as its base station, anyway.
After years of ATT's awful network, my first few minutes on Sprint gave me nerd chills: the same nerd chills I got when I was 15 and surfed the internet with broadband for the first time.
The first few days of ownership I was actually struggling to wear my battery down to <5% so I could do a full charge cycle.
Note: I have a "Rev B." Evo.
My biggest complaint is that 4G service indoors is awful (close to non-existent unless you live in a house made of paper), and outdoors it is very latent even with a strong signal ( 200+ms)
I'm not sure which revision I have (got it at Google IO)
Apple is fighting with both hands tied behind their back by limiting availability to one carrier in the US, though.
And winning.
I'm not sure it's fair to say that Apple is 'winning' at this point. All of the current trends look like a dog-fight is coming. I continue to believe that Google wins this (by a wide margin) in the end.
And in a few years, Android's market share will probably dwarf Apple's, considering the current trend.
Apple just can't fight against dozens of manufacturers and carriers around the world.
We're discussing market share, not revenues.
Besides, I'm pretty sure Apple would love to lead both in market share and in revenues.
Back to the original point, it's funny how any observation that Apple is now #3 and about to become #4 in market share is automatically met with "Bah, Apple doesn't care about that, they only care about money".
Try it, it never misses.
Which is great from a longevity point of view, but not from a gadget-lust point of view. I still have over a month to decide anyway, as they don't come out in Australia until late July. Unless they're delayed, like the iPad was.
First world problems...
I enjoyed this line: "it manages to make the 3GS appear bulbous by comparison"
What intrigues me is that there have been zero rumors (from any of the sites I frequent) about Apple investing in or starting its own wireless carrier. Since they're not well known for giving up control over user experience it only makes sense that something along these lines has to have at least been considered.
The telecom space is so ripe for competition in the US. It's a shame that the amount of capital required is so monumental. Can you imagine a wireless carrier that had good coverage, customer service, and billing practices?
There's no way Apple will ever become a carrier though. And such a shame they're hostile towards Google, Google Voice is our best hope for a new carrier yet...
In the end it's a lot of wishful thinking on my part, but the opportunity to mop the floor with the current competition still lingers.
Can I buy an iPhone without an AT&T contract?
No. iPhone requires a two-year AT&T wireless service contract.
But apparently you can get unlocked one (for the full price of course) in Canada. If you live close to border, this could be a very viable option. Canada is probably going to get new iPhone by the end of the summer.
In any case you might need microSIM cutter: http://www.cutmysim.com/ or be very precise when wielding your box cutter.
Got a chuckle at this (he's talking about the "retina" display) - "I don't know how it compares with the human retina, but I do know that, just as Apple claims, text on the screen shows no jagged lines, even when expanded to giant size"
Yuk yuk. I picture someone zooming into a fractal, desperately trying to get to the end. Mossberg is hardly the first person who has exploded a vector graphic (in this case fonts) looking for the pixels, as if it demonstrates something about the display.
The screen is not huge revolution it's slightly more res than has been going into pretty much every smart phone for a year. Telling the difference between those resolutions at that scale is nearly impossible.
I just don't see anything to be impressed by blockier design, OS upgrades that still doesn't catch Android in core functionality, and not to mention ATT.
"People calling it 'gorgeous' are fan boys sorely in denial."
> I thought for a moment how to rephrase that in a nicer way, but I couldn't.
Apart from the 'fan boys sorely in denial' I can't see what's so bad about putting your own view forward on the aesthetics of the physical device. Especially if you have actually had the opportunity to see and feel it as the author implies (I don't know if that is true or not). Apple fans are notorious for assuming their aesthetic sensibilities are synonymous with 'good taste' or 'good design' so I don't see what is so bad about a non-fan doing the same. To me the pictures of the device make it look a little 'odd' or 'cold'.
I'm not saying the post is hugely insightful or anything but there does seem to be a bit of a double standard going on.
You just have to make sure that when you do decide to make a post that points out flaws in Apple this or that, your post should be well thought out - and avoid being inflammatory.
Yes, these should be guidelines for any post here on HN, but you probably have less leeway when you're challenging someone's relatively established mindset. Protip: Throwing around the phrase "fan boy" does no one any good, and certainly won't help your karma.
True but in many ways the 'definite bias favoring Apple on Hacker News' does actually validate the concept of a cluster of people that could usefully be described by a distinct term. If 'fanboys' is considered an offensive slur (as it appears to be) then I'm personally happy to use the term 'Apple fans' but they are essentially referring to the phenomena/grouping.
Personally I'm less interested in karma than contributing to the insight-fullness and accuracy of the discussion. I'll gladly wear my -20 comments as a badge of pride as long as they do this.
Please do. 'fanboys' certainly is not a distinct term that is useful to describe a cluster of people, as you say, at least not any more.
Aside: Harry McCracken recently wrote a (rather long) essay on the origin and evolution of the word 'fanboy': http://technologizer.com/2010/05/17/fanboy/
The word is certainly older than I'd expected but the meaning seems to have remained pretty constant.
If you remove the offensive slur, the comment would end up just saying, "many people who liked previous Apple products also like the new iPhone." Without the offensive slur, it's clear that the comment is practically content free, and likely not worth saying in the first place.
Secondly the original comment said a lot more than just that phrase which makes your argument incorrect, worse than than content free.
Actually this argument reminds me of the concept of an 'Uncle Tom' for African Americans. Sometime I think you are right and other times you I believe you just need to 'tell it like it is'.