Friday, June 29, 2007

iLoves iPhone

Well, I've been waiting for it ever since the now-famous Steve Jobs keynote at Macworld in January. I've seen loads of pictures, videos, feature tours but I've never got tired.

And finally, today, June 29th, the iPhone had it's world premiere at 6pm. Seriously, I'd been practically waiting for days for this. Me, Charles, Wonderkid and Spandi made it to the Apple store at Montgomery Mall by 9pm, after finishing up with work for the week. It seemed Charles' friend had waited for hours at another store waiting for the 8gigs model but it got sold out by the time he could enter the shop.

Anyway, this Apple store was so crowded too, but the queues had died down. We had to wait sometime to get our hands on the models kept on display, since there were droves of people ahead of us checking them out already, but it was worth every second. I just couldn't stop gaping at it when I finally got my hands on it.

First impressions - it is SO damn sleek, so much so that when you actually hold it in your fingers you actually try to be delicate as possible lest you hurt it or something. The screen is so bright and clear that you keep blinking just to believe what you're seeing in front of you is actually real.

The touchpad (the screen itself) feels so accurate under your fingers, that you gain confidence very fast about the fact that you're doing it right, something that I personally had doubts about - since it would be rather irritating for such a device (that depends entirely on multi-touch) to not be very accurate. I took the contacts list and the smooth-scrolling was oh-so-damn-SMOOTH! It was unreal I tell you! UNREAL. I went into a frenzy after that, trying out the call mode, Google maps, Safari, YouTube, the 2-meg camera. Everything was like so perfect that you couldn't help but feel that you were using a technological marvel, a masterpiece.

I selected the iPod mode next, and was blown away by the video mode. Played Lost on it and I gasped in awe. Widescreen video playback RULES. Browsing through the cover art of the music albums great too, and the way it flips to let you select the songs is awesome. Played Audioslave and the sound quality still rocks. I kid you not, I could practically hear the oohs and aahs from people ALL AROUND me whilst I was checking it out.

I couldn't spent more than twenty minutes with it, since I had to keep my manners and give a chance to the other people who were waiting impatiently for it, but I did manage to take some pics and videos.

I've posted some pics below. Will put on the videos later.

Here are some links to the iPhone release stories, by, NYTimes, BBC, and some other interesting source that I found.

Phew, I'm still breathless...














Here it is!















LOST (Looks like Jack wants the iPhone too :P)















Google Maps.















YouTube.















Sessski, ain't it?















..and that's me, outside the store :)

26 comments:

poloolop said...

Thousands of such stories are making rounds in Media, blogs ... everywhere.

Bottomline - Would you buy one? The answer is (for me at least) No. A big NO.

--
US

sid said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sid said...

dude .. did u mean procRastinator in ur description =)!

stan_da_man said...

@us: Yeah, I probably would have, even though it would mean taking a risk on getting a phone that is somewhat like a 1.0 ver of a brand new invention :) I guess I still would have...

@sid: duh..yup, thats what I meant, good eye mate! :P

Anonymous said...

simply awesome man. and it costs just as much as as an ipod! but of course this is only 4/8 GB..
you know, i actually feel like getting one although the phone part would be useless here.. but just to own that beautiful thing!
why don't you get one and show off when you come back :P

stan_da_man said...

@juan: Yeaaaaaaaah, i knowww :) me feelin like it too... :) gosh! probably a few of us can put in d cash n keep it at agora in MT for public view! lol..yeah, n probably make some money that way too :P

poloolop said...

The phone's a brick without an AT&T activated SIM = $60 minimum per month + if you bring it in India -roaming charges extra.

If you get it activated and then remove the sim, it goes back to brick mode.

HOWEVER, someone posted this Craiglist entry today morning - Apple iPhone in Mumbai for 45000

I am sure someone Indian Millionaire would have bought it by now. However there are no credible stories of any working unlocked iPhone. They are still on some sites @ $899 upwards. Dunno whether they would work.

I still use a $51 phone ~ 10 times cheaper than iPhone. It has 10 times less features also but my Laptop has 100 times many features than iPhone. So don't bother tanking $500 + AT&T connection OR $899 for unproven unlocked iPhone. Stick to your lappy's.

--
US

poloolop said...

One funny incident posted on Engadget. One person immediately dropped the iPhone on ground after taking it out. The glass cracked. He took it back and they REPLACED it for free!!
Guess they felt sorry for the person. Besides it worked as positive PR!

--
US

stan_da_man said...

@US: Hey hey, one doubt. What if I buy the phone, activate it via iTunes, bring it back to India, and then throw away the SIM and use my hutch one? Shouldn't it work? The iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone and it supports 900Mhz and 1800Mhz (for aitel/hutch). So why not?? The question is - who is brave enough to take the risk?? :)

stan_da_man said...

@US: Alright, speaking about unlocking, check these out:

1. News article -->
link

2. Some mailing list for people who want to unlock their phones -->
http://unlockuriphone.blogspot.com/

3. From a blogpost entry: (don't know validity) -->

Procedure:

1.) Obtain 2 iPhones
2.) Plug in iPhone #1 In iTunes select “I am a new AT&T Wireless Customer” and “Activate 2 or more phones on an individual or FamilyTalk Plan.”
3.) Follow the steps for the FamilyTalk plan and enter “Cell Number X” to port a number over from another provider (e.g. Sprint)
4.) When the you receive the “Activation Complete” e-mail, plug in iPhone #2.
5.) Select the option “I am an existing AT&T (Cingular) wireless customer” and “Replace a phone on my account with this iPhone”
6.) Fill in the information re-using “Cell Number X.” Allow the iPhone #2 to activate using this number. This number will be legit.
7.) Plug in iPhone #2, it will unlock the phone for use, but without a cell phone number assigned or account from AT&T.


What do you think?

stan_da_man said...

@everyone:

LOL..this is soo funny, check out this forum!!!

link

poloolop said...

First, Forbes used your title with a question mark - "iLove iPhone?"

On unlocked iPhone.

Very briefly - The actual cost of parts is $220 to $259 (by iSuppli). PLUS the device is loaded with DRM.

Also EVEN if you get it unlocked and work with your iTunes ONCE. The moment there's a firmware upgrade OR iTunes upgrade to 7.4 etc. you are screwed. Apple would also be looking at all the hacks. All they need to do is a single update to firmware or iTunes and your phone will become a brick again.

Why risk. Let it come in India. Buy a legit Indian Airtel version @ 28,000 odd.

The main issue with iPhone is that it is really not a phone. It is a computer with 1GB of DDR RAM, 620MHz processor, 3.5" screen. And like all computers the best of its functionality is SOFTWARE. By unlocking it you are jeopardizing your ability to do updates and voiding your warranty (i.e. if it slips and breaks!).

Not recommended at all. I am dead sure that it will turn into a brick OR your one time hack will prevent you from updating legit firmware
and updating iTunes.

Apple's got the perfect strategy in PostPC devices and its iTunes-iDevices lock. That is what is turning the industry into crazy and scathing off the competition to dust.

--
US

Unknown said...

Did you get one yourself? Lucky you.

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