And now, the tail end of our coverage of Friday’s iPhone launch at the Mall of America.
July 2007: Monthly Archive
Apparently the iPhone is pretty well built. PC World decided to do a scratch test and a ear-height drop test which resulted in only minor cosmetic damage. I hate to give away the ending before you have a chance to see it, but the only physical damage was minor scuffs to the screen housing. [via specimen38]
Charlie Ross interviews Walt Mossberg about the iPhone in his first segment. He then has Stephen Levy (of Newsweek, previously) and John Heilemann (of New York Magazine, previously) in a round table with Levy in the believer corner and Heilemann in the doubter corner. [via aprasad]
Before delving further into my initial impressions, I wanted to go back to the topic of iPhone’s display that I hadn’t yet covered – brightness and color. The screen is absolutely the brightest and richest color LCD I have ever seen on a mobile device. In fact my initial reaction upon powering up the device for the first time was that Apple obviously preconfigured these units with screen brightness to maximum strength by default. One of my first actions was to go to the settings screen and turn it down. Imagine my shock when I discovered that brightness level was in fact set at just 50%. Moving the slider to its maximum setting creates a retina popping brightness that could double for a Maglite. So bright in fact that it’s actually painful to look at. Needless to say I don’t recommend doing this. You’ll have no problem finding your keys in the dark with this thing. Read the rest of this entry »
A reader sent me the following comment. I have no way of testing this myself, so take it for what it’s worth. If anyone else can verify this process please contact me, or post a comment here immediately.
I accidently figured out how to unlock an iPhone for use without charge from AT&T, but with full support of the phones features including WiFi, but no AT&T service. 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. Disclaimer: I found this by sheer stupidity, as I plugged in the wrong phone during the activation processI accidently figured out how to unlock an iPhone for use without charge from AT&T, but with full support of the phones features including WiFi, but no AT&T service.
Does the iPhone live up to the hyperbole? Is the device really as cool as it looks? Even more important – is it a practical device to use or just an expensive, but impressive, luxury gadget? I can’t fully answer the philosophical aspects until I’ve used the iPhone for a longer period of time. Two weeks is my usual period for test modeling a product before passing final judgment. But in this case I will share my initial impressions and experiences. Some good, some not so good. Read the rest of this entry »
