Behold the upgraded iPhone, even before June 29 release

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by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Tuesday, 19 June 2007

Page 1 of 2 ! If you wanted the iPhone to be upgraded before you bought one, Steve Jobs has managed this feat too, opting for a glass screen and extending talk time to 8 hours (from 5), and specifying battery life for web access, standby time, audio playback and video. Related stories Why Pod when you can Plum? More evidence against iPhone 'bad antenna' theory Whoops! iPhone passcode bypass a cinch Psystar Wars: Attack of the Clones iPhone Dev Team releases working PwnageTool 2.0.3.1 to jailbreak iPhone 2.0.2 Only Steve Jobs can tweak features of a product pre-release and garner worldwide attention and publicity for doing so, but when it comes to the iPhone, the only surprise left is if it flops. The iPhone now sports what Apple is calling a ‘durable glass top surface’, upgrading what was previously set to be a plastic screen to one now featuring optical-quality glass, which Apple says is “to achieve a superior level of scratch resistance and optical clarity”. Actually, I thought the iPhone would already either have this kind of tough, scratch resistant glass, or some kind of magic plastic that could also withstand scratching, and ultimately, anything thinking this was right: Apple is thankfully choosing what sounds like the best possible screen surface, especially so for a device that IS all screen. Naturally, Apple’s claims are yet to be tested in real-world use by consumers, notorious for being able to drop or scratch virtually any portable device, but with the iPhone’s launch a mere 10 days away, the world doesn’t have long to wait before finding out just how hardy the iPhone really is. Another massive concern the iPhone has labored under since Steve Jobs’ announcement at Macworld has been the issue of battery life. Given that Apple has had problems with battery life in the past, and given that the iPhone is an all-in-one multimedia device that can seamlessly offer a multitude of digital experiences, just how long you could expect an iPhone battery to last is an important consideration for many people. When Jobs announced that the iPhone would only offer 5 hours of battery life, some immediately dismissed this as too short a lifespan, which would likely be weakened further by use of the iPhone as an audio or video iPod. But to Jobs’ and Apple’s credit, the iPhone’s battery life has been upgraded, although as with all manufacturer’s battery life claims, we will, once again, have to see what consumers report when they actually buy them. Apple says that the iPhone has ‘up-to’ 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback, with the usual caveat that this can vary depending on network conditions and digital media file sizes. So, what about standby time, how long will the battery last when the features are heavily used, and what mistake did Apple make in comparing the iPhone to the Nokia N95? Please read onto page 2 for the conclusion now! << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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