Summary of the Verizon iPhone Announcement

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Biggest news is that the Verizon iPhone 4 will double as a WiFi hotspot allowing for 5 devices to connect and use up the 3G CDMA data.  Other than that, normal pricing coming in at $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB all coming out on February 10th.  Let the madness begin!

Oh yeah, by the way, if you are already a Verizon Wireless customer, you can pre-order on February 3rd.  No signs of the white iPhone but apparently it will have VZ Navigator and VCast pre-installed.

Another “V” Day for History

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Did you take a vacation right after New Year’s and miss out on all the CES news?   If you did, don't worry about it.  However, the biggest news to break out from Las Vegas was nothing that was introduced at the world famous convention but instead trumped its very existence.  More specifically, on Friday afternoon, privileged members of the tech press core, minus one naughty iPhone 4 prototype buying blog, received invitations for a special event in New York with Verizon serving as their host.   A matter of fact, Verizon even held their usual unveiling of products at their CES Press event but completely stayed away from the words iPhone or Apple saving it for a separate day. Insiders privy to this announcement have already drawn conclusions that it will mark the day that Verizon will introduce their version of Apple’s fourth generation iPhone.  Over the last few days, other tidbits have risen about the event.  From data plans said to be remaining “unlimited” at $29.99 a per device combating AT&T recent introduction of tiered data plans and further speculation of what models and whether or not Steve Jobs will show up are floating all over the internet.

Causing various controversy, ranging from Gizmodo’s ban from future Apple press events to the now famous Antennagate scandal, this device is marked to be a breath of fresh air for the iPhone 4.  Not only with the placement of the external antenna but most importantly the capability to take advantage of a network that has yet to experience the deluge of iPhone users and their hormongering data habits.

Questions range from mobile voice and data pricing plans, to Early Termination Fee costs, will the new iPhone have LTE capabilities or come equipped with the standard 3G CDMA technology, will it be capable of simultaneous voice and data and is there something special accompanying the set date of January 11, 2011?  I mean, we've also already read around that the iPhone 4 won't be for sale until the end of the month, so why now?

We’ll all know for sure in less than 12 hours so stay tuned for a summary of today’s exciting event right here on adellelijah.com.

Thoughts on Apple's Impromptu Press Conference re: iPhone 4 FAILtenna / Antennagate

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People are forgetting that next Tuesday is going to be HUGE!  Why do you think that Apple decided to have a press conference the week before this event?  Since the ongoing issue and media coverage of the iPhone 4's FAILtenna Antennagate, class action lawsuits have been filed, Consumer Reports has gone back and forth in recommending the device and even a Senator had time to write a letter to Steve Jobs addressing the issue (antenne-gate). Free cases for everyone!!! Not just Apple's Bumper but any case that you want from from a list of approved partners. (updated from Mr. Steve G's comment for a more accurate quote....Thanks Steve!) Apply on Apple's Website starting next week.  What are your reactions to how Apple has addressed this issue?    Is that going to quench everyone's thirst?

Here's the video that Steve Jobs and Apple played at the beginning of their press conference. Awesome!!!

The Question: To Buy or Not To Buy, the iPhone 4 - Part 1: Hardware

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Here's the article about my internal debate with trying to buy into the Apple's new iPhone 4.  Elijah has been pestering me for a while to start writing for his site; I guess persistence is the key, because here I am writing my first article. Readers: please be gentle with me, it's my first time.

I have a few hesitations with just going to the store and demanding the new iPhone 4, ignoring the fact that I wouldn't be able to do that with the inventory shortages.  So here we go with Part 1: Hardware.

#1: Hardware

I've read enough articles on Gizmodo, Engadget and various other Tech Blogs to know that that the guts of the new iPhone are better than the 3Gs, but I'm still not impressed by it.

-Camera -

Lets start with the 5.0 mega-pixel camera. I know that I should be excited about this, but it feels like we're adding something to the iPhone that probably should of be replaced by some better devices features. When I think of the all the additional mega-pixels that I can add to my sub-par photography skills, it seems like a waste because these pictures will be posted to  Facebook in all its glorious 530x660 maximum resolution. See, with Facebook albums, you are only looking at that small picture. At that resolution, I can't tell the difference if the picture was taken with a 5.0 Mega-pixel iPhone 4 or a 3.0 Mega-pixel 3Gs. Moving away from Facebook, what would I do with those high resolution pictures? Nothing. When I get an urge to look back at pictures of all the fun times I've had, I look at the pictures online to never print them out on a photo printer or edit it in Photoshop. Again, what would I need all those mega-pixels for?

I'm a normal every day user. It seems to me that an internal projector or an actual zoom lenses should of been added to it. Think of the implications of having a projector available to you. Imagine that you are in a meeting and you have a PowerPoint that you want to show the return on investments for your project. Awesome, you just made your company a ton of money using your iPhone. Getting back to the camera, if you have a physical zoom lenses then those pictures would make more sense to me. I hate trying to pinch-zoom for a software zoom on your picture. It seems like cheating and not a good idea in the long run.

-Antenna-

There are a lot of articles and videos documenting the iPhone 4 FAILtenna.  Documenting my frustrations with this would be like shooting fish in a barrel, therefore, I'm not going to get into details about it.  I like the idea of integrating the antenna into the chassis of the device thus adding more space to implement more tech particularly the larger battery.  I just don't get how it made it through QA without someone noticing the "Death Grip feature."  Maybe that's exactly what it is, an undocumented feature.  This could be a new game that was installed with the phone so you don't have to purchase anything though the iTunes Apps Store.  Just knowing that this is still a known issue that's probably software related, creates doubt in my mind about buying a new iPhone.  In the videos that I've seen, that's exactly how I normally grip my phone if I'm looking up something on the go. So this brings me to my next subject, chassis because the workaround for the FAILtenna is put a rubber band around your iPhone so you don't complete the circuit between the WiFi and Cell antennas.

-Chassis-

I like the look of the new iPhone 4, but I'm pretty rough on my phones so an all glass enclosure scares me.  I normally carry my phone in my back pocket because I've grown out of wanting to clip my phone to my belt like it was a Peace Maker and I'm about to get into a gunfight at the O.K. Coral.  I know that I could buy a case to protect it, but isn't that deterring from all the time the designers and engineers spent on developing such a nice looking chassis?  That would be like saying the Venus de Milo is a great piece of art, but since it's no longer structurally sound, we're going to spray it with a layer of rubber around it so that it doesn't further deteriorate.  It's just cheating.  I'll admit, I have a case for my 3GS so, I'm not stranger to cases but that's to cover a metal backing that get scratched up, not a "unbreakable" glass backing.

Bottom line, I still have hesitations about the Apple's new iPhone 4.  I probably will buy one, eventually, but these are some of the things that I think about.  Sorry about the random string of thoughts but it's my first blog.  More to come so stay tuned and keep reading adellelijah!

Hello adellelijah and Hello apple

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Greetings readers! This is my first post on adellelijah so I thought that I would kick it off with the fact that Apple is going to address their "FAILtenna" this Friday, June 16th, at 10:00am Pacific Time.

I can't say that I know what they will have to say but I'm leaning towards the fact that iOS 4.1 is addressing the over exaggeration of reception bars and maybe...just maybe...FREE BUMPERS FOR EVERYONE!!!  Since this is my first post and the news isn't really anything more than just an announcement, I'll leave it at that.  Stay tuned for my ongoing internal debate with trying to buy into Apple's new iPhone 4.

Pre-Ordering the iPhone 4 = BIG ONLINE APPLE STORE FAIL

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Waking up to a phone call from my fiance in San Diego while I was sound asleep in a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, she informed me that her friend had successfully pre-ordered the newest Apple iPhone; the iPhone 4. I got out of bed admittedly a little excited but fretting the next few minutes (what would turn out to be hours) anticipating the horror and onslaught that the process would be. I was right to suspect that many others would be trying to do the same and lock in an iPhone but now, not only do I despise Apple more so but AT&T as well including this "pre-ordering" process. To make my story short, three hours later, I successfully added an iPhone 4 to my cart, then went back to add another one for the 2nd line on my account. Of course, I was told, when ready to check out, that my shopping cart had too many iPhones! I only had two freaking iPhones! Why didn't you tell me two hours ago that I could only order one?! So basically, after all that, I was no where. Two hours later, I get back to my cart, removed one of the iPhones, placed the order and was forced to repeat the same excruciating experience!

Refresh after refresh, checking eligibility after eligibility, processing on AT&T's servers inundated with multiple failures, I'm going to say that this experience was the biggest failure in online pre-ordering history. If you're going to make an annoucement that pre-orders will begin on the 15th of June, then man **** up and expand your services in anticipation! I better not see some stupid Press Release announcing that they servers were over loaded and they did not anticipate the overwhelming response. That's just going to be another crappy PR Stunt.

Condensed time line:

6:00AM - get up and start trying to pre-order the Apple iPhone 4 (excitement)

6:01AM - the store is down (excited still)

6:20AM - I've been refreshing the screen on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox noticing that Google's Chrome is giving me faster results.

6:30AM - I see that I'm able to actually click the shiny blue pre-order button.

7:30AM - frustrated after multiple attempts to proceed to the next step, I lay back down

7:42AM - I get up again and start the process over

7:50AM - trying to get AT&T the verify that I qualify for the "discounted" price by inputting my phone number, billing zip code and social security number then hit continue.

7:51AM - I think I'm there....but the process fails while authenticating on AT&T side.

7:52AM - I have to start the stupid process again.

8:30AM - I'm pissed!!!

8:45AM - the last freaking thing I want to see a website display is "Oops?!" WTH

8:51AM - You tell me that I can't have it shipping and I have to pick it up!? Do not pass go and try again.

9:15AM - I was successful in pre-ordering 1 iPhone 4 but still have 1 to go

9:50AM - I decide to write this post and vent my frustration! And, no I still have not been able to get pass the processing part.

Throughout this whole time, I'm seeing the Apple Online Store go up then down then up again while noticing that the store address is changing / continually evolving.

First from: http://store.apple.com/us/go/iphone4 then: https://buyiphone.apple.com Good for apple but just a little too late!

Final Thoughts: Standing in line at the Apple store isn't nearly as frustrating but actually fun!?