New 3.1 OS released, voice cmd on BT and more

[viewfly]

iPhone OS 3.1 also includes these features and updates. Free update via iTunes. Probably prep for Sept 25 MMS also. This included ATT carrier version 5.0

Can download ringtones wirelessly, 30,000 available from iTunes store, $1.29 each
Organize appls position from iTunes
Genius for applications choice.
Genius mix for iPhone library
Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos1
iTunes U content organization1
Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store
Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
Option to "Save as new clip" when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode via MobileMe
Use Voice Control on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
Paste phone numbers into the keypad
Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/

[Kalimotxo]

They also added 'the feature' that removes my tethering

Grrr! Perhaps EnableTethering.com - Home will come out with an update.

[Scrumhalf]

I'm not touching this one. 3.1 has nothing for me. Moreover, I love my JB/UL...

[viewfly]

I take the opposite approach on these things. I'm always the first to grab an update. I like having the latest (unless it is from microsoft), and figuring that besides the major advertised changes or fixes, there are lots of little ones that make the system (iPhone) run smoother.

I have no reason to jailbreak, and would not like to be hesitant to do so, because of the double work to upgrade and the re-jailbreak again.

But that is only my opinion and i respect peoples reasons for JBing. Unlocking is the only reason I can see, but when I travel it is just easier to keep my ATT sim inside than hunt around for a local one. But that is also because I don't pay for my phone calls while on business.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I find it interesting that Apple can come out with an update, with lots of "new" features, that users of just about every other smart phone/PDA phone have had for years.

Nothanks Apple, I'll stick with Windows Mobile.

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by viewfly

I have no reason to jailbreak, and would not like to be hesitant to do so, because of the double work to upgrade and the re-jailbreak again.

The overseas travel was one of the main reasons why I JB/UL'ed my 3GS. But now I am hooked - i don't think I can do without SBSettings. Backgrounder is pretty cool as well. Winterboard is nice although not absolutely critical.

[viewfly]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

I find it interesting that Apple can come out with an update, with lots of "new" features, that users of just about every other smart phone/PDA phone have had for years.

Nothanks Apple, I'll stick with Windows Mobile.

Let's be realistic. The iphone is relatively new to the market, and certainly new for Apple to be in the phone market. The iPhone missed some features, but is catching up, but, on the other hand, the iPhone has and brought out some features that other smartphone companies just do not have, and some still do not have! For example, the highly touted Palm Pre, does not record video and therefore can not send MMS video. Many smartphones do not even have the full frequency set to be a world phone.

In that regard, the Apple phone came to market with many novel and useful features very right out the gate.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Every phone I've ever had with a camera has been able to record & send video, and every mobile phone I've ever had (with the exception of my two TDMA phones) were quadband world capable. I was out with my sister's family a few weeks ago, and she asked her husband to take a pic with her phone. He asked how to zoom, and she said "I think there's an app for that". You need an app to do something that every other phone on the planet with a camera does right out of the box?

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by viewfly

The iphone is relatively new to the market....iPhone has and brought out some features that other smartphone companies just do not have, and some still do not have! For example, the highly touted Palm Pre, does not record video and therefore can not send MMS video. Many smartphones do not even have the full frequency set to be a world phone.

In that regard, the Apple phone came to market with many novel and useful features very right out the gate.

lol viewfly, the iPhone is new to the market & is still catching up after 2 years & the Pre with a brand new OS, should have had video within 5 months of it's launch?

In reality no phone is a world phone if you take 3G into account. If you are only talking quad band GSM & triband (850/1900/2100)UMTS, then just about every SmartPhone does qualify.

I have nothing against Apple, but I agree with Jay in that everything that the iPhone gets to enable it to catch up, gets designated as the most innovative thing to happen to the wireless world ever.

Like I mentioned before I can't wait for the commercials announcing the latest & greatest innovation happening only to the iPhone, called MMS.
Palm850/v0100 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11)

[hf1khal]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

lol viewfly, the iPhone is new to the market & is still catching up after 2 years & the Pre with a brand new OS, should have had video within 5 months of it's launch?

In reality no phone is a world phone if you take 3G into account. If you are only talking quad band GSM & triband (850/1900/2100)UMTS, then just about every SmartPhone does qualify.

I have nothing against Apple, but I agree with Jay in that everything that the iPhone gets to enable it to catch up, gets designated as the most innovative thing to happen to the wireless world ever.

Like I mentioned before I can't wait for the commercials announcing the latest & greatest innovation happening only to the iPhone, called MMS.
Palm850/v0100 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11)

LOL. Well I think Apple is taking the BB route. BB came out with one thing at a time but I think Apple went a step ahead in features. One thing one needs to keep in mind the iphone is a type of phone that one has to think what the person needs it for. Well it does meet my requirements and by the way the Tilt had a big issue with the voice dialing and after trying the iphone voice dial, I have to say it is the most advanced of all. Right now I am staying at 3.0.1 as mine is JB and unlocked, need to keep that for my next 5 month trip and for sure will be using it instead of bagging it, LOL. I am not going to go into device bashing over here (as many know I have them too)

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by hf1khal

LOL. Well I think Apple is taking the BB route. BB came out with one thing at a time but I think Apple went a step ahead in features. One thing one needs to keep in mind the iphone is a type of phone that one has to think what the person needs it for. Well it does meet my requirements and by way the Tilt had a big issue with the voice dialing and after trying the iphone voice dial, I have to say it is the most advanced of all. Right now I am staying at 3.0.1 as mine is JB and unlocked, need to keep that for my next 5 month trip and for sure will be using it instead of bagging it, LOL. I am not going to go into device bashing over here (as many know I have them too)

Lol, there you go talking like an Iphonie, so between the Tilt and the Iphone, the iPhone is better with voice dialing and that makes it the "most advanced of all"? .

I am not bashing the IPhones or the IPhonies, heck some of my best friends on and off the forums, are IPhonies. However, what does irritate me is that every little update that Apple makes to basically have the iPhone "catch Up" to mundane features that have existed in just about all SmartPhones, is always touted as if it is new and wonderful and did not exist before the iPhone.

I am intrigued by what you said here: " One thing one needs to keep in mind the iphone is a type of phone that one has to think what the person needs it for". So tell me, what other than iTunes, does one need the iPhone for that is not available in other comparable SmartPhones?

[hf1khal]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Lol, there you go talking like an Iphonie, so between the Tilt and the Iphone, the iPhone is better with voice dialing and that makes it the "most advanced of all"? .

I am not bashing the IPhones or the IPhonies, heck some of my best friends on and off the forums, are IPhonies. However, what does irritate me is that every little update that Apple makes to basically have the iPhone "catch Up" to mundane features that have existed in just about all SmartPhones, is always touted as if it is new and wonderful and did not exist before the iPhone.

I am intrigued by what you said here: " One thing one needs to keep in mind the iphone is a type of phone that one has to think what the person needs it for". So tell me, what other than iTunes, does one need the iPhone for that is not available in other comparable SmartPhones?

Lets put ti this way, iTunes is one thing (which I need) of the many needs. To me it did put it above the Tilt and Fuze and the BB. I agree Apple did take their time in doing updates to features and I was always dumb founded as to why they did that. But in my opinion, this is a marketing ploy by Apple which I do not agree with. Voice dialing should have been there from the beginning, MMS, Video recording as for zooming well some has it and some don't . I said I can go on and on and that covers all types of devices and this does not exclude the iphone from the list of falling short.

The iphone basically came out and started a new trend which now others are catching up with Apple and in a year or so we will have an even playing field and I am sure that the iphone might not be on top of my list. I want to add, during my trips, I usually also get tester models of other manufacturers and I report back their problems (one unit that I had 3 months before release was the Nokia N97, the 5800 express music and a few other models) So please do not think that I only use the iphone. Lets put it this way, if the iphone was this bad, all the major manufacturers will not be trying so hard to come up with devices to compete with it and the list is getting larger and larger.

For WM I am waiting big time for WM7 and hopefully MS will get it right this time. As for the upgrade, the only feature thatI needing 3.1 is Voice dialing over BT and I have to hold on on this until the unlock is proven to work with 3.1 release.

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by hf1khal

Lets put ti this way, iTunes is one thing (which I need) of the many needs. To me it did put it above the Tilt and Fuze and the BB. I agree Apple did take their time in doing updates to features and I was always dumb founded as to why they did that. But in my opinion, this is a marketing ploy by Apple which I do not agree with. Voice dialing should have been there from the beginning, MMS, Video recording as for zooming well some has it and some don't . I said I can go on and on and that covers all types of devices and this does not exclude the iphone from the list of falling short.

The iphone basically came out and started a new trend which now others are catching up with Apple and in a year or so we will have an even playing field and I am sure that the iphone might not be on top of my list. I want to add, during my trips, I usually also get tester models of other manufacturers and I report back their problems (one unit that I had 3 months before release was the Nokia N97, the 5800 express music and a few other models) So please do not think that I only use the iphone. Lets put it this way, if the iphone was this bad, all the major manufacturers will not be trying so hard to come up with devices to compete with it and the list is getting larger and larger.
For WM I am waiting big time for WM7 and hopefully MS will get it right this time. As for the upgrade, the only feature thatI needing 3.1 is Voice dialing over BT and I have to hold on on this until the unlock is proven to work with 3.1 release.

Thanks, your vast background, experience, and impartial judgement on different OS is why I asked you the question.

Just to clarify, I have never thought the the iPhone was "bad" in anyway, as you said every device has it's shortcomings, so let's acknowledge them and move on and not make every shortcoming into a marketing ploy.

I hope we agree, if not let's atleast agree to disagree.

[dmapr]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

I am intrigued by what you said here: " One thing one needs to keep in mind the iphone is a type of phone that one has to think what the person needs it for". So tell me, what other than iTunes, does one need the iPhone for that is not available in other comparable SmartPhones?

One other thing that hf1khal did not mention is the app value. It is not so much the iPhone function itself as it is the result of it's popularity and the fierce competition in the App store. The result is that some of the apps that were initially available for Palm OS and WinMo platforms have been ported to iPhone but cost a lot less than their counterparts. Not being a SmartPhonie I can't give an exhaustive list, but here's one example: HIARCS Chess. Palm OS: $39.99, Pocket PC: $39.99, iPhone: $9.99.

[hf1khal]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G S 32 GB: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A400 Safari/528.16)

Originally Posted by dmapr

One other thing that hf1khal did not mention is the app value. It is not so much the iPhone function itself as it is the result of it's popularity and the fierce competition in the App store. The result is that some of the apps that were initially available for Palm OS and WinMo platforms have been ported to iPhone but cost a lot less than their counterparts. Not being a SmartPhonie I can't give an exhaustive list, but here's one example: HIARCS Chess. Palm OS: $39.99, Pocket PC: $39.99, iPhone: $9.99.

I had to cut my reply short due to an emergency. You are correct on the apps. I have over 50 apps on the iPhone and I can say that only 5 are paid for and the rest are free. Everything that I need is there and much less costly. There are pluses and there are minuses to everything LOL

[hf1khal]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Thanks, your vast background, experience, and impartial judgement on different OS is why I asked you the question.

Just to clarify, I have never thought the the iPhone was "bad" in anyway, as you said every device has it's shortcomings, so let's acknowledge them and move on and not make every shortcoming into a marketing ploy.

I hope we agree, if not let's atleast agree to disagree.

Agreed and thank you for the complement. I always hate to knock other devices especially since each person has a preference and one can only state his/her own opinion. I always try to show the pros and cons of each and have the person make up his/her mind. I would not want to take the responsibility for guiding some one based on my perception of what is is best for him/her.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I can only imagine if Apple made cars...

The new iCar! Introducing a revolutionary automatic transmission! No more shifting gears!

[AJE]

I have just recently switched to an iPhone and here is my two cents...

I have to agree with Jay. I have used many different phones over the years (windows the past 4-5) and there are several things that the iPhone should have had out of the gate much less2 or 3 software updates later.

Ahh, but I also have to agree with View as the iphone has made browsing the internet on a mobile device functional. This is the first phone I have not gotten frustrated while browsing the internet. My previous phone the HTC Touch Pro was a huge improvement to any other Windows phone but the iPhone definately is better. The voice dial is probably the best I have used as well. MS voice command was great, but I would have issues while walking outside with wind blowing. So far the iPhone has worked everytime accurately even with wind. I wouldn't say it blows away MS voice command but just a bit better.

So in summary the iPhone definately has not lived up to the hype (in my opinion) but is a good smart phone. I am not regretting switching to it as it has many cool features.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Not just 2 or 3 software updates... 3 models (iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3Gs) and 3 updates on the most recent model!

[hf1khal]

Not for anything,it seems many of the smart phones went in a rout that lagged behind the industry. I am not defending Apple in Any way, but to be honest a lot of missing features were maid via the jailbreak and as we all know many of these things were also done via the WM hacking. Lets go with this example, to get MS voice dial on the Tilt one had to do hacking to the registry to get it running (if one gets it right it tends to fail here and there). One needs to only look at XDA and see the amount of hacking done to the OS to get features together. As many know, we did that too with standard phones like the Moto V6xx and many other series and that kept on going to the V9 series. So what we all need to keep in mind is that not one device is 100% there and there will always be a short fall one way or the other. Google Android is still progressing too and it also misses a lot, the same with Plam's web OS. Let us all not loose sight because of one's personal preference. Another aspect that we need to keep in mind, us owners of the Tilt will now be left in the dark side when it comes for the real 6.5 software upgrade and we have to depend on XDA to get part of the latest and greatest. At least RIM (blackberry) and Apple are 2 companies that are making upgrades to prior devices (yes some are limited and will not get all the features but we all expect that to keep interest in having more sales and upgrades with new hardware). I had blackberry phones for several years (and still do with the Bold)and the transformation by RIM was way a lot slower than Apple has done in 2 years. Like I said before, I can go on for ever but I will leave it at that for now.

[hf1khal]

Originally Posted by viewfly

iPhone OS 3.1 also includes these features and updates. Free update via iTunes. Probably prep for Sept 25 MMS also. This included ATT carrier version 5.0

Can download ringtones wirelessly, 30,000 available from iTunes store, $1.29 each
Organize appls position from iTunes
Genius for applications choice.
Genius mix for iPhone library
Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos1
iTunes U content organization1
Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store
Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
Option to "Save as new clip" when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on
Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode via MobileMe
Use Voice Control on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets
Paste phone numbers into the keypad
Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

Apple - iPhone - New features in the iPhone 3.1 Software Update.

By the way, to get anti fishing to work one needs to open safari, be connected to WIFI, turn the screen off, put it on the charger and then Safari will start to download the anti fishing files. Tis will be needed to be done every once in a while to update the list.

[Scrumhalf]

I am a recent iPhone owner and I also got a Mac as a home computer for the first time after having PCs for many years. My observation is Apple products may have a reputation for innovation but in fact, there is very little that either the iPhone or the Mac does that is groundbreaking or revolutionary. However, if Apple is good at one thing, it is product design. I am admittedly a smartphone novice but both the iPhone and Mac are impeccably designed. The user experience is just so smooth and intuitive one tends to forget that most of the so-called "innovations" are things that already exist on other phones or on PCs, just implemented in perhaps a more clunky or non-user friendly fashion.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I don't know about intuitive. Last time I used a mac, I could not get the CD out of the drive. To me intuitive is putting an eject button on the drive, not putting it in a menu.

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

The user experience is just so smooth and intuitive one tends to forget that most of the so-called "innovations" are things that already exist on other phones or on PCs, just implemented in perhaps a more clunky or non-user friendly fashion.

Good point Scrumhalf. The defination of *intuitive* is ofcourse not the same for everyone. Without a doubt the zoom function on the iPhone is the most intuitive ever.

Having used Palm OS, Symbian, BB, and WM; I have come to the conclusion that the *Today Screen* on WM is absolutely indispensable to me.

Starting from the capability of dialing a number w/o having to go into my contacts, to the weather, messaging, E-Mail, Tasks, Calendar, Google Search, all available right there just a glance away.

Then there is the convenience of accessing user defined function with one button or FNC + one button. In my case Ggogle Maps, Camere, File Explorer, MemMaid, contacts, Dictionary, Notes, Solitaire, Internet.

Like they say "To each his/her own"

Palm850/v0100 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11)

[viewfly]

Originally Posted by hf1khal

By the way, to get anti fishing to work one needs to open safari, be connected to WIFI, turn the screen off, put it on the charger and then Safari will start to download the anti fishing files. Tis will be needed to be done every once in a while to update the list.

Thanks hf1khal. I didn't pick up on that tibit (and apparently, not many others).

-VF

[viewfly]

Well.

I never would have imagined that a somewhat benign posting about a x.1 firmware upgrade in the Apple iPhone Users forum would have generated so many posts from non-iphone users and turn into a mac vs pc type of discussion on top of that.

LOL, I think you guys read way too much into the post and Apple's upgrade.

P.S. Jay, a world phone today must be more than quad band. It really needs the 3G 2100Mhz band to do voice in Japan, a country with the world's second largest economy. Charlyee, when I was looking at phones in mid 2008, very few ATT usable phones had quad, US 3G bands and 2100Mhz all together. Nokia still does not. But yes, it seems today that there are many more available. And yes, I think that Palm, that has been making phones for a very long time, would be more together than Apple, out of the gate. And yes, many phones in the past year + are looking like iPhones. "Imitation is the highest form of flattery" meaning that doing something the way someone else does it is actually a compliment to them.

[hf1khal]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Good point Scrumhalf. The defination of *intuitive* is ofcourse not the same for everyone. Without a doubt the zoom function on the iPhone is the most intuitive ever.

Having used Palm OS, Symbian, BB, and WM; I have come to the conclusion that the *Today Screen* on WM is absolutely indispensable to me.

Starting from the capability of dialing a number w/o having to go into my contacts, to the weather, messaging, E-Mail, Tasks, Calendar, Google Search, all available right there just a glance away.

Then there is the convenience of accessing user defined function with one button or FNC + one button. In my case Ggogle Maps, Camere, File Explorer, MemMaid, contacts, Dictionary, Notes, Solitaire, Internet.

Like they say "To each his/her own"

Palm850/v0100 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11)

Can you elaborate a bit on what is marked in red? I don't think I am sure as to what you mean

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by viewfly

........................ And yes, many phones in the past year + are looking like iPhones. "Imitation is the highest form of flattery" meaning that doing something the way someone else does it is actually a compliment to them.

LOL viewfly, that is one of my favorite sayings. Yes, the iPhones are being imitated because they sell, no different from the RAZR, which started a trend that everyone copied.

I am not doubting the popularity of the iPhone, no one can, that was not the topic of discussion on this thread..The point being discussed was why does Apple always claim "innovation" when the functions exists on just about every othere device. Some very good points were brought up, one being the intuitiveness of the Apple UI.

Here is an excerpt from Phonescoop's review of the iPhone 3GS that summarizes well just about everything that was discussed on this thread.

"Feature-for-feature, the iPhone 3GS now matches most other smartphones that it competes against -- and in some ways surpasses them. Each platform has its own advantages, but the iPhone has seamless syncing with iTunes, an easy-to-use interface, a killer browser, and amazing potential with the Apps Store".

Originally Posted by hf1khal

Can you elaborate a bit on what is marked in red? I don't think I am sure as to what you mean

I will give it a try. This maybe more of a Treo thing as opposed to a WM thing.

As you can see from the first picture, other than the SEND & END buttons there are 4 other buttons, located above the keyboard. These are factory set for START, CALENDAR, OK, and MESSAGING. These are user changeable but I kept them the same. There is also one button on the left side that is factory set to push & hold to the CAMERA. This button can easily be hacked to PUSH & HOLD & PUSH for two functions. All of these are user settable by the SETTINGS Menu.

The FNC is the white button that you see on the bottom of the first row, I believe I used the wrong nomenclature, Palm calls it OPT.

So here are my button assignments:

1. Side Button Push - Google Maps with GPS
2. Side Button Push & Hold - Screen Shot
3. OPT + Send - File Explorer
4. OPT + Start - MemMaid
5. OPT + Calendar - Notes
6. OPT +Ok - Solitaire
7. OPT + Messaging - Dictionary.

I attached a couple of SS of my Settings Menu, hope that will help.

Please let me know if this makes sense.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Hf1hkal - What she's doing is no different than when you showed me how to remap the PTT button on my TIlt...

[hf1khal]

Hmm So how much diferent is that from just touch the icon and you are in the application