´óÏó´«Ã½

"Pity it's not so good at making phone calls."

Seriously? Have you actually made a call on the phone or are you just following the rest of the journalistic flock?

I've made a call from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4, and the quality is exceptional. I get reception where before it would drop, and full wi-fi reception compared to barely reachable.

I'm getting a little annoyed at all the press coverage basically syaing it's not capable of being a phone or doing anything. Had mine since launch. Not an issue. Of the approximately 1-2 million they've likely shifted on day 1 alone, I'm guessing only a handful genuinely have the coverage issue and the others only if forced in particular conditions (not to mention the fact ALL phones have the same issue if you cover up the antenna).

What happened to being impartial? Blog about iMovie summed up with the quote above about something completely different. Well done.

have had the phone since launch have tried replicating this antenna issue many times but can't. I have got a cover for it now but that's purely to protect it not because of any problems. I'm no Apple worshipper either who will put up with anything just because it's made by them, just happen to think the phones are great - feel sorry for those having issues though and if mr jobs did say that it's well out of step considering how much people will have paid out for the goods - holding it a certain way would certainly not placte me for the money spent - i'm sure me and Daniel Hudson can't be alone in all this!

According to the results of a poll on MacRumors, over half of iPhone4 users are experiencing reception issues.

@1: just because you've had no problems doesn't mean he hasn't, and vice-versa. The problems with the new iPhone are widely documented and the fact that Apple has been forced to give official advice confirms just how widespread the problems are. If a phone can lose reception based on how you're holding it, that's a big problem, no matter how you hold it. Especially since some videos have shown the iPhone dropping calls simply by stroking your finger along the side of it.

You've also got impartiality wrong. Impartiality is not that he's not allowed to suggest an alternative, it's that he's not allowed to favour that alternative. Mentioning that there is an alternative at least means that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not meant to be - the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has been accused of partiality in the past by overly hyping Apple products whilst letting other equivalents slip past unnoticed.

Oh, and just so you know, it was only 600k on the first day, and 77% of those were returning customers.

Surely though dan hudson you want the quality to be great all the time and not just to another iPhone4? Recently I've been starting to get annoyed with the coverage of my blackberry and was thinking of changing to the iPhone when I can upgrade but until this is fixed I'm not so sure.

Sadly I discover not only does the signal drop if the iPhone 4 is held at the bottom left corner but the network connection fails whilst the phone is in my pocket. Yet to learn if that is a network issue (I doubt it - the orininal iPhone and iPhone 3G worked perfectly) or firmware/software/hardware issue. In any event, a phone that will not hold the network if it is in my pocket is of little use to me. I may return it to the network and seek reinstatement of my old iPhone 3G and sim.

When you said it comes with 5 megapixels and Flash, my heart skipped a beat. Has Jobs done a "u-turn"? Well no, I guess you meant it has "a flash" rather than Flash. For that, check out the Android phones.....

There is a lot better video results on a lot of other phones. Looking at the quality of that movie my old Sony Ericsson K770i would make a better picture than that. That came out a few years ago....needless to say it actually made phone-calls too1 ;)

Looking at that interface, I just remembered why I got an Android phone too...:)

Is there something odd about the aspect ratio - black bars appeared at the side of the video for some shots (eg, when you were filming yourself walking along), while they disappeared for others. Is that a difference between the front and rear cameras?

Your article makes it sound like iMovie is included with the iPhone but it isn't. To be fair, it's only an extra £3.

A quick answer to comment 8: I really don't think we can complain about the quality of the video pictures. Perhaps it has been compressed a bit futher before appearing on this blog, but and you will see that it's pretty impressive. The picture quality, that is: not the camerawork. Readers are of course free to point to me to examples of their superior-quality mobile-phone video.

I believe you actually have to buy iMovie for iPhone 4.
I could be wrong as I'm not an iPhone user(and never will be, so long as Android exists) but I'm pretty sure it's a $5 application.

It's not just the hardware that's a problem. Another (not quite as well documented) problem is with iTunes itself. I've found that iTunes just doesn't load on my (legitimate) copy of Windows 7 and considering how software dependant the iPhail is on iTunes, it just won't work for me. My housemate had the exact same issue and he couldn't upload photos onto his for about 6-8 weeks. This involved removing iTunes completely and reinstalling it several times and doing a factory reset.

Overall, Apple have gone quite bad recently. It's turned into a very selfish company.

On another note, the Dell Streak is very nice but impractical as a phone. You look like a midget with a brick. XD

"What happened to being impartial?" (quote from Daniel Hudson above.

I would say that Rory is definitely being impartial. If this story had been in a national newspaper, they would probably have absolutely hated it or completely loved it (depending on whether Apple was giving any kickbacks or other incentives). Just look at the general election. The Sun was shouting at everyone who reads its paper "Vote for Conservatives or perish in flame!" Now why would they do that if there wasn't something in it for them? Whereas the ´óÏó´«Ã½ were listing all 3 main partys good and bad points and allowing us to choose. That's impartiality.

Rory isn't saying that he loved or hated the phone (but he did say he liked it), what is evident is that he's miffed that the placement of the antenna is not so good as it's easy to cover it up with your hand. But Steve Jobs advising people on how to hold their iPhone isn't helpful. If I buy a wireless mouse for my computer, I expect it to work out of the box no matter which way I hold it. If the wireless antenna in the mouse is in the wrong place (perhaps where your palm normally rests at the back), it's obviously going to cause problems for some people, and that's a design fault.

As the product is an iPhone, then the phone part of it (actually talking to someone) should be excellent. If the antenna isn't ideally placed in order to make room for other things, then perhaps iPhone is forgetting its roots. iPhone should be a phone with extras, not extras with a phone. Rory also touched on the fact that to have video to video calls with someone, you need to find someone else with an iPhone who's connected to the same network and wants to do a video call too. Not so easy. He also mentioned that competitors products (running Android) are cheaper.

Apples dominance has been troubling me for some time. A lot of people criticise Microsoft but Apple have got total control over all their products and they dictate what people can do with them. This is fine while people agree with Apple, but it's not good for consumers when they don't agree. What happens if you want to write an app without using Apples own development tools? What happens if you want to watch Flash video? Can you imagine Microsoft imposing such locking controls on their products? No, but Apple get away with it as they're seen as an alternative, a choice, but it's just moving from one monopoly to another one in a different market. People need to stop seeing Apple as the be all and end all of everything. It's clear from Apples history that they want total control over everything they sell, from the network provider you use to the apps you install to the media that you watch.

Google are the same with their dominance, and so are Adobe with their Flash product (a format which should have been standardised into open-source HTML long ago). All companies are the same, what's important is that we don't judge a company based on the fact we like a particular product. Keep them working for us, don't inspire them to creating locked-in systems powered by market dominance. That's the message I got from the video. The iPhone is good... but not that good.

Excellent video though, Rory. I found the home-made shooting a refreshing change. Let's have more of it! You and Spencer Kelly are the best things to watch on the Internet! Much more interesting than watching Steve Jobs showcase yet another way for him to make money at one of his promotional shows.

I'm afraid the reporting is as normal just a rewrite of stuff gathered elsewhere and rumours. It is a long time since the ´óÏó´«Ã½ or any of its staff actually spent any time or effort checking the facts behind their typing, or even better spent any effort doing a proper investigative report.
My suspicion is that the reception problems are more likely to be down to the crap networks we have had foisted on us. My phone is a little ancient, but I know it works well. However, I can put the phone on a totally stationary untouched, uninterfered with surface and watch the signal come and go as the 3G network adjusts its coverage shape and density as different people make calls. Now adays in the UK coverage on some networks is so patchy as to make it virtually useless more than 6' from a mast. Certainly hands free in a car is worthless now as the signal is more often missing than present on a journey.
I personally don't rate the iPhone, but I would like to see journalists investigate reported problems, perhaps even use the device for real for a couple of weeks before spouting forth nonsense.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Apple like alot of American companies rush out unfinished rubbish onto the market, as early marketshare is more important than getting things working. They can plaster over the cracks of poor product quality, lousy manufacturing by spending big on marketing budgets.

Clueless consumers of course fall hook line and sinker for this, and are more than happy to buy into the hype. The iphone is not a phone, it never had been, it's a fashion statement, however what many fail to grasp, is that every other 14yr chav now has one. iPhone is the new burberry.

Phone cuts out when you hold it slightly wrong?
I do not care how many funky gadgets it has it is still a huge pile of iFail that should not have got into production with that flaw. Cue iFanBoys....

How to hold your Nokia (or HTC, or Samsung or any other phone on this planet).

I have tried but still just don't get it, why ar epeople fauning over the iphone?

It doesn't do anything new and it's not especially outstanding in what it does do. I saw it featured on Something for the Weekend, highlighting it's ability to do video calls and 'movie' editing. Now, admittedly their tech reviews seem to come from girls who got the job because they were visually inoffensive - hardcore tech journalists they aren't, but I have been able to make video calls (decent quality ones too) for some years using various other brands and the Sony Ericsson I now use has an 8.4 megapixel camera and takes far better images and allows you to edit film.

As for accessing the internet and using 'applications', there are few smart phones that don't do this. And best of all most indeed probably all allow you to make a call.

As far as I can see all apple does is put an averge package into a shiny sleek container. And then people who really should know better faun over it.

I see my space button is playing up again.

@Blackivar

In short, Marketing sells, Technology does not.

You can have the best technology in the world, but that alone won't sell it to dumb consumers, conversely, you can have crappy technology but a very large marketing budget, and clueless consumers will kill each other to buy one, be it a Wii or an iPhone.

No mention of the iPhone's only three genuine USPs:
1. The App store is the biggest - by far. Android might catch up in a year or so.
2. The screen resolution is the best on the market right now. The number of pixels per inch on the "retina" screen make for a very good visual experience.
3. Styling and design - iPhone is still streets ahead here - but this will always be a personal thing.

But that's it. Other top-end smart phones all have other USPs of their own, be it fast processors, better cameras, biggers screens, Adobe Flash support, (much) lower cost or more memory expansion possibilities.

My current phone is up for renewal on Friday - and I've done all the research, held all the phones, and considered what's right for me. The results were surprising: I'm going for the Samsung Galaxy S. The HTC Desire was next, then the iPhone 4, then the Sony X10 - although if the Sony had a more up-to-date version of Android, and a better user interface, it could easily have won my personal selection. It was all a close run thing.

All in all, the phones are getting much better all the time, and the wealth of competition is good for the consumer. All we need now is for the carriers to catch up and be able to deliver vast amounts of affordable bandwidth.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Does the iPhone 4 give me anything I need that my 30-month-old HTC TyTN II doesn't? Nope.

Will I change my old phone? Nope.

How do I save enough money to do all sorts of other fun stuff? Among other things, by not buying a new expensive phone for all the toys I'll hardly ever use and locking into expensive contracts every 18 months.

SIM only 30-day contracts are your friend.

The best part? 2.32 where you hear the theme for ITV's World Cup coverage. Rory, you traitor!

I just tried using my phone holding it in many different ways and there is no reception problem at all....that is how I know my phone is better than the iPhone. ;)

Also with many free movie applications and the amazing 10.1 flash! *smug grin* :P

That was an extremely poor review. Incorrect facts flying all over the place! Gripping the phone too _hard_? Er, I think you'll find (if you do about 25 seconds of research), that the issue is caused by shorting out the antenna through contact with the skin.

Thanks Rory, despite being an iPhone 3GS owner, good to see a review without all the hype that usually accompanies Apple launches. My main question is whether I should upgrade, and since I am not obsessed with having the "latest thing" I'm not sure I will get much benefit, especially being left handed! Keep up the balanced reviews, Technology is full of those following fashion as opposed to facts ("Apple good - Microsoft Bad!") and it's important to understand the realities!

To those saying there is no antenna problem with the iphone 4.0 - do you really think Steve Jobs would say "don't hold it that way" if it were complete nonsense? Wake up and smell the coffee!

I'm not sure what's going on here. I THOUGHT I was browsing the ´óÏó´«Ã½ News site but somehow I have stumbled across a rather poor video which has escaped from YouTube featuring a normally very engaging reporter hinting at a headline-grabbing flaw reported by some iPhone4 users without any meaningful analysis of the problem, the same reporter walking his dog, a cheap gag about the HTC Desire not being susceptible to an incorrect grip, the dog again being asked to choose a phone, and almost no mention at all of iMovie, the headline of the whole blog. This is like Rory took a day off, forgot he was a journalist, made an amateur video and then accidentally posted it on his ´óÏó´«Ã½ blog. Oh, and what's with the completely random shots of fishing boats in Asia and a page from a book crowbarred rather than edited into this?

According to the results of a poll on MacRumors, over half of iPhone4 users are experiencing reception issues.

That'll be a self-selecting sample with no statistical validity, then...

Am I missing something?

I've just read a blog talking about how good the iPhone is at editing movies using iMovie. The resulting movie is on the webpage for all to see, except...

...if you have an iPhone!

Why is the movie that you've created with the iPhone displayed on this page in a format that the iPhone can't see???

I'm afraid I really do wonder whether comments should be disabled entirely on Rory's blogs. There seems to be so little that isn't either people saying "Apple are rubbish" and others saying "Apple are given far too hard a time".

Honestly - I don't really see what we gain from these people.

31. Phil
There has been much analysis of the problem, and a Danish researcher hinted that there might be a problem even before the iPhone was released, suggesting that there could be reception issues when holding the band. These articles can be found elsewhere on the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

This is nothing whatsoever to do with news.

It should be in a journal that covers mobile phones, such as 'Stuff', comparing the different video capture of different mobile phones (yes, it's not only Apple products that can do this).

Can the ´óÏó´«Ã½ please stop just reprinting PR handouts from Apple?

Does the iphone do anything my DMX Hybrid III Klingon doesn't do? No, so I'll stick with my pocket repellant brick thank you very much, because my technology purchasing criteria are infinitely superior to yours you fashionista!

Can't you trumpets go and discuss the benefits of your 'vastly superior' phones amongst yourselves? Nobody's interested in hearing your Apple bashing rants. Who is it your so angry with? People like me for buying an iPhone? Get a life and beat it.

If you don't like the iPhone 4 don't buy it. No single device can meet every consumers requirements and yes their will be other devices that do things better (but also somethings worse). Every single consumer product can be made better.

I can't understand why people love to hate another product so much. I personally cannot get on with Android, but i don't write about it and doesnt mean its a bad platform, I just don't buy Android devices.

Picked up my iPhone 4 on Friday, and try as i might, i simply cannot get it to lose signal, no matter how i hold it... think i might take it back to Apple as being faulty.

I dont get all the extreme hate for Apple, or any company, different people have different needs/likes for products. I love my iPhone 4, its sleek, easy to use, very fast compared to my 3G, it does all i need. im sure other phones do too, but i have chosen this. This weekend i watched my cousins 3 yr old pick up my cousins iphone 3GS and know how to access the games he wanted to play. thats what apple do well, simplify the design... It's a shame this fault is affecting handsets, and Apple havent responded in the best way. but that aside i think its a cracking phone, and I am really pleased with it...

@Mark #38

"If you don't like the iPhone 4 don't buy it. No single device can meet every consumers requirements"

I quite agree. So the iPhone can't be used as a phone....big deal. If you're one of those fussy consumers with a minority requirement that your phone is able to make calls then there are plenty of other options for you to choose from so get off Apple's back!


:)

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Have you actually witnessed these reception issues in practice, Rory? In my experience, I can only recreate the signal drop by, as you say, gripping tightly around the bottom left of the handset, and in day-to-day use such a vice-like grip is surely never employed. Nonetheless, this problem should not be ignored and Jobs' dismissive attitude does not reflect well upon the company as a whole.

To echo some of the other comments above, perhaps you should have done some actual research and focussed on the phone itself, rather than an optional £3 app. The new cameras are great, but they are by no means the most significant update to the iPhone. In your 'review', there is no mention whatsoever of the incredible new screen, which is the highest resolution ever used in a mobile device, the new A4 chip that brings the processing power of the iPad to its smaller cousin, or even a single reference to the overhauled industrial design.

How you managed to become the technology correspondent for the ´óÏó´«Ã½ really confuses me. Stop rehashing the sensational stories that you find while skim reading other tech sites and do some real journalism.

All I would say is this:

1. Im glad im right handed
2. This article has brought both the Iphone haters and fanboys out of the woodwork.

I am in the process of looking to upgrade, and am not wholy convinced that iphone 4 from a 3gs is that worthwhile. There was nothing wow that they released , even the screen is er orite...

I am huge fan of the app store and that has sold the iphone to me in the past, but i think Apple are overstepping the mark with their pricing and to simply dismiss their problem with "dont hold it that way" is simply astonishing. oh and suggesting to buy a 30 quid bumper.

However what you cant deny is their marketing poweress, this was evident in a mile long queue appearing everyday for the last few days outseide Apple.

I would describe myself as an apple fanboy , but at the same time fully aware of a rip off..the IPAD being one..but please whatever phone you prefer is each to their own. Now lets see what else is on the market HTC desire maybe? any suggestions?

@aidy - why make stupid comments? when I dial number, someone answers and I have a conversation, i class that as being a phone call! 1.7 million iPhone users (and rising) are making calls daily! Smile, enjoy the sun and share the love!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

It is frustrating for industrial designers the world over to keep hearing how Apple products are the pinnacle of good design. Many of their products have schoolboy errors, many others are deliberately crippled by Apple for commercial purposes.

Good design is the combination of looks AND FUNCTION.

Does the iPhone4 look nice? I would say yes. Does it function? You would have to say partially. So does it deserve to be considered world class design? No.

I have the 32GB iPhone 4, and have no problems at all? but the ´óÏó´«Ã½ can be a little anti Apple, so reviews like this don't surprise me!

I agree with Daniel Hudson! well said!

Looking at the 'real' live video here ie..not controlled situation in a well lit studio etc.. my opinion of the video thus far is perhaps a little disappointed..it looks wobbly and fragile, with the video appearing choppy (at 1.35) ..can we not have a bit of image stabilization here? Contrast is fine and i think the overall quality is also good..audio is also top-notch but..i donno..i have the feeling it could have been a bit better..i may appear nit-picking but this is a expensive gadget top-of-the-line object that i would imagine would want to be used for a few years at least...so in that context i can imagine the camera will appear dated quite soon based on this video example...but maybe my opinion is based on my respect for apple creating great things...setting the bar very high..the camera prob beats most of the opposition

I get better reception with my iPhone 4 than any other phone i have had, i dont know what way i am not supposed to hold but either i dont hold it that way or is a load of overhyped nonsense and people trying to pull it apart.

I too have an iPhone 4 and have experienced no problems with it at all. It's true that I can replicate a very slow reduction in signal strength, but only if I grip it tightly in such a way that's it becomes impractical. For normal operation the phone is fine.

Rather than dwelling on what seems to be a problem for some (which I'm sure Apple will rectify), what about the advantages? This phone has the best display and the fastest processing I've seen, along with some great new features. Also, Apple's patented touch-screen makes any other look clunky by comparison. I've seen another video on the Macworld site that was shot and edited on the iPhone 4: sorry, Rory - it beats yours hands-down and looks better too!

Apple-haters are always keen to point out what their Android phones do better, but if I thought its products were lacking in any way, I wouldn't buy them. (No, I don't miss Flash at all. If web developers are serious about maximising visitors on all platforms, they should embrace HTML5. Otherwise it's their loss, not mine.)

It was a big step for me to ditch Windows for my first Mac, but the design and ease of use just blew me away. Call me an Apple fanboy if you want, but I know what I like.

Whether the reception issue is real or not, the one thing I am fairly confident of is that based on Apple's track record, they'll fix it. I had a G5 tower some years ago that suffered from what I personally considered to be excessive fan noise. Some others with the same model felt similarly (primarily those working in studio environments). Apple sourced a new quieter fan, designed a new enclosure, printed up step-by-step instructions-for-idiots on how to replace the old fan with the new, and couriered the whole thing to anyone, worldwide, who had this issue, free of charge.

Yes, perhaps the fan shouldn't have been noisy in the first place. Yes, clearly this aerial issue should have been spotted. But one of the things Apple do very well is customer loyalty: they'll fix it.

Here's my review of the iPhone:

It would take me two years to save up the money to buy one.

And even then I wouldn't be able to afford the contract.

Careful Rory.

Quality journalism is under threat. Just do a bit of research, before posting.

Otherwise you may soon become as irrelevant as Blatter.

I have to agree with some of the points above from DanielHudson. I have had my iPhone 4 since launch - absolutely no problems at all. its an amazing phone. Likewise the same journalist (I believe) gave a review I believe of iPad on Breakfast news and gave a very biased view of its usability and the cost of books etc. Referred to books costing about £16.00, not sure how useful it would be etc.. Nowhere was it mentioned that there are about 40 or so books that are free in iTunes, or that there are a lot of books costing much less than this. All the classics are there for free for example. Also you can download a sample of a book, first few chapters to see if you like the book before buying it. I would like to see that done in Waterstones or somewhere similar - "do you mind if I borrow this book for an hour or so to see if I like it before I buy it?"

Fed up with all the biased criticism of Apple lately.

Finally also the comment about the factory where Apple products are made and the suicides. Nowhere is it also mentioned that this is the same factory that produces goods for Dell, HP, Motorola, Nokia etc. Only Apple is referred to. If this is not biased then I give up.

This comment has been referred for further consideration. Explain.

@judethat #54

> I would like to see that done in Waterstones or somewhere
> similar - "do you mind if I borrow this book for an hour or
> so to see if I like it before I buy it?"

Yes, thank you Apple! For years I've been lamenting the fact that there is nowhere I can go to borrow books! Why has no-one thought of this idea before? Why when I was a struggling student I would have given my right arm for some form of institution that allowed me to borrow books rather than buy them. There should be a real-life equivalent for this technological wonder. I would call it...."The Library".

Aidy - I was obviously talking about buying books.

The lack of detail, the sensationalist statements and the production values that would shame a schoolchild let alone a ´óÏó´«Ã½ journalist I can live with, but to dismiss a device that allows high quality video and audio to be captured, edited and posted to the web as "a bit silly, cant really see a real world use for it" I find amazing.

This device will surely enhance the news-gathering capabilities in areas where this would have been previously difficult or even impossible, and as the price comes down we will see this in more and more peoples hands.
btw if you want to see the kind of visual quality that can be achieved with the 5mp/720p camera then see ‘Apple of My Eye’ , a bit sentimental for sure but think of how far we have come. It is game over for the world of dedicated compact point and shoot cameras unless they can think of a way of making it worthwhile carrying another device (which i doubt)

@judethat #57 - Aidy has clearly never read a book otherwise he might have a bit more intelligence and read what people are saying before making ridiculous throw away comments that have no foundation.

@47
´óÏó´«Ã½ Anti Apple? You have GOT to be kidding me. Every time i turn on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ someone is surgically attached to an iOS device. Be it Jonathan Ross on Friday night or Jake Humphrey with that flaming iPad (which he NEVER looks at on screen). I think we all know Rorys loyalties..

iMovie. Nice, but nothing new. Nokias had movie editing ages ago. The quality is ok, but nothing special and the biggest fail of the iPhone (apart from the faulty antenna design) is the tiny 3.5 inch screen, that's made even worse by the wrong aspect ratio. Nothing is made in 1.5:1 therefore anything you watch is letterboxed and gets even smaller!

@Mark

Why, with your ad hominem remarks you are really spoiling us.

The OP stated that iWhatever was good because you could try books before you buy and Waterstones **or somewhere similar** could not match. Well the "somewhere similar" is called "the library" and it certainly does match. In fact it more than matches as you can borrow the whole book, not just the first few chapters.

My comments were entirely with merit and I stand by them. My level of ridicule simply reflected the prejudice of the opinion that the iPhone is the be-all-end-all and the refusal to look past its limited functionality to something as simple and common place as the library.

@Aidy. How are you ridiculing my view or opinion? I have an opinion, you have yours. I too stand by my view. End of story.

@judethat #62

You implied there was nowhere that you could borrow a book before you made a decision to buy it. That is not really an opinion, it is an incorrect fact.

@aidy I take it you dont have and wont be buying an iPhone then.

Have you had to resort to filming from a mobile phone yourself due to budget cuts at the ´óÏó´«Ã½?

The 'anti-apple' comments are very frustrating. Apple believe in quality (anyone who has switched to macbook pro from a normal laptop would know this) and innovation (a laptop out of one block of alum? Any number of smartphone ideas? Devices that seamlessly sync together at home and...just...work?) and do what they think is right and make lots of money. Whats wrong with that? You don't like their products don't buy them no-ones forcing you! They mess up sometimes (antenna) but what company doesn't?!

Microsoft have a monopoly on OS and buy competition instead of challenging it (what OS do you get when you buy a laptop?). That's why I don't like them. Apple is surrounded with competition and still comes out on top by moving quickly and intelligently. Like their products or not, they should be congratulated for injecting some energy, quality and spark into the markets which can only help us customers.

Easy solution... buy it or don't buy it. And if you do buy it and it doesn't perform, take it back for a refund. Easy!

Grow up and stop bleating. It really makes pathetic reading.

Please shut up about Apple for one whole week. Just one.

@ Aidy - I am a big fan of sarcasm, so I appreciate your posts but they do have a whiff of Apple-hating about them.

James Rigby (post 23?) gives the best reasons as to why people might plump for an iPhone. We all know other phones have caught up with GPS / Compass / touchscreen / accelerometers etc etc.

To entertain your idea of the library being competition for iBooks, you can't really compare the two. Yes a library lets you have the whole book for free for a period of time, but my nearest library is not in my pocket.

Compare having a peek at a book on a whim WHEREVER you are, to taking the time (couple of hours?), hassle and expense of going to your nearest library in the hope that they have the title you want (unlikely in my case) and that all their copies are not already rented out.

You could be already on holiday and want to buy / preview a book. Pretty cool to have it in the palm of your hand seconds after thinking about it.

Disclaimer: other books applications could already be available on other devices

How I would choose to read a book in order of preference, assuming the item before is not available;

1) Buy the book and read it whenever
2) Rent the book from a library
3) Take a typewriter to the monkey enclosure at the zoo and wait for them to reproduce the book
4) Read it on a digital device the size of my palm

I can't believe how much hate there is for this new iPhone.

I am one of the users who has not experienced the antenna problem. I work in Birmingham town centre so always get good signal with o2, I just ran a little test sitting at my desk, while the phone was in it's case the signal was going from 4 - 5 bars, I took the phone out of the case and held it tightly (with my left hand) where the antennas meet. The phone dropped down to 1 - 2 bars within around 10 seconds but then within less that another 10 seconds the phone had gone back up to 5 bars of signal and stayed there for a further 60 seconds whilst I held the phone tightly.

I think I can also vouch for most people that purchase the new iPhone are also going to purchase a case anyway, like myself. Although I would urge people to stay away from the full body Gear4 cases that the o2 shop are selling as you get terrible bubble marks in between the screen and phone that i've only just managed to get rid of after a week by spraying both the case and screen with lcd screen cleaner (the case should come out of the box like this and not stick to the iphone screen and cause these horrible bubbles!)

Having upgraded from my Nokia 5800 XM on thursday 24th I can honestly say the iPhone feels like more than just a step up from my Nokia.

Web pages load at least 10 times faster and the safari browser on the phone works incredibly well even with multiple pages open. I had my 5800 for nearly 18 months not one app i downloaded from the ovi store was any good, not to mention if I downloaded an app I would have to restart the ovi store before I could get another or I would get an error, I haven't felt disappointed with 1 app i've downloaded from the apple app store so far(I've downloaded 30+).

Also I have had the phone for a week now so have recieved and sent calls in different places and the call has not dropped once.

I am not an apple fanboy, the only apple products i've ever purchased from apple are a 20gig iPod (think its 4th gen the 1 before the colour screen ones it has a blue backlight) and now my new iPhone. I've only ever had Nokia's or Sony Erricson phones in the past and this is the best phone i've had by far. I don't think I need to mention the screen just looking at it makes me weak at the knees lol!

Excels as a phone, excels at everything else. (except flash haha!)

Ray. The problem is IF Apple did do everything as well as it and its fans claimed we wouldn't have a leg to stand on, but the simple fact is, they dont.

Sure the Alloy macbooks are nicely made, but they arent unique in that, or the first, and they cost a HUGE amount more than a similar spec Windows based average laptop. A macbook with an average $500 windows laptop spec costs as much as a windows laptop with 50% bigger screen, 100% more RAM and hard drive space, a gaming GPU and Blu-ray. Its not even funny. Of course Windows lappys can also be as well made, and still usually cost less, and have all the advantages windows gives, such as freedom and application compatibility.

Apple fans start from the standpoint that Apple are the best and first with everything, and any criticism must therefore be wrong by default. Thats simply not true, and a sure sign of fanboyism. Apple is rarely first technologically, its just first to introduce its extremely loud fans to a feature, and they only listen to Jobs.

See the results - errr no because we NEED Flash !!!!!!!!

Wow, some of you are really getting worked up over this. Surely this is just a consumer choice along the lines of; 'do I want this toaster or that toaster?'. That it generates such debate is, quite frankly, a credit to Apple. If you want an iP4 buy one, if it doesn't work then take it back... Simples... Tsk

PS Having tried Nokia, Apple, HTC and Blackberry top-end smartphones I can honestly say the strength of th iPhone is with the software IMHO.

Hi Chrism,

I cant comment on what all apple fans state apple products give you. I just know what I've seen on my apple products. As a user of windows laptops for years and switching to a macbook pro I can see the difference. I don't know another laptop made of one block of alumimum but thats trivial.

And you've missed the point about the laptop comparison. The difference is quality. I didnt mention price. Yes they are more money. But after years of having to renew my non-apple laptops every year, of windows constantly crashing, taking ages to load, overheating etc I absolutely love my macbook pro. Its crashed precisely twice in 8 months. The battery lasts so much longer, its so quiet you cant hear it. The comparisons are endless. Cost is a personal choice and a commercial issue not engineering or quality.

I choose to spend £900 on the macbook pro rather than £500 every year on a poor, plasticky laptop with windows. And I cannot for the life think that any 'advantage' windows gives overides the horrendous performance of everything post-w95. It took me 4hrs to install and use a wireless printer with windows. Using my mac, one button press found it, installed it (without any drivers from me) and printed. At that point I knew I'd never go back to windows.

I dont know if apple are first with everything. They probably aren't. But their laptops and phones are far superior to anything else I've used. I like things to work. So I use apple.

I am worried about the Iphone4, do I trade it back within 30 days? Apart from the signal strength issues, which are important, I consider the speaker at the bottom to be worse than the 3G, less tone and volume, just play some music and try it yourself. And the top ear speaker is not as loud or as clear. I know this as I am a little hard of hearing and struggle more now with the 4. Anyone else have hearing issues with the 4?

The single biggest advantage of the Iphone over everything else on the market is the APP store. It blows any other technology out of the water without batting an eyelid. The Iphone itself appeals to the masses because it is so so simple to use. Using Itunes is an absolute doddle and downloading music/videos/books couldnt be easier. Now look at what Nokia do....their offering is WOEFUL in comparison. All that said ,the iphone4 HD video camera facility is reason to upgrade on its own. The easy way to transfer video files is really appealing and the quality of the video is fantastic. I was about to buy a hd video camera but now dont need to....made up and £500 still in my pocket! Not sure what everybody is banging on about re phone reception...mine works a treat.