iPhone 2.0 Thoughts

So it’s been about a week since the newest iPhone was announced and I’ve had time to think about the good and bad now. In previous posts, I’ve mentioned possibly getting an iPhone in place of my T-Mobile Dash. Well I decided a couple of weeks ago to get a Blackberry Curve and I love it. And now, looking back, I’m glad that was the decision that I made.

When I first heard about the iPhone possibly being $299 for a 16gb model, I thought that this might just work. But then reading up on the fact that you had to sign up with AT&T for 2 years made this not that attractive for me.

I really love the idea of the GPS included in the newest version. I like it more that the addition of the 3G network. To me, if the 3G is only 2 times faster, it’s not worth the extra hassle. But I am very interested in the GPS.

I also think that the quality of apps will greatly increase due to the iPhone SDK that’s been out for a while now. I’m also a fan of the Application Store. Gives the developers a chance to see some return on countless hours spent developing apps. It also gives them a wide user base to potentially sell their apps to. I think Apple did well with this.

But the one stopping point for me is the fact that you have to get the iPhone activated in an AT&T store, thus removing any reason to jailbreak it. That is unless you don’t mind sending AT&T a check every month for services you might not use if you switch to a different network. That makes it really hard for people like me who might be locked into contracts with other carriers.

Overall, I really like the changes made to the new iPhone 2.0 but I think that the lock downs make it more unattractive to me as before. What do you think?

Is Jailbreaking an iPhone a Good Idea?

I’ve written a couple of times about iPhones and my desire to have one. I’ve actually been doing a lot of research about them lately as I would like to replace my Dash with one. Thing is, I am currently with T-Mobile and I really don’t want to have to make a switch to AT&T right now. What I would like to do get an iPhone and then jailbreak it and hook it up with my T-Mobile sim card.

I have no worries about jailbreaking the iPhone as I’ve done it with my iPod Touch several times. What I want to know is how it works afterwards. I’ve seen a dozen videos that all end with someone calling their newly jailbroken iPhone. That’s all good and nice but how does it hold up? Is it as easy to send and receive text messages? Does voicemail work as it should? I just want to make sure that if I do jailbreak an iPhone that it works for me like it should. I haven’t really seen anything about those things out there. If there is something, please let me know. I’m definitely interesting to getting one after Apple releases the second generation iPhone in June.

So if you have jailbroken an iPhone or know someone who has, let me know how the experience is. I appreciate any comments.

iPhone Regardless of Carrier

That’s a nice title. Imagine if you could get an iPhone regardless of what carrier you have. Now I know that not all phones are available to all carriers but not all phones have the popularity of the iPhone. Personally I would love to have one and have considered it in the past if you keep up with my blog. At the time, I decided to instead get the iPod Touch and keep my T-Mobile Dash.

I’m now re-thinking that decision. I know that with T-Mobile, I’d have to jailbreak any iPhone but that isn’t an issue with me. I’ve jailbroken my iPod Touch and feel pretty comfortable doing that with the iPhone. But I have T-Mobile and it’s relatively easy for me. What about the people out there who have Verizon, Sprint, Alltel, etc? What do they do?

There are two sides to this discussion. On one side you have the demand from all the consumers like myself. But on the other hand, you have Apple not wanting to over-saturate the market in iPhones. I do think it would be a good idea for Apple to allow the iPhone to be used under more carriers than just AT&T. If T-Mobile had the iPhone, I’d buy it today. People are locked into contracts with other carriers and that makes it difficult to make the switch. Had Apple opened up the iPhones when they were released, I think they would have made more sales. Now people are waiting out their contracts to go with AT&T but their existing providers are giving deals to keep people from buying iPhones.

But what if Apple decided to open up the iPhones? Do you think that everyone would have one with its high pricetag? I don’t know but I do think that more people would have them. Motorola’s RAZR crashed the party a few years ago and I saw a lot of RAZR’s on the streets and in the hands of friends. I don’t think that hurt Motorola but I do think that they were the beneficiaries of the latest gadget and rode the wave as long as they could. Now Apple is on that wave and doesn’t appear to be giving it up anytime soon.

Just like Apple did with the iPod to MP3 players, I feel that the iPhone can do the the cell phone market. I guess that only time will tell but I will say that I am waiting until mid-June for the 3G iPhones to come out and then I’ll seriously think about getting one to replace my Dash.

What do you think?