The iPhone 4 = rubbish.

 

• expensive
• fragile (I saw a friend break it after just slipping hands...)
• not much difference from iPhone 3Gs...

Not only that, but you also get video calling too! ...and don't forget the 2 cameras like Karen just briefly explained. Very important for those who have relatives from other countries.

...and hey there's a Joji on dotTech? That's surprisingly... there's a Joji in a few of my classes who referred to me here. :/ But I never had much time to post on Dot.Tech during school days; I just read the articles.

• expensive
• fragile (I saw a friend break it after just slipping hands...)
• not much difference from iPhone 3Gs...

I would say that I personally have not experience any reception issues but I didn't have any problems with my iPhone 3G either. My personal opinion is that it may be a real problem for some small minority of people. But mostly just an overblown media hype thing. There are, after all, many reports of people getting better reception (and not dropping calls) in places that they used to drop calls with their 3G or 3GS. The ability to cover the lower left with your fingers and get the bars to drop is just a parlor trick. Maintaining calls is the important factor not whether you have 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 bars.

The display, however, is not hype. It is truly beautiful. I never had any complaints about the display on my 3G, but put the two next to each other and there's a world of difference. It really does look like you're seeing a printed page rather than a computer screen.

It is also very fast. I've done tests with my 3G and 4 loading webpages and the 3G takes seconds longer. I understand that the speed difference with the 3GS is not as great but that the 4 is still about 20% faster than the 3GS.

The multi-tasking (or just fast-app switching, if you prefer) works well for apps that have been updated to use it. I can listen to Pandora in the background, put a navigation app in the background, read an article on the NY Times, jump out to Safari and return right to my place on the NY Times while still listening to music and getting voice directions from the navigation app. Way cool!

It also takes beautiful photos. It may only have a 5MP camera compared to the 8MP in some of the Android phones, but the photos it takes are very clear and detailed even in somewhat low light. The camera is very responsive and there doesn't seem to be any shutter lag. I haven't really used the front camera much other than to take a quick self portrait to test it. The video camera seems to be as good as any of the Flip (or Flip knockoff) video cameras. I haven't gotten a chance to use FaceTime yet because I don't know anyone yet that I can call.

All in all, I'm very happy with it. Even though I waited about 6 hours in line for it (and this was the pre-order line). People in line for Apple products are always very friendly. I saw all generations of people in line-people with their young children to people old enough to be my grandmother. Near me was a mother and her teenage son who were both getting new iPhones; he had a previous iPhone, but she was switching from a Blackberry. And the store people brought out snacks and drinks from time to time. The wait was actually kind of fun (luckily it was inside the mall because it was brutally hot outside). Most people seemed to have another iDevice of some sort-iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc-but I did see a few with Kindles and one person reading an "actual" newspaper.

OOOOOOhhhh... that explains everything. Though this is very stupid. If they knew that "specific part" of the iPhone was more fragile than the other areas, why not they made the iPhone more "bulkier" in size to cover it up? I mean, what's the point of a sleek iPhone if it breaks easily? I prefer durability over size... sorta.

 

~Joji~

I am in love with the new iPhone.  Although I can't get it.  So instead I'm getting the new iPod Touch that they release every August... only 2 months left until I can see if they actually do!

~Joji~

Ya, but aren't they not enough to absorb the shock when dropped or something? I'm guessing the "bumpers" are only for style and anti-scratch...

They also fix the reception issue by keeping your hand off the sensor.

Actually, I've heard they do work--the reason the glass is shattering is because it's being hit in a very particular area, and these cases cover that area.

~Joji~

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC597ZM/A

• add armor onto it such as...
• protective thick silicon shock-absorbant skin
• nerf armor (if they even have it)
• screen protector
• anti-scratch screen protector
• wristband

I do the same with every electronics I have at home, except for laptops, screen protectors only.

Though, you got to say. Nerf armor kinda sucks... well, it's bulky, and it could tore apart little by little... I dunno.

~Joji~

Oops, I spoke too soon.  This one seems to be even more fragile than the other ones, because the glass, although it may be hard enough to be scratch resistant, has such high internal tension that if it hits the right thing, it will just shatter.  Yup.  Just like that.  Take a look at the pictures of broken 4's on Gizmodo - these things do not just subtly crack in one straight line like the screens were prone to on the older ones - this will get a fantastic spiderweb covering the entire back.

Once again apple manages to dissappoint even more than usual.

What do you guys think?