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samsung-vibrant

We knew it was coming on the 21st of July, but a fresh press release has delivered T-Mobile Galaxy S fans some good news. You can pre-order yourself a Samsung Galaxy S, known to T-Mobile customers as the Vibrant, starting on July 1st courtesy of Radio Shack. You can hit up The Shack online — at www.radioshack.com/vibrant — or in one of their 4,000 retail locations to reserve yourself Samsung’s flagship Android handset. We’ve got the full press release for you after the bounce.

Samsung Vibrant from T-Mobile USA to Bring Robust Entertainment Experience on a Brilliant Screen T-Mobile’s Latest Android™-Powered Device Offers Exclusive Entertainment Experience, Including James Cameron’s Avatar In a Slim Smartphone Package

BELLEVUE, Wash. and DALLAS, June 29 /PRNewswire/ — T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.(1), today announced the Samsung Vibrant™, a Samsung Galaxy S™ device available from T-Mobile.

Through pre-installed applications and pre-loaded content, the Samsung Vibrant’s comprehensive multimedia capabilities combine all your entertainment and communication needs into one device — it’s a television, bookshelf, radio, movie library, gaming system, and of course, a smartphone. The Vibrant comes fully loaded with exclusive entertainment features including “James Cameron’s Avatar” on an included 2GB external memory card and an exclusive collector’s edition of a popular game. The Vibrant also brings the Amazon Kindle for Android™ application with access to more than 600,000 books, MobiTV with live and on-demand TV, and much more.

The Vibrant’s 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen display gives customers a vivid, sharp color HD-like viewing experience, whether consumers choose to play a game, watch a movie or read an e-book while on the go. Featuring a slim and sleek design, the Vibrant is one of the most portable and accessible mobile entertainment devices available to U.S. consumers. The speedy Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application Processor and six-axis sensor are optimized for media and gaming, which gives consumers a seamless, immersive experience while reading, watching and playing. The Vibrant is also the latest smartphone in T-Mobile’s lineup that can benefit from enhanced speeds in locations with T-Mobile’s super-fast HSPA+ network.(2)

“By combining best-selling, award-winning content and amazing hardware that brings that content to life, T-Mobile continues to deliver on its commitment to bring innovative mobile entertainment experiences to consumers’ fingertips,” said Paul Cole, vice president, devices and accessories, T-Mobile USA. “We are proud to introduce the Samsung Vibrant as the latest addition to our growing lineup of Android-powered devices.”

“The Samsung Vibrant contains all of the premium core features that the Galaxy S portfolio offers to consumers, including an industry leading display and powerful processor. The Galaxy S devices make the smartphone brilliant,” said Omar Khan, chief strategy officer for Samsung Mobile. “When you combine the Vibrant’s incredible hardware with preloaded content like ‘Avatar,’ along with thousands of applications available on the Android Market, the entertainment and customization possibilities are endless.”

“‘James Cameron’s Avatar’ is in many ways the most innovative film ever produced, and in working with Samsung and T-Mobile we are now able to offer this eye-catching experience to viewers in a new and dynamic environment on the Samsung Vibrant,” said Peter Levinsohn, president of new media and digital distribution for 20th Century FOX Film Company.

The multimedia experience that makes the Samsung Vibrant a great option for entertainment enthusiasts includes the following:

  • 20th Century Fox’s “James Cameron’s Avatar,” full-screen movie pre-loaded on the Samsung Vibrant, takes consumers back to Pandora, the fictional world created by James Cameron, in the highest-grossing film in history.
  • Amazon Kindle for Android application provides direct access to more than 600,000 books, including a vast majority of The New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases. Before consumers purchase a book, they can read the first chapter for free. They also can read reviews and recommendations from Amazon.com and its customers. With Kindle for Android, customers can sync their reading with their other Kindle devices so they never lose their place or are without their reading.
  • MobiTV mobile phone application offers consumers access to live and on-demand TV available in English and Spanish — including more than 35 channels of news, sports and entertainment. Favorite channels such as Bravo, Disney Channel, ESPN, NBC and more are available for Samsung Vibrant consumers to watch at home or away. Plus, when Vibrant consumers subscribe to MobiTV, their first 30 days of service are free.(3)
  • Slacker Radio mobile application comes pre-loaded on the Samsung Vibrant, allowing anyone to listen to free personalized radio. Slacker offers more than 120 genre stations and the ability to create your own. With millions of songs from thousands of artists, Slacker is the best way to discover new artists and hear your favorite music.
  • Gogo® Inflight Internet service offers a bonus to consumers who purchase the Samsung Vibrant: up to a month of free in-flight Wi-Fi access on their device, with Internet access on more than 3,000 daily flights and growing every day in the continental U.S.(4)
  • Samsung Media Hub, expected to be available in the near future, is a full library of video and literary content powered by some of the biggest names in entertainment.

The Samsung Vibrant’s assets go beyond its impressive entertainment features. Running Android 2.1, the Samsung Vibrant offers a seven-panel home screen and access to Android Market™ to personalize the device with 65,000 applications, including applications for social networking, gaming, travel and more. Samsung’s Social Hub service helps consumers to easily keep in touch with family and friends through integrated contacts, calendars, social networking sites and group messaging, including the ability to “reply all” for up to 10 contacts. The Vibrant also supports six languages: English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian and Korean.

The Vibrant delivers advanced phone features such as GPS functionality with access to turn-by-turn navigation and Swype® text input for fast, accurate communication. It also features a 5-megapixel camera with digital zoom and autofocus, and a video camera for recording crystal-clear, high-definition (720p) videos and photos for playback on an HD television. With support for up to 32 GB of external memory, the Vibrant provides ample space for consumers’ entertainment favorites. Consumers can customize their Vibrant with two battery cover options in dark blue and lavender that will come packaged exclusively with the T-Mobile device.

Availability

The Samsung Vibrant and its exclusive pre-loaded entertainment content is expected to be available to T-Mobile customers beginning July 21. Customers can visit http://galaxy-s.t-mobile.com for more information. In addition, it is expected that beginning on July 1, customers may pre-order the Samsung Vibrant at any one of more than 4,000 RadioShack® stores. To pre-order, customers must purchase a $50 gift card, which will be applied toward the retail price of the device. Customers can schedule an appointment to pick up and activate their devices at RadioShack stores with anticipated availability starting July 21. Customers who pre-order at RadioShack will receive a $50 gift card by mail after purchasing their phone with qualifying voice and data plan on a two-year contract. The ability to pre-order is also expected to be available online at http://www.radioshack.com/vibrant beginning July 1.

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Apple Logo-Black + White

The official numbers are in, and it looks like Apple, Inc. managed to push out 1.7 million iPhone 4s from Thursday the 24th through this Saturday the 26th. Pretty impressive numbers coming out of Cupertino. We’ve got the official press release after the bump.

CUPERTINO, California-June 28, 2010-Apple® today announced that it has sold over 1.7 million of its iPhone® 4 through Saturday, June 26, just three days after its launch on June 24. The new iPhone 4 features FaceTime®, which makes video calling as easy as one tap, and Apple’s new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in stunning text, images and video.

“This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply.”

iPhone 4 also features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD 720p video recording, Apple’s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time-in a beautiful all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world.

iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which features Multitasking, Folders, enhanced Mail, deeper Enterprise support and Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform.

Pricing & Availability iPhone 4 is available in the US for a suggested retail price of $199 (US)* for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail and online stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart stores. iPhone 4 is also available in the UK, France, Germany and Japan and will be available in an additional 18 countries by the end of July-Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Tesla Motors

As of yesterday, no American car company had gone public since Henry Ford put his family business on the on the U.S. stock exchange back in 1956. Today, Tesla Motors (TSLA) — in an IPO — sold over 13.3 million shares of stock on the NASDAQ exchange totaling $226.1 million. The all-electric car maker’s mission is simply to “sell high performance, super efficient electric cars.” Tesla uses some pretty impressive technology to manage, store and harness the electric charge stored in the cars batteries. The company should have their first mass production model — The Model S — rolling off the assembly line this year. The company’s stock closed just south of $24.

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cisco-cius-android-tablet

The iPad might be the cool tablet to own, but for busy business people who really need to get things done, there are things like the Cisco Cius. Announced today, the Cius is what Cisco likes to calls a “mobile collaboration business tablet.” Based on Android, the Cius weighs in at 1.15lbs. and features a 7″ touchscreen display, front-facing camera for multi-party video conferencing that records and streams 720p video at 30 FPS , Bluetooth 3.0 as well as support for Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and 3G/4G wireless networks. Pricing and a release date are unknown.

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iPhone-4-1

The antenna issues plaguing the iPhone 4 have infuriated many iPhone users (and rightfully so), but have you ever wondered how Apple is training its employees to deal with the fiasco? Well thanks to one of our Apple connects, we now know the exact procedures AppleCare reps must follow when dealing with any reception complaints regarding the iPhone 4. Hit the jump to check them out.

1. Keep all of the positioning statements in the BN handy – your tone when delivering this information is important.

a. The iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. Our testing shows that iPhone 4’s overall antenna performance is better than iPhone 3GS.

b. Gripping almost any mobile phone in certain places will reduce its reception. This is true of the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, and many other phones we have tested. It is a fact of life in the wireless world.

c. If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 3GS, avoid covering the bottom-right side with your hand.

d. If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 4, avoid covering the black strip in the lower-left corner of the metal band.

e. The use of a case or Bumper that is made out of rubber or plastic may improve wireless performance by keeping your hand from directly covering these areas.

2. Do not perform warranty service. Use the positioning above for any customer questions or concerns.

3. Don’t forget YOU STILL NEED to probe and troubleshoot. If a customer calls about their reception while the phone is sitting on a table (not being held) it is not the metal band.

4. ONLY escalate if the issue exists when the phone is not held AND you cannot resolve it.

5. We ARE NOT appeasing customers with free bumpers – DON’T promise a free bumper to customers. [BGR]

iPhone 4 ReviewHow can a flawed iPhone be the best yet? Here's how:

***

iPhone 4 Review

I'm at dinner. The waitress is slow to take our order. I don't mind. I reach into my pocket for the iPhone 4. It seems like the fifth time I'm doing this tonight. It's probably the fifteenth.

It's nearly impossible to tell which side is the front. Both are slippery and oleophobic and smudged by fingerprints—flat, delicate and hard. I respond in cursory agreement to whatever it is my wife just said. My mind's too busy concentrating on fingertip sensations, maneuvering so the screen faces the right way when it emerges from its hiding place.

Success. Slide to unlock. One bar again. Once I pull it out of my pocket, the reception returns. I've never seen this issue with the three previous iPhones.

I wait a few seconds as the iPhone's antenna adjusts to freedom from the confines of my pants and hand. Then I realize there wasn't anything I needed to look at. It's a reflex at this point, like John Marston reaching for his gun.

I slide the phone back in my pocket.

* * *

The screen is the first thing I notice, naturally, because it's the one thing I couldn't test when I saw the phone back in April.

Cramming more pixels into a smaller space is the opposite of what Apple did with the iPad, which uses a relatively low amount of pixels in a large space. So why do both displays look so fantastic?

The iPhone 4 has so many more pixels that I can't see them individually with the naked eye. When I try I can just begin to defocus my eyes when the phone comes too close to my face. It's the one thing iPhone 4 users should be proud of, provided they're not one of the unlucky few with yellow spots or white dots.

Then frustration and practicality set in. Why are there more pixels if I can't see more stuff on the screen? Why are there the same same seven rows of text messages and eight rows of items in the iPod app I saw three years ago when there are four times as many pixels? Photos and videos are great, and text is sharp, but UI elements need to be updated. Only having five emails simultaneously visible is a shame on this screen. At least give me the option.

But the display itself is still better. It has more pixels in a smaller space than all the other phones I've ever used. It's sharp. Tiny text is readable, and everything is just better. I take it outside. It's no brighter, or more visible in the sun, but everything looks great. What more could I ask from a screen?

When looking at the screen, I get the same sensation I do when finishing the last slice of ice cream cake: I want more of it. My 30-inch Dell, my 63-inch Samsung and my 27-inch iMac all have more pixels, but my first thought when seeing them was look how big. When I see the iPhone's screen, it was wow, everything is so clear. Now give me bigger and clearer.

* * *

The phone glimmers from the reflectiveness of exposed glass. No more plastic. Much more aluminum. It looks and feels...more breakable.

As something carried around nearly at all times, I understand the need for a case. People drop things. Keys are absentmindedly shoved, thrown and scraped across its surface. Phones need to be set down. But the iPhone is in more danger of being irreparably damaged than its predecessors. Many previously fine resting surfaces are now verboten. A case might now be mandatory.

iPhone 4 Review

Yet to acquire a case would admit defeat. This aesthetic—industrial glass and steel—was meant to be the iPhone's public face. It was never supposed to be stifled by plastic to spare it from harm, or wrapped with rubber to shield the antennas from human interference. If the iPhone were meant to have a case, it would ship with a case. Attached. Out of the box.

* * *

Flick. Flick. Twitter. Swipe. Flick. New York Times. Tap. Tap. Email. Maps. Fruit Ninja. Photos. Vuvuzela. Every touch feels more responsive than the 3GS, which was more responsive than the 3G.

Swipe. Swipe. Swipe again. There's a delay from a half-inch dead zone on the side of the phone. When I swipe from that edge, nothing registers. I try the same thing on older phones. Odd, this was there all along, in the 3G and 3GS, but I'm only noticing now because the bezel is gone and it's all glass. There's no barrier to guide me.

* * *

Matt licks me. Or rather, he puts his tongue in front of the front camera in FaceTime. I enjoy it more than I should!

Buchanan sounds clear, our respective AT&T chains thrown off, our faces and voices streaming fluidly over Wi-Fi. Finally, a mass-market video calling device that's going to have enough built-in audience to actually have a chance at success. It's fun. Useful. Futuristic. Easy. My parents could do this. (Until they can't, and have to ask me for help.)

iPhone 4 Review

But the secret is that—when he's not licking me—I'm looking Matt right in the eye. The camera and screen are so close that they create the illusion of a camera behind Matt's eyes—so I really feel like we're talking face to face. When Skyping someone on a laptop, they're always looking at me on their screen—away from their webcam.

I say goodbye to Matt. The next time I expect to see his face in a phone conversation will probably be in 2011. Voice is enough for most. He's not my wife.

* * *

On a drive in a car that's not my own to a place I don't recognize, the Nexus One is along for the ride. There's no free, usable and decent turn-by-turn bundled with the iPhone 4.

The alternative? Fifty bucks for an app. I don't have fifty bucks. Not for this shit. Especially not when my normal car has navigation. The iPhone has been capable of turn-by-turn directions since the 3G added a GPS chip. It's time for a better solution—from Apple.

* * *

"Can you show me that video chat thing?"

"I can't. There's no Wi-Fi here."

Frustration? Anger? Embarrassment? None of the above. I feel like I've let someone down.

There was no limitation in Star Trek. Riker didn't have to have a hotspot set up in order to chat from Farpoint Station. James Bond doesn't have to locate a Starbucks to talk to Q. Batman doesn't...Batman doesn't do anything he doesn't want to. Because it was 70 years ago, Dick Tracy had the entire AT&T network all to himself to make video calls.

"But hey, it's got a better screen."

* * *

Sitting on the most intimate of chairs, I watch my own previously uploaded HD YouTube videos, marveling at the display quality. It's downscaled from the video's original quality, but still, I'm impressed.

iPhone 4 Review

I get bored and move on, flipping through honeymoon photos and skimming 720p videos taken in Japan, each pixel a tiny fraction of a wonderful memory that was well worth the lousy exchange rate. It makes me wish that I was in Tokyo right now, with their Toto Washlets in every home, office and public facility. But then I wonder, how much space are these bigger photos and videos taking?

Back at my iMac, I check. 3.26GB. The same photos only took up 1.6GB on the 3GS. Videos are a similar story.

We're gonna need a bigger NAND.

* * *

It's not my birthday.

I suggested the birthday song as a quick test for voice quality, because it inherently necessitates changes in tone and pitch. It's a quick song, out of necessity. I'm not sitting through the full eight-and-a-half minute rendition of Won't Get Fooled Again. Though making Rosa do that ten times successively might justify the price of the iPhone 4.

The call quality testing we did matches what I observed in my own use.

My friend seems surprised to hear from me. I haven't called him in a while, usually relying on IM and email, because this is 2010 and we are not old. Many people are getting called with the iPhone 4 today, in the name of science.

More than once my test subjects surprised that I'm switching back and forth between standard hold and speakerphone. The dual-microphone noise cancellation setup makes a huge difference for filtering ambient noises from a speakerphone. But regular calls aren't much better than before, seeing as I'm not surrounded by vuvuzelas.

"Thanks, talk to you later. Bye bye."

I look down, confused. Random buttons have been inadvertently pressed by my face. My face hasn't changed very much since using the 3GS, just days ago. Place this issue among the "to-fix-in-iOS 4.01" pile.

* * *

I keep hearing variations of the same anecdote when discussing iMovie for iPhone 4. "You could barely edit movies on a computer ten years ago."

My head bobs in agreement. Very true. I'm surprised at how quick it is, joining clips, adding themes, making titles and transitions. Exporting? Takes about as long as the clip is, on average resolution.

iPhone 4 Review

Then I try uploading a natively shot 720p video to YouTube from the phone. It's tiny! And grainy, even after letting it fully render over a day. And fuzzy, and definitely not 720p. How could this be? Would it be better if I uploaded over Wi-Fi, or emailed it to myself to upload from somewhere else? No. Every one of those options down-converts before sending it off the phone.

I discover that the only way to get the full 720p video from my phone to YouTube is putting it on a computer first. Dreams of shooting HD videos from the field, over that faster HSUPA upload, and not having to do extra post-processing at a computer later have vanished. Why would I edit on iMovie on a phone if I have to dump the resulting file onto a computer to upload at full-resolution anyway?

Is this AT&T's doing again?

* * *

Brian calls me, enthused, and asks me to guess where he is.

"Home."

He hasn't been able to make an iPhone call from his house without it almost immediately dropping for the last year and a half. He's had to resort to getting a Microcell. He tells me he's turned it off.

It's six minutes into the call. The iPhone 4 is smarter, choosing towers that can actually handle calls, rather than just the one with the strongest signal.

iPhone 4 Review

"Can you hear me? I can't hear you."

He sounds like he just went into the bathroom, filled his bathtub and dunked himself phone first. Sure, he can make calls now, but something's still keeping the phone from making great calls. After thirty seconds of this, the connection breaks. Maybe we should have used FaceTime.

Update: Actually, the 3gs miraculously has 5 bars in his house now, too. So it seems like a convenient tower change or installation or upgrade may have occurred recently.

* * *

I'm reading a chapter of Shit My Dad Says in bed, trying not to disturb the wife. There's very little eye strain, though I don't know if I could reach the end of the book reading this way. Even for a lover of ebooks, the size of the phone is too small to accurately represent a "book". It requires me to turn the page too often, like some iPad mini parody. Page turns are actually responsive enough to be pleasant.

Added up over a year, I would probably save about seven hours of cumulative time not waiting for book pages to render, apps to load and photos to resize, compared to the 3GS. I can't go back.

Now to find a use for those seven hours.

* * *

Is it too thin? Is it too delicate? I'm afraid of holding it. I never used to be.

I go to play with my bunny. When I pick him up, he squirms as if I'll never let go for all eternity. I try to lower myself to the ground as much as possible before he scratches my arms and jumps out of my hands. He can adjust his body to land on his feet, absorbing most amount of impact in the least damaging areas.

iPhone 4 Review

This iPhone cannot. The iPhone 4 is not as drop resistant as a rabbit.

* * *

While the wife's driving the two of us to McDonalds, I take the chance to catch up on email, Twitter, Giz and the latest episode of the Adam Carolla Show, flipping back and forth with fast app switching in iOS 4. Doubling the amount of RAM to 512MB is just like gas expanding to fill a vacuum—programs will find a use for it. Along with the smoother transitions thanks to the faster processor, every flip between programs is fluid. Things are kept fresh, ready for me when I need them.

I try to put down the phone, only to get bored and pick it up at the next red light.

The last time I charged the phone was yesterday morning, and it's already past noon today. 20%—not bad. Better than the 3GS, because the battery is bigger. Still, good thing I turned off Bluetooth.

Another red light. I'm motion sick...possibly going to vomit. But I can't stop playing with the phone.

* * *

It's Friday night. The guy from Hypermac surprises me at my table.

"You're here with your family?"

"Yup! Did you get your iPhone 4?"

He waves takes his out and does the Miss Area Woman local parade wave. I smile.

"Yup."

Three years ago a waitress asked to see my first-generation iPhone. I showed her. Ten minutes went by. She forgot to take my order. I'd forgotten, too, until she walked away.

iPhone 4 Review

Tonight's waitress isn't as impressed. "Oh, is that the new iPhone? My boyfriend has the old one. Does this one drop fewer calls? Well, that's good. So what are you having?"

The newness is gone, but that doesn't mean people aren't still excited.

I text Mark and Matt. They both reply within a minute—the fastest I've seen them respond in the last six months. It's clear they were both playing with their phones, or at least, had them in reach.

* * *

I'm taking photos of my food. I don't know why—I've been here before, and I'll come back again. It has more to do with the act of taking the picture than the result, which is that I have a photo of what I'm about to eat. "Remember that," I'll think to myself some months down the line. But I won't. I might not remember how the meal tasted, or what happened, nor do I really need to. There's evidence. Now the evidence is clearer and more saturated, with the better lens and smarter processing. The colors pop. They look more delicious than they do when I was actually there.

I get up real close to shoot macros of my bunny. The camera responds quicker than I'd expect—quicker than other cellphone cams. Sometimes, still, not quick enough. Bunnies are fast.

I get in closer. Autofocus kicks in, rendering orange-tinted shots that I will have to fix later in on my computer. Wish there was white balance.

I get in even closer. The limit's reached, and the shots turn out blurry.

Bunny sniffs the phone.

* * *

Everything is more crisp. I tap out a message and the new keyboard noises make the old 3GS keyboard noises seem muddy. The speakers themselves are more clear as well, but a little softer.

The home screen. The volume buttons. The power button. The screen itself. Everything is crisper, sharper, more angular. All softness is gone. The rounded back, an awkward turtle-shell of necessity, is out. It's hard. It is a hard phone. Thirty times harder than plastic, as the too-often repeated marketing phrase goes. But hard still shatters, as our own intern Ryan saw.

It was designed this way. It's probably a mistake.

* * *

The engineers have lost. The industrial designers have won.

Antenna problems, confirmed by Apple themselves, are the symptom of a problem that goes into the heart of Apple's product process. Right brain won over left brain. We all suffer.

I'm making a call, trying to adjust myself to the phone, holding it at the top instead of the bottom, so as to not jeopardize reception. What happened to Apple's iPad marketing, where the device adjust itself to you? Why am I changing the way I've held cellphones for the last decade to avoid a design issue? It feels foreign. It feels like I might drop my phone.

iPhone 4 Review

Then I forget. My hand slips down to the accustomed position, covering up the antenna with meat and sweat and humanity. The call maintains. There's ever-so-slightly more distortion in the voice, but I can still hear the other person fine. I'm lucky to live in one of AT&T's well-covered areas. Those with mediocre reception to begin with see a bigger impact, documented, when they use the death grip.

I'm fiddling with the phone over 3G, flipping through maps, searching Twitter, checking mail. The otherwise zippy phone feels winded. There is no alternative to the death grip when I hold the phone in the left hand and point with the right—that's the only way I can hold the phone.

I don't want to get a case.

* * *
The iPhone will be there. It's the camera that counts, the camera that's with you when you get into a traffic accident, when someone's about to do something stupid, when you're doing something you've never done before.

But I have to decide, do I put more consumable content on my phone, or do I save more of that 32GB for making memories?

* * *

iPhone 4 Review

My dad calls. He needs his printer fixed, or he forgot how to log into Gmail, or he had a recurrence of old-person syndrome and entirely forgot how to use a computer. It doesn't matter which.

He asks me about the new iPhone. I recommend he doesn't get it.

"You actually make a lot of phone calls, unlike me. Plus, AT&T is lousy where you are. Plus there's the reception issue, which gets exacerbated* when there's low signal. As for the rest, it's improved in many ways. But stick with what you've got now."**

* I didn't use the word "exacerbated" over the phone.
** Also, this conversation actually occurred in Chinese.

* * *

Flash

I surprise, no, shock, my wife with the iPhone flash in the dark. She is not amused. I am. I am a child.

There's now light where there was no light before. Drunken New York bar exploits will be all the clearer now, illuminating various conquests, trophies mounted on Facebook the next morning, all with tiny pupils adjusting to the harsh glare. It's not perfect, but it's better than not having a flash.

I imagine thousands of these damn iPhone flashes at the next basketball game I go to, illuminating all of a full three feet ahead of these people, making the back of the bald guy's head in Row 27 look amazingly clear. Kobe, on the other hand, will still be lit just fine by the fluorescent bulbs of the Staples Center.

* * *

I keep picking up the phone, looking inside, and finding things to do. I want to use it.

I can't go back to the 3GS. The speed, the camera, the screen, the non-humpback, the video chatting. Once you have it, you can't give it up.

iPhone 4 Review

But I'm scared. Not of dropping calls because I'm holding it wrong—I don't make a lot of them, and when I do, they're not so critical that I can't call someone back. Plus, I have a Batphone landline and work at home. I'm scared for data. I can never hold the phone naturally because I'm afraid I'm getting a quarter of the speeds I was getting before. Like a parent with a child too lazy or too difficult to live up to his potential, I'm frustrated and confused and sad. You love it too much, and you can't give it up, but something's wrong. So like most, I focus on the good qualities. The speed, the camera, the screen. So what if he throws a tantrum when I hold him wrong? He's my boy.

* * *

iPhone 4 Review

Source Gizmodo

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