looks like the iphone is pretty brain damaged

[Barkotron]

3G should be an addition to the european model apparently.
AT&T upgraded their EDGE network to Fine-EDGE so users are seeing data-rates of upto 220kbits. This is more than enough to render a website.
The i in iphone doesn't stand for internet also. At no point in time, has this phone been marketed as an internet phone.
If you could tell me a use for A2DP, i'd be grateful

I didn't claim the i in iPhone stood for internet: Steve Jobs claimed that this was "an internet communications device" in his keynote when he introduced it, and if that's not marketing it as an internet phone, what is? Wi-fi is fine for when you're in a hotspot, but free hotspots, while becoming more common, aren't exactly ubiquitous, whereas 3G coverage is far more common, at least in Europe.

220kbits is rubbish and you know it.
a) If I can stream media (even video) from my server at home over 3G and only be limited by the upload speed on my home connection, why would I want to settle for less?
b) The way websites are going/have been going for years, 220kbit/s is still going to leave you staring at image placeholders for a long time in between site loading.
c) Steve Jobs' own keynote showed internet useage that would be painfully slow over EDGE (Google maps, sending photos by mail etc).

Apart from the A2DP headphones mentioned, there are also A2DP capable in-car systems and home speaker systems. For someone who's really into the whole convergence thing like myself, it's a fantastic opportunity - I can keep listening to something on headphones while walking around, switch to car stereo when in the car, switch to home speakers when home, all without having to plug anything in anywhere. It may not be up to crazy "audiophile" £3000-for-a-power-cable standards, but it sounds good enough for the situation and cuts down on having to copy everything to various places.

There are things I like about the iPhone, 4 or 8GB storage is good (although non-expandable is a shame), the UI looks lovely etc - however as I said, the marketing, along with the desperate attempts of the cultists to justify its lack of features compared to the competition just leaves me cold. It's not the second coming, it's a phone with a srubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishy interface that isn't particularly well specced for the time it came out or the price it costs, and cannot possibly justify the crazed hype machine.

[Steve B]

I agree with you whole-heartedly and didn't mean to come on so strong. I understand the logic behind the convergence of services, but how many people who are buying this phone will even know what A2DP is, let alone what it can do.

Also, the battery isn't detachable, so you cant change it yourself, which is slightly annoying. I'll admit that the iPhone could have been a lot better, had they included HSDPA out of the box. But, there are rumours floating about that the european release will have UMTS capability, so it can bump onto the european 3G networks.

[Barkotron]

If it does that would be a good thing. There are other items on the list which bug me more tbh, lack of java is a reasonably big one. By the time a 2nd-gen one comes out they may have something which interests me more, but looking through the list of specs and things missed out made my mind up for me that it wasn't what I was after, so I quit waiting and got the N95 instead. It's not quite the all-conquering convergence device I'm after, but it's about as close as I can get to what I want at the moment and I've been very happy with it so far.

[EDIT: yes, the battery thing is very annoying, as is the inability to change the SIM card. Grrr. ]

[kopite]

but how many people who are buying this phone will even know what A2DP is, let alone what it can do.

Thats a pretty crap reason for not having a2dp.

Its the best format currently out there for stereo over bluetooth so Surelly if your aiming your device as a multimedia device having the best tech in it at the time would be a good idea?

[Aaron]

Motorola and Sony Ericsson are starting to bundle stereo Bluetooth headphones with their phones, so people will soon at least know about the physical side of A2DP.

The problem with EDGE isn't particularly the speeds, it's the latency. Requesting each object on a webpage incurs a significant delay and hence why people have been reporting that it's taking 2+ minutes to load individual pages.

[Steve B]

Thats a pretty crap reason for not having a2dp.

Its the best format currently out there for stereo over bluetooth so Surelly if your aiming your device as a multimedia device having the best tech in it at the time would be a good idea?

i didn't mean it as a reason not to have A2DP. If the costs of implementing such a feature into the handset outweigh the prospected revenue gains for including it, why include such a feature at all; 90% of people are still going to buy it, regardless.

[kopite]

But its beign marketed as a music phone and a very expensive one at that.

IF phones that are a lot cheaper have a2dp it cant be that expensive.

[Steve B]

i'd just like to remind you who we're talking about