iPhone Hands On & The Friday Links

If you think that I’m not taking this opportunity to publically jerk off my new iPhone, then you haven’t been on this site before. So thanks for coming by, here’s a list of ‘real’ stuff you can read if you’re, you know, locked into a Droid contract or something…

• The Friday Links are at the bottom of this post.
• A SB Nation feature on Steven Jackson is LINK HERE
• A ISTL post on the Cards limp offense is LINK HERE

Back to the business- iPhone4.

First, a public atta boy to Best Buy.  When the Apple store melted down on the first day of pre-ordering for the iPhone4, I had read on some real, real dorky message boards that, contrary to public perception, that getting an iPhone from Best Buy was the way to avoid all the hassle of waiting in lines on release day. And since they were using a different system than AT&T, people might be better off going to them to iPhone4.

I was leery, but I rolled the dice. Sure enough they called me on Wednesday and set an appointment for me on Thursday morning. I came in, got the phone, activated it, and never waited in a line.  Both agents that helped me were more excited to give me the damn phone then I was to get it. Yes, they did make you give a 50 dollar deposit when you placed the pre-order, but they took that off on the purchase price yesterday… so as far as I can tell, this is the way to go from now on. I had low expectations Best Buy- you did a hell of a job.

On to the phone.

Here are my impressions after 1 day with the thing.

The screen doesn’t look real. This retina display is like moving from SD TV to HD TV, times 3. It almost looks like a sticker is over your phone, but one you can interact with. Does that make sense? Don’t look at one of these unless you want to buy it. You will not like the miserable experience of looking at your phone.

The flash on the camera is huge. Took some pics last night and they turned out nice. It’s not to the point where you wouldn’t want to have a camera with you for important events… but if you like taking pics when you’re out drinking- this will do way, way better than previous iPhone cameras. By the next generation, I’d suspect you can completely chuck the point and shoot.

Dump your Flip stock now. That company is dead. I love Flips, but this thing shoots HD video you can edit on the phone. Absolutely no reason to get a Flip for 120 bucks when this shoots better video, lets you edit and send from the phone, and gives you about a million different other things.

I love the new shape. Others preferred the rounded edges, but I didn’t. This tends to fall along gender lines at the office, with the men liking the industrial design and women liking the old edges. I also like my square Macbook Pro, though.

The noise cancellation is amazing. I haven’t noticed much improvement in my call signal strength, at least in the house, office or commute… but the call quality when I’m on the phone is great. Within seconds of even loud noise, this sucker has cancelled that shit and lets you feel like you’re in a phone booth. One of the more underrated and under talked about features of this new incarnation. (Click ‘READ MORE’ below for rest>>) 

I’ve not experienced the antenna issue, featured here.

Multi-tasking is tits. Played Sirius radio for an hour at the gym and was able to get to any other app with a couple of new gestures. I guess we just dealt with the uni-tasking for so long, us iPhone honks didn’t realize how constrictive that was. Now Pandora ’s Box is open and I love it. Couldn’t go back.

Folders for apps are nice, I suppose. But you quickly realize that many apps are unrelated to each other, so they have to go in catch all categories, which kind of defeats the purpose of having folders to begin with. Then again, I’m more selective with my apps. If you have hundreds of them, then this will be huge. But I can’t say this feature was worth the hype it was given. At least for me.

One more thing about the rolled vs. straight edges… it’s harder to set this new phone down on a hard surface. By that I mean that the rolled edges kind of cushioned the minor blow of setting the phone down, but now that they’re gone, you’ve got to be more careful setting the thing on a table or desk. Minor adjustment time needed.

Speaker quality is better. Not great, probably never will be.

Front facing camera is cool. Haven’t used Face Time yet, but will. I suppose it’s a nice feature to have, but I do other things while talking on the phone, so I’ll not be the biggest user of Face Time anyway. But could be helpful if you had a long-distance relationship or needed it in a pinch for business.

The multiple backdrop images on different screens allow for more personalization. Other phones are way better than the iPhone in this arena, but it’s a welcome change and kind makes your iPhone a little more unique. More of an aesthetic than anything.

Overall- here’s the deal. I had a 3G. I needed this upgrade. I had no choice. If you’ve got a 3G or any other phone on the market. (ANY other phone.) Get the iPhone4. If you’ve got the 3GS, upgrade your OS through iTunes. If you’re eligible for the upgrade, I’d probably say go for it. It’s 199 bucks. If you’re not eligible, I can’t say that it’s worth the 699 or whatever it is. Just use that money for an iPad.

Enough dorking out… now the Friday Links:

• Best invention for the cube jockey ever? Could be… It’s the Pillow Tie. LINK HERE
• Watch this guy beatbox the entire Super Mario Bros. theme song solo. LINK HERE
• Dubious Achievements in Travel makes you want to go on a trip. LINK HERE (HT: JRH)
• A great roommate… the GIF. LINK HERE
• Fuck it… we’re big geeks today, so here’s a funny geek short. LINK HERE
• THIS is what happens when you blow a Vuvuzela in a dogs face. LINK HERE

Go and have a big weekend CD Nation. Try to root the US side on to victory and make sure your girlfriend is nowhere near Rick Ankiel as he takes on the Cardianls in KC.