My wife and I have no burning need to be at the cutting edge of technology, but we’re not exactly Luddites either. So now that the 8GB iPhone is available for $99, we figure it’s a perfect opportunity for a long-overdue upgrade of our phones. I have two questions:
One of the things Mrs. Wheelz hopes to use an iPhone for is watching YouTube or Hulu videos during her train commute. How well does the first-gen iPhone accomplish this task, if at all?
Getting an iPhone will require switching carriers, but we don’t want to change our phone numbers. I recall hearing that it is now law that one must be allowed to retain one’s number when changing carriers. Is that true? While it sounds nice in theory, how easy is this to do in practice?
I switched carriers (Sprint to T-mobile) last month. The guys in the store were able to transfer my number for me in a few minutes. They needed the old number, the old account number (on my monthly bill) and the last 4 digits of my SSN.
Thanks, Munch. I’m talking about the 3G-8GB model that AT&T is pushing on their home page. I just assumed it was the first-gen model, but it’s likely the second generation as you say. I’ll be sure to clarify before making any purchases.
If it’s 3G capable, you’re good. That’s what I have, and it’s excellent for YouTube. There isn’t Hulu support. There is an application called Joost, but it’s wifi only.
The iPhone doesn’t support Flash (without jailbreaking, anyway), so if she also watches video on some of the other popular video sites like Daily Motion or Veoh she won’t be able to view it. The YouTube support is a bit of an anomaly and I’m guessing it came from the partnership between Apple and Google (who owns Youtube).