FaceTime only works over WiFi, but the Skype app works on 3G if you have a decent signal.
Gentlemen - introducing the Toylet.
‘Magic’ as described by Las Vegas show-persons is hiding all the technology from the audience allowing them to wallow unfettered in the wonder of it all. My iPhone is magic!
I’d love a phone that creates it’s own hot-spot. Without any fanfare we seamlessly moved computers and the internet into our pockets. it’s just amazing.
But a $15 a month additional fee is an extra $180 a year. And as sure as the seasons change something is going to break and cost me money. My good computer just died so I’ll probably end up spending money on an on-line data service.
What does the cutting edge magic cost in terms of startup and monthly?
I prefer to make a distinction between wizardry and magic. In fact, I’d say that they’re close to being opposites. A wizard can do wondrous things by virtue of great understanding. Magic, by contrast, is that which cannot be understood. So, iPhones are wizardry, and the product of the work of a great many wizards.
While all that sounds like a magic appliance, it’s absolutely no use to me unless the battery lasts longer than a typical working day. What good are any of the “outdoor” apps [augmented reality, star maps, geocaching, etc] if you can’t use them for any appreciable length of time?
My iPhone 4 lasts for about a working day of heavy use.
You can buy a rechargeable external battery that will give the phone a full charge (or even two) for less than $50. If you’re serious about outdoor usage then that’s a good investment.
I use the ViewRanger GPS/mapping app to record mountain-biking routes. On a four-hour ride (with the phone on standby but recording the track) it uses less than half a full charge, so I don’t think it’s a big problem.
At first, though, I was wondering why my phone was going from 50% charge to <20% overnight despite being left on standby. I realised that the ViewRanger app was still running in the background and using the GPS function (even when not recording a track). Now I kill the app when not using it and the phone only uses 1-2% of the battery overnight.
Just the other day, I was at the supermarket, and while shopping, I was facebook chatting with my son on my phone. Who happens to be in Afghanistan. While I’m picking out bananas, I’m casually chatting with someone on the other side of the planet. “How’s it going?” “Fine, it’s hot here, chow sucked, etc., etc.” For all of human history, getting “news from your loved one off at war” was BIG DAMN DEAL…and he and I were back and forth like it was nothing at all. Freakin’ amazing.
My Samsung Galaxy lasts the best part of a week before needing charging with everyday use. I have to keep the GPS turned off until I need it though, as then my phone’s charge would only last a day. It still gets pretty good triangulation results just from using the phone network, though (50m radius, compared to less than a couple of metres with GPS).
I pay about £20 a month for my Android based smartphone with about 500mb of data and 1000 free text messages. The phone came with the contract.
That’s quite a bit cheaper than mine: to get a free 16GB iPhone 4 I’m paying £42 a month, for 900 minutes, 900 texts and 500MB of data. No way I will use all those texts and minutes, but after a year I can step down to a cheaper contract.
Hey, how about foaming soap?