iPhone 4S

[Conan71]

I figured I'd start a new thread on the iP 4S so as not to crap the Steve Jobs thread.

I got my order in today.  Talking to the rep at the AT&T store, she advised heavily against tethering since I've got unlimited data and apparently they do not offer unlimited data anymore. I'm grandfathered in and if I didn't like tethering, I'd lose my unlimited data forever.  Glad she pointed that out.

I'm still not quite sure about the OtterBox Defender for the 4 fitting the new 4S.  I see from Otter's web site they offer a case for the 4 and one for the 4S.  Curious what the differences would be.  Considering Defenders for the 4 are now $16.75 on Amazon, I was going to order one unless I lose some sort of functionality using one with the new phone.

[Hoss]

Enjoy your iPhonenot5. ;-)

Sent from my AT&T Atrix4G using fat fingers

[Conan71]

Cute, Hoss.

FYI, Otter's web site does say that 4S cases are compatible with the 4 but 4 cases are not compatible with the 4S.  Looks like I get to pay $50 for a new case.  Beats paying $200 to fix a cracked screen I guess...

[TurismoDreamin]

I think the new cases may have a closer fit to the Verizon iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 for AT&T and Verizon are different because they use different antennas. The AT&T iPhone has three break points while Verizon's has 4which also fixed the dreaded antenna issues associated with "the death grip." Because of this change they had to make adjustments to the positions of the volume buttons and the silent switch. So the case for AT&Ts wouldn't fit Verizon's and vice versa. I think that they use the same 4 break point antenna design for the new iPhone 4S despite it's ability to run both GSM or CDMA. I would just wait and get the phone and test fit a Verizon iPhone 4 case.

[Hoss]

Cute, Hoss.

FYI, Otter's web site does say that 4S cases are compatible with the 4 but 4 cases are not compatible with the 4S.  Looks like I get to pay $50 for a new case.  Beats paying $200 to fix a cracked screen I guess...

Stinks, but I will NEVER own another smartphone without having a case with the durability factor that the Defenders have.  Best cases on the market, no matter the phone.  My Atrix is cased in one.

[Conan71]

I found an e-coupon online, knocked $5.00 off the order plus free shipping from Otter.  That makes me feel a little better.

[Townsend]

I found an e-coupon online, knocked $5.00 off the order plus free shipping from Otter.  That makes me feel a little better.

Might check out Incase as well.  I've been very happy with mine.

[carltonplace]

Stinks, but I will NEVER own another smartphone without having a case with the durability factor that the Defenders have.  Best cases on the market, no matter the phone.  My Atrix is cased in one.

Plus screen film to prevent scratches.

[Conan71]

Might check out Incase as well.  I've been very happy with mine.

25 months of abuse on an Otterbox and no phone failure has made me a customer for life.

Oh, and FWIW, if you ever do submerge your iPhone in water, leaving it over night in a bag of rice works great.  I fell into a creek a few months ago on my mountain bike, just long enough for the phone to get wet.  I killed the power soon as I figured out it had gone under and was starting to fritz.  I put it in a bag of rice overnight and it fired right up the next morning as if nothing had ever happened.

[Conan71]

Arrived and activated.  First impressions? Townsend? Grizzle?

So far Siri is cool, the talk to text feature is pretty good as well but both show their limitations at understanding "Okie"

I haven't made a call with it yet.  Does anyone use them for phones anymore?

[sgrizzle]

It took me all day to activate but I'm using it now I'm even posting this with my voice. It's worth noting that this is the only phone with Bluetooth 4.0 and the only phone to use dual antennas for send and receive and can switch automatically. The Siri is pretty cool and it's funny that they put in responses for things like "what's the meaning of life" and "will you marry me."

I think you have an iPhone for you might as well just wait till the next phone but if you have anything other than an iPhone for the iPhone 4S is a great purchase. My iPhone 4 was already eligible for upgrade so I went ahead and got it and then sold my iPhone 4 for profit. I's the best negative money I've ever spent.

[Conan71]

Several observations.  

1)Actually, my activation went surprisingly well considering our office is in somewhat of a hole for AT&T reception and was done in less than an hour.

2) I had not previously upgraded to OS Lion.  I did last night and today as I want to take advantage of iCloud since MobileMe is going to be S-canned.  Had no idea I had to go with Lion.  Okay, after all that time spent waiting on downloading (actually left it up when we went to sleep last night). Then it took another hour or so actually loading it.

3) The email format for Lion sucks and is not even close to "ergonomic"  Hoping it's just a set-up issue I glossed over.

4) The 8 MP camera aspect is totally over-blown.  Clarity of photos isn't that great.  Better than my iP3 but just doesn't live up to the hype I'd expected.  Maybe I've just not mastered the focusing aspect yet.  I saw great results from first gen 4's that were better than what I've shot so far.

5) Video on a phone is just crazy.  I like it and actually got some good shots at a mountain bike event today.  That's a cool deal.

6) Siri is way cool when she understands my drawl.  Hands-free (more or less) phone calls are nice on the turnpike.  Not finding the calculator as standard fare on my phone screen started to get my hackles up then I asked Siri: "What's 418 divided by 15.8?" Or asking for recipes, etc.  Saves a lot of time from typing on a keypad never meant for fingers as fat as mine.

7) As always, it's defiantly Apple like everything they do.  Not hating on the man at all.  I love the phone though I've still not made a voice call.  Just said "Call FMC" to impress her last night.  Trying to see now how long I can avoid using it as a phone

My big issue is I'm not sure I like OS X Lion as well as I did Snow Leopard.  The phone itself rocks.  I'll just be happy when the OtterBox gets here so I don't have to be overly conscious of every move with this damn thing!

[nathanm]

My big issue is I'm not sure I like OS X Lion as well as I did Snow Leopard.  The phone itself rocks.  I'll just be happy when the OtterBox gets here so I don't have to be overly conscious of every move with this damn thing!

I hate cases, so I buy phones with my Amex. If I break it, they fix it or replace it. Still haven't managed to break one by dropping it, although one of my slider-style phones did have the ribbon cable that connects the screen half to the half with the CPU and whatever break, long after any warranty (including the Amex extension) ran out.

The only reason I put a case on a phone is to attach it to my bike.

I still need to figure out what my 2011 phone is going to be. Time is running out, and it's difficult since I can't buy an at&t branded phone without getting snookered into paying more money for not-unlimited data and losing my no-extra-charge international text messages. I'd also like it to be penta-band so it'll do 3G on both T-Mobile and at&t. Maybe I'll just buy a dumbphone and a tablet. 

[sgrizzle]

I hate cases, so I buy phones with my Amex. If I break it, they fix it or replace it. Still haven't managed to break one by dropping it, although one of my slider-style phones did have the ribbon cable that connects the screen half to the half with the CPU and whatever break, long after any warranty (including the Amex extension) ran out.

The only reason I put a case on a phone is to attach it to my bike.

I still need to figure out what my 2011 phone is going to be. Time is running out, and it's difficult since I can't buy an at&t branded phone without getting snookered into paying more money for not-unlimited data and losing my no-extra-charge international text messages. I'd also like it to be penta-band so it'll do 3G on both T-Mobile and at&t. Maybe I'll just buy a dumbphone and a tablet. 

AT&T will take over T-mo and you'll only need AT&T bands. They seem to want T-mo's spectrum to build out LTE on.

FYI, an iPhone 4S works on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon (all with the exact same device) and you can keep your unlimited data, although they are throttling over 2G/mo