[carreraboyracer]

You guys think Apple will ever put a (LED Flash) for the camera? Is that the battery issue?
Blackberry has is it! Nokia has it!! Even no brand $60 flip phone has it but why not for iPhone ? Is apple gone insane?
Somebody please give me a good reason why they won't put a flash on the damn camera please !!

[Gulauur]

I'd imagine that at the moment it's purely a case of absolutely no space left inside for the control circuit of the bulb. I reckon the next design update will have one.

[erroxiainsona]

I do not think they will, they seem to think they are in a league of their own... Omnia HD and N97 both blow away anything they iPhone has to offer in terms of specs and features.

[Gulauur]

I do not think they will, they seem to think they are in a league of their own... Omnia HD and N97 both blow away anything they iPhone has to offer in terms of specs and features.

They just don't work as well. Apple have the usability factor nailed and to be honest, while the N97 and Omnia HD might have better specs on paper I have never found anything either business or pleasure that my iPhone can't handle. As long as you remember it's a smartphone and not a netbook/laptop replacement you can't go wrong. The others may offer stuff a netbook/laptop does but really, who the hell wants to utilise those options on a device the size of a smartphone.

[exettybele]

They just don't work as well. Apple have the usability factor nailed and to be honest, while the N97 and Omnia HD might have better specs on paper I have never found anything either business or pleasure that my iPhone can't handle. As long as you remember it's a smartphone and not a netbook/laptop replacement you can't go wrong. The others may offer stuff a netbook/laptop does but really, who the hell wants to utilise those options on a device the size of a smartphone.

Yeah, who the hell wants a tiny flashlight that you will always carry around with you? We're talking about smartphones, not swiss army knives. Also I don't want the ability to play flash or copy and paste either, but now that I have copy/paste I guess it's ok to use it.

[Gulauur]

Copy and paste is definitely useful for taking phone numbers from text messages or getting urls or a few other things but no flash support has never been a problem for me in 9 months of having an iPhone.

[erroxiainsona]

They just don't work as well. Apple have the usability factor nailed and to be honest, while the N97 and Omnia HD might have better specs on paper I have never found anything either business or pleasure that my iPhone can't handle. As long as you remember it's a smartphone and not a netbook/laptop replacement you can't go wrong. The others may offer stuff a netbook/laptop does but really, who the hell wants to utilise those options on a device the size of a smartphone.

The only thing Apple has is games and multi-touch, everything else it does is nothing special. Name a single stand out feature of the Iphone apart from that?

[Gulauur]

The only thing Apple has is games and multi-touch, everything else it does is nothing special. Name a single stand out feature of the Iphone apart from that?

You miss the point. The iPhone beats them on USABILITY. Hardware specs mean nothing if one has a user interface 1000x times better than windows mobile and much better than the rest of the competitors.

In my experience (quite extensive as I work in I.T) people that actually use these things don't care if their mate has garage band and a flashing garden gnome on their N97, they want to get things done as quickly as possible with the least stress as possible. The amount of times windows mobile has had me swearing at it are too many to count and generally you need to pull out a stylus to use them.

I am the first to admit that the iPhone is far from perfect spec-wise but in terms of actually using it as a smartphone nothing comes close.

[KernJetenue]

Yeah, who the hell wants a tiny flashlight that you will always carry around with you?

Anyone who's ever found himself saying: "I sure could use a small flashlight right about now"... which is... well... EVERYONE.

I always carry at least a Leatherman Micra and a Fenix LD01 flashlight. They are TINY (fit into the coin pocket with room to spare) and I usually wind up pulling out one or the other a couple of times per day.

I normally carry an actual knife as well though (due to NYC laws, either a Victorinox Fireman, or a Byrd Wings slipjoint), either on me, or in my briefcase, in addition to a rescue breathing protector, two pairs of sterile latex gloves, a small tube of cyanoacrylate glue, 2 large (4x4 inches) and 2 small (2x2 inches) sterile pads, 0.5 inch x 2ft roll of surgical tape and 2 meters of 7-strand 550lb parachute cord.

[erroxiainsona]

You miss the point. The iPhone beats them on USABILITY. Hardware specs mean nothing if one has a user interface 1000x times better than windows mobile and much better than the rest of the competitors.

In my experience (quite extensive as I work in I.T) people that actually use these things don't care if their mate has garage band and a flashing garden gnome on their N97, they want to get things done as quickly as possible with the least stress as possible. The amount of times windows mobile has had me swearing at it are too many to count and generally you need to pull out a stylus to use them.

I am the first to admit that the iPhone is far from perfect spec-wise but in terms of actually using it as a smartphone nothing comes close.

How is it better in terms of usability? Sure it has lots of icons that are a click away. Windows mobile is rubbish, I was referring to the symbian based Omnia HD. Also symbian is the best OS out there, proven and sells a lot of phones.

Palm Pre is the only other phone I would get.

[Gulauur]

How is it better in terms of usability? Sure it has lots of icons that are a click away. Windows mobile is rubbish, I was referring to the symbian based Omnia HD. Also symbian is the best OS out there, proven and sells a lot of phones.

Palm Pre is the only other phone I would get.

It's hard to explain the subtle differences in the user interface between the iPhone and other phones. It just makes things easy. The best example I can give is that the iPhone is the only phone I have owned in the last 10 years that I haven't had to look in the manual for at least once.

There's no point arguing with each other about it. Ours are just opinions. Bottom line is that if the Omnia etc were better to use than the iPhone they would be winning the sales war. It's that simple.

[Finanziamento]

Lets get things straight, the iPhone is pretty damn good, the things it does well it does better than pretty much any other phone, and leaves Symbian and Windows Mobile phones eating dust in the overall usability stakes, especially in regards to Music/Media, Web, and the app store. Plus the sales speak for themselves, they are remarkable for such a high end portable device.

The only worthy challengers it has in my eyes are the Android phones and the Palm Pre, that's it, even the N97 and the latest WM 6.5 seem a bit long in the tooth comparatively and would do well to borrow a few more ideas from them.

Personally I've owned a first gen iPhone, numerous Nokia's over the years up to the N95, HTC Diamond & HTC Touch HD WM phones, and now I have a T-Mobile G1 Android which is pretty much my favourite of the lot overall, and with the latest 1.5 Cupcake update I find the browser and usability of the phone superb and I've always liked a proper keyboard, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't mind trying out the new iPhone 3GS in a heartbeat especially now they've reached a certain level of parity now feature wise (namely MMS support and Video recording)...

[truttyMab]

The only thing Apple has is games and multi-touch, everything else it does is nothing special. Name a single stand out feature of the Iphone apart from that?

The iPhone OS.

[KitRittyTug]

Anyone who's ever found himself saying: "I sure could use a small flashlight right about now"... which is... well... EVERYONE.

I always carry at least a Leatherman Micra and a Fenix LD01 flashlight. They are TINY (fit into the coin pocket with room to spare) and I usually wind up pulling out one or the other a couple of times per day.

I normally carry an actual knife as well though (due to NYC laws, either a Victorinox Fireman, or a Byrd Wings slipjoint), either on me, or in my briefcase, in addition to a rescue breathing protector, two pairs of sterile latex gloves, a small tube of cyanoacrylate glue, 2 large (4x4 inches) and 2 small (2x2 inches) sterile pads, 0.5 inch x 2ft roll of surgical tape and 2 meters of 7-strand 550lb parachute cord.

Are you Macgyver?

[Finanziamento]

Are you Macgyver?

Haha... [rofl][rofl][rofl]

[erroxiainsona]

Are you Macgyver?

ROFL! [rofl]

[KernJetenue]

Are you Macgyver?

Heh. That's funny.

I like to think of it as being prepared.

But there are worse things one can endeavor to be than McGuyver, I guess.

With regards to the iPhone, I would say that the decision not to make a pretend "flash" was correct. It is less of a feature, and more of a hindrance, because it produces very little usable light past about a foot away, and takes up valuable real estate on the phone. Basically, it wouldn't add much, would take up space, and would just give people reason to complain... everything the iPhone is trying not to do.

Just carry a Photon or a knockoff chinese coin cell light if you are in a habit of constantly taking pictures in very low light with your cell phone (can be had for like $0.50 each) on your keychain. They're the size of a stack of four quarter coins, and will give you like 10X as much light as a cell phone "flash".

[TeveVikep]

With regards to the iPhone, I would say that the decision not to make a pretend "flash" was correct. It is less of a feature, and more of a hindrance, because it produces very little usable light past about a foot away, and takes up valuable real estate on the phone. Basically, it wouldn't add much, would take up space, and would just give people reason to complain... everything the iPhone is trying not to do.

Just carry a Photon or a knockoff chinese coin cell light if you are in a habit of constantly taking pictures in very low light with your cell phone (can be had for like $0.50 each) on your keychain. They're the size of a stack of four quarter coins, and will give you like 10X as much light as a cell phone "flash".

Agreed completely. No phone has a flash, just a stupid feeble gimmicky led.

And no matter how good the camera on the phone is it can never replace a proper camera. Even a cheap camera that costs a hundred dollars would be better than any camera phone. It will at least have a flash. The iphone 1.0 and 3G camras were quite weak but the 3GS camera is just good enough to take that random picture when you're out with friends or whatever.

[Gulauur]

I think Apple know that anyone who can afford to run an iPhone will have a separate digital camera that they use. I have taken about 30 pictures with my iPhone over 9 months and they were only so I could upload them straight to facebook.

By the way, a couple of Sony phones have a proper xenon flash and it makes a world of difference.

[violetgorman]

How about a friggin Flash player and Adobe Reader for iPhone built-in so I can visit any website in the world, anywhere, anytime.