question about texting on an iphone3g

cojomo2

Hey,

im really thinking about upgrading my viewty for an iphone3g,

i was messing with one in the o2 shop this morn and came accross something that totally put me off..i went to the sms screen to see what typing a txt was like..it had a full qwerty set up but the keys were tiny and i kept pressing the wrong buttons, i flipped the phone around to landscape thinking the auto rotate would kick in and show a bigget keyboard but it did nothing..the dude in the shop said it only auto rotates for pictures etc..so is the a setting to choose a regular sms phone type keyboard or does it only have this tiny qwerty that would only work well with girls fingers?? If not then im leaning towards the bb storm.

Thanks

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

Hey,

im really thinking about upgrading my viewty for an iphone3g,

i was messing with one in the o2 shop this morn and came accross something that totally put me off..i went to the sms screen to see what typing a txt was like..it had a full qwerty set up but the keys were tiny and i kept pressing the wrong buttons, i flipped the phone around to landscape thinking the auto rotate would kick in and show a bigget keyboard but it did nothing..the dude in the shop said it only auto rotates for pictures etc..so is the a setting to choose a regular sms phone type keyboard or does it only have this tiny qwerty that would only work well with girls fingers?? If not then im leaning towards the bb storm.

Thanks

Yes, it is only viewable in that mode. The predictive facility is excellent and if using English only in English mode, it is very easy to type quickly and accurately. Personally I have developed quite a technique with both thumbs lightly brushing off the keys and rarely have need to correct my SMS. The ability to change to caps and/or to all caps quickly is terrific too.

Two things though: some dude has posted an app in the App Store which does exactly what you are looking for to the onscreen keyboard and in the upcoming 2.2 firmware this just *might* be implemented.

Oafley Jones

culabula wrote: »

Two things though: some dude has posted an app in the App Store which does exactly what you are looking for to the onscreen keyboard and in the upcoming 2.2 firmware this just *might* be implemented.

They might also implement MMS, Copy & Paste etc. but's there's absolutely no indication that they're coming in 2.2 either. So far we know...

- New look for the Safari with the Google search bar now occupying its own space on the title bar
- Toggle On / Off to disable the auto-correction
- 461 Japanese emoji icons
- Support for new languages.
- Line-in audio is activated and can be used through the headphone jack
- Google Street View, Google Transit information - Routes public transport, Walking directions, Location sharing.
- App Store: 'Categories' now shows the icons of the applications instead of the list, In each page of the application has been added by a button 'Tell A Friend' & 'Report A Problem', Added the possibility of scoring the application when the user chooses to delete from the device, Added the possibility for direct downloading of podcasts from the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store

godskitchen

cojomo2 wrote: »

Hey,

im really thinking about upgrading my viewty for an iphone3g,

i was messing with one in the o2 shop this morn and came accross something that totally put me off..i went to the sms screen to see what typing a txt was like..it had a full qwerty set up but the keys were tiny and i kept pressing the wrong buttons, i flipped the phone around to landscape thinking the auto rotate would kick in and show a bigget keyboard but it did nothing..the dude in the shop said it only auto rotates for pictures etc..so is the a setting to choose a regular sms phone type keyboard or does it only have this tiny qwerty that would only work well with girls fingers?? If not then im leaning towards the bb storm.

Thanks

Get used to stupid annoying little things like that if you buy an iphone...........things you would expect to be there are just not.

cojomo2

some dude has posted an app in the App Store which does exactly what you are looking for to the onscreen keyboard and in the upcoming 2.2 firmware this just *might* be implemented.[/quote]

thanks for that. Im not familair with the app store but does this mean i can now buy this application and then be able to txt in landscape mode? Also when is the 2.2 software out, and is that free\?

All in all would you say iphone 3g is a great buy or do u have any regrets? If you are a mad apple fan then you need not answer as i know what you will say!looking for a neutral opinion, cheers for the reply.

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

some dude has posted an app in the App Store which does exactly what you are looking for to the onscreen keyboard and in the upcoming 2.2 firmware this just *might* be implemented.

thanks for that. Im not familair with the app store but does this mean i can now buy this application and then be able to txt in landscape mode? Also when is the 2.2 software out, and is that free\?

All in all would you say iphone 3g is a great buy or do u have any regrets? If you are a mad apple fan then you need not answer as i know what you will say!looking for a neutral opinion, cheers for the reply.[/QUOTE]

Yes, you can buy in the App Store, it may even be free.

Firmware updates are free -it is rumoured to be coming on the 21st of November but again I stress that landscape texting mode might be introduced and more likely, it will not be.

As for the iPhone itself, I am more than happy with it -the bluetooth is lousy, the battery life is woeful, the camera sucks, it won't talk to any of my Apple computers natively, to deal with its disadvantages.

But -it gets better each and every day with more and more capabilities. I can stream 20,000 songs from my library to it (I have not got so much as 1 track stored locally on it). I can watch France24 in French and al-Jazira in Arabic. I can log into my eyeTV at home and watch recordings of "Spooks", "Coronation St" and other important shows -from anywhere I happen to be (subject to 3G/wi-fi). I have apps that let me voice-dial it, ones that take me to the nearest restaurant, GPS, Google Earth. I control my iTunes with it from bed. Movies is the best and most fully-formed app I have seen for any platform. I update my FaceBook site from it constantly.

It's a bit good.

cojomo2

hi coolabula,

thanks for the reply...

couple of questions..

1. this application for landscape txting..will i have to 'jailbreak' the iphone to use this ?

2. you mention about watching your tv on your iphone..i didnt know this was possible..i thought slingbox was the only way to do this and thats not compatable with iphone..id really appreciate if you could explain how you do this, and also if the 1gig cap gets eatin up very quickly while doing this?

cheers

asdasd

this application for landscape txting..will i have to 'jailbreak' the iphone to use this ?

No, you are missing one of the best things about the iPhone. It is effectively a computer with a well featured API to allow developers to build new apps for it. Many of these apps ae free, some are real good. Most of the paying applications cost aboout $0.99- which is a sweet point.

The appp store is integrated into the machine. Launch it Browse. Hit a button to doanload - type in your password and you are downloading.

Oafley Jones

culabula wrote: »

Firmware updates are free -it is rumoured to be coming on the 21st of November but again I stress that landscape texting mode might be introduced and more likely, it will not be.

Is there any source for this or are just in the business of giving out false hope?

asdasd

Is there any source for this or are just in the business of giving out false hope?

Some developers have preview copies but are under NDA, occasionally information leaks, more often than not false information leaks.

cojomo2

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Is there any source for this or are just in the business of giving out false hope?

why wait for an update if you can download an app for landscape texting as mentioned in one of the post above?am i missing something?

also , can you only view apps from the iphone or is there a web address i could go to on my pc to browse them? thanks

asdasd

why wait for an update if you can download an app for landscape texting as mentioned in one of the post above?am i missing something?

That app is not the Apple SMS application so it may not be as good, or as fully tested, or it may cost money.

I think it should be real easy to add landscape mode to the SMS app.

cojomo2

am soo tempted to buy iphone ..only 4 weeks left on my 3 contract...hate the idea of an 18 month contract tho..and nearly every1 i know is on 3 , not o2 so it will cost me a fortune!!what am i going to do!

Oafley Jones

asdasd wrote: »

Some developers have preview copies but are under NDA, occasionally information leaks, more often than not false information leaks.

I'm aware of this, check my post above for a list of the expected features from Macrumors. I've yet to see the orientation feature for texting listed anywhere and i'd like to see a source.

culabula

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Is there any source for this or are just in the business of giving out false hope?

How exactly am I giving out false hope when I stress that it's only a possibility and more than likely will not happen?

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

am soo tempted to buy iphone ..only 4 weeks left on my 3 contract...hate the idea of an 18 month contract tho..and nearly every1 i know is on 3 , not o2 so it will cost me a fortune!!what am i going to do!

You're going to buy an unlocked iPhone in Italy and stick a 3 SIM in it.

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

hi coolabula,

thanks for the reply...

couple of questions..

1. this application for landscape txting..will i have to 'jailbreak' the iphone to use this ?

2. you mention about watching your tv on your iphone..i didnt know this was possible..i thought slingbox was the only way to do this and thats not compatable with iphone..id really appreciate if you could explain how you do this, and also if the 1gig cap gets eatin up very quickly while doing this?

cheers

No, you won't. It's a legitimate app either for sale or for free in the App Store.

I navigate to my IP address on my iMac at home, port 2170 and I watch from my library. You need to have eyeTV installed in order to do this. Apart from that the broadcasters I have mentioned provide media optimised for iPhone use online which I watch through Safari.

In the future the following is rumoured to happen. EyeTV will provide an app for DTT on the iPhone. TVcatchup are trying to do this too and zattoo may follow. However, at time of writing, DTT has yet to be introduced in Ireland and the latter two services are unavailable from Ireland. So, my method of accessing my media library from my iPhone remains one of the few successful ones for now.

The 1GB cap takes a long time to get used up (though as a 3 customer, I do not suffer from this). Example: last week I streamed live TV from my PS3 in Belfast to my PSP in Dublin for 2 hours while sharing my 3 IRL connection from my MacBook in order to do so. This used 89mb.

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

why wait for an update if you can download an app for landscape texting as mentioned in one of the post above?am i missing something?

also , can you only view apps from the iphone or is there a web address i could go to on my pc to browse them? thanks

Because the update, if it did contain such a facility, would a) be free and b) be official Apple software -unlike the 3rd party which may or may not be free and may or may not be well-written.

If you have iTunes on your PC, you may visit the App Store with impunity and browse all the apps there.

cojomo2

culabula..even tho i dont fully understand what you are saying about watching tv on ur phone, you have been very helpful, so thanks.

i did think about getting an unlocked phone from italy..is this what you did? the reason i didnt do it is because i couldnt be arsed going to italy especially and didnt wana take any chances buying one off ebay and at an iflated price too.

anyway if i do get 1..is it as straight forward as popping my 3 usim card in and away i go? is there any limitations using it on 3? i.e can u still navigate to 'my 3' and check how many mins u have used etc?
it seems to good to be true..is there any downside to buying an italian iphone and trrowing my sim into it?

thanks

Oafley Jones

culabula wrote: »

How exactly am I giving out false hope when I stress that it's only a possibility and more than likely will not happen?

There's a possiblity 2.2 will unlock all iphones, allow MMS, the ability to transfer files via bluetooth, user selectable wallpaper etc. etc, but the chances are it won't. In fact, nobody is suggesting it will happen- just like landscape typing for texting. And since this is a deal-breaker for Cojomo2, he should get all the facts and not speculation to guide him in his decision making.

culabula

Oafley Jones wrote: »

There's a possiblity 2.2 will unlock all iphones, allow MMS, the ability to transfer files via bluetooth, user selectable wallpaper etc. etc, but the chances are it won't. In fact, nobody is suggesting it will happen- just like landscape typing for texting. And since this is a deal-breaker for Cojomo2, he should get all the facts and not speculation to guide him in his decision making.

There is NO possibility whatsoever that 2.2 will unlock all iPhones, don't exagerate.

There was discussion at length of the landscape mode feature being implemented very recently on one of the Mac rumours sites. It was based on insider knowledge but naturally should be taken with a large dose of salt and, like all things Apple, subject to healthy speculation. I do not have the source to hand as I read all of those sites just about every day. It was discussed as a possibility at the time the App that enables this was released, but I do not recall what the name of that is nor how is is charged.

All of this I have made very clear. The only fact is that an app is available to swing the SMS app into landscape mode.

Half the things that my iphone now does for me were impossible just a few weeks ago -they weren't even being speculated. I went ahead and bought it fully aware of its limitations. The one thing that I did realise was that it would be subject to continual improvement and subject to the incredible imagination of its users and developers.

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

culabula..even tho i dont fully understand what you are saying about watching tv on ur phone, you have been very helpful, so thanks.

i did think about getting an unlocked phone from italy..is this what you did? the reason i didnt do it is because i couldnt be arsed going to italy especially and didnt wana take any chances buying one off ebay and at an iflated price too.

anyway if i do get 1..is it as straight forward as popping my 3 usim card in and away i go? is there any limitations using it on 3? i.e can u still navigate to 'my 3' and check how many mins u have used etc?
it seems to good to be true..is there any downside to buying an italian iphone and trrowing my sim into it?



thanks

Totally straightforward.
No limitations. I use Palringo and Fring, for example, on it every day as well as all the other apps I have mentioned.
Yes, I navigate to my 3 every day and 'check my usage'.
No downside.

Yes, I got an iPhone in Italy and am very glad that I did.

cojomo2

sounds brilliant..

i mite just do that...i heard that the stores in italy can look for i.d to show u live in italy etc etc...did u have any problems with this..and did u activate it through itunes in italy and would u need an italian credit card for that, or did u activate it here in ireland?

thanks

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

sounds brilliant..

i mite just do that...i heard that the stores in italy can look for i.d to show u live in italy etc etc...did u have any problems with this..and did u activate it through itunes in italy and would u need an italian credit card for that, or did u activate it here in ireland?

thanks

Italy can be a land of mystery when buying things -sometime they want a piece of your granny just to buy a train ticket. Other times Italian nationals require a 'codice fiscale' to buy big-ticket items such as an iPhone.

To avoid all this, I just got an Italian pal who lives in London to buy it for me in his home town of Palermo. I was able to listen to the entire conversation in real-time as the purchase was made (thanks, 3 Like Home) and I do believe that the transaction was as easy as pie: "I want that one.....that'll be 569€......do you take Visa......yes........ciao! Ciao, grazie".

In the end of the day, where a pre-pay item is involved, the guys just want to sell, like anywhere else. However, I will check on this with the man himself.

Bought on Saturday, back in London on Sunday night, posted on Monday and in my grubby mitts on Tuesday, 0900.

culabula

cojomo2 wrote: »

sounds brilliant..

i mite just do that...i heard that the stores in italy can look for i.d to show u live in italy etc etc...did u have any problems with this..and did u activate it through itunes in italy and would u need an italian credit card for that, or did u activate it here in ireland?

thanks

Forgetsies, there is no need to activate it, you stick a 3 or any other SIM and it works straight away. No need either to configure an APN or other settings. I regularly use about 10 different SIMs in it and it does all this without protest.

cojomo2

if u get bored of it anytime soon id love to buy it off u:D