deanupton.com/blog

I’ve been trying to think why today’s announcement of the Apple iPad has left many (including myself) feeling slightly underwhelmed. After all, this is a radical new product from a company famed for innovation.

Apple iPad

Firstly, the device was the worst kept secret in Apple’s recent history. There has been so much speculation about the product that people were bored before it was even announced. Personally, I think Apple may have been better to pre-announce it back in September to benefit from the excitement and fervour that existed back then.

Secondly, as of right now, I realised – it’s just a big iPhone. There is very little it does that you couldn’t theoretically do on an iPhone. Sure there’s the iWork suite of Apps, but I can wait until I’m next in front of my full size computer to do those activities. Capitalising on the large number of iPhone Apps is a double-edged sword; it emphasises that there are lots of applications available for it at launch, but it also leaves the subconscious imprint that it’s just an iPhone – with a bigger screen. There’s little compulsion to splash out or lug around a non-pocket device.

However.

When the iPhone was launched, the App Store didn’t exist. The iPhone was just a phone with a funky interface and significantly less functionality than competitors. It evolved into a tremendous platform, in part because it had an outstanding design from scratch and a solid, long-term strategy behind it. What was built in from Day 1 was exquisite design and engineering that applications could build upon; a combination that results in an experience that’s much more than functionality – it’s, well, beautiful.

iPad games

This is where I think we are with iPad. It doesn’t do that much that is new, in fact it probably does less than an equivalent netbook. But this is just the beginning. What will follow, in my opinion, is the execution of a carefully crafted strategy resulting in new and innovative applications that are made possible – and beautiful – because of the deep and exquisite engineering that has gone into this first stage. Owners of iPhones love how they interact with it perhaps more than what they interact with it for, and that’s a difficult quality to convey without just playing with one. It’s only when you see a video of someone interacting with the iPad that you can begin to get a feel for why someone might desire to use one. Compare it to the experience of interacting with a netbook running Windows or Linux. The Apps that build upon this foundation will be new, innovative and beautiful.

What we saw with the iPad today was like the announcement of a new type of motorway in the sky. It has left many people asking “why” and “is that it?”, but just wait until you see the flying cars that will run on it in the future.

Four weeks ago, on the same day, the Nokia N97 and Apple iPhone 3GS were launched. I went out that day to buy one of them. In Part One I describe why I chose iPhone, and in Part Two what I think 4 weeks on.

Being a former Mac advocate, I knew that the iPhone would be exceptionally good when it was announced in 2007. However the fact the original was only 2G (GSM/GPRS) meant it was no-go for me; fine for the US market which tends to lag behind Europe in terms of cellphone progress, but not for a regular 3G user like me. Then the iPhone 3G was launched but still fell short missing 3 big features – 1) no MMS, 2) a terrible camera and 3) no video-calling. Last month the 3GS with iPhone OS 3.0 was announced, fixing 2 out of the 3 barriers. For me, it was now a competitor.

However, I’ve also been a staunch advocate of Nokia’s outstanding implementation of Symbian; an operating system built from the ground up for smartphones. The solid foundations of a power efficient, multi-tasking OS coupled with Nokia’s excellent user interface and hardware design made phones like the N95 a phenomenally flexible, powerful and successful handset.

Having waited 6 months for Nokia to release their replacement flagship, the N97, I was split 70%/30% between the N97 and iPhone. Functionally, the N97 is superior and would almost certainly win. On the day they were released, I went to the Nokia and O2 shops to try them out. First, I used the N97 for about an hour. My observations in that time:

• 

  Nokia N97

  Beautiful design. The slide-out keyboard mechanism is perfection, although the angle of the screen can make it a little awkward to type.

• The screen is bright, sharp and clear. But the resistive touch-screen technology feels old-tech, requiring pressure for it to sense you. The stylus accessory they provide you with almost seems like an admission that the touch screen isn’t ideal.
• The User Intarface is a clear enhancement of the N95, and a natural evolution of Symbian S60. However it’s inconsistent, requiring single taps in some places and double taps elsewhere, some places have scroll bars others you just drag the content. Animations and transitions are nowhere near as smooth as the promotional videos – the CPU is clearly underpowered. These inconsistencies make me think they were retro-fitted to compete with iPhone’s interface, but it leaves it feeling unfinished.
• The camera, like the N95 is excellent. The lens cover is back, thankfully, after being removed in the N95-8GB and it benefits from an extra flash/video LED.

In summary, the N97 is extremely functional; it does everything under the sun. But – and here’s the catch – it doesn’t do it easily. I left feeling a little frustrated that Nokia had done a good enough job, but not the revolution the N97 needs to compete with iPhone.

Walking into O2, I didn’t want to like the iPhone 3GS. Firstly, the iPhone is a closely controlled platform; while there are many Apps available, all are vetted by Apple whereas anyone can write Apps for Symbian. For example, background Apps are not allowed by Apple which means it can’t upload my current position to friends. Secondly, the camera is important to me; the N95 has become my main camera because the quality was good enough, and the iPhone’s 3MP camera with no flash would be a downgrade. Finally, it would be the first time I had ever been on an 18 month contract rather than 9 or 12 – something I object to.

Then I played with it. I’ve used one many times before, so there were few surprises. However what was more apparent now was the striking difference in the experience between Nokia’s best and the iPhone. My observations in that time:

• 

  iPhone 3G-S

  It’s fast. Boy is it fast. Flicking between Apps pages, browsing the web, zooming – it feels as fast and smooth as my PC.

• The screen. The capacitive touch screen isn’t just easier to use, and more functional as it supports multi-touch, it’s more tactile. It feels like you’re touching glass – you want to touch it.
• The User Interface is polished, perfected, polished again and buffed. It is near perfection in its quality of design, thought, logic and implementation. The manual is just a couple of pages, and that’s because it needs little explanation.
• Stuff just works. I set up my email account in seconds – and it just worked. No faffing.
• App Store. While Nokia have had Apps for years and recently launched their answer to Apple’s App Store, Ovi, the iPhone takes choosing an App a pleasurable experience rather than a chore.
• Quality Apps. The majority of useful iPhone Apps cost (whereas the majority of Symbian Apps are free), but on the whole they exude quality.

After quite some thinking, I made my choice. The iPhone 3GS is more expensive, but in a different league to the N97. It’s almost unkind to compare them; like pitching a Ferrari against an Audi. I could list many things that the N97 can do that the iPhone can’t, but the iPhone does everything else better.

In Part Two – What I like and dislike about the iPhones 3GS 1 month on, what it’s like coming from a hardenned Nokia user, and whether I wish I had chosen the N97.

One downside I listed against iPhone was that it’s only available connected to O2. Given the choice, I would have connected with Vodafone for one, simple reason – data. As such, I came up with a solution for geting the best of both worlds, using my iPhone on O2 and Vodafone.

If you’d like to know more about the networks, read on. To cut to the “how-to”, skip to “Upton Mobile Hotspot”.

Why Vodafone?

iPhone works great on O2; it would just work better on Vodafone. iPhone, more than any other handset currently on the market, is about the network. It’s half way to being a cloud computing handset. So many applications expect the data network to be there – Shazam uploads samples of music, the Maps application downloads the latest maps rather than storing them locally, even the positioning is performed primarily from a combination of cell tower locations and an online database rather than GPS.

With data being so important to the handset, a good cellular data network is essential. From my experience, that means Vodafone.

Not all data networks are equal. There are many factors that determine how good a cellular data network is, but some of the main factors are:

1) Number of base stations
Quite obvious – the more  cell sites there are, the more likely you will have a strong signal.

2) Basestation hardware
Cell sites can have 2G hardware, giving you painfully slow GPRS/EDGE (<100 kbit/s), or 3G hardware giving you a faster 400 kbit/s wireless link.

3) Basestation software
A 3G site can be upgraded to HSDPA (3.5G), boosting wireless speeds from  400 kbit/s to 7 Mbit/s.

4) Backhaul connection
Your fast wireless link is only to the base station. Each station needs to be hooked up to the data network via wires or microwave link, and this is called the “backhaul”. It’s also expensive. You are sharing this connection with everyone in your cell, so if your network economises on the backhaul, your speed suffers.

From my experience, Vodafone have far more sites supporting full 3.5G, and equip those sites with sufficent backhaul speed to make their data network very noticeably superior. O2′s data network, while better than most, is certainly a long way behind Vodafone.

How about SIM-free?

Another option is to buy an imported, unlocked iPhone and use a Vodafone SIM. This is not without pitfalls however. Firstly, services such as Visual Voicemail require the network to support it. Also, PUSH notifications are becoming far more important since the release of OS 3.0. Apple’s PUSH technology requires support from the network operator and so it’s likely an iPhone on UK Vodafone may not work with PUSH features such as Email, Instant Messenger, and Find My Phone.

Upton Mobile Hotspot

So – iPhone on O2 and Vodafone. Here’s the trick.

JoikuSpot

My previous Nokia N95 is a fantastic, versatile device sporting both 3.5G and WiFi connectivity. An excellent piece of Symbian software (JoikuSpot) can provide a bridge between these two, turning the N95 into a virtual router – a Mobile Wifi Hotspot hooked up to the Internet over it’s 3.5G broadband connection. I have a Vodafone Datacard for use with my laptop, so I removed the data-only SIM to use in the N95. Voila – a pocket-sized Vodafone WiFi Hotspot.

When I enable the software, iPhone thinks it’s in range of a Wifi hotspot and silently uses it for its data connection instead of O2. This is particularly useful at Hursley, which has strong Vodafone 3G coverage but only 2G O2 coverage. Presto – iPhone using Vodafone’s data network. As an added bonus it’s still connected to O2, so PUSH notifications still come through, Visual Voicemail still works, etc.

There’s another bonus. Some iPhone Apps are deliberately crippled to use WiFi networks only. For example, Slingplayer detects if you are on 3G and refuses to stream (this was imposed by Apple because networks were worried about the load placed on their 3G networks if everyone started Slinging). However, my iPhone thinks it’s connected to a WiFi hotspot and so happily streams my Sky+ Slingbox from anywhere.

And still there’s more. This isn’t a Bluetooth (1 to 1) connection; this is a wifi hotspot. So my laptop can hook up at the same time as my iPhone – as can my girlfriend’s laptop. And your’s too if we’re in Starbucks and I give you the WEP key.

The solution isn’t perfect though. Firstly, it’s another device to carry. However I’m used to carrying the N95 and it’s pocket sized after all unlike some alternative solutions. Besides, it often just sits in my laptop bag rather than my pocket. Secondly, powering Wifi and 3G at the same time sure DRINKS battery – a full charge on the N95 lasts around 4 hours!However I have a tiny Nokia USB charger that can symbiotically sap power from my thinkpad’s battery in order to provide it with connectivity. Besides if I get fed up of carrying it, or the battery dies, it falls back to O2′s 3G network. Thirdly, there’s the extra cost of a data contract. I had one anyway for my laptop so I have no complaints here, but even so it’s only comparable to the absurd £15/mo O2 charge for “tethering” – Apple’s re-invention of using the phone’s data connection with your laptop.

Finally, I’m hoping this doesn’t affect my chances of having kids later – that N95 in my pocket sure gets hot!