Well, Apple announces the new iPhone 5 (or is it the 4GS) in about 30 minutes in Cupertino. My 2 year agreement after getting the 3GS was up in June, so I'm looking forward to upgrading.

Well, Apple announces the new iPhone 5 (or is it the 4GS) in about 30 minutes in Cupertino. My 2 year agreement after getting the 3GS was up in June, so I'm looking forward to upgrading.
What are you looking forward to that makes it an insta-upgrade?

From the rumors I'm hearing, Sprint may be paying mondo-bucks to have exclusitivity for the iPhone 5 for a couple years, while the other providers get the iPhone4GS.

Sprint is betting the farm on the iPhone 5: To make a profit, they'd have to double their install base... AND convert everyone to iPhone5's

http://img.ibtimes.com/www/articles/20111004/224596_apple-inc-sprint-nextel-corp-verizon-and-at-t-wireless-carrier-in-u-s-apple-s-iphone5-sales-profit-2.htm

What are you looking forward to that makes it an insta-upgrade?


The 5. obv

From the rumors I'm hearing, Sprint may be paying mondo-bucks to have exclusitivity for the iPhone 5 for a couple years, while the other providers get the iPhone4GS.

Sprint is betting the farm on the iPhone 5: To make a profit, they'd have to double their install base... AND convert everyone to iPhone5's

http://img.ibtimes.com/www/articles/20111004/224596_apple-inc-sprint-nextel-corp-verizon-and-at-t-wireless-carrier-in-u-s-apple-s-iphone5-sales-profit-2.htm

I used to have sprint but I never got service on campus. AT&T is worse, but I'm grandfathered in to the unlimited data plan..so I'm not sure.

According to Sprints new commercial, they have unlimited data plans. However, not sure if that applies to the iPhone, if they are indeed getting the new one.

They are getting the new iPhone (20 billion worth), the only question is if they're getting exclusitivity

Fuck Sprint...horrible coverage.

Fuck Sprint...horrible coverage.

Great coverage here.

Sprint pretty universally has mediocre coverage according to any site I've seen doing such comparisons.

Real-time reaction:

1:26 pm: Apple adding a new app: Cards. You create the card on your phone, Apple prints it, addresses it, puts a stamp on it and sends it. Apple will even notify you the day it's delivered. It costs $2.99 to mail in the U.S., $4.99 anywhere else in the world. (This is the best thing to happen to the postal service since Amazon.)

1:41 pm: (Editor's note: Shutterfly <SCRIPT type=text/javascript>cnbc_comboQuoteMove('popup_SFLY_ID0E2NAC15839609');</SCRIPT>[SFLY 34.22 http://media.cnbc.com/i/CNBC/CNBC_Images/componentbacks/watchlist_down.gif -6.09 (-15.11%) http://media.cnbc.com/i/CNBC/CNBC_Images/backgrounds/realtime_icon.gif] (http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/SFLY)<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> cnbc_quoteComponent_init_getData("SFLY","WSODQ_COMPONENT_SFLY_ID0E2NAC15839609","WSODQ","true","ID0E2NAC15839609","off","false","inLineQuote"); </SCRIPT> and American Greetings <SCRIPT type=text/javascript>cnbc_comboQuoteMove('popup_AM_ID0E2CAE15839609');</SCRIPT>[AM 16.52 http://media.cnbc.com/i/CNBC/CNBC_Images/componentbacks/watchlist_down.gif -1.31 (-7.35%) http://media.cnbc.com/i/CNBC/CNBC_Images/backgrounds/realtime_icon.gif] (http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/AM)<SCRIPT type=text/javascript> cnbc_quoteComponent_init_getData("AM","WSODQ_COMPONENT_AM_ID0E2CAE15839609","WSODQ","true","ID0E2CAE15839609","off","false","inLineQuote"); </SCRIPT> shares plunge on Apple's announcement of that app to create and mail a card anywhere in the world.

Live blog if you want to follow along

Live Blogging the Apple iPhone 5 Announcement - NYTimes.com (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/live-blogging-the-apple-iphone-5-announcement/?partner=rss&emc=rss)

Gizmodo has one as well:

Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide - Live Blog (http://live.gizmodo.com/)

I'm excited about wireless sync.

I really hope the Sprint exclusivity thing isn't true. The wife and I were seriously considering getting iPhones, but that will kill any chance of that happening. Not only do we have a family plan on AT&T, but I get $45/month from my employer to pay for my AT&T data plan that I would lose if I switch.

So they've announced the 4S, but no pricing. That leads me to think there will be a 5 announced here is a few minutes.

The 4S is both GSM and CDMA. Which is nice

And HSDPA, aka true 4G wireless.

True 4G? Not really (Nothing on AT&T is really 4G - its why AT&T is working quickly on their LTE network)

8MP camera

I'll take back my previous iPhone 5 announcement prediction. It looks like they've kept the same form factor, but have completely upgraded the innards.

1080p video recording, and image stabilizaton

A slide just went up with the number 5. But then it was quickly replaced with a slide about AirPlay. What's up with that? Is there an iPhone 5?

Are they screwing with people, or what?

voice assistant seems pretty cool

To be perfectly honest, I want less talking into phones, not more. The idea of people not just loudly talking to their friends and family but shouting into their phones "What is a Subby?" is totally unappealing to me, as a human.

voice assistant seems pretty cool

Does it look like Wolfram Alpha to anyone else?

Phil asked Siri "What's the weather like today" and it answered him with a forecast. If this thing works, it's going to be pretty darn amazing.

drool

Mr. Forstall asks, "Do I need a raincoat today?" The phone replies, "It sure looks like rain today," and shows the weather screen again.

"What time is it in Paris?" he asks. The phone replies with the time in Paris and shows a clock. "Wake me up at 6 a.m.," says Mr. Forstall. "O.K., I've set an alarm for 6 a.m. tomorrow," the phone replies.

This is amazing. And freaky.

more drool

To be perfectly honest, I want less talking into phones, not more. The idea of people not just loudly talking to their friends and family but shouting into their phones "What is a Subby?" is totally unappealing to me, as a human.

Point. Hasn't phone technology gotting into LESS talking, not more? Texting taking off instead of video calling, etc? I mean, I can voice search on my Android, but I barely do it.

Phone: Tea, Earl Grey, hot.

The one real world application I see for that voice recognition stuff is hands free driving. Now, I'm messing with google maps trying to find restaurants while driving. If all I have to do is speak it, and it give me a list, that would be cool.

Does it look like Wolfram Alpha to anyone else?

just said Apple linked up with them

Phone: Tea, Earl Grey, hot.

:thumbsup:

Is there really $100 worth of new features compared to a normal iPhone 4?

My wife can upgrade from a Droid w/ $50 off starting today. I'll probably recommend she get the iPhone 4 for $50 instead of a 4s for $150.

Hmm 3gs will be free with 2 year contract now and a $99 IPhone 4. Nothing about any exclusive deals.

For sale starting Oct. 14, pre-orders start on Oct. 7th.

64GB - $399
32GB - $299
16GB - $199

iPhone 4 8GB - $99
iPhone 3GS 8GB - Free

All with a 2 year plan, and Sprint is officially announced as a carrier.

Is there really $100 worth of new features compared to a normal iPhone 4?

My wife can upgrade from a Droid w/ $50 off starting today. I'll probably recommend she get the iPhone 4 for $50 instead of a 4s for $150.

Only if she really, really wants the Siri voice assistant. That's only available on the 4S.

All with a 3 year plan...
REALLY? They've switched from 2 to 3 year plans? I really hope that was a typo :eek:

what's the usual cost without the 2-year contract? $600 or so?

Nice to see Sprint get an iPhone. I don't think I'll get one, but the value of stopping the posts on the Sprint board about getting one is priceless.

Free huh. Well if I can get unlimited data for a reasonable price, I will consider it. But not until.

Not following online other than this thread... does this mean no iPhone 5?

edit: Seems so... guess we're all in the wrong thread.

I still feel the price for 16 more gigs of memory is a joke. $100 bucks for each 16 gigs, should really be more like $50.

I still feel the price for 16 more gigs of memory is a joke. $100 bucks for each 16 gigs, should really be more like $50.

Well, it is $50/16GB from 32GB to 64GB :)

Well, it is $50/16GB from 32GB to 64GB :)

Doh, yeah, I'm not counting very good today. Here let me rub my eyes.

Nice math Dan.

Getting the 64GB version. Ordering on Friday. My 3G phone is crap. Between the 64GB version and my 64GB iTouch, I can put almost all of my movies on both.

this thread title does NOT deliver

Phone: Tea, Earl Grey, hot.

I can't find the like button, and wish to use it.

I won't be upgrading to this one. I have an Iphone 4 and this just isn't worth the upgrade IMO. More power is always nice, but the rest of the features don't do anything for me.

In 1987, Apple made a concept video regarding a touchscreen device that has interactive voice commands. The date in the video was Sept. 16, 2011. They were two weeks late. :)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3WdS4TscWH8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I won't be upgrading to this one. I have an Iphone 4 and this just isn't worth the upgrade IMO. More power is always nice, but the rest of the features don't do anything for me.

I was wondering why Apple was going all patent lawsuit crazy against Samsung this summer, of all times... now I kinda realize why, because the iPhone 4S doesn't really bring much new to the table and the Samsung Galaxy SII may be a better phone experience already.

Does anyone know the price if you aren't in line for an upgrade? I still have a few months left but my Blackberry has gone to shit. $199 is nice but $500 would turn me off.

Does anyone know the price if you aren't in line for an upgrade? I still have a few months left but my Blackberry has gone to shit. $199 is nice but $500 would turn me off.

I believe the iPhone 4 prices started at $600 with no contract.

I was eligible for an upgrade at the end of August. I was stalling for this announcement.

Since I have a dumb phone, this is a no-brainer for me - although I was really, really looking forward to a larger screen iPhone. Ohwell.

I have a question...I have AT&T and a Blackberry Torch right now. Both me and my wife are considering upgrading/switching to an iPhone. I have the Torch, but she doesn't have a smartphone. So right now, I'm only paying for one phone's data plan.

The question is, how much are AT&T data plans for the iPhone, and what's the cost for 2 phones? Do they have a shared data plan, or are they separate? just trying to get a feel for costs going forward if we do this.

So what's the alternative for people who aren't buying the 4S? SII? Nexus Prime?

I have a question...I have AT&T and a Blackberry Torch right now. Both me and my wife are considering upgrading/switching to an iPhone. I have the Torch, but she doesn't have a smartphone. So right now, I'm only paying for one phone's data plan.

The question is, how much are AT&T data plans for the iPhone, and what's the cost for 2 phones? Do they have a shared data plan, or are they separate? just trying to get a feel for costs going forward if we do this.

They have tiered data. If she is a stay at home mom, she can live on the 200MB plan and use wifi. I think that is $15/month Otherwise it is 30/month for a 2 gig plan. No shared data afaik.

Dola- My wife tops out at around 140MB a month, primarily using our in home wifi.

In 1987, Apple made a concept video regarding a touchscreen device that has interactive voice commands. The date in the video was Sept. 16, 2011. They were two weeks late. :)

Alternatively if you consider Android phones and other devices have had this functionality for ages they missed it by at least a couple of years.

(although if you listen to the tech media as with the 'Video' functionality on the iPhone 4 apparently it didn't exist before Apple did it ;) )

I believe the iPhone 4 prices started at $600 with no contract.

It was $499 - I get most of my phones as non-contract purchases because I need them for development purposes.

voice assistant seems pretty cool

Its like many 'Apple' things imho - it seems cool, but few people will actually use it in real-life (and it won't work as well as it sounds like it should) .....

Seriously how many people here use 'Face Time' frequently? (I don't think I've ever used it appart from with my wife who accidentally turns it on now and again and hates it because she doesn't want it showing a close up video of her ear while talking :D).

Its like many 'Apple' things imho - it seems cool, but few people will actually use it in real-life (and it won't work as well as it sounds like it should) .....

Seriously how many people here use 'Face Time' frequently? (I don't think I've ever used it appart from with my wife who accidentally turns it on now and again and hates it because she doesn't want it showing a close up video of her ear while talking :D).

what does she want to show???

So what's the alternative for people who aren't buying the 4S? SII? Nexus Prime?

SII now, Nexus Prime if you can wait. Both better options, IMO, than the 4S.

Why? I'm honestly curious, since I'm in the market.

SII now, Nexus Prime if you can wait. Both better options, IMO, than the 4S.

I can wait. Will the Prime blow the SII out of the water?

what does she want to show???

She's never wanted it turned on at all - but she generally hates all apple user interfaces and finds them incredibly unintuitive ... if you ever meet Becca don't ask her what she thinks of an iPad for gods sake ;)

Why? I'm honestly curious, since I'm in the market.

I prefer the openness of Android for one. I haven't rooted my phone, but that option opens up the entire device to you. You are dealing with a super quick phone, with more RAM than the 4S, which is not locked down. And it, of course, works seemlessly with Google. I also think the Super AMOLED Plus screen is amazing, regardless of the smaller resolution due to the fact that it brightens up the subpixels. I have the HTC Thunderbolt, but I sometimes get jealous of the screen on the Droid Charge (it shames the Droid Bionic's screen, even though that one is qHD).

I can wait. Will the Prime blow the SII out of the water?

Well, it'll be a 1.5 Ghz Dual Core phone and have LTE, which the SII doesn't currently have. Also it is rumored to come preloaded with the Ice Cream Sandwich OS update instead of Gingerbread and be first in line for updates and Nexus phones are basically close as you can get to stock Android as possible.

Oh, and I just read that in addition to great screen due to subpixels, the Nexus Prime will have a "retina display" type screen as well (320 DPI).

When is the Nexus Prime suppposed to come out?

It's rumored to be unveiled 10/11, and probably go on sale not too long after that.

she generally hates all apple user interfaces and finds them incredibly unintuitive

I always love how Apples are "easier to use", then they explain how common functions are just "open-apple-M-click" or somesuch ;)

The main issue with Android phones these days is that you get the latest and greatest and then 4 months later, your phone is being lapped by the new offerings. The speed of adding new stuff on Android phones is ridiculous.

I mean I bought my Thunderbolt in May, and that was the most advanced phone at the time (in the US), and there is a potential that in 6 months there is a phone released that absolutely whips it in processor (and not just in dual core), RAM, screen, etc.

Actually, for me, the problem with Android is that it doesn't play as well with my existing devices/media/apps/etc as the iPhone does.

Now that I've taken the plunge with Apple and iTunes (although it still freezes on me at least once every time I open it), I like the idea of consistency. Not needing to buy the same app twice, familiarity, etc. I'm leaning toward an iPhone. My mom is buyingthe 4S, so she's going to send us her old one, and I'm going to let my wife try it out for awhile to see if she really wants/needs a smartphone. I'll check it out then.

<iframe src="http://www.funnyordie.com/embed/e80fbc46ca" width="640" height="400" frameborder="0"></iframe><div style="text-align:left;font-size:x-small;margin-top:0;width:640px;"><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e80fbc46ca/iphone-4s-where-s-the-iphone-5" title="from Funny Or Die and ellhoof">iPhone 4S: Where's the iPhone 5?</a> - watch more <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/" title="on Funny or Die">funny videos</a> <iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?app_id=138711277798&amp;href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.funnyordie.com%2Fvideos%2Fe80fbc46ca%2Fiphone-4s-where-s-the-iphone-5&amp;send=false&amp;layout=button_count&amp;width=150&amp;show_faces=false&amp;action=like&amp;height=21" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:90px; height:21px; vertical-align:middle;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe>
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Now that I've taken the plunge with Apple and iTunes (although it still freezes on me at least once every time I open it)...

I seriously think it has to be something with your computer.

Maybe, although I don't know why. Did it last night, again. It freezes the first time I open it, I have to Cntrl-Alt-Del to shut it down, reopen it, and then it usually works OK after that. It has frozen up again when I've tried dragging songs to import to my ipod and I guess I put too many on there for it to handle or something. I just learned to stop at about 150 and it seems to handle that OK.

I've only got it on 1 computer, and it's a fairly new laptop. So I don't know what the problem could be.

Maybe, although I don't know why. Did it last night, again. It freezes the first time I open it, I have to Cntrl-Alt-Del to shut it down, reopen it, and then it usually works OK after that. It has frozen up again when I've tried dragging songs to import to my ipod and I guess I put too many on there for it to handle or something. I just learned to stop at about 150 and it seems to handle that OK.

I've only got it on 1 computer, and it's a fairly new laptop. So I don't know what the problem could be.

Yeah, I really don't have a productive suggestion, I just know that I've had it freeze maybe a handful of times and I've used it almost daily for years.

I dunno. iTunes has been really getting slow on me lately as well. I think its because it wants to do all this stuff like searching on Genius, etc.

This isn't slow - this is a flat-out freeze. If I just leave it alone, eventually I'll get a "this program is not responding" message, just from doing something like trying to access my music, or go to itunes. Basically, whatever the first action I try to take is, it freezes there. Then once I restart it, it's generally OK.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l146/mon_montrose/jh/Ie4yC.jpg

Tried to order a 4s for my wife this morning. She has $50 off through Verizon's new every 2 (so $150 phone, yay!). We're on an old Alltel everything unlimited plan that was grandfathered in during the merger. It's about $60 cheaper than if we just went with verizon's plan.

So I'm ordering, and it tells me that to buy a 4s, I have to change data and text plans (neither of which are unlimited, like the current plan). It also says that we can call after we activate it, and they may be able to put our old plan back in.

I take that to mean they would give us the run around when we try to go back to the old plan. Needless to say, we're just going to wait until it actually hits the stores, then try to do it in person so they don't screw us over.

I have a question...I have AT&T and a Blackberry Torch right now. Both me and my wife are considering upgrading/switching to an iPhone. I have the Torch, but she doesn't have a smartphone. So right now, I'm only paying for one phone's data plan.

The question is, how much are AT&T data plans for the iPhone, and what's the cost for 2 phones? Do they have a shared data plan, or are they separate? just trying to get a feel for costs going forward if we do this.

They are $15 for 200 MB, $25 for 2 GB and $45 for 4 GB w/ tethering. The data plans are not shared and would be on a per line basis. If both your lines are eligible for an upgrade it would be $199 per phone for the 16 GB model, $299 for the 32 and $399 for the 64 GB.

Thanks. I think my wife could probably get away with the 200MB plan. I get the $45 reimbursed from work, so that's a wash for my line.

Got mine ordered this morning. Was pleasantly surprised that I get to keep my $30/mo unlimited data plan on AT&T. Now I have to figure out how to get deep-frozen so I don't have to wait until next Friday!

It showed up this afternoon. Haven't had a chance to mess around with it much. Took a few tries to get it activated. Evidently the load is too much for the servers to handle. It is definitely quicker and much better screen than my iPhone 3GS. Now I'm waiting for the jailbreak to be announced. :)

iOS 5.0 sucks serious ass.

I have an iPod Touch 4. "Upgraded" to 5.0 today. Now the standard music app crashed & won't launch without freezing & crashing again and several of the apps I bought appear to be lost forever. It also won't let me restore a backup from before this 5.0 was installed.

Jobs dies & the company turns into Sierra Sports in a month.

It's also possible you did it incorrectly. 5.0 works fine on my iPad and 2 different iPhone 5's.

It's also possible you did it incorrectly. 5.0 works fine on my iPad and 2 different iPhone 5's.

I did it exactly as all previous updates. I noticed that things were slow immediately. I mostly use it for music, and when I started the music app it took several minutes to open my main playlist (which has about 28gb of music in it, but was never a problem before.) When it finally opened & I hit shuffle, it took over a minute to begin playing. No problem for a while, including a couple times where it was shut off. Then, it crashed. When I restarted the app it showed the previous song, then crashed again. Since then the app only shows a blank screen for about 30 seconds, then closes.

I did a restore, now I lost a bunch of apps.

Perhaps it is due to my not having a wifi connection here. Every damn thing it seems to want to do is about this whole fucking "cloud" bullshit.

Whew!

By deleting the HUGE playlist, then restoring (and deleting it again, then syncing) the music app is working again. I read that the music app is new in 5.0 (but seems the same as in 4.3.) Maybe it isn't set up for huge playlists... I'll find out when I put my music back on.

For my lost apps, I had to delete them out of my iTunes library, then go to the iTunes store & redownload them (for free) from the Purchases section.

One of my friends lost apps too on his iPhone 4. I have an iPad 1 and it converted fine.

Yeah... it definitively doesn't like large playlists. After all that, I put my 25gb playlist back on it. Took about a minute to open the playlist & nearly another to shuffle. Once I stopped it playing the app crashes when you try to open it again.

Is there any way to revert to 4.3.3?

Picked up my new iPhone 4S yesterday - pretty cool so far. I have had a lot of fun playing around with Siri - works quite well though sometimes it misunderstands what I say. The camera is so, so, much better than the one on my 3gs. I am having fun with the IOS 5 Trailers app as well

Picked up my new iPhone 4S yesterday - pretty cool so far. I have had a lot of fun playing around with Siri - works quite well though sometimes it misunderstands what I say. The camera is so, so, much better than the one on my 3gs. I am having fun with the IOS 5 Trailers app as well

Siri probably doesn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of porn stars and sexual positions.

Siri probably doesn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of porn stars and sexual positions.

Yet, you mean. Hopefully Siri will learn over time.

has anyone picked up a stratosphere? I'm in the keyboard camp and it seems my Verizon choices are this or the Droid 3. Will it be updatable to Ice Cream Sandwich when it releases (this would be my 1st droid phone)?

Seriously, fuck AT&T with a spoon. Updated my billing address prior to putting in a 4GS order, they shipped it to the old billing address, I spend 2+ days on hold with the fuckers finally to be told "we can't change the address, you'll have to have FedEx hold it when it finally ships or if you live close to your old address, just go and pick it up from there"

Problem is, FedEx won't hold it because AT&T have put a no hold on the order. So I have $800 worth of goods being shipped to the wrong address and nobody will do a god damn thing about it. Guess I'm down to stalking the people who live in my old apartment and hoping they aren't scumbags who will take my stuff and try to sell it on. Awesome.

Siri is absolutely amazing. I have the below case on order and should arrive this week:

Vapor Pro Spectra iPhone Case - Silver (http://www.elementcase.com/Vapor-Pro-Spectra-iPhone-Case-Silver-p/api4-1112-sxx0.htm)

Although it's running about $145 (including overnight shipping, the Transit Kit Upgrade, and 10% off the first purchase), it's definitely worth it for a $400 phone. I'm also a dropper, so this will better protect it than anything else out there. I got to hold one of these last week and it feels amazing in your hand.

Siri is absolutely amazing. I have the below case on order and should arrive this week:

Vapor Pro Spectra iPhone Case - Silver (http://www.elementcase.com/Vapor-Pro-Spectra-iPhone-Case-Silver-p/api4-1112-sxx0.htm)

Although it's running about $145 (including overnight shipping, the Transit Kit Upgrade, and 10% off the first purchase), it's definitely worth it for a $400 phone. I'm also a dropper, so this will better protect it than anything else out there. I got to hold one of these last week and it feels amazing in your hand.

$145 for a case?!?!?!

That's crazy.

I have a rails type bumper case for my 4 and it has saved me several times. Admittedly mine wasn't 145, but it also isn't made out of metal. Without a case, this phone is like a bar of soap.

Really loving the Siri voice control the more I get to know it - it has a lot of features that I am finding out from the web - like adding or multiplying large numbers on the fly without having to open the calculator, or doing reminders that trigger on location - once you set your home, work etc you can tell Siri "remind me to get groceries when I leave work" and it will ping you once you leave the location. Pretty cool so far.

I still don't have my 4S and I preordered it during the pre-order weekend. As per the Rogers person that I spoke to, preordering was the best way to ensure I get my product.

Apparently Rogers screwed over anybody in Canada that used the Reservation system, they shipped loose product out to the stores and didn't leave any for the pre-orders on the first wave of shipments.

I was actually in line at my Rogers for something for my wife, and the person in front of me picked up the last remaining 4S 64GB where I who had Reserved it a week before got nothing. Needless to say I'm not very happy right now!

I've read in several different places about some issue with iO5 where people's contacts and stuff have gone missing. Is this common/normal?

I'm not very impressed with Siri so far, it seems completely unable to recognize even basic voice commands. There's no point in the technology if it doesn't work at a pretty high success rate. It also seems to make the same mistake over and over (e.g. showing me vegan restaurants repeatedly in the LAX area when I'm trying to have it google which terminal Virgin Atlantic flies into at LAX)

Other than that, pretty happy with the phone. The speed and graphics improvements over the 3GS I was on are huge and that makes it worth way more than I paid for it.

To follow-up on my last post, one guys says it's an iCloud issue. Was told to turn off iCloud and wait for the fix.

Talked to my firm's IT guy in charge of phones, and he's a BB guy who recently switched to iPhone. Said he did it mainly because he's seeing so many iPhones that he wanted to have one to personally test out issues and see what our userrs were seeing. But he had the same comments I did about BB compared to Apple, and how we were both hesitant to switch because BB was mmuch more of a business versus personal device, but the industry seems to be going toward personal and BB is getting left behind.

I also asked him about Android phones, and he said he's seeing a lot of isses with server synching. A couple of our folks have had to have their accounts deleted and reinstalled every 2 weeks because of some synching error no one can figure out. He suggested staying away from Android for the time being.

I'm not very impressed with Siri so far, it seems completely unable to recognize even basic voice commands. There's no point in the technology if it doesn't work at a pretty high success rate. It also seems to make the same mistake over and over (e.g. showing me vegan restaurants repeatedly in the LAX area when I'm trying to have it google which terminal Virgin Atlantic flies into at LAX)


I've been pretty lucky and not had many issues along these lines - I've found I just have to slow down my naturally fast speech a bit, and Siri does a lot better at picking up what I say.

I'm not very impressed with Siri so far, it seems completely unable to recognize even basic voice commands. There's no point in the technology if it doesn't work at a pretty high success rate. It also seems to make the same mistake over and over (e.g. showing me vegan restaurants repeatedly in the LAX area when I'm trying to have it google which terminal Virgin Atlantic flies into at LAX)
Are you sure you're not mispronouncing "Virgin"?

i haven't found too many uses for siri, but just being able to dictate texts and emails alone without using a 3rd party app is super helpful

the speed increase from my 3gs is noticeable. the screen is amazing (though i know it was in the 4, i didn't have a 4). the camera is damn good.

being able to just open iTunes and have it automatically sync with the phone is great. i don't miss plugging in.

theres not much i don't like about the phone. id still like turn by turn directions to be incorporated into maps (seems so close with siri already there), but I'm happy with the purchase so far

I received my case and it was worth every penny. I love this phone and the only complaint I have is that the battery life isn't too good.

I'm not sure I'd want a larger screen either.

TUAW has posted some more Siri commands I hadn't tried before, from Harris Rydal.

Great Siri search commands | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/23/great-siri-search-commands/)

Sports scores - Look up the current score for in-progress games and find the team record, last game score, and the upcoming game. Say "Yahoo team name score". Rydal points out "There is a 'Yahoo' here because mobile Yahoo formats the results better than Google."


Flight Times - Say "Search the web for flights from City/Airport to City/Airport". In Google, this brings up a list of flight times that day and the associated airline.


Movie Times (and Ticket Purchasing) Say "Search for Movie Name showtimes Optional ZipCode", or if Siri will let you, you may get away withsimply "Movie Name showtimes Optional Zipcode". You can also "Search for showtimes Zipcode".


Rydal points out that if you've set Google in Safari to use your current location, you don't even need to specify an area code. Google's Fandango integration allows you to click the showtime and hop over to the ticket purchasing pag

I received my case and it was worth every penny. I love this phone and the only complaint I have is that the battery life isn't too good.

I'm not sure I'd want a larger screen either.

Double tap home in order to kill excessive open apps. Sync email a bit less frequently. Turn off wifi if you aren't using it. Reduce the number of apps that can send push notifications. Reduce brightness/quicker screen lock.


If you do several of the things above, it should enhance battery life. And shouldn't negatively affect your user performance.

I just got it android. It is a definite change from a non-smartphone. I was going to get a iPhone but the salesperson talked me out of it.

Sync email a bit less frequently. Reduce the number of apps that can send push notifications.

These are a couple of reasons I'm hesitant to leave my BB. I am addicted to the LED. I want emails immediately. I want that instant information and the immediate gratification. In some instances, I need it for work, but even for personal use, I want immediate notification of emails, texts, FB posts, etc.

I just got it android. It is a definite change from a non-smartphone. I was going to get a iPhone but the salesperson talked me out of it.

Even the guy at the Apple store I was talking to said "Android for phone - iOS for tablet"

These are a couple of reasons I'm hesitant to leave my BB. I am addicted to the LED. I want emails immediately. I want that instant information and the immediate gratification. In some instances, I need it for work, but even for personal use, I want immediate notification of emails, texts, FB posts, etc.

Haven't read your recent posts so not sure your stance on Android, but most Android phones have an LED. I have it on my Bionic. On some phones you can even change the color. I have it set to blue for email, green for text, and red for missed call.

EDIT: must have not even realized what thread I was in. :| Nevermind me Ksyrup :D

Actually, I posted above that I was considering an Android phone, but our IT guy advised against it. Said the few people in our firm that have one have server synching issues that require deleting and recreating their accounts every couple of weeks.

Actually, I posted above that I was considering an Android phone, but our IT guy advised against it. Said the few people in our firm that have one have server synching issues that require deleting and recreating their accounts every couple of weeks.

You need better IT, I've got no issues with Outlook synching here.

The only Exchange-syncing errors I have are when I'm low on space...

You need better IT, I've got no issues with Outlook synching here.

My understanding is we have maybe a half-dozen people, if that, using an Android phone out of 450 attorneys, so it may be that they don't have enough experience in dealing with those phones.

One IOS issue I've had with this board is the search function not working properly, so I just directly bookmarked to search (Front Office Football Central (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/search.php)) and it works for me fine now.

Double tap home in order to kill excessive open apps. Sync email a bit less frequently. Turn off wifi if you aren't using it. Reduce the number of apps that can send push notifications. Reduce brightness/quicker screen lock.


If you do several of the things above, it should enhance battery life. And shouldn't negatively affect your user performance.

I have killed open apps, not synced email unless I open it up and have wifi off. I have no apps that send push notifications.

The only thing that helped today was turning off the location finder. Thanks.

It's a battery hog, but probably no more so than my 3G.

I've decided I'm going to get a 4S, but I hate having to wait for the phone. I've tried the last 3 nights to do the night-before in-store reserve thing online. Tonight I got all the way to the last screen - the confirm screen - and it stopped working. The confirm button wouldn't allow me to get to the final page. Fucking pisses me off.

Anyway, main question I have is, is iO5 safe to download on my iPod? I keep hearing things about issues, so I'm hesitant to do it. I'm not going to lose my entire music and app collection by upgrading, am I?

Backup your stuff first.

All your stuff goes to your Itunes account anyways, so if you do lose anything, it'll just resync it when you plug it back in. My iPad forgot where all my videos were, but it just put them back on when I synced.

I can't sync anything, so if I lose it all it will have to be a manual process to put it all back, which will be time-consuming. I share iTunes with 3 other devices, so the music and apps are all different. And I've got probably 20K songs on iTunes, but only 7K on my device, so I can't sync. I guess I have no choice but to do this, though - one of my apps won't update unless I have iO5.

I can't sync anything, so if I lose it all it will have to be a manual process to put it all back, which will be time-consuming. I share iTunes with 3 other devices, so the music and apps are all different. And I've got probably 20K songs on iTunes, but only 7K on my device, so I can't sync. I guess I have no choice but to do this, though - one of my apps won't update unless I have iO5.

I really don't mean to be mean KSyrup.

But you really don't understand iTunes, do you?

What you've explained does not limit you from syncing in the list.

I have 4 or 5 different iOS devices synching to my computer. All of them have different playlists, songs, apps, etc. There is nothing that should be limiting/preventing you from synching.

No, I don't understand iTunes because it sucks and I don't like having to use it. It's a pain in the ass, it freezes, and it artificially limits me from freely moving my music around in an easier and much more user-friendly way.

It offers to synch my iTunes with my iPod whenever I add new music to iTunes. If it did that, it would add a bunch of stuff I don't want on my iPod, like music I've put in iTunes but don't want to add right now (maybe an old album I just want to have in there for completeness, or a bootleg), or stuff my daughter has just downloaded (fuck no I'm not listening to Ke$ha). If you're telling me iTunes can divine which music I want on my iPod, then I guess I'm impressed.

Otherwise, I guess I don't understand what the hell synching does or means. If you can explain it, I would appreciate it.

No, I don't understand iTunes because it sucks and I don't like having to use it. It's a pain in the ass, it freezes, and it artificially limits me from freely moving my music around in an easier and much more user-friendly way.

It offers to synch my iTunes with my iPod whenever I add new music to iTunes. If it did that, it would add a bunch of stuff I don't want on my iPod, like music I've put in iTunes but don't want to add right now (maybe an old album I just want to have in there for completeness, or a bootleg), or stuff my daughter has just downloaded (fuck no I'm not listening to Ke$ha). If you're telling me iTunes can divine which music I want on my iPod, then I guess I'm impressed.

Otherwise, I guess I don't understand what the hell synching does or means. If you can explain it, I would appreciate it.

Whenever you plug a device in, it will show up on the left sidebar in iTunes.

You select that device and it allows you to set up sync options. I'll focus on music specifically.

When you go into music it gives you two main options: "Entire Music Library" and "Selected playlist, artists, albums, and genres".

If you choose the 2nd option, a ton of specific settings open up. You can check individual playlists, artists, genres, and albums.

So, you have a lot of choices there. You could setup a playlist in your itunes that is "KSyrups" music and synch that. You could set up individual playlists for certain tastes of yours, etc. It sounds like you already have a lot of playlists setup, so you can really probably just use those as a starting point.

Smart playlists are good for this imo. For instance, I have a playlist for everything that is rathed > 2*s by me. So anything that I've given 3, 4, or 5 stars is on this playlist. When I had an 8gb ipod touch, I didn't use this because it was bigger than 8gb - but I put it on my 30GB iPod classic.

If you set this up once, you shouldn't have any problems going forward. Only thing would be if you setup new playlists, you'd have to go in and check it on this screen.

For an Apple explanation of what I've tried to explain, go to: Syncing music to iPod or iPhone (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1351)



*************

I know I've probably come off as rude about this several times to you, but it just seems like you're not understanding how iTunes works and having problems that I don't hear of from anyone else. I should take the tact of trying to teach you rather than mock you, so my apologies for that.

iTunes isn't perfect, but one of the things I think it does well compared to other things is syncing multiple devices - that's why I was really taken aback by your comments.

I appreciate the info, seriously.

But here's the problem. I don't use playlists, at all. I'm not interested in them. I don't even understand the concept or why I should care about them. I don't rate music, I don't take the time to make sure the music I listen to is put in the proper genre (although the little I have noticed, it's often wrong and all over the place, even within the same artist). etc. I've got new stuff from artists I've never listened to being added to iTunes, older stuff, my wife's music (80s rock), my kid's music, etc. I don't know how I could possibly set up parameters to not only filter just what I want, but make sure it doesn't fill my iPod to capacity. As I mentioned, I've probably got 3 times the music in iTunes that I can fit on my iPod. So if I told it "metal genre," my iPod would be filled with a bunch of stuff I don't necessarily want on there, and leave off a bunch of stuff I do want.

I guess I just don't "get" how iTunes is supposed to be used. I rarely use the program itself. Most of the time, I don't even use it to listen to music on the computer. And that's because it freezes all the time and is just generally not the first program I'd choose as a music-listening program.

I'm not trying to be difficult or the crotchety old man here. There's a fundamental lack of understanding between how Apple wants me to use and manage my music, and the way I want to manage my music. We are not on the same wavelength.

So how do you get music on your ipod then?

Like I said, you could make one list called "KSyrup" and just drag everything you want onto that list. You can then sync that playlist and only that playlist to your ipod. At the simplest level, this would accomplish what you want.

I could go into a ton of other ways you could make it manage your music for you, but I suspect you're not interested in that. FWIW, I think your.... simplistic... method of managing is part of why you have the problems that you do. I think Smart Playlists would be more effective than dragging 100s or 1000s of songs at one time to a playlist. However, as you've said, the smart playlists do require some management of genres, etc. I agree that the categorizing of songs is pretty hit or miss.

Personally I try to manage both genres and song ratings. I've always had the goal of rating everything, but never met it. If you do manage the ratings and genres, it gives you a great deal of flexibility in managing your music.

I simply walk through my iTunes directory and drag-and-drop the albums directly to the iPod. I would never think to add the extra step of creating a playlist to do that. I guess I'm failing to understand how using a playlist makes the task any simpler or worth doing.

I think the conceptual issue I have with playlists is that they seem like the functional equivalent to a mixtape, and I don't listen to music that way. I rarely, if ever, even use the shuffle function (occasionally, with bands that have 5-10+ albums, I'll shuffle amongst all the songs, but generally, I listen to music the way I always have - each album, front to back). So the idea of creating a playlist is something i wouldn't consider right from the start.

As far as rating and genres...I don't see the utility. I know what genre the music I listen to is without taking the time to specifically identify it in iTunes, and rating music, to me, is a total waste of time. If it's on my iPod, that means it's 5 star (something I want to listen to at any given moment). Otherwise I wouldn't care enough to put it on my iPod to begin with. I could never see myself listening to just metal, or just 4 star songs.

Another thing is, I bought the 64GB iPod for the express purpose of having as much music with me at all times as possible. So I don't have the constant back and forth of taking certain things off and adding others due to space. I mean, I have a ton of music I'd ideally add if I could, but what's on there now is probably 90% of the stuff I might want to listen to at any moment, given my mood. So once I've dragged and dropped it once, it's there. When I buy something new, I drag and drop it once, and it's on there. I don't really have a need to move subsets of my music off and on my iPod, nor do I categorize my music for listening purposes, in a way that seems to make setting up playlists something i should do. But maybe even after you've explained it to me, I'm still missing something.

I don't really have a need to move subsets of my music off and on my iPod, nor do I categorize my music for listening purposes, in a way that seems to make setting up playlists something i should do. But maybe even after you've explained it to me, I'm still missing something.

Nah...I'm the same way.

Another thing is, I bought the 64GB iPod for the express purpose of having as much music with me at all times as possible. So I don't have the constant back and forth of taking certain things off and adding others due to space. I mean, I have a ton of music I'd ideally add if I could, but what's on there now is probably 90% of the stuff I might want to listen to at any moment, given my mood. So once I've dragged and dropped it once, it's there. When I buy something new, I drag and drop it once, and it's on there. I don't really have a need to move subsets of my music off and on my iPod, nor do I categorize my music for listening purposes, in a way that seems to make setting up playlists something i should do. But maybe even after you've explained it to me, I'm still missing something.


I guess I'm the one missing something.

Why does any of this mean you can't sync to your iPod and other devices?

You plug it in, it syncs what you've selected. YOu back it up, upgrade to iOS5, plug it back in, it syncs the songs you had selected.

You have some weird aversion to playlists though.

It's basically just doing what you're doing, but it would allow you to easily take the same songs and sync to different devices. Like, let's say you have all of this music. Then you drop your ipod off a cliff by accident. You get a new ipod, you just sync that playlist to your new ipod, no worries.

It's functionally the same, except that it's there forever.

I guess I'm the one missing something.

Why does any of this mean you can't sync to your iPod and other devices?

You plug it in, it syncs what you've selected. YOu back it up, upgrade to iOS5, plug it back in, it syncs the songs you had selected.

I don't know why it means that. I guess the clue to the answer is what you mean by "what you've selected." Or hell, what is "synching" in Apple vernacular?! Let's start from the very beginning, shall we? :D

The way I understand how it works is it will synch "my iTunes" with my iPod. That, to me, suggests it will synch everything (at least the first time you re-connect; after that, whatever was not in iTunes the last time you plugged in) if I have it set to synch (as opposed to manual, which is what I have it set to now). But I don't want everything from iTunes on my iPod (even if I had room). So to avoid that, the first time iTunes asked me if I wanted it to automatically synch, I switched it to manual. I do not want it to automatically put on my iPod every song that was not in iTunes the last time I plugged in. That's what I take it to mean.

If my daughter buys a Lady Gaga album, and I synch my iPod with iTunes, will that Lady Gaga album not be transferred to my iPod? If not, why not? Isn't that what synching is? If it does nothing in synch mode and I have to select what gets synched, is that not the same as my manual transfer of the same songs to my iPod?

I'm afraid to try anything in that damn program because of the unintended consequences that might occur.



You have some weird aversion to playlists though.
...

It's functionally the same, except that it's there forever.

The only time I ever see the need to have all of that music in a subset of iTunes is for upgrading the operating system, I guess. I don't have an aversion to it, I don't understand why I need it when it adds one more step to the process of transferring music to my iPod.

Drag-and-drop------>Chris' Ipod

vs.

Drag-and-drop------>Chris' Playlist------>Chris' Ipod

That's what I see.

Honestly, I appreciate the help with this. It's like Apple and I just don't speak the same language or something. There was something else that I completely misunderstood that I posted about in the iTunes thread a long time ago - I think it was where I can edit song titles. The dropdown has a "get album info" command. That, to me, is a command to access the online album info to download it. But no, in iTunes, "get album info" is code for "edit song info." I would never have realized what that was, without someone here pointing it out.

Drag-and-drop------>Chris' Ipod

vs.

Drag-and-drop------>Chris' Playlist------>Chris' Ipod

That's what I see.

And this may be one point you are missing.

FIRST TIME:

1. Create Playlist.
2. Tell iTunes to only sync that playlist, no other music, to your ipod.

EVERY OTHER TIME:

Drag-and-drop------>Chris' Playlist

Next time you plug in (or hit the sync button) the music is on your ipod.


I still personally think you're missing a lot of what iTunes can do for you, but I think you're being too close-minded and set in your box to be open to those things. So, at minimum, I'm trying to make you understand how you can use iTunes without the "problems" you're mentioning.

For all of the problems iTunes has, imo it is completely flawless and simple to use with multiple devices, syncing different items to each.

Wife's 4s came Wednesday. Waited until last night to activate it until she got her case. Turned it on, there's a 3 pixel wide white line running straight down the screen. Now we have to wait 3 weeks on the return because there are none in stock. Glad we pre-ordered.

Got mine early this week. Loaded it in the new Defender case by Otterbox and it's ready to go. So far, awesome. I had a 32GB iPod Touch 2nd Gen already but this is my first smartphone. I've snapped a bunch of pics, exchanged contacts wirelessly with my wife, assigned pics to the contacts for when they call. Listened to music, watched videos.

And I even made a few phone calls.

And this may be one point you are missing.

FIRST TIME:

1. Create Playlist.
2. Tell iTunes to only sync that playlist, no other music, to your ipod.

EVERY OTHER TIME:

Drag-and-drop------>Chris' Playlist

Next time you plug in (or hit the sync button) the music is on your ipod.


I still personally think you're missing a lot of what iTunes can do for you, but I think you're being too close-minded and set in your box to be open to those things. So, at minimum, I'm trying to make you understand how you can use iTunes without the "problems" you're mentioning.

For all of the problems iTunes has, imo it is completely flawless and simple to use with multiple devices, syncing different items to each.


I'm not trying to be closeminded. I'm just on a different wavelength than the designers of this application, I guess.

I'm on my 3rd attempt at upgrading to iO5. Is it normal for this thing to be stuck on 7 hours downloading, and then timing out hours later? That's all it's done each time I've tried to update. Right now I'm 2 hours in, and it looks like I've go about 20% progress.

I think you need to adjust your Internet settings. Mine took like 5 minutes or so.

What does that mean? Adjust the settings in iTunes or something? I don't have any kind of connection problem outside of iTunes. Downloads are lightning fast.

It timed out at 4 hours last night. That was after it did its customary freeze when I started it up, of course.

This whole thing has really made me think twice about getting an iPhone. It's bad enough that I have these issues with my iPod, but I can't have these kinds of difficulties with my phone.

I'm just saying you have all these issues with iTunes on your PC, which other people don't seem to have(myself included). I don't know if there is a firewall issue, or some sort of permissions issues with your computer. Maybe you need to run iTunes as an administrator or something.

That's beyond my understanding or capabilities. I wouldn't know where to start or what settings to mess with.

Maybe I'll try putting iTunes on the desktop computer and seeing if it acts any differently.

Ksyrup, based on the problems you are describing here, as well as the issues you were reporting with your Xbox, I wonder if you have some sort of overarching network issue at home.

The XBox thing has been widely reported - both the freezing of the NCAA game and the fact that it might have something to do with being connected to the internet (although I'm not sure that's been proven). I seriously doubt there's more to it than some game-specific issue. The Xbox remains connected for all other games the kids play, and we've never had a problem.

I don't know what kind of network issue I could have where everything works perfectly aside from iTunes. I guess it's possible, but I have not seen a single issue with connectivity for any other purpose. I download a ton of stuff, and there's never a problem. My youngest daughter plays a bunch of online games, and doesn't have a problem. My iPod is connected wirelessly at home and I surf the web on it just fine.

Like I said, diagnosing that kind of thing is way over my head. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes, and it doesn't seem to matter.

Just right click on iTunes <run as administrator> to see if that makes any sort of difference. Might not, but it's a 2 second attempt at a fix.

Don't tell me there's no easy way to transfer what's on my iPod to a new computer. This can't get any worse than it already is.

Don't tell me there's no easy way to transfer what's on my iPod to a new computer. This can't get any worse than it already is.

I've tried to back away from this subject, but...

I'd recommend looking up "Home Sharing". That i what I've used.

I saw that option, but I don't think it fits the scenario for a permanent dump of everything on my iPod to a new computer's blank iTunes.

Say my (or your, for that matter) computer crashes, and dummy me only has what's on my iPod. I get a new computer, or I've wiped my old one clean to get back to factory settings...how do I recreate my old iTunes library using just my iPod?

With pretty much every other MP3 player I've ever owned, this is as simple as drag-and-drop through Windows Explorer. Is there not an equivalent for iTunes?

Do you not just have to synch with iTunes?

I believe there should be an option when you're synching to add anything from the ipod to the computer.

Mind you, I haven't had the need to do anything like that for awhile but when I got my new computer I believe that's all I did.

I tried to synch, and it did nothing. Didn't transfer anything to the computer from the iPod, and I didn't see an option to make it do that. I hope it's there and I just missed it, but I tried it a few times.

It works the opposite way. Everything on your iPod must also be on your computer. You can select whatever from your computer that you want to sync to the iPod, but not the other way around.

If you get a new computer, backup your iTunes library and restore to the new computer. That way you can avoid a LOT of work.

iOS 5 is supposedly causing the battery problems in the 4S.

It works the opposite way. Everything on your iPod must also be on your computer. You can select whatever from your computer that you want to sync to the iPod, but not the other way around.

If you get a new computer, backup your iTunes library and restore to the new computer. That way you can avoid a LOT of work.

Well, I know that sometimes if I have something on my iPod/iPhone but not on my computer, it loads it on the computer.

But that may be stuff that I downloaded/bought on my iPod/iPhone.

But you can backup to either your computer or iCloud, would that not work as well?

I did a backup, but it took so little time to complete that I'm afraid to try to upgrade to iO5 if the backup doesn't provide the full restore I need after it wipes my iPod clean to install iO5. I don't really trust this program, as you might be able to tell.

I'm still trying to get over the fact that I can't just drag-and-drop stuff from the iPod to my computer. I thought once they dropped the sharing restrictions they used to have, they added features we enjoyed in 2004 on non-Apple MP3 players. Guess not.

I like this product and everything, but the process for doing things and restrictions are almost not worth it. I'm probably gonna hold off on getting an iPhone because I just can't deal with these kinds of frustrations on my phone. It's too important to me. iPod is just a side device I have fun with. Although I'm not having much fun right now.

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but if you have WinAmp, there is a plugin that allows you to do just what you are asking, and move the songs from your iPod/iPhone to the computer.

iPod Winamp support plugin | Free Audio & Video software downloads at SourceForge.net (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mlipod/)

That's cool. Problem is, it's more than just songs.

I guess what I'm going to have to do is wait until I get home (I'm out of town right now), download iTunes to my desktop computer, and try to upgrade to iO5. If it doesn't work, then I've got a network problem somehow tied to iTunes. If it does work, then I've got a problem with my laptop. If it works, then I guess I'm going to have to connect back to the laptop to put all the music and apps back on it that were lost when it upgraded to iO5, assuming the back-up doesn't restore everything first.

For all the man-hours spent trying to figure out Ksyrup's iTunes problem, someone could have traveled to wherever he is and fixed it for him.

I updated to 5 wrong and lost all my music and apps. But they were all available to download again from my iTunes account. The stuff I bought thru iTunes.

I don't have the music collection like you obviously. I have stuff I've ripped/downloaded from Amazon on another PC. Haven't synced that with the cloud yet.

Yeah, I'd say the "purchased" part accounts for maybe 1% of my collection.

Well, I know that sometimes if I have something on my iPod/iPhone but not on my computer, it loads it on the computer.

But that may be stuff that I downloaded/bought on my iPod/iPhone.

But you can backup to either your computer or iCloud, would that not work as well?

Yeah if you buy something on your device, it'll transfer to your computer when you plug it in.

But the iPod is not meant to be the holding device. It's really a component of your iTunes setup on your computer. Think of the computer being the core device, and being able to parcel out whatever parts of it that you want to your device. It doesn't really work the other way around.

It has changed with IOS5 though, they are starting to disconnect the i device from your computer and basically let you use it as a totally standalone device.

OK, two questions - one on more of this iPhone stuff and the other on alternative phone choices.

First, I was finally able to get iO5 on my iPod. It took 14 hours (basically, all day Saturday between backup, download, install, and re-installing my backup), but it's on there. And I'm not sure I see a lick of a difference.

But here's my main question: iCloud. Again, I may use my devices completely differently than the rest of the free world, but why would I want to use this? It will wirelessly sync anything I download or buy to my devices without me having to do anything. I don't want that. Why would anybody? If my wife downloads a Danielle Steele ebook, or my daughter downloads a ke$ha song, I want that automatically put on my iPod? I don't see any way to filter what would be wireless synched. And how would it know what's mine versus other people in my house, anyway?

How does this work, really? Do you have spearate accounts set up for each device in your house? I'm supposed to give my 12-year old daughter a credit card to buy stuff with on her own account? Again, someone please fill me in on what I'm missing or doing wrong here.

OK, away from Apple... I'm stiill considering buying an Android phone. I'm on AT&T. The Samsung Galaxy S II and the new Skyrocket they have coming out looks good, but I don't know. My big question is generally speaking, how quickly are they rolling out 4G? The Skyrocket is 4G LTE, but in my area, I'm pretty sure that's unavailable.

Should I stay away from 4G phones and concentrate on other features? It feels to me like buying a 4G phone living in Lexington KY is like choosing my TV provider in 1999 based on the fact that they offer HD channels. It feels like we're a couple of years away from really being able to use that technology, at least those of us who don't live or work in a big city. Is that right?

OK, two questions - one on more of this iPhone stuff and the other on alternative phone choices.

First, I was finally able to get iO5 on my iPod. It took 14 hours (basically, all day Saturday between backup, download, install, and re-installing my backup), but it's on there. And I'm not sure I see a lick of a difference.

But here's my main question: iCloud. Again, I may use my devices completely differently than the rest of the free world, but why would I want to use this? It will wirelessly sync anything I download or buy to my devices without me having to do anything. I don't want that. Why would anybody? If my wife downloads a Danielle Steele ebook, or my daughter downloads a ke$ha song, I want that automatically put on my iPod? I don't see any way to filter what would be wireless synched. And how would it know what's mine versus other people in my house, anyway?


How does this work, really? Do you have spearate accounts set up for each device in your house? I'm supposed to give my 12-year old daughter a credit card to buy stuff with on her own account? Again, someone please fill me in on what I'm missing or doing wrong here.

OK, away from Apple... I'm stiill considering buying an Android phone. I'm on AT&T. The Samsung Galaxy S II and the new Skyrocket they have coming out looks good, but I don't know. My big question is generally speaking, how quickly are they rolling out 4G? The Skyrocket is 4G LTE, but in my area, I'm pretty sure that's unavailable.

Should I stay away from 4G phones and concentrate on other features? It feels to me like buying a 4G phone living in Lexington KY is like choosing my TV provider in 1999 based on the fact that they offer HD channels. It feels like we're a couple of years away from really being able to use that technology, at least those of us who don't live or work in a big city. Is that right?

I think iCloud is per device, and you can decide what you want synced by type. So it will only sync books if you want it to. Pretty sure it's in the iPod's settings somewhere.

Remember, this is a consumer device. They're not really making it for the people who are hyper specific about their media. They just want it to be as easy as possible.

I'm more annoyed that I turned on wireless sync for my wife's phone. Now if I have the main computer on, it pops up itunes seemingly at random to sync her phone. I was trying to make syncing easier for her, but now it's just a pain.

Ideally you want a different account for each member of the family. For the kids, you can use a gift card to fund it. Or you can set up some sort of iTunes allowance per month. My 12 year old has her own account, but I would never link it to a credit card.

With ICloud, I believe you can sync your whole music collection to the cloud. So that if you don't have all your music on your device, you can easily download it.

My 12 year old doesn't even have an email account, so I hadn't really thought about giving her an iTunes account.

I had that pop-up thing happen to me last night, and I have wireless synching off. My daughter downloaded some app, and it popped up asking me if I wanted to synch it to my iPod.

KSyrup - if you don't want to set up the synching options as I've encouraged you in the past, iCloud is useless for you.

I stil don't see how the synching can work per device, unless each device has its own account. Is that the only way? I understand what you've explained about the playlist, but this wouldn't even involve the playlist. It would synch whatever I buy or download before I could ever put it in a playlist. And for apps, the playlist isn't even part of the discussion (as far as I can tell). This would synch everything with every device.

I'm with ksyrup on that one -- we've been having trouble syncinf one itunes to more than one ipod. I've had to set up a different windows account for each of us, so that we each have a separate copy of itunes.

I'm with ksyrup on that one -- we've been having trouble syncinf one itunes to more than one ipod. I've had to set up a different windows account for each of us, so that we each have a separate copy of itunes.

I'm not trying to be mean, but you're doing it wrong.

We have 4 or 5 different devices synching with iTunes with no issues. I honestly don't know what to tell you.

No offense KSyrup, but I've thrown my hands up at this point. I'm not sure how to help you.

Have you tried iCloud? Just like the synching on iTunes, it provides no options for synching to one device. It is all or nothing. I understand the (what I'll call) work-around you described using the playlist. Without using it, it would synch everything. But the playlist doesn't have anything to do with apps or videos or anything else, as far as I can tell.

But with iCloud, it synches everything. Like I said, I don't even have it turned on, and I got a notification to d/l one of my daughter's apps right after she downloaded it to her iPod. It synches everything. I'm not sure what I'm missing that you've tried to explain, other than the playlist work-around that doesn't seem to involve iCloud and that, at best, only works for music.

If I could find whatever it is that supposedly limits what is synched on iTunes or iCloud so that I get to direct what gets synched (not just music, but apps and eveything else you can put on an iPod) with my device versus other devices in my household, I would be happy. No one has been able to do that (and that includes my searches on google).

I use iCloud.

My wife and I share an iTunes account.

We have totally separate apps, music, etc shared. The only place we've run into issues is with contacts and reminders.

Fwiw, this shows how you can stop the automatic downloads.

Apple - iCloud - Learn how to set up iCloud on all your devices. (http://www.apple.com/icloud/setup/)

I use iCloud.

My wife and I share an iTunes account.

We have totally separate apps, music, etc shared. The only place we've run into issues is with contacts and reminders.

Seems like you have the solution for ksyrup then...

To be fair, I have not used "iTunes Match" which I would assume you would be using, so I can't speak to that specifically.

Seems like you have the solution for ksyrup then...

And if you read the thread, I've tried many, many, many times to explain it to him.

This is why I've thrown my hands up.

I appreciate your attempts to help wade. Seriously. I've already looked at the page you linked to above, and it tells me nothing. That's my frustration with Apple in general, I guess. I've walked through those exact screens. I have iCloud turned off, and have since I finally got iO5 to download. It still prompts me to download stuff. I don't even want the prompt.

But none of this answers my main question, which is, if for some reason I wanted it to have it automatically download, how does it know who's device to download on? In your situation, wade, walk me through what happens when you download music or an app that you want but your wife doesn't want, and you have iCloud on automatic download. What happens?

I appreciate your attempts to help wade. Seriously. I've already looked at the page you linked to above, and it tells me nothing. That's my frustration with Apple in general, I guess. I've walked through those exact screens. I have iCloud turned off, and have since I finally got iO5 to download. It still prompts me to download stuff. I don't even want the prompt.

But none of this answers my main question, which is, if for some reason I wanted it to have it automatically download, how does it know who's device to download on? In your situation, wade, walk me through what happens when you download music or an app that you want but your wife doesn't want, and you have iCloud on automatic download. What happens?

It is based on what music you have set to sync/not-sync in your ipod settings in itunes. Which you refuse to use.

This is where I'm confused - are you referring to playlists, or some synch settings I've never seen before? About all I've seen is synch or manual. That's the extent of it.

Right now, I'm talking about something you download that's automatically transferred to all devices. If I download something on my iPod, what stops it from being downloaded on all devices? I don't even have to touch iTunes to download music and have it wirelessly synch (assuming I correctly understand what iCloud does). How does it know what device(s) to assign a particular song or app?

just set a playlist already, dude.

make 1 for your iPod. make another one for your wife's iPod. make one for your kids. or whatever the issue is.

then set each one to sync with the appropriate iPod. you don't even need iCloud.

anyone can download whatever they want on your iTunes account, move it into "Dad's playlist" or whatever, plug your iPod in, and have it sync that playlist only.

unless I'm missing something?

This is where I'm confused - are you referring to playlists, or some synch settings I've never seen before? About all I've seen is synch or manual. That's the extent of it.

Right now, I'm talking about something you download that's automatically transferred to all devices. If I download something on my iPod, what stops it from being downloaded on all devices? I don't even have to touch iTunes to download music and have it wirelessly synch (assuming I correctly understand what iCloud does). How does it know what device(s) to assign a particular song or app?

Ksyrup,

I'm sure you've been through all this- but I'll give it a go anyway:

In the screenshot below just underneath the apple Icon in the middle of the page you see a set of tabs regarding all the music, apps, calendars, Podcasts, etc. applicable to the logged in iTunes account. As Wade said- you can have several devices on the same account- and control the items you want on the device- as well as which items you want synced...All individual for each device.

You can see my Iphone highlighted in the left margin- and you can also see that I have chosen to sync my music based on selected playlists, artists, albums and genres. I can sync based on any- or all of those. I can also uncheck the sync function and never sync Music on my phone via iTunes- but sync calendars, or anything else. Each tab has similar properties for customizing sync settings.

Don't know if any of this will help- but it wasn't intuitive to me at first:

Actually, that's very helpful, thanks. I guess I need to try to wrap my head around the playlist thing. it's just so counter-intuitive to me. I think it's mainly because (a) I'm just used to a simple drag-and-drop from computer to device, and see the playlist as an unnecessary step, and (b) I have more music than I can put on my iPod, so my playlist is going to have to constantly change as I add and subtract music. And it just seems like it's easier to do that directly from iTunes to iPod, rather than on a playlist.

I never bought into the PC people/Mac people thing until I owned an Apple product. Now I see it firsthand. I like the end product, but I don't understand the process they use to get to that point, and the hoops they make you jump through to use the product make no sense to me. And I read through the user guide, and I see what you can do with all of this stuff, but I never get an answer to why. And that just makes me ignore it, if I don't understand the reason for it.

Anyway, thanks for the help. Even you, wade. :p

I've read in several different places about some issue with iO5 where people's contacts and stuff have gone missing. Is this common/normal?

Just happened to me. All my apps are gone also.

Another question I have for those in the know. I create a playlist on my phone, then when I sync it dissapears. Anyone know why.

Also, all my music is now gone. Most of it was downloaded through limewire and not purchased from ITunes. Anyone know a fix so that I can get it onto my itunes and so my iphone doesn't wipe it all out when I sync?

Does anyone have a recommendation for a portable battery/charger? My Mom has been spending a lot of time at the hospital visiting my Grandma and complains that her phone dies out. Was looking at getting her a device that she could keep in her purse and give a charge while she is sitting around. She can recharge it all at night.

I've seen a few on Amazon. Some real cheap and some expensive. Some with and without a cord. Just not sure if anyone has one they use and can recommend.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a portable battery/charger? My Mom has been spending a lot of time at the hospital visiting my Grandma and complains that her phone dies out. Was looking at getting her a device that she could keep in her purse and give a charge while she is sitting around. She can recharge it all at night.

I've seen a few on Amazon. Some real cheap and some expensive. Some with and without a cord. Just not sure if anyone has one they use and can recommend.

If she's plugging into a wall socket then any charger will do really, some will be faster/slower than others but speed doesn't sound an issue.

Beyond that I've a battery boost pack which basically is a solid state battery which discharges into whatever electronic device you plug it into to recharge that device without the need for a wall socket (its too low power for a laptop but will give a phone or tablet a decent boost) ... again there are loads of these type of things around, much of a muchness imho.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a portable battery/charger? My Mom has been spending a lot of time at the hospital visiting my Grandma and complains that her phone dies out. Was looking at getting her a device that she could keep in her purse and give a charge while she is sitting around. She can recharge it all at night.

I've seen a few on Amazon. Some real cheap and some expensive. Some with and without a cord. Just not sure if anyone has one they use and can recommend.

Amazon.com: BOOST Case - Protective Case & Extended Battery for iPhone 4 4S (Fits All Models iPhone 4S /4): Cell Phones & Accessories (http://www.amazon.com/BOOST-Case-Protective-Extended-Battery/dp/B0044TM0OC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349271997&sr=8-1&keywords=iphone+battery+case)

Thought I would bring my family into the 21st century. Picking up 4 iPhones tomorrow, a 4s for me and (3) 4 for everyone else. Since I hadn't changed plans since the previous century, it was a sticker shock to see how much more the monthly bill will be going from t-mobile to verizon. But I think we're going to work out an xfinity triple play so I can get cable, hd dvr, internet and home phone lowered, at least for two years. Now I have to manage going from an 80gb iPod which I basically have been connected to 24/7 down to a 16gb iPhone. Good thing I am love and am comfortable with iTunes. I'm glad to be more into Apple since I was a devoted mac-head before some of your were born. :)

So who else has been refreshing the evasi0n.com website every few minutes since yesterday? It is currently at 99%, so the jailbreak should be released very soon.

The only thing I miss is locksceen info.

Jailbreak is up.

Yep, I'm done with the jailbreak process. The jailbreak itself was a breeze. The difficult part was upgrading from iOS 5.1.1 to 6.1. Had to go back to a clean slate to update. Now I'm getting all of the Cydia apps reinstalled. OpenBackup is a life saver there.