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I found that it is taking some time for the first update

"Greg Joswiak, said the first software update for his company's iPhone handset..."

Greg is taking over? Steve isn't going to be happy about this...

It's about time! The sky is the limit for the software and they need to do a lot of patching and improved customization. But, in the end I'm happy to be an iPhone beta tester!

I just wished they'd take care of the pesky dropped calls when just getting out of range of one cell tower going to another - it's really getting annoying!

As a hardware/software product it's top notch but as a cell phone, it's really bordering on less than mediocre - for now...

My iPhone never drops calls, but then again, I live in a major city with blanket AT&T;coverage. It literally all depends on where you're using it, it's not Apple's fault that AT&T;is better in some areas than it is in others.

Read the article. Amazingly, it looks as though they will not include MS Exchange Support via ActiveSync. Wow. I can't believe they are not rolling that out. BB and Treos makes are probably happy or ecstatic with that announcement.

Add faster surfing, bigger capacity, and a slightly lower price point:

40GB - $379
80GB - $499

That's what I would like to see anyway...

I'm in a major city with 5-star overlapping AT&T;service and I get dropped calls constantly.

Wow! Whining 'cause it took a whole month for a major upgrade. Just be glad this isn't a M$ product. You would be waiting longer than a month for an upgrade. I also find that the "phone" part of the iPhone is not mediocre, but AT&T;is. With the cash that is being infused a AT&T;right now, I do beleive this will change too. They did just buy Cellular One.

And this is why Apple has reportedly scaled back production on v1 of the iPhone - because they already have a hardware update in the pipeline, too! (just my best guess)

@ originalrecipes: Actually Abramsky said, "No word however on integration to Microsoft Exchange," not that it definitely isn't coming. I think the key here is "Abramsky speculated...." In other words, take it with a large grain of salt.

1. An simple way to manage ringtones provided and supported by Apple, allowing me to use my ALREADY PURCHASED iTunes music to create freaking ringtones. The mere fact that anyone expects your to pay for a ringtone is beyond insulting. I can understand a large library of ringtones being made available at a cost but literally preventing me from creating them and uploading them in an attempt to force me to pay for them is almost Dickenzian.

2. Once my iPhone is docked, I should be able to place calls through my Mac using my Mac's speakers and even the microphone. I should have a dialing system that works through my Mac.

3. I want to be able to treat my iPhone like a hard drive when connected to my computer. Come on! An iPod can do this. A freaking thumb drive can do this!

4. A real iChat Client so that I don't have to pay for freaking unlimited text messaging. Not having iChat costs about $20 per month.

5. A real iPhone API so that developers can create REAL applications that reside on my iPhone. Web based apps for the iPhone suck. Even on WiFi, web based apps are slow and cumbersome. They are as quirky as the web always is and Safari is NO applications delivery platform by any stretch of the imagination. In addition, I'll NEVER pay for a web based app. I will subscribed to web based databases, but I'm not going to pay for a web based chat program for instance and anyone who writes a good application should have the option of charging for it.

Did I mention SLOW? Web based apps add insult to injury when you're on the Edge network. Just waiting for the stupid application to show up is painful, let alone trying to use it.

6. Skype. I WANT FRICKING SKYPE! I HAD SKYPE ON AN ANCIENT PALM DEVICE 3 YEARS AGO.

7. It's OS X for crying out loud. If someone sends me a Vcard, let me double-click on it and have it automatically load into the phone's address book.

8. Why doesn't the auto-correcting type system recognize the names of days of the week?

9. MMO

10. Video Ringtones

11. GPS

12. FileMkaer - Palms have FileMaker Mobile, but not Apple's own phone?

13. A speaker phone I don't need a hearing aid to hear. A crappy little razr can sit on a table in a conference room and everyone can hear it and participate in the conversation. The speaker phone on the iPhone might as well not be there.

Woody. I hope your right. Apple can own the market with this little piece of software in there. Nasa might have decided on the iPhones instead of BBs and Treos.

Get real dude !

A few good points - but the majority are pie-in-the-sky!

1) I'm fairly certain it's in the update

2) Onoes! This is so horrible! (sarcasm)

3) Let's hope so

4) I bet it's in the update

5) If not this update then the next

6) That's not backstabbing AT&T;At All!

7) I guess tha'd be nice.

8) /shrug

9) ... rofl....

10) Umm.... What?

11) Updates can't make hardware appear out of nowhere unfortunately =(

12) Isn't this basically 5...?

13) Sounds fine to me

GPS. Please Apple. I know the iPhone has Google maps...and it is cool...but GPS for the love of God. Sometime soon?

I have 8 months to go on my current contract. By then, you better have GPS capability.

Or else.

Hey, My Partial List, why don't you demand free phone calls over any network, as well as the ability to make toast while rendering 3D models?

You wanna make phone calls on your Mac? Use Skype, since you can't use it on your iPhone.

Instead of iChat, try a phone call or e-mail.

As for 40 GB iPhones, don't hold your breath. Why would Apple even make iPods then? Plus, you would have to triple the thickness of the iPhone to accommodate the disk drive (using all flash memory would be WAY too expensive). iPods don't have all the phone chips and other circuitry, so that space can be used for the hard drive.

how about you create all that software, in addtion to the stuff already on the iPhone, then get all the hardware pieces together and see how much you can sell it for . . . all while depending on ATT's craptastic service . . . and then sell it for $500/600 . . .

i'm certain that Apple isn't including those features just to screw you over, but everything comes at a price. if you want those features, you better be willing to pay a whole lot more

also, need you be reminded that this is just a first generation iPhone . . . with first generation software . . . remember those iPods from 2001?? Look pretty ancient now, don't they . . .

Patience is a virtue you obviously don't have

Sounds like you are pretty unhappy with your iPhone,, why dont you just send it back, continue using your old cell phone that did everything you wanted it to do? I mean if you did one minute of research before you bought the iPhone you would know it did not have functions you are looking for. While I think you have some good points.. I also think you are just an impulse buyer who bought the phone and had no idea what it really could or could not do. So stop your whining....

I will settle for some basic missing functions in version 1.1.

Please, please, please add the following:

1. Cut/copy/paste.
2. Seach.
3. Synch my notes.
4. Read PDFs from the device instead of having to do so online.
5. Copy my own files to the device.

Simple stuff like that.

WHY WAS THAT MISSING IN THE FIRST PLACE? My ancient Palm TX could do these SIMPLE THINGS.

But not my seriously expensive iPhone.

"An [sic] simple way to manage ringtones provided and supported by Apple, allowing me to use my ALREADY PURCHASED iTunes music to create freaking ringtones. The mere fact that anyone expects your to pay for a ringtone is beyond insulting."

Well, not really. Ringtones hold enough of the song that you should be paying for your snippet. Of course, the concept that you pay $3.99 for a ten-second snippet when you can buy the whole song for 99 cents is pretty insulting.

That said, yes, if I already bought the whole song, I shouldn't have to pay again to use a ten second snippet. That's definitely in the realm of what I would call "Fair Use."

At the very least, the iTunes Store will see a jump in their "Sound Effects" sales...

"...Sounds like you are pretty unhappy with your iPhone,, why dont you just send it back, continue using your old cell phone that did everything you wanted it to do? ..."

Already did. The iPhone is cute, just not ready for prime time. It boasts a clever user interface and after that, nothing. "My full list" goes on for pages.

I went back to, sorry to say, Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile phones are horrible as far as UI, but they are also "horribly capable" when compared tot he iPhone.

Everything in my list I can do with Windows Mobile. I can connect my WinMobile phone to my Macintosh, and it appears as a disk. I can open and even edit Word, Excel, and other documents. Synching is no big deal. I have Skype.

My iPhone is now relegated to the status of conversation piece. I use it to demonstrate to clients what's cool about the phone, but why they really don't want them yet.

Maybe in a couple of years Apple will catch up to the real smartphones out there. Right now I can't in good conscience recommend this puppy to anyone who seriously needs a highly functional smartphone. It's leap years behind the Blackberry in terms of e-mail.

It's amazing. I've never seen so many people make excuses for a piece of mediocre technology before. If this phone had anything to do with Microsoft, most people would readily condemn it.

What really scares me is that all the other phone makers will look at this and think "Gee. All people really want is pretty!"

I agree with you SN. Dropped calls are just so annoying...and the low ringer volume.

If Microsoft is not paying you to spread iPhone FUD, you really should contact them. They have lots of money to pay for negative Astroturfing and you sure have a talent for it.

I want my iPhone to contain a pattern-buffer enhancer so the next time a Federation Starship passes by they'll be able to easily pick up my lifesigns and beam me up.

This is FUD to you eh?

How deep into the fanboy rabbit hole have you gone?

Apple is demonstratively capable of blowing the doors off most technology companies when they decide to create a product. They are the kings of ease of use. There is no doubt about that and the iPhone lives up to that. Where the iPhone fails is in functionality. It is simpley woefully behind most smartphone products whether Nokia, Windows Mobile, whatever. Declaring that this is FUD seems like the rallying cry of the delusional.

Bottom line is, it's a nice phone, lots of potential, just wait until it lives up to that potential.

@ My Partial List

Hi Steve Ballmer how are ya? Sweat much?

"Partial List" is full of crap.

He does not have an iPhone, and he did not buy one.

He is one of these trollish FUD meisters that will ALWAYS find something to hate about the iPhone.

No one in their right ming is going to prefer a Windows Mobile piece of crap to the iPhone.

This time next year he'll be complaining that the iPhone doesn't suck his pole, but of course, his Windows Mobile device smokes his pole just fine.

Move on, "Partial List". No one's buying your act.

"Partial List" I totally agree with the points that you made... The iPhone is indeed very far from prime time, but it is only the beginning of the device... It hasn't had an update yet, so let's see what is going on with the future updates that we will get. I think it'll be interesting...

Partial List said:
"1. An simple way to manage ringtones provided and supported by Apple, allowing me to use my ALREADY PURCHASED iTunes music to create freaking ringtones. The mere fact that anyone expects your to pay for a ringtone is beyond insulting.

13. A speaker phone I don't need a hearing aid to hear. A crappy little razr can sit on a table in a conference room and everyone can hear it and participate in the conversation. The speaker phone on the iPhone might as well not be there."

OMFG!! Why do you hate your iPhone! Stop Whining!! blah blah blah blah blah.... obviously just kidding

I hear you on the songs for rings. However, I suspect this ommission was due to what Peter mentioned earlier - the carrier wants to charge an exorbidant price for a snippet. Apple providing a way to access any song on iTunes would kill that potential revenue stream for the iPhone. That means that AT&T;would want $ for songs used on the iPhone as ringtones. This is just about money.

On this subject, I wish that you could at download other ringtones (not songs, tones) than the ones provided via iTunes or at least to organize them via iTunes. I only like 3 or 4 of them.

I also agree about the speaker. With my RAZR, I could walk across the room and hear the speaker. The iPhone is decent in some circumstances, but awful in others. Though I will say the sound quality is better than that from the RAZR, which could get distorted.

to Partial List and others:

It seems that you fall into the category of those users who had incorrect expectations for iPhone. Clearly, your mobile phone is an (extremely) smart PDA phone and you tend to use all of its features (tethering, FM radio, speakerphone, BlueTooth networking, USB storage, etc, etc, etc.). IPhone was NEVER supposed to be that. Much like all of Apple hardware - it was to provide minimum features for the maximum audience. People complain how iMac doesn't have: TV tuner, memory card reader, fingerprint scanner, expandability, etc. They complain how iPod doesn't have FM tuner, voice recorder, built-in speaker(s)... To anyone following Apple, it is clear that their Steve Jobs's strategy is elliminating feature bload RADICALLY, in order to provide the ideal feature set that will satisfy the vast majority of the market. There will always be people like yourself, who will miss functionality. I have to say, I sometimes like the ability to take a short video with my Sony-Ericsson. I'll probably miss that feature when I get my iPhone. The point is, most of us guys coming to these forums here are very much tech people. We know how to set things up, figure things out and take advantage of all the features of our gadgets. For some of us, it is very obvious that iPhone will be a step back (with respect to the feature set). However, I have no problem recommending it to every person who asks for my opinion.

My wife and I currently have Sony-Ericsson walkman phone. It has: FM radio; MP3 player; 256MB; 1.2 megapixel camera; speakerphone; plays videos; has voice dialing; works as USB memory; runs Java apps (I have Gmail, Google Maps and few others), and has the usual WEP browser. I use most of the features. My wife makes calls and occasionally takes pictures. I know that when she gets her iPhone (probably for Christmas), in addition to making calls and taking pictures she will be:

listening to music;
managing her music in iTunes;
managing her e-mail on her phone;
surfing the web on the phone;
checking out YouTube videos;
looking up maps on Google maps;

all that without asking me for help. This is why iPhone blows everything else out of the water. Feature set is IRRELEVANT. Practically NOBODY (myself notwithstanding) really needs Filemaker; or to make calles through a docked iMac (???).

While many of the points about the shortcomings of the iPhone remain valid, they are really beside the point. This can be clearly seen by the popularity of the device, the hard proof of which will most likely come in three months when Apple reports Q4 earnings for July-September.

Apologies to the Spelling- and Grammar Nazis for a few poorly spelt words (rushing through my thoughts, I didn't re-read to correct)

"Minimum features for the maximum audience."

Can I use that?

Maybe Apple should also.

Yes, for $600 we give you minimum features.
But they are for the maximum audience.