iPhone 3G[s]

[Burble]

Originally Posted by Vertigo1

If all your devices are using IMAP then surely your email stays on the IMAP server at your provider/ISP? Does it ever get downloaded to your PC for long-term storage?

Yep, if that's what you tell the client to do. In Thunderbird it's referred to as offline email. you subscribe to the folders that you want available offline and then Thunderbird will download them.

That's the problem I've been having with the beta of 3.0 though (I'm using 3.0 because it can use the system address book in OS X), it will take a few attempts at synchronising before TB updates the server with emails that have been moved, deleted and so on.

Originally Posted by Vertigo1

Another question is spam. I currently use Outlook via POP3 and have In-boxer installed which does a stunning job of spam filtering but it's obviously done client-side. I'm concerned that if I access my provider's POP3/IMAP server directly from an iPhone I'll end up getting swamped with spam. I've never had much joy with hosted anti-spam systems like SpamAssassin as they usually seem to end up binning genuine emails accidentally.

If you're running a client side spam package then yes, you would get all the crap on the iPhone. The way around that is to leave your PC turned on and your email client open. That way the client downloads the email, removes the crap and leaves clean email on the server.

SpamAssassin is a very clever package but it's not all that easy to get it setup properly. It's most often setup issues that cause it to tag/bin legitimate emails.

Originally Posted by Vertigo1

Not sure what the best system would be

IMAP I'd say.

[Mark]

Had a play with a 3Gs today. Not bad. It's certainly nice to be able to scroll around web pages without things getting jumpy all over the place (like my current phone does). 'Pinching' seems a little unreliable, or maybe I just haven't got the technique. Keyboard seems fine, if a little over-sensitive, at least in landscape.

Biggest gripe - would like to be able to increase the font size a little. I know you can do this in Safari, Maps, and Mail, but it seems you can't do it anywhere else. Still, with the exception of the home screen (which is silly small but I have a plan), fonts are generally bigger than what I have now.

Still going to book some personal shopper time because the more time I get to 'practise', the better.

[Burble]

The pinching is a bit fussy I find, when I first got the phone more often than not it wouldn't work but I don't seem to have any problems now. Make sure your thumb and finger are together and put on the screen at the same time and it'll be fine.

I've only just started using the keyboard in landscape and I wish I'd done it sooner - it's pretty much perfect for me. Yes, it's not as good as the keyboard on my Blackberry Bold but then it never will be as good as a good physical keyboard but I can type surprisingly quickly and accurately. Don't worry too much about getting the spelling spot on, the auto correct function is pretty good and with things like double tapping the space bar to get a full stop then a space it doesn't take long to get up to speed with it.

Fonts I can't comment on.

[Mark]

Thumb and finger together was what I got wrong. Duly noted, and thanks.

[Feek]

I know there are some new accessibility options within iTunes for the iPhone but I can't remember what they're for and my main machine is sitting by the front door now so I can't check anything.

[Mark]

And my Mac is on the floor in the bedroom (placed it into touch while I put Windows 7 on my ultraportable - I didn't have a spare port on the KVM and there was no way I was using the built-in screen). No worries though - I'll cross that bridge when I find it.

[Mark]

Just found this, which is what Feek was referring to. Fan-bloody-tastic and well done Apple, even if it did take until the 3GS to make it happen. WM can't do any of this. Not even close.

I'll probably not use VoiceOver much, but I know it's there if needed (I've had a play with VoiceOver on the Mac already and it actually isn't bad). Other features like Zoom will certainly get used.

[Cho Zan Wan]

Just posted that O2 might be losing the 3G sooner than expected.

(Link goes to my blog ) http://tr.im/sx7c

[Mark]

Definitely a good thing for the consumer. O2's pricing is a very good demonstration of what happens when you have a monopoly.

Sadly, since I want a 3GS for both performance and accessibility reasons, I guess I'll have to live with the Apple tax.

[Desmo]

Was reading this elsewhere from a guy who works at t-mobile. He's not a phone jockey, but I think works in their phone development area in some way.

As for the Iphone coming to T-Mobile and Orange, its not new news to me as Orange were in talks with apple this time last year and although I cant comment on what stage T-Mobile are at I can work out the MRC's for the phone based on the supply cost and I dont see it becoming a massive player in out portfolio.