[macnews]

I want to know about hands free dialing esp considering CA has a law going in to effect this month requiring hands free cell phone use while driving a car. This means Steve and Co would not be able to legally use the iPhone 3G while driving around town. Can you ask them about this? I mean creating the device in CA I think they would abide by CA laws.
I'm also curious if anyone picked up on Steve mentioning the character recognition for asian languages? In the keynote he said you could "draw the character" on the screen as "we have very robust character recognition". Will this work for english as well? The keyboard is nice but sometimes I swear it would be faster drawing the letters out with my fingers or using a stylus. Please don't get in to a stylus is good or bad debate. I think the more options you have the better. Apple doesn't have to include it, I just think having the current keyboard, a stylus or using your finger wouldn't be bad.
One last thing Jason - can you ask Apple or Google if Google Apps will take advantage of the push email, calendaring and address book out of the box? I'm sure someone will develop eventually but I'm a google apps user and really would like this functionality.
Also, tell someone at Apple the tech specs link at the bottom of the iphone page is broken. It works at the top but not bottom of the page.

[scubasme]

does it send pics through text the last one was only through email?

[Wondercow]

macreader said:

When you're in your car for 30 minutes or more at a stretch, you're going to use your phone. . . . Tell me what you think after you've spent 90 minutes on a freeway.

Which of course begs the question: what did people do before cell phones? How on Earth did we kill time when there were no phones on which to talk?

You don't need a cell phone and you certainly don't need to talk on it just because you're driving for 90 minutes. For my own example I give you this: my cell phone is de-activated and lives in the car. Its only purpose is to call 911 in emergencies. I routinely drive for more than 90 minutes and I've never felt the need to call 911 just for the hell of it.

[macreader]

[quote name='Wondercow']
>

macreader said:

> I routinely drive for more than 90 minutes and I've never felt the need to call 911 just for the hell of it.

That is funny!!!

It's just that I work all the time, and I'm on call. The medical issues tend to be quite urgent, so it's just a fact of life for me.

[HalanR]

Steve said iPhone 3G had improved audio. Were you able to tell any difference? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[whitedog]

I suppose it's to be expected that most of the comments about the new iPhone would be complaints about what it doesn't do rather than cheers for what it does. Still, I can't help feeling let down by the dominant negative tone on this blog.

There are, of course, legitimate concerns about the quality of the plastic housing, as the first iPhone stood up very well to some severe drop tests. And Apple has gotten into hot water before for the scratchability of some iPod models.

I know people who have been holding out for a video iPhone who will be disappointed with the 3G. But without a replaceable/upgradable memory card slot, video would hardly be practical. Indeed, 8 and even 16 GB is hardly adequate storage for all the things the iPhone 3G can do.

[Mac007]

Actually I find it easier to drive while talking hands free than talking with the phone in my hand. In fact it's even easier than talking to someone in the car which is more of a distraction. That's based on my personal experience and not some abstract research.

[montgomery_burns]

macnews said:

I want to know about hands free dialing esp considering CA has a law going in to effect this month requiring hands free cell phone use while driving a car.

I'm curious about what they mean by hands free. That you cannot have a phone in your hand at all while driving? What if you are using the speakerphone? If having a phone in your hand while driving is going to be illegal, what about having a cup of coffee or anything else in your hand? Are they going to require 2 hands on the steering wheel at all times? How would you operate any controls in the car or even shift a manual transmission while driving?

[Jason Snell]

[quote name='doglesby']
>

Jason Snell said:

> @doglesby: That's called a compound adjective. :-)
Actually, it's called a mistake :) You meant the iPod adapter (you said the iPhone adapter looks like a tiny iPhone adapter). Sorry for being cute instead of spelling it out.

No, I meant the current iPhone adapter. I suppose I could have been more specific, but it wasn't a mistake.

[Jason Snell]

@seanmckenzie: Flash is buried in a small unmarked grave at the edge of town. It's not impossible that there are iPhone 2.0 features that we are not yet aware of, that will appear magically when 2.0 is released. Though I suppose that if copy and paste actually existed in the new software, we'd know already.

@itgeekgirl: Your iPhone case will almost certainly not fit the new model.

@scubasme: So far as we know, the new iPhone doesn't support MMS (photos via text message)

@HalanR: I had no way to detect any sort of "improved audio," so we're going to have to wait and see on that one.

[Jason Snell]

Quote

I'm curious about what they mean by hands free. That you cannot have a phone in your hand at all while driving?

http://www.dmv.ca.go...elaws/index.htm

Correct. In your hand. Dialing is actually allowed under the law, but talking on the phone while holding it to your ear isn't.

Quote

What if you are using the speakerphone?

You're okay, although it's unclear if it's illegal to hold the phone in your hand while it's on the speaker.

Quote

If having a phone in your hand while driving is going to be illegal, what about having a cup of coffee or anything else in your hand? Are they going to require 2 hands on the steering wheel at all times? How would you operate any controls in the car or even shift a manual transmission while driving?

Give them time...

[Jason Snell]

If you'd like to talk more about driving while iPhoning, please do it in this thread, not here.

[Charles Soto]

The only thing my crummy old Sprint PPC-6700 (HTC "Apache") does well is act as a Bluetooth modem. It's pretty fast with Sprint's EVDO network. I use it whenever I can't find a WiFi hotspot for my MBP. Can the iPhone 3G do this? This is the one thing I would miss if it can't...