Engadget Mobile Podcast 047 - 07.21.2010
By Trent Wolbe 
posted July 21st 2010 1:00PM
posted July 21st 2010 1:00PM
Hosts: Chris Ziegler, Myriam Joire (tnkgrl)
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Daestro - Light Powered (Ghostly International)
01:44 - Apple to give away free cases to iPhone 4 users
09:22 - Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview
18:48 - Samsung Captivate
23:00 - Samsung Vibrant
Hear the podcast
Subscribe to the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Mobile Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Mobile Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace
Download the podcast
LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
Contact the podcast
podcast (at) engadgetmobile (dot) com.
Follow us on Twitter
@zpower @tnkgrl @engadgetmobile
There is a difference between losing signal because you "touch" and area of the phone with a normal grip and and putting a death squeeze on a phone to force signal lose. That's not blowing things out of proportion. Kool-Aid anyone?
Wow. After five minutes in I clicked "stop". I couldn't go further as you said how perfect Job's performance was and how he got "facts".
@Emil Skip to 9:22 if you don't want to hear it -- that's why we give you time markers!
@Chris Ziegler I know, I know. I think I just fed up with iPhone anything. Well, OK, you've convinced me, as I'm interested in your take on WP7.
@Chris Ziegler
Or you could stick to facts, which are that the antenna is faulty and drops more calls. Over 20% more actually. Steve was full of it, and I say this as a proud Apple devices owner.
Also, TNKGRL FTW!
How can Mariam blatantly say there ISN'T a problem with the iphone?? After a haitus from your Engadget podcasts and today coming back to hear this guy so pro-Apple and egocentric. I can't believe what I was hearing....great job Engadget!
@IndustrialStrength I think the iPhone 4 reception issue has been completely sensationalized by the media (mostly the mainstream media). I think it's real, but I also think that overall, the iPhone 4 reception is about average, and better than previous iPhones. I review a lot of phones, and I see similar reception issues often. It's easy to point fingers at Apple because of the radical antenna design and the high profile of the iPhone 4. My take is that most people are not affected by this issue, but for the rest I hope Apple finds a solution beyond giving out Bumpers.
@IndustrialStrength oh, and my name is Myriam (not Mariam) , I'm a girl (not a guy), and I'm the new co-host of the mobile podcast... I guess you really have been taking a hiatus, so you're excused this time!
@tnkgrl
Myriam, The real issue here is not a dropped bar or two, it is about dropped calls period! Whether it be a problem from an antenna, network, or both is still unknown but yes it is a problem. It's the single most essential function of a phone and to have it not work being released into the market is a total failure.
I do not review a lot of phones but have designed them. While Ive's design approach deserves innovative merit, it would've been better for the sake of Apple's reputation to work out the kinks before releasing a half-baked product to market, especially with their multi-million dollar frequency testing facilities than using a band-aid remedy which seems like a cheap fix to most for a $500 investment. Yes most users will feed into the marketing and go buy one because they don't know any better but it will not get the full respect of the tech community. With so many exciting smartphones hitting the market with top-notch specs and features that trumps the iPhone4, sorry to say Apple's days have been over a long time ago.
Double Twist is the solution for the video problem for the gentleman.
"You're getting firmware updates quicker, that's how off I want it."
Chris, this goes with all Android phones, including Sense.
Regards,
Juan
You only need to provide updates of the top 5 devices at anytime. Don't update iPhone 3GS, don't update the original Droid.
Just top 5, it's not asking too much...it's not as reasonable as can be, CNET does it more reasonable. There is no reason why a top 5 phone should be from 2-3 years ago. Top 5 scores move down over time until they aren't top 5, it's very simple (think about it, you only update 2-3 of the top 5 anyways, since the iPhone 4 might be 9/10 for a while. )
There is one very interesting part of Samsungs marketing that seems to be getting overlooked.
Even though hardware is slightly different with each manufacturer, They still have a Galaxy S phone for each major carrier in the U.S. These phones also share the same screen, and CPU, and GPU. Also all the commercials I see for the Galaxy S are all about gaming. If these phones sell well, we could see a segmentation in the market for games that only run on Galaxy S phones because they have to use a specific GPU/resolution.
If these phones sell well as a whole, then it will be easy for Samsung to differentiate themselves from other Android devices. A League of their own if you will. I would also expect other manufactures to follow suit with their product launches and even though they have to customize the hardware to suit a Carriers specific need, do everything in their power to release this hardware base on every Carrier at the same time.
What is that constant rumbling in the background of the podcast? It almost sounds like someone is constantly tapping their fingers on the table or something.
in this podcast you mentioned the Vibrant and captivate reviews would be done soon, that was a week ago. Anyone have a review I can check out? I want to buy the vibrant but heard a few things like no mac compatibility and need to find this out before buying. anyone got any ideas?