Around me is a MUST app and free, units, shazaam, scan and words with friends, and lastly gps nav 2 and pure map are both great. 
Dont use directions on the installed maps software it wont speak them like the two above. 

Hope you battery is better than mine.  Im returning this shit tomorrow. 

Thanks M! 

alright folks need some help.  I have ATT and travel extensively from Michigan to the Dakotas and straight South to the border.  ATT sucks and drops calls constantly unless I take off 3g which the new phone 4s does NOT allow me to do.  I use the tethering feature so I want good speed to connect my computer or Ipad while traveling.  I need your experience with both carriers please.  I'm returning the 4s today and going back to my regular iphone 4 due to poor battery performance.  I'll decide tomorrow if I want to change to Verizon but based on the coverage maps and lack of "dropped calls" it seems the way to go.  Thoughts?

I can't really speak for att since I've never used their service but VZW's coverage is excellent, I always have enough coverage to tether my laptop even when traveling in less populated areas.

step 1 done: phone returned

Quote from: IZ on October 21, 2011, 01:04:42 AM
Wife has been bugging me to get an Iphone so we went out tonight and bought the new 4s + accessories.  What can I expect from this phone?  I know the iphone geeks are heartbroken that the 5 isn't out yet but we've never had iphones and don't use all those apps..

yet!  
What are a few must haves?

Must have apps for the IZ family? Probably Zillow, Realtor.com, Uhaul, Yelp, and monster.com. 

Quote from: hbliam on October 23, 2011, 11:09:35 PM
Must have apps for the IZ family? Probably Zillow, Realtor.com, Uhaul, Yelp, and monster.com. 

i would add the AAA app...

Needed a laugh.  Funny!

My experience with VRZ:

1) great coverage
2) no GSM. With no SIM = no backup phone
3) excellent voice quality
4) limited intenational or even in Puerto Rico
5) Prizes higher than comperable plans for Sprint and AT&T (at least in Florida)

Having tested for Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, AT&T, T-Mobile and US Cellular all over the country, I have found the following (as it relates to reception quality ONLY and in no particular order):

1. Sprint: Great coverage through major interstate corridors and around major metro areas. Service gets sketchy outside of those main areas.

2. Verizon: With the sheer number of legacy networks they bought in the early 2000s, their coverage improved greatly. From Detroit to Cheyenne and Mexican border to the Canadian, I never found a single spot where Verizon didn't have coverage. They also have very good "roaming" contracts with other carriers. Coverage did have a few questionable spots in the central Rockies but never more than a hole a couple of miles big.

3. AT&T(and now Alltel): Before the acquisition of Alltel, was pretty much along the same lines as Sprint or T-Mobile. They have expanded their network with the purchase of Alltel but still have gaping holes in true rural areas. Getting better but still not the best out there.

4. T-Mobile: Great coverage through major interstate corridors and around major metro areas. Service gets sketchy outside of those main areas. Hasn't improved as noticeably as Sprint has over the last few years.

5. US Cellular: Sort of regional but bar none the absolute winner when it came to coverage. Not because their network is that good but because they are masters of the coverage contract with other carriers. A prime example is the area around Buffalo, South Dakota...I had phones from all of the carriers listed above and none of them had service except the US Cellular device. When I checked the tower data for the signal I was receiving, it turns out I was on the "South Dakota Rural Emergency Cellular Network" which was put in place for law enforcement to have coverage in those areas. US Cellular had managed to get them to provide cell service to US Cellular customers traveling through those areas. They also had a lot of regional carriers providing them with at the very least cellular service and more often than not, some pretty impressive data connections as well for the middle of nowhere.

FYI... Verizon bought Alltel, not ATT
Thanks for the update by the way. 

IZ - you need this: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hipstamatic/id342115564?mt=8. That way you can claim you meant for your pictures to look like that.








See? Someone did read your fine print! 

Quote from: ducatiz on October 18, 2011, 09:26:42 AM

Unlike Android, you have no hope of upgrading that OS unless you buy new hardware.  I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab (the original one) and upgraded it to Android 2.3 from 2.2 in an hour, and apparently there is a port of 3.0 for it now.  It cost me nothing to upgrade. 

Quote from: derby on October 19, 2011, 10:07:25 AM
you assert that apple ios upgrade availability for specific hardware is at apple's whim. yet android upgrades are phone-specific and subject to being made available by the handset manufacturers or carriers. the 4.x update for the razr is reportedly targeted for 1q 2012.

more on this... apparently the original android phone owners aren't going to get ice cream sandwich.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/26/the-nexus-one-isnt-invited-to-the-ice-cream-sandwich-social/

also a chart showing android os availability on available hardare vs ios/iphone:



looks like ios has better hardware support than android...

corresponding article:

http://theunderstatement.com/post/11982112928/android-orphans-visualizing-a-sad-history-of-support

I've never owned a phone for more than 2 years.  I don't know many people who do.

Of all the people I know with Iphones, none of them have the original one yet all of them owned it before.

I don't know that this really says anything except that some things have more obsolescence built in than others.

I had my last phone for a year, the one before that for 18 months.

Given that the phone companies run 2 year contracts with a free or low cost phone upgrade, I don't see why it matters beyond 2 years.

My G2X was free from Tmobile. 

i am still on my first Android, the HTC Eris (middle of the chart above.) while it is true that i no longer get "official' updates to the OS, i am currently running Gingerbread on it. the phone works at least as well on this version of the Android OS as better on this OS than the one it shipped with.