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Just throw an old 3GS or 4 in your pocket and use Google Maps by creating a private WiFi hot-spot with your iPhone 5. Wait a minute. The iPhone 5 doesn't do t

Just throw an old 3GS or 4 in your pocket and use Google Maps by creating a private WiFi hot-spot with your iPhone 5. Wait a minute. The iPhone 5 doesn't do that. Hey, but it's longer, thinner and faster. What else do you want? It almost reminds me of Microsoft Word. Once MS Word got to the point where it did pretty much everything the majority of users wanted it to do there really was not reason to upgrade. As my own example, the only reason I upgraded some of our systems to Office 2007 was because we needed 64 bit systems for Finite Element Analysis and Office 2003 wouldn't go there. I know that they'll sell a lot of iPhone 5's, but I really think that they are starting to loose the magic. I, for one, don't really care about thinner or lighter beyond the 4S. A little larger, maybe, but there are so many things that the next generation iPhones could or should be doing that I can't imagine why Apple would pull resources into trying to out-map Google. 3D fly-over map views? Really? How much money did they waste on that crap? It's almost like Siri. It's a big smelly, smoldering pile of crap. I don't know of anyone that actually uses it. And it sure as hell doesn't work one bit like the TV ads. What a waste.

starik36 14y ago
Are you kidding? I use Siri every single solitary day. I use it to create reminders, I use it to dictate text messages, I use it to schedule appointments and find a local sandwich shop that delivers. Siri was one thing from iOS5 that actually met and exceeded the hype. From what I've seen tonight with iOS6, Siri got extended to deal with movie showings (another thing I frequently do with Flixter) and the latency seems a bit reduced.
- robomartin 14y ago
  Well, that's certainly not my experience. Every time I've tried to use it the experience is far less than ideal. My wife gave up way before me. And most of my friends with iPhones share my experience. Just to address the question before it surfaces, no, I/we don't have any weird accents. Oh, yeah, the other issue: Try using Siri when your kids are around. Right.
  - starik36 14y ago
    You are asking Siri to work when there are kids around (e.g. other people are speaking)??? Well, no wonder, it doesn't work for you. I run a couple of times a week and even then it works very nicely (e.g. a lot of ambient noise). I also have an accent, thought not a horrible one. My kids (who have a native US accent) also use it with no issues. Before you give up on Siri, I recommend the following. Bring up the Siri prompt, and there will be an info icon on the right. Tap it and see what it's good at and how to get the best of it. Once you've gone through this 5 minute exercise, I believe, your experience will be much improved. Another pro tip, is that pronouncing punctuation greatly improves recognition and context. In other words, if there is a comma in your sentence, actually say "comma".
    - robomartin 14y ago
      No, no, no. I didn't say that ALWAYS try to use it around my kids. Please. I am not that much of an idiot. I was merely pointing out that sometimes having kids around makes it even more frustrating. I've tried using it in different environments. In nearly all cases it seems that it is easier to Google it (if I am looking for something) or fire-up the app in question (say, Calendar). Certainly, if I am sitting in front of my computer there's no reason to use Siri (for searching) as both Siri and the iPhone can't compete with Google on a nice big 24 inch screen. Siri would make sense to use while driving. Here the option t bring the phone to your face (as in making a call) isn't available because --at least in California-- you'll get a nice fat ticket for using your phone while driving. So, it has to work in speakerphone mode. Here's where I think some of the problems come in. Even with the radio off a car can be a noisy environment. If you air conditioner is on (a necessity in most parts of California this year) you have this noise added to road and wind noise. I've tried using Siri with my iPhone 4S mounted on the dashboard with one of those mounts that grabs it from the sides. In other words, neither the speaker nor the microphone is obstructed in any way, but the phone is not six inches from my mouth. I don't think it has ever worked correctly under these conditions. If the phone had a microphone array for active noise cancellation things could be different. Maybe it a sue case situation. I don't ever think of using Siri when there's a computer and keyboard around. I don't see the point. I am not going to use it in a meeting, around the kids or at a busy restaurant either for obvious reasons. Here's another problem. I have a need to communicate in at least three languages: English, Spanish and German with regularity (and French occasionally). Native English and accent-less Spanish. As a silly example, if I ask "Que hora es?" (What's the time?) Siri comes back with a very funny "I don't understand 'Got ass'. But I could search the web for it.". I have to say that Siri is always good for a laugh. I do understand that it is limited to operating in one language at a time. As a programmer I know full well why this is so at this time. The significance of this is that I could not use Siri to dictate messages to clients in Europe. Even if I could, I'd most certainly have to go back, review and hand-edit messages in order to avoid potentially embarrassing errors. I'll play with it some more, but it sure feels like most of what one could do with Siri require somewhat ideal conditions and, in a lot of cases, could be done faster by hand, particularly so when in front of a computer. Don't get me wrong, I think this is the way of the future for a lot of the potential interactions with handheld computers. Siri is a huge step forward and I am sure it will only improve with time.
ftwinnovations 14y ago
I use my iPhone as a hotspot all the time. It definitively "does that."
headShrinker 14y ago
Yet another rant about how "Apple is loosing it". Very tiring. I can't wait until people stop complaining and start being constructive again. I miss that here. Yes the maps blow. So let's talk about maps, not the entire complete product which you seem to loth. No offense by this, just would like to move past venting for the sake of venting.
- aufreak3 14y ago
  Users are human and such generalization is what we "lusers" slip into when we're so radically disturbed by something. The post is a rant alright, but I'm pissed just the same that Apple's maps doesn't recognize "The Music Academy" in Chennai. It knows my local street, shows a hospital nearby on the map (with correct name) and yet when I put in the name of the hospital in the box to find directions, it can't find the location! The search results are total crap and unaware of the location from which I'm searching (though I've already told it that [edit: I'm in India and it gives autocompletion results to destinations in Austria ... by walk!). I could go on .. but then again, this will be a rant as well. Here is a "constructive" comment to Apple - put in a new maps app and refine it over time alright, but let us keep the Google maps app alongside. Is that too much to ask?
  - ryannielsen 14y ago
    put in a new maps app and refine it over time alright, but let us keep the Google maps app alongside. Is that too much to ask? If Google had a maps app, it wouldn't be too much to ask. Google doesn't have a maps app; iOS has a maps app, which was powered by Google up until iOS 6. If/when Google creates a maps app, I'm willing to bet Apple will approve it for the App Store, just as they've approved Chrome and Gmail. Apple's contract to use Google as the back-end data source for iOS's Maps app expired and, for all we know, Google refused to renegotiate another contract. I doubt that's the case, but anyone asserting anything either way is simply speculating unless they're sourcing from someone at Apple or Google.
    - aufreak3 14y ago
      whatever .. I reserve my right as a user (who's paid for the device) to have expectations of functionality - the business side of things be damned. For now, I've done an "add to home screen" of the google maps mobile device page. Works much better for me than the native maps.
masklinn 14y ago
> creating a private WiFi hot-spot with your iPhone 5. > Wait a minute. The iPhone 5 doesn't do that. Uh? It's been doing that for 4 or 5 years.
- robomartin 14y ago
  Learn something new every day. I stand corrected. Although you seem to be wrong about it being available for 4 or 5 years. Apparently (in the US) it became available in February of last year for Verizon customers and a little later on the AT&T network. What sucks is that, in order to enable it, you have to pay an additional $20 to $25 per month on top of your data plan. That's just wrong. My iPhone is in WiFi nearly 100% of the time. This means that the carrier's network almost never has to deliver data to my phone save text messages and, perhaps, notifications. I'd be interesting to find out if it is actually smart enough to use WiFi for messages when available. If it does, then nearly no data goes over the cellular network. I suspect that lots of people fall into the same pattern. So, carriers charge us for something that is underutilized and then, if we want to simply use the phone as a personal hot-spot we have to pay more! Maybe I was right after all, in an odd sort of way. Granted, not an Apple issue after all. There's plenty more that could have been better with the iPhone 5. For example, why didn't they move picture and video storage to a removable mini/micro/whatever SD card and also enable this as an external file system that could also be accessed when plugged into a USB port?
  - masklinn 14y ago
    > Although you seem to be wrong about it being available for 4 or 5 years. Apparently (in the US) it became available in February of last year for Verizon customers and a little later on the AT&T network. That's a slightly different issue: tethering has been built into iOS since 3.0 (there had been kinda-hacky HTTP thethers in 2.0 but let's ignore them), but it is indeed a service operators can lock or unlock via operator settings. > What sucks is that, in order to enable it, you have to pay an additional $20 to $25 per month on top of your data plan. I don't, for what it's worth. My carrier gives me 2GB of data per "month" (it's prepaid so I could always get a second bundle) and i can use it for wahtever I want. > For example, why didn't they move picture and video storage to a removable mini/micro/whatever SD card Because now you'd need a slot for reading a microsd card. I don't know if you've looked at the teardowns, but the only way to do that is to remove a significant chunk of battery to make room, the phone is packed to the brim. And Apple is not going to trade battery life for an SD slot few people (let alone clients) care for (let alone want).
thatjoshguy 14y ago
> Wait a minute. The iPhone 5 doesn't do that. Hey, but it's longer, thinner and faster. What else do you want? Sadly, you're mistaken. http://i.imgur.com/SPBUH.png http://i.imgur.com/SPBUH.png If you're iPhone doesn't have it, blame your carrier http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937
- masklinn 14y ago
  > If you're iPhone doesn't have it, blame your carrier http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937 FWIW this only lists "partner carriers", when you buy your phone unlocked (or get a "partner carrier"-provided phone unlocked, which they have to do on request in most euro country) you can use non-partner carriers which often have different sets of restriction (up to "no restriction"). The only one usually missing from non-partners is visual voicemail.

starik36 14y ago

Are you kidding? I use Siri every single solitary day. I use it to create reminders, I use it to dictate text messages, I use it to schedule appointments and find a local sandwich shop that delivers. Siri was one thing from iOS5 that actually met and exceeded the hype. From what I've seen tonight with iOS6, Siri got extended to deal with movie showings (another thing I frequently do with Flixter) and the latency seems a bit reduced.

robomartin 14y ago
Well, that's certainly not my experience. Every time I've tried to use it the experience is far less than ideal. My wife gave up way before me. And most of my friends with iPhones share my experience. Just to address the question before it surfaces, no, I/we don't have any weird accents. Oh, yeah, the other issue: Try using Siri when your kids are around. Right.
- starik36 14y ago
  You are asking Siri to work when there are kids around (e.g. other people are speaking)??? Well, no wonder, it doesn't work for you. I run a couple of times a week and even then it works very nicely (e.g. a lot of ambient noise). I also have an accent, thought not a horrible one. My kids (who have a native US accent) also use it with no issues. Before you give up on Siri, I recommend the following. Bring up the Siri prompt, and there will be an info icon on the right. Tap it and see what it's good at and how to get the best of it. Once you've gone through this 5 minute exercise, I believe, your experience will be much improved. Another pro tip, is that pronouncing punctuation greatly improves recognition and context. In other words, if there is a comma in your sentence, actually say "comma".
  - robomartin 14y ago
    No, no, no. I didn't say that ALWAYS try to use it around my kids. Please. I am not that much of an idiot. I was merely pointing out that sometimes having kids around makes it even more frustrating. I've tried using it in different environments. In nearly all cases it seems that it is easier to Google it (if I am looking for something) or fire-up the app in question (say, Calendar). Certainly, if I am sitting in front of my computer there's no reason to use Siri (for searching) as both Siri and the iPhone can't compete with Google on a nice big 24 inch screen. Siri would make sense to use while driving. Here the option t bring the phone to your face (as in making a call) isn't available because --at least in California-- you'll get a nice fat ticket for using your phone while driving. So, it has to work in speakerphone mode. Here's where I think some of the problems come in. Even with the radio off a car can be a noisy environment. If you air conditioner is on (a necessity in most parts of California this year) you have this noise added to road and wind noise. I've tried using Siri with my iPhone 4S mounted on the dashboard with one of those mounts that grabs it from the sides. In other words, neither the speaker nor the microphone is obstructed in any way, but the phone is not six inches from my mouth. I don't think it has ever worked correctly under these conditions. If the phone had a microphone array for active noise cancellation things could be different. Maybe it a sue case situation. I don't ever think of using Siri when there's a computer and keyboard around. I don't see the point. I am not going to use it in a meeting, around the kids or at a busy restaurant either for obvious reasons. Here's another problem. I have a need to communicate in at least three languages: English, Spanish and German with regularity (and French occasionally). Native English and accent-less Spanish. As a silly example, if I ask "Que hora es?" (What's the time?) Siri comes back with a very funny "I don't understand 'Got ass'. But I could search the web for it.". I have to say that Siri is always good for a laugh. I do understand that it is limited to operating in one language at a time. As a programmer I know full well why this is so at this time. The significance of this is that I could not use Siri to dictate messages to clients in Europe. Even if I could, I'd most certainly have to go back, review and hand-edit messages in order to avoid potentially embarrassing errors. I'll play with it some more, but it sure feels like most of what one could do with Siri require somewhat ideal conditions and, in a lot of cases, could be done faster by hand, particularly so when in front of a computer. Don't get me wrong, I think this is the way of the future for a lot of the potential interactions with handheld computers. Siri is a huge step forward and I am sure it will only improve with time.

ftwinnovations 14y ago

I use my iPhone as a hotspot all the time. It definitively "does that."

headShrinker 14y ago

Yet another rant about how "Apple is loosing it". Very tiring. I can't wait until people stop complaining and start being constructive again. I miss that here. Yes the maps blow. So let's talk about maps, not the entire complete product which you seem to loth. No offense by this, just would like to move past venting for the sake of venting.

aufreak3 14y ago
Users are human and such generalization is what we "lusers" slip into when we're so radically disturbed by something. The post is a rant alright, but I'm pissed just the same that Apple's maps doesn't recognize "The Music Academy" in Chennai. It knows my local street, shows a hospital nearby on the map (with correct name) and yet when I put in the name of the hospital in the box to find directions, it can't find the location! The search results are total crap and unaware of the location from which I'm searching (though I've already told it that [edit: I'm in India and it gives autocompletion results to destinations in Austria ... by walk!). I could go on .. but then again, this will be a rant as well. Here is a "constructive" comment to Apple - put in a new maps app and refine it over time alright, but let us keep the Google maps app alongside. Is that too much to ask?
- ryannielsen 14y ago
  put in a new maps app and refine it over time alright, but let us keep the Google maps app alongside. Is that too much to ask? If Google had a maps app, it wouldn't be too much to ask. Google doesn't have a maps app; iOS has a maps app, which was powered by Google up until iOS 6. If/when Google creates a maps app, I'm willing to bet Apple will approve it for the App Store, just as they've approved Chrome and Gmail. Apple's contract to use Google as the back-end data source for iOS's Maps app expired and, for all we know, Google refused to renegotiate another contract. I doubt that's the case, but anyone asserting anything either way is simply speculating unless they're sourcing from someone at Apple or Google.
  - aufreak3 14y ago
    whatever .. I reserve my right as a user (who's paid for the device) to have expectations of functionality - the business side of things be damned. For now, I've done an "add to home screen" of the google maps mobile device page. Works much better for me than the native maps.

masklinn 14y ago

> creating a private WiFi hot-spot with your iPhone 5. > Wait a minute. The iPhone 5 doesn't do that. Uh? It's been doing that for 4 or 5 years.

robomartin 14y ago
Learn something new every day. I stand corrected. Although you seem to be wrong about it being available for 4 or 5 years. Apparently (in the US) it became available in February of last year for Verizon customers and a little later on the AT&T network. What sucks is that, in order to enable it, you have to pay an additional $20 to $25 per month on top of your data plan. That's just wrong. My iPhone is in WiFi nearly 100% of the time. This means that the carrier's network almost never has to deliver data to my phone save text messages and, perhaps, notifications. I'd be interesting to find out if it is actually smart enough to use WiFi for messages when available. If it does, then nearly no data goes over the cellular network. I suspect that lots of people fall into the same pattern. So, carriers charge us for something that is underutilized and then, if we want to simply use the phone as a personal hot-spot we have to pay more! Maybe I was right after all, in an odd sort of way. Granted, not an Apple issue after all. There's plenty more that could have been better with the iPhone 5. For example, why didn't they move picture and video storage to a removable mini/micro/whatever SD card and also enable this as an external file system that could also be accessed when plugged into a USB port?
- masklinn 14y ago
  > Although you seem to be wrong about it being available for 4 or 5 years. Apparently (in the US) it became available in February of last year for Verizon customers and a little later on the AT&T network. That's a slightly different issue: tethering has been built into iOS since 3.0 (there had been kinda-hacky HTTP thethers in 2.0 but let's ignore them), but it is indeed a service operators can lock or unlock via operator settings. > What sucks is that, in order to enable it, you have to pay an additional $20 to $25 per month on top of your data plan. I don't, for what it's worth. My carrier gives me 2GB of data per "month" (it's prepaid so I could always get a second bundle) and i can use it for wahtever I want. > For example, why didn't they move picture and video storage to a removable mini/micro/whatever SD card Because now you'd need a slot for reading a microsd card. I don't know if you've looked at the teardowns, but the only way to do that is to remove a significant chunk of battery to make room, the phone is packed to the brim. And Apple is not going to trade battery life for an SD slot few people (let alone clients) care for (let alone want).

thatjoshguy 14y ago

> Wait a minute. The iPhone 5 doesn't do that. Hey, but it's longer, thinner and faster. What else do you want? Sadly, you're mistaken. http://i.imgur.com/SPBUH.png http://i.imgur.com/SPBUH.png If you're iPhone doesn't have it, blame your carrier http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937

masklinn 14y ago
> If you're iPhone doesn't have it, blame your carrier http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937 FWIW this only lists "partner carriers", when you buy your phone unlocked (or get a "partner carrier"-provided phone unlocked, which they have to do on request in most euro country) you can use non-partner carriers which often have different sets of restriction (up to "no restriction"). The only one usually missing from non-partners is visual voicemail.