MAC BLOG SAFARI
Mac Bloggers Get Dropped, Get Apps, Get 48 Hours

The Apple-focused blogosphere has been dominated this week by iPhone 3G reception and connectivity issues. Speculation as to the cause has been rampant, Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) not talking, and most -- but not all -- carriers are keeping their lips zipped, too.

Meanwhile, the iPhone money train keeps picking up steam, ringing up US$30 million in App Store sales in its first 30 days. So somebody, apparently, is getting enough connectivity to download and install a lot of iPhone apps.

Bringing up the rear this week, Australians will now be able to access the iTunes movie store available in other parts of the world -- though with one striking difference.

Bemoaning the iPhone 3G

There's been a lot of coverage from traditional press and bloggers alike on the topic of the new iPhone's ability to connect to 3G networks, and while there are some decent leads, the bottom line is that no one yet really knows the true cause of all the problems. And what are the problems, exactly? Some iPhone 3G users say their calls are being dropped for no apparent reason, and in the United States, some iPhone 3Gs seem to simply favor AT&T's (NYSE: T) slower EDGE network -- even when other 3G phones sitting side-by-side utilize 3G just fine.

While some users have been positively vitriolic over the issues -- iPhone love will only last as long as the device works -- others have been a little more measured in their responses.

"I have this problem in a bad way; one moment I'll have very strong 3G reception, and in the next I'll have dropped the signal and switched to EDGE. I can barely keep a call from dropping on 3G. And this is in San Jose and San Francisco metro, not the back woods," noted commenter entanglebit on an Ars Technica post on the subject.

"Honestly, at this point I'm a lot happier just turning off 3G and running the thing on EDGE all the time. Battery life is much improved (obviously, without all the switching), and most applications run at a reasonable speed. Most importantly, calls don't drop," entanglebit wrote, adding, "I really do hope I can use the 3G on my iPhone 3G sometime soon, though. That's kinda why I bought it."

What's the Cause?

While reading Apple's forums will tell you plenty of people think something stinks with iPhone 3G connectivity -- at least with some unknown number of customers -- the cause is still up in the air.

"It's entirely possible that there's a huge problem with the chips, the phones or the network," Avi Greengart, a research director of wireless devices for Current Analysis, told MacNewsWorld.

"It's also possible that the press is going to latch onto any problems with the iPhone because writing the word 'iPhone' guarantees people read the article. Cell phone reception varies, so I can only report on what I'm seeing. I have used the iPhone almost daily since I got it and have had bugs -- a lot of random slowness, some minor app crashes -- and issues with the battery -- it dies before the end of the day and you can't carry a spare battery. But I've had no problems with reception," he added.

However, Greengart did say he saw some odd behavior in a variety of 3G phones in New Jersey -- several 3G phones from different manufacturers were all using EDGE one evening when they were using 3G earlier in the day. The next morning, the phones were running on 3G again.

"It may have been a temporary glitch or volume overload," he noted, referring to AT&T's network service.

'It's Not Us' Says T-Mobile Netherlands

While some speculate that service providers haven't been able to keep up with active iPhone 3G users, thereby causing connectivity issues, T-Mobile Netherlands came out and said -- in a blog post -- that the problem was deep inside the device itself. However, T-Mobile scrambled back away from directly blaming Apple and the device in a later post, mildly noting that the customer experience wasn't what customers expected.

Still, while T-Mobile is pointing at Apple, the company's customers pointed right back to T-Mobile. In a Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) translation of the Dutch version of the T-Mobile Netherlands blog, rb1953 wrote, "Listening to your customers for a large corporation very important. But why just for iPhone users? I am in possession of an HTC Diamond, but say the direct counterpart of the iPhone. My range is dramatically bad."

Another customer, Chantal, added, "It is certainly not the iPhone. I have an MDA Vario III and also has poor coverage in various places in the country."

In the Guts?

More possibilities include the notion that the problem lies with an immature Infineon 3G chipset and/or Apple's implementation of it ... or the Apple iPhone operating system itself. In any event, a BusinessWeek.com article that cites two unnamed sources said that Apple is working on a software upgrade to fix the problem.

Fixing the problem may be beside the point, noted one commenter in the AppleInsider post on the subject.

"My main issue with all of this is Apple's complete and utter silence on the matter. What would be the harm in acknowledging the issue and saying we will have a fix in short order? It wouldn't hurt and most likely would garner Apple more respect," riversky wrote.

Meanwhile, the App Store Is Kicking Butt and Taking Names

As if there hasn't been enough iPhone coverage, Apple CEO Steve Jobs told The Wall Street Journal this week that its App Store had delivered 60 million programs to iPhone and iPod touch customers, raking in $30 million in 30 days.

"Wow, those numbers are definitely impressive. We all knew it was going to be successful, but I doubt any of us would have predicted this," commented EricNau in the MacRumors.com post on the subject.

"And this is with, how shall I say, a flood of less than stellar apps. Imagine how this store will do once it grows to include more useful applications," added Small White Car.

In other App Store news, Apple yanked the popular "Phone Saber" application, presumably due to some copyright or trademark infringement with the George Lucas Star Wars machine. However, the company brought back Box Office, which used Rotten Tomatoes' ranking systems with its movie lookup service -- no word from the developer on why the app was pulled in the first place.

Speaking of Movies ...

Apple announced Thursday that Australians will now be able to rent and buy movies from major film studios via iTunes or their Apple TVs. The service works almost exactly like it does in the United States but with one critical caveat -- the Australians get 48 hours to watch their rented movies before they expire, while U.S. customers get a piddling 24 hours.

Most posts from Australians pointed out that most Internet Service Providers in Australia have download caps that might prohibit iTunes customers from downloading many movies. And worse yet, average access speeds are fairly slow, too. Still, iTunes might be able to usher in some changes.

"iiNet is offering iTunes content quota free which is great - hopefully other ISPs will follow," noted Greg Alexander on the Ars Technica post on the subject.

So what gives with 48 hours vs. 24 in the U.S.?

"My guess is that it's not just Apple -- it's that the usage rules for online rentals are based on what the rights holders want and demand and what the infrastructure supports," Mike McGuire, a vice president of media research for Gartner (NYSE: IT), told MacNewsWorld, noting that other digital rental services down under likely have the same 48 hours provision.

"This is an example of why we're not going to see a global music or content licensing service, because each region and country can have very different rules and regulations regarding copyright and usage by consumers," he added.