Attractive iPhone 4 Innovations Marred by Slow Networks

ign="center">may be not good enough even for Skype running on
If there were no so many 'but's, I would perhaps bethe ordinary computer. Perhaps that's too many
very excited about new iPhone 4 announcements ofconditions for two people to video chat with each
its new features, particularly about the 720p videoother. One could wish the only condition would be just
recording feature and the ability to video chat, calledthe identical iPhone 4 covers on the devices to be able
FaceTime by Apple, and even about the possibility toto communicate and no network troubles. But we still
watch Netflix on the iPhone 4. But the shortage is inlive in the real world.
the fact that Apple's innovations have unsurprisinglyMove to the Netflix discussion. As you might have
surpassed the network's ability to handle support of allseen from the iPad, this application is very good in
these new mobile features.caching or buffering or doing whatever to optimize
The reason for worry is not only AT&T and itsvideo streams to the device. Here the iPhone's screen,
much-blamed 3G network. As an example, at recentwhich is smaller in size, can help. But only users
Steve Jobs WWDC keynote, those users attendinggrandfathered in on the AT&T unlimited broadband
via Wi-Fi have overloaded the network so that Jobsplan will benefit. You don't really expect people facing
couldn't even perform some of his demos. Severalbandwidth caps to use up the bulk of their bandwidth
times during the keynote, Steve Jobs had to ask theallowance to watch old episodes of some show, do
livebloggers to close down their Wi-Fi connection soyou?
that he could go on with the demos. Can you believeFrankly speaking, iPhone's new features are just
that?coming on top of the consumers' long insatiable
So it didn't come as a big surprise when AT&T madeappetite for data-heavy applications for mobiles. This
an announcement about its new data plans, droppingcan be proved by some trends and statistics on
the word "unlimited" from them. Seems like they'vetoday's data usage over mobile networks:
realized the bandwidth they'd have needed for all- Video accounts for 50% of all mobile traffic,
those new innovations coming. Really, the waves oftransmitted over the networks that are not ready to
users trying to use all new bandwidth-intensivemanage this strain.
features on the AT&T network can't be imagined if all- YouTube is responsible for 30-50% of actual traffic.
of them had unrestricted data access. Most likely, 3G- Data cap of 2GB is reached by the major part of
infrastructure, and even that of Wi-Fi (providing youusers very quickly, into 2-3 weeks of their monthly
are in the same room with lots of other Wi-Fi users)subscription if being used regularly (just 2-3 videos a
won't be able to support the most attractive featuresweek).
of new iPhone 4. What are we talking about here, if- Netflix now offers users full-length streaming
even while travelling somewhere in Vegas for anfeatures.
event you can find yourself unable to make anAT&T can't be blamed for capping the bandwidth on
ordinary phone call because the network isdata plans, as they couldn't foresee the iPhone 4
overloaded? Now imagine what will happen when theannouncement, and therefore didn't consider their
consumers find themselves unable to also accesstoday's network problems and the probability of more
e-mail and other services we can't live without todayapplications coming. If we see other carriers capping
– and the reason is the poor network! Is theretheir bandwidth as well, the conclusion is clear
any sense in owning a device if you can't use it while– the current infrastructure just can't handle
all the others are also using them? There's quite a listthe traffic.
of the bandwidth-heavy iPhone 4 innovations.Seems like it's not easy to find solution to this problem.
Let's start with the video camera allowing to shootConsumers can yell at the service providers to build
720p video at 30 frames p/sec. It is located at thefaster networks, but that would make no sense
back of the device, but is easy accessible even if you– everyone knows they won't appear out of a
have case for iPhone 4 put on your device. Estimatingclear sky. That's actually what the carriers are doing
a 2-minute 720p video weight of about 50MB, it cananyway with WiMax and LTE. However, it's not clear
be calculated that the its uploading via a really fastif Verizon could have any more luck with its EV-DO
in-house network (with broadband width of 12.5Mbps)than AT&T has had with 3G. The developers of these
will take just 30 seconds. However, in most cases thedevices can't be blames for creating cameras allowing
users can consider to be lucky if they have access toto create 720p videos and faster processors, as well.
1 Mbps upload speed, increasing the uploading time upNor Netflix can be blamed for coming up with offering
to 6 minutes. Another application, iMovie, allows you toto stream videos over the mobile network. There's
send video in MMS and e-mails and upload it tonobody left to blame so far. May be producers of
YouTube over the network, but back in the real world,iPhone 4 cases, just in case?
most consumers will wait till coming back home andThe only solution coming to the mind is Apple simply
synchronize the iPhone with their computers to uploadbuying or developing their own network to provide
the video over a better network. In addition to thequality services for Apple's apps. That's what users
speed, there's also a factor of saving the bandwidthcan get really excited about.
cap.Report this article
Talking about the FaceTime video chat application, itThis article is free for republishing
should be mentioned that it can only work over Wi-Fi,Source:
meaning that the application is just not good enoughRepublish this article
for 3G. Moreover, it can only work if you have other
iPhone 4 owners at the far end, thus limiting your abilityAsk a Question About this Article
to have a video chat with anyone you like. Keeping in>> Hello, my name is Tareva, i really need help,
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and find a Wi-Fi network that is not overly busy. Thattechnologies?
makes problem bigger, because Wi-Fi connections