AT&T survey: What's missing from your iPhone 3G?

Mon Oct 27, 2008 4:58PM EDT

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The new survey asks users to rank the top five features they'd like added to their iPhone 3Gs, including picture messaging, cut and paste, Flash support, and turn-by-turn directions. When (and if) we'll actually get said features is another question.

AppleInsider got its hands on the latest survey, which is apparently a follow-up to a similar e-mail that went out shortly after the iPhone 3G launch in July.

The e-mail asks users to "indicate the FIVE features that would be most important to you to have on the iPhone 3G," and most of the options are ones we've heard before—indeed, all the items on the survey are already listed on Pleasefixtheiphone.com, the iPhone "wish list" site that I blogged about last week.

Some examples: the ability to read/compose e-mail in landscape mode, unlocking the iPhone for use with other carriers, a user-replaceable battery, more storage, Flash support for Safari, video recording, contact searching (already implemented in firmware 2.0), document editing, and the one missing feature that everyone's clamoring for: cut and paste.

As AppleInsider correctly points out, the AT&T survey doesn’t necessarily mean that any of the listed features are actually on the way for the iPhone. As we've seen many times before, when it comes to deciding what features to add or tweak on the iPhone 3G, Apple tends to go its own way.

Consider the early reports for the just-seeded iPhone firmware 2.2 beta, which apparently enables Google Street View and in-line audio accessories, but (as far as developers can tell, at least) skips such oft-requested features as cut and paste, picture messaging, and background app notifications (a feature promised months ago by Apple but not listed in the AT&T survey).

Personally, I'm glad AT&T is at least asking iPhone users what they want out of their handsets; that said, it'd be nice if Apple listened, too. Guess we'll find out once iPhone firmware 2.2 hits iTunes.

Related:
AT&T canvasses buyers on future iPhone features [AppleInsider]

Comments on AT&T survey: What's missing from your iPhone 3G?

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  • 1 Posted by edkanigan on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:52PM EDT Report Abuse

    what about composing text messages in landscape- not being able to do that is a big turnoff for a lot of people

  • 2 Posted by kepusa_1234 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    Not having Flash for internet browsing is the most ridiculous thing of them all. They can go through all the trouble get Youtube to add an additional video protocol so that THOSE vids can be viewed over the phone, but they can't sit down at the table with Adobe and hammer out a flash player. Heck, milk more dollars out of users and just make it an app that can be turned on or off at will (for battery preservation) in conjuction with the use of the browser. This is a 2nd generation phone and its almost 2009, not having flash at this point shows a real lack of vision. Also, if the 3rd generation do NOT have a front facing camera and i-Sight, I personally will, not be purchasing one.

  • 3 Posted by g_tagni on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:15PM EDT Report Abuse

    I agree with your last sentence Ben. It is nice that the carrier (in this case AT&T) asks its customers for this but It would be even nicer if Apple listened, specially because this is what a company should do: keep customers happy and close to the company's developments. Hope it happens

  • 4 Posted by walbornr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    I can not believe the lack of coverage from AT&T. I live and work not more than 5 miles from the Elk Grove Apple campus and I constantly have dropped calls and areas with no signal in all parts the Sacramento area.

  • 5 Posted by a.fruit on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    The two reasons Apple doesn't integrate Flash are: 1] It's not an 'open' platform, and it's proprietarily owned by Adobe. As Microsoft and Netscape showed us in the first browser wars, any time a company has too much control over the technology that delivers your content, it is not good. 2] Much (perhaps all?) of what can be done with the Flash tech, can be achieved with open technologies like XHTML/CSS/Javascript, various server-side techs, and modern techniques that combine them all, like JSON, AJAX, etc. (I don't expect you to know what these things are, only that it can be done.)

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