Just upgraded to the 2.1 firmware this morning.

Battery life appears significantly improved. 3G reception and 3G/Edge switching look better, but I'll need more time to evaluate that part of the upgrade.

birdstrike- did you previously have problems w/ Apps crashing (or not loading)?

I had a few apps that would crash, but updates to the apps solved that. Prior to my upgrade to 2.1 my phone was already pretty stable.

Thank Goodness for 2.1
 

Installed 2.1 when I woke up this morning. Finally turned 3G back on and have not had any problems so far, including making calls from places where I used to always have dropped calls with 3G on. I have also noticed that it sped up the loading of my contacts and there is no long the initial lag as I would try to scroll through.

^ for 2.1

Typing is way snappier and the lag is gone (thank God).

Can't comment on the connectivity issues because I wasn't really experiencing much of that prior. Battery life seems to be better, but I won't know for sure until my next trip in a couple weeks.

ALSO- for all of us flying geeks...

X-Plane 9 is now available in the app store!!! :eek:

Its getting great reviews so far!!!

QuickPwn for the 2.1 firmware has now been released in a Windows version as well. All devices except the Touch 2G are supported with 2.1. Jailbreak away...

Unlocked iPhones in HK
 

Starting this week in HK -8 gb ~US$700, 16 gb ~ US$800
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...gin_oct_3.html

iPhone battery charge cycles
 

The Apple website has the following information about iPhone battery life and charge cycles:

The question I have is what counts as a charge cycle? For example, (taking to extreme for discussion purposes) if I run my iPhone battery from fully charged all the way down to 0% and then fully charge it back to 100%, I am assuming that this is considered as one full charge and discharge cycle.

Basically, does every time I plug in my iPhone count as a charge cycle and so should I always run my iPhone battery down as low as possible before charging it back up? I guess I am thinking about the old battery memory issues that use to plague rechargeable devices. If each time I plug in the iPhone counts as a charge cycle, should I wait until it is completely run down before charging it?

I did a search on this thread and read the 5 pages of results, but none of the replies really addressed my question.

Thanks,

Onedog

I don't know the answer for sure, but I always thought that you should let the battery fully drain the first two or 3 times. After that you can do what you want. That is what I have done with my 2G iPhone that I bought at about 15 months ago. I'm pretty sure that I have plugged it in for a charge way more than 400 times and the battery still works great.

My understanding (and I'm too lazy to find authoritative sources, so you'll just have to take my word :) ) is that a small top-off charge doesn't count as a full cycle. So, if you only let your phone get down to ~50% before you recharge, each recharge is only a half-cycle.

I also think that in general, the more often you keep the battery topped off, the better off you are with LiIon/LiPoly cells. I let my battery run down to 10% maybe once a month, and the rest of the time, I never let it get much below 40% before I top it off.

Yeah, someone in my office told me that every time you plug in your iPhone counts as a recharge cycle. Something to the effect that Apple (and AT&T) have built in a certain number of allowed battery charges into the iPhone software that you are "forced" to upgrade to a new phone ---> "well, if it is going to cost me $79 to replace the battery, I might as well just get a brand new latest bells & whistles one for $199." And of course AT&T is only too happy to oblidge with a new 2 yr service agreement. Sounds like they may be reading too many conspiracy books.

Maybe we have a battery engineer on FT who can give us the authoritative lowdown on LiIon batteries.

Onedog

Charge Cycles (Li-ion)
 

From apple: http://www.apple.com/batteries/

There are links from that page for battery life optimization for each type of Apple product/battery.

Anyone considering an iPhone this weekend? Best Buy is selling the 8GB for $149 to Reward Zone members (must have been a member on or before 2/21/2009) or to Silver Reward Zone members for $99. 16 GB is $249 and $199 respectively.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....&type=category

Edited to add: Deal ends 2/28/2009

I agree 100%. Current batteries don't suffer from "memory effect". I always fully drain them the 2 or 3 times too. Then I charge them whenever I need to no matter what their remaining charge is.

I bought one under this deal, $99.00 for the 8GB model. I currently did not use a cell phone and this is only the second cell phone I've ever owned, the first "smartphone" I've ever owned.