| Todd Allcock 2007-12-30, 4:33 am |
| At 29 Dec 2007 18:28:38 -0800 4phun wrote:
> On Dec 29, 8:46=A0pm, Todd Al
> You do know that iPhone VocieMail is actually stored in the 8 Gigs o=
n
> the iPhone.
Yes. I know what Visual Voicemail is and how it works. Do you? It's=
a
neat feature, but it's smoke-and-mirrors. At it's core it's simply ca=
ll
forwarding with a "secret" push-e-mail account. Calls you don't answe=
r on
your iPhone are forwarded to a special server at AT&T who records it, =
and
pushes the recording as an e-mail attachment to you via a "secret" pus=
h-
mail account on your iPhone, hidden behind the VV interface. The
attachment is stored on the iPhone and plays with a tap.
Non-iPhone owners have to use 3rd-party services to get the same thing=
.. My
phone is set to forward all unanswered calls to a phone number supplie=
d by
Callwave. Callwave records my message, then e-mails it to my phone's =
push
account as an attachment. I get the e-mail with a subject like:
"UNIV OF SF left a 31 second message"
(Caller ID name info is added by Callwave- if name isn't available, nu=
mber
is supplied.) I click on the attachment and the audio is played from =
the
phone's storage memory. Callwave even trans ribes the message in the =
e-
mail body's text, so you dob't even have to play it. (Admittedly it's=
often wildly innaccurate, but it's helpful for owners of "dumbphones" =
who
can receive the transcript of the VM message via text message, and the=
n can
decide whether or not to call in to retrieve it.)=20
> And you do know that you get a picture of the caller
> attached to the VM notification on the iPhone, don't you?
Wow. Even if you don't have a picture of them is stored on your phone=
? ;-)
Admittedly my phone doesn't display the caller's picture with VV, only=
in
my contacts. You've got me there!=20
> It is not like other carriers like Verizon where you have to call yo=
ur
> Voice Mail service and listen to each VM in turn.
Again, any Verizon customer, (or AT&T customer, or any other carrier) =
with
a phone that has a media player and e-mail can use VV from a variety o=
f
vendors. WinMo phones, Blackberries, Symbian OS, Palms, etc.- all it =
takes
is e-mail and a media player.
> You can pick and choose who you listen to and when. Basically this =
is
> possible because each AT&T iPhone comes with over 7000 MB more data
> storage than almost other smartphone phone OTB.
True, but since my VV messages consume approximately 1kb per second, m=
y
paltry 2GB storage card can still manage to hold a little over 500 HOU=
RS of
recorded VM.
Like many other Apple fanboys, you simply don't realize what technolog=
ies
are out there until Apple implements a Version of them, and then you
believe the PRs that call them "new." To be fair- it did take Apple t=
o put
VV on the map. Poor Callwave has been pitching it for over a year via=
full
backcover ads in the cellular trade papers (which is how I heard of it=
)
offering it to any carrier or MVNO that was interested and, as you kno=
w,
none of them bit. Apple saw an opportunity to use it for differentiat=
ion,
and it's now a "talked-about" feature. (At least to Pogue, anyway. I=
f
Apple invented an iPod that could actually squat and take a crap on yo=
ur
desk, Pogue would write that it was an important feature too!)
|