I was in Napa last week and tried out the new Apple maps on my iPhone 5 to find the southernmost road to get from Highway 29 to the Silverado Trail, both of which are major roads. I was surprised to find the Silverado Trail missing from the map. Crossroads that seemed to lead nowhere were faint white lines on a cream-colored background and impossible to discern. Later that evening I tried the new turn-by-turn spoken directions to go from San Rafael to a restaurant at Pier 1 ½ in San Francisco. It directed me to a location about a half-mile away, far from the pier. I resorted to using my wife’s iPhone 4 to get to the restaurant.
When you upgrade to a new product, as millions of iPhone users have been doing, you expect everything to work better or, at least, not worse. While that’s true with just about every new feature of the iPhone 5, the map feature is the serious exception.
Apple has discarded Google Maps for its own version, one that’s fraught with errors and missing many features we’ve come to expect, such as directions by public transportation and street views. It does add turn-by-turn spoken directions, but it directed me to the wrong destination. In short it’s the worst piece of software I’ve ever encountered from Apple, and it should never have been released.
The current workaround is to use Google Maps with the Safari browser, Waze or the Bing search app with a mapping feature. But many Apple apps are linked to Apple Maps so that’s not an entirely satisfactory solution.
Google said it may offer a Google Maps app, and it can’t come soon enough. Apple will eventually fix this, but it took Google eight years, thousands of employees and millions of miles of driving to get to where it is today. Why did Apple drop Google Maps? They’re not saying, but it could be that Google wouldn’t add turn-by-turn direction to their iPhone version of Google Maps, a feature they have on the Android version. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, offered an apology and suggested using some of the alternatives noted above.
Fortunately, the maps seem to be the only flaw in the new iPhone 5. In other regards, the new phone is gorgeous. It’s precision constructed of aluminum and glass, and beautifully finished like an expensive watch. There’s no plastic as there is on other phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S III. You really have to pick it up and use it to appreciate the aesthetic improvements.
Like the iPhone 4, the iPhone 5’s front is all glass. The back and edges are now one unified piece of aluminum with a matte finish. Glass bands that cross the back near the top and bottom allow the antennas to work. The white model has a natural aluminum color, just like a MacBook, while the black unit in finished in charcoal gray anodized aluminum. The housing is slightly longer, while maintaining the original width, and about one-third thinner. The result is a phone that’s easy to hold, is much lighter and displays about 20 percent more on its larger 4-inch display.
Its new proportions add to the usability by providing a longer list of emails and contacts visible at one time and more text per line when used in landscape mode. Six emails with a three-line preview can be viewed at once (versus five on the 4S), and there’s an additional row of icons on the home screen.
In the week I’ve been using it on Verizon’s network, it’s worked fine with no dropped calls. Call clarity has been excellent. The battery has provided the exact same performance as my 4S, enough to get through most days with moderate usage or until late afternoon with heavy usage. The volume and on/off buttons and mute switch remain the same, but the headphone jack has moved to the bottom.
The other noticeable change is a new, smaller connector. It’s about the size of a mini USB connector, but it’s Apple’s own design. That means the new iPhone 5 will not work with the radios, home speakers, car docks and other devices made for previous versions in which the phone plugs. You’ll need to buy additional cables to charge the phone using existing chargers. The iPhone 5 comes with the familiar white cube charger and one connecting cable. Additional cables cost $20. One thing nice about the new connector is that it is easier to insert and can go in frontward or backward. Apple made the change to reduce the space needed. It’s likely the company will use this connector on newly released iPads.
One of the most important new features is that the iPhone 5 runs on the faster 4G LTE networks where available and reverts to the slower speeds where it’s not.
The iPhone’s camera continues to take great images. You can now take a panoramic picture by moving the iPhone across the scene, similar to a feature found on Sony cameras. And a new feature lets you attach a photo or video to an email directly from the email.
If you’re a Verizon user and your current phone is not eligible for an upgrade, you can still buy the iPhone 5 at a discounted price by adding it as a new line and using Verizon's Share Everything Plan. You’ll only pay $40/month with no additional charges. AT&T offers its Mobile Share Plan with similar benefits.
The discounted prices, associated with a new line or account with a two-year commitment, are $199, $299 and $399 for 16 gigabytes, 32GB and 64GB of memory, respectively. It’s available from AT&T, Sprint and Verizon.
The iPhone 5 is one of the most beautiful, functional and easy-to-use smartphones ever, and is on its way to beating all sales records of previous models. If you’re willing to find a work-around for the maps and be patient for a map fix, then you’ll love this new phone.
Baker is the author of "From Concept to Consumer" published by Financial Times Press and available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and other booksellers. He has developed and marketed consumer and computer products for Polaroid, Apple, Seiko and others; holds 30 patents; and is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Baker can be heard on KOGO AM the first Sunday of each month. Send comments to phil.baker@sddt.com. Comments may be published as Letters to the Editor. Baker's blog is blog.philipgbaker.com, and his website is philipgbaker.com.
Protecting your iPhone 5
Seemingly minutes after the iPhone 5 went on sale, companies were out with new cases. Here are a few top choices:
· If you want a leather case, Sena offers a varied line. It has cases with covers that flip up, down and to the side, as well as its signature Ultraslim sleeve case ($27) that is the least bulky of any case. Among its new models is its Magia Wallet, a slim case that holds your phone, protects the display and adds a three-slot card holder and a multipurpose pocket. The cover closes with a magnetic catch. ($55, senacases.com)
· Incipio DualPro is a hard plastic shell with a soft, silicon cover that feels good in the hand. I picked one up at my local Verizon store. ($25, incipio.com)
· Levenger’s Blink & Ink Phone Holder/Eyeglass Case holds an iPhone 5 as well as a pair of glasses, pen and business card. It’s lined with the same cleaning cloth material used to keep glasses clean and includes a separate cleaning cloth for the display and glasses. ($59, Levenger.com)
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