After being a long time user of WM devices I am considering going over to the dark side with an iPhone but have a few questions I would need answered. I did search (a little) but I think much of the information was outdated.

1. Can you tether the iPhone to a laptop for no extra charge, or at all? Or with a hack?
2. Is the network now faster than it was, I saw lots of complaints from when it was called edge? Or with all the sales is it overloaded?
3. Does the calendar and email now sync nicely with exchange, meaning can I accept meetings, is it always up to date, etc?
4. Is there a wmwifirouter type app?
5. Is there now voice dialing over bluetooth headset?
6. Is it possible to use bluetooth devices like my GPS 10?
7. Can you play music in the background and use an app such as Google maps at the same time? This is not that important but I am just trying to get a feel for it.

With the i760 I just can't deal with the constant little delays anymore, particularly when typing on the keyboard plus I am having screen issues, and frequent lockups, sudden erasing SD cards, etc. But it does offer a ton of functionality and I am just wondering what I am taking for granted that may not be possible on the iPhone.

TIA,
Xmurray

Not an expert but I'll try:

1) It was possible to hack for free tethering, but an update broke it a few months ago. I'm not sure if that was ever overcome.

2. Yes, the new iPhones support AT&Ts 3G network

3. Exchange sync is better, but I believe still not perfect. I think I head somebody mention some (minor?) calendar issues recently. Also I don't think it supports some of the more advanced administration and security features like Remote Wipe.

4. I'm not sure. I know the hack was relatively straight forward. If there's an app it'd be something you have to jailbrake your phone for. AT&T does offer (or is planning to offer) paid tethering.

5. I believing voice dialing was added recently.

6. GPS is built in, so I'm not sure you'd want to use those. I don't believe it supports bluetooth keyboards and the like (why the @#$% not is a mystery). Pretty much just headset I think.

7. Yes, you can play music in the background, but that's about the limit of its multitasking capabilities. Otherwise apps are suspended when you go to another app. Even GPS is suspended when you receive a call, making it easy to miss a turn. Apps can now support "notifications", which allows you to receive a pop up message from remote servers when an event occurs which helps alleviate the need for multitasking with things like IM clients. Not many apps support them yet.

I do wish the i760 was "snappier", but the fact that the iPhone does not allow background tasks just confuses me. I understand they are trying to protect their all-important "user experience", but to me it's crippled in so many ways.

I actually didn't know you could play music in the background - this is good to know and understandable - I mean it's an iPod + phone.

They are cool bits of hardware and I wouldn't mind having one mainly for the browser (which is supposedly great - sans flash ...). If I got one I'd likely jailbreak it and be quite happy overall except you'd be on ATT.
First things first - check your local coverage for ATT as I've heard nothing but complaints about the 3G coverage as well as call coverage.

Personally, I'm waiting for the Android devices to hit VZW before jumping off the WM side. I can bash Apple now and again because they are such an easy target, but if there was an iPhone on VZW I'd give it serious consideration.

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