Push Notifications and EDGE
TUAW’s Cory Bohon on push notifications for the first-gen iPhone:
One of the most awaited features, push notifications, requires a constant data connection. While the iPhone 3G can handle data and voice simultaneously when using a 3G/HSDPA connection, on EDGE (the cellular data service that the original iPhone uses) you are unable to take calls and maintain a persistent data connection. As a result, if you turn on the push notification service, you will be unable to receive voice calls.
Some iPhone owners might consider this a slap in the face from Apple, while other iPhone users will just be glad that their phone now has notifications. Either way, the good thing is that the voice mail system uses a data connection, so you will still get your voicemails.
“Slap in the face”? Noteworthy, perhaps, but it’s not like 3.0 can upgrade hardware.
Update: I somehow overlooked this sentence (thanks, Gruber):
As a result, if you turn on the push notification service, you may be unable to receive voice calls.
Horse shit. Data is the second-class citizen, not voice. The reasons for this are so obvious that I’m having a hard time imagining an intelligent technical professional who could get it wrong.