iPhone 3GS Voice Control Activates Randomly
About a month ago I upgraded the original iPhone 3G which I had purchased a year ago to the new 3GS. I had decided to upgrade the 3G for two main reasons. First because I was tired of the GPS issue that occurred whenever I locked the phone with a pass-code and second because the battery life had become so bad I needed a new phone.
Little did I know I was just picking up another phone with a new set of problems. After picking up the phone at the AT&T store I could not make calls for several hours. Calls to the service center yielded apologies for problems with the activation servers which seemed strange as we were months from any product launches. I took that time to update to the latest software and setup the phone. That evening I headed to the gym with a phone that still would not make calls but at least a functional music player. Upon arriving to the gym all seemed great until I accidentally bumped the voice control interrupting my workout and music. Ten minutes later it happened again, five minutes after that it happened once again. A month later it has probably happened a thousand times with no clear resolution available from the manufacturer and widespread forum reports of the problem.
The only fix to the iPhone voice control issues seems to be a hard reset. At least in the case of my phone it buys me another twenty or thirty minutes of uninterrupted usage before it happens again. I have tried new headphones and different model headphones to no avail. I have tried to reset and restore the iPhone as the troubleshooting pages indicate without any success. The only thing that seems to help is a hard restore which would seem to indicate a potential software problem. Between the issues of reduced battery life and inaccurate battery gauges I am at the point of wondering whether or not Apple® is back where they were in the 1990's where success went to their head. With so many other smart phones touting higher resolution cameras, faster processors and greater battery life one of the key features that separates this device is the access to iTunes. If that feature is defective as it is now for some users you have to wonder if the loyalty of customers will change down the road.