hardware

First Impressions of iPhone 3G

Between waiting in line for 9 hours and the great iPocalypse activation debacle I barely had a chance to use my new iPhone 3G yesterday.  I finally set it up today and started playing with it.  Here are my first impressions:

The iPhone 3G itself feels lighter and softer than the original iPhone.  It is, of course, the same weight as the original, but the soft plastic back makes it feel lighter in my hand.  Does anyone else get the same sense?  As previously reported, the speaker is much improved.  My phone is noticeably louder when it rings and I can actually hear the person on the other end of the line when I use the speaker on a call.  As has also been mentioned, the call quality while on the 3G network is noticeably better.  I have not had anyone comment to me that I sound better or clearer, but I can tell the difference on my end.  Very nice improvement that I wasn't necessarily expecting.  3G data access is much faster than EDGE from T-Mobile, which is what I was getting previously.  It's not quite broadband, but it's not too shabby at all.

The Maps application works as advertised when outdoors.  I have not been able to get GPS location to work while inside any building, although I'm not so sure that it's supposed to work indoors.  Is this common with most GPS-enabled devices?  Outdoors, however, the GPS is super accurate and tracks right along with you as you move.

MobileMe push syncing has been mostly working for me today.  There's been a bit of lag between my devices and the "cloud", but I think the culprit is my iMac and not the iPhone.  I'm so glad to finally have other-the-air syncing on my iPhone.

The biggest addition to the iPhone ecosystem is obviously the App store.  I've been able to install and test about 10 applications.  Browsing and installing applications from the iPhone and iTunes on the desktop are equally easy and straightforward.  All of the apps I tested except for one ("Where") worked without a hitch.  I don't think the App store has been getting nearly enough buzz.  In my opinion, its importance to and impact on the mobile industry is second only to the iPhone itself.  I believe the coming months will bring a number of experiences to the iPhone that most thought weren't possible on a mobile device.

Overall, the iPhone 3G was worth the wait and deserving of the hype.  It in combination with iPhone software 2.0, MobileMe / Exchange, the App store and location services should have Motorola, RIM and all other mobile device makers very worried if they're not already.

Possible Fix for iPhone Battery Problems

Having upgrading my original 1.0.2 version iPhone all the way up to version 1.1.4 and stopping at 1.1.1, 1.1.2 and 1.1.3 along the way, I noticed that the battery really seemed to drain much faster in versions 1.1.3 and 1.1.4 than it had using previous versions of the software. I was perusing the hacktin0sh forums last night and stumbled upon a discussion where some were claiming that flashing a bootloader from version 3.9 to 4.6 helped return the iPhone's battery drain to its normal levels. Because I recently used the dev team's fabulous pwnage tool, I had a copy of their bootloader flashing app, BootNeuter, on my phone. Among other things, BootNeuter can upgrade and downgrade the iPhone bootloader to and from versions 3.9 and 4.6. Without much hesitation, I fired up BootNeuter and "upgraded" to bootloader version 4.6. The quick and painless process finished in only a few minutes after which I hard booted my iPhone. Much to my surprise, my iPhone battery meter seems to not have even moved today. Normally, it would have drained close to half just sitting idle. It looks like it may have worked. If you've experienced the dreaded 1.1.4 battery drain problem, give BootNeuter and 4.6 a shot.

Blu-Ray Wins the Right to Get Slaughtered by Download Services

In case you haven't heard, Toshiba bailed on HD-DVD — essentially waving the white flag to Sony's competing Blu-Ray standard. Playstation 3 fanboys and the 46 people wealthy enough to buy set-top Blu-Ray players are rejoicing no doubt. Unfortunately for them, and for Sony, the only thing they've won is the right to be the only format stomped by the combination of cheap storage and movie download services, such as Apple's iTunes movie rentals.

With storage becoming insanely cheap (I purchased a 500 GB external hard drive this week for $130) and cable and phone companies continuing to pump up the bandwidth available to their customers, digital movie downloads are becoming increasingly attractive. I believe that the only thing holding back widespread adoption of the practice was an easy-to-use service and Apple, in my humble opinion, solved that problem with the release of its rental service and Apple TV Take 2 software upgrade.

Now, videophiles will tell you that Blu-Ray offers 1080p quality video that just isn't available anywhere else and they'e right — for now. They'll argue that Blu-Ray offers interactivity beyond your wildest dreams. I've yet to see that and I heard the same thing about DVD. They'll tell you all about how awesome the 8.1 surround sound on Blu-Ray makes their home theater setup bump and they're right. But this is only a temporary advantage.

You see, as ISPs continue to "fatten the pipes" 1080p movie downloads will become feasible. 20.1 surround sound? Feasible. Interactivity? Use a cross-platform runtime, such as Adobe's AIR to distribute your "interactive movie companion application thingy." Your computer can already do everything the Blu-Ray set-top device can. Why mess with the hassle of keeping flimsy, easily scratched discs around? Why buy yet another device for your home theater setup?

Of course, there are legitimate uses for set-top devices and Blu-Ray, or whoever format enters the fray next, will have its place, albeit a very small secluded one. I just hope Sony can sell enough merchandise to make up for the ridiculous amount they've spent so far trying to win the war. Actually, no I don't. I hope this is the failure that puts them out of their miserable existence. Time will tell.

[Update: Looks like Duncan Riley believes Blu-Ray will eventually give way to download, but not anytime soon. I failed to mention one very important issue in my original post and that is Time Warner. If their proposed "pay-per-megabyte" plan actually takes hold then look for other ISPs to follow suit. This, of course, will pretty much kill all digital distribution services. According to TW's most recent figures, downloading an HD movie rental from iTunes would cost somewhere north of $30. This decision, more than any other, will determine who wins the war.]

iOwn an iPhone

That's right. I've finally procured what is probably the most hyped personal electronics device in history. While I could, and probably will, go into great detail about my experience so far, I'll post a few random "stream-of-consciousness" blurbs to get the ball rolling.

First, the iPhone is beautiful in every way. From its industrial design to its sfotware UI, every aspect of the device is very much aesthetically pleasing.

The touch screen works flawlessly. I'm actually a bit surprised at how well it works, which is saying something as I bought into the pre-launch hype as much or more than anyone.

The keyboard took all of about 6 minutes to get used to. I don't understand how some of the first day buyers still complain about it.

The screen is amazing. Crisp, clear, bright and anything else you could want in a mobile device.

Speakers are decent. Not great, but not bad. However, I didn't acquire an iPhone to supply a room with music. Ditto for phone calls. I just don't use speaker phone that often. This one is not a deal breaker for me, although it might be for some.

I suggest using the quasi IMAP method for accessing GMail as its POP implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

Google Maps is a killer application for the iPhone. I find it much more useful than the YouTube app.

Mobile Safari works as advertised. Not much more to say other than it just works and that's a good thing. Flash support will make it killer. I say will because I know it will happen one way or another.

The camera is better than I thought it would be. Can't touch my wife's digital camera, but it's not supposed to. I'll say this: It's the best phone camera I've ever seen or used and there's not really a close second place.

iTunes syncing is flawless, but that's to be expected. I'd love to see over the air (OTA) syncing at some point. Maybe that could be a .Mac feature...hmm...

EDGE is EDGE. WiFi is great if you can get a connection. EDGE will get the job done if need be. 3G will come at some point, but until then EDGE will suffice.

One last thing...I was not an AT&T customer last week. I'm still not an AT&T customer.

Visual Voicemail For The Rest of Us?

News today that Apple will be holding a special event in the UK to announce something? Most are claiming an official release date for the iPhone in Europe. One thing we do know is that AT&T will not be the carrier for our friends across the pond. This raised a question in my mind. Are our European brethren getting Visual Voicemail with their iPhones? If so, does that mean the providers (T-Mobile, in particular) will have made the same infrastructure changes required to offer the feature? If so, does that mean that those of us here in the states who are using our iPhones on carriers (T-Mobile) other than AT&T will get Visual Voicemail too? Maybe Apple will sacrifice VV for 3G, which is a trade I'm sure most Europeans would be glad to make.

Tip For Erratic iPod Click wheels

Several days ago the click wheel on my beloved 4G iPod starting behaving very poorly; not recognizing my finger movements. I tried several remedies, such as reformatting my iPod and draining its battery completely, among others. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to get the click wheel to respond to my scrolling movements, although clicking was restored. Ready to retire my trusty device, I tried one last thing in desperation. I switched my hold slider on and off. Miraculously, the click wheel now works perfectly. I have no idea why this worked, but it did. I can't believe I didn't try it sooner, although it didn't seem to me that it could have made any difference. It was definitely in the "off" position whilst it wasn't working, but whatever works, I guess. I just thought I'd pass this along in case anyone else has had a similar problem.

New Toy: Apple TV

I recently came in possession of an Apple TV. After spending a bit of time with it, I must say I'm impressed, although it's not perfect. Setup was a very simple and it works as advertised. I have only one gripe with the device. Each machine from which you sync or stream media is treated as a separate "source". This means that if one has media living in multiple iTunes libraries on multiple machines, they must switch between these sources every time they wish to view media from their respective machines. This is not ideal, in my mind, and I can't see a reason for it. All content across all computers should be aggregated into a single selection. This would make the Apple TV much more usable, in my opinion. Of course, Steve has already hinted at software updates to the devices, so maybe it's still possible at some future point in time. All in all, however, the device is great. I would recommend it to anyone that keeps a fair amount of content in iTunes.

Godin’s iPhone Challenge

Seth Godin has issued a challenge to marketing pundits to predict the number of iPhones Apple will sell in the coming months and years. He cites a posting from Laura Ries, in which she proclaims the iPhone will see the same fate as the Nokia N-Gage, Microsoft's WebTV and others. I understand Laura's points about convergence devices. However, the thing that will separate iPhone from these other devices is the same thing that separates Apple's products from most of its competitors: usability. Apple will ensure the iPhone is a joy to use, as it does with all of its products. Unfortunately Nokia, Microsoft and many others don't do the same and, in many cases, it can be the determining factor in success or failure.

For the record, I predict that Apple will sell 2.5 million iPhones in 2007 (6 months mind you) and over 4 million in 2008.