As expected, MobileMe is up and ready to go this morning. Maybe not so unexpected, at least at this particular time of the day, is the launch of iTunes 7.7 and the app store. Install and launch iTunes 7.7, search for "AIM" and notice that the AIM application is listed in the search results. Click on apps up in the "bread crumb" bar and voila! Should be an exciting next 48 to 72 hours.
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.
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.
