Side by side video comparison of the iPhone 3G TV commercial vs. replicating it on the real 3G network. I love my iPhone, but these guys raise a good point...
Random aside: The use of on-screen stickies as captions is pretty clever :)
(via TUAW)
Showing posts with label iPhone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPhone. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
iPhone Navigator?
Possible surprises up Steve's sleeve on June 9?
Love the quote from the GPS president:
iPhone Nano, GPS Are More Important to Apple Than 3G: Analysis
Love the quote from the GPS president:
iPhone Nano, GPS Are More Important to Apple Than 3G: Analysis
I recently sat down with the president of a GPS navigation system manufacturer to ask him how he felt about the prospect of a GPS-enabled iPhone. "Scared [expletive]-less," he said.
Yet the iPhone has the potential to leverage true GPS functionality better than any other device. It already has a large, 3.5-in touchscreen interface, external speakers and an elegant Google Maps interface. All you'd need to add to a GPS-enabled iPhone is a suction-cup windshield bracket (sold separately, of course), and you'd have a fully-functional, pocket-portable car navigation device. People already pay hundreds of dollars in droves for this increasingly popular segment of devices, and the iPhone could essentially challenge an entire product category with one add-on feature.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
This sounds familiar...
iPhone-A-Friend
n. The act of using a regular cell phone to get information by calling someone who is sitting at a computer and can surf the internet by proxy.
"We are hopelessly lost. I'll just use my iPhone-a-friend and my mom can get us directions from Google Maps."
"When are you going to get a real iPhone, you cheap ass?"
via UrbanDictionary
n. The act of using a regular cell phone to get information by calling someone who is sitting at a computer and can surf the internet by proxy.
"We are hopelessly lost. I'll just use my iPhone-a-friend and my mom can get us directions from Google Maps."
"When are you going to get a real iPhone, you cheap ass?"
via UrbanDictionary
Friday, March 21, 2008
TextOnPhone
Found this neat little iPhone/iPodTouch eBook reader called TextOnPhone. Over 25,000 books, including a decent catalog of recents and classics, all for free.
They also have a Facebook App that emulates the iPhone experience on a desktop.
Thorough video review here showing off some slick features:
Shameless plug: Guess which recent novel is included?
They also have a Facebook App that emulates the iPhone experience on a desktop.
Thorough video review here showing off some slick features:
Shameless plug: Guess which recent novel is included?
Monday, March 03, 2008
1000 Hours
Ever wonder what would happen if you ran your iPhone stopwatch for 41 days and almost 16 hours?
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
1.1.4 & Starbucks Connection
Apple just dropped iPhone 1.1.4 moments ago; I'm upgrading as I type this.
Also, another story is floating around that Starbucks is closing all of their stores tonight at 5:30pm local time for a special 3 hour employee training session. Coincidence?
Coffee chain to close all 7,100 stores for employee training.
Also, another story is floating around that Starbucks is closing all of their stores tonight at 5:30pm local time for a special 3 hour employee training session. Coincidence?
Coffee chain to close all 7,100 stores for employee training.
One BILLION Dollars
Analysts at Marketwatch speculate Apple is losing buckets of money due to iPhone unlocking:
But a blogger at CNET.com disputes the math with much aplomb:
(Quick little postscript: I'd never noticed the "live updating" stock quotes inside a story at MarketWatch before. Pretty slick.)
Sacconaghi estimated that between 25% and 30% of the more than 4 million iPhone units already sold have been unlocked to work on other wireless networks, and that each unlocked iPhone results in Apple's missing out on $370 in earnings over the phone's two-year contract period. If Apple were to hit its 10 million-unit sales target, the unlocked devices would cause the company to forgo between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion over two years, he said.
But a blogger at CNET.com disputes the math with much aplomb:
Which is why -- and, jeez, how many times does the Macalope have to say this? -- it makes absolutely no sense to say that Apple is losing this money. If these phones are in countries where Apple has no contract, the only thing you can say is that Apple should get an exclusive contract there faster (easier said than done). If they're being used by people who just don't like the exclusive provider Apple's signed with, then these are people they'll never get anyway.
(Quick little postscript: I'd never noticed the "live updating" stock quotes inside a story at MarketWatch before. Pretty slick.)
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Feedback on the iPhone Interface
Edward Tufte is reknowned for his books and articles on interface meets design meets data presentation. (search his site for the article PowerPoint and businesses)
Anyways, he just put up a posting on what the iPhone does right, and a few things he thinks could have been done better.
(make sure to check out the video link in the article for an actual demo)
And speaking of interface, with the new moveable home page icons, here's my latest first page setup:
After going through several iterations, I've finally moved my frequently used icons to the upper-right hand corner. This provides quick access for my right-hand thumb.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Change the World
Bits and pieces of this have already been told, but an interesting "for dummies" overview of how game changing the iPhone really is.
The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry
The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry
Thursday, January 03, 2008
New iPhone Firmware 1.1.3
Since the majority of us have iPhones, I thought I'd post.
http://gizmodo.com/339055/full-video-demo-of-apple-iphone-firmware-113-features
What I like:
http://gizmodo.com/339055/full-video-demo-of-apple-iphone-firmware-113-features
What I like:
- Google Maps drop pin
- Multiple recipient SMS
- And moving around home page and dock icons (you can even create multiple home pages)
And yes, Google has finally returned the cell phone tower triangulation technology that last powered AT&T's friend finder. Why they just got around to it now, I'll never know.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
iPhone Hacking as Internship
Apple hires author of the unofficial iPhone SDK
Lucas Newman of Delicious Monster has been hired by Apple as an “iPhone engineer” according to a post from “Chief Monster” Wil Shipley.
Newman is an avid iPhone developer who worked on the first native iPhone game, Lights Off and helped iPhone Atlas develop their initial 5-step native application install guide back in August.
(Above is paraphrased because, to quote the second commenter on the original article: "Please proofread your posts. This one is utter gibberish.")
Related: Wired puts Jailbroken iPhone on top 2007 gadget list
Lucas Newman of Delicious Monster has been hired by Apple as an “iPhone engineer” according to a post from “Chief Monster” Wil Shipley.
Newman is an avid iPhone developer who worked on the first native iPhone game, Lights Off and helped iPhone Atlas develop their initial 5-step native application install guide back in August.
(Above is paraphrased because, to quote the second commenter on the original article: "Please proofread your posts. This one is utter gibberish.")
Related: Wired puts Jailbroken iPhone on top 2007 gadget list
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Apple Adwords Prank
Man buys Google Adwords ad for "iphone price drop" and a comedy of errors ensues.
DYH isn’t funny?
Also interesting in how it shows the lack of basic fact checking when blogs become common news sources.
DYH isn’t funny?
Also interesting in how it shows the lack of basic fact checking when blogs become common news sources.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Off-beat idea for iPhone contact photos
Grab a camera and a plate of glass or just shove someone's face onto the surface of a scanner. Voila! When one of your contacts calls you it looks like they're trying to escape from the prison that is your iPhone, or the prison that is your AT&T contract or maybe more like Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book. Regardless, I suggest you stop drinking whatever it is you're drinking before viewing these photos.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Part II: Apple vs. AT&T - The Activation
We all love cell phone activations, right?
It seems like in the past I've spent more time than I care to in the store when I purchase a phone.
With iPhone in hand, I went home to complete the activation. I had already downloaded iTunes 7.3 in the morning, so I was ready to go.
Unwrapping new Apple products is always a pleasure. They focus on the design, the packaging and how it feels. And I've always noticed that for 1st generations they put much more effort into it. (If you ever bought a first gen iPod, you'll know what I mean).
I plug the phone into the dock, connect to my computer and I'm off and running in iTunes. 5-6 pages later I arrive at the "Complete Your Activation" screen. I'm told it may take up to 3 minutes.
I wait, and wait. And then receive a messages that says "You will receive an email confirmation once your activation is complete." WTF?
Now I have to wait for email confirmation. This can't be Apple. So, I call the 800 number on the screen.
I still don't know if it was an Apple rep or AT&T rep, but the phone rings twice and is picked up - no waiting. Clearly those extra 2000 staffers made a difference. And amazingly the woman was very pleasant and easy to understand. I suspect that the rep was from AT&T, but it was a specially staffed iPhone 800 number. It was just too good for a regular carrier.
Apparently, AT&T is backlogged in new activation requests and it may take 24 hours to receive an email. Keep in mind, that NO iTunes syncing can occur until after your phone has been activated. So, basically I can't even use the phone.
Many compulsive email refreshes later, I receive the email, and my phone starts syncing. I had already setup preferences to sync contacts, calendar, personal email account, songs, photos, and a couple tv shows.
In summary, the activation experience (aside from the waiting) was awesome. I did it all in the course of 5 minutes from my computer.
Word on the internet, is that if you were porting a number from another carrier, the WAIT is much longer.
So, it appears that Apple's design experience and server available were top-notch. AT&T needs to figure out how to activate phones quicker.
It seems like in the past I've spent more time than I care to in the store when I purchase a phone.
With iPhone in hand, I went home to complete the activation. I had already downloaded iTunes 7.3 in the morning, so I was ready to go.
Unwrapping new Apple products is always a pleasure. They focus on the design, the packaging and how it feels. And I've always noticed that for 1st generations they put much more effort into it. (If you ever bought a first gen iPod, you'll know what I mean).
I plug the phone into the dock, connect to my computer and I'm off and running in iTunes. 5-6 pages later I arrive at the "Complete Your Activation" screen. I'm told it may take up to 3 minutes.
I wait, and wait. And then receive a messages that says "You will receive an email confirmation once your activation is complete." WTF?
Now I have to wait for email confirmation. This can't be Apple. So, I call the 800 number on the screen.
I still don't know if it was an Apple rep or AT&T rep, but the phone rings twice and is picked up - no waiting. Clearly those extra 2000 staffers made a difference. And amazingly the woman was very pleasant and easy to understand. I suspect that the rep was from AT&T, but it was a specially staffed iPhone 800 number. It was just too good for a regular carrier.
Apparently, AT&T is backlogged in new activation requests and it may take 24 hours to receive an email. Keep in mind, that NO iTunes syncing can occur until after your phone has been activated. So, basically I can't even use the phone.
Many compulsive email refreshes later, I receive the email, and my phone starts syncing. I had already setup preferences to sync contacts, calendar, personal email account, songs, photos, and a couple tv shows.
In summary, the activation experience (aside from the waiting) was awesome. I did it all in the course of 5 minutes from my computer.
Word on the internet, is that if you were porting a number from another carrier, the WAIT is much longer.
So, it appears that Apple's design experience and server available were top-notch. AT&T needs to figure out how to activate phones quicker.
Apple vs. AT&T
So, did I get an iPhone yesterday? Read and see.
The Logic
I decided to wait in line at the local AT&T rather than the Apple Store. My reasoning was that the lines were a lot longer at the Apple Store. 300 in my neighborhood vs. 100 at AT&T. And Apple was allowing two phone purchases per person while AT&T was allowing only one.
The AT&T Experience
I had a late work meeting, so I didn't get to AT&T until around 5pm. At that point, I was about 95th in line. The mood of the crowd was reasonably happy, no one here had been waiting for days.
Fast forward to 6pm and the doors open. The line moves up a bit as people crowd forward, but from then on moves VERY slowly. We finally get to a window where we can see inside the store and they have 10-12 stations, but the computers are moving VERY slowly, and it seems to take 10-15 minutes just to get one person done. Apparently, they're doing FULL credit checks.
They won't say much about inventory, but say we should get a phone though it may not be 8GB. This continues for around an hour and a half. Then at around 7:30pm, they say that there's a very low chance we'll get the 8s based on where we're at in line. I waiver, and decide to wait a bit more time. At 7:50pm (with 40 people still ahead of me), they say they're out of 8s and MAY not have any 4s available by the time it reaches me.
To hell with that. I resign myself to trying tomorrow, but decide on a lark to walk down to the Apple Store on the Promenade.
The Apple Experience
I get to the Apple Store at around 8pm. The line has about 150 people. But, it would seem to be moving fairly quickly. There are 10x as many police and the mood is much more festive.
Rumor passes through the line, that there's still plenty of iPhones, both 4s and 8s. But, the Apple employees while nice, won't confirm.
Meanwhile, there's free Starbucks coffee samples AND they start passing out water bottles to people in line.
Every 10-15 min. they're letting in groups of 30 people at a time. They're cruising through.
Around 9pm, about 15 Apple employees clap and cheer as I walk through the doors. I'm siked to hear that they still have the 8s in stock. Going through the in-store line, Apple employees are letting us play with iPhones while we wait to get to a register.
I'm up, I want an 8, and they're done in 3 min. I HAVE the iPhone!
The Moral
When faced with a choice to wait in line at an AT&T or Apple Store. Choose the Apple Store if you want free water.
The Logic
I decided to wait in line at the local AT&T rather than the Apple Store. My reasoning was that the lines were a lot longer at the Apple Store. 300 in my neighborhood vs. 100 at AT&T. And Apple was allowing two phone purchases per person while AT&T was allowing only one.
The AT&T Experience
I had a late work meeting, so I didn't get to AT&T until around 5pm. At that point, I was about 95th in line. The mood of the crowd was reasonably happy, no one here had been waiting for days.
Fast forward to 6pm and the doors open. The line moves up a bit as people crowd forward, but from then on moves VERY slowly. We finally get to a window where we can see inside the store and they have 10-12 stations, but the computers are moving VERY slowly, and it seems to take 10-15 minutes just to get one person done. Apparently, they're doing FULL credit checks.
They won't say much about inventory, but say we should get a phone though it may not be 8GB. This continues for around an hour and a half. Then at around 7:30pm, they say that there's a very low chance we'll get the 8s based on where we're at in line. I waiver, and decide to wait a bit more time. At 7:50pm (with 40 people still ahead of me), they say they're out of 8s and MAY not have any 4s available by the time it reaches me.
To hell with that. I resign myself to trying tomorrow, but decide on a lark to walk down to the Apple Store on the Promenade.
The Apple Experience
I get to the Apple Store at around 8pm. The line has about 150 people. But, it would seem to be moving fairly quickly. There are 10x as many police and the mood is much more festive.
Rumor passes through the line, that there's still plenty of iPhones, both 4s and 8s. But, the Apple employees while nice, won't confirm.
Meanwhile, there's free Starbucks coffee samples AND they start passing out water bottles to people in line.
Every 10-15 min. they're letting in groups of 30 people at a time. They're cruising through.
Around 9pm, about 15 Apple employees clap and cheer as I walk through the doors. I'm siked to hear that they still have the 8s in stock. Going through the in-store line, Apple employees are letting us play with iPhones while we wait to get to a register.
I'm up, I want an 8, and they're done in 3 min. I HAVE the iPhone!
The Moral
When faced with a choice to wait in line at an AT&T or Apple Store. Choose the Apple Store if you want free water.
Friday, June 29, 2007
iTunes 7.3
New iTunes update came out today to support iPhone activations. Probably tweaked some other things as well, but the first one I noticed was a bit weird.
Alphabetical sorting now puts artists and albums with numbers after the alphabet rather than before it, so the 22-20s are now near the end of my library, while a-ha has risen to the top.
Alphabetical sorting now puts artists and albums with numbers after the alphabet rather than before it, so the 22-20s are now near the end of my library, while a-ha has risen to the top.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
iPhone Video 2: Activation and Sync
Another iPhone video is up, this one about how to activate and sync.
My thoughts/predictions:
-They seem to have done a great job in allowing you to activate at home yourself via iTunes, as this tends to be a long, tedious, and confusing process that was made extremely simple.
-Based on this in home activation, rumors of no removable battery, and no obvious battery door in the other demo, we may have our answer on the "will it work on other carriers" question. My guess is that the way they "locked" the iPhone was quite literal: they locked the SIM in the phone, making it non-removable. (Or at least not easily removable.)
-Synching is iPod simple, with nice touches of being able to auto-sync a Yahoo address book and have POP mail settings synched to the phone as well if the accounts are already on your computer.
-We also have the billing plan answer from the video: $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes, or $99.99 for 1,350 minutes. All plans include unlimited data, visual voicemail, 200 SMS messages, and the usual AT&T rollover and mobile to mobile minutes. (A little steep, but with my limited talking I could probably get away with the low plan and paying extra for an upgrade on SMS.)
My thoughts/predictions:
-They seem to have done a great job in allowing you to activate at home yourself via iTunes, as this tends to be a long, tedious, and confusing process that was made extremely simple.
-Based on this in home activation, rumors of no removable battery, and no obvious battery door in the other demo, we may have our answer on the "will it work on other carriers" question. My guess is that the way they "locked" the iPhone was quite literal: they locked the SIM in the phone, making it non-removable. (Or at least not easily removable.)
-Synching is iPod simple, with nice touches of being able to auto-sync a Yahoo address book and have POP mail settings synched to the phone as well if the accounts are already on your computer.
-We also have the billing plan answer from the video: $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes, or $99.99 for 1,350 minutes. All plans include unlimited data, visual voicemail, 200 SMS messages, and the usual AT&T rollover and mobile to mobile minutes. (A little steep, but with my limited talking I could probably get away with the low plan and paying extra for an upgrade on SMS.)
Friday, June 22, 2007
iPhone Video: Check out the UI
Neil tipped me off to the video that Apple has on their home page. It's a 25 min. tutorial of how the iPhone works.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/usingiphone/guidedtour_large.html
The demo shows a lot of the contextual power of the UI. You have the right buttons that you need when you're performing certain actions. This seems like to be the biggest problems with most software.
Things I liked from the demo:
- easily adding a caller (conference) to a call - this seems like one of the things that regular phone systems never make easy
- different functionality is accessed depending on the orientation of the phone (vertical or horizontal)
- pinch zooming in and out
- they only mention Google and Yahoo as search options. Poor Microsoft.
- my Treo has SMS message threading. But the iPhone UI shows both parties in a bubble talk format
- the biggest problem with the demo, is the unbelievable speed that the internet is accessed. I'm sure it'll be much slower in reality
http://www.apple.com/iphone/usingiphone/guidedtour_large.html
The demo shows a lot of the contextual power of the UI. You have the right buttons that you need when you're performing certain actions. This seems like to be the biggest problems with most software.
Things I liked from the demo:
- easily adding a caller (conference) to a call - this seems like one of the things that regular phone systems never make easy
- different functionality is accessed depending on the orientation of the phone (vertical or horizontal)
- pinch zooming in and out
- they only mention Google and Yahoo as search options. Poor Microsoft.
- my Treo has SMS message threading. But the iPhone UI shows both parties in a bubble talk format
- the biggest problem with the demo, is the unbelievable speed that the internet is accessed. I'm sure it'll be much slower in reality
Monday, June 11, 2007
Browser Wars Revisited?
Does Safari for Windows mean the old browser wars are heating up again?
It's a head scratching move to a degree from a pure web browser standpoint, though it does make sense as an iPhone WebApp development environment, or if the iPhone eventually synchs Safari bookmarks over the air.
It's a head scratching move to a degree from a pure web browser standpoint, though it does make sense as an iPhone WebApp development environment, or if the iPhone eventually synchs Safari bookmarks over the air.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)