Rant: New Phone!

After being a loyal AT&T Wireless customer for the past 7.5+ years, I finally switched to another service provider. The reason was that there just is NO wireless coverage in my house. There was outside, near, and around, but not inside. That's not acceptable.

Having a phone call drop in the middle of a discussion with two, ill family members really did it for me.

So why switch? Although I have a land line and I don't use my cell phone voice plan that much anyway...you kind of want to get value for your money. Yeah?

After much soul-searching and reviewing online wireless service coverage maps, I finally decided to go for the switch. And a new cell phone handset, too.

I honestly got tired of waiting for Apple's whims of when they might or not release a new phone. Most other handset manufacturers keep their phone plans under wrap until they're ready to throw a big PR party for their newest release.

That's how you do it, you don't tease salivating fans until the very last drop of saliva is juiced out of them. Or their hard-earned money.

After today's announcement of Steve Jobs' resignation, and the absolutely preposterous rumors surrounding the release of the next iPhone, I couldn't be happier about my decision last weekend to at last bail ship.

My new phone service provider has excellent coverage for the area I live in. I get a signal. My new handset is a 4G. It's got a huge screen.

After all, it's highly unlike me to stick with one thing for too long a time. I get antsy.

Here's some useful links if you're also thinking of making a service or handset switch:

• CNET's cell phone coverage map, Verizon's, T-Mobile's, AT&T's, and Sprint's -- please bear in mind that many service providers say coverage and really mean voice service, not always data.
• Cell phone handset reviews by CNET, PC Magazine, and ZDNet.
• Mint's the true cost of an iPhone

iOS 5

Today Steve Jobs and the Apple team released info about the upcoming iOS 5 update.

The best source for concise info about what the new OS will do is from Mobile Crunch (Everything You Need To Know About iOS 5).

The biggest deal for many seems to be the addition of notifications, and missed notifications on the lock screen that allow you to swipe directly to the pertinent app. Apparently many folks felt this was a major issue on the Apple vs. Android battlefield.

I'm personally more interested in the newsstand portion of iBooks, where your subscriptions to magazines will now appear.

Many folks were also stoked to hear about the reading list option. From Safari, you can now add items to a reading list which will showcase your articles in a "prettied up" version. Sort of like your very own magazine or newspaper.

Reminders, the way I understand it, is the least useful change for me personally. I already have reminders popping up from my calendar, which I've synced to Google Calendar for years now.

One thing that is interesting is the photo shortcut from the lock screen. This makes capturing spontaneous shots easier, faster, and better. They say the camera's improved as well with this latest software update. This is probably aimed at higher-pixel camera phones coming out daily nowadays.

The thumb keyboard cracks me up. It's the keyboard separated into two areas, one on the left margin and one on the right margin.

The "PC Free" concept is pretty much, yes very, a huge deal, since we've all been tethered to laptops and desktops indefinitely for iPhone and iPad updates and syncing...and let's not even bring up iTunes syncing *shiver* The Wireless synch to iTunes and the iPad mirroring are nice add-ons that make a difference without much effort from the user.

Twitter is now better integrated, and iMessages promises stealth and speed when sharing between users--not something earthshaking since I don't really use my IM app of choice (eBuddy) all that much anymore, nor IM in general. And I doubt this is that relevant for most, since they're anyway used to texting.

I am very excited that this latest iOS update brings with it so much functionality, that I can barely contain myself to run home and plug in the little buggers to see how it all applies to the particular models of devices I own (iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS).

If anything interesting happens once I update, I'll be sure to follow up with a post.

Cheers and happy iOS-ing. Of course, we have to wait until the fall, but what's a couple of months!

iOS 4.3

Friday was the official rollout of iOS 4.3 to all iPhones (3Gs and above) and iPads.

According to the Apple OS update page, the benefits are mostly for iPhone 4 users:

• personal hotspot for up to five devices
• iTunes home sharing
• new AirPlay features
• faster Safari performance via the newfangled Apple Nitro JavaScrip engine
• HD video via Apple's Digital AV Adapter
• Ping features
• new settings for message alerts
• single-tap conference calling pause
• and a number of bug fixes

Of course, March 11 was also the day the iPad 2.0 came out.

The Naperville, Illinois Apple store reported a line so long down Jefferson Avenue, that it bent around the corner where the Eddie Bauer store is (Crowds Come Out to Naperville Apple Store for New iPad 2) located.

I even read somewhere that they offered customers in line a free Starbucks drink, since the line and wait were so long.

After a few hours of sales, Apple officially reduced the shipping time wait for a new iPad 2 to 2-3 weeks, according to an update by ZDNet.

So...did you get yours yet? Are you going for an iPad 1 because it's much cheaper now? Or are you favoring an Android tablet?

Verizon iPhone: Now For The Bad News...

According to a compiled reviews post on CNN Fortune today, the Verizon iPhone is leaving folks unsatisfied.

Although calls are not dropped as often as on the AT&T network, and the reach of the signal is stronger for many, the user can't multitask on the 3G network (phone call and surf the web at the same time).

Second, is data speed. AT&T is almost 50% faster at download speeds. This is a cause for concern for most folks interested in a smartphone for data transfer (documents, photographs, email, etc.).

But there is a neat little hook with Verizon: the hotspot feature. You can use the iPhone to get your iPad or other gadget free reign over the Internet, without having to pay for a data plan that's only available to that particular gadget *cough*iPad*cough*

I'm seeing two pluses and two minuses here. What about you?

From what I read thus far, the Verizon pluses are not enough to get me to switch...particularly with the carrot dangling in the horizon of AT&T possibly releasing the iPhone's hotspot feature in a near future.

Find My iPhone, Now!

With last week's iOS update, a nifty little thing came along called iPhone finder.

I completely forgot about this feature until I read this article today by Wired, titled How to Activate Find My iPhone for iOS 4.

Check it out and see if it's worth your while to learn how to access this feature. Mind you, it's only for iPhone 4, iPad or fourth-generation iPod Touch.

Android Smartphones

I've been looking for a smartphone to purchase in Italy while I am there the next week, which will then become my father's for his innumerable periodic business trips there.

I kinda got sick of visiting family for weeks on end and not being connected. I particularly suffer when there's great photos I want to share on Flickr and Twitter. Gotta have my priorities, ya know?

As a consequence, I'm surfing TIM and Vodafone websites, and learning as much as possible about Android (AT&T's info page) and Windows Phone 7.

So what's the brouhaha? Well mostly I've learned that Windows Phone 7 and Apple are looking at controlling use and vendors so the quality stays up. On the other hand, Android, allows for tons of user customization and applications to help you really have a phone that does exactly what you want it to do and in your preferred user interface.

I'm happy with my iPhone 3GS. Oddly enough, I haven't experienced the service outages or brown outs as others have. My phone works just fine for me and my needs. I'm mostly am (and was) drawn to the iPhone because it was an industry disruptor when it first came out, and because the interface is so clean and simple. Only a wide array of optional apps to help you tweak away.

I'd love to play with an Android, but all that customization would probably end up driving my dad crazy once I turn the phone over to him. The Windows Phone 7 sounds really tempting, but of course, the BSOD lurks like a bad joke in the back of my mind whenever I think about it. We will see what happens over the holidays phone wise in the market.

Meanwhile, wish me luck on my search for a smartphone for my trip...and for dad!

Finally! A Contender: Windows Phone 7

I'm not sure if I'm more antagonized by there being only two players in the field right now*cough*monopoly*cough*, or the chest-drumming nonsense I hear from people on either camp. But it's about time for there to be a third contender in the iPhone versus Droid war.

Microsoft Phone 7 is expected to arrive in November, and this past week has been ripe with media reports about all sorts of aspects of this new operating system and the rigorous requirements MS has put its manufacturers under (unlike Google, but in line with Apple).

Case in point is a great article by Wired, titled Why Windows Phone 7 Will Make Android Look Chaotic.

Here's what caught my attention early on in the article: "Each device must feature three standard hardware buttons...and before they can ship with Windows Phone 7, they have to pass a series of tests directed by Microsoft. (As I mentioned in a feature story about Windows Phone 7, Microsoft has created new lab facilities containing robots and automated programs to test each handset to ensure that features work properly and consistently across multiple devices.)" Looks like they're committing time and resources, good start!

And there's never harm in making the decision to buy a particular product over another a no-brainer for an overwhelmed or non-techie customer: "Most importantly, a consistent user experience will help customers understand what they’re getting when they’re shopping for a Windows phone. The OS is going to be the same with identical features on every handset, so as a consumer, your decision-making will boil down to the hardware’s look, weight and size. Compare that to the experience of buying an Android phone, which could be running a different version depending on the handset you buy: Donut, Eclair, Froyo, blueberry pie, Neapolitan or whatever Google chooses to call it eventually."

And the clincher in the article leaves us hungry for more, but makes a valid point: "...the Phone 7 user interface is refreshingly different compared to the siloed-app experience of iOS. But Apple is so far ahead in terms of cultivating a rich mobile ecosystem that I don’t think Steve Jobs needs to be sweating just yet." And I have no idea what they mean by a "rich mobile ecosystem"...is it the apps and iTunes...that sort of add-ons that build the phone up?

I will keep my eye out for additional tidbits on the Windows Phone 7, because I'm very, very glad there's a breath of fresh air in a stale, rut of a tug of war that's been going on between iPhone and Android for a couple of years now.

Deleting Multiple Photos from iPhone

Ever need to delete a bunch of photos (but not all) from your iPhone? Here's a great article from cnet on doing just that, iPhone tip: Select multiple photos to share or to delete.

iTunes 10

My friend and I were WAY overexcited about iTunes 10. So much so, we stayed online till 10 pm CT when they released it, so we could both download it and compare notes.

Did I mention my friend was in Minnesota and I am in Illinois? IM rules.

my library on iTunes 10 

So we each realized something as we began our respective downloads, mine was a lot faster than his, even though we both have DSL. That was peculiar. After that, nothing much differed. Installation and use was just as fine.

This version of iTunes changed most of the interface to a gray hue, and added Apple's new music social networking tool, Ping. I'm not really sure what to make of Ping yet. You can follow other people with similar music tastes (yeah, on Last.fm and Pandora you can as well) and follow musicians and groups (yeah, so can you on Facebook, duh). So I'm not really sure what the use of it is.

Apple may very well drop it a la Google Wave. Time will tell. I also don't know what to make with this new default view, where you have album art, album name, song, artist, etc. I kinda hate it. I switched to the regular list view which I used before. I really don't care much for the album cover view.

One thing that I can tell you right now, is that my laptop's gotten worse with this latest install. So much so that it hangs continuously, making surfing, chatting, or pretty much anything quite the chore. This must be a heavy iTunes install. Must be sucking the memory (.99GB) dry outta my ole VAIO.

This sucks because this is the laptop I use to sync my iPhone...and although I was able to share my iTunes music library between two computers using Dropbox, I am unable to get my iTunes on my Mac Book Pro to recognize what apps my iPhone should have. This makes me not a happy camper.

I checked online and pretty much no one supports RAM to fit this make of laptop anymore. Makes me feel antiquated and dusty. In a corner like.

Steve Jobs said during his Apple Music Keynote that the new iPhones OS update would come out in November. Here we go again...can't wait.

iOS 4

I was so excited to hear that, finally, the iOS 4 was ready to download Monday. YEY!
But it wouldn't be until 1 pm, so I had to try not to freak out at work, be a good child, and wait until the afternoon when I could be home to install the upgrade. At the end of the workday, I rushed home and, exhibiting unusual patience, walked my dog first, and then finally sat down to attend to some iPhone download ecstasy.

Proof that it was going to take 7 hours...

But first, my system was telling me that I needed to download the new iTunes. Ok, but no safari thanks. About 20 minutes later...there is iTunes! Next! Yes I want to update! But then..then...my download was telling me it would take 11 hours, then 10, then 7...and for the next 20-25 minutes it was stuck at 7 hours. Wow can there really be that many people and that little bandwith at Apple? Hmm. Could it be a problem with our Wi-Fi? Should I go reset the router? Hm..All of a sudden the download connection crashed. I was left with mouth wide open. I decided to restart my laptop. That might settle some things. Once it was all up again, I tried downloading the blessed, joyous OS 4 again. And this time...it was only going to take 29 minutes. Much more sensible. Except it was...more like an hour and a quarter in true time...

Finally, with new OS downloaded, the installation began...another 10 minutes or so. It was by then about an hour and a half past my bedtime and the headache I had all day was bearing down on my few, remaining brain cells.

When the OS was finally installed I grabbed the phone, unplugged it from my laptop and headed upstairs to crash in my bed. I looked first at playing with the folder feature--drag an icon on top of another and it will create a folder. I got a hang of the folder feature rather quickly, thankfully. But when it came to multitasking...the apps I was trying to get to multitask weren't up to...er...task. I did a quick search and figured that most apps needed to update as well to have the multitasking ability...another couple of minutes to update the apps...my eyes were more than half closed by now.

Precious time gone to Apple. What was I thinking? *yawn* Can't this wait until tomorrow morning?

Well, finally, the apps updated and I was able to begin the multitasking...you open an app, double click the home button, and select other apps to "downsize." I haven't figured out how to just shut down apps instead of automatically placing them in the taskbar...and I can't seem to find that video where they walk through all that stuff...chuck this up to the learning curve I guess.

One thing's emerged since that very exhausting night...I especially like the much, much faster shutter speed on the camera, and the really amazing superzoom feature for closeups. It makes a really big difference for me as I love snapping pix wherever I go.

For those of you of the apple cult...how has your upgrade gone?

iPhone/Touch OS 4 Released Today!

I've been eagerly, impatiently waiting for the OS release so I can check out the multitasking option. I'd love to listen to Pandora or Last FM and do other stuff at the same time, like IM or check email or my Google Reader.

I just saw mention of the OS on the Mashable Facebook page. It links to a brief rundown of the main, new features most folks are looking forward to. I'm not sure I am too eager to see what the folders are like, since I'm sure it's another way to store too much stuff on the phone or even, load the phone up with apps you hardly ever use but which are neatly stored away in the folders. Still, I could use it for my music apps all in one folder, or my travel/food locator apps all in another folder. I guess it does have it's benefits after all...

I will be very happy this afternoon when I get home and am able to plug in my phone to iTunes and see if the upgrade's available yet.

Music Roundup and Rant

My iPhone scrobbles differently each time I plug it into my PC laptop. I don't know why sometimes it scrobbles right away, and why sometimes it takes 1/2 hour before the window pops up -- startling me because I had completely forgotten about it.

If you want to know how to scrobble your iPhone played songs to Last.Fm, check out this how-to article from the Apple Bar "Last.fm: 12 Ways to Scrobble" using the official scrobbler program that sits in your taskbar. Or, here's Last.fm's Windows client download (remember to pick the option to scrobble from iPod/iPhone under the settings). I'm still waiting for the day when the iPhone or iTunes will do this automatically tho, which doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. Drag. Bummer. Shucks. Get your act together guys!

I really am not a big fan of iTunes. I only started using it two years ago when I realized it was kind of the only easy way to put music onto my iPhone. I definitely don't delve into iTunes Store as much as I could either--I find it overwhelming due to the quantity, but easy to search. Gimme torrent finder any day! I only used the iTunes store successfully to rent the movie "9" with a gift card I got for Christmas. That was fun.

I listen to music via the following methods with most popular first:

1. the car radio (first most used) 
2. iPhone linked to car stereo system (second most used) - when the radio gets too redundant--as it often tends to do. 
3. YouTube - usually at work or when someone tells me to try a band or song out, tho lately I've been trying to remember to do this on...
4. Last.Fm - I started using this about three years ago at a friend's suggestion, tho I had been using Pandora successfuly and was happy with the close matches it provided for selected artists and songs. Something I wish Last.fm did better. 
5. iTunes - only occasionally on the weekends.

I was updating my iPhone playlists today and my scrobble window came up. I decided to check out my statistics page on Last.fm and realized that I completely agree with it, it's a great representation of what I listen to. It helps that it keeps track of what I play on my iPhone.

On the other hand...my iTunes...the top 25 most heard songs aren't exactly 100% representative. It may be that it doesn't keep track of the songs I play on my iPhone...or my not using iTunes often enough to represent well.

All my iTunes Songs: 2,530

Top 25 Most Listened on iTunes

Last.fm Top Artists: DM, Ennio Morricone, Garbage, Nickelback, Lily Allen

Top Tracks: Kaiser Chiefs Never Miss a Beat, Depeche Mode Wrong,  Does It Offend You Yeah? We Are Rockstars, Goose Bring It On, Coldplay Clocks

No surprise to me that the top songs on Last.Fm are my Carz playlist songs, since I usually...listen to my iPhone in the car. I love the songs that iTunes categorizes as my top 25 most heard, and completely agree, but my Last.fm list best represents my likes. I think it comes down to use, because I use Last.Fm more than iTunes due to the scrobbling on the iPhone and just in general I guess. I wish my iTunes would keep track of the songs I play on my iPhone -- wouldn't it make sense?

What are your favorite players or scrobblers?

New Tool: BlogPressLite

I installed and have begun using the iPhone app BlogPress Lite. You can download this free version, or shell out for the paid version (BlogPress) which allows you to post to many more platforms besides just Blogger.

My first test post was on my Jeda's Automotive and Car News Blog (http://jedascarz.blogspot.com), about the new Mini Cooper dealership that's coming up in Naperville, Illinois.

The setup of your Blogger accounts is easy, you just navigate to the settings "tab" of the app (there's three "tabs" at the bottom of the app), then enter your log in info for your Blogger account. Since I have four blogs on Blogger, I just had to do this four times.

It also allows you to link your choice of Picasa albums to which pictures will be saved to when posting from your iPhone. I wish there was support for Flickr too.

I like it thus far. Here's a couple of print screens from my iPhone to show you some of the navigation.

Tech Classes Alert: O'Reilly

I used to read O'Reilly manuals for Windows back in '99-'00 - just found out through someone's post on Twitter that they offer classes (!). There's a neat, free course titled: Learn to Build iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

It's FREE, you didn't misread. Check it out.

That Sync-ing Feeling

I've experienced some amazing sync-ing issues on iPhone over the last month. It's been a combination of operator error and lack of intuitiveness on the iTunes iPhone management system.

I've come to the realization that because there's many ways of doing things, it's very easy to get screwed up:

• I sync my Google calendar using these instructions, because iTunes' iPhone management center only offers Outlook sync-ing...
• I entered email accounts separate from the above instructions, because it makes more sense for me, though you may wish to sync your Google mail account like they tell you to
  
• I should only use the iTunes iPhone sync of contacts, and not the above instructions, else chaos and deletion of perfectly useful contacts ensues--this has plagued me for 2 mths and I just figured out why, operator error based on above instructions and iTunes sync-ing issues
  
• My email accounts are sync-ing just fine they way I have them, thank the cybergods
  

I hate writing "synching" because I know it's wrong but it feels oh-so-right when typing it. I also hate writing "syncing," because I don't trust it as being correct. I like sync-ing ^_^ it's a safe, congruent way of saying it.
The above, just thought I'd throw that in there. Courtesy of my anal retentive biatch editor side...

Much luck and sync-ing.

SiriusXM for iPhone

I was wondering when they would be getting an iPhone app. I was listening to the my favorite SiriusXM channel (The Pulse) on DishNetwork and heard the announcer talk about the new iPhone app.

It's up on iTunes Store and the iPhone App Store as well.

The best part is that it's free...then again, it better be since it's an expensive service already. Sadly, having a DishNetwork account doesn't get you in for free, but they do have a 7-day trial you can sign up for. That's what I did.

Now I can listen to The Pulse for free for seven days on my iPhone, wherever I may be.

iPhone Home Page

I was inspired by a recent blog post by Danny Choo on his own iPhone Home Page(s).

HOME PAGE #1

• CheckPlease lets me figure out tip by punching in the dinner total and what % I want to give. Also, I can figure out how much everyone owes if we're going dutch. Awesome.
• Stanza lets me read James Joyce's The Dead. For free.
• CardStar is my #1 favorite app, just wish they'd expand the stores list. I don't ahve to carry a membership card for every darn store anymore, they're all saved in barcode here. Awesome app. Worth the price.
• Allpoint sort of helps me find ATMs for my bank, doesn't always work.
  

HOME PAGE #2

• Amazon app lets me spend money I don't have :) super fast and easy
  
• LinkedIn lets me check the account on the run if needed

HOME PAGE #3

• Chipotle app lets me find my nearest chipotle and send and pay for an order for my favorite for pick up. Requires very minor updating of Chipotle.com account first.
  
• Around Me and Where both sort of do the same thing: help me find stuff nearby.