Monday, July 23, 2007

Bluetooth Headset


Apple has shipped their cool bluetooth headset for the iPhone, but is it worth the hefty price. I guess my answer would have to be no after I spent all of my money on the phone itself, but the headset still looks pretty cool. The major problem that I see with it though is the fact that you have to wear it like you would a normal earbud. I had to get some special stuff to make the earbuds fit in my ear and I don't know if I would want ot do the same for an earpeice that costs over a hundred dollars. I guess time will only tell whether I will fork it over (not anytme soon is for sure).

People seem to like the fact that the charger connects both devices to one dock and displays both charging status. I think this is a very cool idea and makes the fact that they are made for each other much more apparent. Leave it to Apple to desing one of the coolest looking products out there and charge an arm and a leg for it, but hey, the product has always been worth the price in my experience.

Have fun with your new toy!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

iPhone should allow Internet connection for computer

The topic for today may not matter to many people, but I certainly have a need for it. Why did apple choose not to let you use the iphone to connect a computer to the internet? This seems like a basic feature that should have been included. When I had a tmobile MDA, I used to use ths feature quite often. It was very helpful when I needed the Internet on the go and did not have any place near by to connect. I can only assume that Apple chose not to include this feature because the Internet would be to slow. I still think that it would have been nice to include this function, especially for $600. Oh well, it was still worth every penny. Technically this feature could be added with a software update though. Only time will tell I guess. In the mean time you should check out the software that is available for the iPhone now. You can connect to AIM and chat online now and they said that it was not going to be able to do that. I think that it was a great move to go with the Internet based apps. This seems to allow a lot of flexiblity for programming and also moves companies in the right direction for the future. Internet apps are going to be very important once the Internet is much more accessible for everyone.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Quick charge for iPhone battery

It has been a while since my last post. I have been so busy having fun with my iphone. The launch of the iphone went well for me, but apparently a few people had a problem getting the phone activated. Now is the time to switch this blog over to tips and advice for the iphone. I have already found out a few things that make the iphone even better, but I will have to save some of those for another post.

The tip for this post is for making the iphone charge faster. I have found that using the phone as much as I do tends to run the battery down quite quickly. There is a good way to get the iphone charged faster. I suggest putting the iphone in airplane mode while you are charging he phone. This shuts off all of the battey draining features of the iphone which allows for a faster charge.

That is the tip for today. Thank you for reading and please check again soon for more great information.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Apple iPhone Reviewed


I have had a couple of days now to try out my new gadget and it is time to let everyone know what it is like. First of all, I jst need to say that I am a sucker for products. I haven't always been, but after I got the Mac Book Pro, I have been sold on everything Apple. I have never been disappointed in anything made by , and that probably means that this review is totally biased. However, I have had experience with other PDAs and Smartphones, and actually have an in my pocket right now, so I think that gives me the right to review it. I will try to be as unbiased as possible and point at its flaws.

Size and Shape

The size is almost perfect. It fits in my hand wonderfully and has a large screen that is beautiful to say the least. Although the has a large footprint, it is very thin for a smartphone. I can put it my pocket and not even know it is there, which is a major plus for me. I had the T-Mobile MDA and although it had a smaller footprint (I think) it was about twice as thick as the if not more. It was thicker than my Mac Book Pro even (well close at least). Anyway, the MDA was thick and the is thin, that is the point. I love the way that it feels in my hand. I can grip it easily and comfortably, but it seems light in my hand. The rectangular shape is the obvious choice, and it works great here. The Neo 1973 that I have compared the iPhone to in the past has a more rounded shape, and I think that the more squared off shape is an advantage for staying the right way in my pocket. On to more exciting stuff.

Screen

Since the screen is not just the output, but the input as well, I will have to spend a little time in this area. The screen is gorgeous as I have mentioned before, but you really have to see it to believe it. Everything is crystal clear and bright and colorful. This is vastly different from other phones that I have had in the past. Most phones I have had in the past have been hard to read outside and in the direct sunlight. I took it out of my pocket in the brightest sun of the day and used it in direct sunlight. You would think that this would make it hard to read or see, but I hardly noticed that I was outside. It looked as clear as when I am inside, and this made me happier than ever. Widescreen is great for movies. I have had an 80GB Video iPod before and this screen put that one to shame. I don't think that they should even sell those video iPods anymore. They have very out of date screens. So does the touchscreen really work. I thought that it would be sluggish and unresponsive, but I was completely wrong. I have never used a touchscreen before that works so great. I feel one with the because I can manipulate things on the screen. There is not only no need for a stylus, it actually makes having to have a stylus look stupid. I love the way that it works. I have never had any problems with things not responding on the touchscreen, and that is very important since this is the only way that you can use the phone.

Software

The software on the is amazing. It is not the full OS X as we already know, but it feels like OS X nevertheless. Everthing is very smooth and fluid. I haven't seen any slow down and I can have browsers, music, and a call all going at once without it crashing. This is something that was simply impossible to do on the MDA. When you transition from one program to another it moves with elegance. I truly thought that the videos that were on the website for a long time were prerendered and made to look like it was easy to use and quick, but that the actual experience would be slower and less fluid. Again, I was totally wrong. The performs beautifully and never skips a beat.

Features

The Wi-Fi works like a charm, and conected in a matter of seconds to my home network. It asked my for the password right away and then worked great after that. When you are out of range of the wi-fi then it switches almost unnoticably to the EDGE network. People say that this is not a good thing that it is on the EDGE network and not the 3G, but I beg to differ. When I had the MDA, it had the worst battery life I have ever seen. It would hardly last a day on a charge, but I have only charged the iPhone once since I got it, and it still says that it has close to a full charge. I have been using it like crazy of course. This is why they chose not to go with the 3G network. It is not consistently available like the EDGE and it drains battery life like wi-fi. I am glad that they did not include the 3G even. The one major complaint I have about the iPhone is the lack of GPS. This is something that I really would have liked to have seen in this phone. It has everything else I could want, but it lacks the GPS with a locator so that you can see where you are and how to get where you want to be. However, Google Maps is great. I used it the other day, and it gives turn by turn directions in list format or with the overhead view of the turns and the distance and estimated time. I really wanted GPS, but this can tide my over in the mean time.

Overall

It is an product throughout. It has its flaws, but I am sure that there are good reasons for each thing that was not included on this phone. One major problem was the fact that no wireless network really has a good fast data network. They all claim to and some are better than others, but in the end it is just something that does not exist in America right now. When it does and it works great with optimal coverage, then I am sure that will have a product that will utilize that. Until then, I will be enjoying the best phone that I have ever owned. This is without contest the best phone ever made. If you love Apple products, then this is a no brainer, but even people who know nothing about will love this phone.

I will rate this phone 9.5 out of 10