First Thoughts on the New iPhone 4

Ok, so I have had this device in my hand now since the first day they've been available. I must say, I wasn't as initially wowed with this version as I was with my first iPhone, the 3G. I will admit, the retina display is enough to blow you away. I will literally put the phone up to my face and try and see the pixels. It's difficult. It really does look like a printed page.

The one major thing that I do not like about this version so far is the edges. I loved the rounded smoothness of the 3G as opposed to the dual sided glass enclosure which has a rougher feel to it in the hand. I suppose it's something I will get used to. I hope anyways. Another thing I am not fond of is the weight. It may be thinner overall, but I think with the added glass on the back it's heavier. Maybe it's just my imagination, and I have not compared the specs on the weight difference between the two.

There are indeed many nice new features that will make purchasing this phone a great acquisition. Having skipped the 3Gs entirely, I was ready to make the leap. I think overall, I am pleased with the phone. I am really looking forward to using the HD Video camera and taking better pictures in general. I do believe this is still the best handset on the market today despite the popularity of Android. When it comes down to the details my vote has stayed with iPhone. State of the art engineering and fantastic features. I could care less about Face Time. Who needs to see my ugly mug anyways? Have an iPhone 4? What do you like or dislike about it?

iPhone 4 has Shipped!!

After what has been termed the worst meltdown in AT&T order processing, the latest version of the iPhone is now being shipped to those lucky individuals who were able to break through the barriers of numerous page load errors, server overloads, and interrupted payment processing.

I am happy to note that I am one of those lucky individuals. I took the opportunity at work to put aside my workload and focus on something more important...getting my hands on a device that will surely redefine the category once again.

After anxiously waiting for confirmation of my purchase I was eventually sent an "order received" email. Included was a link taking me to the order status page. For serveral days my status had not changed showing an "In Process" status. I figured this would happen since no one actually gets their device until the 24th of June.

I started to read forums and news articles about iPhone 4 shipping details and I became caught up in the news of hearing stories of occasional canceled orders despite a successful order confirmation and I feared the worse. Forum members all over were sharing their stories hoping to shed some kind of light on how the process of filling the orders were going to happen.

Many who showed a purchase date of the 15th were processed first. Followed by subsequent order dates (16th, 17th, etc.) Even though all of us who got through made their purchase on the 15th, AT&T is handling the shipping notices in waves and not all at once. My order date showed up as the 16th and my shipment was status was changed the day after those who showed the 15th.

AT&T on Thin Ice

This is what I'm thinking when I see their new navigator app selling for a whopping $10 a month. This is a little outrageous and further encourages people to jailbreak their phones to access great free tools like xGPS. The amount of money and development might not be the same for both but need I repeat myself, xGPS is free. I have seen xGPS in use and it does a great job utilizing voice prompted guidance and Google Maps to get you where you need to go. It's a great setup if you're looking for an alternative to paying AT&T for something that you can have for free. Take a page from Verizon. They already include a preloaded software bundle which includes VZ Navigator.

New Horizons - Apple Releases Barrage

June 2009 marks a big month for Apple as they release the new iPhone 3GS. Powered by the new OS version 3 the new iPhone is primed to take over the smartphone market. With its amped up speed, a larger available hard drive , and a blazing new processor the iPhone 3GS is going to be the phone to have. It has already made all of us 3G owners a bit covetous.

I got my 3G back in February and I knew then stopping the speed of technology is about as useless as blocking a freight train so with that said I still jumped in and bought my 3G. Now comes the insane part. Do I try and sell it or pony up the heavy costs of upgrading to the new phone? Or just be happy with what I have until my contract is up? I think the latter is the smartest choice. Boy, I feel better having worked out my issues without therapy.

The new iPhones are set to hit the AT&T and Apple stores June 19th. I assume Walmart is included in there too. Heaven forbid Walmart not have a piece of the pie. You can bet there will be lineups too. This is a significant upgrade to the iPhone for sure. The new OS3 is also a very big update set for wide release on June 17. I can't wait.

AT&T App Comes to the IPhone

Could this have not honestly come any sooner? This was one of those issues I had since having the iPhone. I always liked the idea of paying your bill online and I did it once using Safari to connect to my account. But having to zoom in closer, move around the screen, and fiddle with all that I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a slick iPhone interface to use. Well AT&T has just launched the myWireless app for the iPhone and it is slicker than snot. I really like the simple features and abilities to add or remove features from my plan. It's real easy to pay the bill and now I only log into my online account to print off a copy of my bill. That's it. I rate this app an "A" for sure.

iPhone OS 3.0

First off, I want to appologize for not keeping up with this blog. Shame on me. I have had some busy times of late keeping me from much of any free time. I wanted to blog on the subject of this new iPhone operating system that is coming out for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Apple has finally figured out that they needed to include some very standard utilities that should have been there from the beginning. Cut, Copy, & Paste. It's about time! How often have you wanted to copy something as simple as a web link and paste it directly into an email? Now we can. That's a beautiful thing.

The new features are really too many to discuss here, but notable mentiones go to voice memo, the new Spotlight app which allows you to search for something across the entire phone. New enhancements to landscape mode keyboard, stereo blutooth, and finally MMS. It was unbelievable to me that this is was not something included in the first iPhone but they finally bring it to the new OS. One gripe I still have that I wished could be resolved soon is enabling Flash player for the iPhone. We are missing out on a lot of rich web content because of this shortcoming by the Apple developers. C'mon, this is not rocket science, it's just a flash player. Get over yourselves, figure out the logistics of it and bring it to the iPhone.

Google App

This is one of those rare apps that is densely packed with incredible features that makes itself worth it's weight in gold. And it's free! Everything from the news feeds to the RSS feeder which has just about every topic under the sun. I grabbed the iPhone article feed and just about every day I have a couple hundred articles from various sources to read. I love this app. I am also able to read quickly through news headlines (as I am quite the news junkie) and can afterwords custom search various news topics like US, World, Health, etc. I spend a lot of time commuting and I am never wondering what I want to do on the iPhone. This makes the trip go a whole lot quicker.