Copy and paste, data tethering, and now Flash — it looks like the Pre’s going to fill in a lot of unchecked iPhone feature boxes, doesn’t it? Yep, Palm’s just joined Adobe’s Open Screen Project, and there’s no two bones about what that means: the press release flat out says “the Open Screen Project will help deliver Adobe Flash Player for smartphones on the new Palm webOS platform.” That’s especially interesting since the webOS SDK is so heavily based on web technologies and native player support potentially opens the door for Flash-based apps, which would instantly bring a ton of new devs to the Pre. That’s not a bad thing. We’ll find out more at the end of the year, when the mobile Flash player is due to arrive.
There is no doubt that this is the second coming of “the Jesus phone”. And frankly Apple needs something like the Palm Pre. iPhone users are clamoring for features that the Palm Pre gives them and manages to give users more than what they iPhone can do. Everyone says that the Palm Pre is the iPhone killer I say no. The Palm Pre has the potential to make the iPhone the single most definitive piece of technology since the desktop computer. It’s products like the Palm Pre that force Apple to evolve the iPhone.
Trust me, for the iPhone user, this Palm Pre is a blessing in disguise. Apple knows that now there is a actually viable product that can directly compete with the iPhone. The Blackberry Storm is a valiant effort, but with a awkward input method and lack of refinement. The T-Mobile G1 is the first “open source” cell phone with Google’s Andriod OS. Though it has potential it lacks, again, the polish and smooth input that makes the iPhone so seamless. The Palm Pre has everything the G1 and the Storm have with the polish and finish of the iPhone. Not to mention the features the iPhone lacks like copy & paste, MMS, and a native instant messaging app. It will be interesting to see how Apple responds.
I have been an Apple user for a little over three years now, and will continue to be an Apple user till my unavoidable end. Apple has always made great, reliable hardware that pushes the envelope in terms of technology and innovation. And for that reason, coupled with my admiration for the company itself I choose Apple. But lately after a few blogs on the matter I, along with other iPhone users still feel a bit left out in the cold.
Since the introduction of the first generation iPhone, Apple has made it clear that it values customer feedback and looks to continue to develop the iPhone around the specific demands of iPhone users. We all begged for GPS functionality and compatibility with a 3G network, and we got it…reluctantly. We asked for third party applications, and we got that too…sort of. In exchange for third party apps we got a closed distribution system with various flaming hoops to jump through before you get your app out there. But hey, I’m not complaining.
What I am complaining about is Apple’s cryptic responses to the addition of some basic features to the iPhone, namely copy & paste and MMS messaging. With each software update, we tend to gasp slightly hoping that when our iPhones boot up again we will have some innovative, multi-touchy way of being able to copy and paste text. Or the ability to send and receive MMS messages without having to log on to that stupid AT&T website with the generated login and password. But alas, as each update passes, we are left high and dry.
As I sit at my local coffee shop (not Starbucks) I see all these Blackberry and WinMo users copy and pasting the night away. When I argue with a Blackberry user about how much better my iPhone is, the question “ah but can you copy & paste?” is the final death blow. The iPhone is like the Death Star, everything is perfect except for that poorly design exhaust port that leads directly to the main reactor. When will Apple finally concede and give us copy & paste?
So far it feels like never. Apple has made it clear that copy & paste and MMS is not their main concern. I know it has nothing to do with the fact that they can’t figure out how to do it. I mean…it’s Apple. They designed a touchscreen phone that changed the world forever, they can’t figure out how to do copy & paste? Or for that matter shoot us an MMS app on our iPhone?
I guess with all of these shortcomings, and the fact that the new Push Notification Server is officially MIA, seeing as though it’s September 2008 release date has come and gone, and gone some more, Apple seems to be dropping the ball a bit. Look, don’t get me wrong, I knew how Apple is, and how Apple lives by this idea that the customer is dumb and we must tell them what to love, but I was hoping that by now, December 2008, we would have some sort of definitive response to our pleas.
With that being said I have made a deadline. If in one year, Apple has not given the people what they want, what they ask for constantly, I will go out and buy a Blackberry Bold (or whatever ridiculous name they have for the next model). I love my iPhone, but I don’t love that my iPhone can’t do what a RAZR can. And the reason I am not at an AT&T store buying a Blackberry Bold now is because of my loyalty to Apple, my curiousity as to what will be in store for the iPhone in 2009, and my current lack of funds. This isn’t a declaration, this isn’t a threat, this is a plea. Please Apple, help a fellow nerd out and show us some update love.
I used to use the invisibleSHIELD back in the day when I used to roll around with my Treo 650 (ahh the good ol’ days). So I decided today to pick up the full body coverage pack for my 3G iPhone because I am sort of sick of the clunky weird case I have for it. I mean it’s nice, but it’s so stretched out and eats up my pocket…a major bummer for a cool person like me. So I am definitely going to coat my iPhone in the same thing that protects the rudders on the Apache Helicopter from wind shear. But my goodness is it the biggest pain to install. You need to be very thorough and very patient. This video makes it look so easy…
I tried installing the front part but after 5 tries and rampant impatience, I couldn’t get it. And then it fell on the carpet. So now I need to get a new one, which is a major bummer. When the back part ships I am going to to really sit down and try really hard on this. Anyway thanks for hearing me vent. The hard work is definitely worth the reward, as it is a great product, so I thought I’d pass it along.
I decided to go with a new look for my blog. I got bored of the old one, and lets face, it was easy to get bored of.
So I have had my new iPhone for a little less than a week. Basically if you want your battery to last it’s simple. 3G is on…WiFi is off, and vice versa. That includes dimming your screen to barely nothing and having Bluetooth off. I am not big on Bluetooth so it’s all good.
On that note, I was playing with the MySpace App for the iPhone. This is like giving an alcoholic a couple of sips of a new beer. *Sigh*….that being said, I am back on MySpace in a limited capacity. Extremely limited. So you can go ahead and take what I wrote here with a large salt rock. I am sorry I caved, my feelings on the issue still hold true, however, I am a hypocrite. You know, between you and me, I did it for the music section. It won’t let me download songs, what was I supposed to do? My profile. It’s currently set to “Here I Come” by The Roots. I was in the Hip-Hop mood, but a higher quality of Hip-Hop. Ah let me not get started.
This edition of Mind Venting is running a bit short…well if anything I’ll add more later. It’s MY blog and I’ll delay thoughts if I want to.
UPDATE:
Yeah sorry I got to this thing way too late. My attention span was drawing me towards some GTA IV before I went to bed. I must say, that regardless of the content, GTA IV is the kind of game that pushes the industry to new levels. Seriously, how are you going to follow that up? They should give GTA IV Game of the Year right now. Sometimes, I like to drive around at the speed limit, go to the store and live a normal life. Cause I mean in a game where you can basically do whatever it is you want, not breaking the law is pretty cool haha.
I decided to watch The Dark Knight at a reasonable hour sometime this weekend. As much as I would love to taunt fully costumed fans at the midnight showing, I’d rather not loose precious sleep.
I totally caved, and in the worse possible way no less.
I did the line at the Aventura Apple Store. It wasn’t terrible though, I think the entire experience lasted about an hour. I waited in line and made friends with some people and we bonded in our nerdyness. As new people walked in, the Apple employees would start to clap and cheer excitedly, as if they were making a dollar off of every iPhone sold. With the entire store being white and very brightly lit it kind of made me think that this is what would it be like when I arrive in Heaven. I almost cried. After finally making it inside I sat for a minute while I waited for an Apple employee to hook up my new iPhone. I decided to go with the 16GB in black. The white looked VERY nice however, I am not big on holding a big white phone to my face. Even though you can’t see the smudges as clearly. Whatever, they hooked it up and I was on my way.
Once I got home I synced it up, and started fiddling around with it. The 3G is blinding fast. It definitely supplements the apps well. The GPS is spot on too, even though you have to be outside to really use it. The only qualm I have with it is that it is a MASSIVE battery hog. I mean seriously, I am not going to be to quick to bash yet because I haven’t really broken the battery in yet, I am still in the process. I charged it last night to full, unplugged it at around 10 pm. With moderate use and it running on just 3G (WiFi, Location Services, and Bluetooth off.) it’s about a little less than half way used. I don’t think that it is the phone, but rather the software itself. I remember when the EDGE iPhone had just been released it was a battery hog as well. After a few updates, and a nicely conditioned battery everything was right as rain. This should be no different. After loading the 2.0 software on the EDGE iPhone, I noticed it too ran out of battery quickly. Other than the the phone is excellent, and in my totally unbiased opinion worth the upgrade. 3G makes this phone work better. Mail (coupled with MobileMe) is much more fluent and reliable, and Apple despite not including copy & paste and MMS added a few other minor details I missed. Such as the ability to change the email address you are sending an email from in the compose window, this is helpful since I have more than one address. Also I like that you can save pictures and attachments now, a very missed feature.
Another thing that makes the iPhone 2.0 great is the App Store. It’s really nicely executed and has I believe about 500 or so apps with more to come. While I am waiting for Spore, I found these apps pretty cool…
AIM (FREE): Of course, this is a much anticipated app. It works really well over 3G though it can be a bit buggy, then again most early software is, so be cool.\
Facebook (FREE): This app is pretty good. It could have been great if it included stuff like wall posting, and album viewing, much like the web app did. I say, download this for your inbox and chat, and keep the web app around for everything else.
iTunes Remote (FREE): This allows your iPhone to control your iTunes or AppleTV. Freaking awesome, I love it.
Big Tipper ($1.99): This is the mack daddy of tip calculators. And at $1.99 it’s not terribly over priced.
Pandora (FREE): Basically this is the app to stream Pandora to your iPhone. It’s good, though I wish it would let you use it while you used another app.
Shazam (FREE): This is a nice app that can identify a track by listening to it. I heard that they may, down the road, charge a monthly fee for this, so take advantage now.
Urbanspoon (FREE): This one is a nice add if you can never decide what to eat when you go out. It’s like a magic eight ball but that gives you restaurant suggestions. Trust me, that’ll make sense once you use it.
BoxOffice (FREE): A nice movie times app.
Super Monkey Ball ($9.99): OK, I will admit this is a bit much to pay. But I love Super Monkey Ball. And you will too.
Tap Tap Revenge (FREE): Guitar Hero had a love affair with Dance Dance Revolution. This is their unplanned child.
Bloomberg (FREE): If Stocks didn’t already exist on the iPhone, I would totally have this. This is for the hardcore economics nerd.
So all in all, I love the iPhone 3G. Sure it has it’s problems, but the great thing about it is that it has plenty of room to grow, and plenty of changes to be made. With it’s support for exchange and MobileMe, it is now a great Blackberry alternative. And App Store will ensure that the iPhone will have an endless supply of fresh new apps that take advantage of all it’s abilities. Peace Out.
The time is almost here. And though I am excited I am maintaining a cool head. My friend who is devout Apple Nerd is heading over at 3 A.M. in order to wait in line for the 3G. I don’t know whats up, but logic won’t allow me to do this. I mean first of all, I can’t wake up at 3 A.M. unless there is a situation of life and death. I don’t care if Megan Fox is standing outside the Apple Store, looking the way she did in Transformers, handing out iPhones…wait that’s a poor example cause I would actually wake up at 3 A.M. for that. Ummm, well anyway, I am not waking up at 3 A.M. for it that’s for sure. I might just casually stroll in to my local Apple store on my way home from work and pick one up. Apple is good about keeping up the stock and I don’t think the demand for that iPhone will be too high like before. David Pogue, one of the tech writers for the New York Times wrote up a review about the iPhone 3G and made a good point. He said,
“This time, though, when the iPhone 3G goes on sale in AT&T and Apple stores, iPhone Mania will be considerably more muted. That’s partly because the mystery is gone, partly because the AT&T service costs more and partly because there won’t be many new features in what Apple is calling the iPhone 3G.”
He is right. The mystery IS gone. And honestly 3G service not being available in some areas, the fact that the GPS cannot do turn-by-turn directions, and that the iPhone 2.0 software is available as a free update for the 6,000,000 iPhone users currently out there, are a couple of reasons to NOT to upgrade. The reason I am upgrading is because I surf the most while I am not on WiFi. The 3G service coupled with AppStore and MobileMe is an amazing combination. That, and I don’t want a GPS in my next car, so I want something with GPS. I also want it cause, lets face it, I love the iPhone and I want the new one. I want it in black though I am curious to see how good it looks in white. We’ll see though the color choice is a game time decision. I look forward most to exploring the AppStore. I have been urning for AIM on my iPhone for a very long time, soon it shall come true. That and I am hearing about a couple of cool games and an application that allows for VoIP support. We are one day away, I can’t wait to stop writing about this ha ha. Peace Out!
It’s boring at work today. I hate when you finish all your work like two hours before you have to leave. You don’t want to start anything too time consuming that it will take you more than two hours. Yeah, thats what is going on right now.
I have all three Pirates of the Caribean movies at home on Blu Ray. I have Netflix (and by Netflix I mean Blockbuster @ Home) so I can return them whenever I want. But the thing is, I have had them for like, maybe a month now and I just don’t feel like watching any of them. Everyone is saying “Oh Jorge, Pirates of the Caribean rocks! You’ll love it! Keira Knightly is hot!” Yeah she is hot. But I don’t know I really don’t feel like investing myself in a Pirate movie. I really should return them soon, there are other movies on my list I want to see. Decisions, decisions…
Gas prices are going up and the economy is being lousy. So I decided I am going to enact my own personal plan to help out the economy. First, I am going to get a Hybrid car after the lease on my car is up. Sure, some people argue it will take you forever to recoup the worth, but you save a little bit on gas, and I will not only be helping the enviroment, but I will also be helping reduce our dependance on foreign oil. I am also going to lose weight, so I won’t be a burden to the healthcare system. I am going to tithe 10%. Not only does it help out the church, but the church will use it to support the community, and in essence, stimulate the economy. Also, I will probably buy the 3G iPhone…to you know…stimulate the economy, and stuff. This is part of my new Jorge 2.0 revolution…or as Ron Paul calls it, revolution (get it? it’s love backwards. Ron Paul is a lunatic).
Over all WWDC was a bit boring. Too many App demos and not enough sweet, sweet, iPhone. However I am in no way disappointed. First, the 3G iPhone was announced. It’s got everything I wanted from it. It has nothing that it doesn’t need and has excellent specs and battery life. The iPhone 2.0 software looked really great I can’t wait to play with the new App store. And MobileMe was instroduced as well, and it looks freaking awesome. I wish I could say I was playing with it now. But I can’t. So I’ll have to wait one more month and play with it on July 11th. And the greatest thing of all. It’s $199. Steve…you are awesome. That is all. PO
I promise, this will be my last nerdy, Apple geek blog for a while (well until I actually get it). But I am pretty psyched and it’s things like these that cause it.
This ran on mactalk.com.au the other night. Honestly…if I get a box like that in the mail, I’m opening it. At least for my own enjoyment. A closed box with that written on it would drive me insane. Then again Steve probably has sensors wired to it to prevent such openings with out his knowledge. Then the Apple Ninjas are dispatched. No one wants to fight an Apple Ninja.
We are a weekend away. Weekends always go by so quickly, because you sleep most of the time and just go out at night. It’ll be Monday in no time. The only worse thing about not knowing is knowing when you will know. I’ll give you a moment to let that make sense in your head.
So recapping everything, here is what I think will happen on Monday.
1. New iPhone with 3G, GPS, WiFi. Slightly new look, maybe a bit smaller, thinner. Available sometime this week (maybe Wednesday or Friday, cause they want the big lines and the publicity.)
2. iPhone OSX 2.0 with the App Store. Available Immediately.
3. Beta Announcement for OS X Leopar 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Available sometime early next year.
4. Maybe another surprise (MacTablet, a new Newton?)
Am I going to put money on this? Probably not. It would be weird if His Steveness debuts more hardware than software at WWDC. After all it is a conference for software developers. However, he does love to put on a good show. So it’s anyone’s guess at this point. Peace Out.
One week away from the new iPhone. I am psyched. Even though due to my current economic situation, I will have to wait till pay day for my iPhone. Which I, surprisingly am cool with. This is God teaching me patience for sure. This day was pretty good, I thought about a lot of stuff that I needed to think about, silenced the chatter a bit. All in all, a good day.
I am totally off on June 9th. I will be sitting in my PJ’s in front of my computer, excited to see exactly how much money I will be handing over to Apple this year. Usually the World Wide Developers Conference is a place where Mac software developers gather to show off their creations. But this year, it’s going to be a bit different. Apple will definitely be releasing a 3G iPhone at the conference along with the 2.0 update. Usually my inner-nerd lies dormant. He only wakes during events such as these, trips to Best Buy, and certain Marvel movies that end with Samuel Jackson recruiting for The Avengers. The wait is totally killing me. We all deal with the waiting in our own ways. I need to pray for a bit more patience sometimes. But in waiting for this iPhone, I have been doing different things to keep busy. I have since improved my golf score, lost 6 pounds jogging, increased my accuracy in Call of Duty 4 by 10%, taken a defensive driving course, and finished painting my room. Oh and I finished all my work for the week, which is why I am writing this blog.
Welcome to The Jorge Zone! This is my blog, my mental exhaust pipe, slowly filling the atmosphere with my opinions, favorite links, news and the like. This blog is all about the political and social issues we face today. Current events, political & economical happenings, religion & faith, global warming, stuff like ... Continue reading »
