Requested iPhone 5 features

My top hoped for features in an iPhone 5:

1.) Dual Core Processor - The new Android powered Motorola Atrix, and Droid Bionic will both be sporting new dual core processors.  I think an iPhone with a single core, isn't going to fly.
2.) HDMI out
3.) Full Hardware Encryption
4.) MicroSD Card Slot
5.) Tighter Google Voice integration

iPhone vs Droid

I now have both phones. This isn't a totally fair comparison, as I have a NEW Moto Droid, and a 1st Generation iPhone.

The iPhone is definitely a great phone, that redefined what should be expected from a smartphone over the last couple of years. The apps that are available are excellent. The usability of the device is incredible. The interface is Apple shiny smooth. The call quality is decent, and the media capabilities of the device are unmatched. The exchange integration is mediocre at best, and the first generation's lack of hardware encryption makes it almost useless to any corporate user due to prevalent mobile device security policies of the day. Where this phone fails, is the network. Yes, my phone isn't 3G. It doesn't matter. AT&T 3G coverage in my area is spotty at best. Why would I upgrade to pay $10 more a month, lose my text messages, and get the same data speeds?

The Motorola Droid on the other hand is almost the opposite of the iPhone. The Droid runs Android 2.0. I am very impressed with the Android OS. It does a lot of things extremely well. It also fully supports Google Voice, which I use almost all the time for inbound call screening. The best part of the Droid is it's network. The Verizon 3G network has yet to let me down in the many, many places that I have taken it. The corporate email is still lacking, as it doesn't have a full implementation of ActiveSync. No remote wipe, etc.

To get around the corporate issues, both of these phones are supported by Good Technology.

So, the deciding factor for me on this, is the network. AT&T is totally spotty when it comes to 3G. You can't dual task on the phone in Edge mode. My suggestion, get a droid and an iPod touch.

iPhone OS 3.0 - My take

Ok. First off, I am a proud owner of a G1 iPhone. I love it. When I heard about iPhone 3.0, I figured that besides the GPS in iPhone 2.0, that they would continue to add some features that would try to push me to a new 3G version of the phone. So far, they haven't, but the feature I was really wanting to see, is a 3G only option. Bluetooth stereo. It must be some type of hardware shortfall between the iPhone 1.0 and 3G. I had thought that other than the GPS and 3G, that both phones were pretty much hardware identical. Perhaps not. I would love to get bluetooth stereo, but is it worth purchasing a new iPhone, and having to pay premium 3G rates in an area where 3G is barely available? Nope. Not yet.

Other cool stuff in the new version.

1.) Purchases inside of Apps
2.) Maps inside Apps from the Map Kit API (New)
3.) Like 1000 new API's in the SDK.
4.) Picture MMS - 3G only
5.) Push Notification for 3rd Party Apps

And a few others. What are your takes?

RIM issues security patch for BES 4.1

For all of you iPhone haters out there, RIM has security issues too.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10141507-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

iPhone 2.1

Wow. I don't know if this was an intended affect or not, however my iPhone made it through the entire weekend only using 40 percent of the battery. Pretty awesome. I usually could only make it from a Friday charge to about Saturday night, early Sunday morning, but here it is Monday morning, and it still shows over 50% charge remaining. Pretty Sweet!

iPhone 2.0.2 Released

Updating now.  So far I haven't had many issues.  Occasionally a downloaded app will crash on start, but hey they are free right!

Its been awhile

When I started this blog, I was putting in an entry daily, now it seems to just be twice a week.  I am going to try to refocus, and get back to daily posting next week.  Things at the office have been pretty hectic, and finding time to blog has been pretty rough.

With that said, I wanted to throw a quick 30 days (or so) review of iPhone 2.0 out there.  So far, its been flawless.  I have several apps, which I outlined in an earlier post, along with about 3 or 4 email accounts depending upon the day.  The battery life is doing much better now that I have everything but exchange checking for mail every 10 minutes.  Do I miss the GPS, or 3G speeds?  Not really.  So far, the 2.0 software update has made me an even more ecstatic and completely satisfied iPhone user.

Buell pictures as promised will be posted very soon.

iPhone 2.0 - 24 hours

Ok,

So I have been using 2.0 for about 24 hours now.  Here are my first thoughts.

1.) The battery life with push enabled is horrible.  It went from about 30 hours between charges to less than 12.  I have now gone in and setup "Fetch every 15 minutes" for my exchange mail info, however I don't know where or if I can do the same for contacts/calendar.  I can turn push completely off, but I still need those two items to sync, so I may be trapped.

2.) The apps are awesome.  With quite a few apps out there and available via the first day, I was pretty impressed with the quality of most of them.  I have installed a few, which I will review.

2.1) AIM - Free, as in beer.

One of my biggest beefs with 1.1.4 was that there was still no chat client that didn't eat up SMS messages.  In the past week or so, we have AIM, and the Google Talk Web App.  Both are still a bit buggy.  The AIM client works great, as long as it maintains focus on the phone.  As soon as you run a different app, you start missing IMs, or they come in blank.  Perhaps this will get fixed in a update.  iTunes also tracks software updates for each of the applications that you have installed.  The AIM Client was free, so I won't harp too hard on its issues.  For a Rev 1.0 app, it does alright.

2.2) MLB - At Bat - $4.99

This is by far my favorite app.  It works just as demoed at WWDC.  I used it to watch my Reds spank the Cubs yesterday.  Griffey sure had a nice three run shot.  Anyways, the only thing about this app, is that when you purchase it, MLB only guarantees it to work through the 2008 season and playoffs.  My bet is that there will be another one for next year, and follow the same type of pricing as MLB.TV, etc.  The good thing, is that none of the clips have any ads.  Which is always a plus.  It also scales the video quality to the connection type you are using, which helps videos load faster.  Another plus.

2.3) Google Mobile App - Free

This app rocks.  Its like Google Desktop for your iPhone.  It searches the web, messages, other phone data, etc.  Very good app.  Video below shows it in action.

2.4) Mobile News from AP - Free

Cool little app.  Works exactly as demoed at WWDC as well.  You can pull top AP news stories, the newest stories, and even pull data based on your Zip to get relevant local news as well.  It also utilizes the camera, and allows you to submit stories, or more info to already published stories.  This app has a lot of potential.

3.) Exchange Connectivity with Exchange 2007, has been flawless.  So far I haven't had any issues with over the air syncing of contacts, mail, or calendar.  Well, other than the noted battery longevity as explained above.

So far.  Its been a pretty good experience.  I went ahead and downloaded the early release firmware via the appleinsider post below.  It worked well.  About a 20 minute procedure to do the upgrade, and copy my 1200 songs back to the phone.  Now, if I could only get a 16GB 1st gen phone, I 'd be set!

iPhone 2.0 for the brave

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/07/10/apples_iphone_software_v2_0_available_early_for_brave_users.html

iTunes 7.7 Released today

So will we get 2.0 today as well?  I am upgrading my iTunes to 7.7 as I type this.  It should include access to the new App store.  I can't wait to get the MLB live app on my iPhone.  Being able to see the games in real time is going to be awesome.

No 2.0 yet!

Well,

Another day passes, and no 2.0 iPhone software getting released.  I guess we are all going to have to wait until the 11th.  It would be funny to launch it today, crash all the phones, and close tech support until Monday :)  Well, I am off to the woods for the weekend.  I will pick up posting again next Monday.  Everyone have a safe 4th of July!

Mac OSX Update Today

10.5.4 was released today.  Its about 60 mb or so.  Looks like about 13 security updates, and some other patches.  CNET has a great breakdown of the patches, as well as the Apple Support site.  Still no iPhone 2.0 software, maybe tomorrow!

iPhone 2.0 - How much longer?

I can not wait for iPhone 2.0 to get released to the public.  I am one of the enterprise users that have been in love with the device, but unable to support an enterprise rollout due to missing features like remote wipe, and Exchange 2007 connectivity.  I hope they roll it out before July 11th, but who knows.  I would think that the 3G phones would already have 2.0 on them when they shipped, so hopefully us first generation iPhone owners won't have to wait too much longer.