In what has become a “coming of age” for new devices, Doom now runs on the iPhone. You can’t exactly play it quite yet because the controller doesn’t work, but it’s a step in the right direction and an important milestone in iPhone development.
via Engadget
I’ve considered going naked, but after the initial feeling of liberation you quickly realize you should probably put your iPhone in a case of some sort. What did you think I was talking about?
When I bought my iPhone second-hand (with two days of use on the clock), it came from the original purchaser with an Incase Molded Rubber Protective Sleeve. I liked it at first. It doesn’t add bulk, it gives the iPhone a nice grippy texture, and it’s not bad looking. The rubberized exterior is probably pretty good at handling some of the shock that your iPhone encounters on a daily basis. That said, there are two fatal flaws with the Incase Rubber Sleeve.
First off, it allows some dirt/pocket link/other abrasive material to slip down along the edge. This has resulted in a number of iPhones that now sport scratched chrome bezels… including mine. Incase blames this on Apple… Apple blames it on Incase. I think if your “protective sleeve” causes damage — no matter whether the chrome trim is “inferior” or not — it’s not much of a protective sleeve. Bad, Incase, bad!
However, the first problem can be mitigated by religiously removing and cleaning the case often. That brings me to the second problem: removal of the case more than five or so times and it starts to stretch. After that, it goes downhill fast until you have a fitted rubber case that fits looser than Calista Flockhart’s sweat pants. Mines so saggy it doesn’t even stay on that well anymore.
I’ll be calling Incase and seeing what they have to say about what’s obviously a flawed product.
I’ve since replaced the rubber with a form-hugging clear plastic case from Power Support they dub the Crystal Jacket. It’s a bit pricey at the standard iPhone case price of $30, but it’s a very well-put-together product. It comes with the case (front and back pieces), a nice belt clip, and a screen protector (I’d already installed a Power Support screen shield, so this was just a spare for me). The case has a couple of benefits I didn’t even think of when I picked it out to replace my Incase: it covers the face of the iPhone a bit on the top and bottom (no ear prints!) and it slides in and out of my pocket a lot smoother than the grippy rubber on the Incase. Of course, the Crystal Jacket set allows unimpeded access to all iPhone controls and you can even hook up the charge/sync cable with the case still on. It does not allow the phone to sit in the dock, however.
As the iPhone hype continues, it’s worth noting that while the latest must have gadget arguably combines more features in a user intuitive package than any previous generation device, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it performs those tasks better than other devices.
Choosing just the right mobile device comes down to choosing exactly what features you’ll use the most. For a phone meant just for good old voice talking, obviously the less complicated the better.
And those with photography always on their mind would probably appreciate having a top-notch camera feature set built in to the phone, even if it means skimping on other techie features. Granted, no cell phone is ever going to replace the pro photo gear, but even having decent point and shoot snapshot capability with a real lens and a flash would be a plus.
Here are 3 camera phones that out shoot the iPhone in an instant:
Nokia N95
This Nokia has a great set of photo features, including:
Sony Ericsson K790a
You can’t go wrong with this CNET Editors’ Choice featuring:
LG enV VX9900
While not quite as competitive in the megapixel department, this camera phone is still praised for its photo quality. Worth taking a look anyway.
Also, if you’re seriously considering a new device, you might consider waiting for the recently rumored Samsung SGH-G800 5 megapixel cameraphone. And we all know that iPhone will get even better with the second generation.
An early-adopting Flickr user has posted unboxing pics of the Apple Bluetooth Headset that’s been recently released.
From the pics, it appears the Apple headset is about the same size as my Plantronics, but it’s charger is integrated with the iPhone. The travel charger cable is a beautiful thing and appears to use Apple MagSafe technology to keep the headset in the charging slot. Very nice.
Other highlights are the on-iPhone display of charge status for the headset when they’re docked together and the dock itself, which is a perfect way to keep both the iPhone and the headset charged up.
I’ve already made the rounds to my local Apple stores and none are in stock here, so we’ll have to wait a while longer for the TechBandito review and to see if it works better than the Aliph Jawbone.
A potential flaw in the iPhone….yikes! If you are using Yahoo Mail, you may want to take notice. When the iPhone grabs email from the Yahoo servers, it may not be a secure connection, leaving your information vulnerable. Here is the quote from Wired:
“…if you’re checking Yahoo! Mail over a public WiFi connection, anyone could conceivably tap in to the exchange, grab your sign-in data and have full access to your account. ”
This is extremely scary…my advice: Get a $8 a year domain name and use a POP email address. Much cooler than john1203920389@yahoo.com anyways.
via Wired
It sucks.
I wish I had better news to report, because the darn thing seems so promising. It offers military technology (supposedly). Maybe this military technology is the reason we can’t win the war in Iraq, because 10 out of the 10 people I talked to using this beast, only two said the sound quality was “passable” and the rest had varying levels of “I can’t understand what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks you’re trying to say”.
The noise reduction doesn’t work and the Jawbone actually has the distinction of being the noisiest Bluetooth headset I’ve ever tested (and I’ve tested a few in my day). It picks up wind noise better than my voice, to be honest. The demonstration on their site where the dude talks clearly while in a crowded, noisy room is either fake or my particular Jawbone is afflicted with noise retardation.
If the headset doesn’t work very well for… well, being a headset… it had better look good and be comfortable. The Jawbone is very good looking, if not a big on the hugemongous side, but it is in no way comfortable. It flops around on your head like you tied a freshly-caught trout to your ear. It’s heavy. I couldn’t find an earhook that didn’t feel like I was wearing an ill-fitting pair of specs. Not cool.
In short, it sucks. Mine went back to the Apple Store the same day it was purchased. Here’s hoping the Apple Bluetooth Headset works better, but for now I’m back to my trusty Plantronics Discovery 645.
New findings by Lightspeed Research report that 90% of the population has heard of the iPhone and 32% of non-owners want one. The launch of the iPhone could easily be the most successful product launch in history.
If this is the first time you’ve heard of the iPhone, welcome back to Earth.
via MacWorld
So, both of us here at TechBandito are in love with the iPhone. If you want your IM fix on the iPhone, give BeeJive Messenger for iPhone some love by pointing your browser to iphone.beejive.com.
It looks like a native iPhone app, stores your passwords in a cookie on the iPhone, and even though it’s an “alpha” is pretty darned stable (tho it has crashed my Safari once or twice). I’ve tried Trillian and Meebo on my iPhone and I have to say BeeJive takes my vote.
It’s free, too.
This is an addition to Part 1 of my review found here:
I wanted to add a couple more pros and cons now that I have had the phone for a good 4 days:
Pros:
1. The map feature is really something. For example: If you type in “Circuit City” in the top text field the device will find all of your local stores on the map. You can then select the store you want, call them or store all of their info in your contacts. I found this real handy when running errands this morning.
Cons:
1. Browsing- When internet browsing all calls will go to voicemail. This is a limitation of AT&T , not the iPhone, but highly annoying none the less.
Important iPhone links:
I just picked up an iPhone…here’s the pros and cons:
Pros:
1. The UI is so slick that I had to run to the back of the “Apple Store” and shell out my AMEX card.
2. I avoided checking voicemails on my Treo because I hated going through all the prompts….Visual voicemail is the best solution I’ve seen. NO passwords, NO prompts, NO hassle.
3. The iPod inside the iPhone is great for impressing friends. The scrolling album interface is nothing short of amazing.
4. Connecting to a WiFi network is extremely easy. I am in Miami, FL where there is no shortage of networks to hop on. (I was at the gas station yesterday and hopped on the city WiFi network and grabbed email from all my POP email accounts in seconds.)
5. The “slimmness” of the device is remarkable and fits in the front pocket with no “bulkiness.”
6. The weather “widget” is really convenient…Yahoo even set up a nice local web portal linked to the weather page. The page contains all your local event, detailed weather, and important city links.
7. Mac sync ability…. The iPhone, as expected, syncs amazing with the mac…..No setting up email accounts, phone numbers…etc…
8. Decent phone.. The device detects when you have it to your ear and shuts the screen off. When you pull it away, it magically turns on again. I am pleased with the speakerphone, nice volume and clear voices.
Cons:
1. Email attachments- If someone sends you an email attachment in the form of a PDF file, it is impossible to zoom in on the file making it impossible to read and rendering the file completely useless.
2. Keyboard- I am getting use to the typing keyboard and I do like the auto correct feature BUT….women with nails will not be able to use it. (My wife said it “sucked”..) Also, typing passwords into the browser without an auto-save feature is a pain in the @#$@$#.
3. AT&T ONLY! This is annoying considering Verizon has a much faster network than AT&T in Florida (and many other places). YouTube is worthless unless your on a WiFi network. The internet browser is a little sluggish on the “EDGE” network.
4. Limited storage - 8 GB is not enough storage to completely replace my iPod..not even close. Hopefully Apple will come out with 30 and 60 GB iPhones in the future.
5. Audio jack- The audio jack on the top of the device has a “lip” on it. If you have headphones with an angled jack your out of luck. You can buy a $10 extender piece but it looks clumsy when installed.
I hope this helps with your decision making….I would recommend the device to all gadget freaks with short nails. Apple will likely release software updates to fix some of the shortcomings in the coming months. If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will answer it ASAP!