Posts from — June 2009

June 24th, 2009

Last Friday, more than one million iPhone 3G S models found their way into people’s pockets. It’s now been five days since I activated my 32GB model, and I figured it was about time to share some thoughts!

Let me begin by saying my previous iPhone was a first generation EDGE model (from original launch day back in June 2007) so making the step up to not only a 3G model, but one with faster hardware, was a giant leap forward. So what’s the verdict? Let’s just say it’s one that is accompanied by a Cheshire grin.

3G S is FAST
Between the new hardware and the new operating system, the iPhone has reached near perfection. This iPhone is fast. Every reviewer out there has been echoing this since launch, and boy is it true. Compared to the original iPhone, EVERYTHING is faster on the 3G S. Typing, web surfing, picture taking, app launching, and gaming are all done at speeds that bring a smile to your face. This is how a smartphone should behave.

Camera, Video, Voice Control, Compass
It wasn’t more than a days time before I found myself at a social gathering. Cocktail in one hand, iPhone in the other, it was time to experiment with the long awaited video capturing capabilities. Slide the photo/video select over to the right, press record, and you are good to go. Video is captured at an impressive 30 frames-per-second, however, it is not HD, and not even wide screen. I think Apple could have done better.

The camera, on the other hand, is fantastic. Low light picture taking is still a weakness, but the autofocus works extremely well. Click here for a sample.

I didn’t experiment with voice control until the latter half of the weekend. To me, voice control on cell phones has been too inconvenient to make it worth while. Is iPhone’s voice control a game changer? Not really. For dialing contacts it works surprisingly well. For iPod control, it works well in a quiet environment, but out in the noise of the city streets – not quite as reliable. “Play songs by Phoenix.” – “Playing songs by Akron/Family.” Yes, strange. But, sitting here at my desk, it was able to successfully select five artists in a row. This is impressive from a device that has not been trained to recognize it’s owners voice. But who are we kidding here, voice control is clunky and at this point in time I cannot really see past it’s novelty.

The compass is great. Never again will my friends and I be running around like headless chicken trying to follow walking directions in the city. Also, the compass app is just plain cool.

Other thoughts
Battery life – I am not impressed. My two-year-old 1st gen model had similar run times the day I took it out of commission. This really isn’t a fair comparison for a number of reasons (no push, no 3g, no gps) but I was expecting more.

Headphones – I was delighted to find a volume control in-line with the multifunction “clicker.” This brings me back to the days of MiniDisc (where nearly all the portables had fully functional in-line remotes). I was also impressed with the sound quality of the phones, seems like it is improved. Another pleasant surprise was the material the cables are made out of, it appears to resist tangeling. For anyone who has stuffed their headphones in a pocket while at the gym, then spent 5 minutes untangeling them – this is wonderful.

Screen – I don’t care for the yellow tint of the 3G and 3G S screens. I will take the original iPhone screen in a heartbeat. Though with the brightness turned up, it is less noticeable.

Built in speaker – Not a 3G S thing, but wow, I finally can use speakerphone, hear video clips, and use music clips as ringers.

Conclusion
Even though this phone keeps the same form factor as the two previous models, it’s faster processor and graphics capabilities really makes it something new. It is a huge improvement over the 1st generation iPhone, and in my opinion, if you could get the full subsidy, a worthy upgrade to the 3G.. However, with it’s faster processor I have to question Apple’s “one app open at a time” design. I see absolutely no reason why I shouldn’t be able to use my KCRW Radio app while I surf the web! For any first time iPhone buyers out there, I highly recommend scraping up the extra 100 bucks to get the 3G S model over the old 3G. As all the AT&T subscribers out there know, the initial phone cost is nothing compared to what you will spend over the course of two years on service!

So what can we expect next June? Aluminum case, OLED display, front facing camera, and 128GB disk space. Fingers crossed.

See below for a few photos:

Video, Voice Control & Digital Compass Features

June 10th, 2009

After a suspense building 1hr and 42 minutes, Phil Schiller announced the new iPhone 3G S during Monday’s WWDC Keynote address. The highlight of this new phone: S, for Speed. Overall the new phone is said to be 2x faster than the previous 3G model, with some activities clocking in with speeds more than 3x faster. Aside from the faster processor, the phone has a new 3 Megapixel camera with autofocus, digital compass, and voice recognition.

In addition to the aforementioned hardware changes, the available storage space now tops out at 32GB – not too shabby. The subsidized rates for the new 3G S are $199.99 for the 16GB and $299.99 for the 32GB.

So how did the actual phone stack up to my pre-keynote predictions? Here’s the breakdown:

• 32GB storage at the high end, YES
• Faster processor, YES
• Video capabilities, YES (though I speculated Apple would open this up to previous iPhone models through iPhone OS 3.0 – this is not so and is restricted to the new model)
• Higher resolution camera, YES
• Magnetometer (Digital compass), YES
• Redesigned case, NO
• Built-in FM transmitter/receiver, NO
• Stereo Bluetooth, NO *UPDATE* Well, apparently iPhone does have stereo bluetooth. Don’t know how I missed that one!

I thought for sure there would be some type of minor case redesign. The faux rubberized backing and the enlarged earpiece seemed like changes that could be made without any serious retooling of the manufacturing plants. But I was wrong. I also struck out at my predictions for the FM data transmitter/receiver and the stereo Bluetooth. Maybe next year!

June 7th, 2009

So who’s excited for the new iPhone tomorrow?! I know waiting in line isn’t going to be the same as that magical day back in June of ’07, but I am still excited. My original iPhone has made it nearly two years! During this time I have formed quite a bond with that glossy little slab of plastic metal and glass. It will be sad to see her replaced, but the time has come.

From all the predictions I have read concerning the new piece of hardware that will grace us with it’s presence tomorrow, I personally think Walt Mossberg’s blurb was the most accurate/realistic. Judging from all the rest of the rumors, screen shots, and blurry photos floating around I predict we will see the following announced tomorrow, June 8th, 2009:

• Slightly redesigned case, featuring the rumored larger earpiece speaker opening – pushed closer to the top of the phone’s body. The shiny black plastic back of the iPhone 3g will be replaced with a matte material, similar to the texture of leather (think, the back of a Logitech Harmony One)
• Top-of-the-line phone will max out at 32gigs of storage space, this one’s obvious
• Faster processor. While even the first gen iPhone is still quite usable it definitely needs an up in processing power. From a competition standpoint Apple needs to bring their specs up to or over what the Pre is offering as well
• Video capabilities, though this is likely just part of OS 3.0, so past generation iPhones will all be made into video taking devices
• Larger resolution camera with more advanced photo features, possibly the ability to autofocus, but I wouldn’t hold your breath
• Magnetometer. This will make the maps feature much more usable, especially street view and walking directions
• FM transmitter/receiver built in. However, I don’t think this will be used to tune FM radio stations, but rather pull traffic info for navigation and communicate with other devices such as the Nike +
• Finally, even though this has dropped out of the rumor mill as of late, I predict apple will be including stereo Bluetooth support. They discontinued their original wireless headset (no loss there) and are currently selling stereo Bluetooth headphones on their site. Even though Jobs has mentioned that he doesn’t particularly like this feature because of increased battery drain and less than perfect quality, I think it’s going to happen

As far as the rumored $99 unit, I don’t know what to think about that one. It would make sense for Apple to drop such a low priced unit to further their smartphone domination, but it is hard to imagine how they will pull it off. They don’t really make much from the App store, so using the handset as a loss leader is not something they can do. Unless AT&T throws Apple some serious kickbacks for new subscribers/service or something along those lines, I really don’t see a sub $100 dollar iPhone being introduced. But. Crazier things have happened.

If we do get a phone at the stores tomorrow, you will find me at the Apple store in the Burlington mall. Drop me a line and perhaps we can meet up! – twitter.com/lda1

Nothing beats seeing one of your favorite bands play live, especially if it is in a small venue. But when you leave with your ears ringing it is just not a good thing. Ear plugs stink. They block out all of the fidelity of the music, and while they will certainly save your hearing, you won’t get much enjoyment from the show.

In come a more sophisticated breed of plugs – known as “Natural sound earplugs.” Designed to attenuate evenly across the full spectrum of sound, these plugs simulate the sensation of turning down the volume. There are a few manufacturers out there that offer this type of hearing protection. The most popular brands are Etymotic Research and Hearo. Unfortunately, after trying both of them out I was left unsatisfied. They did not fit my ears well, were uncomfortable for long periods of time, and as silly as it sounds, they were quite conspicuous. Just when I was about to accept the Etymotic ER-20’s as my plugs of choice I discovered the Alpine MusicSafe Natural Sound Ear Plugs. These tiny plugs received glowing reviews across the Internet and only cost $30 bucks, the only problem, they are not sold Stateside. No need to fear, a quick Google search turned up a reseller called Earplug Superstore that imports them for sale in the U.S. Within three days they arrived at my doorstep, very nice.

The Alpine MusicSafe plugs feature butter soft rubber flanges, selectable levels of attenuation, a carrying case, AND an extra plug in case you lose one at a show. The thing I liked most about them was the ability to cut down the shaft of the plug, allowing for a lower profile. So far I have worn them to three shows and they have worked out very well. Anyone who loves live music and doesn’t want to get fitted for a hearing aid at age 50 should definitely consider picking up a set! You won’t be disappointed.