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August 05, 2008

iPhone 2.01 Update Available

A funny thing just happened to me. I'm on the phone with Apple Technical Support (right now) trying to get my 1st GEN iPhone to work again and I noticed that the 2.0.1 update is now available. The really funny part of this little story is that the Apple Technical Support Representative was totally surprised. He had no idea it was going to be made available today. I just about busted up on the phone.


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July 24, 2008

iPhone 3G Availability

If you happen to be pining away for a 3G iPhone (I'm not) you can visit this link to check iPhone availability. Apple updates the page throughout the day so I think it's fairly accurate.


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July 22, 2008

Disappointed iPhone Owners Abound


I stumbled into a post on the Signal vs. Noise blog by David today looking for a solution to my iPhone woes. iPhone 2.0: The glory wore off in wash describes David's frustration with the iPhone 3G/2.0. It's a good post and David's experience with the latest iPhone firmware mirrors my own. Boo..... Boo.....

There were 69 comments associated with the post and the bulk of them were from unhappy iPhone owners echoing David's complaints - I expected more Apple zealots to jump up and defend the mighty iPhone but they were largely absent.

I'm really disappointed with the upgrade and I sure hope Apple produces an update to resolve the problems quickly. I can tell you one thing - business users are going to hate the under powered and poor performing iPhone 3G/2.0. If it isn't a good phone 1st - what's the point?


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July 14, 2008

iPhone 2.0 / emailing a geotagged picture to Flickr

Emailing a geotagged picture to Flickr doesn't work.

I've been trying to send geotagged pictures to my Flickr account via email. Guess what. iPhone 2.0 strips the EXIF data (that's where the geo tag is) out of the picture before it emails it. Dumb. Why? Security? iPhone users are way past the security issue. Flickr users are talking about it here. I hope Apple fixes this soon.

Update: lockergnome pointed me towards AirMe (available on Apple's AppStore) for geotagged uploads to Flickr.



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iPhone 2.0 update - Tardy Developer

One of the guys on my team was late coming in this morning. Why? The iPhone 2.0 update didn't restore his recurring alarms. Damn, you Jobs. Were you late today because of your iPhone 2.0? Maybe I'm just a sucker ; )
--------------------------------------------

UPDATE:

Turns out the iPhone 2.0 upgrade did not copy over my recurring alarm
clock. Damn you, Jobs.

On Jul 14, 2008, at 10:00 AM, Alex Boone wrote:

> Hey guys-
>
> I feel really stupid but I overslept my alarm this morning (by a
> long shot). I'll be in the office ASAP.



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iPhone 2.0 update = FRUSTRATION

iPhone Battery

Friday, July 11th, I loved Apple and hated Apple. I hated Apple because the iPhone 2.0 update bricked my iPhone for a good part of the morning. Restarting iTunes over and over again, hoping for a connection to the Apple update server, isn't my idea of a good time. I loved Apple for the App Store and adding Microsoft Exchange support to the iPhone.

By the end of the day, I was impressed, and felt good about the update. I was still an Apple fan.

After having spent the weekend with the update I'm frustrated. Battery life is a problem for me now and it wasn't before and for some reason the phone likes to shut down completely when I leave it alone for too long. Most likely, some of these problems can be attributed to one, or more,  of the 3rd party applications I downloaded from the App Store. But shouldn't Apple do a better job of protecting the core of the phone from poorly written App Store applications? After all, they do a pretty job of protecting the core of the U.I. from poorly written applications.

iPhone 2.0 might have more bling but iPhone 1.0 was a better phone. iPhone 2.0 will get better with time but I won't be too surprised if some people want their iPhone 1.0 back. Did Apple add too much bling to iPhone 2.0? Apple, remember this, in the end - it's a phone. Still an Apple fan.



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July 11, 2008

1st Apple AppStore Purchase

FuelGaugeI just purchased my 1st iPhone app through the Apple App Store. What did I buy? Joe Kueser's Fuel Gauge (iTunes link) for .99 cents. Fuel Gauge is currently #9 on the App Store Top 25 list. I'm going to use it to see just how much gas my 84 Toyota Land Cruiser is sucking down.

The purchase process was amazingly easy. I think the App Store and more importantly the iPhone apps are going to fuel some major growth in Apple's share of this market. Contrasting this experience with my experience installing apps on Microsoft-based SmartPhones - no comparisson.

IMO, developers are going to flock to this platform because it does so much to provide the commerce infrastructure and it doesn't take a whole lot (because Apple provides so much in terms of U.I. guidance and coding tools) to write something that's pretty handy for the iPhone.

WOW - I'm really impressed with the 2.0 upgrade so far. I'm also really like the addition of Microsoft Exchange Support - it's interfacing with our Zimbra server perfectly.



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iPhone 2.0 update = Error

Accessing iTunes Store........
Accessing iTunes Store........
Accessing iTunes Store........
Accessing iTunes Store........

Error

Early this morning, I anxiously slipped my battle hardened 1st GEN iPhone into the warm embrace of its' docking craddle this morning to receive the update we've both been anticipating for so long. Nearly shaking, I clicked the button to check for an update in iTunes hoping that the coveted update would be available to my anxiously waiting iPhone. It is! Hooray! I clicked the appropriate buttons to start the update process and sat back to check email and sip my steaming coffee. It's going to be a good day. The stock market might be coming apart on bad news from the mortgage companies and increasing oil prices but the iPhone 2.0 update is here so it's all good.

Error We could not complete you iTunes Store request. An unknown error occurred (-4)
There was an error in the iTunes Store. Please try again later.

Crap, maybe the world really is coming unglued. Now I'm stuck without a phone and I feel like my trusted iPhone doesn't know who I am anymore. Will it wake up and remember me? Come back friend. My coffee is cold now and it's NOT all good here.

I'm not the only one - there are others.

UPDATE 07/11 9:47AM P TIME: Getting some traction with the iTunes store. Restoring and activating now - looks like my phone an I are going to be OK.

UPDATE 07/11 10:11AM P TIME: Still having problems with iTunes and connecting to the iTunes Store but my phone managed to Activate and Restore.



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July 09, 2008

3G iPhone?

3G iPhonePogue, Mossberg, and Baig 3G iPhone reviews appear. Shiver me timbers. What's the verdict? Good summary of their reactions over on CNET's Crave blog. Personally, I think I'm going to see if the software upgrade for my 1st generation iPhone can meet my needs before I consider the upgrade. Also, I'm kind of interested in finding out how long my 1st generation iPhone can take the abuse before it fails.

What are you going to do?



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May 12, 2008

New Google Reader for iPhone

Cool new Google Reader iPhone interface available at http://www.google.com/reader/i/ Big improvement over the previous version.

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March 31, 2008

iPhone - Wallpaper

I spent some time over the weekend personalizing my new iPhone - new wallpaper was 1st on my shopping list. Here's what I picked up.

Flickr iPhone Wallpaper Group: Almost 10,000 iPhone ready wallpaper images - I'm sporting Ininja on my walls.

Iconfactory : Freeware : Desktop: A great collection of illustrated iPhone ready wallpaper images - click the iPhone icon to download.

Getting the wallpaper up on the walls of my new iPhone took no time at all. Syncing photos to an iPod or iPhone is easy. 



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iPhone - Got one

I picked up an 8g iPhone from our local at&t store on Friday and three days later I'm glad I did. I love it and I can't believe I waited this long.

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July 06, 2007

I Want an iPhone - David Pogue - NYTimes

NYTimes technology columnist David Pogue rocks, sings actually. Watch David Pogue "I want an iPhone" to the tune "I did it my way" for a laugh. I got a laugh out of the AT&T jab at 2:40.


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July 03, 2007

iPhone - Can you hear it now?

The complaints about the iPhone on AT&T's network keep coming in. Scott Karp / Publishing 2.0 - iPhone Reality Check
A next generation web browser and UI really DOES need a next generation network to deliver the next generation mobile web.


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iPhone - 700,000 Sold Over Weekend

MacNN | iPhone shatters AT&T record, dwarfs RAZR
Apple over the weekend sold more than 700,000 iPhones to rocket past analyst predictions and shatter AT&T's record by selling more iPhones in three days than Motorola's RAZR did in its first month.


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The iPhone Review

If you're going to read one iPhone review, read this one.
iPhone Review - Engadget



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Steve Gillmor On iPhone

Steve Gillmor's quick-take on the iPhone. Happy or not? Watch the embedded video below and find out. By the way, I'm loving my Motorolla Q on the Verizon network. The iPhone might be great but the network counts for a lot - complaints from switching Verizon customers, accustomed to Verizon's great network, are already coming in. For me, a network with excellent sound quality, coverage, and reliability is more important than the phone. Can you hear me now? I'm not knocking the phone, I'm knocking the network it's tethered to.



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June 22, 2007

Tim Berry and iPhone Drama

Tim Berry: iPhone as Classic Drama - Business on The Huffington Post

Tim Berry, founder and President of the company I work for, has an excellent post up on the Huffington Post about the launch of the iPhone and drama surrounding it. Tim's perspective on the iPhone launch is especially interesting because of his history with Apple in the 80s and his involvement in their business planning.

I'm eagerly awaiting the iPhone introduction, but not just because I want one. I'm looking forward to the drama of Jobs, Apple, and cool gadgets vs. the stock market and financial analysis. I'm hoping that Apple and Steve Jobs can establish coolness as a wild-card measure of long-term health in a stock market world ruled by short-term metrics like gross margins and last quarter's earnings. It's a classic drama, complete with a hero, a fatal flaw, and, I hope, final redemption.


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June 18, 2007

iPhone Optically Excellent and Energized - Now in Hybrid ; )

iPhone Delivers Up to Eight Hours of Talk Time // Apple upgraded the official battery time estimates for the iPhone this morning and confirmed that it will ship with a glass front panel - the glass front panel makes me feel better about just how durable this thing is going to be.
CUPERTINO, California - June 18, 2007 - Apple today announced that iPhone will deliver significantly longer battery life when it ships on June 29 than was originally estimated when iPhone was unveiled in January. iPhone will feature up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback. In addition, iPhone will feature up to 250 hours - more than 10 days - of standby time. Apple also announced that the entire top surface of iPhone, including its stunning 3.5-inch display, has been upgraded from plastic to optical-quality glass to achieve a superior level of scratch resistance and optical clarity.


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June 14, 2007

iPhone Available 6 p.m. June 29th Your Time Zone

Happy hour with the iPhone | Tech news blog - CNET News.com The American public will get its first chance to buy the iPhone at 6 p.m. in each local time zone, Apple confirmed Wednesday. [Source - CNET]

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June 11, 2007

Mac Rumors Featuring iPhone Details from AT&T Traing Manual

iPhone Training Guide 

On Friday Mac Rumors published a series of, what appear to be, scanned copies of an AT&T iPhone training manual. They do a good job of summarizing the scans (so you won't have to wreck your eyes trying to read them) and the scanned copies are available as well. Apparently, someone that goes by cindynjgirl79 sent them the scans. The Google search on cindynjgirl79 produces some interesting results - maybe this is cindynjgirl79's MySpace page - it's 3rd in the results. There aren't going to be a lot of surprises left when the iPhone ships on June 29th.



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Apple Jesus Phone

The iPhone hype just keeps coming and TechCrunch is all over it - everything at TechCrunch tagged iPhone. June 29th all will be forgiven. The Jesus phone from Apple. Watch the embeded video below - looks like Duncan Riley put this together as a promotional piece for TechCrunch.




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June 06, 2007

Indie iPhone Ad Spacetacular

Check out this Indie iPhone Ad. The concept and production values are great. Really impressive what people can do these days with a decent computer and a digital video camera. 69,979 views in about 3 days and Apple didn't pay a dime for the Ad - nice.



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May 20, 2007

iPhone - I'll wait until they get the worms out of it



Are you planning on buying an iPhone next month? I'm not. I want to know how easily this Apple bruises. I want to know how long this Apple stays fresh. I want to make sure there aren't any worms in this Apple before I pay almost $500 for a phone. It does look juicy, and I might just bite, but I'm going to really look it over good before I put it in my cart.

Related Links:

The Apple iPhone - Engadget

iphone - Google News

iPhone: Blogs, Photos, Videos and more on Technorati

iPhone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apple iPhone: iPhone Forum, iPhone Picture, iPhone News & iPhone Video - CNET.com

Engadget iPhone Search Results


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May 18, 2007

Apple iPhone receives FCC approval

Here we go...

AppleInsider | News Flash: Apple iPhone receives FCC approval

Apple Inc. on Thursday received the official go-ahead on its first ever mobile handset, as regulators for the Federal Communications Commission gave the iPod maker the green light to commence sales of the device in the United States.


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January 15, 2007

iPhone from Apple Does it All!



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