It’s interesting how married to Operating Systems people can become. My first computer was an Apple IIGS, but then we swiftly moved to Windows. I used to join in deriding Macs, then I got one. Mac OS, especially 10 and up, became my OS of choice. However, I still used Windows (and occasionally Linux) on a daily basis. I’m basically platform agnostic. A platform is a tool, and the one that works best for you is the best… for you. There is no perfect platform for everyone, for computer or phone.

I mention this because of discussions I’ve been having with some fellow techies. This week I finally broke down and bought a Pre. The reactions from my iPhone, WindowsMobile and Blackberry using friends (Sort of sad, but I don’t personally know a single Android user – no I’ve never met Justin) were almost comical in their predictability. I even got complaints about the Pre from a fellow Pre owner… because he’s really a Blackberry user. I’m not saying they’re wrong – I’m just saying the Pre is closer to my “ideal” phone than most of those other options (In fact, I recalled a doodle I drew ten years ago and it resembles the Pre to the point of scariness).

Every phone does its job in one way or another and every phone does it for someone. The cell market is really big enough for everyone. So how about we all just calm down and let people find the right solution?

So, why is the Pre my “perfect phone” (so far, anyway?)? Click the read link and find out.

[Warning – this thing is a fricking essay. I clearly have no life.]
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Holy cow, what a week. Every time Mordy or I sat down to write a post, something else happened. I’m going to try to condense it all into one week, going by topic. Bear with me:
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Here are some interesting things from DigitalLook, but not exactly interesting enough to be their own article (no offense to the vendors, who were all awesome)

Note that I do have photos, but I seems to be mangling the photo functions of the blog, so I will be holding off on adding them.
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This weekend I had the pleasure of staying with Ira Machefsky of NumbersGuru fame. While discussing Flyscreen he just had to show me Chumby. Chumby kind of reminds me of a little always on streaming portable Internet pet. Or, essentially, its Widgets in a box.

The parallels between Flyscreen and Chumby are obvious, with Flyscreen essentially being Chumby on your phone, in your pocket.

Here is a quick Qik video of my first encounter with the product. It does a lot more then the video shows. I am just trying to figure out a use case.

As a general practice regarding phone reviews I never start sharing my opinion until I have lived with the phone in the wild for at least a week. WIth the iPhone 3G I could have started commenting at launch with their launch strategy (thank goodness I went to an ATT store instead of the Apple store because apparently my plan needed a lot of upgrading).

But I could have also have started commenting by the end of the second day after my second recharge. But, I held back, thinking to myself that I am just overusing the phone because of all the new features. After day 3 and 4 and reading review after review I realized that the battery life of this device was indeed a problem and a big problem at that.

At some point, Steve Rubel pointed out a web page that Apple put up to help users “optimize” their iPhone 3G settings to improve what is evidently becoming an iPhone power failure.

While the tips are “commonsense” issue’s to a phone guy like me, to the average user they are pretty daunting.

Here are Apple’s iPhone 3G “optimizing” recommendations with my comments:

Turn off 3G: Using 3G cellular networks loads data faster, but may also decrease battery life, especially in areas with limited 3G coverage. To disable 3G, from the Home screen choose Settings > General > Network and set Enable 3G to Off. You will still be able to make and receive calls and access cellular data networks via EDGE or GPRS where available.

This is why I upgraded to 3G, to remember and reenact the iPhone’s lovely EDGE experience. As I understand it, one of the reason why the iPhone did not come out with 3G originally was because of problems with battery power. What changed here? Or did Apple just rush out a product to stay ahead of the iPhone-like competition. I will tell you this, turning 3G off has vastly improved my battery life. But, sometimes I yearn for that faster speed. So I go and get a little naughty and turn it on for a specific action or so. But to continuously turn it off and on again is a real pain. If they are going to tell me to turn 3G on and off they should not have made it 3 pushes and slides away. It should be more automagic. Essentially, My 3G iPhone is 3G no more.

Minimize use of location services: Applications that actively use location services such as Maps may reduce battery life. To disable location services, go to Settings > General > Location Services or use location services only when needed.

This is true. I was excited about the GPS (Location) feature of the phone and used it throughout the day, as anyone else would, to find directions from where I currently was or to Geo-tag pictures I have taken. While doing this I could literally watch my battery bar fade. Now, if I am traveling long distances or doing stuff where I know I wont be near an electrical socket in the next three hours I just avoid opening up LBS services all-together… which kinda of defeats the point of a “location” based service.

Fetch new data less frequently: Applications such as Mail can be set to fetch data wirelessly at specific intervals. The more frequently email or other data is fetched, the quicker your battery may drain. To fetch new data manually, from the Home screen choose Settings > Fetch New Data and tap Manually. To increase the fetch interval, go to Settings > Fetch New Data and tap Hourly. Note that this is a global setting and applies to all applications that do not support push services.

Yes, this was recommended for the iPhone 2G or iPhone 1.0. I personally had it fetching every 15 minutes for mail and my iPhone would last for the better part of the day. So far with 3G turned off this has not been a problem. Nevertheless, this is a disturbing recommendation for what is supposed to be the all purpose always on portable computer.

Turn off push mail: If you have a push mail account such as Yahoo!, MobileMe or Microsoft Exchange, turn off push mail when you don’t need it. Go to Settings > Fetch New Data and set Push to Off. Messages sent to your push email accounts will now be received on your phone based on the global Fetch setting rather than as they arrive.

Wait didn’t the above optimization hint tell me to fetch data less frequently? Also if I should turn off Push then why would I pay 99 bucks a month for MobileMe or use my iPhone an an Outlook enterprise device. Even without 3G i noticed that the Push was draining my battery a bit even on EDGE. By the way this also means turn off all of MobileMe’s other “push” capabilities for Calendar and contacts

Auto-check fewer email accounts: You can save power by checking fewer email accounts. This can be accomplished by turning off an email account or by deleting it. To turn off an account…

Well one thing is for sure, whatever account your left using will not be a Push email account and should only be checked every year or whenever they come out with a new iPhone. Because if you have multiple E-mail accounts thats your problem. Pick one, your others are not important.

Minimize use of third-party applications: Excessive use of applications such as games that prevent the screen from dimming or shutting off or applications that use location services can reduce battery life.

I am sure this is exactly what the people who built those applications want to hear. Way to support them Apple. If I cant use them as much why would I pay $9.99 – $19.99 for an application I want to or need to use as part of my mobile lifestyle. So much for this revolutionarily open 2.0 platform. If you make me decide extra applications on a phone versus the ability to call my wife, while tempting, I will always prefer the latter.

With All these limitations why am I paying an extra 30 bucks a month for unlimited data?

Turn off Wi-Fi: If you rarely use Wi-Fi, you can turn it off to save power. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and set Wi-Fi to Off. Note that if you frequently use your iPhone to browse the web, battery life may be improved by using Wi-Fi instead of cellular data networks.

Ah! Thats why! But also, how more confusing and burdensome can they make that for the average user? Turn off Wi-Fi so that your phone is not constantly scanning for Wifi networks thus draining the battery. But, Oh! using Data services on WiFi saves battery life. Searching for Wifi is a battery drain, doing all your data stuff on WiFi keeps the iPhone’s juices going longer. At least the ability to turn off and on Wifi is one push less than turning of 3G

Turn off Bluetooth: If you rarely use a Bluetooth headset or car kit, you can turn off Bluetooth to save power. Go to Settings > General > Bluetooth and set Bluetooth to Off.

This also is very true. The battery last much longer when you do not use bluetooth. Problem is, myself and many other savvy iPhone users do you use Bluetooth and would find, like i did, a suggestion like this to just be annoying. Maybe its a good thing they have not yet opened up the iPhones bluetooth for other purposes.

As I was reading this list, my always insightful wife cut me off saying “Basically, pretend its not an iPhone.” And that, it seems, is Apple’s own solution to their big battery problem.
Even if these tips are commonsense and work they just do not match the reasons why someone is supposed to buy this phone: WHy didn’t they just say:

Always be near a wall-socket or car charger: If you are near an electrical outlet you can also plug in and power up. Or to be Eco-Friendly try a solar charger.

Use as a paper-weight: Because just using the iPhone in its off state to make sure the fan doesn’t blow the papers of your desk doesn’t use any power at all.

In an earlier post-iPhone 3G Friendfeed post, Rubel amusingly quips “As the iPhone begins to resemble and be used like a computer, we will have to contend with challenges like crashing and battery life.”

This is true, but only if you focus on the glitz and glitter. Its important to point out that Apple is only making 3G, WiFi and GPS (Location services) on a phone popular. But other phone makers and carriers have been doing this all over the world (and even here in the States) for some time now.

MOpocket writer Mordy Gilden’s HTC Titan running Windows Mobile off the Sprint network has all the abilities the iPhone 3G does in terms of infrastructure, it runs tons of applications and, as Mordy pointed out to me this past Sunday (as I learned my old iPhone car charger was not compatible with the iPhone 3G) it will run all these services and last at least a full day if not longer.

There are many other phones out there with 3G, WiFi, Push, frequent data-syncs and whatever, that do not have these problems. Mordy complains about having to charge it every night, I worry about getting mine through the day.

Some reports are coming out saying that the iPhone 3G beats the competition in terms of battery life over 3G. These tests indicate talk time and not other phone usages.

But that is not really the point. its very much not like Apple to join the fray of building inferior (if they are inferior) products. And then have to make battery usage explanations like this? The iPhone 3G has been anything but Apple’s usual clean cut stylish goodness. Usually, they let everyone else try to surpass them while the technology and market is not ready. Then, when they see the magic formula they pounce. Its not like Apple to release a product till it works well. Apple fanboys know that and respect that.

Also, even if other 3G/GPS/WiFi devices are only marginally better in battery life, as some places are reporting, at least the other phones have replaceable batteries!

So I am sorry to say this, but the fault lies entirely with Apple. I am sure they will come out with a solution like, for example, a new better battery that they will replace for 39.99. In the meantime I think my iPhone playtime is over and its time to go back to Nokia.

Apple may have introduced the rest of America’s common (non-Sprint/Verizon) users to 3G. But with great power comes great responsibility. So far they are giving 3G a bad taste.

Nevertheless, there are many amazing things about the Phone that I will report on soon, as the “living with the iPhone 3G” series continues.

Here is an interesting link I just came across at posting time

Technorati Tags: 3g, apple, battery, battery life, iphone, iphone 3g, marketing, sprint, steve rubel

For those of you who, like me, went out and bought a Nokia E70 (or many of the other Nokia wifi phones) you may have come across some of its Internet calling capabilities. Buying an unlocked one here in the States there is little one can do with it… however the Mobile Internet calling is slowly becoming the phenomena that I think will radically change and shake up the industry.

Skype on my wifi enabled windows mobile phone is even more of an indication.

The New York Times today has a very interesting article on the triumphs and difficulties with converged cellular/Wi-Fi service, as currently being tried by T-Mobile in Seattle. Apparently, it works well when going from cell to Wi-Fi; not so well in reverse.

I still believe that this is a technology that will radically alter the personal communications industry.

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Technorati Tags: voip, wifi, internet calling

A while ago at 3GSM I was first introduced to the concept of UMA (also read this). Even for me the UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) concept was a bit confusing for me as well…. is it real VoIP over a WLAN… does UMA mean the phone is WIFI? Well, I have tried to explain it in past articles but Oliver Starr over at Mobile Crunch really breaks it down in this post: A Quick and Dirty UMA Primer.

Enjoy. Its the future.

From the post:

There appears to be a ton of interest in UMA Technology as well as some confusion about the difference between a WLAN enabled handset (one with a WiFi radio as well as GSM/GPRS) and a UMA/Dual Mode handset which also sports the WiFi-GSM/GPRS Radio configuration but also includes the UMA software that enables the seamless switching from one mode to another even during (and without dropping) a call in progress. These are NOT the same thing as the information below, which I’ve culled from the progenitor of UMA technology, Kineto Wireless’ website.

Technorati Tags: uma, wifi, voip

It does not seem like to long ago when their was a lot of Skype hype at the 3GSM in Barcelona regarding their move into the mobile space. They where supposed to launch a beta run on 3 Network phones in Europe. Rafe from AllAboutSymbian even spotted one running on a S60 Nokia. Later on in the year Skypes own purchase of VoIP startup Sonorit Holdings and its U.S. subsidiary, Camino Networks was a sure indication that Skype was headed toward the palm of your hand. Don’t get me wrong, I think that it is an inevitability but based recent news it appears that we have to wait a little bit more for the VoIP revolution to spread to our cell phones.

The reason… “technical obstacles.” What those are Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom wont say. I guess the example Rafe found was an Alpha Alpha Symbian version. For now if you really want Skype wherever you go you will have to get a Windows Mobile device.

But Symbian and Windows are less than 10 percent of the phones sold out there (and even less in the US market). Skype really needs to get themselves on all the other phones out there…

So the question really is, is this a problem of Skypes or is the moment just not ready yet. Like mobile video star-ups that tried to enter the arena 2 years ago the time is just not right yet. If the hardware is not ready yet because the people are not ready yet then perhaps Skype should just concentrate on higher end phones like Symbian and Windows and Palm (whatever their new OS may be) and wait for the inevitable trickling down of those mobile OS’s. I would imagine at least, in the case of Symbian, this wont take long.

That is f course that when all is said and done the carriers don’t just block Skype traffic from running on their networks and on WiFi phones that are sold with them branded onto it. Which their non-net-neutricality infrastructure is set up to do nicely and which is in their right as Skype would take traffic away from their calling plans. But perhaps this is an inevitability that the carriers will have to deal with as well.

Anyways, more can be read in this great Business Week Article On The Subject.

Technorati Tags: skype, symbian, ebay, windows mobile, voip, camino networks, sonorit holdings

Wow… WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW! [read]

Technorati Tags: n95, noka

The blogosphere is buzzing with news about how Alltel Wireless the owner/operator of the nation’s largest wireless network has just announced the signing of a deal with satellite radio broadcaster XM Radio to create “XM Radio Mobile”.

The thinking is the newly created entity, XM Radio Mobile will initially bring 20 channels of satellite content to a variety of compatible handsets for $7.99 per month. XM will push out data to include the song title, artist and album. Genres in the initial release are likely to include music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, Top 20 Hits, Alternative Rock, Hip-Hop/R&B, Indie Rock, Blues, Country, Latin and more.

But to tell you the truth it exactly the future capabilities of cell phones and network infrastructures such as 3G EV-DO and HSDPA not to mention 4G innovations such Wimax and city-wide and municipal Wifi that I think may make an infrastructure like pay for satellite radio irrelevant in the near future.

Don’t get me wrong. I get the convenience of having all the technology on one device. But as more and more handsets are dual mode wifi and network friendly and as such things as Wimax and or municipal wifi become a reality I am betting that the often overlooked services like commercial free home grown or professional internet radio (which is big in social networking worlds like Second Life) will be more widely used and available. I can also see certain networks make deals with Internet radio stations (or a company that owns a bunch) to have them on the deck or as a premium service.

In other-words wifi and wimax will become the new way to stream commercial free or just plain old free radio. This will also cause a boom in the home-grown radio market where anyone can have their own radio station. Hey I am just looking to the future here.

It will also become an easier way to distribute podcasts.

I see that satellite radio sees this to and that is probably why this deal was made. And there is no question that Alltel XM users will use it, for now. The question is whether they will in the future if IP radio streaming to mobile handsets ever makes it off the ground, which I predict it will.

Technorati Tags: alltel, wifi, wimax, xm radio