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Articles Tagged "iphone":
Less AT&T Upgrade Advantage for iPhone ¬
2009-02-03
From AT&T’s information page for the UNICEL acquisition:
You’ll also be automatically enrolled in the AT&T Upgrade Advantage(SM) Program. […] Not only will you receive discounts on the widest selection of wireless phones, but the higher your monthly rate plan and data-package rates, the more you’ll save.
Unfortunately, the Upgrade Advantage page notes the following:
You can earn additional equipment discounts of up to $100 off of the standard 2-year contract renewal discounted price. Additional equipment discounts do not apply to iPhone.
Bummer, especially considering that the few of us who are happy AT&T bought our UNICEL network are so because it brings us full iPhone support.
[Via Mark Engelhardt]
11 Ways Newton is STILL better than iPhone ¬
2008-09-23
11. Your Newton is a “project” device. This is what originally drew me to the MessagePad. Setting up wifi and Bluetooth, sending and receiving e-mails, playing around with third-party apps and games, even syncing with OS X – the Newton gives you weekend projects that satisfy your inner DIY’er. The iPhone? Too easy.
When I bought my MessagePad 2100 back in 2005 it was after great hemming and hawing between it and a Treo 650. I decided to skip consolidation and the risk of forced obsolescence and go for flexibility, chosen obsolescence, and community. I’ve never even been tempted to look back.
[Via Grant Hutchinson]
iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch ¬
2008-07-11
Get the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch, and you also get the new features added in the January ’08 update. Google Maps, Mail, Weather, Web Clips, a customizable Home screen and more.
There must still be people that didn’t want to pay the $20 to upgrade. It may have actually been worth the wait to pay half the price and get more than double the features.
The iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch includes the App Store and all the new features described […] for just $9.95.
Of course, the update has been listed as available on and off all day, but throwing various errors so that one can’t actually purchase it and upgrade. One would hope they’d resolve it soon, but they’re probably focusing on the iPhone 3G side of things at the moment.
Google Talk for the iPhone/iPod Touch ¬
2008-07-10
[W]e’ve tried to keep the design as faithful to the desktop experience as possible, so it should be familiar to you. You can select from a quicklist of the people you contact most, search your contacts, and manage multiple conversations.
I’ve been playing with this a bit over the last week. It works quite well and is complemented by the fact that the predictive keyboard in the iPhone/iPod Touch is nearly 100% accurate for me, regardless of what I actually type, even when turned sideways on a table and typing with two fingers.
I still much prefer the mobile web version of Gmail to the native iPhone/iPod touch version of Mail, but that may change with version 2.0 of the iPhone software. It’ll be interesting to see if Google starts implementing some native apps for release through the App Store. With web apps like these and their own Android platform it’s probably harder to justify.
[Via TUAW]
Regarding the plan for AT&T and Verizon Wireless to swap some properties to allow Verizon Wireless to purchase UNICEL:
“The swap proposal was inadequate because it didn’t cover 2 1/2counties in the southern half of the state. … So that proposal was rejected,” said Julie Brill, Vermont’s assistant attorney general. The omitted counties were Windsor, Windham and Bennington.“The swap would have meant there would have been a near monopoly in those three counties, so we said, ‘No,’” Brill said.
A disappointment. I had switched to UNICEL over a month ago for other reasons, but I must admit that this pending deal did give me additional motivation.
[Via Edward Shepard]
Ars Technica's WWDC '08 Live Coverage ¬
2008-06-09
We’re at Moscone West for the first ever sold out WWDC in history. We will be live updating this post when the keynote starts, so check back with us at 10:00am Pacific Time for all the goods.
This has been one of the most reliable sites for live coverage of Apple Keynotes in the past so it’s a good bet for today as well.
WWDC 2008 ¬
2008-06-09
Today marks the start of Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference for 2008. The Keynote starts at 10:00 am (Pacific) and always requires extra attention, but this year’s iPhone, Mac, and Information Technology tracks should provide some great information as well.
Google's Macworld Makeover ¬
2008-01-15
This morning Google went live with the Macworld Makeover of their mobile portal with a number of new updates for iPhone/iPod touch users. It’s now very much iPhone-like as well as including improvements to both Gmail & Google Calendar and adding iGoogle to the mix.
I’ve been using their mobile portal on my iPod touch since I received it on December 14th (more on that another day). They had only just released said AJAX portal 9 days prior, so I didn’t find myself missing Apple’s Mail client from the iPhone which is non-existent1 on the iPod touch.
Today’s modifications are a welcome update to an already well executed feature.
1 One can hack the iPod touch to install the various iPhone-specific and 3rd-party apps.
iPhone Select, Copy, and Paste Proposal ¬
2007-08-09
John Gruber has gone and posted a discourse on bringing copy & paste functionality to the iPhone. In response to his article, I’d like to describe what I feel another good, Newton-inspired solution would be.
I’ve unfortunately only played with the iPhone little more than a dozen times, but I know the gestures pretty well thanks to Apple’s effort to make it quite intuitive. I also use my Newton MessagePad 2100 all day, every day, and so I’ve got it’s myriad of gestures down well. First, a description of how copy & paste and text selection works on the Newton OS 2.1.
The Newton Way
To select text or items:
- Tap-and-hold-for-two-seconds with the stylus to enter selection mode.
- While in selection mode, you draw a thick (think well-worn sharpie) selection line through or around the item(s)/text you want to select.
- When you lift the stylus it selects whatever item(s)/text you just struck-through/surrounded.
To cut selected text or items:
- Tap-and-drag the selected item(s)/text to any edge of the screen.
- A snippet of the text, image, or what-have-you will stay there, right where you left it, until you copy or paste it somewhere or you cut/copy something else.[1]
Copying works the same way as cutting except that one tap-tap-and-drags instead of merely tap-and-dragging.
Pasting is easy as:
- Tap-and-drag the snippet of the selected item(s)/text to the point where you want them it (the caret will follow the tip of your stylus).
The Proposed iPhone Way
What I propose would allow copy and paste for what I’ll call “power users” because, let’s face it, the iPhone is designed for people to not need copy and paste (as John describes as the basis for his analogy to the arrow-keyless original Macintosh keyboard).
To select text:
- Tap-and-hold-for-one-second to get the magnifying lens and place the caret (as is already implemented) and let go to make it stick.
- Then tap-tap-and-hold-for-one-second to bring up the magnifying lens again, but this time to make your contiguous selection and then let go to make it stick.
To copy text:
- Tap-tap-and-drag the selected text up to the status bar at the top of the screen (it’s always there).
- Either a snippet of the text selected hovers up there (or maybe an icon, something like the text clipping icon, instead), until you copy or paste it somewhere or you copy something else.
To paste text:
- Tap-tap-and-drag the text snippet (or text snippet icon) from the status bar area to where you want to place it. It should automatically go into the magnifying lens mode and paste it at the caret when you let go.
Now, what about cut? Well, honestly, I wouldn’t want to try to implement or make anyone use tap-tap-tap-and-drag or some nonsense like that, but the on-screen keyboard is always there when in a text editing application, so one could always hit delete/backspace. After all, the important functionalities are the copy and paste.
That main inspirations taken from the Newton OS is the tap-tap-and-drag as tap-and-drag is already used for all scrolling on the iPhone, as well as dragging the selection snippet to the status bar. The reason for the latter is that there is only one thing other than the home button (which is hardware) that exists on every screen and in the same place at all times: the status bar.
Tactile Memory Benefits
Now, this may seem hard to believe, but tap-tap-and-drag-to-the-status-bar really is a single gesture (as is tap-tap-and-drag-from-the-status-bar). The extra tap is essentially free because it’s at the same location as the initial tap and the drag finishes it off in one fluid motion. In fact you can probably just glide your finger right off the top of the screen and the iPhone would recognize that as you having dropped the selection on the status bar.
Even text selection is only two, albeit easy, gestures: tap-and-hold-for-one-second and tap-tap-and-hold-for-one second. Of course, the single second of holding doesn’t really count either because it’s up before the user really has to think about it and then they are immediately in the magnification lens mode.
Part of the reason to go with single gestures like this is the tactile memory benefits that you get from it. Having to click a copy/paste button on the keyboard (even on a window that pops up as suggested here) would pull the user out of the flow of their editing thought process and into more of a hunt-and-peck thought process. It would drastically interrupt their editing process at every single copy and paste.
This is all just my take on it, but it seems pretty natural to me.
Update: Fitt’s Law says that my suggested copy operation (although not the select & paste operations) will be faster because the selected text will likely be a somewhat larger target and the destination for the gesture (i.e. the top of the screen) is a damn easy target to hit.
Of course, the selection and paste operations require more concentration and work on the user’s part as placing the caret at it’s target location is trying to hit a very specific and small target. However, Apple’s made it a little easier by providing the magnification lens feature and it’s something that takes a lot more thought from the user anyway: “Where do I want to start my selection?”, “Where do I want to end my selection?”, “Where do I want to paste this text in?” All those require enough thought that most users wouldn’t worry as much about the speed of the operation as they will the content.
The action of putting the data into and taking it out of the clipboard is the action that needs to be, and is, most optimized.
1 There are, of course, utilities that will turn on multiple clipboards, but that’s beside the point.
Say Goodbye to the iPhone in Vermont ¬
2007-07-30
There’s been some recent iPhone-related news that gave the impression that we were getting closer to legitimately using using iPhones in Vermont. Unfortunately, I think we lost all progress today.
First, the good news: I now have three coworkers that have iPhones: Jimmy, Mark, and Don. So far their accounts are still active. I really suspect that their EDGE usage will be what tips the scales against them, but it’ll be interesting to find out for sure if/when their accounts get cancelled.
Also, iPhone hackers have produced a way to bypass activation or activate it using a different AT&T/Cingular SIM card. This means that one doesn’t need activate and then cancel their iPhone’s AT&T service to use it as a video & web iPod or use it with another AT&T SIM. They’re not working on fully unlocking the iPhone so that it can be used with any SIM card yet, but I’m sure they will be soon.
This is all well and good, however today’s bad news is that Verizon Wireless is buying RCC (i.e. Unicell), the only GSM1 cell phone network actually in Vermont.
What does this actually mean? Well, nothing yet. Change moves slowly in the cell phone market. However, it does mean that Verizon will be transitioning RCC customers over to CDMA technology at some point in the future (and my guess is that it’ll happen within a year):
Rural Cellular utilizes both CDMA and GSM technology separately across its five regional markets. Verizon Wireless plans to deploy CDMA service in Rural Cellular’s existing GSM markets and convert the GSM customers to CDMA service. Verizon Wireless, however, anticipates maintaining Rural Cellular’s existing GSM networks to continue serving the roaming needs of other GSM carriers’ customers.
Fortunately, they do note that they’ll be maintaining the GSM network for those roaming with GSM phones (e.g. the iPhone). Also, the benefit of “reduced roaming and operations expenses” will be a nice bonus for RCC customers who already have to pay higher rates.
But, and there is a big but, this will mean that non-AT&T SIMs will be disappearing in the not-too-distant future, so when AT&T does kick Vermonters’ iPhones off their network, even if the iPhone is unlocked by then they won’t have anywhere else to get a valid SIM.
As I mentioned previously, AT&T recently purchased Dobson so other rural areas in the United States will be able to use iPhones on AT&T’s own network, but Vermont just lost all hope of that ever happening.
1 GSM is the cell phone technology used by the iPhone.
iPhone: The Week In Review ¬
2007-07-06
A week ago I discussed the ways not to get an iPhone in Vermont since we’re not covered by AT&T’s own network and in honor of the iPhone’s release. Now that people in other states have had their iPhones for a week, the in-depth reviews have been rolling in: Steven Frank’s, James Duncan Davidson’s, Steve Dekorte’s, and Jason Kottke’s are my pick o’ the litter.
As I also noted, my friend Jimmy drove to New Hampshire to pick one up with the goal of using it until AT&T cancels his contract. His initial lists of wants has been posted as well. And, of course, I’ve now gotten to play with the iPhone a couple of times at the office.
Jimmy has stated that he’s been able to hit 100+k on EDGE in Watebury, VT, so Unicel’s EDGE network can’t be half bad. Although, I have to wonder whether using data services while roaming will alert AT&T that much earlier and cause them to cancel his contract sooner rather than later. Only time will tell.
There has been other news on the iPhone front too. On the day of the iPhone release, AT&T and Dobson (i.e. Cellular One) announced the purchase of Dobson. This should be great news for the rest of the country, but Cellular One left Vermont years ago, so we’re still stuck1 with RCC (i.e. Unicel).
However, all is not completely lost, even if AT&T does cancel Jimmy’s contract (or anyone else in Vermont), Alex King has verified that the iPhone works without AT&T service. You do have to get a contract in the first place, but that does mean that the iPhone won’t as quickly become a useless brick in a drawer when the cell phone technology becomes outdated and sure gets me closer to buying an iPhone.
One thing that I had originally investigated, but failed to mention in my original post, is the idea of getting a pre-paid plan (i.e. a GoPhone plan) from AT&T. I had immediately and completely ruled this out because you cannot roam on a pay-as-you-go plan (see the GoPhone coverage map) and so Vermont is completely out of the picture. For a while there, it looked like this wasn’t even going to be possible for anyone anyway, but the tried-and-true way of getting a GoPhone contract has been discovered. Still great news for others.
The bad news so far: even another AT&T SIM card won’t work in the iPhone, so the hope for unlocking the phone is not even an easy first step.
We may not actually be getting much closer to having true iPhone support in Vermont, but atleast hope is growing. Again, I’m still not ready to give up my Newton, but the iPhone would be a great companion. :)
BTW – Don was on TV again regarding the no iPhones for Vermont issue. Of course, I don’t know where he got the statistic that we’re the only state that doesn’t get AT&T service.
Update: I added Steve Dekorte’s iPhone review to my above list of favorites. I don’t know how I had missed it.
1 Now, I’m not sure I actually want AT&T to own Unicel as well as Cingular and Cellular One, but I sure would like an iPhone.
iPhone: The Day After ¬
2007-06-30
Well, the iPhone’s been out for 24 hours now and the initial reviews are in: it’s totally kick-ass and what the videos show is absolutely the real-deal.
Man, that’s hard to hear. I really want one!
To make matters worse, Jimmy (one of the only people I know in Vermont that’s somehow been able to retain their AT&T/Cingular account which was signed up for out-of-state) ordered his iPhone last night. Actually, he couldn’t even wait the 2-4 weeks before it would ship, so he and his girlfriend drove to the Salem, NH, Apple Store today and came home with two iPhones.
He’s up and running after a short wait for the activation and loves it (per our AIM conversation):
This has the to be the absolutely best gadget ever
and i’ve only used it for like a minute
the keyboard, wow
it’s easy
Of course, now I really, really want one. And, to make matters even worse, I’ll get to see one, touch it, and drool on it, next week (Monday?) in the office.
Jimmy, who lives in Waterbury, VT, also noted that he gets full signal and picks up EDGE. So, that side of it works. I don’t expect him to see the same speed increases that AT&T’s network has seen this week, since it’s probably Unicel’s towers that he’s picking up.
The lingering question at this point is: how long will he be able to keep his contract? After all, that’s all that really matters to me.
BTW – There’s already some take-apart photos posted.
Update: Jimmy’s now got some initial photos of his iPhone(s) posted.
iPhone Today (or Ratatouille Instead) ¬
2007-06-29
Today’s the day everybody’s been waiting for! Yup, we’re little more that twelve hours away from the release of Apple’s new iPhone! Some are queueing up for them already, some will be ordering online, and others yet are prepping to rejoice over the impending flop.
I highly doubt the iPhone will be a flop. Yes, I love Apple’s products (a lot) and, honestly, I’ve been loving them more and more recently, even with the occasional intentional limitations that Apple builds in so that they “just work” (which the iPhone seems will have many). The more things “just work” the easier my life is and the iPhone looks to be one of those things that “just works”.
Oh, and yes, I’ve been reading all the articles, all the FAQs, and watching all the videos (these ones as well), and generally drooling over the iPhone. It looks beautiful, functional, and, most importantly, extremely intuitive.
I want one! Hell, everyone I know wants one.
I Live in the Boonies
Unfortunately, while everyone else is trying to get out of their cell phone contracts so they can get an iPhone, I can’t get one. At all. Trust me, I’ve tried to figure out a reasonable way.
You see, I live in the beautiful state of Vermont and while AT&T, which has an exclusive on the iPhone, covers most of our state, they only do so by partnering with existing in-state GSM carriers (e.g. Unicel). If you go to their Coverage Viewer and enter “VT” for the state (no other address data required), you’ll see what I mean.
Then zoom out a little and look at the surrounding states. Hmm, we’ve probably got a better coverage percentage than Maine, New York, and Pennsylvania1, in general, but they’ve all got that deep-orange color in them (meaning they have a true AT&T network). We don’t.
That’s okay, I can always go buy it out-of-state and just “move” back home and keep using it, right? Well, unfortunately, as a couple of my coworkers have found out, they cancel your contract after a few months because you’re always roaming. Oh, right, “mov[ing] to the boonies” was one of the ways to try to get out of your contract for just that reason.
But I don’t want to get out of my contract, I want to keep it and use the iPhone. But, it wouldn’t be so bad if I lost my contract right? I mean I could still use iPhone as the coolest iPod ever and an awesome portable browser, right? Oh right, that was in David Pogue’s FAQ:
Do I need an AT&T account? Yes. The iPhone won’t work at all without a two-year AT&T voice-plus-Internet plan (and no, you can’t use it as just an iPod, no matter how tempting the bigger screen and longer battery life is).
Now, he doesn’t specifically say what happens when your contract expires (forcibly or naturally), but trying and finding out doesn’t exactly seem to fall in the “reasonable” category for me.
Ooh, but I could just get a Unicel contract & phone (as much as their pricing sucks) and pop the SIM card into my iPhone, right? Actually, I didn’t even think that one would work, and it won’t. Sure, eventually someone may figure out a way to unlock the iPhone, but it’s risky, the setup isn’t going to be smooth, I’ll lose visual voicemail, probably the EDGE support (as slow as it may be), and it’s going to cost me a lot more to set up and use. Nope, that doesn’t qualify as “reasonable” at all.
Uh oh, this doesn’t bode well for me, nor the rest of Vermont’s residents. Well that’s definitely disappointing, and Don agrees, as well2.
I guess I’ll just have to wait until AT&T comes to Vermont. Hopefully it’ll be a shorter wait than that of our friends to the North or those over in Europe.
Always Look On the Bright Side of Life
However, today’s a day I’ve been looking forward to for the release of another Steve Jobs-related (in a way) masterpiece anyway! Pixar’s Ratatouille is opening today!
Honestly, I would have had a hard time deciding which to wait in line for… an iPhone or Ratatouille, Ratatouille or an iPhone. You can bet I’ll be in line for Ratatouille at the Palace 9 tonight!
However, all is not lost, the truth is I wasn’t quite ready to try to give up my Newton MessagePad anyway. I would have missed having my financial software, to-do lists, and notes with me wherever I go. Of course, I could find web-based alternatives to most of these functions, such as Remember the Milk, stikkit, or the iPhone-intended OneTrip. I’d also have missed being able to use my cell phone to get online with my MacBook Pro in a jam, that also won’t be a feature of the iPhone.
However, not having to cary my pager, my cell phone, my MacBook Pro, and my Newton around with my all the time would have been nice on my back. And yes, I’d still have been able to access servers in an emergency thanks to the iPhone’s VPN support and a dedicated server running AjaxTerm, but I’ll live. C’est la vie.
1 Granted, they’re all much larger states and said coverage map is a poor estimation.
2 Although the article states that Vermont is the only state without any AT&T coverage, I have a feeling that Montana and the Dakotas may be in the same boat.
