When Apple released the iPhone 3G, I immediately upgraded. It was a no-brainer for me. I wanted the speed of the 3G network. The only thing that I missed was the design. I’ve always preferred the original design to the iPhone 3G and 3GS.
When the iPhone 3GS came out, most of the features that came with it were ho-hum to me. The only thing I really wanted was the video camera. If AT&T had granted me an earlier upgrade date than they did, I might would have upgraded. But as it was, I was going to have to wait about six months to upgrade, or the first of this year.
By the time I was upgrade eligible, I was just fine waiting for the next generation of the iPhone. It was a relatively short wait, and my patience has paid off.
Apple’s release of the iPhone 4 has me far more excited than the iPhone 3GS. From design to improvements, the iPhone 4 looks like a brilliant phone that will once again revolutionizes what a smart phone should be.
Here’s what grabbed me from the Steve Jobs keynote:
Design. This phone is beautiful. Like the original, it has a flat back. It is thin. The lines are beautiful. Solid black backing, stainless steel frame and black-framed glass. As I said, I’ve never liked the design of the 3G-series. When the photos of the iPhone 4 prototype were leaked, I got excited. It is a work of beauty.
HD Video. Too many times I’ve seen my kids doing something or I’ve been on the job and I’ve wished for video capability on my iPhone. Now, I get it. Plus, the iPhone 4 records in HD. Combined with what looks like a real promising endeavor with iMovie for iPhone, this is going to be fantastic to use.
Camera Improvements. Increasing the camera to 5 megapixels was nice, but it’s only a fraction of what Apple really did here. They’ve done two things that will make it the best camera on any phone. First was a flash, which other smart phones have. The second, however, is really unique. The inclusion of a backside illumination sensor helps boost the quality of the photos. Full details on the camera are here.
Retina Display. This makes a big difference if you do a lot of reading on your iPhone. I suspect it will make a real difference with the increased abilities of the camera and with iMovie for iPhone as well. As much as I use Instapaper and Kindle on my iPhone, I welcome what Apple has done here. It will be the sharpest display of any phone available. Read more about Retina Display here.
iOS 4 changes. Not only did the name change from iPhone OS to iOS, the new features were shown in more detail yesterday. Multitasking and folders are the two things that excite me the most. I’m also looking forward to the ability of adding multiple Exchange accounts. All of this will make my iPhone much more useable as an enterprise machine.
iBooks. We knew it was coming, and now it is official. iBooks is coming to the iPhone, and as expected it will automatically sync with the iPad. In short, it works just like the Kindle app does with the Kindle. I won’t say I’ll never use my Kindle app again, but iBooks will be my main reader on both my iPhone and iPad now.
I also wanted to share one of the more interesting pieces on first impressions of the iPhone 4. It comes from Kyle Baxter over at TightWinds, and it sums up my feelings nicely.
The iPhone 4 can be pre-ordered on June 15. I’ve already put it on my calendar.
by samrhall on June 7, 2010
in Links
Via Daring Fireball: One Year:
What strikes me is this. One year ago I was in the same hotel waiting for the same keynote to the same conference. The iPad was a distant rumor, and Steve Jobs was on medical leave, two months out from a life-saving liver transplant. Now here we are, and the iPad is an amazing industry-changing smash hit (I’m writing these words using one), Apple’s market cap has surpassed Microsoft’s, and Steve Jobs is getting ready to take the stage, in his prime and at the top of his game.
Amen!
Earlier today I posted about AT&T’s announcement of tethering, which has me most intrigued. The other part of the announcement — actually the main part of the announcement and what has received the most press — was that AT&T is changing the rates for their data plan.
Macworld has a great “What You Need To Know” piece, and you should definitely check it out. In a nutshell, here’s the gist for new iPhone users:
If you’re signing up for a iPhone as a brand new customer—and at this point, we’d recommend waiting until after the WWDC keynote to make any decisions—then you can opt for either the 200MB DataPlus plan for $15 per month or the 2GB DataPro plan for $25. If you want tethering, you’ll have to sign up for the DataPro plan, and tethering will cost you an additional $20 every month. Either way, however, you’ll also get access to AT&T’s nationwide network of 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in locations such as many Starbucks and airports.
If you are an existing iPhone user, like myself, you can keep the $30/month unlimited plan. After checking my AT&T usage, this is what I found:
As you can see, I regularly climb higher than 200MB/month, which really doesn’t matter since I will want tethering and must get the DataPro plan to qualify. And there, dear reader, is the rub.
If you are a current iPhone user with the $30/month unlimited plan and do not want tethering, all is well with the world. Nothing has to change, even if you upgrade to the new iPhone.
However, if you have an unlimited plan and want tethering, life is going to change. You have to have the DataPro plan. Granted, you’ll save $5/month for the first 2GB. If you stay under that limit, good on you! You just saved $5/month.
If, however, you exceed that 2GB limit, you’re dishing out another $10 for each 1GB you go over.
As for the overage charges, they are not bad compared to other networks. The comparison for current users, however, is not to other carriers but to our current carrier and what we’re paying. In other words, those of us who yearn for tethering will get screwed if we pass the 2GB usage mark.
At the end of the day, I can’t get too worked up over it. (Admittedly, I don’t expect to stream a lot of movies over 3G while tethered to my iPhone, though.)
The reason I can’t get worked up over it is that AT&T has to ensure that not only is their network viable but that it is able to expand as usage dictates. The only way to do that is to charge responsible amounts that both a) make it affordable to users and b) allow them to upgrade their network to meet increasing user loads.
That said, even with the DataPro plan, I have plenty of room to “grow” my usage when I start tethering to my MacBook (which is my main desire), my iPad (if possible but likely not) and perhaps other laptops (if multiple connections are allowed like with the Palm Pre).
AT&T announced today that they would finally offer tethering to iPhone customers, doing so a year after the feature became available on the iPhone for international users.
I try not to harp on AT&T too much, as I think all cellular carriers have problems, problems which would be grossly exaserbated if they were exposed to the massive user load of the iPhone.
What I’m most focused on is the fact that tethering is coming, and I couldn’t be happier. I got rid of my 3G connect card from AT&T quite a while ago because the amount I used it was not worth what I was paying.
As of recently, however, I’ve been faced with two new use-case scenerios where having a 3G/WiFi solution for multiple laptops has been created:
- My travel has increased, and the need for WiFi connection for my MacBook has grown. Too, I often travel with a colleague. We both need to be on the Internet.
- I purchased an iPad. I opted for the WiFi version because it was cheaper and because I know that I can use WiFi for most of what I need. Still, being able to get on the Internet via a 3G/WiFi solution would be nice.
Because of this, I’ve been contemplating a MiFi device. I’ve been holding off until the release of the new iPhone in hopes that AT&T would provide tethering. It seems, at least in part, my hopes are coming to fruition.
But a couple of questions still remain:
- Will I be able to tether my iPad to my iPhone?
- Will I be able to tether multiple devices to my iPhone?
The simple answer to the first question may be no, but it still may be possible with a third-party app. I’m not counting out the idea that Apple and AT&T will provide a solution to tether the iPad to the iPhone.
Regardless, one thing is certain: I’m upgrading from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 4 when it is released.
by samrhall on June 1, 2010
in News, iPad
Ever since I knew the iPad was going to be a reality, I’ve dreamed of what it could do for print journalism.
Via the D8 Conference and AllThingsD:
Speaking at the D8 conference, the Apple CEO says that he wants to help save journalism because “I don’t want to see us descend into a nation of bloggers myself. I think we need editorial more than ever.” Ahem. Regardless, “What we have to do is figure out a way to get people to start paying for this hard-earned content.”
OK. So how to do that? “Price it aggressively, and go for volume”, he says onstage at the D8 conference. When Apple hasn’t done that, he says “we get attenuated success”.
And if media companies follow his lead, he says, he can help them sell newspapers, magazines, TV shows, etc.. But they’ll need to “take a more aggressive stance” to pricing than they have to date.
The music industry is a prime example. They have belly-ached over the profit margins, but it is undeniable that Apple, iTunes and the iPod have revolutionized an industry that was starting to show signs of sagging.
Journalism is not dead, and I believe it is a cornerstone of a free society. What the iPad presents is the future of consuming media content. Here’s hoping that the print medium, of which I once belonged, takes better advantage of this platform than they did the Internet.
Indie developers for Mac and iPhone have joined forces to help raise money for Haiti recovery. They are selling their apps at Indie+Relief and donating all proceeds to Haiti relief funds via one of three charities:
- Red Cross
- Doctors Without Borders
- UNICEF
There are some amazing apps on this list. If you are a Mac or iPhone user whose been eyeing a popular app but just haven’t brought yourself to shell out the money, now may be the time. You can give to the Haiti recovery effort and get that app you’ve been wanting at the same time.
Here are the apps for iPhone I find most interesting:
- Birdfeed, a Twitter client
- Campfire, a 37Signals’ Campfire client
- Instapaper Pro, which is self-explanatory (I use this)
- Rowmote, a super-charged remote for your AppleTV, Mac and Mac apps (I use this)
- Things Touch, the iPhone version of the popular GTD app (I use this religiously)
- Tweetie, the best Twitter app around (I use this religiously)
If you are looking for Mac apps, check these out:
- Acorn, an easy-to-use but powerful image editor (I’ve tried this and finally bought it today)
- Billings, an app to track time and bill clients (I use this)
- Default Folder X, a valuable add-on to Save menus (I use this)
- Delicious Library 2, catalogues your music, DVDs, apps and other stuff (I use this)
- Fetch, a pretty good ftp client
- HoudahSpot, tags all your files on your Mac
- MarsEdit, a desktop blogging client (I use this religiously)
- Pukka, a Delicious Bookmarks client (I use this)
- Things, a GTD app (I use this religiously)
- Tweetie for Mac, a Twitter client (I use this but prefer iPhone version)
(Quick Note: I usually would link to the apps, but I want you to go to Indie+Relief and link to the apps from there.)
You’ll find more than 150 apps for sale here, ranging from productivity apps to games. Go check it out, and consider a purchase to help out Haiti relief. If you are not interested in purchasing an app, you can also find a link to the three above-mentioned charities from this site.
This sale is for Jan. 20 only, so please go see it today.
(Originally posted on my personal blog.)
