RIM rolls out the Storm

Submitted by acohill on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 15:23.

Early reviewers of the RIM (Blackberry) Storm phone do not have many good things to say about the smartphone competitor to the Apple iPhone. The biggest criticism is the apparently clunky virtual QWERTY keypad. It must be bad, because I am not a big fan of the Apple "soft" keypad--I still make a lot of mistakes with it.

The end of the desktop computer?

Submitted by acohill on Wed, 11/26/2008 - 10:59.

Apple's new 24" flat panel display has begun to ship, and it only works with Apple's line of newer laptops. This might seem puzzling, but Apple's sales of laptops (as well as other computer makers) has exceeded the sales of desktop computers for some time. The Apple display is a dock for the laptop, with built in power connector to charge the laptop, a mini video connector, and a built in Web cam and speakers. So with a minimum of fuss, you can have a big screen, power, and good audio with a relatively low cost laptop. For many people, at home and at work, this is good enough.

iPhone is the most popular cellphone in the U.S.

Submitted by acohill on Mon, 11/10/2008 - 15:40.

The NPD Group reports that the iPhone now has the top spot as the most popular cellphone in the U.S., knocking the Motorola Razr out of first place. NPD also reported that sales of phones with QWERTY keyboards has risen dramatically, indicating what I predicted a long time ago--we are well on the way to abandoning portable phones and are rapidly moving towards portable communication devices that do a variety of things, including text messaging, email, Web browsing, and, of course, making phone calls.

iPhone user review

Submitted by acohill on Mon, 11/10/2008 - 09:47.

Back in July, I traded in my aging Treo for a 3G iPhone. After using it for three months, it has exceeded all my expectations. I was a bit nervous about doing so, because I had heard so many complaints about poor service from the AT&T network. But I have found AT&T service to be widely available, even in the small towns and rural areas we visit from time to time. The sound quality of phone calls is noticeably better--crisp and clear. My one complaint about the AT&T network is that 3G service, when available (mostly in large cities), does not work very well. According to news reports, this is due to so many iPhones trying to use the company's 3G network simultaneously--the network can't handle the load. But AT&T's slower Edge network is still quite fast--fast enough to handle most Web browsing comfortably and email downloads work very well.

Where the iPhone really shines, though, is with its ability to download and use a wide variety of third party applications. The iPhone App Store, run by Apple, has thousands of useful and inexpensive applications running from the mundane (tip calculators) to very sophisticated apps like Molecules, which displays and rotate 3D representations of complicated molecules.

My main reason for switching was to get improved access to email when traveling, and the Mail application that comes with the iPhone is superb. It is fast and extremely easy to use, compared to the clunky mail app that came with my old Treo. Mail downloads quickly, even on the Edge network, and I can now check mail almost anywhere, at any time.

Some of the other apps I have found useful include JetSet, which the first travel receipts program I have ever used for more than a day or two. I tried out several on my Treo, and they were all so difficult to use I abandoned them almost immediately. JetSet's data entry is quick and easy, and emails a completed trip record to you that is ready to import into a spreadsheet.

The Treo had a Web browser that was notable only for it's constant crashing. It crashed so much that most Treo users never bothered with it, which I think contributed greatly to the Treo's slow decline. The iPhone's Web browser is fast, easy to use, and the large screen makes it very comfortable to read news sites. The ability to quickly magnify the size of the page with a simple two finger pinch means virtually any site can be viewed comfortably.

One little program really shows off the versatility and power of the iPhone. Shazam is a free application that will listen to a song playing on the radio (or any audio you can hear), record a portion of it, transmit it over the AT&T network to the Shazam database, identify it, and send it back to the iPhone. In about twenty seconds, you can find out the artist, the album, view the cover art, and make a one button click to purchase it from the iTunes Music Store.

Another free program is provided by Apple. The Remote application lets you use your iPhone in your house or office to control music playing via iTunes on your desktop or laptop computer. This little program hints at a whole new category of remote control software that will allow the iPhone to control a whole variety of devices. Indeed, AT&T is already talking about being able to use the iPhone to do things like starting your car on a cold morning to warm it up.

The iPhone has now taken second place in global cellphone sales, ahead of RIM (the Blackberry) and Microsoft. It's a great device that is troublefree and easy to use.

Ford offers parental controls

Submitted by acohill on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 08:05.

Ford has announced that parental controls will be available on some of their new cars, beginning with selected 2010 models. The controls will allow parents to set the top speed of the car, limit how loud the radio can be played, and the car will beep continuously if the front seat belts are not in use.

Now if only they could also include a parental control that forces teenagers into the car at 11 PM and drives them straight home--that is a feature a lot of parents would be pay for.

New iPod Touch is ready for VoIP

Submitted by acohill on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 18:12.

Wired's Gadget Lab reports that new audio capabilities have been built into the new iPod Touch. The first generation Touch did have the necessary hardware to support voice in, so voice memo applications did not work, and neither did VoIP applications. But the new Touch has support for voice input, meaning you could run a VoIP app and make phone calls with the iPod when you have access to a WiFi hotspot. For some people, that might be good enough, and certainly a lot less expensive than an iPhone and the monthly AT&T service charges.

Finally, the first pocket projector

Submitted by acohill on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 07:50.

3M may finally be the first to market with a real pocket projector. Numerous companies have pre-announced these gadgets for several years, but the sticky note company may grab an early jump in this emerging market space with their $359 device.

It does not have the light power to provide a good image for a large room full of people, but for desktop use, impromptu small group presentations, and even cheapo home theater use, it is likely to be very popular.

iPhone breaks more records

Submitted by acohill on Mon, 08/11/2008 - 12:59.

The iPhone continues to break records. According to some estimates, Apple has sold 3 million phones in the first 4 weeks after the updated iPhone 3G was released. Last year, it took Apple three months to sell 1 million. One estimate suggests that Apple will continue to sell 800,000 phones a week for many months.

The App Store, which supplies hundreds of software applications, has also broken records, with more than 60 million downloads of software for the iPhone in the first month, and the store has been averaging $1 million per day in sales (some apps are free).

T-Mobile is feeling the pressure from the iPhone, as the company has announced it is also pursuing an online software store that will work with any of the phones it provides--a rather ambitious undertaking that spans several different cellphone operating systems. T-Mobile has been losing customers to AT&T as customers switch providers to get the iPhone, which only AT&T has.

AT&T and the iPhone

Submitted by acohill on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 15:19.

AT&T, perhaps partly by accident, has probably created success story that is likely to become a business textbook case study classic. Its partnership with Apple has succeeded beyond the company's wildest dreams. Once a kind of also-ran in the cellular industry, customers are switching in droves to AT&T just to get an iPhone. And AT&T has wisely beefed up its network and is making massive investments to ensure its customers have a good signal in more places.

The iPhone is creating a majro change in the portable device and cellphone business, and I think the day of the cellphone is over, meaning that within five years, very few people will have a portable device that is primarily a phone. Going forward, every portable device will have to have a substantial feature set that provides many of the same functions and features of the iPhone.

Apple is probably not greatly worried, as the iPhone's potential is just now barely beginning to be tapped. The iPhone runs a version of the company's flagship OS X operating system, meaning iPhones are full-fledged computers, not just phones with a few extra features like an address book wedged in.

3G iPhone smashes all records

Submitted by acohill on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 07:36.

Apple's second generation iPhone was released for sale last Friday, and promptly broke every consumer electronics record. Apple and AT&T sold an astounding one million phones in just three days, making it not only the most popular cellphone in history but the most popular consumer electronics device ever. Even more incredible, there are still long lines of buyers waiting for phones--according to numerous reports, all 1800 AT&T stores are completely sold out, and most Apple retail stores are out of stock.

What accounts for the phone's popularity? It is not the hardware; the phone has some incremental improvements over the previous model, but nothing groundbreaking. A combination of lower price and an open platform seems to be the appeal. As the iPhone was released, Apple also rolled out thousands of free and low cost applications and programs for the iPhone, making the phone not just a phone/PDA but a true platform that can be customized by the user. This is the key difference now between the iPhone and most other cellphones. The Palm Treo and the RIM Blackberry have had this ability, but both devices have been relatively expensive. More importantly, both the Treo and Blackberry have small, cramped screens and low quality interfaces. The large, very high resolution iPhone display is startlingly clear and easy to use compared to any other portable device.

Samsung and LG have rolled out new phones that look a lot like the iPhone, and cellular providers like Verizon are advertising them heavily. But you can only have what the cellphone provider will let you have on those phones, and many of the add-ons come with steep per month subscription fees. The iPhone App store offers hundreds of free programs, and hundreds more programs that average about $5 in cost. Over time, the other cellphone providers will have to move to this model, or everyone will end up as an AT&T customer and an iPhone user.