I've reviewed some features of the new iPhone previously, and I've even come around a little on some things (the shape is nicer as time goes by, the black plastic not so bad).
But in reading the following, I couldn't help but mostly agree. If you're going to get a phone, the iPhone is the one to get. And if you are going to get an iPhone, there's no good reason not to get the 3G. But, unless you have specific needs, the benefit of upgrading from the previous model consists mostly of what you sometimes get to do, what might be coming in the future. After the expectation-trouncing success of the first generation iPhone, this one can't help but leave you underwhelmed. So merely very good, so almost great.
http://www.iphoneatlas.com/2008/07/28/columnted-iphone-3g-and-mobileme-new-features-add-little-value
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Hubris
In 2006 Democrats delighted at the scandal-ridden Republicans. Pedophilia, restroom solicitation, lobbying corruption, DoJ politicization. Gone were the days of House post office scandals, of Gary Hart and Bill Clinton. Democrats would clean things up.
With word that Senate Majority leader Harry Reid is engaging in Tom Delay-style K Street lobbying shakedowns, I suppose I also shouldn't be surprised that John Edwards (yes, that John Edwards) is keeping a low profile after being confronted by National Enquirer reporters in the wee hours of the morning in a hotel where the the woman the Enquirer called the mother of his "love child" was staying (with child).
The required caveat is that there may be an explanation, and Edwards may have a legitimate reason for not wanting to talk about it, and for giving non-denial denials. Thus, what follows may be unfair. If so, my apologies.
But really.
No, Really.
I too first dismissed this as tabloid trash. But let's remember this is the same tabloid that produced a photo of Donna Rice on Gary Hart's lap (in front the boat "Monkey Business"). Who surfaced the story of Jesse Jackson's love child, silencing the once-family-values preacher (who later went after Obama for criticizing absent fathers). Who managed to find THAT blue dress that nearly brought down the Clinton White House and probably cost Al Gore the White House.
The Enquirer had already set its sights on the Golden Boy from North Carolina last Fall. When they seemed close to pinning something on Edwards (who was then a candidate for President), the Edwards campaign produce the married-with-kids-campaign-staffer Andrew Young, who then claimed to be the father. Of the kid whose mother later came over for dinner with the whole family. Sure.
But fishy as it all sounded, there was no proof of anything. With Edwards out of the race, there was no real story.
Now the blogosphere is positively abuzz with whether the mainstream press should talk about this. My prediction is that it will take two weeks tops for this to be in the headlines. Like the much-predicted bird flu, no matter how carefully the borders are guarded, there are too many ways in and the material is too contagious to keep out.
Earlier this week, Barack Obama's written prayer deposited in the Wailing Wall in Israel was stolen and broadcast on international websites, despite its insignificant contents. Many conservative bloggers decried this, even while saying they did not support Obama.
In that spirit, though I support John Edwards' campaign to help alleviate poverty in America, I can't offer any defense for him. With sympathy to his wife Elizabeth, who is battling terminal cancer, I have to say Edwards (like Clinton before him) is looking more like the caricature conservatives always claimed him to be: a pious phony who calls others to sacrifice but isn't willing to sacrifice his own libido.
A word of warning to other Democratic politicians: when you tap into a powerful truth about the world, and hold it up to the world, it will attract others. They will often confuse the idea and the person. Their youth and inspiration can also attract you, and remind you of your youth. That idea can also be confused with a person. But trying to grab hold of inspiration or youth gets you neither. It gets you National Enquirer reporters chasing you into restrooms.
So for Eliot Spitzer, and that governor from New Jersey or wherever, and Hart and Jackson and Clinton and Edwards, do us a favor and find another line of work. Kennedy doesn't get Marilyn anymore. I know the family-values conservative crowd have their share of hypocrites, too. They can police their own.
I'm tired of making excuses.
Asshole.
(Oh, and to the liberal bloggers: cut out that "well at least they were women" bullshit. I mean, are you serious? Only two years back into power, a useless Congress, "Bros Before Hos" Obama voters and "Party Unity My Ass" PUMA Democrats who want to vote McCain, and now we're trying to out-gay-bash Republicans? Isn't anybody motivated by the issues any more?)
With word that Senate Majority leader Harry Reid is engaging in Tom Delay-style K Street lobbying shakedowns, I suppose I also shouldn't be surprised that John Edwards (yes, that John Edwards) is keeping a low profile after being confronted by National Enquirer reporters in the wee hours of the morning in a hotel where the the woman the Enquirer called the mother of his "love child" was staying (with child).
The required caveat is that there may be an explanation, and Edwards may have a legitimate reason for not wanting to talk about it, and for giving non-denial denials. Thus, what follows may be unfair. If so, my apologies.
But really.
No, Really.
I too first dismissed this as tabloid trash. But let's remember this is the same tabloid that produced a photo of Donna Rice on Gary Hart's lap (in front the boat "Monkey Business"). Who surfaced the story of Jesse Jackson's love child, silencing the once-family-values preacher (who later went after Obama for criticizing absent fathers). Who managed to find THAT blue dress that nearly brought down the Clinton White House and probably cost Al Gore the White House.
The Enquirer had already set its sights on the Golden Boy from North Carolina last Fall. When they seemed close to pinning something on Edwards (who was then a candidate for President), the Edwards campaign produce the married-with-kids-campaign-staffer Andrew Young, who then claimed to be the father. Of the kid whose mother later came over for dinner with the whole family. Sure.
But fishy as it all sounded, there was no proof of anything. With Edwards out of the race, there was no real story.
Now the blogosphere is positively abuzz with whether the mainstream press should talk about this. My prediction is that it will take two weeks tops for this to be in the headlines. Like the much-predicted bird flu, no matter how carefully the borders are guarded, there are too many ways in and the material is too contagious to keep out.
Earlier this week, Barack Obama's written prayer deposited in the Wailing Wall in Israel was stolen and broadcast on international websites, despite its insignificant contents. Many conservative bloggers decried this, even while saying they did not support Obama.
In that spirit, though I support John Edwards' campaign to help alleviate poverty in America, I can't offer any defense for him. With sympathy to his wife Elizabeth, who is battling terminal cancer, I have to say Edwards (like Clinton before him) is looking more like the caricature conservatives always claimed him to be: a pious phony who calls others to sacrifice but isn't willing to sacrifice his own libido.
A word of warning to other Democratic politicians: when you tap into a powerful truth about the world, and hold it up to the world, it will attract others. They will often confuse the idea and the person. Their youth and inspiration can also attract you, and remind you of your youth. That idea can also be confused with a person. But trying to grab hold of inspiration or youth gets you neither. It gets you National Enquirer reporters chasing you into restrooms.
So for Eliot Spitzer, and that governor from New Jersey or wherever, and Hart and Jackson and Clinton and Edwards, do us a favor and find another line of work. Kennedy doesn't get Marilyn anymore. I know the family-values conservative crowd have their share of hypocrites, too. They can police their own.
I'm tired of making excuses.
Asshole.
(Oh, and to the liberal bloggers: cut out that "well at least they were women" bullshit. I mean, are you serious? Only two years back into power, a useless Congress, "Bros Before Hos" Obama voters and "Party Unity My Ass" PUMA Democrats who want to vote McCain, and now we're trying to out-gay-bash Republicans? Isn't anybody motivated by the issues any more?)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
iPhone Apps: Tuner
$6
Nullriver Tuner has quickly become a killer app for me. Tuner is a streaming Internet radio client. What this means is, you either select one of the 500 or so pre-loaded stations (URLs) or you enter your own. The player then loads up the station.
Why pay $6 for this when AOL radio is free on iPhone, as is Pandora? It's all about selection. Pandora is great for music, but doesn't do news. AOL radio has all of 4 stations in Houston. Not knocking that, glad to have them. The point is unless you want those (mainstream radio) stations, no local radio for you.
Me, I like Houston's KUHF NPR station. KUHF plays news at rush hour (and a bit on weekends), but is classical the rest of the time. They actually have an HD radio signal that broadcasts news 24/7 (ditto classical and Spanish language). But unless you want to pay $200 for an HD tuner, no 24/7 news. Thankfully, they also stream the HD channel online, and using Tuner I can listen to it.
Tuner has some shortcomings though. Signals drop too often, and I'm not sure if Edge is fast enough to stream all channels (the bit rate - quality and bandwidth required - is shown next to each station). But the core functionality -- streaming customizable Internet radio -- is a winner, and well worth $6.
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Nullriver Tuner has quickly become a killer app for me. Tuner is a streaming Internet radio client. What this means is, you either select one of the 500 or so pre-loaded stations (URLs) or you enter your own. The player then loads up the station.
Why pay $6 for this when AOL radio is free on iPhone, as is Pandora? It's all about selection. Pandora is great for music, but doesn't do news. AOL radio has all of 4 stations in Houston. Not knocking that, glad to have them. The point is unless you want those (mainstream radio) stations, no local radio for you.
Me, I like Houston's KUHF NPR station. KUHF plays news at rush hour (and a bit on weekends), but is classical the rest of the time. They actually have an HD radio signal that broadcasts news 24/7 (ditto classical and Spanish language). But unless you want to pay $200 for an HD tuner, no 24/7 news. Thankfully, they also stream the HD channel online, and using Tuner I can listen to it.
Tuner has some shortcomings though. Signals drop too often, and I'm not sure if Edge is fast enough to stream all channels (the bit rate - quality and bandwidth required - is shown next to each station). But the core functionality -- streaming customizable Internet radio -- is a winner, and well worth $6.
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iPhone Apps: Units
$1
$1 for an application that just does conversions. I had my doubts. First, it seems a bit like that kitchen gizmo that you take out only once a year. That's part of what I like about the iPhone: it doesn't have a gazillion barely-used apps.
Or it didn't until the App Store.
But I digress. I like Units. When you open it, you see what looks like a Calculator. Three customizable buttons on the right let you choose measurement categories: currency, energy, temperature, time, length, weight, speed, volume, area. Each have icons. You also choose what "to" and "from" units it starts with.
You click the category button (say Temperature) and then put in one value, and the converted value appears above it. There's a handy switch button that reverses the to/from units so you can enter data the other way round. You can also cycle through other units (e.g. degrees Kelvin) and each of the categories.
Most people won't need most categories, but dollars to British pounds and Celsius to Fahrenheit (when overseas with no network connection) are worth $1. Automatic currency rate update option would be nice though (have to do 2 clicks to update).
Recommended for those with the need.
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$1 for an application that just does conversions. I had my doubts. First, it seems a bit like that kitchen gizmo that you take out only once a year. That's part of what I like about the iPhone: it doesn't have a gazillion barely-used apps.
Or it didn't until the App Store.
But I digress. I like Units. When you open it, you see what looks like a Calculator. Three customizable buttons on the right let you choose measurement categories: currency, energy, temperature, time, length, weight, speed, volume, area. Each have icons. You also choose what "to" and "from" units it starts with.
You click the category button (say Temperature) and then put in one value, and the converted value appears above it. There's a handy switch button that reverses the to/from units so you can enter data the other way round. You can also cycle through other units (e.g. degrees Kelvin) and each of the categories.
Most people won't need most categories, but dollars to British pounds and Celsius to Fahrenheit (when overseas with no network connection) are worth $1. Automatic currency rate update option would be nice though (have to do 2 clicks to update).
Recommended for those with the need.
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Monday, July 14, 2008
Big Long Test Post
So supposedly some people have seen long post issues and some not,with LifeCast. So I'm trying another long one.
Maybe it will work, maybe not. Bug to do the test I need to write stuff. Anything really. In fact, arguably it would be better to just start writing stuff, whatever comes to mind, rather than sitting around trying to figure out what to say.
And perhaps that would be a better way to blog. Especially with the onscreen keyboard on the iPhone, which I have to say seems to have even better corrective text than before. I almost have to work to get typos.
Anyhow, the folks at LifeCast have been very helpful in following up on this long post issue, so I thought the least I could do is to try another long post.
Sure, you might argue, do a long post, but why not post *about* something. Something, like, important. (I know you'd say "like" too; you're like that).
So why blog about nothing at all?
Well, first, since I don't actually expect this to post, I'll be much less annoyed if it doesn't than I would if I spent real time (and thought) on it. Heck, if this posts, I may even have to go back and make that last sentence grammatical.
Two iPhone screens long, this, if you're counting.
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Maybe it will work, maybe not. Bug to do the test I need to write stuff. Anything really. In fact, arguably it would be better to just start writing stuff, whatever comes to mind, rather than sitting around trying to figure out what to say.
And perhaps that would be a better way to blog. Especially with the onscreen keyboard on the iPhone, which I have to say seems to have even better corrective text than before. I almost have to work to get typos.
Anyhow, the folks at LifeCast have been very helpful in following up on this long post issue, so I thought the least I could do is to try another long post.
Sure, you might argue, do a long post, but why not post *about* something. Something, like, important. (I know you'd say "like" too; you're like that).
So why blog about nothing at all?
Well, first, since I don't actually expect this to post, I'll be much less annoyed if it doesn't than I would if I spent real time (and thought) on it. Heck, if this posts, I may even have to go back and make that last sentence grammatical.
Two iPhone screens long, this, if you're counting.
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Sunday, July 13, 2008
iPhone Apps: LifeCast
Free.
This blog post, like all the others today, are written on the iPhone in LifeCast. You give Lifecast your Blogger or Tumblr (only) blog login, and then type your 1 page of text and click submit. Longer then 1 screen of data hasn't worked for me; it hangs submitting.
On Tumblr, you can also submit photos, and photos plus text (and other blog sites) are expected in future.
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This blog post, like all the others today, are written on the iPhone in LifeCast. You give Lifecast your Blogger or Tumblr (only) blog login, and then type your 1 page of text and click submit. Longer then 1 screen of data hasn't worked for me; it hangs submitting.
On Tumblr, you can also submit photos, and photos plus text (and other blog sites) are expected in future.
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iPhone Apps: Urbanspoon
Free.
Restaurant guide as slot machine. Detects your location, then random spins location (actually picks this one but can select others), cuisine and cost, then picks a random matching restaurant. Don't like the pick? Lock in what you do like. Oh, did I mention you shake the phone to spin the tumblers?
Fun, useful app.
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Restaurant guide as slot machine. Detects your location, then random spins location (actually picks this one but can select others), cuisine and cost, then picks a random matching restaurant. Don't like the pick? Lock in what you do like. Oh, did I mention you shake the phone to spin the tumblers?
Fun, useful app.
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iPhone Apps: vSNAX
Free.
A video application that streams CBS news and entertainment clips. Slightly sluggish navigation but beautiful video on iPhone.
Content isn't terribly compelling but has fair variety (news, game trailers, celebrity gossip, etc). Probably good to pass some boredom if trapped and not in the mood to web browse.
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A video application that streams CBS news and entertainment clips. Slightly sluggish navigation but beautiful video on iPhone.
Content isn't terribly compelling but has fair variety (news, game trailers, celebrity gossip, etc). Probably good to pass some boredom if trapped and not in the mood to web browse.
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iPhone Apps: Bloomberg
Free.
An upgrade to the delivered Stocks application. You can see markets around the world, both indexes and individual stocks. For each stock, you get news and charts. Touching the news (not obvious) gives a list of articles. Turning phone to landscape gives a few charts, going back 5 years. (Basic Stocks app has a 2 year view missing here, but that's as far back as it goes.)
Totally different look, less friendly than Stocks, but more info.
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An upgrade to the delivered Stocks application. You can see markets around the world, both indexes and individual stocks. For each stock, you get news and charts. Touching the news (not obvious) gives a list of articles. Turning phone to landscape gives a few charts, going back 5 years. (Basic Stocks app has a 2 year view missing here, but that's as far back as it goes.)
Totally different look, less friendly than Stocks, but more info.
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iPhone App: BoxOffice
Free.
Like Movies.app, BoxOffice asks for Zip or GPS location, then shows movies by title or cinema.
BoxOffice's strength is that it shows movie ratings from RottenTomatos, by high score or title. You can also set the radius you want to search, and it will show those within radius first. Another big plus is that you can see the showtimes across multiple cinemas all on one screen. This plus the ratings make BoxOffice the better app to find a movie to go to today.
Movie.app is better for planning ahead, but takes longer to use.
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Like Movies.app, BoxOffice asks for Zip or GPS location, then shows movies by title or cinema.
BoxOffice's strength is that it shows movie ratings from RottenTomatos, by high score or title. You can also set the radius you want to search, and it will show those within radius first. Another big plus is that you can see the showtimes across multiple cinemas all on one screen. This plus the ratings make BoxOffice the better app to find a movie to go to today.
Movie.app is better for planning ahead, but takes longer to use.
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iPhone Apps: Movies.app
Free.
I've tried two movie finders (Movies.app, BoxOffice), each with their own strengths.
Both apps ask for your ZIP code (or use GPS) and then show you local movies, both by movie or by location.
What's good about Movies.app is that it lets you look a couple days ahead, tells you how much money each movie has made, shows you coming attractions, and has links to movie trailers and IMDB.
Movies.app is worth downloading for when you want to look ahead and find out more about movies.
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I've tried two movie finders (Movies.app, BoxOffice), each with their own strengths.
Both apps ask for your ZIP code (or use GPS) and then show you local movies, both by movie or by location.
What's good about Movies.app is that it lets you look a couple days ahead, tells you how much money each movie has made, shows you coming attractions, and has links to movie trailers and IMDB.
Movies.app is worth downloading for when you want to look ahead and find out more about movies.
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iPhone Apps: Currency
iPhone Apps: AOL Radio
Free.
Dozens (hundreds?) of CBS radio stations sorted by genre and location. Quality is good, but there are no NPR or BBC radio stations, which is all I'm usually interested in.
Still, if you do like normal music or talk radio, this is worth a download. Like Pandora, this app has to be the open one to play, no switching to browser.
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Dozens (hundreds?) of CBS radio stations sorted by genre and location. Quality is good, but there are no NPR or BBC radio stations, which is all I'm usually interested in.
Still, if you do like normal music or talk radio, this is worth a download. Like Pandora, this app has to be the open one to play, no switching to browser.
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iPhone Apps: Enigmo
$10
This is an excellent puzzle game. You try to direct different color bouncing water drops from faucets into recepticles, using a limited number of springs, slides, sponges and guns to navigate an obstacle course.
Each level takes several minutes, and the game is addictive. You save automatically after each level, and can pause at any time.
1 player
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This is an excellent puzzle game. You try to direct different color bouncing water drops from faucets into recepticles, using a limited number of springs, slides, sponges and guns to navigate an obstacle course.
Each level takes several minutes, and the game is addictive. You save automatically after each level, and can pause at any time.
1 player
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iPhone Apps: Pandora Radio
Free.
Pandora is a music streaming "Internet radio" application. You sign up (free), enter some music you like, and it starts playing similar music. You can click the info button to find out why Pandora thinks you will like the tune. If you don't like it, hit the thumbs down icon and/or click next. If you do like it, hit thumbs up. You can tag the artist or song as favorite. You can also tag the song to buy in iTunes.
Or you can also just sit back and enjoy the music. However, if you change to another app, the music stops.
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Pandora is a music streaming "Internet radio" application. You sign up (free), enter some music you like, and it starts playing similar music. You can click the info button to find out why Pandora thinks you will like the tune. If you don't like it, hit the thumbs down icon and/or click next. If you do like it, hit thumbs up. You can tag the artist or song as favorite. You can also tag the song to buy in iTunes.
Or you can also just sit back and enjoy the music. However, if you change to another app, the music stops.
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iPhone Apps: MPG (Green)
$1
There were two apps called MPG. This is the green one. You put in the date, # of miles on tripometer (not odometer), # of gallons and cost. It charts MPG for you, tells you average, last tank, etc.
You'll want to delete the example car first and add yours.
Works well.
The black MPG app (renamed FuelGage) didn't work as well for me (forget why), and was same price.
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There were two apps called MPG. This is the green one. You put in the date, # of miles on tripometer (not odometer), # of gallons and cost. It charts MPG for you, tells you average, last tank, etc.
You'll want to delete the example car first and add yours.
Works well.
The black MPG app (renamed FuelGage) didn't work as well for me (forget why), and was same price.
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iPhone Apps: PhoneSaber
Free.
A gimmick app, but the most popular at work. Launch it and you see a Star Wars light saber handle. Five colors are on the left.
Touch the handle (or a desired color), and the light saber blade appears. So far do boring. But the sound effects... A perfect capture of the sounds from the movies: a low hum, a groaning whirr when moved, a crashing sound of contact when direction suddenly changes.
Perfect to take out and express your frustration with the office, the phone conference, the traffic (from the passenger seat, of course).
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A gimmick app, but the most popular at work. Launch it and you see a Star Wars light saber handle. Five colors are on the left.
Touch the handle (or a desired color), and the light saber blade appears. So far do boring. But the sound effects... A perfect capture of the sounds from the movies: a low hum, a groaning whirr when moved, a crashing sound of contact when direction suddenly changes.
Perfect to take out and express your frustration with the office, the phone conference, the traffic (from the passenger seat, of course).
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iPhone Apps: Remote
Free.
This is the first app to download. You need to be on your home wireless network. Open the app and you get a 4 digit number. Go to iTunes and type it in (you may need iTunes open first).
Now when you open Remote, it will connect to iTunes and show you the currently playing song (if playing) or your library (if not). You can browse the library, not just the songs on your iPhone. The iTunes volume on the PC is adjusted by the volume slider in the Remote app.
This is easily the best free app, and has gotten universal acclaim.
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This is the first app to download. You need to be on your home wireless network. Open the app and you get a 4 digit number. Go to iTunes and type it in (you may need iTunes open first).
Now when you open Remote, it will connect to iTunes and show you the currently playing song (if playing) or your library (if not). You can browse the library, not just the songs on your iPhone. The iTunes volume on the PC is adjusted by the volume slider in the Remote app.
This is easily the best free app, and has gotten universal acclaim.
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iPhone Apps: App Store
Well technically this isn't an app.
App Store is available in iTunes and on the phone. Apps are a few MB max; you don't need to be on wireless to download, like you do with iTunes store on the phone.
When you sync to iTunes, apps bought on phone go to iTunes, and vice-versa.
On wireless/3G, apps take about a minute to download and install. In iTunes downloads are almost instantaneous.
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App Store is available in iTunes and on the phone. Apps are a few MB max; you don't need to be on wireless to download, like you do with iTunes store on the phone.
When you sync to iTunes, apps bought on phone go to iTunes, and vice-versa.
On wireless/3G, apps take about a minute to download and install. In iTunes downloads are almost instantaneous.
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iPhone 2.0 Software Review
There's a new Contacts icon, like the contacts tab under Phone, except it has search. Eh.
The calculator turns into a scientific calculator in landscape.
Support is added for stuff that most people don't use: foreign language, Exchange and MobileMe, PowerPoint viewing.
Google Maps now has GPS, so you get a blue pulsing dot when you move. Very cool to play with. Nice for finding places, rather than having to look for street signs and house numbers.
Then there's the App Store. This IS iPhone 2.0.
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The calculator turns into a scientific calculator in landscape.
Support is added for stuff that most people don't use: foreign language, Exchange and MobileMe, PowerPoint viewing.
Google Maps now has GPS, so you get a blue pulsing dot when you move. Very cool to play with. Nice for finding places, rather than having to look for street signs and house numbers.
Then there's the App Store. This IS iPhone 2.0.
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iPhone 3G Review II
9. Volume rocker is noticeably less "clicky". Preferred the old one, could feel it through trouser pockets and could tell when it was pushed. This one you can't much tell without listening.
10. Headphone jack is flush, meaning any standard headphones can fit without adapters. Last "click" is very firm, meaning the fit is as tight as the first generation. This is a very good thing; 2/3rds of my drops have been bungee-corded by the headphones. Improvement.
11. Maybe it's just me, but both screen and home button seem a little less sensitive. Maybe it's a case of "breaking in", and some may like it more this way. Home button more seamless, which is nice. Sensitivity takes some getting used to.
12. Stereo speakers noticeably (~30%) louder on new iPhone. More depth as well, richer.
Review of iPhone 2.0 software coming.
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10. Headphone jack is flush, meaning any standard headphones can fit without adapters. Last "click" is very firm, meaning the fit is as tight as the first generation. This is a very good thing; 2/3rds of my drops have been bungee-corded by the headphones. Improvement.
11. Maybe it's just me, but both screen and home button seem a little less sensitive. Maybe it's a case of "breaking in", and some may like it more this way. Home button more seamless, which is nice. Sensitivity takes some getting used to.
12. Stereo speakers noticeably (~30%) louder on new iPhone. More depth as well, richer.
Review of iPhone 2.0 software coming.
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iPhone 3G Review
Day 2 with the new iPhone 3G. First impressions:
1. 90% the same as first generation.
2. Feels sleeker, less durable than original iPhone. Fits the palm more smoothly, due to more rounded edges. Not fragile, but without the metal I'm not as inclined to bang it on a desk or duel with it.
3. Black seems to be more popular than white, though the white is only available on the more expensive 16Gb model.
4. 3G call quality much better. More like landline.
5. The 3G was $325 including tax, and $15 a month more than the 1st gen iPhone. 8GB model is $100 less. Existing non-iPhone AT&T customers not due for upgrade pay $200 more. 2 year contract, 900 rollover minutes, 200 domestic SMS texts and unlimited data for $95/month. 450 minutes is $20 less, unlimited SMS $15 more.
6. Battery life meant to be longer, but only if you turn off the new features: 3G, GPS, etc. And don't play those new games. In practice, battery life is noticeably shorter, enough that I'll probably need to start being aware of it (old phone never ran out during the day; recharge overnight).
7. Charger is a tiny block that goes onto the USB cable. Fits standard socket, unlike old oversized block that took up 3 spaces and had annoying blue light. Nice improvement, Apple.
8. No charger dock included; don't know if old one fits.
To be continued...
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1. 90% the same as first generation.
2. Feels sleeker, less durable than original iPhone. Fits the palm more smoothly, due to more rounded edges. Not fragile, but without the metal I'm not as inclined to bang it on a desk or duel with it.
3. Black seems to be more popular than white, though the white is only available on the more expensive 16Gb model.
4. 3G call quality much better. More like landline.
5. The 3G was $325 including tax, and $15 a month more than the 1st gen iPhone. 8GB model is $100 less. Existing non-iPhone AT&T customers not due for upgrade pay $200 more. 2 year contract, 900 rollover minutes, 200 domestic SMS texts and unlimited data for $95/month. 450 minutes is $20 less, unlimited SMS $15 more.
6. Battery life meant to be longer, but only if you turn off the new features: 3G, GPS, etc. And don't play those new games. In practice, battery life is noticeably shorter, enough that I'll probably need to start being aware of it (old phone never ran out during the day; recharge overnight).
7. Charger is a tiny block that goes onto the USB cable. Fits standard socket, unlike old oversized block that took up 3 spaces and had annoying blue light. Nice improvement, Apple.
8. No charger dock included; don't know if old one fits.
To be continued...
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