iPhone 3GS Video Sample – YouTube Upload
June 19, 2009 by admin · View Comments
I just moments ago picked up an iPhone 3GS. It looks and feels just like the 3G, but has a new screen coating that seems to not get as greasy as the old one did.
But the real improvement here is the camera. Check out a short video I just shot on the way to the office. The phone compresses it pretty heavily, but the fact I could shoot, edit (I suppose trim might be the better word), and post this over the 3G cell network in less than 5 minutes is a major game changer:
On our way!
August 24, 2008 by admin · View Comments
Good morning! It’s early.. Very early.. But we are about to haul our luggage over to the southwest counter and begin the journey to Denver! We arrive at 10:45 am and should be on the ground reporting back shortly thereafter.
This post will also serve as a test of the iPhone WordPress app. It is really cool.
Turn Your iPhone Into a Broadcast Studio
August 18, 2008 by admin · View Comments
2007 saw an explosion of live video applications for the Web: Ustream, Justin.tv, and Stickam to name a few. The premise is very simple: take all the cool things that makes YouTube great (ease of use, embeddable videos) and allow people to stream content live. It works great but portability is a bit tough considering all of the components needed (laptop, camera, broadband access, etc).
With so many start-ups (and even Yahoo) doing live video, it didn’t take long for some to differentiate themselves in the crowded marketplace. My favorite at the moment is Qik, a live streaming video site that uses cell phones for broadcasting. They started off with software for Nokia’s 95 and have developed clients for other phones as well.
A few weeks ago they announced an iPhone version.. But there’s a catch. Apparently streaming live video from the iPhone violates AT&T’s terms of service so Apple will not allow Qik to make their application available on the iTunes app store. Rather than abandon the project, Qik developed the application anyhow, and is making it available to folks who have “jailbroken” their iPhone to allow the installation of non-official apps. Since I am most certainly not willing to risk the life of my new iPhone 3G I decided to run the hack on my old iPhone. The results are pretty good:
The above video was shot from my old iPhone over WiFi. QIK streamed it live but also records it on their website for future viewing. Cool stuff. Unfortunately I am using this on the first gen iPhone which means I will not be able to stream video without an available hotspot, but still useful nonetheless.
Getting your phone to this state of readiness takes a little bit of work. Here’s a helpful CNET video if you’re feeling up to the challenge:
The Ultra Quick iPhone 3G Review for Current iPhone Owners
August 15, 2008 by admin · View Comments
So there are already volumes of reviews out there that provide all of the in depth coverage you could ever hope to have on the new iPhone.
But what if you already own a first generation device? After all you plunked down a couple hundred bucks not too long ago and you’re wondering if it’s worth ditching the old for the new.
So in an effort to justify my purchase of a 3G and the hour long wait I had to endure to get it, I will provide for you my list of what’s good and bad about the new device as compared to the first gen iPhone. The list is surprisingly short.
The Good
They finally fixed the iPhone speakerphone!
I used to be so frustrated that the iPhone had a speakerphone you couldn’t actually hear while driving. Thankfully they have made a major improvement to the speaker in the 3G, meaning that most of the time you can actually hear what somebody is saying to you. Audio quality is also improved through the earpiece.
3G Speed is Fast (when available)
If you’re in an AT&T 3G area you will see a sizable increase in data speeds. I was out earlier today pulling down a decent sized PDF off of a website and found that it was actually a tolerable experience! Not as good as WIFI but a sizable improvement over EDGE.
GPS is Creepy Accurate
To be sitting on my porch and have the blinking blue dot overlayed on the satellite image exactly where I was seated is a bit creepy. But there will be some really cool applications taking advantage of this in the very near future. I’m especially looking forward to a Geocaching application this guy is working on.
Headphone Jack Doesn’t Require an Adapter
This is one of those little things that really makes me happy. On the original iPhone you had to walk around with these little doohickeys that had to sit in between your favorite headphones and the iPhone. This was because the headphone jack on the original was ‘recessed’ supposedly for aesthetic purposes. Thankfully the new 3G iPhone does not require an adapter to plug in speakers or your favorite pair of headphones. And it doesn’t even look that bad.
The Not So Good
Battery Life Takes a Dive
When you have all of the stuff on (bluetooth, wifi, 3G, cellular, GPS, etc) you can just about watch the battery meter drain. I suppose the only consolation is that the iPhone does it more gracefully than competing handsets. You can disable different services to save battery life (i.e. I turn off Bluetooth, Wifi, and 3G when I don’t need them) but the process for doing so is cumbersome. See my rant about that in my prior blog post.
Slightly Larger than the First iPhone
Although it looks sleeker, the 3G is actually slightly larger than the first iPhone. It’s wider and thicker. Apple’s design geniuses tapered the edges to make it feel thinner, but the measurements speak for themselves.
No Turn by Turn Directions
One would think that with all of this fancy GPS stuff built in you could actually do something with it. But unfortunately there is no turn-by-turn application just yet. Apple says it’s coming ‘soon.’
So there you have it. Some nice improvements but it’s definitely evolutionary and not revolutionary. You’ll have to decide if it’s worth the $199 and an additional two years of your life devoted to AT&T. If you don’t need GPS and a better speakerphone you might just be content sticking it out with the 1G with the 2.0 update and wait for Steve Jobs’ next masterpiece.
iPhone 3G is Great but Needs Better Power Management Tools
August 15, 2008 by admin · View Comments
I picked up an iPhone 3G last night after standing on line for much longer than I should have. Unfortunately a friend who was traveling with me couldn’t get one due to some number porting issues
with Sprint.
It’s not much different from the previous iPhone, with the exception of a GPS and faster data speeds. All of its software features are currently available to owners of the original iPhone with the new 2.0 upgrade that became available yesterday.
I do have one gripe, and that has to do with power management. Watch my video to see what I’m talking about:
This has been bugging me since the original iPhone came out last year. It’s crazy how many different menus I have to go through to disable or enable a radio (bluetooth, wifi, etc). I was hoping that the 3G iPhone, with a total of four different power draining radios, would have a single place to manage all of them. Unfortunately it doesn’t.
Hopefully Apple will move all of these settings into either a single app or change the layout of the settings screen to have on/off sliders for all four radios just below the airplane mode slider. Giving us an easier way to manage power consumption will most certainly result in happier customers!
Stuff I find interesting- Long lived new windows June 10, 2010
- Vintage Apple II Sites June 10, 2010
- Scribd social publishing site dumps Flash in favor of HTML5 May 6, 2010
- Apple iPad Goes Platinum; Feds Take An Interest May 4, 2010
- Encoding.com Reports H.264 Is Now Used to Encode 66 Percent of Web Videos May 3, 2010
